Weekend Tournaments - Our Athlete in Action!

Madeline's soccer team has had bad luck getting into soccer tournaments this year - not enough teams their age in their division to make it work, mostly.  This weekend was their first of the year - (we get to go to Saskatoon soon for another, though, and are looking forward to that!) - and it was also the weekend of her only basketball tournament...  We are happy that there are only a few overlaps between those two schedules; it seemed almost comical that these tournaments ended up on the same weekend.

Happily missing one quarter of one basketball game was the extent of the overlap this weekend.  I got to run her around Friday night while Sean stayed home and put Nolan to bed, and I thankfully remembered to take advantage of the kid-less games to take my camera along.

KT tape for the shin splints.

Warm ups.

Notice all 10 of them have the same hairstyle??

She shoots...

I love how much fun she has with these girls.

Right in the action.

This tournament was on 1/2 size fields, so they split into two teams.

Party

Today we had M's birthday party.  I've been wrestling with photos for an hour and need to get to bed, so you're going to have to see these ones sideways till I can get back to this.

It was a costume party, and I made up skit bags - each bag had 4 different props that they had to incorporate into a skit.  They had some good fun.  M wore my old basketball uniform.

Mackenzie had the best costume - a peacock!  They did her hair on the weekend, so she made the costume to match.

We found this for Nolan yesterday - so cute.

The other thing they did was a repeat of last year's party - decorating cupcakes.  They did two each - one to have here and one to take home.

Two Months Old!!

Nolan is two months old today.  What a wonderful time these last two months have been - he has added so much into our family.  The highlight of the last day for me has been getting out for walks with the stroller.  So great.  We went all together yesterday, and today N and I walked up to the public health office to weigh him, since our doctor's appointments for today got bumped till next week.  I was curious about how much he was now: 14 lbs & 14 oz.  Big boy!  He falls asleep in the stroller (helps that I tend to go at nap time!), and I hope to get out for a walk now just about every day.

I had to miss M's school production last week because N was having a super fussy day, but we haven't had to miss too many of her things.  We just have a little someone to sit in the stands and cheer with us.  He was actually awake for her last basketball game and watched all the action intently in the first half before he fell asleep.  He was awake for some of her last soccer games this weekend, too.  We also went to a couple of hockey games this past week (my nephews Mathew and Josh both play) - this little one is quite the sports fan already. 

Tummy Time!

...with a smile.

All tuckered out.

Watching the camera...

...and basketball!

Meeting Jen & Jeremy's new baby girl Eden. (M took the photos.)

Dad swap!  He's 7 weeks there and she's 2 weeks & 5 lbs. 

Hanging with M's Grandpa McCall on our shared birthday.

Isn't he awesome?

Two Weeks Old!

Man, how time flies - I can't believe that Nolan has been here for two weeks already.  He's fitting into the family well - in the last few days he's gone to M's swimming lessons (she passed level 9), her soccer game, her basketball game, and to Dad's work.

We went to the doctor for his first visit today - he's just over 12 pounds now; above the 99.9the percentile for height and between the 97 & 99th percentile for weight.  We grow 'em big in the Schneider family.

One thing the doctor said was that he shouldn't need to eat as often as he does, and that if he's hungry more often than every 3 hours or so, to give him water.  So we tried to give him water in a bottle tonight, and he actually took some.  Funny to watch him try something new like that.

I am feeling pretty good, except that I have bronchitis... I guess labour was hard on my lungs!  I've been coughing ever since we got home from the hospital.  Doc prescribed some stuff, so I'm looking forward to kicking this pretty quick now.  I weighed myself this morning and was thrilled to find that in the past two weeks I've lost 30 pounds!  Only 13 more to go to get back to what I was before.

A fun wrinkle in life this week is that my Escape needs a new tranny.  It's in the shop and we won't get it back till next week sometime.  it was nice to be able to leave Nolan home sleeping while I drove Sean to work this morning - M was comfortable keeping an ear out for him while she got ready for school.

And some photos from today - the boy at two weeks old:

First date at Roca House - Camille (the owner) held him a while  and treated us to the yummy cupcakes to go with our coffees.

And here is me embracing the camera.  He only looks extra huge here because it's a close shot...

This and That

Highlights from the week:

* Book club was here on Thursday.  It was fun to have all the girls together again and make our picks for the next year.  Chocolate Zucchini Cake dominated the snack table.  Baby Anna made her first book club appearance, which was a nice treat.  M got to be down here with us for a while, too, which she loved.

* Going to Briercrest for the alumni basketball weekend.  I went out Friday night and got to see a few of the girls I played with - I didn't play myself, but kept them company on the bench and we had a good visit staying up late in the hotel after.  When I was pregnant with M, I played the whole time - think the season ended when I was 4 or 5 months.  I figured since I am 5 months now and have not been playing the whole time, it would be smart to sit it out.  I took a drive around town and a walk through all the buildings, checking out all my old routine places - boy, lots of memories.  Lots of people came to mind...  I remember so many of you and all the good times we had.

* Played in a golf tournament yesterday - I'm not sure this was a highlight, really, since I had lots of terrible shots, but the people part was good!  Sean won the longest drive - 350 yards!

* Went to check out the new Lowe's store & came home with a new vanity / sink for our bathroom reno.  Looking forward to redoing that room.

* I won Rider tickets - thanks Conexus Credit Union!  There was a link to enter on the site where I do my online banking, and I won.  Sweet.  They are for the game this Saturday, and I'll be at the Women's Day at church, so Sean and his dad are going to go.  It's Sean's birthday next week, so this can be an extra treat for his bday week.

