Three Months in Pictures.

Three Months at a Time.

Ok, I know last time I posted, 3 months ago I promised I would post more, and well I guess I didn’t live up to my promise. I feel bad about that, because if there is one thing about me, I don’t break promises. So sorry about that and now moving on. In the last 3 months so much has happened. I have gotten use to staying at home. Still looking for a job, but also enjoying being able to take Aust to school and pick him up. Never being late to hockey practice and being able to actually spend time with Aust and J. Weird concept for all of us! In the last three months lets see what else has gone on, Aust made the travel team for hockey – so he has practice 3x a week, has played in 1 tournament so far and they came in 2nd. He is co-captain with another 2nd year and that is what he needs to work on the most. Don’t get me wrong, he needs to practice on all areas of his game, as any good athlete should! He needs to work on his leadership role and coming out of his shell more, when it comes to personalities and other players. He needs to be a leader on and off the ice and I think he has done fairly well at that. He stays on the ice after practice to help pick up pucks etc. Aust started 4th grade and turned 10 all in 2 weeks. He is struggling with this year in school. I am use to him being pretty much an all A student with a B thrown in there for good measure! At A’s school they typically teach up as far as ahead of what would be at a public school and Aust excels in Math and Spelling, just wait til he hits everyone up again for his spell-a-thon. Think he make $300 last year! He amazed me with how easily he can spell. I am so used to spell check! Anyways, in 4th grade at Phonics Phactory they start teaching Science in a different method - more comprehensive than ever before and my kid is LAZY when it comes to thinking - unless it has to do with how he can improve his dangles, toe-drags, snipes, wrister, fake leg kicks, fast wheels, or figure out how to have flow during the school year. He has an excellent grade in Spelling and Math and actually all subjects but SCIENCE, it is our nemesis and it is killing all of us. We spend hours doing homework and studying for tests. Not because it's actually hard, ok well I might flunk some of these tests! But because if the question has why in it, Aust shuts down and decides to waste his time and ours with 3 hours of struggling instead of just giving in. We have met with his teachers and the owner for help. We have gotten a lot and feel very blessed that he goes where he goes, so we could get immediate feedback and get this straightened out. It's getting better, still a struggle we are not used to. He likes to use the statement "I am not smart" which would be great except it's the exact opposite of who he is. Today he actually said, I'm going to stop saying that because I don't really think that, I think I a smart, just lazy!!! Ya, I think we are reaching him.

Moving on to happier things, Aust turned 10 and had a huge scavenger hunt party in the form on FBI! Thank you for everyone helping me pull it off from all the “Commanders” to Sean with the invites, it was a great success and he had so much fun. He was saving up for an X-Box and had about 1/3 of the money already, thanks to his birthday presents he was able to save enough money and purchased his X-Box 360 with Kinetc last week. So excited!!! The weekend before school he flew by himself to Phoenix to spend time with J’s dad and stepmom. Aust has probably only seen a dozen times since he was born, they moved 2 weeks before he was born. He talks to them on the phone and loves talking sports with grandpa Don and was so excited to go to a Diamondbacks game. He had a blast the 4 days he was there. While he was gone we went on the school camping trip without him! It was very nice. We took Rocky with us, thinking we don’t have too much time left with him, it was hard on his 14yr old bones, but I think he liked it.

Not too much with J or I. J has had a lot of overtime lately with either recruits and or court, grateful for the extra money right now. Umm what else. The move went well and we are getting use to a smaller house. It was really different at first, only having half the space you are used to, it makes you examine what you really need and what you can live without – for example a microwave. The house doesn’t have one and if you know me, I don’t use one anyways and when I do I burn everything in it. J and Aust on the other hand are dying… I think it’s a good thin there is no room for one!!! I think over all everyone including the animals have adjusted nicely to the new house and neighborhood.

Oh ya, 1 last thing, I went to the Bahamas on a cruise with my best and longest friend that I have! Thank you very much TJ for allowing me to be able to go with you, I will return the favor one day! We had so much fun, it was relaxing and beautiful and I want to go back again. We swam with the stingrays and just chilled out for 4 days, it was perfect. Very thankful for Tracy and our friendship. We don’t see each other very often and don’t always talk, but it’s like we never were apart!

I guess that’s if for today. I am saying I will keep up, maybe not everyday, but at least a once a week check in with pic!!!

Livin ALOHA each and every day.

A

May, June, July… SERIOUSLY BEHIND

I can’t believe I haven’t written anything since April… I am very sorry for not keeping anyone up to date with the busy, crazy life of The Picks. So much things have happened in the last 3 months.

Let’s see May, Austin had his 2nd month of Canadian Spring hockey, going up twice a week, and had 1 tourney. He had baseball and made the Honours team. He had the end of school!

J had softball and being on light duty and physical therapy twice a week. Driving Aust to Canada twice a week, it was good father-son bonding time! J also got a big award at work and I surprised him with a visit from Gasp and Kelsey, it was an awesome quick 3 days with them, but it rocked!

For me, I had play-offs until the 13th of May, then a week of ending the season and then to Canada for 5 days! Then adjusting to the off-season.

June brought more Canadian Spring Hockey for Aust and more Honours baseball. Aust had 1 more tournament and got to play during game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final viewing game in Vancouver BC at Rogers Arena, in front of 18k people and scored the only goal for his team!!!

J still on light duty and physio twice a week and softball!

Me, just working!

July, started out in Canada Austin had camp at Edge of Excellence in Kelowna, which is where he wants to go to school/hockey in a few years. We went up on the 29th of June with our good friends The Elliotts, as their son Jake attended the camp for the first time. It was a great time hangin with good friends in my favorite city. The day we came back, we looked at a new house. Our lease is up on the house we have now and it is too big with not having Ian and Gasper here. We need to downsize for multiple reasons, we are striving to pay off all of our debt, and I want to live a simpler life. Since we got back from Kelowna, and found the new house, we have been doing nothing but going through everything, literally everything we own and making some tough decisions on what we need/want. We have been packing and had 2 garage sale days, sold quite a bit of our things.

