I'm so fortunate to see the kids at school so often, but being a Watchdog Dad takes the excitement to a whole new level.
Happy Thanksgiving 2015
Hope your day is great...and warm.
Is goof ball one word or two
This is what happens when you ask a 9 year old goofball to clean off the car's rear view camera after a storm.
Halloween 2015
Guess I forgot to post this a few weeks back. This year's Halloween was a glimpse of the future. Noah and his buddy Jackson decided they didn't want to Trick or Treat very far. They wanted to come back home to hide and scare kids coming to the front door. So we did the 'hood and crossed over to Thornbury where there is a house that is half haunted house. We'd be back before you could blink. Until...
About the 5th house they ran into 3 girls from school. Immediately both boys' IQ dropped 40 points each and the decibel level of the girls' giggling raised about the same proportion. I asked if they were ready to go back to the house and scare kids and the lights just weren't on upstairs anymore. 2 miles and 40 houses later we arrived at the girls' final destination. The boys gave ALL their candy to them and sauntered on home. Can't imagine what it's going to be like in a few years when they like girls.
Meanwhile Cam, ran into her best friend while we were still in our hood. Jenna went with her and we maintained visual contact for a bit but eventually they went to a party while I kept hoofin it. We reunited at bedtime. Good times.
Photo by Amber Lanning
Fall 2015
We aren't in full orange and red yet but fall is definitely in the air. This year at the corn maze/pumpkin patch the kids and I splurged and went for a helicopter ride. It was amazing. Watching the video now, all I can think is how much better it's going to be in a couple of weeks when the colors of the trees explode.
Pretty Solid Weekend
A 3-day weekend is nice but we don't always take advantage of it. This weekend we nailed it.
If It's Not Written Down It Didn't Happen OR 10 Years of Blogging
It’s hard to remember the world ten years ago. It was way back when you paid for long distance and you paid by the minute for your mobile phone. It was before apps. It was before texting was easy. Facebook may have been invented but it was far from a thing.
When Jenna became pregnant with Noah, we had zero family living close by. Every time something new happened, we’d have to share it multiple times with each family member. Whoever we spoke to last got the short end of the stick. So I had a brilliant idea. Let’s start a website. A blog. It’s this new cool thing people are doing. We can post news and everyone can go to their computer and see what happened! As always Jenna was skeptical about anything I’m excited about, but she went ahead and gave me her blessings.
On September 1, 2005, I made the first post. Today, I make my 863rd post. I had to manually add them up because I didn’t think the statistics page was correct. 863! It has grown just like our little family over the past ten years. It went from a way to keep grandparents up to date on doctors appointments to a true history of our family.
It has become a historical document to us in a way I can’t explain. It has been there for two births, hundreds of small victories, a couple of huge victories, and a few moments that threatened to crush us. It has also seen it’s fair share of deaths and chronicled the pain that goes along with life. Without knowing it or even trying, I created a written account of our adventure.
I am thankful for everyone who has ever visited. I am thankful for a life where I get to wake up the two greatest children in the world each morning, watch them stretch, and hear “Good morning Dad.” Mostly I am thankful for my beautiful wife. She is and always will be the star of my story.
The kids' first concert
My first concert was the Gap Band with Midnight Star opening for them. I don't remember the year but I've never forgotten the concert. My big sister let me tag along with her and her friends. No one ever forgets their first concert. Noah and Cam got to go to really cool laid back one. Amos Lee and David Gray had an outside concert that was perfect. It was all lawn seating. The view was great. The music was perfect. We love Amos Lee. The kid's have grown up listening to his music and Noah could sing along to about a third of the songs. David Gray was a mystery to me. I haven't really listened to him since his first album but his show was awesome. He was a great performer. Hopefully it made an impression with the kids. I'm glad Amanda and Sue got to share it with them. Come to think of it, I'm glad their parents got to share it with them too.
