Weekend/Kid update

Holy cow, we have been busy...the kids are doing great and having fun!  Let's give a quick rundown of last weekend and all their adventures.

In our starting line up - Jimmy  # 10 of the Marlins! Friday nights game was a 7:30 start. Given that the kids need to be there 40 minutes ahead to warm up and the games go until the 6th inning or 2 1/2 hours, which ever comes 1st AND Tracy had to work the concession stand AND Tom was at a poker game AND it was raining ..... it was gearing up to be a long night.

The Marlins were back and forth with the Cubs, 1st ahead, then due to some Bad News Bears type moves, behind 6-11.  But, they weren't deterred. Jimmy steps up to bat and hits a line drive into centerfield. A 3 run, inside the park, home run!! The crowd goes wild and this play sets off a turn around for the Marlins. Jimmy also managed to throw a kid out at 2nd while he was playing catcher. (BTW, catcher is HIS position. he's awesome at it - he pays meticulous attention to the game, where all the players/ball are and has really quick reflexes. He's the next Joe Mauer!).  Of course, they took it to the end of the 5th (9:55pm) and ended up winning 12-11. A nail biter and their 1st win of the year!! Go Marlins!!






Then, Monday nights game, back at it!! Against the Cubs AGAIN and a virtual repeat of Friday's game.  Marlins are up, then down, then Bad News Bears issues, then behind by 4 runs.  A couple of his team mates get some good hits, steals and we are now tied in the bottom of the 6th, no outs and Jimmy's up to bat. What does he do?! The EXACT same hit off the EXACT same pitcher for a triple. The kids on fire!! Next kid up, a swing, a miss and CONNECTION!! A base hit and Jimmy runs home for the winning run!! 12-11 Marlins!!

Kay, not to be outdone, had a full Girl Scout Encampment this weekend. The theme was "beauty within" and she and Tracy headed out to Zimmerman (45 min northwest) for a full day and overnight of crafts, activities, troop bonding and serious drama.  Kay was in HEAVEN. Every hour, on the hour, a new craft or game or activity or new way to make a mess that you didn't have to clean up.  We were with 16 of her troop members, 5 other mom's and about 50 other girls scouts ranging from Daisies to Cadets. The weather was gorgeous and it was pretty well organized. We did a hike, saw horses, made pizza on the grill, roasted s'mores and basically had good "girl" time. Little did I know that girl time also includes drama, and lots o f it.  Its all the (behind the back) name calling, excluding, including, promises to be a friend, threats to not be a friend, etc that it seems girls partake in.  It was interesting to see the Mom's get involved (ie: wrapped up in it) as well.  Kay seemed somewhat distant from it all and when I asked the other Mom's, they said "no, Kay's not usually involved in the drama" whew!  When I talked to Kay about it on the way home, and I asked her what she does/says when its happening, she just said "I tell them that we should be a sister to EVERY Girl Scout".   Kay for President !!!!

Tom, Jimmy and Billy attended Yia Yia's funeral while the girls were out "encamping". Yia Yia is Jimmy's BFF and 2nd cousin Ben's Great grandma. She's Greek and recently passed away at 101.  The funeral was interesting (ie long), small (less than 40 people, but what do you expect, she doesn't have many friends left!) and a great opportunity to Tom to reconnect with his Aunts/Uncles and cousins.  Stephanie Ben's mom and Ben were really glad Tom & Jimmy were there for support. Stephanie had been Yia Yia's primary care taker for the last few years so it was a real loss to them emotionally and physically.

Sunday was a long bike ride for Tracy (finally) and paddle boating on Lake Calhoun with friends from India. I have to admit, its something everyone should do....Once and only once:)  Jimmy was all gun ho until he realized that he really had to peddle, than that changed everything. As he said "He laid there like a slug, it was his only defense" (a favorite quote from A Christmas Story". Then it was home for homemade Indian food (Thanks Tom) and calls to our grandmas/etc. We hope everyone had a WONDERFUL Mothers Day!!

Billy is our clean up hitter. He had his 1st grade play today and it was AWESOME!  They did Rumplestitlekin and he was a guard. On Monday night, he was "so nervous" and said he was going to be embarrassed if we even said a word during the play. Well, he recovered and was smiley and squirrel the whole way through. The kids obviously had a gas and you can tell that we are in the final 30 days of school. Its the time of field trips, school performances, Paris day, Peace Concert, etc. Not sure how much they are learning, but they are sure having fun!