Austin also had another week of hockey camp which he loves and was player of the day one day. Then followed that with a week of baseball camp and had a lot of fun with that too. I am very proud of the little athlete he is becoming!!!

July ended on a sad note, compared to the way it started. I was let go from the team. The team is going in a different direction as far as staff and they combined positions and I was let go in the process. It has been a hard/sad week since I was let go. I really am okay with not being with the team, I was looking for a different job as it was. I need to be in a M-F 8-5 job so I can be there for Austin more, and make more money would be great. I am sad about leaving the boys and will miss them and their great parents. I have made great friends because of the team that will last a lifetime. Thank you to all of them and to this is no way good bye. I have to work, in order to pay for the sacrifices we have committed to, Austin’s education and his hockey. I am in the process of applying for approximately 5-10 jobs a day, hope one pans out soon.

The only good benefit of not having a job right now is being able to finish packing and moving and cleaning. We should get the keys on Friday and have to be out of this house on Sunday. I am so done with packing and cleaning and living in boxes, I just want in the new house… Speaking of the new house, it’s cute, it will be an adjustment and there are somethings we need to work on – PAINT being one of them…

I have a lot of pictures to post to cover the last 3 months, I will figure out how to do that from our Ipad or something. Stay tuned for that.

Also I will post more regularly and the next post will be of the new house!!!

A 3rd grade journey comes to an end today…

I need to express how proud I am of my son… 

Austin’s last day of 3rd grade is today.  Yes he is in the 3rd grade despite the fact he is almost 10, he has a late birthday. I was always opposed to him starting one year later, I didn’t want an 18-year-old senior – his entire senior year!!! I was always against it, and I think if he would have started and continued in the public school system I would have pushed for him to be moved up a year. I am glad he is where he is, it’s what was meant to be and thank you for all the teaching and support that all the teachers have always given Aust and us at Mayer Christian Schools.

I know I can and do go on and on about how great his school is it is the best thing for him and us and it ROCKS!!! I can’t say anything negative about the school.  Are there days I wish he didn’t have a ton of homework – yes, are there days I can’t help him with that homework – yes, but it’s all good and he and J and I are all better for it.

I am so proud of all the kids that go to Mayer Christian Schools, they have all excelled and become better people for being taught by great teachers. I am proud of all that they accomplish as individuals and as a school. I am happy for the ones that have gotten recognized for being outstanding in certain areas. It is awesome to see the numbers of kids that get recognized and awarded for the outstanding job they have done in all different kinds of areas. 

The award ceremony was the other day and I knew Aust would be disappointed that he wasn’t getting anything. So we had a little talk on the way to school so he would be prepared. Some of the awards are reading all the core books, or perfect attendance, scholar of the year (perfect grades pretty much), and 100% on the 12 weeks worth of Biblical questions from youth group. He seemed okay with it in the car the morning of the ceremony. When I saw him that night, it was a different story, he was disappointed and sad. We had another discussion about that if he sets his mind to it, he can try his hardest to achieve at least 1 award.  So that is the plan!

My whole intention for writing this blog today was to tell you about Austin’s life in a nut shell. I know everyone hears and sees and listens to me talk about his schedule and hockey and school and this and that in his life – our life. I want to break it down for you and realize he didn’t get any awards from school and he finally after 6 years of working hard on the ice got 2 awards in his last tournament.  This kid amazes me day in and day out and this is why…

School even at 3 days a week is no cake-walk, it’s hard, it’s a lot, a lot of learning a lot of work in class and a lot of work done at home, projects and book reports that are not just answering 3 questions. You might think to yourself, it’s only 3rd grade, but it’s so much more than that. He took on 3 extra things this school year at school – he had drama which took up a lot of extra time rehearsal twice a week and then the last few weeks before his play it took up days of his time after school. Then he took floor hockey which was one day a week and didn’t pan out for a few reasons out of his control. Then came M+M club – which is youth group for you non Mayer Christian Schoolers! It was only once a week, but they had 10 questions about the book of Exodus that they had to answer each week. You got so many points for correct answers, for bringing your bible and for wearing your M+M shirt. The kid, the kid that doesn’t know much about the bible, the one that hadn’t gone to youth group ever until a few months ago, answered 119 out of 120 questions right. He only missed 1 question out of 12 weeks, always remembered his bible and wore his t-shirt. He got to enjoy 2 different parties because of it – a skating party and a swim party!!! In the end, he was disappointed for not getting a certificate for getting all the questions correct. In my mind he did ace it, he did so awesome and I am so proud of him. In the middle of all this school he had sports, if you even remotely know my son, he is so athletic.

Hockey for Austin started before school did. Being on a travel team he had practices two times during the week, one time it got done fairly close to bedtime. He also had skating lessons once a week and another skills lesson another day. Add that up… 4 out of 7 days he was on the ice. Then take the time he had out-of-town tournaments and or games, they played something like 48 games, with only 6-8 being here in Portland in 5.5 months. Austin missed some school outings and classmates birthday parties because of it. He had late bed times and did homework in the car and in hotel rooms, hockey rinks and locker rooms just to get it done. The in the Spring baseball started, so that was practice 2 days a week and games up to four times a week, with games getting done at 8:30. Then at the same time he started playing Spring hockey for a BC team, and is up and back twice a week – he has had 15 hour days each Monday and Friday since April with 12 of those hours being in a car. He has learned to get so much accomplished in the car it’s impressive.

He has worked his butt off on the ice and had fun doing it, he has had fun on the baseball field learning a new sport. He has learned so much from such a great school and an outstanding 3rd grade teacher. It has been a great, tough, long, draining, worth it year.

His grades aren’t perfect by no means, but they are outstanding. In his school a letter grade of “C’ is equivalent to an “A” in public school… Yet in my eyes a “C” is not acceptable, I know that may sound harsh and at times maybe it is, but I know my kid and I know he can do better than that. He has made the honor roll 3 out of 4 quarters this year, with only missing it by a small margin the first time. He has struggled to keep his grades up as retention in some subjects just doesn’t come natural. He is extremely smart, he is a boy though and likes to rush through everything just to be done with it, when he slows down and pays attention, he pulls the grades I know he can pull. He usually pulls more A’s than B’s and has a decent GPA.

