Your arms are the best pillows

We are at the time in the development of our fourth child that sleeping in her bed for the entire night is the topic dejur. We have progressed through this stage of life differently with each of our four kids. So, this isn't a post about what does Spock say, how do we do it in the modern world, or what the "no one can lose" society are saying. It is just a time of life. I needed to share this with you to set the stage for the our latest entry into "The Book".

Two nights ago it was late. The little figure appears at the foot of the bed. Then begins the climb into the area between me and lieber in our King sized bed. I'm just about to sit up and take the small invader back to her original snoozing location when from the mouth of babes, "Dad, I just need to get comfortable. Your arms make the best pillows." Next thing i know, this little person in one motion is in the bed, under the covers, snuggling, on my arm.

Well, far be it from me to send the sweet child back to her room. Lieber gave me the eye that spoke volumes about the habit I was rewarding. I was about to say, But, honey, didn't you hear how sweet and cute she was???

Just then I get a quick kiss from the small invader. Do you think she knows about conning her old dad?

Happy Easter to All

The Rabbit stopped by our house. This is a special and confusing day in our home. Today is the last day of Spring Break so all school age residents are working on "sleeping in." It is now just after 8 a.m. our time and the first movement of little people has not even taken place.

The goodies are out waiting for the people to awaken. Here are a couple of pre-festivities photos.We are obviously heading to 11 o'clock church today.

This is a special day for a member of our extended family. A Navy Lt. Cmdr, over in Iraq, has completed his RCIA classes and earlier today became a member of the Catholic Church. Please keep him and his family in your prayers.

Now that he has been given his first wedgie by the Pope and been shown the official Catholic handshake on this holiest of Holy Days we are expecting great things from him. Smile
(The Above graphic leveraged from my Bloggin Friend - Nap Warden and her company NW Designs. Click the graphic to learn more)

Have a wonderful Easter. Blessings to all.

"Sweet Home Alabama" the Finnish and Russian Way

A good friend of mine sent me a link that shows that even international people around the world understand the connection to the home state of my wife and kids. The link it was titled, "Even the Commies get it."



The short version of the story, A Finnish rock band, The Leningrad Cowboys, and the Russian Red Army Chior came together in concert to sing of all songs, (Please stand, and place your hand over your heart!) "Sweet Home Alabama"! The longer version of the story can be found on Russia Blog

You have to watch the video.

Blog Reconnection

Fellow bloggers...it has been a whole week. My how time flies. St. Mary's of Maryland ended their progress in the Division III Men's Basketball Championship to Milsaps College last Friday night in St. Louis. I am really proud of my brother, his first year as a College Assistant Coach and he and his team made it into the "Sweet Sixteen." Really cool! Can't wait for next year!

March Madness is upon us full swing. Wall to wall basketball. I really begin to follow the teams in their conference tournaments then on to the big dance. I love picking the brackets. Blew it on Clemson. Picked all the upsets to date. Got a scare with Duke. Anyway...Madness in full swing.

The kids have been on Spring Break and we now own a Wii. Trying to become a "Guitar Hero" does at times conflict with my blogging time, eating, working, sleeping, lots of fun. Had a nice round of golf with the kids. My sides hurt we laughed so hard. Great family time event.

I be back on the post parade later this weekend. Hope all that check in to Busy Dad Mumbles are doing well. Have a great weekend.

Seahawks to Play Milsaps College - 3/14

St. Mary's College of Maryland will be playing in the Sectional Tournament on Friday, March 14 for the Men's Basketball Division III Championship. This is the Sweet Sixteen working up to the Championship.
Please keep the Seahawks in your thoughts as prayers as they take another step to the Championship. Whatever happens it will be great to see my brother, Asst. Coach Nick and his lovely bride. The kids are thrilled to see the crew.

See you in St. Louis

He who lives in Glass Houses.....

Elliott,

Isn't that interesting. You seemed to want everyone else to play by the rules. You used your political office to bully people. What is it about being a Democratic Governor? ( It must be a right wing conspiracy!)

Political Lesson:

He who lives in glass houses shouldn't run hoes! or was it throw stones?

Go West Seahawks - See you in St. Louis

St. Mary's College of Maryland is going to the Sectionals of the NCAA Division III Big Dance or, more commonly referred to as Basketball's Sweet Sixteen. The host will be Washington University in St. Louis. Friday evening, March 14, at 7:00 p.m. the Seahawks will put their show on the road again.

