Snowy Spring Day

 This weeks snow storm came on the first day of Spring not a good way to start the new season.   Its just my luck that John is out of town for work and I was left home to clean up the snow alone this time. Katie was nice enough to come out and clean off the car for me and she kept checking on me to make sure I didn't need anything, what a nice girl she is.

 I always go out and help John but he is the one who uses the snow blower so this time having to do the whole thing myself was pretty tough.  It took me about 1 1/2 hours to just snow blow the driveway.  I was 90% done when I noticed that is was getting harder to push the snow blower and I kept getting stuck and couldn't figure out why. So I had Katie hold down the handle and I looked down and saw this.....

  I guess I broke a pin and only one side was spinning.  I ended up having to shovel the rest which wasn't to much but then I had to go back over the driveway and scrape it so I could get my car out before it froze over and that took me another 1 1/2 hours.

 

Once I was done it started snowing again so I got the car to the top of the driveway walked back down and looked up to see that it was all covered in snow again, (are you kidding me is all I could say at that point).  I can't wait for Spring to show up I hope it comes soon!!

Soccer Superstar

Saturday Katie and Aaron both played a really good game, and it was a good one to be at.

They won 3-1 in a hard fought out game.  Katie had 2 goals and an assist on the other.  She played an amazing game!  Its so cool to see her want to try hard each week, she is really coming into her own in soccer now. Aaron has been playing better lately as well but hes just in it for the fun.  Zach's team has still yet to win but not for trying hard at it.  One more week and then the play-offs start.

Final Swim Meet

2 weeks ago Katie had her final swim meet of the year. It was very fun, but a very long day.

 We had to get up early and be at the pool at 8a.m. We had 7 teams from the western part of the state attending, needless to say there were a ton of kids walking around and it was a bit crazy trying to get everything in order to start.

 Katie swam in 5 events and she did very well in all of them.  She swam in 2 relays one was a 100m medley which she swam anchor for doing freestyle.  They came in 6th place out of 18.

 Her individual events were 100 IM she came in 6th, 25m free she came in 7th out of 30, and a 25m breast which she came in 6th again.  She did so well and we are very proud of her for even wanting to swim in this big meet with so many other kids. Katie has never really enjoyed the meets she just loves to be in the water so this was a big deal for her to take part in this meet.

 Her last event was another relay swimming a 100m freestyle relay.  She was put on a team of our younger kids so they didn't have the stronger swimmers like in her first relay but they all tried hard and ended up in 10th.  It was a long day but we were so glad to be able to see her do so well. We are now done with swim meets for the season!!!!  She loves the water so she can't wait for summer to come so she can be back in the water multiple times a week again. 

Another Snow Storm

Just when you think the weather is going to make that turn toward spring we get hit with another snow storm.

 We ended up with about 5 inches so Katie got dressed up and dressed her doll to go out and play.

 This was the first wet snow since the beginning of winter and it turned out to be perfect snowman making snow.

 I rolled the 3 balls and stacked them up with Johns help and Aaron was out helping us clear the driveway so he helped dress up our snowman.

 My parents bought us this snowman kit and it has everything you need to make a snowman.

We think it turned out really good and Aaron even went to the woods and found him some arms.  The next day the sun came out and our poor snowman melted.  Even though it didn't last very long it was fun to have him outside our window.

Crazy Hair Day

Last week they had a crazy hair day at Katie and Aaron's school and they both couldn't wait to do something cool.

 

 We made Katie a cone head and put a plastic cup under her hair to make it stand up.  It looked so awesome but it was very unstable and didn't last very long once she got to school.

 

Aaron wanted a mo hawk and it was time to cut his hair anyway so decided it would be perfect fit for him.  It turned out  awesome and he didn't want it cut so he kept his cool look for a couple days. 

Singing the National Anthem

 Zach and Katie's schools got the chance to go to our local AHL game to sing the National Anthem.

 Zach went and sang last year so it was exciting that Katie could join him this year.  It was a snowy day but we made it to the Sharks game and we all went in to wait with the kids until they went to warm up.

  Grandma and Grandpa Shattuck came along with us and we were so happy that they wanted to share in this special time with us. We went and  found our seats which were really good.  We were near center ice and only 4 rows back.  Aaron had fun watching they men get the ice ready for the game and loved seeing the Zamboni going around the rink.

 We got some snacks and took our seats to wait for the kids to come out and sing.

 The kids stood with their own schools so Zach and Katie were not together but they were both in the front row so we got a couple pictures of each of them. Zach is just to the left of the teacher.

 Katie is to the left of the girl in the white sweater with the black shirt.  They did a good job and I was proud of them to get up in front of so many people and sing.  They learned all of the word to 2 other songs along with the National Anthem.

When they were done the kids came and we all sat together and our area was full of the family's from our schools so they had lots of friends around.  Katie and Aaron has friends with extra seats in the front row so they spent most of the game sitting there waiting for the players to smash into the wall in front of them (which happened a couple times and they all jumped).  It was a good game and the Sharks won so that made it even better.  It was a fun time spent together and that's what we love the most.

The link below is to a video of the kids singing if you would like to watch.

http://www.sharksahl.com/sharksTV/

Another Day Sitting Poolside

We have had a few swim meets in the past month and Katie keeps improving each time. Her coach has been putting her in some different events than she usually dose and that has been a challenge for her but she is also learning a lot and we like that.

In her last 2 meets she swam a 100 IM which means she dose 25m or one length of the pool, all 4 strokes (butterfly, back, breast, free) in order.  That is a tough thing for her to do because she has never swam more than 50m in a race before but she did really well and came in 3rd.  She also swam a 25m breast for the first time and she came in 2nd in that race.

In her last meet she was put in races with the 10-11 year old's which was a good challenge for her and she was able to do some more new events.  She swam a 100m free and was put into a 200m relay which each girl swims 50m.  We are so happy to watch Katie push herself and grow each week.  Great Job Katie!

Indoor Soccer

 This year Aaron is old enough to play indoor soccer and he was so excited to get started.  Katie and Aaron are on the green team together and they are having a blast.

 Their team is 2-2 right now.  They don't have the best team but they do have a lot of fun and Aaron is improving every week and really starting to get into the game.

 Aaron is willing to try anything and has played all positions even goalie. Katie is turning out to be a good player like her older brother.  She is tough and enjoys playing. 

Zach is in a different age group and ended up on the red team which is his favorite color.  They don't have a strong team this year but he plays his best every week.  They have not won a game yet but they improve each week and Zach loves soccer so he's glad to just be playing again.

  It's fun watching all 3 of my kids play the same sport at the same time.  They even try and help each other once in a while and that's the best to see.  Indoor soccer is so much better than those cold fall outdoor games so we will be happy to be inside for now.