Been a long time since we rock and rolled!

Quoting Led Zepplin to start a family blog, but boy I didn't realize I hadn't posted any pics from Christmas.  WEAK!  It was a fantastic holiday, the Lord blessed us w/ good health and good spirits.  We have made some new friends through hockey and kids' school and Businesselite is cruising along w/ real progress these past two months.  Anyway there are a few pics from Christmas.  The rest are life as it happens.  And some video of Alena's gymnastics.

Alena finished her first session of Gymnastics and continues to do well w/ her Jazz dance.  She is very disciplined w/ her school work and is simply our little sweetheart--although she has her moments.  Emma is swimming her tail off.  Owen is obsessed w/ hockey and he and Hugh are skating like demons.  Audrey is talking (demanding "I do, me do, I do") a bluestreak and couldn't be a more spirited and happy child. We love her so much we still can't believe she is ours.

What we are most proud of recently is we got the 4 older ones on skis two weeks ago on a trip to SkiRoundtop.  We went w/ another family who have 3 boys.  Hugh is in Spanish and skates w/ their youngest, Owen plays hockey against their middle.  The weather that weekend was cold, colder and coldest! 1* when we started out, 7* for a high Day 1 and sub-0 windchills.  But they never complained and skied all day both days.  By the end of Day 1 all had been on a chairlift and down a full green.  The three older ones were on blue by Day 2 and managing very well.  I love skiing but haven't found the opportunity since we have lived here to get them on the slope, always something going on.  Audrey played in the lodge w. Kathie and her friend Barbara.  Next time the mom's hit the slopes.  The kids got the whole apres ski experience w/ the hot tub afterwards.  Hugh liked the "magic carpet"  and bunny hill and was content there as long as Kath or I could watch him cruise.  Why no pics?  When are hands are less full and the weather less cold!

The following weekend (this past one), I loaded up the 3 older kids and a friend of Owen's and we headed to SkiWhitetail.  These are all places I had never been.  These Mts (uhhh hills) are about 1500 to 2000ft, the longest run might be a mile long w/ 600ft + of vertical drop.  Something i have learned about the entire Appalachian range while Mt Biking it is that all trails are cut on the sides of these steep, long mountains.  These older Mts run diagonally as opposed to the jagged, rocky ranges out west.  If you have ever driven across PA you know how disruptive these angular Mt ranges can be to a highway that wants to go in a straight line.  So you generally bike up many switchbacks avg about 20% grade.  Usually the trail tops out and you can ride the ridgeback of the Mt.  Whereas in the Rockies, the trails might be longer and at greater elevation but they don't always have the steep grade b/c you aren't going straight up. Well, the ski resorts are no different so they can pack a lot of trail onto a 1500ft Mt.  Each as about 20 runs w/ some legit black diamond.
 In fact, we dropped down a "chute" that had at least 10ft of float before you hit snow and it wasn't powder, it was hit, cut through the ice and kill speed before you hit the bumps.  It was over quick but no less technical than what you can get in Colorado.

Well, at Whitetail, we had another beautiful sunny morning.  Got there around 8am, it's only an hour away and were on the slopes by 9am.  The kids loaded up on the lift and we were off, Emma, Owen and Aidan together and Alena w/ me.  To see the kids, (not suprising Owen, w/ 4hrs of skating a week) get how to carve their skis was really gratifying.  I loved skiing when i got the hang of it (ages 10-16), but then took about 20yrs off to do other things.  When i got back to it 4yrs ago I swore I would get our kids out.  Well it took an invite from our friends the Robbins to make it happen (Aidan is a Robbins, has been skiing since four and has migrated swiftly to boarding--he and I could have skied anything together, a really good little athlete).

