Just gotta love it

Ok... so I made probably the BIGGEST mistake this morning. I was putting away (ok I'm admitting to everyone that I didn't do this last night) Joel and Lindsay's leftover dinner away... put it down the sink... and saw a lime rine in the sink. HM... I'll run it all down the garbage disposal and make the sink smell better. OK... fine... but it's VERY LOUD! Needlesss to say, Lindsay (our light sleeper) woke up. Our little girl was up and I needed to leave to come to school. Well... I tried to get her to go back to sleep, but it just wasn't going to happen.
So what turned out to be kinda bad, got better. You know, that there's nothing like you little girl (or boy) who just let's you hold them, puts their head on your shoulder, and just hangs there. They feel comforted and it just gives me the warm-fuzzies all over. What was really funny, though, was that I guess she didn't like putting her head on my sweater, so she fought and fought flipping her diaper cloth until it landed on my shoulder where she could lay on it. It was quite humorous. I really hated to leave her and go to school. So I put her in my chair (she really likes my big chair) and she watched cartoons. Hope that she let her mom sleep in.
Big game tonight... down the street-rival Guthrie coming here. We have been playing well and I hope that we can keep this up!

Love in an elevator... (Aerosmith)

Not really... but it caught your attention didn't it? :-)

Last weekend was a really tough one for me. Since our boys took their tournament trip to Hawaii in December... it was our turn to travel to our tournament... so we went to Ada, OK. Not exactly Hawaii, but it was fun to go somewhere outside of OKC and stay the night. The girls liked it and had a good time. And then we did have to play 3 games too. We won the first one big... 45-25. We then played Choctaw... who starts 3 girls over 6'. We hung with them and did things right and only trailed by 2 points at half. THen we quit making shots and stopped doing the things right we did in the first half... lost by 26. The final day, we were playing for 3rd place. We played a tough Ada team who shot 51% from the field and lost by 24 points. The only real good part of that Saturday... I took the girls bowling as a team and I bowled a 215. Only reason that I didn't bowl better was that in the 2nd and 3rd frames, I was trick bowling and showing off. I had strikes in 7 of 10 frames and in the 10th I bowled 2 strikes and an 8. It was cool.

So then this week was going to be the challenge. Long story short... we won Tuesday 63-49... that was really cool. And then on Friday, we knocked off the #6 team in our class (5A) 47-34 at their place... during Homecoming. It was an end to great week. We're starting to play better and gain some momentum. We play Guthrie on Tuesday and then we host our own tournament THursday thru Saturday. Hoping to get at least 2 wins (if not 3)!

Wish us luck!

Oh yea... the family is doing well too. :-) I really appreciate their support during basketball season. It's nice to come home and have the kids just hug the snot out of you... and especially nice when Jeanise is thrilled when we win... and comforting when we lose. You guys are great and I love you!

Monkey's off my back...

Not sure if that's a song title or not... but it should be. FINALLY GOT OUR WIN! We won Friday night... away at Chickasha... 50-45. We didn't exactly start off real steady, but we started really doing things right offensively in the 2nd quarter and on. It was a real battle and the girls really played together well. Some of the things that we've been working on during Christmas break really paid off.

Saturday night, however, didn't go as well. We lost to El Reno by 12. It was one of those nights where you just KNOW that someone put a plexiglass top over the rim and nothing was going in. We did a solid job defensively, but just couldn't get over the hump. We threw several different things at them, and they had to burn several time outs to make adjustments. Good to see that we can do that to teams.

Gotta run. Have 1 game tomorrow... RIVAL PIEDMONT! and then it's off to the Ada Tournament!

Back in the Saddle Again

Well... WInter break is over and I started back to school today. Where most districts were SMART and waited until Monday to start back, we started back today. I shouldn't complain, though... we have MLK Jr. day as a Professional Day (others do not)... and we get 2 days to get back in the swing of practices before we play tomorrow night and Saturday night (others do not). Guess I should be happy about that.

Got back late from a freshman game tonight. I'm kinda worn out and tired from having to drive 1 hour to Harrah, OK. That's a job of a coach sometimes. I got to see my Freshman team in action and they're really improving. My freshman coach has really done a great job with these girls and I just hope that I can keep her on for next year! (she just finished at UCO getting her student teaching done and graduated in DEC.)

Well... I'm about to fall asleep. Just wanted to let everyone know I'm alive and that we'll HOPEFULLY get our first win tomorrow night. Wish us luck!

Ya' just gotta go slow, I guess...

Last week was definitly a tough one weather-wise. We were out of "activities" for about 3 days... and there are still some in OK without power and haven't had it since LAST SUNDAY! It's pretty tough.

FUNNY QUOTE:

Joel: "Daddy, what's that white stuff?"
Daddy: "Joel, that's snow and ice."
Joel: "Daddy! Green grass makes the snow grow!"

Just gotta laugh at that one...

Well... It's been about 3 weeks since we started off our season. We're 0-4, but have been in every game that we've played. We've lost 2 that we shouldn't have lost, and 2 that we let get away from us. We're all pretty disappointed with our start and have to do some things differently. I'm hopeful that we can make those adjustments in the next several weeks and start seeing some success when we come back from Christmas.

Jeanise is relieved that the choir concert is now over. It was yesterday evening and it was very nice. Mom and Dad, and I went and sat together. I saw a man who is a legend at OC... he was a professor of music there... Dr. Harold Fletcher. I don't know how old he really is, but he's just going strong... probably in his 70's or 80's. Anyway, when I showed up to the lobby, I found my parents talking with him and saying hello. Then when I showed up, he was, "Mike, it's good to see you. How have you been?" Here is someone who I don't see very often... but ALWAYS remembers my name. I wish that I had that gift to remember everyone's name that I have come in contact with over my lifetime. He's a wonderful man and very brilliant. It was great to get to see and talk with him. But I was just amazed that he remembered my name... I guess with a wife with a strange name like JEANISE (ha ha j/k)... you'd have to remember an easy name like Mike, huh? :-)

Last week of school before break! Better get there. Merry Christmas!

It's been too long

Sorry that it's been almost a month since I posted last. Basketball season is in full swing now, and I've been gone quite a bit.

We started out 0-2... not the start I wanted, but it's been good. We lost by 2 points in our first game. We were a little nervous and didn't shoot the ball well. Then last Tuesday, we played the number 4 team in class 5A and lost by 11. We were down 3 with 4:00 left, but just could close the deal. But to play them as well as we did, says something about our girls. We have a game tomorrow night, but we've got this nasty ice-storm that's hit us, and it may cancel our game. The other team just came off a 3 game tournament, so they've got to be a little tired. We've been rested, so we should have a bit of an advantage. However, this ice may blow that theory. We have our DC Festival this weekend... Friday, Saturday... should be interesting.

Kids are doing well. Lindsay is really talking quite a bit more than she did. She's pretty funny. Joel got a good report from his teacher last week. She wants to move him to the afternoon program (which means that he's doing better and ready to advance on). She said that he was pretty much telling the other kids what/how to do things and that he was ready to move into an environment where he wasn't so (I guess) bossy. :-) I'm glad that he's making progress, but not so glad that he's being bossy. But then... that's a 4 year old for ya'.

Jeanise took a part-time job at Kohl's. She's working some nights as a person who changes the ads in the store. It's her favorite place to shop, so she get's a great discount and it even has benefits! So that's pretty cool and will save us some money. It's taken her some time to get used to it (as is me), but she seems to enjoy it.

Gotta see what the kiddos are doing. I'm home from school (due to the ice) and it'll be nice to have a day off (actually, I need to do some school work).

Since you're gone... (The Cars)

"Life has been strange, since you're gone."

It has been a strange few weeks and I'm sorry to those who check this regularly. Jeanise has summed it up rather well... severall times... this week. "It's basketball season." Sad, but true.

We've played all 6 of our scrimmages and now it's just polish time until we tip-off on Nov. 30th. We're actually playing a school who's coach was offered my job before it was offered to me. Aught to be interesting... We've been playing very well, defensively... but offense has been our heel. But, I think that we're going to start putting things together to make the things happen that need to happen. Was that coded or what?

Well... guess I'll go watch the rest of the OU massacre. Poor Sam...

BTW... can you say 8 & 0!!!!?!?!?!?!

It's Tricky...

It's been a pretty tough few days over here. Lindsay has had this little cough-thing all during the weekend, which means that mommy and daddy didn't get a whole lot of sleep. Thankfully, I could let Jeanise sleep in a little on Saturday since she was up off and on with Lindsay.

Joel is really liking his new school... his teachers... and his classmates. He's coming home everyday with something new that he learned! We are just so thankful and blessed that God has been watching over him and his situation and know that Joel is just about to turn the corner with his communication. In the last week or so (maybe longer, but I'm not home during the day) Joel has become more of an older brother... a BOSSY older brother. For the most part, he's looking out for Lindsay, but the other side of him is .... well... bossy. Sometimes it's good... sometimes it's not so good. The other night, Jeanise was out with her mom and I had just finished cooking the kids their dinner. While I was thinking about what I was going to have, Joel says to Lindsay, "Lindsay, let's pray for our food." Lindsay then drops her fork on to her tray, and they both put their hands together while Joel said his little prayer from church. It was really cute and it was a candid moment.

