Last Friday night I got to take Danny and Nicole to the Braves game at Turner Field. We had a great time. Danny’s team had all gotten tickets and we sat together. The team got to march on the field ahead of time, but Danny opted to watch hitting practice instead. Good idea!

Standing along the outfield wall, a ball was hit our way. The people standing next to us deflected it to my feet. I picked it up, but somehow it got to be Danny’s ball.

We left the game at the end of the 7th because of the big swim meet at GA Tech’s Olympic pool. It was also very nice, but long. We left the house at 7:15AM and returned at 8:00PM. I suppose Nicole’s bronze medal and Danny’s 2 golds were worth it. Pretty awesome to swim in the same pool at the 1996 world champions.

The one thing that wasn’t cool was when Danny and Greg Bower got stuck in the elevator. They had already witnessed other kids being trapped in there for 30 minutes that morning. I even told Danny that one of the trapped boys had a Dad just like his. Once the boy got off the elevator, the Dad put his hand around his boy’s neck, led him off to the side, and gave him a firm talking to. Little did I know I’d witness the same scene with my son that day. But…

He was holding back the tears when he got off. He says he won’t ride an elevator again, unless a parent is with him.

We ordered Nicole’s letter jacket. That was exciting… and expensive. It will look good and she will really enjoy wearing it. Thank goodness she earned a letter as a freshman rather than as a senior.

Danny was playing at the Halpins today and they met us at the pool later. It was unplanned, but I brought his swim suit, and the Speedo he likes to wear under it, and his favorite daytime goggles. When he showed up with Michael, Michael commented to Danny about the different swim articles I brought for him. “She brought all the extras.” I figured Danny had worried before they came that I would only bring his suit.

I said to him, “Aren’t I a good mom?”

“Yes”, he said, “You’re the best mom.” I had tears in my eyes.

Kelly could see I enjoyed that and added, “You’re the best mom in the whole world”. I gave her a big and kiss for that one.

A group of kids Kelly’s age were taking swim lessons at the pool tonight. Claire was very interested in what they were doing, especially when the lifeguard pulled out kickboards for them to use. It just so happened that we had also brought a kickboard. Claire asked if she could use it. I gave the okay as long as she did not interfere with the kids.

She had her wings on and started kicking around the shallow end of the pool while holding onto the board. Sometimes the board would pop out from underneath her and she would swim to get back to it.

I got in the pool to help her swim without wings or kickboard. I held Claire around her middle while she “swam”. She was doing well, but with a lot of support from me.

I had just discovered that she was tall enough to touch in the shallow end. She asked to touch while we were in the deep end. I told her it was too deep and then she asked to hold onto the sides of the pool. She started scooting on down the wall at a remarkably fast pace. Once she made it to the break for the steps in the shallow end (I was right behind her) she said, “Let me try it.”

Claire let go of the wall and completely submerged underwater. Panicking, I scooped her out and was surprised that she had held her breath and seemed to have anticipated exactly what had happened.

“You did a good job”, I told her. And then I gave her a big hug before getting out of the pool.

Fortunately, Nicole was right there when I had gotten out. As I was toweling off, I heard that little voice say, “Let me try it again.”

I turned around to see her completely underwater again. This time Nicole scooped her out and I made sure Claire did not get back into the water without wings.

Nicole made her first batch of cookies from scratch- Lemonade Frosties. They were quite good. She was surprised how long the whole process took and couldn’t believe it made her so tired.

At dinner, we had corn on the cob. Kelly complained that something hard was in her corn. I asked her where it felt hard and she pointed to her middle right bottom tooth. She must have a loose tooth, I told her.

“It’s wiggling!”, she giggled. She came right over to let me check whether or not she was right. Yes, she was. I gave her a hug, then reminded her of the pact she made to always stay little. She doesn’t know why she keeps on growing.

Kelly also told me that when Jeb and I fell in love that she was the one who shot the arrow. When we married, it was Claire who had done the honors.

She claims that she has been with me since my teenage years, watching over me. I like that thought. I’m just glad I get to return the favor to her.

The kids did it. They all made it through another school year. Danny and Kelly were certainly promoted. We’ll have to wait another week for Nicole’s grades.

Claire and I got to go to Kelly’s end of the year party, a Mexican fiesta. Claire brought her lunch in a brown bag and sat with the big kids while I helped serve tacos. Later, she and Haley Hodgson’s sister, Alyssa, made ice cream sundaes and played outside with the big kids.

Mrs. McKinzey and Mrs. Harris also received gifts from the class: gift certificates and a calendar. I nearly cried looking at the calendar. The room mother took pictures of the class throughout the year and had a picture of class activities that matched the month. Kelly was in the first picture. I saw how much she has grown in Kindergarten. It’s just amazing. My memory – her as a new baby, sitting in her baby carrier and me on the couch, tired like I have never been before- it’s too fresh for her even be thinking about being a first grader. But, when I put her to bed tonight, she was really big. At least she still says that she is always going to live with us.

After the party, Alyssa invited Claire over to play. Apparently they have a Barbie car that you can drive in. I imagine that it was most fun.

