Billy Update

Bill has been keeping himself quite busy lately, I mean with school gymnastics, reading, trips to the Library and swimming lessons. Hard to find time to sit down and talk with the ol' kindergartner but I caught up with Bill during a down moment in between Zoobumafoo and Sponge Bob and being a squirrel monkey:

Bill takes swimming lessons on Monday morning however not being able to completely read yet and having no appointment book Bill needs to consult periodically which goes something like this;

"Dad do I have swimming on this day?" "Yes Bill you do", " How do you know Dad", " Because it is Monday Bill", "Oh, thanks for telling me Dad,now let's go". He has improved steadily throughout and will move from 201 to 401 next month! 2 whole levels! We are still hoping he'll wnat to join the swim team:)

Bill can also be found on Thursday morning at the gymnastics center doing round offs into cartwheels into the wall. He is getting pretty good and loves the trampoline and the balance beam. He has his friend Jordan in class and the 2 of them are a bundle of energy. He tends to turn most of what he learns at gymnastics into break dancing moves at home. He will be performing at the end of the year program, along with the rest of his class, dates and time to be announced! Should be entertaining in more than one way.

Two or three times a week Bill hits the Library. He must have the busiest Library card of any 6 year old as he checks out 6-10 books every time along with a couple of DVDs. Bill's taste run towards fast moving automobiles and space adventures in his books and for the video portion of his selections he learns towards bugs, specifically pond relate slugs, turtles and the like, he is a 6 year old boy! He loves the pbs computer games and is a pro at the self check out.

Bill has made several new friends this year in class and is finally starting to get some play dates of his own, which are fun. He and his friends tend toward the same activities, Lego's and hot wheels, awesome. Bill has been doing a great deal of reading and brings home " books" to read to Mom and Dad. He also is a good count-er and just the other night he asked " Dad can I have some frozen peas?" (As a side note our kids have somehow been tricked into believing frozen peas are the worlds greatest snack). So in response to Bill we said "sure!" and handed him a bowl. About 10 minutes later he handed us the empty bowl and exclaimed " There were 160 peas in that bowl", "How do you know that Billy?" "I kept count"

I asked Bill " So what's next" He looked at me with determination in his eyes and stated " I need to loose these training wheels!" especially now that Kay is riding without!! Look out world!!

We are proud of you Billy and we love you!

Happy Easter!!

The Bunny was exceptional this year and arrived with eggs, candy, and gum!! The bunny also brought squirt guns, kites and other outdoor goodies as spring is (sort of) here in Minnesota.

As usual Kay climbed into our bed inquiring, " Did the Bunny come?". It was two hours later when Jim and Bill climbed out of bed looking for info regarding the Bunny. Kay was losing her mind having to wait two whole hours for the boys....all the while threatening to go into their room and drag them out. Finally it was downstairs to hunt for eggs. The Bunny is quite smart and put eggs for each of the kids in a different room, leaving a note explaining who's goodies were where, also placing the eggs in the basement prohibits Nikki from getting into them, one smart Bunny. The entire hunt, 45 eggs in all last roughly 1 and a half minuets, give or take a minute. The kids were amped up and had a ball.

We had breakfast and a relaxing morning, well as relaxing as it could be, with three kids loaded up on sugar. It was a super nice day so we decided to wash the cars and the kids really got into it. Now I say super nice, it was still only 55 but the sun was out, so why not stand on a 5 gallon bucket and spray your brothers with cold water from the hose while they try to hind behind an umbrella, screaming " Do it again Kay" ...really. Only in Minnesota.

We put a turkey on the smoker and let it cook all day, got to the gym, a long bike ride, walked Nikki while Billy and Kay rode their bikes and Tom and Jimmy played one on one basketball.