Lindsay, is just a little character. Joel likes to quiz her about animal sounds... I was quizing her on colors the other night. "Lindsay, what color is your shirt (orange shirt)?" "Orange!"... "Lindsay, what color are the flowers (yellow)?" "Orange!"... "No Lindsay, they're Yellow" REPEAT QUESTION... "Orange!" By this time, I'm laughing and she knows that she's funny. A friend of the family heard what was going on and said, " Sounds like you have an OSU fan." THERE YA' GO SHANE! :-) She's also into the buckles on her high chair at grandma Wynn's house. She'll buckle them (but can't undo them) and says, "Ba-gain?" It's really funny at first, but after about the 20th time (she can go on for hours) we have to rotate to another person. Last night, I tried to convince Joel to show Lindsay how to do it. That a-way dad! Pass that on to your son! :-)

Gotta get to school early today. Have a great week!

A Green ThumB?

I don't know where it happened... my Grandma Stout won all sorts of gardening awards and was in some garden club. My Mom is Mrs. Horticulturist and always has the best looking flower beds (I've even participated in those a bit). Then there's me... I've been lucky if I can/could keep anything alive much less, looking beautiful. Mom used to have Bob and I pull weeds during the summer vacation. It was work, let me tell you, and we would have rather had our appendix out or a root canal than pull weeds. But, when she knew how much we loved it... she knew that she was going to have to bribe us BIGTIME! SHe paid us pretty good... $5 back then was great... but I never got over the weed pulling thing. So... now, we have these really pretty flowers in our flower bed at the house. But they've been all over run by that stupid clover. I knew it was there... just didn't want to have to pull any weeds! I'm not a big gardener like grandma, mom, or even my father-in-law (who by the way comes from a long line of gardeners--I'm surrounded!)... but I really didn't want to deal with. Let's just till it in a couple of months and let the snow kill it all!?!?! Nope. So anyway, I told Jeanise that I'd go to home depot and get a tool to help me control the bermuda grass and pull these weeds. I walked out of there with some really pretty mums. I was outside for about 2 hours working that flower bed. Not too shabby, but it still just isn't my thing...

Here's a picture of the kids at Joel's 4 year old b-day party. I love how Joel and Lindsay love eating together. They're so cute.

Not enough grace here... but it's AMAZING!

You've GOT to see this for yourself! Fortunately, I saw this after I led service this last Sunday. Although, I did start a song a step or 2 too high. But I made it. Enjoy!

I miss you like crazy!

Well... after 3 days of solitude, the family is on their way back. Jeanise, the kids, Steve & Lisa all traveled down to Alberqueque, NM this weekend to visit John (Jeanise's brother), Mary, and their kids. It also happens to be Balloon Fiesta weekend. Although, they didn't get to see much because it was very windy and they had to cancel a lot of the events due to wind (ya know... balloons and wind don't mix very well).

Anyway, they're on their way back and I'm ready for them to be home. It's too quiet around here and it really makes me value my family and that time a lot more.

Ok... so now it's time to go cook dinner (aka microwave something).

Du... du... du... dat... du... dah! CHARGE!

THIS IS MY 100th POST!

WE HAVE A ROBERT SIGHTNG!... ATTENTION... WE HAVE A ROBERT SIGHTING!!!!

This is Robert W. (W for Jason)... he was my substitute teacher on NERD DAY for our homecoming spirit week. He did a pretty good job, but the kids really thought he was weird. He had all of these really weird quirks... humming while he was thinking... walking funny, short tie... matted down hair... the WORKS. Needless to say... a nerd.

Just had to share what kind of spirit I have for my school!

Hit me with your best shot

We are off and running! Yesterday was the first Official day of practice. Basketball has begun! Last night, I had a later in the evening practice and had the freshman come out and have an opportunity to practice with the varsity girls... to see what it's like. They stepped right in and held their own. Granted... they have some way to go... but I was proud of them for not looking so scared. We did a lot in 2 hours and then had a small party afterwords. It was nice... until...

... I get out to the parking lot... I'm the last one on CAMPUS!... and my battery is dead on my truck. AH! This was almost as bad as when it was summer... 10:00 pm... and I locked my keys in the middle school building... with my cell phone in my locked truck! I was having flash-backs. But lucky for me, my cell phone was with me and I called my assistant coach, who lives close, to come and help. I got 'er jumped and then I was on my way.

We're off to a great start this season... but as much as I enjoyed being there... I really missed my family. I didn't get to see Lindsay at all yesterday... Joel was only up for about 10 minutes so that we can celebrate our little event (I'll let Jeanise tell you about that one). And then Jeanise and I got to watch a little bit of TV before I fell asleep on the couch. Last night was a unique time... and hopefully, we'll get back on schedule today.

Have a great week!

Remember me...

OK... so when I log into this site and it has the "remember me" box... you would think that the next time that I do access this page/site, that my computer would already have me logged in and ready to go...

... BUT NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! It doesn't work! So this is another thing that I get to talk to my web design class about that are annoying things that web designers do! or what NOT to do with your web sites. Does anyone else share that frustration? Also... the time that I'm saving this entry is NOT the actual one. WHAT GIVES?

OK... now that venting is over. Yesterday, a very good friend of mine (with season tickets to all OSU home football games) invited me to Stillwater to watch the Pokes play the Red Raiders from Texas Tech. Both Shane and I have been battling a bit of sinus crud, so we didn't think that we'd be staying very long... mainly because we thought that OSU might get run off the field and blown out. But what we came to discover, was that OSU made a game out of it and eventially WON the game! It was a great game and I'm glad that Shane drugged himself up enough to make the drive. Eventhough we were both kinda sick, I enjoyed myself very much and enjoy the times that I get to spend with my friend. It was tough when he moved to Tulsa, but I knew that God wanted him there for a reason. And he's done so much for the community and for that church, that it's hard to be sad that he's not 2 minutes from my house anymore.

School has been going well... and basketball off-season is about to come to a halt. We officially start on October 1st (practice) and we have 24 days until our first scrimmage! AH! The first couple of months have just FLOWN! We are going to be in great shape and will be thrilled to get into the gym (I hope). The girls have been working very hard to get in shape and prepared for the season... and so it'll be nice to get down to the nitty-gritty on the 1st. We had a good showing at the ORU team camp in June and did pretty well with our summer league. Especially since we didn't really have any kind of offense or defense system in place back then. But we're going to really get after it in Oct. and I'm excited!

Yesterday (Saturday), before I left for the game, Joel and Lindsay were sitting with me watching ESPN... when I got up to make pancakes, I changed the station... went into the kitchen... came back and they were still in the chair! They were too cute not to take a picture. Enjoy!

Jeanise doesn't get into very many pictures, because she's usually taking them... but this is one of my favorite picture moments of her and Lindsay. Aren't they sweet?!?!?

And I just found this one that Jeanise took when we all went to the zoo on Labor Day. This was really a good one!

Oooo... la la

Well... again, it's been a really, really, REALLY long time since I've written anything on here. Since mid-August, it's been school, basketball, and family stuff.

Tonight, Jeanise was at a ladies event at the church building... so I called Steve (father-in-law) if he wanted to go with me and the kids to Rib Cribb. First, a bit of background. We used to go (the family) to RC on the occassional Tuesday evening for all you can eat, St. Louis style ribs. It was great! and Steve and I always got our fill. Then... the unheardof happened... RIB CRIBB IN EDMOND CLOSED! AH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Now back to our story... So, Steve and I loaded up the kids and drove to south-OKC to the store off of I-40. We walked in and was greeted by 2 of my former students from the high school where I used to teach (they remembered me... and I them). We sat down, ordered... and 10 minutes later I began my sonet... uh hum...

How do I eat thee...
Let me count the bites...
Carefully I must not inhale, though
One, two, and three if I mights.
I eat thee while on my plate...
I eat thee and down you go...
To the depths of my stomach... even down to my toe

It was just wonderful to eat there again and enjoy a place where we haven't eaten in so long. Anyway... now that you've died and cracked up laughing... I'll go now.

Hangin' Tough

It has been a few weeks since I've blogged... I've been meaning to, but just didn't have the energy really (nor did I have anything really worth writing about). We got back from vacation ok (see Jeanise's blog for details) and it was back to reality. Florida was so nice and the trip was just so wonderful, I hated to leave.

I started back to school this week... reported back Monday, had teacher's meetings thru Wed. and Thursday was the first day back for the kiddos. I teach 3 Web Design classes and 1 newspaper class... then I have lunch, my planning time, and then 9th grade basketball, and then varsity basketball. I'm done with my 'teaching' duties at 11:30... it's pretty nice. My classes are good and I think that they'll do well.

Basketball looks good for this year. The girls are really ready to get going and be successfull this season. I'm looking forward to that as well. We start our off-season program/workouts this Monday. Hope the heat can stay away long enough for us to get some work done.

