~Lake Norris, TN~

Summer Vacation was a little different this year. We decided to rent a lake house instead of our normal beach trip. The Casey side all met up in Lake Norris, Tennesee for a full week. The house was on the lake and had a boat dock and a hot tub. The weather started out a little sketchy, but it cleared up to get plenty of boating in. We rented a pontoon boat from Sunday to Friday. We cooked in every night and didn't ever have to leave the house (except to go Walmart or to get cell/internet service)!! Harrison did some fishing, tubing, jetski riding, jumping off the bridge and also off the side of the boat. Check out these cool pics:

Last year as a Jr. Thrasher!

Well, it's official.....the Atlanta Thrashers have been sold and are moving to Winnipeg! This is a very sad time for all the die-hard Thrasher fans. I'm just glad that Harrison found his passion for the game before this happened. This past season, he played Spuirt AA travel hockey at the Kennesaw Ice Forum. He was the second youngest on the team, as he played up a year. They had a tough year, but he played great most of the time. He typically played Center, and some Forward. Here is a slideshow of his season:

Easter 2011

I'm a little late posting these because I couldn't find my camera USB cord to download the pictures. We had Easter at Nana Jane's house in Douglasville this year. She cooked a ton of good food and desserts (naner puddin!!) But of course, the kids just wanted to get straight to the egg hunt. She has a pretty big back yard, so that's where the Easter Bunny left all the eggs. There were about 160 eggs for the 5 little ones, so they all got plenty of candy. Harrison found one of the prize eggs too! It was a nice, relaxing day for everyone.

White Christmas!!

We had a great Christmas this year! On Christmas Eve, we had two stops to make: Irma's house for the Phillips family, then to Douglasville for the Casey family. Harrison got to see all of his cousins and got some cool gifts. We got home really late that night and had to go straight to bed so Santa could come.

On Christmas morning, the kids didn't wake up until 9AM....which was crazy because they were so excited. Harrison got clothes, boots, hockey stuff and a sheet of plastic that like ice! He can shoot and puck handle on it. Around 11:00, we were all getting ready to go to Nana Phillip's house when all of a sudden.....it started snowing! It snowed almost all day and we got a couple of inches at our house. The bad part was, we had to leave it to go to Nana's. We drove in snow the whole way there. It was snowing there too, but not as much as at our house. When we got there, we got to see the Cobb's and Aunt Linda and Uncle Louis. It was a great day!

We headed home before it got dark so the roads wouldn't be bad. Once we got home, we started a fire and played Mario Kart on the wii for a while. It did stop snowing in the evening, but the best part was the next day- there was still snow to play in! So, of course, the kids bundled up and went out for a while. Here is a slideshow of our White Christmas:

Fourth grade=Honor Roll

Now that harrison is in 4th grade, he gets graded with A, B, C, D or F. For the first nine weeks, he recieved all A's with ONE B!! He also earned Perfect Attendance. During his conference, his teachers told me how great he is doing and what a pleasure he is to have in class. Keep up the good work, Harri!

Here is a recent picture of my little Bear:

Back to school

Harrison is in 4th grade now....where has the time gone? It seems like just yesterday, he was my little baby boy...


Anyway, he loves school this year, because he gets to change classes. He has Mrs. Barden for most of his classes and goes to Mrs. Connor's class for Science and Language Arts. In Music, they are learning how to play the recorder. He brought it home over the weekend and I taught him how to play "Mary had a Little Lamb." he practiced it all weekend until it was perfect! I couldn't believe how dedicated he was to working on it.

In the sports world: Harrison has decided to hang up the soccer cleats (again) and stick with hockey. He tried out for the Squirt team at the Ice Forum and was asked to move up to the AA team this year. His team from last year moved up to Squirt as well and are staying in Single A. It was a hard decision for us to make, as he had to leave his friends. But we decided in the end that the best thing for him would be to play at the higher level. They have already started practicing and games will start in late September

He's a genius!?!?

