already upon us

a day and a half later than planned but arrived safely in missouri late sunday night, via Wisconsin to Illinois route (to avoid hated Iowa weather).

time moving along quickly and a bit colder than usual but been having a lot of fun with family--opened presents, several huge meals, some puzzle making, and a lot of games (scrabble, fact or crap, would you rather?, catch-phrase, etc). also got to see the great new cape library nana helped to build and to spend some time over at Den and Deidre's new house in Jackson--a really nice place replete with cable so we got to see the Gopher's bball game last night.

not sure what the new year will bring, either in the short term (tomorrow) or the longer term but hope the best for all of you and yours.

white christmas!

it will not only be a white christmas in minnesota, it could be one of the whitest of all time. we woke up to 5-6 inches on the ground this morning (added to the 4-5 already there), and there are forecasts of anywhere from 6 to 18 more over the next 24-36 hours. (for conditions as of about 10:30, see pic). emma is in her glory--she already has a snow fort built, and after warming up with some hot chocolate, there is talk of all of us going out for some sledding. with shopping done and the prime rib already packed in for tomorrow's holiday dinner, the only question is when the roads will be clear for the trip to Missouri.

other catching up: ben's team played a 10th grade team at Woodbury last night (doug and emma didn't get to go; they had gophers tix). ben got 4-5 minutes a half which he spent battling (once again) guys significantly taller than him in the post. in fact, when he is in there, the coaches tell him his job is to push everyone out of the paint on defense and set big picks on offense. his football are clearly coming into play.

busy holi-days

last day of school for the kids today, and then the christmas vacation begins. not a moment too soon. we just got our christmas tree and lights up this weekend; emma had the mmsa christmas concert last night. ben has a bball game weds night (emma and doug have gophers tix). but the big question is whether we will be able to drive to missouri the day after christmas or not. a big snow storm appears to be taking shape in the Rockies that could make Iowa a disaster. wouldn't be the first time...but even if we are delayed we are determined to make it to Cape for a few days.

oh yeah, and our christmas cards and letters go out today. this year we have a family quiz/public opinion poll. most of the info is logged here on the blog and some is up to your judgement but selected answers include: 1. Wilma Rudolph; 2. Amazing Grace; Baritone Sax; 3. Hair (locks of love); 4. Jamal Abu Shamala, U of M captain; 5. Your call; 6. C; Elvis impersonator; 8. All; 11. A; 15. D; 17. C; 18. 10/12; 20. Emma.

ps...ben got the first significant minutes of his high school bball career in two games last saturday. He hit a nice baseline jumper in one, played really physical, hard-nosed defense in both, and had a number of good rebounds against much taller kids.

emma's first dance

here she is, ready to go to the big event of the middle school season.

Terri's Teaching Award

For a story on Terri's teaching award go to this link: http://cla.umn.edu/news/swartz.html

updating

okay, well it only took about 7 or 8 months, but the winterized picture of our house is current again. big week of brutally cold weather and snow here, probably with more of the same ahead. oh, do we appreciate the seasons. another thing we appreciate is window repair guys: we got our patio door and back windows fixed up on friday so finally we could take off the plywood and warm up the kitchen.

big sports stuff the past few days: ben had their first game friday--they lost by about 12 but that may have been because doug had to referee when no officials showed up. ben played about 5 or 6 minutes and definitely held his own. emma's hockey team went 2 and 2 since we last posted. the second win was a crazy, 2 1/2 hour, 10 overtime game at their tournament in hastings this weekend. they won 1-0 when the game finally went to shoot-outs. (afterwards some of her school friends threw her a belated surprise birthday party at our house--there were decorations, pizza, a few gifts, cookies and ice creams, and lots of silliness). anyway, she's got a another basketball game now tomorrow afternoon.

biggest news is probably terri getting the "Red Motley" exemplary teaching award at commencement this afternoon. we were all there along with roy and mary, to see her get the award and make a little speech. we celebrated by going out for dinner afterwards.

emm's sports report

3 hockey games and 4 basketball games over the past three days for emma. the bball team didn't win any games in the weekend tourney but got better each game and it paid off today with their first victory 22-9. (now 1-1 in the league). the hockey team won their first game on friday night and then paid with a lot of energy and passion in two close, heartbreaking loses. emma looked especially tough out there. our 6th grade multi-sport star is (like her dad) a bit under the weather and looking forward to a break before a hockey tournament this coming weekend. Also, Ben has his first 9th grade bball game friday night.

better news

so with the window and door boarded up (not the good news) we went and saw emma's hockey team win their first game of the year! it was 3-1 and emma played really well, her toughest defensive stands of the year. big sports weekend ahead, to boot. her basketball team (coached by doug) is in a tournament this weekend (2 games on saturday, 1 on sunday), and she has two more hockey games as well. ben's got a shoot-around....their season starts next friday.

also, almost forgot to mention that earlier in the week, doug was on tv talking about the public reaction to Tiger Woods's recent news. you should be able to watch it at:

http://wcco.com/goodquestion/watch.celebs.fail.2.1346450.html

news

we had another break-in this afternoon at the house. not much lost (an ipod touch, an inexpensive watch, a camera, and the contents of our loose change container) but very unsettling. ben discovered it after school. the perpetrator(s) broke out the double-pane patio door in back (and another window) to get in. he called us right away, and we got there before just emma did. the police came and it turned out there was a whole series of similar episodes on streets and alleys all around us throughout the afternoon. uggg...

sweet sixteen

okay, so 16 years ago today, friends and family from all over the country gathered in La Jolla, CA to witness the wedding vows of Doug and Terri. seems like it has worked out pretty good so far. not quite sure how we'll celebrate--thinking about an afternoon matinee and dinner out later. (though, after our big feast at the Kinneavey-Lee's yesterday--followed up by skating at the Oval and then pies at our house--a fancy dinner not sounding quite so appealing this morning as it did earlier in the week). anyway we'll figure it out. hope all of you had a wonderful day of counting your blessings as well.

quickly...

just catching up before thanksgiving break begins. always busy...this past weekend, we (ben, doug, and terri) went to the Como Park HS musical (Urinetown--quite a crazy and fun show about a town that has forced everyone to pay to pee. emma went with friends to activity park called "Jump it Up." Saturday, we had a spaghetti dinner fundraiser, went for desserts with our friends Josh and Letta (letta just happens to be the new managing editor of Contexts!), and then saw the movie The Blind Side--a rare family film we all enjoyed. on sunday, ben and doug sang in a special 'youth/young adult' ensemble at Hope. Did a little ice skating at the Roseville Oval too. also baked some desserts for a department pie party on monday (yes, our oven is now repaired). yesterday (monday) was another big one: the department pie party, of course. ben had his first bball practice/tryouts over at Como; emma had bball practice with doug coaching (terri even got roped into scrimmaging when we needed an extra player), and then their first home hockey game of the year--they lost again but played better than last week. this morning, our garage door got messed up, but we got a repair guy in and had it fixed before the end of the lunch hour. whew.... Now, off to bball practices.

emma's big day

emma's big b-day today. seems like she had a good one. her class is spending the week at a educational day camp called "star base"--which she is really enjoying and they got to take a coach bus to get there. roy and mary had us over for steak and baked potatoes for her dinner, she took cupcakes to share with her hockey team at practice, and then we went back to roy and mary's for two cakes--flourless chocolate and chocolate frosted yellow cake. some cool presents too: new "brush" drum sticks from aunt lisa; some cash from nana and papa (as well as a rousing rendition of the birthday song on the answering machine); a t-shirt and mini spongebob mr. potato head from Pauline; a couple of books from mom and dad (Including the 6th grade girl classic "Are You There God? It's me, Margaret"); toe warmers; a new winter coat and a cool UCLA vest. Oh yeah, and Ben is promising to download a bunch of music onto her shuffle for her.

thursday night and beyond

back from emma's hockey game--a loss (6-3) but a fun first game for the girls. she and friends are back out to the camp in Wisconsin for the rest of the overnight with her class. tomorrow night, after a scrimmage she has a birthday sleep over with her friend stephanie.

ben--who is off of school tomorrow, he had finals the past few days--is going with his buddy wyatt to the gopher's opening bball game. team looking solid but some behavioral issues with the new recruits getting all of the media attention so far. doug and terri may take advantage of the opportunity and go out for dinner or something.

