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All Volunteers are Not Created Equal

Children were running all around, adults were trying to control the chaos, leaders were trying to communicate with the parents, messages were being mixed.  This went on in one form or another for about an hour.  When it all ended the parents were left with confusion and an understanding that they were going to do this next week and the many weeks to follow. You might be asking, why would anyone want to subject themselves to this chaos? If you are then you either do not have children, or have been a fortunate benefactor of well run organizations for children.  Based on my experience 3 out of 4 children’s clubs and activities could benefit from being run a lot more smoothly. The problem lies in the structure of these organizations.  These activities are usually lead by volunteers.  People that are not collecting a paycheck or whose full time responsibility is not in the success of these activities.  Most of the time they volunteer because their children are participating and they
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Hold and Kiss Them, It Is Almost Too Late

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As I quietly pace into their room I know I am in for another dose of heavy heartedness.  You know when you sneak a peek at their innocent faces, and their minds are dreaming of things we adults have left in our past, you will once again be overcome with emotion.  A love deeper than any can imagine.   A love that only a parent knows. It is unfortunate that you can not bottle this up and release it when you are at the end of your patience. It would be great to let it flow so that you do not raise your voice and speak sternly to them.   Just this time.   You want to be able to grab that feeling and cap it so that once a day you can release it when needed. Children are not only innocent when they sleep but it is at this moment when all is quiet and the world is still when your daily regrets break in.  Your missed opportunity for hugs and snugs.   Why did I get upset about that?  Why did I not spend more time explaining this?  Why...? Every day you promise yourself that you will be a bette
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Pushing Past Average

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If you looked up average boy in a dictionary you will find a description of me as a child and young adult.  I was average across the board.  Average grades, average athleticism, average size, and average abilities.  There was nothing that I couldn't demonstrate average ability in.  One thing that we all know very well is that average is boring. So it is easy to imagine that I would grow up to live an average life.  Before we get into that though let me detail a bit about how average became such a big part of my life. Early on in school I started to realized that I had a pretty good grasp on how to get passing grades with minimal effort.  The flaw in the school systems is that it teaches to the right answers and so therefore one only has to only make sure they have 75% or greater right answers more often than not.  So I unknowingly hacked the system as it was structured to help me out in this.  I did not want to endure the pain of homework and so I realized that the majority of what
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Answering The What Question

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Since we have announced our plans for the BFF journey, this question is the one we are asked most often even though it has the least amount of impact to those that ask it.  The answer to this question is not one we are really fully able to provide.  When we are able to give a complete answer, it will not even be the most interesting one. Despite this, the question isn't a bad one to ask, to the contrary, it is the one we wrestle with the most. In this post, I am going to provide the answer to that question as it stands today and the reason why it is not important.   First I would like to talk about the “daily grind”.  If we think of the word grind, some thoughts come to mind.  I think of the wearing down of mechanical components.  Coffee drinkers might think of the granular substance left behind when you crush/grate coffee beans. What do you think of when you consider your daily responsibilities?  If it is something similar to these definitions, you are not alone. Acco
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Edubuntu

I am starting to get into the Edubuntu project and I am hoping to be an active participant in the project. It is a really interesting project they have going there and I think it is a great resource for young and developing minds. I will post updates here letting everybody know how things are going.
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New Baby +2

It has been a long time since I last posted. We have since had our oldest AJ(Adam Jr hence the new name of the blog) in September of 2006 and he is absolutely adorable. Then we had another adorable baby boy, Luke, in January of 2008 and he is equally as beautiful.
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Toradoes and Rainbows

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Well winds swept through Taunton bringing heavy rain with it. It was reported that there was a tornado in NH and that the winds there reached between 113 and 150 mph. After the rain we had a chance to catch 2 of the biggest raindows I have ever seen. Check out the pics here: Raindows Over Taunton
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The Baby is coming!!!

Mary and I went to the 5 month ultrasound yesterday and we saw our baby!!! It isn't even born yet and I already know it is the cutest baby ever. I cant wait for it to come. Although people always complain about how tough it is, Mary and I are way to excited to worry about that. It is amazing how much you can see in an ultrasound. We did not find out the sex of the baby and we missed our last opprtunity but I want it to be a surprise anyway.
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