Freshman

We were merely freshman.......
It was 1991 and it went something like this:
Hi I'm Chris......nice to meet you ...this is Brad, Todd, Scott, Dave, Drew, & Frank.....
That was the beginning of something I hope these turkeys cherish. These turkeys I speak of are Chris' circle of friends from college. They are the closest group of guys I have ever known, they are not afraid of spooning on mattresses while watching football for 12 hours straight or afraid to make fun of one another.....Brad your head is like a pumpkin.......Todd pull it together and find your keys already, oh look it's Scott while staring at the chimps at the zoo....you get the picture. Well we have all seen our college days come and go, but I am so glad these guys still get together. It's not always easy, new locations, work, pregnant wives, & just the business of life. We just came back from our 5th annual "hockey and hold em" weekend and I swear to God its as if not a day has passed and we are all laying around on that creepy foam item they called a sofa in Knollwood apartments. In reality a few things have changed, age, hairlines, responsibilities.....but there is one thing that has and probably will never change - their competitive nature that they ALL share! It seriously doesn't matter what it is - it quickly becomes a game of who can do it better, it is a bit absurd as I share some examples
Who can bowl the best game...- okay not too off the wall
Who can last longest out on the ice in 0 degree weather playing ice hockey
Which turns into who has the sorest muscle or worst injury the next day (insert Todd)
Who can hold out the longest in box hockey
Who can accumulate the most chips in a round of poker
Who can make the person feel the worst in the "Gillette all out moment" as they get thrown from the poker game.
Who can eat the most beef sandwiches
Who can defeat one another in shuffleboard
Who can sing the best (or worst) while trying to make it to Hollywood via American Idol Wii game.
So anyway each year I try to remind these guys how lucky they are to have these friendships and that they should cherish these small get togethers -even if it takes 7 hours to get there (Brad) or if you have to get up at 6am to clean up the kitchen so your preggo wife won't go bananas (Todd), or if you have to drive home at 5am after not sleeping to play basketball (Drew), or if you have to sing "holiday" that is completely out of your vocal range (Teddy) Some things are just worth it!
On our drive home Chris looked at me and said "how long do you think we will keep this up" and I said hopefully forever.....because I am sure you guys have to find out who has the worst bunion at some point!
Here are a few photos from the event.

Frank and Sarah.....

Tracy and Scott...
Spooning on mattresses......hugging in poker chairs....not much has changed.
Todd and Chris....
Umm that's right Simon I just sang Rio and I'm going to Hollywood!
Tracy and Jenny
The new stage this year since Todd had to get all fancy and redo his basement.
Frankie, Chris and Todd at the bowling alley.
Glory days at the rink....
The gang - 2008.
This last one was fitting - this was a song that we all came to love our freshman year in college and still resignates deeply everytime we hear it - Thanks for sharing Drew!

The end of an Era......

And no I am not talking about the Bush administration......I am talking about Chris' beloved KISS Room. It's coming down (temporarily until the Plastic Toy era comes to a close) and I am not sure why I am a bit more sad than Chris? Yes yes I have mentioned for about 4 years that that space would be a perfect "play/toy area" but I never specifically asked for him to remove it....I like that he is semi obsessed and can actually own this many items relating to one thing and the kids have grown to love the "music room".

So randomly on Saturday Chris made the announcement (after a neighbor donated a EXTREMELY large toy to us) and started taking stuff down and in a weird twist of fate we both started arguing for one another's case.

me: "it is silly for you to own all this and not do anything with it" "it is a perfect room for all your stuff that you like to do at night etc..." "where are you going to put it all - please just leave it in there"

Chris "it just makes more sense for all the toys to go back there, the kids can have their own space (haha like EVERY space isn't theirs!)" "we can paint, hang things up, build shelves etc"

It was a weird case of Bizzaro world.

So tomorrow, (the 20th) we will have a moment of silence for Paul Stanley's birthday (I know I shouldn't know that!) as he is laid to rest into plastic storage boxes, bubble wrapped, and entering hibernation until someday (i just know) he will grace our walls and shelves again.

So a tip of the hat to you four masked creatures..... thanks for taking one for the team and alleviating some space. You will be remembered and sorely missed....but I am just not quite sure by whom???




This isn't goodbye......

I'm sure this won't be the last......

