Hockey League - Game 2

So at the end of the post for last weeks game, I said "If we learn how each other play, and get used to being out there together, we should be alright." Well, apparently we haven't learned enough yet, because I think we might have played worse. We actually started the game fairly well, but it was apparent pretty quick that the other team just out matched us in the skill department. It didn't help that we were still having trouble doing the small things like line changes and staying in our positions. There were times when I was out as an offensive player and I would have to collapse to our net to make up for the bad positioning/play of the defenseman. And this was after I had just led a rush the other direction where I had no one to pass to. Karrie and the kids came this week, which was really nice. It was fun to look over and see them, especially because it was so painful to look at my team on the rink : ( Oh, and Bekah does not like the cage on my helmet! She started to cry both times I got close to her with it on lol. Another factor that didn't help our cause was our goalie. I am grateful he played for us, as he had just finished his first game right before ours. The problem was, he was very tired and it appeared that he stopped trying about halfway through the game. So two weeks in a row now we've played bad as a team and have had a goalie playing two games in a row letting in soft goals. With that in mind, I decided to step up and tell everyone that I'm playing goal this next week. Not only will it help with stopping the lame shots that were going in on Wed, but it will also take one person off our very cramped bench. For some reason, they added an 11th player to our roster. That's too many for an inline team. The only bummer about playing goalie, it takes me off the rink as a player, which we still need. Overall, I think my presence in net will do more to help us win though, and it will help me get back in the goalie mindset for when I try to play on an ice team. Oh, and that final score....11-1...OUCH!!

Hockey League - Game 1

Alright, I said I would keep everyone posted on my inline hockey league and we had our first game Wednesday night. I'm playing on a house team, for those of you that don't know, a house team is made up of a bunch of people that signed up individually and are just thrown on a team. We've never met before, let alone played on a team together. This can make for some interesting challenges. First off, I had to sign up for the Beginner level league because of my work schedule. You can get skill ranges from true beginner to fairly decent all in the beginner league. We don't have anyone on our team that is as skilled as Bob, but a few of them are alright. We also have some that are very weak skaters and you can tell that inline is new to them. We also had all 10 players show up for the first game, which was actually a bit of a bad thing. With all of us being new to each other, and many new to organized hockey, it was a bit chaotic. There were a few guys (some of the decent players) that were getting quite frustrated and they let that get to them. Overall we played ok for our first game, especially considering the circumstances, but ended up losing 5-2 according to the official standings. I played fairly good for my first time in quite a while, and I could tell pretty quick that I'm one of the best players on the team. For those of you that used to watch our Chiefs team at SoccerZone in Portage, our old team would have destroyed this house team. All in all, I still had fun getting out there and playing, and one of the guys has taken the initiative to try and organize lines for next game based on skill. If we learn how each other play, and get used to being out there together, we should be alright.

Baby Dedication

Baby Dedication - May 24, 2009 from Johnny Cook on Vimeo.

On Sunday, May 24th Bekah and Billy were dedicated at our church. They have posted it, so I thought I'd share it with you. We are so happy to have found such a wonderful church to call home. If you don't want to watch all of the dedications, we are at 4min 10sec.

Speaking of Hockey.....

GO WINGS!!!!!!!!!!

Bill Playing Hockey

It has been a really long time since I've played hockey on a consistent basis. When we first moved down to NC I tried to play a few times here and there but never got into a league. With my first job traveling, and then the birth of the kids, it was really hard to find the time to join a league. Well I finally decided it had been too long and I'm going to get back to playing again. I don't travel anymore for work, and the kids are getting old enough where it's fun to take them out and do things.
I really enjoy playing both as a Player and as a Goalie, but I just recently purchased some new goalie equipment so I started off with that first. For those of you that might remember, I had a problem with my left thumb when closing my glove, so the new equipment was to allow me to switch to catching with my right hand instead. This has worked out very well so far, my thumb doesn't hurt anymore and my play seems to have stayed at the same level. I also found a steal on a new set of leg pads that actually fit me the way I like (my old ones were too big for my tastes) and a new chest protector that fit better and allowed for better ventilation. I've played a few pickup games and/or practices on ice and am really enjoying it. Two problems though....first, I am waaay out of shape lol and second, both ice rinks just started their summer sessions and I was too late to make a team. Still desperately wanting to get back to playing, I'm turning to my first love and joined a house team at the inline rink. Karrie and I figured it's probably been around 4 years since I played a league as a player not a goalie. I'm really looking forward to playing again, especially as a player. Goalie is great, I love the challenge and I really like learning the new position, but I started out as a player. It will be a fun way to get back in shape and be able to play without worrying about my positioning or not making a save. I can just go 'play'.
I posted some pictures of a recent pickup game of my in goal, and a practice session that Bob and I did where I skated on ice for the first time as a player. Boy is that different then inline lol!! My first inline game is this coming Wednesday, June 3rd and I'll post on what happens. Hopefully Karrie and the kids can make it to some of the games and we can get some pictures up of that too!

