Merry Christmas 2017

The long wait is finally over, much to the boy's relief. Last night, we left cookies and milk for Santa. 

Jace, the always-considerate one, decided to leave some carrots for the reindeer too. He also left a cookie for our Elf on the Shelf. 

Here are pictures of Chay, Jace and Jenner opening presents on Christmas morning. 

Chay's Goalie Week

Now that Chay is a Mite, the team takes turns being goalie for a week with full gear. After the game on Sunday, the kid who was goalie gives the gear to the next kid on the schedule. That one is then goalie for both practices that week and the next game.

Chay was dying to be goalie. He kept asking me when it was his turn. The day finally came. Here he is ready for practice.

Christmas Vacation

The boy's Christmas vacation starts tomorrow. They've been looking forward to the 12 days off from school. On Tuesday, Chay had a holiday concert. Today, we went to school to visit with the twins. When Chay was in Kindergarten, the class made gingerbread houses. This year, they decided to make bird feeders.

Jenner's project was largely red and green.

While Jace employed multiple colors.

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Carter's Wedding

Carter and Megan got married in a rushed wedding ceremony so that they could get ready for his deployment to Japan. The wedding was very nice even though it was put together on very short notice. The boys posed with the couple for this picture.

Halloween 2016

Its that time of year again for the boys to dress up and beg for candy.

From left to right are Darth Vader (Jace), a Reaper (Chay), and a Ninja (Jenner).

The boy's pumpkins are above. From left to right: Jace's witch, Chay's skull, and Jenner's cat with a witch hat.

The weather was unusually warm. In the 60s. We normally have some snow no later than Oct 31st and this year we didn't.

Jenner Loses Tooth

Jenner finally lost his first tooth!

After watching Jace lose three teeth already, I think Jenner was a bit concerned. He never complained or seemed down about it, but he sure was happy to get the first one out. He is already working on tooth #2.

Hockey, Hockey, Hockey

Well hockey is in full swing now. Chay has been in a hockey camp and has been skating for about 2 months now. His regular season started and last night was the first of two time trials now that he's a Mite.

The twins season started on Saturday.

All three boys have evaluation camp until the end of this week. Then they'll determine teams. Then its on to practices and games!

Chay Turns 8

Chay turns 8 tomorrow. We had his family birthday party on Saturday.

Tonight, we'll take him to Space Aliens as was his choice. He has a football game tomorrow night on his birthday and we won't have time to go to that place that evening, so tonight it is.

Pumpkin Patch 2016

We made our annual trip to the pumpkin patch on Friday. We've been busy so this year's trip was a bit later in the calendar than previous years. This is our fourth year with this tradition. Last year, it was 80 degrees on the day we went. This year, it was in the low 40's and windy. So it was very cold. Last year:  t-shirts and shorts. This year:  full coats, hats and gloves.

The boys on the annual ride. Chay is almost too big to ride these. Next year might be his last year.

Most years, we spend hours doing all of the activities. This year, we were only there for a little more than an hour. The boys were too cold, Jace especially. I wanted to get a good picture of the boys, but Jace wanted to go to the van and warm up. This was the best I could do:

Jace didn't smile because he was cold.

Floor Hockey

I took the boys to Open Skate on Friday. They had the day off from school. In the hockey arena, they installed a new projector on the ceiling that puts an image on the concrete floor. Sensors detect movement and one can play video games just by moving their bodies. In this picture, the boys are playing a hockey game with just the image on the floor.

Chay Scores a TD

Here is a grainy video shot by one of the parents on their cell phone of last night's game. Chay gets the ball on a sweep and runs around the corner before sprinting to the end zone.

Headboards

This past weekend, I finished up the last of 3 headboards we made for the boys.

The above is from Chay's bed, but the twins have the same headboards on their beds.

Hockey Season Begins

The temp outside is still in the 80's but hockey season has begun for us.  The official start of the season for the boys doesn't occur until mid-October. But Chay (and his friend Ace below) are in a six-week hockey camp that will take us right up to the start of their regular season.

I'm not sure the boys were ready for what they found at camp. The instructors are more intense than what they are used to. But this camp will make them better hockey players and they are getting a taste of what's in store for them as they advance in their careers.

Labor Day 2016

The end of summer is here. The boys are all back school. Fall sports are in full gear. And we spent the last weekend of the season at the lake.

On Saturday, we went to a friend's lake place and on Sunday, to grandma's lake.

One of the highlights of the weekend had to be fishing. Here, you can see the boys with one of their prizes.

Left to Right:  Jace, Ace, Jenner, Chay

Chay's good friend Ace dropped the line in the water right first. Withing 15 seconds, the bobber was moving and he had caught a fish. That's not a fish tale nor an exaggeration. Within 15 seconds! So I thought this was awesome luck. Then it was Chay's turn. Again, within 15 seconds, Chay was reeling in his catch. And this repeated over and over again with each boy having multiple turns. The longest anyone waited was 30 second. Jenner's first cast went off to the side and it was reeled in right away to re-cast. By the time the line was back up on the dock, there was a fish on it. In the picture above, you can see Jace holding a fish that Jenner caught.

