Christmas Pictures

Aspen Tournament

The Freeze played well this weekend. They faced some pretty tough competition but they worked hard and managed to pull off a couple of wins. The last two games on Sunday were real nail biters for Danielle and I because Michael was in goal, but he played well considering it's been a while since he played that position. He stopped 83% of the shots on net for the first game and about 55% in the second game.

Santa Picture

Another carefully choreographed production. It's called "quick, put Ryan on Santa's lap and take the picture before he starts crying!" The plan almost worked.

Christmas Picture

This year's Christmas picture was a carefully choreographed production, complete with a Milk Bone on the lens and a candy cane in the baby's hands. Nine takes later and we had our final product.

First sleigh ride

Young Joe Satriani?

Michael's class play

Michael was the narrator in his class play. They put on a show about the story of Thanksgiving.

New belt

Joey earned his Junior Yellow belt tonight! Time to start getting ready for the Juniors class. Congratulations Joey!!!!

Little things that make you proud.

NJ Freeze vs Montclair Blues, Saturday 8:00 AM

Final score: Blues 3, Freeze 0. Michael got his first 2 minute penalty of the season for tripping. Jamie Langenbrunner's son, Landon, was playing right wing for the Blues.

Company Christmas Party #12

We went to Chateau Hathorn in Warwick, NY on Friday for my company Christmas party.

Getting the house ready for Christmas

The pumpkin

Our pumpkin is ready for the garbage. He looks like he should be in a drug awareness commercial for methamphetamine abuse.

Christmas Village

We bought this from the new Christmas store in the Rockaway Mall. The kids like watching the moving figures and lights.

Getting closer!

Joey's only a few steps away from sitting on Santa's lap this year..
With the right amount of candy canes, we may be able to bribe him to
go all the way!

Hockey in the fog - Union, NJ 6:45 AM

What happens when Gravity meets Excess Flab

Ryan's eating with a fork!

Ryan actually ate three hot dogs (no buns) the other night. But even more amazing is that he ate them with a FORK! He grunted and pointed at my fork, so I gave it to him figuring he would play with it. He picked it up, held it between his fingers, and used it to eat his dinner! Way to go, buddy!

No doubt, three kids and a full time job are making my wife tired.

Joey's hidden talent

We're shocked! Joseph scored 100% for vocals on Rock Band!! None of us have ever done that before. He must get it from Danielle because I can't carry a tune to save my life.

Boba Fett and the Ninja

Ryan the Lion

Halloween

Oreos

Now that's the right way to eat an Oreo.. twist it, lick it, throw the rest to the dog :)

Kid Updates

Michael played in a ice hockey jamboree this weekend to determine where his team stands in relation to the other teams. They lost three games and won the fourth, but Michael played very well.

Ryan added a fourth word to his vocabulary. Now he can say Mama, Dada, Michael, Joey and Hamburger. I'm so proud of my little carnivore!

Joey earned his red belt in Karate on Thursday. I believe he only has one more belt to go before he starts the junior class. His punches are definitely getting harder!

No Caption Necessary

We have words... kind of!

We went to Elizabethville, Pennsylvania last weekend to see my college roomate, Eric. Danielle and I haven't seen him since our wedding 11 years ago so it was quite a reunion. His kids played with our kids and everyone had a good time. We even learned how to country line dance.

Instead of driving home that night, Danielle and I decided to spend the night at a farm down the road from Eric. The owner converted the original farmouse into a bed and breakfast. All five of us slept in one bedroom, but it wasn't too bad (except for having to share the john down the hall).

Snow in October

It's with mixed feelings that I report it's snowing in Sparta today. Cheers for the early ski season, and jeers for the Pontiac with the broken heater. It's going to be a long, cold ride home tonight.

Conch horn?

We went to the Devils game on Saturday, and this guy in front of us was blowing on a Conch shell when they scored. I had no idea a Conch shell was so loud. Michael loved the game, and Joey loved the 8 dollar foam finger we bought for him in the gift shop.

Awesome weekend

It was 80 degrees and sunny all weekend so we took advantage of the good weather. We're sharing the same cold so we cancelled everything else we had planned for this weekend and just took it easy.

Friday - dinner and a movie night (Chinese and Meet the Robinsons).

