oh yeah...

...and HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my brother, Kyle!

On to the championship game!

The boys made it into the championship game that will take place tomorrow at noon. The teams they played weren't too challenging, although our boys did make the second game a close one towards the end because they were slacking off. Their coaches told them they need to bring their 'A' game tomorrow.

Both of our coaches fathers were re-living their hockey days today by announcing and running the clock. They were a huge help and we thank them for making it fun for the kids. Tommy's dad used to announce for the varsity games, so it was great to have him there and fun to listen to him.

I did take a few pics but am having difficulty uploading them so I'll have to try it another time.

Good evening! Turns out our sore throat the other night was strep throat so Al missed two days of school. He must not have felt well at all because he napped and he NEVER naps. And wouldn't you know I had to work Monday and Tuesday (the days he missed school) so Kevin took all day Monday and Tuesday morning off to stay at home with him. We were fortunate enough to have a friend stay with him Tuesday afternoon and by that time the meds were working and he was almost back to normal :)

Tuesday was quite the news day at the hospital as they announced that we were all taking 5% pay cuts, plus vacation earned is being cut by a certain number of hours. Yikes! I feel bad for some of my co-workers as this 5% will have quite an impact on them. The vacation doesn't apply to me because I am per diem and that makes me ineligible for earning any of those hours. We're also somewhat slow this time of year so I'm spending more time at home and less time working. That gives me plenty of time to tackle some projects around the house.

The boys are getting excited for their home tournament this weekend and especially looking forward to having Kevin's parents come out to watch them. We're supposed to get 4-8" of snow tomorrow so hopefully the teams won't cancel. Check back on Saturday for some updates and pictures!

Alex bringing the puck up the ice.

Ryan fighting off a defender to gain control of the puck.

Sorry for the lack of posts. Not a whole lot to report here. The boys were idle this weekend. This coming weekend is our home tournament and then we're finished for the regular season! I'm actually looking forward to some down time.

We've been discussing our summer plans and this is what we've got so far....7-14ish days in MT for the boys. Not all of us at once and the number of days aren't set in stone. I believe Kevin and the boys will be there the week prior to the 4th of July, and I may drive the boys out the last week in June, depending upon when my brother will be coming home. Kevin and I will more than likely have to split our time with me driving the boys out first and staying for a few days and then Kevin driving out and me going home. The reason for that is I cannot take 2 weeks off from work and the same holds true for Kevin. THIS IS JUST A PLAN...NOTHING IS SET IN STONE! The remainder of our summer holds two weeks of hockey camps the last week in July/first week in August and then Camp Foley for the boys and myself the second week in August. Camp Foley is a 'fun camp' in northern MN. I'm the camp nurse and my compensation is the boys attending for free. No need to worry about Kevin while we're at camp...he's taking the week off to golf! Of course, we'll need to squeeze in soccer and golf lessons during this time as well. The boys are going to try summer soccer this year. I believe they travel a bit to some tournaments so it'll be a new experience for all of us.

Tonight we seem to have one child under the weather. Sore throat and a fever. Let's hope we get this cleared up before the weekend! We've been extremely healthy this winter so I really can't complain. :)

Yikes! I didn't realize it's been that long since I've updated. We traveled to Wahpeton this past Saturday to play a double header up there. It was supposed to be a tournament but at the last minute it was canceled due to lack of teams. And instead of scrapping the entire weekend we opted to just play them. We lost both games, 9-1 and 3-2 in OT. I'm not sure if the kids were still in Lala Land or what, but Wahpeton scored 6 goals within the first 7 or 8 minutes of the first period. I was sitting there thinking 'this is going to be horrible...the score's going to be 21-0' but they snapped out of it and started playing much better the second and third periods. The second game we played was alot of fun to watch and the kids played really well. Alex scored a goal from behind the blue line of our defensive zone. He was just trying to clear the puck and the goalie must have thought it was going to go wide because he didn't even try to stop it. The puck slid right by him and into the net. It was pretty comical to watch and even funnier to listen to the Wahpeton parents. Of course if you ask Al about it, he made it because of the 'spin' he put on the puck. ;)

This weekend we're at home for one game on Saturday and that's it. Then we've got our home tourney the last weekend of Feb. and then our season is finished. Ryan has been asked to play in a Showcase Tournament in the Cities April 4-5 and the 25-26 at the Mite level. That is a level down from what he is currently playing. For those of you that aren't familiar with his situation, he has a July birthday which bumps him back a year in hockey and this really should've been his first year of Mites. However he's already played 2 years as a Mite and we felt it would benefit him to move up a level (I'm not gonna lie, it benefits us as well because the boys are on the same team and it just makes it that much easier for us). Anyway, because of his age, he is eligible to play with this group and the Mite coach was kind enough to think of Ry when putting a team together. I think it'll be fun for everyone and if nothing else, a new experience for all of us. So...if you're in the Cities for those dates and are interested in watching some hockey feel free to join us!

Watertown Tournament

Brookings Rangers 'C' team

The boys and their teammates came away from the weekend 3-0. They can be seen in these pics with their 1st place trophy. It was a round robin type tournament so I believe that means they went by points (or something??). As you can see they didn't really care how they got the trophy...they were just excited to get it. And since you have pictures to look at that also means I was able to go along today. The census at the hospital was low and I happened to be the first one up for VTO (time off without pay) so I jumped at the chance. The team played really well and actually listened to the coaches...a surprise for everyone!