Worst. Parents. Evah.

So you would assume that when I post stories about my kids and their accomplishments, you may be thinking, “Wow, Wyatt and Mrs. Earp are really good parents.”

Apparently not.

Yesterday we received a text from my college friend Bill. It read, “Congratulations to Kevin on earning his black belt AND being named to the Archdiocese’s Scholar-Athlete Honor roll!”

Mrs. Earp came down to the basement and said, “Apparently Kevin made the 2022 Fall Sports Scholar-Athlete Honor Roll, and Bill knew about it before we did.” I looked at her and said something along the lines of, “Wow, we’re terrible parents.” We never received an email from Kevin’s school, and they’re usually great with emails.

Thirteen other members of his Kevin’s cross-country team – which I think is almost every runner – also made the list, and I didn’t even know it happened. Not like Kevin would mention it. He’s usually tight-lipped about those things, and never brags about grades.

Obviously, we’re very proud of him, and we’ll be more in tune with future Honor Rolls.

Happy Birthday, Kyle!

Today is my oldest son’s 22nd birthday.

Twenty-two years, my Lord I am getting so old. Kyle was probably our scariest of children. There were complications during the birth – they couldn’t find his heartbeat, and the hospital called a Code Blue – and he was premature. Kyle would probably still say he’s premature, because he’s sarcastic like that.

Kyle has almost always been a good kid, and when he would swear or do something idiotic, it always happened at home. We had a rule with the kids. If you want to be a jackass, don’t do it in school, do it at home or with your friends. Kyle was rather good with that rule.

Kyle has always been an athlete. He started playing soccer in kindergarten and was a phenomenal goaltender. He also played street hockey at the local rec center – and was, again, a great goaltender – and when he wasn’t playing soccer, he was playing lacrosse.

Kyle always had good grades, his teachers always liked him, and he’s an overall good egg. Well, when he isn’t telling me I’m senile and forget things easily. Oh well, no one is perfect, I guess.

Happy birthday, Kyle. We love you very much.

The Boy Made The Dean Martin List!

So when your kid heads to college, you always worry about their grades. They usually don’t tell you how they’re doing, except saying, “I’m fine.” So when we got a call from my mother-in-law telling us Erik made the Dean’s List, we were ecstatic.

Yes, I guess it means I’m a terrible father for not seeing the list first.

My kids have always been smart when it came to school, so this isn’t a huge surprise, but the first year in college is usually very difficult. I’m very proud he made the Dean’s List and that his grades are very good.

Vacation Is Going Well

We made it through Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, and while most of us were exhausted after the festivities, the kids – primarily Julia – wanted more action. She asked me if I could take her ice skating yesterday, since we have an ice rink a mile away.

My problem was I woke up early and jogged for three miles. It was cold, but I worked through it. When I got home, she asked if we could go skating. The hours were 12:30p to 2:30p, so I figured, sure why not. In my haste, I forgot to eat. Anything.

We arrived at the rink, got Julia skates – I still have my own from when I was playing ice hockey in men’s leagues – and we hit the ice. Since I wanted to keep an eye on the Princess, I decided to skate… for two hours straight. Don’t get me wrong, I love ice skating, but it’s been a while. It took me a few minutes to get into the groove, and soon after that I was skating like a kid again.

Julia, for her part, did really well. She was skating a lot faster, was stopping easier, and hung out with a girl from her karate class.

That said, skating for two hours straight is exhausting. I did ask Julia to sit in the penalty box and give a scowl (above). She didn’t disappoint.

A few hours later, Kevin had track practice. He had two hours of sprint training, then came home, and went back for two hours of field training. Kevin is doing the long jump and pole vault. You can see him and the other vaulters putting the vault landing together above.

Kevin’s coach took the photos above, and I love the “chillin'” look they give him on the bottom photo.

Oh, so you know, we’re going to a Lehigh Valley Phantoms ice hockey game tonight, so I may not be responded to comments until after we get home.

Indoor Track Has Begun

So after a fairly successful cross-country season, Kevin has now started indoor track. Indoor isn’t like it was when I was in high school, because now, there are very few slots for runners anymore. Some of the venues aren’t that large, so at times, some of the athletes need to skip a meet or two.

Thankfully, Kevin was able to attend the first meet at Ursinus College, and he was going to run the 800m race. Since he’s a cross-country runner, the even shouldn’t have been much of a challenge. Mrs. Earp was able to see Kevin race, ad I was at work… again.

Kevin started off pretty well, and toward the end of the race, he was ahead of three or four runners. He seemed to be running at a great pace, and when it came to the last lap, some jagoff kid kicked Kevin’s shoes, nearly tripping him. It threw off his momentum, and he finished the race second to last.

It is not an understatement to say he was really pissed.