* I started chopping down my Caragana bushes today - it was nice to spend the time outside, but also so nice to tackle that job.  We've lived here 11 years and I've never done a thing to them (oh, my poor gardening skills...)  They're still leafy up top, but bare and scraggly looking where we have to walk by everyday.  I looked into pruning info this summer, and found that this is the time to do it, so I cut a bunch today and tried not to fill too many dumpsters out back - next week I'll finish them up.

* Mmm - Just pulled some cookies out of the oven.  Gigantic chocolate chip ones.  A treat for our lunches this week.  I made amazingly rich peanut butter brownies for book club, too - so good.  I will keep the recipe for this one, but will wait a good long time before I make them again.  A little too good.  Speaking of yum, we went out to Dessart tonight for ice cream.  :)  On the not sweet side, I'm trying a new crock pot beef stew recipe tomorrow.  I have never found a great one, but I've decided this fall I will hunt till I get one that works for me.

* I spent some time this afternoon down in my studio going through stuff - another bunch of went out to the donate pile.  I am going to have to put some serious thought into what I am doing with all my stuff.  I don't have a crazy amount of scrapbooking or sewing stuff, but it's all in its proper place now, and I am going to have to figure out a new place for it all.  My desk and one bookshelf would fit in the new space, but we may leave that bookcase for M - I think we'll have to start moving it all to see how much storage she needs and what I will need to get for my new spot.

What were some highlights of your week?  What did you make?  Bake?  Who did you see?

Our Week & a Few Links

Very actively playing Wii.

Today is an 'empty square' day - nothing on the calendar!  We slept in, Sean made brunch, we played a little frisbee dog on the Wii all together, and now he's out trying out the new shaft on his driver at the driving range.  We've kept the Wii going and later we'll head to the in-laws for supper.  I'm trying to get behind the camera today as I'm a little behind in my class - gotta get playing there.  It's a great day.

Our week has included:

• Shopping for school supplies & school clothes
• Sean switching cars around, putting the new one in the garage and taking the old one out to pasture at Sheldon's acreage
• Madeline helping with VBS at church for Thursday and Friday
• Sean getting 9 holes in with his brother
• Schooling M in basketball at the school yard down the street
• Date night - dinner out at Brown's Social House

Links:

I am a big fan of weekly planning;while I don't do too much other than Monday's weekly menu and groceries, I do  have lists for cleaning and M's chores.  Maybe once school starts we'll tidy those up and start to use them again.  Summer is pretty relaxed.  I bring this up because of a link on A Holy Experience today - a whole bunch of great printable planning helps.  Go check it out and maybe find something that would work for you.

I have spent a couple nights this week downstairs playing & making stuff.  Big Picture Classes, where I'm taking that camera class, has a free two week Festival of Ideas I signed up for, and I've actually made 4 of the 6 projects so far.  6x6 pages are so little and simple.  I'm adapting it to a 'being pregnant' theme, so that adds to the fun.  I'll post the finished product when I'm done.  (You can sign up for this until the 27th if you want to join in!)

Pinterest.  Have you checked this out yet?  I've killed an hour or so looking around on this site.  The link is to Elisha Snow's account - she's the one teaching the camera class I'm taking.  I don't know if I want to request an invite or not - it seems like it would be a great way to keep track of all the cool ideas I see online, but since I don't spend that much time surfing and looking, or even all that much time on the computer, I don't think I'll jump into it just yet.

Our Athlete... in Action

Madeline is having her wrap up indoor soccer tournament this weekend; it's her first year at this, and she's enjoyed playing. I've been taking pictures at soccer and basketball for the last couple of months, but I've been waiting to post some until I got some good ones. I don't have any more chances to take some, so here's a couple at least to show you the girl in uniform.

She's the one in black in the fight for the ball.

Eyes on the ball!

Last weekend she got two goals in her game, bringing her season total up to three! Pretty exciting stuff. Next up for #6 is outdoor soccer in about 6 weeks.

Happiness is...

Having great family to spend the day with.  I drove out to the farm yesterday to hang out with my mother-in-law and sisters-in-law; talking to a friend at church before I went, I was reminded that not everyone enjoys a great relationship with thieir inlaws, so I was extra blessed by the day.

Arriving home safely after a long drive on a highway covered in ice, after the aforementioned day at the farm!

Getting to go to your daughter's first ever school basketball game!  Life will be a new routine for the next six weeks as now I will be picking M up for piano on Mondays (thank you, Gloria for being flexible!), going to watch a game every Wednesday, and picking her up from practices at 5 on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  Please send me all your favorite slow cooker recipes!!  I'm going to need them.

Hearing encouragement.  Yesterday at church a friend told me she reads my blog, and that she printed out my up not down prayer to keep as a reminder.  Thanks, Auntie Jan.  It is good to know that something that came from my heart and my pen was worth something to someone.

A great family.

 

What is happiness to you?  

I want everyone to leave a comment with at least one thing! 

(And don't forget to send me slow cooker recipes!)

Confession & Celebration

The confession is this: 

While I had over a month to read Little Women, I did not request it from the library until a week before our book club night, and I did not get it until tonight.  We meet on Thursday and I'm out Tuesday and Wednesday night.  It's a good 562 pages, too.  I'm 76 pages in - I'll let you know if I get it done in time or not.  I may have to indulge in a few late nights!

The cause for celebration is this:

 

Somebody made the basketball team!  They had tryouts last week and had to wait till this morning to find the list posted with the names of the girls who made it.  Only 3 of the 15 are grade 6's - I'm so excited to go watch her in a real uniform playing on a real team!