A Changing of the Guards

Brian officially resigned from his position as Head Men's and Women's Tennis Coach yesterday. This is an exciting change for Brian and for our family. I look forward to more weekends at home and a consistent time schedule and am happy for the girls who'll get to see their daddy more. But, I'm a little sad too, in a bitter-sweet way. Luther is a great place, and I hope that we are able to stay connected to the people who are so much a part of our lives because of it.


This is the press release from Luther following Brian's announcement...

Brian Huinker has resigned as men's and women's tennis coach at Luther College. Huinker has been the men's tennis coach for 10 years and took over the women's program five years ago. He has accepted a position as an employee benefits consultant for the Accel Group, a division of First Insurance Services. Huinker, his wife, Amanda, and their daughters, Olivia and Grace, will continue to reside in Decorah.

"It has been a great experience working at Luther the past ten years," stated Huinker. "I would like to thank the administration, faculty and staff for their support and help in recruiting quality student-athletes. I would also like to thank Paul Berland for his eight years of service volunteering his time to our tennis programs. Lastly, I would like to thank our alumni. Without their support, our programs would not have been able to return to the top of the Iowa Conference and national prominence."

During his tenure, Huinker returned the men's program to the top of the Iowa Conference, capturing the last four league championships. The Norse have also made four consecutive trips to the NCAA III National Tournament. Huinker has been named IIAC Coach of the Year four times and was the Central Region Coach of the Year in 2007. In 2009 and 2010, the Norse led the NCAA III in dual-meet victories, highlighted by a trip to the round of 16 in the 2009 National Tournament. The Norse are 9-4 at the midway point of the 2011 schedule, increasing Luther's 10-year record to 241-87.

The past two seasons, the women have won back-to-back IIAC titles and have also made two consecutive appearances in the National Tournament. The Norse will host the Iowa Conference four-team automatic qualifier on April 30th, with the winner advancing to the 2011 National Tournament. The Norse are currently 18-6, raising the women's dual-meet record to 118-44 during Huinker's tenure.

"On behalf of the Luther College community, I would like to thank Brian for 10 years of outstanding service," stated Thompson. "The men's and women's tennis teams have enjoyed tremendous success under Brian's leadership and have consistently been regarded as regional and national powerhouses. Although we hate to see Brian leave the college, we wish him the best as he embarks on a new career in the private sector."

A national search to replace Huinker will begin immediately.

Seriously...

Seriously...I know I'm biased, but could Gracie be any cuter...

We tried to get pictures of the cousins together and 1-year pictures of Gracie this last weekend in Dubuque. Our photo session didn't turn out the greatest, and Gracie had absolutely no interest in the picture lady and was in fact completely freaked out by her. So...even though it's not professional - this picture captures Gracie's spirit better than any other.

Here are a couple of other pictures that came from our photo session...notice that one of Gracie is missing! :) We didn't really plan on having any pictures taken of just Liv and Mya, but how could we resist buying these! They were definitely the two most pumped up about getting their pictures taken - little hams. Ahhh, cousins, gotta love them.... The other night when Liv picked out her Monster BFF pjs to wear, I told her the two monsters on the shirt were she and Mya and that Max was the blue monster on her pants and Grace was the little green monster. Ever since, she's been telling me that she an Mya are best friends. Cute.

Spring Fling

The weather these days has been pretty decent allowing us to get outside for a solid 45 minutes after getting home from school/day care. We definitely had one very solid temper tantrum with Livy centering around her walking and not being carried, but otherwise we've enjoyed the spring air...now, if I would just stop hearing about threats of snow this weekend...

Here are some pictures of our most recent spring fling...Grace was definitely more willing to be photographed than Liv - who had absolutely no interest in sitting still. My prediction for the summer: I'm going to have to fight these two to come inside all the time!

Gracie is a huge fan of her swing - the one thing that Olivia seems content to just let be Gracie's. Liv even prefers to push Grace rather than swing herself.

Livy showing off her skills.

What exactly is all this stuff... Gracie isn't yet brave enough to attempt walking on the grass, but she didn't hesitate when it came to the sandbox.

