It's been a pretty slow here at the Thornton household since my last blog. Both of Aidan's games got canceled last weekend because of inclement weather, and we mostly stayed around the house. Aidan and Lori ventured out on Sunday and went to the movies with Cricket, Wyatt and Jackson. They saw Monsters vs. Aliens and really liked it.
Christopher and I stayed here and played the "let's see what I can get into next" game. Oh.....it was loads of fun. I lost.
It's hard to believe it's already April. So far, this year has been a blur. Aidan only has 10 weeks of school left, and then he will officially be a 2nd grader. Wow, that is hard to believe. His transformation from a "little boy" to a "kid" has gone by too quickly. While I have enjoyed the ride, I must say it is sad to see that portion of his life ride off into the sunset. The good new is I still have one that is cuddling age. The bad news is he is also growing up too fast. Like they say, hug'em while you can.
We are all looking forward to Nana coming into town this week. She will be here on Wednesday night, and will be here through Easter. She and Lori and Cricket are going down to Austin this weekend for a race. Dianne (Nana) will be doing the 5K and Lori and Cricket will be doing the half marathon. Let's all wish them luck.
At the same time, I could also use a good luck charm myself. You see, while they are off chasing their Chariot's of Fire, I will be here taking care of the monster boys by my lonesome. This includes one soccer game, one baseball game, and Aidan's baseball pictures....all on Saturday. Gulp. If I live through that, it will be me, Christopher, and Aidan doing "guy things" for the rest of the weekend! Ahhhhh...Ahhhhhh....Ahhhhhhh...Ahhhhhh. (In my best Tim Allen Grunt)
William
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Cock-A-Doodle-Doh!
Last week was Aidan's very first "Wow, I get to stay home from school for a whole week" spring break. We decided to take advantage of the week by making a trip to Lori's parent's ranch in Tennessee. I always love going to their place, and always look forward to visiting the country. The only unfortunate byproduct of such a trip is the always dreaded ............. take the 18 month old on a plane phenomenon. For those of you that have never had the pleasure of experiencing such a phenomenon, congratulations on the extra years of life you still have in your possession. For those of you that have been "lucky" and brave enough to conquer such a monumental excursion, bow your heads for a moment of silence to pay homage to the years of your life that vanished amongst the screeching cries, stinky diapers, and furrowed brows of irritated passengers.
We got the to airport in plenty of time, and even made it through security in a pretty timely manner. Things were looking up. They remained up until we boarded the plane. Christopher decided that it was just way too quiet on that plane, and he needed to throw a fit before takeoff. It was about that time that essence of life started exiting my pores at an alarming pace. "Uhhhhhhhhhhh.....please start this plane and take off where this boy will stop crying and go to sleep". I must give Lori credit. She handles these situations much better than me, and I can only imagine how tough it is to actually be the one holding the little monster while exacerbated death stares surround your position. He finally went to sleep after take off, and was relatively quiet the remaining flight.
Nana picked us up at the airport, and after a quick trip through the drive thru at Mickey D's we were on our way to the farm. About an hour and a half later we arrived at the ranch, and one deep breath of that crisp mountain air made all of stress just float away.
The first few days we were there it rained.....and rained......and then rained some more. There was lots of time indoors playing dominoes, playing games, watching basketball, and just relaxing. It was fun, but we were all getting a bit stir crazy and wanted to go exploring outside. By the third morning, the rain had stopped, the fog was lifting, and blue skies were starting to show.
It was still a bit nippy outside, and we all enjoyed the warm fire in the fireplace.
By late morning it was absolutely beautiful.
Blue skies meant it was time to play, and Nana and Aidan jumped on the Gator.
"Hey....watch out for the photographer!" While they drove down to feed the chickens and horses and cows, Lori and Christopher and I went to take some pics of the scenery. Oh....and what beautiful scenery it is.........
By the next day it had dried up so much, we went uphill to play on the swing set. It was still a bit muddy (notice everybody's groovy boots), but that did not deter the fun. Christopher and Aidan really loved swinging on the swings, and climbing the "rock" wall. Christopher's favorite thing by far was the slide. He loved the slide, and wore out Nana and Lori.
Aidan loved swinging out as far as he could on the mountain side.
Now this is the look of a boy having fun with his Nana.
Here's Christopher having fun with his da da.
What an incredible view from up here on the playground.
The beautiful day was capped off with a stunning sunset. The camera does not even begin to do this sunset justice. There were so many colors in the sky, and it was so beautiful, it was almost indescribable.
