Autumn Snacks

Our yummy spinach dip and Amanda's great pumpkin design! She is so good!

Our pumpkin's!

We were to bring appitizers to the ringette BBQ and we created cheese pumpkins and a spinach dip!

Riot ~ Ringette Team

Riot is the name of our ringette team this year. They are a great bunch of girls and amazing parents. We got together today for a BBQ at a team member's house. I do not know how we got so lucky to have such a great team but I am so grateful!

New friends and old friends.....a team !

Warm soup

I love fall, did I already say that? I love love love making homemade soup, it is really fun. Anyone who knows me know I do not like to cook, much. I love making soup. We have already had some great soups. A few weeks ago I made boiled chicken and saved the broth...tons of bags frozen in the freezer........mmmmmm! Tatyanah commented today that todays soup was the best. It was quite simple.

I love SOUP!

Fall

Fall

Fall in Alberta is absolutely beautiful! I love it here. Fall is my favorite time of year. I love the ever changing colors and the amazing crunching sounds of the leaves under foot!

The skyline in Edmonton is remarkable!

The air is crisp and fresh!

The trails are so beautiful to walk or bike in, as a matter of fact this weekend is suppose to be really warm, so a bike ride will be amazing, I can't wait! It is also a time to get ready for all the coziness of winter.

I love St Albert! I love Canada! I love fall!

Knitting!

I have begun my crazy knitting craze. I find I love knitting for a few months every few years. Well it has begun. I have made 7 pairs of slippers and still have more to make.

I made a few beanies and 1 sock so far. I made a cool checker scarf and I am off to make more!

One of the best parts about knitting is the cats, especially Gia. Gia is not to playful normally, she is bit of a snot. but when the wool is out she plays and bounces and runs up the yarn. She rolls the ball around. I love it.

Need to sign out and do some more knitting!

Birthday!

I have been overwhelmed by the birthday wishes I received yesterday! Facebook and texts are amazing :)

My birthday was a magical day! I woke up beside my best friend and partner, she whispered sweet wishes to me and we enjoyed the beginning of the day quietly...for a few minutes!

We had ringette tryouts, Lay had to work an hour so on my birthday she dragged me out of bed to go to work with her!

All my kids were home and we had dinner with them, Kassia has now joined 'my kids'. It was lovely!

I got a gorgeous watch, I love love love it. I have always looked for one but I am horrid at picking stuff out for myself so it is amazing. I got some great books and coupons for back rubs, foot massages , 1 hour free time, walk in the parks, movies etc. I got a gorgeous mug for my hot chocolate and chai. And a Earls certificate mmmmmmmmmm one of my favorites!

The best part was a nice day with my family, Amanda, Jake, Tatyanah, Kassia and Tim!

And maybe the pumpkin pie!

Jake's School!

Jake is an amazing kid...

He has been unschooled most his life and decided to 'do' high school this year. And when Jake decides to do something he does it 100%. So he is now Teacher Taught. I no longer have to do anything, except clean his clothes, feed him, teach him about life, monitor video game use and so on...but as for school he calls or emails his teachers...I LOVE it!

In this adventure I was a wee bit concerned how he was going to do, I knew in a bit he would be great but learning about things in this way I thought would be a bit hard and take some adjusting.

Well Jake received his first marks for English and Science!

Science 91%

English 90%

We are so proud of him and more importantly he is so proud of himself!

Ringette Tryouts

Ringette Tryouts

What a crazy last few weeks! Tatyanah has been trying out for the team she will play on in Ringette this year and she has been amazing. She has played ringette for 3 years now and this is the first year she has really applied herself fully. She tried very hard before ....most of the time... but now she went hard the whole time. She wants to play on the A team and that was her goal. I think she has a great shot. She finds out today and she could not sleep last night. She is generally easy to go to sleep even nights before tryout skates but last night she was up until 2am.

I know she is a great kid and at times it is really hard to watch them give their all and then wait in anticipation for the results of another person deciding if your child is 'good' enough for what as a parent you "know" they are. I know she will play where she is suppose to. She will have fun and play the sport she loves! That is what is most important!

So today we wait for 'the' phone call.

I am proud of her, she knows she played her best in evaluations and she said where ever she plays is great...although she hopes A.