They've been playing together so well lately...it's so cute.

Art Class

This post has been delayed for a couple of weeks because I've been slow in loading up pictures, but here it goes regardless...


For the last 4 Saturdays, Olivia has been attending an art class for little ones held at Art Haus here in Decorah. One of her buddies, Elliot, attends too, and actually that's how we found out about the class. Each session, there are a number of stations set up like finger-painting, play-do, other types of painting, and glue stuff. The kids all where a grown-up sized art shirt (I was majorly impressed when Olivia agreed to this), so it's pretty cute to seem them bouncing from station to station covered in messes while in "dresses."

The first weekend we went, I stayed the whole time with Liv, but since then, we've done our first drop-offs besides daycare. Olivia's taken to this like a true champ, and she actually seems pretty proud of her ability to be alone telling me that after she gives me a kiss I can leave and come get her later. Her teacher, Jenna, says she does well not asking for us or acting worried in any way. The amount of artwork we brought home last weekend shows that Olivia's been making the most of this creative opportunity. Her stack of artwork is in the kitchen, and pretty much every day she goes through it and wants me to admire this or that. After seeing how much Olivia's enjoying herself and how proud of her work she is, we'll definitely be signing up for more art classes in the future.

Side note: Gracie seems anxious to join in the creative endevors lately as well. She really wants to play with play-do. This is challenging because I have to watch her like a hawk. She enjoys pulling chunks apart, but then if I'm not watching will try to sneak them in her mouth. I've been seeing some personality come out here as she fakes eating play-do with a smile on her face when she knows I've got my eye on her! Grace also like playing with the magna-doodle (sp), aqua-doodle, and going through Olivia's artwork too. :)

Here are some pictures of Olivia's work - an artist in the making...well, maybe...

Fun with Friends

This last weekend some friends and I made a trip with our little ones to the Cresco swimming pool. We may have spent more time getting into and eventually out of swimming suits than we did in the pool, but the trip was still worth it! We all decided that next time our husbands need to come too so that we're able to take turns sitting in the hot tub. The girls had a good time - I can't wait to get them all outside together this summer for walks and play time at the park. It was great fun for us mommies to catch up, and I think all the little ones enjoyed getting out of the house for a little mini-trip. Now, what the mommies really need, is a night out to finish up all the conversations we started and didn't finish between chasing down and entertaining our kiddos.

Here's a few photos from our escapade...

Olivia did a good job being patient, entertaining herself a bit,
and watching over the little ones.

Obviously, no one was really that interested in posing!

Yummmm....Snack time!

Gracie Girl

Our sweet Gracie girl (as everyone in the family - including Olivia says) is the second busy body at our house these days. To mimic my last post, here's why...

My Little Stinker...
Just like her sissy, Gracie has some actions that make my eyes bug out in exasperation. Some of these include throwing her food on the floor constantly, throwing anything within in reach as hard as 1-year old possible, hitting (Mommy only - hmmmm....), and splashing in the tub to the point that I now cover myself with a huge towel while giving the girls a bath. Plus, after she does this things, she usually grins at me as if to say, "Well, Mom, what are you going to do about it?" Gracie's also still pretty keen on being carried around although this has gotten dramatically better since she's started walking. She's miss squirmy when trying to get her dressed in the morning, but my new pretend to eat her feet technique has made diaper changes actually a fun event. Grace now refuses to eat any type of meat and gags if she even gets the smallest morsel on her tongue. She insists on having a spoon at meals so she can be like Liv, but she won't let you help her eat anything, and she'll scream dramatically if anything she thinks she needs gets taken away. The fake cry has also been mastered and this comes out usually when Liv and she get playing rough and bump heads or something along those lines.

