Matthew Update

Matthew had a follow up on Monday for his broken clavicle and we fully expected him to be cleared to play. He was not. Now we are in a bind. He has a huge tournament coming up over President's Day weekend in Las Vegas. Do we buy plane tickets or not?

Matthew goes back on the 12th, 3 days before we would have to fly to Las Vegas. And if he is cleared for contact, will he be ready to get back on the ice. Imagine the sick feeling in my stomach when I saw his 4th game would be against the Phoenix Coyotes...the team he was playing when his clavicle was broken on December 1. Yeah, I am not mentioning it to him.

I am doing my best to get him in shape to play after being sidelined and unable to do much of anything besides sitting and walking. He is doing some training at the gym and a few lessons at Stick and Puck...I am even dragging him to yoga. He hasn't complained at all. He is quite the hard worker...which leaves me back to the question, will he be ready physically and mentally for Vegas?

Just a side note, tomorrow is his 14th Birthday! They grow so so fast!

Resolution Conflict

My weakest personality trait is conflict resolution. I really stink at it. This past year, God has been giving me multiple opportunities to excel in this area. Basically, I just want to hide under a rock until it all goes away. I am getting better. Last week I sucked up all my courage to tell a boy with great potential to become a date rapist to never bother my daughter again in any way, shape, or form. (My hands shook after I did it...I have so much work to do in this area) Afterwards, he began plotting filing a complaint against me with the hockey office...fortunately, one of the hockey players displayed more allegiance to Hannah than him and sent her the screenshot of this conniving young boy's plan. Have I mentioned how many opportunities God is giving me to improve my conflict resolution skills?

However, my daughters are much better at facing their problems head on. I am in awe of their ability to deal with the sticky situations in life. H had a better way in dealing with the boy's unwanted attention for the past year. His behavior actually had Greg and me discussing a restraining order...for a 14 year old (a very large sized 14 year old) who wouldn't take no for an answer. Last week, Hannah sat down and emailed his parents in a very articulate manner and included screenshots to prove her allegations were true. All I can say is "Well done, Hannah. Well done."

I am taking life tips from my daughters on conflict resolution. I have so much to learn.

Happy New Year

Baby, it's cold outside. I actually hate that song but it aptly describes the weather right now!  The hi today was 25 degrees and the "feels like" temperature is 9 degrees and dropping to -2 by 4 a.m. Winter.

Well, shoot, my blog time is cut short by Hungry Man wanting dinner...catch you all later!

December

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas....the weather is finally "winter-y" and the stores are packed. However, if I hear "I saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" one more time, I am going to become an angry elf.

The kids began their holiday with their annual movie trip to see Star Wars. This has become their Christmas Tradition and there are plans to keep the tradition going even after their married. It was suggested no spouses would be allowed...I suggested that rule be dropped because spouses are family, no excluding. There are certain advantages to having a lot of birthdays and wisdom is one of them. I could see the writing on the wall for hurt feelings so let's just avoid that situation.

Here is some documentation of the Christmas Kickoff Movie Event.

Elf has yet to be fired up but I'm sure that is just around the corner.

Star Wars Tradition. Take 3? Or is it 4? I can't keep up with sequels and prequels

Lauren, Hannah and Greg served at our Church's Giving Hope. M and I were supposed to be in Pittsburgh so we didn't sign up. Just as well since there wasn't much Matthew could do with his clavicle out of commission. I caught up on things which had fallen behind with the holidays.

Life

How Matthew is spending his time healing....lots of PS4 online with his friends

Hockey Update

Hannah added House League and is playing Center (a new position for her). And here she is:

For Matthew's Travel, I added Livestream and this is how I watched when he got hurt on Friday.

Yes, I was watching the game on the computer at this link:

https://livestream.com/accounts/21755584/events/7958819/videos/166687103

November

November is my favorite month, Thanksgiving my favorite holiday, hockey my favorite sport (since my kids play it) and so this was a really fun month.

Lauren made most of the Thanksgiving meal and we were able to decorate the house for Christmas...at the time, we thought this would be the only weekend to get it done. Of course, this changed with all the free time we were given with Matthew's injury (See post below). Not only are our weekends free but so are Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday nights. No more drives to Nashville for practice. I am not quite sure how we will handle having everyone at the dinner table together. 

It's Broken

December is here, the holidays are approaching, hockey was gearing up for a busy winter and then boom...my season is all cleared up with free time.

This weekend was the much anticipated NHL West Youth Cup in Anaheim, CA. We were all excited to go and take a swing by Disneyland where I first met Mickey. Then...a small hiccup. Hannah couldn't go because of school so I stayed home since it didn't seem right to leave her. Suddenly, Anaheim was a Boys' Weekend and we had a quiet weekend at home for the Girls.

And then...the weekend took another hiccup when a huge Phoenix Coyote checked Matthew...I was so proud of my boy, he got up from the check and then...he went back down. His clavicle was broken and his weekend was over. My trooper was tough and went to the other games the boys played in and cheered them on. The ER doc thinks 4-6 weeks but we will take him to the Ortohopedic as soon as I can get him in for a better prognosis. He's tough and I think our biggest challenge will be keeping him in the amazing physical condition he is in while he heals. I am so thankful it wasn't a concussion and it's his right shoulder. Matthew usually plays left defense and is always looking for a way to get out of his handwriting and since he writes right, shoots left, if he is going to get hurt, I'll take it. (He was playing right defense and it's not his usual position so there shouldn't be too many hits to his right shoulder when he returns to playing.)

On the bright side of this derailed weekend, Hannah went ice skating with her beau at the outdoor rink so I got a picture of her by the tree before she left. The Girls spent some time at Church preparing for the upcoming Giving Hope event.

Life is funny, you make plans but they can change in a second...so we will be canceling the Mother/Son trip to Pittsburgh in two weeks and pop some corn and watch some Netflix...maybe take a walk...