Emma and Owen didn't like following me down and practicing turns, in fact only Alena paid attention to her ski instructor from Roundtop.  Was she as fast down? No. Was she as aggressive w/ her turns? No.  But after an hour following me down the greens.  We all headed over to the blues.  At this point it was really busy.  I get the kids off the lift and to the start of our trail.  I had skied this quickly by myself and had two options to get down, one included going through some moguls, the other down a black diamond.  Emma and Owen who had handled blue at Roundtop, were surprised by the narrowness and steepness of this hill, they got way too much speed right away and crashed.  Who made it down unscathed other than getting cut off by a boarder?  You got it, my slow steady carver of turns...Alena!  God bless her in her all pink out fit.  She focused on the fall line and carved turns down it the whole way.  Going faster than she had before, but totally in control.  In the meantime, it was Owen's up, but Emma's down, no wait, Owen's down and Emma's up, all they way down.

To conclude, Alena skied the blues a couple more times while Emma and Owen went back to green to get their legs under them.  Owen did a blue again w/ me and both he and Alena made it down their first black, a steep wall of ice called Drop-in.  They both fell, but they got up and carved it down.  Emma was happy just cruising, so i let her go, no reason to force at this point and I was glad to see her working turns as she learned a lesson watching her little sister.  

We don't often brag on Alena, mainly b/c she is quiet, sweet, loving and really easy.  If all she had in life was stuffed animals to play w/ she is content.  Well no more, I got me a skier(s) and that has me more excited than any activity or sport they could do.  Skiing like cycling is freedom. You, your equipment, your senses, the outdoors in a sweet mix of thrill and relaxation.  Now to get the three labs on the chairlift.

Audrey is next, no worries there, she is all athlete and coordination.  My worry w/ her is downhill racer!!!

Emma Swims, Owen Scores!

Just a quickie. Emma had her first major swim meet this weekend. The top 15 swim clubs were there. It was a 3 day meet. Emma swam four events: the 100 yrd Breaststroke, the 50 yrd Backstroke, the 100 yrd Freestyle and the 50 yrd Breaststroke. The meet was held at an Aquatic Center on the Northwest side of Washington DC, right near Walter Reed Medical Center where many of our Iraq heroes go after being wounded in battle.

It was a humbling experience for Emma. While she did well in her heats Day 2 (see Video), she saw how fast kids can get who have been swimming year round for 2yrs or more. She also is on the small side for her age and just building up shoulder and leg strength. But she gives it her all and goes to each practice w/ enthusiasm and a love for the water. Her best event was the 100 Free which is the first event on the short vid below. What was so encouraging was at this longer distance her stroke got smoother and stronger on the inward 50. Despite my shakey camera work (don't yak Scott!) you will see she wanders too far right, instead of down the center stripe. But she refused to give up, she gets out touched by a half second at the wall, but the girl misses the timing pad...Emma Wins! My commentary has it wrong on  the video b/c there was a girl swimming in lane 2 who didn't count, she was getting an extra swim in.  Enjoy the Video.

Owen's team had a really solid game this past Sunday morning. It was the first time we decided to keep players in positions (Forward or Defense) for an entire game rather than alternating them every shift. BTW, we play half ice 4 on 4. Owen wanted to play D, like his hero Nick Lidstrom (don't ask me where he would get that from...I am all about Stevie Y). He scored 3 goals from the blue line (we won 29-8, so there were lots of hats on the ice), which was fun: two slap shots from the defensive position and one where he was out of position on defense (in front of their net) but got the quick put back. My favorite play and what i am most proud of him for lately, is his speed to the puck and on defense it's critical. In the middle of the third period, they had there top kid take the puck from us in their zone from the right wing position and he skated down toward our net at a pretty good clip stick handling all the way, i thought he had a clean shot for sure as he angled in on our goalie's left side. Our goalie (who was pretty unstable) slid slowly to his left but fell at the moment the guy was about to shoot and just as Owen who never gave up on the play was skating in with his stick extended for a poke check. Instead of stopping, Owen leaped into the air (Superman style) over our goalie and landed on the puck and stick just before the shot could get off. Our coach turned to me and said, "where the hell did he come from?" Owie, the Wings could use you on D right about now!