The best compliment we got as parents this year was from his teacher who said ” I was concerned with how Austin’s hockey schedule would affect his school work, yet he always has his homework in on time and is always here, good job.” That meant more to me than anything. Is hockey Austin’s life, yes it is and I don’t see that changing anytime soon. School though will always come first. He has never missed a day because of school because of hockey – at least not yet. He is able to play BC hockey this Spring because of his school schedule and BC hockey has been phenomenal.

I know I have just went off track about 1000 times, here is my point and I am not trying to offend anyone else who is proud fo their own children, every parent I know is so proud and should be, if you aren’t you need to look at yourself. I am also not saying he is the only kid with a crazy schedule, cause I know he isn’t. What I am saying is, I can’t post on FB or tell anyone how great it is my kid got awards at school the other day, because he didn’t. But what I can say is, I am SO PROUD of AUSTIN, for having the most rigorous schedule both academically and athletically for any 9-year-old I know and still pull awesome grades at a high level and excel on the ice also. I AM PROUD OF YOU SO MUCH… I LOVE YOU LITTLE BOY!!!

April… Is it really over?

I know that I am beginning to have a pattern and it is not one I am liking. I did really well with blog updates at the beginning of the year and I was on top of everything. Now it seems I have seriously lacked anything since the beginning of March. I could find a million and one things to blame it on, play-offs that are still going on – YAY US, Austin’s schedule is out of control – Canadian hockey and American baseball, school activities for Aust, to include his school auction, me having a personal life – oh wait ya that doesn’t happen, so that’s not getting in the way! Getting ready for summer camps and vacations – oh wait hockey camp is my vacation. Ok, I’m really not complaining, I just need to get it together and be better Mange! (if you know what that is in reference too, yay you!)

So let’s recap April and I will be more active in May (I am pretty sure I said that a month ago, but well hey, just go with it).

April, if I can remember was the fastest 30 days in my life – I seriously just pulled out my day planner to see what went on, because I don’t remember.  Let’s see Austin started playing on a Canadian Spring hockey team, so he and Justin go up and back on each Monday and Friday for practice – it is a grueling 15 hour day, but it is worth every American/Canadian cent we are paying and it is worth every minute of the 900 mins they spend on Monday and Friday together – let’s look at it this way, Justin use to be the super busy one with work when Aust was younger, now it’s me and they get great father/son time each Monday and Friday, typical routine for them, is up around 8am, make sandwiches for lunch, pack a few snacks and waters, Aust gets homework ready, the Ipad, blanket and a pillow packed in the car. They leave the house in Gresham around 9:30, they stop usually once on the way to go to the bathroom and eat their lunch.  They get to the border around 2:30, and arrive at the rink for pracy at around 3. They stretch their legs and Aust gets ready to go on the ice. practice is from 4:15 – 5:15, and he gets worked and he pushes back and works his butt off. He loves it, he loves everything about the team, coaches, players, ice, drills. After 60 mins of the most intense practices he has ever had, he gets ready to go back in the car. The trip home takes longer than getting there for a few reasons, traffic is not great in lower mainland BC, I am pretty sure the entire Provence of BC is under construction, border wait is always more than when going up, they visit the duty-free store to help with the wait and we are constructing  a present – can’t say what incase the recipient is reading, I’ll post pics sometime in June when it’s done! They also stop for gas and dinner once back in The States. Aust does whatever homework he can in the car, which will not include his cursive homework – you are welcome Mrs. Foster! J quizzes him on any tests he has coming up, they listen to any Hawks games on the via the web, and or Mariners games on the XM. On Monday nights, its lights out and all electronics put away at 9, because of school the next day, Fridays, he usually falls asleep about 10. Back to the border for a minute, how sad is it that some of the border agents know Aust and J so much, that when they pass through they make a comment to Aust about practice! When they both get home, they are both beat and it makes for a very long week. He has this for 10 weeks and we are half way through at this point. It’s a push, and I know that’s easy for me to say, because I am the one sitting at work on those days, I don’t envy the drive at all, but in the end hockey once again has made for another awesome relationship – this time between father and son.

While on the subject of hockey, I have 2 more things to talk about, first Austin had his first hockey tournament playing for a Canadian team, his team had only practiced together 3 times and didn’t fare very well against the other teams that have been together for 3 years and have been practicing since Sept. But Aust did get MVP from his last game, which he played like a man-child, he played one of the best games I have ever seen him play. He also got hardest working player on his team and got the hard hat for it, and because they don’t have another game for a month, he gets to keep it that long!

The Winterhawks, what can I say… it’s been a great season thus far and to be still having games in May is awesome. I started with this team the season we had only won 11 games, to be at this place where we are right now is indescribable. It has taken a lot of hard work from the obvious to the not so obvious. The players deserve all the credit, but with that being said, so does the entire staff, it takes a village to raise a banner – and we get to raise at least 2 next season. U.S. Division Champs and Western Conference Champs. I am very superstitious, never was until hockey. It’s all about not jinxing something. everything is done for a reason, my biggest superstition is not being too cocky about this, I do everything as if the season will be over after game 4 of each round.  If I have wasted my time to get the boys ready to go home, then YAY me, it was the best waste of time ever. If not, I am prepared and ready like I should be and need to be. It’s been a long time coming with this team, this season that is, it’s been a long time since we have had the respect we deserve, it’s a lot easier to work for a winning team than a losing team, but in Major Junior Hockey, with the team dynamic always changing, it doesn’t last… So you have to take it all in when you can and take nothing for granted, I have the same frame of mind the boys and coaches do - it’s one game at a time, that’s all you can worry about. (On a professional side, I have to worry about all 7 games and hotels and itineraries and buses and…).  I am not taking any pride or glory away from anyone, especially coaches and players, but what I will say is this, having been at the lowest of lows with this team, each victory we have achieved this season means so much more to me  than a lot of people can understand. With that being said – Here is to round 4 – not even the FINALS, it’s just a game in another round… Everything you need is already inside – “dig deep”.