saturday, then, is the final gophers home football game and that night is a potluck, beer-bust fundraiser for the hockey girls at a local dive bar called "The Nickle Joint." Hope the weather is as pleasant for you all as it has been for us.

update

terri's been out in LA the past few days helping out with her mom. she is home from the hospital and recovering from the surgery. initial tests didn't reveal any major problems but blood work not yet conclusive. so still some wait and see...terri, meanwhile, will be coming home tomorrow to another busy week. doug and ben going to gophers' bball exhibition game monday night (the football game saturday was exciting though ultimately disappointing) and emma's got her first hockey game of the season thursday night (right in the middle of a middle school overnight trip to Camp St. Croix over in Hudson).

thoughts and prayers

terri's mom wasn't feeling well over the weekend. she went to urgent care and they immediately checked her into the hospital to remove her gall bladder and deal with some kidney stones. the surgery was tuesday and seemed to have gone well. yesterday by the end of the day, though, the doctors reported it was cancerous. we don't know a lot else, except there were supposed to be tests today.

here and there

terri headed to Atlanta today (for emerging adulthood conference); doug to Boston tomorrow (to give a talk at Brandeis). Kids staying with mary and roy tomorrow night. all hectic and exciting though a bit less so with football and soccer now over. and we'll all be together saturday for halloween, when doug and ben will be going to gopher game and emma has elaborate plans for her annual costume (still to be fully created and unveiled).

big weekend

two big days for us this weekend. ben got confirmed at Hope this morning, following a nice dinner with the other confirmands and their families last night.

yesterday was emma's day--her soccer team winning three games in a row to capture their second city championship in a row. it was fun and not nearly as stressful as last year with the scores being 4-0, 5-0 and 3-0. (the main stressor was that on thursday night in a makeup game, they looked a little lack luster in a 0-0 tie). anyway, a great day capped off by a pizza party with all of the girls (who come from 7 different schools) to celebrate.

dark day

dark, rainy day today. seems to fit the mood with the funeral of an 8th grader at MMSA this morning named Josh Rothe Moon. he died this past weekend after a year long struggle with a brain tumor. our kids will go, along with all of the middle schoolers and many kids who have graduated in the past couple of years. so sad. and second time in two years for the 8th grade to loss a classmate. (ben's classmate was killed in an auto accident in mexico 2 summers ago).

ben's faith statement

With all that is going on, we didn't even mention that next week, Reformation, is Ben's confirmation at Hope Lutheran. This morning he, along with 5 other kids, read the "statements of faith" they have spent the past few weeks preparing to the congregation. He did a great job and received numerous complements and accolades. We'll try to post a written draft, or at least snippets, here shortly.

the results are in...

..and they are fabulous! the sociology faculty voted to make Terri an associate professor with tenure. yeeaaaaaaahhhhh! we went out for a celebration dinner at little szchezan last night, and then victory chocolates (dark) today.

on other fronts: ben's team lost (42-14) against a tough wisconsin team this afternoon. he had a pretty good game--some big runs through his hole, and he was in on at least five tackles on the line and one on a kickoff. lots of studying tonite: he and emma are both off of school thursday and friday this week.

hockey practice continues for emma, and last week of regular season games on thursday. playoffs set to begin Saturday October 24.

Doug trying to fight off a sickness that may or may not be a slight bout of h1n1.

puffy white stuff already

did you check the national weather reports? we've got a couple, three, four inches of puffy white snow on the ground this morning with more coming down. should make football and soccer games interesting later in the week (tuesday and thursday). kids actually off of school thursday and friday, and ben has to prepare and deliver his faith statement at Hope on sunday. and of course by the end of the day today (monday) we should have results from terri's tenure vote.

checkin in, looking up

big sports day in como area yesterday: ben's team played their best game and won 22-0; emma's team won a close one 2-1 on a goal with under 4 minutes left; then the como high varsity boys won a chilly homecoming game 20-0. emma's hockey team had good news too getting 3 or 4 new (and pretty good) girls from the east side to round out their roster.

gopher game tomorrow, of course, but the big news is the forecast for snow. we'll actually trying to think about that right now to keep our minds off the two twins games in new york.

center of the sporting universe?

Gophers games on saturday; twin cities marathon and gopher's women's soccer game on sunday; vikings versus packers on MNF yesterday along with the start of hockey; and then the twins extra-game play-in game versus the tigers tonite. what a string of events. and we're only just getting started: MLB playoffs tomorrow, and then ben and emma both with games thursday night along with como and gophers homecoming this weekend. how to keep up with everything else when we're having so much fun!

wet whirlwind week/weekend

so just after nana and papa left on weds after a great visit, grandpa (terri's dad) flew in for a quick visit. he helped finish up the basement ceiling project, replaced a faulty electrical outlet, and got to see ben play a football game before leaving to get back to CA friday afternoon.

ben's team lost their game against central 13-0 but it was a memorable, epic battle on two fronts: one was that it was raining buckets throughout the game (those of us who were there got completely, utterly soaked; ben's team fumbled at least six times as a result). the second was that ben had what everyone we agreed was the monster hit of the game--blowing up a wide receiver running a reverse. (it actually knocked the kid out of the game and straight to the hospital; we heard later, luckily, that he was okay).

its been rainy ever since--including the big minnesota/wisconsin game today, and emma's marathon school fundraiser. we're hoping it might dry out a bit tomorrow: we're supposed to watch the twin cities marathon with friends in the morning, and then are taking emma's soccer team to the gopher's women's game in the afternoon. also ahead for the week: ben's teacher conferences, football and soccer games, and the start of hockey for emma. and hey, we're keeping our fingers crossed for the Twins too. only 1/2 game out as of the playoffs as of this writing!

busy, busy

with nana and papa here, we haven't had a chance to record and reflect. started with football and soccer when they arrived in thursday--both kids' teams had victories, ben's was their first of the year (30-6 against Humbolt). went to Garrison Keilor/Praire Home Companion Meatloaf Supper and Street Dance saturday night and taking care of some projects around the house (wiring cable to the master bedroom, and installing some hanging ceiling in the basement), and eating well (ribs on friday, fish fry with roy and mary sunday night, chicken noodle tonite).

weekend, we are ready ...

only one day of a busy week left: had games tonite--ben's team lost again (26-6), marred by their QB losing his cool at the end. emma's team won 3-0--after which the other coach told doug: 'wow. we thought we were pretty good. your girls are really tough.' watching from the sidelines, terri says emma is the toughest one out there. maybe it's the hockey. anyway, we're looking forward to having nana and papa here for next thursday's games.

on the adult front: terri's tenure letters are all in, though she hasn't chosen to see them yet. doug's thing is that his managing editor (the only full time employee of Contexts) has decided to scale back dramatically after having recently returned from maternity leave starting now. so work left to do for tomorrow and beyond but the weekend will be welcome. among other things, we've got some grad students coming over for a BBQ tomorrow night, and the Gophers play #7 ranked Cal at the new stadium saturday morning.

middle school begins!

Emma's first day at middle school includes new uniforms, a new teacher, some new classmates, and a completely refurbished MMSA. (We took a tour yesterday after mass and it was pretty nice.) Emma woke up and walked over early, so she could get settled and do her first-day duties as safety patrol captain.

reporting in

so emma's team won 3-0! emma got her first goal ever on a crazy corner kick play where she put the kick right in front of the net and it bounced off a couple of players and ended up in the back of the net. good stuff. team now 2 wins and no losses.

ben's team had a harder time of it, losing 42-22 after being up 16-0. our boy was disappointed with how the team played but satisfied with his own play (though a bit beat up and exhausted). he played almost the entire game, going both ways on the line. he had a bunch of solo tackles in the second half on D, and one big-play, open-field tackle after an interception.

weekend ahead includes first gopher game at the new stadium against air force. 6:00 saturday night.

1sts, 2nds, and 3rds

big day today: ben's (and terri's) 3rd day of school, emma's (and doug's) second soccer game, and (drum-roll, please) ben's first football game. oh, and can't forget that emma has school registration tonite. life is good.

oh and see ben's first day of school pic posted belatedly below.

officially a freshman

Ben was off yesterday at 6:45 (with his buddy eric) and didn't get back until 5:30 (after football), so he was hungry and a bit tired but our high school freshman was also happy to tell us all about the first day.

