Power . . .

Is a good thing to have on the court and in one's house after two days without!

This boy is soooooo fun to watch on the basketball court, yeah, probably because he's pretty darn good and LOVES to play the game too, but so fun to watch.  Can't wait to watch him and his game grow in the years to come...well, it could come at a slow pace if it wouldn't mind.

Anyway, it's also sooooooo fun to watch half of the lights come on in the house after they'd been off for two days.  Yep, we lost power with the "big" blizzard that started Tuesday night.  I think we ended up with near six inches but the first three were just so thick, wet and sloppy that lots of branches broke and out in the sticks here that means, there goes our power.  BUT...Uncle J convinced us last year (two?) that it was TIME TO ACT and get that generator bought and wired into the house (eternally grateful for that), so we had heat, fridge, water and some lights for the last two days.  Just went through LOTS of gas, but I'll take it.

Tonight . . .

 This guy snuck a picture with my iPhone and it got posted on the ol' blog.

Ha!

And, he played an AWESOME game of hockey tonight, blizzard or no blizzard.  He's been known to skate to the boards and pull himself out of play if he's tired and I basically told him he can't do that even one time tonight, not once.  He's never, not done that.  Well, with one exception at the beginning when his ankle got his with a puck, he didn't pull himself out again and wow, he was on fire!!! Lots of compliments for what a smart player he is too, love that.

Tonight his team beat the other house team for the second time in a best two out of three series to see who can make it to the State playoffs.  Only one problem.  Somehow the rules got changed (or I never knew the right rules) that if that other team also made it to states through the traditional method of playoffs (which they did and we didn't), then that cancels our opportunity to get in with our in-house 2 out of 3 playoff (we had that opportunity in the fist place because our rink is hosting states).  Got all of that?  So, even though we won the best 2 out of 3, we're not going to States.  BUT...that's ok, because we're in (well, who's this "we" actually? . . . ), anyway, they're in a tournament that if they make it to the finals (they've already passed two sections of playoffs), they get to play at the JOE!!!  Sorry, that seems cooler than States to me.

 Go Crossfire!

This is the look of the very scary blizzard that has everyone (but hockey players) holed up in their homes tonight.  Yeah, not too scary really.  The roads are sloppy, we went slow, but no big deal really.  We'll see about the snow day tomorrow, they haven't called it yet (11:30p.m.).  Loved this comment from a weather article on the local .com/paper.  "Calling for 8 inches today, or 1-2, unless it's 4-6."

Yep, 'bout right around here!

Hippies Use Backdoor . . .

No Exceptions!

(Just found a widget to add their music to my side bar, check it out!)

Oh man, did SP and I have a cool experience over the weekend.  You see, in my spare time I've taken up guitar and take lessons at the Y once/wk (yep, I walk through all the sweating, huffing-puffing young things on their stairmaster thingys, with my big ol' geetar case, head held high).  Last week my teacher, the woman below, said she had a gig at a speakeasy in town.  A what? 'Scuse me???  Yep, low and behold, unknown to many there is a speakeasy from the 1920's in the basement of a very non-descript house on the west side of town.  You would NEVER know it was there.  So we went!

And we used the back door.

Hey, we were babies during the hippie era so we own it a little bit.

And wow, sorry but...hippies have gotten (old), sorry 'bout that but we didn't expect all the white/gray hair in the crowd. (-:

Ten dollar per head cover, maybe five rows of chairs just in front of this stage with maybe eight chairs in each row and then a row of chairs along the side wall. Then there's a level above this lower part of the basement that loads of people were standing in...I think one of the reasons this place is found by who you know is that it might just be a major fire hazard...but it was still super cool.

 My teacher and her husband have been playing forever, most recently as their own duo.  They play a lot of blues, some folk, some gospel, just really cool, great music.  And, their connection with each other is sooooooo awesome to watch.  She'll describe a little snippet of their life, how it relates to the next song, they'll sing it and as it ends, the applause erupts and you see him give her a sly little wink with his left eye while she beams. Loved It!

 Yep, I might officially be a groupie!

Plus, she really is an amazing teacher, I'm loving the class.  Just wish I'd practice more in all my spare time, heehee.

