Happy Mothers Day and Bringing home the Gold

Mothers Day weekend around here was full of the usual Loudamericans events with a major bonus,
Grandma and Grandpa came in for a few days to become sleep deprived like the rest of us. The weekend events included and not in any order of importance, Tom started the summer semester at George Brown (Mediterranean and BBQ), Jimmy had his first select baseball team tryout, Billy had Taekwondo sparring practice, Kay had track practice and her first gymnastics meet, Tracy had work and MS 150 training and that was just Saturday. Sunday was more school for Tom, and Mothers Day with an early celebration of Grandmas birthday. Heres a breakdown:

Jim and Bunny arrived on Thursday afternoon in time to relax before the storm. Kay's gymnastics coach has been pestering Tom for weeks wondering where his wife is? Not sure why until he inquired and as it turns out the coach was very nervous about Kay's hair for the upcoming meet, sensing a bit of prejudice he told here not to worry that Kay's Grandma was coming to take over "the hair" ownership. Being her coach is from the Ukraine, something was lost in translation. However we we walked in the door and Kay's Coach saw Grandma and figured out what was going on she stated "I am now very happy". We all met back at the homestead had a great dinner of Chapplupa's finished homework and stated our favorite part of the day was... all of us being together!

Friday was the quietest day of the bunch. The kids were off to school and Grandpa Jim and Tom have been wanting to try Wimpy's for breakfast and Grandma Bunny came along as well. To say it was good is an understatement, plates completely clean all three of us said " wow I didn't think I was going to eat all that!" What's not to like fat free, low calories, eggs, potatoes, french toast, bacon, sausage, all good! The afternoon was filled with hanging out and watching Billy practice his sparring. Tracy was able to get home early and we have a great family dinner. Curried Lemon Grass chicken, feast chicken, rice pilaf, all good. We caught up and Glee and hit the rack early Saturday was going to be a long day!

Saturday found Tom leaving at 7:30 for BBQ class totally excited for it! This class is full of awesome ways to marinade, smoke, steam, roast, deep fry, and of course BBQ not only meats,but fish and vegetables as well! Look out summer! Tracy was able to get a long dog walk and a bike ride to train for the MS150. Grandpa Jim took Jimmy to baseball practice, Billy was reacquainting himself with electronics and Grandma was busy with Kay's hair, yep this was Kay's big day, her first ever competitive Gymnastics meet. Nervous, well a little. After a bit of running around we all found our selves in the Vaughn Gymnastics Center. There were around 75 athletes between the ages of 7-9. Being this is Kay's first year she was in the group of level 2 gymnasts. Just a note that Kay practices at level 3 , but has to compete at level 2, where in Canada, Eh?

In any event the competition is set up as follows:
3:00-3:30 check-in
3:30-4:00 March in
4:00-4:30 warm Up
4:30-7:00 competition
7:00-8:00 Awards
We were all prepared for a long afternoon. Note: None of us, including Kay, have ever been to a competitive gymnastics meet, let alone a non-competitive one, meaning we had no idea what to expect and when we were walking out the door at 6:00 we were shocked! what the hell was that?

Here is a recap:
At around 4:00 all of a sudden there was a lot of activities, athletes swinging on the uneven parallel bars, floor routines, cartwheels, hand springs, the balance beam was rocking and the kids were vaulting them selves into the next room. The competition had started, no fanfare, no here we go, gun shot like track, just start on tumbling. On another side note, Kay asked me " Daddy you know this is my first meet and do you know what would make it really special?" "No honey I don't" " If when I get off the podium you had flowers for me!"

So Kay's first event was the vault, not the horse (that is for boys) the vault. She did a couple of warm-ups, the event has the gymnasts running as fast they they can, I am not sure of the rules but I think their tongue has to hang out of the right side of their mouth, the leap onto the vault thing, place their hands on the mat ( like a giant pillow) flip over land on their back, place their feet in the pike position and arms behind their head hands at a 25 degrees angle to the floor, then dismount, butt out, hands in the air, whew. Kay landed about 5 feet further than any other kid, not sure of that's good or bad?

Next up uneven parallel bars. Jump up swing around a few times hop onto the top bar dismount from 10 feet  without breaking your ankles, butt out,  hands in the air, piece of cake. The balance beam stood in the corner like the devils triangle. Kay's coach appeared out of now where and had Kay doing all these practice moves and such, not sure. After the event her coach said "you should have seen the look of determination on your daughters face when she approached the beam". Up she went immediately into the splits, roll over onto her feet, a couple of prances, a few spins, 4ft tall hops, and a cartwheel hand spring off the beam and stuck like glue, dismount, you know... the butt out, and hand thing by now.