Played in Memorial Rd.'s golf tournament today with Dad, Uncle Mike and Lee from church. It was a lot of fun and I'm glad that I got to play. I had some good shots and some really bad ones. The only real funny thing was that I sliced a 5 Iron toward the group ahead of us and heard a loud BANG! I yelled FORE and just prayed that someone didn't get hurt. When I got up to the green, one of the guys in that group told me that I just HAD to take a look. WHAT?!?!?! The bang was actually a 3-point shot into their basket in their golf cart! It had rattled around and was wedged in between the basket spokes! I felt bad. But you know... I AM A BASKETBALL COACH/PLAYER!

Well... I am leading worship tomorrow and have finished going over my songs. Going to have to get up early, so I'd better head off to bed.
Nite!

Picture of Lindsay and me at Floyd's Seafood Restaraunt. It was REALLY GOOD SHRIMP!

We had a 3 hour layover in Houston... Jeanise and I thought it would be a good time-killer to ride the tram back and forth to all the different concourses. We made quite a few trips, but the kids loved it!

Jeanise and I on our date! We were waiting for the movie to start (Bourne Ultimatum)--didn't see the movie 'cause the cinematography was so jumpy that it made us nautious and we had to leave 30 minutes in. But we enjoyed the date, though.

BIG 3 NEWS!

The biggest news since BIRD, McCale, and Dennis Johnson... THE CELTICS ARE BACK IN ACTION! Just had to share this news because it's HUGE! For the die-hard celtics fan, this is going to bring back the GREEN MONSTER and the FEAR in all NBA teams! Those stupid Lakers are a thing of the past... Watch out world... HERE THEY COME!

FORE!

I went and played golf today at Kelly Plantation... which was created by Fred Couple off the PGA tour. It was a VERY nice place to play and I enjoyed it A LOT! Shot an 84 and that was without cheating and only 1 mulligan used. I felt pretty good about that. I didn't take any pictures, though, and am regretting not taking any.

FUNNY STORY: So before we started to play, the course Marshall (guy who tells you when you can start) was telling me and the 2 other guys I played with about the course.... yardages, rules for the carts, etc. Then... the last instruction that he gave us was, "watch out for the snakes and the alligators. You can go." I was like, "well I was with you until the snakes and alligators thing was said." Needless to say, I didn't see any of either (YEA!) but it didn't mean that they weren't stalking me. :-) Today I had some really good shots and some lucky ones that for SOME reason were still playable. I wasn't going to argue though. I'll try and have pictures of the next place I will be playing.

I write the songs...

I'm starting to lose some of the creativity of choosing song titles for titles for my blogging. Too bad that I can't just write a song, so that I have a blog title, huh? THERE! Now this all fits... and now (as they say)... the REST of the story...


Summer has been very mild for OK... mid 80's and low 90's, which is great! It's probably due to all the rain that we've had (to make up for the last several years, I suppose). But nonetheless, I'm not complaining.

The kids are doing well. Here's a picture of Joel who has this fascination with rolley-polleys. He just loves watching them walk around and talks to them. It's kinda cute. Last Sunday night, our church reserved about 2 hours at a water park here in Edmond, for a post-VBS party. It was a lot of fun and the kids did great in the water! They had a lot of fun. Here's a picture of us in the shallow end (pay NO attention to the beached whale between the two kids!) ha ha.

Did you happen to take notice of the NO DIVING SIGN right behind us? We're in about 1 foot of water, maybe less. Sad that they HAVE to put that on there, huh?

I start back to school on the 13th! Can't believe that it's coming up so quickly! Well... need to get the morning started!

Summer time!

It has been a couple of weeks since I've posted... so let's catch up.

On the 6th and 7th... we took the van (and the family) over to Missouri and met my parents at the Starvy Creek Bluegrass festival. Mom and dad took their 5th-wheel and we got to stay with them. It was good to see my grandma, uncle Mike and aunt Sharon, and my cousin Elizabeth. The kids seemed to have a good time... but didn't stay to listen to the music, like we thought they would. I think that it was just too loud for Joel... interesting. We had a rough night in the camper, though. The new place just HAD to be explored by 2 little, curious minds and they tested their mommy and daddy until about 2:30 am! It was a fun trip though and Joel especially enjoyed the site tractor that dragged a buggy behind and gave everyone rides around the park.

Haven't been doing much basketball-wise since the team camp. The girls have the month off and I dabble in a few things here and there... trying to get ready for the season. But I'm trying to take some time off as well.

Steve and Lisa bought them a RV last weekend... it's really nice. I believe that it's about 24 feet and it's nice for taking trips. Kids can sleep in the back if they wanted/needed to, I suppose... or more to the point if mommy or daddy wanted/needed to sleep they could. We left Sunday after church and drove it to Roman Nose State Park for a quick-trip. It was a nice ride and the kids did pretty well (until the N0-Nap thing kicked in with 20 minutes left of the trip).

What's going on this week? Well, we're hoping to go to the zoo... play some golf (mostly for me)... and do some other outside 'stuff' before we take off for a vacation.

Hope everyone is doing well!

This is after our final game (8 in 3 days) at our ORU team camp. The 11 girls that I took (plus my assistant coach) wanted to eat somewhere before we made the trek home. This is our table at Red Robin... great food... but check them out! They all have their cell phones out and are non-stop texting! It was so funny that it was picture worthy. We had a good team camp... played some very competitive teams... and finished our summer on a good note. Ready for next season though... sorry Jeanise.

Jeanise had her lasik eye surgury touch-up today and while she slept, I took the kids to McD's... where else would I take 'em? Anyway, I thought that these pictures were funny. Joel was mazmerized by the video games. Not sure if he's REALLY playing, but I believe that he is. Whatever the case... he's in deep concentration.

This kid was just enthralled about Lindsay! From the moment he stepped into the play-place he went right over to Lindsay and wanted to kiss her. It was funny. And my daughter (I'm proud to say) walked away! THAT'S RIGHT>>> SHE'S NEVER KISSING ANY BOYS! :-) Anyway, this kid kept following her and trying to play with her and of course, Lindsay had her own agenda. Plus... it wasn't too long after this picture that daddy discovered that Lindsay was packing something in her trunk. And daddy told the kids that he wasn't taking a diaper bag because he didn't think that he'd need it. You would think that after the last 2 times that I did do that, that I had learned my lesson.

Sweet Child O' Mine

10 days since my last post... let's see here...

Well, Summer Leauge is O-V-E-R... OVER! It went very well, I thought. There were a couple of snafuu's but nothing major to cry about. The weather cooperated very well and it was not as hot as it has been in the past. Last Monday, was probably the worst day... it was VERY muggy and humid, making it really tough on the kids to play. Several teams had double-headers that day and it was pretty tough on them. I really enjoyed hosting it and hope to make next summer's even better!

It's been fun having the time to play with the kids and being home for the summer. It's funny to start seeing more and more personality changes with Joel and Lindsay. We're still potty-training Joel and he just doesn't want to do it. He'd rather not take the time to go in there and just do it. We've upped the anty for him, but we can only go so high. We're sticking with it, though, and Jeanise is doing a great job of being patient with him on that. But you know it's frustrating. We also are seeing more and more about Joel's manipuative ways. It's funny that he's figured out that if Lindsay has found a toy that he really wants to play with... he'll bring her another one that is REALLY COOL (sure, Joel) and make a trade with her. You see sweat-heart... I see future business tycoon! :-)

Lindsay's pretty cute... there's not much more to say about that. She's starting to talk a lot more around the house and her high-pitched "HI" is just about the cutest thing in the world. She's starting to get a little bit of her brother's stubborn-ness though. She KNOWS that she wants something and she wants it RIGHT THEN! And she's going to hound you until you know what she wants... NOW GO GET IT! It's pretty funny.

Well... off to mow. More later...

Another one bites the dust...

Well... this week marked the end of basketball camps. I just have 1 more week of Summer League and then a few days off... then off to ORU to take 11 young ladies to team camp. Then hopefully July will go a lot slower and we (the family) can go on a well-deserved vacation. It's been a fun couple of weeks, but VERY busy. I've been working my fanny off to make things go smoothly and make it so that the teams coming to the Summer League want to come back. [guess that's the business major in me coming back out] This last week brought several 'issues' (had 4 teams not show for whatever reason) but they're over and done with and I just want this last week to go over with no glitches and end smoothly.

I'm really looking forward to this week though... don't have to go to the gym at 7:30 am or 11:00 am for camp session. I get to spend most of the day at home and go up around 3. That's going to be a very-welcomed change!

Jeanise's birthday is on Sunday and we're going to all go do the Father's day/Jeanise... oops... Jeanise's Birthday/Father's day celebration and enjoy the day. Not very often that people can have a whole bunch of things to celebrate in one day. :-)

It's 1:00 am (the time on this thing LIES!) ... going to bed. Nite!

Up All Night...

Aren't they just cute?

Well... the first official week of Deer Creek Summer League is done... 1 down... 2 to go. It was a nice week. We had a few issues on Monday (as to be expected) but as the week progressed, there were fewer problems... which was nice. We don't have AC in any of our gyms (not that it wasn't turned on... WE JUST DON'T HAVE AC!), so it's been a bit warm and sticky. I just don't think that it would be DC Summer Leauge if it wasn't just too unbearably hot.

