Go Hawks!

Two years ago, I had the chance to take Owen to an Iowa Hawkeye basketball game.  Recently, Alex has been asking when he could go to a game.  Mind you, we go to Waukee High and DCG High games, and have been two Iowa Energy and Harlem Globetrotter games, but there is something about the Hawks.

Saturday, we told the boys we had some errands to do -- which was true -- and when I asked if they wanted a book to read, they asked why, since we were just running errands.  I said, "Well, you'll need something to pass the time on the way to Iowa City."  Alex grinned and said, "You tricked us."

When we pulled into Nana/Papa's driveway, I asked Owen to reach around the seat, and he found the foam #1 finger and foam claw from his first game . . . and I started playing the Iowa Fight Song on the itouch.  "Do you want to watch the game?" I asked.  "Well, yeah," Owen said.  "We could watch Iowa play Michigan when Nana and Papa get home."  "No," I said.  "Do you want to go watch the game?"  Mouths agape, I explained we would be going to the actual game.

Even though the Hawks lost in overtime, the game was exciting, the crowd was returning to what Hawkeye crowds used to be, and the boys got wigs!  We had a brief, but fun visit!  Enjoy the pics . . . I'm guessing the one with the cheerleaders will find its way onto a graduation display!

Inchrusted

The Pries family had a good weekend.  Amidst the busyness with paper grading, and church meetings, we had some time for RnR.  The warm weather meant the boys got to be outside a bunch, and spent several hours shooting hoops in the driveway.  Swimming lessons began, and we had great fun tonight playing games and doing a little High School Musical karaoke on the Wii.

Of note this weekend was Owen doing his homework which included reading a non-fiction piece about the way police and firemen and women do their work.  One question after the reading asked what he would rather be.  He wrote, "Police.  Because I am inchrusted."  Fonix werx!  What made this even more fun was when I asked him what he really wanted to be when he grew up.  He said, "I want to be a dad."  Ah, yes.  A proud moment for me, right?  When I asked him why, he said, "Because it's easy."  HA!  I explained that being a dad was harder than being a teacher, and he couldn't believe it.  So when I asked what he would want to do for a job, he actually said, "A teacher and a coach . . . and a football player."  This from the boy who, this fall said he wanted to be a basketball player and a runner.  Who knows?  When he was two he would say, "Probly be a pastor."

By the way, for those of you thinking about the gender role balance, I asked if being a mom was easy, and he said yes.  Whew!  Here I thought it was just a dad thing.

Oh . . . and track practice starts tomorrow . . . in case you were inchrusted.

The First Blog

I've never really had an online presence.  No facebook.  No twitter.  Nothing.  And I'm happy about that.  I've been reading about some close friends via a blog, and I thought about how cool it must be for their closest family and friends to keep up with their goings-on without having to do any facebook or anything.  Cuz, well, you know, some grandparents, friends, and such, just don't get into that.  Like me.  So I've been able to follow information about our goddaughter, Elizabeth, without having to be on facebook.  And so here I am . . . blogging for the first time ever.  I hope to figure out how to provide occasional pictures with stories, but for now, words will have to do.  So here's the first story . . .

Today, Heidi and I each took the day off from work.  We enjoyed the opportunity to sleep in a bit, get a workout in, drop the boys off later than normal, go out for lunch, etc.  I enjoyed the chance to visit Owen at his school for his Valentine's Day exchange.  Heidi's more flexible job allows her to do more of that than I am able to do.  So we picked Alex up early from his daycare, and he joined us.  As we walked into Owen's school, Alex noticed kids at recess playing in the snow.  "Hey, Dad.  Look at those kids," he said.  "I bet they're having a snowfight."  "Well, Alex," I responded, "I don't think they're having a snowfight.  If kids throw snow at each other at school, they could get kicked out of school for a few days." (this is a real rule at our school).  Alex then said, "So, like, the principal would actually kick them?"

Ah, the literal nature of things.  We like the way Alex makes us laugh.

And I hope you've enjoyed this first blog.  I'll keep working at it.