Harrison had a great 3rd grade school year! We found out a few weeks ago that he had passed the CRCT, but we just got the scores with his report card yesterday. Not only did he PASS the Math part...he Exceeded Standards!! This is great because in 3rd grade, you don't move onto to 4th grade unless you pass Math and Reading. So definitely a sigh of relief! His report card was great too, all 3's with a couple of 2's. They get 1,2,3 instead of A,B,C.....3 being the highest. So.....4th grade here he comes!

Here is a cute picture that we took at the ballpark last weekend:

TPH in Detroit, MI

Harrison was invited to tryout for the Top 30 Prospects Hockey Program back in March. He was the only player from his team to make the team of 18 boys. They had a weekend training in Nashville back in Mid-April. Then, over the weekend of April 29 - May 2, we flew to Detroit to play in a tournament. Harrison had a great time with the boys off the ice, going to dinner, swimming in the indoor pool and hanging out at the hotel. On the ice though, was a different story. The coaches had him playing Forward, but he normally plays Center. This was frustrating for him and for us. We won 1 of the 4 games. We had a hard time getting goals for some reason. Probably because we have not been playing together all year like the other teams had.

On Saturday we had a six hour break, so we drove over to lake St. Clair. It was beautiful! We found the Edsel and Eleanor Ford Estate and drove in to take a tour. it is 87 acres so we just did the free walking tour. We were able to go in the Garage and the Playhouse. Here are some pictures of the estate:

Josephine's playhouse

Player of the Game

Harrison's hockey team was invited to play at Philips Arena after the Thrasher's game on Sunday, March 14. Also, he was chosen to be the Player of the Game! Which means he was able to dress in full gear, sit in the Penalty Box during the pre-game warm up, then skate out with the players during the National Anthem. This was a really cool thing for him to do and we were all very excited! Several of our friends and family bought tickets and joined us for the evening of fun. His fan club included: Nana Phillips; Papaw Lamar and Monica; Amanda, Greg and the boys; Louis and Linda; Nana Tammy, Phil and Jacob; Bronson and Tamara; MaryBeth and Bob! It was wonderful to see so many people there to support him! Jason stayed with him in the penalty box and they came up to our seats after the anthem. Once the game was over, we all went down to the seats on the glass and watched his team play against the Atlanta Fire.....and win! It was a great night all around! Here is the video of the anthem. Be sure your volume is up to hear them announce his name!

Champions AGAIN!!

Harrison's hockey team traveled to Nashville, TN this weekend to play in the Country and Western tournament. They started out a little rusty, but ended up winning the whole thing! Jason and Papaw Lamar went on the trip with him and they stayed at the Opryland Hotel.

Here is a video of one of his goals. He is #4 taking the face-off beside the ref.

SNOW............

Cobb County Schools closed 1 hour early on Friday because of the incoming inclement weather. It started snowing at 1:00 in Kennesaw and lasted until around 11PM. We got around 2-3 inches. Here are the pics to prove it!

Make a Smilebox photobook

So our trip to Canada was a blast! We flew into Buffalo, NY on Wednesday morning. We rented 2 vans and a couple of cars to drive across the border. After going through customs, our hotel (Sheraton on the Falls) was only a block away. It was right on Niagara Falls! There was a foot of snow on the ground too! We spent Wed. afternoon unpacking, eating lunch (at Hard Rock Cafe) and playing in the snow at the falls. We ate dinner at Boston Pizza and the kids played video games.

Our first game was Thursday morning. We lost 4-2 but the boys played great! We had another game later in the morning and also lost 3-0. Since our afternoon was free, we had lunch and hung out at the indoor pool for a while. We went to Ruby Tuesdays for dinner and then back to the pool for some major diving competitions between the boys. Early to bed though because of tomorrow's early start!