Ringette!!

Ringette - A Quick Primer

Ringette is a fast-paced ice skating sport enjoyed by over 25,000 Canadian girls and women of all ages. Besides Canada, ringette is played on an organized basis in the United States, Finland, Sweden, France and Russia.

For a quick look at the game here is a video on Youtube courtesy of the CBC : ringette at a glance.

Currently, Finland and Canada are the top two countries in the sport. Both have strong national teams which usually meet in the finals of the World Ringette Championship.

The World Championship started in 1990 and is held in November every two years. There have been six world championships to date (a summit series between Canada and Finland was held in 1998). Canada has won four and Finland has won three.

Finland is the current champion having defeated Canada in Sweden last November 2004. For all the details see here.

The rules ensure passing, skating and teamwork are part of every game. The game combines the fast-break of basketball, the dexterity of lacrosse, the speed of hockey and the fitness of soccer. The sport has some similarities to hockey. It's played on ice with skates and sticks by six players on each of two teams. And the players' mission is to score goals by shooting the object of play into nets at either end of the rink during stop-time periods of play.

But that's where the comparisons really end. The stick is straight (no blade). The object being pursued by players is a rubber ring, not a puck. There is no intentional body contact. There are two 20-minute periods. And the rules of ringette make it a wide-open and dynamic sport.

The emphasis is on play-making and skating skills. Players cannot carry the ring across the blue lines, they have to pass it across. Teams have six skaters: a goalie, two defense, a center and two forwards.

Both teams are allowed only three skaters in the offensive zone - not including the goalie. Typically this means that the offensive team has two forwards and a center while the defensive team has their center and two defense. The offensive zone extends to the Free Play Line - the thin blue line at the top of the face off circles. If the defensive team has more than three skaters in their zone during the last two minutes of a game a penalty shot can be called; at other times they lose possession.

The ring carrier can not carry the ring in either direction over the Blue Line - this is Off-side. The ring must be passed over the blue line to another team mate. The team mate has usually skated ahead of the ring carrier and is already across the Blue Line. This is the total reverse of hockey where the puck must cross the Blue Line before any offensive player does. This eliminates the situation where one player can carry the ring from one end to the other. Passing is a requirement.

Neither team is allowed to have skaters in the crease. If the team with the ring has a skater in the crease then they lose possession. If a player attempts to take the ring out of the crease they lose the ring. If the offensive team loses the ring it is a Goalie Ring. If the defensive team loses the ring then the offensive team gains the ring on a Free-Pass in the attacking zone.

On a Goalie Ring the goalie is given five seconds to throw the ring towards a team mate. The referee counts the seconds by extending his/her arm.

If the ring is in the crease the goalie has five seconds to get rid of it by either hitting it with her stick or picking it up and throwing it. If the ring is thrown beyond the Blue Line then the offensive team re-gains possession on a Free-Pass.

Face-Offs in ringette are like free kicks in soccer and are called Free-Pass. The ring is placed in the appropriate face-off circle. On the whistle one player then takes possession and has five seconds to either shoot or pass to a team mate; they cannot 'carry' the ring out of the circle. During this five seconds no other player is allowed in the face-off circle.

There is no icing as in hockey, however a two-line pass (across both blue lines) is an Off-Side; i.e. the center line does not come into play.

Penalties, similar to hockey, are called for various infractions. Body checking is not allowed, however incidental body contact is permitted if the player is legitimately fighting for ring control. The usual way to get the ring back from the opposing team is to "check" the stick, this is permitted if contact is made in the lower two-thirds of the stick. Higher contact is considered high sticking or slashing depending on the outcome of the missed stick check.

When a team is two players short they can only have two skaters in their defensive zone.

Like hockey, ringette divisions are split up by age and skill level (i.e. "A", "B", "C"). Instead of mite, novice, atom, bantam, midget and junior divisions, ringette has bunny, novice, petite, tween, junior, belle and open divisions.

A recent rule change has introduced the 30 second shot clock. This was introduced into the game in order to avoid "ring ragging" which is a strategy used by some teams once they attain a good lead. Currently all competitive teams of age greater than 11 years old use the shot clock. Provincial, national and international games and tournaments us the shot clocks as well.