Parents everywhere will understand...

When Marria and I returned from Fayetteville, we headed straight to my in-laws' house - Gerald ("Papa") and Marcia ("Oma") Fitzgerald. When we got there to pick up Asher and Lillian, I was informed by Oma that they had been "perfect."

As parents, this is why we live. This is what we bleed, sweat, and cry for. This is the moment we pray for. That the fruits of our labor, those sweet, considerate, polite, interesting children that we longed to have, would finally be borne into reality.

Two items recently define my children:

Asher - he is 4.5 years old, and runs high-octane fuel through his big-block V8 engine out to a pair of glass packs (or maybe whistle tips?), and never needs refueling. We always knew he'd accomplish great things, but the fun thing about parenting: you never can plan what successes they'll have.

Saturday, he pottie trained one of his peers. That's right - Oma had left Papa briefly in charge of the boys, and Asher in charge of dealing with any calls from nature to his younger cousin, the nearly-3-years-old Levi. (I guess Papa had expressed disinterest in being involved in such exchanges.) So when nature did call, Asher got Levi to the pottie, and when Levi was ready to give in, Asher delivered a motivational speech that many adults have tried in vain to deliver. The results: the boys ran to Oma shortly thereafter, begging her to come see the results of their efforts. She would not be disappointed! GO ASHER!

Lillian, meanwhile, has a way with her new cousin, Stella Olivia Smith (Levi's younger sister, born May 31, 2004). Lillian has always been the calm one in our family. She is 16.5 months old, seemingly unfazed by anything, and always certain of what she needs. She is a giver - as evidenced by her tender loving care of Stella. She has a way of winning over hearts with her serene style. In contrast to Asher, she runs on pure air and water, and makes no noise, in hovercraft style. Also in contrast to Asher, she requires CONSTANT refueling (see the jelly-face picture in the top-right of your screen?). Her latest that brings me joy is the way she kisses and pats her new cousin. It is truly a joy to behold.

These guys are the joy of my life!

Of course, as I know am completely wrapped up in my own family, sometimes it is easy to forget my parents' family.

I've told many people this, so now I'll publish it to the world:

The thing I'm most thankful for in my life: UNSELFISH PARENTS.

Although now, I'm learning some things about my childhood that went on behind the scenes that makes me question just how justified that statement is, such as how the kids used to get the "fake ice cream" that bubbled up on the counter instead of melting, while the adults had the stash of Haagen-Daaz in the downstairs freezer...

But seriously, I think of all the things that have fallen out from that one blessing in my life. Besides the material blessings, I know that my overall attitude and outlook on life is much better because of these guys.

AND THEY'RE IN TOWN! They arrived last night, driving in "Grandy's sports car," as Asher refers to it. I'm sure you'll see more of this rig as the weekend progresses.

A brief summary of Grandy (Tom Hamlin) and Grammy (Cheryl Hamlin):

Tom is an accountant, father, pretty good athlete, and just an all-around good guy. He is a true pleasure to be around. He's one of the most personable people you'll meet. He has a way of making everyone else feel at ease.

Cheryl is an artistic, brilliant, fun-loving, caring person. If it's your birthday, and you only got one birthday card, it was from her. She completed a year at art school, and would have probably been a true Master, had it not been for us little ragamuffins coming along...

But above all else, Cheryl is an AMAZING endurance athlete - a true inspiration for the pursuit of Dyronman. At 50, she decided, on a whim, to run her first marathon. Check out her results (just type in "Hamlin" to search by last name). Be sure to note the splits - an amazing steady pace for a first timer! As if that weren't enough, she competed in a 10k this past March only 10 days after LEG SURGERY! Her leg was still black and blue! (not for the squeamish!) Not only that, she ran a great race, finished in 59:27, and won the title for the Hamlin family in that race by beating Tom and my older sister, Carmen!

Despite all my athletic endeavors, there's still one area in which I am grossly underequipped to compete with Grandy and Grammy...

Lillian got her shots Thursday...it was harder on Dad than on Lillian, as usual. She's such a trooper!

For anyone who doesn't know and is interested...the Hamlin family is growing again. That's right - God has blessed Marria with another healthy, growing child inside her.

Which is every parent's dream. Or should be, at least - children are a heritage of the LORD - blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them!

Every parent's nightmare, however, is that their children will pose nude on the World Wide Web. I figured since it was just an ultrasound image, however, I would break the pictorial silence.

So here's an image which reveals the child's gender, and here's another one. Here's an image of the child's face - we think, at this stage, that the baby resembles a blend between me and Smeagol, from the Lord of the Rings. What do you think?

