2016 Febuary_Basketball and kids

Basketball is over and now we are onto soccer. I calculated the other day that I have coached or assisted in over 47 different teams for hadden and spencer to date. I enjoy it but am glad to have a little break while coaching Hadden's soccer team and spencer is playing academy soccer. Nash continues to enjoy his new preschool which is the same school that spencer went too. He knows all his letters and almost all his sounds in just over 1 month at the school - plus he love it - it has been a good move. Hadden rec team lost in the championship by 4 points (the other team had 2 6 footers - just saying) and had a great season. Spencer's team lost in the final 4 but it was not really and upset - both had great season and enjoy basketball. Last night Hadden's school team had their banquet. But instead of a dress up / stuffy occasion this was pizza and then a 3 point contest, skills contest, shooting contest, and then parents vs kids game. Hadden and Spencer Won the skills contest over all the parents and the 6th -8th grade team. It was a good night for the Meyer kids. Let me describe the skills contest. 1. Dribble through cones to the opposite side 2. Throw the basketball 25 feet or so to the wall and hit the middle of a hoopla hoop. 3. Dribble back down and hit a 3 pointer (you had 6 shots - this is where I was eliminated) 4. Run to the baseline to get a ball - dribble to half court and then come back and make a layup. Hadden and spencer had no mistakes and both hit their first 3 pointers - hadden completed this in 24 seconds - Spencer in 26 seconds as he beat me at the same time - their were 2 participants going at once. Carrie and I continue to exercise in our spare time (not much), teach 2nd grade at church, and try to go on lunch on Friday's with each other while the kids are at school.

2016 January - Basketball

The month of January flew by: Hadden and Spencer are in the heart of the season for basketball. Hadden is playing on the 6th grade team and are struggling to stay in games. He is a defensive specialist on the school team while at the rec team level he is scoring about 14 points a game. Trying to tell him to be more aggressive at school ball but the switch has not flipped yet - it is up to him. He is playing with a lot of his buddies and I am coaching with Karl Reker ( his son is preston, john, luke, mason, maddox are all on his team) Spencer is playing with his good friend Sam and they are the younger kids in the division right now. They have had some up's and down high lighted by an 18 point game by spencer - down 21 to 8 at half time he lead the team back to a 34 - 26 victory. I was a proud dad - wish I had videoed. Nash is starting a new school this week - where spencer went to preschool. He is a little nervous / excited as a 4.5 year old that only knows his old school would be. We will see how it goes. He loves playing outside with the neighbors and jumping on the trampoline and the playing basketball riding his 3 wheel scooter. Carrie started her new job last week - so far it looks like it will be good - lots to remember with the new computer system and the people seem nice and good to work with so far. Both Hadden and Spencer received straight A's on their report cards and didn't even mention it to Carrie and I that grades were out - we found out from some other parents - reports cards don't come home anymore. Hadden was nominated and selected by several teachers to be the 6th grade boy who was picked to go back to talk to the 3 elementary school 5th graders on what to expect in 6th grade. Carrie and I were really proud as the assistant principal told us about it while at the basketball game --- My dad came up to watch the kids play basketball as he was also in town for work - Mars petcare --- he also had surgery this month to review a tumor near his kidney and is recovering well. Carrie's parents came to a few games this month as well - both school game for hadden and rec games for both the kids. Playoff basketball - haddens school team is done. He picked up his game and played more aggressive the last part of the season looking to score more and played good defense. Hadden and spencers team are both in the final 4 of the tournament. Spencer played on 2/19 and had a heck of a game. The team we were playing was the number 3 seed we were 6.. Spencer went for 20 points including a 3 pointer an the team won 30-20 to advance to today.. There are possible 4 games today--- if both hadden and spencer win their games.

2016 - January - Random

Jan 4 Nash - When he got to school he read in the "cozy center" there are several areas of his school room that have different themes. Nash told me today when I picked him up from school it was a great day. His job today was circle time leader which means he got to lead the kids by pointing at the days of the week and going through them while they said them. Some of his sayings - Nash did you put your shoes away "of course I did" focus on the "of course" Hadden and spencer played with John / Sam as they were out of school. Now hadden is at basketball for 6th grade and spencer is spending the night. Neither of them think it is funny when they ask "what is for dinner" and I state Tuna sandwiches -- I am not getting the response of "dad that really isn't funny anymore" Tuesday they are both going to carrie's moms for the day while carrie and I work - today was back to work for both of us and trying to work out - I ran at lunch and carrie went to Taboe.