More to come as we sprint to the finish of school ,the MS150, Tom/kids fishing trip and move to Canada.  I'm getting tired just thinking about it:)                          

Happy Mothers Day!

To all Mothers everywhere best wishes and heart felt thanks you for all you do, especially to Tracy!

This year we had a very nice family/ friends type Mothers Day. Tracy had just come home from a Girl Scout overnight (as seen in the last blog), and was able to get a training ride in. That is one of the things she teaches us every year, passion and commitment. It is a lot of work and sacrifice that she puts in every year to train and raise money to help fight MS, GO MOMMY GO!

We headed down to Lake Calhoun where we meet up with some great friends, Radha, Kristnan and the kids, Tejas and Kiertie, another lesson Tracy taught us. We meet these folks whom became great friends while we were in India. the lesson of embrace your surroundings and enjoy everyday rings true. We had a blast paddle boating around the lake and enjoying a GREAT, Minnesota sunny day.

For dinner we had a feast of different types of Indian food which we learned to love in India and to make here at home. Spending time together is another of Tracy's favorite things and we love having dinner as family every night of the week. The kids each made Mom a present at school and we had a great night.

Tracy for all you do, teach, support and challenge us to be better people everyday, we are blessed.
We Love you and Happy Mothers Day.
You Rock!
TJKB; Nikki

208 Johnston Ave! Our Canadian Home

Yes it is official we have signed a lease and our new home awaits!

We spent a long week in Canada last week with really one main goal, to get a house. We had a certain area we wanted to be in with certain criteria for the kids, us and the dog and ....low and behold we found a place! Not where we thought we would be, however the area we will be living in has all of what we wanted and more!

North York is the name of the area but the city is still Toronto. We learned some of Canada's history while we where there and it turns out that several of the " first ring" suburbs were once cities of their own, but due to public services and ease of management they all became part of Toronto. We are right off the 401 (as they say) which some people claim is the worst stretch of road in north America as far as traffic! Tracy will be able to give us more info on that as she will be taking the 401 everyday to and from work, the commute is about 30 minutes (or so they say:)).

The house is only three block from the subway, which is awesome because we can get anywhere in the city in about 20 minutes and there are several Korean, Indian and Greek restaurants right at the subway entrance and the food is awesome! We have 5 bedrooms and the Canadians like to have a bathroom in every room so each bedroom has it's own bathroom giving us a total of 6 bathrooms! (Very scary prospect for Tracy) The kitchen is awesome and all the appliances are brand new. We will be able to bring our big dining room table and chairs which is a big relief. The home owner is from India and is leaving the wood door frame from his home in India so it will go great with our Indian furniture, totally cool!

 The kids schools are within waking distance as well. Kay and Billy will go to one school, Cameron, which is K-5 and Jimmy will go to Willowdale which is 6-8th. There is also a snow board/ski hill, dog park and hiking area down the block from us as well and to our surprise there is a Korean Methodist Church at the end of our block, curious.

We also managed to get a bank account, our SIN number ( social identification number) similar to our Social Security number, and Tom now has an Ontario drivers license. We are super excited to have accomplished all of this and to have the house piece taken care of!

We had a family meeting and gave the kids the low down. They are so excited they want to move immediately!  They are also inviting all their friends to come visit or even live with us (for just 2 years mom).  We are really glad they are excited about the mvoe.
 
As you can see by the pictures we have plenty of room some come on up! We are expecting visitors:) 

More to Come as we head towards our 6/24 move date!

Spring has Sprung

Early this Spring we forgot to take down one of the garland/ Christmas decorations and before we could a family of finch's decided to make their home on the garland. The kids loved it because they could watch the birds from our kitchen window. Kay was so interested she came home from school with a bird book, all 795 pages worth.

This is why we know they are finch's, and Purple Finches at that,not because we are bird lovers. The happy couple spent days creating their happy home and providing hours of entertainment for the kids. The thing about birds is that they chirp, alot. The couple also doing what birds do in a nest created an happy bird family, with three lovely children, which also chirp alot, constantly, because they are hungry.

The young birds are growing up becoming louder because they need more food, and constant attention from their parents, fighting about bird work, ie: you fly first,now way you, I am not leaving the nest, give me that worm and things like that and of course chirping because they are hungry. The other thing about birds and eating is, yep you guessed it, they poop, alot, all over our front step! ALOT

The birds are getting ready to leave the nest, the kids have lost interest and I for one have to! Note to self complete the to do list next Spring!


Happy Spring!