Seriously, though...everything seems to be in good shape with the baby - Deven and I did some dimension studies yesterday...we discovered the baby's head is about 2 inches in diameter, femur is less than 1 inch. Amazing! Aren't we fearfully and wonderfully made?

Having a baby is an event in most people's lives where they feel utterly powerless (fearfully?), yet seemingly their whole survival depends on a positive outcome. What an indescribable blessing it is when everything goes right (wonderfully?)! Praise Yahweh!

I have found my children, in the past few weeks, in a variety of states of slumber (not to mention provinces of slumber). Seriously, though - what happened to just laying on your side, your back, your stomach, or WHATEVER, closing your eyes, taking a deep breath, and falling asleep? These children have no concept of such simplicity!

At first, we thought Asher would be the only one with sleep issues. He's the one whom we've found tied up in various states, stuffing the blanket in his pants (yes, almost the whole blanket), hanging over the edge of his top bunk in part or in whole. Here are two photos of him taken with my Sanyo 8200 flash phone (one place I've found the flash very useful!). Those are Marria's belts, I think - or at least WERE her belts before they became ammunition belts for Smasher.

Recently, however, Lillian has been latching on to the last thing she has in her possession when her bedtime arrives, joining in the fun of random sleep rituals. Here she is, pictured with some of those items -
a toothbrush,
a baby (which she used as a pillow) and a rabbit,
a purse (love the pigtails here, too!), and finally,
my finger - that's right - she wailed and wailed in the car until good ole' Dad figured out that the reason she was so upset was because her toothies hurt a little. Just a little chewing for Lilli and a little pain for Dad, and all was quiet on the Western Front!

Of course, I have neglected my blog yet again. But I wanted to do proper honor to my younger sister, Shannon Hamlin Elsea, who has now been married for over one month! Way to go Shannon and Ty!

The wedding (held at Celebrations at the Reservoir) was VERY lovely, which is exactly what you want from a wedding ceremony. Maybe a wee bit hot for those singing in quartets in a jacket and tie, but tolerable for the remainder of the crowd, which demonstrated that humans are hardy, adapatable creatures, by shifting the perfectly symmetrical setup to accommodate more seats in the shade.

The reception was VERY lively and crazy, which is exactly what you want from a wedding reception! Three items are worthy of note:
1. you can't have a reception near a pool/reservoir and expect no one will jump in the pool in their full wedding attire.
2. you can't have a reception near a pool/reservoir on a hot day and expect no one will jump in the pool in their full wedding attire.
3. you can't have a reception near a pool/reservoir on a hot day with 5 kegs of beer available to guests and expect no one will jump in the pool in their full wedding attire.

Finally, you can't expect that my crazy mother ("Grammy") and my crazy son ("Smasher") won't be among the first to indulge in the aquatics. (this picture was taken down by the Richmond reservoir, a mere 100 yards from the pool and a first choice of some guests)

Shannon married a lovely young man named Ty (although I prefer to call him "Ronius") Elsea. I think this dates back to the time when I first met him, and knew him as "Tyrone." Regardless, you can view their wedding photos here. Below are a few wedding photos I snapped with the good ole' camera phone - I am especially partial to the one of my children feeding each other wedding cake (how romantic!).

We all wish them both all the best - they're great people, and they deserve the best!

Why do parents compare their children? Why are all parents fascinated by the fact that their children turn out completely different? Hasn't this happened to all parents, everywhere, for all of human history? Are there parents out there who find their multiple children to all be the same? Parents of twins are commonly encouraged to recognize and acknowledge their twins as individuals.

So this post is a celebration of the indivduality of my children.

Asher's sleeping patterns: crooked, covered randomly with the blanket (we tuck this in every night, and every morning it is tucked NOWHERE), dangling off the bed at various locations, generally under the pillows.

Lillian's sleeping patterns: straight, head properly laid on pillow, covers in general order, baby often tucked in neatly to one side.












Much has been made of the differences between boys and girls. Nature, or Nurture, they all asked - so we didn't actively encourage Lillian to like pink or Asher to like tractors. It just happened! (okay, we may have encouraged it just a little...)

But I was noticing the other day that Lillian was playing with Asher's Legos in the bathtub! And I thought Legos were a "boy thing." Well, just as I was prepared to uproot my entire system of beliefs, I noticed the pattern emerging:

Lillian's choice of Legos: the plants, flowers, and umbrella pieces, and a man whose hat she could take off and put back on.

Asher's choice of Legos: robots with scary weapons and battleships.

