Ice Works Tournament and Tryouts

Well!  We're back from tournament number 2, which was also the last one for the Spring Ashburn Power Play Selects.  Our boys played really really well.  Each game was better than the last.

They won the first three games, hands down.  Although Game #3 was really a blow out as that team had played up a division.  With our boys being at the very top of their age group, it was not really fair to the other team. . .or our boys. . .but they didn't taunt.  They tried to be respectful.  It's hard not to score though when you're eight years old.

Our boys are in white.  Aidan is mid ice on the top picture and the far side on the bottom picture.

The final game was sooooo exciting!  Our boys played one of our home rivals--yes, the irony of driving to Philadelphia to play a local team for a championship game did not escape us--and both teams were in it to win.  Both goalies were absolutely on their game.  The final ended up being 2-1 Piedmont, but I was sooooo proud of Ashburn!!  They were not expected to have such a good showing but these little guys hung in there and really showed that they have what it takes.

The really hard part of the game against Piedmont was that half of that team and half of the Ashburn team are on the DC Elite team together.  So, in part, the boys felt like they were playing their own team mates.  That's hard.  But, like I said, they all played soooo good.  It was really like watching the pros!!

 We finally got to wear the cool looking black jerseys for the last game. . .Watching our '07's play. . .

Goofing around while waiting. . .

Coach Sean awarded the medals and had something fun to say about each one of the boys.  

Aidan kept being switched from left wing to right wing. . .he played both well and covered on defense when he needed to.  I did find it interesting that he actually played a little better on left wing although he is right handed.  I think it goes back to the left eye dominant thing that Pat discovered over Spring Break. . .cool!

And now for Xtreme tryouts. . .which start tonight.

Never a break. . .

Eight continued. . .

Aidan's birthday was extended through the weekend.  He decided to have another party at the ice rink this year.  So we invited his class from school and one of his hockey buddies.  It was a lot of fun!  The kids dug into their goodie bags while they ate pizza and we ended up having a Flarp contest. . .

 First, the boys won. . .  And then the girls won. . .

And then hilarity ensued and all the kids were flarping like crazy!!!!

We finally settled them down and fed them some sugary birthday cake. . .

But wait!!!!  These candles relight!!!  Hey!!!  Not fair!!!!  : )  Good Mama trick. . . .

And then it was time to send the kids off to the ice for some skating time. . .and only one kid ended up with stitches!!!  : /  Scary, but he's fine now. . .

And then we headed home and set up Aidan's new iPod Shuffle, which he has been listening to, nearly nonstop, since. . .

When asked how he liked his birthday, Aidan busted a move. . .

And on Monday, a package arrived from the NFL with no known return address other than the NFL. . .who could have sent it???  But, of course, after opening the package, the identity of the sender was absolutely clear. . .

Thank you, Aunty Allison!  Now I can torment my mom and dad some more this coming football season!!!  : )

And now, we are on the count down to nine. . .

Eight is Great!

I can't believe my baby turned eight. . .It's bittersweet.  I love that he is growing up and becoming his own person.  He is kind and gentle, yet no pushover.  But, he's not a baby anymore!!!  : (

The booster came out of the car. . .now that he's eight, he doesn't have to use it anymore. . .I'm kind of sad about that!  I can't see him in the rearview mirror anymore because he is lower!!

Aidan has grown a lot since his last birthday.  He weighed in at 61.4 pounds and measured 53 1/2".  That translates to 4' 5 1/2" tall!!  Yikes!!  That was an increase in height of 1 1/2" just since January 1st and 2 3/4" since his seventh birthday.  Whoa.  AND he is up 4 pounds since his seventh birthday.

He's growing in so many other ways as well.  His interest in music has developed to a healthy point of wanting to listen to "his" music while in the car or even heading to his room to hang out and listen to the radio!  This prompted his dad and I to get him an iPod Shuffle for his birthday.  I think he's going to enjoy it.
I'm so very proud of my little man.  He is super smart and is friends with everyone.  He is really now and becoming even more, a wonderful human being.

He requested a fun hockey cake so I made him one.

The card Grandma and Grandpa got him was old 5 minutes after opening because we heard it a zillion times!!!  : )

The big gift from Grandma and Grandpa. . . .

New Skates!!!!

This was a card I found that had a picture of a Golden Retriever on it that looked just like Maggie. . .so the dogs signed it:  Love, licks and lots of slobber!!  Maggie and Mosby. . .(Mosby slobbers a lot, thus Aidan's face).

Happy Birthday Aidan, my lovie!!  I hope your coming year is a spectacular as this past one and that you continue to grow as this gorgeous boy that you are!!