It started with a schedule change: biology now first period rather than spanish (the school had to open another section to accommodate all those who wanted pre-AP science) though with only four kids this first day. Then, one new thing after the other: getting a locker that now works; homework in homeroom (creating a "me" bag and writing an essay about himself and his goals); scoring a couple of participation points in geometry; sitting next to a senior in Spanish (brother of eric, no less); not getting lost; getting hungry (need to eat more breakfast?); meeting the band (sounds like about 15 kids with 3 clarinets); figuring out the lunchroom routine. And then, finally, to the now-familiar routine of football practice.

We had ribs on the grill to celebrate, he got started on his homework (most due Friday, but with a game Thursday he wanted to get a good start), and went to bed a bit earlier than the night before. He was up and out again this morning just before 7:00.

last days of summer

beautiful weather. the fair. emma's team's first soccer victory (3-0). ben's freshman orientation (all set) and a break from football practice. terri's classes prepped and ready. doug with summer to-do list almost all checked off. labor day weekend picnics (at least two). what more to want? have a great holiday weekend.

the great minnesota get-together

with the end of summer closing in and perfect weather in the forecast, we did our annual trek to the State Fair yesterday. Started with a breakfast of a footlong hot dog, pancakes and sausage and went from there. emma and doug drove race cars, we went to the miracle of birth center, saw the big pig and some swine judging, had all the milk we could drink for $1, watched a lumber jack competition, ate a meatball sundae from the Salem Lutheran stand, and voted for our favorite artwork. Took an afternoon break to take care of some errands, work, and football practice, and arrived back with avengence for the evening session. Found a great, free parking spot on a block from Snelling, had some of our traditional food favorites (spaghetti with meatballs for emma; giros for terri and ben) while watching the annual amateur talent show. then went and saw some of the horseshow at the collesium (kids more enthused about the free milk we indulged on the way out and the promise sweet martha's cookies). then a big surprise and standout highlight: while we were eating our cookies and hanging out near the grandstand hoping to evesdrop on the Randy Travis concert, some kind soul gave us free tickets to the show! Ben couldn't believe his first big-time concert was from a traditionalist country twanger like this guy but Randy was in great voice, threw out some cornball lines that you couldn't help but smile about, and the crowd was really into it--especially the ladies. having also gotten to see the nightly fireworks show we usually just hear, we went home tired but happy.

ninth grade football

just back from ben's big, multi-team scrimmage this morning in mendota heights. the como city boys ran offensive and defensive plays against teams from henry sibley and wachonia. the team did well (the coaches were pleasantly surprised)--reeling off a number of big plays, holding pretty solid on D, and with really solid line play all around. Ben started on offensive and defensive line (right guard on O, end on D) and played every series but one. and best of all: no broken bones!!! he just got home--happy but a bit tired out. He also had a slight cut on his chin--though apparently that happened getting on the bus, when he was blind-sided by the schenagans of a couple of other guys. this is probably not surprising. some of what seems to be the funnest and funniest stuff seems to be happening in the locker room before and after practices. ben has stories about stuffing a kid named anthony into a locker and lots of locker room talk (not all of which we are able to get full reports on. maybe the best one so far: the other day ben apparently got dressed and ready to go, and started walking out before realizing he had forgotten to put his pants on. a freshman move, for sure.

new seasons

...emma's first soccer practice, ben's first intersquad football scrimmage. both went fine on a wonderful august night and ben's team had hotdogs and chips for the parents. state fair starts tomorrow (Thursday) as well...and then ben's team has a real scrimmage against a school called "Henry Sibley" down in Mendota Heights on saturday morning. Emma's team (which doug coaches) has their first game a week from thursday.

easing back in

back in minnesota, we've got a new groove emerging for the last few weeks of summer. ben started football (he's doing well this first week, in better shape than most and penciled in as starting right guard); we've got tomatoes, squash, zuchini, beans, and swiss chard flowing in from the garden; emma's hanging out, having friends over, and she did her first round of back to school shopping already in prep for middle school; and then some summer storms including big downpours and a couple of small tornados in the area yesterday afternoon and today. this weekend, the first scrimmage at the new gopher stadium, along with a couple of summer parties...also hoping to make it to the Minneapolis Museum of Art to see the photos of our neighbor before his show closes...

Vacation Views

On the beach at our Monterey Bay hotel and at the Golden Gate Bridge.

Back now, resting up after red-eye on Sunday.

So many fun things to tell about and remember. In Monterey area: Big Sur drive, sports car road rally and auction, ocean overlook lunches; last day in SF: golden gate park, golden gate bridge outing, Lombard street drive. And then just the silly little things throughout: nancy and toby at tightwad tuesdays; stupid answers on 5th grader game show; late night milk and burritos; 'good work, sir!'; reading cannery row; alice cooper DJ; "can we have some cheese with that bread?" (Ben's); bad street musician; lombard street drive; fabulous foursomes (with dad as stiff), etc, etc.

Still, great to be home.

goings on in and around monterey

did the world famous 17 mile drive down the coast to pebble beach yesterday afternoon. unbelievable, spectacular views every mile of the way. then laid on the grass and watched the golfers come in at the 18th green at the golf course Jack Nicholas and Bing Crosby made famous. (saw one guy hit what we figured was the shot of his life when he put a flat-rock lie at the edge of the ocean on the green--we all gave him an ovation). also watched them setting up for what is supposed to be one of the most exclusive car shows in the world this weekend.

special treat in the evening, too: turns out our good friend from graduate school Jennifer Jordan was here in Pacific Grove visiting her family (she lives in Vienna right now but was in CA for the ASA meetings), and they had us over for tri-tip steak dinner. a great, homecooked meal, and fun to get to hear about the area and all that it has to offer from locales.

Jennifer took us tide pooling this morning. saw lots of anemonies at low tide and even some star fish. emma and ben both built little rock towers on the beach. had brunch/breakfast with JJ, put some laundry in at her parents' house, and then this afternoon we're planning to go to the aquarium, courtesy of the Jordan family seasonal passes. Sure is nice to have friends.

monterey bay, here we are

drove down highway 1 in our rental SUV--a story in itself just getting the thing-- yesterday afternoon. hazy and cloudy much of the way, but some wonderful ocean views. stopped for strawberry shortcake and tayberry cheesecake at a seaside farm and bakery called swanson's. was cute--payment on the honor system; said they were 'world famous' but emma doubted that. got in the hotel (right on the beach on the bay in monterery) and then got some dinner on cannery row (made famous by steinbeck) and got some provisions at a local grocery store. terri's having a toothache flair up so we're hoping to get some medicine this morning and then head out and do some more sightseeing. and, we're off...

wrapping up, moving on

this morning we're wrapping up our stay here in San Francisco (dominated by the sociology meetings) and heading out to rent a car to go down to Mendicino for some real R and R. Not that what haven't squeezed some fun stuff here in too--cable cars, fisherman's warf, some nice (if pricey) dinners, and last night we went to the Giants/Dodgers game at ATT Park (which really is a beautiful and unique setting overlooking the bay, seeing the boats and the fog roll in, etc).  Still, will be good to let work and sociologists go for a few days and emma definitely won't miss walking on the streets (and among the characters) of the big city.

made it!

so we flew out of long beach this morning and arrived in Oakland around 11. Took BART across the Bay and our rooms were ready right away. (we're at the Parc 55 in downtown SF). Terri off to her pre-conf meeting, and doug and the kids to look for some fun and adventure before the conference itself begins tomorrow. 

last day in LA

in the middle of our last day here in La, La land. kids swimming in the grandparent's pool right now. had chinese dumplings (one of our favorites from Beijing for lunch). washing clothes and getting back to move up the coast to SF for the sociology meetings--after that (probably tuesday), we'll head to Monterray for the rest of the week. Not sure what kind of internet access we'll have in our hotels during that time, but hoping the meetings go quickly and smoothly so we can have some relaxing and fun time after that. 

another day at the beach

went down to the beach again yesterday afternoon, this time with chris's kids. then went had dinner at a sushi place in sunset. it was "tightwad tuesday" so we feasted. emma ordered a chicken dinner that was cooked right in front of us by a guy that Nancy loved named Toby. Today, we're off to be in the studio audience for a taping of "so you think you're smarter than a 5th grader" in Hollywood! 

