Beignet Breakfast 2009

We had our annual beignet breakfast. T and I need to do some research and figure out when we first had beignets on Christmas Eve morning. Nana stopped by for a beignet as well.

We have a busy day today. We will head out to Nana and Papa's for lunch before church. After church we will drive around and look at lights. When we return home, we will watch The Polar Express. Finally, we will hang our stocking, and say our prayers because Santa comes tonight.

Merry Christmas from the Bayou!

Picture time

My niece is just a tad taller than the trophy B earned from batonthis season.
The Bayou FamilyB and her friends after the baton party. They marched in all but 2 parades this year.

K is one bad a$$ for an eight year old. Ok, he just looks like a bad a$$.

I guess my blog is now a once a week blog.

To recap last week:

Last week of school for me. The kids have to go until Wednesday.

Snow and cold.

K won his wrestling match by pin in just thirty seconds. It was his first career victory.

Ok, that is it.

--Bayou

B and I played at the Saxophone Christmas in the Falls yesterday. We had about a 40 minute rehearsal and a 45 minute concert. I haven't play the sax since January and my mouth was hurting at the end. B said he had a fun time even though she could play all the notes. (For the record, neither did I.) I am amazed how much she has learned in such a short time. If we play in it next year, she will do better and someday, I am sure she will be better than me.

Last Sunday K had his first All-Star wrestling match. He lost 4-0, but had a fun time. He said he need to practice more and get better. He will wrestle again this afternoon and every Sunday til the end of January.

Last night was the Santa Party at my sisters. It was fun and the kids love it. T and B had to shuttle back and forth between the party and the baton banquet. B got another tall trophy for marching in parades. I think she marched in 15 this summer.

In fantasy football action, the Bayou Steelers made the playoffs as the 5th seed. We face the defending MNFFL Super Bowl champions today. Let's go Steelers!

B before her concert band debut! I am amazed how fast she has learned to play the saxophone. She has to learn how to read music, learn fingerings for the sax, and learn what notes has what value. The 6th grade band is so large they need two periods for rehearsal. The two groups only meet twice before tonight for rehearsal. I am so proud of her and hope she stays with it. Band was such an important part of my life and I hope it is in her life as well.
The rest of the concert was great as well. We also got to hear my nephew play in the 8th grade band. The high school Jazz Band was fabulous.

J with a shampoo mohawk!

The last boat ride of 2009.

Craig and his little girl.

T, J and K 'inside' the boat. We need the enclosures for a few cruises in October.

These are a couple of pictures of T and B in action during the Massillon Christmas Parade last week. B only has one more parade for the year.

Thanksgiving was fun. We split time between my sister's and my in-laws. I was able to see most of the Cowboys' game. They won 24-7 over Oakland.

Teresa and I looked at all the ads in the paper and found only a couple of 'door buster' deals. We decided not to get up early and fight the crowd. When we did wake up around 7:15 we thought we would head out and see if what we wanted was still available. First stop, Target. We purchased some Christmas light (50% off) and DVDs. Next stop, Home Depot. We bought 60 AA batteries for $10. The way the kids go through AA batteries on the Wii, we needed them. Final stop, Toys R Us. We bought 3 MP3 players for the kids. Keep this info under your hats. All three kids still believe in Santa Claus and I would like to keep it that way. On our way back home, T said we should donate blood. So, we did.
On Friday night, I went to see Cardinal Mooney defeat Steuvenville 45-7. Cam's running back ran for 303 yards, including a 95 yard TD run. I will miss the Massillon-Glenville state semi-final tonight. T and I are going to dinner with her aunt from PA. It is a nice dinner out with just adults.

Only 15 school days til Christmas Break.

Football recap

Ohio State defeated UM again this year.

Massillon beat McKinley 10-7. I went with Big Keith to Akron for this game.

Cleveland found a way to lose to Detroit.

Dallas crushed Washington 7-6. I can't wait for Thanksgiving Day; Dallas vs Oakland.

It was another beautiful weekend. I hope it continues like this for the rest of the year.

and the Bayou Steelers won as well this weekend.

Football schedule for the weekend:

Noon:
THE Ohio State University vs Michigan.

7:00pm
Massillon Washington vs Canton McKinley....Part Two

Sunday.
1:00pm
Cleveland Browns vs Detroit Lions (ok, I have to mention this game)

4:00pm
Washington Redskins vs Dallas Cowboys.

