This is the first World Cup that I am able to share with both of my boys and Alli. We have been pretty excited to see the USA team play. As a coach and fan there is not much better than the World Cup. As an American I love to see the patriotism by all Americans for this team. I can still remember the 1990 World Cup with a bunch of college players and no one really knew about it in this country! It is so great to see how times have changed!
This video is a Team Hogan tribute to Team USA.:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2_nR4To2Lw&list=HL1403013538&index=2
ENJOY and GO USA!!!!
C and D
Tuesday, June 17, 2014
Monday, May 19, 2014
Disorganized Sports
This spring we decided to sign up Declan for T-Ball. Declan is very obsessive when he gets into something and recently it was baseball. We would play catch every night so we thought T-Ball might be fun for him.
Alli and I have coached youth soccer for years so we have had plenty of experience with youth sports but this was our first encounter with youth sports as Parents!!! I did volunteer to be a coach because they were asking for volunteers but we received an email from our coach. She was a competitive softball player her whole life and is an elementary school teacher which made both Alli and I very happy because we knew it would be organized...or so we thought.
Let me first say that I LOVE BASEBALL. I grew up watching the NY Yankees and it was passed down from my mother's side of the family. I have very vivid memories of playing wiffle ball in the backyard with my Pop & of reading the newspaper every morning and going over the Yankee box score. I can still recall going to my grandparents house and there always being a game on TV.
Fast forward to Declan's first T-Ball practice. 10 kids of varying abilities throwing baseballs everywhere, half the kids playing in the dirt, with no real structure. As I am watching this I realize that baseball is the most boring game for kids to play! One person at bat and every other player in the field waiting for the ball. Our coach had no plan we just played with no direction. After a few minutes of witnessing this disaster I just grabbed a few baseballs and walked onto the field. I started throwing balls to all the kids while we waited for the hitter to change his helmet to give to the next kid. I just wanted to keep them engaged and give them a few reps. I thought she might get mad but she was actually thankful. By no means am I Joe Torre but I just wanted the kids to have fun and actually practice.
My first thoughts on Youth baseball:
1. I have spent a lot of time with Declan playing catch but never thought to teach him about where to run to after you hit the ball off the tee. It was pretty clear that no other parent had either because every time a kid hit the ball off the tee the batter would run straight to the ball... PARENT FAIL!
Lesson: Don't assume kids know anything.
2. There has to be structure at practices/games. If you leave little boys bored they will find something to keep busy. In baseball that involves dirt!
Lesson: Prepare to have dirty kids with red clay all over them if practices/games are boring.
3. We have played three games so far and the best coaches were two women. They drew circles in the dirt at the positions they wanted their kids to play and then assigned the kids to these circles. They switched the kids after the first inning. (BRILLIANT IDEA)
Lesson: Steal good ideas when you see them (We had circles next game)
4. Women coaches should never wear Spaghetti strapped loose fitting tank tops when coaching youth baseball.
Lesson: Sports bras were made for a reason.
Some pictures of Decky's baseball adventure:
1. Practicing in backyard
2. First Glove
3. Heading to 1st practice
4. New baseball pants & cleats
GAMEDAY!!!
Alli and I have coached youth soccer for years so we have had plenty of experience with youth sports but this was our first encounter with youth sports as Parents!!! I did volunteer to be a coach because they were asking for volunteers but we received an email from our coach. She was a competitive softball player her whole life and is an elementary school teacher which made both Alli and I very happy because we knew it would be organized...or so we thought.
Let me first say that I LOVE BASEBALL. I grew up watching the NY Yankees and it was passed down from my mother's side of the family. I have very vivid memories of playing wiffle ball in the backyard with my Pop & of reading the newspaper every morning and going over the Yankee box score. I can still recall going to my grandparents house and there always being a game on TV.
Fast forward to Declan's first T-Ball practice. 10 kids of varying abilities throwing baseballs everywhere, half the kids playing in the dirt, with no real structure. As I am watching this I realize that baseball is the most boring game for kids to play! One person at bat and every other player in the field waiting for the ball. Our coach had no plan we just played with no direction. After a few minutes of witnessing this disaster I just grabbed a few baseballs and walked onto the field. I started throwing balls to all the kids while we waited for the hitter to change his helmet to give to the next kid. I just wanted to keep them engaged and give them a few reps. I thought she might get mad but she was actually thankful. By no means am I Joe Torre but I just wanted the kids to have fun and actually practice.
