Mr. & Mrs. James Fellows

What a nice saying and it has a great ring to it!

The Loudamericans headed back to Minneapolis, well Woodbury, this past weekend to be part of Jim and Jens wedding. The beginning of the trip was quite painful as we waited at the airport for several hours for a plane to show up and fly us back home. The old saying " The road to a friends house is never long" was ringing in our ears and finally we were in the car with Uncle Jim.  Tracy was there before us (went in a day early for work) and was already at the hotel, testing the mattress to make sure we could get a good night's sleep, so Jim came to get the rest of us.

Friday was spent running errands and getting ready for the rehearsal dinner. Tux, check, well not really the shoes fit but the rest needed to be changed and we had to wait overnight as the tux parts came from Houston, really?, why is there even a need ahead of time to get measured, just go in the day before try on some random tux, it doesn't fit?, OK we'll send in the real one over night from Houston be here tomorrow to get it...

The rehearsal was fun we all did great well except for one crabby Deacon who shall remain nameless and Tracy who had to read this particularly difficult version of the intentions. Well Tracy did fine it was the wording and giggling that set off the aforementioned Deacon. The rehearsal behind us, the adults headed over to Jim and Jens for some extremely awesome Mexican food and the kids headed elsewhere for pizza. The adults had a blast sharing stories and getting to know each other and Tracy, Tom, Jim and Jen got a kick out of the Groundhog cake and the situation leading up to it. It is and will remain an inside joke but rest assured there were tears of joy and laughter pains shared by all.

Saturday, Ground Hogs Day, and for a moment let me just say that Ground Hog's Day, above all others is Jim's favorite day, so it is fitting that he creates this day into a lifelong memorial day. The wedding party gathered at the church for photo's and more stories and bonding until the time came to turn serious. I will say that standing in the church and seeing the pure joy & happiness that was radiating from both Jim and Jen brought a tear to my eyes. Jim was busy running from here to there but when it was time to walk down the aisle he was more than present. The ceremony was awesome and at one point Jim got up to play guitar with the band ( or I guess you say choir in a church setting) and he did fabulous.

Everyone hit their marks, new their lines and looked wonderful. The Deacon that married them, had them write love letters to each other and then read them to the whole congregation, it was really touching and a great personal, intimate touch to the ceremony.

After the great event, the was more socializing, hugging, photos and kid craziness.  Jim & Jen hosted an incredible meal of the family and wedding party at Bucca and we even had our own room. The kids loved it and the wine flowed:)  Toasts were made, food was shared and the music blared... a great celebration to end an amazing day and start of a new life together.

The newly weds were eager to get home and crash so that they'd be ready for their honeymoon the next day. so.. we all packed it up and headed home.

Sunday was a bit of a slow start, even the kids were hung over from a weekend of partys and people.
Jimmy ended up with a touch of bug and all I'll say is...thank god for the barf bags in your airline seat....

JIm and Jen - Many happy returns of the day, all the best, love each other, be an example of peace in the world and KNOW that you are loved:)

getting back into a routine

Post the holidays and into the new year, its all about getting back into a routine. The kids need to get used to homework, school and practicing piano, drums etc.  So, we dont have anything new to report. 

Jimmy is in the next section of basketball and football winter training camp starts in 2 weeks. Hes got a ton of school projects (movie poster as a book report, a stand up presentation on explorers and a science experiment to create a catapult).

Kay added another 3 hours of gymnastics practice in order to get ready for her (1st) competitions this spring (she's up to 9 hours of practice a week and shes ripped. Didnt know a 9 yr old could have a 6 pack).   

Billy has started sparring in Tae Kwon Do and is loving 'taking kids down'.

Tom started his next chef class - sauces and marinades and in 2 weeks has knife skills class. So...he'll be in class 2x week for a few weeks.

