“Daddy, I love you…”

Abby's such a sweet girl. She has started this habit of coming to see me right before she goes to bed, and giving me a big hug and big kiss and saying, "Daddy, I love you…" It's so sweet and just warms my heart. I can hardly ever get her to give me a hug or kiss during the day, but for some reason, she's very loving right before bed. It's great, I love it, and I hope she keeps it up!!!

No wonder Jack got a 22 on his 3rd golf tournament!

Grammie cracks me up! She took Jack to his 3^rd golf tournament at Tee Time on Tues, June 17, 2008. He got a 24 on his first tournament at Wesselmans, but cut his score in half on his second tournament at Tee Time with a 12!!! Well, we were kind'of puzzled when he got a 22 on his 3^rd tournament, but figured he just didn't try too hard and Grammie didn't remind him to take practice swings and tell him what clubs to tell him to use.

Well, Jack told us when he got home that he hit it the wrong direction on the 3^rd hole, so we were beginning to see what went wrong… Then I get this email from Grammie today:

The people at the golf course knew Jack from the time before, when he won the trophy, and were bragging about what a good golfer he is. They all remarked how good his swing is. He would have done better, I'm sure, had you or Greg been there to help him. I will know better next time, and we WILL win a trophy. Plus, don't say anything, but I think the other parents were cheating on the score because I counted every swing, and noticed that they counted only the swings that the kids made contact with. But, of course, I didn't want to say anything to anyone.

She cracks me up! Of course you don't have to count every swing! There's no telling what score Jack really got, but all that really matters is that he had fun and he did. He was very excited about spending the day with Grammie and doing all kinds of crazy things.

Grammie, we love you!!!

It's Potty Time!

Started really working with the girls on potty training last Monday, June 9th. They've been doing really well. Today, both girls pooped on the potty (Abby at Hacienda!). Abby is great at just pulling down her panties and shorts, going on the little potty, pulling everything back up and going about her business. Ally has to be reminded more and doesn't even mind wearing poop in her panties! We've (me and Mom) decided that Pull Ups are no better than diapers and went straight to panties. We've got until mid-August to get them trained so they can start Totten Hall! Oh the joys of parenthood!!

Jack’s First Golf Trophy!

Jack had his first golf tournament last Monday at Wesselman's and ended up with a 24 for 3 holes. Missy said he did a good job driving the ball off the tee, but would take 5-6 shots to get it on the green and 3-4 putts to get it in. Well, they didn't realize until the end that the first 3 finishers got trophies and Jack didn't get one! A boy named Zeke Neihouse got a 13 and got 1^st place, and his buddy Ethan Elkins got a 19 and got 3^rd place, but Jack was very confused when he didn't get one. He always got a trophy with his other sports (soccer and TBall), so Missy explained that not everyone gets a trophy in golf – you have to get one of the top 3 scores. Well, he was determined after that to practice and get better. Missy took him to Dick's Sporting Goods to get his birthday present a little early this year – a new set of clubs. His current set only included 3 clubs: a driver, a putter, and a 6-iron and they were too small for him anyway. His new set is for 6-9 year olds so he'll be able to use those for several years. He was very, very excited about his new clubs and asked me every day after work to go play, but we only made it out one time. He did a lot better though and was chipping and putting much better now that he knew how important it was.

Well, I was able to go with him yesterday at Tee Time. It was a hot day and was very crowded since it was a Saturday. They moved the tee boxes up a little for the 5-6 year olds so that probably helped a bit too. He started off with a very good hit and his ball landed on the green! The other 2 boys were close but not on the green. Jack didn't putt too well though and ended up with a 4. One other boy got a 3, so I was very proud of him for getting such a good score, but figured he'd still end up with an 18-19. Well, he hit his next shot very well too and chipped it right onto the green! Then he knocked it in with 2 putts! Now he had 2, 4's in a row and we were really getting excited! The other boy got a 4 too, so Jack was one down. The last hole was the longest and he hit a great 9 iron which landed about 3 feet from the green. He putted it from there and ended up with another 4!!! We were all really excited at this point. The other boy ended up with a 5 on the last hole so we knew he and Jack had tied. We were the first 5-6 y/o group to finish so we went to the clubhouse and turned in his score-sheet. Jack and Mason Auker were tied with 12's! It took quite a while for the other boys to turn in their sheets, and I was in agony when they did. We knew a 12 was a very good score, but we figured one of the other boys would do even better and get a 10 or 11. We watched the scorekeeper write the scores on the board and my heart sank a couple of times when he wrote what looked like a 10 but ended up being an 18! We were super-excited when they wrote the last score and Jack and Mason had tied for the lead! The boy keeping score said they had 2 options to settle the tie: a Western Draw or a chipping contest and he was going to do a chipping contest b/c it was more exciting! If he had done a Western Draw, Jack would have won b/c he got a 4 on the last hole and Mason had a 5! Well, Mason went first and chipped it about 5-6 feet from the hole. Jack went next and just barely hit it – not a good shot at all. It rolled up to the green and a few feet on the green, but Mason clearly won. It was pretty exciting and we all clapped and cheered for both boys. Then they announced the winners and read each boy's name and gave them their trophies. I don't think I've ever seen Jack so proud! He knew he had truly earned that trophy and not every kid got one. Hearing his name and seeing his proud smile was by far the best Father's Day present I got this year!