Last up floor routine, time now 5:10? At this point I was flowerless and thinking how "Am I going to get flowers while sitting in an industrial park and worse dash the dreams of Kay? "She walked out bowed to the judges, like you ain't seen nothing yet, and nailed her routine ( see below). Grandpa Jim and Grandma Bunny took off in search of flowers thinking "we have at least an hour until the awards", wrong, they made it back just as the kids were being called to center mat.

Since Kay was at level 2 the athlete's do not get called to the podium as the judges do not want to hurt the feeling of the kids who may not have done well. So they simply call the kids by team give them a certificate and a medal stating to the crowd that the certificates have the place the kids finished.

To see Kay's face when we handed her the flowers was priceless. When she handed us her certificated well what's more than priceless?!  Kay placed first in beam, first in floor, first in vault and second in bars and GOLD MEDAL FIRST OVERALL!! Way to go Kay!

Mothers day was another more or less quiet day. Another class for Tom  training for Tracy and relaxing with Grandma and Grandpa. We had a killer French toast breakfast curtoeusy of brunch class and then Tracy created an out of the park shut the front door, dinner with smoked salmon, risotto, salad and asparagus. It is starting to sound like all we do around here is go from kid event to the other and then eat, not bad work if you can get it. The 2 mom's received several heart felt pieces of art from the kids and a few choice books, training gear and hours of massage, also more love than they know. We had a premature birthday for Grandma Bunny, her birthday was Monday, and a special pecan pie, her favorite.

A big thanks for Grandpa Jim and Grandma Bunny for coming not only for the chaos that is our daily lives but to share Mothers Day and Grandma Bunny's birthday!

To all of the wonderful Mothers out there we are blessed by all you do.
HAPPY MOTHERS DAY, LOVE,  TTJKB
more to come...

Good Friends

My very good and longtime friend Michelle came to visit last weekend for a girls weekend. She called in mid Feb, during a snowstorm when her kids were driving her crazy and said "I gotta get out of here! When is a good time to visit?!".

Michelle and I met on the 1st day of college, we lived on the same floor in our dorm and she was the super smart, sarcastic, funny, blunt girl. I loved her the minute we met. She is still one of the smartest people I know and shes got a very "get to the point" view of life. Keeps me on my toes.

We lucked out with a sitter on Friday night and headed down to our favourite Japanese/Korean restaurant - Guu. It was so fun and loud and yummy. My kind of place:)

Tom was a gem and took on the majority of kid duty on Saturday so Michelle and I were able to take a bike ride, shop in Kensington Market, have a mimosa with lunch, see the Bata Shoe Museum, have a mid afternoon manhattan and walk along the lakeshore. (even grabbed and ice cream). It was such a nice way to chill and catch up.

Sunday was Billys Tae Kwon Do tournament and Michelle was a trouper, sitting through 5 hours of competition to see Billy participate for exactly 90 seconds. She got to try a Tim Hortons Double Double and the kids were thrilled to take her to Jack Astors, so...all was not lost.

I flew home with her on Sunday as I need to be in MPLS for work Mon and Tues. It worked out great as we were able to keep our girls weekend going a bit longer with gossip magazines and a glass of wine on the flight. Work travel with your friends is the only way to go!

Then, I doubly lucked out, Monday night, my good friend Annette was able to meet me for dinner.  Annette and I met through her ex 20 years ago when she started doing my hair. I'd make a Friday afternoon hair appointment so that we could go out afterwards. She has since switched careers, but shes still my go to person for all grooming advice (which I desperately need)  We headed out for Mexican and it was so awesome to catch up on some more girl time. I dont think she's thrilled that I'm letting my hair go grey but... shes an awesome friend and kept it to herself:)    

 Its amazing and so wonderfully special when you have friends that have known you forever and even if you havent seen or talked to them in 9 months, its just exactly the same - comfortable, fun and a million things to talk about.   I love my girlfriends!! I'm so blessed!     

MS150 training/fundraising update

Well, we are 4 weeks away and I have to say, fundraising is going MUCH better than training…$1,455 more than ½ way to my goal! Yippee!!! Keep the $$ comingJ

 In terms of training, April was a month of rain and 40 degree weather, not great biking weather but I’m not complaining… MPLS had SNOW all month. So, looking at the bright side, I’m not any further behind than any of my biking buddies. 