Make plans to cross the Mississippi and support the Seahawks.

Sweet 16 for the Seahawks

With the 83-74 defeat of Widener University the St. Mary's College of Maryland, Seahawks are heading to the "Sweet Sixteen", the third round of the NCAA Division III, Men's Basketball playoffs. What a great way to start Spring Break by going DANCING.

The sectional games will be held March 14 & 15.

With the win the Seahawks have knocked off the team picked to be in the finals, Gilford, and the Pioneers of Widner University. Nice work Seahawks.

For more details on the win check the D3hoops.com website.

Go Seahawks, Go Coach Chris and Coach Nick!

Princess Scores First Goal - Soccer Career Finally Launches

Ladies and Gentlemen,

After years of being made to go to soccer games as a newborn, hauled to matches as a toddler, and as she got older being asked to behave or play with the other kids while a different sibling was playing....it has finally happened!!! (Drum roll please!) The Soccer debut of our youngest child. (Cymbals Crash, crowd cheers, and proud parents dab away tears.)

Okay, I have to admit. In 28 degree weather, with wind and snow flurries, at 8:30 on a Saturday morning, there were a few distractions. Like pre-game pictures with friends. Our Princess is on the left that is her good friend from down the street on the right.

But, it warmed my heart to have all the family, minus one who spent the night with friends out, to root for one on my favorite members of the Garage Door Brokers team or "The Doors". At least they will have cool theme music. But man, it was cold.

Things got warmer as she scored her first goal. "The Doors" are a machine. We have another game at 12:30 today. It appears to be headed to a balmy 32 today when the sun comes out.

The day has arrived. All the crew are in activities, sports, church, a school program. Let the coordination games begin.

Last night as we prepared for the events it was like an ops briefing for the D Day invasion, minus the Stormin Norman video and charts. Maybe the charts would have helped. One game at 8:30, another at 9:30, two at 12:30, luckily on fields across the street from each other. Pick up child spending the night out, feed the whole combined crew, clean cleats, spruce up uniforms between games, addition to the op order, have much warmer clothing just in case. Prepare for the away matches for other teams.

It is on, full blast.

My wife is a Soccer Mom, minus the Mini-Van and the wind suit, thank god! I am the grumbling soccer dad, trying to stay calm and be a good soccer parent. With three different levels of soccer players I have to remember the rules for each level. Just lining up for the Garage Door Brokers will be enough, older brother, Sam's, has some more rules, but not offsides. Then eldest sister, Select, has the whole book.

Have to hurry. There is a Soccer/Family operations briefing about to start in kitchen. I have started saving my tasks in my TREO so I get the reminder. This is great. I can have my electronic reminder working for me at work and at home, one stop shopping for telling me what to do. Oh! this could be a conflict with the spouse since she does that job also! (Did I just use my outloud blogging voice?) (Just kiddin honey, Stormin Norman, Sir, sweetie.) Once that TREO buzzes I am like one of Pavlov's dogs trying to figure out where I am suppose to be and what and who I am to have with me.

Will keep you posted on "The Doors", Sam's, and Select, the three soccer teams. Oops, the Treo is reminding me about the ops update.

Have a great Saturday.

Seahawks keep Dancing to the Next Round!

The Saint Mary's College of Maryland Seahawks have taken another step toward the ultimate prize of Division III's Championship Game in Salem, Virginia. On Friday, March 7 the Seahawks took on D3 powerhouse Gilford, Number 8 in the polls, in Greensboro, North Carolina and came away victorious.

Go Seahawks! (Click on the link above to follow the brackets)


The Ragan-Brown Fieldhouse on the campus of Gilford College was the site of the 89-77 contest. St. Mary's plays in the second round tonight against Widener University. Let's get to Salem, Virginia site of the National Championship Game.

To find out the details of the game below is a great site for D3 fans to follow the games, news, coaching info.

Random Act of Kindness

I was at my local Wal-Mart the other day with two of my four children and a list of items to get. We were on the first item on the list when an elderly couple walked past us. They were looking for something. You could tell by the heads looking up at the aisle signs. You could also tell by the comments from Mrs. to Mr. The discussion about check this area. They were a nice couple and they were getting a bit frustrated.

So, as my wife says, since I have never met a stranger, I asked if I could help. You could see the relief on their faces. They were looking for a simple photo album. Not the expensive, big book kind, just the plastic kind you can put 3x5 in. An Army buddy of his from the War just had surgery and they wanted to send some picture to cheer him up. Who can pass up helping this great couple?