Let’s see, what else happened in April… J went back to work on light duty, after his surgery. Happy for him they needed him in detectives working on a case that is about to reach its statute of limitations, so he is in there and loving it, he will be on light duty until at least the middle of  June, he is hoping to stay in detectives as long as he can. Austin has been playing baseball for an entire month know and he likes it, he needs more practice! I have been helping on Austin’s school auction which is on May 21st and should be a great time!

 I started writing this on May 5th, here it is May 9th and I have not published this blog… I have a few more I would like to write, so I better finish up April so I can get to stuff this month!!!

Swing Batter Batter, Swing…

One thing about baseball that I don’t get is all the little sayings the fans need to say. Like Swing Batter, Batter, Swing… Come on now, here we go now. What, really, just be quite…  I am a hockey mom through and through, I get it, I get the sport I get every aspect of the sport. There is no endless chatter just for the sake of chatter during a hockey game. You might figure that because of my normal way I attack life that I would be that way as Austin’s mom in sports. Quite the opposite, he would kill me if I was obnoxious during one of his hockey games, if he could here me.  He is the clue to parents, your kids can’t hear you. What ever the sport is, they are or should be focused on playing that sport – so keep your quarterback comments to yourself.  The most you will ever hear me say at a hockey game is skate, when I think he isn’t skating to his full potential. Which is stupid, and I know it is because he can’t hear me and even if he could he would choose to ignore me anyways, which he should I AM NOT HIS COACH!!! Even when he scores I don’t make a big deal and the thing is neither does he. He knows he did his job and now it’s time to do it again. Same thing applies in baseball, this is a whole new world to all of us – okay not J, but to me and Aust and I have said a few things, because it is easier for him to hear me when he is up to bat, but I don’t expect him to hear me. I certainly don’t do all the useless, annoying chatter that goes on during a youth baseball game… Can someone please tell me what is up with all the yapping going on, it’s more annoying than it is helping, I get you are trying to distract the batter, but then wouldn’t that be distracting the pitcher, or the catcher or for the love of hamsters, the kid on 3rd base who is tying his shoes, while there is a runner on 2nd and the pitcher is about to pitch. It’s youth baseball, for Aust it’s 9yr old baseball, most of the time, I am looking for the movie cameras to come out and the set director to yell CUT, because this is some PNW version of the Bad News Bears. The only difference is somehow we keep winning. luck maybe.

Before tonight’s game, Aust has played 1 exhibition game and 2 regular games. He is in a tough spot this season. He has wanted to play baseball for sometime now and because you have to sign up in January, I always forget, it’s right in the middle of hockey season and we are never around for try-outs. So this year I had it marked and he was signed up and went to both try-out dates and everything was good to go. Except, we had no idea he would be playing on a Canadian Spring hockey team and that baseball is 4 games a week.  So he is missing usually just 1 game a week, this week it’s 3 because he has a tournament in B.C.  When I told one of the coaches last week, I get this stare like I had just told him the entire World Series was rained out. Come on guy, this is 9yr old little league, the kids are not on their way to the LL World Series by any means. Well come to find out a few days later the coach emails J and tells him they are trying to figure out how to get Austin to play the required amount of games to make it on the All Star team. WHAT, he’s played 3 games, he is by no means an All Star, he’s decent, he can hit with power, he needs to work on his throwing, but All Star. So now there is a push for that, when did I produce a mutant athlete. Yes I ran track and played volleyball, but not an All Star at either. J played football and baseball and was pretty good, but still. Because he misses practice on Friday’s, they asked for him to come out on Thursday to work on his pitching, because they wanted him to start on Saturday. He did and J said he did fine during practice. Saturday was going to be another adventure.

I felt like a goalie mom Dawn you know what I mean! All eyes on him. I was so nervous, most kids at this age walk more kids than they do anything else. Well so here is Austin, and if you know him even a little, he is a very serious kid most of the time, especially if he doesn’t understand something, is nervous or is new at it. He is harder on himself when it comes to sports than we will ever be. So Saturday, he is warming up on the mound and you can see it in his face. He is so serious, coach is telling him a few things, and he looks decent. First batter up, strike-out, 2nd batter, strike out, third batter – makes contact and is an error at 2nd, batter goes to 1st. 4th batter, strike-out – and they are done. 2nd inning, 1st batter – strike-out, 2, 3 and 4th batter he walks, bases loaded, and the score is 5-0… 5th batter – strike-out and 6th batter and… wait for it… STRIKE OUT!!! He had to pitch to 10 batters and allowed zero runs. Not bad for first time ever pitching. He likes it and is excited to do it again. They did win, they only play 4 innings they have a 2.5 hour limit and that’s all they usually have time for is 4 innings which constitutes a game. He plays tonight, I don’t know they will have him pitch again this soon, because he missed Monday’s game. But all in all, he is liking it. He got a sweet double the other day also and ended up getting hit again from a pitch, nasty little bruise.

After the game they hand out the game ball to the player who played his heart out and because he did so awesome first time pitching, he got the ball. He has carried that thing around with him everyday since then! He’s not excited or anything! I am glad he has found another outlet to put his heart into.

Until next time, here are some random baseball pics from his first 3 games.

March… is it really over?

The month of March went by so freaking fast. I swear it was just Valentines Day. It must have been a very busy month as I had no time to write and I was doing so good at updating things going on in our crazy life. So for the sake of ease and not to bombard myself and everyone else with 10 blogs on different events that happened in March I am just going to do a quick synopsis of what happened in March and the pics to go along with it! Hope you enjoy and lets start over with a great April…

