Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Eight Years and Counting...
Eight years ago today a couple of youngsters said "I do," and began what has been the greatest journey I have ever been on. I remember thinking on my wedding day, as I was crying in the room behind the sanctuary in Tusculum Hills Baptist Church, "How in the world am I going to take care of BOTH of us?" I am sure my brother, who was my best man, was freaking out trying to figure out how he was going to 1) get me to stop crying and 2) figure out how to make me feel better. I can remember him telling me "Dude, stop crying, we have to go out there. You're going to be great." I don't know if I've been great, but I know that the partnership Allison and I have has been great. I also know that there is no one I would rather spend my life with. Thank you so much Smalls, for saying yes. These past eight years have been great, and I look forward to spending the rest of my years with you. You are the best wife a guy could ever ask for. Thanks for all you do to keep our family, household, and life in great working order. You're the best!
Sunday, May 17, 2009
A Giant Shift
If you read this blog with any regularity, you may have noticed that I haven't posted in a while. Well, Allison has been in a trial that has spanned the last four weeks and she was working a lot the week before that. Because of the trial, she has either had the computer with her at work or she has been working on it at night when I might create a blog post. Over the past four weeks, or so, not much has really happened or changed. Nothing other than a GIANT shift in Cooper's behavior.
Cooper is two and a half as of yesterday and the easy thing to say is "Oh, he's just in the terrible two's." Except for the fact that his behavior has changed so dramatically over a very short amount of time. Over the last few weeks he has been in several incidents in which he has acted very aggressively. Two weeks ago at church we were told that he was being aggressive. I believe he was taking toys from one of the other children in class. One day last week when I picked him up from school, I noticed that he had an accident report in his slot. Before I even looked at the paper I knew what had probably happened, he'd been bitten. I was correct, however, he was bitten in retaliation for waking the other child up by jumping on him. Are you kidding me??? Finally yesterday when Allison picked Cooper up from his class at church she was told that he was aggressive with his friends again. Apparently, he had pushed a child and possibly bit another one. Wow! That's really all I can say right now.
Allison and I have chosen to discipline Cooper using timeout. This has, and still does, work when it comes to Cooper. However, the day care that Cooper attends seems to resist using this. When we started there we were under the impression that, when the child reached the age that it was appropriate, time out would be used as a form of discipline. In our minds this has worked perfectly in terms of consistency. However, because timeout is not being used he is not getting that consistent discipline that we hoped for. Am I blaming Cooper's school for his shift in behavior? Absolutely not. We think there are many contributing factors from inconsistent discipline, to being around other aggressive children to his age.
With the latest incident today we are taking an additional approach to discipline. We decided to take a toy away. I had one opinion and Allison had a different one about which toy to take away and why. Ultimately, I agreed with her and we decided to take away a riding toy that Cooper plays with every day. It is a Pooh riding toy, that since Allison brought home a badge from one of the Captains from Metro's police department he has started calling it his "Police truck." We told him that we were taking it and if he is good this week and is not mean to his friends he will get it back. We also told him that if he continues to be mean to his friends we are going to continue to take toys from him. We'll see how it works and I am sure I will blog more about it as time goes by.
Question: Have you experienced similar situations with your children? If so, what type of discipline (other than spanking, which we are choosing not to do) did you use and did it work?
Cooper is two and a half as of yesterday and the easy thing to say is "Oh, he's just in the terrible two's." Except for the fact that his behavior has changed so dramatically over a very short amount of time. Over the last few weeks he has been in several incidents in which he has acted very aggressively. Two weeks ago at church we were told that he was being aggressive. I believe he was taking toys from one of the other children in class. One day last week when I picked him up from school, I noticed that he had an accident report in his slot. Before I even looked at the paper I knew what had probably happened, he'd been bitten. I was correct, however, he was bitten in retaliation for waking the other child up by jumping on him. Are you kidding me??? Finally yesterday when Allison picked Cooper up from his class at church she was told that he was aggressive with his friends again. Apparently, he had pushed a child and possibly bit another one. Wow! That's really all I can say right now.