Chow and enjoy what hopefully is huge gobs of snow coming tomorrow.  Forcast has us at maybe six inches...yes please!

Today . . .

I took a 50 minute nap and swam one mile.

For my days of late those were far greater achievements than you can ever imagine!!

Now, to get my 33 minute mile from today down to at least the 27 minute mile I seeded myself for at the State Meet in April.  I work best under pressure so I do what I have to do, ha!

O.K, fine, this was to be a no picture post but I just can't stand it...

Hanging around on the desktop is this pic.
I drew the two sets of shapes and last Fall sometime (yeah, it's been sitting around that long), when Livia was just turning three or there a bouts, I had her find the matches. Um...no problem...and, this is the girl that the state says can't start school in the Fall of 2015 because she won't be five by September 1st???  We might have to just see about that!

Finland . . .

I know a LOT about Finland now!

Did a presentation on it for Culture Shock day at the kid's school last week.

Now I want to figure out a way to go there for a month in the summer (even though their average high is about 68 degrees, although, in the Lapland area the sun wouldn't dip below the horizon in the summer so that could be fun, oh, and they have 187,888 lakes to choose from with all that sun hanging around all day and night so that could be fun too, chilly, but fun.  Oh, and we could hit an island or two since they have 179,584 to choose from!)...see, I know a LOT about Finland now!

(-:

 Isn't that absolutely gorgeous??!!

And, can't you see why many Finnish immigrants ended up in the northern midwest of our country?

Oh, did you know that Finland is roughly the size of Montana with roughly the population of Minnesota? No? . . . Well, now ya do! (-:

 Did you know they have a very high number of car accidents involving moose and reindeer?

Yep.  Did you know I had this pic and that fact in my power point presentation for way too close to presentation time when I finally had the sense to remove it since I was presenting to the K-4 set...not sure how many kindergartners needed to picture those cute guys above being splattered by an all wheel drive!  Did you know I took my presentation of Finland for a K-4 set wwwaaaaaaaayyyyyyy to seriously????? (-:  I could easily stop in a one of the local universities for a guest lecture on Finland anytime they call, hahaha!

And, besides discovering that the Finnish word for bunny is pretty much like "poopoo", this pic was probably the biggest hit of the day.  "Angry Birds" they'd all cry in delight! Yep, Angry Birds was developed at a computer company in Finland..."Wow", said me.

Did you know my daughter makes the BEST Finnish pancakes (Pannukakku ) around and was a total trooper when I asked if she'd make four batches!  Sprinkle those babies with some powdered sugar and/or fresh fruit and yum-oh! Probably won't find my recipe online, looked a little bit, but I'll link one that's similar.  Our recipe calls for a 1/4 cup of orange juice mixed in with the batter. Plus, ours calls to mix the batter in a blender, I think that really makes a difference. So good!

So, I have tons more I could say about Finland, but not tons of time...as a matter of fact this post is going merely to delay my heading to the pool.  I have been a TOTAL slacker for probably a month now with swimming and I have a meet on March 10th (where I'm also singing the Star Spangled Banner, oh boy!) and States coming up in April.  Have to get this rear in gear!

Well, We "Played Outside" just as I'd hoped . . .

Last weekend was our second annual trip to sledding at Sleeping Bear Dunes.

 (here's the first annual, actually did a couple posts so poke around Feb '12)

I'm sorry, but, I challenge anyone to find a more awesome sledding hill than that in our magnificent state (and no, ski hills don't count)!

 These are the kinds of looks you'll get from your kids while sledding such a hill.

Well, of course, before they get tired and cold!

Isn't that just the best smile ever?

 Oh, wow.  Here we go now with an attempt at the forward, belly slide.

 This is not for the faint at heart!

See??!!

Often the sledder is quite stunned after the experience.

 But, they typically shake it off and give it another go.

Only to be followed by another stunned sledder.

There's SP now after a run down the hill with Lara.  Funny how many pics I have of people just flat on the ground after zipping down the ol' bear! It is something to be experienced in one's lifetime that is FOR SURE!

Another thing I can't believe after looking at all my pics is that no one got injured!  Wow, do you get whipped and zipped around on such a big hill.  But big smiles all around even with the wipe outs.