9 Months Old

Bekah and Billy are really getting big. Daily we are amazed by their smiles, cries, new "tricks" and all of the love and joy that comes with parenting. A year ago I was praying that I would be able to carry them as long as possible, now I'm praying we don't have any major injury. Billy is fearless and uses his head to explore the world and to "break" his falls. This ends in lots of tears. Bekah also has her share of the falls around the house. They have discovered that they can pull up on anything and everything and that they can walk from one thing to another if they can still reach. This results in quite a few of the falls but they continue to venture.

We have to get gates up soon. So far they haven't even ventured towards the stairs, but it won't be long. When they have clothing on their knees they love to crawl on the kitchen floor because they can go very fast, just dragging their legs behind. The kitchen has become a not so safe area. This morning Billy pinced his fingers in the cupboard door when he used it to pull up on and it closed with a finger inside. We are going to get gates and other safety stuff tomorrow. They both have ventured towards the dog dishes. Now, I know that dog food probably won't hurt them, but I'm more afraid of them choking on the food. We are looking for gates that have easy open doors for us. We have a normal gate, but it is annoying to step over and to take down everytime Kaylee wants in the kitchen.

I have 11 days with my students left and then a few work days. I can't believe that this year is almost over. I have worked at my school now for over 2 years. I will be starting my 3rd year of teaching this fall. I have learned so much about myself, teaching and life in the past few years.

A few weeks ago we attended baby dedication class at our church. The same day we attended membership class and applied for membership. It is nice feeling that we have a place that we belong. It has been very hard leaving our church in MI (KMC we miss you), but we know that God has plans for us here. It was hard for us to step out of our comfort zones and to seek a new church home. It has been a long jorney looking for a church, but we feel led to our new church home. Thanks to all of our friends and family that have been praying for us on this jorney.

Please pray for us concerning Billy. The kids stopped their axid reflux at 6 months old. When Billy was on the meds and now that he is off, his amount of spitting up has not decreased. Bekah pretty much grew out of it. She may spit up once a week or something but nothing like Billy. The drs tell us that they want to wait till he is a year old and see how he is then. They don't think he needs to go back on his medicine (didn't notice a differnce with the spit up) so now we just wait and see. Pray that we know what to do and if we should seek a second opinion.

Billy and Kaylee playing together.

Billy was very sleepy and daddy was ready to take him upstairs to bed.

Mommy's new toy!

For Mother's Day, Daddy and kids spoiled mommy rotten. I have been getting very frustrated with our camera and my wonderful husband noted my comments. He went out and got me a wonderful Canon Rebel XSi and a zoom lense. I love it and I'm learning some of the many features it has to offer. I now know what will take up most of my summer. (camera+kids=fun). Here are just a few of the new shots. Please take it easy on me, I'm still learning.

8 month old fun!!!

Our fun times sure have changed. We are teething and each have our bottom left tooth. We chew on everything even moving things like mommy and daddy. Pulling up in the crib is a blast, so is climbing on mommy and daddy. The chairs are fun to pull up on too. We miss everyone, hope to see ya soon.

Bekah has her first bottom tooth and the second is almost through, I'd give it a day or two. She waves bye with her right arm. Her face lights up the room when she smiles. We find her sleeping in some of the strangest positions in her crib. 

Billy also has his first bottom tooth, it showed up about 4 days after sisters'. His next bottom tooth isn't far behind. He is pulling up like a pro. He started  out with just going up to his knees, now he makes it all the way standing without problems. 

The favorite new toy of the house is the spring door stop (one in hall and one in kitchen) and the cords to daddy's electronics. Pretty much everthing they shouldn't play with, including daddy's game cases.

Bill and I look at them in awe and wonder where the time has gone. We went to our church memebership class last sunday and applied for membership. We also went to the baby dedication class for Bekah and Billy's dedication on May 24th. We are very excited and for thoes of you that won't be able to be there we will provide you with the link to our church's website that will have it up to watch the video. 

We miss everyone and please keep praying for us. Both of our jobs are trying to stay secure and we are both taking pay cuts. It is very hard to do with raising twins, but we are so thankful that we didn't lose our jobs or have lay offs. God Bless.

Many of the pictures have captions, be sure to read.