Tigerbomb: Hoopfest 2009

Hoopfest 2009 was fun. It was year 12 or 13 for Dennis (he started in 1997, but I think he skipped a year in there??). Tigerbomb as a team is in about it's 10th year. Tigerbomb is (l to r, below) Dennis, John, Leo and Sean.
It was not as exciting as last year, where they took second place in their bracket to a VERY good team. It was a hard bracket this year. Their first game was against a team (P Town Connection) that took first place in their bracket last year. They lost to them and and to their next opponent - close games and totally hard fought.

Dennis (white shirt, above) played hard
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The second game they lost in the most physical and confrontational game in all of Tigerbomb Hoopfest history. One of the guys on the team was just really, really angry and seemed to want to fight. Tigerbomb are a nice group of guys - they typically don't call fouls. When this team started calling fouls from the first play, it wasn't a good sign. I get stressed out and can't watch close games. In addition, I could sense the confrontation. I'm glad I left. Caver ended up having a "discussion" with the idiot...Yes. Sounds lame that a wife got involved, but like she said - as a human being, you can't see that go on and not say anything.

Finn and Jill
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Otherwise, the guys didn't do great - ended up in the "Loser Bracket" and didn't finish well there either. Like we told Ashe - they always go there to play hard, but never expect anything. They won one year and they came in second last year. Every other year - it's been all over the map.

Another funny story was when a big, black guy Dennis was guarding told Dennis to take it easy on him because "I'm old." Dennis said: "I'm old, too. How old are you?" He said "40". Dennis laughed and so did the other guy when Dennis told the guy that he was 46!!

Fun, fun. We had a combined birthday party for Elaine (75!!) and Dennis while we were there. More to come on that.

Ashe, Tom, Tucker, Finn, Cade, Jill in front
This montage shows Ashe "not hitting" Jill. ;)

Ashe Summer Basketball Update

Ashe is having so much fun in summer basketball. Last week (June 24, 2009), he showed more energy and was on his game. Here's the league's little write up about his game:

Game # 2 – White Level - 6:50 pm
The second game of the night felt fresh with a few new faces in the mix. It was an exciting game with both teams scoring in bunches. Coach Krishna Balasubramani’s White was passing well to sharp shooting Simon who finished with 14 points. White’s Ashe contributed well with 6 rebounds, 4 points and 2 steals, Brogan also played well. Coach Kevin France’s Blue kept the game competitive with Tristan grabbing 15 rebounds and sinking 12 points. Cambrya and Luca combined for 10 points.

Ashe's Summer Basketball League

Wednesday of this past week, Ashe started his summer basketball league. In the picture on the left, he's #24 with the fresh sweat band on his head!! Molly and two other mothers from his school are running it. It's not a "camp". It's a league, with no practices. The intent is for the kids to improve their skills and play in actual games. They play seven games (one a week) in the summer. They tried out to be placed on the most appropriate team. Not many kids got cut. The coaches did it that way to place them on a team; and, ensure they sincerely wanted to play.

Ashe's game play is interesting. He's got natural skill, and he's an acknowledged good shooter (acknowledged by his coaches and teammates), but he's not aggressive and gets so distracted, he sometimes has a harder time than he should. Anyway, he has fun and that's what matters. I'm proud of him too. He found something in life he really, really enjoys.

Ashe is #24. Hmmm....I wonder who his favorite NBA player is?? ;)

His team played the first game of the night. They appeared to be way over matched, with the half-time score being 20-2. They ended up outscoring the other team in the second half, but still lost the game 32-20. It was sort of a cool second half comeback, though.

It's a great summer so far!!

Scorpios in Seattle

Once again, I'm going to say it: I'm so, so lucky. I have the best life. I don't constantly say it to brag, but to remind myself of it. It's so easy to think of what I don't have or what I wish I had or who I wish I could be...you know, I've got more than most. I've got THE BEST people in my life - friends and family. I don't know how I could ever complain.

Well, my last weekend was another example of this. Molly and I went to Seattle to celebrate our birthdays. Three years ago, we started a tradition that we go to Seattle as our presents to ourselves/each other, since our birthdays are only five days apart. Mol's is Nov 5, and mine is Nov 10.

We go for one night (about 36 hours). We stay at a nice hotel, eat good food, and shop. If we went for a longer period, surely we'd broaden our activities, but it's just long enough to get in good eating and shopping.

We got there early on Saturday, had lunch at the Red Fin. We've been there before. It's a yummy Japanese place in the Hotel Max. Delish!!