We were in the process of getting dinner ready when Jimmy found the movie Titanic on TV. For those of you who follow the blog you know all about the recent trip to Iowa and the Titanic exhibit. For those who do not, long story short.... on our trip to Davenport a few weeks ago we went to the Titanic exhibit, which featured the people who travelled on the fatal voyage. When you go into the exhibit you are given a boarding pass which contains all the information about the travelers, and you get to be one of those people for the tour. The kids were enthralled with this and have been wanting to watch the movie ever since. So we "broke the rules" and moved the TV in place so we could watch the movie while we ate, the kids were very well behaved, and the dinner was fun. The only problem is that the movie is 4 hours long and it was a school night, no matter, break one rule, break em all, so we stayed up and watched the movie until it ended around 10:30. It was fun to watch after having been at the exhibit too, they kept commenting "oh that's me" "I remember ...." etc - glad they were paying attention at the museum!

That was not, however, the end. Both Kay and Jimmy had nightmares and ended up in our bed. Lesson Learned: preview movies about momunental death before you show them to your 9, 7, and 6 year olds.

The day was awesome and a very fun quiet family Easter. We hope Easter was full of love and joy for everyone.

Love,
The Loudamericans

Hello Mother Hello Father Here I am at Camp ....

Yes the annual Boy Scouts camp out and spring snow storm have arrived again. This past Saturday morning we woke up to 35 degree weather along with 3 inches of fresh new fallen snow! Perfect timing as Jimmy and I were packing for the Boy Scout overnight, YIPPEE!!!

Seriously this is the second year of two years that the overnight has been plagued by snow, wind, ice and freezing temps, I mean this is the boy Scouts not Seal training. We loaded as many blankets, sleeping bags and long underwear we could carry and it was off to Baker Park, a mere 20 minutes from the house.

The group arrived at high noon, we all set up our tents, arranged them and got the beds set up and then headed off for survival training, well in a sense we went to meet the Docent whom was scheduled to spend the afternoon with us in the woods. The fella we met was one of the smarter of the group when he explained because of the weather and the impending high winds, we would have a shortened afternoon. He taught the boys how to respect the woods, leave no trace and perhaps, at least for this day, how to build a fire. Because of the high winds and potential sleet, we were allowed to use matches instead of the o' tried and true method of rubbing sticks together. I questioned this as the energy produced from rubbing the sticks together would help the numbness in my hands but I was overruled.

The session ended, no one was injured and best off all the woods remained without a trace of our presence, well done boy's!. The rest of the afternoon was spent trying to stay warm as the boy's play football. It is amazing to me as all of us were standing around watching the kids wearing all the clothes we brought, complaining about this and that and in the midst of all this there stands Jimmy in a t-shirt and a pair of jeans sweating and complaining that he is hot.

That evening for dinner each of us brought a "component" of the main meal. the goal was to get the scouts to make their own foil pack dinner and then make one for their parent. I was surprised how well this turned out and jimmy did a great job. I said to him "Hey Jim. Nice job with my foil pack", to which he replied " Come on Dad I know what you like" Wow, never knew he was paying attention. There was a program after dinner called the Arrow of Light, which is a ceremony honoring the Webelo's as they transition to Boy Scouts, due to the highly secretive aspect of the scouts no further information regarding the ceremony can be revealed.

It was lights out and heavy wind on, as we settled into our tents to brace the long night of cold temps and shivering kids. I noticed in the middle of the night (as I headed off to the bathroom), the clouds had cleared making the sky full of beautiful stars and a full moon, which here in Minnesota means only one thing, low 20's. I mentioned earlier that we were only 20 minutes from home, what was keeping us here? I think that fact that Jimmy weighs about 110 lbs and I could not carry him the 100 or so yards to the car.We lasted until about 6:45 am at which time it was up and at 'em. I noticed when we climbed out of the tent that several of the campers had left during the night. The strong winds must have hidden the sound of the cars starting or much more likely the Fellas pushed their cars down the hill jumped in and made a quiet get away so as not to have to endure the ridicule that would be forth coming.
The event for the most part was a success, Jimmy enjoyed himself, received a couple of new badges and we drew a line through another item on the road to becoming a full fledged Boy Scout. They say three is a trend so we will have to wait until next year!

