Yes that is how I title my Friday morning entries each week, could there be any other way? I thoroughly enjoy my Fridays as I realize that the very next morning I will be getting a chance to sleep in a little and enjoy the 24-7 company of my wife and children for the next 2 days. I envision all the basketball that will be played, all the bike riding I will get to watch, and when my car is finally back together the racing we will get to enjoy. Follow that up with a day at church and spent with the "crew" and there could be no better weekend.
I have started a new book by Jake Colsen, titled "So you don't want to go to church anymore". I don't want to recommend it until I have had the full opportunity to complete it but so far so good. It's about an Associate Pastor struggling in his walk with God, who runs into what he believes is the disciple John on several occasions and it changes his outlook on church, and God as a whole. I will tell you more as I read more.
Today is Alexa's last day at basketball camp, I wish she could go for another week. Bo Clark is so good with the kids and does such a great job of not only helping them learn, but making them appreciate the opportunity to play a sport. Alexa loves it and enjoys each day, today is the awards ceremony so I look forward to attending that with her. I finally got a chance to see her play in a 3 on 3 game yesterday and she can out dribble most all of the kids her age, out shoot all of them(and I'm not being biased, her coach said so as well) and plays really good defense. I taught her last night how to post up for rebounds and how to shield the ball to set up for a shot. Her only problem is aggression, but we all know that will come with time.
I hope you have a great weekend, we'll be taking it easy on Saturday, then church and a Jacksonville Suns game on Sunday. After the game a Bid Daddy Weave Concert, it doesn't get much better than that!
Friday, June 27, 2008
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Bowling!
Yeah we went from basketball camp to bowling last night. We filled up about 5 lanes with bowlers from P.J. and Alexa to me and Tara and everywhere in between. It was a great night of fellowship, fun and just hanging out. We will definitely start doing it once a month in place of our regular Wednesday night routine.
Alexa had bowled before but for P.J. it was a whole new endeavor. She had never done it, she had watched others doing it, but never had she picked up a bowling ball, charged wide-open at the lane and slung a ball down the lane hoping to knock a few pins down. She absolutely loved it. We had the bumpers up and she would use them as a pin ball machine type approach as her release would send the ball to the left then back to the right and if she rolled hard enough back to the left again before rolling into the pins. She had mastered the use of the bumpers so that the ball usually ended up right somewhere in the middle of the lane knocking out a lot of pins.
I also started on a new book, it entitled "So you don't want to go to church anymore?" I tell you this because I don't want anyone to get the wrong idea when they see it tucked under my arm in passing. I do want to go to church, it is not a self-help book. It's actually another fictional story of a man who has encounters with God in strange situations and ways that enlighten him on a lot of the things he had formerly struggled with in life.
thanks for reading and have a wonderful day!
Alexa had bowled before but for P.J. it was a whole new endeavor. She had never done it, she had watched others doing it, but never had she picked up a bowling ball, charged wide-open at the lane and slung a ball down the lane hoping to knock a few pins down. She absolutely loved it. We had the bumpers up and she would use them as a pin ball machine type approach as her release would send the ball to the left then back to the right and if she rolled hard enough back to the left again before rolling into the pins. She had mastered the use of the bumpers so that the ball usually ended up right somewhere in the middle of the lane knocking out a lot of pins.
I also started on a new book, it entitled "So you don't want to go to church anymore?" I tell you this because I don't want anyone to get the wrong idea when they see it tucked under my arm in passing. I do want to go to church, it is not a self-help book. It's actually another fictional story of a man who has encounters with God in strange situations and ways that enlighten him on a lot of the things he had formerly struggled with in life.
thanks for reading and have a wonderful day!
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Basketball , swimming, summer!
So I am enjoying every aspect of the summer(except for the fact that mine is spent mostly in an office). I get up work on my blogs and wait impatiently for 8:30. That's when I go pick Alexa up to take her to basketball camp. We ride in the truck and she tells me about all that she is enjoying in the camp and she still enjoys the fact that I did the same thing when I was a kid. We take her to camp and yes I am becoming that parent. You know the one that sits around and watches while everyone drops their kid off at the door, or leaves them in the parking lot I walk in and watch her for a few minutes. Then it's back to the office for me.