We shopped at H&M. Molly and I have the same fashion taste. Not similar - but pretty much the same. Last year in Seattle - I basically brought stuff to her dressing room and she purchased it. :) I sold Molly on H&M and the bargains there. I'd been to the ones in San Francisco and Chicago, but she'd never been. She got like 52 things for like 12 cents. ;) Not really, but pretty close. But seriously, when we went to Sway & Cake, a cute boutique just doors down from H&M, Molly couldn't even bring herself to buy anything there. Like myself, her clothing taste tends toward the expensive, but even she had to lay off after all the bargains at H&M...

We made reservations a week prior to eat at a place Caver recommended - The Purple Cafe & Wine Bar (hmmm...RED Fin, PURPLE Cafe...there's a theme here). Just check the website. It's too amazing to even describe: an extensive small plates menu, and many regular dinners. Molly said it's the best by-the-glass wine list she's ever seen. She and her husband (especially her husband) are really big wine people, so that's a big thing for her to say. IT WAS INCREDIBLE. Amazing. Thanks Cave. Included here is a picture of our tapas.

from l to r: crispy pork shoulder, crab and fennel salad, hummus with carmelized walnuts (the best tasting hummus I've EVER, EVER had - the hummus itself, not necessarily the walnut garnish), we also had a chorizo empenada, that i realized is not here. the cheese plate is at the front of the photo...everything was soooooo great.

Our meal lasted until 11:30 or so; and, then we went back to our room at the beautiful Hyatt Olive 8. We loved the Grand Hyatt a couple of years ago. This was just as nice. We got a corner room, so huge and lots & lots of windows. Just perfect.

After eating at Gordon Biersch and buying our kids a few little gifts, we enjoyed a leisurely drive home. It's nice that we get 36 hours a year of uninterrupted time to get caught up on everything we've missed during the rest of the year.

Thanks, Miss Molly. I had the best time. Can't wait 'til next year.

They Are Two Little People.

Today was the last day of the school year. Ashe is going to be a 5th grader next year and Finn will be in 1st grade. It's hard to believe I have two little boys now. No more babies. The coolest thing is that they are little people. Both of them really. They are both at a level now where I can have conversations with them. I don't want to fall into that trap of being their "friend", but I do enjoy them. They definitely know I'm the mother - especially when Finn says "This is why I hate parents. They don't let you play video games every time you want." That's not an issue. I just like to hang out with and talk to them.

Ashe had a teacher that was nicknamed "Indiana Wilson". She's very adventurous and in her former lives was a long-haul truck driver and an Iditarod teacher. It was a great fit for him. His last six weeks of school have probably been his best in any grade, ever.





Finn's teacher was also Ashe's kindergarten teacher. We love her, and, to put it bluntly, she loves us. :) She said how she was glad to have Finn since he's such a creative, outgoing little boy. She added, though, that she likes having us there as his parents too. Finn's day included a moving up ceremony.

Finn with class (dark/light blue pullover)



Finn gets certificate (Ms. Becic right - Shelley left)


Ashe & Finn's last day parties ended up at the same park.


Finn's closest buddy, Matthew. These two: they chose this pose.
I had NOT ONE THING to do with it. They crack me up.
They think they are funnier than anything on the planet.


Ashe P.!!

Great school year. Great kids. I'm a lucky, lucky lady to have such great kids. They are lucky kids to have such a great life!!

Fun in the last few days...

We've had quite an eventful last few days.

Tuesday. We picked up Ella from school. This was a treat for the boys. We don't pick up people at other schools very often. Andy told her teacher we wouldn't be there right after school, yet, when we got there Ashe was so cute, telling Ella he was sorry we were "late". So sweet and thoughtful - Ella's teacher even commented on it. It was crazy hair day at Ella's school. This picture of Ella is AFTER we took out the 16 braids that Caver put in that morning (Lisa & Andy were out of town).
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Wednesday. The boys got out of school early, for the Rose Festival Children Parade. We did not attend the parade. In past years, certain schools in our district have been released early for the parade. Ashe, Finn, and Cade's schools are in this group. This year the district decided not to release them early, but it was optional. I chose to have the boys excused, because of the traffic nightmare trying to pick them up. Caver let me pick up Cade and Tucker (since she was working) so the boys could spend the afternoon together.