Allison and I have chosen to discipline Cooper using timeout. This has, and still does, work when it comes to Cooper. However, the day care that Cooper attends seems to resist using this. When we started there we were under the impression that, when the child reached the age that it was appropriate, time out would be used as a form of discipline. In our minds this has worked perfectly in terms of consistency. However, because timeout is not being used he is not getting that consistent discipline that we hoped for. Am I blaming Cooper's school for his shift in behavior? Absolutely not. We think there are many contributing factors from inconsistent discipline, to being around other aggressive children to his age.
With the latest incident today we are taking an additional approach to discipline. We decided to take a toy away. I had one opinion and Allison had a different one about which toy to take away and why. Ultimately, I agreed with her and we decided to take away a riding toy that Cooper plays with every day. It is a Pooh riding toy, that since Allison brought home a badge from one of the Captains from Metro's police department he has started calling it his "Police truck." We told him that we were taking it and if he is good this week and is not mean to his friends he will get it back. We also told him that if he continues to be mean to his friends we are going to continue to take toys from him. We'll see how it works and I am sure I will blog more about it as time goes by.
Question: Have you experienced similar situations with your children? If so, what type of discipline (other than spanking, which we are choosing not to do) did you use and did it work?
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Country Music Half Marathon
If you have read this blog for very long you know that I was scheduled to run the Music City Half Marathon on Saturday. Well, Saturday came and I completed my first half marathon in 2 hours and twenty minutes. My goal was 2 hours, but the heat and the hills of the course proved to be too much for me to finish in that time. With temperatures nearing 70 degrees at the start of the race, I knew that I, along with many others, were in for a tough run. I was able to keep my pace for about 5 miles, but around the halfway point I knew that I was not going to be able to finish in 2 hours. After that my times per mile continued to go down as the temperature went up. At mile eleven, without mentally considering it, I just started walking. For the next mile and a half I walked the hills and ran the parts of the course that were flat or downhill. With about 3/4 of a mile to go I started running and was able to finish the race. I am not disappointed in my time, just disappointed in the fact that I trained for so long and was not able to finish the race without walking. However, I am so thankful to Alli, Cooper, my mom, Jason, Nick, and Kristin for coming out and cheering me on at various places along the way. You guys are the best. As for my next race, I will be running in the Run 4 Kids on May 30 with Allison and Cooper will be participating in the 100 yard dash. If you are interested in running you can go here and run a fun race and support a great ministry.
Me finishing the race
So thankful for my family coming to cheer me on
Sunday, April 19, 2009
A Trip Every Boy Should Take...
...especially if he's a fan of Tennessee football. Yesterday Allison and I took Cooper on his first trip to Neyland Stadium. We made the day trip to Knoxville for the annual Orange and White game. We went with a guy Allison works with, Jeff, his wife, Amy, and their son William. We had a great time and the boys actually did much better than we expected.
We left yesterday morning at about 8:30 and arrived in Knoxville at about 12:30 local time. We found a place to park and walked down to see the Vol Walk that started at about 1:30. As we made our way toward the stadium I was amazed at how many people were there to see "practice." After the Vol Walk Jeff, Cooper, and I walked over to get tickets and then met the girls and William back at the Campus Deli where we picked up burgers for lunch. We ate our burgers back at the car before going back to the stadium to watch the game.
We arrived at the game just after it started, and because we waited we had to sit in the upper deck. As it turned out, this was a great place for us to sit. We were in the shade, and if we weren't I don't think the kids would have made it as long as they did. We sat in our seats for the entire first half and Cooper really seemed to have fun. When we first sat down he seem mesmerized by the number of people as well as by what was happening on the field. He asked many times what they were doing as well as pointing out Smokey several times. Just after halftime Cooper started to get a little restless. He and I walked down and stood by the rail. He really seemed to like it there because we were a little closer and he could stand on the rail to watch. After standing there for a while we walked back up the stairs and it appeared that William had had all he could take so we headed back to the car. When we told Cooper we were leaving he said "No, I want to watch the football game." Reluctantly he complied, and we headed back to the car and made the trip back.
While Cooper is definitely too young for a regular season game, I was encouraged by the fact that he seemed to have a goo time. Who knows, maybe we will make it a family tradition to make the journey to Knoxville every year for the Orange and White game.
