my daughter is 6 years old today. 6 years old!

so i guess everyone wasn’t lying…they really do grow up that fast.

Kylie doesn’t know too much about the internet yet, but if you leave her a birthday message in the comments I’ll make sure she reads it. She’s big into different states right now too, so let her know which state you live in so she can find it on the map.

Almost halfway to being a teenager…yikes!

Amidst all the sports conversation this week of dirty refs, dirty home run hitters, and dirty dogfighters (allegedly), i got to thinking about what was right with sports. I starting thinking back to when i was just a kid falling in love with sports, and i thought of the guys who were my favorite athletes in each of the major sports.

My favorite baseball player growing up was Jim Rice. #14 played left field for the Red Sox and could hit like nobody’s business. Dude should be in the hall of fame, period. He did seem to hit into a lot of double plays, but i loved seeing him roam left field in Fenway and smack homers into the old netting over the green monster.

We watched a lot of hockey growing up. Those Canadiens-Bruins games were huge events in the house. My favorite player was #16, Rick Middleton. I have no idea why, but he was my boy. My brother Josh liked Steve Kasper. I think he was #11. Why do we remember trivial details like that?

My Dad is a huge Cowboys fan, so i grew up cheering for America’s Team. (I know…you hate the Cowboys…let’s move on) My favorite player was #33 Tony Dorsett. He had legs the size of redwoods and an iron well stronger than the jaws of life. He was so fast, he once raced a snow leopard in the 40-yard dash and won. then he killed the snow leopard with his bare hands and ate it. (these facts may or may not be verifiable)

I was spoiled watching the Celtics in their glory days as a young kid. Like most kids born in the 70s, Larry Bird was the shizzle before anyone knew what shizzle had to do with nizzle. I still get goosebumps when i see highlights of #33 in action. Remember that game against Portland when he hit the insane 3-pointer to send it to overtime and then poured it on in the extra frames to help the C’s win? I still smile when i think of that. (You can see it at the 2:00 mark of this youtube clip if you have a spare 4 minutes for Larry Bird buzzerbeaters).

I’d love to hear which athletes you all looked up to as kids. Do you have any great stories about meeting them or cheering for them?

last night i spent about 15 minutes talking to my kids about Jesus, God, Heaven, Hell, and babies falling off of roofs.

I did devotions with the kids (Kylie will be 6 on monday, Parker is 4.5) and we talked about how Thomas doubted that Jesus had risen from because he hadn’t seen Him yet. It was a very teachable opportunity, and we had a good time with it. I explained to them how i believe that Jesus rose from the dead even though it’s “weird” to think about it sometimes and sometimes i have doubts about it.

Parker told me that he didnt want to go to heaven because you would be there “forever”. So we talked about how everyone dies eventually and how we have to “somewhere” forever. i told them about heaven and hell. Kylie wanted to know if hell was like jail. i said that i thought it kinda was, and i told her some of what Jesus said about it. I kept the conversation as light as i could, and made sure i didnt convey to them that it was critical that they be SURE of these things. that’s the last thing i want them to think.

Out of nowhere Parker said “Imagine if a baby was climbing on a roof and he fell off and died” and both kids starting busting a gut laughing. i have to admit, it was a really funny moment. Of course, there’s nothing funny about a baby dying, or about a baby falling…but they were both laughing about the “baby on a roof” part and they thought it was funny. Once they stopped laughing i explained to them that “babies dying” is never funny, but that the thought of a baby on a roof is a bit “silly”.

We talked a bit about what sin was and that Jesus didn’t sin at all. Kylie said she has lied before, but never cheated at anything. Parker kept his mouth shut, but later he told me as i was tucking him in that he has cheated before at candyland, saying that he “moved his guy around without following the cards”, which i thought was probably the cutest confession ever.

we then prayed together and thanked God for Jesus living and dying and not sinning and prayed for all the usual stuff as well. I have to admit, it is scary to talk about such things with my kids. Knowing the large part i play in developing their world view…it’s almost overwhelming. But it’s fun at the same time. I care about them so much, that i want to make sure that I am doing the right thing as their dad.

If you’ve been through this before, so you have any advice? Those of you with younger kids, have you thought about those moments yet? Those without kids, do you look forward to those moments or do they scare you too?

so i’m sitting here in Panera Bread in Lancaster macking on some free WiFi, a sourdough bread bowl of french onion soup, and some iced green tea. not much to complain about at the moment (although now that i think about it, my back is a bit sore from them stitches).

Erica took the kids to see Ratatouille with Aunt Linda this afternoon, and i decided not to go, despite hearing that it was a decent flick. I’m sure I’ll catch it on DVD a bunch before it’s all said and done.

The Red Sox have a 1-run lead over the pale hose right now, Kason Gabbard looks better and better with every start. Good to see Julio Lugo hitting again. Wily Mo…not so much. Hey Geof, do you want him and his .202 average back?

I’m starting to outline my strategy for the liveblog of Caedmon’s release week that I’m going to be doing. I think it’s going to be a blast, and something that will be great for other fans too. I hope to give them as much of a behind the scenes look at Caedmon’s as i can for the few days that I’m out with them.

Softball team is playing well. We are 9-7 with 2 games left. We haven’t officially clinched the playoffs yet, but it’s looking very good that we’ll be back in for the first time in 3 years. I’ve finally started to hit better over the last 3 or 4 games. The bases-loaded triple i hit in the last inning against the Warriors was as big of a hit as i’ve had playing softball. It started a 5-run inning that gave us a 14-13 win. Not sure where that’s been all season.

Had a nice moment with Kylie last week that i was just thinking about. I had only been home from work for an hour, had helped cook dinner, and then was getting my softball uniform on to go to my game. There wasn’t really any “quality time” in there for the kids in all the rush. But then i thought about how there was no reason i couldn’t turn the next few minutes into “quality time” and so i called her over and she jumped up on my lap. For the next 3 or 4 minutes we were just being silly with each other, mimicking each other, tickling each other, and being goofy. Even though it was only a couple minutes, it meant a lot to me…and probably to her too. And it just reminded me that every day is filled with similar opportunities like that to redeem some time for the people you love. so yeah, if that’s a kick in the butt for you like it is for me, then cool.

i bought a scary movie for Erica and i to watch tonight after we eat our sushi…can’t wait…have a great weekend…