I was motivated to do this entry out of fear. I admit it. My older sister still intimidates me. (see associated comment from Carmen)



I kid, I kid. Of course, I want to give my elder sister proper honor and mention her recent endurance athletics pursuits. And, of course, how BEAUTIFUL she was at my younger sister's wedding - she nearly stole the show!

She has shone in many races of late, the pinnacle of which may be her half-marathon pursuit on Labor Day. Check out the results for Carmen Hamlin here, bib # 14104. Looks like a solid top-half placing in "overall" and "division" categories, and top 30% in gender!

Her fastest 5k so far is the Firecracker 5k in Little Rock. (I was supposed to run this with her, but as mentioned, I was out of town for nearly all of her visit.) She ran a 27:0something. I notice that in this half-marathon, she ran a 31:33 last 5k! (based on chip time and 10-mile splits) Way to finish strong, Carmen!

No more babble on here about training. Here's what the public really wants from the site - cute pictures of my kids...

In the recent Ntelos Richmond Marathon and 8k the Hamlin's represented for sure. All of the remaining Richmond Hamlins with whom I lived (because Shannon is now an Elsea) competed in the day's events, with Carmen providing the family story of the year. After not being able to run a mile last year at this time, she completed the marathon in a quite respectable 4:37:13!

Of special note...you'll all remember that Cheryl completed the Richmond Marathon in 2002 (complete results), and you may be wondering how Carmen and Cheryl's times compared...

Well let me tell you first that this race has set up an intrafamily rivalry that I'd rather not get in the middle of.

Carmen beat Cheryl's time by NINE SECONDS!!! Over 26.2 miles, that means she ran less than 0.25 seconds per mile faster!!!

A quick recap of races she's completed is listed below:

Monument Avenue 10k (1:03:59)

Smoketree-Stonehenge 10k (1:02:57)

Richmond Race for the Cure (32:33)

Richmond Xterra James River Scramble (1:05:38)

Little Rock Firecracker 5k (27:03)

Virginia Beach Rock n' Roll Half Marathon (2:15:33)

WW II Veterans Memorial Bridge 5k (29:35)

Ukrop's X-Country Festival Half Marathon (2:11:20)

!!

This past week, we've had all kinds of visitors, as I'm sure many people across the nation have, because of Thanksgiving. Our visitors have been hoping for Smeagol's appearance on the scene, too...of course, we pray that Smeagol has now morphed into a beautiful creature....

But so far, no baby has arrived. Carmen came and went, learning to love little Lillian more deeply this visit, I think - seeing her pure and gentle ways is enough to take over anyone's heart. Now Grammy's here (she arrived a day after Carmen left, and we were sure the baby would arrive between visitors...), patiently awaiting the baby, and enjoying Asher mostly (he tends to monopolize Grammy - doesn't even come and see us in the morning when she's here - just goes straight to wake Grammy up...Grammy this, Grammy that...).

Looking forward to Grandy's arrival on the 10th - we know his nerves couldn't handle a home birth, so we're praying for the baby's arrival soon!

Here are a few more pictures of the family's visit. By the way, we're still patiently awaiting the new arrival. Marria had a checkup today, and everything's just fine.

Me, I'm trying to coax her out by shaving. See, with Asher and Lillian, I had a beard when they were born. So subconsciously, I started growing one when this babe was on the way. I think she wants to buck the system. So I complied by shaping my beard into some serious chops. I hope you enjoy.

Other pictures worthy of note:

Asher's been spelling his name on the fogged-up shower door the last couple of nights before getting out. Last night, he added a picture of a bug "with spines."

Grammy's the choicest reader

Lill is ill, but so far it's nothing beyond a fever that we're knocking down strategically with acetaminophen and ibuprofen.

I put up some holiday lights. I never would have picked myself to do it, but here's 3 reasons why: 1) Lillian loves the lights at the houses across the streets; 2) I felt I needed to contribute to the neighborhood; and 3) Lillian is SO SWEET! Oh, and they are HOLIDAY lights, not Christmas lights. I do not support Christmas - it is a perversion of Christianity brought about by Constantine's scheme of apostasy - merging true Christianity with paganism to lead to the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth! Then again, it's nice to think that billions of people have heard about Christ because of this perversion, and at least given the chance to explore something they might not otherwise have been exposed to...I guess that discussion is for another day...

And the other pictures are of an interesting "rog" event from the other day. "Rog" is a new word I've coined to describe the interesting fog that sometimes forms over the river. River-fog, if you will, shortened to "rog." Sounds like something Scooby-Doo might say...

For those of you who have not been directly called, Marria started labor this morning about 7 a.m. The whole clan has begun to arrive; Lilli and Asher have chosen to remain here during the birth. Things are still progressing, but slowly. Marria just took a walk around the block and is feeling great.

