Hallelujah!

The stars have aligned in our little universe today.  I took Eli to the Dr. for his check up and he is in the 90th percentile for weight AND height.  Can I get an AMEN!  I know it is early on......he is only 6 months but still, the possibilities are giving Travis visions of all the good genes in our families coming together to create a bright athletic future.  We have equal parts tall and short in our families and so far we have produced two pixies and one average sized child.  Maybe you are reading this and not getting why size matters so much.  The fact is that we spend an awful lot of time refining our children into pure specimens of athleticism.  While training and practice are very important, size and power brings that extra element needed to be a true competitor.  So you can't blame us for being just a little bit excited when one of our children comes anywhere near the far edge of the growth chart.  Every night the kids either have practice of some sort or if not, they know that they will be having a training session in the backyard with Dad.  

A typical basketball session involves:

Dribbling drills (crossovers, speed dribbling, figure eights, and wraparounds)

Lay-ups (10 each side for Emma, 25 for Jordan), shooting

Defense drills (keep away dribble, v-cuts)

And they always end with a friendly game of PIG

A typical baseball session involves:

2 buckets of ground balls

2 buckets of fly balls

2 buckets of hitting

Soccer:

foot skills/dribbling

one on one

shooting

On off nights they do speed/endurance training:

10 timed laps around the house or,

if they are lucky, a 2-3 mile run with mom around the neighborhood ( I say lucky because this mom is slower than a turd right now and they have no problem keeping up)

This may seem over the top but it really comes down to 45 minutes to an hour of quality time spent with mom or dad.  I think my kids are pretty lucky to have a dad who cares enough to take the time to work with them and build their confidence so that when they hit the field, they are in tip top shape and not whining about being tired.  For all the teasing I do about Trav's obsession with sports, I do appreciate that he puts so much energy into helping our kids reach their full potentials.  As for me, I used to enjoy my runs alone with my iPod but now I really like having that time to spend with Jordan or Emma.  They tend to open up a lot more when we are away from the hectic life with all four kids and off on our own.  They also love running past all their friends' houses with a little wave and burst of speed as they go by.  Only time will tell if they fizzle out as athletes in high school or if this training pays off with future world records and scholarship offers.  We are just hoping that Jordan follows in the footsteps of his uncles and is a late bloomer, that Emma gains a little more confidence in her abilities, that Halle can overcome her gimpiness, and that little Eli continues his above average growth patterns.  Because in the end, it is all about who has the most trophies. 

 Around here we consider "second place" is really just a nice way of saying "first loser".  Only kidding. ( Maybe.)