Minor League Team.....Major League Fun!

Last night was the Frisco Baseball Association's team night at the Frisco RoughRiders minor league game. We have been looking forward to this for a couple of months. You get a ticket, a coupon for a hat, and all the brats, hot dogs, nachos, and sodas you can eat and drink for $15 dollars. What a deal. We got to the park about 6:30pm yesterday evening, and immediately got our 4 free hats. Pretty stinking nice hats too!

 

 After we got our hats, we hit the food line. Since it was so early, we walked right up to the front, and got all we wanted without any wait. Mmmmm....brats.....yummy. We took our seats a few minutes later, and waited for the game to begin. Aidan, was just about to tear into his first dog, when I snapped this pick of him with his teammates.


 

 I love baseball. If you have been reading this blog very long, you already knew that. For me, being at the ballpark with your family or with your boys is just about as good as it gets. The sound of the crowd, the smells, the ice cold beer, the sound of the ball as it cracks off the bat, and the fascination from the kids. It's just really fun, and it's easy to just lose yourself.




To have Christopher sitting right next to me wearing a baseball glove, telling me that he is going to protect me in case of a foul ball is irreplaceable. I just never forget incredible moments like that. They are worth more to me than anything else in this world. It reminds me of being an "Astro Buddy" when I was his age, and going to baseball games with my dad. I know he was up in heaven last night, smiling ear to ear. Me too dad...me too...

William

Field Of Dreams

You might have to bear with me for awhile.  I have always considered my family my muse, so if my writing seems somehow different and less than you are used to or expect, please forgive me.  It is going to take me a while to ween myself from the thoughts of "Happily Ever After", and focus on the boys and living day by day.  I will do my best.

Yesterday was sports day for Thornton Boys.  Yep, three glorious games.  Normally, we only have two, but this weekend they decided to add a second baseball game, and I have to be honest, it couldn't have come at a better time.  Nothing can take your mind off your troubles faster than watching your children laugh, focus, and compete in sports. 

The morning started with Aidan's 9:00am baseball game.  We were playing the Pirates, and they were tied with us at the time for third place in the league.  It was rather chilly in the morning, and I don't consider 49 degrees "baseball weather".   The team didn't seem to mind the cold, and their bats got hot early. 

In Aidan's first at bat, he hit an absolute screaming line drive to mid left field.  Lucky for the pirates, the left fielder didn't have to move a step in order to field the ball.  It was hit so hard, if it would have been two feet to the left or right of their fielder, it would have been past them and to the fence in a flash.  Aidan was held to a single.  In his next at bat, he hit a blooper to the short stop that he miss handled, and Aidan got on with the error.  The game was never really close, and we won 9-1.

After the game, we went home and got some rest before Christopher's 2:00pm soccer game.  I stopped by Kroger on the way home to purchase some ground Chicken to make "Chicken Burgers" for lunch.  I fired up the charcoal, and 40 minutes later we were stuffing our faces with tasty burgers. 

It was an absolutely beautiful day yesterday.  A little windy, but sunny and about 70 degrees.  Christopher's game started on time, and he was supposed to play the second and forth quarters.  Just as he was beginning his shift, he and another child collided, and Christopher had his hand stepped on with another player's cleat.  Needless to say, he was in a whole bunch of pain, and had to be taken out of the game.  By the time the third quarter rolled around, he was ready to play again.  He played well, and his defense prevented a couple of opposing goals.  All in all, his team rallied in the forth quarter to pull out the win by 1 goal.  I don't know who was more excited....the kids or the parents.  Here is a picture of my little soccer player from the game yesterday.

The final game of the day started at 6:00pm last night.  Aidan's team, The Express, were taking on the Dodgers.  Aidan was the starting pitcher for the game, and he was on fire.  We were the visiting team, and quickly scored 5 runs in the first.  The final three came from Aidan, as he hit a monster shot to deep center that made it's way to the fence on a few hops.  Aidan scooted around the bases, and had his third "in the park" home run of the season.  Aidan then went to the mound in the bottom of the first, and walked one and struck out three to end the inning.  In the top of the second, our team scored another 5 runs, and gave Aidan a 10-0 score to work with.  Again, he struck out the side in the bottom of the second.  As a matter of fact, every out recorded for our team was made by Aidan.  Yep, he pitched all three innings and had three strike outs per inning.  His final stats:  3 innings pitched, 9 strike outs, three walks, and most importantly........A NO-HITTER!  His team won 14-0 and I could not have been any more proud of the job he did.  How did he look to opposing players you ask?  Well...

Intimidating of course!

Three wins, no losses, lots of excitement and fun.  Thanks for taking my mind off things for a while.  I love these boys!

