Em's First Soccer Game

On Saturday, David got a fresh start in his coaching career with a whole new crop of soccer players. This time around he's older, wiser, more patient, and he has a great new assistant coach too!

Emery (temporarily) shed her tutu and donned her new pink-trimmed cleats. She was less than thrilled with the "hot" socks and shin guards, but she really liked the purple shirt and pigtails. On the field she seemed a little lost around the ball and steered clear of more aggressive players, but she did run around grinning in spite of herself. Dad doesn't know yet if she's got the heart of a soccer player (Emery told us at dinner after practice earlier this week, "I think I'll be a cheerleader for my team after my next birthday.") But we're all having loads of fun in the meantime :-)

This water is good... but is there a faster way to cool down?

Coaches Dad & Abbey talk to the team

The Ball...go get The Ball!

Ahhhh!

Good Game, Good Game, Good Game, Good Game, Good Game, Good Game, Good Game, Good Game, Good Game, Good Game, Goo...

Good Game, Coach!

Little Pep Talk


The best part... after game treats!

First Day of Kindergarten!

On our way in to the office this morning, I told Kimberly, "It's really hard to let your baby go to Kindergarten. It's even harder to let her Daddy be the one to take her!"
Last night, I checked her bag and I checked it twice. I gave David all the instructions... you know, the usual stuff:

• Make sure you fix her hair.
• Make sure she has her backpack and her extra bags of school supplies the teacher asked for.
• Make sure she knows where her classroom is when you drop her off at the before-school prime-time care.
• Make sure you take pictures... and make sure you email them to me this morning!

Then I made sure that Emery knew that she's not supposed to ride the bus, and that she knows where her lunch money is. We talked about her school supplies, and planned out what to wear. Then I left for work this morning feeling anxious.

For her part, Emery did much better than that. She was calm and cool at bedtime last night. She's been planning this day her entire summer. She's gone over every detail with me, supposing and talking and supposing some more. She's ready.

Now if Kindergarten is only ready for her, then we'll be set! Enjoy the pictures, taken by the best dad ever...

Before Breakfast

Almost there!

Going In!

Ramona's Surprise Party

I'm not a big fan of surprise parties, but this one, complete with roars of laughter and scores of tears was absolutely fantastic.

It all started with an email from David's sister about 3 months ago. She had a huge vision for a spare-no-expense, under-the-radar birthday bash for her mother. I briefly protested the "surprise" nature of the event (in my experience, Ramona tends to prefer to be more in control of her destiny) but Mandy was absolutely firm on this point. So we set off into the world to plan a surprise and then set it into motion. David's dad found a terrific little venue in Raytown early enough in the planning process to help us focus on all the details. We all came up with some pretty groovy and far-out ideas from time to time. David kept bringing us back to sanity asking the question, "What would Ramona do?"

The W.W.R.D approach worked great...and I highly recommend it to anyone planning a surprise party. It helped, of course, that we've all had the opportunity to work on other events with Ramona in the past. In the end, I think she got a party that was exactly what she might have planned herself, because of all the many events (surprise and otherwise) that she has lead or helped out with in the past.

From building the guest list to coming up with "just right" party decorations, to making sure the kids had stuff to do, W.W.R.D. served as a guiding light, settled arguments, and yielded a very successful party that we all felt great about. It was truly a group-effort. Mandy built the guest list, tracked all the RSVP's, made table centerpieces and took care of all the party decorations. David smoked pork butts for 100 people, took care of all the beverages, installed the sound system and projector, and spent 2 days gathering up all of the supplies we would need to be prepared for anything. Tyler built a terrific slide show with the help of several picture contributors. Abbey helped guests put together a scrapbook that she and Mandy picked out. David's Aunt Brenda made a "Happy 60th Birthday Ramona" sign, and Uncle Ken served as the official photographer for the evening (check back for pictures soon!) Many people pitched in to help out with party set-up and take-down. My sister-in-law, Kim, volunteered to help us out as well, and I was so glad that she did! I arrived to get food set up thinking I would do most of that work, but then it turned out that I had much of the knowledge that other helpers needed to get stuff set up. I got so busy with answering questions and providing direction that I would not have had any of the food ready if it wasn't for Kim. And my parents really helped us out by taking care of little Emery during the mad-dash party set-up and take-down times (we only had 1 hour to set up before guests arrived.)

In all, we received 110 RSVPs from people who said they would be there to "toast, roast, and otherwise share their best memories with Ramona," and we just couldn't thank them enough for coming. In the end, it was all of these people who really made the day. Ramona's brother, Rod, stole the show with some hysterical stories I'd never heard before. Friends who shared long history with Ramona brought playful and sentimental gifts, and presented them with stories and laughs. Abbey "roasted grandma" with her own style & flair, by serenading Ramona with a slightly mean-spirited but playful song from a favorite musical. Perhaps my favorite part of the evening was when 10-year-old grandson, Damien, got into the spirit of the evening with his own rendition of "roasting" grandma, telling her, "I think you need to re-do your make-up and buy some new clothes!"

Happy Birthday, Ramona. Here's to many more!

Mama Mia!

It’ll make you forget the bad stuff around you.

My mom and Abbey and I went to see Mama Mia! at the Independence Commons movie theater last Sunday—a must see film...but make sure you get there early!

