Calling the Thunder

Aidan and the family unit had another wonderful Saturday filled with hits, catches, screaming and yelling, applause, and lots and lots of goals. He had a baseball game this morning, and a soccer game this afternoon, and fun times were had by all.

His baseball game went great, and Aidan got to play pitcher, and left field today. He got a hit in all three of his at bats, and did really well in the field. We were very proud of him.

In soccer, well, let's just say that if he keeps playing at his current level, this picture will become a reality:

Aidan scored 5 goals and assisted on 1 other in 2 quarters of play, and missed scoring another when his last shot hit the sidebar. It was his most impressive showing, and he is getting better each and every game.

We are now home relaxing and taking a deserved break. Aidan on the other hand is still full of energy and I am trying to find my second wind. Oh to be young again.

William

He Stilled the Rising Tumult

Well it finally happened. The torch was eloquently passed, and a new link was added to the Thornton baseball chain. Yep, you guessed it, Aidan had his first official baseball game tonight, and we could not be anymore proud of our little ball player. He looked the part, he played the part, and it was every bit as satisfying for me to watch as I thought it would be.

There is a very special bond that is shared between fathers and sons when it comes to baseball. It is hard to describe, and to be perfectly honest, I find myself getting choked up a bit while typing this. I cannot set foot on a baseball diamond, or attend any baseball game without thinking about dad, and all of the countless hours he spent teaching me the game. He loved the game of baseball, and his love, enthusiasm, and respect for the game was always apparent and appreciated. I hope I can instill that same type of love for the game in Aidan. If tonight was any indication, I am well on my way. Just seeing Aidan dressed in his uniform, with his hat pulled low, was enough to bring a tear to my eye. I know his Grandpa would have been very proud of Aidan tonight, and he would have seen just a little bit of me in him. Knowing that makes me very happy.

As for the game, the kids had a lot of fun, and smiles were abundant. Aidan singled in all three of his at bats, and played very well in the field. Everybody had a wonderful time, and Aidan was very lucky to also have his Nana and PawPaw and his cousins Wyatt and Jackson at his first game. It was a great start to what will hopefully be a great career in baseball. I am looking forward to many years of excitement and lots of reminiscing.

Below are some of the pictures and video that I took at the game. I hope you enjoy seeing them as much as I enjoyed watching them live.

Aidan in his uniform
Aidan warming up, glove on, looking the part.
Who's on first?.....nobody with Aidan covering the bag.
SAFE! Aidan's first hit.
Aidan the pitcher.
This first video shows Aidan fielding a ball and making a throw to first. Unfortunately, the first basemen did not catch the throw, but Aidan looked good doing it. Warning: Very loud father screaming in the background.

This second video shows Aidan's first hit. Warning: Again, a very loud father screaming in the background.

Candles, Candy, Eggs and Fun

Where to start, where to start. Lori and I got to experience our first official spring break last week, and of course we being the glutens for punishment that we are, we decided to top that off by ending the week with Lori's Birthday and Easter all wrapped up in one looooooooonnnnnnnng wonderful day. It was a great week, filled with lots and lots of fun, lots and lots of eating, and lots and lots of excitement. It left a lasting impression on me, and I now realize that I am without a doubt.....what's that word I'm looking for.......oh yeah, OLD. How in the world a 5 year old can have that much energy all of the time is really beyond me. Man, if I could somehow extract some of that zest...that zeal...that essence of boy and bottle and sell it, the family unit would not only be rich, but I would be much more sane, and much less tired.

We are both very thankful that Steve and Dianne (Lori's parents) were nice enough to make the 15 hour drive from their farm in East Tennessee to come see our family and Cricket's (Lori's sister) family for a few days. They arrived here Friday morning at 1:30 am after spending 15 hours on the road, and little did they know that their long arduous drive from Tennessee that included entertaining 4 dogs in the back seat, would be the peaceful portion of their trip. Yep, Aidan, and his two cousins Jackson and Wyatt made sure that Nana and PawPaw never had a dull (peaceful) moment.

Lori's birthday came and passed without a hitch, and I must say, for a woman of 45 years of age she looks remarkably well. It must be that clean living I keep hearing about. Ok, Ok, before I get in a whole bunch of trouble, it was actually Lori's 35th birthday, and she is as young and vibrant as ever, and I am very lucky to have such a young beautiful wife.