We would appreciate all your prayers.

Marria is still feeling well; just had a "strong" contraction, which for normal human females is a "GIVE ME AN EPIDURAL!" contraction.

What a lady...

Well, she's here, as of 6:04 p.m. CST! She's 7 lbs 14 oz, has nursed three times already (so may be pushing 8 lbs), and was 20 inches at birth. Marria is doing well, with only minor (?) trauma - resting and at ease at home.

She says birthing at home is the only way to go!

Here are the latest pics...

Notes:
Eden did NOT want to sleep in her bed - only Daddy would do.
Momma and Eden are doing fine, napping right now.

Have you ever had one of those days?

Days that seem monumental to you? Days where everything is right in the world? Days when the challenges of life seem like opportunities? Days when you feel invincible in the most humble and "aware of your faults" sort of ways?

The LORD has blessed me with one of those aware days.

Here are some pictures. As Matt Wood points out, check out the captions on my pictures...they usually tell the story that I don't take the time to put in these paragraphs that people seldom read...

How Marria, while in labor, managed to WASTE a group of stellar Scrabble players, thanks in large part to the word "quad," played with the 'q' on a double letter score, and the word on a triple word score, for a grand one-word total of 72.

This woman never ceases to amaze me!

A few more pictures for your viewing pleasure. I should rename this site Dyronkids.com...

Asher and I climbed Pinnacle Mountain yesterday - it's about 1,000 feet tall, about 750 feet from base to peak.  The views are great - especially with Asher in the foreground!

Here is a picture of the Asics GEL VERDICT-DS.  Year is 2002 or 2003, I'm not sure.  This is the shoe that I wore during Ironman Hawaii, 2003.  IT IS AN INCREDIBLE SHOE, AND I WANT TO OWN 5 MORE JUST LIKE IT!!!  (Runners will empathize with the urgency of this need.) 

So I have searched high and low for this shoe.  And I've finally found it.  Does anyone out there either:
1. read Russian, or
2. know where I could buy this shoe???

Wow!!!  It's so easy and fast to make blog entries!   Where have I been? 

I'll include some random cute pictures that I've been holding out on you with...

Here's a deer on the 2nd floor balcony of a home that's about 0.5 miles inland from the swamp east of the Forty Arpent Canal in St. Bernard Parish.  A storm surge, reported to be about 20 feet high, must have carried the deer to this balcony and deposited it.

Unbelievable.

I went to Richmond on December 19-20 for my maternal grandmother's funeral.  So of course, Asher and Lillian both asked me if they could go to Grammy and Grandy's house, too.  I had to say no, as they both require a plane ticket these days (how we miss the days of lap children!!!).  A matter of minutes later, I came upstairs, to find this conglomeration of furniture, pillows and blankets. 

"What is it?"  I asked.

"An airplane," came the reply. 

"Where you going?"  (of course, I'm imagining they're going to at least pretend to go see Grammy and Grandy!  HOW SWEET?)

[thoughtfully, from Asher] "Hawaii."

[me, surprised]  "Really?  Who you gonna meet there?"  (again, supposing they've just chosen a better venue to see Grammy and Grandy...HOW SWEET!)

[Asher, thoughtfully]  "[cousins] Levi and Stella"

[me, again surprised]  "Really?  Is that it???"  (still hoping for sweetness)

[Asher, unequivocally]  "Yes.  It's going to be lonely...and wonderful."

I've never thought of loneliness as being wonderful...makes you wonder.

We've suspected that Asher has an artistic bent.  He comes from good stock - Grammy completed a year of art school before deciding to focus on reproduction.  Grammy's mom, Nana, was an accomplished artist.

We stopped for Conan's pizza on the way to the Jacksons'.  It's an Austin thing...you wouldn't understand.  Dwight just had to have some Conan's.

So I ordered as we approached the city.  It was waiting on us, hot and ready - and as I settled up the tab, I lost track of Asher.

I've never seen him check out something so independently and intently.  I found him examining artwork (maybe not the best kind for a 6-year-old, but you've got to admit, it's got some good detail, even if it is bulbous men and scantily-clad women). 

We each picked out our favorites - mine was the huge mythological Griffin. 

Maybe there's no link, but today, Asher was home sick, and says, "Hey, Mom!  I drew an eagle!" 

What talent!

We have a neat space in our house.  It was one of the things we really liked about the house when we first looked at it. 

On our first look, we saw a nook.  Just one look was all it took.  Marria looked at me - gave me "the look," and we made that Nook into a great Book Nook!

