Hockey & Team Spirit

I know I already posted something today..... like 15 minutes ago, but I have been inspired to post something else as well. And this isn't about something that happened today...but a few days ago. 

Lets start from the beginning. My grandparents on my mothers side live in a small town in Canada. And this small town has their own hockey team. My grandfather has always been into hockey and so no surprisingly he has seasons to their games. Once a year he gets extra tickets for my sisters and I to come along. And thats what happened a few days ago. We went to one of their hockey games. 

The teams in which we say play were the Barrie Colts (the team we were rooting for) and Owen Sounds Attach. 

Anyways, the game turned out to be very exciting. Attack was supposed to be a very good team and the Colts are not this year....so we were expecting to be creamed. But...you never know right? We ended up losing only 6 to 7 after we had gone into over time sudden death, the penalty shots, then penalty shots sudden death. In other words....its was pretty exciting!!! 

]In the Sudden Death Penalty Shots the crowd really started to bug me. I have always been one of team spirit and being positive during a game. And being positive towards to the other team as well. Anyways, when the Attack guy was coming in for a penalty shot the whole crowd was boooing him. They were screaming and shouting boooooo!!!! It bugged me so much. I mean the poor smuck was only a kid.....16-18 and he was under a lot of pressure to get the point. And he goes in with booos? It was just awful. I felt like cheering for him even though I was rooting for the other team. I mean no one in the arena wanted him to score....(as it was a home game for the Colts and all the colts fans where there). But even if you don't want the guy to score it doesn't mean you have to booo them. Just sit with your mouth closed and hope he doesn't score. I mean think about it! Put yourself in that guys shoes. Under pressure, going in to take a shot and just hear boos? I mean come on! Give him some support. 

Anyways.....I just wanted to point out the fact that even if you don't like someone or something put yourself in their shoes and see how you would feel if you were getting put down....if that makes any sense. 

Check out the Barrie Colt website to see the stats of the games and so on! 

http://www.barriecolts.com/

Barrie Colts

Owen Sound Attack

Christmas Trees

For me there has always been a magic in a Christmas Tree. Not just any old Christmas Tree, but a decorated one with colorful lights. One that has had a lot of work put into it to make it look so special.

In our family getting and decorating our Christmas Tree has always been a tradition. We get a 13-16 foot tall tree and spend the whole afternoon decorating it. It sits in the living room so all can admire it. The reason for writing this post is that I am sitting here, in my living room, surrounded with family, with cozy PJs on, with soft music (silent night) playing in the background.....and looking at our tree. It towers over everything in the room with a little star on top (even if the star is tilted way over) There are many, many lights. Some flashing, some just still. And the tree  is overloaded with decorations. Overloaded is usually used in a negative connotation. However, in this case, its positive. We have been decorating the tree for years and every year new decorations are added.....but also old ones remain. So by now....we have tons of decorations. Some of them I made when I was 5 or 6, some from places all around the world, and some just normal old decorations. But each one is special.

No madder how tall your tree is, or where it came from, or how many lights or decorations it has on it...it can still have a sense of magic to it. I know this because I have lived in 4 different countries and in 5 different houses. That means 5 different types of trees. Some were 4 feet tall, some fake, some real...but all special. Its not all the decorations and lights that make a tree magic....but the spirit, love, and hard work that goes into it. And tree in the world could be made into a beautiful Christmas Tree with a bit of work.

I don't know where the tradition of people putting up trees for Christmas came from, but I think it is such a special tradition that should never be lost. It just makes a house, apartment or where the tree is, a ore spirited place if that makes sense.

Family Traditions

I don't know about everyone else, but I am a big fan of traditions. Especially family traditions! And as a family we have one tradition that comes to mind that we have done for as many years as I can remember. I'm not saying we only have one tradition, we have many...but I think this one is my favourite.