 I had my 4^th ride last night and have a new mid-week program.  Ride for an hour after work a few times a week before I pick up Kay. This means I bring my bike to work, get outfitted up and then set off to find adventure in Mississauga. As luck would have it, I did find a limestone bike path that rides along a creek and the airport. An interesting combination but nice to not have to battle traffic.

Thanks for all your support!  And wish me luck as I super-size my training…

(my other glass ½ full thought?! No matter how little I train, nothing can be as bad as last year’s ride….right?!  Hope I didn’t just jinx us…)

Kids Update

We are bounding into Spring/Summer and around here things have picked up speed (if thats even possible!).

Billy continues his reign of "Tae Kwan Do" Terror. He recently competed in the All Canada Tae Kwan Do tournament and true to form he placed first in Poomsae. For those who are not in the know, Poomsae, has Billy on the mat or in the ring by himself and his goal is to reenact what ever number move sequence that the judge asks. He is now a yellow belt with a green stripe so all the moves are in that category. There is precision, sounds and form that make up the perfect Poomsae, which of course the little engineer was able to do quite well result: Gold Medal!

In the last tournament Billy dominated the sparring rounds, which for those not in the know, it is actually what you think - controlled planning with pads. Two contestants, or as Billy prefers, combatants, enter the ring bow to each other and proceed to kick each other to death. Billy won his first championship 11-2. He must have made a big impression on the other yellow belt/ green stipers because there was only one brave contestant in all of Canada that dared step into the ring with Ol' Bill. However moments before the bout the cold feet set in as Billy was getting ready and the other contestant bailed out.  Gold Medal for Billy! Awesome job Billy!

Bonjour Mademoiselle! Kay has been learning French and the French field trip found Tom and Kay along with the rest of the 5th and 6th graders at a local French restaurant,. The goal = order in French, speak only in French and have fun. Well that was easy for the kids. Tom just smiled, said Oui and ate great French food! The field trip included a ride on the city bus and a strong lesson in manners/etiquette.

Also, please note Kay's sharp new bang "cut". VERY early 90's Jeanine Garafalo. Loving it!
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The food was great and the kids did an awesome job. The French teacher has obviously taken this trip before as was evident by the efficient way the trip was planned. We had to pre-order, we had Pouillet ( chicken) others had spaghetti, in any language, spaghetti is spaghetti! The food came minuets after we sat down and was awesome. Then for dessert we each had a huge brownie covered in ice cream and whipped cream. That was delivered about 5 minutes before we left which was spot on! By the time we walked the block to the bus stop the kids were all pumped up on sugar!

Kay has been having some difficulty lately with long division. Tracy spent time with her and got her re-acquainted with her multiplication tables and low and behold, "Mommy I think I got it". The next test came home with a 100% 6 out of 6! Way to go Kay! Kay has been having several play dates lately with her friend Jessica and when Jimmy asked Kay what her in Jessica have in common Kay stated " Well we have common enemies". She is gearing up for her first competitive gymnastics meet this weekend so more on that to come.









This past week at Cameron, the school Billy and Kay attend, had their 15th Annual Young Authors Day. The kids write a story based on ideas they develop in class and then parents, Grandparents come to school to hear the Young authors recite their stories.. The gym is set up like a reading room and the Authors go around from one adult to the next reading the stories and getting feedback, a great idea!  Billys story was an epic battle against aliens with his friends William, STephen and Morgan. Kays? Poems of all sorts - limericks, haikus, rhymes. Very cool. 

Batter-Up! Jimmy is now full into baseball, new shoes, batting/catching gloves, bat and bat bag. He is on a house team and tried out (along with 35 other kids) to make the select team. The select team is made up of the 12 best players from the house league. He (of course) grabs his gloves, stuffs his mouth full of gum and heads to the park, "let me at em, let me at em'! The tryouts were last Saturday and then began the waiting for in this day of age the call back (which is actually not a call but an e-mail).  Like we have nothing better do then sit around waiting for the telltale 'ding you have mail'. Well we had dinner, hung out and sure enough 'ding', and Jimmy got the call back to come try out again.

Sunday we headed over to the park, dropped Jimmy off and ran a few errands.  Thing 1 & thing 2 waited in the car as I went in search of the lad and before I could even get past the gate, "Dad guess what ?! let's go get my new select uniform!" Result: Big Smile! He made select and is their top catcher, the position he was born to play. 

 To top it off he game on yesterday with a 93 on his math test which for the first time all year, he had the highest grade in the class! Way to go Jimmy!

More to come....

