Rockin' around the Christmas Tree

We started decorating for the holidays this evening. Evidently, this was the preferred activity for my children instead of watching the USC/ Notre Dame game...go figure!

Traditionally, we have two trees...one that the kids can decorate with the nonbreakable ornaments and the other belongs to my wife; that way, if she breaks any of the ornaments, she has no one to blame but herself.

Anyway, Josh and Marie tackled the one in the family room tonight...and did a fine job of it. I'm not sure who is more excited for Christmas...the kids or me. Marie has already submitted her "request list" , and Sarah will probably be content just to play with the wrapping paper, but Josh is at such a great age for the holidays... I simply cannot wait to see his face on Christmas morning.

A Thanksgiving Day Story...the way it really happened!

Waiting for our food to arrive at the table (a night out at David B's restaurant), Josh was intently scribbling away at his latest masterpiece.

"Watcha got there Josh?"

"I'm drawing the Mayflower, Dad."

"Really, what do you know about the Mayflower...did you learn about it in school today?"

"Yeah...Mrs. Communale said that the Pilgrim dude needed to build this boat to drive far away in so that he can read his Bible without being bothered by the guys in England...the Bible belonged to King James. Anyway, he sailed to America and met an Indian. The Indian thought his boat was really cool- especially the steering wheel! They became good friends and had a big party one day; the Indian brought over a turkey and taught the Pilgrim how to grow corn. Later that night, it started to get real cold, so the Pilgrim built a house for himself and King James...'cause he was coming over too because he wanted his Bible back. He put up an American flag on top of the house and went to bed because he was stuffed."

"That's one fine story there, son...did King James ever get his Bible back?"

"I don't know, Dad...when's our dinner coming? I'm starving!"

Happy Thanksgiving everyone...from the Eubank family, the Pilgrim dude, the Indian, and King James- who's still out looking for his Bible.

St. Matthew's Mom Prom

While Sarah and I stayed home this evening to watch "the game"...Josh embarked on his first school dance...albeit with his mom as his date.

He was pretty excited this morning knowing that he had a big date this evening. He actually asked me about 1/2 hour before he left if he had to kiss his mom at the dance- you know, since it was an actual date. I told him that his mommy would probably love a kiss from him, but he chirped up that kisssing is boring- I'll be sure to remind him of this comment when he's in high school!

Oh yeah , one more thing...OSU 42 / U of M 39...'nuff said!

Less than 48 hours...

My father bought the coat for the little guy...it obviously pained him to wear it to school today (it was college football dress-up day at St. Matthews), but being a good sport, I convinced Josh to don the jacket so as to appease his die-hard Wolverine rooting grandpa...

However, I made sure that Josh wore his OSU jersey as well, which obviously brought back that great smile of his.

You want what for Christmas?

This morning's conversation went something like this...

"Guess what, dad...my teacher has a way cooler I-Pod than you do!"

"Oh, really...(thinking that she may have the new 80 GB version that holds up to 20,000 songs/photos, and up to 100 hours of video- which is on my Christmas list, by the way!)

"I can't 'member what it's called...but it's got these big plastic round things that spin around on top of it and it plays music! So cool! That's what I want from Santa!"

Funny how certain things from your childhood stay with you forever, but I definitely remember playing with the 45's on a record player for hours upon hours- all the singles from the Beatles, Elvis, and one tune in particular that my dad had given me...The Battle of the Green Berets (which I still have as to this day!) I also remember thinking how awesome it was when my folks brought home a new player that you could stack the records and watch them drop into place while the mechanical needle slowly moved towards the first track on the album. High tech stuff!

...And I was afraid that Josh was going to wish for the new Play Station III; although, trying to find a 45 turntable/ records for the little guy may be just as challenging!

Anybody out there have one that they'd like to sell?

I Hope God is an OSU fan!

I simply can't wait until Saturday's game. Of all the football games that I've watched over the past 10 years, I truly cannot remember one that I have looked forward more to than the one coming up this weekend.

With Troy Smith at the helm and his plethora of offensive weapons in Antonio Pittman, Ted Ginn, and "Gonzo"...barring careless turnovers, they simply cannot lose.

I'm so confident in a win, that I'll make this promise to my somewhat dillusional family members who for some unforeseen reason root for the Wolverines...if the Buckeyes don't persevere with an impressive win on Saturday, I'll wear Michigan blue and gold at our Thanksgiving Day dinner...not gonna happen, though.

Here's "the" fight-song played by what Coach Tressel touts as "the best damn band in the land"

Student of the Month

So I asked Josh...

"How'd you end up getting the student of the month award?'

He answered quite simply , "It's no big deal, dad...all you have to do is know when to be quiet.. and smile alot."

You know, life would be so much easier/ pleasant if we all took Josh's advice.

A Close Call...

A 17-10 win over lowly Illinois was a bit too close for my liking, but (like Michigan's unimpressive win against Ball State) I'm guessing that the Buckeye's have their eyes set on "the game" in two weeks. Let's just get past Northwestern next week, and then let the rivalry resume...I can't wait, and with Ms. Sarah as my golden Buckeye luck charm...another national championship appears to be the destiny for my Buckeyes!

The little guy passed his karate test Saturday morning. (I would have pics here, but the batteries in the camera died...UGH!) Anway, Josh did great, and he is now the proud owner of a 2nd degree orange belt. He'll resume lessons next week, and the game plan is for him to test for his yellow belt around Christmas time. Not to brag, but he is doing extremely well with his lessons, and he really seems to enjoy the martial arts.

To celebrate, I took Josh to go see the Santa Clause 3 movie on Saturday night. It was cute, but not nearly as good as the first two Tim Allen films. Outside of his performance in Father of the Bride, I've never been a big fan of Martin Short...who plays Jack Frost in this holiday film.

Today, I raked, mowed, and raked some more. Now I don't want to sound like an old grouchy neighbor, but it would seem to have been the Christian thing for my neighbor to have been out to rake as well...so that all her leaves don't end up in my yard!!!

And of course, what would be another glorious Ohio weekend without yet another pitiful Browns loss. 5 field goals? I'm wondering if Charlie Frye's days as the QB may be numbered...bring back Brian Sipe- I loved that guy!

And the tree was happy...

It can be truly fascinating to experience how children interpret stories. The other night, I read Josh The Giving Tree, by Shel Silverstein. This children's classic has always been a favorite of mine, and I so enjoyed reading this to Marie years ago, and was looking forward to the day when I could share it with Josh. However, his reaction to the relationship between the young boy and the tree took me off guard a bit. Honestly, we were sitting on the sofa the other night reading the story, and he almost began to cry when the tree, as a last gift to her young friend, allowed him to chop down her trunk for a boat- to sail far, far away. Josh's contention was that this didn't appear to be a sign of love on the part of the tree, but instead a violent selfish act on the part of the boy for wanting the tree to be chopped down.

Last night, hoping to rekindle a discussion about the story, Josh was adamant about never wanting to read that book again...it was too sad, he said!

Thinking that it may be best to let this settle for a few days, I'm hoping that Josh will eventually understand that the true message of the story is one of unquestionable, undeniable, and unconditional love for a young boy...which is exactly what we can expect to receive from our God. It's so easy to keep taking and taking things from this life, but invariably, God always has another precious gift waiting for us - even if it's as simple as an old tree stump in a park to sit upon and read some books with your kids.