Ian's Art Show

Ian doesn't say much about school. He goes, reads his AR books, takes his test, does his homework, rarely ask for help. But, apparently, Ian had his artwork from art class selected to be in the annual art show. Apparently, they only do this once a year, and they only select a few from each class to be in the show. Today was the reception for the art show, and apparently this is a big deal. I say apparently, because we had no idea any of this was going on until we received the invitation to the show. The thing is, Ian couldn't care less about art. He does it because he has to. It's Abby that loves to draw. I wasn't able to attend the reception because I was in Murfreesboro with work, but LeAnn kept me up with text and pictures throughout the morning. In the pictures, you can see Ian's attitude about things. It's just another day at school...no big deal!

More Soccer Pictures!

Great Soccer Weekend!

Wow, what a great weekend! Abby and her soccer team played in the Stones River Spring Shootout in Smyrna, TN, which is just southeast of Nashville. With nine teams from across Tennessee in the '98 Lady Wolves division, we new it was going to be a tough tournament. Things didn't start off to well on Saturday morning. The girls were completely out of sinc and played poorly. The end result was a 1-4 loss to Tennessee Futbol Club-Black Team from Franklin, TN. It was amazing how a bunch of ten and eleven year old girls can get down on themselves. They decided that was enough.

Their Saturday afternoon game was interesting. With severe storms in the area, along with thunderstorm and tornado warnings in the surrounding counties, the girls played the Harpeth Futbol Club - White team. The game made it to the half with the Lady Wolves up 1-0. The game was suspended for fifteen minutes while a line of storms came through. We all waited out the storm and hail in our cars. After it came through, it was decided to suspend the rest of the games for the day. Fortunately for us, the tournament rules say that if you had made it to halftime, it is considered a complete game. Which gave us the win. They used a weird point system for this tournament where you get so many points for a win, so many points for a shutout, and points for point differential per game up to 3 points. So we got points for winning, points for a shutout, and one point for the goal we scored. So after Saturday, we were sitting in fourth.

After the storms came through, the temperature dropped...a lot! So Sunday morning we had to play at 8:00am in a wind chill factor of 32 degrees. It was so much fun! The girls had to win this game to advance to the semi-final round of games. The girls played their old nemesis from Memphis, the Purple Rain. We lost twice to them in the fall by one goal both times. The girls played awesome! It was like they decided they were a soccer team and no one was going to beat them. The dominated the game from the beginning and won the game 4-0! And we were off to the semi-finals against the #1 seed, Tennessee United Soccer Club from Brentwood, TN. It was a tough game for the girls with the game scoreless at the half. But our girls dug deep and won the game 2-0. Abby had a great assist on the second goal. And we were off to the Championship game.

Because of the storms on Saturday, everything and been pushed back on Sunday, so we didn't play the championship game until Sunday evening. We played the Tennessee Futbol Club-White team from Franklin, TN. It was the sister team to the team that had beat us on Saturday morning. It was a great defensive battle, but the Lady Wolves pulled out a 1-0 win, with a score by one of our defenders. I will say that our goalie, Morgan Williams, is the best goalie in the state in our age group. Nothing gets by her. She didn't play Saturday morning, because she had strep throat, but showed up in the afternoon to play. And if you notice the scores, nothing got by her. The girls played great and we are so proud of them. Abby has come along so much over the year and it is just a matter of time before she gets her goals. She is still the newest girl on the team, and has made so much progress.

Farwell Old Friend

Last night a dear friend died. Grammy and Grampy's cat, Rusty past away. Rusty was 19 years old. LeAnn will say that he was really her cat, but I bet Grammy would differ. Back when LeAnn and I were dating, and I visited the Babb house for the first time, Rusty met me at the door. And he has always been there. It will seem so strange not to see him when we visit Grammy and Grampy's house.

Goodbye Rusty, you were a great cat!

More Championship Pictures!

We Are The Champions!