Austin had 2 games in Wenatchee (which for those of you that don’t know is in the middle of no-where North-Eastern Washington. Well lucky for us, the Special Olympics were going on there and we had to stay in Leavenworth WA. Which is one of my absolute favorite towns ever. It is a town in the middle of no-where Washington also about 30 mins from Wenatchee, it is has been done to look like a Bavarian village, all the way down to the McDonald’s. We use to go there for Thanksgiving when Austin was like 3 and 4. LOVE IT. So back to the trip. Aust had two games on a Sunday. Which meant we drive for 5.5 hours Saturday night, eat dinner at the only place that is open – McDonald’s and if you know me, you know I don’t eat a lot of fast food. We got to Leavenworth about 9pm, I’m sure everything closed at about 7! We made the most of it and walked downtown where there was still snow in the middle of town! We got up the next morning bright and early, ate breakfast with A’s team and then headed to Wenatchee.  The boys had a game in the morning then a couple of hour break and then another game, all against Spokane. Then the lovely 5.5 hr drive home. Lucky for Aust he doesn’t have school on Mondays!  Aust played well and had 2 goals, one was the tying goal on the 2nd game which was a sick backhand top shelf and his favorite goal to get – the tying goal to get your team back in the game… Sometimes I am pretty sure his mind is not that of a 9 yr old!  The boys won the first, and tied the 2nd. It was a fun time, getting toward the end of the regular hockey season.  During our break in between games a few of the team went to Sonic for lunch, which was a huge mistake, they were out of everything, I think it might have been because of all the people in town for the Warrant concert – hahaha, ok maybe because of the Special Olympics. We did stop at the gas station to get Aust his pre-game Mt. Dew and the chick behind the counter asks why it’s been so busy, then follows that up with maybe because of the Warrant concert last night… YA OK.. On our way back we stopped to go to the bathroom at Snoqualmie Pass, so we took some pics of the huge amount of snow that was on the side of the road.

The next weekend we were in Everett for 1 game against Port Moody at the Comcast Arena, I have no pics of this, I hung out with my ticket guy from the Tips that use to work for us! It was awesome, the game was a weird game… We had awhile before Aust’s team was going to watch the Winterhawks play against Everett, so we went to Seattle and hung out on the pier for an hour or so.  Took a few cute pics!

Then it was St. Patrick’s day, well at least at Aust’s school it was. Remember we celebrate things a few days early sometimes when you only go to school T, W, T.  If you don’t already know Aust has to wear a uniform at school and I for one love it!!! My kid has his own fashion sence and I don’t want to fight with it in the morning, so having a uniform ends that all together. On the first Thursday of every month they get to wear pants if they want, well that is like pulling teeth for my kid, he doesn’t wear pants very often let’s leave it at that. On the Thursday before St. Patrick’s day he got to wear jeans, a green shirt and it was crazy hat day. He was concerned about not having a crazy hat, I reminded him his one “older brother” left the best crazy hat ever!!!

To finish off the month and Austin’s regular season of hockey, they went to his tournament in Coquitlam BC, I had to stay at home, because we had the last 2 home games, which means that I did get a day to myself which was nice and weird, not much work, no hockey and no work… a little lost to say the least.  I don’t have any pics of the last trip to Coquitlam for the reg season, or of us winning the US DIVISION TITLE for the WHL. It was the best way to end the month. Here’s to the a good, busy and productive month. Hope you enjoy the pics.

He had to win for most creative!

He looks thrilled…

Crazy hat day – smallest hat – largest hat – Kopi should be proud!!!

She is so precious.

Aust’s girl Allie – this is so her!!!

I should have done a close up on Isabelle and LeAnna, oopps

Mrs. Foster’s taking part in wearing green also.

Crazy hat day also – this was the most creative…

Celebrating St. Patricks day at school – they all look weird with no uniforms.

Love the wood whale… wait that doesn’t sound so good…

Super cute pic of Aust

Aust being a dork with me :)

J and I at the same spot, so cold again!

Aust and J out side the chowder place at the Seattle Pier

Homeworks done now I can play!

Doing homework in the car. The price you pay to play travel hockey.

Aust and don’t ask who that other person it… I will deny everything.

Snow measuring at the mountain on the way back.

The final score – Aust got them the 3rd goal to tie!

Austin still playing!!!

Aust playing

Dawn, love my favorite goalie mom and fellow life artist – she rocks!

Me working on my blog at the rink!!!

Austin puts his gear up in his stall as if he was a pro – he learned from the best “Gags”

They were out of napkins, fry sauce I could go on.

Lunch inbetween games was at Sonic – but they were out of everything.

Cheesy

It was SO COLD…

J and Aust downtown Leaventworth – snow pit!

A State of Mind

 I sat down today to write this blog, I have been falling behind in blogging and I have quite a few I need to do, St. Patrick’s day, trip to Everett/Seattle, Wenatchee… Anyways, I will get to those tomorrow. But today I am in a state of mind that is very somber and just here. For reasons, that I am keeping to myself today. Anyways here I sit, I really want to write, I really want to accomplish something, yet nothing is there – nothing is coming out – NOTHING… 

I am a quote person, if you know me even just a little, I live by quotes – I don’t always practice them, I wish I did, but I always reflect on them – just looking in my office today this is what I see – “You Play the way you Practice”  so true, that ones there because the boys come in my office quite a bit and I though it was appropriate.

You can walk all over my house and find them, from “Approach Cooking and Love with reckless abandon” to “What if the hokey pokey really is what it’s all about?” Quotes make you think, they can make and change a State of Mind… They are words that are true to someone.

Looking around my office, trying to find something to lighten my mood I find not only quotes, but cards and things left for me, I am a pretty understated person. My job in life has always been to help others, whether it’s my actual job, like it is now, or just the way I am, I help with as much volunteer stuff I can at Austin’s school, or his hockey team or my friends causes, that’s what I do that who I am - I help others…

Here is peek into whats on my bulletin board in my office right now – Pics of Aust playing hockey and LAX. Pics of a combined birthday dinner for Jill, R and me! Ian practicing on the outdoor rink in Enterprise Oregon.  The heart Aust made me for Valentines day. One of his modeling pics when he was 3. Notes from C.J. and Miss and Shae. Notes from flowers from the awesome parents I have – including my actual parents – but also from the boys parents and the owner of the team. One from Jill just because, sometimes I look at that one and laugh, it reads “Sometimes I wonder if you are even human, you are such a strong person.” I laugh because it’s just what I do – it never occurs to me that I shouldnt do as much or take on as much as I do… A card from the necklace Katie bought me that says – Kindness and Compassion – these are the gifts you share with the world. I never think like this… EVER… It’s just who I am and what I do…

Then there are the actual quotes – and today is a day that I have read them all about 5 times…

