Shimmer Of Hope

As you know, we spent last weekend staying with our great friends Kenny and Hailey at their beach house in Galveston. It was a fantastic trip, and all of us are already stoked about a potential return trip in August. Our whole family just can't get enough of the ocean. As for Aidan and Christopher go, I find myself having to second check their feet to make sure they are not webbed. As much time as they spend in the water, one begins to wonder if somewhere down the line, there is some type of amphibian occupying a space in the family tree.

We left for the beach around 12:45pm on Thursday afternoon. I know what you are thinking...."Didn't Aidan have to miss school?" Well, yes....yes he did, and let me tell you, he was all broken up over it. Cried the whole way down. :-( Obviously, that is far from the truth, and in actuality Lori and I felt pretty guilty about his truancy. We just figured that he had only missed 1 day of school this year, and they were having the end of the year talent show on the day that he missed. Missing talent show = no big deal. He had perfect attendance for the first three, "nine week" sessions. Anyway, we made really good time with only one stop in Centerville on our way down. The good news was we made really good time getting to Houston. The bad new was, we hit downtown Houston at 4:45 in the afternoon. Uhhhhhh.....rush hour. All I have to say is their city engineer must have worked for Spiro Graph before being hired on by the city of Houston. You would not believe me if I tried to explain the complexity involved in finding and getting on the HOV route. That guy or girl should be fired on the spot.

Once we made it through the concrete maze in downtown, the traffic in the HOV lane was cruising south at a steady 70 mph. Wooo Hooo. We were passing some serious cars stuck in regular traffic, and suddenly the "labyrinth of frustration" did not seem so bad. We got to Kenny and Hailey's beach house in Sea Isle about 6:30pm. After unpacking the car, and getting our stuff upstairs, I made a trip to the closest grocery store, and bought a couple of frozen pizzas. We ate a quick dinner, hopped in Kenny and Hailey's ultra sweet jumbo monster mudd'in golf cart, and drove to the beach.

By the time we got there, the sun was just starting to go down. We did not have time to swim, but just being there and hearing the waves crashing and smelling that salty air made all of the anxiety of the trip instantly evaporate. We stayed for about 20 minutes, just enough time for Aidan to disobey our pleas to stay dry, so we headed home with one soaking wet boy. Hey, what are you going to do. Keeping a 6 year old out of the ocean while his dog is standing in butt deep water egging him on is practically impossible.

We got back to the beach house just in time to snap this:


Wow, just magnificent.

Kenny and Hailey got in town about 9:00pm, and after visiting for a while, we all made it to bed at a decent hour. We all knew the kids would be up an some ungodly hour in the morning repeating over and over....."when are we going to the beach"..."is it time yet"..."how much longer"....etc..

We got up early as expected, and Hailey made a scrumptious breakfast casserole. MmmmmmmMmmmmmm it was gooooooooooood! After digesting, Kenny and I headed out to purchase Friday night's steaks, and Saturday night's Shrimp. Lori and Hailey went to Wal-Mart to do some last minute grocery shopping. After everybody returned, we finally made it out to the beach.


Just seeing the look on Christopher face as he would run in and out of the water was simply intoxicating. He is such a little ham.


Aidan just flat out loves the water. 95% of the time we are at the beach, he is either submerged or riding his boogie board. Here he is making his way out of the water, with the ever protective and watchful Mystic not far behind.


She looks after those boys while they are in the water, like a Great Pyrenees watching his flock. We could not ask for a better companion for our children.

After we got back to the beach house, Kenny and I fired up the Charcoal and got ready for some serious steak grilling. Mmmmmm....Steak........
Lori and Kenny and Hailey went for the filets, while I stuck with my favorite...a delicious Rib-eye. Kenny cooked them to perfection, and with the addition of the roasted corn on the cob, salad, and sautéed mushrooms, we gorged ourselves. After dinner, while the kids were watching movies, I peeked over and noticed Aidan doing this,


while Christopher and Carley were doing this,


Yep, even the 4 year old, and the 21 month old stayed up longer than the uber tired 6year old.

