It's a Hockey Thing

First win in September

Leaving for practice in Maryland

Top 15 in Points within USPHL

Starting over with a new hockey club this year is nothing new for my twins: their 7th team in 10 seasons. And it is never easy to be in a new league. Sniper and Playmaker have high hopes and are working hard for the Skipjacks in Baltimore. They love the coaching staff, the abundant ice time, and the workout facilities (former practice rink/weight room for Washington Capitals NHL).

"Skipjacks U16" Teammates

#23

But injuries have kept their bench short and led to very few wins. Not that winning is everything, but it can be an important part of the mental game after a few weeks. Today they called and said the team is finally gelling! They are playing back in Boston for the Beantown Classic and have won their first three games handily! The twins are dominating the offense, setting up their line mates, and racking up their own points, too. Sniper had a hat trick today. Playmaker works so hard as the starting center, plus he fills in at defense because of other injured players. I'm glad they got a taste of success today, but I wish we could be there to watch. Last year, we were lucky enough to stay the whole week with Cousin Laurie and Tom--and enjoyed feasts at Aunt Jean and Paul's.

 #25 on Bus Trip

Off to the Philmont Scout Ranch

Some young men I know boarded the Amtrack last Friday in Kansas City bound for Cimmaron. They have been planning this High Adventure for nearly two years. They have chosen to backpack 83 miles in 10 days in the mountains of New Mexico carrying all their supplies (replenishing water and food at stations along the way).

Doing Their Bit of the Chores

I have been putting the twins to work in Missouri so that our house stays appealing to potential buyers. They have mowed twice, trimmed bushes, spread fertilizer, and sprayed edges for dandelions. Yesterday they were very helpful as I wanted to split hostas. We have also spent three afternoons cleaning oak leaves from under bushes, behind pool furniture, and along the fence line. Today they stained the worn patches on the front and east sides of the house. Tomorrow we vacuum the pool and clean the cover. It's almost enough to make me swear off home ownership.

As a reward, the guys are headed to Buffalo Wild Wings to see game 3 (or 4?) of the series between the Blackhawks and the Blues. 

When the Finale is Final

Of course you don't want to move away when you are 16. I understand their feelings, having moved when I was 8 and 13 and 14. The twins attended tonight's Grand Finale of the Homeschool Co-op in St. Joseph knowing it was time to say good-bye to their friends. The process is difficult and fraught with emotion for the ones leaving, who have to put it into words. And you cannot predict how your friends will take the news. I am proud of the courage of my twins, and I wish I could manufacture good news every day to make their futures seem sunny.

Our Own AGD Mom's Weekend

We expanded the format of AGD Mom's weekend to include Dad's weekend and Little Brother's weekend, too. It was a great day to see Meggar and Spencer!

They took us to the dorms for a brunch buffet. Then we went bowling. We also looked at two wineries for reception/graduation parties this spring.

Never Too Old

I still gave each twin a chocolate Advent calendar.
And candy for St. Nicholas' Day.
Guess they are never too old...

They were "good sports" and played like "big brothers" on Saturday morning by going to the Preschool Christmas Program to watch Kobe sing with his 4-year-old class.

Making Music in Nashville

The twins stayed on the same line for the starting weekend of Thunder Hockey Training Camp. They wanted to make things happen during drills and show their stuff. I know they were probably a little nervous to be "new" and only 15 on a team of 15/16. But they told me how "cool" and welcoming their teammates were. Two also play golf! Some of those boys are HUGE by comparison. But my twins have other assets: they are smart on the ice, and this wasn't about checking or hitting drills yet; plus they are strong with their upper body from cross-training all spring. Polar Bear even felt like prior conditioning* helped him prevent further injury to his internal right oblique muscle. (relief) *plug for Spine and Sport Physical Therapy
The whole hockey team stayed at the rink 24/7 from Friday afternoon through Sunday afternoon. Yep, they took cots and sleeping bags for "bonding time" with all the guys. Let's just say there was some talking in their sleep and before their sleep.
Besides looking at rentals, I went to two concerts over the weekend. Well, I was in Nashville after all. But they were the-free-type, not the purchase-tickets-type. First came a trip to The Coffeehouse in a hipster locale near the Downtown Square in Franklin (quite close to our future church and future hockey rink). I listened to original compositions by Luke Bellet, accompanied by Michael Bellet. It was so endearing to hear the song he wrote about his brothers (seven of them) and the song her wrote for his sister (only one girl). He is a good friend of the organizer of the second concert. On Sunday, we stopped by the Morel Farm for another "Love Good Music" event with Jimmy Mitchell and friends. Over 200 people showed up (his biggest back yard event to date), so it resulted in a great potluck and opportunity to meet Catholic homeschoolers. The twins were thrilled to meet so many in the "Connect" teen group!