Tracy has been working unbelievable hours, including nights and weekends, but we know its "just" for 2013. Part of what we signed up for.... On the silver lining side, she started her drum lessons that we got her for Christmas and is realizing how hard it really is. Jimmy does his best not to roll his eyes, which is thoughtful.  Its intimidating being a beginner when there is a pro in the house...

Nikki is loving the cold weather and has started just sitting in the back yard and staring at the house. We have a big picture window in the kitchen and she just sits and watches us. Must be like doggy tv. yesterday she did that for 2 hours. It was 5 degrees out...

So...thats it, regular, suburban family life in full swing.

Keep posted for the next post...itll be a dozy ... All I have to say is...wedding, groundhogs day, pasta and MPLS..... 

Photos from vacation

Kay in ski school

Georgia with charades

Billy in ski school

SKIING!

The boys cuddling

Happy New Year!

Ice skating and exploring

Sledding Sleeping Bear

Sledding the dunes

Go Herbie Go - check out that hill!

Knit one Pearl two

mid way up Sleeping Bear

View of Glen Lake from Sleeping Bear

Winter Vacation - the Michigan way!

We are experiencing some technical difficulties and can not post any photo's, please check back as we will resolve this operator error issue soon.....

This year, we traveled to the northern part of lower Michigan for a winter vacation fest!  Tracy's parents have a cottage at the base of Sleeping Bear Dunes on Little Glen Lake about an hour outside of Traverse City. It is pure heaven and gorgeous in the summer but we have never been up there in the winter. This was the year! We were getting together to celebrate Grandma Bunny and Grandpa Jim's 70th birthdays. The only bummer, Julie and her boys as well as Sue weren't able to join us. They were in Costa Rica as its a really busy time of year for Julies massage business. They were missed but I also know they had a great time together.

Tracy's sister Tammy and we rented the house/cabin next door to our parents place and we had a blast!  The Sleeping Bear Dunes area is gorgeous year round and there is a TON of fun stuff to do...

We all arrived on Saturday and got a lay of the land. The kids fell right back into their friendships with their cousins and Grandma made chalupas, a family tradition.

Another tradition? football!  We have a Lions, Packer, Vikings and Patriots fan all in the family and given the TV football line up that week, we had plenty of entertainment (the best being the inter-family rivalry:)) 

Grandpa also had a 1/2 court basketball court installed last summer and their were some mean games of HORSE and 2 on 2 including a few free throw contests (Grandpa is still the standing winner).  Jimmy was out there every chance he got in short sleeves in the snow and 20 degree weather (he doesn't get cold)

The girls commanded Grandmas time and soon there were cupcakes and knitting lessons going on. Kay was in hog heaven and I think Grandma was too.

Sunday we gave sledding at the gravel pit across the road a try and even ice skated on Little Glen. That was harder than it looked since the ice was pretty bumpy but the kids had a great time anyway (don't they always?!)  Grandma also cooked a big traditional Christmas meal and we played charades. Its was pretty darn cute watching the kids act out and guess their "Place, Team, Book or Movie". We definitely have some future actors in the crowd.

Monday was our 1st real attempt at skiing as well as New Years Eve and Georgia's 10th birthday. We have been skiing in the past with the kids, but this time, the kids were in ski school as a Christmas gift from Grandma and Grandpa (THANK YOU!!)  This gave Tom and I time to ski together, something we haven't done in over 10 years (Thanks again Mom and Dad). The kids did great! Jimmy, despite his fear of heights, got on the chair lift and they were all doing blue's by the end of the day. We were really proud of them!  We had a really long day and kept dinner simple, Tammy made pasta and we toasted in the new year with sparkling grape juice and wine. Everyone fell into bed happy but exhausted at "midnight". (Tom and Jeff had the great idea to set all the clocks ahead 2 hours, so we counted down with the kids and still managed to get them into bed at a decent hour, shhh...its our little secret!!)