The Easter Bunny made an extra long visit to all the families, and the boys made out like bandits. They should be on a sugar high for the next week or so, and I am sure their teachers will be ready for some Easter Bunny retribution by the end of the week.

I was able to take a few pictures of all the festivities and document them for the historical record. Here is a small sample of the fun and games experienced this weekend.


Aidan and Christopher in their Easter Blues. Beautiful Birthday Girl with her youngest Easter Egg. The Thornton Family Unit. The Great Egg Hunt is On. Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birtday to you, Happy Birthday dear Lori, Happy Birthday to you. (Thanks for the extra help blowing out the candles Aidan) Nana getting a confetti bath courtesy of Jackson.

And They're Off - Easter 2008 - Aidan, Wyatt, Jackson and their friend Chris.

Our Little Blarney Stones

Happy St. Patrick's Day from our two Leprechauns!

The Full Prayer of St. Patrick

I arise today through the strength of heaven; light of sun, radiance of moon, splendor of fire, speed of lightning, swiftness of wind, depth of sea, stability of earth, firmness of rock, I arise today through God's strength to pilot me; God's might to uphold me, God's wisdom to guide me, God's eye to look before me, God's ear to hear me, God's word to speak for me, God's hand to guard me, God's way to lie before me, God's shield to protect me, God's host to save me from snares of devils, from temptation of vices, from everyone who wishes me ill afar and anear alone and in a multitude.

I summon today all these powers between me and those evils: Against every cruel merciless power that may oppose my body and soul;

Against incantations and false prophets, against black laws of Pagandom, against false laws of heretics, against craft of idolatry, against spells of women and smiths and wizards, against every knowledge that corrupts man's body and soul.

Christ to shield me today against poison, against burning, against drowning, against wounding, so that there may come to me abundance of reward. Christ with me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me, Christ on my right hand, Christ on my left, Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down, Christ when I arise, Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me, Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me, Christ in every eye that sees me, Christ in every ear that hears me.

I arise today through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity: Through belief in the Threeness, through confession of the Oneness of the Creator of Creation.

William

Ocular Perfidiousness

I was naive, and I thought maybe I was impervious to it's advances. I tried and tried to avoid it at all cost, but my valiant efforts were all for nil, and it's infernal persistence finally got the best of me. Yep, I have been conquered...... whipped you might say by the terrible realization that my eyes no longer function properly at close range, and I am now forced to admit defeat and wear..........................reading glasses. Aghhhhhhh! Nooooooooo.....I'm only 42 years old for Christ's sake!!! HELP!!!!!!

So, here I sit, feverously typing, all the while relying on my new best friends to help me read my prose. Symbiosis at it's finest.

"Oh the Humanity."

Today = 10 years of Bliss

Hands down the best decision I have ever made. I am the luckiest man alive.

William

PS. My beautiful wife is famous. Take a look at this.

http://www.nurseslounge.com/images/DFWNLMarchweb.pdf

Check out page 14. Pretty cool huh?

Pining for the Pillow

"It's not pining, it's passed on! This tooth is no more! It has ceased to be! It's expired and gone to meet its maker! This is a late tooth. It's a stiff, bereft of life, it rests in peace. It's pushing up the daisies! It has rung down the curtain and joined the choir invisible! This is an ex-tooth!"

Woo Hoo....Aidan is growing up. By the time most of you read this, the Tooth Fairy will have pilfered Aidan's late, Right Mandibular Central Incisor, and left our oldest son with his well deserved pillow toll. Yep..he lost his first tooth, and boy was he excited. The big man even yanked it out himself.

Here he is in all his toothless glory!


Kids are so much fun.

William

Eyes....and Apples

Christopher wanted me to tell everybody "Gig'em"

Aidan wanted me to tell everybody that he loves his brother.


Children by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Come to me, O ye children!
For I hear you at your play,
And the questions that perplexed me
Have vanished quite away.

Ye open the eastern windows,
That look towards the sun,
Where thoughts are singing swallows
And the brooks of morning run.