We also had the little kids basketball camp this week. It was a lot of fun and I think that the kids enjoyed it. We had aboutt 75-80... maybe more. Tomorrow's it, though... THANK GOODNESS!

It's really good to be home or see the kids & Jeanise when they come out to the gym. It's a nice surprise and it's always needed.

This is it (Hewey Lewis and the News)

Today was the last 'official' day of school. Doesn't really seem possible that this year is over. Summer break will start tomorrow and the days of camps, summer league, team camp, vacations, play dates with kids will commence. I'm pretty excited about it, but kinda' miss school. But not THAT much...

Getting final plans made for summer league and summer camps. It'll be my first as a head coach and I'm really excited about it. I'm looking forward to the fun.

Gotta go get the kids ready for bed.
Nite

I just can't think of a title...

Today was a very relaxing Saturday. On many accounts. I only have 2 more days of school... and then summer basketball stuff starts up. I'm alittle anxious and nervous, because this is the first time that I've had to direct the summer league and be a 'leader' in our basketball camp. I'm really looking forward to it.

This morning was the first morning in a while that I got to spend with the kids. Joel is talking SOOOOO much more now... and Lindsay is talking and discovering her personality. I guess that I'm discovering her personality, but that's just funny. Jeanise warned me weeks ago that Lindsay likes to take her diaper off and run around naked. Well... I guess I had dozed off on the couch and awoke to a giggling 18 month old streaking around the living room! After choraling her... I put her diaper back on. About 45 minutes later, I went to check on her and Joel in their bedroom. Only to find Lindsay, diaperless, assuming the 'poopy' position. AH! Now my lesson is learned. Well... after getting it all cleaned up, I went to help my brother with his computer. While I was gone Joel came in to Jeanise saying, "mommy help please? Brown yuck." While she thought that a going to the potty break thru was in progress... evidentally Joel found one of Lindsay's "presents" from earlier that got missed. "Lindsay's brown yuck?" That was pretty funny.

Night all and have a wonderful Memorial Day!

On the road again... (Willie Nelson)

Just got back (Sunday really) from the Nike Championship Basketball Coaches clinic in Robinsonville, MS (~30 miles south of Memphis). It was INCREDIBLE! 3 days of listening to college coaches teach drills, talk about basketball 'stuff', and the list goes on. It was SOOOOOO what I needed for this summer and next year. I'm really pumped! I got to listen to Roy Williams from UNC, Coach Romero (sp?) from Univ. of Washington, the Alabama Head Coach, Coach Maretti from St. Joe's... and more! There even was a trainer who specifically deals with off-season drills and workouts... it was perfect! I'm really glad that I went. Didn't take any pictures, though...

Anyway... it's been quiet around the house with Jeanise and the kids in NM visiting her brother, his wife, and Jeanise's new niece! Joel and Lindsay have gotten to play with Trinity for a few days and they're enjoying their time there.

Well... time to get to school. It's the last full week... and we begin finals on Friday. CYA L8R!

Speechless... (Steven Curtis Chapman)

I knew it! I'd come up with some kind of title... I was a little worried there for a moment.

Well... sorry for those who are keeping up with me and my goings on. It's been a tough couple of weeks. Long story (and you know how those can go) short... I've got a parent who has gone to everyone but me about an issue with me being the head coach of our girl's program. It's just a rough situation and the bottom line here is that... NO ONE CAME TO ME ABOUT IT! You really have to know what our district is like to truely appreciate what's going on. I had thoughts of giving it all up and just, well, quiting... was it worth it? Well... ABSOLUTLY! I'm not quiting and I'm not letting 1 parent spoil it all! I've got too many others who are supportive of me and what I did last year. This is a one-in-a-lifetime opportunity and I'm not going to take it for granted.

So that's what has been occupying my time for the last 3 weeks. Now on to happier notes...

Joel is just growing so much and getting so much more vocal. He is a sweet little boy who loves to play with his sister (although, he's still learning about what's Lindsay's and what's his... everything is Joel's). I got to play with the 2 of them in the back yard tonight for about an hour. I'll admit... when I first came home the last thing that I wanted to do was to go outside. But after a while, it was the best thing that I could have done. I played ball with Joel and chased him around for awhile. Lindsay and I worked on her t-ball skills (she's gonna be good) and then we just ran around for a while. It was a lot of fun.

Tonight, Lindsay started fussing a little abit to Jeanise. Jeanise asked her if she was hungry... do you want a snack?... do you want some goldfish? She then quieted down and left the room. About a minute later... Lindsay had in her hands... the tupperware container from the pantry where we keep the goldfish and handed it to Jeanise with a 'uh!' Which translated to me: "You guys were way to slow with this, so I did it myself!" Jeanise and I just broke out in laughter and it was just the funniest thing.

Well... off to bed. Night!

Just Can't Wait.... (don't know if it's a real title or not)

Well... it should be a title! Jeanise and the kids should be coming back from Alb., NM tomorrow. They left last Thursday night with Steve & Lisa (Jeanise's parents) to visit her brother and family. They had a good visit... short and sweet, I guess. But enough about them... I'm ready for them to be back! :-) I stayed behind because I had a baseball tournament this weekend. It was a bummer, but I got some things done with the alone time. It was annoyingly quiet, though. I kept waiting for Joel to come running thru the kitchen with a toy or a book or something and run into my leg. Or waiting to hear Lindsay's little feet patting the kitchen floor and see that sweet smile come around the island. It's also been tough sleeping in bed by myself. I get to hog the bed... but subconsciencely wait for Jeanise to kick me over to my side.

Interesting how you miss those little things... HURRY HOME! :-)

I want a new drug... (not really, but it's the first thing that came to mind)

I borrowed, stole, took... etc. from another person's blog and thought it was funny:

The Three-Word Answer Meme:
01. Where is your cell phone? On the charger.
02. Boyfriend/girlfriend? Sleep with her... (for the last 12+ years)
03. Hair? Summer Hair do
04. Your mother? Loves her children
05. Your father? Very, very tall
06. Your favorite item(s)? Jeanise, Joel, Lindsay
07. Your dream last night? School and basketball
08. Your favorite drink? XL Mountain Dew
09. Your dream girl? Always been Jeanise
10. The room you are in? My hot study.
11. Your fear? Living by myself
12. What do you want to be in 10 years? Coaching and Teaching
13. Who did you hang out with last night? Same as 06
14. What are you not? Artistic, instrumental, creative
15. Are you in love? Absolutely, Yes, Si
16. One of your wish list items? An undefeated season
17. What time is it? 11:01 in Oklahoma.
18. The last thing you did? Watch the Apprentice
19. What are you wearing? Shorts and t-shirt
20. Your favorite book? Larry Bird's--Drive
21. The last thing you ate? I don't remember
22. Your life? Busy, busy, wonderful
23. Your mood? tired, sleepy, questionable
24. Your friends? Supportive, loyal, humorous
25. What are you thinking about right now? Bed and tomorrow
26. Your car? My black Avalanche
27. What are you doing at this moment? You haveta' ask (I stretched that one...)
28. Your summer? Basketball, mowing, hot
29. Your relationship status? Married 12 years.
30. What is on your TV screen? Nothing, black, light
31. When is the last time you laughed? At dinner time.
32. Last time you cried? Not real sure.
33. School? Really wanna' know?

It's been a long, long time comin' (I've got you...)

Ok... it's not a song title, but the first line in (I think) a BABYFACE song. It was just the first line I thought of. Has it really been almost a month?!?!?! WOW! Sorry to all of those who have been checking this blog, wondering if I was going to post something TODAY! Let me catch everyone up...

Basketball is again and now officially over. The state tournament was last weekend and it was fun. I took my team to the finals of the 6A Girls tournament because (dah dah DAH DAH!) we are the 5A Academic State Champions! Which means we may not have won the big game at the end, but we're smarter than any other team in Class 5A! It was pretty cool to accept that award. These girls work very hard on their grades and this was a great way to acknowledge that effort. It was over a 3.8! Pretty smart kids, if I do say so myself... The team that beat us in the first round, went on the final 4 of the tournament before getting beat. That made me feel pretty good, but know that we've got to really do some things different for next year.

I've been coaching JV baseball for about 3 weeks, I guess. We're doing alright, but now have a break while the Varsity travels to Gulf Shores, AL on a baseball trip. It's a good deal for them and I'm sure will be fun.

The kids are doing great... Lindsay is walking EVERYWHERE and stumbles every now and then. Joel loves this new Tickle Me Elmo doll that Jeanise found at Kohls. It's the funniest thing that I've ever seen... but rather annoying when it goes off for HOURS! The kids love to play together and go outside. It's a lot of fun to watch them grow up together and to play the way they do.

Well... I'm going to go into the living room now and start my SPRING BREAK! Sometimes, I love being a teacher! :-)

One and done...

No, there's not a song title like that (I was doing really well with that for a while)...

