IncrediPowells 2016

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM THE

INCREDIPOWELLS edition 9.0: We Triple-Dog Dare You

    The old adage about how fast time flies and if you don’t take a minute to look around you may miss it is right…especially when you live in this house.  The girls and their never ending list of activities, sports and projects has our heads spinning and looking to the garage fridge for relief.  So, as Christmas time approaches it is time to look back and reflect, good and bad, on the year that was for THE IncrediPowells.

    Emmerson is 7 and hit the ground running in first grade this year, and she has no signs of slowing down.  She is our most active when it comes to sports participation, but she tries to balance that out with being our most challenging at home.  She is both familiar with the athletic fields she plays on, and the inside of her bedroom where she spends a fair amount of time.  This summer, much to the delight of Kim, Emmy played her first season of softball and was instantly hooked.  It’s funny how when it’s a sport that Kim is interested in, there is no issue when it comes to buying new gear.  She also played fall softball, U8 soccer(another undefeated season), basketball, and made the U8 Rams Softball Club team….which I am pretty sure is going to become a year round deal.  She will also be entering the State Fair armpit farting competition, which she also recently discovered could be done with the back of her knee…..what talent!

    Ellie will be 9 in January, she is in third grade, and for the second year in a row she has a Hawk fan for a teacher…I am pretty sure there is a conspiracy at Four Mile.  We are also working on breaking her of the habit of taking snacks to her room at night, I mean she has more choices in there than the Golden Corral Buffet.  She continues to play soccer on a select team of sorts, which had us taking trips to Minneapolis and Kansas City this year.  Due to the lack of participation in our age group at the Minneapolis tournament we were forced to play up to U11 as a U8 team and just got absolutely man-handled, which in turn almost got a couple of referee’s man handled.  On the other hand, in Kansas City, playing in the correct age group, they finished second.  This was a big boost to their confidence, being able to hang with big money club teams like that!  Ellie also continues to take art classes at Studio Virtu, which I absolutely love and she would tell you that it’s just one more reason that she is my favorite.

    Addison is 12, in 7th grade and this is her first year at the Junior High!  I have already heard way too many stories about her friends’ boyfriends, sneaking out at night, kissing at Adventureland and just being secretive.  She swears she has no interest in boys (at this point) and unless they find messy hair, sweatpants, and t-shirts attractive, I am just fine with her school clothes selection.  This was also the last year of dance, as Foster Powell decided to close the doors after this year’s recital.  She did go out with a bang though, having another high energy acrobatic solo and participating in countless other group dances.  Addison has also stuck with soccer and really found her niche while playing defender.  She is on a great team with great coaches and continues to impress the hell out of me with her skill set.  Her team won the Kohl’s Cup Tournament this fall and finished the season undefeated, and let me tell you, ringing the cowbell and blowing the vuvuzela when they score a goal NEVER gets old for me!

    Kim is in her thirteenth year of teaching 5th grade at Four Mile Elementary and is well on her way to becoming one of the “senior” teachers in the building.  I always love going to school on open house night and telling her students and their parents sorry about their bad luck in getting her as a teacher…while I stand outside of her classroom door.  Kim also made a big life change this year as she slowed down on the consumption of Ultra and switched to sweet tea vodka and water.  “This way you can continue to drink all day and stay hydrated,” spoken like a true professional.  We also spent spring break in Mexico this year, which was an absolute blast and made us realize we NEVER want to take our kids on vacation again!  On a side note, Kim is also the reigning arm wrestling champion at the original Billy Goat Tavern in Chicago.

    This January I will begin my sixth year at Titan Tire and my first as part of the management team.  This past spring was my last coaching Ellie in soccer, which I believe we both feel is for the better.  Emmy is not so lucky, I continue to coach her soccer team and don’t think there is any doubt who she belongs to with her antics on and off the field…..she’s Kim’s.  I am sure if she thought she could get away with giving me the middle finger on the sidelines, she would.  This year I also got myself what was first diagnosed as gout, and then correctly changed to staph and strep infection.  Along with this, I had a knee hot enough to cook an egg on, kankles, a short hospital stay with a minor procedure, two months of pic line antibiotics and one bitchin’ scar!  However, Kim would tell you that it just got us another bill in the mail for a few months.

We hope this letter finds you and yours doing well this Christmas season.  We wish you all the best in 2017 and we hope to see you soon.  

KC, Kim, Addison, Ellie, Emmerson, Schumi and Roxy IncrediPowell.

