New Year's Eve hockey!

Scott has always wanted to go see a New Year's Eve TriCity Americans Hockey game.  They always play the Spokane Chiefs, their rivals.  The games between the two teams are always spirited.  For Christmas, Scott's parents gave him tickets to the game last night.  Even better, they were front row tickets so we got to bang on the glass and yell at the players up close and personal.  It was AWESOME.

The Zamboni came so close he knocked on the glass as he drove by and scared Spud!

NEW YEARS EVE, BABY!  Oh yeah!

Who knew hockey teams had cheerleaders?  The All-American Spirit with the mascot Winger.

Here come the Americans!

These kids are so young.  Most of them go to a local high school while playing hockey.  It must be hard to be so far from their families.

Watching the action down the ice.

Face off!

Me and my favorite little man.

Americans win!

Have a nice trip home Chiefs!  GO AMS!

Us with Winger following the win.  We also received free Chalupas at Taco Bell and a free video rental at Blockbuster.  Who knew Blockbuster was still open?!?

Doctors!

Spud's doctor suggested that we get his eyes and ears checked by specialists.  His ears had some scarring from all the ear infections he had as a child and one of his eyes was testing as 20/50.  Today he had both of his specialist appointments. 

 He climbed up in the chair and had a complete exam on his eyes.  He actually really liked the doctor and the tests.  He was super enthusiastic.

 Getting the eyes looked at.  Turns out he is a tad bit far-sighted but that is normal for his age.  He also over compensates when focusing, but again, that is not unusual.  In the end the verdict was everything looked good, no glasses, check again in a year!  Yay!

Following the eye exam we drove 2 blocks to the next appointment, getting his ears checked.  He has some fluid behind the ear drums, but otherwise can hear just fine.  No more "my ears don't work" excuses when he gets in trouble for not listening!

Advent Activities

 Each day of December, Spud is getting an activity to do to get in to the Christmas spirit.  So far we have had a snowball fight (with marshmallows), made Christmas cards, and donated food to the food bank.  Today was to go visit Prancer and Dancer who are hanging out in town waiting for the big day.

 He was excited and couldn't focus long enough for me to get a good picture. 

 Prancer and Dancer.  Not sure which one is which.  :)

 Inside Beaver Bark (where the reindeer are) they had an amazing Christmas set up.  This was as close to Santa as he would get though. 

 He found a new flippered friend.  He is beginning to think he may like seals even more than walruses.

 There is a koi pond in the middle of the store.  Spud loved them.

 These are some well trained fish.  They swim right up to you, waiting for food.

 I loved the nostalgic Christmas set up here.  He really just wanted to sit there and watch Rudolph.

 The display outside.  We had a good time today.

Sitting at the traffic light, I noticed this scene.  He was totally rocking out in the back seat.

He bleeds crimson AND cardinal

Why does he like the Badgers?  We were wondering, and now we know.  He is one happy little man tonight, even if he is a bit odd.

Lights!

Last night Grandma took Spud out to see Muppets.  Following the movie we met them for dinner at Red Robin and then to Senske to see the Christmas lights display.

I took a video of the lights, though it is kind of small.  It was pretty fun though.  They do an amazing job every year!

 Senske gives out fancy glasses that let you see pictures in the lights.  One of them showed snowflakes and other had snowmen.  The snowmen were quite the hit!  So was the candy cane they gave the little guy.  Not a hit?  Santa Claus.  There was much crying.  He needs to calm down.  It's not like Santa is mean or anything.

When we got home, the boys played with Scott's new toy.  Yes, that is a Nerf shot gun.  My house will never be the same...

The Five Year Check Up

Today Spud and I treked to Pullman for a couple doctor appointments.  His was a five year check up, and mine was to have a dumb old biopsy done.  We are debating who hurts more, but I think his appointment was a lot more fun.  More on the hurting later.

Our first stop once we got to town was Cougar Country.  Love that place.  We split a chicken basket.  The boy had a root beer while I partook of a diet Coke.  (And since you can't read the bottom of the shirt it says MINNESOTA: May the Forest Be With You.  :) )

We drove around town to the Crimson and Grey Store where we picked up some Cougar Gold and a Daily Evergreen.  Spud asked me about the guy on the front and I explained that his name was Bill Moos and he was in charge of all the Cougar Sports.  Spud now has a career goal because he told me he wants to be Bill Moos when he grows up because he loves the Cougars SOOOO much.  I'm so proud!

Of course, no trip to Pullman would be complete without driving past the old house.  Looking good!

Spud was a trooper at the appointment.  He really enjoyed the eye exam, and refused to put the thing down, even after the test was done.  No way he was having his pulse checked without at least one eye covered!  So stats from the visit (with birth stats in parantheses):

Height: 43.35 in/50-70th percentile (21.75 in/90th percentile)
Weight: 40 lbs 8 oz/50th percentile (9 lbs 0 oz/95th percentile)

So as you can see, he is not quite the monster he used to be!  Long and lean, that is for sure!

After the fun stuff came the shots, all 5 of them.  We had the option of doing them in a few different appointments but it is so hard to get up there I opted to do them all at once.  I felt bad, but financially it was what needed to be done.  Poor kiddo cried.  (Though during my biopsy, I got a shot and all he said was "Eh, it's not big deal.  I was just faking it earlier."  Bum!)

After 5 shots, the least I could do was get the kiddo a milkshake!  Uneventful drive home, and now he is sound asleep, worn out from traveling and ouchies (he managed to fall out of the booth at Cougar Country, trip over a rug when returning the car to Grandma, and fall over his own feet at home.  It was a rough day for his knees!)

Random Spud quote of the day:  He was watching Thor on our way to Pullman.  At one point, (which you will know if you saw the movie) he exclaimed, "Oh Stan Lee!" in an exasperated voice.  Nerd in training, that one!

Gymnastics and Legos! A great night!

Typically Spud has gymnastics on Wednesday nights, however tomorrow he gets to have his five year check up, complete with shots.  It seemed like a good idea to move gymnastics up a day in order for him to participate prior to being stabbed repeatedly with a needle.  :)

Waiting for class to start.  Some of the kids in the background are REALLY good.  It is hard to focus on the 5 year olds with some serious flipping going on in other parts of the gym.

Stretching with teacher Dante and the rest of his class.  The kid in camo fell on the bars tonight.  He came running over to his mom (who was seated right behind us) yelling "I smacked my nuts on the bar!" loud enough for the whole gym to hear it.  We were having a hard time not laughing at him, and his poor mom was having a hard time getting him to quiet down!

Unfortunately, no flash photography is allowed at the gym during practice, so unless they are really close, I can't get any good pictures.  Spud did awesome on the bars today, though he did manage to fall flat on his face at one point.  Upper body strength is definitely a work in progress.

Great Grandma has been sick off and on all month and wasn't able to get him a birthday present.  Instead she sent money, which he was very excited about.  Grandma and Grandpa also gave him some money for Christmas.  Tonight he used it to buy a fancy Ninjago LEGO plane.  He was a lot more excited than the picture lets on!

This week in our little homework that we do, we are working on the letter N.  We had a bit of a disagreement over this.

S: I hate N.  Nothing begins with N!
M: You're right!  It does!
S: No Mommy, Nothing begins with N!
M: I know!  I agree with you.  Nothing totally begins with N.