11/13/2010 Cookout

Temp: 65 F

K won his age/weight class.

Happy Halloween

Thank you Giant Eagle.

Above: The reward for waiting for the fish to bite.

Above: Sept 24.

J all glued back together after he fell.

Ok. So I havent updated this blog in a very long time. Well, welcome to the last two months in review.

Great weather in Ohio.

Great camping at Atwood.

Mogadore won all their football games in the regular season. They are currently 2-0 in the playoffs.

Perry was 7-3 in football and missed the playoffs.

T had a great birthday party.

Fall Fest weekend at Atwood was the worst weekend weather wise all fall.

Dad's surgery went well. He is doing great!

Now time to post pictures.

We went to the camper for the Labor Day weekend. I don't remember the last time we went camping during Labor Day. We normally head somewhere for baseball. It was cool and windy most of the weekend. We did manage to get on the boat a few times. T's parents came down for the day on Saturday. We are planning on camping again this weekend. I don't think we will be swimming anymore. The temps will be in 70s all week.

This blog started out posting updates about my fantasy football league team, the Bayou Steelers. The season starts this Thursday as the Steelers look for their 4th championship in 12 years. I will try to post results next week.

J's semi-annual football pictures. We were able to go onto the field to get a couple of pictures. Maybe one day, he will be playing football on that field.

We had a scary day yesterday. J fell in the driveway and split his head open. It was not a pretty sight. However, the ER was able to 'glue' the cut and not stitches were needed. We were in and out of the ER in less than 30 minutes.
We went to my sisters and had pizza after returning from the ER. My aunt from TX is on a tour of Ohio. It was good to visit with her because, my visit on Tuesday was cut short because J was running a fever. He ended up missing school on Wednesday. After, pizza, B, K and I went to the Perry-Central Catholic game. Perry won 35-7. I got word Mogadore won beat Smithville 31-17. Both teams are 2-0.
The weather finally turned cold today. It was 90+ Monday through Thursday and a total of 16 days of 90+ degrees this summer. I don't think we will see 90+ again til next summer, but hope we have plenty of warm days ahead before the snow flies.

We didn't go to the camper last weekend. We were just busy with other things and school started on Monday. T worked as a sub in the pre-school. I went to MHS for in-service days on Monday and Tuesday. The kids started Monday. The Bear had his phase-in yesterday and he will started everyday on Monday. He rode the bus home with K and was all smiles. I hope he has a good first year of school. B seems happy about her classes. She wishes she was with more of her friends, but she will get through it.
I will post pictures later.

After a storm, this 'branch' was floating in the lake. It was about 20 feet long.
The Dallas Cowboys arrive in Canton.

Emmit and Jerry in the parade.

Alex and Steven cooking dinner.

We drove to Toronto on Tuesday. It was a nice drive. We did not have any trouble crossing the border. We met up with Jared and his family at the hotel. The kids were able to swim before we headed to the GO train and headed to Toronto. We had dinner near the stadium. We had good seats in the upper deck for the game. This was my 37th major league stadium I have visited.
On the way home we all stopped at Niagara Falls. Then on to the Anchor Bar for lunch. It was a good lunch at the home of the original chicken wings. Again, the drive home was good. We had dinner at T's parents. We finally arrived home about 10pm. All in all, it was a fun trip.

Anchor Bar in Buffalo, NY. Home of the original chicken wings. We stopped for lunch on our way back from Toronto.
The whole group at Niagara Falls.

Rogers Centre in Toronto.

The kids enjoyed the pool before we headed to the game.

Another week, another week spent at Atwood. We went down on Saturday morning and met up with my sister and her family. We did some tubing and swimming. Teresa had to leave us early to head to work, but the rest of us stayed. We watched AEP change a transformer on a pole near the camper. Sunday was more of the same. This morning my mom called and said she and my niece were coming down for some boating. We boated over the 'other' marina for some ice cream and a stop at boater's beach. If it is Monday, it is golf Monday. Please alright. Not super happy with my score. It could have been better if I would have sank some easy putts.

HOT! HOT! HOT!

Another week and another week of beautiful weather. The family swam a couple of days at my parent's pool. The temperatures were near 90 or above all week. The kids had Bible School this week.
We went to Atwood last night and tonight. We will head back there tomorrow and stay through Monday.
Tonight we headed to Teresa's cousin's little boy's birthday party. It was a nice night for a get together.
I went and golfed on Thursday. I played the 'silver' tees. My league plays the 'white' tees. I still shot a good score. I think it was in the mid-80s.

I think that puts you up to date.

K won two trophies for his fish. One for the largest fish in his Boy Scout district and largest fish in his Boy Scout pack.

The winning fish. 8 11/16 inch, largemouth bass.


Tired boys.