The Lady Bulldogs did it! They knocked off crosstown rival Lambuth 73-63 in the national Championship game. It caps off an amazing 37-1 season. The girls never trailed in the game, but it never seemed safe either. It was a great game! Josephine Owino was named the tournament MVP and the National Player of the Year for the second year in a row. It is going to be really strange next year not to see Josephine and Merideth Jacobs playing for us. I have followed Merideth since she was in the eighth grade at Bradford. She has always been a great ball player and great person. She has never failed to be a great role model for Abby. Coach Campbell finished his tenth season as head coach with the Bulldogs and claims his third national title and third National Coach of the Year. He is a great Christian guy and allows Abby and the other ballgirls to have free run of the locker rooms at Union. He does this as a reminder to the girls on the team that they are role models to young girls who are always around, always watching, and always listening. The should never forget that. And to this point, they haven't . We were able to go on the floor after the game and celebrate with the girls and Josephine and Coach Campbell's wife gave Abby two pieces of the net, which we plan to frame. Of course, LeAnn had the camera and there are a lot of pictures. Thanks Lady Bulldogs for a great season!!

Of course, it doesn't stop for us....we have a soccer tournament in the Nashville area this weekend. Heading out tomorrow after work. Wish us luck!

National Championship Game!

Congratulations to the Lady Bulldogs for making it to another national championship game! The ladies totally dominated their semi-final game tonight against the Oklahoma Baptist Bison 73-48! They play cross town rival Lambuth tomorrow, who beat Oklahoma City by two points. It should be a huge crowd and really loud. Union has beat Lambuth twice this year, both games by double digits. So here's looking forward to tomorrow night and hopes of a fourth national championship for the Lady Bulldogs!

Final Four

Wow what a game last night! Union trailed most of the game, but finally took the lead for good with about six minutes to go and take the win 65-59. It was the first time in the tournament that the Lady Bulldogs were challenged. Mainly because Point Loma Nazarene have the post players that match Union with size. But Coach Campbell pulled out the stops by putting Josephine Owino (6'4") and Sarah Chan (6'3") in at the same time for the majority of the game. Something we haven't seen all season. It took Pt. Loma completely out of their defensive game plan, and took some pressure off of Josephine. She finished with 15 points and 20 rebounds. The scary thing is that Jo went down with a sprained ankle with 5 seconds left in the game. Hopefully, with the day off she can get it healthy enough to play Monday night.

Tomorrow night is the final four, and it is Oklahoma against the city of Jackson. In the first game, Union will take on Oklahoma Baptist. These two have had some classic games in the past. It is hard to believe, but OBU has never made it to the final four before. The second game has Oklahoma City University against Lambuth, which is from Jackson also. Oklahoma City has four national championships, and have made it to the finals seven times. Lambuth won the championship two years ago. Union has won the championship three previous times and look to make it four. The final national poll has Union at #1, Lambuth at #3, OBU at #4, and Oklahoma City at #11.

I have added a few pictures from the tournament and the celebration after the game last night. Abby has such a good relationship with the girls. It is so cool watching her interact with them.

ELITE EIGHT BABY!!!

As most of you know, this week we have had the NAIA Women's National Championships played here in Jackson. Our beloved Lady Bulldogs from Union University are the overall number one seed. We love the girls on the team and Abby has been their ballgirl for the last couple of years.

Tonight the girls play in the elite eight against Point Loma Nazarene from California. The girls have played awesome. They won their first round game against Jarvis Christian, Tx 86-58, and they won their second round game last night against Lindsey Wilson, Ky 80-59. Things get tougher tonight, Pt. Loma is the overall #8 seed and they have some height to compete against our post players. In the above picture, Abby is with Josephine Owino (kneeling), and Sarah Chan. Josephine is from Kenya and Sarah is from Sudan. You can't tell in the picture, but Josephine is 6'4", and has been Abby's basketball camp coach over the past two summers. Abby just loves her. Unfortunately, Jo is a senior this year and it is going to be hard to see her leave. She was the national POY last year and should be again this year. Look for her in the WNBA next year!