Well, my girls lost in the first round of regionals on Thursday. We played a very good Coweta team (ranked 7 in class 5A) and just couldn't get anything going. We played hard, but shots just didn't fall... calls didn't go our way... and it was a tough night on a team of girls who's only returning starter was on the bench in a cast. The girls fought and fought, and were quite disappointed in the way their season finished out.

I know that they're sad, but I'm kinda' depressed because the season is over. I put a lot of time energy and myself into this team since August... and now it's over. I'm going over to baseball next, but am going to take some time off so that I can take a bit of a break and get things wrapped up on the basketball end.

Just wanted to share...

Getting to know you... getting to know you... dah dah dah dah

Ok... here's another getting to know you thing (which I sto... borrowed from someone else's blog)


1. The phone rings. Who are you hoping it is? Publisher's Clearing House... (I'm a teacher, can't I hope?)... Naw... really, Jeanise. I love hearing her voice in the afternoon of my day... it's a refreshing break.
2. When shopping at the grocery store, do you return your cart? Yep.
3. In a social setting, are you more of a talker or a listener? Sadly, I admit, I talk people's heads off. I really can't shut up. Is there an AA for people who can't shut up?
4. If abandoned alone in the wilderness, would you survive? No... I die of not having people to talk to.
5. Do you like to ride horses? Nay... I mean... Naw... But I do do a really good Mr. Ed impression. That's about as close as I get.
6. Did you ever go to camp as a kid? I did in Webelos (aka Boy Scouts) a couple of times. Never went to church camp because it always conflicted with baseball season (little league).
7. What was your favorite board game as a kid? Had a bunch... really liked Candyland, Stratego, but I really liked playing SORRY with my mom. She really got into it...
8. If a sexy person was pursuing you, but you knew he/she was taken what would you do? RUN AND HIDE!
9. Are you judgmental? What are you trying to say, huh? I think everyone is a little bit. I'd say that I am some. I think being a teacher and a father has helped me to be less judgemental, in that regard.
10. Would you date someone with different religious beliefs? Did a couple of times...
11. Are you continuing your education? In a manner of speaking... I tell my students, I love giving tests... not taking them. I did spend about 5 weeks a couple of summers ago cramming in Algebra I, II, & Geometry for a Math certification test. It was a little fun. Made me realized what REAL studying in college was like.
12. Do you know how to shoot a gun? Yes, but not real well. Got to shoot my uncle Mike's colonial riffle a couple of times in college. Those are really big balls and they make really big holes in coffee cans.
13. If your house was on fire, what’s the first thing you’d grab? My family... cat will just have to roll the dice.
14. How often do you read books? about every day... for about 5-10 minutes... all I will say... (TMI)
15. Do you think more about the past, present or future? Past... but working on the other two more.
16. What is your favorite children’s book? Green Eggs and Ham, and the Beverly Cleary books
17. How tall are you? 6'6" (basketball height)... 6'5 1/2" (reality, probably)
18. Where is your ideal house located? Myrtle Beach, SC on the golf course
19. Last person you talked to? Jeanise... watching tv and discussion which people should go from GREASE
20. When was the last time you were at Olive Garden? On a date with Jeanise and the kids, about 4-5 weeks ago... Why? (so random)
21. What are your keys on your key chain for? Opening all sorts of doors at my school... mostly athletic facility doors (it's all about the # of keys, ya know?)
22. What did you do last night? Statted the last 2 games of the season and went to bed after Jeanise was asleep
23. Where is your current pain? in bed... JUST KIDDING! Hurt my shoulder playing basketball Saturday, and it's still sore.
24. Do you like mustard? sure... would you like some Grey Poupon?... GRAY POOP ON WHAT?!?!
25. Do you like your mom or dad? Absolutely!
26. How long does it take you in the shower? 10 minutes on a regular day... 3 minutes when I wake up late for school
27. What movie do you want to see right now? Bruce Almighty... Jim Carrey always makes me laugh
28. Do you put lotion on your dog or cats? My cat is the cleanest cat on the planet... he doesn't need anything
29. What did you do for New Year’s? Played dominoes with Shane and Alice Coffman and listened to Shane's OSU ringtone into the night... to the point that I now dream it! AH!!H!H!!!
30. Do you think The Grudge was scary? don't know... are they going to hold that against me? :-)
31. Do you own a camera phone? yep
32. What’s the last letter of your middle name? 'n' (again, really random)
33. Who did you vote for on American Idol? the girl... :-)

What is Love... (Night at the Roxburry)

Tuesday on our way over to play Weatherford, one of my basketball player's cell phone rang with this ring tone and I just had to start the SNL head bob. Then... I just had to get that ring tone. So now, when most of you call me, I'll be head-bobbin'. :-)

Yesterday, as everyone knows, was V-day (as many of the DC kids called it). It was funny to see all of the youth of today just lighting up (because of flowers or candy)... and then seeing some in tears because of... well... not getting the flowers or candy.

So, what is love? I heard someone say that you don't fall in love with a person... you fall in love with who that person is and what they are. I think that is true to some extent. I love my kids and my wife deeply... why? Because I feel head over heels for who she is and what she's all about... and she just happens to make my eyes bug out (like those cartoon characters on 80's tv did) every time I see her. I love my kids because of who they are and that they were a gift from God.

Hope everyone had a wonderful... V-day! (intro... the song and the head---bob... you'll have to do that one on your own...)

GOODNESS GRACEOUS, GREAT BALLS OF FIRE!

The streak is O-V-E-R... OVER! Senior night 2007... in front of ~400 in the audience... and in front of thousands sitting at home... my girls (5-13) beat the #13 ranked Heritage Hall Chargers (think that they were 11-3) 39-36. It was AWESOME! We played so hard and got the tough shots to fall. We didn't get some calls, but we just kept on playing hard and rebounding... AH! It was just crazy, fun, nerve-racking, and ... exciting!

Gonna go watch the KSBI re-play now... NITE!

3-2-1... Double OT

Took on our neighbors at Piedmont for the 3rd time in 3 weeks, last night. We walked in 0-2 versus them and we knew that we were going to have our hands full. We played hard last night ... came back from about 16 points down, to tie it in regulation. After losing Lauren, a lot of girls stepped up to cover her missing performance. Long-story short we lost by 8 after 2 over-times... we just didn't hit some free-throws early on that we needed to make... actually... we just needed 1 more to fall. :-) I was/am very proud of my girls and we're really making some headway going into the post-season. Next Tuesday is Homecoming, and next Friday we'll be on TV on KSBI! That's a busy week, but very exciting...

On another note... I was in the Daily Oklahoman today (see quote--have to scroll down). The reporter called me and asked the question, "Would I want my child/child's (ha ha childern just kidding) playing for Bobby Knight." It was an interesting question, but I told him exactly how I felt. You can read it. I caught myself, at first, thinking, "what would everyone want me to say or hear?" But I stopped and thought, "no, what do I really and honestly feel?" What was "right?" I thought that I brought it home pretty well.

Anyway... gotta go and take a shower now. Had a church-league basketball game today. I was suckin' wind for the first 1/2, but came out really strong in the 2nd half. I think that I had 6 blocks! It was really cool. When I wasn't scoring, I was working for rebounds. It's amazing... I didn't used to think like that, but this coaching thing has really changed my playing perspective.

Well that'll be the day...

My dad emailed this to me... just couldn't help but share with the world!

OKLAHOMA! Oklahoma revised... (you have to sing along)

SNO-klahoma,
where the cold fronts sweepin' down the plain;
And the piles of sleet beneath your feet
Follow right behind the freezing rain.
SNO-klahoma, Ev'ry night my honey lamb and I
Travel home from work and hope some jerk
Doesn't wreck our car in passing by.
We know we belong to the land
But it could use more salt and sand!
And when we sayYeeow! Ayipioeeay!
We're only sayin' You're slick as snot,
SNO-klahoma!
SNO-klahoma,
Oy Vey!

You don't what you've got... 'til it's gone. (Cinderella--Long Cold Winter)

It's here AGAIN! Ice! We had our make-up Consolation Finals of a tournament from 3 weeks ago that was post-poned due to our last ice storm! Mother nature just doesn't want this tournament to finish... BUT... she DOES want us to play all of our 3 games as scheduled! Go figure that one...

... Anyway if a 5 game losing streak wasn't enough (6, after today's loss)... we lost our only returning senior-starter in today's game. She was going up for a shot on the baseline and a defender tied up her shot and WACKED her really hard on her other (left) hand. Call: JUMP BALL... Bad call... because she was in tears and trying to hold her hand up (this girl DOESN'T complain about being hurt at all--so this was a big deal). Diagnosis: She had an MRI or an X-ray done... broken hand in 3 places! OUCH! I felt so badly for her... she's a great young lady and plays so hard... not to mention that she's done so well this season, I hated for her to go this way. We won't know for sure about her future until probably tomorrow, but it's not looking good. I told the other girls that someone (or someones) was going to have to step up! We'll see what happens...