My first thoughts on Youth baseball:
1. I have spent a lot of time with Declan playing catch but never thought to teach him about where to run to after you hit the ball off the tee. It was pretty clear that no other parent had either because every time a kid hit the ball off the tee the batter would run straight to the ball... PARENT FAIL!
Lesson: Don't assume kids know anything.
2. There has to be structure at practices/games. If you leave little boys bored they will find something to keep busy. In baseball that involves dirt!
Lesson: Prepare to have dirty kids with red clay all over them if practices/games are boring.
3. We have played three games so far and the best coaches were two women. They drew circles in the dirt at the positions they wanted their kids to play and then assigned the kids to these circles. They switched the kids after the first inning. (BRILLIANT IDEA)
Lesson: Steal good ideas when you see them (We had circles next game)
4. Women coaches should never wear Spaghetti strapped loose fitting tank tops when coaching youth baseball.
Lesson: Sports bras were made for a reason.
Some pictures of Decky's baseball adventure:
1. Practicing in backyard
4. New baseball pants & cleats
Little game at the Chastain's house!
Sunday, May 4, 2014
Cousins trip to the Columbia Zoo!
The beautiful thing about technology is that we can FaceTime with my sisters boys almost every day. Decky and Carrig love to see Matthew & TJ and they will FaceTime to show them a new toy, to sing Happy Birthday, to show them a cut, pretty much anything.
Needless to say that when the Cousins all get together it is on! All four boys running around causing all sorts of trouble. They get early onset selective hearing. To get them to listen around each is like pulling teeth.
A few weeks back all the boys came to my game at Univ. of South Carolina. We planned on going to the Columbia, SC Zoo the next day. Here are a few pictures:
Needless to say that when the Cousins all get together it is on! All four boys running around causing all sorts of trouble. They get early onset selective hearing. To get them to listen around each is like pulling teeth.
A few weeks back all the boys came to my game at Univ. of South Carolina. We planned on going to the Columbia, SC Zoo the next day. Here are a few pictures:
When they checked into the Hotel
At the game. (think TJ took Coach Ghehm's Chapstick)
All four boys on one turtle!
Aunt Nancy with TJ & Decky!
Alli with Matt
Uncle Scott, the boys, and myself!
After a long, hot day of playing with their Cousins this is what the car ride home looked like!
Monday, April 21, 2014
THE HAIRCUT..
Carrig James Hogan was born with some beautiful locks of hair. He has this style and personality that just embodied the long hair...but two years without a real haircut was driving me crazy.
Like his brother before him Carrig's eyes started to cross around two years of age. Alli actually believed that maybe the long hair that was in his eyes all the time was the cause. I started to sense Alli letting her guard down about his hair and I jumped at my chance. Our conversation:
Paul - "Yeah Alli I think the hair maybe causing his eyes to cross. How about a haircut?"
Alli - "You think so? I love his hair and don't want to cut it"
Paul - "I love his hair too but what if his hair is the root of the eye problem? (holding in a laugh)"
Alli - "Ok,well then I will take him to get a cut boy's haircut"
Paul - "Good idea, you are a great Mom".
So, Carrig went for his first real cut and came back with an awful little girls haircut. I saw my chance and got my hair clippers all warmed up!!! After a few hours she relented and I was able to give him a BUZZ.
This is Carrig before and after his first real haircut:
This is the barber fixing this cut:
Like his brother before him Carrig's eyes started to cross around two years of age. Alli actually believed that maybe the long hair that was in his eyes all the time was the cause. I started to sense Alli letting her guard down about his hair and I jumped at my chance. Our conversation:
Paul - "Yeah Alli I think the hair maybe causing his eyes to cross. How about a haircut?"
Alli - "You think so? I love his hair and don't want to cut it"
Paul - "I love his hair too but what if his hair is the root of the eye problem? (holding in a laugh)"
Alli - "Ok,well then I will take him to get a cut boy's haircut"
Paul - "Good idea, you are a great Mom".
So, Carrig went for his first real cut and came back with an awful little girls haircut. I saw my chance and got my hair clippers all warmed up!!! After a few hours she relented and I was able to give him a BUZZ.
This is Carrig before and after his first real haircut:
This is the barber fixing this cut:
Declan & Carrig Age 2 with same haircuts
The Hogan Men!