fun on the ocean front

spent the day yesterday down at sunset beach. went for morning runs and walks (ben and doug, the former, terri and emma the latter), and then had blue-berry pancake breakfast. terri, ben, and doug then rented kayaks and paddles around the bay and channels for a few hours looking at all of the mansions and yachts. later in the afternoon, then, we went down and swam and bodysurfed in the ocean. waves were strong and choppy but the water was wonderfully warm. 

now up in Temple City with Terri's mom and dad. went over to live oak park to exercise a bit after breakfast and now kids swimming in the pool. needless to say, much calmer than the ocean. 

emma back and we're now in LA!

emma got back from safety patrol camp in legionville friday night and we celebrated with her favorite: a steak dinner (and veggies from the garden). it sounded like she had a good time, worked hard, and learned a lot; her cabin finished 2nd in almost all the competitions except tug of war, which they won! we spent the evening packing and arrived here in California about noon yesterday. hanging out with terri's sister's at Pauline's place in Sunset Beach. Very relaxing and fun, except for the hour or so Ben and Doug spent getting pummeled by the huge waves at high tide. Actually, that was pretty fun too. 

garden goodness

weather has been sunny and mild, with a few showers during the evening hours. perfect for the garden--tonite we're having fried green tomatoes and swiss chard. last night, it was fresh green beans and zucchini. tomatoes really hitting their stride--regular, cherry, and yellow. and then there are peppers, eggplant, and some awesome looking full heads of cabbage. of course, all of this just as we get ready to go to CA: hopefully the neighbors will appreciate their good fortune and some will be left for our return.

ben is back!

so ben is back from the big easy, a bit tired but with lots of great stories and memories. we got to hear some over lunch (reading to a 2nd grader, talking with kids from Texas and Ohio, getting to see Pastor Shirley force a crazy guy off their bus, and who were the best and worst speakers at the superdome), and as we hear more we'll try to get the big guy to jot down a few highlights to share. 

in the meantime, after dropping emma off at camp yesterday afternoon and before picking Ben up around lunch time today, terri and doug squeezed in a quick, overnight stay at the Grand Resort on Gulf Lake in Naswa. There was canoeing, a little tennis, and a fancy dinner at a place called "Sherwood Lodge" just down the road a bit. and we got lucky on the accommodations--there was a last minute cancellation that opened up a beach cabin spot for us at a very reasonable rate!

coming and going

so we will be driving emma up to brainard for safety patrol camp tomorrow; ben and the youth group will be wrapping up and heading back north as well. 

from a few brief phone conversations and texts, we've heard this about Ben's New Orleans trip: the bus ride was long; they read to 2nd and 3rd graders on thurs for their service project; he has eaten 3 binets (sp?); the superdome events have been fun but he was hoping to get down on the main floor before its over; overall, they've been very busy and active as a group. we are excited to get more details when he gets back on monday. 

we're also curious was emma's camp will be like. she's all packed up and pretty excited.

all fun to see--though just think if the two events had overlapped, what terri and doug might have been able to do. maybe next year...

off to the big easy

So Ben and his group left this morning for New Orleans. 

There was a little feature on their caravan over the noon hour.

WCCO-TV's report on the Youth leaving for New Orleans is available on line

at http://wcco.com/local/helping.new.orleans.2.1093278.html .  

You can play the video clip as well.  

The footage was shot on ULCH's parking lot, although there is neither mention of ULCH nor shots of any ULCH kids.

Emma, by the way, started the gopher girls hockey camp. 

Girls there from Texas, New Jersey, Wisconsin, and New Mexico. 

Her coaches for the afternoon scrimmage were Gopher's head coach Brad Frost and 

US Olympic star Natalie Darwitz. 

always next year

so ben's team suffered a disappointing and somewhat controversial end to their season last night, losing 11-9 to a team they had twice beaten. the controversy was b/c one of their better players wasn't allowed to play b/c he hadn't played enough regular season games. (insult to injury: the protest was filed by someone from our own center). ben had a big, two-run single in the first inning from the cleanup spot, but his big blast to center in the 5th inning was run down by a track star out there. he played first the whole game and made a couple of very good (though now completely expected) out-saving snags. still an outside chance they'll get to play in the state rec tournament, though not 100% and it would necessitate some rescheduling of our CA trip.

speaking of "next years"--doug now into his 43rd (or is it 42nd)? celebrated with a few friends and cake last night. gifts included framed photos of shots used in his first book, some pens (presumably to write new ones), and several nutrolls and bags of sunflower seeds. he said he is hoping to finish his midnight basketball book this year, get the house and grounds shaped up a bit, and maybe take family trip to another country again at some point.

on more mundane matters: this morning emma had a dentist appointment and is spending the day getting certified as a babysitter (she opened a bank account on tuesday in anticipation), while ben has tennis and weightlifting, is getting a haircut, and will need to get packing for his New Orleans trip. (they leave monday morning). he's also catching up on his sleep, having hosted a Risk party that went until 3 in the morning a couple of nights ago. terri is finishing upand hoping to finally send in a paper on Hmong Americans she and doug have been working on for several years.

looking and reading ahead

more of the same--long, sometimes lazy but often busy summer days. ben and emma still in tennis most mornings. emma in art and golf (with a hockey camp coming up next week). ben's team in playoffs (first game thursday night). ben getting ready for New Orleans trip (leaves next monday). supposed to be playing in an ensemble at church again this weekend, too: Saints Go Marchin', Amazing Grace, etc. weather's been perfect for dinners outside in our new screen porch, though a bit dry for the lawn and garden. 

oh and lots of reading going on too. Ben just read Angels and Demons and the Divinci Code--and has Shoeless Joe Jackson sitting nearby; Doug and Terri recently finished off Revolutionary Road and Flannery O'Conner's A Good Man is Hard to Find; Emma is reading, among other stuff, Diary of a Wimpy Kid books. Doug is working also on History of Doubt and the classic recommended in Newsweek The Way We Live Now, and Terri on a book called something like 'confederacy of dunces.' And then there is the family book club--whose first selection is Lord of the Flies picked by Ben because it was the only book at Roseville Library that got a negative review from recent teen readers.

went canoeing...

...on the cannon river. weather was perfect--sunny, low 70s, no humidity. we did the five mile trip. it took just over two hours b/c it was so crowded with tubers. you would have thought it was one big frat party, though they tried to be friendly to those of us in boats.  the best, most telling and indicative line came from a guy who must've thought he was in new orleans at mardi gras. as we drifted by, he called out to ben, "hey north dakota--" (ben was called that all day since he wore his north dale hat) and then after a long pause when it seemed like he couldn't think of anything social to say, "show us your ----." so he was probably a bit confused but it was more than a bit amusing to us, and, it should also be noted, he was somewhat less unsettling than others we saw and heard during the course of the day.

weekend watch

who knows? one of the few times we don't have a lot planned. 

4th of July recap

started early on thursday with family golf outing and then a bball game for ben (his team beat the previously undefeated league leaders 5-4 even though ben pulled a leg muscle early in the game and had to have a courtesy runner after each at-bat).

friday, we went to the horse races out at Canterbury Park in the evening--the fireworks were the big highlight (ask ben about the lady trying to get him to stand up and sway during the big finale) but it didn't hurt that ben won all seven--that's right, 7!--of his bets and emma hit the exacta on the last race. 

saturday: we spent much of the day, through rain and shine, at the annual St. Anthony Park picnic: the middle afternoon rainstorm washed out the tennis tournament (which ben and doug thought they were going to win) along with all of the old-timey races and competition but doug and tim johnson made it to the finals of the horseshoes, losing in the finals (21-8, 18-21, 18-21). we then went to another bbq and finished up by shooting off fireworks in the driveway.

sunday: church, lots of yardwork, tennis (both wimbleton on tv and our own doubles at North Dale playground), bbq hamburgers, and a traditional big hollywood action show at the movies (in this case, Transformations II).  

does that sound like an All-American, fourth of july weekend or what?

such is summer

drizzily, gray morning here in St. Paul.  has been breezy and gray past few days. doesn't seem to have slowed us down much, though. 

doug had his reunion in chicago over the weekend, which included lots of hanging out with the old gang (see photo at right), playing sports, talking about sports, and eating at Harold Chicken Shack.