My Little Sweetie...
Gracie has become a little cuddler at night which I love. She holds on tight to her silky and has lately been drifting off in my arms. She clutches her sippy cup so tightly as if it's a toy she doesn't want Liv to take away. Grace stares at me while I sing her to sleep which makes me feel extra special. She's gotten pretty good at walking these days and is so proud of herself when she manages to carry things around. She's gotten much more independent allowing me to get things done while she plays alongside. Grace (and Liv) love playing in their tent and having mommy and daddy "get them," and Grace tries to prompt this game all the time by smiling at you and then high-tailing it into the tent. Gracie loves music and goes nuts in the whining department when she sees our ihome or when a song stops. She sometimes just wants to hang out and jump in her crib in the morning, and gets crazy excited if Olivia comes into her crib too. She hustles over as fast as possible when I pick her up at daycare and is starting to give voluntary kisses. We don't have any solid words yet, but Grace correctly uses mama and dada - I also think she says duck. I'm getting anxious to identify what she's saying for Livy. Gracie smiles all the time and is starting to be purposely silly.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPZlR8ugCr4

Click here to check out my walking!

What I've Learned...
I've learned that it's challenging to discipline a 1-year old when you have a 2-year old who doesn't understand that age difference matters. "No" doesn't always work with Grace either, so I'll need to do some problem solving in the future I imagine. I've learned that Gracie is a lot more spunky than I thought she'd be and that she loves her sissy, daddy, and mommy more than anything.

Lovely Livy

Little Miss Livy has been a busy girl these past few months. As of late, we've learned that she has an amazing ability - she can make you smile and laugh and want to tear your hair out all in a matter of minutes! Here's why...

My Little Stinker...
Hmmm....Where do I start. Lately, Olivia has been testing us in the "who's in charge" department. We've had more tantrums in the last month than her entire life - usually these tantrums are about incredibly important things like watching one more show, having one more snack, picking out some ridiculous outfit, refusing to get dressed, putting on pjs, being upset about the plate she was given at dinner, and the like. Sometimes, Olivia clearly has her mind set on completely ignoring us, and, as you can imagine, these times don't always end up the best. We've had more whining than I'd like too. Olivia will also do things like drag a chair over to the counter to climb on top and get her vitamins; get a bowl out and pour herself crackers without asking, get out of time-out before time-out is really up, and shout and/or grudgingly say please. The last couple of nights are the first that she's gotten out of her big-girl bed without calling for us - please...may this not continue.

My little sweetie...
Despite the challenges that come with being 2 1/2, Olivia is such a sweetie. I love watching her play with her babies and rock them to sleep. Her imagination is really taking off. She tells me things like "I like mommy, daddy, Gracie, Max, Mya, Chris, Beth, Gamma, Thyme, etc..." and "Mommy's a girl, daddy's not." She's really into helping Grace right now and generally being Miss Helpful - this is especially true because she's learned that she'll get more attention this way and complimented. She's mastered please and thank you (finally!) and doesn't hesitate to couple them with a smile (although see note above). Favorite activities include singing, playing wrestle/chase/stickers/play-doh, drawing/coloring, having dance parties, and any type of activity that involves opening and closing as many doors as possible. Olivia's generally stopped complaining about things being too tight (thank goodness!) and has been better at not taking toys away from Grace (still a work in progress). Olivia's been awesome at her art class on Saturdays - letting me drop her off without any problems as long a she can give me a kiss. Olivia's getting to be such a big girl - she's still proud of the fact that she's sleeping in her big girl bed. Every night we read two books and sing two songs because that's how old she is. She's really into going potty by herself (although the whole wiping thing worries me), and using words that don't always fit her age like privacy. Just the other day we got Olivia signed up for pre-school - wow!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HeCvmVEEwWc

Check out these moves!
(Sorry, had to resort to youtube because blogger won't take my videos.)

What I've learned...
To deal with whining, my newest strategy of ignoring her until she talks in a "big girl" voice seem to be working. Totally changing the subject seems to be effective too - we have bizarre conversation changes like - "I don't want these pants" to "Let's go downstairs and have a dance party." These last few weeks have been better in all matters - I've really been trying to do as much positive reinforcement as possible about listening, being gentle, helping, etc. I've been impressed with you effective this is with Olivia - she's definitely a pleaser. I've also learned that Olivia is a creature of habit and the more I can either keep her on track or prepare her for when things will be different than normal the better.