After getting the kids to bed, Lori and Hailey and Kenny and I made our way downstairs, and played darts, drank, laughed, and smoked cigars into the wee hours of the morning. Good times. Our good friend Kirk drove in from Houston and got there a little after midnight, and it was certainly enjoyable seeing him again. We finally got to bed about 2:00am, as visions of the much anticipated annual Memorial Day Weekend horseshoe tournament danced in my head. Oh yeah, in a few short hours, it would be, once again, time for the "King of the Beach" to make his appearance. I'm sure most of the other entrants laid awake most of the night shivering in fear. Ok, maybe not....hell to tell you the truth, most of them had probably actually thrown a horseshoe in the last 365 days, unlike the current "King of the Beach"

Saturday morning started out beautiful, but as the morning wore on, an ominous dark presence was rolling in. Thunder clouds, with malice on their minds, slowly engulfed the blue sky. By the time the tournament started at "high noon" the question was not if it would rain, but when. That question was answered during the very first set of games. It rained hard on and off for about 2 hours, but that did not keep the 12 two man teams from competing. Some competed more than others, and it makes me sad to say, my partner and I were eliminated in the quarter finals. My "King of the Beach" title and trophy are now only distant memories. Vengeance will be mine.......next year! Here is a shot of the loser (me) getting ready to pitch some shoes.


While I was playing shoes, Lori had her hands full with the little Rooster boy. Luckily there were quite a few toys to capture his very short attention span, and he even had a little 3 year old girl playing companion to pass the time with.


Here is a picture of Aidan sitting on the back of Ken and Hailey's golf cart looking mirthful.


We stayed at the beach until late afternoon, and then headed back to the beach house about 5:30pm. We needed to start working on the shrimp, and dinner was to be followed with cupcakes that Lori made for Hailey's birthday. The 7 pounds of cream chess jalapeno stuffed shrimp we cooked turned out just as mouthwatering as it sounds. Lord they were delicious. After the feast, everybody went outside on the upstairs deck, and sang Happy Birthday for Hailey. Here she is blowing out the candles with eager children surrounding her.


Speaking of eager children, here is a shot of the children surrounding the cupcake dish.


It reminded me of watching the discover channel as the lion pride encircles the local watering hole. You just know that carnage is soon to follow, and follow it did.

After getting the kids to bed, we once again went downstairs, and celebrated life and friendship. Our friends are really quite something. You can not see each other for 6 months, and as soon as you are in each other's presence, the comfort level is immediate, and conversations flow like water. How great is that.

Sunday morning we woke to more dark clouds. There was a neighborhood crawfish boil scheduled on the agenda for the day, and showers would not be appreciated. 110 pounds of crawl daddy's were purchased and cooked, along with bags and bags of potatoes and corn. Yummy. The rains eventually did come, so after eating, we retired to the beach house and set up a water slide for the kids. As you can see from the following pictures, the kids had an absolute blast on the slide.


After getting out of the water slide, Christopher challenged Lori to a lightsaber (noodle) duel. On Guard!


We all were wiped out on Sunday night, but that did not stop us from have a great game of Texas hold'em. Hailey, Kirk, Kenny and Lori and I stayed up for hours playing. It was great, and for it being Lori's first time to play, she did remarkably well. It's a good thing that Aidan was already in bed, or he would have probably cleaned us all out. That boy is a card playing fool.

We got up Monday morning early knowing it was our last day. We set out for the beach at 9:00am in the morning. The weather was gorgeous, and the water was still. Lori snapped this picture of the boys right after we got there, and I thought it turned out fantastic. (click to enlarge) I call it "Shimmer of Hope".


Here is one of Lori, Aidan, Christopher, and the ever protective Mystic enjoying family time.


You know, the island has done a pretty remarkable job of cleaning up most of the debris left from the devastation left by hurricane Ike. Some stretches of the beach you would never even know that there was such a violent storm less than a year ago.