Tuesday was our chance to give Sleeping Bear Dunes a try and SLEDDING!  Now, we have been sledding a million times but Sleeping Bear Dunes is another story. Its a massive sand dunes that borders Lake Michigan and Little Glen Lake. In the summer, its a 30 min hike to the top and then another 2 hour hike to Lake Michigan. This gives you a bit of a sense of the scale, its a MASSIVE hill. I will admit, climbing the dunes in the winter is much easier than in the summer but its WAY colder. The wind comes off Lake Michigan and its a steep steep  hill. Of course, the kids loved every minute but I think Tammy was going to have an ulcer at how fast they were going down hill without helmets. We did see a couple people hit the jumps at the end of the hill and hurt themselves. It was crazy!  We recouped with a hamburger bratwurst meal and reintroduced the kids to the movie
The Princess Bride. Its a classic and even Grandma and Grandpa loved it. ....As you wish:)

Wednesday was Georgia's birthday "party", we headed the hour into Traverse City and spent the day at an indoor water park. It was a gas. Grandpa and Tracy played a couple games of 2 on 2 water basketball with Jimmy and Joey, Grandpa also went down the water slides with Herbie and Billy and Grandma even got her hair wet (a rarity) and went down the water slides multiple times with all the grand kids. We raced on the watersides, hung out in the whirlpool, swam in all the pools and played in the splash park. AND...the best part, it was probably the cleanest indoor water park we have ever been to so Tracy didn't have to douse the kids with antibacterial wash when they were done:)  Dinner was suppose to be Georgia's choice (lobster) but, go figure, northern Michigan didn't have any the day after New Years. We had to "settle" for steak and shrimp. Poor us.  After the kids were in bed Jeff challenged Tammy, Tom and Tracy to a game of hearts. We forgot how much fun that game is and how its the perfect cabin game. We kept the game going 3 days and I think Jeff was the only one to shoot the moon but I think in the end Tracy still won (at least that's our story and we are sticking to it!)

Thursday was another day of skiing and ski school. The kids now knew what to expect and practically ran out of the car.  Tracy and Tom were able to explore another part of the ski hill and Tom even got a few Black Diamond runs in. They were making snow on the hill and it was noticeably less crowded than on New Years Eve.  We spent all afternoon skiing together and the kids are now addicted. They kept asking the whole way home "when can we go again?! Can we get skis?!" We went to dinner in Frankfurter at Grandma's favorite restaurant Fusion. Its a really nice and tasty Asian place that specializes in Thai but also has Korean and Chinese. The best part? They put us in our own room! Yeah!  It was nice to relax and not worry about cooking for 1 night. Kay, of course, took a bet from Jimmy/Grandma and ate a whole spoonful of wasabi. The look on her face was priceless - she didn't react to the heat at all, but gave a look of total diva-ness. Then, she promptly ran to the bathroom and threw up. As Jimmy put it, a good "life lesson".  Back at the ranch, we got a killer game of Uno going with the kids. Its full combat Uno with 6 kids.  The decibel level was out of control.

Friday was our last "down" day. We hit the slope at Sleep Bear Dunes again, but this time with helmets.  Jeff and Tom even got in a few runs. We also read books, played cards, shot hoops and lazed around. Tom made a killer meal of broasted chicken and we watched Prep and Landing (a series of short animated films about Christmas). We all headed outside in our pajamas right before bed to look at the stars. It was so dark and so clear it was an amazing sight. Really beautiful and peaceful and awe inspiring (nothing better than standing in the snow, in your boots and pj's looking at stars. everyone should have that memory.....)

