Bad, bad Blogger!

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Bloggers are supposed to be timely, entries plentiful, yeah yeah. :-)

Ok, so we took some time off to finish up the hockey season and headed into baseball. Tyler's favorite positions this season included catch, first and pitch. As July rolls to an end, the season is nearly complete... which indicates we're back into (drum roll please) hockey! Ok- just camps and clinics so far.

On a note with more variety, we just returned from our week long vacation to the lake. More to come on that shortly!

Our little communicator.

What can I say? I LOVE that Jackson can write and draw.

This is what he prepared for us today:

THE HIT

They say there are moments in hockey that stop your heart.. and we had one of them this weekend. Ty played a tough-n-rumble team (they were very good) and Ty took a horrible hit in the corner. It was actually a sort-of clean hit, although the kid led with an elbow and fist.

The pictures show the action... but what they don't show is him laying on the ice for what seemed like FOREVER. I had to practice 'good hockey mom' and not run down to the ice..... thankfully he only got the wind knocked out of him pretty good.... and thankfully he was fine.

So, back to what I originally said: I like it better when he's the hitter, not the hit!! By the way - they took 4th out of 16 teams. Not bad!!

Happy Holidays!

Tis the season to be jolly. We're feeling sort of jolly at our house but need to get gifts wrapped up! We're working on it slowly but surely. All is well and I wanted to do a quick post to say Merry Christmas. More to come later.

What goes around....

This is the day I make a big proclamation:

Today is the day I shift the jokes, ongoing reminders and accusations of being a bad driver away from myself and share them with my lovely husband. Isn't that what marriage is all about- sharing the glory? I'm not above it, I'll take one for the team and share after all.

Many of you know I have been (ok, fairly!) in the midst of bad jokes since I crashed the boat into the dock and injured it this summer. Endless mentions of "Mommy is a bad driver, Daddy is the best" haunt my dreams.

So imagine my sadness, surprise and whacked out DELIGHT when Matt finally gets pulled over for running a red light this week. The scene: Matty, the 5.0 and the bright lights whirring at 6:15 AM on a bridge in Woodbury! I have absolutely shifted the attention his direction and am FINALLY FREEEEEEEEEEE!

To my honey: I love ya - but it's FINALLY your turn!

HA HA HA!

Happy Halloween - who's thirsty??

Happy Halloween to all!!

What did we get when we picked Jackson up tonight and shook him a little?

A MILKSHAKE! Ha Ha!

We're back from our frozen tundra *ahem* trick-or-treat night. 31 degrees- enough to put ice on the edges, that's for sure. Jackson was a carton of milk for the evening and Tyler dashed out with his hockey pals as a baseball player.

A good night was had by all, we have more candy than we'll ever need and more.

Now- on to the important questions... how do we avoid cavities?! :-p View the milk carton pics at our photo site....... the baseball player was so fast I couldn't even catch him for a picture!

Back in season!

We hit the ice for our first game of the year last Friday. It was a great effort, however, we fell to Apple Valley 2-1. I broke out my new super lens to catch some of the action... feel free to take a view or three!

Is that the police in front of your house?

So we were preparing to head out of town last Thursday for MEA weekend. A little family break and an opportunity to help my Uncle with a little construction project. I decide after much debate that I can run errands - 30 minutes or less and Tyler's watching Jackson. I check in every 10 minutes and all is well, until the last minute when he calls to say Jackson's not behaving well.

Fast forward to me walking into the house: it's trashed. I'm unhappy and ask what the hay happened while I was away.

Fast forward to the phone ringing. Check the caller ID. Washington County Sheriff? What could they ever want? An emergency? Certainly not- I wonder... (glance over to Jackson, who is grinning like the Cheshire cat). Apologize to officer profusely, pray they aren't coming to our house and hang up.

Approach Jackson. You called WHY!?!?!? Your brother was calling you names and you thought it was an EMERGENCY so you called 911!?!? NO WAY!

Fast forward 15 minutes. Doorbell rings. Jackson sprints up the stairs, through our bedroom into the closet and is hiding behind the clothes. Eldest child (delighting in the sheer trouble his brother is swimming in) appears at the top of the stairs and says 'OH MAN, you gotta see this!!!'

Turns out the police are thorough in our town and want to make sure all is well. Sure, officer... come in and look around. I'll be upstairs fetching the closet-dweller. I plop him firmly in front of the officer. He is sobbing and sure he is going to jail for the false call- he begs for his freedom as the officer struggles to keep a straight face.

