Ahhhhhh...the sound of quiet

Good evening, I have been given the gift of quiet. All 4 ladies are upstairs taking baths/showers and I have been left downstairs with the laptop, a hot cup of cocoa and 5 minutes of relative peace (although I am stuck watching The Sound of Music). This may be the first 5 minutes of peace I have had in the past 2 weeks and the last I will have the next 2 weeks.

The past 2 weeks...I won't say I survived Hanukkah/Christmas, but I made it through relatively unscathed. I tried teaching the girls some Yiddish so they could say the Hanukkah prayers with me....that didn't go so well, so I just let them say the English part and I handled the Yiddish part. The one night we tried both...a 30 second prayer took 5 minutes. Although, I have to admit, it was pretty funny listening to my 4 year old try to say "Baruch Ata Adonai".

Soon after Hanukkah, it was on to Christmas and a boatload of activities. I have to thank some friends who helped keep me sane by inviting me for drinks a couple of times over the past weeks. It has been a whirlwind of activity between family, friends, church, parties. etc. The girls sang 3 times over the past 2 weeks at church. And I am not ashamed to admit that I teared up watching my daughters beaming while singing in the church choir. There is nothing better than watching your kids doing something they love...and doing it well. I am looking forward to the few months as they keep getting better and start soloing.

Christmas was a blast. And when I say blast I am referring to the noise. There were some screams on Christmas morning when the girls realized that they got Ipods (Yes even Aly got an Ipod...you don't want to hear THAT screaming) and when Emily realized she got the telescope she has been dreaming about. What I didn't realize was that the telescope comes in disassembled...in about 12 boxes and 150 pieces. I should have it assembled by next Christmas!!!!

You should have seen the mayhem at my in-laws house with my 3 girls, my 2 year old niece, and all the brother and sister in laws...wrapping paper flying, boxes been thrown, the girls got so many gifts that we are still trying to figure out who gave them what. If you got Aly a Tinkerbell doll...Thank you very much. We have no idea who you are, but she loves it :-)

I spent the day taking down ALL of the Christmas decorations, Usually we wait until New Years, but as I have mentioned before, we will be jumping on an airplane on New Years night and flying to Denver. The girls all got heavy coats, gloves, scarves and hats for Christmas in anticipation of the trip. Tonight it was 7 degrees in Denver...this trip should be veryyyyyy interesting. But we are all looking forward to meeting relatives from my side of the family that we have never met. I am going to see my uncle for the first time in 38 years and finally meet my aunt and some of my first cousins. I'm wondering if I will be teary-eyed or just smiling ear-to-ear. I will keep you posted.

Well, I no longer hear the showers running, so that must mean my 5 minutes are up. I want to thank the 2 or 3 of you that read these ramblings and also thank all of you that have been part of my life these past months/years. I wont post names, but you know who you are....I could never survive these years as a DODO without the support of my friends and my family. Being a DODO is an amazing blessing...an unbelievably challenging one, but I very lucky to have several friends that know EXACTLY what I am going through. Thanks for the chats, the card games, the beers, and just being there when I needed a testosterone boost.

On to a New Year as a DODO...I hope this message finds all of you happy and healthy. I am looking forward to sharing more of my musings with you. As always, pray for this DODO...I will need all the help I can get.

Peace
Mike

WOW...2 posts in a week

Can you tell things have quieted down in the Gross household...I actually have time to type up 2 posts in 1 month. Will wonders never cease.

Anyway, we are just wrapping up the 3rd night of Christmanukkah, the girls finally opened their Hanukkah gifts ( we were busy the first 2 nights) and of course they loved them. Aly got her first ever softball bat (Daddy had tears in his eyes), Emily got the boom box she has been bugging us about and Sarah got clothes. You know your daughter has graduated into "tween" years when she looks at the label to make sure we didn't buy the clothes at Wal-Mart or Target. I guess the clothes budget just got a little bit more expensive. Oh well...only 18 years or so to go.

We have actually had some nights free recently as the girls are only doing choir right now. Don't get me wrong, we are still pounding softballs into the net in the garage....just not every night. Softball is only 6 weeks away, the girls need to be ready, holiday or no holiday (OK...a little too extreme there, but you get my point).

I have a question for all you parents of young children. Once they stop believing in the jolly guy in the red suit, how do you make them behave in December? If you can't use the "Santa wont bring you anything" threat...what else you got? :-)

I realized recently that I talk a heck of a lot about the girls but not much about me and Lisa. THAT'S BECAUSE WE GOT NOTHING ELSE GOING ON. Seriously, I am very excited about my Aztecs, they put a serious whoopin on the Mildcats of Arizona last night....what a great night. I have also started to do some mountain biking again. If I don't have a heart attack from trying to follow Eric on the trails of Otay Lake, I'll be in shape by 2014.

