Baby Stuff...

from http://www.dennisandsarahcook.blogspot.com/

Sarah is doing very well in her pregnancy. She is surrounded by stress in the schools, but other than that, she is doing great. We are anticipating the birth of the baby. We are going to rearrange some things over spring break. We have a lot of stuff saved from Alex's clothes, but here are some little things we've bought over the past few weeks:

Policework at its worst...

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=4019107&categoryid=2378529

Bye Bye Billy?

According to Kentucky Sports Radio, we will know Friday if Billy Clyde is still the head men's basketball coach at the University of Kentucky.

Here is their story from this morning:
http://new.kentuckysportsradio.com/?p=16202

I am ready to see him go. There is more to being the UK head coach than just coaching and recruiting. Off the court antics with the press, the visual ridicule of players on national television, the statement that he was not going to be the ambassador of UK...all this comes together to make a case against him.

When you coach at UK, you aren't just the coach of the players on the court, you are the voice of the fans, and the national face of the state. Wins or losses aside, the off the court antics are more detrimental to your career than making the tournament or not.

20 years of RIOT

Over twenty years ago Doug King and 8 teens at Beaver Dam Baptist Church planned out an Ohio County teen crusade. While sitting in the basement of BDBC I wonder if they knew that RIOT would be going strong 20 years later.

I was at BDBC the year riot started. I have been at BDBC every year but two for RIOT during this 20 year span.

Now my cousins who were very little when I was a teen are carrying the RIOT torch.

God has blessed Doug and BDBC with this ministry. Hopefully we will be celebrating 20 more years!

The Big "3-0"

Pictures...

Here are pictures of Alex and Mr. White Water Otter. He was given the class toy to take around this weekend as he was awarded student of the week at his preschool!
http://picasaweb.google.com/dennisccook/AlexWithWhiteWaterOtter?authkey=Gv1sRgCPm1hOjnvPD9XA

Here are pictures of Gracyn's first day at gymnastics. Yes, we started gymnastics tonight in Tell City. We have been on a waiting list for a while, and got the call last week. She had a blast and I had fun watching her do push-ups!
http://picasaweb.google.com/dennisccook/GracieSFirstDayAtPreschool?authkey=Gv1sRgCIqzmbvHhaO-8gE

Mr. Brags-a-lot...

ALEX was student of the week this week at Rise and Shine...he as been on goo dbehavior for quite some time. He has also had an ear infection...he's a trooper!

Gracie won a coloring contest...

and scored a 4/4 on her open response on two different assignments

this one too...

Also, yesterday she scored a 100% on her 1st Grade reading AR test...been a good couple of weeks for the kiddos!

VIDEO of Cheer Camp

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0r1Dj5AYU4

Gracie's Cheer Camp Experience

Gracie attended the HCHS cheer clinic this past Saturday. Here are the pics!

http://picasaweb.google.com/dennisccook/GracieCheerCamp3709?authkey=Gv1sRgCLST8oWIr8n-iwE

Disney Day 4 of 4

We got up at 6 to check out luggage with the airport folks in our hotel. They informed us that we needed to transfer 16 pounds from our big luggage to our other checked luggage. After that, we transferred our four bags and got everything in order. We ate breakfast at the hotel and took the first Disney shuttle back to the airport.

We waited at the Orlando airport and everything was on time as far as our flight went. Sarah saw Mike Greenburg AGAIN as he and his family were walking to the Connecticut terminal.

Our flight was delayed (6 of 6 planes approved to take off at the time) about 30 minutes and was finally cleared to take off. In the air, the pilot didn't know what our status would be when we arrived in Atlanta and said we might have to "hold" a bit in the air. Not what I wanted to hear. The flight went smoothly and we landed in a snowy Atlanta (pics here).

We had a two hour layover in Atlanta and the schedule said on time. Flights all around us were being cancelled, though. Once it was time to board, they never announced anything...finally an hour after we were supposed to board, they said that we would have another hour delay. After that hour, they switched us to a different gate across the airport. After an hour there, they cancelled our flight. Altanta didn't know what to do with the white stuff falling from the skies. This began a day that we would remember forever...

We had about 3 seconds to decide take the flight the following NIGHT to Nashville, switch to Louisville, or get a rental car. Sarah got on the phone and tried to switch us to Louisville. The best they did was a morning flight the next day (if it took off...) So we scurried down to the baggage claim area and Sarah got in line for a rental car. We figured the ONLY hope of a rental car was a pregnant woman begging. The sign said no one-ways and no cars available. Sarah did not accept that. She took the AVIS shuttle to their offices by the airport...and talked them into giving us a one-way to Nashville. Whatta woman! He said the only reason we got it is because she was pregnant.

