still kicking

Happy Birthday Grandma Tractor! (had to make sure I said that straight away!)

Yes, we are still alive and kicking here ....still doing a little bit of renovating. Slowed down a tiny bit until after the holidays.

The boys are still playing hockey, although it doesnt seem like a lot lately. Retzky is still reffing the odd game as well and loving it.

We are not yet ready for the holidays, but is anyone ever really ready? They will come either way. DH actually gets holidays this year...we are soooo excited not to have to worry about the dang phone ringing!!

And one last thing...I have some xmas picture/cards made up...if you want one...send me your address....cause I dont have a lot of them ....I will try to mail it to you before the New Year....

please dont wait by the mailbox....i said i will TRY

whose bigger???

We love ya dirty bird....but whose bigger....the 38 year old feet, the 8 year feet, the 5 year olds or....the 3 year ones!!

Such a good sport!! You're a wonderful addition!!!

Is it too early to talk about the Grey Cup

Ok...I wont mention the score, the teams, the score...but here are some pics....

Dont leave your camera unattended

its been so long..i forgot my password!!

That seems to be the way its been around here. In between the flu bug, which has torn through our house with vengeance, and the cold bug, we have managed to do very little.

Hockey has been going alright. Retzkys team has only lost one game in their league play so far. But, in their only tourney (last weekend in Melfort) they blew chunks. We lost in the z final. But...we had fun and got to visit with my long lost friend from college.

C-man has been plugging away with Novice hockey. He is extremely bored as they still have the 3 goal limit most games. He has had one tourney that he was affiliated to play with the Atom division and will have another one this weekend in Langham.

DH had been working crazy busy hours, until the whole house got sick.....now I forced him to work the canteen shift so I could get caught up on the laundry and administer the gingerale.

Once this thing is outta here...back on the renovation wagon.....

weekend is oh-va.

Despite having a nasty head cold, the weekend still came. The nerve.

Friday night, scraped the popcorn ceiling in the basement bathroom. Lots of fun.

Saturday, sent C-man off to Turtleford for a hockey tourney (6am...aarrghhh)..where they lost in the B final. (lost to edam 6-1, beat dodsland 6-5, then lost to turtleford 6-5). DH and Retzky followed him up later in the day...while I wallowed in my sickness. (And sandpapered, and prepared walls for painting...lovely)

Sunday, Retzky had his first reffing debut, against none other than his brothers team. I was only there for a few minutes to take a few pictures and embarrass him. DH says he did alright and missed a few calls...but for his first time not so bad. C-man on the other hand, must have been tired from the day before because his game was a little lacklustre....maybe we all need some dryland training??

I managed a quick trip into the city to pick up a few items for the bathroom and got it completely painted. Tomorrow it should be tiled and by late this week should have a functioning bathroom...how exciting!!!

Now...I am going to put my head under a towel, over a steaming bowl of Buckleys and cry myself to sleep.....night all...

CougarMama and PMS

For those of you who dont have me as a friend on facebook, or for those of you who havent heard the story....here goes.

Last week, while making supper, I noticed a couple of teenagers acting a little silly outside my gate. I went to see what was happening, when I noticed two other teenagers (presumably their friends) going into our yard and stealing the kids scooter and skateboard.

I watched them take off down the hill to the river.

Then, something happened to me, something unexplainable. Call it courage, call it pms, call it whatever...but I actually did something about it. (didnt crawl under my blankeys and cry). Nope. Instead I decided to chase the buggers down.

First in the truck (thought I would cut them off at the pass) then, when that failed, on foot.

By that time the boys were right alongside me (even though they were given strict instructions to stay home). After asking some passerbys if they had seen anyone....the boys realized they were hiding, right down alongside the riverbank.

After stating our intentions to come home,,,,the thievin youngins decided to come up from the riverbank and walk towards Retzky. They had the gall to say to him "have you seen the kids that stole our bike....maybe it was you?" To which he replied..."give me my stuff back!". As they were approaching my cub....I went a little hairy.

I used far too many profanities for my children to hear, got really red faced, waving my arms around like a wild animal....and after failing all that....calling the police. (then promptly hanging up on them...which i dont suggest)

Long story, longer....we got the kids stuff back. Then I told them to be ashamed of themselves in my best mom voice....hopefully something was learned here.

Other than ...dont hang up on the police.....dont chase after criminals by yourself.....dont leave your junk outside for all to view.....dont dont dont...

but that day i did. and i won. and it kinda feels good....

Halloween and Retzkys 11th birthday!!

