Soccer Season

Spring is in the air, the sun is shining, the grass is turning green, the buds are opening on the tree branches, and I even saw some tulips popping up in the neighbour's flower bed! So you know what that means around here....Outdoor Soccer season is around the corner! Actually, it's one sleep away for us! Harrison's Varsity Tykes U6 Outdoor Soccer season starts tomorrow evening, with me as the Coach! It seemed like a good idea when I got wrangled into it at registration day in February. However, here I am the night before the start of our season, scrambling to come up with some fun games and drills for them, looking at the jerseys spread across my dining room table, and the giant equipment bag spilling it's contents all over my kitchen floor as I try to figure this all out!

Have I gotten in over my head? What was I thinking when I agreed to be the coach? I've never even played soccer...what do I know about coaching it? Do I have what it takes to keep nine little 4 and 5 yr olds busy on the field for our 20 min warm up/practice of games and drills, before our 40 min game against another team?! We are the Panthers and play every Tues and Thurs evenings for an hour starting at 6:15pm, so we can still be home and in bed at a decent hour. The league is sponsored by Tim Hortons just like the minor hockey teams. Our jerseys are black and say Tim Hortons across the front, and TimBits across the back, with a big white number below that and the community logo on one sleeve. Very sharp looking!

Here is my favorite Assistant Coach, making sure all the equipment works! I actually get 2 Assistant Coaches...mostly because I have no idea what I'm doing! I'll post another entry with some pictures of the first couple games. Wish this Rookie luck!

Did you ever play soccer as a kid? Have you ever coached a team? Do you have any last minute advice or words of wisdom to offer?!

Flames Go Up In Smoke

It was a rough ride through the playoffs, to a brutal end, but end it did! The Flames lost to the Detroit Red Wings in double overtime last night in Game 6 of the series, to be eliminated in the first round of the Playoffs. It was edge of your seat hockey, as I kept biting my finger nails and closing my eyes! I couldn't watch.....but then I couldn't not watch either!!! Our goaltending was outstanding, as he stopped over 50 shots on net last night alone, while the rest of the team just couldn't capitalize on any of their big chances. It's too bad. I guess we'll never have a playoff run like we did in 2004, when they actually made it all the way to the final, then lost in Game 7....but we won't talk about that!

As sad as I am that NHL hockey in Calgary is over for the season (our WHL Hittmen are still hangin in there in their playoff series) I will be happy to be able to get my kid to bed before 10pm. As long as hockey is on, he just won't go to bed! Last night I forced him in there, but told him he could listen to his clock radio while he fell asleep....big mistake! He stayed awake to listen to it for hockey updates, and at one point came out of his room announcing, "I heard it's tied....is it tied up Mommy? Who scored the goal? Are you sad the Red Wings scored?" How could I be mad at that?! He finally fell asleep before the end of the game, so he had to wait until this morning for the final score. I didn't want to break the news to him (especially after his first reaction in Game 1!) but was surprised at his response when I told him the Flames didn't win. He was quick to answer, "I guess they gonna be on the golf course now!" How hilarious is that?! Priceless if you ask me.....and true!!! There's always next year! (I think I said that last year too!)

Hangin Out At Home

I've been wanting to post some pictures for a while now, but have been really busy with everyday life! So here are some random pictures of life at our house over the last month or so!

Here he is playing (I use this term loosely!) his new violin that my Dad bought him. I noticed it didn't come with lessons!

Here he is with our bird, Chirp the cockatiel, typing an email at the computer!

Lookin all cute with his "Bed Head" half asleep, dazed and "I need a nap" look at Pyjama Day at preschool, in his new Scooby Doo PJs!

When the little monkey is NOT grounded from TV or his DVDs, he can be found loungeing around, his stare uninterupted (for busy Mom that means a few minutes of sanity to myself!) in his own little world of make believe, as he solves mysteries with Scooby Doo and the Gang, or goes on awesome adventures with Diego on amazing animal rescue missions! I love the power of DVD!!!

And when he is grounded from TV and has to make his own fun, and things get a little too quiet around the house....where should you look for Harrison?! In Mommy's super-capacity giant size front load washing machine, of course!!! Do not worry, he was not in there long enough for any damage to be done! I heard his muffled cries and came running immediately to let him out. The photo was taken after the fact, to show what he had done. I did not leave him in there to take the picture! I am used to his antics and to staying ten steps ahead of him at all times! Is it any wonder that we have NEVER left him with a babysitter?! I'm terrified they would not pay enough attention to what is going on, or they would too easily underestimate his ability to get into trouble, and the night would end in serious tragedy!

Why do kids love wearing hats for dress up, but we have to fight them tooth and nail to get them to wear one to protect them against the elements? Here is the little man sporting as many ball caps as can (un) reasonably fit on his head! And again with the very cool Pirate hat he made at preschool! AAAARRRRRRGGGHHHH....Matey! Have you ever been to sea Harri?!

Singin In The Rain....just singin in the rain!!!

I hope you have enjoyed a look into our lives over the past few weeks! I have some more pictures to post, but they are reserved for entries of their own. I have a lot of stories in my head, it's just finding the time to get to the computer to get them out! I promise I will work on them soon! Stay tuned.....

