Today was a good day as the choir started it off with performances of "Down To The River To Pray" and the new pastor continues to become acclimated to the congregation and our way of doing things. The present challenge is getting the congregation to move up to the front pews in the second service so those watching the TV broadcast don't have the impression that there's only the pastor and a row of acolytes attending the service. To that end, the choir filled up the back couple pews for a change. We were all saying there's several people, though, who have gone to Trinity for over 30 years who have always sat in the same pew, same spot, every single service, every single year and aren't likely to budge, which the new pastor agreed with stating, "Lutheran's are stubborn that way..." The pastor also cracked a joke in the service, "You hear about the Norwegian who loved his wife so much he almost told her?"
After services, we picked up the boys' friend, Austin, and we all headed out to Challenger for two hours of open gym. As for the title of this blog entry, we got a game of 3 on 3 going, which quickly turned to 4 on 4, than 5 on 5. I was on Aaron's and Daniel's team and the father of two of the kids on the other side was on their team so it was fairly evenly matched, though I was a good 5 inches taller than their dad. In any event, there was a boy on Aaron's team who stands probably around 4 feet 10 who guarded me like crazy. He boxed out on every shot and really did effectively prevent me from going for several rebounds. I called it "tenacious D..." He wasn't intimidated for a second by my height advantage and really was fun to play against. Aaron made several baskets and we ended up ahead, but eventually forgot the overall score. Daniel dribbled the ball a lot, but didn't really shoot much, so he just got some more basketball fundamentals practice in for his next game. I ended up running into the brother of a former classmate of mine, Craig's brother Kent Kainz. It was a fun afternoon of basketball followed by a relaxing evening of work. The snow started coming down again tonight and the wind was bitter cold today, so winter is far from over. I'll have to shovel the front walkway for the first time since probably before Christmas thanks to our new cold front. The boys only have basketball for a couple more weeks, though, so I won't be braving the cold for too much longer. Speaking of basketball, make sure you scroll down on this page to see the boys' team pictures...
Sunday, January 28, 2007
Thursday, January 25, 2007
Everyone's Healthy Again!
After a week of Daniel's bout with the flu and the rest of us staving off the mighty bug, we have managed to have a nice healthy week thus far. Daniel returned to his basketball team last night and played a good game with the Wolverines against the Hawkeyes. I was the only referee, as they were somewhat short-handed in the coach department so it was a real learning experience for me. At Daniel's team level, we don't get too technical for the most part, just stopping them when we see something wrong and not changing possession unless they go out of bounds. I finally did have to blow the whistle, though, when one of the boys kept climbing all over whoever had the ball, committing flagrant fouls. I put the victim of the foul up at the free throw line and some of the kids said, "We aren't doing fouls" to which I responded, "Um...Yes we are this time" (given how repetitious the infractions had been). The kid made his one free throw and the game went on with no further problem. There was one boy that really cracked me (and I'm sure the parents) up, as every single time the other team made a basket, he would grab the rebound and start racing down the court with the ball without having his team take the ball out, so EVERY SINGLE TIME, I had to blow the whistle hard and shout his name to bring the ball back so it could be properly inbounded. Second grade is a great level to coach, I've found, as the kids haven't quite reached the level of both thinking they know more than the coach/ref and/or knowing they know more than the coach/ref. Daniel's opponent had Kaylynn Grochow as one of the players, so that was pretty cool. He's now played against her and Sam Mosbeck. Aaron got in on the action himself, designating himself as the official timekeeper for the game, so that was pretty fun having them both involved in the same game. Aaron has his next game this afternoon at 4:00, so I gotta get his uniform shirt ready...
I've been a little more busy than usual lately in terms of my work. The local hospital has given me a number of jobs to type and after only two days were offering me a full-time job (at home) doing all of their transcription work, though with my present schedule with basketball, choir, etc., I didn't take them up on that offer. I think I'll just do long-term overflow/backlog work for the hospital now that I've got a foot in the door.
