Thunderbolts - Division Champs

This winter we were able to play on a team of all HT kids (plus 2) which was great. These guys have been playing together since K and think they are hot stuff. All in all it was a fun season to watch as we are starting to enter the years of the beginnings of play, fake passes and great fast breaks. The Thunderbolts, as they named themselves, were undefeated and won the division champs for the 7/8 year old category.

*****Reconciled*****

On his way up to sit with Father Dave
Spending a moment confessing and receiving penance

All done. Looks pretty good.

A moment with a good friend

Today Nate and his classmates celebrated the Sacrament of Reconciliation. For the non-catholics reading, this is the first sacrament a child celebrates since baptism at birth. The Catholic Sacrament of Reconciliation (also known as the Sacrament of Penance, or Penance and Reconciliation) has three elements: conversion, confession and celebration. In it we find God's unconditional forgiveness, and as a result we are called to forgive others.

The long and winding...birthday

And on the 7th day, we rest. Almost. 7 days later were are almost done celebrating being 7. Nate had a very, very small birthday party yesterday that was like a breath of fresh air. I took he and 2 school friends, and Ian, to see Diary of a Wimpy kid. 6 bags of candy, 2 jumbo tubs of popcorn and 4 Slurpee's later we brought this week long celebration of being 7 to end. And tomorrow - tomorrow everyone goes back to school. Whew!

A Whole Day - Nate's Way

• sleepover at grandmas
• open presents - new skateboard!
• get your name and picture on the morning news
• see friends at church and stay after for doughnuts
• wii
• basketball
• baseball
• bike ride with dad
• playdate with lifelong friend
• dinner at Red Robin with friends - complete with singing and ice cream
• cake at home
• more playing with friends
• sleepover in Ian's room

A whole day - Nate's way

The Early Bird gets the...Bike?

Technically speaking, Nate's birthday is tomorrow. But we Shuster's really know how to drag out a birthday celebration. Yesterday it was school celebration day with balloons and cookies. And today, well, it's Saturday and they are predicting 7o and sunny. We couldn't help but roll out Nate's birthday gift one day early...a new bike. A Diamondback Cobra - 20", 6 speed, handbreaks. To me, this means nothing, but Dave assures me that every little boy wants a Diamondback. Who am I to deprive an (almost) 7 year old boy? ;-)

He's going blond!

Not a day goes by that someone doesn't comment on how blond (and TAN) Nate is getting this summer. He wanted photo proof so here it is. Look at those natural highlights! Ah, to be young again!

The Gap

I could hardly stand the look of the one twisted tooth left after the incident last night (it was kind of a hobo look - not so cute!) so after our baseball game tonight I convinced Nate to let me have a little wiggling time. (Some might think it's creepy, but I really like messing with loose teeth and pulling them out!) Now we have a serious GAP!

Knockout!

Must be something about the way little boys play. For the second time now we've had knockout happen with a loose tooth. This time, Nate and "5 Guys" buddy Brendan were having and intense Star Wars battle and the tooth was knocked out. And the best part, Nate was THRILLED! The bloodly little sucker tumbled out (notice blood dots in shirt, very proud of those!) and got lost in the carpet. We found it later and cleaned it up for the Tooth Fairy's visit tonight.

The weaponry

Now THAT's a gap!

Wild Cats vs. Blue Flames

#5 up for his first at bat

(anyone know a good seamstress who can shorten that shirt!?)
He wacks it and takes off running

Definitely time to pose

Making it home

Coach conference in mid field

Batter Up! T-ball (which actually is coach pitch baseball) games started to day featuring the Wolf Creek Wild Cats vs. The Wolf Creek Blue Flame! Nate, #5 and Assistant Coach Dave were awesome today, as were the rest of the team. 6 of Nate's friends from HT are on the team, which is coached by another HT dad. The games run 3 innings, everyone bats to a hit and everyone scores.

Happy Birthday Nate!

From Elmo to Pokemon. Chubby baby to skinny grown up little boy - Nate is 6 today. Happy Birthday Kiddo!

An interview with an 6 year old:

Name: Nathaniel Stewart Shuster

Age: 6, exactly

Shoe size: 12

# of teeth lost: 2

Favorite Color: Orange

Favorite Food: Shrimp and corn dogs

Favorite Movie: Spongebob

Favorite Sport: Basketball

Favorite team: The Saints

Favorite Player: Reggie Bush

Best Friend: Matthew

Favorite vacation: Log Cabin

Favorite Show: Man vs Food

Favorite thing to play: Wii

If I could have one wish: $1000 dollars

What is your bedtime: 7:30pm

What's time do you think is late: 12:00am

What job do you want to do when you grow up: Sell houses

Credit Union Kid

I'm not sure how old I was when I got my very first savings account, but I remember the little blue vinyl passbook that I had and updated penny by penny. My dad (RIP) worked at US Bank for bulk of his years and used to make the deposits for me in the branch on the way to work. He had perfect, banker handwriting.

Boy oh boy! Times have changed!

Nate opened his first personal savings account today. At a credit union. I don't know why that seems so different, but we are new to credit union life. They'll know Nate's name for sure.

We walked into the branch, Nate, Ian and I and Nate was grinning ear to ear. He got to sit at the desk of Shay, our bank teller, and help me fill out his paperwork. He handed over his big basket of savings - and let me tell you, convincing this child that he still owns the money was something else. Getting him to save, not spend every time he has a quarter, has been something else.

Initial Deposit: $65.74

First withdrawal: $25 (next stop was the Lego store)

Getting a $20 bill and a $5 bill was about the best thing that he'd seen all week!

Gone are the days of the little blue passbook. Nate will be paperless and manage his account online - very eco friendly if I do say so myself! A five year old with a username and password - what's next?!

Party on!

Nate had a small party at Chuck E Cheese today for his 5th birthday. Friday's are a great time to go because it is pretty tame compared to the weekend. I was happy to not have a mess to clean up at home. Friends Collin, Carson, Joe and Finn (plus siblings!) joined Nate for fun and games and pizza. Nate chose to have a 'cookie cake' since he isn't a big cake fan but a huge chocolate chip cookie fan. He's loving all of his gifts. So far since we've been home we've built one of his new lego sets (let's just dub this year as the year of the lego, shall we?), the boys launched a zillion rocket balloons off the stairs and are now playing walkie talkie around the play room. Whew!