We have been enjoying the nice weather here. Mom's pool got into the 90's. Some say that might be too warm, but I say it is just fine. We didn't go down to the camper last weekend til Sunday night for one night. I went to Michigan for the Keib Golf Outing. I was placed on a team again this year and we shot a +4. The winning team was a bunch of ringers that called in the day before to golf. They were -14. It was tough to get into rhythm because it took nearly 5 hours and 45 minutes to play the outing. We were waiting on every shot.
I got home about 2am Sunday morning. T had to work and the kids and I went to my niece's birthday party. After the party we went to the camper for the night. We made it out to boater's beach in time for a nice swim. I took the XM radio with us and listens to Jimmy Buffett's concert from the coast. Monday morning was rainy so, we packed up and headed home. I finally got to golf on a Monday for the first time in awhile. It was a scramble night and our team went -3. I actually played pretty well both on Saturday and Monday.
Tuesday we took the boat out and filled it was gas. The price at the marina is $4.19 a gallon. It is worth the time to take it out and fill it at Giant Eagle. We were able to fill the boat for free using our Giant Eagle gas points. We were able to save $75.
There is your update for now.

Friday: We made it down to the camper in time to set up and relax for a little bit. B had a parade in New Philly. Then back to the camper. It was chilly sitting outside.

Saturday. The Lyons came down to visit. Once they arrived we loaded up the boat and headed out on the lake. I took them on the tour of the lake. Then we did some tubing. Lunch was served at Boater's beach. We tubed some more on the way back to the dock. They brought down some great food for dinner...chicken, pasta, fruit, etc...

Sunday. HAPPY 4th of July. We did not have a parade to attend, so we went out on the lake. We end up spending over 10 hours on the lake. We watched the fireworks from Boater's Beach. The cruise back to the dock was not as bad I thought it would be. Everyone got some sun, by sun, I mean...sunburn. The high temp for the day was 90+

Monday. B had a parade in North Canton. MEMO to N. Canton, if you are going to have a Fourth of July parade have it on the 4th!!! The parade had only 22 units in it. B was 18. It was a total waste of time for us to drive from the lake for it. Anyways, when we returned to the lake, we headed back out. We swam with some new friends we met. We tied up the boats together and had a fun time. It was another hot day, 90+ again.

Ok, you are up to date. Pictures to come.

Last Monday, K's baseball team played a marathon tournament game. Actually, the game should never have been played. The other team had only 8 players. K's team lost in seven inning.

Tuesday. I made it down to Atwood in the late morning. Did some tubing for B's birthday. T took B and her friend home. Me and the boys stayed at the camper. We did some walking around the Alive10 area. It starts on Wednesday.

Wednesday. T had a long wait to get in to the campground. The campground is packed.

Thursday. Boating. Fishing. Swimming. A day in the life at Atwood.

Friday. See above. We did head out to boater's beach to listen to Tim Hawkins. We really couldn't hear him really well. We could hear some acts better than others.

Saturday. Our friends the Johnsons came down for the headliners at Alive 10. We could hear them really well from the lake. We left right before the end. There was lightening in the area.

Sunday. I was really surprised how quickly everyone left today and how clean the campground looked after they left.

Monday. We returned home. Golf was cancelled due to rain.

Ok. You are all caught up.

Tay and Bri celebrating Bri's birthday.
J caught a catfish and he was so proud.

The Atwood moon raising.

This is looking at where the Alive10 stage was just the day before.

Since school has been out, our lives have been all about baseball. Both K and J played a bunch of games. J's team finished 3rd in a t-ball tournament. They won the last game with only 6 players. K's team won their second game of the year last Friday. They play tonight in the tournament tonight.
B has had a couple of parades. It is only the beginning of her 'season'.
I took the boys up to Progressive field to see Stephen Strasburg pitch against the Indians. He looks like the real deal. Jared came down as well.
We haven't been to the camper much. We have been to Atwood a few times to check on the flooding and put the boat back in the water. We hope to be down there more and more now that ball season will be over soon.

My room next year.
One last look at my 'old' classroom

BW3

J and J

J in the catcher's gear.

Atwood Flooding 2010

Ok, so these pictures are in the wrong order. The above picture was today. 6/7/10

This picture was taken on 6/6/10

This is 6/5/10

Gator done!
He plays t-ball, but the coach is allowed to pitch two pitches to them before they use the tee.

B fishing.

Parade #1
7 baby birds that live in our boat.

Mommy bird

Hello June....well I guess i should blog about May

J's baseball team has been getting better each week. We did have a grudge match against Coach Tom's team. We looked pretty good. Tom said we will have a good 6 year old team next year. J has been hitting the pitches from the coach rather than off the tee. He is improving so much.

K's team finally won a game last week, 13-9. K has had good days at the plate and not a good day in the field. Or he will have a good day in the field and not at bat. He has made a number of good defensive plays at second base. His pitching has improved lately. He had one really bad outing, but the rest of the time he has looked good on the mound.

B had her first parade yesterday in Canton. I am not real happy with how things are being run in her baton group. The numbers seem down and some people have left the group who were very instrumental in setting the schedule.

I did run both track invitationals at MHS in May. It was a little less stressful since I only had one job to do. The weather was divine both nights.

We made it to Atwood for one night two weekends ago and then for the Memorial Day weekend. The kids swam Saturday for the first time. It was chilly but not too bad. Sunday we had our party. It was fun. There was good food, good friends and great weather (85 and sunny).