There I sit (im)patiently waiting for 11:30 which is when I leave to resume my role as "that parent" who arrives early to watch his kid play basketball. I can't help it, it's fun to watch her interact with the other kids and see where she is in comparison. She is in the middle of her group as far as age, but clearly(not as a biased parent) ahead of them in the dribbling and shooting area. She can out dribble all but one little boy in her group, and shoots as well as any kid in the group can. So I see that our time in the driveway each afternoon is paying off. It's paying off in 2 respects: 1 - it's making her a better basketball player, and 2 - the most important one it is making our relationship stronger. I'll admit I have searched around to find that niche, that "thing" that could become "our thing" because I know that is important. My dad used to come home from work to find me sitting by the door with a bag full of baseballs ready to go to the park. Alexa does the same thing dribbling the basketball around in the driveway as I get home.
P.J. on the other hand likes speed and swimming. She is part superhuman when it comes to speed(bike, scooter, running), whatever can get her moving fast is what she does. We went swimming yesterday after I played basketball with Alexa for a little while and she never stops. She does cannonballs, jumps of weird names and awkward landings, and lots and lots of swimming. No floaties anymore, no holding on to the sides she is off and swimming before I can even get my shoes off and in the water.
So summer time is shaping up to be a blast with these two. Tara is working 2 night jobs so she enjoys them by day and I do the same in the afternoon and evening. I dread August when they have to go back to school! Summer seems more fun now than it did to me when I was a kid, and I certainly had my share of fun!
Have a great day!
There I sit (im)patiently waiting for 11:30 which is when I leave to resume my role as "that parent" who arrives early to watch his kid play basketball. I can't help it, it's fun to watch her interact with the other kids and see where she is in comparison. She is in the middle of her group as far as age, but clearly(not as a biased parent) ahead of them in the dribbling and shooting area. She can out dribble all but one little boy in her group, and shoots as well as any kid in the group can. So I see that our time in the driveway each afternoon is paying off. It's paying off in 2 respects: 1 - it's making her a better basketball player, and 2 - the most important one it is making our relationship stronger. I'll admit I have searched around to find that niche, that "thing" that could become "our thing" because I know that is important. My dad used to come home from work to find me sitting by the door with a bag full of baseballs ready to go to the park. Alexa does the same thing dribbling the basketball around in the driveway as I get home.
P.J. on the other hand likes speed and swimming. She is part superhuman when it comes to speed(bike, scooter, running), whatever can get her moving fast is what she does. We went swimming yesterday after I played basketball with Alexa for a little while and she never stops. She does cannonballs, jumps of weird names and awkward landings, and lots and lots of swimming. No floaties anymore, no holding on to the sides she is off and swimming before I can even get my shoes off and in the water.
So summer time is shaping up to be a blast with these two. Tara is working 2 night jobs so she enjoys them by day and I do the same in the afternoon and evening. I dread August when they have to go back to school! Summer seems more fun now than it did to me when I was a kid, and I certainly had my share of fun!
Have a great day!
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Basketball camp
So yesterday was a day I had been looking forward to since last fall. Alexa and I now have something exciting in common, we have both attended Bo Clark Basketball camp. The camp is awesome, and the neat thing is it hasn't changed one bit. They do the same drills, on the same schedule with the same emphasis. I loved Bo Clark camp as a teenager and I remember learning a lot about being a team player, about the game of basketball and really about life in general from being around a great guy like Bo Clark. Bo is the coach of the Flagler College Mens basketball team and has been for a few decades now.
Well, yesterday we got Alexa up and moving early so she could go to work with me and then we could head to Target for some basketball clothes. Yes, I confess this was my idea because I couldn't send my daughter to basketball camp looking like Hannah Montana, it just wasn't working for me. So we got some basketball shorts, threw on a tank top and she laced up her Air Jordans that her favorite cousing Justin had bought her and she was ready. We walked through the door and I began registering her, she ran off and started shooting with some of the guys before I got a goodbye!(painful but certainly reassuring)I spoke briefly with Coach Clark and then went to work. I picked her up afterward and her enthusiasm was building and she had a great time. When I got off work we played basketball again yesterday like usual, it has become "our thing" to do in the afternoons.