So, my twelve year old and I along with my seven year old son start looking for the item. Then it dawns on us. It would be back at the photo shop at the back of the store. At their advanced age it was going to take these great folks awhile to get back there. We offered to get it for them. I kind of knew the answer before we offered. They would do it. They thanked us for the help and wished us well.

Trying to save them time we headed back to the photo shop. The Wal-Martian in the photo area listened to our story and was glad to participate. We moved down the aisle to continue our shopping, just before the couple arrived they were assisted with the photo album. Random Act of Kindness completed.

Later as we exited the store was saw the old couple again. They were very excited that they were able to find the item and they appreciated the help. They shared with us as we walked out how helpful the photo person was. Wal-Mart even developed an extra set of pictures for them for free!One Random Act of Kindness led to another!

Joseph Juran passes Away

Last Thursday a man of 103 years old passed away. His passing was noted by his family and those in the field of quality. This man was named Joseph Juran. At the age of 75 he founded the Juran Institite to teach others to apply quality principles to the operations of business.

His contributions to business, industry, customer service, and quality were not know to the masses. However, many benefited from his research and methods that were applied to processes around the worlds. Few understood the announcement made in the press last Thursday. Yet, many benefited from his teachings. His work, teachings, and publications will live on forever.

The Birthday of Dr. Seuss - Literary Genius

Oh! on this day back many years
there was a genius born to us heres,
his cat and his hat did a many of us read,
for green eggs and ham did we beg and plead. (Sorry, I had to try)

That is where I will stop on this great and wonderful day as we celebrate the birth of Dr. Seuss. The inventor, author, of The Cat In The Hat.

On March 2, 1904, Theordor Seuss Geisel was born in Springfield, Mass. Isn't that great. He attended Dartmouth College then went on to Oxford University.

His most famous book, and my all time favorite, The Cat in the Hat was in response to a challenge from a friend who said the good Doctor couldn't write a book with less than 50 words. He not only achieved his goal but sold millions of them.

St. Mary's College of Maryland - Heading to NCAA

Seahawks are Heading to the Big Dance!@!!!!!

Congratulations to Asst.Coach Wilson and the all the members of the St. Mary's College of Maryland Seahawks. They are going to the Division III Big Dance for Men's Basketball. Thier big win on Saturday afternoon, March 1, automatically qualified the Seahawks to represent the Capital Athletic Conference in the NCAA Division III Championship. It is March Madness at its finest.
We find out on Monday, March 3 where the Seahawks will be playing in the first round of the championships. The first game is March 6, 2008. Get your stuff packed. It is time to get to the gym to support the Seahawks!

You go Coach Nick!

Dad, Why?...Another One for the Book

Having four young people in the house I have the opportunity to hear this question a lot. Dad why.....followed by the question.

As a parent I am glad to see that my children have the inquisitive nature to explore situations, events, and even analyze my own behavior. Sometimes I am astounded by the depth of the question and the advanced understanding it takes to formulate the question. (Being a guy, questions dealing with understanding, human interaction, and emotion are all in my advanced, even beyond me, category.)

Recently, as we watched the Cars movie on television for the 30th time, my youngest daughter, Princess Dabba, was curled up in my arms, having a nice father daughter Kodak moment, looked up at me and posed one of those questions I just had to post about. Dad, why..... (Here comes the question) do you have hairs up your nose? What?, chocking on popcorn? Lieber who was sitting with us starts to laugh hysterically. A couple of the other kids in the room chuckle then want to focus on the movie and my answer.

Granted, I had to overcome the urge to laugh out loud. But, not wanting to discourage the little inquisitor or make fun of her question I decided to try to understand what caused the question. This pause also gave me time to come up with the age appropriate answer, one more suited for a 4 and a half year old, and gave me time to realize from her vantage point she see up all our noses all the time.

So I gave her the answer that we all have little hairs up our nose to filter pollutants from our respiratory system. It helps to prevent infection and keep us healthy. She looked at me horrified! She was grossed out. The other kids listening nearby also made sounds of being grossed out.

This means it was time for a dad answer. Princess, as you get older, hair will grow from your ears, your eyebrows, and the stuff grows from your nose. Oh! Okay she said, back to the movie.

I knew I just had another entry for The Book!