Boy Scout Motto used for this event PMA, Positive Mental Attitude.

Happy Gotcha Day Jimmy!

Mr. Davis, Jimmy's second grade teacher and the parking lot heavy, pulled me aside the other day to inquire" Kay says there is a Korean celebration tonight at your house, what is the celebration?" I replied "Gotcha day!" Mr. Davis, being in charge of the parking lot, can do a mean deer in the headlight look, so I explained "Gotcha Day is a celebration we do for the kids celebrating the day we brought each of them home from Korea" to which he replied " Gotcha", with a big smile.

(Photo of Jimmy at his 1st Cmas with us:))

So it is hard to believe our 'little' Jimmy came home 9 years ago and has not stop growing, eating, talking and providing us love, joy and happiness everyday. His inquisitive mind is swirling with questions, insight and observation and his heart is full, of determination, commitment and care for his friends and love for his family.

Jimmy is just beginning his first baseball season, finishing up this years Boy Scouts, taking the Minnesota Comprehensive Exams at school and building wrestling rings in our front yard. He used some old boxes, bungee cords and tent poles.... watch out WWE. He stated that this is a proto type, he is planning on talking his parents out of one of the mattresses in the house for the mat and using our best towels for turn buckles....

Once again, this year we met Hayden and his family for our traditional celebration, as many of you know Hayden and Jimmy came home together, at Broadway pizza. Jimmy and Hayden continue to be great friends and it appears each year Jimmy is twice as tall as Hayden.

We had a cake, of course made and decorated by Kay, watched videos of Jimmy as a baby and after seeing himself, as a round mound of sound, he laughed, "Hey, look that's me, I was big". The time does fly and the kids grow and change but the one constant is the love and smiles they give us everyday!

Happy Gotcha Day to Jimmy, and kids everywhere! We love you!

Kay Update

Kay has been spending the winter studying up a storm, so much so, that when grades came out last week we were blown away. Kay had changed several marks this report card and posted all A's, yep major good work Kay!

Along with school she has been concentrating on her gymnastics and in the test last week she again jumped a level, that is her third jump this year, IMPRESSIVE!

Kay continues to sharpen her pack rat skills, much to the chagrin of her Mom and Dad, and she maintains inventory control like now one else. If we can not find something all we need to say is ' Kay do you know where... is?' and she gives the precise location. Barbie, Paula Dean and Taylor Swift continue as role models and the oven is getting a serious work out.

This just in, literally. Kay lost another tooth. While getting ready for bed and brushing her teeth, out it came. " Mom , Dad I lost my tooth". A picture is worth a million words!

Last but not least, last Saturday, Kay decided that she was going to learn to ride her bike without training wheels, the video below tells it all! (A major motiviation was learning to do this before her younger -but not so much littler brother- Billy).

Way to go Kay we love you and are very Proud of all you do!

Davenport or Bust

Spring break arrived and the kids were super excited to head down to Iowa, to Davenport, to see where Sue and Jim, aka, Aunt Sue and Grandpa Jim were born and raised, well.... up to a point.

The trip down was pretty uneventful thanks to full on electronics for each of the kids. One has to ponder then affects of electronics versus conversation or lack there of, I mean the contraptions do keep the kids attention but effect the child's ability to hear. Enough of that, we made the trip in 5 1/2 hours, no stops and arrived in town just in time to hit the kids favorite on the road dinner buffet, Golden Corral. Now I must point of the PSA: not all Golden Corrals are alike. Jimmy was saddened by the lack of quality fried chicken and the limited soda selections, ie; no Dr. Pepper. Kay was in heaven with grits, potato bar, fried fish and a block long dessert bar. Bill can take or leave food at any given point. The grown ups were sorely disappointed in the lack of adult beverages but in the end, that's probably a good thing. The hotel was great and clean and besides locking ourselves out of our own room and having to use a hammer and straight bar to get in...very comfortable.