THIS IS YOUR LIFE – LIVE IT SIMPLY – DO WHAT YOU LOVE AND DO IT OFTEN – IF YOU DON’T LIKE SOMETHING, CHANGE IT – IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR THE LOVE OF YOUR LIFE STOP, THEY WILL WAITING FOR YOU WHEN YOU START DOING THINGS YOU LOVE. STOP OVER ANALYZING – TRAVEL OFTEN – GETTING LOST WILL HELP YOU FIND YOURSELF – SOME OPPORTUNITIES ONLY COME ONE SO SEIZE THEM – START CREATING – LIFE IS SHORT – LIVE YOUR DREAM

I WILL NOT LIVE AN UNLIVED LIFE – I WILL NOT LIVE IN FEAR OF FALLING – I WILL CHOOSE TO INHABIT MY DAYS, TO ALLOW MY LIVING TO OPEN ME – I WILL CHOOSE TO BE LESS AFRAID AND MORE ACCESSIBLE – I WILL CHOOSE TO RISK MY SIGNIFICANCE, TO LIVE SUCH A LIFE I CAN BE PROUD OF

HAVE LOTS OF FUN – LIFT A FINGER – DO SOMETHING FOR SOMEONE ELSE – CHEER YOUR FRIENDS ON – CHEER YOURSELF UP - CELEBRATE AT MUCH AS POSSIBLE – ENJOY EVERYTHING RIGHT NOW – IT’S OK TO WANT MORE AND DO MORE, BUT BE PRESENT WITH WHERE YOU ARE AND WHO YOU ARE WITH RIGHT NOW – DONT’ RUSH THE SITUATION, EVEN IF IT’S BAD – MOVE ON WHEN YOU CAN, DON’T SETTLE – TRY EVERYTHING YOU CAN AND GET OVER EVERYTHING HOLDING YOU BACK

There are 2 hockey ones I won’t bore you with, they are more towards be a hockey player – or hockey players mom!!!

But then there is this one – this one thing I live by, or at least attempt to live by everyday – some days are easier than others… Some days I can live by this – my mantra so easily and then there are days, it just goes out the window when I first wake up… it’s a day-to-day experience and one I am so thankful I was shown how to live it by one of the most awesomest people in my life. She is nothing like me and then again she is everything like me – I know she is there to be my sounding board, to give me the advice I need to hear, not the one I want to hear, I think it’s cause she is older and wiser than me (by 12 days!!!) She is my free-spirited fun-loving hippy best friend and she taught me what it means to LIVE ALOHA. Here is the breakdown -

Aloha is the coordination of mind and heart… It’s within the individual… It brings you down to earth… It brings you down to yourself… You must think and emote good feelings to others.

AKAHAI – KINDNESS expressed with TENDERNESS

LOKAHI – UNITY expressed with HARMONY

‘OLU ’OLY – AGREEABLE expressed with PLEASANTNESS

HA’AHA’A – HUMILITY expressed with MODESTY

AHONUI - PATIENCE expressed with PERSEVERANCE

My awesome friend was shown this way of living from  a great person, I wish I could have known. Living Aloha is not to be kept to ones self, it is to be passed on!!!

I love this way of thinking so much, it was my last tattoo last summer! It is a daily reminder of what I need to do to make my life better and everyone around me better also.

Today, I had a talk with someone very insightful and this is what she said -

“I think you are such an amazing friend and person, but sometimes you forget to be that to YOURSeLF! You deserve to have Angel as your BFF too!!! 

 I will be honest, it’s easy to live aloha when the sun is Shining, and with others… It sounds like you need some of your own love. Others should be wrapping you in it as well, but if they don’t or can’t or won’t, wrap yourself. ”

I love her and she is one of the best things that could have happened in my life – Hockey has enriched my life in so many ways – not just being the proud mom of a talented player!

As I write this, I want to delete it and start over on this blog – because I sound like I am being boastful and I’m not that way… It’s about everyone before it’s about me… I need to take some advice from my very honest dear friend and look at that tattoo on my ankle that is there for a reason and start LIVING ALOHA…

DISCLAIMER – I do have a very close group of people in my life that are like my sisters, I am not meaning the above comments to say that one friend is better than the others, it just happened that today I leaned on the one I knew would have the answer I needed.  That’s the thing  about the people I have surrounded and trusted into my life, they all hold a specific role and that I can always count on!!! Love each of you equally.

An everyday reminder of the way I want to live my life.

A

KETTLECORN

Kopi

On the way to Cedar Rapids

Cedar Rapids – arena during intros

The Bucs mascot – CREEPY

On the way to Cedar Rapids

Neighborhoods in Des Moines

PLAIN neighborhoods in D.M. pretty sure the paint stores only carry the following colors of paint – gray, tan and light yellow!

I’m not going to be dirty here, you can insert your own comment.

Kopi signing autographs post game

Jordan Creek

Before they started to fall!

The guys pretending to fall in the frozen pond.

Me and Gasp

J and Gasp

Yep, this post is about Kettlecorn, not exactly the kind you eat, more like the city you visit! If you have kids around the age of 8-11 then you have probably seen the Disney show Suite Life On Deck, and if you have you all know what I am talking about, it’s the lovely city our dear Bailey is from. Although her town is in Kansas, Justin and I got to visit KETTLECORN, IOWA, last weekend.

We all know how hard it is for me to get a day off in the middle of the season, I asked for Friday the 25th of February off and was very happy that coach said yes. Justin had already requested the 24th and 25th off and luckily his shift was over minimums so he got it off.  We haven’t seen Gasper since he left in the middle of October, we all txt each other all the time, but it’s not the same. We all really miss him. I looked back in January to see when Gasp played at home and when it would work for me to ask for a day off… It just so happened that The Hawks were out-of-town on a week trip and Gasper had 1 away game 2 hours from home and 1 home game, and it was one of the only off weekends for Austin, he only had 2 practices. J and I both decided that Austin wasn’t going to go, we knew he would be so disappointed not to see his older brother, but taking the red-eye and not getting much sleep, then the 2 hour drive 1 way to Cedar Rapids for the away game and then 3 hours sitting for his game and blah blah blah, I think you get the picture and if you know Austin, he is not into sitting for very long!!! I thought he was going to be PISSED when we told him, but he was okay with it, partially because he knows he gets to see Gasper in the summer. Gasper is going to be at home in LA for part of the summer and told Austin he could come hang with him. So that was a partial trade-off!