Saturday came and it was time to pack up an go. Grandma/pa headed back to South Carolina, Tammy/Jeff back to Grand Haven and the Loudamericans were driving back to Toronto. We were in a bit of a game of beat the clock as the Viking/Packer game was at 8pm and we had a goal to be home in time for kick off. I happen to know that all 3 families were gathered around their TV's in their respective homes, tired, glad to be home and cheering on their team. (Grandpa and Joey, Jimmy and Tom owe you a hamburger:))

It was an awesome vacation. Tons of family time, outdoor time, reading, playing, cards, food, a fire in the fireplace every night, etc. Notice, we didn't watch TV, read the paper, check email or even turn on our phone?!  The dogs also loved it and got a daily walk and played in the snow with the kids.  Having 2 houses next door to each other was perfect too. Grandma/pa got their "alone" time without the blare of kids and the kids got to do 1 big week long sleep over. Tammy/Jeff/Tracy/Tom also had some good adult bonding time over hearts and wine after the kids passed out.

We are already planning next year but are hoping Julie, Ced, Solomon and Sue will join us. There is plenty of room and plenty of fun and love to go around! Plus, we suspect Ced and Solomon will kill everyone on the ski hill with their snowboard skills given how good they are at surfing and skateboarding....

So, a wonderful loving, relaxing, fun way to start 2013.  A good omen for the year to come:)           

Merry Christmas!!

What a great Christmas! I hope you all had as wonderful a holiday as we did!

1st up - cocktails and appetisers at our friends Peggy and Rod for Christmas Eve. Tom made his famous Gorgonzola venison roll and there was enough food/drinks for an army. We met even more neighbors, including "the originals". He's 90, she's 88 and they have lived in their house 50+ years. They were super cute and it was fun to here about the neighborhood and Toronto before it was a big city. The kids had a blast too playing pinball and causing general mayhem. Jimmy got the troops going and declared a family sleep over in Billy's room so that they could all wake up and head down to the tree together on Christmas morning. We also skyped with friends over a glass of wine and fell into bed excited for the next day.


Christmas day was a joy. The kids loved all their presents, were nice to each other and there was really limited fighting so...I got my Christmas wish:)  Kays letter to Santa was classic.."Dear Santa, bring me what I like...Love, Kay"

Highlights included:
Billy - Wii and Skylanders starter kit, in fact, his arm hurt the next day from too much Wii:)
Kay - TONs of make up and cooking/baking sets, we even gave Kay a drawer of her own in the kitchen. Watch out!
Jimmy - an alarm clock that projects on his ceiling (go figure, that was his favorite present) and a basketball hoop. (Took Tom and I 2 days to put together the damn hoop, 1st attempt was about 95% done when we realized it was put together backwards. Have you tried to do this in 30 degree weather?!)
Tom - Bruce Springsteen autobiography and new fondue pot
Tracy - DRUM LESSONS and sticks/practice pad - yep, I'm going to give Jimmy a run for his money, I cant wait! Jimmy, of course, is mortified:)
We lazed around all day, played Wii (Dance Disney and Resorts are our personal favorite right now), ate, read books, and oh...put together a basketball hoop. We were able to chat with all our family and it was nice to at least connect virtually.

Then, Tom got busy with a major FEAST for dinner. Smoked turkey, beef wellington, homemade greek/olive break stuffing, mashed potatoes, beans, salad, dessert, etc etc...  Tom, Danica and their 2 kids (Isaac -8 and Nora -6) along with our neighbors Peter and Wendy and their 2 kids (Isaac -2 and Miles - 8 weeks) ate like kings. It was so so yummy! The kids watched Christmas movies, played Wii and everyone cried when it was time to go home.  Ahhh....



Yesterday was our 1st Boxing Day experience (think Black Friday) and I ventured out with the kids as their Christmas money/gift cards were burning a hole in their pockets.  Holy cow, the stores were wreaked!  It was a mob scene but the kids got what they wanted (Billy = more skylanders, Kay = more make up, Jimmy = Madden 13 for his PS3).  I made homemade turkey soup and Tom did a mean fish fry then we all headed downstairs for a dance competition on Dance Disney Wii. Lets just say Billy's got "the moves like Jagger" and handily beat us all!