This was the first time our boys went fishing. I made sure to tell them that when they go fishing again, do not expect the fish to be "jumping in the boat" like this ever again.

First Day of School

The first day of the new school year is here. Summer vacation is now over. Chay is starting the 2nd grade and the twins are finally in Kindergarten!

The boys assembled on the porch for a group photo before heading off to school. Jenner insisted on having blankie with him which was a bit of sign on how his morning was going to go. 

Chay is getting used to this first-day-of-school business. He had no problems getting into the building and getting into the classroom. 

Jace was eager to get started. I did have to tell him on the walk into the building to slow down, but that's normal too as he always needs to slow down. 

Jenner was a little more apprehensive about things this morning. He was having a minor anxiety moment walking into the classroom but Latana got it sorted out in a minute or two. 

The last 3.5 years, we've had the twins in one spot and Chay in another. Now all 3 boys are dropped off to the same location and picked up from that same spot every day. That will make things easier. 

Ditch The Training Wheels

This weekend, both Jace & Jenner decided to learn how to ride a bike without training wheels. Latana worked with each of them. We used one of Chay's old bikes I was saving just for this occasion. Jace learned how to ride without training wheels on Friday and Jenner on Saturday. Here is a video of both boys in action.



The twins are about 1 year earlier than Chay. Chay didn't learn until the end of Kindergarten. http://peaslandfamily.blogspot.com/2015/04/chay-loses-his-training-wheels.html

Summer Winding Down

The summer is rapidly coming to a close. Baseball and soccer seasons are done. The boys completed their last swimming lesson a week ago. Chay is in his final week at his summer daycare. The twins last day at their daycare is one week from today. School starts next week. Chay in 2nd grade and Jace & Jenner will be off to kindergarten!

Last weekend, we spent time at the lake. The boys enjoyed swimming, even as the storm started rolling in.

Chay started Flag Football last week and has his first game tonight. Fall soccer starts next week and in a month, Chay starts hockey camp. Then all 3 boys will start the hockey season after that.

Jace ER Visit

On Saturday, we were at the lake. The kids loved this empty boat trailer because they could climb on it. Jace fell off it and bumped the back of his head. After I made sure he was ok and verified there were no bumps or cuts, I turned my back. A few minutes later, I heard a thud and a kid crying. I knew by the cry that it was Jace....AGAIN!  I turned to look and was going to give him a discussion about how he needs to learn his lessons. Jace was trying to stand up and had his hands covering the front of his head this time. As I started my first step towards him, I could see blood gushing down his face. He cut a 1" gash in his forehead. It was pretty deep too. I whisked him into the camper to get some paper towels on his head, and then a regular towel. I started to apply pressure. We needed to get him to the emergency room.

Todd drove our van and Latana sat up front. I sat in the back and held Jace while applying pressure. We rushed to the nearest town but before we got there, we found out the hospital there is only a clinic with no emergency care. So we had to go to the next town after that, 25 minutes away. Jace cried the whole way there. Todd drove like a maniac and we pulled into the hospital. The nurse took Jace and set him on a bed. By this time, the bleeding had stopped. She cleaned the wound and used that stuff to numb the laceration in preparation for stitches. While we waited for the doctor, Jace fell asleep.

The doctor came in and decided he could use glue instead of stitches. He started gluing the laceration while Jace was still asleep. The doctor had to hold the wound together for only 60 seconds and the bond was complete.

Above is what Jace looks like today. I'll spare you the really gruesome picture. I'm sure this will leave some sort of scar. Lets just hope it will be a small, faint one. 

Somehow, I doubt this will slow down Jace. He goes a million miles an hour. By the next morning, he was back at it again. 

We haven't had much luck at the lake lately. In my last post, I showed Jenner had an eye infection. We're pretty sure this was from swimming in the lake. He must have caught some nasty bacteria. He likes to open his eyes underwater and even with swimming goggles, he gets water in them. After last weekend, his other eye showed signs of an infection. 

We're taking a break from the lake for awhile. 

Jenner Pink Eye

Yesterday, Jenner came home with a case of pink eye. He'll have to stay home today and miss a field trip he was looking forward to.

He woke up this morning and told me that his eye was looking better. I begged to differ and showed him this picture.

Busy Summer

We've had a very busy summer.

All three boys just completed an off-ice hockey camp focusing on puck-handling skills. The twins complained about having to go, but they did learn a lot. I think they're complaints were mostly due to the fact that they were busy...

...with Safety Town. Like Chay did two years ago, Jace & Jenner graduated from Safety Town.

They had to get up a bit earlier in the morning to make sure they were there on time. They hated that part and I think it set the mood for the rest of the day. So when it came time for hockey camp in the afternoon, especially if they had no nap that day, they weren't in the mood for another organized activity.

One day, we did skip hockey camp because their daycare group went on a field trip to the pool. I went along as an extra chaperone. Here are Jenner and Jace at the pool that day.

We spent the entire weekend at the lake. We got home about 7:30pm on the night of July 4th. All three boys fell asleep on the ride home and didn't get to see any fireworks.