In other news... Lindsay and Joel are starting to act like their normal selves after having the "junk" for the last few days. Last night, I don't think that Joel even went to sleep! I checked in on him at 10:15 before I went to bed... he was in bed, in the sleeping position, but not sleeping. Then later in the evening, I heard him coughing and playing with one of his toys. THEN!!!!! From 2:00 am (yes AM!) until about 5:00 he came into our bedroom and was ready for the morning. Had to put him in bed a couple of times, then I just decided... "HEY! Why don't you watch Disney at 4!" When my alarm went off at about 5:45 this morning, Jeanise and I went to check on him... AND THAT TURKEY WAS SLEEPING! ah!!!!!!!! Lindsay woke up a few times too. Hopefully they'll both stay asleeep tonight.

On a funner note: Lindsay was walking from Jeanise to me for about 10 minutes tonight! It was pretty cool! She was so funny and thought it was some game. Then Joel wanted to get involved and then it was just halarious. She's been getting around the house with this little plastic chair that she pushes in front of her everywhere... we knew that it was only a matter of time before she started the walking thing.

Gonna get back to TV with the wife... L8r.

Long Cold Winter (Cinderella)

January has been really cold around here... people (including me) getting sick. Weather on top of all of the cheering I do from the sidelines/practices... I really haven't had a voice in 2 weeks. Things (vocally) are starting to come back to normal... JUST IN TIME for tomorrow night's game and 3 tournament games this weekend! HO!

Today's practice was fun for me. What started out as a "let's get pumped and back to the grindstone" kind of practice turned into an offensive filled gusher! While trying to take a nap yesterday, I was dozing to the SMU vs. Tulsa women's basketball game. I saw a play I liked... wrote it down (before I forgot it) and then fell asleep. So I put it in today... drew it up for the girls... and they ran it well (eventually). Then I thought... "hm... let's do this with that" and then it went "now how about an option with 2 cutters"... and then POOF! I had 3 set plays! I was so excited and the girls enjoyed watching me develop all of these on the board. It was cool. I'm not real good at coming up with offenses, but in the last 4 months, I've really started to put some things together that are really working for us.

In the famous words of Hanibal from the A-team... "I just love it when a plan comes together!"

Night!

Back in the saddle again... NOT!

Still the ice and the horrible roads remain. Thursday school is cancelled AGAIN, which means that we're probably not having practices or games like are scheduled. It's been kinda' nice to have this break... but we just had one and I'm ready to get back into a groove with school again. Why couldn't this wait until after Spring Break when we don't have a holiday or vacation until school ends! Now, it's looking like we'll miss some of our extra snow make-up days.

I had a really nice article in the Edmond Sun about my team... wanted to share.

Well.. back to family. Lindsay surprised me tonight with 4 steps on her own! Missed the photo op.... sorry...

Let it ICE... Let it ICE... Let it ICE

Monday... Tuesday... and now TOMORROW! We've been closed for school. It's not a bad thing, though. It's been nice staying home with the family ... sleeping in a bit... getting to take an afternoon nap on occassion. But we all know that we'll have to make it all up in the end; whether it's during "other days off" or tacked on to the end of school (UGH!). Either way, it's been nice staying home and trying to fight off this allergy/cold thing that I've come up with. It kinda' started a few weeks ago, when I didn't have a voice left after our Home game on the 5th. And my voice just never seemed to recover... which means, getting sick is creeping up next. Needless to say, still don't have much of a voice and I'm still a little congested. But hopefully by Thursday it'll all be gone... or at least leaving!

Now on to the more... regretful news... I took out a pilar at the mall! Sad part... I was parked and going into reverse. Let me explain: I had just dropped the kids and Jeanise off at the pull-thru at the mall (so it's not like I was even driving when I did this!). A car had pulled in front of me by the time I got back into the van. They were parked smack-dab in the middle so I could pull around them... and I waited about 5 seconds... no movement or any sign of getting out by anybody in the car... so I decided to back out of the pull-thru. As I'm pulling out, I don't see anything in my passenger mirror until the back-up sensor goes off. I'm thinking, "that's weird why is it?... BAM" Oops... didn't see the 3 foot high, cement pilar sticking out of the ground. Thought I was clear and that all was left was street... NOPE. Needless to say, the passenger side rear doesn't look as new as it did. I felt bad... not to mention seeing the look on Jeanise's face when... Oh ... that's right, she was pulling into the doors of the mall when she heard the thud. So I did see the look on her face! It was probably worse than the look on mine. Well... now we have to go get that fixed. And it wasn't even a snow/ice accident! That'll be coming out of my lawn mowing money in the summer! :-)

Be safe! (or safer than me)

Speechless (Steven Curtis Chapman)

OK... I had written a really long posting about everything that I had done (or lack thereof) over the holiday and about transitioning back to school... my team, etc. and then blogspot erased it! WHile I was trying to post a picture, I hit the logo and lost it all.

So, here's the short version of it... you just read it! :-)

and here's the logo...

More later...

Mike

Christmas, Christmas Time is here!

Do you all remember Alvin and the Chipmunks? I used to love listening to their christmas songs and then singing them in my own "chipmunk voice." That was a really funny album (I heard it on a record)...

Well... school is out for a few weeks. We had a Christmas party every night for about 4 nights! It was amazing... I'll post a picture of our teacher's party downtown at the Trattoria (sp?). Great food and I even ran into a parent of a young lady that I coached in softball in my first year at Western Oaks Middle School (~10 years ago)! BTW... is that a Mountain Dew you're drinking?!!?!?!

It's also been fun hanging around the house and playing with the kids. Jeanise and her mom have played harp and flute for several people the last few days. They played at Penn Square Mall one time and they played at Tealridge Mannor (retirement home by OC) yesterday. They also went out on Friday and had a girl's day with some of their friends and had a great time. I had the whole day with the little ones and it was great. Although Lindsay got her flu shot on Wed. and had a mild reaction to it... thus being sick and not sleeping well on Thursday. But, we got to spend a little daddy/daughter time and that was fun for me. Joel has been having fun in his new bed-fort. He loves it (pictures) and is getting better at sleeping in it. It's a big change from his toddler bed, but it's "real cool" he says.

We all went over to Grandma and Grandpa Morton's for lunch yesterday and had a great time. Joel and Lindsay love playing over there and getting all of the toys out. Joel is pretty much at "home" over there... Lindsay is still trying to figure everything out and explore. It's really funny to watch. Jeanise's brother and sister-in-law are in town and we're doing a bunch of family "stuff" this weekend. Good to see them.



Hope everyone has a Merry Christmas!

You know I'm Bad... Who's Bad?... (Michael Jackson--remake)

It's been way too long since I've blogged. Lindsay woke up about 5:15 this morning and since I've got to get up a little earlier than normal (Trash Day!) I told Jeanise that I'd take care of her. Lindsay is getting so much older and her personality is really starting to come out. She is a TALKER... wonder who she gets that one from, hm? She loves to sit in the back seat of the truck/van and just talk to her video or talk to her brother (who by the way is wondering, "dad, what' she sayin'?). She loves to play with her brother and Joel loves having her around.

Basketball is about to do the "hurry up, then wait" thing. We played on Tuesday... had to travel 1 1/2 hours South-west to Anadarko, OK. We battled back and forth with a team that was very athletic, but smaller than we were. They settled for the 3 point shot (and made quite a few of them, I might add), but with about 45 seconds left, we cut a 4 point lead down and ended up winning by 2. It was a great game, but I have no voice left. We are now 3 - 1 and the running joke (sorta) around the coaches at my school is "Hey a win is a win... but your 3 wins are by fewer points than your one and only loss." TRUE! But you know... when people look at the 3-1 and the rankings... they don't see the score... just the "W". And you know what?!!??! I'll take a W over a L any day. I'm really proud of my girls... it's great to have a team that fights so hard to win and succeed. There is a lot of tradition here sometimes that gets you thru the W of a ball game. We play in a festival today and tomorrow... 2 games and we're done for the holiday. We're a bit banged up, but hope to make a good showing this weekend.

So did anyone notice...

That the title of my last entry kinda' fits with the words in the real song?

Let it snow...
Let it snow...
Blah blah blah (let it snow)

I know that the joke really isn't THAT funny if someone has to explain it, but I just wanted everyone to know how clever I was... AM!

Let it snow... Let it snow... blah blah blah...

Who'd a thunk that we'd have a 4 day weekend?!?!!? On one hand... it's been rather nice. Got the opportunity to stay at home with the wife... play with the kids. It has been nice. Although... I've been rather antsy too. Basketball season... you have the 1-2 days of practice then a game and then the routine starts all over again. Our game Friday was cancelled due to the snow, so now all of the weeks worth of practicing for one team has to wait for the re-scheduled game. Now Monday's practice highlights the next team that we'll play on Tuesday. I'm sure, though, that the girls are ready to play too.

Joel and I went out into the snow yesterday. I shoveled the driveway (2/3 of it) enough for our cars to get in and out and Joel was jumping around and throwing snowballs onto my clean driveway. He's hilarious. While I was taking a break (that's really hard work, by the way) I thought that I would introduce Joel to throwing snowballs at daddy. He loved it! and kept on doing it while I was shoveling... it was really funny. When I finished... I was exhausted and just fell down in the snow to rest. I then thought, Joel can make snow angels! "Hey Joel... watch this!" As I fell backwards into the snow (had trouble getting up, though; back hurt), I saw Joel taking the "Neste plunge" and doing the exact same thing. He was kinda' cautious at first, but then he kept doing it and it was just too funny.

