Low Flying Chaplain

Oh my. As if the world isn't dangerous enough. Yep. That's Dan. Danny. Chappy. Daddy. Flying, I repeat, FLYING in a helicopter. A friend of ours who flies here (as his job!) asked Dan last week if he'd like to go along on a ride one day. I actually think Dan got to the air field before the pilots. He was so excited. This guy flies "patrols" here in the early morning hours. He flies all over the desert to make sure no civilians have wandered onto base land. He has to do this before the troops in training start their "shooting" (for lack of a better term). "Shooting" is putting it mildly. Judging from the way my house shakes, I would not want to be "out there" when it actually happens. Anyway, this guy let Dan go along. And then, somewhere over the desert, he snapped this picture. I'm a little impressed and a lot scared. I'm concerned that the chaplain who got a special license to drive giant Army trucks though Iraq won't just be content to sit at his desk anymore. The thought of going "Airborne" or "Ranger" has always been a dream for him. And now, he's flying in a helicopter. Lord, help us!

#1 Nephew

How is it possible to love him so much when we haven't even met him? Noah Emerson Rogers made his grand entrance into the world on Tuesday, February 12. He is healthly and well, and so is his mommy. We can't get pictures fast enough, and we keep harrassing the sleep-deprived parents for updates. "Cute" doesn't even come close to describing the boy! We are making plans to go and see him during Elijah's Spring Break, but that's not coming fast enough for me! I have taken to showing his picture to innocent bystanders in the grocery store. (Now I know how those poor souls in Pensacola react when Nana and Pops whip out the 8x10's!!) And, if no one promises to harrass Elijah about this... I'll let you in on his little secret. The proud big cousin keeps kissing the computer screen when we look at Noah's pictures. Now, that's cute!

Snow in SoCal

That's what they call it here..."SoCal." I believe it's short for Southern California, and yes... there's snow here. We've seen enough winter weather to last us for a while. And, I am a fan of winter weather. There's usually snow in Big Bear, and Dan has a friend who invited us to go skiing in Wrightwood. It's between here and LA, and they've had HUGE amounts of snow lately. We actually didn't get to purchase lift tickets, because they were sold out. Our friends didn't get to rent equipment, either. Sold out of that, too. Needless to say, they were a zillion people there. We found a deli, bought some lunch, and had a snow picnic. Then, we pulled off the road and played in the snow for a few hours. Elijah even got to put on his skis and give it a try. At the risk of sounding like an obnoxious, braggy mom... he did great for a first timer. He's annoying like that. Good at stuff. And, if he's not good at it, he keeps at it until he is. That part isn't annoying. That "driven-ness" is what I love about his personality. Dan and I always laugh and say he doesn't get it from us! My daddy used to say that I'd be dangerous if I would "apply myself!" And Dan, well... if he couldn't master or ace something the first time around, he gave up and declared the thing "stupid" or "for wimps." Thank God we have matured! But, it's the young one in the family who is the natural at whatever he puts his mind to. Sickening, I know. So, skiing didn't turn out exactly the way we planned, but we had fun anyway. And, now Elijah has "the bug." He keeps asking when we can go back. If he could have seen me on skis in 199?, he would be praying for Spring. It wasn't pretty. And, wisdom tells me it would be even uglier now.

No Scrawny Babies?

OK. For those who may not know. We are EAGERLY awaiting the arrival of the newest member of our family. Little Rogers. Or Peanut. Or Baby Cousin. That's all we can call him at the present moment. He won't have an official name until his mommy and daddy see his pretty little face and decide what he looks like. I know he'll be cute, but what if he looks like none of the cute names they have on "the List?" It's not that I don't fully trust Daniel and April. I just need my details... as my dear friend, Shannon, would say! Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah, no skrawny babies? Yesterday, we were having a family prayer. It was Elijah's "job" to pray for the new baby and Daniel and April. So, this is what he says: "Dear God, Please help Aunt April and Daniel figure out what the baby's name is. And, please don't let the baby be skrawny. Amen." After we gained our composure (sorta), we asked him what that was all about. His reply? "We don't like skrawny babies." OK. Enough said.