William

Sadly, A Different Direction

Well, I lied. Hope did not return, but I have.

With this blog, I have been sharing the ups and downs of this family for a few years now. The vast majority have almost always been uplifting antidotes about our family, and I really enjoyed writing them.  The reason that they were almost always uplifting was a direct reflection of our lives, and the wonderful marriage Lori and I shared.

As you might have guessed from my last post, some fairy tale marriages do not last forever. Sometimes you hit a bump in the road, and you do your best to try and fix things and keep moving forward. Sometimes that bump ends up being a wall.  Well, let me tell you, that wall came on with a vengeance.

Lori decided that she no longer wants to be married to me, and has officially filed for divorce.  I tried with all my heart and effort to make things right with her, but my efforts failed.  I hoped with every fiber of my being that we could get things fixed, and start traveling back down that road to happiness, but she obviously had other plans.   I am still deeply in love with Lori, who I will always consider my soul-mate. So as you might have guessed, I am extremely devastated.  Married for 15years and together for 17years.....now DONE.  Painful and Surreal.

If you would have asked me at the beginning of last year if there was even a remote possibility of writing this type of blog, I would have straight up laughed at you. I felt like the relationship that Lori and I had was impervious to any failings.  We just loved and cared for each other too much to let that happen.  I have, through the years, blogged exactly how I felt and feel about Lori.   I just thought that kind of stuff happened to other people. I mean hell, we'd made it 16 years without the slightest problems, why would it change? What could possible go wrong?  I still don't understand the "why", but I can tell you without a doubt, it's the worst feeling in the world to realized you are no longer loved.

I don't know what the future holds.  I'm scared, and very apprehensive about trusting anyone anymore.  That I know.  Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me.  What this has made me realize is;  I am a beautiful, naive, big-hearted 47 year old man, that still has a whole lot to learn about people. 

I know that I have two wonderful, handsome, healthy, outstanding boys that are here, and they need me.  I need them just a much. My devotion to them will never waiver.  They are my life, and as always, the reason for my existence.

Because of my love for them, and my need for attention, I've decided to keep this blog alive to share the wonderful experiences that I have with Aidan and Christopher.  I need the release, and I want to have all of our adventures chronicled so we can enjoy the emotions of the times for the rest of our lives.  

I am looking forward to being able to start writing uplifting stories again and posting pictures about the wonderful things that are happening with me and the boys.  It really won't be the same without the inclusion of Lori in our adventures, but it is what it is, and we'll make the best of it.

She will be truly missed.  

William

Into The Sunset

This is more than likely my final blog.  If hope ever returns, so will I.

Thank you for letting me share my thoughts and feelings with you all these years.  It's been a wonderful release for me, and I hope I was able to convey to you, just how joyous my life and my family have been to me.  When you are constantly in a state of bliss, the words just write themselves. 

I wish I would have starting writing this blog 15 years earlier.  I would give anything to have all of those wonderful times chronicled.  I know those memories will be all but forgotten, and it would have been nice to be able to go back and feel the emotion of the moment during those times.

Thank you again for all of the great, supportive comments you have made through the years.  They always made me feel special and motivated.  They will be missed.

Time to ride off.  Take care, and God Bless

William

A Farewell To Farms

On Wednesday we woke up early and ate a good breakfast.  We fed the animals, and then got cleaned up.  Dianne, Lori, the boys and I  decided to go to Jonesborough, Tennessee.  Jonesborough is a small town of approx 6000 people that was established in 1779.  It's Tennessee's oldest town.  It has a touristy feel, because of it's historical significance, and is lined with quaint shops of all kinds.  We got there in the early afternoon, and had lunch at a small restaurant called The Creekside Restaurant.  It was located on the courthouse square, and the food was southern home cooking.  Yummy!

After we ate lunch we decided to walk down main street to visit some of the shops.  Umm....next time we do this, please let it be much, much warmer.  The wind was whipping around 25 mph, and the temperature was around 40, so it was COLD!

The first place we ducked into was This wonderful Candy Store The owner was a super nice older man, and once he saw my Texas A&M shirt, we hit it off.  While the rest of the crew was frolicking in sugary heaven, he and I talked about the recent football season, and the current basketball season.  He of course was a huge Tennessee Volunteer fan, but he was quite welcoming to the new kids to the conference. We talked for a long time, and then we all purchased some great treats.

From there is was art shops, and import shops and general stores........you get the idea.  If it wasn't so cold, we would have visited many more, plus some really great looking museums.  As it stood, everyone was freezing their collective rear ends off, so we made a break for the car.  We all piled in, started to thaw out, and headed back to the farm.