This year, there is no party, just a friend for a sleepover......

Dont have any pictures of the boys in their costumes. (unfortunately this year was the $15 cheapies from walmart) as they had hockey and more hockey and running around like grownups, definitely not wanting pics taken.

Retzky had a great weekend of hockey. Had his first two games in the Step League - you'll have to google it. They are Battlefords #2. They lost their first game to Turtleford (basically because they were sleeping in the first period and were down 6 goals). Ended up losing 10-8. I believe he had something like 4 assists and two goals.

Second game on sunday was against another Battleford team and they won 9-4. He got 7 goals and i think an assist in this one as well. He was pretty excited.

His third game is tonight, here in town, on his actual birthday against a third battleford team. He's hoping his lucky streak doesnt run out...but he is on a pretty good line and they work really hard....so heres keeping the fingers crossed.

So maybe tomorrow we can celebrate once DH gets home, and with no hockey. Heres to hoping!

Happy birthday buddy!! Love you...

the wedding...

This past weekend we attended DH's cuz'ns wedding in the city. It was FAN-TAB-U-LUS. Seriously...they must have one every year.

The weather was terrific, the view of the golf course in the windows behind the lovely couple. The MEAL (yummers)...the BAND....and the people. Second to none. Seriously...whens the next one.

We even managed to learn a couple of things.

1. Retzky can not handle all you can eat chocolate, sugar cubes and pop without tossing his cookies in the middle of the night.

2. C-man has never been able to make it late into the evening...and couldnt again.

3. I seriously need a haircut as all the family pics, looks like they have cousin IT in them.

4. One child loves to dress up, the other could only handle a tie for the first round of pictures.

5. DH and I do not get out enough....especially not when dancing is involved. Must do that again!!

6. We miss our friends terribly....and our family....it was soooo goood to see them again.

a few pics to start off with...

only a couple more days...

Until the big shindig, the fancy shmancy wedding...and its been a year or two since the last one. (I'm not good at dates, it could have been just a few months, who knows??)

But, the event is long overdue.

Big DH is all dudded out in a new suit, shirt, and tie. (long story...but he looks divine...)

C-man also now has a brand new suit, shirt and tie...and couldnt be more excited (actually wanted to wear it to the hockey game tonight)

Retzky is bummed, but he has reluctantly agreed to wear a shirt and tie. I have him convinced (just barely to not wear sweat pants.) But at least its not the same as his brothers. What was I thinking? (I wish i knew how to work my scanner and put in a family picture of us girls all wearing the same clothes...)

And me, well I was hoping to wear outfit #3. The swankiest of the 3. Unfortunately its still fits the same as the day I bought it. A little too snug for a family wedding. Might be alright in Vegas on a very short date with the hubby...but an all day affair with young children around....prob'ly not. So, now someone has to have another event...sometime in the next 12 months for me to wear it.

Now, off to the torcher chamber...aka...dungeon where i iron.....

This house on the hill, is alive with Mewsic....

Because I am technically challenged, I wont put up the video of C-man singing in the tub. I am sure I have shown it to most of you...if I havent, well you have to see me in person as its on my cell phone.

He sings constantly. And on tune. Big time. But, we have a pretty small house and he likes to sing LARGE. Larger than life, most times. Even when he is getting beat on by his older brother he will sing "please dont kill me, I'm too young to die" in perfect harmony (true story). He also will sing about food, sports, tv, french songs, school, girls and complete jibberish.

Retzky on the other hand, will only sing the "cool" songs..you know the ones on the top 20..or mtv .....and unfortunately knows all the words (aarrghhh)

Tonight, I decided to try to get out the geetar that I got from DH last xmas, and take an online course. That lasted about 15 minutes and now I am frustrated that I will never ever ever learn to play the geetar (even though its on my bucket list). I really would love someone with some knowledge and a lot of patience to come to my house and teach me....on my schedule (which is sporatic and non-existent) to become the musical genius I know that I am ready to be....

or at least be able to play the gambler at the campfire...

done and done...

Just finished the final football game of the short season. The boys played really well and improved a lot as the season went on. Today was their only loss of the season (7-0), but Retzky had 2 interceptions and C-man was at QB one set of downs and had our biggest gains of the day. We didnt have any coaches today, so it was supposed to be up to myself and another mom. I delegated. Its what I do. I just happened to know a couple of dads on the other team who helped us out.

