Taking it all in stride

So Daniel brought home a note from school this week, but not THAT kind of note because Daniel is just not THAT kind of kid. Daniel doesn't make waves, but not because he doesn't have opinions or is "passive" as someone once described him, but because he has a tremendous amount of inner strength and self-control. Sometimes I think he is much more of a grown-up than I am.



Anyway, though, I got a little off track...



So Daniel and Josiah got in the car after school and Daniel announced that he had gotten a note in his locker, but that he hadn't even opened it yet - See, I told you he had self-control.



So I, who have less self-control, said, "Open it, open it." As we were driving away from school I glanced at Daniel's face in the rearview mirror as he read the note - smile, big smile.




Daniel, taking it all in stride, announces, "It's from Audra. She wants to go out with me."


"Oh really?" I asked.


"Yeah, but I'm going to tell her no, because ..."


"You're ELEVEN maybe? " I helped out.


"Yeah, but... (as he is folding the note back up) it's good to know, for future reference, of course."


"Of course."


Big Smile, pink face, red face, REALLY red face...


"Wow, my face feels really hot!"


Giggle, giggle, giggle from the back seat - They are only 11 after all...

Game day

On Wednesday, Huntington University played IPFW which is a division I school in Fort Wayne. It was a great game!

IPFW scored in the first minute off of a penalty kick resulting from a foul being called on the Huntington keeper shown in the video below.

Also in the video is a shot taken by Adam (#11 in green). Every time I've watched it, I've held my breath to see if he scores. Remarkably, it never changes... It's a great shot, nonetheless.

At the very end of the video up in the stands, you can catch a glimpse of Todd, Daniel, Rachel and I. When the clip ends, if you move the little slider to the left just a tad, you can see us. Todd's in a baseball cap, Rachel is in a brown T-shirt, and I'm leaning forward just next to our friends who are standing up. We're just above and to the right of the center of the shot.

Huntington played a great game, but came up short 0-1. Adam had a good game - the first game back after his broken nose. Daniel and Adam both have games on Saturday.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bA8DvqJ1NEU

School and Soccer Season

Well, school is in full swing again for Todd and Daniel, and Adam's classes start Monday. June seemed to go pretty slow, but I don't have a clue what happened to the rest of the summer. It's always a little hard when the kids go back to school. It's so quiet around the house during the day. I do have company, of course, but she's not very energetic or enthusiastic, and she really doesn't contribute much of anything. I even tried to hire her to catch up my filing for me, but you can see how that went!

We've been doing some traveling to Adam's soccer games which started last week. The team looks good this year!!

Fort Wayne has a national soccer showcase every year, and this year Huntington got to play against Cincinnati Christian College Thursday night. Adam scored the first goal of the game!



Towards the beginning of the second half, however, Adam's face had a collision with an opponent's head. We knew it must be bad because as soon as the ref got over to Adam, he stopped the clock.... then the trainers came running out.... then they put on their gloves. So as we watched from a distance we tried to figure out where the blood was coming from - nose? teeth? gash in head?



It was the nose... Thursday night...

Friday morning.... Profile shot - Check out the goose egg between his eyebrows!

Saturday morning.....

He didn't lose consciousness (Praise God), and the doctor on-site at the game said there was no indication of a concussion. He came home with us (obviously) after the game, and I woke him up during the night Thursday night just to check on him. An ENT doc checked him out on Friday and said everything looked okay. No need to come back unless he's unhappy with the cosmetic appearance after the swelling goes down. He feels a lot of pressure in his face and eyes from the swelling and has a slight headache, but is recovering pretty well. Thank you, Lord!

As a side note, as he was being driven off the field to go to the training room, the players on the bench from the other team told him they were praying for him, and after the game, the player that he collided with came in the training room and apologized (even though it was accidental) and said he'd be praying for him! That speaks volumes to the quality of character of those players!

Just so I don't leave you hanging, we won the game 2-1, and the Huntington players filed through to check on Adam as they were leaving and said, "We got it for you!" Such a great thing to be part of a great team! I'd be proud to have any of them as my son!

That's it for now. Take care!