emma's team lost both of their tournament games and their season would appear to be over, though the games were close and our favorite catcher played really well, including one spectacular diving tag-out at the plate. terri and emma also had fun at the Schroeder's rib fest on saturday night where our friend tim prescott took home top honors.  

ben and his boys have been continuing to play tennis, lift weights, and work on their concept album. might be a good day for the latter, especially. his bball team also continues to win--a close, 6-5 victory last night. ben had an RBI sac fly in the first inning, though his string of 9 consecutive at-bats without an out was broken in the 4th with a flyout to left. ben also won $10 and a state fair ticket at the library for reading and reviewing Angels and Demons. and of course, we celebrated his 14th bday on sunday. as per his request, we grilled lamb cabobs served with a yogurt cucumber sauce and had a peach cobbler for dessert. 

we're not sure what the weekend will bring. but the rest of the week probably more of the summer-same: some grilling perhaps; terri's doing some interviewing of parents of young adults; ben may help doug with moving into and setting up his new office; emma practicing drums, playing some tennis of her own, and doing math work sheets; terri, ben, and doug all reading 'lord of the flies' together in their own little book club. 

which brings us to one final, funny little thing. when she heard the title of the book we were going to read together, emma wondered why we wanted to read about some guy who kept leaving his barn door open. 

what's on tap

Doug headed to Chicago tomorrow to see old college friends on the 20th anniversary of their graduation. We were all hoping to go, but turns out Emma's softball team has league tournament this weekend. 

The North Area girls ended their regular season with a big, come-from-behind win on Weds night. Emma had a big drive up the middle in one of the rally innings, and did her usual solid role as catcher. Their first round game is tomorrow night in North St. Paul and games all weekend as long as they keep winning. 

Ben's team has won 4 or 5 in a row now, and he's been hitting lights out, with a double and a single in each of the last two games from the cleanup slot. (He's also drawn a lot of walks, and hasn't made an out in over 3 games.) He's been busy with tennis and weight lifting, and he and his boys are working on an 8 song "concept" album every afternoon in the basement.

Terri sent out her tenure file this week, so now its just sit back and wait for the reviews. In the meantime, she is starting to do a bit of blogging for this "care work" group of scholars she is affiliated with. Her first post is on parents watching kids sports. It is called "Support from the Sidelines and you can find it at: http://careworklive.wordpress.com.

father's day dinner

appetizer: sharp cheddar and other fancy farm coop cheeses with crackers

main course

--two racks of st. louis style ribs on the grill with terri and emma's dry rub

--potatoes and onions with olive oil and seasonings (also on grill)

--corn on the cob (first of the year)

--swiss chard from the garden with bacon

 

dessert: blueberry pie and vanilla ice cream

full swing

monday afternoon youth golf starts for emma today, as does tennis and weightlifting (over at the high school!) for ben.  then, our now familiar complement of baseball and softball practices and games. (emma has double headers mondays and wednesdays with practices on thursday; ben's games on our tuesday and thursday with practice on monday). in between is the usual range of reading, badminton, work, and such. the new screen porch is getting some good use--last night we had a bbq and bday party where it was a big hit--and this, even without bugs or rain. with bright sun and mild temps predicted, should be another nice week.

summer's here

no school. sleeping late. warming up. garden growing. softball and/or baseball most evenings.no mosquitos (and if/when they do come we've got our new screen porch).  what else is there to say? these are the days we live for the rest of the year here in minnesota.

from marvelous to miserable

well, not exactly...but our week of great guests, awesome weather, and end-of-the-school year festivities did come to an abrupt end on saturday. in their place, we were treated to 40-degree temps, wet-windy days and a sloppy, soggy softball over at rookies tournament Como Park. 

actually the weekend wasn't all bad--we fun with the softball families at an indoor bbq on saturday night, and it dried up a bit on sunday, allowing ben and doug to do some fund raising work for the youth group as well as giving emma's softball team a couple of exciting games. (emma caught both of the final playoff games--they won one and lost one--and had her best games of the year. we heard coaches from other teams telling their catchers to watch her for an example of how to block balls. She also now sports about a half a dozen new bruises.) 

So begins the first real week of summer. Hanging out, having friends over, rehearsing the band, doug and terri trying to get work done, ball games, etc, all to follow.  oh yeah, and looking ahead to this week's games: one of the big questions is whether ben will be able to get a triple in his third game in a row on tuesday. Yup, that right: Fingers crossed for another big bomb. 

what's been going on...

--perfect weather.

--great guests (nana and papa; den and nate).

--regular life: softball, baseball, school for Emma, bonfire and smores.

--memorable events: Phantom of the Opera at the Ordway; Ben's 8th grade graduation; tour of new TCF Gopher's Stadium; the building of a deck and screen porch.

--still to come: Ben's first summer ball game; the departure of the guests; catching up on work; Emma's traditional last day of school celebration with classmates; Ben's graduation party; weekend softball tourney. Summertime in full swing.

win some, lose some

emma's team had a great, great season but ran into a hot, fast pitcher in the championship and lost. 9-1 overall, second place in the city for a team of mostly 5th graders in a sixth grade league. Not bad. 

Pretty good, for Ben, is that today was his last day of grade school ever--not sure if he needed tissues or not...

And speaking of good, very, very good: Terri got huge news yesterday: she is the recipient of the Red Motley Alumni teaching award for the College of Liberal Arts. It is the only teaching award in the college (hundreds of profs, thousands of students), and the timing couldn't be better with tenure files soon to go out. 

just like summer

with no school today, the kids slept late. doug and terri found a coffee shop and did a few hours of work. around noon, we all got a bite to eat and then headed over to the theater for an early afternoon matinee (emma to 'night at the museum' with her friends; doug, terri and ben to 'star trek'). such a nice day out afterwards, we decided to go play a round of golf at the Roseville 9-hole. that was fun--we found a few balls, and emma got a par--except for when terri got bonked in the head on the fringe of the 7th hole. anyway, she survived and we went to Schroeder's for dinner--we all got our 'usual', except for emma who ordered ribs. she not only ate to her heart's content, she won the meat raffle! we ended up the day, with a wiffle ball game (5th grade girls versus 5th grade boys) and then movie night in the park at North Dale. 

another big day

too tired to write much, but highlights include: 

--Terri finished her grading;

--Doug got advance copies of spring issue of Contexts (and all is looking good);

--Emma's team won their playoff game 11-1. They are now in the championship next week! (They won a much tighter, first round game on monday 5-2.  Emma has suddenly emerged as our top catcher too--she caught every inning but two in the last two games, and then a whole game for her traveling team monday night, to boot). 

--MMSA Band Concert. Both kids were good--emma showed off a drum roll at one point, and ben got a clarinet pin (for playing four years) and a certificate (for participating in the solo festival). Ben was also in charge of presenting the 8th grade gift to their conductor Mr. Starr, thanking him at the end of the concert for "fun and stuff."

--and we made it home to see the guy from Conway win American Idol. He wasn't our favorite but he was okay and it was an entertaining season.

last night and tomorrow

Random Elements was a hit! They played four songs, including Sunshine of My Love, Knocking on Heaven's Door, and an instrumental they wrote themselves. Though the weather was chilly, the crowd was large and enthusiastic. Some autographs were signed and we even heard a few say they were better than the Elvis "tribute artist" they opened for. Who knows how many more shows Ben will play or bands he will be in but what a great way to start.

As for tomorrow: Emma's school softball has their first round playoff game at 3:30 at North Dale. Transfiguration's 6th grade team is the opponent. We don't know much about them, but if Emma and the girls pitch, catch and hit like they have been doing all season we like our changes. 

today's big gig

its finally here. the debut of ben's rock band, Random Elements!

The group has been working hard all week, ending last night around 10 and back at it again this morning at 9. There is talk of "epic awesomeness" but also some nerves and lots of herbal tea to calm themselves down. An email went out to all the families at MMSA, and 8th graders all over St. Paul are talking about stopping by.  They go on at 5:45 for a half an hour set opening for the Elvis impersonator. 

After the show, Doug will be tending bar over at the (in)famous "Ted's" tonite from 8-10 in a fundraiser for the school for parents and others. 