We arrived at the over-full theater during previews but I quickly spotted 3 seats reasonably close together near the front. At first it was my intent to ask the couple sitting in the middle of our 3 “almost together” seats if they would mind moving down just one seat so that our cute little family treo could enjoy the film together. But as we approached, they didn’t move…not even enough to just make it a little easier to pass by. Mom & Abbey tripped over crusty knees and a couple of those walking sticks—the type that look like a cane, only with four rubber tips at the bottom to help assure a steady hand. These people were so old—I began to fear they might not make it through the film. Mom figured that if they were able to manage to get themselves into those seats, they deserved to keep them—so I sat by myself between old ladies and let Mom & Abbey sit together. I couldn’t tell if it was the old lady on my right or the older-than-dirt lady on my left who had incredibly bad breath…but that smell kept wafting past my nose every little bit. Three rows back was not enough for the movie screen we were viewing—at first I experienced a bit of motion sickness (augmented by the aforementioned smell)…but within the first 10 minutes the nausea passed, and I was able to forget my unfortunate seating arrangement and become totally entranced. The movie was THAT good. Meryl Streep deserves an Oscar for her performance of “Winner takes it all” in an incredible scene with Pierce Brosnan. The scenery in the Greek Islands is amazing, and…who knew that she could sing like that, anyway? Definitely go see this movie. (Pierce is not a good singer...but what he lacks in audible talent, he makes up for in good looks and on-screen chemistry with Ms. Streep.)

Storybook Childhood

We’re normal parents who want to give our children that perfect “happily ever after” type of childhood that results in strong, independent adults who are capable of making positive contributions to society while taking care of themselves and their families. Like others, we try to be strategic about the kinds of things our kids do Today and the expected results we hope to see Tomorrow. We set goals with our children, teach them how to plot a course toward those goals, teach them how to re-start when things don’t go so well, and we set high expectations for them to achieve. We’ve rewarded and punished, hosted many nights of dialogues, discussions, and lectures, we’ve granted privileges, and tried to instill discipline. We’ve made opportunities available for sports, drama, music, and other interest areas. We’ve encouraged good friendships and discouraged bad influences. And just when we start to feel smug…”Yeah, we’ve got great kids…and it’s because we’re such FABULOUS parents,” something changes—It always works that way.

Our first parenting “masterpiece” just turned 17 this summer. With that change, we are beginning to really contemplate the idea of him leaving home in just 12 short months. Will he be ready? Will he be able to stand up to life’s rigors and avoid its pitfalls? When he trips, does he have the resiliency to recover? We carefully planned his childhood—but were those plans the right plans to make him successful in life? Does he know how to work hard to get the things he really wants most? Does he want the right things? Will he be compassionate? Will he be strong? Will the years of scouting and soccer practice and music lessons make a difference? Will he remember all of those lessons he learned and re-learned and still seems to be learning? Will he keep learning? Will he help others? Will he come home to visit me?

I sure do hope so.

Unexpected Benefits of Adding a Little Green

As gas prices have crept up these past few years, my lifestyle has gone largely un-impacted. I gripe a bit, and feel aggravated at the pump like everyone else you know. I drive David's little Nissan Versa now, instead of my big seven-passenger mini-van. But when I need to go somewhere, I just get in the car and go--and I don't worry too much about what it's costing me. The reality is that I feel like I make enough money to absorb the extra $40 or so getting to work and back each week. I've briefly given thought to taking the bus or carpooling, but, I rationalize, "what if the kids got sick and needed me during the day?" This, in spite of the fact that I've got 3 of the most healthy kids you've ever met, is the primary excuse I've given myself for wasting so much money--"its for the children."

The truth is, I like my independence. I like knowing that if I want to go somewhere, I can--and I don't have to wait to do it. The truth is, I don't want to change.

Then 2 weeks ago, an awesome opportunity popped up to start carpooling with my sister-in-law (the one who is married to brother, Ryan) She lives about 10 blocks from where I live, works about 10 blocks from where I work, and our schedules are reasonably compatible. Cutting my gasoline spend in half feels great. The independence I've had all this time isn't as "essential" to my well-being as I previously believed. And I'm finding a few unexpected rewards in the new arrangement that extend far beyond simple economics.

First, it's instilling a bit of discipline in certain aspects of my life where I had none before. For example, when the alarm clock goes off in the morning, I know I'd better get up. If Kimberly gets up this early and then I'm not ready when she is, I have no doubt there'll be hell to pay. Also, at the end of the day, when I'm tempted to squeeze in just one more accomplishment before heading out the door for the day, there's Kimberly, ready to pick me up (or to be picked up by me.) I'm finding that letting some of the work wait till tomorrow morning is really working out just fine. And if it can't wait till tomorrow, heck, I'm part of the mobile workforce now... I can just take it home with me!

Second, the time in the car passes more quickly with someone to talk to. Kim is willing to listen to all my stories--about work and kids and politics and religion and whatever suits me that day. And she has some pretty interesting stories of her own to tell as well. It's fun to get into the car in the afternoon with a close friend--a sister--who is keeping up with my daily trials of change management at Sprint. She even responds appropriately if I text a mid-day message about some particularly interesting plot-twist in the daily saga.

Finally, I thought that the whole "being green" thing didn't matter to me. I'm that person in the office who gets agitated about the corporate decisions to discontinue providing disposable drinking cups or paper benefits summaries. I feel skeptical about the motives to provide one product (out of hundreds of products) in recycled packaging. But I feel good about this carpooling arrangement. Maybe I'll take another look at ways to add more "green" to my life.