I neglected to mention on here recently, but Spike, Aaron's guinea pig from Ben Franklin, died this past week, so we're down to Rodney, the other guinea, and the two rabbits who continue to do well. We may get another guinea, but not from the pet store, given how short-lived Spike was.
That's about all the news thus far this week...
I've been a little more busy than usual lately in terms of my work. The local hospital has given me a number of jobs to type and after only two days were offering me a full-time job (at home) doing all of their transcription work, though with my present schedule with basketball, choir, etc., I didn't take them up on that offer. I think I'll just do long-term overflow/backlog work for the hospital now that I've got a foot in the door.
I neglected to mention on here recently, but Spike, Aaron's guinea pig from Ben Franklin, died this past week, so we're down to Rodney, the other guinea, and the two rabbits who continue to do well. We may get another guinea, but not from the pet store, given how short-lived Spike was.
That's about all the news thus far this week...
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
A Very Successful Birthday Party Indeed...
Aaron's 10th birthday party came and went without a hitch and judging by the smiles on the faces of the 24 kids that joined Aaron and Daniel (26 total kids), I'd say they would all agree it was a great day of fun at the water park. The kids devoured two cheese pizzas, a pepperoni pizza, a sausage pizza (all of them larges), seven pitchers of pop, and half a sheet cake that normally serves 35 to 45. Aaron received half a car load of gifts from his guests in addition to half a dozen gift cards and money, so now he's probably thinking of where to spend all the gift card money. He received two basketballs, a football, hundreds of baseball cards, action figures, and a radio-controlled F-16 fighter plane to name just a few. He appeared to be having the time of his life in the pictures I took. I'm posting a picture of "most" of the gang he invited, though you will note the guest of honor is not there, as he had disappered at just about the same time I had gathered all the kids together I could find and given how antsy they were to get back to swimming, I had to take the picture when I had the chance. At least he'll have the picture for future memory and I got a number of other pictures with him in them as well as some video. We got there at 2 pm and were supposed to be there until 4:30 at the latest, but due to one boy's mother not being called to pick him up until late, we didn't get out of there until 7:00, so it was a rather long day for us. Aaron's friend, Jeff, from the Wednesday night youth group spent the night with Aaron for a slumber party that night.
We enjoyed a day of lounging around on Monday given the holiday and no school for the boys. It was 0.1 degree outside that day and Aaron, bless his little soul, decided that was perfect weather for a football scrimmage on the front snow-covered lawn, so he picked up the phone and called Samuel (Daniel's best friend), Austin (a 9-year-old about four houses down), and Blake (an 11-year-old fifth grader in Mr. Schafer's class about four blocks north on Arnold Ave.) to come play. Of course they managed to get me to throw a sweatshirt on and head out with them for the game and it didn't take long before we all had cheeks redder than Rudolph's nose. Our fingers would go numb within seconds of removing them from our gloves to throw the football. I found 40-gram Thinsulate gloves satisfactory for throwing a junior football, but the 100-gram gloves are far too thick for handling the ball. The younger kids couldn't grip the ball at all with gloves, so they were constantly taking them off and putting them back on immediately afterward so they could catch the ball. It was a little more entertaining than our summer and fall games to say the least.
The past couple days have been a little more low key, as Daniel came down with a high fever Tuesday morning and I kept him home from school. The doctor said he tested positive for "influenza type A," which was sort of a moot point, as you can't really do anything for it anyway. That brings me to my soap box for today: The way pharmaceutical companies draw on the subjective emotions of parents with sick children. I was at Hugo's that morning to pick up medicine and was about to pick up some cough/cold medicine in a bottle for Daniel when I thought back on the research they've published in the last year that it's of no more benefit to a child than sugar water, so I put it back on the rack electing to keep $5.77 from the drug companies and got him some Children's Advil instead to deal with the most important problem (the fever). It's funny how years of habit and the heavy marketing with the pretty packaging on children's over-the-counter medication can sway a parent's buying decisions, particularly when your child is miserable and you would do anything to make them feel better, but on this particular day, science would trump impulse. It's gotten even more difficult for parents to resist the new ploys of drug companies as they keep coming up with more and more "convenient" and "pleasant" medication delivery methods such as "Meltaway" Tylenol that dissolves in the mouth, Benadryl and cold medicines that are impregnated in thin strips much the same as those Listerine breath strips (what's wrong with chewables????), etc. I think that's about enough proselytizing for now, though...
