Mom's little helper

Noah is so good about shoveling the driveway before school. He has been doing this all month since it started to snow on December 1. He challenges himself to get the whole thing done before the bus comes. This Friday he succeeded. Great job Noah!

She shoots, she scores

Grace scored her first basket in her CYO basketball game today against Seton. She was very shy about telling Dad that she had made a basket. Go Grace!

Nama Carolyn came along to see the game. It's always nice to have a cheering section!

Phew!

With a week to spare, our Christmas cards are in the mail! We have had them here for over a week, but it took me a while to get the holiday letter written and the addresses all set. They should all arrive by December 25, and that is the important thing. Thanks!

Webster Pentathlon

Grace participated in the Webster Pentathlon this morning. She swam in six events. She had personal record times in her five individual events. She took 1.94 seconds off her 50 free time, 1.69 seconds off her 100 IM time, 7.09 seconds off her 50 back time, 0.58 seconds off her 50 breast time, and 18.88 seconds off her 50 butterfly time!

I was the "head timer" (sounds more impressive than it is) for this session, so Noah took the pictures from this meet. Here is one of Grace and me on deck. Grace didn't want her bracelets to slow her down, so she had me wear them - all ten!

Holiday Concert at Plank North Elementary

Grace played in her holiday concert on Thursday night as part of the band. Noah and his friend Cole were supportive siblings (Cole's brother Conor plays cello in the orchestra) and passed the time sharing a set of earphones and listening to music.

Grace's latest swim meet

Yesterday Grace swam in the Niagara 14 & Under Power Point Championship meet. That's a mouthful, but what it means is that all swimmers need to beat a cutoff time to qualify. Grace was the only 10 year old to swim in the meet. She was excited about that. She placed 6th in the 100 yard breaststroke. Her name was announced, and she received her ribbon and stepped up on the podium. That's her on the left of this photo. Go Grace!!

Playing in the snow

Snow started falling on December 1 here in Rochester. The weathermen tell us we are in for a snowy week. Noah made the best of it today, spending almost all the daylight hours outside. He came in periodically to change hats, gloves, get a scarf, and have some hot chocolate. He should sleep well tonight!

These pictures are of him snowboarding off the back deck and modeling his new Mohawk hat that I got him a couple of weeks ago. The inside is fleece, and he says it keeps his head nice and warm. Happy Winter!

It's that time of year again

This morning we went outside to get a picture of the kids for the annual holiday card. It was snowing lightly which made for a good setting. Grace picked the back yard by a pine tree. This is not the picture selected - you'll have to wait to receive your card in the mail to check it out. They were good sports about having it done. Noah was all bundled up, so he put on his snow pants and set out to shovel the driveway and play in the snow. Enjoy the winter!!!

Grace's first basketball game

Last night was Grace's first basketball game. She is playing in the CYO league for St. Rita's which is just up the street from us. As you can see, I am not very good at taking action shots where basketball is concerned. She did hustle and had a great time. Her team lost the game, but she still had fun!

Share the Season

Friday night was Share the Season at Plank North. Grace and Noah sang in the holiday choir. Grace wasn't too keen on having her picture taken, and Noah was on stage with his friends Michael and Jon singing away. It was Grace's last year attending as a student which was sad for Lou and me.

McKenzie Thanksgiving 2010

We all got together on Thursday afternoon at our house for a holiday meal.

Everyone brought something along to help with dinner. Stacy made her yummy stuffed mushrooms and brought dolce gorgonzola with cranberry chutney as appetizers. We had the usually turkey dinner with all the trimmings. For dessert, Shannon made pumpkin cream pie and her traditional Toll House pie.
We gave Shannon her birthday presents as she turns 40 on the 27th. She loved the print from Mom, the bracelet and table runner from Stacy, and the scrapbook from me. Jack gave her a diamond bracelet which was very pretty.
It was fun to have everyone together!

Our first Turkey Trot

Grace and I ran our first Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning. The picture is of our friend Trish with us after the race. There were over 3500 participants running! Lou and Noah cheered us on and took pictures.

Noah at Splash Lagoon

Today Noah left for an overnight birthday party at Splash Lagoon in Erie, PA. This picture was sent by the birthday boy's mom to let us know they had arrived safely. Noah was very excited about going to the water park and staying with his friends. He is a lucky guy!