We piled pillows and sleeping bags and other soft things, and it was great.  There were a few hundred books in there, too. 

But Lillian got a new kitchen set for the Holiday Season, so we have converted the Book Nook into a Cook Nook.  It's such a warm space.

Well, I'm back.  I've got a whole bunch of material.  Bear with me as I catch up (it's only been a MONTH since my last entry)...

Issue #1:  Some SUPER-OLD stuff that I failed to post.  First, a tent city that Marria had heard about on NPR, but doubted.  Also noteworthy - the way my new picturephone, a PocketPC model, takes pictures - it's 1.3 Megapixels, but since it is so well-defined, it takes like 3 full seconds to write the picture...so as it writes a line at a time, the picture appears slanted, if you're moving - as I was, when driving by the tent city. 

Bottom line:  the tent cities in New Orleans ARE real, but they're not in existance because there isn't adequate housing.  The tenants are basically hippies who want to live in tents anyway.

The second set of pictures are of Asher and me watching the detonation and implosion of a dormitory on the UAMS campus in Little Rock.  It was pretty awesome, and a VERY wintry day, in which I hit another car on the slippery ice - one of those 0.6-mile-per-hour collisions, where you're like , "Nooooooooooooo, pleeeeeeeeeeeease dooooon't hiiiiiit thaaaaat caaaaaaar.....ooooooooohhh, weeeeee're goooooonnnaa hiiiit iiiiiiit...doink."  Asher enjoyed sliding around in the parking lot.

Today it's 90 degrees, and I really feel bad about blogging that now...Marria was getting onto me about my lack of blogging as she was going through all of my interesting pictures...

I know a guy who's become famous for the fact he drives this old beat-up Chevy Suburban from like 1822.  It's who he is now.  It virtually defines him.  And then, I realize I'm becoming that guy, by still driving my Saturn.

The odometer broke at 174,924 or something.  I looked down, and noticed it wasn't moving.  This was back in April.  Then, about a week later, it started working again.  Well, I reset the trip odometer at 175,382, and it's been there ever since.  I can't confirm how many more miles I've put on it since then, but I know I put at least 700 miles on it in one trip - last week, to Nashville, TN. 

Go Saturn!

Here are good reasons to have a picture phone.

Self-explanatory, except for the Chattanooga, Tennessee Aquarium, the subject of the shark pictures - once the largest aquarium in the world - it's really neat.  Marria blogged more extensively about this.

Can't forget the ladies...they both had fun trips (excluding the time spent sick...). And Eden is doing this thing now, where she puckers her lips like a fish for a kiss.

It couldn't be sweeter...

This was unbelievable.  Martie, Asher's aunt, got married on Good Friday.  The family all stayed in Florida (site of the wedding) the week prior.  I worked in New Orleans.  Asher's had this birthmark on his back since birth - never been a big deal.  Bundle of blood vessels.

DISCLAIMER:  DO NOT READ FURTHER OR LOOK AT THE LINKS IF YOU ARE SQUEAMISH.

He agitated it throughout the week, and it grew into a huge cyst.  By the time I returned to Florida Thursday before Good Friday, it was between the size of a ping-pong ball and a golf ball.  I was like "why have you people not taken this child to the emergency room???"

He was still doing fine until the ride home Saturday when, at lunch at Chili's in Birmingham, AL, he started running a little fever.  We got back in the car, gave him ibuprofen, and he laid back on Marria's lap for a nap. 

I was freaking out.

When he laid back, however, Marria noticed his shirt was wet.  His friend had begun to leak.  And it was such a medical marvel...I was so taken aback...that I didn't even throw up.  Although I should have.

I saw Asher playing in the dirt the other day while coaching him at short stop. 

Me: "Come on, Asher - pay attention.  What are you doing, anyway?"

Asher:  "I'm playing short stop; I'm writing 'short stop.'"

Can you read the writing in the dirt?

Asher watched a thing about reptiles tonight at Papa and Oma's. He told me it was set in Africa, which made me think Africa would be a place Asher might like to visit, which made me think about what he must think about Africa, which reminded me of something funny.

On Asher's last day of T-ball (which also happened to be the Saturday of his first swim meet this summer), it was H. O. T. HOT.

I gotta give it to the little bugger. We had no idea how involved these swim meets would be...turns out, they're an all-morning and part-afternoon affair. Our first one was the longest of the season - Maumelle v. Otter Creek (the two largest teams) at Otter Creek (which is a pool with only 6 lanes, making it extremely slow processing).

We didn't know you had to bring umbrellas for shade, or chairs for long waits, and we had just a few snacks and drinks for a miserably hot day. But we survived the swim meet. It ended about 2:30. Which was fine, but the T-ball game was getting going about 3:15, and Otter Creek's 30 minutes from home.