We had more snuggle time than usual as he convalesced at home in bed, on the couch, and on the beanbag and he seems to be on the mend after taking a lengthy nap this afternoon. He did have to miss his third basketball game today and the Wolverines had to do without me as one of their coaches, but that was the first practice or game he's missed all season. Hopefully he's able to return to school tomorrow or at least can watch Aaron's game in the afternoon. We had a rather cold snap around here since late last week with daily temps a good 5 to 15 degrees below zero and today was about 22 above, so it would be nice if that trend holds for a while so we can enjoy the outdoors a little bit more. Now to start thinking about plans for Daniel's birthday party... One of the parents at Aaron's party said I was going to have a hard time topping this year's when his next one rolls around.
We enjoyed a day of lounging around on Monday given the holiday and no school for the boys. It was 0.1 degree outside that day and Aaron, bless his little soul, decided that was perfect weather for a football scrimmage on the front snow-covered lawn, so he picked up the phone and called Samuel (Daniel's best friend), Austin (a 9-year-old about four houses down), and Blake (an 11-year-old fifth grader in Mr. Schafer's class about four blocks north on Arnold Ave.) to come play. Of course they managed to get me to throw a sweatshirt on and head out with them for the game and it didn't take long before we all had cheeks redder than Rudolph's nose. Our fingers would go numb within seconds of removing them from our gloves to throw the football. I found 40-gram Thinsulate gloves satisfactory for throwing a junior football, but the 100-gram gloves are far too thick for handling the ball. The younger kids couldn't grip the ball at all with gloves, so they were constantly taking them off and putting them back on immediately afterward so they could catch the ball. It was a little more entertaining than our summer and fall games to say the least.
The past couple days have been a little more low key, as Daniel came down with a high fever Tuesday morning and I kept him home from school. The doctor said he tested positive for "influenza type A," which was sort of a moot point, as you can't really do anything for it anyway. That brings me to my soap box for today: The way pharmaceutical companies draw on the subjective emotions of parents with sick children. I was at Hugo's that morning to pick up medicine and was about to pick up some cough/cold medicine in a bottle for Daniel when I thought back on the research they've published in the last year that it's of no more benefit to a child than sugar water, so I put it back on the rack electing to keep $5.77 from the drug companies and got him some Children's Advil instead to deal with the most important problem (the fever). It's funny how years of habit and the heavy marketing with the pretty packaging on children's over-the-counter medication can sway a parent's buying decisions, particularly when your child is miserable and you would do anything to make them feel better, but on this particular day, science would trump impulse. It's gotten even more difficult for parents to resist the new ploys of drug companies as they keep coming up with more and more "convenient" and "pleasant" medication delivery methods such as "Meltaway" Tylenol that dissolves in the mouth, Benadryl and cold medicines that are impregnated in thin strips much the same as those Listerine breath strips (what's wrong with chewables????), etc. I think that's about enough proselytizing for now, though...
We had more snuggle time than usual as he convalesced at home in bed, on the couch, and on the beanbag and he seems to be on the mend after taking a lengthy nap this afternoon. He did have to miss his third basketball game today and the Wolverines had to do without me as one of their coaches, but that was the first practice or game he's missed all season. Hopefully he's able to return to school tomorrow or at least can watch Aaron's game in the afternoon. We had a rather cold snap around here since late last week with daily temps a good 5 to 15 degrees below zero and today was about 22 above, so it would be nice if that trend holds for a while so we can enjoy the outdoors a little bit more. Now to start thinking about plans for Daniel's birthday party... One of the parents at Aaron's party said I was going to have a hard time topping this year's when his next one rolls around.
Friday, January 12, 2007
A New Record?