We drove to Nashville in about 3 and a half hours from Atlanta and had a great drive. We got home Sunday night at 11:45 pm. We would not have gotten home until late Monday night (if we were lucky) if we decided to stay over and accept their offer. The best part was the home-made signs the kids made for us...see the pics. They were taped to the door when we came home. Our baggage didn't end up at the airport until Monday night, but thankfully we have confirmed it is there and Sarah's dad will be picking it up.

Mom watched the kids all weekend so she deserves a big thank-you and a long rest!

Disney Day 3 of 4

(I'm on the right...)

On Saturday, we started out going to the Magic Kingdom...basically to get some pics for the kids. We attempted to ride a few rides that we didn't get to with the kids for one reason or another. The first ride we went on was "It's a Small World" (pictures can be seen here). It was terrifying. One boat ride....thousands of doll-like figures singing the same song in the same key...they all started looking at ME after a while.

Peter Pan was next and the illusions in it made me think we were in a 4 X 3 sleigh 10,000 feet in the air. This also was terrifying. Saturday started out terrifying.

We later did the Monsters Inc and Stitch "rides" and they were fun. We were able to meet up with a current Disney intern who we know through our youth minister at HBC. We bought him lunch and he took us on the mini-monorail through the "Tomorrowland" and the Carnival or Progress which was at the world's fair in the 60's.

Next we went to Hollywood Studios to see Baseball Tonight with the ESPN personalities, Dick Vitale, and 2 Houston Astros players. I also got pictures of some NFL Live personalities.

After these shows, we went back to Downtown Disney and spent a lot of money on gifts for the kiddos, us, and family. One of the more challenging events for me was carrying all the bags back to the hotel that night.

Day 4 of 4 report coming as my stomach can handle me typing it...

Disney Day 2 of 4

(I am in the green Celtics shirt and hat...)

On Friday morning, we got up early and got to Hollywood Studios as the park opened. As you will see in the pictures (here) ESPN took over. We arrived in time to get in the front row for ESPN First Take with Jay Crawford. I got on tv several times within the first hour of the show.

After the show, we walked around the park and then watched "Dream Job: The Experience" where three contestants tried out to be a sportscenter anchor. I met the ESPN VP and he actually made a reference to my Boston Celtics shirt during the show.

Eventually, we ended back up at the main stage to wait in line for the afternoon session of Mike and Mike. Before the show, I was able to meet Jay Crawford. I was on the front row for the upcoming show. Sarah actually went and got lunch for us while I was in line...bringing it up to me on a tray through a crowd of 300 men....whatta woman! I married "up"!

Later we went to a taping of "Stump the Schwab" where ESPN personalities tried to beat their top researcher in a sports trivia game show. Sarah ran into Mike Greenburg in the entrance to the restrooms right before this show...literally as she ran back to get back in line before they opened the doors!

After the show, we went to do some things that we didn't do when we took the kids to Disney last time. Lights, Motor, Action...Indiana Jones...then we went to Epcot...just to figure out we wanted to go to Disney's boardwalk to eat at the ESPN Zone. Good food but a day full of standing and walking and waiting...

I got the autographs of Mike and Mike, the Schwab and got pictures with them, and Al Jaffe and an upclose picture of Jay Crawford.

Disney Day 1 of 4

http://picasaweb.google.com/dennisccook/Disney2009ESPNTheWeekend?authkey=Gv1sRgCNbL2Oflz76hXQ

In January, Sarah revealed to me that she had purchased us a "vacation" of sorts to go to Disney's ESPN: The Weekend. This was to also celebrate my 30th birthday and Valentine's Day, and etc. etc. etc. for 10 years...

We woke up at 5 am Thursday morning in Lewisport and drove to Ohio County where Sarah's dad drove us to the Nashville airport. We arrived there in plenty of time and got through security, etc. without incident.

The flight from Nashville to Atlanta was around 37 minutes. The skies were clear and the sun was shining bright. We made it safely to Atlanta and had plenty of time to transfer ourselves to the connecting terminal. We had about an hour and a half lay-over in Atlanta.

The flight from Atlanta to Orlando was about 55 minutes to an hour long. We arrived in Orlando around 3:00 pm Eastern time and took Disney's "Magical" Express to our All-Star Movies hotel.

We purchased a 2-Day park hopper so Thursday night we visited Downtown Disney. This was the worst shuttle experience as the crowds were really bad. We were told that there was a cheerleading competition AND Mardis Gras week. All the LA people come to Disney during Mardis Gras as they don't want to be around when the "outsiders" come! The All-Star hotels have three different hotels (sports, music, and movies) with only one shuttle.

Thursday night I called to get info on seeing Mike and Mike in the Morning's radio show to find out that you had to have a ticket. So, that was disappointing as the tickets sold out in three minutes over a month ago. That tid-bit was never publicized!

Over all a very long day, but a good start to our weekend.