Changing of the Seasons

Around here changing of the seasons means a change in focus.  Focus as in, let's go from swinging the bat in the backyard with kids in the 'hood to strapping on the football pads.  Nobody pays attention to the change in weather patterns, temperatures cooling, or the pretty colors of summer changing.  Nope, it's all about the season of sports!

So it happened.  We went from cheering at around 80 games for the North Stars...

and Full Count...and Cardinals...

and the Ninja Cheetah Tigers (yep you read that correctly) to cheering for...

the Southdale Cardinals...

and the Blue Dragons...

and the Panthers (he looks like a one man team doesn't he)!

Now, we're wrapping up our fall sports season and moving on to winter.  I'm sure we'll ignore the snow falling on the ground, below zero wind chills, frozen ground and white landscape.  Instead we'll be focusing on the echoing sounds of bouncing balls in a gym, the sweaty smell of wrestling mats, and countless hours on a bleacher.  We wouldn't have it any other way!

Off We Go!

Summer has come to an end, and after 80+ baseball games, multiple days lounging at the pool, a couple of trips to the lake, and oodles of memories made, we're ready to head back to school.  This is the one and only year all three of the boys will be in the same school.  From here on out, we'll have at least two schools and several years of three boys - three schools!  Add my school to the mix and we'll be juggling four schools.  I'll just scream now...arghhhhhhhh!

I am so grateful to have children who LOVE school and all look forward to a new year.  Boys being boys, they don't get worked up about what they're going to wear on the first day, but instead worry about what day PE will fall on and finally being able to wear their new tennis shoes.  Following the tradition started by his big brothers, Owen learned how to tie his shoes before entering kindergarten, so he was rewarded with a new pair of "tie" shoes too! (This is one of those skills I insist on because I can't imagine being a kindergarten teacher with 20+ kids who don't know how to tie their shoes.)

Check out the new shoes on Connor and Owen...Mason's still fit and are fine!

So, we headed out the door today.

Mason as a 6th grader...

Connor as a 3rd grader...

Owen as a kindergartner...

And myself as a 3rd grade teacher, ready to greet 19 kiddos!

O-Dog It Is!

My little Owen wants to be referred to as O-Dog now...seriously!  He often has the nicknames of O-man, Owie, Owster...but really, O-Dog?  He is definitely his own personality (which we love) so I guess it's fitting.

This little man has been busy.  He's turned 5 and finished up preschool, so kindergarten here we come.  He's played another season of soccer and just finished up t-ball.  This was his conversation on the way to his last t-ball game.

Owen:  Mom, I'm slippin' if they try to get me out.

Mom:  Do you mean sliding?

Owen:  I'm slidin' if they try to get me out.

Mom:  Owen, do you even know how to slide?

Owen:  Yeah, you put one leg out and go down.

A little quality time with the coach.

According to Owen, he hit a home run.

For the first two or three games Owen thought he had to touch the base WITH the ball to get the runner out.

Time out for a cheesy smile.

I guess he really does watch his brothers play ball! This poor guy is a spectator at sooooo many games, so I'm happy when he finally gets to play a sport and his brothers get to/have to watch him!

We have a serious fish on our hands. I'd never put him in swimming lessons, but he's very comfortable in the water and last year he taught himself to float and swim underwater.  Well, after a couple of rounds of swimming lessons this year and a few tips from his big brothers, he's now swimming in the deep end, across the pool, retrieving items from the bottom of the six foot, and diving!  Yep, he can even a do a jump dive!    We went to a friend's pool with a diving board, and wouldn't you know it, Mr. Owen was jumping off the board for two hours straight!  So, of course when we were back at the Falls he insisted on going off the boards there as well...I caved and let him.  Now, it's his favorite form of exercise...jump, swim to the side, walk to the board and do it all over again (times 50)! And, he's diving off the board too!!!  So, I guess he's hangin' with the big dogs now...O-Dog is rather fitting!

We enjoyed a fun day at the beach and of course he's just as much as a fish there as he is at the pool!

Another big feat this summer is learning how to ride his bike.  He wasn't really gung-ho on the idea at first, but with some encouragement-bribing, he accomplished his goal.  Now he goes everywhere on two wheels, and we saw Brave in the theater and feasted on popcorn and pop (AKA the bribe.)

Amazingly, we haven't even had any scraped toes and he wears flip-flops ALL the time.

"Look Mom.  I don't even need to pedal!"

Off he goes.

Owen has always been on the social side, but now that he has wheels he's constantly asking to play with friends in the neighborhood.  It's nice to finally have him at the age where he can go venture out on his own and play with his buddies.  Gee, I wonder what a real set of wheels at age 16 will mean for this boy?

Little Mr. O-dog had a special job this summer as well being the ring bearer in his cousin Jason's wedding.  One word describes it all.  EXCITED!  He couldn't wait for the big day and I have to say he looked pretty darn handsome in his tux.

Owen and MaKaylee waiting patiently for pictures...for 3 hours!

So cute!

Handsome O-dog.

Happy 8th Birthday Connor William

As a teacher, having an early January baby was great.  I didn't return from Christmas break until the middle of March.  As a parent, having an early January baby is a pain!  I barely wrap up all the shopping and activities from Christmas and I'm right back at it again planning a birthday!  However, Connor William was a blessing 8 years ago, and he continues to be one...most of the time!