Aaron had his first basketball game yesterday at Challenger, team 4 against team 2. The first half went really well with Aaron's team hanging in just two points behind team 2. At the half, it was 14-12, but in the second half team 2 really took off and left team 4 in their dust. I was really impressed, though, with the improvement of all the players who have started to put the fundamentals together and play like real teams. Aaron in particular had a great game handling the ball a lot more than he ever had in scrimmages. He dribbled well all the way down the court keeping the ball in good control, passed to his teammates, caught passes using his height advantage over the other kids, and even managed to steal a few balls. He was very nervous going into the game not having gotten much playing time or the ball passed to him when he was practicing, so it was especially nice to see him grinning from the time the game started to the final buzzer last night. He appeared to be having the time of his life on the court, win or lose.
We went to the Prowler hockey game last night against the Crookston Pirates to round out our evening and threw some pucks out on the ice for the girls' hockey fundraiser. They had several friends at the hockey game and I quickly found myself sitting alone in the upper seating next to our goal and when I turned around, I saw Daniel playing an improvised game of "floor" hockey with a buddy on the floor next to the wall of the arena using a black pop bottle cap and plastic spoon as a hockey stick. We ended up leaving after the second period, as the Prowlers appeared to have the game well in hand with a score of 5-1 and it was getting late. We enjoyed the somewhat rare treat of the pep band there too, as they recruited some alumni band members to create a fuller sound. What really cracked me up was sitting right behind them listening to them play an old Husky favorite, "Louie Louie."
As for the title of this blog post, one of the other parents/coaches last night mentioned I seemed to be rather busy at Challenger lately, this week having been there "almost" every night. I hadn't given it any thought up until then, but when I did think back, I actually have been there every single night this week. Monday was Aaron's basketball practice, Tuesday was Running & Reading in the gym and library/media center, Wednesday was Daniel's first basketball game, Thursday was Aaron's game, and today I'll have my usual lunch appointment with Aaron to round out a full week. I was surprised to realize I will have gone to school as many days as the boys have this week. I imagine I probably came close to or even matched the record previously, but this was the first time I really noticed how often I've been out there. I guess that explains the gas needle in the car going down faster than I thought was normal recently.
In other news, we woke up to an outside temperature of 19.4 BELOW zero. It's so cold this morning that my solid wood front door has frost around the lower INSIDE edges and the INSIDE of the double pane kitchen windows are frozen. I'm enjoying my insulated morning here inside thinking it will take a tiny bit more motivation to get myself out onto the tundra again to have lunch with Aaron at Challenger. For that matter, I may need to warm the car up for a while this time. The transmission took about 3 seconds to engage yesterday evening and today is even colder. At least we haven't had any more snowfall or recent rain so we have just the cold to endure.
Now that it's Friday, we've received the majority of the RSVPs we're probably goin g to get for Aaron's birthday party tomorrow afternoon. I think we've easily exceeded the 15 we needed for the water park passes, so there should be no shortage of kids to help celebrate Aaron's 10th. He's getting pretty excited for his big day, which reminds me... I gotta try to get a pirate cake put together in time for the party... Wish me luck.
We went to the Prowler hockey game last night against the Crookston Pirates to round out our evening and threw some pucks out on the ice for the girls' hockey fundraiser. They had several friends at the hockey game and I quickly found myself sitting alone in the upper seating next to our goal and when I turned around, I saw Daniel playing an improvised game of "floor" hockey with a buddy on the floor next to the wall of the arena using a black pop bottle cap and plastic spoon as a hockey stick. We ended up leaving after the second period, as the Prowlers appeared to have the game well in hand with a score of 5-1 and it was getting late. We enjoyed the somewhat rare treat of the pep band there too, as they recruited some alumni band members to create a fuller sound. What really cracked me up was sitting right behind them listening to them play an old Husky favorite, "Louie Louie."