So our travel plans were to go like this, Missy and Mishaela were going to stay at the house and watch Austin from the night of the 24th through the night of the 27th. It was easier for the girls to stay in the house, that way the dogs were taken care of too! The girls were so awesome enough to take Austin to both hockey practices he had.  The girls and Aust took us to the airport at 9:30 on Thursday, our flight was full but on time to Chicago, we were actually 30 mins early into Chicago. We landed at 4:30am Chicago time. Our flight to Des Moines was not until 7:30am. We walked around and got coffee and a snack and just walked around, at least because it’s a big airport and it was a decent time, most things were open! Our flight to Des Moines (or as we call it Kettlecorn!) was on time and pretty empty and only an hour! We went to get our car… okay, so trying to do this trip as inexpensive as we can… our flights weren’t badly priced and I booked us a full size car, suppose to be a charger, it was supposed to snow so… When we get to the rental car place, the only full size car they had been a Kia Soul… umm I looked at J and said the one the hamsters drive in the commercial.. YA NO… so we upgraded to a Nissan Murano, it was pretty decent, J liked it and we were the first ones to drive it!

We headed straight to our hotel, hoping we could check in umm ya 6 hours early. We had both only had like 2 hours of sleep, it’s still like 7am for us… We got lucky and we were able to check in and were both asleep by 10am Des Moines time. We set our alarm for 3pm, wanting to leave by 3:30, it was at least a 2 hour drive, I wanted to be at the rink in Cedar Rapids when the doors open, so we could not be rushed and watch warm ups! Wait, I forgot to mention, we hadn’t told Gasper this entire time we were going to be there! We had covered all of our bases about him not knowing we were going to be there. Our only concern was Austin texting Gasper… We threatened Austin with bodily harm (ok not really!!!). I had been texting Gasp like any other normal day, asking if it was game day and if it was home or away. We arrived in Cedar Rapids and had a hard time finding the rink, some nice guy at the gas station has us follow him to the rink.

I had no idea wha to expect when I walked into a USHL rink in the middle of Iowa. I was pleasantly surprised, i know some of the rinks are new and this was one of them. It was college night with $1.50 beer. They have a ton of fans, the rink is awesome and their game ops was incredible. There are no usher, because all the people behaved themselves! We had seats in Gasper’s d-zone right on the glass, I was dying because Gasp was with in 2 feet of me, I could almost touch him. He would look at the seats next to us and then on the other side of us, he admitted he was looking at the people by us because they had Bucs jerseys on but never saw us!

The game was fairly good, it was even for most of it, Gasp got an apple (assist for those of you non-hockey people!). They ended up losing 4-2. We went and waited where the visiting team goes to load their bus. There is a glass in between us, when we saw Gasp he walks right past us… I bang on the glass and you could tell he didn’t want to look, he told us later, he thought is was a crazy Cedar Rapids fan, because they always bang on the glass and then flip them off. He wouldn’t look, so I kept banging, he finally looked over and he was stunned, he stood there for a second, completely confused at why he was looking at us in person. He came around the glass and was still a little speechless. He asks, umm what are you guys doing here? J says, we were driving through and thought we would stop in and watch you play!!! To say the least he was very excited and happy to see us.  We txt on the ride home for a while, he was so surprised and very happy!

We took him to grab pre-game the next day, and then dropped him off at his billet home to get ready for the game. J and I went to this mall and area called Jordan Creek, super nice. The only nice, new thing in Kettlecorn, oh I mean Des Moines! In the end we hung out a lot at Jordan Creek Mall and observed the locals, all I have to say is, it’s not the West Coast and there is a lot of blue jeans being worn!

We went to Gasper’s home game, I was a little spoiled by going to Grand Rapids the night before, new barn, awesome game ops! Then we walked into the rink where Gasper plays and umm, well wood bench seats, concourse is not really a concourse, it was $1.00 beer night and one of their sponsors was giving away a lot of swag, something with a stork on it, I will get into that story in a different post!  His team I think is in 5th in their division and unfortunate they lost again, at this point they had lost like 9 out of the last 10. But that’s not what I cared about, I just wanted to hang with Gasp and watch him play. He was the featured player of the game so he had to do autographs post-game, which we stood inline and acted like superfans just to bug him! We took him to post-game dinner afterwards, his curfew was 1pm, so we hung out for a while!

Sunday was a day off for Gasp, kind of, because the team had been on a losing streak, they decided to play a little football as a unity thing. We picked Gasper up and went and hung out at Jordan Creek again, then dropped him at the rink so he could go play a little football!J and I decided to go check out a scrapbook store I found and it was downtown West Des Moines, well it being Iowa, everything was closed, but the scrapbook store and a few odd antique stores. We had to leave around 6:30 in order to catch our 8:10 flight. We were able to pick Gasper back up at 3:00, went and ate at Cheesecake Factory at Jordan Creek – are you seeing a pattern here! Then just walked around and talked until we had to take Gasper home. As we drove tot he airport, I had this awful feeling about leaving “my kid” in this one-horse town to play hockey… Neither J nor I wanted to leave him, I wanted to bring him back as my carry on, I want him back in Portland. I am sure his mom has felt the same for the last 2 seasons.

Well little did I know I would get to spend another day with him! We got to the airport, the huge airport  that it is, returned our car to the same people who were working on Friday morning. I had already checked us in online the night before and paid for our one bag so it was cheaper, yay me. So I went to use the kiosk to get our baggage tag and it says you must have customer service help you.. what? Well turns out the plane from Chicago couldn’t get there because of freezing rain. No matter where they could get us, everything to Portland was booked except the same flight out of Denver on Monday night. The only flight we could get anywhere out of Des Moines on Sunday night was the one from Chicago whenever it did come in and then we would be stuck in Denver airport until our flight Monday at 9:30pm… So we opted to stay in Des Moines so we could see Gasper some more and take the 5:30 flight out to Denver on Monday.