But we survived the transition, and made the game on time. And Asher actually worked hard during the game, made some great plays, and had what I thought was a surprising amount of energy, considering the day which began for him around 6 a.m. was now ending around 5 p.m. It could not have been more hot than it was on that field.

Until I considered the alternative proposed by Asher.

"Dad?"

"Yes, Asher."

"I wish we could play T-ball in Africa."

me - after a moment of puzzled-ness - "Why's that?"

"Because we wouldn't have to wear these hot baseball pants and shoes, and we could just play T-ball naked."

"I see. That's a great idea."

I took this funny picture during meeting one Sunday morning.  I mean, there was a whole huge area in the back of meeting, yet the children all congregated where?  Right next to Marria - some of them literally ON TOP of her!  They're like cats - they never sit with the ones who want them to...they always seek out the ones who are trying to avoid them.

Must be some sort of aura thing...

The boy is growing.  I tell him, "Asher!  You're going to have to stop all this growing!  It's driving me crazy!"  But it's no use.  The boy will simply not stop growing.

So this is me taking him to his first day of first grade.  The pictures are from a little greater distance than his first-day-of-kindergarten pictures.  There's a sort of irony in that greater distance...because that was the theme of the morning.

I mean, you have to let go, eh?  At least your boys.  Yes, you enjoy them while they're young.  You MUST.  They grow too quickly.  Everyone says that.  Probably because it's true.  I remember thinking, though, even when the boy was born - maybe because I was still something of a boy - I thought, "I'm going to raise you to leave me.  And that's okay."  You want them to become independent.  Yet it's sad. 

That's my bittersweet message.  And here is how it was delivered to me by my son, of whom I am SO VERY proud, in MANY, MANY ways...

[Daddy notices at least 95% of all children, from kindergarten through the 5th grade, being accompanied by their parents.  Daddy is also aware that Asher has NO IDEA where his classroom is, although he does know what his teacher looks like.  Asher also has 3 bags full of school supplies, and a check to purchase more, which he will have to do himself if he goes in alone.]

"Asher, do you want me to park and walk you in to school today, because I would be MORE than happy to."

[Asher gives Daddy a look of disbelief and appears moderately offended at the idea.]

"Dad.  I'm a FIRST GRADER."

We sometimes watch videos in Brady's office at lunch.  So Jeff brought in the Cosby comedy DVD, and put it up on the big screen.  It was really enjoyable.

She now drives a Suburban.

And she runs in foot races.

Asher had a doubleheader on Saturday - pitching machine baseball.  He hasn't gotten a hit all season (the highlights to this point have been foul tips...making contact is an accomplishment in and of itself these days).  So Asher and I set a goal for him - that he get at least one hit in the two games.  We did some extra batting practice Friday night and Saturday morning...and it must have paid off, because Asher got a hit in the first game!  [pictures above]  He even scored a run, but it wasn't enough, as the team lost 13-8. 

He was feeling GREAT about getting the hit, though.  But there was more to come!  He came up in the bottom of the 5th for the Bombers of Maumelle, with the game tied 10-10.  [pictures below]  With nobody on base, Asher hit a shot to right field, right between the first and second basemen.  The right fielder for the other team was appropriately placed...he fielded the ball cleanly, but was apparently struck with analysis paralysis, trying to decide where to throw the ball, while wandering around with it seemingly aimlessly for a couple of minutes...until Asher rounded third.  The ball was thrown, and the play was close...Asher scored what was in the end the winning run, and got the game ball!!!  Nice Job, Asher Hamlin!

It's nearing daylight savings time.  Which means that I only see the children in the dark and on the weekends.  Which means I don't have any cute pictures like Marria does. 

But that doesn't mean you shouldn't visit my blog from time to time to check out some interesting story or another.  Like this one:

Today, all the kids went to the chiropractor with Marria.  Or, as Asher refers to it, the "Choir Practor."  Or, as Lillian refers to it, the "Pyre Pactor." 

Also, we came up with some great ideas tonight.  See, we've been trying to sell the *#&$@!ing Honda for about 400 years now.  And it just keeps screwing up (the latest - the back doors won't open from the inside - and yes, I've checked the child locks, what do you think I am, some sort of idiot?).  So Lillian came up with a great idea...

"We could find people in our neighborhood who don't have a car, and we could sell it to them!"

Then Asher offered: "Or...OR...We could sell the Honda and find people in our neighborhood who don't have cars, and use the money from the Honda to buy them cars!"