The Swoosh
Last time we were in Portland, I got a tour of Nike's campus from Amanda. This time the kids were bigger so we all decided to take a peek. Coming from 2 people who work in school districts, it seemed like a foreign country. We were there during lunch time and the amount of people working out was astonishing. The culture of health was unlike anything we experience. If you workout you get an additional 30 minutes of lunch. I don't know logistically how every company can emulate that but what a service for your employees. Everything from the tennis courts, to the gyms, to the pool, to the soccer field was being used. Jenna loved seeing the soccer field where one of her Nike Training Club app's trainer's had a bullhorn and was putting about 200 employees through a crazy workout.
The kids enjoyed it in different ways. Campbell just thought it was a town with cool art. Noah just looked at the banners of all the athletes. They got to run a lap on the track and see museum worthy things they won't appreciate until they are older. This trip to Portland really opened Noah's eyes to a lot of sports. Lacrosse seems to be his new "favorite" sport. My personal favorite moment was seeing a group of engineers (or whatever they are) putting a group through workouts as they tested Sparx gear.
Thanks to Sue for taking us there on her day off, even though people kept trying to stop her and engage her in work :)
Phase 1 Braces-Done!
The last six months, Noah has been sooo over his braces. It helped when he got the palate expander out but the days leading up to getting the braces off were more exciting to him than the last 3 Christmas' combined. He will not do well in a couple of years when the next set gets put on.
Oregon 2015
What an amazing trip. We crammed in as much of the Pacific Northwest as we could but still left feeling like we missed a lot. I'll document the different adventures we had one by one. The trip started on a high note with Campbell flying for the first time that she can remember. The look on her face as we took off was awesome. Then we landed at Amanda and Sue's resort. It needs a name like Shangri La or something. Then we hit the coast, we hit the woods, we hit Nike, we hit the waterfalls, we went to the kid's first concert, we brewed beer with an airshow flying overhead, and mostly we recharged our batteries. Our hosts were amazing and for the second time in as many trips, Jenna was checking job openings in case we decided to stay :)
Dubsmash giggling
Dubsmash is funny. I've seen some well done ones and some not so much but most of the time you'll get a grin from me. The kids saw their first ones this weekend from their cousin Jana and I'm not sure I've heard giggling like that...ever.
Noah's surprise birthday party by the Titans
Last Friday was our little boy's ninth birthday. Crazy right? It was going to be a rough weekend though between a baseball tournament and Mother's Day. Each year we give the kids the option of either a big party/small present or a small party/big present. Well this year he wasn't given a choice, we had no time for a party.
Then the tournament brackets come out on Wednesday. For the first time in forever, we not only don't have a Friday night game; we don't have a game on Saturday until 3:30! So last minute we start calling places and seeing if we could have a party. Of course being last second, everything was a no. So we reached out to the Titan's baseball team to see if any boys could sleep over. We got resounding yes' with every teammate being able to make it.
Then we realized Noah had no idea yet, so could we pull off the surprise party? Absolutely. Annie and Pops took him to see the Age of Ultron right after school but they had an extra 20-30 minutes to stall until all the boys could get to the house. He was suspecting something with them but he had no idea it would be all his teammates.
Growing pains
Not from the kids but from their parents who wonder where their babies went.
Noah's turn to bat
My favorite thing about baseball is the randomness of the sport. In any other sport, when the game is on the line, the ball or play goes through the best player. Need a last second jump shot? Design a play for your best shooter. Need a yard with no time on the clock? Either your quarterback or your running back are having their number called. Baseball is different. Bottom of the last inning with your team down a run? Who do you send to the plate? Whoever's turn it is to bat. I love that.
Well, Saturday night the Titans went into the bottom of the last inning down a run. We tied the game and the winning run was on third. Then it was the next guys turn to bat. Noah Sullivan's turn.
Oliver + Bee =
We actually don't know what bit/stung him but a quick trip to the emergency vet fixed it. Why does this never happen during our vet's hours?