"Happy 1yr 'Gotcha' Anniversary to you...."

Today, December 10th, we celebrated our 1yr Gotcha Anniversary w/ Audrey. I've re-posted the original Gotcha video from Kunming and the social affairs office. For us, an for many who adopt, this is Audrey's Birthday even though we celebrate the traditional day on Aug. 21st. It would be an understatement to say she's grown, she's loved, she's changed our lives. All of which are true. But most important, she's developing into a unique little person. We are having a blast and really looking forward to this Christmas as she is now in the habit of saying "meeeeee" and "minnnnnne" and so it starts...a healthy level of self-worth and there will be no stopping her. Can't wait to see her fully participate in the rip and tear.

We celebrated w/ a trip to a traditional mainland restaurant...PF Chang's! We did it though very much like in China--all the food comes at once. Audrey stood and bounced the entire time in the booth, like one of those wind up toys. After we headed home for Kathie's fantastic red cake (no communist puns necessary) and then we watched....you guessed it...the Red Wings and a "Red Out" at the Caps center. Both of our teams were victorious last night in honor of Audrey.

Last weekend we did our annual Middleburg Hunt parade. Last year it was the weekend before we left for China so it was really fun having Audrey w/ us to see the Huntsman and dogs ride through Middleburg, get a famous Mello-Out hot chocolate and afterwards pick up our tree. Pictures are at the end of the post. It was a chilly morning, probably the coldest so far.

I won't wax poetic on the anniversary. Suffice to say we love this little girl very much and feel very humbled, as with all of our kids, to have her here. Enjoy the Gotcha Vid one more time and some of the pics from our first few days with her in China.

Many Blessings,

Tom and Kath

All dressed up...what?....what upside down baby?

I heard clicking from downstairs, i snuck down to grab the camera, snuck up to grab this scene. Her first foray into dress up shoes.  Alena had a funny line when we were watching the video,  "I showed her how to work her stroller...I did NOT show her how to put in the baby!"

5 Lil Elves--Kickin' It

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

OwieVechkin shoots and scooooorrrrrrreeeZ!

Hey, thought you all might like a "short story" of a 6yr old coming into his own on the ice

8th game of the season for the Blue Sharks. Owen had 7 goals in his first 7 games (the top two kids probably have 20+ goals each). but until last week (two weeks after we started power skating lessons again--learning literally to skate like the pro's skate) he wasn't really covering the entire ice like i thought he could. Today we played the best team (they have 4 kids who are on the Selects travel team, these kids play 30+ add'l games around DC, Philly, and Balitimore) and 3 of the kids i swear to gosh shave! (they also have a full-time goalie who plays travel--whereas most teams like ours rotate each kid each week) anyway, i told Owen w/o two of our best players this morning, he might need to step up and fill their spot. we had 9 skaters, they had 13. it's a shift every 2min for our two lines.

this Red team plays super aggressive which in Mites translates to out of control. on his first shift he raced down for a loose puck and a kid literally checked him up against the boards. this is suppose to be no "purposeful" contact until the age of 11yrs and up. he got up and skated after the puck to disrupt their offensive flow, shift ended. on his next shift, he was all over the ice w/ a couple of breaks out of our zone stick handling (side to side w the puck while his stick was being hit) and got a shot off twice. at this point Red has scored twice and it's 2-0 w/ 8min gone in the 1st 15min period. Owen has two shots on goal and a couple of good chase downs on defense. his line hasn't given up a goal yet.