Nicole was so thrilled to be finished with exams that she announced she would sit down and watch The Brady Bunch marathon. She has worked so hard throughout 9th grade that I’d let her be a vegetable for a few days.

The week of Danny continues. I took him to a market research on shows about kids who make up sports. In the waiting room, the most precocious child I have ever seen came in. I think he believed he was on a stage the whole time. His mother told us twice that he sings and dances and acts. He did sing, but we never saw him dance.

Danny was much funnier than the actor. I think he had a hard time trying to think of what to make of this kid. Or, maybe that was me. I kept watching Danny watch the kid. Danny was paid $40 for his time, so now he’s starting off his summer as a rich guy.

Jeb took this morning off so he could see the 5th grade awards and Time Trek put on by Mrs. Higgs’ and Mrs. Layson’s classes. On the way to the ceremony, I spotted the yearbook seller and was able to buy another yearbook for Kelly. She was so sad Friday that she didn’t get one. We surprised her with it after the awards.

Danny got the President’s Academic Award, a Media Festival award, and an art award.

The funny part was while we were waiting to go into Time Trek, Darlene Long, Greer Long’s mother, introduced herself to me. She told me that they hear so much about Danny. I wanted to laugh because just last night Jeb was saying how he wondered if Greer’s family knew anything about Danny because we sure know about Greer. Ever since first grade, when the yearbook comes out we’ve stopped a few minutes to look at Greer’s picture and ask about her.

He did a great job with Time Trek. The program was a history time line put together by the students and based on the kids’ studies throughout the past school year. I wish I had gone to see it twice. Afterwards, Mrs. Higgs talked about what a good job the kids had done, “Especially Danny. He’s such a ham.”

The only person who did a better job than Danny was Claire. She could not have been better sitting through the hour long awards and then another 30 minutes for Time Trek. This is a definite positive of her getting bigger. I had to reward her afterwards, so we got Happy Meals with teenie beanies from McDonalds.

Danny’s team won their first play off game. It was an intense game for most of its duration.

They finished with enough time left for Danny to spend the final 20 minutes at his 5th grade class party. His classmates were all glad to see him. I guess they like him for some reason. All the boys were yelling his name. He got to eat one piece of cake and swim one length of the pool before the lifeguard blew the whistle for everyone to get out.

Danny also informed me, tonight, that ours is not the party kind of house. Imagine that.

Danny turned 10 yesterday. He spent the night with Gramalie and Grandad on Friday night. They went to sent “Men In Black” which Danny liked alot. Gramalie said it was the slimiest movie she had ever seen.

Danny won two medals (3 LF, 4 Back) and two ribbons (11 SF, 7 Med Relay) earlier in the day. Nicole got up early with Danny, and I drove them both to the county meet on the way to work. Kathy and the two little girls arrived later. Kathy sent me text pages to keep me updated. Danny did well considering this was his young year.

Kelly and Mary Claire were worn out after a hot, full day of playing at the park. Kathy was tired, too, and fortunately I had some pizza left over from a staff meeting to feed us all (except Dan who ate at Mom’s.)

We all got up early again on Saturday. Nicole’s relay team won their medley relay heat, and just missed a ribbon with a13th place. Their free relay got 15th. Nicole swam her first individual county event ever. She won her heat, and Coach Kelly told her she did a terrific start and turn. Unfortunately I missed the race tending to Mary Claire’s bleeding lip. She had slipped through the bleachers as I hoisted her to the top seat next to Kathy.

Kelly and Mary Claire did good keeping busy through the long hot day. Kathy says they have gotten very adaptable because of the baseball season. Wherever we land, they figure out a way to have fun.

Michael Halpin and Nick Menson came over for Danny’s birthday (Richard Nason and Alex Meyer both were sick and could not make it.) We all had hamburgers and hot dogs, opened presents, ate birthday cake and icecream, then I took the boys and Nicole to the Atlanta Ice Forum for a long ice skating session. The boys all got hockey skates. Danny was the fastest kid on the ice, and probably the most dangerous as he practiced his stops (mostly into the wall.)

Nicole carefully made it around the rink 33 times. Danny was proud of his 6 blisters and that he finally figured out how to do a sideways stop on the ice.

I was chilly most of the time. I should have skated.

Poor Kelly ended up with a fever tonight. She almost fell asleep at the pool before we realized that she wasn’t just tired, but running a temperature.

Danny went out and played street hockey with the Halpin boys, their dad, and his new roller blades.

Danny was sick with a fever and stayed home today. Late tonight, after everyone else had gone to bed, I heard some stirring upstairs.

Danny was awake in bed. He had had a bad dream and gotten up to open his door. When I asked him what the bad dream was about, he said, “Woodmakers.”

“Woodmakers?” I asked, not sure I had heard right.

“Yeah. They were big,” he said.

“You mean like carpenters?”

“Yeah, carpenters.”

He couldn’t tell me a lot. There were ships. The woodmakers would make a noise if he tried to escape. He said he had had the dream before.

“What makes you think of them as woodmakers? Do they have axes?”

