The Big Win!

Elizabeth's soccer team has been playing together for two months now and we have seen a dramatic improvement in her play, as well as the play of many of the other kids on her team.  They practice hard, they play hard and they try their best.  They just never win.  The past couple of weeks, their games have been very close and they have only lost by one goal, so we had hope that they would win one game before the end of the season.  When we got to the game last Saturday morning, the other team seemed to be filled with kids that were the same size and we were all hopeful that this would be the week - we wanted this win for the coach, who has done such a great job with the kids, as much as for the kids, who really don't seem to mind losing, especially when the score is close.  Well, it finally happened and Elizabeth's team won their very first game of the season, 2-1.  It was so exciting!!

Chasing down the ball. 

Making contact. 

Turning up the field. 

Taking a water break. 

The winners!!

Emily spent a lot of time kicking the ball around during the game. 

I think we're going to sign her up to play next year.

Hartford Half Marathon

I know that I already did a post on the Half Marathon, but as I am not often featured on the blog, I am taking some editorial liberties.  Below are some additional shots of me taken during the course of the 1/2 marathon, this time by Capstone Photography.

Around mile 9, in Elizabeth Park (West Hartford, CT) 

Still mile 9ish. 

Crossing the finish line - yes, I was very happy! 

 

Preschool Field Trip

Last week, I went with Emily on her pre-K field trip to Rose's Berry Farm.  I have been on this field trip five times in the last four years, so I am pretty tired of it, but Emily had a wonderful time.  She enjoyed the hayride, picking out her pumpkin, having a snack with her friends and playing on the playground.

The perfect pumpkin. 

There are pumpkin people all over the farm and she loved this bride and groom, begging me to take a picture of them. 

Enjoying the hayride. 

The colors are beautiful right now. 

On the playground. 

These slides were a favorite. 

King of the world! 

Of course she wanted to be a Lambie....

"Well, YOU'RE there!!"

Once we decided that Lee would compete at Asylum Power, our respective duties became very clear - his job was to concentrate on the meet and come away from his first competition with a lot of experience; my job was to scope out the area, book the hotel and figure out ways to keep the girls occupied while we were up there.  I was excited about the idea of seeing a bit of upstate New York, an area that we really haven't been too, and I knew that the foliage would be gorgeous.  And because I know a few people who grew up in that area of New York, I reached out to them for ideas about what to do with the girls.  The response?  A blank stare.  You see, there's really not much in this area of New York, not much of anything.  In fact, other than the foliage (which we couldn't really enjoy because it was pouring on the way up and pitch black on the way home), there was nothing there.  When I stated this in a Facebook post that morning, someone cleverly pointed out that WE were there.  Below are a the only non-meet pictures that I took (with iPhone, so apologies for the quality).

The family diner where we had breakfast on Saturday morning - it was excellent and the owners were so friendly! 

Yes - the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame is in "downtown" Amsterdam - it was open when we went by so we didn't get the chance to check it out. 

Big Heart, Small City - that's Amsterdam.  Tribes Hill isn't big enough to enough have light posts, so there were no banners....

Fall Harvest Festival

Last Sunday afternoon, we attended our church Fall Extravaganza.  We took a hayride and the girls each got to pick a pumpkin and then got to paint them in the church hall.  They also had their faces painted, ate some scary snacks and played different games.  The Extravaganza was run by our church's Peer Ministry group and it was wonderful.  It was great for the girls to see some of their little friends (from school) as well as some of their older friends (assistant instructors at TDI).  All in all, it was a wonderful afternoon.

Elizabeth picks another perfect pumpkin.

The girls with their pumpkins during the hayride. 

Painting their pumpkins in the church hall. 

Elizabeth wanted her face painted as a scary ghost - she got the scary part right! 

Emily chose to be a beautiful butterfly. 

My muffin-eating monsters.

Pumpkin bowling.

Goodbye

On Sunday night, we put down our cat, Ollie.  We got Ollie from a kill shelter just about ten years ago and he was a pistol.  He loved to snuggle with us as much as he loved to scratch us, but he was a good cat and he will be missed.  Ollie was at least 15 years old and suffered from feline leukemia during most of his life.  He was a tough, tough cat and cheated death many times; but not this time.  Lee and I are heartened by the fact that he went quickly - he was normal on Friday morning but by Sunday night, he couldn't walk and the decision was clear.  It can be a bit surprising, however, to realize how empty the loss of a pet can make you feel and how much of a part of your life they were, whether you realized it or not - his routine was our routine and now it is gone. 
Rest in peace Ollie.  We love you.

Ollie on Sunday afternoon, snuggled in a blanket and surrounded by loving cards made by the girls.  Elizabeth is particularly upset by his passing.  She drew an amazing picture for him which included Ollie walking on a rainbow bridge - if you are an animal lover, you problem know that The Rainbow Bridge is a poem about the death of an animal - so it was pretty shocking for us to see the picture.

