Vikings Kids Combine

This winter I decided to pick 1 day and have a date day with each of the kids. Lunch and then their choice of activities. Kay picked Chili's and shopping at the Mall of America. Billy picked McDonalds and the Lego exhibit at the Childrens Museum and last weekend as Jimmy's turn. His choices? KFC and the Mini Vikings Combine Boot Camp. I was skeptical but promised not to wear my green & gold (in fact, I even did sport a purple sweater but the VIkings ball cap was a bit too much to ask). Needless to say, I was mightily impressed. It was a 2 1/2 hour affair included 8 stations, Viktor the Viking, cheerleaders and even Chuck Foreman. They did a great job with the event and the kids had a blast. Jimmy talked non-stop and couldnt stop moving he was so excited. Afterward, he said "thanks Mom, this was the best day of my life". You cant ask for much more than that! Check out the photos Saving this photo for 50 years from now when he's inducted into the Hall of Fame himself:)

Meeting Chuck Foreman, purple people eater. Jimmy started talking to him about a random football play. Seems a rookie returned a punt return inside the 10 yd line for a touchdown and while the team was celebrating Bud Grant pulled him aside and said "Never do that again or you wont amke another play on my team. We dont return punt returns inside the 10". Needless to say, Jimmy had all the names, dates and data right. Chuck looked at him and said "How old are you?"

"9"

"What Grade?"

"3rd"

"wow, I'm impressed, I've never met a 9 yr old that knows so much about football" As Jimmy later said, "Chuck had a face of disbelief on how much I know about the game".

Jimmy's BFF Ben was also there and they got their photo with Viktor

Viktor was a key contributor to Jimmy's mascot project so we brought him a photo of Jimmy in front of his project along with a thank you note for helping.

Touch down reception and celebration. Quarterpack pass test, and press box experience all below. We also got a tour of the locker room, gym and cafeteria. Brett Favres locker is cleaned out, they have a glassed in tribute locker to Corey Stringer and Andrean Peterson has 2 lockers. All very impressive to a 9 yr old fan.

Wearing O' The Green

The 10Th Annual St.Pat's Party commenced Saturday March 19th amidst the best weather one could hope for in Minnesota during March, a balmy & sunny 55 degrees!

The day started with Tracy and Kay creating the what is now known as the "Chili Masterpiece"

a creation of spicy and less spicy that the crowd devoured with gusto and which may have been the driving force behind the first keg getting polished off by 5:50. (the crowd went through 37 quarts of the stuff and we were bummed that we didn't even get leftovers!!) Kay also created the schedule of events o' the day, I digress...

The set up began on Friday evening Sandy arrived at 6:00pm (THANK YOU SANDY!!!) By 9:00pm the tables were washed, set and the party favors were all laid out about the house. The 60 peppers, 9 onions and 18 tomato's were cut, diced and sliced; all placed in strategic locations awaiting the Saturday morning madness. The 60 cans of various beans were lined up and ready for the can opener. With out Sandy's help we never could have pulled it off, hats off to Sandy!

Saturday began in earnest as the previous mentioned items were combined, sauteed, simmered and the chili was born. Marital promises keep me from revealing the exact recipe but...let it be known that the recipe secret is safe with Kay., God help those who taste her first batch! She has been known to say " Mom this isn't that spicy, really". The hard work behind us let us have a moment of leisure where Tracy took Nikki for a walk and Tom and the kids did homework, piano, drums and the like.

The Grand Marshal and Marshalete's along with the Miniature Marshals arrived around 2:00pm (Welcome Jan, Chris, Jet and Charlie from Chicago) and a lively football game ensued. They are our daycare friends, fellow Adoptive Parents and currently living in Chicago. They came up for the day and made sure the festivities hit an all time high!

The crowd began to gather around 4:00 and this year appears to have been the all time high with kids and adults pushing the 'wearing 'o the green' number into triple digits! The parade began in earnest at 5:00pm sharp with the marshalls leading the way - around the neighborhood, beverage in hand, kids running around with sugar induced power, left me with the thought that perhaps we may actually need a permit for this event. That thought lead to the next which was, if we got a permit the city would know what we were up to, which means that open container discussions would come up leading to well, better leave the permit out of it.... The good news is ... another year, another dodge of the authorities.

This year the group was full of school friends, family friends, new and old neighbors alike and the day was a blast. There were a couple of special guests beside the marshalls, which were: Jimmy's second grade teacher Mr. Davis and his boys came and unbeknownst to us our neighbor Charles, (just learned his name today), was our friend Pete's college landlord! Small world moments continued.

The crowd wound down and by 10:00pm we were reminiscing of parades gone by..

