Proud Hockey Dad

Two things to say. One- I never thought I would post anything on a blog. Two-Not one to brag about family but... This past weekend all four kids were in skates and on the ice. Andrew and Krista had there lessons first. (Pretty cool that mom is re-learning to skate so she can appreciate the game a bit more). They came off the ice and Abbie and Evan did their lessons. I took Andrew's skates off and Owen (not quite 2 years old) started putting them on, so I figured what the heck they have the same size feet. I laced 'em up and Owen started walking around the locker room. He wasn't satisfied until he put his feet on the ice so while the others had their lesson, Owen and I went on the ice and he loved it. He wouldn't let me take "his" skates off until the other had theirs off and he knew for sure that we were leaving. My hope and wish is that every dad out there has "these" moments and has more moments than he can count or remember. Ken

Green Eggs and Ham Anyone?

We missed our annual St. Patrick's Day tradition at home so we made s urprise dinner for Ken yesterday! He said, "This is the most disgusting thing I have ever seen." We had green omelettes,
green ham, and toast. The kids thought it was the coolest thing we have ever made. We all had the green food and it didn't slow the eating down one bit. It was really fun to do and we hope to continue the tradition for many years to come.

Spring Fever

We have had the most beautiful past few days. Yesterday it was 81 here and we celebrated by being outside all day. We have a sand table on the deck the kids can play in without getting muddy. Our yard needs a good couple of days to dry out but the way the weather has been the kids just don't want to stay in the house. We have designated mud shoes and shoes to wear to the store.

We made our first trips to the park with all of the daycare kids and things went great. They were all very well behaved and good listeners. That is so important with crossing the busy streets.

The kids are all great. I can't believe that my baby is going to be 2 in a couple of weeks. He is the size of a 3 year old.

Evan has a hockey tournament this week-end and Grandma and Papa are coming up for it and Grandpa Gordy and Grandma Dolly are coming also. Evan will have a big cheering section! It will be nice to be done with hockey. It is a long comitment, 6 months.

Skating lessons are going great! The twins skated with no screaming and I did very well myself.

Maddy, my daycare baby, is 6 months old and has started to eat baby food. So far so good. I am out of practice. Messy, messy. She has grown so much since starting here.

Take care.

BIG Week-end

We had such a great week-end. We left Thursday afternoon for Minneapolis to see the WCHA Final Five Tournament. There were games and they were all fun to see. Of course, some of them were much more exciting than the others. Evan became a Gophers fan. Ken and I were for any team that could beat them. The first night, Evan got a puck from one of the team managers. The next day he got a puck, a roll of tape and then Wheeler, #17 on the Gophers, scored three goals. That is called a hat trick and the fans throw their hats on the ice. One landed on my head and Evan got to keep that, it was a Gopher hat, of course. The final game for the Championship was won by Wheeler scoring the winning goal in over time. He was tripped and going across the ice on his belly, swung the stick with one hand and scored the winning goal. After the game Evan was giving them knuckles and a coach gave him a Final Five Championship hat. He also got a stick. Not just any stick, the game winning stick of Blake Wheeler. It was awesome and he was so excited. Wheeler is 6'5". The stick is 6'. What a haul he made. He had a very awesome sign that his Uncle Jeff made and he was on the jumbotron if front of 20,000 people! We don't know if he made FSN or not. It was so much fun and Evan just loved it!!

The twins spent their days with Grandma Rosemary and Grandpa Mark. They were brave and took them out to eat. We walked in the skywalks downtown and had a good time. On Sunday we spent the afternoon with Grandma Dolly and Grandpa Gordy. They went to the park, while I took a nap. They had a good time and all the kids napped ont he way home.

That is all for now. Take care and have a great week.

Wow! How time flies. I have been checking out other blogs and waiting for them to update and then looked at my own and realized that it has been a while since I put anything on. We have been distracted by warm weather. Our snow is mealting very fast and the kids are dying to get outside. Ken took them puddle jumping at MSU on Monday. They had a blast. Yesterday it was 65 here!! Today, clod and rainy!

Jess and Jill, our friends from IA, came up for a few days and we had a lot of fun with them. For the last two years they have come up and we go shopping. LAst year we got some clothes for me and this year we got clothes for the kids. We have their Easter outfits and I can't wait until they wear them. Then I can put pictures up on here.

Daycare is going well. Busy, busy but it is fun. The time change has been a little hard on the kids but today they are finally getting back on track. It is a dark and dreary day so hopefully that will mean good naps for all.

We are heading out the the WCHA Final Five. That is a hockey tournament and there are five teams and games. We are excited to go and we leave tomorrow afternoon for the cities and come back Sunday.

We also went to IA and had Grandma's 85th Birthday party. It was fun and seeing all of the kids was great. My cousins twins are adorable! They were born the same day as my daycare baby, Maddy. Then my other cousin's oldest, Dylan was there also. He is adorable too. The kids found an air mattress there and decided to ride it down the stairs. They had a great time and lots of laughs. Grandma had fun seeing all of the kids!

That's all for now and I will let you know how the games turn out! Take care and have a good week-end!

We Made It

We all survived the week. Ken left Sunday about 4 for Chicago. It was the first day in a long time that I had to get all the kids fed and Evan off to school. We did that just fine and he got to walk to the bus by himself and was very proud to do that. Rosemary came down Monday morning and was here until today. It was great to have and extra set of hands. It was great not to have to worry at all about supper and just spend time witht he kids. The daycare kids loved her too. Thanks Rosemary!!

Ken had a board review class and it was "like being back in school. They went from 7AM to 6PM and then had a 120 question test each niight. He met one of his friends that he used to work with at Medic in Davenport, IA. He is also a PA and he lives in MI. They were glad to go through the torture together. Ken left earlyt Friday and got home about 7:30 and didn't hit any bad roads until he was in Rochester. And what a relief to get him home.

We had about 14 inches of snow from the storm last week and another 14-15 from this one. There is so much snow the kids had a hard time walking around in the back. We are going to make a big slide in the front in the space between our driveways and the next. It should be fun.

Our babaysitters form IA are coming tomorrow. They are 20 now! YIKES!!! For those of you that don't know, they are twins and we met them when they were 7. This is the second year that they spent their Spring Break with Team Bentson. It is fun to have them here and it is also a shopping trip!

WE, notice I said we, started skatoing lessons today. I am in a class for beginners and the twins are in a class. Evan is also in lessons so he can "be a better skater." I was nervous but she said that I did great! I din't fall anyway. The twins and Evan did very well. Then Ken and Evan had practice tonight.

We are planning a quiet night and a quiet day tomorrow and get ready for the new week to start.

Take care and thanks for checking in!!