before the game Owen tried to grab a sip of my coffee..i said "back off! coffee's for closers" (for you Glengary/Glenross fans). he said, "i am going to score our first goal today", i said, "if you score the first goal, i'll buy you a coffee." next shift the puck goes down by our goalie, one of our players gets it, Owen breaks toward the other team's net (as our Head Coach has practiced w/ our kids every week) but the pass goes wide, Owen races to the right of the goalie, grabs the puck w/ a guy on him, skates around the net, makes a stick move on a guy waiting for him on the other side, surprises the goalie and rips it in for our 1st flamin' goal. Starbucks it is! (don't worry, we all went to Saint IHOP's afterwards). the Red team scores 3 more goals to end the period to make it 5-1. they are bigger and more aggressive, we have to be relentless on the puck.

but before the period ended, Owen brimming w/ confidence now jetted for another puck in their end. he was suppose to stay on defense, but no one else moved. he beat the Red team to the puck, but the kid behind just clobbered him down. he was slow to get up, shift ended and he motored back to the bench. i asked him if he wanted to chase that kid down. he started to cry, apparently the kids skate had hit the back of his leg. i got him calm pretty quick and said, "hey, you are leading this team today, they need you to stay aggressive, keep after the puck." he wiped his tears and headed out for his next shift and kept his skating up.

he ended up scoring another goal in the 3rd where he stole the puck from the other team at center ice, dragged the puck in front of him, chased it down as it skittered ahead, faked left after he gained control w/ his stick and shot right about 10 ft from the goalie, a rising wrist shot while on the move. at this point we were down 7-3. we were only outscored 2-1 in the 2nd period. Owie did okay on the puck, but his line did give up the two goals in front of our net in the second, as they started to watch the Red team w/ the puck instead of going right at them.

the end of the third was the best, the other team had only scored twice on us, we again had scored once, but Owie's line really got a second wind and didn't give up any goals that period. OwieVechkin (as i will now refer to him) was all over, he had a bunch of good breaks, would get skated down, but he kept driving up and down the ice. if the puck went against the boards, he was after it to chip it out. if it shot across ice from the scrum he was the first Blue Shark after it. 

anyway w/ 5:30 left the puck went deep and left of their goalie. Owen went after it w/ one of his teammates who was quickly chopped aside by this giant kid from the Red team. anyone remember the movie "the Sandlot" where the dog on the other side of the fence had through imagination and myth become the equivalent of a canine T-Rex? well this kid was bigger! twice the size of our hero. but that little son of buck would not move, he kept kicking the puck against the boards w/ his skate as his stick was being pinned against the boards by Kidzilla. he finally chipped it toward the goal away from the direction the big kid was pushing, he grabbed the puck w/ his stick while his line mates closed on the goal. Owen cut out toward the front of the net and slammed the puck at the goalie. it hit his stick bounding out front and center of the net, where big Sam (as opposed to little Sam) was there to collect the rebound and he slapped it home.

an assist for Owen and 2 goals--a 3pt morning. the Blue Sharks lost 9-4, but that's 75% of our offense, a very proud assistant coach and our Head Coach who was really glad the "kid who can stick handle around 5 guys in a phone booth" stepped up!

Halloween and other updates

Another gorgeous Fall day in NoVa (more pics below the post)

Audrey survived her first year of trick or treating.  She wore a classic costume worn first by Emma and then Alena.  Grandma Kroeckel has been responsible for so many great costumes, this one she did when we were in Kansas City, Emma was 1.5yrs old at the time.  I remember her round little face sticking out of that flower and her walking around my HayGroup office (actually, she was still doing her one-foot drag crawl if anyone can remember Emma's unique scooting style).

Any way, can you say deja vu' all over again with the round, cherub like face of Miss Audrey. She didn't do much trick or treating, mainly rode in the wagon eating the first pack of Skittles she was given.

Quick update:  Emma is swimming year round now, for Snow Swimming or local USA swimming club.  She's doing well, has great form off the blocks and through most of her strokes, still needs to work on kick and getting some power on those long  limbs (i can relate since she has my body type--i still don't think i have forearm muscles!)   But she loves it and this was her decision to focus on swimming.