Then...it snowed!! YEAH!!! We got about 6 inches of snow and its just gorgeous. Feels like winter break:). The kids went sledding with the neighbors in a ravine behind the school and had a blast.















Then it was off to the Sound of Music Sing-a-long, what a hoot. The theatre was packed and everyone was way into it, there were people in costumes. The best costumes won prizes, Mr. Maria and a nun with a beard!We all received a bag of props and let's just say that we will never view the movie the same again!

It was an interactive experience, including ...booing at Nazis, cheering Maria, quacking when Nun's are on the screen, waving a swatch of fabric and yelling "look behind you!" when she is in her bedroom asking the Captain for curtains...you get the picture. Super fun and as JImmy said "I didnt know The Sound of Music was so funny!"  Might become our new holiday tradition while in Toronto...








Tomorrow we are heading to Michigan to hook up with my parents and my sister/her family at my parents cottage. We have 2 days of ski school planned and a birthday party for Georgia at an indoor water park on the schedule. Layer on top of that football, skating, snowshoeing, ice skating and sledding and we have a  really fun winter vacation ahead of us.                 






Until next year!! Hope you ALL were with loved ones, enjoying each other and taking care of yourselves.
Peace, love and Happy New Year:)

holiday concerts

'Tis the time of year for Christmas/holiday concerts and this year the Murphys were in full force.

To start: Cameron PSS: Kays class sang 2 songs "Happy Christmas" by John Lennon and "Do they know its Christmas" by BareNakedLadies.

Billys class did "Jingle Bells" with a little Gangam style action in the middle (he's flanked by his buddies Misha and William)

Then, at assembly, Kay won an award at school "Student of the Month" for Kindness and Caring. We are so proud of her we could burst. We also wish she'd bring some of that home...

Then, we all headed down to the Distillary District for a traditonal German Christmas street festival. It was REALLY cool but not an original idea and Tom/Tracy decided that next year it would be a date night venture. We saw Santa and Jimmy peppered him with questions on if he was "real" or not. Jimmy probably really believed in Santa until about 6 weeks ago but now, with his Grade 6 buddies, is too cool for all that. The hard part is, being as talkative and extroverted as he is, he's ramping up to ruin it for Kay and Billy. Kay has always had her suspicions (remember Christmas in India when she cried "But why is Santa Daddy!?!" and the boys looked at her like she had a 3rd eye.).  Billy thinks Jimmy is crazy and this is one of those times I'm thankful he lives in his own little world.

Then, it was the piano/drum recital with their music school. I love that 80% of the kids are Asian and so much talent! (the non-Asian kids are russian, greek and Indian - not a north american caucasian in sight except for Tom/Tracy - we LOVE how diverse Toronto is!!)  The kids all did great and Jimmy rocked the house and was the only one on the docket 3 times (piano, drums and a band)


Kay played  San Franciso Trolley

Billy played Jack in the Bean Stalk
Jimmy played  Joshua fought the Battle of Jericho on piano,  an original drum solo and his band played "Girl, I really got you now" by the Kinks..

All in all, they all did great! so proud of their courage to stand up and perform:)

And now the rest of the story...

Billy's Birthday part 2... as it were. Being that OL' Bill's real birthday fell during the week we scheduled the party for the weekend so as not to disappoint the birthday boy and his posse.
Bill woke up having spent the better part of the night on his first " cram session" trying to get his new Lego Creation done, he finished a bit after mid-night and was a tad slow off the draw but it was PARTY time so we got the rally cap out and prepared.




Seems Bill has surrounded himself with like minded or in the this like case, short-term attention challenged, like mindedness and the group of the had a ball. It was a real goat rodeo around the house this morning with who is being dropped off, who are we picking up and who is even coming. The rally started out a bit hectic but when the dust settle everyone was safely inside Chuck E Cheese's with tokens, sugar and games, WHEW!




