Autumn Update

It seems that the bloggin has almost entirely disappeared. Between Facebook posts, this doesn't get much attention at all. Hope to change that.

Since last we posted... lots of big changes:

Tina is now a stay at home mom ! Yes, after 23 years with Pillsbury / General Mills Tina's position was eliminated and she now is at home. It's been a big adjustment but we're getting along well. Tina took the summer to spend time with the kids and this fall she is spending a lot of time with Madeleine and her schoolwork.

Evan is still doing baseball. This summer was spent with his travel team and this fall another travel team. We decided to switch to an independent travel team instead of Hatfileld for various reasons and he really likes it. Actually most of his Hatfield buddies are on this team with him. This fall Evan is in the Jazz Band, Concert Band as well as the running club at the middle school. Most nights there is one thing or another to do.

Madeleine had a great summer with Hatfield swim team and is swimming indoors this fall with the North Penn Aqautic Club. She had a great summer season and is looking forward to continuing her success this fall and winter. Madeleine is also playing the saxaphone and continues to do Odyssey of the Mind.

I'm still doing the same thing... taking the kids to their activities.

This summer we were able to head to Utah and Colorado for vacation. We were able to do a lot of hiking and biking. Definitely an active vacation !

That's the 3 minute update !

Winter Wrap Up

It's been a while since I last posted. Lately Facebook has been the outlet of choice in communicating, however I like the idea of the blog.

Highlight from the past few months:

• Christmas was quiet and peaceful. Tina's sister Mindy visited as well as Adrian (our little brother). The kids had a great time. We went skiing (snowboarding) after Christmas. The kids snowboarded, I skiied. Lots of fun.
• Kids sport over the winter included basketball for both, swimming for Madeleine and baseball for Evan. Sports seem to be a yearlong pursuit for the kids. It's great that they are busy. Tina and I just need to make sure we have time for each other and ourselves.
• Evan is playing in the North Penn Wind Ensemble. This is his second year doing this. He really likes the trombone and we're hopeful that he will continue on to middle school.
• Madeleine and her team competed in the Odyssey of the Mind competition March 19th. They didn't place, but scored ahead of last year. Their long term problem was to take a simple solution to a problem and make it complicated. Their solution was a pet food feeder. It started with a marble going through a tube, then through a funnel into a milk carton which triggered a pulley and knocked a golf ball through two gutters to knock a cylinder of food into a bowl. It was a pretty unique solution on which they worked very hard. Glad they competed and glad it's over.
• Tina and I are taking our bi-annual cruise this weekend. We're going to Florida and the Bahamas, leaving through Baltimore.
• On top of all that we're getting ready for baseball season. This includes getting ready for opening day and making sure all the coaches have what they need.

That's it for now. Hopefully you won't see the next post in July.