Big Bear Champs

Tommy's team just won his tournament. I was thinking he wouldn't get a tournament win in 2009 but in his last skating weekend he come through. I haven't seen him win one since that first house tourney back in January 2008. I missed the May 2008 win because I was with my class in DC and obviously I missed this one due to illness. The team won 2-1. This was Tommy's first tournament win with the Bay County Blizzard.

Want to hear some irony? The team they beat was the same team that knocked them out last March on that last game to get to play at the Joe Louis Arena for states. You might remember Tommy had been very ill that whole week and we debated letting him play last year. Thankfully that's where the irony stopped and we were victorious. Joe already sent me some pictures from his phone, they're not the clearest but here you go anyways. Way to go Blizzard!!!

December Disruption

Well the stomach flu hit our house and gave us 4 young ones a good thrashing. It hit Ashley around 3 am Wednesday morning and Joe was certain it was the jumbalaya rice that Amy had given her at lunch the day before. She was immediately vindicated when myself and the boys became dreadfully ill on Thursday. Joe in his old age has luckily been spared.

One positive of this is that it's an excellent way to lose weight. 9 months to put on, 9 to come off they say. Ashley is going to be 9 months old tomorrow and according to my impressive 3 day weight loss of 5 pounds I have seen the "2" on the scale for the first time in forever. Alleluia!

So Tommy & Joe went down to Trenton for a hockey tourney last night. Tommy didn't play in the game yesterday because he was too weak but he is playing as I type this. Me and the little ones stayed home, Austin seemed to recover the fastest but then was hit with another round of nausea last night in my bed of course. ;) Lucky me.

Another positive is that it's given me lots of rest time. I've caught up on my People Magazines from November and am cruising through Eclipse. Good times.

And shall I say that I haven't gotten nary any Christmas shopping done? At least I have 6 days off of work before Christmas. Yay for Friday Christmas. No need to panic yet. It might be a good idea to get a list going though don't you think?

No more sickies!

I'm still here...

I've just been crazy busy as I'm sure everyone is this time of year.

My house is suffering but for the most part we're all holding up pretty well.

I am enjoying December. It truly is my favorite time of the year though as Joe would say I love all the seasons when they are just beginning. I guess it's a good thing I live here in Michigan. But December is more than the beginning of winter to us obviously. I love the excitement the kids have, I love working on the school Christmas program, the senior holiday luncheon, the parties, the decorations, church services, seeing the family(s) (yup all of them) ;) and of course all the FOOD!! Plus, Tommy still has hockey games which I think is my favorite thing to do on the weekends. Minus the long drives. Could life get any better?

So yeah, the house is a disaster but honestly I don't really care (too much). About the only thing getting me quasi-down these days is Ashley and her sleep etiquette. But like the seasons, I know her sleep craziness will not last forever.

Consumer safety is going to bankrupt us!

Our Maclaren strollers were recalled a few weeks ago. Thankfully, we just needed parts and that crisis was averted and no digits were amputated.

Our grill that blew up in July...well we waited until mid-October to throw it out and replace. Only to have it recalled for guess what? You got it, starting on fire!! Stupid dumb luck!

And now, drop side cribs!!!! Granted we don't have a StorkCraft but nevertheless we have a drop side. So do we run the risk of the side collapsing and the unthinkable happening; or go out and buy a new crib that she'll probably be scaling within a year anyways? We're going to turn the crib around and hoping that ends that worry since she only stands up on the one side begging for us to come rescue her.

We've had so many toys recalled which were too cheap to deal with bothering a recall so they just get pitched.

I swear consumer groups do this on purpose. Get things to fail so you have to buy new ones. We had to get all new car seats when Austin was born because 3-point harnesses were no longer safe for carriers, and the shield type seats for toddlers are a no-no too. It looks like Ashley is going to be able to use Austin's old one's though, that is until the next best thing comes out of course. Arg!

Dang it!! Is it asking too much to actually buy something and have it last maybe more than a couple years without running the risk of it injuring me or possibly killing me?!?! Gimme a financial break!

Me Thinks...