Billy invited 6 kids from his school along with a family friend, a son of one of Tracy's co-workers, our neighbor Josh and Billy's 2 adorable siblings, really! The group did Chuck's place in grand style and gathered many precious heirlooms of molded plastic that will be cherished for about 10 minutes then discarded in favor of the next best thing.






In all fairness, it was a great birthday party, Billy was on cloud 9 and his friends all seemed to get along. Play-dates and sleep overs on the horizon hugs to all and many thanks were exchanged.










Happy 8th Birthday Billy we love you!!

Have cupcakes, will travel or in other words - Happy Birthday Billy!

Yesterday Billy turned 8 and BOY did he have a 10 thumbs up day! 

His day started by a "Happy Birthday Bill" yelled from Jimmy (leaving for school) to Billy (getting dressed in his room).  Tracy went into the work late and had bacon and mandu (Korean potstickers) for breakfast with Billy (his choice).  He was able to open 1 gift (from Nikki) before Tracy dropped he/Kay off for school.  A 3 pack of Hot Wheels "balls" (Hot Wheels cars that somehow fold into a ball - engineering of kids toys these days, I tell you!). The rest of the presents were eagerly anticipated for after school.

In Canada (unlike Golden Valley) are you allowed to bring treats in for your birthday so Billy was VERY popular with this 2 dozen vanilla mini cupcakes. He even managed to contain his excitement/energy of the day and got a green smiley face and "Happy Birthday" note form his teacher. 

Then, post school, it was off to TKD and MORE cupcakes. The stopped the practice session early to sing/wish Billy a Happy Birthday and more cupcakes were passed out. On top of that!! He got his sparring equipment yesterday. This is huge and he's super excited to get even further "into" TKD.

While he was at TKD, Kay was busy making brownies (Billys favorite and another request) for dessert.

We all headed out to a new Korean restaurant to celebrate (again, Billy's choice) and - oh my gosh - we have a new favorite restaurant in Toronto. The food was unbelievable!  As always, the kids ate like we never feed them and there wasnt a grain of rice left when we were done. In a total turn of coincidence, this place has Duk Kalbi - a spicy BBQ chicken dish that we had for the 1st (and only) time in Korean when we picked up Billy 8 years ago. We've been on a constant search for it since but never to any avail. But not now!  We have found it!  It was as wonderful as we remember too. If you come visit, we'll take you, promise!!

Billy opened presents while we were waiting for the food to come and he can hardly wait to build his new Lego set, open his Bey Blades and play with his new games on his new PSP. AND< he's already mentally spent the $ he got as a gift on new games/toys. THANK YOU to everyone that sent notes/cards/gifts. They were perfect!








We raced back home, sang Happy Brithday and ate brownies. Then, off to bed (it is a school night after all!)  He has his kid party on SuUnday at Chuck E Cheese, so no worries, the festivities havent eneded yet:)           




Billy, we love you! We love how analytical, mechanical, kind, funny, crazy, silly, cuddly, loving, caring and special you are.

Long weekend update

Just as we are hitting our pre-Christmas manic stride (why is it always a race to the holidays?!) the Ontario school board gifted us with a 3 day weekend (PA weekend). In all honesty, the school district has a planned 3 day weekend for each month the kids are in school. Not a bad idea, but this one snuck up on us. Actually, that was a blessing in disguise.We took major advantage!

Wednesday night - Billy got his yellow belt!  Go Billy Go! Master Ted says Billy is a very intelligent boy but now, things get serious. Yellow belt is when you really have to buckle down in TKD.  He coached Billy that he'll need to pay even closer attention and not squirrel around so much. It also means badges on your uniform (Canadian flag and Korean flag as well as the patch from the dojo).  The badges take up most of the uniform and I"m not sure where we'll put our US flag and dojo patch when we move back. The patches are adult size on a small kid size uniform. Very cute. It also means he'll start sparring and you ALL know what that means, sparring equipment. To the tune fo a couple hundred dollars, we will soon be the proud owners of full body sparring gear. Size kids small. Very useful indeed. I think this is also the slow slide into competition. We'll see where that lands us but...everyday when we ask Billy what his favorite part of the day is, he answers "Tae Kwon DO!!" So, in for a penny, in for a pound.