So Brooke came home last Thursday from school and said she hurt her arm at recess. She was sort of cradling it, but she said she was fine. Brooke is the type of kid to lets say "play up being sick" in hoping to get some sort of preferential treatment. So I never really know how serious things can be .....She insisted she was fine......In hind sight she said she was fine, because in about 15 minutes we were leaving for her first gymnastics class that she had a lot of anticipation for! She promised she wanted to give it a try.......
Well we all show up at gymnastics, the teacher welcomed her with open arms as she remembered her from past classes, but there was something not right...even during stretches she just sat there, I warned the teacher that she said she hurt her arm but thought she could do the class still......well it proved it was more than your average hurt arm....she tried to do a somersault and collapsed she couldn't put any pressure on it even the teacher looked at me and was like "umm I think she is really hurt" YUP, mother of the year award recipient, I can hear it now!! Chris and I just look at each other like why are we here?? So we head to our neighbors, a nurse, who thought it would be nurse maid elbow after hearing my explanation. She tried to manipulate it for about 15 minutes to no avail, so off to urgent care we go to see her husband who runs the urgent care. I will have to say having preferential treatment at an urgent care is quite handy....no wait time all the nurses went over and beyond it was a nice change as I packed books of crossword puzzles and the portable DVD player on our way out thinking this might take all night....But in we went and our neighbor said defiantly not nurse maids elbow and we needed xrays.... ugh....I thought a whole winter with cabin fever and a cast???? So Brooke was totally intrigued by the whole process, she LOVED the xrays - you would never know she was hurt as she was like "these pictures are fun" "can we go look at my bones together" "can we do some more of my legs and head" to the nurse.....Anyway to make a long story hopefully a bit shorter.....no apparent breaks an "elbow strain" is what we walked away with and to keep an eye on it for 5-7 days since kids elbows are very hard to judge since all the bones are not completely fused together.....so if no major improvement in another 4 days we go back for x-rays....but prognosis looks good she has been using it a little more each day!
As much as I hope it isn't the case I can't imagine this will be our only time treating injuries for our little nuggets!

This one's for you Greggie......

So in preparation for the Red Wing v.s. Blackhawk game at Wrigley field on New Years - Brady was being taught some new chants in order to deter the Blackhawk persuasion that was staying at our house that day! Enjoy......

Unwrapping the rest of 2008!

Well another Christmas season under our belts......I have to say it gets better and better and longer and longer each year! We just finished celebrating our SIXTH celebration/present opening extravaganza I would like to personally put in a death sentence request for the man that invented PLASTIC. I know this phase will be short lived, and they love all the stuff so much but holy snikes I can't wait until they get excited about clothes (haha now that wouldn't be any fun now would it!)

So the kids really reveled in "Santa" and all the goodies....we knew Brooke was on board, but Brady was much more interested than anticipated, so next year will even be more of a hoot! Brady's highlights were his new kitchen, he cooks and presents you with empty tupper ware bowls at all moments of the day, his "baseball guys", superman paraphernalia and little Einsteins rocket ship! Brooke enjoyed everything her kidi art studio, games, creepy crawler maker, cupcake maker, Kit Kittridge, jewelry box and a travel car kit filled with arts and crafts (thanks poppa it was a god send on the drive to Chicago!)

We were able to spend a little bit of time with everyone which was nice. We enjoyed a trip out to Chicago to visit with the rest of the Novaceks and then welcomed my parents back to MI for a few days! We were also able to hit the town for New Years and laugh our guts out with friends at a very funny comedian downtown. Prepare yourself for an abundance of snapshots - but the kids were such wads of fleece and happiness that I just want to bottle it up to remember some day!

Laying out some last minute reindeer food....

This was the pained look of "Do we really have to wait until everyone is up until we go downstairs?"

Thank God your up bugs....now lets make a run for the stairs....

He came! The sweet look of relief!

The unveiling of the beloved Kitchen!

Just taking it all in......

The clock read 9:04 am and I have two tired overwhelmed puppies on my hands!
Freshly rested and ready for the next round of celebrations!
Daddy's little Christmas girl!

Brooke trying her hand at photography......perhaps a bit more practice!

Brady was obsessed with building "present forts" around him and would get agitated every time someone would try to open a gift! It became quite comical!

My two little nuggets

Getting some loving from Grandma!
Just a happy little boy with a face that I want to EAT!
This is how Brady spent the better portion of the last 10 days...... "Good Morning Baseball guys.....umpire time to play......Goodnight baseball guys" It is totally bizarre how built in this is...
Brooke and Kit Kittridge

The kitchen and cooking was really Brady's gig this year!I will open presents as long as I remain in the fort of gifts......

The always anticipated rough housing from Uncle Greggie!This is a pop quiz can you name the following Novacek Melons? Answer revealed below....
Did you get it right? Just wait Tom you might be in there next year!
Cousin shot!
practically glued together.
Enjoying a night out on New Years day....who wants to cook?
Grandma and Brooke!
Grandpa and Brady!
Hope everyone had a great holiday and I am excited for what this next year has to bring!