Emergency Treatment

Steroid shots and steroid pills.
Both twins.
As soon as the doctor left the room to go get the nurse, Winger said: "You're going first!"
As soon as the nurse walked in, Captain said: "Winger wants to go first!"
Ha ha ha.
Twins.
Just last week, they were arguing over who would get to drive home the first half from Wichita. So they quickly emptied everything from their pockets and raced a 200 yard sprint on the street in front of Grandma's to decide the winner!
Twins :-)

Working for a Living

The twins have been staying in the country the last 5 days. They were helping Uncle Carey clear hedge trees from his fence-line. And shooting turtles around his pond. Driving the tractor, running the chain saw, and working up a sweat. Whew! This type of manual labor was a good experience for them, and I wondered what they would say when I picked them up yesterday. They talked all the way home! They benefitted from being away from their routine and being around their younger cousins. Plus they tried Asian food, enjoyed "doughnut mass," and kept up during Ultimate Frisbee with the college/seminarian crowd.

FREEEEEEEDDOMM

We are expected to take a lot of things for granted in America. Isn't that too bad? Our freedoms were hard-fought, our privileges carry a personal responsibility, and our national pride swells to overflowing on Fourth of July. But how much freedom do others have?
We started the holiday by taking my Aunt Lois out to lunch. She doesn't have much freedom. She is mentally retarded and lives on her Social Security benefit in a smelly care home. She doesn't have physical limitations that require her to live there, so it is painful to see the choices she doesn't get to make. She cannot choose her meals, nor meal times, nor the chance to cut up her own food, nor much of her wardrobe, nor the activities of her day outside those four corridors. She is mentally retarded, but she is not stupid. She knows more than you think... She knows she doesn't have freedom of choice. but today was a day for Freeeeeedom!
We asked her to pick a restaurant, but when we got to "Red Robin" they were closed for July 4th. So we drove along Webb Road and let her choose another place. She got all excited when she saw "Freddy's" and could hardly wait for a break in the traffic to get across the street. She chose her entree, her drink, and later her custard dessert and its topping (Reece's Pieces). Then we went to Wal-Mart (where I never shop out of principle) but we let her choose a flag T-shirt, a coloring book, and a box of 96 crayons. Don't you remember back in 2nd grade how you were dying for a box of 64, but your mother wouldn't let you get that many? Aunt Lois wanted the BIG box of 96 crayons! She also didn't want the coloring book that said "Preschool" on the cover either. She knows she graduated from 8th grade (at age 16). She also knows she cannot get two or three coloring books or else her care-giver would throw them away. She knows...

Ah... the freedom of making a 2nd grader happy!

Kitchen Time

Captain is at the hospital with his dad. The twins are sleeping in. I am enjoying the sweet smell of peonies in my kitchen (I received four from a neighbor since mine from Constance won't bloom until next year!) I'm using the quiet morning to make a triple batch of banana bread for the Conference Breakfast this weekend.

Compare and Contrast

The twins are writing essays to show the correlating themes between Shakespeare's Sonnet 116 and The Odyssey. (This is my favorite part of ninth grade with Kolbe Academy.) At first the boys thought the poem too romantic, while Homer's tale is heroic and bloody. The word language is what gets me. Did Shakespeare know about Penelope's nightly un-weaving when he talks about "alteration"? Did Shakespeare pity the "tempests" sent by Poseidon to delay Odysseus for ten years at sea? Wasn't young Telemachos similar to "Time's fool" in his passionate threats and final revenge against the suitors? Our reward in homeschool for completing the book, exam, and essay is to watch the modern parody "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" I predict that everyone will like the fiddle music, too.

Big Hockey Honors

Captain received an important email from the USHL. The summer before a hockey player turns 16, he is eligible to be recuited to the "USHL Futures Combine" for five exhibition games. That means he may be one of the top USHL prospects at age 18. Knowing only 300 players are chosen nationwide (in combined birth years of 1998 and 1999), we panicked because the email didn't indicate which son was chosen!?! After some hours of worry, Captain received a call back from the scouting director saying BOTH our sons were picked. (*whew*) YES!! Polar Bear and Winger feel on top of the world. This is another confirmation that they are pretty terrific on the ice for their age. For me, the thing about having twins is that they are different, but they are both good and you hope the things that one does better than the other won't be the dividing line. Especially during those teenage years when you are unsure about where you fit in, the twins hoped their hockey skill and efforts would lead them to the next higher level. I say: "Congratulations!" to them, and to Captain: "You know the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull? Lipstick."