It just so happens that this tradition happens on Boxing Day....which if you are a Canadian you know that that is the day after Christmas. So...on Boxing Day all my Dad's side of the family gets together. They have always come to our cottage in Canada. Anyways, my father has 2 brothers who each have families. So....the total about of people for dinner normally comes to a total of:
5 = my family
1 = my fathers father (Sadly my grandmother is not able to come out to our cottage as she in a nursing                  jjjjjjhome
4 = My uncle's family (and tonight their eldest child brought a boy friend) so thats really 5
3 = My other uncle's family
-----
So....that sums up to 14.....thats pretty good. And thats just close family!

Then for dessert the extended family comes! This includes my great aunts and uncles, great cousins, cousins once removed...all those people. So that brings the number up a lot higher!

What I love about our extended family is that we all get along just like brother and sisters, parents and children, and grandparents and grandchildren. I love it. We all hug each other when we see one another and know each other really well.

Out of all the kids....cousins......cousins once removed or whatever, my family has the youngest. What I mean by that is my sisters and I range from ages 9 - 15....(me being in the middle of course at 13) and the next youngest cousin is I think 20. So we are the youngest. But what is so nice is that our other cousins (I am just going to keep calling them cousins because that what I consider them as no matter who they are are how how they are related to me) get along with us so well and treat us with respect. Not like they are older and wiser and we are too young for them. They enjoy 'playing' with us and having fun with us.

In our basement we have a ping pong table and what's nice is that all the cousins enjoy playing ping pong. Some of us are really good at it (I am not one of those).....some us are alright (thats me) and some of us...can not play at all. But its a way for us to all come together and enjoy a common game. Even my eldest cousin....who is 24 maybe?? plays with us. She gives my little sister a chance to play as well in stead of just ignoring her. (Strangely enough their playing skills are about the same...hehe) But you know what I mean.

I am kinda switching topics here....so bare with me.

Whats nice about our tradition......having this party every year....is that our older cousins are at the stage in which they are dating. I find this interesting as my sisters and I are too young to date obviously, but when one gets into her late teens its when they get serious. Normally every year at least one of the cousins brings a boy friend or girl friend. It is always fun for me...and my sisters.....to meet them and see what they are like. I love all my cousins and they are all fantastic so it is fun to see what kind of bf/gf they choose. This year, my eldest cousin brought her bf. He seemed nice to me. And whats most important my cousin really seems to like him and he was treating her well. I always watch for that...making sure they are happy together. And these two were from what I could tell! Always a good sign right?

Another thing about annual traditions is that a year is a long time without seeing someone....and people can change in that period of time really quickly. For example, this year...well every year my cousins all get taller. Which...is no surprise. But this year there was another change in one of my cousins. She...(in her first year of collage) was a lot nicer, more mature and friendly. Well at least thats what it seemed like. She was more chatty and she was willing to play more games with us. Maybe it was starting collage that provoked that...but I really like it. The most amazing change and the most inspirational to me personally was weight loss in 2 of my cousins. One of them I really enjoy. He is in his second year of university and has always been a bright guy....but always just a slight bit over weight. When I saw him today he said he had lost 30 pounds. He looked so good. I could tell he had gone down shirt and pant sizes and he looked fabulous. Another one of my cousins....in his last or second last year at collage.....used to be huge. I literally couldn't get my arms around him to hug him. He was heavy and extremely tall!! He got out the car this year and I barley recognized him. His mother (my aunt) came in and said that he had lost more than 100 pounds in less that 4 months. He looked amazing. I was easily able to hug him!! I have always looked up to both of these....what should I call them....young men. They have always been the people I look at an say to myself.."I want to be like you when I grow up" And to see both of them lose weight...it was amazing.