On the sports front: Ben's school team had its last game yesterday, losing 2-1 against a great pitcher. Rec ball starts next week for him. Emma's school team, on the other hand, wrapped up a perfect 7-0 regular season in Hastings and will be in the first round of the playoffs Monday at North Dale (our home field!). 

busy week ahead

how busy?

emma has six softball games, 3 on weds alone

ben has a baseball game, a practice or two, and with the big 'random elements' gig saturday band rehearsals at every free moment

doug and terri have final papers and exams coming in all week, and weds is the reception for Doug's promotion

tomorrow, btw, is the annual safety patrol picnic at Como Park; the mmsa crew defends its city championship for marching

may days

hey haven't posted in a while. things are busy and the weather is warming up, so it's all good. where to start? how about Ben's crazy baseball game today: they got behind 18-3 in the first two innings but came back to win 28-24 in extra innings. emma's school team puts their undefeated record on the line tomorrow. other emma news: emma finally getting over a bad cold, and learned today she got named a safety patrol captain for next year! last hockey game of the year friday night. big news on the ben front is that his band "random elements" has their first gig! they play at the St. Andrews spring festival on the 15th, the opening act for the Elvis impersonator. This has been the talk of the school and parents the past few days. 

big week with California Grandparents in town

We've been enjoying having terri's mom and dad in town for the week. Highlight was Ben's confirmation at the Cathedral on Thursday night. A wonderful event with a couple hundred kids from area parishes, numerous priests in ceremonial red robes, and a pastor who insisted that the confirmands say their vows "with vigor and enthusiasm." Ben was confirmed by the archbishop--his confirmation name was "Thomas" and Terri's dad served as his sponsor. It was a big day for ben as he also had his solo clarinet performance earlier in the day, and then got some very nice gifts after the ceremony in the evening including a bible handbook from nana and papa, and a acoustic guitar from the family. 

spring sports also now in full swing: 2 baseball games, one softball game and a hockey game in the last five days alone. On the bball front, ben's team was 1-1, where ben went 2 for 3 in the two games including a sacrifice fly, a double to the wall, and a couple of great plays in the field in the victory. emma's softball team won their first game with 5 runs in the bottom of the 6th for an astounding come-from-behind victory. emma had a ringing hit up the middle in her first at-bat and a well-earned walk in the second. and then last night: emma's hockey girls beat up on the boys in a 8-2 victory.

annual mmsa silent auction tonite--should be quite an experience for the grandparents--and then an 8:00 hockey game tomorrow morning before church.

the good, the busy, and the ugly

We got back from Cape last monday night after a great, if jam packed, weekend with the Hartmann clan in Missouri for Easter. (For pics, see Denise's Team Karl blog: http://teamkarlconway.blogspot.com)  

We had a busy week that included school, Ben's first baseball game of the season, his confirmation interview, lots of softball practice for Emma, and some house-cleaning to prepare for the arrival of Grandpa and Grandma Swartz on Saturday. (They should be here shortly, in fact: Terri just left for the airport to pick them up.) The weather has also been great--shorts weather, as Dad used to say. Last night, then, was the department's annual recognition and awards dinner which Terri chaired. It went very well--until we got home from the event. While we were gone, it turns out, someone had broken into our house through our side window by the downstairs bathroom.

It could've been worse. They took some things--our Wii, GameCube and a few games, Ben's busted up electric guitar, Emma's drum case, and Terri's laptop--but no damage was done, and lots of otherwise obvious stuff like the laptop this is being written on was left untouched. (Terri's computer by far the biggest concern, as she had a lot of work on it including her book manuscript and student grades.)  Still, very unsettling and even though the police came quickly and all, probably not a lot else that can be done.

taking a moment

just got back from the basketball dinner (we helped organize) to commemorate the last season for ben's 8th grade team to be together. it was at a very nice restaurant downtown arranged by our AD. Doug invited one of the Gopher's players (Jamal Abu Shamala--senior captain, All-Big 10 Academic and Minnesota's male scholar-athlete of the year) and he came and welcomed the kids at the beginning and told them about how he was only 5'5" in 8th grade (among other things). Before dinner, then, we had slide show from parent photographs from the past four years and an interactive survey about statistics, memories, and other fun stuff from the team. After dinner, there were tributes to all of the players and a video terri made from season highlights. it had clips of all of the kids doing somethings they were good at, with the music of 'One Shining Moment' in the background. you can find it, sans musical track, at: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUtOQSU91g4. (just cut and paste into your browser to view). 

anyway, it was a fun and special evening, and reminded us again of what a great group of parents and kids we've been blessed to be around the past few years. 

spring sports underway

spring sports getting into swing this week: ben started school baseball today and is at spring basketball right now; emma started spring hockey tonite and started softball (indoors) already over a week ago.  

and a great time for watching sports on tv. we sent in our brackets but haven't heard from brachetologist/commish Hartmann who is in the lead. we also had fun watching the world baseball championship, though we heard that Grandma Swartz was a bit nervous during the Japan/Korea games. 

hey, hey--spring on the way (a poem)

with the sun out and almost all of the snow finally melted, we're thinking spring this morning. emma and terri getting used to (and lots of compliments on) their new hairstyles; baseball and softball practices getting in full swing this week; and back from spring break for the final push through the semester over at the U. we're also looking forward to seeing the whole Hartmann clan down in Cape at Easter. (Ben and Emma will be flying unattended down to St. Louis to spend the week prior with Nana and Papa.) 

New Styles

Emma and Terri donated more than 2 feet of hair between the two of them today. They decided to give up some of their hair for lent.  Here are the before and after shots. Emma was particularly nervous before the stylist cut off her ponytails, afraid she might slip and lose more than she bargained for.  Although both are really surprised about how short their new styles are, they are happy about the change and glad that someone else will be able to benefit from their donation. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wcd6Q4WDZBI

scroll down and play video OR cut and paste this link to see a few clips of ben's jazz band. ben's the kid with the big bari-sax just behind the drummer.

Sounds of the 8th Grade Jazz Band

Check out the sounds of Ben's 8th grade jazz band at their "Almost Spring Concert." Ben is playing the bari sax (and is sitting near the drummer). The video includes a part of each of the 4 songs that they played. The concert also included the beginner, intermediate and advanced bands. Ben played the clarinet with the advanced band. All sounded great and made for an enjoyable evening.

culture week

another big week for Ben--this time not sports but culture. last night, his 'almost spring' band concert over at Hill Murray High School. he played clarinet for the advanced band, and baritone sax for the jazz group. They were really great, and get rewarded with a bowling and pizza party this friday. (only downside: usually this would be a day off of school but this year mmsa is off already).

tonite and tomorrow, then, the 8th grade play "Fair Tale Court." We just got back from tonite's performance and it was really, really entertaining and enjoyable. the writing is great (very smart and funny) and the kids did a wonderful job in their roles. Ben was in charge of the sound and had a bunch of perfect choices of music introducing all of the scenes and characters. he and his sound crew also had an extremely hilarious turn as the dwarves in which they paraded around the stage with shoes on their knees muttering their lines together. a real crowd pleaser!  

basketball, band, and now the stage--we've got the makings of a renaissance man on our hands. 

a state champion in the house!

You may remember that last fall emma had the thrill of having her soccer team win the city championship. Today was Ben's turn.  His NW Como rec center bball team went 5 and 0 this weekend to capture the 8th grade class C boys basketball state championship. It was quite a run.

They went into the tournament kind of an unknown, seeded 9th. As posted previously, they won their pool play rounds on saturday and thus got a top seed in the single elimination playoffs on sunday. their first game was a pretty easy win but the next two was where the championship was earned. 

In the semifinal game, the team got behind by 10 early on, had all kinds of foul trouble from the get go, and a starter unable to play because of back spasms. But despite having  two of the 8 players on the team foul out in the second half, and another four having to play with four fouls, they found a way to fight back.  Ben, about the only kid to stay out of foul trouble on the team, played almost the whole game and performed spectacularly--at one time playing point on the press and forcing a couple of steals as the team scrapped its way back into the game.  He also had a couple of big put-backs that keyed the comeback victory.