While others like this one are still waiting for repairs.


With the water so calm, Kenny broke out one of his rod and reels, and did his best to hook a lunker.


Aidan and I were content floating on our boogie boards and soaking up the sun.


In the mean time, Carley and Christopher we soaking up some Zzzzzz's in the back of the CX-9.


We stayed at the beach until a little before noon, and then made the sad journey back to the beach house. I started packing up our things, and after showering and having lunch, we started our journey home about 2:00. Just before we left, we shot a few parting pictures. Kirk and Christopher.


Our gracious host Kenny and Hailey with a portion of their sweet golf cart showing in the background.


And finally....the gang.


We got home a little over 5 hours later, and all of us were left longing. We can't wait to go back.

Once again Kenny and Hailey, thanks for having us down. It was awesome.

William

Ocean Bound

Out of the Rolling Ocean, the Crowd.
by Walt Whitman

OUT of the rolling ocean, the crowd, came a drop gently to me,
Whispering, I love you, before long I die,
I have travel’d a long way, merely to look on you, to touch you,
For I could not die till I once look’d on you,
For I fear’d I might afterward lose you.

(Now we have met, we have look’d, we are safe;
Return in peace to the ocean, my love;
I too am part of that ocean, my love—we are not so much separated;
Behold the great rondure—the cohesion of all, how perfect!
But as for me, for you, the irresistible sea is to separate us,
As for an hour, carrying us diverse—yet cannot carry us diverse for ever;
Be not impatient—a little space—Know you, I salute the air, the ocean and the
land,
Every day, at sundown, for your dear sake, my love.)


Today's the day. Lots of pictures and stories when we get home. Everybody have a safe and wonderful Memorial Day Weekend.

William

High Expectations

I know that I tend to go overboard when I start talking about Aidan playing baseball. I just can't help myself. He just looks like a ball player when he is on the field, and he has great fundamentals for a 6 year old.

Last week, during his game, there was a professional photographer on the field snapping photos of Aidan's game. I was lucky enough to get a few of those pictures today and I thought I would share them with all of you.

This first set consist of a three picture sequence of one of Aidan's plate appearances. Check out his concentration and form. (click on the picture to enlarge)


Now check out this picture of Aidan making a play in the field, and throwing the runner out at 1st base.


Now you can see why I say that Aidan looks the part. See the bat back and elbows up? See the rotation of the hips in his swing? See his weight transfer?(Right heel up, left toe down) See the wrist turning over to complete his swing? See him stepping toward his target on his throw, and his follow through? Those are all fundamentals that normally take a long time to learn. He's definitely a quick learner.

I can't wait to see what kind of player he develops into as he gets older.

William

Mother's Day Fun

This past weekend we loaded up the boys and drove down to visit my mother and my brother for Mother's Day weekend. I am ashamed to say that it has been far too long since we have seen Grandma and Uncle Jim, but with Aidan's baseball and soccer games every weekend, combined with Lori's weekend call and various other commitments, it's just been hard to get away. Still, there is really no excuse good enough to justify the amount of time since our last visit, and it won't happen again.

We were able to get away pretty early on Friday afternoon, and left about 4:20pm. Traffic stunk in downtown Dallas, but other than the 30 minutes it took to go 1/2 a mile in downtown, we made really good time. We arrived at Grandma's house a little after 7:00pm, and we were greeting with a big smile, big hugs, and lots of yummy food. The boys made a bee line to Grandma's backyard while Lori and I unpacked, and got dinner plates ready for the boys. After eating, we visited for a while, and finally put Christopher down about 8:30pm. Aidan followed Christopher's lead, and got in his bed about an hour later. Lori and I were pretty beat, and we too went to bed pretty early.

