He's Crafty!

After all the fun I had making our Christmas cards this year, I figured that I could come up with a way for Tyler to make his Valentine's for school this year. After all, it won't be much longer until he wants the store bought ones! So after scouting out the craft stores last weekend, I ended up with two things: paint and card stock. After that, I had to figure out what we were going to decorate them. That was when I remembered potato stamping, something I used to do all the time when I worked with the kids in college. After I ran the idea by Tyler, we went to town!
I cut the potatoes into heart stamps,

and let Ty go to town!

He really did an awesome job!

And like always, did it with a smile!

After he finished with enough for school, I told him to "go ahead and get messy". My poor guy said to me "what if I get it on my clothes?"....

That was quickly forgotten when he dipped his fingers into the paint!

After they all dried, I cut them into heart shapes and had Tyler sign each one. He did an great job signing his name over and over again!

And thanks to my fellow blogger for introducing me to a new website, The Crafty Crow, I found a way to make them more festive!

The proud artist with a finished creation!

I Love Hockey!

Last summer, Grandma Genovese bought Tyler a “rod hockey” tabletop game. When it was brought home, Tyler went to town. Being a bit young, he did not quite understand that the player moved in coordination to the rod they were attached to. Well, after just a few hours of play time, all the players and both the nets were stripped from the game in order to satisfy Tyler’s urge to play “real” hockey with the game.

Fast forward a few months to the fall. Frank brought home his old dry erase board that he had been using during the games. Instead of letting it go to waste, he gave it to Tyler. After all, it has all the essential markings for playing a pretend real hockey game—the red and blue lines, the face-off circles, and the crease! Now there was an even better excuse for those rod hockey players to be moved! Tyler quickly went to town and set up his own teams and reenacted some of the best games he has seen in his short 4 years.

Often times, he will play while we are relaxing at night. I have watched him set up all the players and at times I have asked him what they are doing. He always has these 12 men in various game mode—whether it be warming up before the game, listening to the National Anthem, or celebrating after a goal, they do it all! He also makes sure that his teams are aptly named—usually the “Fermi’s” are playing another team in their league. For those of you who need a refresher, Frank coaches the Fermi Falcons high school team.

I had to share these shots with you! I watched him for quite awhile and then when I went to upload the photos, I found a lot more shots I had taken of Tyler that I never posted of him setting up his guys in preparation for the “big game”!

The Zamboni cleaning the ice before the game. Tyler has a few little "Boni's" and is more than happy to explain to anyone how it cleans the ice!

Staging a fight-- an essential part of any great game!

Celebrating after a great goal (you can faintly see the black puck in the net)!

A closer shot of all the guys celebrating on the ice after their score!

And of course, shaking hands after the game! You can see that the goals have been moved from the crease and the 'Boni is getting ready to come on the ice and do a fresh sheet for next time!

As I was sitting there watching him put all this together, it is amazing how methodical he is-- he knows exactly what should happen when, who should be where, and he is very precise in it all! In the morning, he makes sure that all the guys are set up off the ice, standing, in perfect order. After all, you can't play a game with no one around to watch!

Pond Skating

Last week, Frank took Tyler to a local pond to see how he would do and if he would be able to skate. After two hours, Frank had his answer. Tyler loved it! I, of course, was disappointed that I missed the whole night and that the camera didn't have any batteries! But the weather was still very cold this week, and they decided to go again tonight! The pond they skate at is in East Longmeadow, and in the summertime, people go to the park to feed the ducks and swans. In the winter they do a great job of testing the ice our and cleaning the snow off the pond.
As soon as Tyler got on the ice, he took off! He simply loves to skate!

An essential part of a good skate is remembering the stick! Here's Tyler working on his face-off technique!

All smiles despite the cold!

Are you ready for some football?

Last night was Super Bowl Sunday! We had big plans at our house-- friends, football, and fun! The week had been rocky at our house due to our winter colds, but we figured by Sunday everyone would be just fine. After all, our friends kids had been sick, too! However, things continued to change right until that morning! At 9AM on Sunday the phone rang, and other kids were sick and sick+sick=no party!

Tyler was very excited about the big game! We tried to explain the funny commercials and all the hoopla surrounding the Super Bowl, but he just wanted to see the game (that's our son!). So after we figured out what our scaled down plans for the evening would look like, we all got into our comfy clothes, grabbed drink, food, and Kleenex, and gathered as a family!
Tyler opted for a special meal of nuggets and fries, and of course, ketchup! You can see his 3-D glasses sitting there. He really was not sure what they were for!

Tyler made sure he got a shot of me. Despite a mediocre season, I am still sitting with my Green Bay blanket!

Tyler and Frank hung out with their matching hats on! Like father, like son!

Preparing to watch the 3-D Disney commercial! Tyler loved it! At first he was not so sure about wearing the glasses and watching, but then he got a small taste of what it is like and was hooked!

The piece de resistance! Springsteen at halftime! Frank really would not have minded this year of the game was cancelled and he was the only feature of the night!