The biggest high school rivalry, the biggest college rivalry and the biggest pro rivalry all in the same weekend. It might be the best football weekend I can ever remember. The only it would be better is if Mogadore was playing this weekend.

Mixed bag of results for the football weekend. First, Mogadore lost 48-7 to Norwalk St. Paul. The family (minus B) went to the McKinley-GlenOak game. McKinley beat them 48-7. No it is not a typo, the scores were the same. We were home in time to watch the Buckeyes beat Iowa in overtime. The Buckeyes are Rose Bowl Bound. Going to the Rose Bowl is on my bucket list of things to do. It has been 13 years since their last trip to the Rose Bowl.

We also took advantage of the nice weather and finished getting all the leaves raked up. It was so nice to be outside in 60+ degree weather in the middle of November.

A and K after the Cats defeated JFK last Friday night.

K won his first match at the wrestling clinic tournament last weekend. He finished second again this year. He has joined the youth wrestling team. I will keep you posted of his season.

K had his first wrestling practice tonight. He loved it. He will wrestle on Sundays starting in December.

The weather the past few days has been un-November like. I wished we had this weather back in October for camping. The weather for the football game Saturday night was great. We meet up with the Lyons, Throneberrys and my parents at Beef o'Brady's before the game. It was a great time.

The Wildcats defeated the Eagles of Warren JFK 28-7. The Cats will play this Friday night against Norwalk St. Paul.

This is the back of the yearbook staff t-shirt. One of the staff members came up with the saying to use, and I showed them the logo from the Ft. Worth Cats. We made changes to their design to fit our needs.

Check back later to see how Mogadore did in their playoff game.

It has been a week since my last update.

Dad and I finally changed the oil in the boat. It was put into storage for the winter.

T came down with an infection, then had a reaction to her medicine.. She could hardly move for three days. She is feeling better today and returned to work. She did not work Friday, Saturday, or Sunday.

We took the kids to Parma to trick or treat at night. It was the first time they ever trick or treated at night. Uncle Kevin was glad to have them visit his house.

Mogadore beat E. Canton in football last Friday night. The Cats will be the #3 seed in the playoffs. They will host Warren JFK next Saturday night. Our friends from the cruise send their daughter to JFK. We are planning to meet them before the game.

I might also attend the Kent State/Akron game at Akron's new stadium. The game is at noon. It should be a great football day.

Today I helped Dad tear down the campsite. We removed the dock from the water, pulled up the deck and moved the camper. Everything, went to winter storage. April will be here soon enough. I hope.

Mogadore won last night and will be in the playoffs again this year. It was raining and I did not attend the game. I stayed home yesterday with B. She has been running a fever the past couple of days. I hope it doesn't get worse.

-Bayou

Papa and B

Capt. K looking cool.

The kids on our last boat ride of the season.

Tonight we pulled the boat out of the water. It was a sad night. It doesn't seem that long ago we launched the boat. We had a wonderful boating season and can't wait for next season. If you missed a boat ride this year, sign up now for next year.

Capt. Bayou

Picture Time

My family with my Irish Mom, Mary. She is visiting from N. Ireland this week.

Tim W and J have a discussion about what the jack-o-lantern's face will look like.

J and I at the last game of the year at Progressive Field.

The kids before trick or treat at Atwood.

I am sorry for taking a couple of weeks off from my blog. So, here is the recap:

We went to Atwood for their annual Fall Festival the first full weekend of October. It is a fun time, however the weather was not the best. The Witts were our neighbors. It was good to visit with them. I wish the Moores would have made it down to camp as well.
We also camped last weekend. We went down on Saturday instead of Friday night. It rain all day Friday, so it made the decision to go on Saturday easier. We did manage a boat ride. T and I put on the enclosures on the boat. It made the ride a little warmer. I will post a picture of the boat with the enclosure on. This weekend coming up, Craig and Martha are coming down. We are planning to use the enclosures to keep us warm as we boat.
The camping season and boating season is coming to an end. It is always a sad time to put everything away til April. We all know the weather will get colder and soon the snow will fly.

I still golf on Monday. Today was worth writing. I shot a 42. If the weather holds out, I can golf the next two Mondays.

The Mogadore Wildcats are 6-1 and ready to make the playoffs again this year. It will be the 11th straight year they have made the playoffs.

B's thumb is better. She has to wear a splint for sports. But other than that, it is doing fine.