The next morning we woke up to another beautiful day. The main thing on the agenda for the day was to go fishing. Aidan was really excited about fishing, and he let us know about ........ um.....50 times before we actually went. We left Nana and PawPaw in charge of Christopher, while Lori and Aidan and I went down to the pond. It did not take long for Aidan to hooked his first fish, and we were able to capture a picture of that monster before we released him back to the deep.
We all caught some fish, and had lots of fun.
We spent the next couple of days playing outdoors during the day, watching March Madness during the evening, and playing dominoes and Monopoly at night. On our second to last day, we went over to PawPaw's parents house for a short visit. Christopher was looking mighty handsome. Here he is with momma and da da.
Aidan had lots of fun playing by the creek that runs in front of their house.
It really is a beautiful area.
Out last morning was spent packing and getting our minds right for our plane ride home. We took a couple of pictures before we left, and then we headed on our journey home.
The plane ride home was one of our least enjoyable memories to date. Christopher was an absolute hellion, and was so distraught at one point, that the flight attendant asked Lori to go to the front of the plane with the boy. I guess there were fewer people to distract while sitting in the very first row. Needless to say, Lori was really embarrassed. Christopher did much better once he was up front, but he did not sleep the whole way home. Not good. Lori deserves a medal for her unwavering dedication and nerves of steel.
We did finally make it home late Friday afternoon. It's always a bit depressing leaving such beautiful scenery and then coming into our house and looking out the window. Talk about a major difference. Wow.
We had a wonderful time, and once again Steve and Dianne were fantastic hosts. We are already looking forward to our next trip up to Tennessee......one that will probably be.....driven.
William.
PS. I told Aidan I would not tell this story, but it's just too funny to keep to myself. (PLEASE CLICK THE PLAY BUTTON WITH THE WORD ROOSTER ABOVE IT. IT IS LOCATED ON THE UPPER RIGHT SIDE OF THE PAGE. AFTER CLICKING PLAY PLEASE SCROLL BACK DOWN HERE AND CONTINUE READING) About the third day we were there, Aidan and I went exploring. We were in the Horse stable when I decided to go out of the side door and walk over to one of the other cabins that Nana and PawPaw have on their property. Aidan said that he would meet me there, but he wanted to go down by the chicken house and wash his muddy hands off in a rain barrel that was right beside the coup. I made it to the cabin, and I was on the porch of the house sitting in a swing as Aidan finished washing his hands. He was a couple of hundred feet away, and after washing his hands, he starting walking up the road, and making his way up to the cabin. As he left the road and started up the hill, I noticed a Rooster peek his head out of the coup. At first I did not think anything about it, but suddenly the theme from JAWS popped into my head. The Rooster started stalking Aidan, who was unaware of the impending doom. I thought to myself "surely that Rooster is just showing off and has no real intention of attacking".......boy was I wrong. Aidan had left the road and was about 6 feet up the hillside when the Rooster went into his frenzy. No sooner did I get the words out "Lookout Aidan, that Rooster's coming after you" he was already on Aidan's back, and poor Aidan was already tumbling down the hill. Now, judging from the Ungodly blood curdling scream that was emitting from Aidan's mouth, you would have thought the Rooster might have died from fright, but that was not the case. Instead, he was attached to Aidan like a cat to a scratching post. Aidan was tumbling down the hill end over end, and screaming bloody murder. I leaped up from my swing, and made a bee line to the boy. I reached him after he had tumbled down 20 feet of the mountain, and I punted that Rooster off the boy's back. I have never seen Aidan that shook up. He was crying uncontrollably. After checking him out for cuts and bruises, I walked him back to the house. He came out of it with just one scratch on his back, and a buttkicking he will not soon forget. He did show his bravery later, and went right back in that chicken coup with Nana to collect eggs. He just took a big stick with him.....just in case. The lessons he learned........Roosters are MEAN.
Most importantly : Roosters don't sleep...they WAIT!
We got the to airport in plenty of time, and even made it through security in a pretty timely manner. Things were looking up. They remained up until we boarded the plane. Christopher decided that it was just way too quiet on that plane, and he needed to throw a fit before takeoff. It was about that time that essence of life started exiting my pores at an alarming pace. "Uhhhhhhhhhhh.....please start this plane and take off where this boy will stop crying and go to sleep". I must give Lori credit. She handles these situations much better than me, and I can only imagine how tough it is to actually be the one holding the little monster while exacerbated death stares surround your position. He finally went to sleep after take off, and was relatively quiet the remaining flight.
Nana picked us up at the airport, and after a quick trip through the drive thru at Mickey D's we were on our way to the farm. About an hour and a half later we arrived at the ranch, and one deep breath of that crisp mountain air made all of stress just float away.