Next up:  Birthday Party with friends!!!

Rednecks, Hockey and Cookie Dough. . .

Recently, Aidan and I were talking.  We do this a lot, but this one conversation has made me chuckle a bit off and on since then.  He started talking about Red Necks.  Now, this can be a derogatory name for some folks, but in our neck of the woods, there are a lot of Red Necks--Pat being one of them--and they aren't really bad people.

When asked what a Red Neck was, Aidan replied that it was someone who had been outside in the sun a lot and now has a red neck because its sunburned.

Really, I said?

Yeah.  And Daddy is one.

Okay, that's true.

And then he went on:

I can't wait until it's sunny and warm again so I can get red on my neck and be like Daddy.

Priceless!!

My most favorite in the world Russian American Redneck!!  He's wearing my sunglasses, which he informed me make him see blurry!!!  Of course!

Aidan has also informed me that he has renamed our cat.  Cleopatra will be 16 in a few weeks and is definitely showing her age these days.  She has always been a cranky cat.  But, now she is a cranky old cat.  Cleo has been renamed by my little red neck (who has now gotten some sun on his neck, although it turned brown) Mrs. Hissums.  It's because she hisses at him so much.  : (

I fear, based on the vet visit yesterday, that Mrs. Hissums, aka Cleo, aka Cleopatra may not be with us much longer.  Well, she's had a long very full life.  I think, when she goes, we'll bury her with Brutus her big dog buddy that she spent her first 7 years with.

Hockey is back in full swing for the Spring season.  And tournaments are about to commence.  Aidan Ashburn Power Play Selects team has a tournament this weekend with one game on Saturday and three on Sunday.  It's local so we will be staying at home, thank goodness.  But we'll be there all day on Sunday with our first game being at 8:00 and our last one at 4:40.  The one on Saturday is at a nice time of 2:20 so we'll still be home at a decent hour.

The next Power Play Select tournament will be in Philadelphia where we will need to stay two nights.  This will be a hard tournament as the boys will be playing teams from further north--not the local teams.  And the first game on Saturday morning is at 6:00!!  Early to bed that Friday, for sure.

The DC Elite team has also been going very well.  The boys have been practicing about a month now and have been working very hard on an Offensive Breakout move.  Last night, they were really getting close to getting it.  The coach of this team is very hard and strict, but the boys pay attention and are doing what he tells them.  They had a two hour practice last night but the boys hung in there and Aidan came off the ice all pumped up and excited. . .and starving. . .and after he ate. . .out!!!  : )

With the DC Elite team, we'll be heading to Stamford Connecticut and somewhere in New Jersey during June.  We've opted out of the July and August tournaments to have a small break and to start getting ready for the Fall Xtreme shedule.

Speaking of hockey, the boys have the ultimate most favorite in the world store. . .aside from Bass Pro Shop, that is. . .Total Hockey!!!  Why?  Well, of course because the gear is there.  But, also because they have synthetic ice so they can play while mommy pays.

Aren't you just loving this weather???  It makes you believe we might actually have summer this year.  But, jumping straight into the mid to upper 80's does have it's draw backs. . .Pat still needs to install the ceiling fan in the porch.  Hopefully this weekend!

And our counter tops are in. . .boy was that fun redoing all of the kitchen cabinets!!  Technically I didn't really need to do that, but I'm glad I did.  I still need to do the glass cabinet and the pantry. . .hopefully soon.  But here are some before and after pictures of the kitchen. . .

Aidan and I said our good bye's after we cleared the counter tops of all but the coffee pot--I had to have my morning cuppa!  And when we got home from hockey later in the morning, the green counter tops were gone. . .and by the end of the day. . .

The sink looks more like a tub it is so deep!!!  I wasn't sure how I'd feel about going back to having just one sink instead of the double sink.  But, I have to say I love it!  When I did a mental calculation of how many times each year I did dishes by hand (three!!) the single big and deep sink seemed the way to go.  So glad we did!!

We still need to remove the old tile back splash and replace it with something:  either slate or stone. . .and we need to repaint.  But that will come.  Probably when it gets too hot to be outside this summer.

That's about it.  We have a weekend filled with hockey:  a practice and a game on Saturday and three games on Sunday.  What better way to spend Mother's Day than to watch my kid tear up the ice???  And the coming week has a super excited little boys birthday in it. . .doesn't it seem like the wait to be eight takes a very long time???  Aidan's been waiting for that day since before he turned seven!!

I'll leave you with this super cute picture of Aidan with his best buddy Jake cleaning out the cookie dough from the mixing bowl. . .

Happy Friday!!