We were high up, but the shade was great
Me and my boy taking in the game
Allison and I were both delighted to see Cooper's excitement and the fact that he was singing "Rocky Top" on the way to the stadium.
"On the rail" was Cooper's favorite seat
Cooper and Mommy doing a little tailgating before the game
Me and Cooper watching the players and coaches during the Vol Walk
We left yesterday morning at about 8:30 and arrived in Knoxville at about 12:30 local time. We found a place to park and walked down to see the Vol Walk that started at about 1:30. As we made our way toward the stadium I was amazed at how many people were there to see "practice." After the Vol Walk Jeff, Cooper, and I walked over to get tickets and then met the girls and William back at the Campus Deli where we picked up burgers for lunch. We ate our burgers back at the car before going back to the stadium to watch the game.
We arrived at the game just after it started, and because we waited we had to sit in the upper deck. As it turned out, this was a great place for us to sit. We were in the shade, and if we weren't I don't think the kids would have made it as long as they did. We sat in our seats for the entire first half and Cooper really seemed to have fun. When we first sat down he seem mesmerized by the number of people as well as by what was happening on the field. He asked many times what they were doing as well as pointing out Smokey several times. Just after halftime Cooper started to get a little restless. He and I walked down and stood by the rail. He really seemed to like it there because we were a little closer and he could stand on the rail to watch. After standing there for a while we walked back up the stairs and it appeared that William had had all he could take so we headed back to the car. When we told Cooper we were leaving he said "No, I want to watch the football game." Reluctantly he complied, and we headed back to the car and made the trip back.
While Cooper is definitely too young for a regular season game, I was encouraged by the fact that he seemed to have a goo time. Who knows, maybe we will make it a family tradition to make the journey to Knoxville every year for the Orange and White game.
I don't know if it was the game of how high we were, but Cooper was mesmerized when we first got in the stadium
There were tons of people waiting for the Vol Walk
We were high up, but the shade was great
Me and my boy taking in the game
Allison and I were both delighted to see Cooper's excitement and the fact that he was singing "Rocky Top" on the way to the stadium.
"On the rail" was Cooper's favorite seat
Cooper and Mommy doing a little tailgating before the game
Me and Cooper watching the players and coaches during the Vol WalkFriday, April 10, 2009
Our Day Off
Today Cooper and I were out of school/off work. We planned to have lunch with Allison and we stopped by my mom's office on the way. The visit was good and we got to see many of the people my mom works with, including Wanda, one of my mom's best friends, and her daughter and two granddaughters. I have known them since I was about 10 years old because I played baseball with Wanda's son, Derrick. After that we went on into downtown to see Allison. When we got there we me a few people Allison is working on a particular case with and then went to get lunch. We got cheeseburgers and took them back to her office.
As we were eating we were watching the weather, as Allison had gotten an e-mail that bad weather was moving in and would be in Nashville in about an hour. As we were eating we knew things were getting bad and then the tornado sirens started sounding. When then happened Cooper and I left her office and headed home. On the way home I realized that we were actually heading right into the worst part of the storms. As we approached our exit on the interstate it started raining really hard and even started hailing some. The hail got much worse the closer we got to home and we made it into the garage just as it got really big and started coming down really hard. Cooper and I ran inside, turned on the weather and got in a closet because there were tornado warnings in our area and the weather men were saying take cover. As I listened through the door and checked my phone for updates I could tell the worst part was not coming at us. We got out of the closet and I watched the T.V. to see what was happening. As I was watching a tornado touched down about 15 miles southeast of our house. Actually, my brother and dad saw it cross a few miles from them and got a picture of it on their cell phone. Sadly two people were killed and another 13 were injured.
I have always been fascinated by the weather. I blogged about it several months ago. I learned today, however, that my fascination ends when my family is involved. That is the first time that I have been in a situation like that with Cooper. Seeing all of the damage and hearing the stories from people who were in its path really makes me thankful that we weren't closer. It also makes me thankful for the job our local weather people, including the ones that I watched, do. If it weren't for them I am sure more people would have been hurt or possibly killed. Thanks again to Lelan Statom and Charlie Neese. You guys provide Nashville and the middle Tennessee area with so much valuable information.