As for the title of this blog post, one of the other parents/coaches last night mentioned I seemed to be rather busy at Challenger lately, this week having been there "almost" every night. I hadn't given it any thought up until then, but when I did think back, I actually have been there every single night this week. Monday was Aaron's basketball practice, Tuesday was Running & Reading in the gym and library/media center, Wednesday was Daniel's first basketball game, Thursday was Aaron's game, and today I'll have my usual lunch appointment with Aaron to round out a full week. I was surprised to realize I will have gone to school as many days as the boys have this week. I imagine I probably came close to or even matched the record previously, but this was the first time I really noticed how often I've been out there. I guess that explains the gas needle in the car going down faster than I thought was normal recently.
In other news, we woke up to an outside temperature of 19.4 BELOW zero. It's so cold this morning that my solid wood front door has frost around the lower INSIDE edges and the INSIDE of the double pane kitchen windows are frozen. I'm enjoying my insulated morning here inside thinking it will take a tiny bit more motivation to get myself out onto the tundra again to have lunch with Aaron at Challenger. For that matter, I may need to warm the car up for a while this time. The transmission took about 3 seconds to engage yesterday evening and today is even colder. At least we haven't had any more snowfall or recent rain so we have just the cold to endure.
Now that it's Friday, we've received the majority of the RSVPs we're probably goin g to get for Aaron's birthday party tomorrow afternoon. I think we've easily exceeded the 15 we needed for the water park passes, so there should be no shortage of kids to help celebrate Aaron's 10th. He's getting pretty excited for his big day, which reminds me... I gotta try to get a pirate cake put together in time for the party... Wish me luck.
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
How Quick a Decade Flies By...
I've been busy preparing for the momentous occasion of Aaron's 10th birthday this week. I made the reservations at the water park last Friday and ever since have been thinking back on the past 10 years, thinking of the first time I wrapped him up like a burrito in his blanket at the hospital, the 1 to 3 a.m. feedings, midnight visits to Children's, thousands of diaper changes, gallons of apple juice, pushing his stroller at the zoo, bringing him to the neighborhood park, a snuggle on the couch after a long day at work, falling asleep on the floor next to his toddler bed with an arm draped over him so he'd go to sleep as he transitioned from the crib, and watching him grow like a weed (now 5 feet 1-1/2). It seems like yesterday I was videotaping him as he walked in to Chase Lake for his first day of kindergarten and now he's a mere year and a half from middle school and another five from his driving permit. Through all of his first decade of life, though, one thing stands out above all others, that being his broad smile and happy go lucky attitude. To know Aaron is certainly to love him, as he becomes fast friends with everyone he meets. It would be a vast understatement to just say I'm proud of him as a son. He brightens just about any room he walks into and that grin of his makes every day start and end on a pleasant note. It is virtually impossible to frown when he's within smiling distance. I'm really looking forward to what his second decade of life will bring.
Okay... Enough reminiscing for now... Time for an update on the rest of our activities in this new year of 2007. The boys are now in the thick of basketball season, Daniel having just played his second game already this afternoon. His team, the Wolverines, beat the Gophers and Daniel showed a lot of improvement in his basketball fundamentals and shooting skills. They both had their team pictures taken on Monday and today so they can focus on their games from now on. Aaron's first game is tomorrow, I believe. We have taken a break this year from Prowler hockey thanks to the busier schedule with basketball, youth groups, etc., but tomorrow night we're planning on catching a varsity hockey game at The Ralph, as they'll have the pep band, which is somewhat unusual for Lincoln. They have asked all alumni of the pep band to come play with them, so I'm hoping for a good turnout. The band really fires up the crowd and the Prowlers can use it this year. It's been a rebuilding year of sorts for the Prowlers after last year's trip to state.
We have enjoyed a much milder than usual winter over here lately with only one night of freezing rain, one night of snow, and warmer than normal temperatures for the past month, though we're expecting sub-zero lows over the next week. It seems to be a bumper crop of used snowmobiles this year, as there is really nowhere to ride them this year other than the ice. I've already had the adventure of doing a 540-degree spin on the ice in the station wagon, which I don't care to repeat anytime soon, so I'm looking forward already to the spring thaw.