Saturday morning came bright and early as usual, and I got up and made delicious pancakes. Mmmmmmm......pancakes......... After breakfast, we took advantage of the beautiful weather. I washed mom's convertible, while Aidan and Christopher and Lori played outside in the backyard. Like I said in the past, Grandma's backyard is really big with lush St. Augustine grass. The boys love running around shoeless, chasing Mystic around the yard, swinging, and playing ball. Here is a picture of Aidan and Christopher goofing off on Grandma's swing.


After they played in the back for a while, and after I finished washing the car, Aidan and I decided to take Grandma's little convertible for a spin. Wow, I cannot begin to tell you how much fun her MX-5 Miata hardtop convertible is. It drives like it is connected to rails, and you cannot help but smile the whole time you are behind the wheel. The car really is amazing. If anyone is ever looking for a serious mood enhancer, get you one of these cars. There is no way to get out of that car after driving it without feeling better.

While Aidan and I were out and about, I got a call telling me that uncle Jim had made it over to the house. We drove home right away. It did not take long before we were all in the backyard playing baseball. Here is a short video of Aidan taking a swing at one of my pitches. Take a look at his technique.


Pretty darn good for a 6 year old. Christopher wanted his turn, but he had to settle for wearing the batting helmet, and holding the miniature wooden baseball bat.


If he is anything like his brother, it won't be long until he is hitting off a tee. Man, I can't wait!

We played outside for the majority of Saturday, and we were all pretty worn out. Grandma made some delicious ribs for dinner, and we all feasted like there was no tomorrow. Mmmmmm.....ribs.......... The boys got to bed at a decent hour, and Grandma and Lori followed soon after. Jim and I stayed up visiting and watching movies until 2:30am Sunday morning, when I finally had to throw in the towel and hit the sack. I was really tired, and the 4 hours of sleep that I got felt like minutes. Oh the joys of children...........

Sunday was Mother's Day, and we started it off by giving Grandma and Lori their gifts. They loved their cards and gifts, and we are lucky to have such wonderful women in our lives. The rest of the day was spent like Saturday, spending most of the time playing outside and visiting with Grandma and Uncle Jim. After eating a wonderful afternoon dinner of Spaghetti, we said our goodbyes and headed home about 6:00pm.

We got home about 8:30, and all of us were really tired. We all went to bed early.

We had a great time at Grandma's house, and I can assure you it will not be very long before we go back. Thanks Grandma and Uncle Jim for always being such wonderful host. We love you both very much.

William

All Ahead Full Throttle

I know.....it's been a while since I have written. Well at least this time I have a good excuse. Three weeks ago I had surgery, and I am finally starting to feel better. I certainly have not felt well enough to type out a witty blog.......or even a dull boring pointless one either. That has now changed, and I am ready to roll......so let get going.

Aidan had another baseball game last night. I get such a rush watching my little ball player take the field. It makes me feel young again, and always makes me swell with pride. He is learning more each game, and starting to figure out the nuances of the game. Baseball is pretty complicated, and to be played correctly requires a player to run through many progressions before making a play. Are there runners on base? How many outs? If it hit to the right side of the field, who is covering second? Is it a force play or do I need to tag the runner? Questions like that are simple for people that have grown up playing baseball, but downright knotty for a 6 year old. He made some awesome plays at pitcher last night, and fielded his position like a young Greg Maddox. He is still swinging the bat well, and working on his timing. Timing is the hardest thing to judge for a hitter. That is why major league hitters have such a hard time with the change up pitch. Once Aidan gets his timing down, his hard hit ground balls are going to turn into monster line drives. I can't wait.

Christopher is.....well.....difficult. I do not ever remember Aidan being so hard to control. He is non stop action, and you cannot take your eyes off of him for one minute. If you do, there is no telling what he will be doing or getting into. Some might think that I am exaggerating, but I am far from it. As a matter of fact, after reading to sentence above I might actually be sugar coating it. He is a little outlaw, and one tough little devil. Just yesterday at school, while coming inside from the playground he ran into another student. He hit the other student's head with his nose, and the head won. Christopher's nose starting bleeding like a stuck pig. Do you:

A) Think he started to cry?
B) Screamed for his momma?
C) Went about his business and when the teacher came over with a rag to stop the bleeding, pushed it away and asked for a drink of water?