Also...Retzky finished his cross country running. Not sure if that is his forte...but he loved it. (not enough to practise a lot, however) but he loved it. It may have been because they got to leave school early once/week, take a bus and have moola to spend at the canteen....but hey...he had to run 2 kms to get the junk first.

I may have to institute that rule. Sounds like a gooder...

thanksgiving weekend

The weekend has come and gone. My aunt and uncle celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary and unfortunately we couldnt make it down to be with the rest of the gang. Congrats you guys!!

We kept busy with other things. Namely, hockey tryouts, regular hockey, football and a wee bit of yardwork.

Retzkys team will be made today and they will be playing in the Step League ....C-man still doesnt know whats happening with him. We will wait and see.

On one of the days we decided to finally drive out to the crooked trees as we have been meaning to take a drive out there since we have moved here.....Enjoy the pics....

The trees are amazing. And literally just a few feet away is another bluff of trees that are perfectly "normal". It was a 40 minute ride to see them, and the kids were bored after about a minute....so we trucked our way home. Now we can stroke that one off the list....

this past weekend...

As my facebook status implied...I am definitely not a teenager anymore. There are times when I try to be...you know....staying up past curfew....tiptoeing into my parents home.

This past weekend we went out for a visit to the farm. It was supposed to be to try and help...but as usual....didnt end up that way. And it was also to visit DH...but he ended up getting called to work.

So, as it turned out, there was a dance in me-old stomping ground....and I decided to go.

I had a ball!! The band was actually 1/2 from my new stomping ground and the other half from my old. There was a really good turnout and I got to visit with old friends and make some new ones. (well...mostly embarrassed myself infront of friends children).

But...i had a blast. In spite of C-man asking me why I was going to the dance without his daddy. And who the heck would I dance with anyway? And snuggling by my side until my date showed up. (my younger, much better looking date....that just happens to be crazy mama and her darling husband) I was the third wheel...and didnt mind a bit.

Although sunday came early it was well worth it.....

boyz need their father!! (ok..mom needs DH!!)

So its been about a week or so now that DH has been going to work in not-NewYork....then heading out to the Tractors to help with harvest. Its been quite a few days with no papa.

Just before he left C-man got a note home in his agenda about what a wonderful boy he is to teach. And that when a substitute teacher came in and the other kids were lying, he was the only one to tell the truth. (and so he got to pick lots of prizes from the prize drawer).

Then...it all started coming unglued. The longer he's been away....the worse its been getting.

First, the fighting. Then the lying. Then the back talk...then then then.. Then the all out brawls at any minute.

Today, the youngest decided to ask out his first girlfriend. What was my first clue? Well...he had to wear his suit jacket to school. When I told him it might be best to save it for his first date...he relunctantly agreed to keep it at home. So, tonight when I asked him how it went....it was something like this.

he walks up to said girl and says "i think i have a crush on you"
she says " i think i have one on you too"
he says "you wanna go out sometime"
she says "let me think about it"

Ok...how is that bad, you ask? Well....that brought on the teasing from older brother. Antagonizing really......then they come barrelling inside to ask every conceivable question about sex. Literally...every one. Where the hell is DH again? (i just started to write some of the questions they asked but then i would have to put a xxx rating on this blog)

Not just about kissing and hand holding as you may expect...but it got horrifyingly graffic.

No wonder i had to go out to all hours of the evening on the weekend.

fall pics

Okay...guess i have to get a new camera...the pics didnt turn out nearly as good as I had hoped. The colors have been amazing, but I must have missed it by a day or two as the wind has blown off most of the leaves already.

Had to put in the one pic of Retzky...he always finds stray animals....this cat came right up to him and surprised us all.....

At least they gave me 5 minutes to take pics....thats something....

Love this time of year!!

My Bachelorette weekend

This was my weekend to be in the big city for my two work galas. Two black tie nights.

I got to stay at the Bess. I will say that I had an amazing room, with a beautiful view of the river. Fully renovated, quiet and amazingly clean. It was woonnnndeeerr ful. I also had some free time.

WTF is that? Well, I almost had to call for help as I had a minor panic attack. Good thing my seester talked me down. (Happy bday Dally!!) I didnt know what to do with myself the first morning, when I didnt have to run to hockey, or football, or birthday parties, or cross country, or or or you know. And because I wasnt at home, I didnt have to clean or do laundry. PANIC city.

So- after trying to call a few girlfriends (unsuccessfully) I gave up trying to phone people and went shopping. Got a couple xmas gifts, then went for an amazing walk down spadina and around the river. It almost brought a tear to my eye....damn i miss that city. I passed 4 different wedding parties taking pictures by the changing colors in the trees and it was such a beautiful day.