The Hogan Men are taking over this blog!
It seems that caring for two wild and crazy boys & one rather large immature husband has taken a toll on my wife. I have waited patiently for a new blog post but NADA.
SO....the boys and I have hijacked this blog and you will now hear about life at Casa de Hogan from a guy's perspective.
ENJOY.
Wednesday, January 1, 2014
Dear boys...
As 2013 comes to a close and 2014 begins, I have a few things I want to pass on to you........As a stay at home mom, for better or worse, all of my focus is on you :) Sometimes I think about cleaning toilets and showers, cooking meals and taking care of your daddy, but mainly I think about y'all ;) Annndddddd I think a lot so here a few of the lessons I have been rolling around in my brain the past year and I want to pass on to you.......
1) Your attitude and perspective is EVERYTHING.
This has been something that has taken me awhile to really grasp in my heart so I'm hoping I can share the love and y'all will pick it up quicker than I have....
It all came to me one day as I was running very very early in the morning this fall and I saw ^^^. I hate mornings, and I really don't particularly enjoy running, but I did love seeing an absolutely gorgeous sunrise that I never would have taken in if I hadn't been up that early, and running. There is always always ALWAYS good. If you want to see it. You can choose to focus on the bad parts of your life, the parts that are hard, the parts that make you sad etc etc etc OR you can spend your time thinking about all of the good, and actually seeing it. Trust me when I tell you that it will make all of the difference in the world if you do the latter. Thinking negatively will do nothing for you. Absolutely nothing. It won't change a circumstance, it'll just make ya pissy. So look for the good, grasp onto it as tightly as you can and think only of that. No matter what you are going thru, where you are, who you are with, there is ALWAYS beauty, if you want to see it. So look my dear boys....look for it.
2) Salt water heals everything.
Ain't that the truth! Hopefully I will have adequately shown you the healing powers that the ocean has by the time you read this (we do in fact live 10 miles from the beach ;) ), but sweating it out and crying it out are just as effective. One way or another, GET IT OUT.
One Sunday, Decky, you weren't feeling very well but the weather was awesome, so I made the executive decision to skip church and hit the beach! This is one example of about 100 where I swear, salt water has healed you. A few good hours playing in the water, breathing in the awesome fresh salty air, connecting with nature..........it always helps.
There's just something about the smell once you start getting close, that salt water smell, that brings peace to (my) your heart and no matter what you have going on, you take a deep breath, relax and everything doesn't seem as overwhelming as maybe it was before you came. Its SIMPLE. And simple can be good.
So whenever you find yourself in a tough spot and you don't know what to do........its ok to have a good cry. Get it out. If you need to go for a run, get on it boys. Sweat it out. If you live near the water, take a ride and spend some good quality time breathing in the salty air, enjoying the magnificence that is the ocean and thinking about all the good in your life. When you leave, I PROMISE PROMISE PROMISE, you will feel better.
Both of you are at home when we go to the water......I hope you never ever ever lose that and if you do, that's what this message is for. Go back. It'll make your heart go.
Love you two so much......you are both turning into the coolest little boys and daddy and I are so proud of you. Stay cool, stay positive and know that mommy will never stop being all up in your business like this ;) <3 br="">
1) Your attitude and perspective is EVERYTHING.
There's just something about the smell once you start getting close, that salt water smell, that brings peace to (my) your heart and no matter what you have going on, you take a deep breath, relax and everything doesn't seem as overwhelming as maybe it was before you came. Its SIMPLE. And simple can be good.
Both of you are at home when we go to the water......I hope you never ever ever lose that and if you do, that's what this message is for. Go back. It'll make your heart go.
Love you two so much......you are both turning into the coolest little boys and daddy and I are so proud of you. Stay cool, stay positive and know that mommy will never stop being all up in your business like this ;) <3 br="">
Saturday, December 21, 2013
Someone
Stop time. I need to bottle up my little boys' laughter when they run and chase each other like crazed animals after dinner and then jump on each other and wrestle. I need these moments forever captured for me because I can already feel myself missing these days..........
These days and these moments and that laughter.....it's just absolutely too precious (as in extremely important and close to my heart) to forget. I want this to last forever......
Someone. Help :)
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
These days and these moments and that laughter.....it's just absolutely too precious (as in extremely important and close to my heart) to forget. I want this to last forever......
Someone. Help :)
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
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