allaboutduncan is really Phillip Duncan and he's a web developer, a husband, a father, a T-Ball coach, the editor of Superheroes-R-Us, a WordPress junkie, a reluctant DotNetNuke builder, and a jQuery fan.
// June 8th, 2009 // No Comments » // Carter
Made it to our second Atlanta Braves game this past Sunday. It’s was a great game (Braves won). Close all the way until the end with both teams playing great.
Carter ran the bases once again after the game and I managed to capture it on video.
// June 2nd, 2009 // No Comments » // Carter
Here’s a photo taken after our last game on June 1.
On a side note—I think it’s time for a new glove. That one is starting to look small.
// June 2nd, 2009 // No Comments » // Carter
Carter (and the Dodgers) played their last game of the Spring season last night. We were up a against the undefeated White Sox. Even though we lost the game (16-8), Carter played possibly the best fielding game ever.
He was attentive, fast and ready for every hit. He knew where to take the ball every time and if he got an out, he’d turn around and check the other bases.
Here’s a video of him getting an out at first and then running home to try and get another:
Our regular first baseman had left for vacation (since school was out) or Carter could have thrown it to first, like he did at a previous game:
I couldn’t be more proud of him. He loves playing ball and wants to play (and practice). I won’t push him to play, but I do encourage him – because he’s good.
I’m looking forward to Fall Ball. I’ll be stepping up as head coach and hopefully we’ll have another fun season.
// November 12th, 2008 // No Comments » // Carter
This past Sunday, the wife, kids and I were making the 1-hour drive home from visiting my grandmother. Most of the trips if Interstate or Parkway travel through undeveloped areas.
It’s shortly after 6 p.m., it’s dark and the boys are both asleep in the back. I’m doing about 75 MPH and I notice something crawling out of the median.
I quickly hit the brakes and I fully saw the gray coyote walk directly into the road. I started to swerve a little bit and I realized if I swerved any more it would put us and the van directly in the median. Not a place I wanted to be,
Sorry, Mr. Coyote. It was either you or my family.
Wile E. did have his revenge. The impact cracked the front bumper on the passenger side and knocked a cover off behind the front passenger tire.
All things considered, it was an even trade.
// October 27th, 2008 // 1 Comment » // Carter
Here’s Carter’s Halloween costume for 2008. The hat, whip, gun, and pouch were all gifts from Dad (birthday and other). The cloths were all items in his closet. A little brown makeup for a 5-o’clock shadow and the look was complete.
This has got to be one of my favorite costumes (although he’s only dressed up 5 times). I think I like it because it’s partially homemade or not a store bought kit. It looks more real.
Anything is way better than the plastic shirts and masks we had as a kid.
Riley is dressing up as Charlie Brown—because what baby doesn’t look like Charlie Brown. Photos of that to come.
// September 24th, 2008 // No Comments » // Carter
I’ve not posted a whole lot on the site lately and that’s for several reasons.
One reason is T-Ball. Never in a million years would I have imagined I would enjoy coaching T-Ball (asst. coaching) as much as I do. I was thrown into it in the Spring when Jill volunteered me at Carter’s first practice.
I’ve never been a big sports guy. Imagine that. A web developer/comic geek/pop culture geek not being into sports. Cliche much? Anyway…
I managed to take it in stride and appreciated her encouragement that she wanted someone out there to help the kids that would push them to have fun and encourage them. The first season in the Spring was so much fun that two of the other Dads and I decided to keep our kids together and coach a team this Fall.
Fall T-Ball is busy. Two games a week and none on the weekends makes for long days, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything. Not only is Carter doing great, but we’ve got a great team. Every kid has improved over the course of the season. It’s amazing. I’ll be sad when we play our last game next week.
I’ll be anxiously awaiting the Spring season in 2009 and hope that we can keep as many of these kids together as we can.
// March 21st, 2008 // No Comments » // Carter
Went to pick Carter up and he and his cousin were sitting outside with Jill's Dad (Papa).
// March 11th, 2008 // No Comments » // Carter
Last night I had the great pleasure of taking Carter to his first concert. The Murfreesboro Symphony performed a selection of music from popular movies during “A Night with Oscar.”
He did amazingly well considering the show started at 7:30 and lasted for almost 2-hours. Not once did he complain or ask to leave. Quite the contrary, for most of the songs he tapped his toes, pretended to play drums or simply sat and watched intensely.
As we took our seats near the front of the hall, I noticed nervous looks from the older couple seated next to us, no doubt thinking “great, our peaceful night out is ruined, thanks to this kid.” However, at the intermission, the gentleman asked how old Carter was. He commented on how well behaved he was and that he’d never dream of bringing his grand-kids of similar age.
Yes, I’m bragging and it’s because I’m proud. I’m thankful that I have a son that is willing to do things like this with me. I’m thankful he’s well behaved enough to go to something like this and even appreciate something like this at 4 years old. I’m thankful I have a son that can say in the middle of the show “Dad, I think this was a great idea.”
The program couldn’t have been planned any better. There were enough pieces he was familiar with to keep his attention and with Star Wars being the final piece, we counted down the songs until it was time for his favorite.
The program only listed Star Wars as the final selection, so there were a few puzzled looks when the orchestra started when they began playing Leia’s theme. There was a small break between Leia’s theme and the Star Wars Main Title. For a moment, I was afraid they weren’t going to play it.
The Main Title theme got the biggest response from the mostly over 40 crowd, but I was the least impressed by this piece live. Not the orchestra’s fault, they were flawless. It just seemed like a constant march or pounding. Not enough subtlety or pauses to appreciate what was happening.
When the Main Title theme was done, Carter was ready to go and had started walking to the end of the row after the applause died down. He stopped dead in his tracks and began grinning from ear-to-ear when he heard the first few bars from the Imperial March (Darth Vader’s theme).
Overall, it was an excellent show. It was the first time I had heard many of those songs in a live setting. Jaws was probably the biggest surprise. I love the movie (and the music), but the impact that piece of music has in a live setting is amazing. Every orchestra member seems to be playing something different. Notes are out of harmony. The increase in in tempo. It all builds an amazing amount of tension.
There was one bad thing about the evening, the audience. It was a sizeable crowd, but there should have been many more people there. If I had to guess, the majority of the audience was over 40-50 years old, with only a few children (less than 10) in attendance. That’s just sad. Something like this was perfect for families wanting to introduce their kids to something other than typical music on the radio.
Thankfully, the new season for the Murfreesboro Symphony is about to begin and they’ve got a similar performance planned showcasing music inspired by literature. If you’re in the Middle Tennessee area, it’s a great, inexpensive night out. Keep checking the Murfreesboro Symphony web site for the updated 2008-2009 schedule.
// January 30th, 2008 // No Comments » // Carter
Carter is one of the most well-spoken 4-year olds I’ve encountered. That’s likely in part due to the fact he gets a lot of practice talking. He can fill 30-minutes of driving with questions, comments and answers. The sad reality is that it causes you to tune out at times and there’s not telling what you’re missing.
I’ll be posting from time to time, fun things he says or does as a way to remember them and to share them.
Lately, he’s been enjoying Fruit Cocktail which he calls…
Fruit Cottontail
Some things you just don’t want to correct him on.
// January 2nd, 2008 // No Comments » // Carter
Quite possibly my favorite picture of the 350+ photos taken over the December/Christmas 2007 holiday. I’ll get more uploaded soon, but this one was too good not to share immediately.
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