On Friday morning, we woke up to lots more snow! It kept snowing all day, which was cool because we don't see that in GA! We had an early game, so we headed to the rink. The boys played much better this game and pulled out a win of 5-2. After the game, the entire team had a pancake breakfast upstairs while overlooking the next hockey game. Then we headed back to the hotel for a couple of hours of rest and lunch. The first Quarterfinal game was that afternoon. It was a very close, very exciting, very tense game. I think the parents were more stressed out than the boys were. Since it was now single elimination, you must win all games to stay in it. Those boys played their little hearts out! But in the last 2 minutes of the game, the other scored to make it 3-2. Our boys tried and tried to score again, but to no avail. The locker room was quite a sad place to be. The boys were crushed. Jason told me later that all of them were welling up with tears. They wanted to win that game so bad!

We headed back to the hotel and everyone kind of did their own thing for the evening. We went over to Boston Pizza again. On Saturday morning we all met up and drove into Kitchener to visit some ex-Atlantans. They were transferred back to Canada 3 years ago and when they found out we were coming up, they invited the whole team over to skate on their outdoor rink. They boys absolutely loved this! They had goals and pucks, so they even had a scrimmage going for a while. They fed us lunch and were so much fun to talk to. In the afternoon, we drove on up to Toronto to visit the Hockey Hall of Fame. This was pretty cool as well. There was tons of hockey memorabilia from the first game back in 1917 all the way through the most recent inductees. Plus, the Stanley Cup was there! After 2 and a half hours of this, we left and went looking for dinner. We ended up at a local Italian restaurant, right down from the Air Canada Center (where the Maple Leafs play) By the time we got back to the hotel that night, it was time for bed!

Sunday morning was clean up, pack up, load up. And off to the airport we went.

Silversticks SouthEastern Regional CHAMPIONS!!!

Can I just say that I am so proud of my little boy and his hockey team!! We spent this past weekend (Dec 5-7, 2009) in Hunstville, Alabama for the Southeastern regional tournament. Those boys played their little hearts out and brought home the prize!! They played a total of 4 games: Game 1 ended in a 1-1 tie. Game 2 we won 7-2. Game 3 we won 5-1. Game 4 (the Championship game) we won 7-1. Undefeated all weekend! Harrison had a total of 6 goals in 4 games! It was unbelievable!! After the game, they allowed us out on the ice to take pictures during the Awards Ceremony. They called each boy by name and they skated up to get their trophy. Then they asked for captains to come up to get the team trophy and banner. Coach Jason said for Harrison to be one of the 3 captains. So he went up and held the trophy up in the air...like the NHL players do when they win the Stanley Cup. We took lots of pictures before being kicked off the ice. But of course my camera died...yep... Mom of the Year!


The greatest part about it, they get to go to Canada to play in the National Championship in January.

New soccer pictures!

I took my "Mack-Daddy" camera to Harri's game this weekend and got some really good pictures of him in action! I am making a website for the team, so I will post them on there. In the mean time, here are a few of my faves!

Also, I just added a slide show to the bottom of this blog, so be sure to scroll all the way down for a view of Harrison's life in pictures!

A Hat Trick weekend!

Harrison had 3 hockey games and a soccer game this weekend. He would've had a second soccer game, but it has done nothing but rain in GA for the past 3 days! His soccer team won and he had 3 goals (a HAT TRICK)! His hockey team won 2 of the 3 games. The one they lost was 4-0, which is a step up from when they played them 3 weeks ago and lost 10-2. He scored 3 goals in the 2 winning hockey games as well...which means 2 more hat tricks! He is on fire this weekend! He got the game puck during the Saturday game and lots of positive comments from coaches and parents.

On a not-so-good note, he spent some time in the penalty box. He wasn't happy about it, but I thought it was pretty funny and had to get a quick pic!




Here are some pictures that I took of him in action: (He's #4)

3rd Grade here I come!

Harrison started 3rd grade 3 weeks ago......I know I am late posting this but we have been a little busy! Third grade has been more challenging than the previous years, which is good because he was always bored. Thankfully they are starting multiplication and cursive, something he has been ready to learn since he sees Brennan doing it. So far, we ♥ his teacher! She seems really fun and is interested in each child's progress.