Such a great time!

We're hoping to Play Outside this weekend . . .

Yep, for the first time in I honestly can not remember, I bought something (well something over five bucks, not from the grocery store and not chocolate) that I absolutely did not need one bit. I love every single one of those sentiments and even though it doesn't really go with anything in my house and I have no where to hang it, I bought it.  And that's that!

Have a great weekend!

The other day we tried to go to an island with 80 degree temps . . .

Remember that island?

(Guess it was cooler there than I remembered)

Anyway,

We ended up on an island with 50 mile per hour winds, 30 degree temps and locks on the gate to our tropical paradise!  Note to anyone:  While the Belle Isle Conservatory website says they're open on Monday...THEY.ARE.NOT!

(-:

So, after driving all over the island sight-seeing (we were especially excited about all the ice drifts surrounding the shores...so much for desert air...), we decided to warm ourselves by the fire.

 Saganaki anyone?
"Oooo, I felt that heat," they said.

 I loved traipsing into a place like a Greektown restaurant on  Monday afternoon (they didn't seem to know anything about us with our "ice day" that day) with five kids in tow. I get a little giggle as I watch people watching us jumble by, find seats, oh just all the commotion that goes along with getting the crew into such a place.  They're not bad about it at all, just five kids with a lot of activity and questions. Fun stuff!

Winter doldrums got you down in the kitchen? . . .

What you need is a new and exciting recipe to spice things up.

I aim to please!

So, go grab yourself 500 grams of dried mopane worms and off you go:

Courtesy of this weekend's Sunday paper.

You know, I'm not sure what I'm going to do when they stop the paper all together.  I've gotten a newspaper my entire adult life (well, post-college...in college we're probably adult in age only...although, don't tell my college self that, or my 16 year old self that for what it's worth.  One time, my friend and I sat in the middle of a mall having a very logical and reasoned conversation about how we at 16 seriously felt that we really, I mean for real here, KNEW all there was to know about life and what in the world were adults thinking in saying that we didn't??!! HAHAHA, wow...) But...I digress...(-: Anyhoo, I've always loved reading the paper.  Started as a kid with the comics (which my kids love now, and I've started saving them again for wrapping paper, though now a days, even the comics get inappropriate like the rest of media and I have to watch which ones get placed on the front of a nine year old kid's present...unbelievable!!)...But...I digress, again...I used to absolutely LOVE getting the NY Times Sunday papaer when we lived in NYC.  Even got it for a few not-too-many-kids years when we moved back home, but it got to be too much of a read as life picked up.  Started with the local paper then and still have it, though now it's only two days a week and the rest of the material is online.  I wouldn't get to reading it daily anyway anymore, but I sure like getting that Sunday paper still!

Well now . . .

THAT was a new one!

Fourteen years in on this parenting gig and never once did we head to the ER for a kid with a stiff neck!  Well, let's get serious about it for a minute folks, it was officially:

 TORTICOLLIS after all!!!

So, here's the story:

Our littlest lovely snuck into bed somewhere between 3-5a.m. and soon after (well, I have no idea if it was soon after really) I was being requested to rub her sore neck, so I did.  Woke up for good around 7:30a.m. with Liv laying flat on her back with her head looking over her left shoulder...and unable to move it One! Bit! without a good bit of pain.  Of course I naturally thought, stiff neck, let's give it a little rub.

Then SP and Ben headed off to hockey and the stiff neck prevented us from getting going to the 9:15 service so I figured, well, 10:45 service it is.  At 10:00a.m. though she was not improving at all and her level of agitation/pain seemed to be increasing to me.  In the meantime, SP was shopping around the symptoms with fellow hockey parents and I was getting whispers back of...bacterial meningitis.  

Well, that got me on a quick call to Urgent Care to which they responded to my story with..."Um, you need to take her to the ER." To which I responded with..."Um, what is it you think you couldn't diagnose in Urgent Care that you would like the ER to diagnose?" In my mind that question translated into:  "HELLO PEOPLE, COULD YOU PLEASE TELL ME WHY I NEED TO IMMEDIATELY BRING MY 3YR OLD TO THE ER(!!!) SO I DON'T TURN INTO AN HYSTERICAL MESS??!!"

