Mini Sticks

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I got Matthew his first mini stick last week in St. Louis. We do not normally stay with the team since we use Greg's Holiday Inn Points so I was lacking knowledge about the sticks. Last week, we stayed with the team, a stick was vital so I surprised him his favorite team's stick, the Boston Bruins. The boys bring mini-sticks for knee hockey at the hotels (yes, they have been shoo'd off by the staff) but they are relatively well behaved for 9 and 10 year old boys.) Matthew now has the cool stick (better late than never, however, we are always late to get the "cool" stuff, the kids JUST got their first gaming system for Christmas and we still only have one television in the entire house)

Friends

Matthew has been blessed with making the best little friend while playing hockey, his name is Michael. The boys have the best time together. They talk more than what I thought the male population allows. Michael has been helpful is suggesting books for Matthew to read. They talk a lot about Minecraft. Don't ask me what that is but apparently, it is very popular. Dinner after hockey usually has the two boys with their heads together and their mother's phones. For what, you may ask, Minecraft, of course.

I have been blessed because I am now friends with Michael's mother. I use Michael's picture on my phone as his mother's contact picture. I decided to update the picture last weekend so I took one of Matthew also.

Hard Hat

The Coach on Matthew's hockey team awards a hard hat to the player who worked the hardest...look who is sporting the hard hat!

Mimes and other Funny Stuff

Well, shoot, Matthew said the funniest thing about France and Mimes the other day. Now I can't remember the conversation...so I thought maybe if I sorted through my text the conversation to Roo, I might find it.. while searching through our "conversation" I saw where I told her M was talking my ear off about Continental Drift and Noah's Ark while fighting going to bed. He wanted to know if anything was left of it and if the Russians were hiding it "Because they hide everything."
He was also captivated by the Jamaican Bobsled team and the Tanya Harding story mentioned by a commentator at the Olympics.

I really wish I could remember the comment about Mimes and the French...it was hysterical.

Someday, I will have to blog about his asking about "Reptile Dysfunction" from Roo because he saw commercial during the morning news show. Roo told him to "Ask Mom, she just tells you like it is."

And The Medal Goes To...

Miss Hannah received a first in complusory and a second in Freeskate 4 (she two-footed her jumps according to her Coach.) I am so proud of my little girl.

Competition

I was in St. Louis for Matthew's hockey tournament so Roo sent me a short blurb of Hannah skating.

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Competition Practice

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H practicing for Saturday's competition.  The music is from Frozen, it's called "Let it Go." She loves it! (She was going to do the music from Downton Abbey...then she saw Frozen...maybe next year...)

Got Chocolate?

I found some great big Hershey bars on sale at the Commissary a few weeks ago. I dug up some paper from my scrapping stash and gave them a makeover for Valentine's Day. (File this under how I spent my snow days) 

The Fort

The first day of snow gave M just enough snow to start his fort. I didn't really pay attention to what he was up to because there was such a small amount of snow. I saw him pushing the snow shovel around on the grass (from our days  of living in MA) and just thought "Hmmm, that's kind of a clever way to collect snow."

I looked out later and saw the beginning of an igloo. I was impressed. He figured out how to do this all on his own.

I took a picture of him after he was done (he was hanging out on the couch waiting for more snow to finish the fort...little did he know he would have to wait two days and his blocks would melt before he could finish.)

Snow Day(s)

The South is having a real Winter this year. We missed the wallop Birmingham and Atlanta got on the last storm but this time, we were blessed with enough snow to do play in. (the last one gave us some powder that swirled about and collected in corners)

School was funny, took forever to cancel the first day, canceled too early for Weds (it was a non-event) and took forever to cancel on Thursday even though it was snowing like crazy. People were out making snowmen in the dark since you have no idea if it will still be there in the morning.

M gets it in his head he was to shovel the drive/sidewalk/porch even though if you just wait an hour, it will melt. I didn't have the heart to tell him he didn't need to shovel. He was very proud of his efforts.