Jackson learned a lesson last week. Never EVER call the police when your brother is calling you names even if it does feel like an emergency.

MAYBE I'll find the humour sometime in the next decade. :-)

Hockey tryout results are in! YAY FOR TYLER!

A good distraction to Pee Wee Tryouts

Ok, so it's no surprise this is a nail-biter time of year for us. Tyler is in the midst of Pee Wee tryouts as a first year Pee Wee hockey player. The first round of groupings will be posted tonight at 6 PM, at which time Tyler will figure out where he might play for the next year. SO, we look for distractions. Enter: Brian Rolston of the Minnesota Wild

Tyler will be skating with Rolston and about 15 other Pee Wees from the Club tonight for a press event. The event is centered on making sure kids understand the new USA Hockey rules, which are NHL rules.... so, he skates tonight with a pro! OF COURSE more pictures will be coming....

Into the fall we go!

Hi ho, hi ho it's off to fall we go.

We're enjoying an absolutely incredible day today- the sun is shining and it's nearly 80. In the midst of Pee Wee hockey tryouts we managed to sleep in and head to our favorite spot for brunch, Brine's in Stillwater. YUM! Tyler ate them out of house and home today (how appropriate!). During breakfast we had a paper airplane making contest.. then we took the planes down by the river test flights and an out-and-out contest. It turns out Matt had the best plane - but (everyone says) only because he wrecked everyone else's. ha ha. We stopped at the pumpkin patch in Stillwater on the way home to enjoy animals, spiders, pumpkins a hay ride and a little braveheart/pumpkin boy action. ;-p

The downslide of summer...

This time every year is great. The state fair is coming, the weather is moderately hot and we get our mailbox FULL of back to school directions. It's hard to believe we're on the tail end of summer here! So, what have we been up to?

- My Mom and sister were here for an extended visit recently; it was a great visit and we did not sit still. We visited the salon for a hair transfomation on Mom (it was time!), went to Benihaha, watched a little pre-season hockey (thanks to Tyler's fall team- and they WON), took some family photos, visited the river (Amy's fave is the new jetski) and more. It was a busy visit and I think we're all recovering.

- Tyler is back in hockey for the fall season. Tryouts for the regular season don't happen for a while so this is what he chooses to keep busy.

- Jackson is gearing up for kindergarten. We did all of our school shopping yesterday (he is thrilled at the Spiderman folder!) and we're less than two weeks to school! Along with the shopping Jackson has been fighting awful allergies again.... thank goodness for medicine.

- Matt is busy as ever- heading into the fall is their busiest time of year.

So, that's what we've been up to. I am freshly back from an extended trip to L.A. for business - can I say Venice Beach is absolutely NUTS?!?!

Enjoy the photo- we think it's absolutely darling. More to come soon.

The lake!

Hey, we're back from a fabulous time at the lake *again.* We could not have asked for more- we had great weather, great food.... and our health (more on that shortly). Despite temperatures the first weekend that were disturbingly high (try 101 on Saturday) we made it through with flying colors. The key? Get to the lake, check in and HIT THE WATER. We spent a large majority of time on the boat.... sometimes napping (Jackson), sometimes fishing (Tyler) and sometimes wakeboard, kneeboard and skiing.

Highlights of the trip:
- Grandpa's meatball toss (ask sometime when he's not around and we'll spill the meatballs (uh, we mean beans).
- Both Tyler and Matt are *actual* wakeboarders... as in they both got up and stayed up! Tyler managed to do some beginner jumping, which resulted in great wipeouts. Matt decided he had enough of being pulled inside the wake and went for the outside. I say this: coming from an author who tried and SWORE off any future attempts I give them both a serious round of applause. Nice work, boys.
- Jackson tubed alone! When matt fell off he zoomed around the like like a pro. We knew he had it in him and it took the right time on the right day to hit it.
- Music, music, music!

There are many more things to mention but this is a blog, not my dissertation on why we should live at the lake F-O-R-E-V-E-R. I'll save your eyes.

So, why are we lucky to be healthy? This was an unusual year at the lake and time FLU (yeah, that's right) FLU! by. As in: most of the family who stayed on Leaf Lake got violently sick with the flu. At last count, I recieved word that 40+ family members were ill with the flu or some sort of traveling bug that netted out flu-like symptoms. We felt awful that so many were sick and fortunate that we were staying at the other lake.

