Happiness is …

Being one of the gang.

Saturday at the footbawhl game

At the traditional Mountaineer Walk, as the Appalachian State football team walks from the Rivers Street tunnel to the stadium three hours before kickoff. The cheerleaders and marching band line the sidewalk.

We tried out a new tailgate spot, outside the music building. Plenty of grass to run [...]

Waiting for GoApp

Gavin thought we were going to a football game today. That’s tomorrow, I told him. He didn’t believe.
When he got up for school, he insisted on wearing his football jersey. Before we walked out the door he insisted I bring his football. When we took the Teen to school, he was in the backseat [...]

A is for Football

Spin City

Driving into town this morning I had 15 minutes to splurge before the Gs had to be at school. I was debating what to do with the free minutes when from the back seat my young girl did exclaim, “The windmill!! Daddy! Look! The windmill!”
Ah yeah. The windmill. We’re sooo there.
The windmill appeared late last [...]

Fowl play

Excerpted from the never-to-be-released book, “Free Time with the Kids: How to have fun when time AND money are tight.”
Most mornings the Gs have day care. The doors don’t open until 8:15 on the dot, so often I have anywhere from 15 to five minutes to evaporate. Today we did so at the Duck Pond [...]

So I took them out to the ball game

All day Friday I teased them – if you’re good, tomorrow we’ll go to the … BASEBALL GAME! And they would rejoice, “YEAHHH!”
And for the first five minutes of our maiden Appalachian State diamond game Saturday, they were in complete awe mode. “YEEAAHHH! ….” Then they actually attempted to watch the game. Well …… they’re [...]

Fanning the games

Gabby and I took in the final ASU basketball game of the season Saturday. While there, we saw one of her friends from school. His dad is a huge ASU basketball fan, and had seats just six rows behind the team’s bench. I asked if there was space to join him. There were. So down [...]

Present for the future

Christmas morning. Big G opens an oddly wrapped present. And immediately knows what to do with it.
Put. It. On.

Let’s see that game face!

And yes, two more presents complete the look.

Call him lil’ Ben Jorden.

The game of Risk

What I was doing this time last year
SETUP. Last year Appalachian State went to its third straight national championship football game. Even before the semifinal game was finished, the game sold out. Tickets with a face value of $20 sold for well over $100 on ebay. I lucked out getting two as a gift from [...]