My host mom from Northern Ireland is in town this week. I went to my sisters to see her. It has been 20 years since I last saw her. We had a good visit. Tomorrow, everyone will gather for dinner. I will post a picture later of the family.

K and I went up to Progressive Field on Sept. 30. It was the last home games of the season. It also was the last home games for Eric Wedge. It also was a traditional double header. K and I saw about 14 innings of baseball. Thankfully, both games were played in under 2 hours and 15 minutes.

I think that catches you up on everything.

Picture Time

K in the lake on Sept. 19. It was cold. He only jumped in once and said that was enough.
I shaved my goatee for a few weeks this summer. It returned before school started.

K received a Bible from church.

The Palace in Dallas. My brother sent me this picture from his trip to Dallas. Fun how I am a Cowboys fan and he went to Dallas. He is a Steeler fan and I went to Pittsburgh.

If it was the weekend then we were down at Atwood. It was another beautiful weekend. My dad took this picture of us on the boat. T had to leave early to head to work but the rest of us stayed til late Saturday night.

Today, K received his Bible from church. He was happy to get his name tag like mom and dad.

Even with her broken finger, B marched in the Louisville parade. She held the banner with her friend. T's parents came down to watch them march.

Mogadore won Friday night and moved to 4-0.

I will be on the golf course, weather permitting, tomorrow night.

Bayou out.

Recap from the week.

Monday was golf night. Did ok. I was a beautiful night and would have liked to play 18 instead of 9.

Wednesday, Briley had an accident in gym class. She was playing goalie and tried to stop a soccer ball. It jammed her thumb back. It might be broken. She will see a specialist tomorrow. The swelling should be down.

Tonight we went to Perry for the Beat Hoover pep rally and bonfire. It was fun parading up from the middle school to the high school. I have pictures from the rally on my phone and I will add them later.

Mogadore plays at Rootstown tomorrow.

The Bayou Steelers are 0-1.

There is the recap for the week.

Thursday night the Mogadore Wildcats defeated the Northwestern Huskies. The game was on FSN in the northern half of Ohio. It was a fun time having all the tv camera around the school for the pep rally. The Cats are 3-0.

T and B had a girl scout camp out. I think they had a good time. Me and the boys joined them for dinner Saturday night. We left before the big Ohio State game.

We made it to the lake today. We got in some boating. The number of boating days is growing smaller and smaller. It will be sad to take it out of the water next month. K went to the Wayne County fair with AT and his grandparents. It got a little sun burnt, but had a great time.

In fantasy football, the Bayou Steelers need some big points tomorrow night to avoid a season opening L!

It looks like another beautiful week in ahead for Ohio. Tomorrow is golf night and I can't wait to hit the course.

Here are the Labor Day travellers. We went to PNC Park in Pittsburgh. It was my 36th ballpark and T's 31st ballpark. I want to hit 40 before next summer is over. We have a fun time. We ate too much, but it was all good food.

Mogadore is 2-0 on the football season. They play on FSN tomorrow night.

We had our MNFFL draft over the weekend. T is going to be an owner this year. Good Luck to her. Chances are she will win the league.

I was in my second ever car wreck today. A guy bumped my rear bumper going about 3 mph. There was no damage to my Saturn or his car. It was just scary for a second.

Bayou out.

Recap from last week.

Monday. It was the first day of school for teachers. I woke up at 3:30am sick. I woke up at 4am, sick. I was sick before I got into the shower. I decided not to go to school, but changed my mind. When I got home I slept until Tuesday morning. I must have been real sick, I skipped golf.
B started 6th grade and K started 3rd. J was upset he did not go to school today.

Tuesday. Another teacher day, and another day not feeling 100%.

Wednesday. First day of school for students. It went fairly well. It is my 11th year teaching.

We made it down to the camper for the weekend. I was suppose to camp with my brother and his boys. But, bad weather cancelled their tent camping. We only got a 40 minute storm Friday night. Saturday was alright. We were able to go out on the boat for a nice cruise around the lake. The weather felt more like late September not late August. We will be back in a few weeks.

I golfed tonight. The league is over, but I can golf til the end of October on Mondays.

Tubing on Atwood

We would use dad's boat to tube because it moves faster than the pontoon. Also, we would anchor the pontoon at boater's beach while we tubed with others on dad's boat.

Fish of 2009

J caught this fish off the front of our boat while it was docked.

We did a pretty good job catching fish off our dock this year.

Fishing at Atwood.