Well... better get back to the OU/Nebraska game! GO SOONERS!

Yeah!

The first game is out of the way... and we won! It was a real defensive battle at the beginning... to either team 4 minutes to score. It was kinda' tough, but once we scored we were fine. Final score... 42-40 and it came down to free-throws with 9 seconds left. We had several offensive runs where we were up by 5, 6, or even 8 points, but got a little soft somewhere and allowed the other team to come back. El Reno tied it up with 2 three-pointers in a row... on the same play... and really gave us fits. But I'll have to hand it to my girls, they came into the time-out huddle un-rattled and not fazed at all. They BELIEVED that they were going to score on the next possession and take back the lead. I knew that this game was going to be a nail-biter because both JV games before us were decided by 2 and 1 points.

Glad that one is over... and it was good to finally play a game. It was really nice to see smiles in the locker room after the game. Need to keep that feeling going and continue to work hard in practices. We have a week and a half off before we play again (which is good) so we can get a good scouting report and be ready to fine-tune some things.

Have a wonderful THANKSGIVING...

We're Playing Ba - sket - balllllllll... (rap song from the 80's)

Tonight's the big night! 6:30 pm tip-off and the season is under-way. Did pretty good about going to sleep... just woke up at 4:15 hoping that it was time to wake up. Nope... but after about 45 minutes of tossing and turning... decided to get up and do some computer stuff. Just trying to relax.

Went and saw my freshman team play last night, versus the school who we'll play tonight and they did awesome! They won by 10, but 1/2 way thru the 2nd quarter we were up 16 points. It was fun to watch. My girls, are really ready to play! Practice wasn't as efficient as I had hoped and as it usually is, but we got things done. I think that all teams are experiencing this... at the the first game time.

Hope that I can concentrate enough on things today in my regular classes... ;-P

We are Family...

Woke up this morning... at 6 rather than at 5:45... It's amazing what a difference 15 minutes makes in my outlook today. (don't know if that's the real reason, but I'm going to use it anyway)

I just want to say that I'm so blessed to have a wonderful family. My wife is so loving and caring toward her 2 wonderful kiddos and is always encouraging me. I have a 3 year old son, who even-though sick... loves to play with his sister--gives her toys to play with, and also loves to jump and play with his mom and dad. Then there's my 1 year old (who will actually be 1 year old TOMORROW!) who still wakes up about 1 or 2 times a night... but "crawl-charges" at me with this funny face and it is just the funniest thing you have ever seen in the world. I love coming home to this.

Yesterday, seemed like the longest day... didn't get home until almost 7:00 pm. During game season, I've gotta find a way to get home... recharge... and then head out to the gym.

Well... almost time for me to leave for school. Hope everyone can have a blessed day! 1 week until the first game!!!!!!!

In The Still of the Night... (Whitesnake)

Again... another Whitesnake song title. I used to love to listen to those hard rock ballads right before a game to get pumped up. Don't think that I ever "really" listened to the words (as my wife would probably attest to at times) but the beat/music was always just kickin'. Good news this morning... My team is "ranked"! No... not RANK.... ranked!

DAILY OKLAHOMAN NEWSPAPER 1/13/2006
Class 5A
1. T. East Central…24-4
2. Claremore…21-7
3. Harrah…22-5
4. Tulsa Kelley...14-12
5. Tulsa Edison…24-4
6. Bixby…15-12
7. Carl Albert …24-3
8. McAlester…21-4
Sweet Sixteen: 9. El Reno, 12-13; 10. Ada, 20-6; 11. Deer Creek, 27-2; 12. Duncan, 19-7; 13. John Marshall, 18-5; 14. Tulsa Hale, 7-16; 15. Coweta, 15-11; 16. Tulsa Rogers, 3-19

That's right... we're 11th, which really isn't bad considering... we have moved up a class and lost 4 starters from last year's 4A state champions run. We face off against El Reno (#9) next Tuesday for our first game. Thank goodness it is at home. It's going to be a tough road this year, but fun. Great group of girls to coach and they've been working hard. Gotta run and get the kids in bed... just thought that I'd post so that people would know that I'm still surviving!

Later

It's the New Zoo Review (Some Saturday Cartoon song)

I forgot to mention our little 3 year old's birthday party... part 2. On Friday night, we went to Grandma and Grandpa Morton's house and had dinner and cake (more CAKE for Joel). Joel got some cars from his Uncle Bob and an old-school Radio Flyer tricycle. It was cool. We also went to the zoo that afternoon... here are some pictures.

Thursday (?), we cooked outside and while I was cooking, I decided to put up Joel's t-ball set and his table and chairs that he got for his birthday. He loves them! And he's even getting the hang of swinging the bat. I love it!

It's the Final Countdown (Europe)

I'm really starting to get good at these titles...

Well... it's here. This Thursday is our first basketball scrimmage. Gettin' a little nervous, but am somewhat anxious to get here. It's kinda' like the what the first game is going to be like to for me... once you get going and it's over, I'll feel a whole lot better about things. The girls are working hard and it should be a good year.

On the HOME front... had a wonderful break with the family. Friday, we all went to the zoo and spent about 3 hours there. Lindsay fell asleep in her back-pack carrier and it was really cute. (I'll see if I can get the pictures we took). Joel enjoyed it too. Ok... so did Daddy. Hadn't been there in a while and it was good to see some of the animals. Not just for kids under 10 anymore!

Well... have to get baths for the kids. Night!

Sweet Dreams are Made of These... (Eurthymics)

Sunday naps are just priceless... I would have slept longer if someone hadn't been snoring so loud! Guess she gets that from her daddy. That's one trait that I KNOW I gave her... :-)

It's been 2 weeks since I've posted... ah... it goes by quickly...

The Morton family has just spent the last week getting over that stomach thing that's been going around. Joel started it off last weekend... daddy (me) got it next... then Jeanise felt a little "queezy" Saturday night... and Lindsay has just... you know? I don't think that she's really had it yet. She's had a bit of a thing, but I think that it's just teeth stuff.

Joel had his 3 year old party on Saturday! Hard to believe that he's 3. So much has happened since he was born and it seems like a really long time ago. Pretty soon, he'll be asking me to take him to practice or something. The party went very well. We went to McDonalds (of course, I was all for that) and had a small party with Allyson & Drew Wise, Zane Hankins, and Camden Hensley (and parents of all kids), and grandma and pa Wynn. My parents were out of town, so we'll be celebrating next weekend. The kids had fun and did great... all seemed to melt down at the same time... toward the end... but it was a great party. Jeanise did a great job of getting that set up.

Practice has been going well. We've been going hard for 2 weeks and we have less than 2 weeks before our first scrimmage! It's coming down to that time of year... and I'm getting anxious. We've put in a bunch of offenses and defenses and set plays and now we just have to put them all together in a game plan. Coming down to the crunch time. We have Fall Break this week, so the girls will get a nice break before the November Madness starts. Still, there's a lot that needs to be done... I hope that I can get it all in. These girls are really smart, though, and have been learning fast. I must also commend them for the transition that they've made between me and last year's coach. It's tough on a team to have to face that, but they're adjusting to it very well.

Well... have to get my week started.

You Might Think I'm Crazy... (All I want is You--The Cars)

We had our first official day of practice yesterday... and it went off like clock-work. Almost as if I had been doing it for a really long time. The girls were all excited about starting their first day of 2 hour practices. And they handled it great! I had a phone call from a guy yesterday, who said that I aught to take a picture of my first day of becoming the new "legend" at Deer Creek. I'll take one today and share... thought it might be a good idea. Although I was very nervous about starting the practice season... I think that I'll be more nervous for my first game! :-) When I got home, I was greeted by a car of faithful, supportive fans (Jeanise, and 2 kids) who were taking me out to dinner to celebrate my first day. Don't I have a great fan section?

It's off to work I go!

Imagine me and you...

It's been a long time for me to post... You know... as much as people do this "blog-thing" you always wonder who's readin'. It starts out as just a little thing to share information with people--to wondering how many people are viewing--to wondering IF people are viewing--to... don't really care if people are viewing, because it's nice to write this stuff down. Anyone else feel like that?

Today is the BIG DAY... actually tomorrow (2nd) is the big day! Tomorrow starts the first OFFICIAL day of basketball practice. Although it may look like I'm holding it all in together pretty good... I'm actually pretty scared to death! This is an opportunity that I've been waiting for for so long... it's here... and I wish I knew how things were going to turn out.