Michigan or Communism close call

With a full schedule of events rolling on a brief moment of quiet descended upon us so we got in the Pilot and drove to Michigan, well why not? Tammy, Tracy's sister's son Joey was making his first Communion so we decided to take the kids and go visit the cousins, G&G Hickey and Sue, sort of a mini family reunion.

The drive over was quiet uneventful and we were able too use our Nexus passes to sail right through customs and the boarder patrol, Nikki included. It is with a sort of sad induced glee that I must report the use of electronics has reached a level I never thought would have occurred. A mere 4 years ago we had our kids convinced that we would be an electronics free family, really, they had the mantra down. Packing for the trip entailed, 3 car chargers, check, 2 i-phones, check, 1 i-pod, check, 1 psp, check, back up electronic gear, small generator and 3 sets of head phones, check, who needs to have verbal communication skills anyway. we arrived late Friday night and of course the kids had to play which meant trade electronic gear with the cousins and ignore each other for an hour or so. The adults spent the time catching up and unwinding.


Saturday was full of regular family activities, baseball games, soccer and running around. The weather was great and the kids played outside as we were really killing time until the big event! Jimmy was on a roll and could not let go of the fact that Joey was turning Communist and have his first Communism, he's here all week! This is the first exposure for th Loudamericans in going to a Chatholic Ceremnony and if it were not for the cake and cookies after, they would have been bored.
One thing from my Catholic upbringing no rerason to getr tot he Church to early! Good thing we assigned pews and both Tracy and I were very proud of the kids,, they were quiet and well behaved, well except at the time of Communion. Jimmy got up and tried to get in line, Tracy asked him what he was doing, his respone " Wanted to see what Jesus tastes like", we need to spend a bit more time on religion with the kids. We had a nice dinner at the country club, the kids ate first and then someone came and took them away. It was really nice, we were able to have an great dinner and conversation.

Sunday was a nice Brunch affair and then taking the kids to the pool to wear them out for the ride home. A trip to Grand Haven is not complete without a trip to Butch's Beach Burritos, Butch does not dissapoint. The trip home was more of the same however we did stop for a moment of thanks to Target for the Nexxus passes. The line to cross the border started on the Michigan side and we were able to drive right through and saved easily 2 hours of waiting in line!

More to come.......

Random life events/quotes

Its been pretty quiet around here lately which, for any other family, would be normal. For us, its border line boring.  But, since we are the LoudAmericans, there really is never a dull moment.

Tidbits from our life...

Billy - per an earlier post, Billy LOVES being a kid. In fact, as we share the best part of our day at dinner each night, he is frequently quoted as saying "it was a normal day...AWESOME!"  He loves Scholastic (remember the order forms you got at school to order books? he's addicted!).  The other day, he had a big smile on his face the whole way home from school and was clutching his jacket to his chest. He and Tom were talking and he said "do you ever wish you could just keep things the way they are - forever? we'd never get older, we'd always be together but we'd still get to have birthdays and stuff"  Sure enough, he had a brand new Scholastic category. He poured through it and wizely choose 2 new Lego Chima books. The excitement and wait was palatable!  Also, final Billy-ism. We are working on creating a job chart sot hat teh kids can earn allowance. Of course, anything we want to put on there, doesnt generate much enthusiasm (dishes, make bed, clean toliet, you know....) Tom told Billy he was considering putting "not pitching a fit" on the chart. Billys reponse?  "Thats not a chore, thats an accomplishment!" Touche!  (as a side note, his new favorite way to start a sentence is..."Imagine if...".  I wish I could bottle him up and save him for later, like when he becomes a defiant teenager.    

Kay - we've created a monster. No lie, she bakes or makes something in the kitchen on a daily basis. She's actually quite good but never eats whats she makes. Although, Nikki did enjoy 9 vanilla cupcakes the other day, wrappers and all, when we werent looking.  She also spent 4 hours last Sunday making a snail sanctuary for a snail she found. The snail is now relocated into her room. She and Tom are Cooking channel junkies. Give them unlimited access to the TV (when Jimmy doesnt have it tuned to sports) and they'll watch for hours. Last night, as we were watching a 3 play of Diners, Drive Inns and Dives, she said "wow, I think I just gained 4 pounds watching this show". And, she was right, it looked amazing. Billy hates to watch with us because he says it makes him hungry.  Kay is Kay. Still really passionate (borderline volitale) but super fun to be around as long as her blood sugar is stable. She definitely is the unpredictable emotional factor in the house. Cant wait until she hits puberty. I hope thats year 1 of university or Tom might be moving out. Wish I could say I want to bottle her too but....I'd love to have her energy, its just sometimes a bit much to deal with on an daily, hourly, minutely basis. She is defintely her own person and I'm really proud of that!  