We are looking forward to getting together with friends in the next couple of weeks and sharing some alcohol, some stories, and some good times. We hope to see all of you in the next few weeks.

Enjoy your holidays and your families during the next few weeks. Take care of yourself and as always Peace to you and yours.

This DODO is done for the night.

Mike

Has it been 2 months???

I am an abject failure when it comes to this blogging thing. I know how anxious all of you are to hear about my trials and tribulations of being a DODO....OK, I know most of you just laugh at me when I post these ramblings and don't really care one way or another. But for the 1 or 2 that are interested, here is the latest episode of "What has happened to my life".

Lets see....what has happened in the last 2 months. Lets start with Sarah...she just finished her fall season at Chula Vista ASA. She played in an 12 and under division (She is still 8 in softball years) and did really, really well. She ended up batting .400 for the season and only struck out twice all season. And she was facing 10 , 11 and 12 year olds. She made some great friends and just loved playing for Coach Scott. Scott's daughter Dayne kinda took Sarah under her wing...it was really cute. She also recently finished her first season in lacrosse. The coach told me Sarah has a future in lacrosse (what the heck is a future in lacrosse?)...so who knows where that'll go. Currently, she is just doing choir....and lots of batting practice in the garage. Softball is just 8 weeks away.

Emily just finished her AYSO season and is still doing some camps to get ready for spring tryouts for club teams. Soccer looks like fits her best so we'll let her tryout and see where it goes. We had a great team this season. All the girls were terrific young ladies and we had an amazing group of parents. Sometimes you get a group that makes you forget about the toils of caoching and this was the group. Emily had some really great games and as befitting a 7 year old...some not so good ones. But all in all she really improved this season. She is going to play softball again (she's my daughter, does she have a choice?) but soccer may be her future. She is also doing choir and is just loving singing.

Aly is well Aly. She is doing a Lil Kickers soccer league and attending preschool. She is becoming more and more outgoing everyday. She loves to sing, dance, and create havoc among the house. She has an amzing way of making everyone do exactly what she wants...Lisa and I are in for some interesting times with this little girl. I bet most of you that know Aly think "Come on...she is the sweetest little girl, how could she cause any problems". If you only knew!!!!!!!!

As I'm sure is it is more all of you, these next few weeks will be just craziness. Since we celebrate Christmanukah, we have twice as much stuff to prepare for. The girls are very excited about our upcoming trip to Denver. We are going to see some relatives that we have never met and the whole family is just thrilled that we will be able to meet them. The girls have a 16 year old cousin named Riki that they are dying to meet. We have the usual Christmas pageants to attend, a bunch of parties etc etc etc. So you'll pardon me if I dont get a whole lot written on this in the next few weeks. I am also very busy with Bonita Valley Girls softball since I am on the Board...so even though YOU'D THINK things would be quieting down...they're not. And probably never will.

For all my friends and family that take a moment to read my ramblings and musings, thank you for taking the time to share a piece of my life. I hope all of you know how important you are to me, Lisa and the kids. For those of you I will see this holiday season, I owe all of you a hug, for those of you I wont see, know that you are in my thought sand I wish all of you the most wonderful holiday season and I look forward to speaking with you in the future.

As always, peace to you and yours...and until next time. Pray for me....for this DODO is done for the night. :-)

Mike

I'm lagging

As you can see by my lack of posting, things have been quite busy the past few weeks. Let's get everyone up to speed on the the life of a DODO.

Man, where to start...let start with the youngest daughter this time. Aly has been quite the character lately. She has started a Lil Kickers soccer class. Its basically a bunch of 3 and 4 year olds playing games and learning some basic soccer skills. Of course, every Saturday morning its a battle to get her uniform on and get her to the field. And of course, as soon as she gets there she has a blast. And that is pretty much the story of everything she is doing. "I don't want to go to school" in the AM...."I love School" in the PM. Oh, did I mention the 1:00am night terrors? Yep, our darling girl has been waking up screaming the past few weeks. Not every night, but frequently enough to cause my wife and to have had precious little sleep the past few weeks. Of course Aly falls back to sleep in about 15 minutes...I, on the other hand stay awake til about 5:10...right about when the alarm goes off.