Mrs. Earp thinks the kid tried to trip him because he was losing to Kevin. After the race, one of the coaches came up to Mrs. Earp. He said, “Are you Kevin’s mother?” and she said yes. The coach immediately said, “It happens all the time in indoor. Tell him that he got it out of the way early, and hopefully it won’t happen again.”

The coach wasn’t wrong. I got tripped up a few times when I was running indoor. It isn’t fun, and you want to beat the kid who tripped you half to death, but it’s part of the sport. By the time Kevin came home, he was less angry. He did rant to me about the kid who almost knocked him down, but he seemed like he enjoyed the run.

The coaches at Archbishop Ryan are good people, and told the athletes they can try anything they like, and if they’re good at it, they’ll get a chance. Kevin, being Kevin, decided he wants to learn the pole vault.

Happy Birthday, Princess P!

Today is Princess P’s 14th birthday, and another reminder of how old I am getting.

Julia is a hurricane, a girl who is almost always active between Krav Maga, dancing (hip hop and tap), drumming for her school band, and teaching herself how to play the guitar. She still likes to draw, and while she hasn’t painted in a while, she is still pretty good at it.

She’s smart, she’s helpful, and she’s probably one of the best video gamers in the house.

Yes she has her devil moments, and yes she is sometimes moody, but she’s still my princess.

Happy birthday, Jules. We love you very much.

Name Every Country On Earth

Since I mentioned Kevin and Princess this week, I figured I would show off Erik today, mostly because everyone else is likely shopping all day.

On Wednesday evening, Erik started playing an online game titled, “How Many Countries Can You Name?” The game shows a map of the world, and you need to name as many countries as you can in the fifteen minute time limit. To get credit, you need to type the name of country in the box.

To give you an idea, it took me fifteen minutes to name 78 countries our of 196.

Erik, on the other hand, did much better. He was always very good with countries, and on Wednesday night, he named all 196 countries… in seven minutes!

Me, Kyle, and Kevin sat in amazement after he blew through the countries like it was nothing, and Kyle finally said, “You would have been quicker if you didn’t sneeze that one time.”

There’s a link above if you want to try your luck. I didn’t do very well.

Like Brother, Like Sister

I know I posted about Princess P yesterday, but between yesterday and today, there has been an update.

We received an email from Archbishop Ryan High School about her entrance exam. Apparently, the Princess is getting a pretty fabulous scholarship. In fact, it’s the exact scholarship Kevin was awarded; the President’s Scholarship.

Princess P has been awarded a $7,000 scholarship for all four years, a total of $28,000, plus a bonus of a $500 Legacy Award because me and Mrs. Earp are former alumni. Considering how terrible the economy has become, this scholarship is a lifesaver.

I cannot be more proud of Princess P.

Speaking Of Smart Kids…

So a little while back, Princess P took the entrance exam for Archbishop Ryan High School – where Kevin is currently attending. The exam lasted a few hours, and when she was finished, she said she thought she did “pretty well.”

Kevin’s entrance exam numbers were great, which is how he got his scholarship. Princess P actually scored a touch higher than Kevin did.

The scores are rated in two levels; national and local. Julia’s national score was a 95. Julia’s local score was a 99!

The bizarre part is she said she guessed on the last five questions because she was running out of time.

While we were at Kevin’s cross-country banquet at the school, one of Mrs. Earp’s friends – who works there – said Princess P’s marks were very good. She also said Julia should get scholarship money, depending how donations to the school go before next year.

Considering how terrible the economy is, I am thoroughly pleased that Kevin and Julia had marks so high. It makes it a little easier to continue our middle class lifestyle… and the DeLorean in my garage.

Well, Kevin’s Report Card Is Out

Since Kevin is now a high school freshman, we didn’t really have a barometer of how he would do in the First Quarter. He was having a little trouble in AP World History, but every other class seemed to be fine.

We received the report card on Thursday, and while AP World History was a little low – an 86 – everything else was pretty great.

Algebra I – 93
Biology – 95
Digital Literacy – 100 (Still have no idea what that is.)
AP English – 95
AP World History – 86
Religion – 94
Spanish – 95

Those grades earned him Second Honors.

Kevin had a little trouble with Algebra at first, but even after rising his grade to a 93, his teacher wrote, “Satisfactory work but room for improvement.” Um, okay, I guess?

The best comment was from his Spanish teacher. She wrote, “Shows enthusiasm for learning.” When Mrs. Earp told me that, I laughed and said, “He has enthusiasm for video games and… video games.”

Kevin is going to wait toward the end of the year, but if AP World History is still frustrating for him, he will ask to be dropped from the class. It’s not worth the stress he has been dealing with.

P.S. – When I congratulated him on Second Honors, Kevin replied, “Whoopee.” He was angry at himself for Second Honors after getting mostly First Honors in grade school.