Thanks to all for a great day and remember- mark your calenders for 2012, I will warn you all now, next year ....St.Patrick's Day falls on the same day as the parade, ERIN GO BRAUGH!!

God help us all.....

Week in Review

Sports Update:

With a final rebound at the buzzer Jimmy and the Wildcats ended their historic basketball season 6 and 2! Coach Milstein was heard to say : "Keep at it Boy's"

This season was full of excitement, tense moments and great highlights, who knew third grade basketball could produce weight loss and clammy hands.The boys loved to play for Coach Milstein and from their humble beginnings the boy's learned basketball and to the shock of the parents they even had 5 different plays, which the executed without fail.The team has two losses: one by only 2 points, which hardly counts as a loss and the one 15 point spread is not a game that gets a lot of mention. Jimmy loved Coach Milstein's direct approach and how hard he was on the boy's, never letting up and always challenging. The coach rubbed off on the other kids as well and when I mentioned to Kay that Bernie may be coming to this years St. Patrick's Parade she stated " Well I hope he is not hard on anybody!"

Coach Milstein had this to say to the boys:

This recognizes your completion and competency, & achievement of the Wildcats 2011 coaching and Basketball season. And the Bernie Milstein, coaching Basketball Boot Camp. We have tried to coach you basketball skills and fundamentals, and a desire to have a winning attitude.!

Practice your skills, develop new skills, and become more proficient at what you do, and play with purpose and focus! Play with confidence, be aggressive, do your BEST in LIFE and in playing your sports! Always, do your best effort! Don't be a goof off. Love the game you live, and play, and you'll have success and fun in LIFE & SPORTS!

Gretchen Turns 21!

Tom's college roommate, Kay's Godfather and our good friend Mike's daughter Gretchen turn 21. About 10 years ago while sitting in a goose blind with Tom and Mike, Gretchen asked them both of them if they would come to her 21st birthday, which they responded 'sure!'.

That conversation was brought to their attention a couple of weeks ago and being the guy's they are Tom and Mike left town late Saturday night and drove to Stevens Point Wisconsin to arrive at Midnight to be there for Gretchen's 21st! We took Gretchen, and her boy friend to the local watering hole where the bouncer checked her id and asked her " We have a policy that on your 21st you can drink free all day. Do you want to come in the morning or do you want your free glass now, remember we are only open until 2:00?'' To which Gretchen replied " I am here now" so off she went.

The night or at this point morning could not end without a trip to the local Perkins for a little post bar feast! Happy 21st to Gretchen and I am glad I made no such promise to any of Mike's other kids!!

GO Mommy Go

It comes as no real surprise knowing the hard work, dedication and awesomeness of Tracy that she has again been promoted! This time around there was no lengthy interview process, just one meeting and Tracy is now: Director, Merchandising and Merchandise Planning, (MMP), Business Process, Canada.

So for those of you not in the know, her company recently acquired the lease option on 250 stores in Canada, and plans to convert 100-150 of these stores to 'the brand' and Tracy will be working with the supply chain group to help accomplish this task. To answer the $10,000 question 'will we move to Canada?' the answer is ....that it is part of the job but when, and for how long remain to be seen.

The kids took great pride in their Mom, as did I. We sprang into action to create a 'Congratulations' theme in our kitchen. Kay, the most enthusiastic party planner of the bunch, decided she needed to make a cake, not just any cake but 'a special cake just for Mommy'. She had to mix it and then to my horror (well maybe that is a strong word, perhaps fear is better) she announced that she would decorate the cake in her room so Mom would not see it. She wanted to make her own frosting complete with using small plastic bags to mix food coloring into the frosting to write with and a special can of frosting to make the "corner's"... you get the picture.

The boys helped Kay with the streamers and banners, Sandy helped Kay with the frosting. We ALL got out of Kay's way when she made the 'present corner' and finally the garage door went up and we all got to our places as the star walked into the kitchen - rounds of applause rang out for Tracy!!! The dinner was planned ahead of time (shrimp boil), however in the planning process the newly appointed Director declared the dinner a 'no manners' dinner! The kids ever vigilant of trick questions began a frenzy of carefully asked questions,'Really Mom? Can we burp? Yes, Can we eat with our hands? Yes' and the citadel of all " Can we fart?" We'll leave that up to your own imagination.....

The dinner was a gas, pun intended, the kids asked a ton of questions. It was great for Sandy to be there to celebrate as she and Tracy have worked together forever. But mostly it was fun to acknowledge Tracy, tell her how much we love her and how proud of her we all are. She works hard and deserves to be acknowledged " GO MOMMY GO!!!"