After that it was time for a quick drink with my ex-co-workers and off to the awards show.

One of the highlights of the weekend was my co-worker winning 3 awards!! It was amazing...we were expecting 1...but the other two were big surprises!!

Now...I guess i have to work harder/better to keep up the results.....

We are all back at home now and I have started to forget all about my me time as I make supper/put the groceries away/and start laundry.

it was nice to have those precious hours

those little things.

How come when you miss one day of laundry, it takes 7 days to catch up? (i was never very good at math, but wtf?)

Why is it that when the kids curfew time comes up, that the watch mysteriously quits working??

Please remind me to never ever buy a black vehicle again. For every 5 minutes of driving time, it requires 4 minutes of car wash time. Spontaneous decisions, much?

How come, the more money you make, the less you have? (dont even say that I am spending more dad!)

Two struggles, two rewards!!

So for the past few years C-man and I have been working on his english reading. For those that dont know, my boys attend french immersion. There marks have always been good. But, reading in English, has been a real struggle for my youngest. We have been trying to work on it for a very long time. This summer I made it my mission to not go one night without him reading at least one page to me.

Tonight....he came to me, right after supper and asked if he could read to me. Say wha?? He read me about 6 pages, then went off to a friends house. DH and I were in shock. Tonight at bed time he read the rest of the book to me. When I told him how proud of him I was, he told me that he really really likes reading now!!! Ok...I'm an old toughy...but I started crying.

This has been our little struggle...and its starting to payoff!!! YAY!!

The second struggle...is my own personal one (you know the healthy living/weight/excercise shite!) Tonight, after watching the Biggest Loser, I decided to try something.

There is a part in the show where the trainer says "its only 1 mile, shouldnt we all be able to run 1 mile?" I turned to DH and said I wasnt sure if I could do it. So, I got up, got my buttzky on the treadmill...and DID IT! I have never run that long without stopping before - EVER. Well, ok, maybe when I was young....but then it was because of a sport of some kind ....never ever ever just running.

Damn it feels goood.

monday is behind us...

I made my trip into the city on sunday...got my shwanky outfits (more than one, less than 5) And now I am on a stricter eating regiment, to make sure the one I want to wear to Rye n Robins wedding will fit!

Last night the boys had football. DH was awesome and took them. I stayed home, with the heat cranked.

Sounded like it was a real barn burner with no one scoring until the final minutes of the game. It was soo cold, that the football wasnt doing what it was supposed to, apparently. In the end, it was a tie. Retzky scored one td, and one of his best friends did as well (too bad he was on the opposing team)

Tonight, we were supposed to work a bingo for last seasons hockey-but we have found two girls to work them for us ...we thought DH would be working...but he's not. So, its a night off for us!! YAY!!

whew...its over...

Whew. The weekend is over. done. finito.

I would say we are all exhausted, but as I type, the boys are having some kind of wrestle-mania type activity in which one of them is screaming in pain.

The boys had a great football game on saturday and had their first win. (So now they are 1-1-0) not too bad. Retzky had a shot at QB, and threw a long bomb to his brother on the opposition 20 yard line and he ran it in for the TD. Brought a tear to my eye. C-man also had a shot at QB, but didnt have as much luck in finding open receivers.

Overall, it was a great game and amazingly nice weather and sunshine. (yes, i did say sunshine).

DH was stuck in the middle of nowhere and unfortunately missed the game. Good ol railway just couldnt get enough of him i guess!

Football, and hockey and reffing, oh my!

Ok...here is how the weekend is playing out.

Retzky has pre-conditioning tonight.

They both have football tomorrow morning, then right after its finished, Retzky has a second ice time.

Sunday, he will have to miss his ice time as he is wanting to become a ref. yikes. Please be gentle all you pitbulls out there. (I am going to use a line one of the dads used last year. He says if his reffing son gets heckled, he will sit by the heckler and ask him who his son or daughter is, then heckle the poo out of that kid for awhile....)

Dont know if I really have the kahunas to do that...but pretty funny none the less.

I was hoping to make a quick trip to the city as I am in dire need of another outfit for next weekend.

Thats the weekend we have our year end work function...and there is stuff thursday, friday and saturday. Have only one outfit. Not sure how that will work. Also, have no childcare plans as yet.....also a stag that DH is trying to fit in somehow.

oh yes...one more thing. Our local hockey office has said that C-man can not try out for the team the year older than him, and that he basically is still stuck in Novice. boo! He is a little miffed about it all.....I might have had a pitbull moment, but its gone now. (so is the bottle of wine!)

