Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Hockey Mom

No pictures today, I need to download some and my camera is at home and I am at work. I have at least three blog posts in my camera right now.

We are all doing well around here. I am trying to get into the rhythm of a new schedule and I think I might have things under control next week.

The kids are playing hockey again, the season started up about two weeks ago. This time they are playing in a minor hockey program and the kids are in 3 divisions that are divided up according to year of birth. Each division has 2 ice times a week and each year of birth gets it's own ice time.

You've done the math haven't you? Yup that adds up to six ice times a week for this family. (That does not include Paul who has two ice times a week as well, but I don't need to be there to lace up his skates quite yet)

The kids are having a great time, they seem to be enjoying this program even more than Peter Puck. Peter Puck is a great program but the kids are pretty comfortable on their skates and wanted more puck time and more game time not just practices and drills.

All three kids are hoot to watch, PJ is playing on an all girls team. It is a bit more of an age group blend. Some of the girls want to play on boys teams and some don't. There are not enough girls to put together an all girls team in each age group, so PJ's team has 6, 7, and 8 year old girls on it. They all grin from ear to ear while they play.

In SeaBass's division they divided all the kids up into three groups and have spent at least two weeks just having the kids skate and play games on the ice, like freeze tag and some drills to evaluate skills. They rate each kid on different skills on a scale of 1-5. Then they divide up the teams as evenly as they can so no team dominates the season. They are using the this week to have the teams play thier first games and decide if the teams are even. If there are teams that are to week or to strong they may juggle a few players to balance things out. Very cool.

At Q's level they are teaching more skating and puck handling skills. They teach alot by playing games, having the kids pull one another across the ice and playing a game called star wars where they have to try not to have pucks touch them, freeze tag and so much more.

So far it is stacking up to be a good program for all of them. I have the crock pot out and often have cooked breakfast, lunch and dinner by 8:00 in the morning. If anyone has a good crock pot recipe send me an email. I can only eat so much roast.

Paul has been helping out, he takes SeaBass to the early weekend games (sometimes he plays at 7:00 am) oddly enough SeaBass says the early games are his favorites.

There is an up side to sitting an arena freezing your buns off 4-6 times a week. That's a whole lot of knitting time. I actually get more sitting time than I ever have in a week, but the house is a mess. How does it get so messy when we are not even home to mess it up? It's a mystery

4 comments:

Wudas said...

Here is how your house gets messy when you aren't there: Come home, grab a bite, leave the dishes. Change into the clothes you need, leave the ones you took off on the floor because the laundry basket won't hold any more. Since you are not at home the dusting isn't getting done, and you don't have time to put away the stuff you acquire while you are out and just drop it on the table. In the meantime you are tracking stuff in the house, (even though you remove your shoes) and you don't have time to vacuum. And when you do throw stuff in the washer and actually get it in the dryer, you don't have time to fold it and put it away.

Congradulations! You are now living in a locker room!

dwgnldy said...

Okay, I have to laugh picturing the kids playing hockey and you sitting in the stands knitting. Do you drop a stitch when you stand up and yell?

Sounds like everyone is busy so there's no boredom. You definitely don't have to listen to, "I'm bored!"

I'm thinking you might want to knit yourself a bun warmer.

Shannon said...

Sounds like everyone is keeping busy and having fun.

Brenda said...

Here's a yummy beef stew.


Beef Cholent

1 cup dried white navy beans
1 lb stew beef, cut in 1 1/2" cubes
1+ Tbsp vegetable oil
2 onions, finely chopped
4 stalks celery, diced
2 carrots, peeled and diced
2 parsnips, peeled and diced
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp minced gingerroot
2 tsp paprika
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cracked black peppercorns
4 cups vegetable stock
2 potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2" cubes
1 cup barley, rinsed

Soak beans in plenty of water overnight. Drain and rinse and set aside.

In a skillet, heat oil over medium heat for 30 seconds. Brown the beef in batches adding oil if necessary. Transfer beef to slow cooker stoneware. Add more oil if necessary; add onions, celery, carrots and parsnips and cook, stirring, until softened, about 7 minutes. Add garlic, gingerroot, paprika, salt and peppercorns and cook, stirring for 1 minute. Stir in stock and remove from heat.

Pour half the contents of pan into slow cooker stoneware over beef. Set remainder aside. Spread potatoes evenly over mixture. Arrange mushrooms evenly over potatoes, cutting one to fit, if necessary. Spread barley and reserved beans evenly over mushrooms. Add remaining onion mixture to stoneware.

Cover and cook on Low for 10 to 12 hours, or on High for 5 to 6 hours until beans are tender.

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You can make this with pre-made baked beans - in that case, skip the bean-soaking step and add the beans and their liquid to the crock pot along with the barley.