The championship game was an hour later. Though fouls were not an issue in this game, it started similarly--with the team getting down by 11 in the first half. The boys from Minnetonka (who hadn't been challenged all weekend and made fun of our rec center jerseys before the game) thought they had it wrapped up at half time, and were already planning to defend their #1 class B traveling ranking next weekend. But the rag-tag St. Paul rec bunch fought back again, closing to within 3 at the end of the 3rd quarter, and then even taking a 4 point lead midway through the 4th. Ben was in and out throughout, asked to defend and block out against a couple of kids a head taller than him (and we won't even get into jumping ability) and more animated than even after last weekend's 3 ball. It was touch and go the final few minutes, until Luis, the little point guard on ben's team got a break away layup with 20 seconds left and then drained two foul shots with 2 seconds remaining to clinch. The celebration was on for Ben and his buddies.

They got medals, T shirts, a plaque and a banner to hang at the rec center...oh yeah, and don't forget the big pizza dinner. Talk about memories...

Celebrating Three Wins at Conny's

Three victories today--Ben's team triumphs twice during the traveling team state championships to advance to tomorrows rounds. It will take 3 more wins tomorrow to get the coveted champion rings. Emma's hockey team finally beats Mahtomedi and advances to the consolation championships tomorrow morning. Kids and Terri celebrate the victories and the end of the winter at Conny's which opened today. Emma wore her Conny's Creamy Cone hat. We hope that the end of winter sports and the opening of Conny's means Spring is here.

what we're up to...

so ben's rec team is in the elite 8 of the state traveling C tournament--quarterfinals tomorrow at 10 in the morning. emma's hockey team plays in the semifinal round of the consolation bracket this afternoon at 3 against hated Mahtomedi. weather warming up a bit (40s) but nothing like folks in ark and elsewhere are experiencing. 

sports, sports, and a promotion

so lots of fun and excitement with the winter sports season wrapping up. ben's school team (the one doug coaches) lost in the second round of the playoffs tonite but only by one point and a great comeback to make it so close. Ben actually had a huge steal with 14 seconds left that got the last shot but our guy was fouled and missed the one and one. All this, by the way, after a huge 2 point win on monday over a team that had beat them by 25 and 12 earlier in the year. it was a nice way to end the season. (One more season to go, though: ben's rec team plays in the state tourney in Roseville this weekend--they are seeded 9th among the 20-some 8th grade C teams in the state). 

emma's hockey team lost on monday 4-3 to a top white bear team--it was esp. tough b/c they were two of the best teams in the tourney but got pitted against each other in the blind draw. anyway, they now play a second round consolation game tomorrow night over in stillwater against the other white bear team. 

oh yeah and the promotion: the College of Liberal Arts (CLA) approved making Doug a full professor on monday. 

bball, 3Ball!

so ben's team took third place in a little weekend tournament in Mahtomedi this weekend. But the highlight (for doug and terri at least) was that Ben hit a 3 pointer--his first in a game ever!--at a tight moment in the 4th quarter to secure the win. He actually smiled on the court on the way back down.

Week ahead: Monday night both emma's hockey team and ben's school team have first round playoff games; as long as they win, they both keep playing. And hopefully terri, who is finally feeling better, will be able to get back into the swing of things as well. 

a bright, bright sun-shiney day!

things are looking up! terri finally feeling better and we're getting dug out from the 8 or so inches of snow that came in on thursday night. still cold (-4 this morning) but winter sports wrapping up and emma's got a softball camp this morning so spring has to be on the way.  later this evening, doug and ben planning to go hear a couple soc grad student bands (Talcott Parsons Project and Angry Feminists) play in someone's basement. how fun does that sound?

jazz, jesus, basketball, and health

we woke up to about four inches of snow on saturday morning, so the winter continues on. and so do we, though the past week a bit more of a struggle than usual as we found out in the middle of the week that Terri has pneumonia and a bad sinus infection. she went to the doctor, got medicine and has been laying low since, but the doctor said it would be a minimum of 5 and maybe up to 10 days till she's better.

other news: emma's bball team lost by 1 point in the playoffs on thursday night: was kind of  disappointing but they played well and it sure makes our lives and scheduling for hockey a lot easier. the skaters had their last regular season game friday night (3-3 tie, to the team they lost to in the championship in Winona a few weeks back), and she and doug saw the gopher's women's team clinch the WCHA championship on saturday night. those two also squeezed in a children's theater play (Guraffalo) on saturday morning. 

ben's rec basketball team had a big weekend, winning 3 games in a row to capture the class B city championship on sunday. Catholic league playoffs will be the first week of March. in between the games, ben was part of a little jazz ensemble that played a few songs at Hope on sunday morning for a fundraiser for the youth trip to new orleans ("Justice, Jazz, and Jesus") this summer. it was actually really good: ben played bass (he's self-taught remember!) on When the Saints Go Marching In and then did a solo verse of Amazing Grace on the baritone sax during communion distribution. it seemed like the latter really woke folks up and they got a lot of complements. 

all for now....

sports update and such

ben's rec center bball team won their first two games of the post-season tournament so they get to play again next weekend. his school team (6-2) has a make-up game this week and then the CAA playoffs the following.

emma's hockey team won their last regular season game last night 6-1; they've got a makeup game on Weds, and then playoffs the week after. oh, and there's supposed to be a mom and daughter scrimmage tomorrow night though terri's still not feeling well.

other activities of late: ben's band spent all afternoon rehearsing on friday; emma and doug took her friend stephanie skating on saturday to try to convince her to play on the spring league team; we all went out for valentine's dinner on saturday night at the newly re-owned Saigon; emma acolyted and doug was reader at home; ben probably going to play sax with a little group next sunday to raise $$ for the new orleans trip this summer.

no school for the kids again tomorrow...but great conferences with their teachers last week!

midweek update

so apparently the weekend wiped us out...emma's been home sick all week, and terri hasn't been feeling that well herself. ben and doug still plugging along. those two went to the gophers game on tuesday night (a not-particularly-satisfying victory over last place Indiana) and then their 8th grade team had a pretty easy win yesterday afternoon.  more importantly, they went on a tour of Como HS on weds morning--it was a very good visit, confirming terri's impressions from the open house: very enthusiastic and diverse students, engaging teachers, and an impressive overall environment and AP program. and one of the art teachers got her degree from SEMO!

long weekend coming up for the kids--parent/teacher conferences friday, and president's day monday. also rec center bball playoffs begin, and emma's last regular season hockey game (with pizza party and gopher's game the day before). 

Celebration!

Como Girls proudly display their new hardware following the tournament.

Emma, Jillian, Hannah and Maddie show off their hard-earned individual tournament trophies in pic below.

Here's Emma with the Tournament Trophy following the game,

we're back

back home here sunday night and trying to rest up from a fun but busy weekend. basic chronology:

friday night: chicken pot pie at roy and marry's house, talking over the como h.s. open house terri attended thursday night. (terri quite impressed; ben and doug going to tour on weds) Terri and Emma make Valentine treats with Mary Drew.

saturday morning: terri, doug and emma drive to Winona for hockey tournament; ben gets ready for bball;

saturday afternoon-sunday afternoon: hockey and bball games galour--emma's wins the first team handily and the team wins second place which comes with a cool trophy; ben's team goes 3-1 and wins first (a medal).

sunday drive home: return via 61 Highway which follows the Mississippi. See at least a half dozen bald eagles working the frozen river.

sunday early evening: reconvene in Como and have dinner at johnson's (where Ben spent the weekend) celebrating their daughter mia's 9th bday.

sunday night: laundry, homework, getting ready for the week.... besides sports stuff, ben is working on an essay, practicing for jazz band and now serving as sound manager for the 8th grade play. emma's got a project due on weds and tries to catch up on drum practicing...