In addition to homework, Harrison is also playing hockey and soccer. They are both travel teams and go through the Spring of 2010. He is on the Mite Jr. Thrasher team that plays out of the Town Center Ice Forum. They are the first Mite team to travel out of this arena. The season starts in a couple of weeks, but they have been practicing 4x per week for the last 3 weeks.

His soccer team is a U10 boys travel team. Jason decided to step up and coach this year. Their season officially starts Sept. 12 and they have practiced 2x per week for the month of August. Funny side note: the boys chose to name the team .............the Thrashers! Easy for us to remember!

Beach trip 2009

Harrison had fun when he could on his beach trip this year. Considering it was a softball tournament for Brennan, he had a pretty good time! When we weren't at a ballpark, he was constantly asking me, "Can we go to the pool (or beach) now?" He was such a good sport! Here are some pics of him trying to have fun:

He Made It!!!!

Harrison had his final tryout this morning for the Jr. Thrasher Travel hockey team. He absolutely showed off!! Even after spending 16 hours playing in the sun yesterday at Brennan's tournament, he was up at 7:15 this morning ready to play! Well, maybe not at first. He isn't a morning person, so he was a little cranky. By the time he was on the ice though, he was full of energy! During the scrimmage, he scored 3 goal and had 2 assists. He had a few breakaways and hit the crossbar on one shot. At the end, they did a shootout and he made both of his goals.

The coach came up to me toward the end of the tryout to make sure we were on board with him playing. His exact words were,"He is my superstar, we'll do whatever we have to do to get this contract signed!" Even the Director of Hockey at the Ice Forum, Yan Kaminsky (an ex-NHL player) tapped Harrison on the head and told him how good he did and then told me that he is an excellent hockey player. It was pretty cool to hear that from someone that really knows what he's talking about. I mean, of course we think he's awesome, but he's our's.....so we have to!

They will start practice in August and games will start in September. Can't wait!

*Select Soccer Tryouts*

Last week, Harrison tried out for the Kennesaw FC U10 Select Soccer team. He went to 2 nights of tryouts and boy did he shine! I went the first night and watched him show those 9 year old boys how it was done. He was the smallest one out there and he was running circles around them! He was dribbling, looking up for a pass, moving into space for a pass, and shooting on goal. It is funny how he just gets the game so well. I'm sure it helps that we had him on the field at just a week old. He has literally been raised on the soccer field, watching me and JJ play. Then he started his first soccer camp at age 3 and was on a team as soon as he turned 4.

Anyway, JJ is going to help coach his team that will start in the fall and go all the way through next summer. Should be fun juggling that and his hockey schedule!

I have a Third Grader!

Today was Harrison's last day of school! I can't believe he will start the 3rd grade in 2 1/2 months.....he is supposed to be my baby and he's growing up too fast! Anyway, the last couple of weeks have been exciting. Harrison was chosen to represent his class in the 2nd grade Spelling Bee. They had a class spelling bee and he was the best boy speller. So last Friday at 8:15 they had the real one. He was so nervous, I could tell by the way he was sitting on the stage. When it was his turn, he walked up to the microphone, with his head down. His word was "those", which he spelled correctly, smiled and returned to his seat. The second round, his word was "stood", but he spelled it "S-T-O ( along pause here) -U-D.....when the teacher said it was incorrect, I could see the anger/sadness on his face. He returned to his seat until the end of the round, then was dimissed to the audience. He came and sat with me, and I could see how upset he was. He is just so competitive. The bad part is, they only gave us 2 nights to study the 1200 words. We never made it to "stood." Either way, we are so proud of him for at least making it that far and trying his hardest!

This week, they had Award Day on Tuesday. Harrison got 4 certificates: Best Speller, Perfect Attendance, an Art Award, and a Certificate of Promotion to 3rd Grade! He was so proud when he came home with those to show off!

Now to enjoy summer break and keep on reading. He has recently decided that he likes to read, so I am loving that! We will be going to the library every few weeks to get new chapter books for him.