In your hearts are the birds and the sunshine,
In your thoughts the brooklet's flow,
But in mine is the wind of Autumn
And the first fall of the snow.

Ah! what would the world be to us
If the children were no more?
We should dread the desert behind us
Worse than the dark before.

What the leaves are to the forest,
With light and air for food,
Ere their sweet and tender juices
Have been hardened into wood, --

That to the world are children;
Through them it feels the glow
Of a brighter and sunnier climate
Than reaches the trunks below.

Come to me, O ye children!
And whisper in my ear
What the birds and the winds are singing
In your sunny atmosphere.

For what are all our contrivings,
And the wisdom of our books,
When compared with your caresses,
And the gladness of your looks?

Ye are better than all the ballads
That ever were sung or said;
For ye are living poems,
And all the rest are dead.

William

Wow...Just...Wow

While sitting at my house yesterday afternoon I heard the doorbell ring. When I answered, Aidan's cousin Jackson was standing there. It was then that I heard a string of words that were put together in a way that was very confusing. It went something like this. "Hi, can Aidan come out for a Snowball fight?" Of Course, since it's March in Texas, my brain took an extra long time to understand that sentence's meaning. I stood there for a second looking confused, and had no immediate answer. Aidan on the other hand, understood fine, and was actually walking out the door in a pair of sweat pants, no socks or shoes and wearing only an undershirt in less time than it took me to type this sentence. That's it, and to him that was perfectly normal. You see, Aidan had entered what I like to call the "SnowZone". For kids, it's where all unnecessary brain activity like self preservation and temperature acclimation cease to function, and thoughts of snowballs, snowmen, snowwars, and snowsleds and various other snowthings take their place. "Cool, let's go was all he had to say".

I on the other hand, though a kid at heart, was able to fight off the evil tempting "SnowZone" and insisted that he return to the warm confines of Camelot, and put on the proper battle attire." "Awe Dad, come on, I am missing out on fun time" Of course I heard those words like this: "Awe Dad, come on, I could have frost bite in no time" Well, simply put, the thought of having to explain to Lori why I let her son attend "Little FrioWayHorn" without shoes on his feet or a coat on his body, was certainly enough to convince me to get him bundled up.

Now on the subject of snow, what in the world is going on? We got 5 inches of white powdery snow here yesterday. Did I mention that it was March? Oh, I did, well I thought you might like to hear it again. IT'S SNOWING IN TEXAS IN MARCH! We did not get so much as a flake over WINTER, but now that spring has rolled around, we are suddenly Squaw Valley. How messed up is that? Oh, just to rub salt in the wound, while I am sitting here yesterday watching the winter wonderland form, I got a call from my buddy Ken. He and his wife Hailey were sitting at the airport, sipping on Bloody Marys, waiting for their plane to come in. What plane you asked? Oh, only the one that was taking them to Cabo San Lucus for 4 nights and 5 days. Yeah THAT one. Bad thoughts.....Oh, evil.....bad thoughts.....grrrrrrrrr.

Anyway, the boys and Mystic went on to have a wonderful time in the snow (Ok, I can't lie, me too). I was happy for all of them, and when Lori got home for work (after a 1 hr and 45 minute crawl along the tollway) she even got to participate in the snow melee. Good times...Good times.

Here are a couple of pictures that I took of the SnowMonkey and the SnowDog. I have also thrown in one of Christopher for no other reason other than he is cute.

Hope you like them.

Stay warm

William

Incongruous Manifestation

You know.....I am wondering if the snow fall in Frisco yesterday now grants me a certain inalienable right to slap Al Gore upside in his Huge Global Warming Noggin the next time I see him. I mean, shouldn't that allow me one free "slap the looney" card? Snowing in Texas in March, are you kidding me? Global warming......please??????? I have seen it all.

Just think, 50 , 30 , ok...ok...10 loooooooooong years ago, Lori and I were planning our outside wedding for this exact month. Do you think snow ever crossed our minds? Do you think that we ever asked the Arboretum coordinator for her "Snow Contingency Plan"? She would have laughed us right out of the building. No, I take that back, now that I remember her, I do not believe that laughter was an expression that she was familiar with. No, now that I remember what she was like, she would have "frowned and complained" us right out of the building. Oh yes that's her......she had a gift.