Emily has been involved in soccer...a LOT of soccer. She plays AYSO and has been attending a club soccer teams developmental academy. So basically she has 3 practices a week and a game every Saturday. Of course, I am the chauffeur to all these practices/games. But she is really enjoying it and doing very well. She has scored 3 goals in the last 2 games and has impressed some of the club teams coaches. She still has to try out for the club in February, but she has a pretty good shot.

Oh yeah, I have another daughter....Sarah just finished her summer softball season with a 5 hour marathon semi-final and championship game. But it was all worth it when her team took home the Championship trophy. Sarah did really well, with 5 hits on the day and 7 RBI's. But she was one tired 9 year old. I thought she was going to take the fall off...but a friend of ours is coaching a 12U team and asked Sarah if she wanted to play on his team. I don't know exactly what Scott said, but after a 5 minute conversation...she was signed up and is now playing in the fall. She also started her lacrosse clinic on Sundays. Oh yeah, she and Emily are singing in their church choir...their first performance is tomorrow the 20th.

Sooooooo...the schedule for the foreseeable future is..

Monday - Softball/Soccer practice....Then Choir practice
Tuesday - Nada (Wooo Freakin Hoooo)
Wednesday - Soccer
Thursday - Nada (Heavy Drinking is probably going to be listed here soon)\
Friday - Soccer
Saturday - Soccer, Soccer, Softball
Sunday - Church, Lacrosse

So please understand why this blog tends to stagnate every so often. Maybe I will start posting a couple of lines more often than these long rambling sagas.

Oh by the way....thanks to everyone that emailed, called, IM'd, Facebooked, etc to wish me a happy birthday. The sentiments and thoughts were very much appreciated by this old, old, OLD man (and getting older by the day).

As always, Peace.
Mike

UNBELIEVABLE!!!!

You are not going to believe this...I mean this is such a shocking ocurrence it boggles the mind. I am almost afraid to say anything as I am scared I might jinx it. I hope all of your eyes can handle this shocking, once in a lifetime news...


THE GIRLS HAVE NOTHING TO DO TONIGHT!!!!!! No practice, no games, no dance, no choir, no nothing. I am having a hard time remembering the last weeknight that this happened.

I get to go watch my former softball team play and maybe, just maybe, have a cold drink with the fellas afterward.

Please don't share this with anyone, I'm afraid of the phone ringing and the voice telling me that I am late for something that I didn't have on my calendar...SHHHHHHH :-)

On to tomorrow.

As always...Peace.

You just gotta love them...Right??

Another weekend...another trip down Drama Lane. Lets see, it started off on Saturday morning with Emily melting down about going to her soccer academy. This child is the most confusing, unable to decide, emotional child you can imagine. I am going to chalk up this weekends episode to her asthma acting up and her not feeling well. But instead of her telling us...she decided to pull the covers over her head and be hysterical. She has promised us that she will be ready to return to her club teams practices this week...we shall see!!

Next on the agenda was a softball game. What do you do when you have 12 9 and 10 year olds who instead of having fun, look like they are going to the dentist. I tried every trick in my bag to get these girls fired up. Maybe the loss to a team we shouldn't have lost too will wake them up. Somewhere along the line, they stopped having fun, maybe its the heat, maybe its a little burnout. I think massive amounts of sugar are on the agenda for next Saturday morning.

Next was a trip to a sporting goods store to get my oldest outfitted for her first lacrosse clinic/class. I think we did pretty good to get out of there for about $100. We got a stick (is that what they call those things), mouthguard, gloves, chest/shoulder pads, and a helmet. Normally girls lacrosse doesn't require a helmet, but Sarah had never done this and we don't want the ball to ricochet off her melon the first day out there. Speaking of melons, you should see the helmet on this child's head....soooooo freakin cute. Someday, she'll let us get a picture...she is a bit self-conscious about it. She thinks it makes her head look big.

And then the fun began. Lisa ,my fantastic, adoring, beautiful wife...(she might read this :-)), left with Emily to go to the store. The 3 year old (Aly) was asleep. About 20 minutes after Lisa left, Aly woke up looking for Mommy. Aly proceeded to spend the next hour and a half crying, sobbing, screaming, kicking (add your own adverb), and calling for MOMMY. She would not let me hold her, she just cried...and cried...and cried. It was all I could do not to lock myself in the bathroom.

Today...much better. I had 2 Fantasy Football drafts to attend. I got a needed shot of testosterone to get me through the next week of soccer practice, softball practice, and whatever else these 3 ladies throw at me.

As always, pray for me and wish me luck.

Til next time...Peace!

