80's on the 28th......little league and cup checks

Due to rain and sickness I finally got to see my youngest son's 1st little league game of the year. Considering he only had 2 practices he did great going 3 for 3. It is machine pitch so they at least get nice consistent balls to hit but for a 7 yr old wearing a nut cup nothing on the field comes easy. I remember those days of constantly having to adjust yourself not too mention actually testing to see if it worked. I saw him over there banging a baseball on his crotch to make sure it worked...at least he hasn't taken the next step and used a bat or even worse used a bat to cup check someone else. It'll happen guaranteed...it's one of those boyhood facts of life possibly even a right of passage. Cool thing is our little league here uses actual MLB team names and he has played for the Cubs 2 years in a row now so that's a bonus for me being the cursed fan that I am. Now granted they're still sponsored by local businesses but nothing can compare to the teams I played on as a kid........

Auen Distributing

The Elks

But sad to say that unlike his oldest brother who I used to fire off heaters to before supper knowing he could catch anything when he was his age or with his other brother who I'd make switch hit because 1. he could and 2. it made him concentrate and he would actually swing smoother and make much better contact I  just haven't tossed the rawhide around much with him much. The pigskin yes but mostly we've become a soccer family and Zack has grown up on the fields with me coaching both his brother's teams in both the spring and fall and now his. Cole and Luke have decided soccer is their game and both excel in it. I had always swore off coaching especially football because I knew I'd take it too serious and the kids would end up hating me. But after some persuasion...me persuading my brother for a crash course in soccer and to help me coach that 1st year I've now logged over 30 different teams. I did coach football 1 season and  it was a blast breaking them down and teaching technique and some of the finer points they had no clue about because their old coach was more concerned with his son being quarterback even though he couldn't throw the football. Sometimes I catch myself becoming that coach I don't like but I generally keep it in check and just try to encourage my teams to have fun and to play the game the right way and because they like it and not just because their parents do.

Youtubesday.....Rise and Sing

If you weren't at our church (Grimes United Methodist) on Easter boy did you miss out. Not only was the sermon great but our worship leader Josh knocked it out of the park with the music sets. I wish I had the video of our praise band doing their version of this Fee song Rise and Sing. But this live version (actually by Fee) of the song will have to do to demonstrate how rockingly awesome this praise song is. So feel free to join in and rise & sing.



Whoooaaaaa
If you’re alive and you’ve been redeemed, rise & sing, rise & sing.
If you’ve been touched by the mercy king, rise & sing, rise & sing.
Whoooaaaaa

If you were bound but now you’re free, rise & sing, rise & sing.
Lift up a shout of victory, rise & sing, rise & sing.
Whoooaaaaa

Our God is risen and reigning and we’re elevating the glory of our God and King, everybody rise & sing. Whoooaaaaa

It’s in your heart rings a melody, rise & sing, rise & sing.
If you have tasted and you have seen, rise & sing, rise & sing.

Our God is risen and reigning and we’re elevating the glory of our God and King, everybody rise & sing. Whoooaaaaa

Let the redeemed of the Lord sing hallelujah, hallelujah.
Let the redeemed of the Lord sing our God reigns, our God reigns.

Our God is risen and reigning and we’re elevating the glory of our God and King, everybody rise & sing. Whoooaaaaa

80's on the 18th...the dreaded family photo

With Easter this weekend many of us will be subjected to getting dressed up and cozying up with our family for the annual Easter family photo. Brothers and sisters will be forced to smile and act like they like each other for a minute or longer especially if everyone is hopped up on chocolate bunnies and can't sit still.

All us guys remember being forced to bathe and get all spiffied up in our pale yellow polo shirt and khakis. And that was if you were lucky and your mom didn't hate you and force a pink striped shirt on you which would forever be hung on the wall in the hallway or better yet drug out for graduation.

In looking back at family photos from when I was a kid I'm just glad I didn't inherit my ears from whomever my brother did. Sorry John but you know it's true. You may think girls had it easy and don't generally complain about looking nice or whine about having to put on a frilly dress....but girls look back at the family photos from when you were growing up and look at your hair. Wow I'm glad I didn't have that problem because I could laugh for hours just looking at my sister Shelly's varying stages of hairdom. Again sorry Shelly but it's true. I'm not without fault in these family pictures by any means....I admit I was a goofy looking kid through out the 80's. Just glad they finally let me get rid of the bowl cut fairly early in grade school cause I had enough problems without that mess to deal with.

I have dug some of these pictures out of hiding and fell on the sword and posted them willingly on Facebook so that way no one could black mail me with them or with other pictures from say homecoming or possibly prom. Now technically this photo is not from the 80's it is merely being used as an example of our family picture and to show you my siblings I mentioned in previous paragraph. So now I just smile for the camera cause I know what my boys are going through and what joy they'll have in 20 years looking back at the family Easter photo of them in their pink, pale yellow, white shirts and khakis next to their sister who is decked out from head to toe with bows, a frilly dress and fancy shoes all smiling not because they love each other so so much but because they've been bribed with chocolate bunnies, Reeces peanut butter eggs, Jolly Rancher jelly beans and peeps.

Crazy time of year

In what is our family's and my craziest time of year I just realized I missed my 80's on the 8th post for last week. I apologize though I can't promise it won't happen again. With 3 boys in soccer (1 of them also playing baseball), coaching 2 of the a fore mentioned soccer teams myself, 1 full-time job, 2 part-time jobs (3 in the winter), a little girl who misses me and wants my attention 1 minute and won't acknowledge me the next (she's only 2 what's she going to be like as a teenager), a house and yard that desperately need some attention, coffee that needs to be roasted & drank, a website that needs to get finished that coincides with the coffee problem that I have, video games that need to be played, books that need read and a wife that desperately....oh wait never mind that was the house & yard. Not too mention squeezing sleep in there somewhere somehow.

To say I'm busy is putting it lightly but I wouldn't trade any of it...well actually I could do without jobs 2-4. Luckily for what time I lack in attaining sleep I have the coffee to fall back on. When I gave up energy drinks last year for Lent I thought I was nuts and wouldn't make it a week. Well here I am a year later having only needing one when driving through the night on vacation. Did I mention I like coffee.

The one thing I do seem to get done though is get my daily bible reading in. Luckily there is an app for that other wise I'd never find the time to squeeze it in. And considering my phone is attached to me that helps. Thank you; You Version. So hopefully I keep this up so I can complete the task of reading through it in a year. Now if they just had an app for everything else I need to get done.