Friday began with the second all you can eat meal. You see we chose carefully grasshopper when we travel and the AmericInn has a hot all you can eat breakfast featuring Belgium waffles!

Once the troops were fortified it was off to see Davenport. When asked " Kids what do you want to do today" The reply in a chant was "we are here for Sue!", which we were but it was nice for the kids to acknowledge the fact. So off to the house were Sue and Grandpa Jim's Grandma and Grandpa live. It was fortunate the the person who now owns the home was there and Sue and Kay went in to look around. Sue says it is just like she remembered, with a few 20th century updates of course. Next we traveled across town to the home where Sue and Jim grew up, which was right around the corner from the grade school. Jimmy was impressed by the size of the school and the several basketball hoops.

Next came a trip to the different cemeteries, where we were unable to locate one set of Grandparents. However not for lack of trying. The caretaker must have thought we were nuts as Jimmy was reading from the medical dictionary as to determine the cause of death, oh some 80 years ago or so. The caretaker did get a small chuckle as we uncovered in the list of attendees that one of them had died from falling in a bread mixer back in 1915! We then headed over to visit the graves of Sue and Jim's mom and dad and the other set of Grandparents and lucked out ... we were able to locate them! The kids stayed in the car as they were being loud and were afraid of waking the dead.

Next up lunch, at Happy Joe's. Yep... all you can eat pizza! they even had an omelet pizza but no one got past the sausage and pepperoni to give it a try. Then we were off to the Titanic exhibit which was really fun. They give you a boarding pass, but no life jacket, and you get to pretend that you are one of the original passengers. The boarding pass gives you all the info about the person, where they were from where they were going, where they stayed on board and like that. When you exit the exhibit there is a board that show who was lost and who was saved. It is really done nicely and we followed up with a movie in the Imax theater about the Titanic. It was somewhat of a let down to the kids as the movie was about the recovery of the artifacts and not so much about the voyage. That night the kids and Sue had take out Korean food, for Davenport Iowa, not bad.... Sue watched the kids and we had a nice quiet dinner out and alone! Ahhh....

Saturday was about green, that is John Deer Green. The John Deer museum was fun and interactive even though we almost lost Bill, several times. Then we headed out to the Amory, which was very cool. All the weapons the army have used over the years are there and they were all made in Davenport. We stopped by the park where Sue and Jim played as kids and of course Jimmy and Bill got into a pick up football game with two other kids, a 12 year old and a 7 year old. Jimmy had the size but not the speed. Bill can take a hit but he is a bit of a bleeder, we will leave the score out it for now.

After the park it was time for the other main attraction, no trip to Davenport is complete without a stop at Maid Rite, world famous loose meat sandwich. This particular establishment is billed as the best in Davenport because they still have the original cast iron cooker, WOW. None of got Dehli belly so they must keep their hygene up appropriately.

Sue took us out to eat at a Ruby Tuesdays which Jimmy exclaimed "the best meal of his life!". I suppose 2 Dr. Peppers, his own Asian chicken wings, an adult chicken sandwich along with his team Butler winning in the final 4 may have influenced the vote.

Sunday we headed home as the final act of spring Break 2011 was about to begin. This long awaited, Parent despised, kid heaven event goes by the name of WRESTLEMANIA! Yes, we rushed home from Iowa only to head over to our friends house for the mecca of wrestling. We had put off the decision to watch as long was we could and falling under pressure of enormous proportions we gave in. In the long run it may have turned out a blessing as the event was awful, from the kids point of view and talk of wrestling has gone down considerably since, coincident? I think not. Thank you to the wrestling gods!!!

Monday was back to reality and school. Sue headed home and we want to say" We are here for Sue!" and were glad to make the trip. It was fun to hear her stories about growing up and actually see the sites. Plus, it just goes to show, the Loudamericans can find fun anywhere:)

We love you Sue!

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!!!"

Stars of the Week

The past week or so has been full of shining stars!