IncrediPowells 2015

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM THE

INCREDIPOWELLS edition 8:  Nerd Alert

     It is that time of year again to fill you in on the adventures and misadventures of the IncrediPowells over the last year.  As you can imagine, the last year has been an absolute blur when you live with these crazies, but I will do my best to let you know what we have been up to.  So, get your popcorn ready and let's see how the last year has unfolded for the resident Nerds of the Sherrylynn Hood.

    Emmerson is 6 and started Kindergarten this year and I think Kim and I are both still holding our breath and waiting for that one phone call.  You know, the one where the teacher calls and says Emmy had a bad day and told the whole class to kiss her *ss.  Thank God that call will go straight to Kim since she is in the same building.  She wrapped up her 3rd season in U6 soccer with her team being undefeated, and in the spring she will be trying to set the scoring record for that league.  She is also in the middle of her first season of basketball and has the same opinion about practice as Allen Iverson.  But when it comes to games, it is a whole other story.  She is calling for the ball and looking to fast break after a rebound.  She also told Kim that she wants to play softball this year because she loves trying to crush the ball while taking BP.  It has taken to child number 3, but I think we finally have our “sports” child….thank god!

    Ellie will turn 8 in January and is in second grade this year where she has the worst thing for a teacher you could ask for….a Hawk fan.  She decided that one year in dance was enough for her, getting the cool costumes was not enough to outweigh having to perform on stage in front of a lot of people.  So, Ellie will just stick with soccer where she is really starting to come into her own as a defender.  This fall she was part of a tournament team that went to Kansas City to play, and there, she played in goal every minute of every game.  She told me that it was boring in goal and I told her that was a good thing, you don’t want to be busy back there. This year was her third season in U8 girls soccer and we finished the season undefeated.  This spring will be her last at that level and then we will move up to U10 where we actually keep score and there is a winner and loser…...what a thought!

    Addison is 11 and this year she proved to us that dreams DO really come true, as she decided to quit competitive dance!  She gave soccer a try this fall, but after 3 games was diagnosed with mono and had to sit out the rest of the season, but she is signed up for indoor and is excited to play.  She does continue to dance at Foster Powell which is only 2 nights a week instead of the 6 or 7 that she was doing.  She did her first solo last year for Foster Powell, which went well, so she decided to enter into the Bill Riley Talent Search at the Iowa State Fair.  She ended up advancing to the semifinal round, where she was beat out by some dork dressed up as a horrible Peter Pan, singing “I Don’t Want To Grow Up.”  It was probably the worst act in the semifinal round, but I guess that is what the judges were looking for.  As you can tell, I am not bitter at all…..Peter effing Pan!  This school year, Addison moved on to the 6th grade center, which means out from the protective clutches of mom, and due to her bout with mono, she is working on 50% attendance.

    Kim is in her twelfth year of teaching 5th grade at Four Mile Elementary, which has required her to start an extensive collection of cardigan sweaters and high waisted jeans.  This summer she was able to take her drinking game to the next level, by convincing the local Ultra distributor to make deliveries directly to the house.  So in turn, she has cut out the middle man and continued to stay hydrated all summer long.  She also retired as the reigning champion dance mom(belt included) and happily returned to her role as dance taxi driver, since Addison quit competition dance.  Also, she planned a week long trip to Clearwater, FL for the family in June and then booked my ticket home 3 days into the trip, so she could enjoy herself for the remaining 4 days.  She could also be found at the Fair for the majority of the days it was open this year and most of the beer vendors knew her by name….weird.  

    This January I will be starting my fifth year at Titan Tire and I am now on day shift, which Kim said was life changing.  I can only assume she is referring to the amount of beer she can consume and not feel guilty now that I am home in the evenings.  I have also taken a position in the Product Engineering department, which means I can now go OUT to lunch on Friday’s!  This past spring and fall soccer seasons I coached Ellie and Emmy’s soccer teams, and thank god both teams were blessed with talent.  Ellie’s tournament trip to Kansas City was the first time that I have not coached her soccer team and her first playing a new position.  With being the goalie comes a lot of responsibility, and I have never been so nervous for that kid in my life, but of course, she handled it like a champ and I was fine after a few beers and a throat lozenge.  I have also been in the crossfit cult for about a year now, and I have never enjoyed getting my ass kicked so much on a regular basis….except for that time Kim brought handcuffs home.

We hope this letter finds you and yours doing well this Christmas season.  We wish you all the best in 2016 and we hope to see you soon.  

KC, Kim, Addison, Ellie, Emmerson, Schumi and Roxy IncrediPowell.