It's been a long time coming...

Over three years of hair-growing was enough. Emmers had her first haircut. We hopped in the car and took her to a classy joint down the street. Great Clips for Hair hooked her up and took care of her coiff.

Not surprisingly, Emily was the perfect hair model. When the lady said "tilt your head", she posed just as she should.

She looks great.

Never a dull moment...

Much like an episode, this story is about nothing. Really, it's a dull story.
Today, I was on the music team for our church's three services. This complicated CaraLee's situation a wee bit. First, she had committed to handing out something or other after the 9:00 service. Also, she had the three kids by herself and it is a summer service format where the kids are with the parents upstairs for the music part. Finally, CaraLee had to kennel our pup on her own. (Rosie is not a fan of the kennel... at all.) However, all of these interesting things had little to do with the action on the way home.
As CaraLee was driving home, one of our three kids (who really wants to remain nameless) got a little tangled up in his (oops... "his/her") seatbelt.
By the time I got home, there was a tow truck parked behind the van and CaraLee had a frustrated smirk on her face. As it turns out, the tangle was a little more severe than first diagnosed. Our child - even with CaraLee's help - was completely unable to get free of the seatbelt. She contemplated calling the fire department and Mazda, but eventually settled on a tow truck. She remained very calm and even thought to take a picture for our blog! (Unfortunately, the victim still wished to remain anonymous and barred the publication of the image.)
When I got there, we were able to simply flip the kid around a couple of times so that the tangle was undone.
We can never do things the easy way.

Welcome to the Neighbourhood, Kennedys!

Ben has been initiated...

Today, we got to do something that the kids have been talking about for a long time. Ben's in the neighbourhood and so he's just a phone call away for a good game of hockey. We called our buddies, the Douglases, and Ben was already over at their place having pancakes, so we invited them all over for a hockey game that had started before dinner and finished long after dinner.

Ben was in there like a dirty shirt. They were all hacking and whacking away at the puck when one of the hacks (or maybe a whack) got Ben in the kisser.

The poor guy leaked pretty bad. Inspired by the nice Father's Day cards I had received, I did the only thing a dad could do in this situation... I grabbed the camera.

Auntie Tawny and CaraLee worked their motherly magic to produce a cloth and ice pack. Fortunately, I was able to snap a shot before they wiped most of the good stuff away.

We can't wait until Cole can come out and play. Welcome to the neighbourhood, Kennedys!

Meet Rosie!

You're looking at the latest addition to the Buzza family... Rosie Mae Buzza! I figured we had to do something to compete for attention with my two sisters who are pregnant with baby boys. Actually, Rosie is more than just a whim. She's the culmination of a deal CaraLee and I made many years ago. We've always said that we'd wait until our last kid was out of diapers before we added a puppy to our family. Well, that time has come and we're very excited.
Rosie will be staying at her home in Abbotsford for another 2 weeks until she's ready to come to her new home in Maple Ridge. This is a picture of her breeders, Lana and Victoria Hergott. They have a cute, little hobby farm in Chilliwack. The adult dog is Rosie's mommy, Maple. The other puppy is Rosie's sister, Casey.
Now, we've just got to lean on the Douglas family to adopt one of Rosie's brothers...

2006/2007 Soccer Wind-Up

Today we wrapped up David and Conbo's soccer seasons. A melancholy fog hung over the pitch, adding to the bittersweetness of the day. On one hand, it was nice to be done with the wet days and the organizing of Sugar-Pops-induced 5 & 6 year olds. On the other, the frantic state of getting into our gear and out of the house had become a familiar staple in our Saturday routine. The crazy kids had grown on me, too.
Connor's games (3 of them) went smoothly and as per usual until the third game where Connor turned into some never-before-seen goal-scoring machine. After scoring twice all year, Connor slotted two in the final game, taking his team on his back to victory. (Actually... I have no idea what the score was.) The first goal was especially beautiful. His run took him from his own goal area, down the left side like a gazelle, and right down to the other end where he smashed a left foot into the far corner. Where there's usually screams of delight, there was a silent awe because our cute - but usually just decorative - Connor had scored such a brilliant goal. It was a nice way to end his first season.
With the shortened games, David was uncharacteristically held of the scoresheets... until his final game. Inspired by playing against his good buddy, Simon, David tallied four goals before the final whistle. While his airplane celebrations were pretty entertaining, nothing got us all going as much as his goal-off-the-face. It wasn't pretty and neither was his face after the ball smashed against his nose. I'm pretty sure he considered crying until he realized the ball had found the back of the onion bag, at which time he turned and assumed the position - arms out wide as he swooped back to give a high five to his goalie. It's on to new challenges next year when he plays U8!