Wrapping up and Starting New

It is official, the Ice Dog days are over. This past Saturday Tyler had his end of season team party for his hockey team. It was fun to all be together (parents and players). Of course it was an ice skating party with pizza, drinks and tons of other munchies. Most of the team will probably not be together next season as some players are moving to a different rink (the new one in town) and some will, most likely, be split up when teams form next season. This has been the best team and season EVER for Tyler (and us as parents). The WHOLE team got along and everyone developed close friendships with one another. Tyler developed some of the best friendships that he has ever had with his teammates. Even though we are all sad it is over we realize how much we have been blessed by it and thank God for a great season and the wonderful new relationships we all have because of it.

Looking ahead, we are already on the road to starting a new season. We got a call this afternoon from the new hockey coach for this new season and found out that the first practice is already here, this Friday! Wow! We are one of the families that made the move to the new ice rink in town. I am not sure what to expect with it all. When you are so used to one thing sometimes change can be hard. We decided to make the move to the new rink for mainly one reason...LOCATION! The rink we were at last season was a 1 hour round trip for us from our house. This new rink is only 20min at the most. Yep, it is only about 10 min from our house. SO NICE! Another change for this season is that Kyle will also be playing. Tyler and Kyle will be on the same team. This will be the last time that they will be able to play together for a couple of years. I am excited to see what this new season will bring!

**I am working on uploading the Ice Dog team's video recap. It is a video that was put together by the coaches wife for all the players. So stay tuned.

9 More Weeks

Well, today was back to school (and work) for us. Spring break was so nice and much needed. Now we are on the count down to summer...9 more weeks. Woo Hoo!

2nd Place

Tyler had his championship game yesterday. They ended up with a loss. The score was 3-5. Big Bummer! They played a very tough team that held 1st place the whole season (they play a 6 month season). Overall it was a good game. They played their hearts out! He did a great job all season long and learned a lot. Way to go Tyler!

Tyler receiving his 2nd place award with his coach.

The Ice Dogs!

They all look so sad :(

My NetMinder

Here is a rare picture of Tyler in his gear without his helmet. It was taken this past Friday evening after their 8-0 win.

So Sad

We found out this week that one of Kyle's best friends will be moving to TX. I am not sure who is more bummed about it, me our Kyle. Raising kids is hard and when you see your child develop friendships with kids that are "good" for them, you don't want to see it end. This kid is such a good kid, so kind and polite. We will miss seeing him and having him around. We wish him all the best as he moves to TX.

New York in Arizona

Last summer (I think it was) my hubby and I totally remodeled one of our spare bedrooms and made it into a really nice functional office for both of us. We tore out the carpet and put in laminate wood flooring. We painted the walls. We added new lighting and purchased all new office furniture from Ikea. It has been one of the best things that we have done with the house since moving in almost 5 years ago.

If you have ever been to Ikea you know that most all of their furniture comes in a handful of colors (or finishes). The finish that we chose was black. With 10'+ high walls we needed something that would work with our black furniture and large off white walls. So where else to look for just the right thing then...you got it...Ikea.

This is what we found... a New York Times Square picture. It is mostly a black and white canvas print with a "pop" of yellow (the taxis). It is awesome. It fills the space and looks great!



BTW...if you have never been to an Ikea and have the opportunity to go...you must do it. They are awesome!

Hockey Update

Okay, now for some hockey updates...

*2 weeks ago Tyler's team played the #1 team in the league. They won! It was the best game that I have EVER seen him play. The old phrase, "he stood on his head"was just about reality for Tyler. He almost literally stood on his head to make some of the saves that he did. Wow! It was a great game!

*We are at the end of another hockey season and with that comes the playoffs. The first round was this evening. Tyler's team was awesome. They won 8-0. Tyler got credited with another shut out. They will be playing Sunday morning in the championship game for 1st place. Go Ice Dogs, Go!

*So with the end of one season comes the start of another. Oh yea, they do not waste any time. Tomorrow morning we are off to skate evaluations for the new season. They use skate evaluations to help divide up the teams. Kyle will be playing this season as he will (mostly) be off from soccer and not have any soccer commitments over the summer.

*Oh yea...and the Coyotes...They are not doing too well. But still, we support them and love watching and going to the games. We thought that there might be a little glimmer of hope that they might actually make it to the playoffs...but I don't think it is happening this year. oh well!


note: Hubby got some great pictures at Tyler's game this evening. I will try and post some tomorrow.

Soccer Update

Ok Here are some soccer updates...

*Kyle officially finished his first year of club soccer. He is still practicing with the team to stay sharp for tryouts coming up in April. He had a great year and learned a lot.

*We are half way through our recreation soccer season. Hubby and I are coaching, Tyler and Kyle are both playing. It is a Family event this season. Overall our team is not doing too well. We have 2 ties and 3 loses. Hopefully we can put a win on the board before the end of the season.

*I officially started my adult co-ed soccer season today. We played in our first game of the season this evening. We won 3-0. woohoo. I love it!! It is SO much fun!!

*One of the major sporting teams that AZ DOES NOT have is a MLS team. There are many groups, organizations and people that are really pushing to bring MLS to AZ. So with all of the efforts they were able to get an MLS exhibition game here. We went to see the LA Galaxy and the Chicago Fire play last Saturday. It was awesome! That was the first time that I have ever been to an MLS game (or any type of pro soccer game). I would love to have a team here in AZ. I know, just another place to burn the paycheck. HA! But it would be fun!

Featured Blogger! WooHoo!

Thanks Jen for adding me as a featured blogger for today. That is pretty cool. Thanks, also, for the sweet words about me. Your the BEST! Yes, you did beg (pretty much :)) for me to start blogging. I know I am not "in to it" as much as you are but I do still have fun with it. Thanks for getting me started and for all your help with the blog "look" and such too. You are so talented with all that you know how to do with blog design. So, if you are a guest reading this and working toward winning a blog make over for yourself, well all I can say is keep working towards it because if you are her lucky winner you are in for a big treat.

On another note, if you are a guest here today and have never been to my blog, thanks for stoppin' by. As you can probably see, I am not an "everyday" blogger (I don't post everyday). I mostly use my blog to post about my kids, family stuff, all our sporting adventures (we are a sports crazy family) and a few other hot topics that come up from time to time. One of those hot topics you will find here are autism related posts. My oldest son is mildly autistic and I have found that posting and communicating with a few others out there has been an outlet for me as we (my hubby and I) walk this autism road together. So, if you would like to know more about our autism story I would love to share. Just leave me a post in the comments.

I guess I had better update a little on the latest with the kids and family soon. It has been a while since my last post. I will try and add some updates in a while so make sure to check back. We have been on spring break so there is plenty to post on, I just need to do it. :)

Big day for boys, Another 1st

Today was a big day for both boys. We are to that stage in life where we get to add another doctor to our "list". The Orthodontist! Yep. They are both starting a 2 stage process of ortho work. Kyle gets to experience having his upper pallet expanded and top front braces while Tyler just gets the top front braces.

Since Kyle's process is more involved he will not be getting his braces for a while. He has to go through the process of expanding his top pallet before he will see a different "smile". He was fitted for "rings" today and is having to wear spacers between his top molars. The spacers will help the rings fit better and not hurt as much when they are permanently attached. The rings will hold his pallet expander in place that will fit in the top of his mouth.

Tyler on the other hand gets to jump right to having braces and he got those put on today.

Here is a before and after picture. He is such a cutie! I can't wait to see how even more handsome he will be once his braces come off.

Spring Break, Almost here!

Yeah! Spring Break is almost here, only 2 more days. Can you tell we are READY! :)