Are You Ready for Some Football?

Watch out, Tom Brady. You have competition. He's 4'7'' and weighs 72 pounds. Elijah and Coach Dan played their first flag football game yesterday... and won! It was a pleasant 34 degrees when the teams took to the field. Yes, that's darn cold. During the very first play of the game, Elijah caught a pass and ran all the way down the field for a touchdown! It was all a blur after that. The team was unstoppable... scoring so fast that even the coaches couldn't keep up with the points. Not that they are supposed to. There is no score kept at these games. (Thank goodness.) Dan did ask one of the referees (one of his soldiers) after the game. The final was 37 to 14. The cutest thing to me was the irony of the team names. The kids, as a team, vote to decide their team name. All the players on every team wear the same "jersey"... just in different colors. So, the team name is really just for fun. Our team chose the "Fort Irwin Patriots." The team we played chose the "Fort Irwin Giants." I don't know if the Big Game "gurus" take this kind of information into account when they make their predictions, but... We'll see. As far as this family is concerned, the biggest game of the year has already been played. And, the Patriots won! But, I'm not keeping score.

"When in Rome...?"

I think the phrase goes, "When in Rome, do as the Romans..." Is that it? Well, my version is, "When at Fort Irwin, where there is no Shotokan Karate, you take Tae Kwon Do." Elijah has been taking it for a while now. He caught on quickly, considering it's so different than what he's been trained in for so long. And, lately, the class has had a guest instructor who is teaching them Ju Jitsu. Or, "Army Combatives." Nice. They LOVE it, though. I thought (we thought) his interest was waning in Martial Arts, but it wasn't. He still loves it and he's still really good at it. He finally earned a "stripe" from his new Sensei this week. She's pretty tough on him, and she doesn't just "give away" increases in rank or stripes. I like that about her. She really is a great Sensei and Elijah likes her. too. He thinks she's hysterical, and she is... he's about the only one in the class who gets most of her humor. So, she finally gave him a "coveted" stripe. In the grand scheme of the boy's life right now, it doesn't mean as much as it will one day. He's enamored with football right now. And, rightly so. His dad (hero) is coaching his team, the Superbowl is coming on, and folks out here in the Wild West get into those Pro teams A LOT. A lot more than in the Southeast where College football reigns supreme. So, he wasn't as happy with that stripe as I was. Oh well. He'll thank me one day. He'll be grateful that we "encouraged" (pushed?) him to earn those belts. Especially that black one. Someone I admire once said that "good ball players are a dime a dozen, but great Martial Artists are few and far between." I am looking forward to a new Post where we can find a Shotokan School. I think the "love" for the art will come back. Until then, he's gained a few new skills. Just the other night, the "Guest Sensei" said, and I quote, "This is how you break someone's arm." Oh my. The first football game is this Saturday. Let's hope he leaves the arm-breaking skills in the Dojo.

Legos... the drug of choice

I have discovered the 8 year-old boy version of crack cocaine. Legos. I know- I am probably not the first mom to make this comparison, but let me enjoy the moment anyway. I could sense the "obsession" coming back in the summer. All he talked about was the "Lego store" in Ontario and going to "Legoland" someday soon. Then, the holidays came... Between Santa and the grandparents and the Aunt and Uncle and Mommy and Daddy... the addiction came into full bloom. There are little plastic bricks covering every square inch of any available surface of my house. I step on Legos. I vacuum up Legos (and then dig them out of the vacuum), I sit on Legos, and I honestly think Shelby has taken to eating Legos. The most amazing part? Elijah can't stop talking about Legos. If we tear him away from his "creations" for two minutes to say, eat, he spends the entire meal talking about what he's gonna build next. He reads Lego magazines. He visits the Lego website. I'm telling you... Legos are like crack for this boy. He has a chunk of change from Christmas gifts, and what does he talk about buying? You guessed it. I do have to make a Wal Mart run this weekend... Maybe if I remind him about the Lego aisle, he'll go along a little more willingly and pleasantly. I swear... they're taking over. At least the drug of choice at the moment is a little plastic building set. It could be worse. It could be girls. Thank you, Lord for small blessings!