This week we have a rare week with nothing extra going on. No soccer, no baseball, no camps. Its a nice, welcome break. Next week, Chay has a football camp and he'll be taking golf lessons. The week after that, Chay has a soccer camp. We're in the last two weeks of the baseball regular season and we are almost done with soccer as well. We'll get a bit of a break before the Fall soccer season and flag football start. And before we know it, we'll be getting ready for back-to-school activities!

Summer Time

We're firmly entrenched in summer now and have even had a few 90 degree days. The heat hasn't helped out latest project which is putting in some landscaping around the house.

Chay's soccer team played the last two weekends. One weekend they played two games against 9-year old kids. That's two years older than the kids on Chay's team. Last weekend, they played against 10-year old kids. They haven't won any of these games but its good experience. This weekend, they play in a tournament in town.

Chay is still playing baseball and he really likes it even though the wins have been few and far between. But all the kids on the team are getting better each and every game so maybe we'll start to win a few the rest of the way.

We're gearing up for "camp season". All 3 boys will be doing a hockey camp the last two weeks of June. The Twins have Safety Town as well. Then Chay gets a football camp and a soccer camp in July.

Final Day of School into Summer Vacation

Friday was the boy's final day of school.

Here is Chay on the last day of First grade.

Chay had his moments during the school year where he thought he didn't like school so much. But he learned a lot and is reading really well now. But his best subject is math.

The twins graduated from Preschool. For the most part, Jace loved going every day. Jenner fought us at times. But they did have a fun year.

The school year went out with a bang. At about 3pm, a tornado came through town.

The twins were huddled in the basement of their school and Chay's after-school group took shelter in a central part of the building. In the end, the tornado was not even close to either school, but better to be safe than sorry. 

Today, all three boys started their summer programs. Chay will be attending the summer program at the school. They have all sorts of activities lined up for the kids. The twins are moving to the "big kids" room, or the School-Agers as they call it. I think they're excited to be upstairs with the bigger kids now. 

Soccer Season Over?

The Spring soccer season was really short. We switched leagues last year and this was our first Spring season in the new league. So we were all surprised at how short it was. The boys only played 6 games. They went undefeated. I think there were two Kindergartners on the team and the rest are all First graders. They played against Second grade boys. So going undefeated was quite an impressive feat!

The team did have one girl, Lexi. She announced that next year she will be playing on a girls team and she will miss playing with her boys.

Because the season was so short, their coach lined up a few games for the summer. So while the season is officially over, we'll still play a bit longer.

Our three boys also wrapped up swimming lessons too. For the moment, we're just doing baseball three nights a week. So our mad schedule gets a bit easier. But Chay will have golf lessons and a soccer camp and a football camp this summer too.

Swimming Lessons

As we work our way towards summer, its time for the boys to start swimming lessons.

Spring Soccer

Chay played his second game today of the short Spring soccer season. The forecast said partly cloudy and in the mid 70's. The real weather was rainy and 60 degrees. Everyone was cold. The twins spent the game huddled under these blankets.

Circus

Its time for the circus to come to town!

I wish the boys didn't like the circus so much. The acts have gotten worse each year. Its not cheap, even with free admission. And it takes a long time. But they like it and they have fun. 

Rock Climbing Wall

Chay was invited to one of his best friend's (Beckett) birthday party yesterday. Chay plays soccer with almost all of these boys, plus other sports as well. Here they are at the birthday party.

(L to R: Owen, Ace, Chay, Beckett, Emmerich, Corban)

The rock wall was 32feet high. Chay is the only one of the group that was able to ring the bell at the top (purple strap in picture below).

I guess his legs were shaking pretty bad being up that high. Other boys came really, really close as well.

Birthday Bash

Yes, it is more than a month late, but schedules dictated we wait until March for the twins to have a family pool party to celebrate their birthday. They both wanted hockey cakes.

Everyone swam and had a good time. Ate lots of pizza and cake/ice cream. Here are Jace & Jenner blowing out the candles. 

Little Chippers

Chay had his chance to perform at USHL game last month. This month, it was the twins turn.

 Jenner (middle) during the game

 Jace during the game. 

Their game was just entertainment for the fans at intermission. It lasted about 5 minutes. It definitely takes longer to get them ready than it did for them to play the game.

During the second intermission, they boys were offered a chance to ride a Zamboni.

You can see Jace on top of it, with his back to you. Jenner didn't want to ride. Now if I were a betting man, I would have bet that Jenner would not have skated during the game but would have rode the Zamboni, a bet I would have lost.

Presidents Day

There was no school yesterday for the holiday. My company changed their policy this year and it was a paid holiday for me, unlike previous years. I kept the twins home as well. We decided that since the weather was nice, we would get to a local outdoor rink for some fun.

Twins SkyZone party

Chay had a birthday party at SkyZone for his birthday and the twins wanted the same for theirs. Jace was especially looking forward to it since he was sick on Chay's party day. We had 13 kids there and all had tons of fun.

 Jace eating pizza. 

 Jenner doing the same. 

 Chay and his friend Owen.

 All the attendees.