The first few days we were there it rained.....and rained......and then rained some more. There was lots of time indoors playing dominoes, playing games, watching basketball, and just relaxing. It was fun, but we were all getting a bit stir crazy and wanted to go exploring outside. By the third morning, the rain had stopped, the fog was lifting, and blue skies were starting to show.
It was still a bit nippy outside, and we all enjoyed the warm fire in the fireplace.
By late morning it was absolutely beautiful.
Blue skies meant it was time to play, and Nana and Aidan jumped on the Gator.
"Hey....watch out for the photographer!" While they drove down to feed the chickens and horses and cows, Lori and Christopher and I went to take some pics of the scenery. Oh....and what beautiful scenery it is.........
By the next day it had dried up so much, we went uphill to play on the swing set. It was still a bit muddy (notice everybody's groovy boots), but that did not deter the fun. Christopher and Aidan really loved swinging on the swings, and climbing the "rock" wall. Christopher's favorite thing by far was the slide. He loved the slide, and wore out Nana and Lori.
Aidan loved swinging out as far as he could on the mountain side.
Now this is the look of a boy having fun with his Nana.
Here's Christopher having fun with his da da.
What an incredible view from up here on the playground.
The beautiful day was capped off with a stunning sunset. The camera does not even begin to do this sunset justice. There were so many colors in the sky, and it was so beautiful, it was almost indescribable.
The next morning we woke up to another beautiful day. The main thing on the agenda for the day was to go fishing. Aidan was really excited about fishing, and he let us know about ........ um.....50 times before we actually went. We left Nana and PawPaw in charge of Christopher, while Lori and Aidan and I went down to the pond. It did not take long for Aidan to hooked his first fish, and we were able to capture a picture of that monster before we released him back to the deep.
We all caught some fish, and had lots of fun.
We spent the next couple of days playing outdoors during the day, watching March Madness during the evening, and playing dominoes and Monopoly at night. On our second to last day, we went over to PawPaw's parents house for a short visit. Christopher was looking mighty handsome. Here he is with momma and da da.
Aidan had lots of fun playing by the creek that runs in front of their house.
It really is a beautiful area.
Out last morning was spent packing and getting our minds right for our plane ride home. We took a couple of pictures before we left, and then we headed on our journey home.
The plane ride home was one of our least enjoyable memories to date. Christopher was an absolute hellion, and was so distraught at one point, that the flight attendant asked Lori to go to the front of the plane with the boy. I guess there were fewer people to distract while sitting in the very first row. Needless to say, Lori was really embarrassed. Christopher did much better once he was up front, but he did not sleep the whole way home. Not good. Lori deserves a medal for her unwavering dedication and nerves of steel.
We did finally make it home late Friday afternoon. It's always a bit depressing leaving such beautiful scenery and then coming into our house and looking out the window. Talk about a major difference. Wow.
We had a wonderful time, and once again Steve and Dianne were fantastic hosts. We are already looking forward to our next trip up to Tennessee......one that will probably be.....driven.
William.
PS. I told Aidan I would not tell this story, but it's just too funny to keep to myself. (PLEASE CLICK THE PLAY BUTTON WITH THE WORD ROOSTER ABOVE IT. IT IS LOCATED ON THE UPPER RIGHT SIDE OF THE PAGE. AFTER CLICKING PLAY PLEASE SCROLL BACK DOWN HERE AND CONTINUE READING) About the third day we were there, Aidan and I went exploring. We were in the Horse stable when I decided to go out of the side door and walk over to one of the other cabins that Nana and PawPaw have on their property. Aidan said that he would meet me there, but he wanted to go down by the chicken house and wash his muddy hands off in a rain barrel that was right beside the coup. I made it to the cabin, and I was on the porch of the house sitting in a swing as Aidan finished washing his hands. He was a couple of hundred feet away, and after washing his hands, he starting walking up the road, and making his way up to the cabin. As he left the road and started up the hill, I noticed a Rooster peek his head out of the coup. At first I did not think anything about it, but suddenly the theme from JAWS popped into my head. The Rooster started stalking Aidan, who was unaware of the impending doom. I thought to myself "surely that Rooster is just showing off and has no real intention of attacking".......boy was I wrong. Aidan had left the road and was about 6 feet up the hillside when the Rooster went into his frenzy. No sooner did I get the words out "Lookout Aidan, that Rooster's coming after you" he was already on Aidan's back, and poor Aidan was already tumbling down the hill. Now, judging from the Ungodly blood curdling scream that was emitting from Aidan's mouth, you would have thought the Rooster might have died from fright, but that was not the case. Instead, he was attached to Aidan like a cat to a scratching post. Aidan was tumbling down the hill end over end, and screaming bloody murder. I leaped up from my swing, and made a bee line to the boy. I reached him after he had tumbled down 20 feet of the mountain, and I punted that Rooster off the boy's back. I have never seen Aidan that shook up. He was crying uncontrollably. After checking him out for cuts and bruises, I walked him back to the house. He came out of it with just one scratch on his back, and a buttkicking he will not soon forget. He did show his bravery later, and went right back in that chicken coup with Nana to collect eggs. He just took a big stick with him.....just in case. The lessons he learned........Roosters are MEAN.
