Family stories

 So, I had a request to write more family stories, some of these will be funny, and some may not be so funny.

When the kids were still living with me I took them to all sports events. At the time it was just Jenny that was playing sports. She was playing softball and basketball initially and then did other sports later. When Jenny started playing basketball I was asked if I could be a game scorekeeper. I told them that I would be glad too and I was told that I had to sit at the scorekeeper's table which was on the other side of the gym from the stands. When you're the scorekeeper there are a lot of things that you have to watch out for, each point made, each foul and by whom, the free throws etc. With that being said, I had to have the boys sit in the bleachers, I put them on the front row and told them they needed to behave themselves. There are a lot of younger kids at the games and they are running around and at times causing issues. The boys knew how I felt about that and they were really good at staying where I told them to sit. I will never forget the time that I was sitting there comparing the scorebook with the other scorekeeper when a lady came up to the table. She asked me if those were my boys on the front row of the bleachers. I knew that they weren't running around or anything silly, so proudly(without looking at them)I said "Yes ma'am they are". She said, "Well I just wanted to let you know...uh...they are kissing each other". I whipped my head around so I could see them and there they were giving each other pecks on the lips. I was mortified! In a millisecond I let out a whistle that echoed in that gym and they looked at me immediately. I just looked at them with a look that hurt and they turned away from each other and sat straight ahead for the rest of the game. In hindsight, it is pretty funny, but at the time not so much. 

Being a blended family with 5 kids and not much money we tried to make our buck stretch when we could especially when we would go out to eat. The buffets were usually our best bet. Angie told me that she and her kids really liked going to Shoney's, their breakfast buffet was a big hit with us. We went over to Hardeeville as they had one of the last Shoney's in the area. I didn't know it at the time but Joey had a migraine and he wasn't feeling too hot. I did notice that he wasn't talking as much and being silly as he tended to be. So, we are all pretty much done eating and I think we were waiting for the bill. Next thing I know I hear a somewhat scream, as I look over poor Joey is blowing chunks onto the table. Unfortunately, Jenny got some of it on her arm as well and I am pretty sure she was the one that screamed. Joey jumped up from the table and ran towards the bathroom with Angie right behind him. We got Jenny cleaned up, the bill paid, and we went outside. Angie came out with Joey a few minutes later, that was when she told me that Joey totally messed up that bathroom. Sorry Shoney's.

Angie and I met at the church that we attended, we had seen each other but of course not talked as we were both married. After we got married we still went to the same church. We all sat on the same pew right in the front of the church pretty much every Sunday. One Sunday we came into the sanctuary and someone had placed a sign on our regular pew that said "The Brady Bunch". We had to explain it to the kids but we did get a big kick out of it. 

In the house next door, there was a family with a son who was right around Chris' age, all the kids got along and they all played together. Being an only child the neighbor tended to get more cool stuff than my kids did. They had a zip line, a pool, and cool toys. One year they bought their son a hard plastic ramp that was used for skateboarding and jumping bikes. The kids were all out playing and the next thing I knew someone came flying in the door saying "Dad come quick, Chris' finger is stuck in the ramp". Well, sure enough, I get there and Chris has his index finger stuck in one of the little holes at the high point of the ramp. We tried all of the regular things like ice and oil to get his finger out and it wouldn't budge. So I asked my neighbor if he would mind if I could cut a hole out of the ramp around Chris' finger? He said sure. Well, actually I asked if he minded if I got some blood on his ramp when I cut Chris' finger off. We laughed but Chris did not. I got out my zip saw, that thing spins at 30,000 revolutions per minute and it is a little scary-looking to a kid. Chris was NOT too thrilled with my plan and he was boo-hooin. I just told him to keep his finger straight like he was pointing to the ground and not to move. I cut a small hole around his finger that was about the size of a 50-cent piece. After I finished that and I had more room to work I used a hacksaw blade and cut his finger free. Needless to say, he kept his fingers out of small places after that. 

The kids(except Jenny)liked to have Mexican food, this was good for us as it is usually cheap and you get lots of it. There was a place called Mexico City that we used to go to occasionally, they had chicken fingers for Jenny and stuff that everyone else liked. One day we were there eating and when we got our drinks I noticed that something was floating in my drink. I am not one to make a big deal of things like that, I just want it fixed. So when the server came back I asked them if they could bring me another drink as "I have a floater". The server took my glass away without question. Right after they walked away Kai with a pretty loud voice asks "WHAT'S A FLOATER?" You know that feeling when you feel that a loud place suddenly goes silent and looks at you? That was how we felt. We have laughed about that one many times over the years.