First star up is Billy! He was the star of the week in his Kindergarten class, which meant he brought to school several Lego Creations, photos, books and several other "keepsakes" Bill has been collecting. He spent the week as the center of attention and even had his Dad come to school and read his favorite books! To say Bill has a favorite would not really do justice to his love of books. The kid goes to the library about once a week and checks out about a dozen books brings them home and make anyone who is around read to him. He is very close to reading himself and when that happens we will never see Bill again. A few highlights of Billy - he likes:legos, hot wheels, black olives, brocoli, green beans, gymnastics and swimming.


It is hard to believe that Nikki came home 2 years ago but alas it was Nikki's Gotcha Day. She was well taken care of by the kids but Kay especially was attentive to Nikki's needs. So much so she spent a couple of hours searching the Internet for dogie cake recipes, I kid you not. After relentlessly looking she came up with a recipe, and thank God we had all the ingredients and made a bundt cake for Nikki. Nikki for her part torn into the cake with gusto and looked at Kay like she was some kind of cake god or something. Nikki has settled into her role as pillow, make up practice doll, friend and companion.

The next star of the week rose above Kay. She made her Star of the Week poster showcasing her artistic skills while also featuring her stubbornness about rules thus coloring outside of the lines. A few highlights of her poster: tochuring my brothers, cooking, gymnastics, korean food, the color green and Nikki. Then Kay brought the poster, her Hanbok, gymnastic trophy and several other items to create her Star of the Week corner at school (we had to talk her out of bringing a suitcase with 1/2 her room). This year the "Star" was given the option of reading one of their favorite books to the class and Kay chose BI BIM BOP, a the story of a young girl and her love of rice. really the story is about how to make this Korean recipe which is a rice dish. Kay's teacher pulled me aside on Friday, after she Kay read the story, and told me Kay was very confident and handled the story and question and answer session with ease.

Jimmy finally did his Mascot presentation. For those of you who havent heard the mascot saga, it goes basically as... In November they had to sign a contract on a personal research project. It had to be something they could present to class and couldnt be anything they already knew something about (and absolutely NO written reports). The research project needs to be completed by 3/18 and needless to say, months for a 3rd grader is a really long time to keep sustained interest. He chose mascots and began his research with gusto. The issue, once he learned everything he wanted to know, he promptly lost interest in his project and didnt want to present. It took quite a bit of cajoling but he finally put together a jeopardy game about mascots (5 categories, about ... being.. crunch...viktor the viking and goldie). He presented this week at school and it was a wild success. Whew! I'm glad my (I mean Jimmy's) mascot project is over!

Pre Valentines from Kay or otherwise known as passive agressive Valentines

Kay decided the other day that we all needed to have a Valentines card, homemade from Kay. She also made special containers and filled them with the candy that she had hidden in several crevices around the house (many of which had been hidden for AGES! I think I recognized some Easter candy in the mix).

Here is what the cards said:
Dear Jimmy you are a nice brother.
I know he be's mean sometimes but that doesn't mean I don't love him. But I also like playing football with him and wrestling.
Love; Billy for Jimmy

Dear Billy I think sometimes I call you Bunku but I still love you.
Love :Kay
For: Billy

Dear Mom and Dad: Even though you sometimes yell at me I still love you
Love Kay
For: Mom and Dad

She created separate card for Mom and Dad that each said we are a nice Mom and a nice Dad, however the cards were addressed to Tom and Tracy.

The other day Kay came home from school obsessed with having marshmellows to the point that she was completely crazy. Now giving the kids marshmallows is not a big deal however, we did not have any which completely drove her over the top. She then put herself on a time out and came off her time out and slipped this card onto my lap:

Sorry Dad,
Dear Dad, I am sorry can you forgive me I hope you can. Love Kay
ps: I love you I am sorry about the marshmallows thing.

Kay is very much her own guiding light.

Thank god she loves us inspite of our faults. We love her too:)

Sports Update

Basketball is in full swing here and Jimmy and the Wildcats ( get your head in the game) are off and running. To quote Jimmy "Dad never before in my life has any team started off 2 and 0!".