Finally, Lillian had the best idea of all.  "Let's find people in our neighborhood who don't have cats and we can buy them a cat, or give them a cat!!!"

I suggested, "Do you think we could give away Sissy?"

She said, "No way.  Mr. Jane."

Dwight objected to this, so she had one final offer - the BESTEST idea of the whole night.

"How about Mr. Jane and Sissy could get married and get frisky again?"

That's all for now...gotta go get frisky again...

Recently, Asher and Lillian were sick, so it was just Eden and I at meeting.  Here are some cute pics.

When my friend Mike's 3rd child, a boy, was born, they misspelled his first name on his birth certificate.  Verbally christened "Jacob," his birth certificate instead read "Jocob."

I still call him "Cob." 

So I thought it was funny when I saw this in the line to Starbucks in the Memphis airport.

Asher and a friend on the treadmill at the same time.

Me:  Eating a Spicy Chicken Filet sandwich from Wendy's.

Lillian:  Eating some Chicken Nuggets from Wendy's, "Daddy, why you got a chicken nugget on your sandwich?"

Me, reading a book which gave a snapshot summary of the 10 Commandments to Lillian, "The 6th commandment is 'Do not kill.'"

Lillian, in reply, "Yeah.  And don't shoot cows.  Or chickens."

I had to discipline Asher last night for being disrespectful to his mother. 

It takes a lot of self-discipline to discipline children.  You second-guess yourself.  You regret the demise of this beautiful thing God gave you, and wonder if it's all your fault.

So this morning, the first thing I thought when my eyes opened:  "I wonder if I've ruined my child."

Ironically, the first thing Asher thought about this morning when he opened his eyes was how to catch a hamster.  He dreamed up a novel invention that he could build with lots of moving parts.  I asked him if it came to him in a dream, and he said no, it was just the first thing he thought about this morning.

Sometimes I take this parenting thing too seriously...

How did we ever end up in Galveston for New Year's?

Because we were poor.  And it was within driving distance.

We met Grammy and Grandy there back in 2000-2001.  One night we went out to "The Steakhouse."  Asher was a little over a year old.  He was getting a little antsy before our dinners arrived, so I took him on a little walk to the lobby, to see the parrot. 

When we got there, the parrot was sitting peacefully on his swing in his gilded cage.  Asher thought that was really cool.

Then, the large bird approached us as any creature with no arms would...he grabbed one of the bars of his cage with his beak, and then two other bars with his large talons, and let out a loud SQUAAAAWWWWWK!!!

Asher thought that was really scary.  And he did something we've only seen him do 3 or 4 times.  He stepped back, went into a full-body-shiver, and began to cry.  From then on, whenever he acted up at the dinner table, I'd offer to let him go see the parrot again.

So I was in Galveston this week, and decided to go see if said parrot was still there.  He is.

this is a typical day at oma & papa's.  you never know when there will be chicks or chick-eaters or bugs or rodents or turtles or whatever.  it's a zoo where all the animals are free.

Asher is going to be an inventor.  This picture is characteristic of most drawings that Asher does.  There is a lot of detail.  Spend some time with the picture.  Note the caption, which is interpreted as follows:

It's not just any engine.  It is the Forever Engine.  And also, my Mom came over to see what I was drawing, and I just started, and she said, "Wow, that's a great job!" and I only had like a piece of the wheel on.

Asher and I had our 2nd annual Man Meeting this past Saturday.  Last year, the theme was "things a boy can only ask his daddy and things only a daddy could tell his son."  This year, the theme was "the next step."  I challenged Asher to begin thinking about how he would plan his next steps.  I prompted him by asking him how he felt school was going, and if he thought he was in the right school (v. home school or some alternative).  We also talked a little about responsibility - him taking more and more charge of his life.  Besides that, we just had a lovely visit and some Man Time.

Specifically, the Man Time was spent at two venues:  the Arkansas Air show and Vino's Pizza downtown.  We only talked business at Vino's.  The air show was all about enjoying the Blue Angels and the other many planes that were on display - we got to walk through cargo planes, sit in fighter jets, and that sort of thing.  What a time!

I'm so proud of Asher.  At this rate, he'll grow up to be quite a fine Man.

I just realized that I almost forgot to post the lesson that I learned in 2007.  Good thing I remembered, or it might have been lost to oblivion.

It's fitting that I just now realized that I had forgotten to log it.  Because the lesson is that sometimes you're just going to mess up.  But the lesson is that sometimes, you're also going to do great things! 

My lesson in 2007 was:  Be Super-Human.

