Father's Day Celebration...

My family loves soccer!  You can't read to many of my posts before you know that little detail.  Both my boys play soccer, I coach the youngest's team, and my husband plays soccer too.  They also play soccer video games, soccer in the backyard and they watch a lot of games.  Soccer is a pretty big deal in our house.

This summer Manchester United is on tour in the United States.  Man United is the team for my boys...all of them!  We have extra channels so that we can see all the Man United games. We have multiple jerseys and scarves, soccer balls and beer steins emblazoned with the Man United logo. There's a huge flag flying outside my house in honor of Manchester United...they're a pretty big deal!

Imagine the excitement in our house when we learned that Manchester United would be playing the Seattle Sounders in an International Friendly game.  The Sounders are our 2nd favorite team, and we cross the state a couple times each summer to watch a game.  This week we traveled to Seattle to see Manchester United and the Seattle Sounders.

 This was an amazing adventure for our family.  We enjoyed ourselves in Seattle a bit before the game, including a stop for more Manchester United gear!

 Man United won the Barclay's Premier League last season, and they are traveling with the cup.  Why not?  It's pretty impressive.

 We love the Sounders too, so it was exciting to watch them play.  But, the thrill of seeing athletes you've only seen on TV in person...it was phenomenal!

 #10 is Wayne Rooney...a family favorite {we even have a cat named Rooney}...

 ...the thrill of the game was watching Rooney score not one, not two, but three goals in the second half.  A Rooney Hat Trick!

 Happy Father's Day to the most amazing Daddy in the whole world!

Summer Adventure List...

So...here I am on summer vacation! 

This was last summer...but it just evokes summer!

The days spilling out in front of me like...well...like days just waiting to be filled up with fun and entertainment.  Sitting here at the beginning of summer, I thought it would be fun to write my...

Summer Adventure List

becuase there are some things I want to make sure happen! They may not all sound like adventures, but they'll all be fun!

In no particular order...
* Complete two sprint and one Olympic triathlons
* Attend the soccer match of the year...Manchester United v  
  Seattle Sounders!
* Spend as much time as possible creating & crafting
* Update and revise my blog
* Read, read and then read some more
* Visit a local pool at least once each week with my kids...
  Summer Pool Tour 2011
* Take my husband on a mini-vacation for our 16th anniversary
* Host my friends kids for a day of science fun
* Update my 2011 Family scrapbook
* Go somewhere we've never been before

There you have it, my Summer Adventure List! I am looking forward to an amazing summer, and looking forward to sharing adventures with you.

What's on your Summer Adventure List?

I have to brag...

This is my middle school son and he is amazing!  This happened in the past two weeks:

• Connar finished his first year playing club level soccer and he was faced with another round of tryouts for next season this spring.  Connar attended three different tryouts, playing his hardest, and was invited to play for his first choice club and coach.
• Connar decided last year that he was going to play trumpet in the middle school band.  {I have to admit that I was bracing myself for a year of headaches!} Not only is he on his way to becoming an accomplished trumpet player, he also picked up the French Horn.  His band marched in the junior parade in our city a couple of weeks ago and won their division!  This resulted in an invitation to march in the big, deal parade this weekend.  {It's the first time in 15 years a middle school from his district has been invited to march with the big boys!}
• Not many kids begin to thrive academically their first year of middle school {trust me...I've been teaching in middle school for 15 years} That's not true of Connar...he is absolutely blooming in middle school.  Yesterday we received an invitation to join the National Honor Society!  Holy Cow!  

I am so unbelievably lucky to have this kiddo.

I hope your weekend is amazing...thanks for letting me brag!

Tell Me Something Good Thursday...

This is a regular Thursday post for my good friend Tessa over at Shopper Gal and I decided to chime in this week as well...I hope it's ok that I borrowed your button Tessa!


Not only is today Thursday, but in my little corner of the world we're heading into a 4 day weekend, so it's also FRIDAY!  It's been a good week, here's a bit of what I'm feeling good about this week...

• My husband surprised me on Valentine's Day with the traditional Valentines...candy, a teddy bear and roses...and he took me out to lunch.  The funny part of this story is that I had just texted him to see if he would be interested in joining me for lunch.  His reply was that he was really settled into his video game.  Moments later, he was at my office door!
• It was also my husband's birthday this week and I managed to pull off a surprise Birthday dinner.  This was not an easy feat, but with the help of lots of friends, family and our boys...we had a great surprise party and he loved it!
• I had a great time with my kids this week...Connar has been working on a big project for school and I was able to help with some of the details, while Aiden has been reading up a storm and we've had a good time talking about the books he's reading.  I am so proud of my kids.
• Finally, I am really looking forward to a long weekend with lots of time to ski, play, date my husband and just relax.  I also have an afternoon full of crafts that will be fantastic fun.