We really enjoy basketball, and it isn't that we like women's basketball more than men. Probably not the case. But since Abby is our oldest, we have been around the women's teams more. But beginning this year, Ian gets to go to camp at Union too. So we should be getting to know the men as well. The thing about the women's game is that it is slower than the men's, so you get to see the strategy being played out a little better. And these girls aren't weak. So far in this tournament we have had several broken noses, bloodied noses, and all kinds of other injuries. It isn't for the squeamish either. In a game last night that went into double overtime, seven players fouled out, tempers flared, a broken nose in the first half with blood everywhere. They patched her up and she came back out to inflict her revenge by blooding the nose of the girl who broke her nose. Elbows were flying and pushing, pulling hair, cussing, and screaming. It was great!

On a side note, our Bulldog men were upset last night in their national tournament. Sounds like a bad tournament for most seeded teams out in Kansas City. The highest seed to get through to the quarterfinals is the #6 team.

We will head over to Oman Arena this afternoon for the quarterfinal round. Hopefully we will get in to the final four and on to a national championship. It will be our third in five years if that happens! Go Lady Bulldogs!!

Oh, and GO DUKE!!!!

Catch Up and Update

Today marks the conclusion of one complete month on the big diet. As of this morning, I have lost a total of eleven pounds. Not too bad, I think. Considering during week two, I hit a wall and barely lost any during that week. What is exciting for me, is that some time during the next week, I should drop under 200 pounds for the first time in a year and a half. I have always been thin and my weight has never really been an issue. What concerned me this time, was how fast the weight was coming on, and my eating habits were not helping at all. And of course, my physical fitness was completely gone. Of course, it probably also has a lot to do with the fact that I am now well over the age of 40 and I am making some lame attempt to hang on to my youth. But, I guess there are worse ways to go through a mid-life crisis. So there you go, I am making good progress toward my goal of 35 pounds. I am completely determine to climb that mountain this summer, both figuratively and literally.

Also, I should give you an update on our friends Jason and Heidi Batchelor. The whole family finally made it home in the early hours of Saturday morning. Louis is now an American citizen and home in Tennessee. I really can't wait to meet him soon. It was a long ordeal for them that lasted two full months. Thanks to every one that kept them in their prayers.

March Madness

As you all know, LeAnn and I met at Union University, back in....well, we won't go there. You also know that we are a very sports active family. Well both of these things meet during basketball season. Union University plays in the NAIA and has a very successful athletics department. Abby is one of the Lady Bulldogs ballgirl during the season, and we have had a great time meeting the girls on the team. This week both the men and women's teams won our conference tournament championship, and are heading to the national tournament. Fortunately for us, the women's tournament is held here in Jackson. The Lady Bulldogs will be the #1 seed with a 32-1 record. The men should be the #4 seeded team. There are 32 teams in each tournament. So next week we will be down at Oman Arena here in Jackson a lot. Fortunately, it is Spring Break!! So go Bulldogs and Lady Bulldogs!

And of course, in the middle of all this the NCAA tournament starts. So go Lady Vols and Blue Devils!!

This and That and Then Some More

It has been a few days since my last posting. It isn't that I haven't had anything to tell you about, but I didn't think any of it would qualify for a post in itself. Then I was reading Jessica's blog and got inspired. For those of you who don't know who Jessica is, she is LeAnn's brother Matt's wife. In other words, LeAnn's sister-in-law, and my fellow Outlaw! You can link over to Jessica's blog from here. Anyway, on Jessica's blog she listed twenty things about herself that you might of might not know. It got me to thinking that might be a great way to get everything in. So with kudos to Jessica for a great idea, here are my twenty things.

1.) Last weekend Abby played in a soccer tournament in Memphis. The first game was played on Saturday morning. It was freezing and windy, but hey we won 4-2 over the Memphis Rush Swoosh team. Way to go Lady Wolves!

