A Year of Scouts

In September I went to an informational meeting about maybe having Skyler join girl scouts, unfortunately they were so short of troop leaders and had so many girls wanting to join that they told me really the only way was to be a parent volunteer. Reluctantly, I said I would help and they told me that they had a troop leader in my neighborhood who needed someone to help with Daisies and so they passed along my phone number.

I agreed to help lead this troop, and told this strange lady on the phone where I lived - she told me she was just around the corner and she'd stop by a few days later to talk about what I'd need to be doing.

I was a bit shocked when my favorite cashier at Albertsons showed up at my house that day with a boatload of girl scout stuff in her arms.

Over the past 9 months this awesome lady has welcomed Skyler and I not only into her girl scout troop, but into her living room on more occasions than I can count so we can plan for scouts, or just watch our favorite tv shows! And I know that if I answer the phone to "Hey Jacque, I had an idea..." something crazy, fun and full of hours of work - that may or may not involve a semi truck full of cookies -is coming my way! (I'm just glad it's usually taking place in her garage and not mine!)

While I reluctantly signed up to lead a girl scout troop, I am so glad that this crazy lady and her awesome kiddos came into my life! (And her husband too...)

So as we are getting ready for our bridging/awards ceremony, I am so thankful for the crazy adventure my year of leading Daisies has been and looking forward to the next!

Hockey Star

We have been playing hockey for six months now!! And we are both still loving it!

It is amazing to watch her go from being so timid on the ice to being a fairly competent skater! (She still has a ways to go before she's Olympic quality! But she is doing awesome!

There is only one other girl - but she loves it! She loves coming to the rink two or three times a week, hanging out with the boys and her coaches! 

She begs to skate on days we don't have hockey (we end up going most Mondays anyway! Unfortunately mom isn't improving near as quickly as Skyler!

Skyler - the Hockey Star

Last September, hockey mania hit our house in a big way. It started when Skyler’s friend told us about a FREE month of hockey at the local ice arena – FREE? I’m always game! So we signed up, along with her little friend, and spent September at the ice arena.

Skyler had never been on skates before, never really seen hockey at all! But it was love at first skate! She really loved skating, loved her coaches and just had a great time in general – so of course, time to sign up for regular season, we were on board! 

Now after spending two or three days a week at hockey practice, Skyler is still loving the sport! But we’ve got one problem. Stick control.

Playing hockey one handed is tough! (As if learning to skate and control that stick that’s as big as you are isn’t enough?) Grasping the stick is tough (getting her glove to stay on is tough!) so last week as I watched her struggle during one of the drills, I decided to try and figure something out on my own.

I spent time watching YouTube videos of one-handed hockey players (links below!) and none of them really had a hand problem like her’s – they all had differentThen it hit me – a hanger!

I broke off the end of an old clothes hanger and taped it to her glove. (Lots of tape – she tends to be a bit abusive to the gloves – proof she’s meant to play hockey!) The hope is that she will use the hanger to hook her stick so she can push and pull – she plays more like a lefty, holding the stick with her right hand up high anyway.

I suppose time will tell, and after practice tonight? I’ll know better if this new invention works or not! It may be back to the drawing board, but either way? It’s fun to try!

Some awesome One-Handed hockey inspiration!

Maisie Reynolds from New Mexico – Skyler has had a lot of fun watching this video over and over! This girl has a hand fairly similar to her, and she plays hockey! Super Awesome!

A more local front - Scott Stafford is a one armed hockey player in the Denver area!

The Advent Begins!

We started the Advent 2013 season by making a "Countdown to Christmas" chain!  (And a few visits from Chip-Chip!)

(She wrote Santa a letter that said "Dear Santa, Chip-Chip has been silly" and he responded!)

We've been a bit busy!!

Today was our first ever Co-Op day with the local Homeschool Co-Op!! Skyler spent the morning with the Kindergartners/1st Graders! They had music class (which I got to help with!) then they went to P.E. (I stayed in Music for the morning) and then to Arts and Crafts!! She really loved it, and had four friends that she already knew in her group! (Not to mention lots of new friends!!)

On top of that, she's been playing hockey! Which is once a week - and mostly just Ice Skating Lessons at this point - but none the less? It's fun!

But let's get to the REAL point of this post! Skyler has been BEGGING to make a video - so I'm sharing her new video with you :)