“No. I don’t think they had tools…. I think they had nails.”

I told him that when I had fevers as a kid, I used to have bad dreams. A lot of times I would wake up sweating, and that’s seemed to be right when the fever broke and went away.

“Did you wake up sweating?” I asked him.

“No.”

Oh well. I decided to let him go back to sleep.

Danny & Alex

I have learned a lot about computers today (more than I already knew).

I play the bass clarinet.

I like Notre Dame.

I like the Beatles and Nat King Cole.

I like the Olympics.

— Nicole

We had a very eventful Easter Eve. Kelly and her mom, that is.

Kelly was invited to Charlotte Butker’s birthday party the Saturday before Easter. I was letting her watch TV in the basement so I could get the house cleaned up before we left for the party. At 11:15, the cries of pain came from the basement. Nicole told us Kelly was climbing on the chair, slipped and cut open her chin. Sure enough, she had a pretty good sized gash, but not much blood. It was decided that she should go to the emergency room.

On the way to Egleston, she told me a number of times that she didn’t want stitches. I tried my best to comfort her, telling her hopefully all she needed a special band-aid.

At 1:00, she was brought back to a room to wait for the doctor. Very nice guy, with terrific bedside manner for kids. He came in the room and Kelly, who was turned away from him, immediately said, “I don’t want stitches”. He sat down next to her and asked her what happened. Still looking at the wall, she told him. Then he asked her about her teeth, tongue, etc. Only then did Kelly turn to face him and she let him look at her chin, still telling him “I don’t want any stitches”. He told her she probably didn’t need stitches, this time. He pulled out some glue, alcohol, band-aids, etc. to show her exactly what he was going to do. She put her hand on his leg and listened very carefully to him. It was most cute. While a nurse was gathering the things he needed, he left the room, but before he left, Kelly told him one more time that she didn’t need stitches. He laughed.

Meanwhile, I’m looking at my watch and am relieved that we’re going to make the 2:30 party. Dr. Snowden returns and prompts Kelly into saying once again that she doesn’t want stitches. He sat on the bed and tells her she’s “a piece of work”. I think he particularly liked her. After glueing and bandaging her cut, he gets up to tell me how to care for her chin. Kelly then says “How do I look?” She has put the band-aid on and the Dr. gets another chuckle from her and tells her she has done a fine job putting the band-aid on.

Kelly and I have just enough time to clean up at home and still make the party on time.

We’re cruising down 85 when a funny sound comes from the van. I’m afraid one of my fears has come true. The van loses a little control and I know I’ve got a flat tire. Fortunately, all the cars slow to allow me to pull over on the right emergency lane. We stop right before Spaghetti Junction and to the right of me is expressway, and to the left of me is expressway. There is no way we can walk for help. I immediately started to look for paper and pencil to write a note for someone to call for help. No more than 2 minutes pass when a tow truck pulls over in front of us. A very nice man gets out and offers help.

I kept thinking of our neighbor who lost her daughter on the side of the expressway and am very worried about Kelly sitting in the van. I ask him if Kelly could please sit in his truck. He also lets me use his cell phone. I notice the name of the company on the truck, Angel’s Towing Service. I looked at it twice just to make sure I was reading it right. The guy was so nice and helpful, that I had a particular feeling of being watched over. He tells me that he didn’t used to stop to help people until once on a trip his wife and baby were stranded and someone stopped to help. He was about to exit to buy an Easter basket when he saw all the cars swerving and slowing and decided to see if someone needed help. Kelly and I, maybe it was just me, were blessed that day. I truly felt like an angel had been sent.

[Having four children has broken me of the habit of recording things in the diary. For a New Year’s resolution, I’ll try to make more entries and here it is already the 13th!]

As I turned into the driveway after work, my headlights caught a rabbit running across the back yard in front of the playground and up towards the back fence. Snow was still in the half of the yard near the house where the house shadow had blocked the sun all day.

I came in and told everyone that I saw a rabbit run across the back yard. Kelly was very excited, and went to the window to see the rabbit.

“You won’t be able to see him,” I told Kelly. “He ran away and it is very dark.”

“There he is!” she yelled. “I see him! He’s white! He’s a girl rabbit! I see him!”

Foolish me.

Kelly started giving us regular updates about her rabbit, entering one of her long sessions where we end up ignoring her.

I was standing in the kitchen talking to Kathy, when Kelly came running to me with her hands in the air making noise. She crashed right into me, and then came to an abrupt quiet.

“Hey!” she yelled, with a puzzled look on her face, patting me three times on the zipper area. “You’ve got a rabbit in your pants, Dad!”

Kathy doubled over at the stove, and Nicole had to be sent from the room in stitches. I knew I had to act fast, because if Kelly realized how funny she was, this could become one of her regular routines with others like Grandad, Grandpa, Uncle Ted, etc. I had visions of her patting various members of the family at formal functions and laughing about a rabbit.

“That’s not a rabbit, Kelly,” and I proceeded to tell her the quick truth and give her a lecture about being polite.

She never knew how funny she was.