Gotta love it!

Hope you all have plans for the weekend.....

time flies when you're having fun.

Ok, so the blog has been slowing down. Basically stopped.

I do remember once in awhile about something funny, then I have to be somewhere and I have forgotten what it was by the time I come to writing. Thats how it goes. I even had to call home to ask what my address was growing up. (seriously....18 years should have made it stick??) losing it.

Retzkys first long distance race went alright. Despite he was the only one on the bus without a cell phone or an ipod of some sort, he managed to still run. There were 155 kids (approx) and he was about half way through the pack. After the dramatic story of being tripped and falling down a hill, only to recover a few positions. Hee hee....next time son, get those elbows up!

He has finished his online course to become a ref, and the next step is on sunday.

We have 2 extra boys over today as there is no school thursday or friday. Birthday party tonight, hockey friday, saturday sunday and football saturday. Nice relaxing weekend.

The boys first football game went pretty well for the first time....unfortunately the bickering between the two was non-stop. (why didnt you throw me the ball, didnt you see i was open?)

Could be a long season.....

the less i know....

Tomorrow is Retzkys first long distance track meet. In Almost-but-not quite-Riderville.

I know nothing. Less than nothing about it. Ok...thats a lie. I know that he told me that the teachers told them they need to bring their parents cell phone along, so that they could phone us to pick them up when they get back.

WTF?

No...sorry little man....you will not be bringing my cell phone along on a bus trip along with 25 of your favorite - also very rowdy and very irresponsible - friends. That cell phone would be lost faster than the IPOD touch went into the tub. nope. not gonna happen.

I said...I'm sure your teacher....or one of your friends with a good mom....will let you use their cell phone to call me.

They have not had one practise yet....this could be very interesting.

I will let you know when I know something....but right now....thats all i got.

charma...

So after a full 12 months of negotiations, I have finally allowed the oldest nagger to have Facebook. Trust me, it was a painful decision. And lots of rules. No...LOTS of rules. He doesnt love it...but at least he gets to go on it. Because you know...thats all his friends talk about at lunch time. NOTHING ELSE....

Funny thing is ....the laptop died! Yes it did. **snicker**

The blue screen of death has been showing up daily, and the last three days has been showing up 5-10 times/day. So...I guess we are off looking.


Oh yes....and he signed up for one more activity. This one made us chuckle. Long distance running. Yep, you read it right. LONGGGGGG Distance Running. The sheet goes back tomorrow and he has 3 meets already. (which he gets to miss a part of school for....)

We will see how this one goes....good luck!!

YAHOOOOOOOOEEEEEEYYYYY

I used to think my friends were crazy to want to have "routine" and "schedules" bah. Who needs em?

Well, apparently we do. And we are happy happy happy to have school back in the swing of things. 1st day - no pictures please - way too embarrassing. Had a ton of fun, met some new kids and loved every second of it. 2nd day, was alright. The homework has already started for the youngest. Gotta love dictee.

Also we have signed up for both football and hockey. Football starts Sept 11th (i think its every saturday and monday or weds for 6-8 weeks) The kids are very excited to start and although its not contact...its close....which is good enough for them.

Hockey will start the end of the month for pre-conditioning. R-dog has decided not to try out for the Tier team this year and will be playing house. Which means we will be running in one of two leagues...but wont know until the team is established. His decision was made solely on his own (this time it wont be my fault) and has said that he wants to feel more comfortable with the hitting before he goes out for any teams. makes sense.

C-man has no idea whats happening for him either...so stay tuned!!

Well off to make lunches and get ready for tomorrow!!

did i tell you?

We are in the new ages. Yes sir ree....we have upgraded our tv now to get more than farmer vision.

I was told that we would watch less tv. ??? Not so sure about that one. We have recorded a ton of movies and shows and are watching in High Def. seriously. We dont even have to fiddle with the rabbit ears anymore.

I have caught up on a few movies that I have been meaning to watch...

Sex and the City (yeah, the first one)...loved it!!

Precious - incredible movie. Totally disturbing. Wonderfully made.

Curious case of Benjamin Button- Slowest, creepiest movie. Ultra creepy and couldnt stop watching even though it was ridiculously slow. Sure there might have been a good message in there somewhere. Thank goodness Brad Pitt eventually turns young as there was at least 10 minutes where I could just stare and zone out.

