Pumpkin Carving

Halloween wouldn't be complete without carving a few pumpkins. The boys helped me carve one last night.

Chay Starts Termite Hockey Camp

Yesterday, Chay started Termite hockey camp for the upcoming hockey season. I think he was the shortest kid on the ice and he doesn't skate very well, but he had a great time!

Snow

This is the second time it has snowed  this month. Unfortunately, it snowed while we were returning home from last nights hockey game so it took us a lot longer to get back home.

Update : According to the weather experts, this storm dumped 2.2" of snow on us.

Jace Sick

Jace stayed home yesterday as he wasn't feeling too well. He had a fever and was a little rundown. Things are looking better today as he returned to daycare.

Chay is 4!

Chay turned 4 yesterday. He took cupcakes to daycare for the kids to enjoy. For supper, we took him to Space Aliens, which is his favorite restaurant. Not for the food, but he really likes the game room. After Space Aliens, he came home and opened presents. We didn't do much that was super-exciting, but he seemed to have a great day anyway!

Chay Plays Hockey

Every time Chay starts a new activity, we go through a period where he is scared and does not want to participate. I expect that lots of kids are very similar. When Chay did a skating class last winter, we had a hard time getting him on the ice. This summer, when Chay took swimming lessons, he wouldn't participate unless I was in the pool with him. This fall, we enrolled Chay in soccer. He wanted me to be on the field with him at all times, which is kind of hard to do when kids want to play soccer. But he eventually warmed up to it and learned to have lots of fun playing soccer.

We enrolled Chay in a two-week Intro to Hockey camp. This camp doesn't even require previous skating experience and runs the days a week for two weeks. The first day, Chay was super excited to go. I was still nervous about how well he would take to it since I knew I would not be allowed on the ice. We got Chay all dressed up in his hockey gear and went to the arena. He seemed pretty excited even though the place was packed with kids, adults, and coaches. Then came the moment they opened the doors to the ice and Chay got super-scared and refused to participate. Poor guy started bawling. So we sat in the stands and watched the other kids.

Last night was the start of the second and final week. I asked Chay if he wanted to go and he said "yes". I asked him if he wanted to play instead of just watching and he said "yes". I was thinking he would change his mind like has been his usual custom. We got to the arena and he still said he wanted to play, so we got his pads and other gear on. They opened the door to the ice and Chay went right out there! Where was this scared little boy?!?!?

I think that while he was on the ice playing, I was happier about this turn of events than he was. But he had a great time. As you can see by these (short) videos:



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Chay wasn't the best skater, but he wasn't the worst either. He seemed to handle the stick pretty well for his age. His coach was surprised to learn it was his first day playing hockey!

When it was over, we took off his pads, put on his coat and were getting ready to leave. Chay then saw the zamboni and we needed to stay and watch that. After the zamboni cleaned the ice, a group of older kids had hockey practice. Chay wanted to stay and watch them too. He refused to leave. On the way home, I asked him if he liked hockey or soccer better. Without hesitation, he said "hockey". When Chay got home, he picked up one of his sticks and started hitting a ball around the house. I think he's hooked on the sport now.

Birthday Party

Well it was a very busy weekend.

On Saturday, we held Chay's birthday party. He has been saying for months that he wanted a bowling party. We had lots of troubles pulling this off. We originally wanted the party for either Sunday the 7th or the weekend after Chay's birthday. But too many people had conflicts the weekend after. I called all around town to book a party for the 7th but Special Olympics had every lane taken on that day. So we booked it for Saturday the 6th instead. Then about a week before his party, I got a call that the bowling alley double-booked and asked us to reschedule. So I did reschedule...to another bowling alley!

So the day of the party came. We hogged up 3 lanes and everyone had a real good time. Here is Chay blowing out the candles on his cake:

Chay was supposed to have his last day of soccer that day, but it was 39 degrees so too cold to play. After the party, we all piled into the car and headed up for some Sioux UND hockey. The hockey season started with an exhibition game.

Sunday, Latana had some people over for a combination 31/Scentsy party. It seems like everyone had a good time there as well.

All in all, a busy weekend. But everyone had fun.

Snow

Almost every year, I say that it will snow no later than Halloween. I remember one year when I lived here that it didn't snow until Halloween day, but my statement was upheld albeit at the last minute. Last year was the exception to the rule. The first snow didn't fall here until mid-November. So I think this year is trying to make up for last year. Here it is early October and we woke up this morning to snow on the ground.

Jace Sick

Jace was sick over the weekend. He stayed home with me on Friday. So far, the no one else in the house has gotten whatever bug bit him. Jace did go to daycare today so I'm anxious to see how he fared.

Jace has also gotten his bottom two 2-year molars.