You never know how the boys - all related to each other and, well, being boys - will play together. It was quite interesting, though, for this entire afternoon they played so well together. It consisted mostly of video games, but for about two hours, they played board games!! Shocking. See Ashe and Cade in a heated game of NBA-opoly.
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Friday. Elaine/my mom turned 75 years old (June 5, 2009). She's so incredible. She always amazes me. We took her to New York City for her 70th, so we figure that's her big "party" for life. ;) Our family gathered at her house for dinner and cake. It was very, very nice. And mellow.
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Ashe (far left) and other party guests watch as Tom (seated) opens gifts.



Saturday. The boys and I went to Tom's birthday party. He's our friend's son, who I have known for about 15 years. Dennis plays ball with his dad every summer in a huge 3-on-3 tournament in Spokane (for the past 11 years). The party was at Hollywood Bowl. The boys had a blast.

Finn hasn't been much of a bowler whenever we go lately. So typical of Finn with everything - he has to do it his way!!

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Sunday. I took Finn to a birthday party at Normandale Park. It was for his closest friend, Matthew. He LOVES Matthew. They are two peas in a pod, and Finn does everything Matthew does. It's just hilarious. Pinata chaos photo to the left.

Finn & classmates at Matthew's park party.

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Needless to say, an eventful week. We're ready for the last three days of the school year!! Woo Hoo!! Gonna love freedom and no schedule.

Cute Boys Inside Out

It's Spirit Week at the boys' school this week. Since Portland Public Schools have gone mostly Kindergarten-8th grade, many of the things I did in middle school, they are getting in grade school (e.g. student government and Spirit Week). Today was Inside Out Day. Dennis took this cute, cute picture of them when he picked them up from school today.

Sunshine Daydream

Sorta fun to have some sun this weekend. People that know me know I live in Portland for a reason: I don't like the sun...necessarily. I enjoy it on weekends like this one and the one at the beginning of April. I like it when it's unseasonably warm; it comes unexpectedly; it's only a few days in a row; and/or, it's the very beginning of summer. Any other time, I am waiting for the rain to come back. I am an indoors person, and I also enjoy wearing warm clothes - jeans and boots.

This weekend was quite busy actually. The best day in the sun was yesterday, Saturday. I ran all over the place, including some visiting with my parents. Finn, Tucker, and I stayed the night at my parents' house. My dad's recently home after his accident, so the boys have wanted to stay there. Finn likes it when I stay too.

Before going to Elaine and Ole's, I drove Caver and Cade downtown to stay at The Benson Hotel. They had a date that night at the Taylor Swift concert (so cute!!), so Caver got them a hotel for the show. When we drove them down, Finn and Tucker came along. We went for a slice of pizza at Pizzicato downtown and then walked to the Waterfront. I just wanted to get in a little time in the sun. They were ecstatic to look at the half-assembled Rose Festival Carnival rides. I didn't mind them even trying to climb on them, but thought the Funtastic people would frown upon it. I could see it as a serious liability and was surprised that they didn't have more obstacles in place to deter little six year old boys! :)

Oh yeah, Finn said several funny things over the weekend. One of the funniest (and most clever) was when he said: "When I try to rhyme things with Tuck Tuck [his cousin's name], I sometimes almost say a bad word." Yep. He's right.

It was a beautiful weekend in Portland. So many people were out. Just nice.

Luckiest Mother In the World

I had a nice Mother's Day Weekend. My family is so good to me. My parents and sister's family are the best. We are lucky we're so close. My mom has said a million times that we don't wait for a special occasion to be together.

Since my dad has only recently been home after his automobile accident in January, we had dinner at my parents' house. I got beautiful flowers from everyone in my family. Literally. Tulips from my sons and my sister. Roses from my parents. The picture is of the white tulips that Ashe & Finn got for me.

I am a very lucky person. Truly, every day is Mother's Day for me, because I have wonderful kids. I have such freedom to do what I'd like - because of Dennis - but also so much love and support in my friends and family. I couldn't be luckier.

We also went to a birthday party at Finn's friend's house. I've never been to a 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. party!! They went all out - bouncy house and millions of toppings (see small photo) for the cupcakes. Such a nice little party.

Hope everyone had a Happy Mother's Day.

**Update on Ashe's Accomplishment (blog below). He got 20 out of 15 points, meaning, he got extra credit!! His teacher said it was one of the best books in the class. I am so proud of him. He worked so hard on it.

Ashe's Accomplishment

Ashe has been working for the last couple of weeks on projects for school. They are larger projects. This one seemed a little bit easier than the last one he did, but it ended up taking him many, many hours. Probably about 20 hours!! Poor kid. It's an "ABC's of Oregon" book. He had to pick a significant Oregon "thing" (person, place or thing) beginning with each letter of the alphabet and write a sentence or two about it. He also had to illustrate each item with a colored pencil drawing.