You see, this lesson came in two very distinct ways to me this year.  I guess to expound on the two-word-message theme, I'd say the lesson was to fully experience what it means to be human.  That includes all the mishaps and blind luck and hard work and rewards and risks and everything else. 

I messed up more in 2007.  I was a worse parent.  I yelled a lot.  I had my first DNF in a race.  Ever.  (Well, except for that triple-cheeseburger incident before a 5k in my senior cross-country season in high school...)  As a manager, I lost my final employee and now manage no one (and not even myself very well, sometimes).  I wrote my first bad opinion into the newspaper.

I succeeded more in 2007.  In some ways, I learned to be an even better parent.  I had the first annual Man Meeting with my son.  I finished my 3rd Ironman.  I qualified for the Boston Marathon with a PR of 3:09:52.  I rode my bike to Fayetteville from my house.  I climbed a huge tower.  I was a great manager who was told he was the lone reason that a certain employee stayed around at my company.  I brought in more work than ever before.  I wrote my first-ever opinion into the newspaper.  Sometimes just having an opinion is success?

So I was about as human as anyone else.  Highs and lows for a guy that usually keeps an even keel.  I will keep trying to be more of the 'super' kind of human, and less human.  But some days, I will just embrace being human, and try to gain from the experience.  And I'll try to be okay with that.

I have been keeping a log of my travel for 7 years now, ever since starting at my most recent job.  Stats are below.

Year   Days at Home   Days Traveling Business   Days Traveling Pleasure

2002   210 (57.5%)    100 (27.4%)                    55 (15.1%)

2003   287 (78.6%)    47 (12.9%)                      31 (8.5%)

2004   263 (71.9%)    66 (18.0%)                      37 (10.1%)

2005   226 (61.9%)    103 (28.2%)                    36 (9.9%)

2006   235 (64.4%)    77 (21.1%)                      53 (14.5%)

2007   229 (62.7%)    83 (22.7%)                      53 (14.5%)

2008   281 (76.8%)    26 (7.1%)                        59 (16.1%)

The 2008 totals are forecast through the end of the year.

Career averages are:  247 (67.7%), 72 (19.6%), and 46 (12.7%). 

I'm not sure why I post that, except that I'm currently traveling, so it's on my mind.  Traveling for work is not good for my spiritual life.  It's not good for my physical health.  It is generally hard, despite all the comforts of life that I usually enjoy - nice hotel rooms, good food, etc.  Ironic.

Tips for survival: 

1. turn the TV off.  We do not have cable at home, and do not have a digitally-enabled TV.  We will be 100% without TV when the analog signals are switched off in February.  So I look forward to watching ESPN when I'm on the road.  What it inevitably leads to:  staying up all night, watching re-runs of SportsCenter.  Seeing ads that promote things I don't need or things I shouldn't be looking at.  My life is healthier at home, and less TV is a primary reason why.
2. turn the lights off.  I tend to stay up, which tends to be related to #1, and tends to catch up to me after a couple of days.
3. get a workout in, no matter what.  You will have stinky clothes to transport home.  You will need to bring something that dries relatively fast if you will be gone multiple days.  You will always feel better after a workout.
4. turn the computer off.

Good night!

My good friend and brother-in-Christ Mat Parker recently shared with me an excellent video, located here.  I was showing it to Marria and Asher last night.  In one part, Mr. Wooden quotes a poem by Glennice Harmon "They Ask Me Why I Teach."  It goes like this:

They ask me why I teach
And I reply, "Where could I find more splendid company?"
There sits a statesman,
Strong, unbiased, wise,
Another later Webster
Silver-tongued.
And there a doctor
Whose quick, steady hand
Can mend a bone or stem the lifeblood's flow.
A builder sits beside him --
Upward rise the arches of that church he builds wherein
That minister will speak the word of God,
And lead a stumbling soul to touch the Christ.

And all about
A lesser gathering
Of farmers, merchants, teachers,
Laborers, men
Who work and vote and build
And plan and pray into a great tomorrow.
And, I say,
"I may not see the church,
Or hear the word,
Or eat the food their hands will grow."
And yet -- I may.
And later I may say,
"I knew the lad, and he was strong,
Or weak, or kind, or proud
Or bold or gay.
I knew him once,
But then he was a boy."
They ask my why I teach and I reply,
"Where could I find more splendid company?"

Marria made the comment that we should give it to Asher's teacher, Ms. Lovelace.  Without hesitation, Asher replied matter-of-factly, "but she is not in such splendid company."  I was and am astounded at the comprehension of my 9-year-old.  For Asher to pick up on the theme of the poem and apply it in its correct context, and at the same time make a little joke about his classmates indicates that the Big Boo is growing up quite fast!