2015 - Summer / Fall Updates

What a fun fall this has been. Here are some highlights Spencer played traffic soccer for the first time this fall - we had a 3 way car pool going with Will / Landon - he had a great season and fun time playing soccer . He played a tournament in Decatur Alabama and Clarksville - my first time to spend anytime in both of those cities. He also had friendly in Portland TN. Hadden entered 6th grade not knowing what to expect. Most of his friends from Bethesda ended up going to another school because of zoning. The good news is from sports he knew a lot of the kids and has made a lot of new friends this first fall in middle school. Spencer - outdoor soccer / practice 2 times a week / indoor soccer and now basketball - I was coaching the indoor soccer and basketball Hadden - school tennis - played number 1 doubles and peaked at the right time / outdoor soccer (coaching) won the championship and had 4 goals in the final game / Indoor soccer/ school soccer and now school basketball. The first game of the sixth grade season hadden started the game. Nash - really like's playing outside and dribbling the basketball, playing football, dribbling the soccer ball. He has some friends that live right next door carter , Berkley Clare that he loves going outside, running around and jumping on the trampoline. Inside he runs around chasing his brothers…Nash really likes his preschool… he has lots of friends and he tells me every week how much he like's his school. all 3 of the boys like to wrestle around. Nash still like's to try and "take" me down and also do sit ups together. Carrie and I still enjoy working out - she does Taboe and boot camp type classes with time or 2 on the elliptical when classes don't fit her schedule. I run and lunch with the same group of guys I have been running with for 10 years - Hugh, jimmy, and Todd --- it is a 5-6 mile run in the rain, snow, or heat normally 3 days a week. This summer / fall my friend Mark and his wife Kristen came to visit with several of their friends from Boston - it was fun catching up and hanging out with Mark. We also had Colin and his wife Anna with their 2 boys Luke and Andrew visit from Austin - all the boys had fun together - especially Nash since Andrew was his age…. Both visits were fun for me to visit and hang out with 2 my closer friends that don't live in Nashville --- we don't get to see each other often but I stay in touch with both of them on calls while driving home from work. Trips: The annual trip to the beach with the family - this year we went to Santa Rosa are for spring break - we stayed a place that had a lake "red fish Lake" that then would feed into the ocean - the kids liked kayaking and paddle boarding and it made a great skim boarding area. The trip in the summer was to Fort Walton to stay in my friend Hugh's place right on the beach. Both trips were spent on the beach and at the pool. We also had a fall break trip with the kids to Chattanooga - to visit the aquarium and run around with the kids .. We went with our friend John / Kristy / John / Katy / Jeremy / Jennifer.. It was a nice fall break. We went on the 3rd year Thanksgiving break down to gulf shores with carrie's parents and 2 sisters along with Roberts Parents Linda / Melvin who hosted everyone… it was a great time to have all the cousins play and it was a in the 70's so volleyball (nuke them) on the beach and football… Nash had a blast digging with Judd right at the waters edge. We visited Birmingham to see Nini and papa in July and November and had good times frying the turkey and making fires in the fire pit to roast marshmallow.. There also was a lot of football on the thanksgiving weekend... Greg to Houston to visit Brent and then to Dallas for a work training. Orlando for a work training and a side trip to Tampa to visit Buzz for long weekend. The school year is going really well for both hadden and spencer.. They both have straight A's and enjoy school. Spencer's favorite subjects are Social studies, Science, and Math. Hadden's favorite subjects are girls, sports, girls. Math, Social Studies, language arts, Science -- Hadden was nominated by his 6th grade English teacher "holiday Student Successor": Mr Norman. Hadden leads an active, busy life and now is on the SSMS basketball team. Despite his busyness he always has his work done, always has a smile on his face and is always willing to help others. Hadden is a wonderful mode of student athlete excellence and I am proud to be his teacher. And we are almost to Christmas now!!! It is hard to believe that another year has flown by.

6 month update - WOW - I am a slacker

so i guess we have had quite a bit of things happen since the last update---Christmas and Thanksgiving were good as always.. December / Jan / - lots of basketball for hadden and spencer - i coached both teams. hadden had a good season and did not lose until the end of the season. They won the heritage tournment and lost in the semifinals to a team that was huge - Spencer played on a team where he learned a lot and was able to handle the ball r quite a bit - he was on the younger side of the group - a few wins a good season and looking forward to next year. Nash continues to follow what his big brothers do and seems to get away with a lot more than his brother did at this age. My mom brother Craig had a heart attack at 54 and died in February so an unexpected trip back to kansas with jena and my parents... it was good to see my grandma but a sad reason to go visit. I was able to see marco and his family and clint as well - so that part was a positve..my mom has had a hard time with his passing as to be expected. Nash has enjoyed riding his green john deere tractor - this is probably is favorite thing to do - laps around the house until the battery dies. We took a trip to Sand Destin for Spring break in march. This was our first time visiting desin as a family .. this was a good trip - we visited jeff and his family and the kids had fun playing on the beach / pool - the pool was 90 plus degrees. Lots of movies at night, march madness, and eating out.. as well as a few trips to shop.. the kids must have were some slides / flip flops -- hadden got addidas / spencer reebock... i am coaching haddens soccer team and helping with spencers. both the kids really enjoy and excel at soccer right now. Also they have started to show an interest in Tennis so we will try to go to the courts some this spring and summer...April took me to Mt Leconte where we hiked 5 miles to the top and stayed in the lodge at the top.. there is no electricity or running water.. the hike was beautiful and the ran held off. i hope to do the hike sometime with the kids in the future....Carrie and i continue to enjoy working out, running, and doing stuff with the kids... the culdasac and playing over there occupies some of the nice days during the weekend. Nash has started potty training and through some ups / downs seems to be getting the hang of it. Spencer has had a birthday and we went to see captain america 2 and then to buffalo wild wings to eat dinner...school is finishing up in a few weeks wtih hadden getting ready to take the t-cap test this week... until next time.

