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.