Thursday night  - Kays at gymnastics, we have a quick dinner fo pizza/leftovers, take the dog to the doggy daycare and pack up the car. No, we arent leaving her behind (although there were a few occasions on Friday that made us wish we had) we were setting off to pick her up from class and head out of town. Our destination for the long weekend getaway?  Waterloo. Now, for those in the Twin Cities, that would similar to trip to Rochester, garnering a big "WHY?" from all of Tracys co-workers. Our response? Why not?!  We pulled in late and then stayed up later watching cooking shows on 1 TV and sports on the other (the hotel didnt have an extra cot so they comp'ed us an ajoining room - sweet!) Kay and Tracy learned to make the perfect English Christmas dinner (Thank you to the Naked Chef - Jamie whats his name and the Hells Kitchen guy ....)

Friday, we had BIG plans...1st, off to see the Mennonite community and little artisian town for lunch. We walked through the maple syrup and Hardware/Home museum (yep, there is a hardware museum in St Jacob Ontario).  We stopped at a roadside farmers market and bought all our teacher Xmas gifts (peanut and chocolate concoctions) Then, after lunch, it was off to the Waterloo Regional Museum. They had a pioneer village (circa 1914) and we learned all about an English Christmas (continuing with the theme) a German Christmas and a Mennonite Christmas. Every  building we toured there was someone to greet us, in traditional clothes, and talk about their traditions. I think the blacksmith was the kids favorite.  After that, inside to the innovation center. It was cool, lots of interactive activities and some local history/heros.  We actually spent almost and entire afternoon there.

Friday night, what else, but the local playhouse version of Annie. The kids LOVED it and it was actually a really good production with highly talented people. Unfortunately, it ended at 10pm and we hadnt had dinner yet AND all the local places were closed (remember, Mennonite country). Never fear, take out from St Loius Ribs, more Christmas cooking shows and the 2nd 1/2 of a really lame made for TV Christmas movie from the early 2000's.  Once again, up way too late but able to sleep in. Love long weekends...

Saturday we let the kids sleep in, stopped at Tim Hortons for donuts/coffee and were on our way home. Had to get home in time to get Tom to school. Tracy took the kids to Kirons hockey game and then we met Tom, Priya, John, Kiron and Sohanna for dinner at Jack Astors - the ultimate sports bar thats kid friendly (think Champps on steriods).  We subwayed home, were back by 9pm and it gave us just enough time to catch up on the latest episode of GLEE. (yep, we are major Gleeks)   

Now, Sunday is all about homework, piano, drums, lounging in PJ's, Vikings game, etc.  VERY low key day. If we decide to get dressed, I think we'll go get a tree.

Need to rest up - Billy turns 8 on Tuesday:)
              

2012n Football Banquet Go Grizzlies!!!

OMG the season that would never end, not to mention it was a great season but it's December for Goodness sake....

Just when you thought the holiday blogs would be upon you with the HO HO HO, football is right back at ya! This past weekend was the much anticipated Football Banquet and the Santa Claus Parade, in that order.

Saturday morning we headed over to the North York Memorial hall for the Grizzlies year end banquet, awards ceremony and the chance to listen to each  pf the coaches go on and on and on.
There are three divisions on the Grizzlies, the Atoms, ages 6-8, who were runners up in the tournaments, the Bantams, 12 and up, who were not and then the Peewees 10-12 and your....(drum roll)  COMFL 2012 Champions! Jimmy was in his element, hanging with his teammates, a little one on one time with the coaches and a chance to go on stage and receive his trophy, and celebrate the first time in 33 years that Coach Clarke was able to yet again raise the trophy in victory. Coach Clarke being a very responsible and level headed person and not to mention THE Coach kept his speech short stating, " you see victory is a circular thing, I won 33 years ago and hope in another 33 years I am standing before you again!" Funny too.

