House project coming to a close!

The last week and a half have been very busy. The finish carpenter got the hand railing to the point where the carpet could be put in, and the carpet guys came and did the install Thursday and Friday of last week. I love the new carpet! It is so soft and it feels like we are in a new house! Brian has been busy reassembling furniture and I have been trying to dust and organize as we go. It's like a forced Spring cleaning that really was much needed:-/. Lynsey still has some organizing to do in her room but we are very nearly done. The hand railing pieces are supposed to be delivered tomorrow, and Brian will stain them this weekend for the carpenter to come back Tuesday to put them up. So excited to see the finished product!

On Sunday, Brian, Lynsey, Nathan and I went to the Kraken/Canadiens game while Adam stayed back with Maggie again. It was a fun evening, although the Kraken got pretty much blown out. It was a good opportunity to teach Nathan that different people have different ways to enjoy themselves at hockey games, and while we might find it super annoying when they shout, "shoot or fight!" constantly, that's just what you get at hockey games sometimes! This was the first game he had gone to where his team hadn't won, he has been to a few Oilers/Kraken games and the Oilers have won each one he's been to, it's best he learns how to deal with his team losing once in a while, too:-).

Tuesday I pulled Lynsey and Adam out of school to head down to the USCIS office FOR THE LAST TIME for their oath ceremony. The kids are already American citizens through us, but for them to get citizenship certificates, they had to go through the hoops of a ceremony, which was pretty annoying. Nathan didn't have to because he is under 14. Adam was fine for the first half hour to 40 minutes but it of course took longer than it should and he got a bit antsy at the end. We made it and now all of us are officially American citizens! No more immigration stuff, yay!

Lynsey and I are off to Spokane for a tournament this weekend. I am definitely a bit nervous about it. We are not in the bottom division, and that is not a good thing for us. I don't know why the club didn't put us in the bottom division, we would have been much more competitive there. Hopefully at the very least it is a good learning experience for the girls. These should be high quality teams we are seeing, so maybe we can elevate our game. I really hope it's a fun weekend for everyone, and that I am nervous for nothing!

 

No one under 12 in this house anymore!

I am so far behind, things are crazy! But I have to start with some birthday festivities for Nathan! He turned 12 at the end of February, and we had a small family celebration for him during the week before he had his sleepover party with a few of his friends on the following weekend. 

The reason we couldn't do the tournament on the weekend after Nathan's birthday is because we were all going to the Oilers/Kraken game on Saturday afternoon! I had found these cheap family packs well after Brian and I had bought our tickets, so I bought one so each of the kids could bring a friend. Nathan brought his friend Luke and Lynsey brought her old friend Ari. It was a fun afternoon! Oilers win, woohoo! Sounds like the kids all enjoyed the experience as well which was nice. Always happy for an in person Oilers win! Brian took Lynsey and Nathan snowboarding on Sunday and Adam and I hung out as usual. They had a pretty good time on the mountain, apparently quite a lot of snow this time which was nice. The week after that I spent painting baseboard to get ready for the finisher to come install it and practice of course, even just two practices a week feels like a lot! 

That weekend (the 9th and 10th), Lynsey and I were in Centralia for a tournament and Brian manned the fort with the sleepover on Saturday. Apparently it went pretty well! Our tournament was okay, we didn't win until our very last game on Sunday, but it was nice to win one for sure! This team - just doesn't have much of a competitive spirit. It's really starting to wear on Lynsey because she is wanting more and more to win, and it's frustrating that so many of her teammates just don't seem to really be bothered. It's wearing on me, too. I did some reffing again at the tournament and I am feeling more and more confident. Even when a team disagrees with a call, I feel like I am able to handle it more professionally now. It was a good learning experience. Heidi was really kind, she appreciated my help a lot and said she had told Tony (the club director) that I should be able to head coach any team I want next year! It was really nice to have her vote of confidence.

Last week, the finish carpenter we hired to do the baseboard and new hand railing got started. I had painted one coat of paint on the baseboard, but I've been going through and touching up a lot of paint - so much work and I hate it. I did some today, too. I just have the big front room to do and I will be done! He is starting the hand railing tomorrow and carpet goes in next week. We are living in a state of chaos right now with furniture everywhere, disassembled for the baseboard install and now waiting for carpet. Can't wait until the carpet is in and it will feel like moving our stuff into brand new rooms! 

Heidi was sick on Wednesday, so I had to lead practice. It went pretty well and I am glad I had the chance to do it. We had a Power League yesterday that didn't go well at all. We did not win a single set. We will be going back down to flight 7 for the next one. Frankly, it's where we belong. Lynsey is getting so tired of losing, and I had some hard moments as well yesterday. Coaching is not for the faint of heart! We still have three more 3 days tournaments, one 2 day tournament and one more Power League to go before this season is over. I don't know if things will improve, but if these girls don't start putting their heart into it a bit it's going to really drag on for everyone. 

Today was Nathan's piano recital! He did amazing, as we have come to expect from him. Nerves of steel, no mistakes. It's been a busy week and weekend and I am looking forward to a bit of an easier week coming up. No volleyball this weekend, although with carpet coming in the following Monday we will be moving furniture on the weekend again. Keep repeating - we will be so glad we did it once it's done, we will be so glad we did it once it's done . . .