I thought the picking of the items would be easy, and the drawing would be hard...well, both parts were difficult for him. He started the project telling me how much time he had and how he could do it "tomorrow". Once we got down to the wire, though, he really put his nose to the grindstone and worked his butt off. Posted here are two of my favorite entries. Since the text for the "P" entry got cut off, I'm challenging you to figure out who the drawing is?? :) The entry to the left is for the letter "P". Leave your guesses in comments - or email them to me at janiceordal@hotmail.com.

Go Blazers!

Ashe and I were lucky enough to go to the Blazer-Houston first round playoff game tonight (Game 5). We had a great time. This is Ashe from our great seats.

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Sorry for being a pain and asking you guys to all join to be able to view my blog. I never know about putting so much stuff on public websites. I know it's probably not the smartest thing to do, but it's nice for family. It's also fun when people stumble upon us through the blog.

Blogworthy.

I haven't done these as regularly lately. I notice they trend upward when the kids are on vacation and we are doing more - holidays, Spring Break, summer. So, in a couple of months, I will be all over this I am sure.

I took a couple pictures of Finn all wrapped up today. He wanted to hang out with me in my (basement) office. It was very sweet and cute. He's a good looking kid...even if I am his mother.

Another Birthday for Ashe

finn, tyler, ashe - they appear to be such little angels.

We had another of our (in) famous In Town Vacations this weekend. Ashe had a hotel night, instead of a birthday party. We stayed at the Marriott Residence Inn on the Willamette River in downtown Portland. Much more palatable for me as well. Laser tag or Bullwinkle's just weren't something I was aching to do.

It was around 70 degrees all weekend in Portland. The hottest days of the year. We walked on the promenade along the river; we got pizza; the boys swam; we went out to dinner; and, the boys had copious amounts of video game playing time. Ashe's friend, Tyler, came along, as Ashe requested. It was a good time, and Ashe had a great time - which is all that matters.

view of street car and downtown buildings from our balcony.

Happy Birthday, Ashe

Happy 10th birthday to my first born, Ashe. I love you little boy.

Decade

Tuesday night we had Ashe's 10th birthday party. He will be 10 years old on Sat, March 28. It is, of course, hard to believe that my oldest child is almost a decade old. He's such a great kid. I'm so lucky to have him. I love my Ashe P.!!


His birthday party was just our family, Yvette, and the Sorensens. In a couple of weeks he gets a night at a hotel (on the Willamette in downtown Portland), with his best buddy, Tyler, in lieu of a friend party, per se.

Crazy. I'm old.

And the Award Goes to...Everyone!

Kids' sports are funny these days. I'm not saying any one child should be singled out in a basketball team made up of kindergarten through 2nd grade kids, but it does crack me up that every kid gets a trophy. Finn would have died had he not received one, as he's seen his brother receive one for a few years in a row, but I don't know if it's a good thing for kids. I know it sounds hardcore, and maybe it's obvious, but in life, everyone does NOT win.

Anyway, on to the positive...Finn finished his first basketball season as a Brown Bomber. He had his last game and pizza party last Sat, March 14th. It was so fun for him. He had mixed feelings about actually playing on the team and going to practice. Half the time he liked it and the other half he hated it, but overall, he must have enjoyed it because he says he wants to do it again next year. He was on the perfect team, because most of the kids there were just like him: they just wanted to have fun and hang out with their buddies. Finn could have cared less if he ever touched the ball, and at times, some of the children ran from it! The one girl on the team, Claire, was really knowledgeable. There were a couple of other kids who knew what they were doing, but for the most part, they all were just havin' fun.

Oh, and those of you who know Finn will appreciate this: The coach's comment about Finn, when he gave him his trophy was that Finn did everything with a smile on his face. Yep, that's him!! Also, Finn's biggest excitement for each game was the fact that they used his ball as the game ball, every single game...he said they "liked the gold lettering".

Best Friends Forever.

I've mentioned Ashe's friend, Tyler, before. This guy is such a great kid. He's so good to Ashe. Ashe says that he and Tyler are "best friends forever". I love that. I love that Ashe has someone he considers a "Best" friend. It's been a long time coming.

Last Saturday, after Ashe's game, Ashe went to Tyler's 10th birthday party at neon putt putt golf, in the Hilton Downtown Portland. Such a great time. Tyler's mom, Becky, is always so good about including Finn too. We really like their whole family. Just nice, good people.

Jacob, Tyler, Ashe

Jacob has such great form!!