The fun begins

Some of you may know that my oldest son, (who started skating at 18 months, and playing hockey in 1st grade) loves to play hockey.  He has been playing ever since he was 6 years old.  He hasn't always made the teams that he wished he made during his youth hockey days.  But he never complained, he just played because he loves it, because he gets to see his friends and have fun. Often times he was on the bubble for the better team, but didn't make it.  So tryouts for the high school team were coming up and he was preparing to try out.  He is on the smaller side, but is awesome on his skates and is very aggressive.  Not afraid to check and take down kids that are twice his size.  It makes it fun to watch, but also a little nerve wracking.  When looking at the other kids that are his age, and older, that were trying out, I think he was a little intimidated.  Or maybe that was just me.  Either way, we knew they had to cut a number of kids this year and it made tryout week kinda stressful. 

So the final day of tryouts was upon us and I went to the arena to pick him up.  He had texted me and said to be sure I was there on time to pick him up because if he didn't make the team he wouldn't want to hang around there afterward.  Apparently they were calling the boys into the coaches room one at a time to talk to them and let know whether or not they were on the team. A very classy way to handle it, yet agonizing for the kids to wait in line in the hallway.  Kids were coming out of the arena one at a time, some looking happy, some not.  Finally I saw him coming out the back door, bag slung over his shoulder, looking rather glum.  My stomach felt sick.  I knew how badly he wanted to make this team.  I began silently rehearsing what I was going to say to try to ease the pain.  I popped open the back of the van and he threw his bag and sticks inside.  He came and got into the passenger seat. 

"Hey Bud", I said.  "Hey" he replied.  He had looked like he was blinking back tears in his eyes, but it was dark so I couldn't be sure.  "How'd it go?" I asked very hesitantly.  He sighed a big heavy sigh.  I was ready to launch into my, "It wasn't meant to be" "There is always next year" speech when he smiled at me and said, "I MADE IT!!!!" 

I couldn't believe it!  The little rat tricked me.  He said that they called him into the room and he felt sick.  He didn't think he had made the team.  They told him that he was a really hard worker.  They had asked him just that week to switch to playing defense after he had played left wing (offense) his whole life and he did so willingly.  That also was a deciding factor I believe, that he was willing to be versatile. 

So we have a high school hockey player in the house.  There are dress up days on game days (shirt and tie).  There are practices before school (we leave the house at 5:40 AM).  There are practices after school.  There are games far away.  And it is all good.

Tonight my friend G (whose son also made the team) and I are doing the "Pasta Feed" for the whole hockey team.  Apparently they have a "carb up" night on Fridays before their Saturday night games.  We are feeding 40 big hockey players.  You should see all the huge jars of spaghetti sauce and spaghetti that was filling my vehicle earlier today.  I guess teenage boys eat.  A lot.  I will post some pictures later.  Let the fun begin!

Friday Fav's

My fav's this Friday are many, but I will narrow down the list in the essence of time:

1) You have got to get one of these:

It is a heated mattress pad.  But not just heated, it has dual controls so when you are freezing, and your husband isn't, it works out perfectly!  I must be getting old, but seriously, it is COLD in Minnesota. I was talking about how we were going to try to keep the temperature in the house a little lower this year to cut down on our energy bills, and mentioned wanting to get one of these to my wonderful mother-in-law.  Just so happened, that she had one that she bought and didn't use, so lucky me! I am not sure how, but she also happened to have one that fit Miss Jane's bed, so we are loving it. W hasn't even turned his side on yet.  It does make getting up in the morning a little more difficult though :)

2) I have loved this song at church for so long and never knew who sang it.  It is a group called Hillsong United, and they are from Australia.  Love this song:

3)  The bounce dryer bar.  LOVE IT!  My mom used to use bounce sheets when I was younger.  When I started doing my own laundry, I switched to liquid fabric softener, because I hated worrying about whether or not I had one of those clingy bounce sheets stuck to the back of my leg when I walked into a party, or the office, or whatever.  Well, I received a sample of this bounce bar in the mail and I am hooked.  #1, no more awkward moments spent worrying about sheets being stuck to your pants, #2 no more blue spills on the washing machine, dryer, shelf, etc. from the liquid fabric softener, #3 The amount of smell is perfect.  Not too much, not too little.  Best of all, the kids have started doing their own laundry, and they don't even need to remember whether or not they added fabric softener!  It simply sticks up in the barrel of your dryer, and you can forget about it.  After a few months, the bar gets smaller like a bar of soap, and you simply replace it with another.  Did I mention that I love it?   Try it, you WILL like it.