We're now back to home life and adjusting. It seems the book of 'How to be a professional vacationer for Dummies' was checked out at the library. Fear not, I'll keep looking because that time is fantastic and precious to us. It seems like yesterday that we did this exact vacation with Tyler, who was just a baby. Even more strange is that it now matters that 'the right' shorts, shirt and hair be prepared before we hit the beach and/or boat. We know it's a little insight as to what lies ahead. Watch out world!!

Baseball results AND Surf's UP!

So I'm not the best at posting results quickly... but I try! Tyler's Paul Molitor tournament was actually cancelled because of bad weather on Sunday. His team did scrimmage and had a good record coming out of things. We are now into the bottom of the season and heading into playoffs on Tuesday. I caught quite a few great pics that I'll post soon - this one of Ty was good (until he told me to go away!).

Anyhow, now that we're slowing up a little in baseball we're picking up new time at the river and getting ready for a nice summer vacation to the week with Grampy and the rest of the gang. Matt and Tyler bought a wakeboard last week and Matt continues to struggle... he has NO PROBLEM getting up.. it's what happens after that. He has mentioned a couple times that his arms go numb after trying (and trying and trying) but we all know that's just age setting in. Ha ha.

Baseball tournament weekend!

We're preparing for another weekend of baseball. Tyler is playing in the Paul Molitor tournament in Roseville this weekend and is just feeling good enough to play now! He's set for games today at 2 and 6 PM; then a round robin tomorrow depending on how they do today. As a tribute, a photo of Jackson getting ready for baseball has been posted. Updates to come!

Summer is here!

Ok - so I didn't do a great post around Mom's Day but this was too great not to share. My boys didn't do a regular Mom's Day card this year. I woke up to a Lite Brite card (and the funnier thing was Matt talking about how unbelievably long it took!) ;-)

A quick catch up on what's happening:
- Jackson's doing awesome! Hooray for popsicles and good doctors! He's back in action like nothing happened at all. In fact, he went tubing for the first time this season just this past weekend. A trooper and a fan of going fast. That's our boy!
- Tyler is in the height of an awesome baseball season. They're currently ranked second in their division BY ONE POINT!... now if they can only hold on another night to make sure they get to the state tourney! Check out the standings at: Panther Baseball. That said, cross your fingers, he's got a nasty case of strep throat as I type tonight... he should be out of the woods sometime soon. Poor kid.
- Meanwhile my gardens are growing like crazy and we're keeping things in check. We're looking forward to a nice vacation in a few weeks... more to come soon.

Back on Track!

One week post-op Jackson is doing absolutely great. He still gets tired quickly but isn't that to be expected after surgery?

SO, a lot has happened in the last week!
- Tyler is no longer in elementary school. Yes, the teachers actually passed him to move on to 7th grade in the fall (the report card looked good!!)
- Jackson is no longer a preschooler. He is officially headed for kindergarten in just a couple short months!
- I got nuts at the farmer's market on Sunday (lots of planting completed!)
- Ty's baseball team rocked one of the top seeds in their conference - how great is that!!

More to come- we head out of town for a baseball tournament this weekend.

Spoke too quickly...

Ok, so the honeymoon's over. Jackson's having a tough time getting the liquids down. He was a little better yesterday but has a very upset tummy (and ALL that goes with it) from the pain medication. Needless to say he's under a close watch in hopes we can keep him hydrated. Cross your fingers and all body parts for us!

Through with flying colors!

Jackson's surgery today went well and we are comfortably resting at home tonight. I should say I am comfortably resting.... Jackson has a bit of help with some codeine. The ENT confirmed all went well with the T&A and he had 'enormous tonsils for a child of his size.' We're hopeful this will be the end of strep, stuffy noses and more.... and a toast to a new, healthy Jackson!!

Jackson's surgery

We're headed out this morning for Jackson's surgery. He is having his tonsils and adenoids out today in an effort to get him more healthy. We're crossing our fingers for a swift and safe procedure! In preparation for today, we celebrated a 'weekend of Jackson' (a weekend he chose whatever he wanted to do and we all did it!). It consisted largely of playing in Prescott, where we swam in the hot tub (nice and warm) and then jumped in the river (bone-chilling cold!). It helped that it was 90+ all weekend so no one really sustained any hypothermia. ;-) It was a fun, fun weekend!