The birthday surprise!!

Danny was pretty thrilled when Jake gave him a Nintendo Ds 3D XLG !K Jerry and I were both shocked! Then jake said that he has a DS and you can game online with friends, and now he and Danny can still spend time together...I started crying it was so sweet! Philmont gifts a HUGE hit, photos to come, and homemade devils food cake with caramel icing topped off the Chinese feast Danny requested! It was a great Saturday!

Got this wilderness scout guide from Nana!

Danny loved his Philmont scout ranch gear from the cousins!

Danny is 14

Okay, when the baby is 14, what does that make you?! 

The D is having a good birthday so far.  He was popped out of school to go and get contacts, which he wanted. Coffee and cookies followed  a jumping session with Cassie. Friday night bball with Cassie, Leah, Molly, Charlotte and Dad. Of course a trip to Leo's for birthday treats! We are celebrating him the whole weekend, and we will be feasting on the cake Cassie and I made (from scratch! Says cass)! Tomorrow we will do a family run at Danny's request, and Sunday his friend Grace is hosting a going away party here for him. He also received his official acceptance from his new school today! 

Solo and Ensemble Band festival

Danny participated in the solo and Ensemble festival at Scranton today. This involved quite a lot of preparation on his part. He chose a very ambitious solo piece by Mozart and was also in a brass sextet

Playing a piece called Pizza Party. He has been practicing very hard and had two rehersals with his piano acompaniest for his solo performance. The sextet, made up of six goofy boys, rehearsed every Sunday night for 6 weeks! So today was the day and he did wonderfully! His solo was at 8:24am and he received a 1, the best rating you can get. The judge had great comments, and encouraged him, and all was well. 

Next up was the sextet, scheduled for 9:24 and played at 10:25. Unfortunately Jerry had to leave to head to the U of M game with the girls.(crazy side note:U of M vs. NJIT and those jersey engineers pulled off the upset!) the boys did wonderfully, the judges first comment was that they made him hungry(get it...Pizza Party?)    So I am super proud of Danny and very impressed with him and the other boys.

Meanwhile back at the school...I was in charge of the food for the judges and workers, breakfast and lunch. So I worked and planned and ordered and picked up and baked cupcakes and got up at 5AM to get over to school and start the enormous pot of coffee which take an hour to brew! Set up all the breakfast goodies

And served everyone and sent out band kids with a cart at 10am to serve room to room snacks. Then cleaned that up and started setting up lunch

I had soup from Olga's , Greek salad from Gus's , sandwich platter from Costco, and all kinds of yummy treats! It was very well received, people actually thanked me for not serving mostacholi! 

Now all that remains is clean up! 

Thankful!!

What a great long weekend of things I am thankful for...

Days off with the kids--

Wednesday through Monday for Danny! We were all able to boxing a couple of times, Movies, Christmas shopping, and lots of sleeping in!

Visitors--

Hank came down from Posen with Jerry on Wednesday afternoon and stayed until Saturday. We had a beautiful thanksgiving dinner with mashed potatoes made from Hank's spuds! We played UNO and shot pool and ate a lot! I love cooking for the family and the more the merrier!

Cassie--

Jake picked her up while we were at mass Thursday morning and she stayed until Sunday night!  We played,read lots of stories and moved her out of the crib and into her Big Girl Bed! We set up and decorated the Christmas tree which Cassie really enjoyed. I had all her ornaments in a special box that she could unpack. She loved choosing a spot to hang them! Jake took Cassie and all the kids to see the new Penguins movie and they all said they alighted their heads off....Cass liked the treat bag I packed! Leah came over to play on Sunday after church and inspire of the cold they jumped on the trampoline.

Church--

I am so thankful to belong to a parish like Saint Patrick. I am blessed daily by the kind people, the awesome,inspiring and educating priests and all of the good programs they carry out. I have been invited to the women's advent tea this Friday and I am excited about that. Cassie loves to do the sign of peace. She strolls all around the place shaking hands and saying "peace a with you!"

Sports--

Danny,Molly,Charlotte,Sophie and I all ran in the Fantasy of Lights 5k Friday night. At the start at 6pm it was 27 and snowing with a decent wind...aah, running in Michigan! I love that we see so many people we know at the races, and Molly, well she knows everyone! It is a great way for her to reach out to others, running is a unifying thing, which I LOVE! U of M games are such fun to go to. Jerry got tickets for everyone, including Cassie, for Saturday afternoon's game. Michigan won and the kids had a good time cheering them on. Cassie wore her cheerleader uniform and met the dance team gals and the cheerleaders..they all ate her up with a spoon!

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Enjoy the photos!

My two cooks help me get ready for the big day! Danny made Pecan Pie bites and a Cerry-Cranberry Pie. Cassie made the greenbean casserole.

Fantasy of Lights Team! Check out the results!

215 Danny Hincka M 13 Brighton,   23:11 7:27/mi

574 Sophie Wisbiski F 13 Brighton,    23:21 7:30/mi

217 Molly Hincka F 23 Brighton,   27:49 8:56/mi

216 Kerry Hincka F 53 Brighton,   28:36  9:11/mi

214 Charlotte Hincka F 21 Brighton,   30:46. 9:53/mi

After getting up at 6:30am I convince Cassie to work on quiet crafts while everyone else sleeps and I wait for the coffee to brew! 

The new bed! I am glad I saved this when Danny was finished with it, it worked out perfectly! And the first night, Saturday, was a success. No getting up or crying!

Cassie was very happy to meet the dance team, Danny, not so much! Jake threw him into the arms of the dancing girls, I love how beet red his cheeks are!

Grizzly Adams and friends!