Disgruntled Fan

Remember me saying what a huge sports fan Harrison is? Not only does he love playing any sport, he loves watching any sport. However, given the choice, he'll always pick hockey first. He is crazy about hockey! He eats, sleeps and breathes hockey. He's always got a makeshift hockey stick (mostly his plastic golf clubs, because I won't let his real hockey stick in the house!) in his hand and is swinging it around my house at anything that could be a puck. (lately it's the bird....poor Chirpy!) He knows all the players, which team is playing who in the playoffs, who won and what the final score was. He's got all the lingo down and uses it appropriately while glued to the TV every night, for every game. He doesn't care who is playing, he just wants to watch hockey! He needs to know who the "3 stars of the game" are, what each "penalty" is for, who is in the "box", and he talks about "power plays" the way most kids talk about Dora or Barney! I thought this was all cute and harmless, until last night, when he was cheering for the Calgary Flames in Game 1, of Round 1 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs against the Detroit Red Wings. He knew we were losing, and how much time was left on the clock, but it was too much for this "overly competitive and emotionally driven Flames Fan" to take! As soon as the horn sounded to indicate the end of the 3rd period and the official 4-1 loss to Detroit, he burst into tears, ran to his room crying, slammed the door and threw himself down on the floor in a dramatic emotional mess! Here is the video, once he had calmed down! Can you imagine him before he was calm?!



He takes his sports WAY too seriously, and is going to need to relax next fall when he plays minor hockey, or he's likely to beat up his teamates in the dressing room after a loss, because they weren't playing with the passion he feels is required in the 5 yr old recreational league! I've always said, if there was full body contact hockey for 2 yr olds, he'd have been in it! To be fair to him, he's just expressing what all Flames fan were feeling last night, only it's far more acceptable from a 4 yr old!!!

Are you a hockey fan? Who are you cheering for this Playoff Season?

Easter-r-r-r-r Surprise!

We had a pretty quiet Easter, but it looks like the Easter Bunny found us anyway! We didn't do much for the Easter weekend, except consume obscene amounts of chocolate and food! Harrison spent Sat night with his Dad, having Easter dinner with their family at his Grandparents house. We went to my Aunt Colleen's for Easter brunch on Sunday and ate so much that we didn't need to eat for the rest of the day! The Easter Bunny brought Harrison a giant T-Rex chocolate that roars when you open the box...scared him the first time he opened it, then he thought it was pretty cool! He also got Peter Pan on DVD...too bad he's grounded from TV for a week!!! (maybe he'll think twice before peeing on the carpet next time!) He spent last night at my parents and is out for supper with them now before they bring him home.



I've enjoyed having the last week off work for Spring Break, but go back tomorrow. Alas...all good things must come to an end! Harrison gets two weeks off Preschool and goes back next Mon April 16th. I got some serious spring cleaning done and feel good about it, now that it's behind me! Those big jobs are like that aren't they? They loom overhead and you hate having to do them, but once they're done you feel a sense of accomplishment. I took 5 boxes of old books and toys to goodwill and cleaned out Harrison's closet and packed away all the size 3 and 4 clothes to make room for the big boy size 5 and 6 stuff. It's a hard thing for me to do for some reason. I like that he's growing and changing, but it saddens me to put away those little boy memories with each little outfit I pack, to make way for bigger kid stuff. Time for another baby!!! I've decided it is time...now or never! Hopefully it won't be long before I'm unpacking all those baby things again!

PS Well, I took a break from typing the post to have supper and watch some TV before my little man came home. It is now long past bedtime here, but I thought I'd stay up to post the video...if I can remember how! Strangely, at our house, the way we rate a good time is by how much Harrison screams and melts down at the end of a long day or weekend. He must have had a great Easter weekend, as he was in tears and laying on the floor kicking and screaming at the top of his lungs before my parents left! He has so much fun and gets so over-stimulated so easily, that his little system just can't cope and he melts down. Poor lil guy. I had to be firm, but patient, get control quick, then got him in his PJs with a big struggle and calmed him down with the promise of being rocked to sleep in my arms with his favorite Spiderman blankie! Finally worked like a charm and he's sleeping like an angel...until his usual 3am wake up routine!

Do you have a Spring Cleaning regime? Have you done yours yet? When do you usually do it? What jobs do you find tedious to do, but feel good about once done?

Future Family?!

Last weekend, my highschool friend Lin was in town from Yellowknife NWT, for an overnight visit with her 2 yr old daughter Jac. Harrison remembered "Baby Jac" from their visit with us last summer, but was surprised to find out "Baby Jac" has become a toddler over the winter! I love that picture of Harrison explaining the deep meaning of life, and Jac hanging on every word he says!


They had fun running around holding hands and playing together, like old friends! Lin asked Harrison if was going to marry Jac, and he said "maybe, but not until we are adults!" Well, I'm glad he's got that straight! However, after seeing the pictures on Kim's blog of Jac and her shoe fetish, she may be too high maintenance for my son!!! Harrison took that picture of his future bride himself...not bad for a 4 yr old photographer!


It was interesting to watch them play together, and see their personalities shine through, and work out their differences on their own, despite their age gap. Jac is still in the exploring-everything-new-stage, and had great fun dumping out Harrison's toys to play with them all. Well...Mr. Anal had a fit, and didn't enjoy the "big mess Baby Jac made!" So why is it that he can have toys strewn from one end of my house to the other, and it's not deemed a mess, but when someone else does it, it's a big deal?!


He took to Lin right away and started calling her Auntie Lin! He was upset when they had to leave, and gave out big hugs and kisses to Baby Jac and his new Auntie Lin! However, Jac was far less impressed with all the affection and man-handling going on, but Auntie Lin made up for it when she returned his big bear hug! Jac much preferred him to show her attention by giving her a double ride on the back of his trike! Maybe she's just playing hard to get! Must be love!!!


The Happy Couple!!!