O.K., so, little gal can't lift her head without screaming in pain so I didn't think propping her up in a car seat would be a great idea, SP's at hockey, Lara can't drive yet (though it was a quick contemplation, I was getting mildly hysterical), zippity quick I call the sister and she's over in a flash. We three head to the ER and low and behold . . . 

One grape flavored popsicle later, head's up and we've officially been diagnosed with Torticollis! With the calm of a seasoned nurse around one could really feel that hard, tight bunch of muscle to the left of her neck/top of her back as compared to the soft tissue on the right side.  Totally prevented her from turning her head at all.  No idea how it came about.

 All motrined up she enjoyed a relaxing day with "Eggo Eggo, Go" (translation "Go Diego, Go"). "Dora" and "Angelina Ballerina" (can you believe Netflix doesn't have "Olivia"??? Horrors).  She was still sore when that dose wore off, what a weird thing, eh?

While I'm slightly annoyed that I'll be paying probably the largest bill ever related to a stiff neck (we have horrible coverage), I am SOOOOOOOOO thankful it was nothing worse!

Thanks be to God!

Now, after fourteen years in on this parenting gig, I can diagnose a buckle fracture with my eyes closed, I'm adequately prepared to handle stapling a scalp and I'm ready with the motrin (well, store-brand knock off) for any more Torticollis (love that word!).

Hey, Non-Facebook People . . .

Just might be time to open an account!

I mean, come on...look what you're missing out on!

(-:

And, if I would've posted my schedule for the day over on FB (which I didn't and wouldn't...I post things like, "Donald Duck was banned in Finland because he doesn't wear pants." (-:) it would've looked like this:

9a.m. attend a 2hr confirmation meeting with L.

Grocery store for sports snacks

8th Grader Basketball Game - Win!

4th Grader Basketball Game - Lost, but first time playing on a full court, lot's of great learning today.

20 minutes down time waiting for another game.

8th Grader Basketball Game, Championship of tourney - Lost (playing a team of six foot girls, great game, kept it very close but there was just no way to grow six inches each).

28 minutes of down time to drive home and look up directions to a hockey rink.

Drive 40 minutes to a rink

Walk around Pier 1 Imports during warm ups

(o.k. fine, I had to buy something which was way out of character, I'll post it later)

Watch a hockey game at 6:30p.m. - Win

Home after 8:00p.m.

Bedtime routine and tonight fall asleep with 3 year old.

Wake up by SP shuffling around.

Log on and waste an hour.

'Night!

Heeheehee . . .

Cousins at play!

Watching basketball has so many more opportunities than watching hockey . . .

Quick list:

High heeled shoes with bare feet

Short sleeved shirt

Sparkley lace skirt

Oh, and of course, a three-tiered pearl necklace!

We sit court side so I don't have to watch such little lovelies tumble down 25 bleacher steps (heels or no heels (-:), and this gal is a one person show that just doesn't stop.  Quite a few people commented on how entertaining she was to watch, oh boy!  One of the boys put it pretty well the other day, "When Livia grows up she's going to have a job where she's in front of people." Yep, probably...

And, no, she doesn't go tromping around the snow in those.  She, of course, packs her "change of shoes and her glittery wallet" bag (which also contained a pair of slippers today, haha). Wowza!
(-:

Wow...is it coooolllllldddddd out there!

Well, it's February 1st and I haven't heard anything from my mystery audition!

Fear not, this particular gig I can re-audition for.

And I'm gonna.

I think they just lost my last audition.

Hahaha!

I'll keep you posted...

Chaperoned a 1st grade trip to a Natural History Museum for a weather activities day today.

Good fun with some good kids.

They came away with a thermometer and enjoyed watching it go from 63 degrees in the coat room to 50, 40, 30, "hey wow, it's still going down!" and into the 20's as we waited outside the front door for our car.  I quickly suggested we go back inside and watch the red line shoot up again!

(-:

I pulled the picture below off the net a while ago for our in-house dancing queen and had nothing else to put up today, (unless you'd like squirrels fighting with light sabers, heehee). Wanted to print a couple copies for Liv to have fun coloring.

Have a great weekend!