Zoo fun

A week or so ago, we made a trip to the Fort Wayne Zoo. The African Exhibit was completely revamped and definitely worth a visit. The weather was beautiful, but the sun was a little hot on Adam's newly shorn head. His hair ended up being a little shorter than he had planned on, but he now knows the error of his ways and has taken note for future self-haircuts. I think he looks awesome with or without hair! Here are pictures for your viewing pleasure:

The Monkeys were Adam's favorite!

I think Rachel is practing her monkey face!

I don't know what these flowers were, but they were BEAUTIFUL!

And THESE too!!

It's Indiana Todd!!

Sorry, I'm too tired to rotate this one...

Jelly Fish!!

Just yesterday

Phoenix Arizona, 1992 ***It truly feels like yesterday

Daniel just looked at the picture and said, "I remember that chair; I was just sitting on it." :)

You've just gotta love the mauve from the 80s/90s. The color's not so great anymore, but the chair is still going strong. Random, I know...

I'm just missing a certain someone who's not home this summer...

Small Town Life

Small town life has its disadvantages, sure, but there are also advantages and things that just put a smile on your face, like this message on our answering machine yesterday:

"Hi, it's Tyler from Pizza Hut. I just found out yesterday that we're getting an ice cream machine, and I thought to myself 'First thing Tuesday morning, I'm going to call the McLaughlins,' so I just thought I'd let you know. Have a great day."

With just a handful of eating establishments in our small town, when Pizza Hut took over the neighboring storefront and went from carry-out only to adding a small dining room, we along with many other residents were quite thrilled. Wednesday night is buffet night, and we've been pretty regular in our attendance. They have the best salad bar!

Anyway, Tyler is one of the managers, and a great one at that. You just know that if Tyler is there, the buffet will be fully stocked and ready to go. For the past year or so since the dining room opened Todd has commented upon leaving that as good as the food is, it would be better with a little ice cream to top it off.

Well, after much begging, the ice cream machine is a reality, Todd's happy, and I think I even hear the Cheers theme playing in the background.

Grandma's visit

Mom came to visit over spring break, and we had a wonderful visit. She got to see all of our family and Mark and Jeni's, squeezing in a visit with Calvin before we left for the airport. Poor Calvin had to spend spring break in Destin, Florida... Here are some highlights of her visit:

Sunday, we headed up to South Bend to catch up with Todd Jr who was leading worship at a new church and got to spend a couple hours with him after church.



Tuesday we headed out shopping with Jeni and Kelly and ended up at Olive Garden for lunch. Can you say "Unlimited Soup, Salad and Breadsticks?" Mmmmm...





Wednesday evening we met Adam and Rachel for dinner in Fort Wayne.

Thursday evening, Mark, Jeni and Kelly came over for dinner.

Saturday, mom and I went to Adam's soccer tournament at University of St. Francis. It was a ccccold and wwwindy day!! We were able to spend quite a bit of time with Adam in between the games which was really nice!

We had a great time while she were here, and it went way too fast, and YES, everything we did involved eating (and I have the pictures to document it!) :)

Cruise to Cozumel

It seems like just a dream already, and we haven't even been back a week yet.

We left early New Years Eve morning and drove to New Orleans where we hopped on the Carnival Fantasy for a four-day cruise to Cozumel. It was a lot of fun, and the sun felt great! Lots of food and lots of laughter!!! We arrived back home at 3:00am Tuesday morning. It was a great trip, but as always, it's great to be home!!

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Christmas Rundown

It's hard to believe the holidays are all wrapped up and in the history book, so to speak. We kept it very simple this year and just enjoyed the time with family and friends.

Mark, Jeni, Calvin and Kelly came over Christmas day. We had prime rib, ham and all the fixins, ate too much and then played. Tom and Josiah came over for the evening, but Kerrie had to work, so we were missing her. We played video games and euchre and laughed and laughed and laughed some more...

We decided to switch it up a little bit this year and made the guys do a little "treasure hunt" to find their gifts. I don't know how much they enjoyed it, but we sure enjoyed watching them!

Kelly, Mark and Daniel

Mark and Jeni
Look at how much I'm enjoying playing XBox 360

Adam's smile is a result of watching Jeni's attempt at Pacman.

Smile, Mark!

Crafty Kelly!

Daniel, Kelly and Todd




Tom and Todd!