Most importantly : Roosters don't sleep...they WAIT!
Monday, March 23, 2009
Saturday, March 14, 2009
STEEL
11 years ago today I made the best decision of my life.
Most of the time, when someone makes a statement like this, it requires quite a tale to support such a boast. Not this time. This time all it took was my reciting two simple words. Those two words provided the cornerstone to my existence, and have given me incalculable happiness. What are these magical words you ask?
"I DO"
Thank you Lori for 11 wonderful years. I could not have found a better mother, a better friend, a better wife, or a better person than you.
William
Most of the time, when someone makes a statement like this, it requires quite a tale to support such a boast. Not this time. This time all it took was my reciting two simple words. Those two words provided the cornerstone to my existence, and have given me incalculable happiness. What are these magical words you ask?
"I DO"
Thank you Lori for 11 wonderful years. I could not have found a better mother, a better friend, a better wife, or a better person than you.
William
Friday, March 13, 2009
What The Duck?
So, I'm sitting at the computer wondering if the rain would let up anytime soon, when lo and behold I received a sign.
Yep, that's our front yard, and yep that's two ducks that just landed there about 15 minutes ago. We might be in trouble.
William
Yep, that's our front yard, and yep that's two ducks that just landed there about 15 minutes ago. We might be in trouble.
William
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Spring Foward
Yesterday's weather was fantastic, providing you were one of the following:
A) Kite
B) Sailboat
C) Windmill
If you were not one of the above, the weather proved challenging, and the wind elicited more than one "this is ridicules" response during Aidan's baseball practice and soccer game. Lori was also not to pleased to find out that in addition to her Saturday morning running groups' scheduled hill sprints yesterday, they would also be fighting the 35mph gust while doing so. Mmmmm...Mmmmmm doesn't that sound fun? It's no wonder why she looks so forward to 6:30am on Saturday mornings. I can't think of one other thing I would rather be doing at that time.............well.....Ok...I lied. What I meant to say was I cannot think of one other thing I would not rather be doing than running wind sprints up hill against a 35mph wind at 6:30am on Saturday mornings. That's about it in a nutshell.
Aidan's first baseball practice was yesterday, and it went great. He was a bit rusty, but I was very impressed with his hitting. With the weather, soccer, and some recent illnesses, we have not had very much time to practice. He picked up right where he left off last season, and he was stroking the ball pretty well. His first baseball game is April 4th, and by that time he should be in the groove.
His recent soccer games have been cold and miserable. In addition to the awful weather, his team has also been playing awful. They have just looked bad, and many of the kids were getting kind of discouraged. Yesterday, they broke out of the doldrums, and played like they wanted to be there. Aidan had his best game of the year, scoring 3 goals, and preventing at least 4-5. We were very happy with his effort, and he had a lot of fun.
Christopher is such a little devil. He is a handful, and getting more brave and more independent each and every day. You have to watch him like a hawk or he will be into something quicker than you can blink. Here is a picture that I took of Christopher the other day. He was playing with my reading glasses, and when he put them on, I thought the looked like the kid from Jerry Maguire.
Such a ham.
Such a ham.
I have to apologize for not blogging more recently. After building the new computer, I finally had a machine that would support the most recent video games. I got the game Fallout 3 about a month ago, and it is an absolute time eater. Hours seem like minutes when you are playing, and any "spare" (blogging time) that I have recently had, has been spent immersed in Post Nuclear Role Playing. I have however recently completed the game, so I now have most of my "spare" time back for blogging. So there you have it, you all have been deprived your weekly Thornton updates because of my video game weakness. You should all feel very important now.
Well, got to go. Lot's to do on this beautiful, windless day. I have already mowed the lawn, and I see a trip to Home Depot in my very near future. Lori wants new plants and flowers (Spring is Here!), so you know what that means..............Lori gets new plants and flowers. Gotta keep momma happy.
William
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