The third graders were in for a rude awakening that cold January evening when they wandered into Davis Gymnasium to meet their new coach - Bernie. Jimmy was upset that Dad was not coaching again this year and did not want to play for someone he did not know. By the end of the first practice Coach Bernie had the boys towing the line and following basketball protocol to the point that Jimmy said " Dad Bernie is great- he really pushes us, it is awesome, last year the coach was way to easy on us", Hey... that was me!

Practice and enthusiasm have payed off and the Wildcats are 2-0, while it has not been pretty, a win is a win. Jimmy and his team mates have racked up 64 points on offense and only allowed 39 points on defense. This past Saturday it was a real nail bitter with the Wildcats pulling out in the last 10 seconds winning 32-31 crazy. All parents were nervous wrecks - what the heck are we going to be like in high school?!

Here is the last 3 minutes of the game - you will need to watch both videos to see the ending!:
(small technical issue - give us a few days to sort out and check back for the highlights:))



In other exciting sporting news - GO PACK!! Big hugs to all my packer fan compariots and my condolensces to the "other" team:)

Happy Ground Hogs Day!!

Our dear friend Jim is a MAJOR Ground Hogs Day fan. He celebrates this above the ranks of Christmas, Thanksgiving and the other winter holidays. (Actually this says more for his distain for those holidays than it does for his love of the hog). In fact, he's always said that if he had kids, he'd raise them to believe that Ground Hogs Day is THE event of the year. (the therapy bills have been blatantly underforecast for such a mindset. Can you imagine kids going to school, wondering what all the fuss is about around Christmas and wondering why there isnt more comericialism around Ground Hogs Day?)

Needless to say, we indulge this quirk of Jim's and celebrate with him. Plus, who can argue that spring is right around the corner when we've experienced the snowiest winter in 25 years?! We all need a sprig of hope:)

How do you celebrate? Watch "Ground Hogs Day" (Angelas favorite movie) and get ready to cheer for the Packers...

So, here's the official media wire on this holiest of days....


PUNXSUTAWNEY, Pa. - The world's most famous groundhog predicted an early spring Wednesday, but wasn't willing to go out on a limb to forecast whether the nearby Pittsburgh Steelers will win Sunday's Super Bowl.
Punxsutawney Phil emerged just after dawn on Groundhog Day to make his 125th annual weather forecast in front of a smaller-than-usual crowd who braved muddy, icy conditions to hear his handlers reveal that he had not seen his shadow.
Including Wednesday's forecast, Phil has seen his shadow 98 times and hasn't seen it just 16 times since 1887, according to the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club's Inner Circle, which runs the event. There are no records for the remaining years, though the group has never failed to issue a forecast.
Two years ago, Phil's forecast also acknowledged the Pittsburgh Steelers' Super Bowl XLIII win the night before. This year, Sunday's game was mentioned in the forecast but no winner was predicted between the Steelers and the Green Bay Packers, who meet in Dallas for Super Bowl XLV.
"The Steelers are going to the Super Bowl," Mike Johnson, vice president of the Inner Circle, said just before the forecast was read, drawing cheers from the clearly partisan crowd gathered on Gobbler's Knob, a tiny hill in this borough of about 6,100 residents some 65 miles northeast of Pittsburgh.
The Groundhog Day celebration is rooted in a German superstition that says if a hibernating animal casts a shadow on Feb. 2, the Christian holiday of Candlemas, winter will last another six weeks. If no shadow was seen, legend said spring would come early.
In reality, Pennsylvania's prophetic rodent doesn't see much of anything. The result is actually decided in advance by 14 members of the Inner Circle, who don tuxedos and top hats for the event.
The celebration usually draws 10,000 to 15,000 spectators when it falls on a weekday, Groundhog club spokesman Luke Webber said. The area was under a winter weather warning and while heavier snows and sleet never materialized, rain falling in about 35-degree temperatures made for a below-average crowd, said Webber, who offered no specific estimate.