Aidan's First Soccer Practice

The practice went really well. We were worried that it would be canceled because it rained really hard about 2 hours before. But, the sun came out and it was a pretty pleasant evening overall.

His soccer coach was a really nice guy. He had the kids do a few drills, but nothing too crazy or competitive. I liked that a lot. They should be having fun. Period.

First game is on Saturday at 11pm. Unfortunately I have an AVID training to attend, but I am being allowed to sneak out for an early lunch (thank goodness) and I'm going to race across town to see the game and then race back.

View all of the pictures here: Facebook Album of Fall 2009

1st soccer practice. in black shorts

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Getting Ready for Soccer

Aidan has his very first soccer practice on Wednesday. We got him outside today to test out his shin pads and cleats. He was super excited.

See all the soccer pictures here

King's Harbor Fun

We went to eat at a place called Zammitti's in King's Harbor just a few miles from where we live. Great food and great fun after we ate.

See all the pictures here: Pictures of Aidan at King's Harbor.

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punchin ducks!

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at chuck e cheese

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Inspiration: Heather and Troy

Watching the Steelers-Titans opening NFL game of the year and saw this on twitter at the 1/2. Very inspirational. A reminder to all of us to enjoy each day we are given and to try to make our lives here together the best we can.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

hope u had a good weekend. we r @ jack in the box... munching some grub. ;)

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Fantasy Football 2009

I am pretty excited about the NFL season beginning. It's going to be great. This Thursday kicks things off with the Steelers and Titans.

We finished up our league drafts in Nacagdoches this weekend and I'm pretty happy with my teams.

I am playing in three leagues this year. So I came up with three names for my teams:

For our family league (The "Leather Helmet League") I asked Aidan what I should name my team. He said Scooby-Do. So I decided on "Scooby Due" (Short for Duez). Plus the poor Taco Bell dog passed away this summmer, so here's to you Gidget :) Here is my logo:

Here are my starters in that league:
QB: Drew Brees, NO
WR: Andre Johnson, HOU
WR: Roddy White, ATL
RB: Ryan Grant, GB
RB: Ray Rice, BAL
Flex: Donald Brown, RB, IND
TE: Tony Gonzalez, ATL
K: Nate Kaeding, SD
D: Green Bay Packers

I named one of my teams: "Tenacious D" - which has been a team nickname of mine before. This year I used the Taco Bell dog again to grace this logo. I figured that a tenacious chihuahua was perfect. "¡Yo quiero Taco Bell!" ("I want Taco Bell!")
This team was drafted on Saturday night and was an auction style draft.
Here's the logo:

The league is called the "Freaks of Fantasy Football." And here is my team:
QB: Jay Cutler, CHI & Matt Ryan, ATL
RB: Adrian Peterson, MIN; Ryan Grant, GB; Ray Rice, BAL; Cedric Benson, CIN; Donald Brown, IND; Knowshon Moreno, DEN
WR: Roddy White, ATL; Anthony Gonzalez, IND; Santonio Holmes, PIT; Kevin Walter, HOU; Santana Moss, WAS; Laverneous Coles, CIN; Steve Breaston, ARZ; Deon Butler, SEA
TE: Tony Gonzalez, ATL; Heath Miller, PIT
K: Kris Brown, HOU
D: New York Jets

My other team is in the "Nacogdoches Keeper League." I named it the Double D's Bullz. Mostly after the fact that they refer to me as Double D because there is another Dave in the league. I liked the Bull logo and wanted a little Texan's flair.
Here's my logo:

Here's my team (Keepers from last year have a "*" before the name):
QB: *Jay Cutler, CHI; *Matt Ryan, ATL; Matt Sanchez, NYJ
RB: *Matt Forte, CHI; *Pierre Thomas, NO; Shonn Greene, NYJ; Mike Bell, NO; LenDale White, TEN; Leon Washington, NYJ; Larry Johnson, KC
WR: Andre Johnson, HOU; Marques Colston, NO; Michael Jenkins, ATL; Lavernaues Coles, CIN; Kevin Walter, HOU;
TE: Tony Gonzalez, ATL; Antonio Gates, SD
K: Rob Bironas, TEN
D: Pittsburgh Steelers

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Update about school/work

It's a funny thing when you are a teacher. You refer to your place of employment as "school." And it is a school... but it is also work. Most days I am having so much fun and loving my time with my students so much that I don't consider it work at all. Then the quizzes, homeworks, essays, tests, and projects come due... and I am absolutely WORKING. It is the toughest part of it for sure.

I do love the sense of accomplishment I get when a stack of papers are done, finished... and then in the gradebook. It is really a sense of accomplishment when you check out the computer gradebook and see a bunch of columns of grades. Finishing a six week's period, semester and the year is really a good feeling.

This week has been tough on me because I keep having that "I miss my students from last year" feeling. I already had them trained. They understood my silly jokes, sense of humor and trusted me that I wanted all of them to succeed and to learn. Starting over is hard. Kids look at me like I'm some kind of alien at first. But, slowly things melt and we really start to connect. Hopefully that will start to happen after our first project is in the books and they present to the class. I learn a lot about them through that process.

This weekend is going to be interesting. I'm heading up to Nacadoches, TX (2 hours north) for 2 days of fantasy football drafting. It should be a blast. I'll probably leave early, early on Saturday morning and then come back late in the afternoon on Sunday. I have a keeper league draft on Saturday and then I'll be defending my championship in the auction league on Sunday (although a year removed. Last year I was unable to attend the auction because of our car accident... can't believe that is 1 year ago!).

Hopefully I will get lots of great players and be very happy with the results. It is a lot of fun to be with the 8 guys that are in the leagues and I hope we have a great time. One of the guys I know well is my assistant principal at school. He got me into the thing. So it'll be fun.