We played around the farm the rest of the afternoon, and for dinner, I cooked some delicious Hawaiian and Caribbean Jerk chicken with grilled pineapple.   Mmmmm....Mmmmm....it was good!

After some challenging games of dominoes, we hit the hay around 11:00pm, all very tired. 

Thursday came too soon.  It was the day before we were leaving, and also Lori and my 15th anniversary.  I want to stop for a minute and say a little bit about that.

Lori and I have had a very memorable 15 years.  Most of it has been wonderful and joyous, and just like other couples,  some bumps along the way.  I would not trade a minute of my time with my beautiful wife, and all of the wonderful things that have come to fruition during our marriage have been a dream come true.

The 15th anniversary is the crystal anniversary.  With that theme, I sat out to find the perfect gift.  After much searching, I found a artist in Malaras, Sweden that produced just what I was looking for.   His name is Mats Jonasson, and I purchased his Tree of Life sculpture, and had it imported.  It came to the house back in December, and I had been hiding it with anticipation ever since.  I snuck it in the luggage, bubble wrapped of course, before we left.  I surprised Lori with it on Thursday, and she loved it.

She surprised me with a new Garmin running watch when we got home.  I love it, and now track all my runs.

Thank you Lori for saying "I DO" 15 years ago.  With apologies to Robert Frost.....It has made all the difference.

Anyway,  back to the farm.

Steve and I got up early on Thursday and went out on a quest for hay.  He had made previous arrangements to purchase 50 large rolls of hay from a dentist friend he knew, and we took the goose neck trailer to Greeneville, Tennessee to pick up the first 14 rolls.  Everything was going fairly smoothly until we reached the farm to pick up the hay, and discovered that the keys to the tractor that were supposed to be left for us, were no where to be found.  Grrrrr....... We ended up dropping off the trailer, and heading back to the farm.  A wasted trip.

After we got home, we piled into Dianne's SUV, and headed over to "Rocky Top Mountain" to observe the scenery.  It was stunning.

Creek waterfall

Small spring fed waterfall, complete with icicles.

View of the French Broad River.

Spring water seeping from the side of the mountain.

Beautiful Dead Tree on the side of the mountain standing guard.

It was simply beautiful up on the mountain, and I am really happy Dianne took us to see it.

After we got back to the farm, the boys and I went to the playground, while Dianne and Lori went to check on the horses.  It did not take the boys long to come up with a new game to play.  SWING SET KICK WAR!

Check out that playground view.......best ever????

We made our way over to the horse barn just in time for feeding.

As the feeding was going on, the boys decided it was a good time for......A LIGHTSABER WAR!!! (boys are so fun!)

We avoided any lightsaber limb adjustments, and made our way back to the house.  Steve cooked us some wonderful steaks for our anniversary dinner, and we shared a good bottle of wine with Steve and Dianne.  Our meal was topped off with this stunning sunset.

Wow.  Perfect.

Friday we got up and had to start getting ready for the airport.  We were all very sad to go.  We all had a great time.  Such fantastic memories.

William

PS.  Steve and Dianne are wonderful hosts, and I am really grateful for everything they do, and have done for us.  Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

40 Is The New 20

Happy 40th Birthday Lori!  Wow 40 years young.....seems like only yesterday I was being accused of robbing the cradle when you were 23.  My how time flies. 

I hope you have a wonderful birthday.  Thanks for staying so young, and especially for keeping me so young. 

I love you.
William

Wet and Wild

Ahhh....that break I took was just like the one that we had on Monday.  We woke up not so bright, but early on Monday morning to the sight of snow flurries.  Ughhh.....after the snow came the hard rain, and other than sneaking out for short trips to feed the animals, we were home bound for the day. 

Tuesday also had some snow flurries to start the morning, but it was nice enough to get out and about.  We ate a good breakfast, dressed warmly, and headed down to feed the animals.

If you have ever been lucky (or unlucky depending on their attitude at the time) enough to spend much time around 5 year old boys, you would know that each and every one of them suffer from an unquenchable urge.  They do not fight this urge, but welcome it with open arms (and flies).  What is this affliction I speak of........well.......

Why, peeing in the outdoors of course!  They think that is the coolest thing ever, and even if they can't squeeze out a drop.....well by God, the're going to drop those pants and try.  Christopher has mastered this art as Di Vinci mastered drawing.  He is a true prodigy.

After getting his business out of the way, Christopher joined Aidan and me as we watched Lori take her turn giving the young calf his daily bottle.

Aidan and Christopher lasted all of about 3 seconds before they got bored with that, and they went to the barn to see about investing in some mischief.  "Hey, wanna sit on these bales of Hay?" The oldest said innocently enough.  "Sure" responded the youngest as a wry grin spread across his red cheeks.   You could almost hear the clicking sounds emanating from their devious heads, as they both hatch their sinister plans. 