I forget the other ones...but I am sure there are more. Now that the kids are a way for a few days, I might even get to see some more. thanks mom and dad!

Oh yes...I did forget two more

Julie and Julia - really easy to watch. Good acting, good story...up until the very end.

Stepbrothers - kids convinced us to watch it, as they had a friend over (and their parents let him view it) within the first 2 minutes, we realized we shouldnt be letting them watch it. Definitely adult humor. Freakin funny. Disturbingly funny sometimes....but funny.

and more lake photos

Never safe to leave the camera out...good thing batteries died before the xxx pictures were taken!

The big birthday party...and bigger cake!! yum

A few more lake photos

Funny story...The old "switcharoo" pizza pops for Auntie J's delicious meal!

The twins were camera shy to say the least....but awesome to have them for a visit!!

Kooch aka mermaid extraordinaire....

A few lake photos...

MUST READS

Thank goodness for my friends that lend me books. I love love love to read when the mood hits...and mostly in the summer as winter is too chaotic.

Here are two books that you have to put on your reading list if you have one.

The Book of Negroes - by Lawrence Hill. Great Canadian Author and even better book. Puts a lot of things in perspective.

and

The girl with the Dragon Tattoo- Stieg Larsson. Incredible page turner.

These two books are well worth the read.....highly Highly recommend them!

Where have I been, you ask?

Well, alright, you didnt ask. And dad knows where I have been...but I will give you the run down.

Basically didnt have any summer holidays until this past week as work has been crazy. Wicked crazy.

So, we have gone to the lake on the weekends to try to unwind. Basically just have the one weekend left until school activities are in the full swing of things.

I will get to posting pictures today as we came home from the lake early (3 inches of rain will do that to you). Today is the get ready for back to school, finish the hockey books, go through work emails day. Unless it turns out sunny...then it might be yardwork and maybe golf.

This week we are shipping the boys out to K-town for a few days, then we are going to spend the weekend in Edmonchuk with Auntie Velvis. Come monday-its BACK TO SCHOOL!!! Yay!!!!

our turn, i guess

What a summer we have been having here on the prairies. seriously could not get much more precipitation.

Up until tonight, our small section has been very very lucky. Until tonight.

Last reports I heard was that we had 2.5 inches of rain in less than an hour....but it wasnt the rain that was shocking. It was the hail. It literally hailed for 1/2 hour to 45 minutes. There were snow drifts that were very reminiscent of winter time.

People were boating down the streets, basements flooded, businesses closed. It was craziness.

Our little town, south of here was also hit. But not near as bad...and our house on the hill was spared any of the damage. Unfortunately others did not.

Good luck to border city tonight...bunker down....i hear its headed your way!!

new and interesting...

This week my motto was to go out and try a few new things. Or at least get out of my "box". So, on my lunch time walks I ventured into a business in town. This business is geared toward young, hip, surfer/skateboarder dudes/dudettes. I have always been intimidated by these types of businesses, but I thought....what the heck.

BAR NONE the service was the best I have ever received in ANY retail environment EVER. They made me feel right at home (didnt stare down at me and question why I was entering their domain). They answered a lot of my questions and made my 15 minutes there very pleasurable. Although I didnt buy anything this time, I have made sure to let everyone know about my experience and I am sure I will be back.

Then.....off on the second part of my walk, I finally ventured into the library (which I have been meaning to do for about 5 years). After a few of the usual questions, she popped my name in the computer.....only to find out that I had late charges from 1999. 99!!! I have never missed a payment in my life...nor did I even remember. Only then did she tell me it was a "baby names" book. Then it all came back to me....I had taken it out when Retzky was due....then he was two weeks late, then intensive care for another two weeks....needless to say the book didnt get back in time. So, long story short, I paid my $8.40 fine (a dime a day until they get sick of waiting for you to pay apparently).....and left.....disgruntled.

But....I will take any advice on new books to read as I plan on using that quite a bit to get my freakin $8 back!!!

MOSQUITO AA PROVINCIAL BALL

So, our hard ball season is officially over now. DH and I are volunteered out. pooped. exhausted.

Retzky did awesome. He pitched and played field and had tons of catches and lots of good at bats.

Their team ended up 2-2. They beat Yorkton and Weyburn. Unfortunately they lost to Swift Current and Lloydminster. They were winning against SC until the final at bat where they lost and they previously had beat lloyd.

Lloyd went on to win the tourney....so we know we could be there. Really it was 2 very bad innings out of 24....they should be proud of themselves.....we are!

