Human Croquet Wicket

You know how, as your kids are growing up and playing sports, you sometimes, deep down, hope they are good enough to get a scholarship somewhere, anywhere for some sport. Just so you can get some financial assistance with college? Are there scholarships for Human Croquet?

Like most families with children in the lower grades, Laura and Vincent are very active in sports. In Vincent's case, he was involved in baseball and soccer, along with participating in Cub Scouts. He did very good in all three activities, but his favorite is soccer. He LOVES soccer. It is, probably, his best sport also. He started playing soccer where they have goalies this year (what a novel idea!) but, in some cases, the goalie wasn't much better than having an empty goal. Vincent was good/lucky enough to actually scores some goals this year, but his best abilities is usually on defense. Most people who watch him play would say the same thing, that is why this video is funny, because it's not typical of his play. I video taped about 5 minutes of his soccer all year, but I did get this. He was not happy about that, although he laughs harder than most when he watches it. Watch the goalie's reaction. Enjoy!

Dentists, Schmentists! They don't scare me!

Guess who went to the dentist for the very first time? Lucy made her first trip to the dentist, with her wonderful big sis, Sophia, showing her the ropes. As always, with younger siblings, they always want to do what the bigger kids are doing, and this day she was able to join the ranks of Dr. Henderson's lucky patients. The sunglasses, besides looking cool, are used to keep the bright lights out of the kid's eyes. When I go, I just close my eyes, so I don't have to see what they are doing. (Our next stop was to the Podiatrist to have him put Lucy's feet back on the correct legs!)

"This is how you open you mouth without talking!"



Sophia showing off the great stickers she got for being a super patient.

"Don't you wish you could look this cool visiting the dentist?"

"Aaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

"Just kidding!"

Lucy being a "big girl" at the dentist's office!

If this is the way my dentist visits went when I was growing up, I probably wouldn't have hated going.

Stitches for Laura!

On September 12, for a late birthday gift, Laura received 13 stitches in her knee. This photo is a couple of weeks after the fact. It's also blurry. You can imagine how gross it looked at the beginning.

The family had spent a very busy Friday, doing tons of things that seem to need to be done at that time of the year - school functions, sports activities, Laura's birthday, who knows what else. At the end of the day we were invited to a friend's house for a little party. We arrived late, probably 8:30, after dark. It was a damp night, dew was forming on the ground and grass, making shoes wet. We were at this house for the first time, so not familiar with the lay of the land. We showed up with drinks and eats, getting settled in. The kids are off playing with friends. Marcie and I had just sat down, not having time to enjoy our first taste, when Laura comes over to us, saying she fell to the ground and her knee is bleeding. Again, it's dark out, so we can't really see how the knee looks. We don't think it's too bad, because Laura is not screaming, carrying on about it hurting or making any kind of fuss. But, Marcie decides we should have a look at it in the light. Well, it was pretty bad. We had two cars at the party, so Marcie took Laura to the emergency room for treatment. She ended up having 13 stitches, a knee immobilizer and a bad attitude. She was signed up for soccer, she got to play 2-3 games and now she can't play the rest of the season.

Anyway, to give you an idea of how subdued the event was, after Marcie and Laura went to the emergency, both Vincent and Sophia came up to me at different times and asked where Mom was. I told them she took Laura to the emergency room for stitches. They both said "No she didn't. Where is she?" I had to take them to the front of the house to show them the car is gone. After they both surveyed the whole situation and realized that neither Mom nor Laura was there, they finally believed me. Apparently I must tell them tall tales too often.

Her knee is better now, but still kind of ugly. She is finally given clearance to participate fully in all activities. Hooray! Just in time for basketball!

Happy 18th Anniversary!!

Today, November 10, 2008 is our 18th wedding anniversary. When I was younger, I thought only old people celebrated wedding anniversaries for that many years, knowing 25th anniversaries celebrated eternities. Now that I am older (old), I realize how special it is to be able to celebrate 18 wonderful years with a soulmate who I love more now then ever before.

Marcie, thanks for 18 GREAT years and looking forward to the next 18.

I love you!

-John