7QTF - Summer & Education by Boo

Wow, OK! So this week went by rather quickly. Last Saturday we finished up our morning sports, so I'm looking forward to not donning the coach shirt for awhile during our hot Florida summer. JMan did really well at soccer the past few weeks; Boo had a great season hitting, but a tough last game because, well, it's always a smart move by the league to move a little kid's game to the heat of 12:30pm??? Overall, they did perform admirably. You can also get a sneak peak at Lil' guy #4 as Stephi makes a cameo. She's 24 weeks in this shot. He also thought it was quite hot outside. Can anyone else tell it was nearly 100 degrees? Sadly, I did not receive a Gatorade shower. I was really looking forward to that.

The whole baseball team coaching experience was really awesome. My job is pitching to all the kids, then jumping out of the way because half of the hits come right back at me. What's up with that boys and girls? I'm beginning to think it's a Pre-K conspiracy to take out Coach's knees, in addition to the bulging discs I just found out I had in my back. Great right? Well it doesn't hurt so much when you're the proud recipient of hugs, thank-yous, high-fives, fist bumps, fa-da-la-da-la-da-la (Baymax)...

Swimming season? Maybe I can coach that somehow? It just sounds so much cooler right about now. Summer is great here, but this year we kind of skipped our spring. It was hot, way way too hot, way way too fast, and it spanned ALL of April and May so far.

So stick your head under the water fountain, get out the garden hose, slip n' slide, or open up the pool. It's 7QTF - SUMMER'S HERE! with some pretty neat Boo & Dada moments.

- 1 -

Yes, our ever growing houseful of boys. Jman (almost 4), Squish (almost 2) and Boo (5.5). On a joyful day, this is what they look like for wonderful 2 minute bursts. Moments like this make me think, "I have succeeded. I need more." Boo educates me in these moments by reminding me yes, they can all still fit on the rocking chair. I also remind him there's a slight difference in hanging on to squirmy Squish and performing the Heimlich on him...

- 2 -

Technology is not my friend this week. My blog keeps self-posting because the return button decided to do something new on Wix - like jump right to publish the post! My laptop and external hard drive have developed a severe dislike of my photos and videos, and most importantly my work files. It thinks it's too full for me or something. It deleted CRUCIAL files to my job this week, a.k.a. RJ had to completely redo entire spreadsheets. Thanks, Apple. So I got angry this morning. Angry at everything, anyone that was in my way. Boo caught me. Set me straight. He's very sensitive and didn't like the loud voices or angry words. He didn't understand. I completely forgot 1 James 1:19-20, "...let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger; for the anger of man doesn't produce the righteousness of God." I did the opposite and felt like Boo was my little Yoda.

Reminders of the wrong path are necessary.

- 3 -

In more positive news, something else awful happened to us at work. Huh? Wait, I thought you said positive? I know what you're thinking. External forces have just been hard at play this month it seems. Our church must be doing something right. Fortunately, we were able to jump in front of it, turn it into a positive, and faith in Catholic humanity is restored. People are genuinely understanding when something bad happens to you, even when it's beyond your control. Then some will band together and help make it better, lifting you up along with your faith in the process.

- 4 -

I felt like one of the apostles watching the miracles of Jesus in Mark chapter 5. Yes, let's just walk along and WOAH! Possessed dude. Crazy possessed dude with chains beating himself with rocks. Jesus has a conversation with the evil, casts out that legion, puts them in pigs, they jump in a river. Then he goes and heals Jairus' daughter and a woman who's hemorraghed for 12 years. Jesus says to the latter when she reaches out and touches his robe, "Your faith has saved you." He said to the synagogue official when all believe Jairus' daughter was dead, "Do not be afraid, just have faith." Little girl's sleeping, not dead! Who knew?!?

It sounds so simple. "Just have faith." This passage sometimes reminds me, life's not as bad as all that. Have faith, the good is just around the corner.

- 5 -

Boo went with me to what we affectionately call Dada's favorite store, the Orange Store. Home Depot. We set out to fix the broken handle on the boys' tub faucet. We also searched for a replacement to the drain stopper that honestly grew legs and had been missing for a week. I think that's going to be a front running title if I ever write a book. "The Drain Stopper's Missing! And Other Random Dad and His Boy Stories." Boo looked up as we entered the Orange Store, noticed the flag, then proceeded to tell me a 5.5 year-old's version of the American Revolution, "The flag is a great symbol of our country. A long long time ago the King of England ruled all the land. The King of England had lots of rules. Some people didn't like all his rules, so they set off to find a new land and sailed across the ocean. Their boat crashed at Plymouth Rock. They began colonies. Dada, there were 13 of them. Then after awhile the colonies didn't like the King's rules for them. They decided to make their own country. So they made their own flag. It had stripes, red and white ones. But that wasn't enough, so they added 13 stars. Dada, well, now there's 50 stars because we have more states. They won and beat the King's army and we became America with the flag as our symbol. Our other symbol is kinda an eagle with a white head." Yup. That about sums it up. 5 and a half years old. The Orange Store patrons were ready to pledge allegiance. I know I was. Bursting with pride.

- 6 -

Boo and baseball. We love baseball. He'll last a whole game if he gets to color for 2 innings. Small price to pay to get to see our Rays. (Even though my heart still cries, Let's Go Yankees!) In this picture he's actually analyzing all the other drawings and trying to figure out the most popular color for our mascot, Raymond. It was special to have one game with him, then one game with JMan the next night. Dads, we have to take the time. It's so hard especially when work just weighs on you. Work, life, work, money, work, sleep, work, home stuff, work, husband stuff... There's still nothing better than the smile on their face as they look to you and ask you to share your wisdom of the here and now to them.

- 7 -

Boo also insisted that I take him to see the school's production of Alice in Wonderland. I couldn't deny him, he had brought home his cutout angel, which meant he was "super excellently good" at Mass at school this past week. Not unlike most events in life, we showed up 20 minutes late. Hey what can I say, we're fashionable men! It was fun, everyone gets up and has this random Catholic school dance party when anyone in the musical says, "Wonderland!" Characters run out from everywhere in costume, did the Peanuts random happy dance thing. Boo loved that part. Alice was quite engaging for such a young leading lady. I still have a hard time and can't bring myself to enjoy the whole story of Wonderland, (oops! Dance party time!), and I'm back... but I could just see my Boo's wheel's spinning about how he couldn't wait until middle school when he could be on that stage. He just keeps surprising me with his varied interests, and he's reminding me of me. He likes a lot, A LOT, and a little of everything.

"Train up a child in the way they should go; Even when he is old he will not depart from it." Proverbs 22:6. I think it's obviously more than just a faith lesson. God meant it as a life lesson. That's my hope for them in life as their dear ol' Catholic dad; that they won't depart from it, from God, or from me. I hope they'll always remember these little moments like I do because they make me so proud.

For more great 7QT, check our This Ain't the Lyceum.

#sports #baseball #soccer #Boo #JMan #Stephanie #Summer #Proverbs #Mark #Jesus #James #America