My Hockey Husband

Troy is a hockey player. A very beginner one but he plays once a week in a beginner's league. Our friend Corban invited him to join and it has been great for him. I am proud of him for trying out something new and hard. 

We haven't been able to see him play yet because the games have been after 8 pm so far, but we are looking forward to cheering for our hockey star.

Saku's Third Lost Tooth

Saku has had a wiggly tooth for a while now. True to his personality, he wouldnt want to pull it out and I had no desire to go anyway near his tooth. Tonight as Saku wrestled/tickle battled with Troy the tooth ended up coming out.

Saku was a bit shocked. There were no tears but a definite mixed feelings moment as he was having a bit of bleeding. He also did not like the feeling of the big gap from the lost tooth. It seems like a huge gap. 

He has changed the place of his tooth several times in order to trick the tooth fairy. I pretended to go in and look for it. Saku said he wasn't fooled. Then he said he was missing the tooth and I mentioned that maybe Tooth Thief came along and just took the tooth. We looked for it for a minute or so and then he sneakily smile and said "oh now I remember where it is" BUT he wouldn't tell me.

He also asked me "if I lose all my teeth before you die. Can you tell me who really takes them?" I promised that when he becomes a parent, he will know the magic of Tooth Fairies.  He is on the fence about believing in these magical childhood characters.

Our kids

As I was singing to Eerika "Child's Prayer", and when I sang "Some say that heaven is far away, but I feel it close around me as I pray" and Eerika said "I really do feel it" with such happiness in her voice.

Aleksi says the word "ball" about 200 times a day. No joke! Anything that is circular shape is a ball. Satelite dishes, balloons, traffic lights.

Aleksi wants you to throw hoops with him. He will come and find you. Say "Ball" and when you respond that you will play with him. He will skip happily to the hoop, sit in front of it and expect you to sit there on the floor and play with him. It is actually a quite enjoyable game with a 17 month old. 

Saku is obsessed with storm raiders video game on the iPhone. He will talk about the battles and airplanes forever. Troy is good about engaging in these conversations. I need to work on caring about his interests more. As much as I dont like video games, it is a great incentive to get him out of bed and ready for school if we promise that he can play 5-15 minutes.

Saku finished reading the Harry Potter series the second time. He has surprised by his speed in running. He ran to the park, around the park while playing with friends and home the other day. 

I was working at the Y on Saturday due to the snow storm and Troy tried to call me. There is no reception by the treadmills so Troy couldnt get hold of me and was frustrated as he thought I had let my phone battery die. Eerika heard his frustration and said "what do you expect? she is working out."

Eerika also informed me that we will have five kids because she is praying for twins. And she informed me that she is praying in the morning too. She really wants a baby girl.

Saku and I had some time by ourselves tonight as Aleksi and Eerika weren't feeling great and went to bed early. 

It was a good chance to really talk to Saku. When I asked him "what are you into", he answered "I'm really into sports, except ice dancing". 

Spring Break 2016-Phoenix

This year was our first year to experience seasons as a family and this meant that when Spring Break came along, the idea of going to Arizona and enjoying sunshine actually sounded very nice. I also felt that it was important to come and spend time with Troy's parents. 

Because Troy couldn't just take a week off from work,  the kids and I started to drive to Arizona on Thursday afternoon. I had anticipated that Aleksi wouldn't love being in the car for an extended period, so we used some of our Hilton points to stay in a hotel in Albuquerque. This was a very wise decision. Aleksi's pain threshold for being stuck in a car seat is about an hour and a half and after that, it got touch and go. He never had a full of meltdown, but he definitely regularly let me know that he was not happy. Snacks helped a bit and movies made it a bit better; Eerika was my big helped and would distract him with games on the iPad. 

Saku was completely content to play on my old iPhone and other than few frustrations with the games, not with drive, he didn't make a peep during our travels.

Eerika alternated between watching movies with Aleksi, playing on the iPad and being a helper. 

Once we made it to Albuquerque, we played in our hotel room for a bit and lights were out by 8:45 pm because there wasn't really anything to do. The kids slept great. I had anticipated Aleksi to wake up but he slept through the night. I didn't sleep deeply but quantity won over quality that night.

Once I was back on the road and realized that I was going to drive through Flagstaff, I texted Camille and we were able to stop by their house to say hi. It was fun to see them, chat for a bit and see how life is in Flagstaff. 

Fortunately our travels were smooth. I ate too many starbursts to the point where my jaw was hurting. 

Our week in Phoenix has been good. We went to Popo's twice to enjoy the delicious food. Aleksi has played a ton of basketball and enjoyed watching March Madness with Grandpa. Saku was introduced to Scrabble. Eerika played Rummikub and true to her nature, independently played with dolls and outside. I read two books and enjoyed long runs in the mornings. It was so nice to run in t-shirt and shorts and come home and breakfast was ready. Grandpa had squeezed fresh orange juice or made a smoothie. It was a perfect balance of running and eating delicious food. 

We also went to see Brittny, Corrye and Heather in Tucson. Again, the driving was a bit rough with Aleksi but he was a champion while visiting friends. No pictures of those as I am lame.

I don't miss Arizona and I am glad that we live in Colorado, but this week was a nice change and it was refreshing to have Aleksi play in the backyard independently and barefooted. 

Pokemom battles

Troy is such a hands on dad.  I know I have said it many times, but I want to write it down again because it truly is a blessing. Here are pictures of him playing Pokemom with Saku and Eerika. I don't think I could have the patience and interest to learn this game, as it seems so silly to me, but Troy happily battled with the kids several times.

Snow Day for Everyone

On February 1st we had a snow day. Troy had decided to stay home in the morning so we could go sledding and Natalie had offered to watch Aleksi so he didn't have to outside. While we drove to the sledding hill, Troy received an email saying that he would get a snow day. How awesome is it to be playing in the snow and getting paid for it. Audra and her girls joined us for a bit. It kept snowing the whole time and Troy and I didn't have goggles, though I did have my glasses.

Troy got a bit obsessive about clearing our drive way and he would go back out and shovel it over and over again. 

I dont think we can expect more snow days from Rincon, but we were happy to the ones we had.