Anyway, before I fainted from the surprise, I was able to snap a picture of the snow fall. Here it is in all it's glory.

Now that I have documented evidence of snowfall in Texas in March, I have set my sights on UFO's, Bigfoot, and Flying Pigs. Stay tuned for the unprecendeted, earth-shattering photos to follow.


William

P.S. Al..... if you happen to be reading this, you have my permission to use the above picture for you next book, "An Irrelevant Truth"

Tiempos dos de los deportes

Well, Charlie survived his day on the diamond. Not only did he survive, he thrived. Not to toot my own horn or anything, but the boy is a chip off the ol' block. One could say, "the acorn did not fall far from the tree". Of course to understand that colloquialism, one must understand that the tree being referenced here would be the young strong sapling that once stood in the spot that is now being occupied by the old, huge, neglected Oak. What.....what was that smarty-pants.........I know...I know.....it's tough to visualize.....but try anyway.

Aidan did really good at this first practice. He hit the ball well, he threw the ball well, and he even caught the ball better than expected. I'm not going to sit here and tell you that he doesn't need plenty of work, but he was comfortable in the enviorment, and seemed at ease with all that was being asked of him. A natural you ask?.....well, let's not cross that bridge yet. Let's at least wait until his second practice before we make that decision. ;-)

It was unfortunate that we had to leave baseball practice early, but Aidan had to get his soccer team pictures taken. We got to go to Pizza Hut Park, which is the home field of FC Dallas, which is the city's professional soccer team. The team got to go down on the field to get their pictures made. They all got a real "kick" out of that. Get it....a real "kick".....oh yeah....soccer humor baby! Here are a few pictures of the monkeys getting their pictures made.




Here is one of Christopher in his stroller. He loved seeing all the kids running around.

After the pictures, we went to the soccer complex down the street, and Aidan had his second game. Again Aidan did fantastic, scoring a goal and preventing two others by running down two separate breakaways. By the end of the game, it was hard to tell what was the darker shade of crimson....Aidan's face, or his jersey. He was whipped, and his parents and his brother were equally as tired. We piled back into the CX-9, and Aidan was visiting dreamland before our 10 minute journey home was even completed. He earned it. As for me and the misses.....we also earned our delicious frozen adult beverage....which we gladly consumed with dinner after we got home.

Speaking of dinner, I cooked burgers and hotdogs, and corn of the cob on the grill last night. It all turned out fantastic, and the Monkeyboy of ours really must have worked up an appetite. He ate two complete Ball Park hotdogs with buns, and a full corn on the cob for dinner last night. He topped that off with desert, and then drifted off into a peaceful well deserved sleep. It was quite a day.

William

Good Grief.....Gameday baby!

The Thornton household is filled today with an electric buzz. Aidan will be pushing the sports envelope today, attending his first Tball practice, immediately followed by Soccer team pictures, immediately followed by his second Soccer game of the season. Somewhere, tiny hairs are standing straight up on Bo Jackson's neck as shards of fear pierce his subconscious, for deep down he knows there is a new threat to his all time greatest dual sport status. Ummm....Ok....maybe I am getting a little ahead of myself....Ok.....maybe a lot ahead of myself, but as you can probably guess everybody around here is pretty excited.

I must admit, I am a bit concerned about Tball practice. You see, Aidan can hit like Ruth and throw like Ryan, but right now he catches like Charlie Brown.


That last part has Mom and Dad both worried that blood and bruises are going to be a regular visitors for foreseeable future. Man, I hope that's not the case, but if any of the other kids can throw as hard as Aidan, and the ball is coming right for him, he is meat.

Hopefully if he makes it through Tball without too many subdermal hematomas, he will still have enough energy to kick some Soccer booty during his game later this afternoon. Judging from past experience, Aidan's running out of energy is approximately equal to this blog winning a Pulitzer. In other words, it's just not going to happen. As far as Mom and Dad's energy goes, well the jury's still out. We will both probably be ready for a cold adult beverage, and a long nap by the end of the afternoon. Rest assured, I will be at both events, camera in hand, to document the day's events.

Stay tuned...Pictures and story to follow.

William