No. 6

There are some talents you just can't teach a child. Adam can all but arm-fart the Star-Spangled Banner.

No. 5

Jeanie and Jesse headed to a local diner the other day while Adam and I finished up at the baseball field. They were met at the door by a little girl who asked, "Where's Adam?" Then, when they sat down, yet another little girl asked, "Where's Adam?" I have decided that such animal magnetism evidently skips over a generation!

No. 3

I had two kids in elementary school a couple of months ago, but I now have nine in either the third or fourth grades. As a novice baseball coach, I have discovered that the role requires me to be equal parts coach, psychologist, medic, motivational speaker, entertainer, fundraiser, politician, crime scene investigator, judge and jury. And then at the second practice ...

No. 4

There's nothing quite like a kid being sick to get a parent moving at the speed of sound. This afternoon after church, the boys and I were waiting on Jeanie in the grocery store parking lot. A split second later, Jesse's nose is bleeding like he'd been hit with a baseball bat, I'm trying to get it stopped and Adam's trying to run into the store by himself to get some Wet Ones.

No. 2

I needed a calculator not too long ago to help Jesse with his math homework, so I'm not smarter than a kid in the third grade, much less one in the fifth ...

No. 1

It can be difficult explaining the concept of a Charlie Daniels Band song to a nine-year-old child. The song features line after line like, "Ain't a cowboy hat in Dallas if I ain't in love with you." Adam remarked, "There ARE cowboy hats in Dallas." I replied, "Then he loves his wife/girlfriend." "Huh? That doesn't make any sense." It was at THAT point I knew I was in trouble.

Memories

Going through a couple of old junk tubs, I found a picture of myself from 1998. That was me then on the left, that's me now on the right. I'd like to think there's a little bit of improvement.