Saturday - driveway basketball, McDonalds, biked around the neighborhood.

Sunday - Hockey, backyard football, Power Wheels, watched the Jets beat New England. Brian Kilmeade summed it up pretty well this morning. "Remember when Tom Brady used to be good?"

Updates

School - The boys are doing well in school. Michael was nominated to be his class representative for a community program that develops future leaders, and Joey got to sit in the "duck chair" on Tuesday. It's a special honor in his Kindergarten class, and he was extremely proud.

Hockey - The hockey season is almost in full swing. Practices started a few weeks ago at Aspen, and we have a tentative version of the game schedule. If anyone is interested in coming to a game or practice let me know and I will send you more information. Michael's playing center and left wing for the NJ Freeze this season so at least half of the games will be in Randolph.

Soccer - Danielle is coaching in the Roxbury Mighty Mites soccer program starting on September 26th, and I believe Joey is on her team. They play at Horseshoe Lake on Saturdays at 1:15. It's good to see Danielle carrying on the tradition her dad started (he coached Danielle when she played soccer).

Karate - Joey goes to Karate twice a week (usually Tuesday and Thursday) and he loves it. He earned his Brown Belt on Saturday. His school has seating for spectators, so if anyone is interested in watching Joey work out let me know.

Ryan - He's enjoying his time with Grandma during the week. He isn't talking yet, but he is starting to copy the sounds we make so I think he will be talking soon. I have a DVD with his first crawl and his first steps, and hopefully I will get to record his first words too.

Brown Belt!

Way to go, Joey! I'm so proud of the way he sticks with it. He
listens in class, volunteers often, and he's got a lightening quick
backfist. I think it's time to finish up his dojo in the basement
because Joey is only going to get bigger and faster.

Wild West City

Yes, it's still there! Everything is the same as when we were kids, except for the part where Spiderman came barreling down Main Street on a horse.

Backyard Camping

We want to go camping with the kids, so we decided to give it a "trial run" in the back yard. Everything was perfect - no detail was missed. We set up the tent, blew up the air mattresses, sleeping bags, the whole nine yards. We even picked up one of those 10 dollar charcoal grills from Walmart and cooked hot dogs and grilled marshmallows. Unfortunately, we couldn't control the temperature outside and overnight it dropped to 50 degrees, which was too cold for Ryan to sleep. We'll try it again next summer but we'll go in July or August. The tent was great though. It reminded me of the old Hillery canvas tent that dad took us camping in when we were kids.

Dinner and Dancing

Friday night was dinner and movie night. We got chinese food and watched Mall Cop with the kids, then Danielle and Joey danced till bedtime.

A beautiful weekend at Seaside

We went back to Seaside this weekend. Despite another hurricane that came up the coast, the weather held up and we had sunshine for the whole trip. A boardwalk clown made Joey his pirate sword and Michael won his on a floating duck game. Our next trip down the shore will be for the Que by the Sea, a barbecue competition held in Seaside Heights at the end of September. I'm sooo looking forward to that! -Mike

NBC News

The only way we could get a digital copy was to have Mike video the news with our camera.
http://tinyurl.com/DanielleK

Someone should let Hallmark know about this!

Hurricane Bill

Danielle and I went to Seaside Heights this weekend. We couldn't go in the water because of the strong rip currents from Hurricane Bill, so we enjoyed clam strips and a few cold ones on the pier instead.

Rock Band 2!

Fishing

The boys and I went fishing at Lake Musconetcong on Sunday. We dug up worms from the garden and caught six fish. -Mike

Fun at Seaside!

Argh!

I have no words for this one...

National Night Out

Michael and his friend, Kyle, at National Night Out with N.J. from the NJ Devils.

Thriller

Joey and his friend Kyle were dancing machines at National Night Out on Tuesday. They are dancing to Thriller!

Moon Over Hopatcong

I love this picture. It was taken right after my wife spotted Joey mooning everyone at the barbecue. Check out at the flare in her nostrils. Of course, I stayed behind to take pictures of the whole thing, so now Joey and I are both in the doghouse.

New Belt

Joey earned his purple belt on Saturday! He loves karate and we are so proud of his accomplishments!

Quote of the Day

Michael's comment on the lunch I made him (Steak and salad): "Can I have something else? This really wasn't pleasing to my tastebuds."