If you guess C you are correct. The teachers could not believe that he did not cry. The other kids cried when they saw the blood, but Christopher took it like a man. They finally were able to wipe away the blood from his face, but he would not let them apply an ice pack. Nope, he wanted to play. Like I said, tough as nails.

Two weeks from tomorrow we will be heading to the beach to visit or great friends in Galveston. We are all very excited about the trip. Aidan cannot stop talking about it, and well....I am down right giddy myself. The only thing that I am a little upset about is the fact that I have not been able to exercise one bit since my surgery. I had been going to the gym 3-4 days a week and could see a difference. Well, that flew out the window over the last few weeks. I guess doing nothing but sitting on one's butt and eating will do that to a person. Oh well, I'm not going to let it get me down. My doctor cleared me yesterday to start exercising again, so I am going to make the best of these next two weeks. Since this will be over Memorial Day Weekend, I will be trying to defend my crown. What crown you ask? Well just go back to last May's blog and read all about it. KING OF THE BEACH baby!

Until next time,

William

Happiness Is.......

Seeing the magic in this boy's eyes each and every day.


Everybody should be so lucky.

William

Hippity Hoppity

Wow, has it really been two weeks since my last blog? Shame on me.

Christopher is growing up. Our little baby is now our little boy, and he now has a "big boy bed" to prove it.


He has adjusted very well to his new bed. When Aidan had this race car bed, he spent the first few weeks alternating between the bed and the floor next to his door. Christopher has not done that, and has been in his bed each morning that we have gone upstairs to get him. Smart kid.

As I told you in my last blog, (if you can remember that far back) Dianne came into town for two weeks. Everybody has been running her ragged since she got here, and I am sure she is enjoying some peaceful rest on her plane ride home this morning.

During Dianne's first weekend in town, she and Lori went to Austin to run in a race. Cricket was supposed to also run, but her boys got the flu and she had to stay in town with the sickos. Lori and Dianne stayed at the Lost Pines Resort just outside of Bastrop, and had a really good time. The race was on the property, and the scenery was stellar. Dianne ran/walked the 5K and Lori ran the 1/2 marathon. (13.1 miles) The weather was great and they really enjoyed themselves. Here is a picture of both of them at the finish line.


While they were there, they decided to do a bit of horseback riding. Here is both of them thar root'in toot'in popgun shoot'in cowgirls ready to ride to open range.


They left on a Friday and got home on Sunday just before noon. I was really, really, really, really happy to see them. I survived my weekend with Monkeyboy and Roosterboy, but I was ready for some help. Did I mention that I was happy they were home?

Last week absolutely flew by, as we visited with Nana as much as possible. Like I said before, I am quite sure that Nana needs a vacation from her vacation. Aidan and Christopher can be more than a handful, but when you also throw his cousins Wyatt and Jackson into the mix, it becomes a game of survival.

All the fun and games during the week led up to a wonderful Easter weekend. This Christopher's first egg hunt, and he was ready.


Aidan on the other hand is now a wily veteran, and has no problem finding the hard ones.


All the kids had a blast, and I must admit it's pretty fun watching them get so excited about something. There were plenty of smiles to go around.

We got cleaned up on Sunday morning and made our way over to Nana's house by 10:00am. We took some quick family pictures before the boys started getting crazy and dirty. Here is our beautiful family.


There was lots of candy a toys to go around and all of the boys were really having fun. Nana got all of the boys an Easter paddle ball and they were a hit. Here is Aidan posing with his.


Like I said, we all had a great time, and I would like to thank Dianne for her hospitality. Here she is posing with her youngest "baby".


I was a great two weeks and a whole lot of fun. Now it's back on a routine, with lots of baseball and soccer still to be played. I will post some videos of Aidan's first baseball game soon. Until then, Happy Easter and God Bless.