Hmmm.................so sweet and loving............just like good brothers should be..............dum de dum de dum..........................."HAY FIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

I believe if left to their own policing, they would have destroyed and thrown every bale of hay in that barn.  I of course stepped in before that could happen, and saved them from the terrifying consequences of such action.

I quickly diverted their attention to one of the tractors in the barn.  Before I could even ask them to jump up for a picture, they were already up there acting out the final scene from Thelma and Louis.

Now it was Christopher's turn..

It was tough getting them away from their barnyard playground, but we needed to head back up the the house.  On our way, I noticed that the water from the heavy rain the day before had started flowing over the road.  I thought it would make a pretty picture.

We stopped at the chicken coup so Christopher could get in his daily "petting" of a chicken.  He loves that, and he has now gotten where he can catch his own chicken to pet.  The youngest is all boy, and he may just be a farmer too.

While we were at the chicken house, I spotted a polar bear stalking us.

We got some loving from big ole bear, and headed back up to the house.

We spent the day playing around the house and on the playground, and looked forward to our trip to Jonesboro, TN we had planned for the following day.  As the evening came, I snapped a pick of a beautiful sunset.

Man, is that majestic.........


To be continued

William

Life's Grandeur

Last week was kind of a blur.  It went by so quickly, it seemed strange when we were heading to the airport to fly home.  "6 days....really...it's been 6 days already"?

Life in the country can do that to you.  You get lulled into such a sense of calm, where time just melts away.  You listen to the mountain streams gurgling in the crisp morning air, as the sun tries to peek over the mountain top.  You feel the warmth of the sun's rays as they finally crest over the poplar and chestnut trees still awash in the "smokey" mist.  You relish each breath as that clean, thin mountain air grasp and tickles your lungs.  Yep, it can certainly be intoxicating.

I'll try to share the experience as best I can.  It will be long, so I will have to break it up a bit.  You can click on each picture to get the full size version.  I hope you like it.  

We woke up early Saturday morning, and the whole family went to McKinney, Texas to participate in the Lucky Leprecan 1K and 5K race.

First up was Christopher and Lori running the 1k race along with approximately 50 other kids ranging from ages 4-10.  Christopher did fantastic as mom jogged along offering encouragement.  I believe he finished around 10th out of the group.  Pretty stinking good if you ask me.  It was certainly fun watching he and his mom sprinting for the finish.

Next up was Aidan and me running the 5K.  We started out pretty quickly.  In hindsight, it was probably too quickly, for Aidan started fading a bit just shy of the 1 mile mark.  We stopped and walked a bit to allow him to catch his breath.  This starting and stopping pattern continued for the rest of the run.  Our time was not the greatest, but you know what.........that did not matter one bit.  I got to run the race with my son, and I had a blast.  It was really fun and I can't wait to do it again.

After the races, we traveled home and started packing for our trip to Tennessee.  Everyone was really excited for our Spring Break family trip.

Our flight to Tennessee was uneventful, and we were met at the airport by Dianne about 8:30pm Saturday evening.    We were all pretty tired when we got to the farm, so bedtime came for all of us pretty quickly.

We woke up bright and early on Sunday........thanks Christopher....  While Aidan, Lori, Dianne and Christopher went to feed the horses and the Chickens, I went for a walk in the cool morning air.  It was beautiful, and I brought along the camera.

Lori, Dianne and the boys were through feeding the horses and chickens, so they headed for the cows.  Lori was nice enough to come pick me up.  We met the others at the implement barn, where cowboy Christopher was ready for action.

Just across from the barn, Dianne had separated a momma cow and her twin calves.

Because one of the new calves was getting more milk from momma that the other, Dianne and Lori had to bottle feed the other.  Christopher....well...he just wanted out!

The better fed sister looked on with fear and amazement.

After we left the momma and her calves, we headed over to another pasture to lay out hay for the herd.  Lori quickly got out and went to take a closeup of another new born calf.

We left the cows to their hay, and headed back to the house.  On the way up, I noticed the horses, and couldn't help but think "the grass is always greener.......".

We got back to the house and all got cleaned up.  Shortly after, Steve, Dianne and the rest of us headed to Hot Springs, NC for a late lunch.  We ate at a great little restaurant called The Iron Station.  While we were there, I got a great picture of Steve and Dianne with their grandchildren.

We shopped for a little while at some of the quaint little stores in town, and then headed home.  We spent the rest of the day and evening enjoying each others company, and playing some heated games of dominoes.  It was good fun, and a wonderful day. 

To be continued

William