Unfortunately I dont have any pictures....hopefully I can steal some from Auntie Velvis.

ps....thank you thank you thank you to all our family that came out to cheer R-dog on. He thought that was pretty cool.

day camp rocked!!!

Just in case I forget next year,,,remind me to put the boys in the day camp offered by our highschool....it was awesome!

The boys played volleyball, basketball, archery, tennis, soccer, badminton. They also went swimming and hiking. Oh yes....and lots of floor hockey. Cant forget that.

They asked to go the second week, and were allowed to. They were sweaty and smiley everyday we picked them up. (oh yes, with a freezie to end the day, how could you not be smiling?

This week....

This week, the boys have been enrolled in a day camp. Mon-thurs 9-3 at the local highschool.

Put on by the two physed teachers (husband and wife) and they learn about a different sport every day...or more than one a day.

I went and picked them up today and they were extremely sweaty with huge grins on their faces. THEY LOVED IT! I was amazed...they didnt whine about it, tell me I was the worst mom ever or anything like that.

In fact, they cant wait to go tomorrow and they want me to phone to see if I can get them in next week. I am sure they are booked up...but I will sure try.

Spring hockey finale

I'm sure I have pictures...I will try to dig those out.

This year we did 4 tourneys. Edmonton, Regina, our own in Saskatoon and Winnipeg.

Ended the year 14-6-1 and had a really strong, competitive team. C-man had a lot of fun and so did we....great bunch of parents and awesome group of kids that seemed to get along really well.

We got 2nd on the A side in Edmonton, Won the B side in Regina, 2nd on the A side in our own and won the consolation in Winnipeg.

The kids also got to go go-carting, touring the dressing room of the Manitoba Moose, got to meet Steve Staios and talk to him at length (wonderful ambassador for the NHL, btw), limo rides, tour of the mint and I'm sure I'm missing more.

The hair got dyed blue again this year....along with a sporty mohawk.

Good times....now just to get the darn bookwork done!

Ball

We ended ball this year with a fun year end tourney. Not much of a tourney...more like try to play a couple of games before we got rained on.

Although the rain held off, the sun was shining like crazy and the two coaches (me and a good friend) really really wanted to head off to the lake. So, we didnt exactly try our hardest to make it to the final game at the end of the day.

The boys both played well....and hit well.

With one unfortunate incident. The other coach and I were constantly talking to one of the players about paying attention, when he nudged me to look at C-man in left field.

He was laying on his back, facing away from the batter, feet in the air and tossing his glove up and down. Not sure the attention span thing is quite there yet....might be soccer next year??

R-dog is still playing his provincial ball, although its hard trying to get games in between the downpours. This weekends tourney in Lloyd has been cancelled due to lack of teams....but they are coming here on saturday for a double header, then we are headed there sunday for the same.

The following weekend is provincials here in town and we will be doing a lot of work for that...if you are coming to town to watch...let us know and I will start baking (HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH)...

A few little updates for my pops..

Okay Dad....here goes....

Report Cards and Year end stuff...

Both boys did great on their report cards. R-dogs lowest mark was an 81 (in Religion...sorry G'ma Tractor!) Highest mark was a 91 (in Social) and his overall average was 85. His teacher wrote us a note and mentioned that they had their English reading tested and R-dog was 2 grades higher than he is in currently!! He loves to read. So...just a wink wink and a nudge nudge for xmas and bday gifts!!

C-mans lowest mark was an 84 (in Health Education) and his highest was 97 in physed. His average was 88. And the best news of all, is that he doesnt get the SLOTH teacher that R-dog got!!! My little rant to the principal didnt go unnoticed. His strong point is not reading in English yet...so thats our summer project.

The last few weeks of school were a write-off basically. With movies, field trips and general nothingness.

R-dog had his first ever school dance (grades 4-7) and never danced with any girls. He did win a prize for the best rap group dance with a couple of his buddies (must get his dance moves from his father, and his grades from his mother!!)

C-man had the big trip to his teachers farm where they visited lots of animals, and created havoc. He was a little big chested when he told me that 3 other kids followed his lead and got their hair dyed blue and cut into a mohawk just like him. He thinks he's a bit of a trend setter now.

Now..school is out for summer!!

Frackin Deux

This is their house league team. Great bunch of kids and even better coaches...hahah..I helped when DH couldnt be there, which was quite a few times this past year.

Retzky also made the provincial team...so we had ball mon,tues,weds, and thursdays.

House is now over. The provincial team will go until July 17th when we host provincials here in NB.