Hooray for Hollywood....

...and independent student films.  Two years ago, a Wesleyan senior and several of friends shot a movie (his senior thesis) on our street.  About a month ago, his younger brother called to ask if we would let him use our house for his senior thesis movie - and of course we agreed, especially because he is a fellow Beta Brother.  As it turns out, they couldn't use our house because of the time of year that the movie takes place (spring - and we have a huge tree in our front yard that is dropping leaves), but they ended up finding the perfect house two streets away and invited the girls, as well as several other kids in the neighborhood, to be in the movie.  We spent most of Sunday morning and part of the afternoon on "the set" and watched Connor and his crew shoot just a short scene.  He was a total pro, beyond nice to everyone and we (all of the parents) were very impressed.  We hope that when Merry premiers at the school, we have the chance to see it.

These students are the real deal. 

Waiting in line for an ice cream cone from Santa. 

You can imagine how thrilled/proud Lee and I were when one of the crew members said to another "that little girl with the pink pants, green shirt and ponytail is definitely the cutest kid here." 

Woody was Elliot's new best friend, as he polished off all of the leftover ice cream cones. 

It's tough work being the sound guy....

From "Quiet on the Set" to "Cut!", these students were all business. 

One of the perks for the "talent" (which is how they referred to the kids, much to the parents' amusement) - the ice cream cones had to be eaten between takes. 

Elizabeth, Jazzy and Emily 

Elliot was wiped out from all of the excitement.

They've Got the Bug

After spending an extended day at a powerlifting competition and getting to know the men and woman of The Refuge, the girls may have gotten a bit of the powerlifting bug.  Toward the end of the day, Elizabeth actually asked me where "the kids' lifting stuff" was so that she could throw around some weights.  Both girls already broke Lee's heart by failing to show any interest in hockey, but maybe they will redeem themselves with lifting.  As for me, I'm just glad that they realize that girls can do ANYTHING!!

Elizabeth

Refuge Domination

Since the Benchpressing for Breast Cancer event, I have been dubbed team photographer for The Refuge.  Unfortunately, I can't take pictures and videotape at the same time, so Elizabeth stepped up as my assistant and videotaped each and every lift on Saturday.  She had a hard time getting the hang of the Flip, so the first couple of videos were basically worthless; but by the fourth or fifth lift, she was a pro.  Lee asked me to put together a short photo video for The Refuge using the photos and videos from Saturday and the result is below.

(click on the four arrows to maximize; turn up volume for sound)

Asylum Power

Last weekend, Lee competed in his first ever powerlifting competition and the girls and I made the trip with him to take in the action.  He joined four other members of Team Refuge at the Iron Asylum Gym in upstate New York and together, they raked in the awards.  Lifters traveled from as far away as Michigan and Canada, as well as New Jersey, Philadelphia, Albany and Ohio, plus our team from Connecticut.  Almost every member of the team went home with a trophy, including Lee who took first place in the Submaster 198 Raw Push/Pull with a bench press of 365 and a dead lift of 525 (also a PR).  Competing in a meet is completely different from simply working out.  There were judges on three sides of every lifter to make sure that the lifters complied with federation rules - pausing during the bench press at chest level and then locking out both arms to finish the lift; squatting to a certain position before going up again; and holding the dead lift to a certain height before dropping.  Overall, the meet was a great way for Lee to get some experience and an awesome way to begin competing.  The girls and I are so proud of him - and of all of the other members of Team Refuge, all of whom welcomed us like part of their family.

Mentally preparing to put up 365 on his first attempt. 

Making 365 lbs look easy. 

First dead lift attempt at 475 lbs.

500 lbs dead lift. 

525 pound dead lift - a winning lift and a new PR. 

Submaster 198 Raw Push/Pull 1st Place Award  

Lee, Nick and Sarah - three of the four Refuge winners. 

Lee and the girls - when the awards ceremony was over, the gym owners rustled up some little tokens for the girls, which was a testament to how unbelievable they were.  We were at the meet for close to 12 hours and they hardly complained - they were troopers and pretty much cast a spell on the rest of Team Refuge, all of whom posed for pictures with them.

Pumpkin Carving

Even more than picking out our pumpkin, the girls love the pumpkin carving.  For some reason, they love sticking their hands inside the pumpkin and pulling out the seeds and guts and they literally hover over Lee as he carves our pumpkin every year.  The design is always simple (although thanks to Janet, I now realize (duh!) that we could find a template on the internet), but they always love it.  This year, we got a pretty big pumpkin, so it's grin seems extra large to me!

The girls work at scooping out the seeds and guts. 

 

Completely fascinated with the carving process. 

Helping Daddy carry the pumpkin to our front porch. 

Love....