When he finally learns how to really shoot, he'll be a really good basketball player. It was a fun season. 6 games and the team was 2-4 but they lost two games by only 2 points. Next year those games will be wins. Tommy had a hot night on Wednesday when the team won 21-7 and he scored 12 points. It was fun. Today he was back to his evil tricks and had lots of chances but the ball just wouldn't fall. The school bought a new video camera so I taped the game. I just did a small movie of the big guy making some wild misses and finally hitting one in the end. Enjoy. And don't throw darts at me when you hear someone say "can't shoot" after yet another miss. tee hee. Back to hockey tomorrow. Yay!



And you should just double click and watch it on the youtube page because it's chopped off on my page. DOH. Will try and fix it later, gotta get to church now. Tommy gets to altar serve again. Another big Saturday.

Yet another new adventure.

Tommy made his altar serving debut tonight. He's been looking forward to this for a long time and the day was finally here.

We got him there nice and early and get him in his robe and I can tell by his demeanor that he's getting a major case of the nerves. I'm trying to keep things light when he gives me that look and says teary eyed, "I don't feel good." Best remedy for this when Tommy gets nerves is get him outside into some air before he pukes. And as if God was watching we head outside and up strolls my Dad and brother. Grandpa is Tommy's idol, a sports junkie, and supreme goofball. Tommy had a hockey game and two basketball games earlier in the day. Grandpa was quickly able to divert Tommy from the upcoming task to sports. After telling of the days games soon he was calm again and at least not feeling like he was going to puke. We get him back inside and Fr. Bill was just as wonderful and supportive as Dad was and kept Tommy calm. And I was quasi-thankful for the nerves because then I was nervous and didn't end up tearing up like I thought I would as I usually do when he hits another big life moment.

First big battle is holding the book for Fr. Bill and Joe and I could both see him wobbling up there and I could just see him going timber or worse puking. Thankfully he survived and the rest of the mass he didn't seem too bad.

Ashley went bugs right before communion so we were waiting for him out in the gathering space when he got done. He comes in and in typical arrogant Tommy fashion exclaims, "is there an easy button in here because... THAT WAS EASY!" Dork. He said he had a very good time and can't wait to serve again. We made it! Thank God!

A new sporting adventure

Well Tommy has now reached the age of school sponsored athletics. He had his first basketball game ever tonight. And boy was it, fun, wild, and chaotic.

Their poor coach is a teacher over at the middle school and had parent-teacher conferences tonight. Well game time arrives and they have no coach there. Yikes! Me being the closest thing to authority tried my best to help coach. I asked who usually plays where and they all stared at me with that deer in the headlights look and I was then thinking this is going to be great!! They didn't know what a guard, forward, or center was and busy-body Tommy was trying to tell me something about numbers. Later I find out they play positions 1-5 not the actual names, very smart actually for learning.

Moving on, we do our "hands-in Eagle cheer" I tell them, get the ball, dribble, put it in the basket, don't let the other team score, and they're off. Our poor center got hurt during the tip off when the ball bounced off his nose, everyone then stared at him and didn't get the ball. More deer in headlight looks from the players. Would this game ever start? It did, and before I know it we're down 6-0. What part of "don't let the other team score" aren't they getting? Oh yeah, maybe it was the fact that the other team had a player that was taller than probably 1/2 of my students who are 7/8 graders. Yeah, test that player for roids. I was able to put in a set of subs which was a small miracle because when I told them to go kneel by the scorers table they looked at me like I was speaking Yiddish or something. It was a little crazy but at least we had a game going sans head coach.

She got there with a little left in the 1st quarter and our team did MUCH better after that. We only lost 12-6 and we could have won if our shots would have fallen. Tommy played very well defensively and got quite a few chances offensively. He'd be dribbling down the court for what would look like an easy lay-up chance and he would shoot the ball up at the glass so hard that it would often fly way back past the free throw line. Note to self - Tommy needs to work on his shooting in the off season. So many times we'd get excited watching him shoot, and BOOM another huge miss. The kid has no finesse and was a real backboard abuser. Maybe Saturday he won't shoot the ball so hard since he'll have tired himself out at his earlier hockey game.

The funniest part of my coaching experience was when Tommy was going back on defense he comes running over yelling, "I'm tired, I'm tired, I'm tired." I guess he was hoping he could just change on the fly like in hockey. Hilarious! I just told him stay out there he gave me a panicked look and kept moving. He survived.

So the family has been all abuzz about Tommy's big debut. It's a short season, we'll see if Tommy can knock one down on Saturday. Tonight he couldn't buy a bucket but I'm all proud just the same. I'm loving this new adventure already.