As we were eating we were watching the weather, as Allison had gotten an e-mail that bad weather was moving in and would be in Nashville in about an hour. As we were eating we knew things were getting bad and then the tornado sirens started sounding. When then happened Cooper and I left her office and headed home. On the way home I realized that we were actually heading right into the worst part of the storms. As we approached our exit on the interstate it started raining really hard and even started hailing some. The hail got much worse the closer we got to home and we made it into the garage just as it got really big and started coming down really hard. Cooper and I ran inside, turned on the weather and got in a closet because there were tornado warnings in our area and the weather men were saying take cover. As I listened through the door and checked my phone for updates I could tell the worst part was not coming at us. We got out of the closet and I watched the T.V. to see what was happening. As I was watching a tornado touched down about 15 miles southeast of our house. Actually, my brother and dad saw it cross a few miles from them and got a picture of it on their cell phone. Sadly two people were killed and another 13 were injured.
I have always been fascinated by the weather. I blogged about it several months ago. I learned today, however, that my fascination ends when my family is involved. That is the first time that I have been in a situation like that with Cooper. Seeing all of the damage and hearing the stories from people who were in its path really makes me thankful that we weren't closer. It also makes me thankful for the job our local weather people, including the ones that I watched, do. If it weren't for them I am sure more people would have been hurt or possibly killed. Thanks again to Lelan Statom and Charlie Neese. You guys provide Nashville and the middle Tennessee area with so much valuable information.
Monday, April 6, 2009
What a Great Weekend
This past weekend we had friends from Baton Rouge in town. They flew in Thursday night and stayed until Sunday afternoon. It was so good to have them here. Cooper and Caroline (their oldest) had a great time playing and we just loved having baby Charlotte around. Cooper was very sad when he realized that we dropped them off at the airport to go home and they weren't coming back home with us. Because we got in late Thursday, the ladies didn't really feel like getting out and doing much on Friday. Jeff and I, therefore, took that opportunity to go on a long 11 mile run. Jeff is a runner and recently completed trail 1/2 marathon so he was up for a long run.
Saturday we got up and ventured out with everyone to Cheekwood. I have lived in the Nashville area the majority of my life and had never been there. What a great place. The weather was great and they do a free art project for kids on Saturday mornings. This month is wildflower month at Cheekwood so Cooper and Caroline got to plant wildflowers in a pot. After that we walked around and took in a lot of the beauty there. Then we all sat down and had a picnic lunch that Allison made for us. Saturday night my mom came over to watch the toddlers and we went to Maggiano's for dinner. It was great as always, and we had a good time hanging out.
Sunday morning we got up and went to the park after breakfast. We threw balls around, flew kites, and played on the playground. Overall it was a great visit with some of our best friends. If only they lived a little closer and we could hang out more than twice per year.
If you want to read more about our weekend and see more pictures you can visit Allison's blog here.
Saturday we got up and ventured out with everyone to Cheekwood. I have lived in the Nashville area the majority of my life and had never been there. What a great place. The weather was great and they do a free art project for kids on Saturday mornings. This month is wildflower month at Cheekwood so Cooper and Caroline got to plant wildflowers in a pot. After that we walked around and took in a lot of the beauty there. Then we all sat down and had a picnic lunch that Allison made for us. Saturday night my mom came over to watch the toddlers and we went to Maggiano's for dinner. It was great as always, and we had a good time hanging out.
Sunday morning we got up and went to the park after breakfast. We threw balls around, flew kites, and played on the playground. Overall it was a great visit with some of our best friends. If only they lived a little closer and we could hang out more than twice per year.
If you want to read more about our weekend and see more pictures you can visit Allison's blog here.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Not Many Posts
A few weeks ago I said I was going to try to post more regularly on my blog. I am still committed to that. There problem lately is been that there hasn’t been much going on that was worth posting about. This weekend, however, we have some of our very best friends coming in from Baton Rouge. I am sure there will be pictures and stories to tell coming soon.
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