William

Calm Before the Storm

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

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!

6 Squared

Happy Birthday Lori!

We love you.

William, Aidan, and Christopher

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

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

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.

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

Down With The Sickness

For the last 4+ years, we have been really blessed with Aidan's health. He, unlike most kids, just never gets sick. Injured?........well that's a whole different animal indeed, but as far as viruses, and infections go, Aidan has been almost impervious. All that changed on Sunday when Aidan came down with a really nasty virus. He looked truly awful, and as any parent can attest, it's really difficult seeing one's child in so much discomfort.

Aidan was absolutely miserable, which in turn made us equally as miserable. Now our misery was not the viral kind, but instead stemmed from our feeling of helplessness. There is just not much you can do for viruses, you just kind of have to "ride" it out. NOT A FUN RIDE!

As a parent, there is probably no worse feeling in the world than to see your child hurting and not being able to fix it. I spent the last two days being Aidan's "cabana boy", catering to his every whim, but it hardly helped with his disposition. You know something is terribly wrong with your six year old son when you offer him cookies and ice cream and pizza and all he can muster is a whispered "nah, I'm just not hungry". The horror.....the horror.

His fever finally broke yesterday morning, and he took a very long nap in the afternoon. After waking up from his nap, he seemed like he might be turning the corner. We kept our fingers crossed during the night, and when he woke up this morning, he said he was ready to go to school. Let's hope he makes it through the day OK, and gets his appetite back. Unlike his father, that skinny monkeyboy does not need to lose anymore weight. Hopefully he will come home ravenous and in good spirits.

So far Christopher seems fine. We are praying that he stays that way. We do not need a 18 month old coming down with a viral infection. I'm not sure that daddy could handle it.

William

Oh Lord it's Hard to be Humbled

Well, Aidan's soccer season started off with a bang yesterday, and humble pie was served by the truckload. Wow, talk about a beating.....gesh.....I thought a one point they were going to have to stop the game to repair the net. Aidan, being the fierce competitor that he is, did not take the beating too well, and was visibly upset most of the game. He played his butt off, and we were very proud of his effort, but he could not do it alone. Two of his better teammates were sick and did not make it to the game, and there were just too many outstanding players on the other team for Aidan to make a difference. As a matter of fact, two of the players on the other team looked like they had done nothing but eat, sleep, and drink soccer since they were born. They were phenomenal players, with the ball skills of players twice their age. They could score at will.......and did. Like I said, it was quite humbling for Aidan's team and the parents. Oh well, there is always next game.

I did manage to get a couple of minutes of video of Aidan's game. Thankfully, this minute or so does not include the other team scoring. Please disregard the screaming madman in the background. His yelling did not help, but it did make him feel better.

William

Taking off Cruise Control

I know, I know, it's been too long since I last blogged. I would like to say that it's because I have been too busy, but that is really not the truth. The truth is, there just has not been too much going on lately. No sports, no birthdays, no special occasions, just everyday life. I figured most of you would not want to hear about such routine happenings.

All of that changed yesterday with soccer season officially up and running. Aidan had his first practice yesterday, and to say he was a bit rusty would be an understatement. I have never seen him huffing and puffing like that before. It was like watching a "mini me" after I started back to the gym last week. Both of us have a lot of work to do.

Christopher is becoming more independent each and every day. If his progression stays the same, he should be moving out in the next few months. No, not really, but let me tell you, he is a little firecracker. If it can be climbed and it's dangerous, he's your man......err....boy. I do not remember Aidan being such a Daredevil, and that's a scary thought. He is not quite talking yet, but it won't be long now. He can babble with the best of them. Now we just need to start his potty training. I cannot wait to get him out of diapers. It will be glorious!

I have not taken any new pictures lately, and for that I deserve to be flogged. I will make up for it in the next week, and I will post some new picture of the monkeys. They are growing up so fast.

William