Grace at the Power Point Qualifier Meet

After running the 5K, we came home, quickly changed, and went to Monroe Community College for the Single Age Power Point Qualifier Meet. The purpose of the meet is to make cut times to be able to participate in the championship meet held in March. Grace swam well. She came in second overall in the 100 backstroke taking half a second off her best time. She came in sixth overall in the 100 IM taking over 4 seconds off her best time. She swam well in the 100 breaststroke coming in first in her heat and taking almost three seconds off her best time. Not sure where she placed overall as the results weren't posted by the time we left the pool tonight. Grace also swam in two relays with her team and did well in both.

It's just after 8pm, and Grace is in bed almost asleep. She had a big day!

Grace runs her fourth 5K

Today was the culmination of Grace's Girls on the Run program she has been participating in this fall. It was a beautiful fall day - sunny and warm at 60+ degrees. The run was at North Ponds Park here in Webster. She asked me to run with her again. We ran with Grace's friend Maddie, and they ran the whole way without stopping.

The first picture on this post is of Grace, Maddie, Simon, Manny and Zac. Andrew brought Simon, Manny, Faith, and Don out to cheer the girls on. The second picture is of Grace and Noah after the race. Grace got a cool medal and a neat gift bag along with some Goody hair products for running the 5K.

Go Grace

Grace's swim meet

Grace did very well at her swim meet last night. She swam in three individual events and the anchor leg of a relay where her team came in third. For this meet in all events, she was swimming against boys and girls.
For 50 yard breaststroke, she came in 1st overall with a time of 44.68 which was 3.72 seconds faster than her previous best.
For 100 yard IM, she came in 2nd overall with a time of 1:29.38 which was 5.01 seconds faster than her previous best.
For the 100 free, she came in 8th overall with a time of 1:22.35 which was 27.89 seconds faster than her previous best! The pictures here are from the 100 free. Lou is congratulating her on a great swim and a great meet. Go Grace!

Surprise Surprise

Grace was named a Student of the Month! We are so proud of her.

Plank North Physical Education Students of the Month
Mrs. Craig and Mr. Sayers are very proud of all the students at Plank Road North Elementary. We would like to take this time to recognize two 5th grade students that have demonstrated characteristics that were extraordinary for this month. These two students have shown that they are working continuously at a high level of achievement. A student must go above and beyond what is expected of them, and demonstrate they are not only an outstanding student of Physical Education, but also a superior member of the Plank Road North community. Characteristics exhibited include the progression of the 40 Developmental Assets, personal living skills, and skillful moving. Congratulations to this month’s recipients Grace Germano and Zach Anne for the month of September and Ambra Mooney and Mason DeLuca for the month of October. Mrs. Craig and Mr. Sayers sat down with the students to ask them a few questions, and here are the responses. September Student Athletes: Grace is a fifth grader in Mrs. Rokosz’s room. Her favorite subject is math. Grace stays really active outside of school; she is involved in the local basketball programs, the lacrosse club, and the swimming team. Grace is also busy inside of school with the different organizations; she participates in the Girls on the Run program, the band, intramurals and is a member of the Plank North Safety Patrol. If you ever have Grace over for dinner she is real easy to please, her favorite dinner is a hot dog. When Grace was asked what she would like to be when she grew up she quickly responded “Something in Athletics.”

http://www.websterschools.org/files/filesystem/PRN%20Newsletter%20-%20Nov%202010.pdf

Happy Halloween

It was a cold and wet Halloween, and the kids had fun any way! Grace dressed up as a honey bee, and Noah was a werewolf. They were able to dress warm under their costumes and stay semi-warm as they went house to house.

Grace trick or treated with Simon, Manny, and the gang. Noah went door to door with Jon. They got loads of candy on our street and then went over to La Quinta for some more.

Hope you all had fun!

Home again

It's so good to be home. This week I was at the grand opening of the Woodmore Wegmans in Maryland. I took the 6:50am flight out of Rochester on Tuesday and was at the store by 10am. My job was to support the store management with any distribution needs they had. The job involved a lot of problem solving and facilitating and communicating.

My hotel was about 15 minutes from the store, and it was a treat to eat out every night although it wasn't good for my Weight Watchers! Our friends from Tyler Place were going out to eat Thursday night in Glen Echo and invited me along. It was fun to see them again after five years - Rodney and Maria, and Adam and Jodi. Hopefully we can get together for spring break.

