Weekend Fun

We had a busy weekend, can't believe it is Sunday night already. Unfortunately I didn't have the camera with me like I wanted so we are lacking photos, but I will make up for that soon. Saturday started off with an early morning of house cleaning. Everyone chipped in and the job was quickly accomplished, the kids were motivated because they were promised a bowling trip. At noon we headed to the pinewood derby for Beau's boy scouts. Beau's car didn't fare so well as it was our first time, it was way too light, we had to add weight and we were ill prepared so the glued on change and bullets really slowed the thing down. He wasn't the slowest car of the day and he handled it in stride. He was pretty upset but with a pep talk from Ben about learning from the present and doing better next year he settled on getting an ice cream cone and then enjoyed watching the rest of the cars race. We ended up being there for much longer than expected and instead of bowling we headed home. The kids weren't thrilled but got big schemes about what they were going to build in the garage with Ben when they got home. After building the car they all wanted to do projects. It started with Ben and Beau building a lego building table for Beau. Anna decided she wanted a table and chairs for her Barbies but was impatient waiting for Ben so solicited my help in the endeavor. It seems like it has been a while since I've worked with Ben's tools, but after spending so much time in Kentucky with them I was fairly comfortable. I used the band saw to cut pieces to Anna's specifications (they weren't all straight edges, but Anna drew the lines). Then we took our pieces inside and with the help of some super glue put the project together. The table doesn't wobble but I don't think I can say the same thing for the chairs. She then HAD to paint them, so she has two blue chairs and a cream table and couldn't be happier. Beau and Ben finished his box and Luke was content making swords out of the scraps he found on the garage floor. Ben then finished his day by throwing together a book shelf for his office. He never ceases to amaze me. We all went to bed early in preparation for the loss of an hour. We all felt that hour loss this morning, but nevertheless we made it to Mass and spent the majority of the day in town. We enjoyed lunch out together, then a trip to the craft store for fabric and more project ideas (for later blog posts). Beau did get a model airplane kit and can't wait to put it together. He had remembered me telling him stories about PopPop's models as a kid and really wishes PopPop was here to help him with it. I wish so too because I am not looking forward to trying to figure it out. Ben will help but Beau won't want to wait until next weekend when Ben has more time.
Then we finally went bowling. We invited some friends to join us and we had a blast. The kids used bumpers and really did well for not having bowled in well over a year. Luke loves bowling and gets a kick out of even one falling down. Each of them got at least one spare which made it all the better. Ben and I bowled for the first time in probably four years, lets say we are out of practice. It didn't matter though it was fun to have the kids cheer us on and get super excited when we bowled a strike (it did happen once or twice.) A quick dinner of home made mac and cheese and off to bed. Another Monday lurks tomorrow. We are getting so much closer to bean (or spring...Luke said he can't wait til "bean" the other day and it took a lot of translating before Beau came up with the fact that he was saying spring), the sun is shining a little bit more and hopefully the snow continues to melt.

Anna sledding

The kids came home from school one day last week, and it was a perfect day for sledding. So they grabbed their sleds and I grabbed the camera. These are all of Anna, but I have some of Luke and Beau too, but Beau never got close enough to get great ones. They had so much fun and didn't want to come in. Anna was always sure to help Luke and they rode together a lot of the time but there were times when they did their own thing. She loved to stop and pose for the camera and always made sure I was watching.

Anna rode up front most of the time because Luke felt safer in the back, she did convince to ride once in the front, they wiped out quickly because he puts his feet down.

This one she had just fallen off the sled and laid there.
What better way to make the most of falling off then to make a snow angel. She never ceases to amaze me.
These last two are just for fun. She just looked perfect out there in the snow with rosy cheeks and a wonderful attitude.

Rock Star Beau

Last Friday was Rock and Roll day at school, so Beau chose to participate in dressing up. He wore jeans with a hole in the knee and he had some hair gel tinted green we bought when we got his hair cut in Spokane. He was saving it for St. Patrick's Day, but we think we have enough for both. He wasn't sure he liked his spike after we were done, but by then it was so stiff that it was going to be that way all day. You can see the green better in the close up pictures. He seemed to have fun, and I liked watching him go out of his comfort zone and do something different for a change, not that I want to spike his hair every day.

Goalie

During Luke's hockey games, they had five players on the ice, one was goalie. Because there were only 8 players for Luke's team sometimes they had to stay on the ice for more than one 3 minute shift. As soon as the horn sounds Luke heads for the sidelines and getting to go another shift proved to be difficult. So the coaches started having play goalie for one 3 minute shift and then go skate and play the puck for the next 3. One time he played the puck, then goal tended, then played the puck and was out there for 9 minutes, he was ready for a break. He didn't always pay attention as goalie, but he did stop several. It was fun to watch him back there because it was obvious he was watching everything around him, when the coaches cheered for a blocked goal, he would beam and look at them, only sometimes this ended up in the other team having a chance to score because he wasn't paying attention. At least he was taller than the goal. :)

Beau in Action

Beau had two games on Saturday and two on Sunday this past weekend. He played hard in all of them and he played a little better in each one. Beau enjoys hockey but isn't super passionate about it. He has really grown this year and he tries hard but he is out their having fun more than anything. He prefers defense over offense so he doesn't often even try to shoot. He loves to sacrifice his body to save a goal, but he doesn't want to be goalie. He is always intense on the bench waiting for his turn to take the ice. The first picture on the bench is one of my favorite, just shows how ready to go he is. The others are all just action shots, it was fun to look back at the pictures and see how hard he was working to get that puck. Saturday is his last game and I hope to get some video and some more pictures.

Luke's Hockey Faces

We had a hockey tournament this weekend. The boys and I headed to Butte, MT for 8 games of hockey, 4 each. I have many more pictures, but I thought I'd start with these. This was just before Luke's last game of the day, he'd already played three hours of hockey and had one to go. We loaded him up with some Cheetos, an airhead, a lollipop, and I think he was eating nerds here. He was ready to go. It was the most cooperative he was all day and the only time I was able to sit and the stands and watch without him needing me to be on the ice by the bench. He did have fun but it was a long day, for all of us.

Valentine Girl

Anna woke up for school Friday and promptly dressed in Valentine apparel. Her school party was Friday and she looked adorable. I stopped by during her lunch to snap a couple of pictures because I knew I wouldn't have another chance that day. I had fun playing around with them to make them look fun. She was a little embarassed because all her friends were watching, but she played along for the sake of her mom. She was an adorable Valentine.