2.) The second game was played in a hard sleet and was miserable. The girls were running in slow motion and the ball wouldn't move because of the slush. The finally called the game at the half.

3.) We stayed overnight at LeAnn's parent's house and watched it snow.

4.) By the next day we were able to leave around noon and head to Jackson. It took around 2 hours to get home. It usually only takes one hour.

5.) Jackson got 13" of snow. Yep, a record. There was still around 8 1/2" in our yard by the time we got home. It was a good snow. Deep and great to play in, but off the roads and easy to travel in. This weekend it was in the 70's.

6.)We are very happy that Abby and Ian's basketball season is over. We now only play soccer. Of course, it is March and the college basketball tournaments are in full swing. Abby is also Union University's basketball team's ballgirl. The Lady Bulldogs are 31-1 and ranked #1 in the nation for the NAIA. Tonight they play in their conference championship game for an automatic bid to the national tournament, which happens to be held here in Jackson.

7.) I am addicted to Facebook. I really don't know how this happened. But it is very cool. I had reconnected with high school friends I haven't seen in over twenty years and college fraternity brothers I haven't seen since....well, we won't go there. I got to catch up with friends that are in Sweden, and Kenya. Friends that are now all over the country. If you haven't been on Facebook, give it a try.

8.) Be careful when you ask your boss a simple question. Sometimes those simple questions blow up into big hornet's nest. I mean one simple question, and now people are coming down from Nashville and Murfreesboro, to help with some kind of unlicensed activity. I mean, really, it was a simple question!

9.) The diet is going well. Not as well as I would like, but then again I am impatient. I kind of hit a wall during the second week, but things are moving down again. My goal is to lose 35 pounds by June 15th. I figure if I can lose ten pounds a month, I will make. I am still on that course.

10.) My friend Jason and his wife Heidi, are still going through their Ukraine adoption saga. Jason had to come home, but Heidi and their daughter Dinah are still there. They now have Dimitri who they are now calling Louis and have moved on to Kiev. All they lack now is the Louis' physical exam and his passport paperwork at the U.S. Embassy. They hope to leave for home on Thursday.

11.) Our new puppy, Nikko, is now 5 months old. He is already bigger than our two year old dog, Sam. They said they thought Nikko would be around 100 pounds when he gets full grown. He is almost halfway there now.

12.) I can't wait for our vacation this summer to Yellowstone National Park and many points in between. I often just get online and plan the trip and see what else there is to do. There is no way we are going to get everything in.

13.) Last week was the end of the kid's third quarter. Only one to go...Hallelujah! It has been a long year already. Especially for Abby. Way too much homework for a 4th grader!

14.) LeAnn and I went and saw Legally Blond the Musical at the Orpheum theater in Memphis. It was hilarious and a great date night.

15.) We also saw the Drowsy Chaperone about a month ago. Another great show. LeAnn's sister-in-law (and my fellow Outlaw) Megan, and her brother Jon perform in regional theatre productions in Minneapolis. LeAnn and I agree they need to do this musical, and Jon must play the lead. He would be perfect.

16.) I am running out of things to write about. Can you tell?

17.) My favorite color is blue. Always has been. Don't know why.

18.) I just bought the new U2 CD. Haven't listened to it yet. Wanted to but the first time I was in the car alone, I left it on my dresser. I expect it to be great. Hope I'm not disappointed.

19.) I haven't read any good books lately. But I want to. Really don't have the time. But will try and find some time.

20.) Daylight Savings Time is great. But for the first couple of days it pretty much sucks. I want that one hour of sleep back...now!!

There I made it. Thanks Jessica for the inspiration, and that should get you caught up on things.

Ian's Famous American Speech

On Thursday, the entire first grade class gave speeches on Famous Americans. Ian decided to do his speech on Peyton Manning. I have no idea why he picked Peyton Manning other than he loves football, and I am raising him right and instilling a strong and undying love for the Big Orange. Below is a link to see his speech, which is on my Facebook page. It is only a couple of minutes long, but I think he did a great job.

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