Oh and one of our favorites from the weekend was that emma got named captain for the championship game and wrote out the following notes for her pre-game speech:

"We are a team.
We must play as a team.
We must love each other as a team.
And right now we must pull ourselves together to WIN as a team!
WE ARE THE COMO GIRLS."

she didn't think it worked but we sure liked the effort.

lookin' ahead

hey everyone: we're headed to Winona tomorrow morning for a hockey tournament for emma. ben will stay in town as he has a game tomorrow, and then a tournament of his own sunday. should be fun stuff...and the weather has gotten warmer too.

great sports day

This afternoon, Ben's bball team got back on the winning track with a double digit victory over neighborhood rival St. Agnes. The team played really hard, pulling for each other the whole way. Ben played was exceptionally, scoring 7 points, dominating the boards (though no stats kept on that front), and taking their star player out of his game in the second half. Then tonite, Emma's team had an exciting, come-from-behind win over their arch-rival Highland. It was particularly satisfying for emma as she had probably her best game ever. Her defense was outstanding, and she had an assist and scored the goal that got the rally started!  The goal was her first of the season. She shot it from the blue line (great to begin with) and the first shot from that far out in the history of her team. Now, if the Gophers could just come back in the second half, we'd have a trifecta...

morning after addendum: emma dreamt of hockey and woke up thinking the game may have been her best sports performance ever. the rest of us still think her defense in the city championship soccer game still probably tops but who wants to quibble? (the gophers, btw, got embarrassed.)

super weekend

wow, where to start? how about the mom's hockey game. the warmer weather (first time over freezing all month!) brought slushy ice, but a great time had by all--so much so that the coaches want to arrange a scrimmage of the moms against the daughters and the moms are talking about starting up a team of their own. everyone said terri played just like emma--they even called her "Hartmann" just like they do with emma. The ribs afterwards were great, and the hockey team sleepover (13 girls) had less drama than last year's event according to emma. 

Ben seems to have had a very good time on his confirmation retreat: the sledding was fun, sleeping a bit tough, but apparently lots of provocative speakers and talks. He spent yesterday afternoon writing song lyrics with deep, spiritual themes. 

Our superbowl party was also fun--nachos bar, baked potatoes, nana's stuffed mushrooms by ben, and chocolate cake. A veritable feast. We liked the commercials, loved the Boss at halftime, and the game was awfully exciting too, even better than last year. 

The week ahead promises a basketball game for ben, and a hockey game for emma (both on Weds), and then tournaments for both on the weekend. Emma's down in Winona, Ben's here in town. Hoping we have time to squeeze in a post before then, but who knows? 

see pics!

a few pictures added to posts below....

plugging along

wrapping up another busy week--kids practices and games, catholic schools week (pic of Emma on "crazy hair day" on right), the full swing of things on campus. ben left for his catholic confirmation retreat last night. we, the parents, had to write a letter about how proud we are of him and all of our hopes and dreams for him to read after their worship tonite. we tried to avoid getting too mushy but it will be interesting to see what he thinks when he gets back home on sunday. speaking of sunday, it somehow turned out that we're hosting a super bowl party. the plan is for a nachos bar, do-it-yourself baked potatoes, and a raspberry chocolate cake. (doug's usual wings on the backburner due to the rumors of shortages nationwide). oh and don't forget to think (and maybe pray) for Terri tonite: she makes her debut as a hockey player at the big Mom's game at North Dale. 

day-by-day replay:

mon: emma's bball team lost 18-10 after getting behind by 10 at the start.

tues: hockey practice for emma, play practice and then jazz band for ben. (ben is sound manager for the 8th grade play, to be staged in April); also Christmas package from Aunt Julie finally arrives--we can all now sport UGA (University of Georgia) gear.

weds: ben's school team lost 46-42. (ben had 8 points but got fouled out with 5 minutes left on a couple of questionable calls)

thurs: emma's hockey game postponed--allowed her to be part of her class's Native American history skit at school open house. she dressed the part and looked great. Doug went to the Gopher's big victory over Illinois

friday: crazy dress-up day at school--emma goes all out; ben declines; after school, Ben to retreat; the rest of us to Little Szeschuan for a Chinese new year feast after hockey practice

from weekend to school week ahead

So we're not sure who was more nervous--him or the principal--but Ben eventually agreed to read his Catholic schools essay at Mass on Saturday. He did well and we think it was good of him to step up and do it. Emma's hockey team had a tough game on Sunday night (they tied when everyone thought they'd win) and her coach was pretty hard on them last night. Game this week is cancelled so maybe that'll be good...and let us focus on next Saturday's mom's game (see previous post). Big happenings this week, though, involve Catholic schools week. Lots of field trips (bowling, service projects, etc), theme days for dress (today was sports stuff, tomorrow "fancy day"), and other fun stuff. Thursday night is open house, and then on the weekend Ben has confirmation retreat. In the middle of it all, Emma is trying to wrap up her report, poster timeline, and speech on Wilma Rudolph. She has titled it: "Wilma Rudolph: From Brace to Race."

double trouble

emma here with her pal and defensive partner, Cassie Prescott at North Dale on Minnesota hockey day. They are known as the double trouble line. This coming weekend their moms, Terri and Mary (what will their nickname be?) and others will take the ice in a Mom's game. Afterwards all the girls have a sleepover at one house and the parents will eat ribs at another.

the weekend

all quiet here early saturday morning. emma at sleeping over at one of her hockey friends. the rest of us when out for thai food last night down on University Avenue. We had a red curry, a yellow curry, and a hot lemon-mushroom-coconut soup--which all really hit the spot with the weather turning cold again. (Did I mention it is -20 on our thermometer this morning? We haven't gotten above freezing all month, which hasn't happened in 30 years.) A few sporting events this weekend, and Ben's babysitting tonite. He also got asked to read a little essay he wrote for Catholic Schools week at mass on Sunday but he's not sure he wants to do it. Emma acolytes at our Lutheran church, Hope, and then there is a luncheon afterwards with families from the neighboring Catholic parish working on a 10 year plan for greater dialogue, exchange, and interaction between the two congregations and traditions, both of which has a number of Lutheran-Catholic families, or as Emma calls them "Catherans." Oh and one other thing: amidst the busy first week of classes, Terri had a paper she has been working on a while accepted for publication in a good soc journal. That makes two over the past couple of weeks. Things seem to be falling into place just in time for going up for tenure this summer.

big week

not just sports this time--though emma's bball team had two games (won one, lost one), and Ben's had one (a "W") and has a tournament coming up this weekend--but the nation's new President. We all watched the inauguration on Tuesday in our different places. Since, we've talked a little about his speech, about the crowds, the music (which we loved), and the poems (which we didn't, save the old African American preacher who gave the benediction), and a lot about the awkwardness of the oath itself. I guess we've got high hopes for our new leader but also worry about all the challenges the country currently faces.

can't keep us in

frigid temps and snow all weekend but instead of hunkering down we embraced the elements. Ben and a bunch of his buddies went up for snow shoeing and cabins at a state park up north. (This, after a rec league bball game lost by 2--though ben had 8 or 10 points.) The rest of us spent saturday celebrating Minnesota hockey day over at North Dale. Emma's team played each other is a scrimmage, while Terri and Doug sold concessions, manned the fire pits, and watched the como coaches play the vulcans. The US Olympic women's team also came and signed autographs. The day's festivities was capped off by emma hosting a dozen of her teammates for a pizza party at the house while all the parents went over to Shroeders to reflect on the day and replenish fluids.

Brutal Cold

Okay so no one else is allowed to complain about the weather: -17 yesterday morning; -6 this morning with -25 wind chill...and tomorrow supposed to the coldest day in 5 years. Supposedly a huge warmup is in store, and we'll in the 20s and 30s by the weekend--just in time for outdoor skating and a bonfire at Minnesota hockey day over at North Dale.

(Ben and Nick entertain themselves by dressing as Wayne and Garth)

snowy day

weather the word around here right now: 4 or 5 inches of snow today, and predicted highs below zero the next couple of days. didn't slow us down much, though. ben had two basketball practices, emma a basketball game and hockey practice, and the old folks spent the day working at coffee shops and getting cars tuned up. we're still working on putting some video of these activities up at some point, so stay tuned for that! other, non-sports stuff on the horizon: emma doing her 5th grade biography on Wilma Rudolph; Ben having to build a replica of a Catholic Church, and Ben choosing a high school for next year. (He is leaning strongly toward our local, neighborhood public school Como at present and hoping a few of his friends follow suit.) what else? how about thank goodness for snow blowers!

Catching Up

So after a few initial posts, we got caught up in traveling and the holidays. We had fun in LA--warm, sunny weather, outdoor basketball, waves at the beach, chinese dumplings, presents, family and friends. Came back to brutally cold weather, the restart of Ben and Emma's school, lots and lots of sports activities, and "Guitar Hero: World Tour" . Emma's hockey team doing great--7 wins, 3 losses, and 1 tie. Ben's bball has lost a couple of close ones, but is playing hard and very well together against tough competition. Hopefully, we'll be able to put up some video taken with Emma's new flip camera. All for now--just wanted to mark the fact that we are alive and well...and that more will be on the way.