I think it's interesting, though, that in my small group at church that it was my turn to lead the study and discussion for a book we're doing, If you want to walk on water, you have to get out of the boat, (I know that there should be capital letters and such but I'm too lazy to do it). In this week's lesson we look at the opportunity of the rich man who gives the 5 tallents, 2 tallents, and 1 tallents (tallent may be with 1 'l" but I'm on a roll here) and the opportunity these 3 guys had. This man GIVES them this money... this gift... and wants to see what they will do with it. Will they take advantage of this "gift" and make something happen? 2 of them do... this is an incredible opportunity for these men and I'm sure that they're excited and thrilled and they DOUBLE this gift. And the rich man praises them for it... I see this guy with a huge smile on his face and just really proud of these 2. The 3rd guy... is a little scared... he's not sure about the realities that are around him... he's afraid of taking this gift and losing it all. So what does he do? He burries it. And when the rich man finds out... he can only shake his head and say, "I GAVE this to you... no strings attached... a GIFT... and you let FEAR of the unknown result get in the way of your happiness with this FREE GIFT!

I share all that to say... I'm feel that I've been the 3rd man for the last few weeks. Yes, I've enjoyed what I've done and I've worked hard with the girls and we've had some good off-season workouts. BUT... God has given me this GIFT of coaching and interacting with young people... WHAT AM I DOING WITH IT?!??!?!?!? Am I making more out of that... and doubling the amount? Or am I going to let my FEAR of FAILURE get in the way and just bury this gift that he's giving me?

THIS IS A LIFE CHANGING LESSON FOR ME! I'M GOING TO BE THE FIRST GUY FROM HERE ON OUT!!!!!! :-)

Just had to share...

Mike

Take Me Out to the Ball Game... (Harry Carry)

Harry Carry here... Just wanted to say HEY ... and stretch 'em if you got 'em. (ok Harry, get out of here!)

Joel and I went to Bricktown tonight and watch the Pacific Coast League Champions take on the International League Champions. The Tuscon Sidewinders vs. the Toledo Mudhens.

vs.

Interestingly enough, I saw the Mudhens play a long time ago when we lived in Va. Beach and they played the Tidewater (now NORFOLK) Tides. Even the colors are different now (used to be Royal blue and Orange)! Whatever happened to tradition, huh?

Anyway Joel and I had a great time at the game. He learned about the pitcher and the batter and knows about where 1st base is. He clapped and cheered (charge!) and enjoyed the game. I think that he was trying to figure out what was going on though...

The funny part of the evening was when some of the inflatable animals danced out on the field. There was a monkey (NY Yankees) a giraffe, and a roach from Seattle (Ichi-roach funny... get it?). Anyway, this last inflatable sang the Take me out to the ball game song... and it is the famous song sung by legindary Harry Carry from Chicago. Singing in his place tonight, was Harry Canary (picture included) . BTW... I'd be afraid of this guy...

Well during the 7th inning, he caught Joel's attention behind us. We had seats that we about 15 rows up from the dugout and about 20 rows behind us was this big Harry Canary thing. Joel watched him for about 10 minutes when low and behold, he came down the stairs we were sitting close to and did his thing on the 1st base dugout. Cheers, laughs, waves, and so on. Joel did not take his eyes off this "thing." After about 10 minutes on the dugout, this canary decides to go into the stands... taking a step into the 1st row and then steping into the second row. Making its way up the middle of the stands and moving up. Then Joel sees what's going on... he's coming right for us! He started getting a little worried, but not too scared. Once that big ugly thing got right in front of him, I told Joel to give him five... no dice dad... don't let him come any closer! He started to shake a little... but didn't cry. Just clung to me harder and harder. After he passed by us, he sprayed confetti on all of us and it was just hallarious! We kept telling Joel that it was OK... but he knew that thing was around somewhere, and he was going to be ready for it!

All in all it was a good night.

I like it... I love it... I want some more of it...

Was that sung by the Rolling Stones? Can't remember...

Anyway... It has been a while since I've blogged, so I'll just write a quick one and see what happens. I just love coming home. A long day at school... class after class; then practice (which is going well) and then weight training for the girls. It's a long day. But the drive home, even though it is only 10 minutes, seems like forever! I can't wait to be in my living room, to see my wife and my kids! They are just a high for me that can never be fully explained. When I shut the garage door... the familiar, "Joel, whose that." Then you hear the scamper of little feet on the carpet and a loud, "DADDY!" as he tackles my legs. As I carry Joel into the living room, I'm greeted by a little girl who just smiles sooooooooooooo big when she sees me. She knows who's coming to play with her. And to top it all off, I get to kiss the wife, who I haven't seen all day, but in the picture on my desk. Nothing like a real-smile from your "honey" to make the drive worth coming home for. (there could be a serious biblical lesson in there somewhere...)

We've taught Lindsay her first conversation word... not sure if she knows what it really means... but it's "Oh oh..." She's so cute...

Off to school. We have our first newspaper coming out today and I need to be there just a weee bit early.

Another One Rides the Bus... (Weird All Yankovic)

Can you believe it?!?!?! 2 Days in a row! Don't get too lit up over it, though... this time I have PICTURES of my OWN!

Tonight... Joel got to pick dinner. "ungwee... pizzaahhhh?" So mom and dad gave in and we went to the new Mazzios on Penn and 122nd. One word... AWESOME! It's a new buffet. It started out as a buffet... then changed to carryout only (for several years)... then as Jeanise and I were driving by a few weeks ago, saw that it was a dine-in place. So we tried it out tonight and it was the cleanest place we've ever seen. And so much nicer... the people were nicer than the one in Edmond. Not to mention... it wasn't as crowded.

Anyway, Jeanise went to music rehearsal so the kids and I jumped into the wagon (the 2 kids, not me) and we went walking around the neighborhood for an hour. The kids did so great! Here are a couple of pictures.



Some neighborhood kids on scooters got the attention of Lindsay and then as they wizzed by, Joel just had to check it out. After Lindsay got bored of them... she took time out to pose with the "Check me out, I'm cute" look. Mom and Dad love this look...

Takin' Care of Business...

It's been quite some time since I've added to my blog, (which seems to happen quite often) so I thought that I'd share about my weekend.

Jeanise was very loving enough to allow me to take a small football trip to Stillwater on Saturday. Shane, my friend and my OSU dealer, met me up there for opening day of Cowboys football. I just love going to my anual game a year with Shane. We always have a lot of fun shopping at the stores (gotta hit every one of 'em, don't we Shane?) and eating somewhere on campus before the game. It was good to see the new editions of the stadium and where they're gonna put the new seats. It was also really good to see the Cowboys just steam roll over Missouri State.

Today... was Labor Day. Isn't that just funny? A day where everyone takes off a day of work. Jeanise and I took the kids up to OC to see Steve for lunch. Jeanise and I both noticed that everything on the roads seemed like it was the day of Christmas... nobody on the roads and everyone's business (except restaraunts) were closed. Funny... Jeanise took a 1/2 day off and spent it with her mom. It was good for her to get out of the house, since she doesn't get to do that without kids very often. With the exception of Lindsay having this nagging little cough all day, the kids were pretty good. I have good kids and can't complain.

Joel gets to start his new school at Memorial Rd. tomorrow. Mommy and Daddy are very excited for him. I don't think Joel knows what is going to happen tomorrow until Mommy drops him off at his new classroom. He likes to play with the other kids and do stuff. Anxious to hear how he did and if he enjoyed it or not.


Look 'e here... My little girl already has her eye on her friend Camden. Camden is 3 or 4 weeks older than Lindsay and they are just too cute.

Summer Time (Will Smith aka Fresh Prince) ... is over

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. School has officially been going for a week. Not a bad start so far. Classes are good. The office has given me 3 Web Design classes! and a newspaper class (again--guess I did too good of a job last year). Then I have a plan, 2 basketball hours... and then I'm done. Not a bad schedule.

Basketball is looking good. It's a lot more work being the Head Coach versus being the assistant. A lot more managerial kind of stuff than I had thought. But I think that once I get a handle on things, that it'll move a lot smoother.

Well... sorry so short, but gotta run off to school!

Here I go again... (Whitesnake)

I like what Jeanise is doing... I'm going to try to do a music title for everyone of my posts. We'll just see how long that lasts. My sports page kids on my newspaper last year had a music title or band name on every one of their newspaper articles. I was impressed...

Anyway... Tomorrow the teachers report back to school with the kiddos coming back on Thursday. Summer was great! I've had the opportunity to spoil and play with my kids all summer and enjoy time with my wife that I've not had in the past. Jeanise asked me tonight if I had a good summer and I told her that I loved every minute of it. It was just different this year... I hope that future summers will be like that too. We'll see...

WIth the new school year starting, there's going to be a lot more going on this year... but I should have a better handle on it. The classes that I'm teaching... I've already taught. Just have to modify and reprint the lessons. No big deal. The only 'new' thing is that I have to come up with 2 practice plans for basketball. I have a freshman team along with the varsity this year. Busy busy busy... Just pray for me this year that I can keep things in perspective and priorities in order. I know that right now I have good intentions, but know that I can let things blow by me out of control-like. Prayers are good...

Well. Going to go to be early tonight (sure... right) and get a good night's sleep for tomorrow. That's what mom always had my brother and I do before the school year. The only thing that I'm really enjoying right now, is that the kids are thinking, "I'm going back to school. AH!!!!!" I love that...