September / Oct

Here are a few things going on over the last couple months with the family: The summer has ended with the kids starting a school a few months ago - hadden is in 4th (Mrs. Looper) grade and has turned 10 while spencer is 7 and in 2nd grade (Mrs. Peck). school is going well for both kids and the first 9 weeks has ended with hadden as an all A student. Spencer has not received his report card but I am sure he will not disappoint. Both kids are playing flag football and both team are undefeated at this point with a few games to go in the season.... both are actually the TN titans too. Hadden and spencer like to play outside - football, riding bikes, playing airsoft guns and just running around in the neighborhood...both pull for Alabama in football and are sitting here right now reading in the bama PJ's (awesome). Nash is in Bama PJ's too but is already in bed otherwise I would add a picture today. Spencer is playing center / defense on his football team and his best game was where he saved 3 TD's with flag pulls and caught 5 passes with a TD, a 2 pt conversion and a 40 yard run. Hadden plays defense and QB and has had some nice throws and a couple interceptions - 1 for a 30 yard return for a TD. I took them to the haunted woods this past weekend - Millers / Thrillers -- it was our 2nd year to go and it was a great time... Nash has started really talking and is a funny 2 year old who looks up to his brothers and wants to do everything they do. today he put on his football helmet and got in his little red car ( you know the kind you push with your feet) and told carrie he was driving to football practice. from there he grabbed a basketball with the football helmet on and started dribbling... then switched gears to the baseball helmet and bat.... he likes to say mine a lot and has recently really become interested in everything to do with blocks and building things / stacking / domino's etc...he likes for us to help him. some cute sayings from Nash - "Carry you" or "I carry You" means pick him up.... likes to ride the horsey, hop to the barbershop to get a piece of candy.. and really likes to ride his green tractor outside which he says he is mowing... also "miss you all day" We went to visit Birmingham last weekend for fall break and carrie went to visit her mom and dad with the kids yesterday while I went to basketball assessments for both spencer and hadden-- I am coaching both their teams this year -- it should be fun.... Carrie is doing great we both continue to enjoy working out in our spare time...

8 months - time flies

Let's see here are some things that have happend: carrie and i took a trip with 3 other couples to Punta Cana / Domican republic, Hadden and Spencer both went undfeated in basketball. Hadden played with Steve wade and his twins,(i helped coach) won the regular season and the beat everyone in a 68 team county tournament, Spencer team won the regular season ( i coached with jerry walling) and the only game that was close was the championship - a come from behind victory. My grandma Meyer passed away as she battled memory loss and lived in Lincoln for the last several years - while a tough time on the family it was good to come together and see everyone - all my dads brothers and sisters were there and it was good to visit. All my cousins were there too. As a family we have gone to the beach a couple times - gulf shores - Birmingham several times, hadden and spencer took tennis lessons this summer and played soccer this spring. Both there teams did well and both enjoyed tennis. Summer was a lot of swimming and playing outside. times in the tisdale culdsac playing with the kids friends. Nash has changed a lot since i last wrote on here. He still looks up to his brothers and wants to do everything they do. Spencer has turned 7 and Nash turned 2. SPencer birthday we went to a movie and out for pizza in franklin, nash we had a pool party and carrie's sisters and parents came up to celebrate while we passed through b'ham we celebrated with my mom dad. Some of Nsah's sayings -- a song -"light it up up up", "i am on fire", "I don't care, i love it", What happpened? Mine, Thats, mine not yours,... sometimes he is sitting in the car and blurts out..."ROOLLL TIDE""""i have trained him well. Summer of work on our house - carpet steps turned into hardwood, house painted, deck redone and painted, then our hot water heater, washing machine and dishwasher all went out within 30 days - dishwasher flooded our hardwoods so eating out for a few weeks without a kitchen this summer got old real quick. at the end we will have new hardwoods. Favorite things - Hadden/spencer - playing outside, kindle, mindcraft, ipod touch, airsoft battle, playing in the creek, -- Nash - anything with a truck / ball remote control/ writing on things... nash nickname - the destoryer -- has leaked a ink pen all over our hardwood - note - do not use a wet rag to try and clean, that same ink marked on our nice chair in the living room, used crayons all over our carpet (sneaky little kid), used a bobby pin he must have found under the couch to scrach the new dishwasher mentioned above which is stainless ( carrie was not happy) carrie and still work at the same places - Maxor and Deloitte and enjoy it at both places. We both work out - i most run - she enjoys boot camp classes, taboe, etc. until next time