Exciting times in the Gatlin ranch as my girl is picking up some athletic abilities and starting to be a lot of fun! I'm so excited and ready to play some ball tonight!
I know what you're thinking, what about P.J.? Well, it is apparent that she isn't ready by the way that she insists on playing with us each afternoon and by the time it's her turn the second or third time she is gone, A.D.D.ed rigtht out of the whole situations, we'll find "our thing" somewhere, somehow(I hope) haha!
Have a great day!
Well, yesterday we got Alexa up and moving early so she could go to work with me and then we could head to Target for some basketball clothes. Yes, I confess this was my idea because I couldn't send my daughter to basketball camp looking like Hannah Montana, it just wasn't working for me. So we got some basketball shorts, threw on a tank top and she laced up her Air Jordans that her favorite cousing Justin had bought her and she was ready. We walked through the door and I began registering her, she ran off and started shooting with some of the guys before I got a goodbye!(painful but certainly reassuring)I spoke briefly with Coach Clark and then went to work. I picked her up afterward and her enthusiasm was building and she had a great time. When I got off work we played basketball again yesterday like usual, it has become "our thing" to do in the afternoons.
Exciting times in the Gatlin ranch as my girl is picking up some athletic abilities and starting to be a lot of fun! I'm so excited and ready to play some ball tonight!
I know what you're thinking, what about P.J.? Well, it is apparent that she isn't ready by the way that she insists on playing with us each afternoon and by the time it's her turn the second or third time she is gone, A.D.D.ed rigtht out of the whole situations, we'll find "our thing" somewhere, somehow(I hope) haha!
Have a great day!
Monday, June 23, 2008
Last weekend
What a jampacked weekend we enjoyed this past weekend. Friday night our opponents weren't able to field a full team so we divided up with them and played a scrimmage just for fun, and fun it was. We had a full softball team and then some so we just spread out and had a blast. It was fun to just fellowship with each other as well as the other church involved and just have a good time the way it was originally inteneded to be.
Saturday morning, Aaron, AMber and myself met at the chruch and started planning out what direction we are taking with the youth house. We are going to pick out some colors, do some painting and hopefully find some couches and gaming systems to get all set up the way we would like it. Saturday night Aaron and I went to worship at Anastasia Baptist and just kind of checked things out. THey have a great worship team and a great set up there and we liked all that we experienced there. It was also great to hear Ron Moore preaching as he is preparing to enjoy his days of retirement very soon. We checked out the youth area and much of what they have going on is exactly what we have invisioned in ours, on a smaller scale ofcourse.
Finally, Sunday we had a great sized group on Sunday in worship. About 10 of us went out to lunch and had a blast followed up by softball practice in the rain(not one of our smarter moves I'll admit) and then a late night movie at the house with the crew. So all in all it was a great weekend and I am ready for the week.
This week Alexa is attending basketball camp at Flagler college and we are equally excited as I recall my days as a child going to the very same camp. I only hope I'm not the parent that sits there and watches the whole day, hopefully I won't but it sure is tempting!
Have a great day, thanks for reading!
Saturday morning, Aaron, AMber and myself met at the chruch and started planning out what direction we are taking with the youth house. We are going to pick out some colors, do some painting and hopefully find some couches and gaming systems to get all set up the way we would like it. Saturday night Aaron and I went to worship at Anastasia Baptist and just kind of checked things out. THey have a great worship team and a great set up there and we liked all that we experienced there. It was also great to hear Ron Moore preaching as he is preparing to enjoy his days of retirement very soon. We checked out the youth area and much of what they have going on is exactly what we have invisioned in ours, on a smaller scale ofcourse.
Finally, Sunday we had a great sized group on Sunday in worship. About 10 of us went out to lunch and had a blast followed up by softball practice in the rain(not one of our smarter moves I'll admit) and then a late night movie at the house with the crew. So all in all it was a great weekend and I am ready for the week.
This week Alexa is attending basketball camp at Flagler college and we are equally excited as I recall my days as a child going to the very same camp. I only hope I'm not the parent that sits there and watches the whole day, hopefully I won't but it sure is tempting!
Have a great day, thanks for reading!
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