Go Thrashers!!

Got some free tickets to the hockey game last night. Angela had a prior work committment, so Sarah and I along with a friend and his son, Gavin, took in the game. We have been to several games this year, although these were in the "choice" seats. Sarah was definitely among the loudest of the Thrashers fans. Decked out in "Blueland" attire, she caught the attention of all the fans in our section. When the announcer asked the crowd to "make some noise", Sarah was glad to oblige. This was Gavin's first exposure to hockey, and by night's end, he appeared to be a convert! Only downside was that the Thrashers lost 2-1.

Horsey Stuff

I noticed in reading thru the posts on this blog that I have not mentioned anything about Sarah's bestest friend and number 1 passion - Annie! This picture is from a horse show last summer, just before we purchased Annie. Sarah is very responsible with her friend, takes care of her, grooms her, and rides her just about every chance she gets. Annie has a birthday coming up - her 7th! - and you can bet Sarah has some big plans for that day....

Daddy-Daughter Dance

One of the biggest thrills of living in our neighborhood, is the Annual Daddy-Daughter Dance. This year's dance was this past weekend. The night gives fathers a chance to take their daughters out for a "date" - starting with dinner (Mexican this year) and capping off the evening with a dance at the country club. Sarah and I had a great time - dancing the night away to Hannah Montana, the Jonas Brothers, and some oldies like "YMCA" and "Let's Twist Again - Like We Did Last Summer" - much much fun, leaves us counting down the days until the 2009 event!

First Hockey Skating Practice

She's a little black and blue, that's the downside....she has all of her teeth, and can't get the smile off her face - that's the upside, and so the first hockey skate practice was a resounding success. Tonight's lessons - in a group of about 30 kids - split into groups, defined by their different colored shirts - consisted of a learning the proper way to fall, the proper way to get back up, how to spin on your knees and pop up, and then concluded with a mock hockey game between groups. Sarah's group is the Red Hawks. She took right to the stick handling, fell with the best of them, and had several Olympic-style knee spins. She also ripped off a couple of blazing slap shots during the mock game at the end of practice. Mom and Dad have decided that we need to invest in knee pads for our rising ice devil, and maybe remember to wear fleece next time to observe practice!

Hittin' the Ice

Yesterday we had a family outing at The Cooler. This is an indoor ice rink not far from our house. It was cold outdoors, and colder in The Cooler! The ice was in really good shape - and had a pretty large crowd for the public session. Sarah and I were outfitted with hockey skates - Angela settled for the less agressive "figure" skates. Hitting the ice was no problem, and Sarah quickly became accustomed to the proper techniques for falling. She did well, picking up speed, stopping, avoiding other would-be kamikazes - and even participated in an on-ice rendition of the Hokie Pokie!

Let it snow....

Much to the excitement of Sarah, this past Saturday brought yet another blanket of snow to our home. We had a similar dusting just a few days earlier, but she wasn't able to create a snow man before it all melted. Not the case this time - as you can see. With the help of a school mate, Katrina, and some professional instruction from Dad (former world champion snow man builder in Jefferson County, New York) we were able to create a snow man that would rival just about any effort in the northern latitudes. As of today (Monday) - the snow man is doing well and providing sentinel services at our driveway.

Sarah Signs Up for Hockey!!

No, that's not a misprint - we signed our little 8 year old Kovalchuk up for hockey skating lessons today. The lessons are meant to teach kids the skating techniques they need to play ice hockey - wow! Not so coincidentally, the Atlanta area received a blanket of about 2 inches of snow last night - yipes!