This was the largest white bass K caught today.
T and J joined us in the afternoon for a swim and a little fishing before we called it a day.

This was my lone fish I caught. It was about a three pound channel catfish.

This was fish number 1 for Kent. He ended up catching 7 white bass and 1 saugeye. He had a pole in the water more than I did today. But, I still had a fun day. It was by far the best fishing day I had at Atwood in a long time. We were trolling off our pontoon boat just off the point to the beach when we caught our fish.

The end of summer vacation is fast approaching. We spent last weekend at the camper. I am sure that surprises you. We went down on Thursday and stayed through Monday. T had to drive back and forth a couple of times for work. We did a movie night on the boat. We hooked up my dvd player into the boat's speakers. We went out and anchored the boat and watched HSM3. It was almost like a drive in movie. I am sure we will do it again in the future. The rest of the weekend was swimming and tubing. Mike, Christy and their girls come down Sunday. Their boat is still in the shop. Mike brought down a different tube and the kids had fun on it. I will post some pictures soon.
Hopefully, tomorrow K and I will head down to the lake for a morning of fishing.

We went to Atwood again this weekend and summer finally showed up. We went out on a sunset cruise Friday. It was our first time out after sunset. It was fun to cruise at dark. We did some tubing and swimming on Saturday. T had to work to close. Sunday, Christy, Mike and their two kids, plus new friends Alissa and Mike and their three kids came down to Atwood in the afternoon. We had a fun day swimming and tubing. Mike N. tried to wake board but dad's boat didn't have enough juice to get him up. The weather was warm and breezy. The lake was choppy but made better tubing. This morning we did some quick tubing before leaving. Then the rain came and washed out my golf game.

Time for a week in review.

We went to Cedar Point last Wednesday with our friends Christy and Mike. It has been 13 years since our last trip to CP. Things have changed since that trip. We did ride all the major coasters. The Top Thrill Dragster was amazing. 120 mph in 4 seconds, then up 420 feet and then back down. The ride lasts 17 seconds but worth the hour wait.

We did not make it to the camper this past weekend. T had to work both at the hospital and Subway. B had the HOF Community Parade on Sunday. After the parade we went boating. We ate dinner on the boat and the kids swam.

I had a good round of golf last night. 41. I tied my best round of the year. The league ends in a few weeks but we can play golf until the end of Oct.

Oh, one last thing. I shaved off my goatee last Thursday. I gave it until to today and I am growing it back. I just don't look like me without it. As J said...."put it back on, because you aren't daddy like that."

Pictures from the past weekend.

J even got a turn in the tube. He loved it!

Is this our Christmas card picture this year?

A nice crappie from Atwood.


K was not to be out done, he could his on his first cast of the day.

B left for S. Carolina this morning. We just got word they arrived safely a little bit ago. She will have a fun time. She is returning on Saturday.

B had the Plain Twp parade on Saturday morning. It was a long parade in terms of distance. But, they were close to the front of the parade, which is always good for me. After the parade, we headed home. T took B and J back to Atwood, while K and me went to the Akron Aeros game. I remember why I am not a huge fan of minor league baseball. The game takes too long. Before the game Perry Baseball paraded around the field. We were back to Atwood by 10:15.
Sunday, T was called off work. It wasn't a big surprise. We had a fun day at the lake. We stayed Sunday night. It is always peaceful on Sunday nights when there are just a few campers on the point. In the morning, we finished packing up. T took the kids to Bible school, while I went golfing at Atwood with my Jostens representative. I had a good front nine and a tough back nine. Then I went on to golf in my league. I didn't play real well in the rain, but it wasn't my worse night.

We are home for one night from Atwood. I would explain why we are home, but it is too long.
Anyways, we went down to Atwood on Wednesday and enjoyed the quiet surroundings. We did all the normal stuff we do when we camp. It finally felt like summer with some warmer weather. My neighbor Jasen and his kids were down yesterday for some boating, swimming and campfire.
Tomorrow, B has a parade. After the parade, T, B and J will head back to the camper. K and I will join them after the baseball game tomorrow night.

Check out the San Angelo Colts at sanangelocolts.com. They are 25-10 and in first place. I might have to head to Texas for the playoffs.

I think the Indians are still playing baseball. They might be 20 games under .500 by now. It has been a long season and is only going to get longer. I am glad I did not renew my season tickets to see AAA baseball.

Bayou

I needed some help 'driving' the boat and J was there to help me out.

Boater's Beach on July 4, 2009