It was hard to be away from home for four whole days. Lou did a great job of holding down the fort. The house was sparkling clean when I got home! It's nice to be back in Rochester ...

Grace's swim meet vs. Greece

Today Grace had a swim meet vs. Greece. She swam the 100 butterfly, the 200 individual medley, and the 200 medley relay. She had fun with her friends swimming even though she didn't have the greatest day in the pool. It was her first time swimming the 100 fly, and she swallowed water on her second lap and stopped. She was still recovering when she had to swim the IM, so it was a tough race for her. She did very well in the relay swimming a 50 breaststroke for her team. Go Grace!

The first picture was taken by Lou as Grace was diving in to start one of her races. I am in the background (second from the left) helping out as a timer. Can't say I look as good as I would like! Time to get back to the workout schedule.

The second picture is of Grace and her friends Eric and Alec. Everyone knows you have more fun between events rather than while you are swimming!

Canandaigua Lacrosse

Yesterday was Grace's second and last tournament of the fall season. She played five games and scored two goals. The team was 5-0. It was a beautiful fall day although a bit chilly. Aunt Stacy and Uncle Brian brought Charlie and Mom to see a game. It was nice of them to travel all that way!

Grace and Simon

This picture was taken on Saturday, October 9 in our neighborhood. Grace is with her best friend Simon. He was diagnosed in April with stage 4 neuroblastoma and has undergone six rounds of chemotherapy as well as a surgery at Sloan-Kettering Hospital in New York City. Grace and Simon love to hunt ghosts, build forts, and play kickball. Please keep Simon in your thoughts - Grace wears her bracelet daily that reads "Love and Prayers for Simon".

Grace's first lacrosse tournament

Today was Grace's first lacrosse tournament. She played girls' lacrosse last year but had the flu in October of 2009 and missed this tournament. It was a beautiful fall day - started out clear and cool and 40 degrees and warmed up to 65 degrees and stayed sunny. We dressed in layers and settled in to watch her play nine games. There were two Webster grade 5/6 teams, but there really weren't enough for two teams but more than enough for one. So the girls who wanted to play extra could. Of course that applied to Grace. Her first game was at 9am, and her last was at 330pm. The games lasted 25 minutes each. She was exhausted and went to bed at 8pm tonight. She ran all day! Grace played goalie for three games which was the first time for her in the net. The coaches were very supportive and gave her pointers. Noah tried to help too! That was very cute in the back seat last night when he was telling her what to do in goal.

It was a fun day!

Noah's new instrument

Noah started playing the cello this year. Fourth grade is when they start instruments in Webster, and this was his pick. The music store called today to say it was ready to pick up, and he was excited to play his first song for us. He is just in from playing hockey all afternoon, thus the tall socks.

Germanos in Disney

This is a picture of us getting ready to go on the Kilimajaro Safari at Animal Kingdom. We had a great time in Disney. The last time we were there was in 2007, so it was fun to go on some of the same rides and also try new ones. Grace was as fearless as ever, going on every roller coaster and scary ride there. Noah and I stayed back for some of those! We had great weather and enjoyed our time in Florida.

Disney 2010

We went back to Disney in September. Shannon and Jack were there for part of our time in Florida. We got to spend two and a half days with them which was fun. The kids had a lot of good times together walking the parks, eating, and going on rides. This is a picture of them at Downtown Disney on our first day.

Our first triathlon

Grace and I participated in the Finger Lakes Triathlon on September 19th. My goal was to finish in under two hours, and my time was 1:48. Grace did the kids' version and loved it. We had a great time. Lou was a big supporter during my training with lots of time away at Canandaigua Lake to swim, the hills to ride, and constant running. We are excited to do more next year!

First Day of School 2010

Grace and Noah headed back to school yesterday.

It turned out to be cool and sunny. They were excited to start fifth and fourth grade, respectively.

Black Lake 2010

We just returned from Black Lake - our fourth trip in as many summers. We had some rain at the beginning of the week and then the weather improved. This is a picture of us at Thousand Island Park on the public dock. Grace and I went to Ottawa one day, and Lou and Noah spent the day out fishing. We went to Boldt Castle and Clayton also. On the way home, we made our customary stop at Rudy's in Oswego and spent the rest of Saturday at Fair Haven State Park.

