jillandscott.com

Flyers Fanboys

Tucker and I had a great morning! We went to the annual Flyers' Wives Charity Carnival at the Wachovia Center. This was T's big Christmas present, and he was very excited (okay, so I was as excited as he was). We signed up to get an autograph from Claude Giroux (2nd-year sensation who is a lot of fun to watch -- he scored a goal last night, in fact, which of course Tucker knew).



Unfortunately, we both made rookie mistakes (even though Giroux had a very long line this year, I don't know if it was like that last year for him, and Tucker and I haven't done the autograph thing much), so Tucker has a great autograph in the middle of his left armpit!! Giroux did better when I handed him the program and he signed in the middle of the page. ;-)

Ray Emery, our goalie, was a little more experienced; I guess given that he's made it to the Stanley Cup finals, one would hope so (before his very long and very humbling year in Siberia -- no kidding, he played in SIBERIA), so he interacted with the kids a little more. We've become big fans of his this year; he seems really calm in goal, and was a lot of fun to watch -- until he got injured, of course!

With the help of Emery's assistant, who was much more involved in prepping things, we got a great autograph right where Tucker wanted it. (The shoulder is better, don't you think?)



The highlight, though, was getting our picture with Lord Stanley's Cup. Much to Jill's surprise, we even got to touch it. I took this picture from the side, but Tucker and I got our picture taken together by the professionals, and in that one, I think I have a bigger grin than he does! It was really neat to get to touch it and get to see all of the engravings. Very impressive.



On the way out, Tucker got to show us how he wants to be dressed some day when he plays for the Cup himself. ;-)

So while it turns out to be difficult to get an 8-year-old excited about two pieces of paper on Christmas morning (the tickets), the event was a HUGE success.  They raised a lot of money for charity, and we had a great time.  We'll be sure to mark it on the calendar for 2011!

FINALLY!

Yep, look closely ... no training wheels! We haven't pushed, but a few weeks ago, Scott planted the seed, and finally, Tucker took the bait. Glad to see he finally got the nerve up. A couple of quick laps in the driveway and all of a sudden he wanted to go for a big ride on the street! He needs a little more practice, but I'm glad we're finally there!

It wouldn't be a proper ride without all the pads and stuff, by the way -- you can tell that my husband, Safety Boy, is definitely proud of this effort!

And here's how he did it, too -- with Piper in her walker on the driveway and Tucker wrangling his bike into submission.  Mommy, happily, was off in the city for the day with girlfriends...!

I know I mentioned on my Facebook page that the cherry tree in our yard burst into bloom last week.  Here's a picture of it, in all its glory.  Now that it has been a week and we've had some wind and rain, there's more pink "snow" on the ground than pink blossoms in the tree, but it's a gorgeous sight while it lasts!

While Mommy was taking pictures of the tree, Tucker decided to climb "his" tree in the front yard, as well.  Here he is making his way into the Japanese maple.

The Princess of Pink was outside, too -- enjoying the blossoms and trying to figure out just what they were.  It was pretty quick work for her to decide that no, no matter how much they *resemble* cotton candy, they're just not yummy.  At all.

Time for a little walking practice with Daddy.  I love the high-stepping show pony stance here -- she's not sure about the blades of grass that tickle her feet...

What a face ...

Look at those eyes. I almost feel sorry for the boys she'll meet....

Nope. Never mind.  I don't.

Love, Daddy

Piper's First Birthday

Hard to believe it's already been a year, but somehow, we've all survived and Piper turned one last week. Of course, Jill had a blast planning a birthday party for her little girl, since she got to do it all up in pink and orange, and she outdid herself on the cake (no surprises there). (edited by Jill to add: awww, ain't he sweet to me?)

But I'm getting ahead of myself. First, we celebrated her birthday with the usual presents and cards.

It's hard to be this glamorous ... really hard, actually. The sunglasses lasted about 5 seconds, maybe less. But we got the photo! ;-)

Best prize from the day ... the tissue paper that came along with one of her presents. She thought this was awesome. Biggest smiles of the day, by far.

Jill ... just Jill.

Okay, so the tissue paper wasn't the best present. Cookie Monster was. She loves "coo-hee," even more than Elmo. She even laughs like him when she sees him. Very cute.

The party was the next day, a lovely, blue-sky filled Saturday afternoon. We invited some friends over, all of whom have kids Tucker's age, so we had a piñata for them to break open (he picked it out himself).  Birthday Girl gets first shot, of course!  Piper got her first feel for a hockey stick, which Scott loved ... hey, even though she's beating on a pink cupcake, it still counts!

When the bigger kids took the stick and swung hard, Piper wasn't so sure: "Hey, Mommy and Daddy don't let me do that!" The poor doomed cupcake had no chance and didn't last long. Candy for everyone!

Like I said, Jill went all-out on the cake, making another pink cupcake. This one, however, was delicious ... and didn't last that long either, now that I think about it.

Piper didn't know what to make of the cake. She was curious, but didn't get that it was something to eat for a while.

PS: The shirt says, "i am one" and is from here; the custom-made (fabric-covered!) birthday hat/headband thing is from here.  No, I did NOT make those myself, but thank you if you thought so!)

And even after we gave her some, she never really got into it. She had a couple of bites, but we didn't get any of those great messy photos you want from their first birthday. Oh, well — it was still a lot of fun and a great success.

"That's it ... I'm outta here." 'Nuff said.

Happy birthday, Piper!

Love, Mommy and Daddy

More Vail Shots

Finally catching up on the rest of our trip to Vail. Mostly shots of Piper, who recovered from her cold and perked up the second week, enjoying more time out of the condo, or in this case, in the condo. Jill loves that headband! ;-)

We met Papa & Sugar one afternoon on the hill, bringing Piper up to see the top of the mountain. Can you tell she's Jill's daughter?  I mean, look at the coloring, her eyes, and that nose (red from the cold, of course)....

Tucker really came into his own on the hill the second week, but more about that later. For now, he's just a cute kid having lots of fun in the snow!

Piper got into the fun-in-the-snow thing. This really is the first time we put her down in it, and she gingerly reached out and touched the snow, and then giggled. It was great. Hopefully we've got another snow bunny on our hands!
 

Peek-a-boo, I see you!

Okay, one glory shot for Scott is allowed this year. He met a couple of friends for a weekend of skiing, and they spent Saturday at Beaver Creek, where this photo was taken. Scott is on Royal Elk Glade, a really fun run through the trees in the back of the Birds of Prey part of the mountain. You don't see scenes like this, especially with fresh powder and not a lot of other skiers. Scott was in heaven!

And so was Tucker! Yep, we actually ended up in several places where the only way down was to choose from one of the double blacks ... Scott said that by the end he basically had a ski buddy with him who could pretty much go anywhere on the mountain they wanted. Here is Tucker at the top of the some of the longest and hardest runs on the front of the mountain. He did a great job getting down, too!

It was snowing too hard to get the best picture of the week, sadly, as Tucker went down a run with Scott where the EX (expert only) signs showed you where to avoid the cliffs ... but the powder was up to their knees and the pictures didn't really turn out through the snow. Tucker was really proud as he passed the EX signs screaming, "wahoooooo!"