Happy Halloween

After a few last minute costume changes and last minute pumpkin carving we managed to have a fun Halloween night.   Miss Jane couldn't decide on a costume.  We went to the Halloween store, to Target, we looked online.  She decided on Miss America. Pretty easy right?  Pretty Dress - Check.  Tiara - Check.  Sash - In progress.  When the temperature looked like it was only going to be in the 40's, that costume didn't seem all that inviting to her.  She decided on a Minnesota Viking instead.  Here she is with our neighbor:

And with her Trick Or Treating Partner:

B, on the other hand, knew what he wanted to be right away.  Of  course when he would tell people, many of them would look at him with a puzzled look, trying to figure out who it was.  Initially they would think it was a sports figure, which would make sense for a 9 year old boy.  But this is not any 9 year old boy.  This is the 9 year old boy who loves watching the weather channel.  Who is saving his money for a "tour" of the National Weather Service.  Who had to be the star of "Cantore Stories" for Halloween:

B as Jim Cantore

He was unwilling to shave his head, so we had to go with the bald cap.  Under the hat it doesn't look so bad:

I think part of the fascination with Jim Cantore is his remarkable resemblance to a certain favorite teacher of his:

Mr. D

Jim Cantore

Who knows?  Whatever the case may be, he was able to wear a warm jacket as part of his costume, so that was good thing.  And he had fun. 

Unless you stopped by our house between 3 pm on Halloween and 7 am the next day, you would not have known that we had pumpkins.  We were gone pretty much all weekend, and so when my friend (who also didn't have her pumpkins) called me at about 2 PM on Halloween and said there were no more pumpkins to be found around town, and she discovered some at a grocery store on her way home from work, and did I want her to pick me up a couple...I jumped on the opportunity.  Boy, nice run-on sentence, sorry.  So we rapidly carved our pumpkins when the kids got home from school, just in time to plop them on the front steps before the first Trick or Treaters arrived.  My friends' son did not want to carve his, so Gwen and I did our handiwork on one instead:

And then there is B's pumpkin that he carved all on his own:

And of course Miss Jane's smiley pumpkin:

And finally, the teenage boy's pumpkin in honor of his favorite movie, "Braveheart" and Mel Gibson:

See the resemblance? 

 



Long time no see

Wow.  Life has been crazy and full.  Full of things like football games, hockey tryouts, swim meets, bible study, anniversaries, school, homework, sleepovers, church, birthdays, working out, fundraising, everything in the world breaking down, car-pooling, apple orchards, caring-bridge reading, raking, conferences, sewing, organizing, blah blah blah.  I am not sure where the last month has gone, it has been a blur. 

All of these things have helped me realize how blessed I am.  To have a full life.  Full of kids running through the house with their friends.  Moments when the 9 year old boy and the 12 year old girl both have friends over and they all actually get along:

To be able to celebrate 17 years of marriage to a great man:

To be here to celebrate his "39th" birthday:

To watch my kids playing something they truly love:

To watch the boys that used to play legos turn into young men who are too cool to have their pictures taken:

And to help them figure out why life can be troubling, hard, and confusing sometimes.  We don't always have the answers.  We have to trust that everything will turn out okay, even if it isn't how we anticipated it turning out.  That we don't always understand the reason things happen.  That life is full of surprises.  Ups and downs, highs and lows.  Excitement over new friends and experiences and sadness over those we no longer have.  That we are constantly making memories.  Life is a rollercoaster and we need to enjoy the ride!