We went to the Running and Reading program at Challenger last night where we played floor hockey the first half hour and read in the library/media center the second half hour. We had a good time, though that's the last time they'll have it this year. It was a nice change from last year and we're looking forward to the next season. It's fun to get back to basics and read some good books. I actually learned some history about the civil war and what life was like on the frontier way back when. The boys got a lot of books for Christmas, so they'll be well occupied for weeks to come. I was just noticing a little while ago how fast the boys have progressed in their reading as evidenced one evening as I was thumbing through the on-screen TV guide on the satellite TV. They had read through a half dozen of the show titles before I even got to them and had chosen which channel they wanted before I could think. Again, it seems like just yesterday it was three-word sentences, then realizing the day you're in the car talking to another adult and spelling out what you're saying, then realizing that they can now spell and now they're reading just about anything they look at. There I go with the reminiscing again...
We are about to enter a new chapter at Trinity with the installation of our new permanent pastor this coming Sunday. We're saying Be Strong In The Lord at both services with our new director, Vanessa, and we're looking forward to our next combined choir performance with Zion and Redeemer, apparently sometime around the end of February. Our first practice with Vanessa tonight went great and we had a lot of fun singing for her.
I think that just about covers all the latest and greatest from TRF. I probably would have written a lot more had I been able to sign in to this blog, but I upgraded the blog through Google and then forgot my new log in info until just this afternoon. Hopefully I can get back on the stick now, though, since I figured out how to get back in. Take care everyone...
Okay... Enough reminiscing for now... Time for an update on the rest of our activities in this new year of 2007. The boys are now in the thick of basketball season, Daniel having just played his second game already this afternoon. His team, the Wolverines, beat the Gophers and Daniel showed a lot of improvement in his basketball fundamentals and shooting skills. They both had their team pictures taken on Monday and today so they can focus on their games from now on. Aaron's first game is tomorrow, I believe. We have taken a break this year from Prowler hockey thanks to the busier schedule with basketball, youth groups, etc., but tomorrow night we're planning on catching a varsity hockey game at The Ralph, as they'll have the pep band, which is somewhat unusual for Lincoln. They have asked all alumni of the pep band to come play with them, so I'm hoping for a good turnout. The band really fires up the crowd and the Prowlers can use it this year. It's been a rebuilding year of sorts for the Prowlers after last year's trip to state.
We have enjoyed a much milder than usual winter over here lately with only one night of freezing rain, one night of snow, and warmer than normal temperatures for the past month, though we're expecting sub-zero lows over the next week. It seems to be a bumper crop of used snowmobiles this year, as there is really nowhere to ride them this year other than the ice. I've already had the adventure of doing a 540-degree spin on the ice in the station wagon, which I don't care to repeat anytime soon, so I'm looking forward already to the spring thaw.
We went to the Running and Reading program at Challenger last night where we played floor hockey the first half hour and read in the library/media center the second half hour. We had a good time, though that's the last time they'll have it this year. It was a nice change from last year and we're looking forward to the next season. It's fun to get back to basics and read some good books. I actually learned some history about the civil war and what life was like on the frontier way back when. The boys got a lot of books for Christmas, so they'll be well occupied for weeks to come. I was just noticing a little while ago how fast the boys have progressed in their reading as evidenced one evening as I was thumbing through the on-screen TV guide on the satellite TV. They had read through a half dozen of the show titles before I even got to them and had chosen which channel they wanted before I could think. Again, it seems like just yesterday it was three-word sentences, then realizing the day you're in the car talking to another adult and spelling out what you're saying, then realizing that they can now spell and now they're reading just about anything they look at. There I go with the reminiscing again...
We are about to enter a new chapter at Trinity with the installation of our new permanent pastor this coming Sunday. We're saying Be Strong In The Lord at both services with our new director, Vanessa, and we're looking forward to our next combined choir performance with Zion and Redeemer, apparently sometime around the end of February. Our first practice with Vanessa tonight went great and we had a lot of fun singing for her.
I think that just about covers all the latest and greatest from TRF. I probably would have written a lot more had I been able to sign in to this blog, but I upgraded the blog through Google and then forgot my new log in info until just this afternoon. Hopefully I can get back on the stick now, though, since I figured out how to get back in. Take care everyone...
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