Birthday Boys

The twins shared a birthday with each other last Sunday... and also with Confirmation and with the Year of Faith pilgrimage to your baptistry. So there was not time to squeeze in candles. But the gifts started arriving on Monday: Meggar and Spencer gave them Blues shirts--Tarasenko for Winger, Oshe for Polar Bear, and Halak for Dorito. (Unfortunately we couldn't use the tickets for Thursday's game in St. Louis because of District hockey games in Wisconsin). But the good news about the long drive to Wisconsin is the opportunity to add hours to their permit drivers' log. There was also driving to violin and dental appointments and hockey practice--as if there was any question that a Schmidling wouldn't get enough driving practice in the first 6 months.

Other gifts: Dorito ordered totems for their Mic-o-Say claws. Very cool since they didn't believe we could find a winged foot (Swift Spirit) and wheat shock (Prairie Spirit).
Captain bought them new tennis shoes (Asics for Winger and Nike for Polar Bear). So they look individually cool now!

How can it be that my youngest is 15?!

Found the Drivers Ed Book

Both twins are excited to study for their permit. Next Monday they become eligible "student drivers" of my Previa minivan. Oh joy! The cost-cutting government office only offers the study guide online, so I dug out the paperback from Dorito's file cabinet. Sometimes my organizational prowess amazes me! Other times, my obsession weighs me down with the impossibility of ever completely catching up.

Watching the Games

All my boys are happy about the return of the NHL to the ice. Captain caved in and bought "GameCenter Live," which allows us to watch that one cable channel on any computer, phone, or TV in our house. I wonder if anyone will start yelling at the TV? Actually, Dorito quietly says "Yep" when the refs make a good call. The twins just lean in closer and watch the "moves" especially when there's a replay of a goal scored. Since only 2-3 goals are scored in a game, you can imagine how important they are. The Staal brothers are on the same team now. And the Sedin twins remain on the same team/same line. Blues lost, but Luongo had a shut out. Fun!!  Now why can't I buy the  "Food Network" channel that way?

Hunting at a New Spot

The twins are trying out their rifle skills this weekend, as it's the last youth deer hunt of the season. They have a new spot to try, thanks to a kind owner/renter of outlying property.

Baby It's Cold Outside

Poor Dorito -- he had to referee on the outdoor rink early this morning!  It's below freezing and a little breezy too.

He was originally scheduled to take five games today at the KCIC tournament (since many refs are out of town for the holidays). But he called to say he is staying for two more games since another ref didn't show up. He likes to come home and tell Captain about the penalties he called, the coaches who argued with him, and the players who chirped. He gave a game misconduct to a 9-year-old for using REALLY bad language directly in his face.
But secretly, he likes the authority of being a referee. The twins gave him this phone case which they customized: So-oooo Cool!

Twins Pull at Your Heart

There were twins in Kindergarten in Newtown, CT. The news told me today that little Noah was killed in the tragedy, but his twin sister was assigned to a different classroom and Arielle survived. How horrific! I watch my twins together everyday and marvel at their close connection.
Even the readings yesterday at Mass asked: "What shall we do?" (Luke 3:10-18) and the message of helping your neighbor was clear. I think that will help bring some happiness to our Advent.
The crowds asked John the Baptist,
"What should we do?"
He said to them in reply,
"Whoever has two cloaks
should share with the person who has none.
And whoever has food should do likewise."
Even tax collectors came to be baptized and they said to him,
"Teacher, what should we do?"
He answered them,
"Stop collecting more than what is prescribed."
Soldiers also asked him,
"And what is it that we should do?"
He told them,
"Do not practice extortion,
do not falsely accuse anyone,
and be satisfied with your wages."

First Time in Detroit

We drove all day yesterday to get to Detroit. I mean 12-hours-type-of-all-day. I brought two read-alouds and they boys bought a new PS3 game to help pass the time. Plus I packed good food and snacks.
First thing this morning, we met up with the Verbick familiy at the Henry Ford Museum. Mr. Verbick took a new job with Ford earlier this year, and we had Austin from the hockey team all weekend.

We only had a couple of hours, but you need a couple of days to go through it all properly (or a couple of weeks).

This is an amazing museum at every level: clean, interactive, educational.

Captain enjoyed the show-room floor of Presidential Cadillacs, racing cars, and all the old stuff in between.

Thomas Edison was a great innovator and friend of Henry Ford. He was here at the groundbreaking to put his signature in the cement.

I fell in love with the Greenfield Village (a multi-acre town with a one-room schoolhouse and actual homes of William McGuffey, Robert Frost, Thomas Edison, Wright Brothers, and others). The twins and Austin got a kick out of riding around in the Model Ts.