FRACKIN BUSY

Sorry folks...unusually high volumes have made your wait time even longer. dududududududu

I literally have only 5 minutes...so I will post what I can....here goes.

These pics are from Retzkys big win in the soap box derby...kicked butt in their age division. Except when it came time for the team cheer. Shyest team ever.

my little atheltes..

yeah..i know...late updates and no pics...but here is a little rundown...and Iwill promise to load pics shortly.

Retzky went in a soapbox derby with his two good buddies last weekend. It was there first time as a team...and probably the 3 shyest kids in the whole building (it was moved indoors due to rainy weather). They ended up winning the whole dang thing! They were pretty excited and came away with medals and McD's gift certs....but was mostly for the glory...heehee

Then, the following week he had city track (which is all the catholic schools in nb, and one other small town). He was eligible to go into 2 events and got a 1st and 2nd place. (better than he did in just his school track and field)....dont ask which "events"....cause they werent "real"events....soccer kick for distance and ball throw for distance.....oh well....at least its something!!

C-man had his Regina tourney this past weekend. They went 4-1, unfortunately the loss put us on the b-side...and once there didnt have a lot of competition. The one loss was a hearbreaker (4-3) and we had oodles of chances to tie or win in the final minutes. C has decided that he doesnt want to talk about it anymore and we arent allowed to say "b-side" anymore. He is a little ticked. We were hit with a few injuries and he got to play winger for one of the games. He hustled a lot, worked hard and didnt look out of place at all.

Our final tourney is in the Peg in 10 days.....then its all ball season.....now just to let mother nature know that its supposed to be sunny....

Kids are precious

DH has an uncle with a saying...."kids are precious"....really ours are no exception.

Here are a few of the latest incidents which may have brought the saying on...

1. *** ,while on the way to the big city, (at a little over the speed limit) decided to slam the gear shift into neutral. nice.

2. ***** decided to throw his brand new Itouch into the bathtub full of water. Instead of telling me, he tried plugging it in to the computer and then about a week later confesseses the whole truth, nothing but the truth.

3. ***** came home from school with green marker dotted all over his face. Not one, two or even three marks. More like 177 green pock marks. sweet.

4. ***** and ****** throwing away their food from school lunches on the "sly"....little do they know their mama is a sleuth-dog. No wonder they are STARVED when they get home.

5. ****** and ******telling their teacher nasty and untrue stories about the parents....and us being questioned about them.

I probably could go on, but the precious stories are limited now. I have a way of blocking them out of my memory - sort of like child birth.

I'm sure there will be more to come.....

earful...

Yesterday at work, DH calls to tell me he picked up the mail and we have an appointment to see the Ear specialist August 4th.

With all the trouble that C-man has been having, I thought I would call to see if there was a list I could go on for cancellations.

The receptionist was amazing, genuine and really accomodating. She understood and told me we could get in to see him June 10th.

By the time I hung up the phone with her, DH called to say there was a cancellation today and could we get him in....so I was off to the city today.

Basically the ear tubes that C had put in last time have a life span of 18 months...funny enough thats just about the exact time he started having trouble again.

So...surgery it is....more tubes going back in. 6-8 weeks...oh the joy....

dance to the music....

Ball season is well under way and the boys are having a blast! (Some more than others....I think the sunflower seeds are the big draw right now!) Retzky should find out tomorrow if he makes the provincial team....heres hoping!

C-man had a great hockey tourney again last weekend in Saskatoon. And seeing as the weather was gross....it didnt hurt my feelings that we werent at the cabin. So, instead we watched him go 4-0 in round robin. Then beat another Stoon team to make it to the A final. We really wanted to win this one...but alas, it wasnt meant to be. So- two tourneys and two silver medals. Pretty good. Unfortunately when you lose, it doesnt feel like much of a silver medal and we have had to prop the bottom lip up a few times already this week.

The freakin recorder is still going strong and I'm about to snap it into little itty bitty pieces. teeny tiny little pieces. But, then I have visions about the socerer's apprentice and I think they might all multipy into more freakin recorders!!

oh yeah....one last thing....R-dog gets to go to city wide track and field in two events. Thats this friday. Pretty good, since he never practises anything in track....

home of the drawl...

On our way to Regina, we stopped in to visit some old friends. It was a short sweet visit and sure nice to catch up. Usually when DH gets to this part of the country, he is stuck there for a few days!!

Great hosts....feeling bad that the first pic didnt turn out.....we will have to do it again!!