What are you feeling good about this week?

New Year's Eve Tradition...

There is a beautiful spot on a lake near where I live, that is a wintering ground for migrating bald eagles.  In the past couple of years, heading out to the lake to see the eagles has become a New Year's Eve tradition for my family.

 It was really cold this year, but the scenery was amazing.  We caught this eagle fishing.

 Aiden loved looking at them up close with his binoculars!

The pictures don't do justice to these magnificent birds, we watched for as long as we could stand the temperatures (around 5 degrees!)

What are your traditions for welcoming in the New Year?

Fantastic Family Calendar...

I try to be vigilant about keeping a Family Calendar.  Especially during sports seasons when it feels like we moving in a hundred different directions, it helps to have things written down.  We have a calendar hanging on the wall in the kitchen that holds all the family appointments, sports schedules and routine maintenance checks.  Every Sunday evening, I sit down with my iPhone and make sure my personal calendar and the family calendar match.  This is important because I also have a calendar at work and I need to make sure that overlapping appointments are on all three.

Recently, I found a calendar that helps reduce all these steps.  The Cozi Family Calendar is fantastic!  You register online and build your family calendar...each family member is color-coordinated.  From the free online view, you can print a day, week or month.  I also downloaded the app for my iPhone and for my husband's.  Appointments and events can be added online or on either phone and will appear in all three locations.  Reminders can be scheduled to be sent via text or email also. 

This is the best family calendar I have seen in a long time.  I love that it was developed to be managed by both adults in the home and can be customized for all family members.  It's so easy to schedule a reminder as well...we've sent reminders to make dental appointments, to pick up ice for a party and even to make sure we remembered to pick up cash for the baby sitter.

My other favorite feature is in the iPhone app.  The app includes a shopping list and a to-do list.  I have previously downloaded apps for both that were cumbersome and required moving back and forth between the calendar app and the to-do list.  With Cozi everything is in one place and it's all easy to use.  You can also build your list on-line and access it on your phone.  For the busy families everywhere...this is perfect.

Disclaimer:  I have received nothing from Cozi...I read a post similar to mine in early December and started using Cozi on my own.  The online calendar is free and the iPhone app has a small charge.

How do you keep your busy family organized and on time?

Family Dinner Games...

My family enjoys playing games at dinner.  We don't do this every night, but sometimes, when we have time to linger over dinner, it's fun to play a game.  Yesterday my son, Aiden brought a dice game home from school...Roll-A-Turkey!

The object is to be the first person to have a completed turkey!  You draw your turkey by rolling a dice...
Roll 1 = Draw the head
Roll 2 = Draw the body
Roll 3 = Draw 1 wing
Roll 4 = Draw 1 foot
Roll 5 = Draw face and wattle
Roll 6 = Draw 1 feather

Here's Aiden's turkey...he really had a rough time rolling 6's :)  Try this at dinner...it will leave you all laughing!

Breakfast and Ballots...

There has been lots of media attention to the mid-term elections, signs posted on every corner and commercials on TV.  Since our county votes through mail-in ballots, we use our ballots as a teachable moment.

While the boys ate breakfast, Kyle and I completed our ballots.  We didn't have too many races that were important, but there were several initiatives, resolutions and bills.  Connar helped us by looking them up in our Voter's Guide, and we deciphered the wording together.  As Kyle and I both belong to unions, we also took into account the perspective of those unions.  Connar asked great questions and actually helped us clarify our thoughts.

I believe strongly that what we model makes a more powerful impression on our children than what we say...and we had more fun voting!

Family Traditions...

One of my favorite things about Fall is the family traditions that accompany the season.

Every year my family gets together to make lefse, a Scandinavian bread made out of potatoes.  It's delicious rolled up with butter and a bit of sugar.  Without lefse we couldn't possibly have Thanksgiving, Christmas or Easter dinners.

 For the first time, this year, my nieces and my own boys helped.  (At least a little!)  Chloe actually rolled the whole first batch.  While Connar didn't last nearly as long, I was impressed that he gave it a shot.  My mom, loved teaching them both how to roll out the little balls of mashed potatoes.

 My job is usually to bake the lefse.  Once it's been rolled out, my mom drops it directly onto my glass-top stove.  We used to use cast iron skillets and electric frying pans.  The stove-top method is really easy...there is however a huge flour mess when we're finished.  My Gram usually rolls lefse, but with the kids helping she joined me at the stove to cook.