Alena is doing dance and gymnastics and really prospering in school and with friends.  And we just finished her 3rd session of skating and she is finally getting on her edges and moving out. We hope to have her back swimming in the spring.  

Hugh progressed in skating and made it to his first "stick and shoots" w/ owen and I, skating in full gear and shooting shots.  He is doing great in school and Spanish which he takes twice a week.  He is a rascal. But behaves at school like an angel and is smart as a whip.  He is learning to play video games on his own, so we now have another thing to take away from him when bad.

Owen is doing well in school, really liking all day, we just need to get a little neater on our printing--which seems to have deteriorated since kindergarten when he use to take forever to print.  Hockey is going well in his first season of Mites.  He's starting to get a little more aggressive for the puck, but also likes watching his teammates skate around and shoot while he skates side to side.  Oh well, it's 6 yr old hockey.  He also started Cub Scouts this year, is in an 8-boy troop.  We've hiked, done a corn maize, collected food for Thanksgiving food drive and sold the world famous Scout popcorn.  The kids love the outdoors and Owen more than anyone likes bugs and critters and knives and guns...so we thought Scouting would be perfect!

Kathie and I celebrated our birthdays and 11yr anniversary the past 3 weeks.  After her summer of Triathloning, Kathie is working at working out at Lifetime Fitness.  The only problem:  Audrey has major separation anxiety.  But when she can go they have workouts ranging from boot camp to aerobic yoga to pilates and weightlifting.  This winter she will start swimming and Tri training again.  Most of her day is running kids around.  I try to pitch in now that my office is only 10min a way, but the schedule is a challenge.  I know everyone claims their busy and we certainly aren't looking for any badges--but c'mon people, save your sob stories for another family, 5 kids under 10 and 3 labs--you can't compute!

BusinessElite is doing better, now that we hired our own local development team along w/ a really strong database architect and a designer.  The product itself is looking outstanding and it will launch Dec 1st w/ one of the best Beta interfaces of any job site ever launched.  We fired our team in India after 5mos of slow response and inadequate design and development work. Next time Glenn and I hire Indians, they will have feathers!  The timing couldn't be better for us, because going against conventional wisdom, hiring of professionals and executives usually goes up in an economic downturn, not down.  I started w/ a new hockey team this winter and moved up from C to B.  I am now Left Wing for the Chiefs (of Slapshot fame).  The summer team made it to the semi's before we were knocked out.  I won't give you my point totals as it embarrasses my bro-n-law Scott...well he gets embarrassed for me!

The best part of this year is we have 4 season tickets to the Capitals behind the Caps bench about 20 rows up in the lower bowl of the Verizon center.   Been great fun for our kids and our business associates.

We are looking forward to Holdiays here, even though these are leaner times than we have experienced before--no matter--by early next year I think any financial worries will be gone w/ the pending success of BusinessElite.com.

Cheers for now,

Tom and Kath

The wizards and the flower

The kids and neighbors

We get turned a way for going over the family/house quota, so we split up into two groups

The Knight and his maiden

Owen hasn't quite grasped the meaning of 40+ season ticket games.  One night he was really upset I was at the game w/o him, he called my cell and could barely talk.  After I explained that the game was a work thing and that he could look for me on TV, he calmed down, ran to his room and put on his "rooting gear."  I snapped this pic after I got home that night.  Hockey is all about passion!!!!

 

Dad's getting older birthday!

Hockey players don't need front teeth!

Kathie's friends from High School and earlier were in town for a visit (Lori--to Kath's left--and her husband Mark and fam just moved to Winchester, VA about 40min west of us).  It was nice to be around midwesterners for a change, I forget what it's like to have an ego-less, agenda-less conversation.

She fell asleep on her doll one morning while I was working, all of the sudden I heard what sounded like snoring.

Proving Caps fans are made not born! This one went to the owner of the Caps, Mr Ted Leonsis whom i know from AOL--I haven't seen it on his blog yet, but expect it on the Verizon center big board one game.