The banquet was all you would imagine, pizza, chicken wings, lasagna, salad dozens of desserts and more, or perhaps you may have imagined something different. The time came to eat and it was 'everyone for themselves', literally the food was attacked like there was no tomorrow and when the dust settles there was more food left than ate and each family brought home an entire large pizza, fun! There were the normal speeches and awards however one that stood out for us was the True Grit Award, given in honor of one of the Grizzle Alumnus who was lost in an army training exercise. The award is not for the best offensive player or the best defensive player or special teams, the award is for the player that shows up practice after practice, game after game, and gives all his effort, every play, practice or game and is their because they love football, now that is an award to aspire too! It has nothing to do with raw talent, its all about passion.  The winner on Jimmys team was JP, his team mate that lost his mom this summer but was at pratice and every game, rain or shine. Seiriously brought a tear to the coaches eye (and ours too!).  Jimmy and we were really proud of all the award winners.

The next day Jimmy and Tom headed off to the parade in the rain, yea you have to love those December rains, brings the brown out in everything. The parade was much more attended than we thought it would be and the kids had a blast. Tracy, Thing 1 & Thing 2 came to cheer the marchers on and we all were treated to really bad pizza and a monstrous fit from Kay, special!






Now if that is not enough, as I mentioned in the previous post regarding the teachers and their love of prop115, they have announced they will strike "sometime soon" (read inbetween the lines:  when it is the most disruptive to everyone). That being said, Jimmy was part of a sit-out/strike, meaning they sat out on the playground after lunch protesting the lack of extra curricular activities. They wanted to make a point and vowed they would stay outside long after the bell rang (got to love big groups of middle school kids). They were fairly focused and the kids were even chanting, "Canada is getting fat and not having extra curricular activism is adding to the obesity", nothing like getting to heart of the matter. The school was fairly supportive and the Principal finally convinced the kids that because it was cold outside they could come into the lunch room and continue their peacefully demonstration there, it went back and forth and finally the kids acquiesced. The kids were respectful, peaceful and focused their strike on the lack of activities not on the teachers. Pretty mature actually.

However once they entered the lunch room the janitor was cleaning up and put the kibosh on the strike stating " The room is already cleaned go strike somewheres else! ( Loosely translated it means  "Stay off my grass you damn kids!")

Jimmy was so amped up the night before: excited, scared, empowered, organized. As a parent it was really fun to see them think and stand up for themselves in a thoughtful way. They are right, they are missing an important part of their school experience, they should express their disatisfaction.  Jimmy was worried about getting expelled, suspended, that we'd be mad, etc... We assured him, if he handled himself respectfully about the topic (not making it personal with the teachers) and stayed peaceful... that we'd actually be proud. And, we were!  What a great 1st experience in expressing yourself and being heard! Little change agents in the making...     Look out WORLD!!

This letter came home in Jimmy's backpack both real and electronic:

November 30th, 2012

Dear Parents/Guardians:

This afternoon, some of our students participated in a demonstration to express their views about the teachers’ response to recently passed government legislation. This demonstration began at 12:15pm continued until 1:15pm.

While some of our students were in the building and attending classes, we did have other students participating in this demonstration. This was not a school or TDSB-sanctioned event. Learning continued in classrooms for the students who remained.

A top priority at Willowdale MS is safety. To that end, staff members that were not in class joined Mr. Bozin and I to monitor students on the back field. This was a peaceful demonstration and students conducted themselves respectfully and responsibly, which is the Willowdale way. The demonstration ended without incident and students resumed regularly scheduled classes.

Yours in partnership,

A. Caccamo M. Bozin

Principal Vice-Principal

S31