I txt Gasper, so what time is curfew tonight, his response 10:30, why are you staying!!! We went back to the same rental car people, asked for the cheapest car for 24hrs and went and got Gasper, went back to our hotel and got the same rate for the same room! We had to ask Missy to stay an extra day, Austin was NOT happy. At the hotel, we Skypedwith Austin, since we couldn’t be there, he liked that I think! J took Gasper back and we told him we would pick him up early to have breakfast and hang before he had to be at practice at 1:30. We would have to leave right after his practice for the airport. It was nice to watch him practice and hang for a few more hours, before we did have to say good-bye. I felt better on Monday afternoon, then I did on Sunday about leaving him there. It is still hard everyday, just as it is with not having Ian… I know that in a few years I will probably be with out Austin and that will be even harder, obviously!

Our flight from Kettlecorn to Denver was on time and full. We made it to Denver with enough time to eat dinner and charge our phones! Our flight was full and on time to Portland, we actually got to Portland 30 mins early, so we had our baggage before Miss, Mishaela and Aust got to the airport! Austin was so excited to see us, he mostly wanted to see what presents we had brought him back!

It was a great trip, so excited to see Gasper play and hang out one on one with him. He looks so good and is playing so well. Hope you enjoy all the crazy random pics. I will be doing another post soon!

Atypical weekend

Last weekend was a very atypical weekend for us, then again I’m not sure what is typical around our house, except for never being there, oh wait that is why last weekend was non-typical! I had Friday night off and J took the night off also, I went and hung out with Katie at the mall, went shopping and got pedis and had an absolutely fabulous time! There were pictures taken, I can’t post them, as we had a friend that doesn’t want anyone to see the pictures, oh well, use your imagination.  While I was hangin with Katie, J and Aust went and looked for new shoes, the little one needs shoes BAD, he is so hard on shoes, I am sure so are other 9 yr olds, but I only have to deal with that one and uuhhh, it seems like between his feet growing every day and how hard he plays, we buy shoes every month. They also hit up the batting cages, as Austin had baseball try-outs on Saturday and Sunday.  I almost forgot one huge important thing that happened on Friday, Austin got his phone, finally. I don’t want to hear, he is only 9. You are all so correct, he is only 9, and it seems he is always not around, between school, hockey etc, it always seems that I need to get ahold of him and can’t, so it was a very minimal expense to add him to J’s plan and yes it was cheaper to get him a blackberry – and since it’s the newest curve, it’s better than his dads, hahaha, take it J. Austin is so excited and loves to BBM, so if you have a blackberry and want to add him, hit me up and I’ll give you his pin#, beware, he is 9 and doesn’t get it’s annoying to bbm everyone every second of the day. The fun thing is, he doesn’t sound like a 9 yr old on the messages, which in itself is so funny, I’ll share some later.

So Saturday was a whole new experience for Aust. He had baseball try-outs, he was nervous to the point of not wanting to go, because he didn’t think he was ready. He was ready though. That kid can run faster than most kids and has a pretty good arm.  We get ready and go to the field, which is not that far from the house, yay on that, also just as a fyi Austin has only played T-ball when he was 5 and that was so different from hockey.  Try-outs are from 11 – 12:30 on both days, on Saturday we show up at 10:40 and get his number for him, J and him through the ball around to warm up, for an HOUR. Ok, I am not saying that everything starts right on time with hockey, but it pretty much does, also on time for hockey is in gear, ready to step on the ice 15 mins before practice. So all of us including Aust is a little annoyed that try-outs didn’t start until 11:30, they lasted less than an hour and all it was each kid had to catch 5 infield balls and throw to first base, catch 5 outfield balls and throw to 2nd and hit a wiffle ball off of a T 5 times. WOW, such a difference than what we are use too, such a different world. Oh and we were freezing, I know I know, I am use to a rink, but OMG, it was so windy and freezing out there both days. I love how at the end of try-outs on Saturday the coach is like make sure you are here early tomorrow – what??? We got to the field about 10:50 on Sunday and Austin still warmed up for about 20 mins, well maybe 5 only because he is so shy and would not ask anyone to warm up with him, same exact drills as on Sunday.  it will be so different to see him play another sport, he played LAX last Spring and liked it, but he has really wanted to play baseball and I always forget since everything for it is in the middle of hockey season. I am sure he will do great and have fun, and it’s a whole new learning experience for all of us.

Being shy on Sunday.

2nd day at try-outs

He can throw fairly well.

Look at my little baseball player!

Saturday, The Hawks played a huge game – in the fact that we almost sold out the MC, it was a crazy game from the sales/business side, it was fun and we won. The game was “Pink the Rink” the ice was pink and all the staff wore pink shirts to support Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. Austin had asked for a pink shirt since he would be working, he looked so cute in it and his jeans!!! It was also L’Erin’s last day at work so some of us went out afterwards to say good-bye. The team left on Sunday after practice, they will be gone for a week, that usually means that my work life is a little bit calmer, at least during the day!

Jill loving me

He is so cute "working"

There he is again, he is so cute in jeans and a polo.

The little pink shirt is Aust!

Sunday was my mom’s birthday and J’s aunt Chris’s birthday too, J went to his mom’s early and looked at some really cool stuff from his grandpa, I will post pictures later. Aust, Tiff and I went to church and then headed over to J’s mom’s for dinner, we got home about 10, long day, but it was all good.  Monday was so weird for me. The office was actually closed for a holiday, so weird! So i got up, finished organizing my scrapbook room, Tiff came over we all went to Wunderland ( nickel arcade) then J and Austin went to skating lessons and practice, which Tiff and I went shopping went home and fixed dinner and scrapbooked, it was a nice relaxing day! So weird though, I though it was Sunday all day.

That was about it, pretty relaxing!!! This week is off a little, Aust has school, and the team is gone, and J has work, a lot of training lately, but then J and I are doing something this weekend without Aust, thanks to Missy, I can’t say what or else it will ruin the surprise, but it should be, no wait, it will be fun!

Until next time, have an awesome week.