Help me here

Its been a few days...time to catch up on the life of a DODO. Well, as you should know by now, this is no longer my life, I am just living each day to shuttle a daughter from one activity to another. To get caught up, one daughter is playing softball until mid-september, then is starting lacrosse....lacrosse??? What the heck is that. Now I have to learn another new sport. Isn't it enough that I have spent that last 4 years learning how to throw underhand, learning what the heck a "Circle Violation" is, and trying to balance the fragile emotions of 13 8 year old with my complete and utter desire to win a championship no matter who I have to stomp on along the way (okay, that last part isn't really true, but you get the idea).

The middle daughter has been doing the yo-yo thing with joining a club soccer team. First its "I want to play", then its, "I just wanted to see what it looked like", then its "I want to play", then its "practice is hard"...OH MY FREAKING GOD,,,this child is 7...what is she going to be like in 5 years.

And the baby, who really isn't a baby anymore, started preschool and will be playing in her first soccer league in a month.

Oh, by the way, all of the fall activities...start on the same day. Soooooo...don't be surprised if you get a phone call asking you to pick up a child somewhere, and drop her off somewhere.

Ok DODO's, here is where you can chime in...how often do you hear "Oh Bless you" when you tell people you meet that you have 2, 3, 4, or whatever daughters. What do they know thay I haven't figured out yet?

Thank god for Fantasy Football.

The week...

Soccer season starts tomorrow....and guess who is the coach of Emily's team? So, once again, my weeks are no longer my own. Between Sarah's summer softball team, Aly's dance class and now Emily's soccer ....things will be a bit interesting. As of today (things are subject to change) here is what a DODO's schedule looks like...

Monday - Pick up Sarah and Emily - Take Emily to, and run Soccer Practice
Tuesday - Pick up Sarah, Emily and Aly, take Aly to Dance Class...practice softball with Sarah and Emily while waiting
Wednesday - Pick up Sarah and Emily - Take Emily to, and run Soccer Practice
Thursday - Pick up Sarah, Emily and Aly, take Sarah to softball practice...help with practice (I am the asst coach for this team). Leave practice early and run across Chula Vista for a softball Board Meeting (Did I forget to mention I am on the board at Bonita Valley Softball?)
Friday - Pick up Sarah and Emily - Take Emily to Soccer Academy
Saturday - Emily Soccer game at 9...Sarah softball game at 12.

Sunday...collapse into a big pile of exhaustion (by exhaustion, I mean laundry). Just another week in the life of a DODO.

And a good Sunday Morning to you too...

Well....the wife isn't feeling well, so its up to me to figure out breakfast. Luckily Pan de sal is the meal of choice for my girls. Now I know its not the best breakfast, but its easy, relatively healthy, and it connects them to their filipino heritage :-)

One thing with girls, they love waiting to the last minute to tell you they have a project due TOMORROW. I guess this is the time to introduce you to the women of the house. Lisa, my wife of almost 15 years keeps things running here at home...I just try not to mess things up for her. Sarah is my 9 year old. She is the emotional one and softball player in the house. Emily is 7 and loves soccer and forgetting things until the last minute (guess whose project we'll be working on today) and Aly...my darling, precocious 3 year old. She'll be testing my patience for years to come.

On to the project, we need to put in a brown paper bag, the last 7 years of Emily's life. In a lunch bag, tell us about your daughter. Hmmmm...how do you put, "won't sleep in her own bed", "loves to argue", "pouts when she only gets to spend $5 for the .25 piece of junk at the arcade, instead of $10" into a lunch bag. I always knew Emily would be my special challenge. She is the sweetest 7 year old you could meet, but when she gets something in her head...it never goes away. If you ever get her as your attorney or veterinarian ( a couple of the vocations she had mentioned), you are in luck.

Well, its on to the day, some shopping, some swimming, some yardwork, maybe some bike riding. Its kinda nice to have a Sunday without softball, soccer, dance, or any other of the 10000 activities the girls are in.

Welcome to the DODO's...Dads of Daughters only

When your wife/girlfriend/other was pregnant, did you dream of teaching your son to throw a baseball, teach him how to tackle a wide receiver coming across the middle, or how to spit a watermelon seed 30 feet? Are you now facing up to the reality that your life is now filled with dance recitals, softball games, choir practices, and barbies. And are you like me...blessed 3 TIMES with wonderful, beautiful girls, who I wouldn't trade for any boy in the world.

Then this Blog is for you. I will be posting stories, events, information, about what it is like to the father of all girls. Please join in the conversation and lets share examples of what it means to be a DODO!!!