We found a nest of barn swallows in our boat's battery compartment. They hatched this past weekend. They are so tiny and their eyes aren't open yet.

We did some fishing this weekend. B out-fished the boys. But, J caught the largest fish.

I will add some pics later.

-Bayou

I found out today that I will be back at Mogadore next year. The only catch, I will be teaching health. This is a part-time job. So it means a big pay cut, but it is a job.

I will blog more later.

--Bayou

We celebrated K's birthday today. He turned 9 yesterday. He played in one of the coldest and windiest game ever. He pitched pretty good. He struck out 2 and field a ground ball. The team lost the game. They need to find their hitting groove.
B and her cousin after the Bands in the Round last Thursday. The concert went by quickly. I remember that concert lasting for hours. I am proud of all B has done this year in band.

Before I went to BITR, I took J to his baseball game. He made a good play on this ground ball. He got a hit in the only time I saw him bat.

I need to get my calendar to fill in the blanks from the last week or so. So, saty tuned for my next update.

I guess this is turning into a weekly blog. So, here is the recap from last week.

I finally got my permanent crown on my tooth on Tuesday. It was pain free.

We did a quick trip to Michigan. We went and saw my friend's little boy in Damn Yankees! He was a bat boy. We did not stay, so we did not get back until 3:45am on Sunday morning. Then it was on to my nephew's confirmation and party. It was a fun time with the family.

That is about it.

Well, it has been a week since my last blog. Sorry. It has been a busy week with kids. K and J have ball practice and B has baton. We don't have much time to do much else. The weather was nice until Saturday. It was chilly at ball practice yesterday for both boys.
One thing I have been trying to do is walking 3 or 4 times a week. In March I walked 12 miles and so far this month I am at 6.2 miles. I need to pick up the pace. I generally walk at the park down the road, but there are a couple of nice walking paths in the area. Hopefully, the weather will be nice and I can get out and walk a bunch of miles this week.

Happy Birthday to me. We went to Kalahari for the night. It was great water park. The place was really busy, but we didn't have to wait too long for any one ride. B and K loved the Flow Rider. I even gave it a go. My college roommate, Craig, and his family joined us as well.
We had a birthday dinner at Outback Steakhouse and then had cupcakes back in our room. All in all, it was a fun way to spend my 40th birthday.

Well, I guess I can tell everyone the news....Mogadore Local Schools is suspending my contract at the end of the year due to financial reasons. There are 4 teachers who will be "RIFfed" at the end of the school year because of budget cuts.

I first got wind that I might be let go around the middle of February. Even, until I actually received the letter today, I had hope something would change and I would still have a teaching job. However, it does not look like that will happen.

This is something I never thought would happen and still can't believe it is happening.

I have already started the process of finding a new teaching job. But, most schools don't post job opening til the end of April or early May. I am hopeful to find something close to home. Keep us in your prayers.

Spring Break is wrapping up. It has been a beautiful week. We set a record high of 86 degrees F today. The family went to Atwood and under dad's direction, set up the campsite. We moved to lot #701 this year. It is bigger than our other lot. It is located just behind our 'old' site and next to our first ever permanent site.

Tomorrow, we head down to put the dock in place and launch the boat for the 2010 season. We figured we have close to 60 different people on the boat last year and invite you for a ride this year.

Yesterday was April Fool's Day. T and I woke up the kids and told them they had a snow day. They jumped up and looked out the window as well said April Fool's. Then, with a little help from my mom who was dog sitting, we posted on Facebook that we got a dog. It came complete with a picture of the dog and J. Everyone sent in an idea for a name. A few people bought into the joke hook, line and sinker. I am already thinking of jokes for next year.

I thought I would add this picture of J. I guess he needs to stay in school until he learns to read.

Well, I haven't done a good job keeping up with my blog this month.

The highlight of the month is Bear's birthday. We went to the Massillon Rec. Center. The cousins all showed up for the swimming and the aunts and uncles showed up at mom and dad's house. T made his SpongeBob cake.

The Wildcats played Warren JFK in playoff basketball. I went and met up with the Lyons. Sue was home sick, but Rick and 'stina showed up. The Cats went on to win the game, just like in football.

I went with Mike N. to the Kent State-Akron game. Kent St defeated the zips for the second time this year. Mike N. and I went to several high school basketball games in the past two weeks.

Kent St. beat Tulsa in the first round of the NIT. I was not able to attend due to K's wrestling banquet. The Flashes play Illinois tomorrow at Illinois.

The Buckeyes are on the Sweet Sixteen. They are having a great season and are two games from the Final Four.

The weather was been great for March. We even had a campfire last night. We made pie irons and s'mores. It was great! We listened to our new XM radio as we sat by the fire. See above picture.

Til next time, Bayou

Happy 5th birthday, Bear!
We had a party at the Rec. Center.

We went to the Pro Football HOF for his football pictures this year.

The snow is 99% gone. It was in the upper 60's yesterday and today. It might not stay this warm, but it is nice to see the sun.