 My niece, Desi, helped pat excess flour off the finished pieces and move them over to the drying & cooling towels. Once the lefse is cool, we wrap it and freeze it for holiday meals.  There is also a large plate full of "duds"...pieces we deemed good only for that evening's dinner!

Once the lefse was cooked, and the cookies decorated, we had a big family dinner.  I love entertaining and the cozy feeling of a house full of family.  This is the perfect kick-off to all the holidays and family celebrations.

How do you celebrate fall and family?

A Little Zen...

Life's nuts...crazy...busy...I love it but some days I run on empty. 

This afternoon, I rushed from work to get my haircut.  I had planned to pick my youngest up at his brother's soccer practice, run an errand and hurry home to make dinner.

My husband sent a text from the soccer field...Aiden wanted to stay and play. 

I  decided the errand could wait...

I had an hour to myself at home...read a magazine, listened to good music, cooked dinner with a glass of wine....  Found a little zen in the midst!

Braided Heabands and Family Dinners...

I found a super cute braided headband tutorial last week on...



Since I friends and family coming over for dinner, I thought it would be fun to organize a craft for all the moms and girls.  This braided headband seemed perfect. 

I had a basket full of fabric strips, scissors, needles and thread...everything we needed...ready to go when the party started.

Once the braiding was done, it was time to assemble the headband.  There aren't a lot of complicated steps, so it was fun to braid, sew and chat. 

The younger girls were having too much fun playing, and preferred to have their headbands made for them :) but Desi did all the work on hers.  This was a great "party craft" and everyone left with a fun headband.

Vacation!

Are there more wonderful words than "Summer Vacation"? 

Maybe...if those words are Summer Vacation in Maui! 

My family and I just returned from the most amazing vacation and I would like to share a bit of it with you...

My husband and I renewed our vows on the beach in honor of our 15th anniversary.  How wonderful to know that you made the best choice and you would make that same choice all over again!

The boys learned the ancient art of Nose Flute :)

We went snorkeling with sea turtles...

...and Kyle went scuba diving.  Aiden was so excited to be snorkeling above him at the end of his dive.

We spent hours playing in the ocean and in the pool.  We even all took surfing lessons...the most fun ever! 

We ate the most delicious food in some of the most beautiful places I have ever seen.

The kids loved the Maui Ocean Center

Truly, one of the most fabulous vacations of all time!

The Big Garage Project...

I love our house!  It's our first (and maybe last) house and I love it!  But...it's small and in need of a storage makeover.  The first step of the makeover was THE GARAGE!

Our garage has become a collect-all with lots of stuff and no real organization.  We started by sketching a couple of large storage systems that we (Kyle) would build.  Then we piled everything into the driveway and headed to Home Depot!

 

Of course the project took longer than we estimated, and of course we took more trips to Home Depot than we thought we should...

 

...but at the end it turned out so fantastic! We were able to bring storage bins out of the basement store room and make more room for Storage Makeover Project #2.  All the tools, gardening materials, skateboard ramps and Christmas trees have a place they belong...

 

...and all the skateboards, skis, and golf bags are easily accessed!

What projects are you working on this summer?

Happy 4th of July...

I love the 4th of July!  It's a great holiday for many reasons...one of which is that we have so much fun.  For the past several years we have spent the evening with family friends who have a lake cabin.  In the county where we live, personal fireworks are illegal.  While there are several large local shows, the traffic involved is not fun!  On the lake, where our friends live...fireworks are legal.  This year we packed up our kids, swimming gear and a truck load of fireworks and headed out to the lake!

Traditionally we have scorching hot weather on the 4th of July...not so much this year, it was a bit cold. The cold weather didn't deter the swimmers though.  The kids had several water fights and a game of basketball.

The moment dinner was over, the kids were asking when we could start fireworks!  (At that point there were about 3 hours of daylight)  Fortunately, the truck load of fireworks required a little unwrapping and prepping...that kept the boys busy for at least 30 minutes.

After a rousing game of hide-n-seek, Kyle talked to the kids about being safe and set up some ground rules.  Then they dove into the Roman Candles, Sparklers and Crackling Balls. 

Finally, as it started to get dark, families all over the lake started their fireworks shows.  For an hour we watched Kyle launch our own mortars and missiles while also enjoying the displays around the lake.  It was beautiful and spectacular.  The 4th of July is one of my favorite family holidays!  Thanks to our great friends for their hospitality and friendship.  We can't wait until next year!

H

How did your family celebrate on the 4th?