The Great Minnesota Get-Together

We looked at our calendar a few weeks ago to try and figure out when we were going to take the kids to the Minnesota State Fair.  Between Football Practice, Swim Team Practice, Summer Jobs, Elementary Open House, Middle School Open House, High School Open House, and having friends up to the cabin for Labor Day, we were left with one evening that would work for us to go.  And this meant Miss Jane missing swim practice one day.  Pretty sad that our lives are that crazy, right?

We headed out to the fair Wednesday afternoon, with the plan of eating all kinds of food that is terrible for you. Our kids are not ride kids, so that saves us a ton of money right there.  First we went in to the "Miracle of Birth Center" where they have all kinds of farm animals that literally give birth during the fair.  Check this out:

This cute little lamb was born 6 hours earlier.  And the mamais just sitting there like, "Yah, I just gave birth, no biggie"

And these:

These baby cows had just been born a few hours ago and they were already walking around!  Boy, humans are slackers!

Only at the Minnesota State Fair can you find people carved out of butter...

I'm sorry, but that is just a little bit creepy!

We made our way to the Mighty Midway, my favorite spot (not!)  I just LOVE all those carnies yelling stuff at me.  My oldest son is a total sharpshooter...he is going to be quite the chick magnet when he goes to the fair because he will be able to win all the cool prizes.  Here he is in action:

He made his younger siblings extremely happy by winning them their very own "Pillow Chums"! 

We wanted to watch the Talent Competition, but arrived just as they were announcing the winners.  Typical.  Oh well, it did feel good just to sit down:

So the strangest food we tried this year was this:

I never would have tried it, but we had heard that it was delish, so we gave it a try:

It was the end of the night, and it was a little melted, but it actually was pretty good.  There was this maple flavored topping on it, and very little corn inside.  It is not something I would eat every day, but definitely once a year!

I don't know if this is a good name for a business or not:

But Miss Jane and B sure loved it, even though they were being attacked by a wild dog while they were eating!

Our last stop was my fav, Sweet Martha's Cookies.  They are warm and fresh from the oven.  Too bad they don't give you very many!

B is still trying to polish them off, 2 days later.  I am going to have to run extra fast on the treadmill this week to get rid of all those extra calories.  Thank goodness it is only once a year!

 

Not as pretty as it looks

I have not been posting lately for a few reasons, but mainly it is due to this "loveliness" in my backyard:

It has been an ugly few weeks with this Ragweed wreaking havoc on my allergies and consequently my migraines.  Not a good way to end the summer.  I am thinking that living in the desert may not be so bad after all, I may even be willing to put up with snakes, rather than having to deal with this misery.  Then you know it's bad!

I have some good posts coming up on:

Minnesota State Fair--New Recipe(s)--End of Summer Fun

Stay tuned!

Friday Fav's

Another Edition of Friday Fav's:

Friday Fav #1

Have you been to Great Harvest Bread Company?  If not, go there, soon.  They have THE best bread EVER.  I had to run a few errands today, and I happened to be near the Minnetonka store, so I had to stop by and pick up a couple loaves of my favorite bread in.the.entire.world.  So good.

Spinach Feta...it tastes as good as it looks.  Yum!

Friday Fav #2

The Help, (the movie)

(Something happened to the "Add Image"  feature on Blogger and I can't import my picture of the Help Movie poster...sorry)

This is one of my all time favorite books, I loved it.  We read it for book club last year and now it is a major motion picture!  Of course, the movies are never as good as the books, but it is still worth your $10.00.  Well, $25.00 by the time you add in popcorn, m&m's and diet coke.  Or you could just wait until it comes out on Redbox, and save yourself $24.00.  Whichever.

I am off to finish putting out all the fires of the week, (broken garage doors, broken bath tub handles, school clothes/shoes/supplies, football cleats that don't fit, sick dogs, and sick kids).  I know, I have a glamorous life.  Don't envy me.