Titans 2015
Springtime and a new baseball season. The Titans will have their first full season of kid pitch this season. Our first tournament begins tonight full of hope and expectation. Play Ball!
A Little Non-holiday Surprise
It's always nice to have visitors. Last week we were lucky to have Amanda visit from Oregon. We see her every Christmas generally but we were able to score a visit in April. Noah had a fundraiser for Odysey of the Kind and south Arkansas came through in a big way. For delivery Magga and Amanda came up for one quick night.
Can't Wait for April
Usually April is a tough month on the Sullivan's. Work paperwork piles up on both of us and it ends with the Race for the Cure so it is a lot of time I'm away from home.
This year we will make an exception though. Cam cracked her head open and got 4 staples in her first visit ever to the ER. Noah had a mystery ailment that sent us from missed school, to the doctors office, to parents trying to stay calm when the scary words like thyroid disease, liver failure, and leukemia are put on the table, to an eventual joyous diagnosis of mono after having 3 vials of blood taken from his arm. Then back to the ER to remove staples on the girl. An enlarged spleen and restricted activities for the boy. Now Jenna is home with Campbell who proceeded to redecorate our bathroom floor at 2:30AM with her partially digested dinner. Jenna realized today between the kids various ailments and a smattering of snow days she has not worked 4 Wednesdays in a row. Last year I took 2 sick days the entire year to take care of kids. This year I've used 6.
Ugh.
Black Belt
“Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.”
Words can't begin to express how proud we are of Noah for achieving his black belt. When he first started we realized he had an aptitude for it but to stick with it for 3+ years was all on him. I remember when he made the jump from the little kid class to the junior class and the trepidation he showed. I really thought he may give up on it, but I remember the third time he went to the class with mostly teenagers and suddenly his confidence came through and he fit right in.
During his training as a recommended black belt the past 6 months he had to master all 9 lower belt forms but the biggest anxiety was he had to demonstrate 2 successful board breaks. At one midterm, a boy 2 years older than Noah was testing for his black belt and failed to break his second board. I remember Jenna and I watching in horror as the boy sat on the mat with tears pouring down his face. Our anxiety grew as we got closer and closer, but not Noah's. He was unflappable.
When I picked Noah up from school the day of black belt testing he was fired up. At school that day he earned a show and tell the following Monday. He was excited because he'd be able to show off his black belt. We did our best to present him with possibility he may fail the test without hurting his confidence going into it. He just shrugged it off and had decided he was passing no matter what.
True to form, he rocked his form demonstration. He has always had excellent technique in his forms at every graduation and midterm he's ever taken. I don't say that as his father, but as the adult standing next to him after instructor after instructor and parent after parent came to him after graduations and told him how much fun he was to watch. Then came sparring, which is probably his weakest area. He doesn't win many matches because he doesn't counter well, but he also never loses because he is a defensive machine. He's like trying to hit a fly with a chopstick.
Then the moment of the board breaks came. The students testing for black belt were given their boards and sat away from the students mid-terming. Then my most proud moment came. I was going to be proud no matter what and I wasn't proud for the reasons you assume. I was proud because up to this point in his 8+ years on this earth, this was probably Noah's biggest moment in the spotlight. 3 years of work was coming down to this moment and he had 10 family members, 7 of whom drove a long way, there holding their collective breath. I was proud because when the spotlight shone on him, he did what Noah always does. He volunteered to go first. If he has one trait now that I pray sticks with him for his entire life it's his willingness to do whatever he's asked, in front of whoever is there, whenever you ask him.
Of course, going first was great for us because we didn't have any more time to worry. It was go time. He lined the boards where he wanted them held, asked permission to be a badass, and then snapped both boards like they weren't there.
Joy. Relief. Pride. It was a flood as Jenna and I looked at each other and could finally breath. The last of the story was when he was actually belted. The passing students were asked to say a few words. Like always he didn't hesitate and stepped forward.