Charlie turns 2

Tomorrow is Charlie's 2nd birthday, so the family party was held yesterday at Stacy and Brian's house. They did a great job with the setup, food, and fun. Everyone had fun.

Here is the birthday boy in action on his tricycle. This was the first of five outfit changes. He kept getting wet with the rain and the ice in the drink bin.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHARLIE!

Hmmmmm

There was a storm coming across the lake when we were in Canandaigua on Sunday. The forecast had been terrible, but it was a beautiful day. We had a little rain as this passed through, and the sun shone again for the late afternoon.

I looked at this picture again and said, "Hmm" to myself. It struck me as a good reason to ask yourself: What do you focus on - the clouds or the sunshine?

Talk amongst yourselves ...

A Day on Canandaigua Lake

The Harrises invited us to their family cottage on Canandaigua Lake yesterday. The forecast was for rain, but it turned out to be a beautiful day. Many members of the Bell and Harris families were there. We had a great time - the kids were in and out of the water, they fished a bit, lots of music was played, lots of games were invented, puzzles were done, food was eaten, candy was consumed, alas we were tuckered out by the time we headed for home after 9pm.

This is a picture of Simon, Zac, Grace, Noah, and Maddie. Manny wouldn't come out to be photographed! They all had a lot of fun together.

Sam and Micah are in town

Sam and Micah were up from Brooklyn last week. Aunt Debbie and Uncle Joe had everyone over to their house for a get together on Saturday.

The kids swam and bounced on the trampoline despite the rain.

Faun Lake II ... continued

Here is a pike that Noah caught. It broke the line and flopped around on the ground for a while. He wanted to be sure everyone saw his fish!

Faun Lake II

We took a day trip to Faun Lake today. The skies were gray, and we had some rain on the drive up, but everything cleared just after lunch and we had a great day. The kids went fishing when we got there, and Grace caught this Northern pike from shore using just a worm as bait. She was very proud of herself!

We had a lot of fun as a family. Grace and I hiked around the lake, the kids played basketball with Lou and swam, and we had a campfire after dinner.

Y Marathon Night

The kids signed up for the Y marathon about six weeks ago. How it works is they walk or run 25 miles from then until now. As they made progress, they filled out cards with feet on them and got "toe tokens" to signify every five miles they walked or ran. It was a fun activity for both of them. Tonight was the culmination where they ran the last 1.2 miles to get to the 26.2 miles that signify a marathon completion. We gathered at Holy Trinity Church at 5:30pm, and the race began at 6:15pm. We ran from Phillips Road to Barrett Drive. The race is the beginning of the Webster Parade that kicks off the Firemen's Carnival, so the parade route was lined with spectators. Grace and I ran together, and Noah ran with his friend Garrett. Guess who crossed the finish line first? Let's just say - Girls Rule.

I'll post a picture if I can get my camera to work. Lou was our photographer, and it slipped out of his hands at the finish line and hit the pavement. So now it won't open or close. Ah well!

[UPDATE: We got the camera to work, but it's pretty much toast. Off to Rowe for me!]

We're a little late with this

OK, I realize it is July 14 and planting is supposed to have been done 4-6 weeks ago. We never put any flowers around our lamp post last year, and Grace was excited about helping me this year. Well life happened, and we never got around to it. Grace and I made a special trip to Lowe's to get the flowers last week. We managed to keep them alive in the garage with extra water during the heat spell we had! So tonight we dug up some dirt and put in our eight plants. Noah loves marigolds, and hopefully you can see them in the picture.

Happy Summer!

At Sassa's house

Stacy and Brian invited us over for pizza. We had dropped Grace off and picked up Mom, so we headed over with some snacks. Noah was excellent at entertaining Charlie while we all talked on the deck. Here is a picture of them on the new swingset.

Faun Lake

Lou and I took the kids up to Faun Lake for a quick overnight. The weather was overcast when we arrived Friday, so the kids headed right out with their fishing poles. Grace and Noah had a contest who could catch the most fish. It rained most of the afternoon, so we relaxed and played board games. The evening cleared up in time for us to go to Bingo. The popcorn was yummy, and the kids got ice cream too. All this before dinner!

Saturday was beautiful - sunny, 78, and not a trace of humidity in the air. The kids fished again and then went swimming. We headed back to get Grace to a birthday party. It was a fun trip!