Happy 8th Birthday!

Connor is our little go-getter.  He loves sports of all kinds, but especially has a love of wrestling, football, and baseball.  I'm pretty sure he enjoys the social aspect of school just as much, if not more than the academics.  According to one report card this year, he is quite chatty, but hopefully that's taken care of now!  He is an excellent reader and is great at solving mental math problems.  Now if we can just get those subtraction facts memorized!

Last year Connor requested breakfast in bed for his birthday, and once again Mason obliged.

Breakfast and presents in bed.  What a way to start your day.

A few friends helped Connor celebrate his birthday with a sleep-over.  Mason and Connor had fun planning the  party and had everything scheduled out nicely...laser tag, hide-n-seek, pizza, movie, xbox, wii, etc.  Basically, anything a group of eight year olds would enjoy!

Birthday fun!

Christmas...in April?

So, what does a girl do when she's four months behind in her blogging?  I guess she attempts to catch up, so here we go!

Christmas continues to be a magical holiday at our house filled with various traditions.  The boys always know they will get pjs from mom and dad and I had to do the cheesey thing this year and buy matching ones.  Who could resist UNI pjs?  I am so NOT a matching clothes kind of mom, but these we love!  I've come to the realization my kids will probably never be wearing shirts in any of their Christmas pictures either, but I'll take that as a favorite memory.

Matching UNI pjs!

Christmas with the Bormann side was celebrated a week early this year.  I hadn't gotten around to decorating our sugar cookies yet, so thankfully Joan allowed the mess to happen at her house.  Actually, it turned out to be very fun and EVERYBODY took a turn!  We also played BINGO again this year and came home with some goodies - I think most of the prizes turned out to be edible!

It's all in the details Marcus!

Grandma Lois and Grandpa Bill did their share of decorating.  Owen must have been taking a break and playing with a necklace.

There was obviously no shortage of frosting and sprinkles.

Plenty of good BINGO prizes...yep, even a couple jars of pickles and Scratch cupcakes.

We are so fortunate to be able to celebrate the holiday (or most of it) at home.  This was the first year we all went to Christmas Eve mass nice and early to get a seat.  In years past, Ron would go early and save a pew, but now everybody is old enough to tough out the extra 45 minutes in church!  We changed up our tradition of soup this year to enjoy some smoked pork, which has quickly turned into one of our favorite meats in the smoker. A tradition my family had growing up was drinking wine with our Christmas Eve meal, and so it is a tradition which has continued...with kid wine! Our gingerbread house turned out much better this year due to the fact that I bought a premade house and all we had to do was decorate it.  I highly recommend this after ours collapsed last year!  Of course we couldn't celebrate without opening a few presents too!

In addition to the tradition gingerbread house we did Rice Krispy houses...much easier.

So much candy, so many decisions.

Ta da!

Love the sweet little hands.

3 happy boys

Christmas morning comes fairly early at our house with Santa's special delivery in the night.  The boys received some highly prioritized gifts on their lists.  

According to Owen, a pillow pet can make your day.

Tebow jersey for Mason

A Phiten necklace for Connor.

We traveled to Mallard later that day to celebrate with the McCartan side and everyone truly had a Merry CHRISTmas.

Fall Football Fun

It's not fall without a LOT of football at our house!  This was Mason's first year of tackle and let's just say practicing for anywhere from 4-8 hours a week was a little adjustment.  There were a few sore muscles and lots of bruises, but mostly enjoyment!  Although their record wasn't the best, the boys learned the essential skills of the game and worked together as a team.

Mason played quarterback and center on offense...not your usual combination!

Ron coached the 5th and 6th grade Panthers this year.

Panthers 2011

 Connor enjoyed another year of flag football.  The game really came together for him this year and his "wheels" came in quite useful on both offense and defense.  He enjoyed scoring several touchdowns and was quite the master at flag pulling.

We were fortunate to have some gorgeous fall days at the beginning of the season.

Connor could get an eye on that flag, dive, and pull!

 You don't have fall football without including the Panthers!  When schedules and weather cooperated we enjoyed tailgating with friends.  We bought an extra season ticket this year so one of the boys got to take a friend to each game.  What is more fun than tailgating and watching football with a friend?

TK and some loyal fans!

TK, Caleb and Connor

#1 Panther Fan - Owen!

Halloween 2011

Once again, time has gotten away from me, but here's a quick update on the McCartan goblins of 2011!  We had a beautiful evening to trick or treat and for the first time, Mason and his buddy Lily hit every street in the neighborhood.  Owen sweetly approached each house with a "Happy Halloween" instead of "Trick or Treat."  Connor and his bud Joe had fun together too.  Between the three kids we ended up with 3 gallon zip lock bags full of candy!  After a couple of weeks I was so tired of finding candy wrappers under furniture and in other random places (to avoid being caught eating it) I emptied the candy bucket and smuggled it into the UNI Dome for a football game and distributed all the sweet treats to family and friends.  Mission accomplished!  No more candy wrappers hidden around the house.

The ultimate Tiger fan, Incredible Hulk, and Skeleton.  Watch out Viking Hills!  Here we come!

Just a small portion of the goods!