Skating Fun

The temps were up a little bit today, so we got out on the pond to try out Griff's new hockey net.  Works like a charm :-)

I'm sure this will jinx it, but Hannah is loving skating this season....go figure.....

 Yes, those are hockey skates on her feet.....she can't use her figure skates on the pond so we had to go out and get her some different skates....she wanted hockey ones.....let's hope this isn't a sign of things to come. I can only handle one hockey player in the family.

Christmas Wrap-Up

Whew!  The build-up to Christmas was almost more than the kiddos could take, but the wait was worth it. They made out like little bandits......like they do every year.  Everyone was up by 5am, but they knew they had to stay in bed until 6am.......5:59 and there are six little feet standing by the side of the bed, telling Mike and me it's time to get up!

The wrapping paper was flying fast and there were lots of ohs and ahs....got some some video of their reactions to presents, but of course I can't get them to load for some reason :-)  Will keep trying. In the meantime, below are some pictures from the fun morning.

A Few Favorite Gifts:

Abby
*  One Direction concert tickets.  Heading to Chicago this summer to see One D! Abby and her best friend both got tickets, along with the Moms :-)  We can't wait!
*  Moto jacket
*  Box set of all the Harry Potter books and an authentic Gryffindor scarf
*  Lots of clothes

Hannah
*  Zoomer the Robot Dog.  He follows Hannha's commands, which she loves :-)
*  Super fun monster slippers & fuzzy socks
*  Stuffed unicorn
*  Marker Airbrush Paint set

Griff
*  Regulation sized outdoor hockey net for the pond
*  Lots of Blackhawks clothing and hats
*  Venom Vert Park (a car toy)
*  Blackhawks banner for his bedroom

Enjoy the pictures......I'm off to clean up the house!

Christmas Eve - opening one gift before bed....the traditional snow globe they get every year!

 Hannah leaving a note to Santa

 Christmas morning! Getting into the stockings first

 Hockey trading cards

 Opening gifts from Santa first......

 Finger hockey game

 Super furry sleep-over bag with Hannah's name on it -- I kinda want one of these, it's super cool!

Hot Wheels track for Griff

 Moto jacket!

 Harry Potter scarf

 Zoomer

 Huge hockey net

 Blackhawks sweatshirt

 Blue fuzzy slippers

 Clothes from Justice for Hanny

 Blackhawks penant

 Books

 She's a funny one, that Hannah!

 and so are they :-)

 Monster slippers

 Gifts to each other, from each other

 And look who left us a picture....we left the camera out for Santa and he took a picture of himself and signed it.....very cool!

 And our wonderful Beef Tenderloin Christmas dinner. So yummy!

Spending Time at the Rink & Christmas Break!!!!

We've been spending an enormous amount of time at the various ice rinks.....Griff has hockey a couple of times a weekend and Abby is figure skating at least 3 days/nights a week.  I was able to get some pictures from Griff's game last weekend -- he scored 5 goals!  He was super excited.

Abby had her holiday figure skating exhibition last week, too. She skated great.  She also passed another figure skating test so she is now skating at the Pre-preliminary freestyle level and the Preliminary levels for her moves (testing on technical stuff). She was excited to pass those levels as now she can do a small group skate in the ice show in March.

We are officially on Christmas break and everyone is excited....including me.  I'm looking forward to having a couple weeks off with the kiddos and Mike and just hanging out....we have lots of plans for movies, cookie baking, skating on the pond, shopping, crafting, playdates, etc.

Below are some pictures from hockey (Griff is number 7 and has a white helmet) and figure skating....enjoy!

Just scored.....stick up in the air!!

Another goal

 Abby (in black jacket and blue gloves) and some of her skating friends

The girls in the figure skating club.....great group!