Jimmy - he's at the ackward time between basketball season and baseball season and winter football training has also ended. He's restless and I get it. Its hard to be an energetic 11 yr old when it rains every day and spring hasnt really hit. Good thing we got him a basketball hoop for Christmas. He's out there for hours a day, perfecting his sport. We play endless games of HORSE and PIG and he's got a number of signature shots. In fact, he has an ally oop from the street that actually went in that we got on video. We'll try to post it. Kay was the camera person so its a bit wobbly but still an amazing shot. Hes getting challenged in drums by his teacher - describe why music is a language. Good existential training for the boy.    He also finally showed his music teacher at school a youtube of him playing and she (along with the rest of the class) was floored. At some point, she's going to pull him out of class and have him show the grade 8 & 9 music teachers what he can do. We were proud of him for sharing that as to date, he's been pretty private with his friends about his music. He's a super good kid and in a really fun stage of kid-dom. Not many arguments and he gets our jokes. Again, wish I could bottle this up.

Tom just finished a brunch course at school and thank god its over. We were all on our way to weighing in 20 pounds heavier. cream, butter, bacon, sauces, olive oil, you name it. Yummy! Today hes at a one day tapas class, super excited for what he brings home! He's been volunteer extradiniar at Kay/Billys school (Cameron) - he lead Billys class through 4 sessions of building "boats" on wheels and helped all the 4th grade classes on Scientist in School day.He should be on the payroll!

I'm still taking drums and finding it really challenging. I wouldnt say I'm not talented but its not natural, like Jimmy. I can finally play "Little Black Submarines" by the Black Keys. I think my teacher gets frustrated that I'm a repressed adult and not a carefree kid but... I think he likes the challenge.  Work is easing up a bit, 10 hour + days instead of 11-13 hours and much more limited weekend work. Thats nice but I suspect we might be in the eye of the storm a bit. Trying to enjoy, but its not necessarily in my nature. I'm working on it:)

Nikki is driving us crazy! Despite a daily 3-6 mile walk, she has now taken to wanting to be outside 6+ hours a day and "talks" to us when she wants to play. She barks and moans, grabs her ball or frizbee and then runs to the back door. You'd think she was a puppy again. Its cute but exhausting. Poor thing, I think she needs a pet.

Thats it, random bits of our daily lives....

Happy Gotcha Day Jimmy!

It was 11 years ago today Sargent Pepper taught the band to play and our drummer is still pounding out the beat night after night after night (and during the day as well). It is a blessing in more ways thaen one that our neighbors recently had a newborn so we could stop Jimmy from sneaking our of bed and playing his drums!

Yes Jimmy came home from Korea 11 years ago, said "Jimmy Murphy nice to meet ya" and has kept up his yearning to be the center of attention, in all things, and in particular in his talent for music. He is still passionate about sports, both playing and supporting his siblings and friends and family. He is on the sideline cheering Kay in her gymnastics and offering Billy Master Meogie advice during Billy's Tae Kwan Do tournaments.

He is really trying to step up his studies and is bound and determined to get his first 100% in math. True to form, Jimmy suffered a set back recently as far as math goes and lost the opportunity to get a phone. The whole phone discussion is for a different blog, he did however handle the set back with grace and some ease. He has been studying extra hard and has stopped the incessant arguing with mom and dad about what needs to be studied and what does not (He is thinking of his sports career or broadcast journalism careers don't pan out he will be a lawyer) because he is a good arguer, not negotiator. He recently informed Tracy that when the time comes for her next review he would be happy to march down to headquarters and " straighten" them out, good God! He's got definite ideas on what she should negotiate for a signing bonus and extra strategy. Too much NFL draft I say!

Jimmy is now finishing up basketball where his team made it to the championship game and fell short of adding a second first place to his record. His comment " wow I am getting a lot of extra season playing under my belt"! Baseball is just around the corner as is a trip to the local Play it again Sports as the kid never stops growing and needs new shoes, gloves, bat, you get the picture. He is excited to get back behind the plate and throw runners  out trying to steal second, that base is mine he says!

Here are some of our favorite Jimmy memories. Its funny how kids personalities dont change, they just get bigger. And, Jimmy has a very big personality.

We love you Jimmy and are so glad you started our family 11 years ago. Big hugs to your birth parents and foster parents as well for loving you and caring for YOU. We love them for all they have done for us and you.