Yesterday, the two were out in the snow at 5:30 am. I had to wait for there to be enough light to get some pictures. H was not in the picture taking mood so I tried sneaking a few from Matthew's bedroom window since I know in a few years she'll ask "Why are there only pictures of Matthew in the snow?" and assume we love him more. Yes, everything is a competition with those two. I finally got a few of her around noon. She warmed up with the sun, I guess.

Meet Me in St Louis

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Hannah's Exhibition. (Practice for Competition on Saturday) I blanked on recording it and only thought about it when she was almost done...didn't record Matthew at all. I should have had 12 kids so they could pick up the slack when my brain cells misfire.

Hannah's piece is from the movie "Frozen." She loves the music and is doing awesome with her program. The music stopped yesterday and she kept going. She is quite the little professional.

I am off to St. Louis today for Matthew's hockey tournament. Roo is picking up the slack and is going to be a "Stage Sister" and handle Hannah's Competition tomorrow. Roo is awesome she is going to do the "Frozen" Coronation hairstyle I found online. (I will post pics if I remember to tell Roo to send me some.) And, of course, Big Sister is an awesome makeup artist...however the model can be somewhat contentious...I will have to remember to pray for Roo's patience. 

Happy Valentine's Day, Everybody.

A Book...

A book is a garden you can carry in your pocket. ~ Arabian Proverb

I Love Quotes

"She would read anything from a dictionary to a treatise on turnips. Print fascinated her, dazed her, made her good for nothing."  ~ Kylie Tennant

I think my love for quotes started in high school. Mrs. Wrin had a new quote on the chalkboard everyday. I had a whole notebook full of them. I haven't seen that notebook since I moved out and got married...I am still collecting quotes...I write them in Journals, on the computer, put them in scrapbooks. I love quotes.

Sorry This Video Does Not Exist

"Sorry This Video Does Not Exist." I saw this message on one of my posts. Oh yes, it does, and here it is:

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Finally

After weeks of waiting, the official letter came from Alabama's Be Ready Camp arrived to let H know she was selected to attend Be Ready.

Sixth Graders from across the State of Alabama submitted essays for consideration to be selected to attend.

I asked Roo if H would get special consideration since Roo works at Space Camp. The answer? No. Selections for Be Ready are made in Montgomery by the State. H got this all on her own. (As it should be)

Now, I expected whoops and hollers but a very bored H read her selection letter. A huge letdown for this Mama who was ready to record the excitement with her cell phone...Sigh. I guess we have entered the stage of "Playing it Cool."

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I just had to post a picture of Matthew and his buddy. I was sitting in the other chair, glanced over, saw the casualness of these two and grabbed my phone for a picture.

One of these days, I am really going to have to upgrade my phone. The majority of pictures are coming from my phone rather than my camera and the quality is not quite up to snuff.

Queen of Denial

I am pretty sure H is going to be a tad taller than her older sister. (Roo's response? "I'm in Denial." We'll just change Lauren's moniker from "Roo" to "Queen of Denial")

I am hoping she will be tall, she has very long legs (her skating coach's costume advice is to show off her great legs.) H just has long limbs...she was putting her hair in a ponytail and her skating coach called her a gazelle. I had really high hopes of Roo being tall...so I am hoping this time this daughter will at least hit the 5'5" mark. It is really handy having someone around who can reach the high shelves without crawling on the cabinets or scrounging up a foot stool.

10

My baby turned 10. How time flies. I found this Tweet on Roo's account, such a perfect synopsis to my M.  He started the day off with a Dunkin' Donuts run with me so we could send him to hockey practice with 3 dozen donuts to share with his team. He picked Outback for his birthday lunch and gobbled up the bread. (When he was 3, he ate several loaves of bread at Outback by himself to the amusement of the servers who watched in unbelief). We went to a Super Bowl party at a friend's house and M spent his time shooting Nerf guns with his friends and terrorizing the girls. He came home with a Baskin Robbins/Dunkin' Donut gift card and a Bruins cap from his friend, Michael...a very happy boy and a very happy birthday.

Road Trip

Music is like a time machine...This played on Sirius today and suddenly I went from this very old mother of three driving a mini van down a country road in AL to a teenager in the CA desert on a highway with the hot wind blowing through the open windows of my non a/c Datsun 210 headed to the beach...jump in, we're having a road trip...