The last thing I am going to write about tonight is personalities and layers. That may sound a little strange but you will get it by the end. I have this one cousin in particular that I am thinking about. He is the nicest guy in the world and he wouldn't ever hurt a living. He is 22 and has been to university but is going back for some more courses this year. Anyways, he visited us where we are living in Switzerland just by himself. And that visit was fun. But is just felt like he was missing something. He just seemed so grown up and so proper. He didn't laugh very much....which was strange because I had always remembered him being so much fun and laughing and playing with us a lot. Anyways, I had just attributed all that to just growing up. I just thought that he had kind of moved on from being a teenager and was maturing into an adult.
Anyways, he comes to the party tonight with his whole family. ( Parents and his brother ).And it was amazing. It was like he was another guy. He was smiling and laughing. He was playing with us and was....from what I could tell, really enjoying himself. He was having a great time. It was interesting because I was kind of watching out for him. Just making sure that he was alright....because of the way he acted when he had visited us. I was...and still am...shocked. I can't get his smile out of my mind.
And I while I was watching him I figured out what it was. It was his family. His father and particularly his brother. They were just all having a great time together. They really brought out his fun side.
I was thinking about it....and I have decided what it is.

Some people have what I consider 'layers' to them. When they are alone, or they have just come to something and there are people they haven't seen for a while they are quiet and they kinda keep to themselves. Its not being shy...its just their top layer showing. Think of it as an onion. An onion has many layers. Some people are like knives, and they can cut through those layers really easily. In my cousins case...it is mainly his brother who is his knife. They seem really close and I think thats a big part of it. When they started playing ping pong my cousin was laughing had having a great time. On the other hand, when he was just with myself and my family, he didn't have a knife to cut through his layers. It took the better part of 4 days for my dad to finally get a little sense of fun and 'family' into him.

I just though that is was interesting how people are so different. One cousin in an onion and the other is his knife. They are like PB and J. They fit together so nicely.


Anyways, I better be headed off to bed. I have had a long day and know this post....longest post yet...(I have only written 3 in total)

Anyways, thanks for reading!

Presents

So....today being Christmas means...presents! I started out with many things in my stocking then moved on to the bigger presents. I got so many wonderful things! A bathrobe, posters, music, slippers...ect. I don't think you can get anything bad for Christmas...can you??? I mean every present has had some sort of thought put into it so it is special in some way.
I have this weird fright of opening gifts. I am afraid I am not going to know what it is or it is totally wrong. Like last year I got earrings, and my ears aren't pierced. What am I supposed to say?? Thank you...and pretend to try them on?? In the end I gave it to my sister when the person who had given it to me left. But it was kinda awkward.
Another give I got one year was nail polish. This was a few years ago so I was into cute nail polish. I got the same nail polish kit 4 times that year from different people. Every time I opened one I tried to say....'Oh thanks so much....I don't have one of these! I am going to have so much fun with this'....haha, well that was a bit of a lie. The having fun part wasn't but the rest?? Complete lie. But I think its better to tell a little 'white lie' rather than hurting someone's feelings right?
After opening all our presents my family had this big party. Actually, all the guests just left. My family is cleaning up...but I decided to sneak away and write this. The party was fun...I mean we had all our cousins. We went sledding and played a few games. However, I am stuffed from all the turkey and cookies and tired because it is almost ten! (Normal kids my age stay up way later than I do...but I have always been more of a morning person...so I go to bed early)
To sum all of that up....I had a great Christmas and I hope millions of other children did as well!

This Is It!

So today is the big day I guess. The day I am starting my blog. Its Christmas so I guess its a good day to start.
There are a couple of reasons I am writing this blog. As you can see it is called 'Growing up for Teens and Tweens'. So really it is about growing up around the ages of 10 - 15 or so. If you read my profile you can see that I am 13. So I have been through the 'tween' stage and I am just starting out being a teen. I have found that growing up during these years can be hard but lots of fun! Sometimes you feel like you are all alone....but you aren't! Everyone feels that way, even I have. So the purpose for writing this blog is to bring teens and tweens together so we aren't alone.
I am kinda new to all this blog kinda stuff, so I am not sure how it will work. But, I am going to try it out for a little while and see how it goes. I hope to post at least once a week....so you can subscribe and check up here every once and a while to see what's new.
On here I am going to be talking about pretty random stuff, but stuff that happens in other kids lives. Growing up! This includes dealing with school, family, traveling, playing sports, friends....ect. Things that every kid, or should I say teen or tween deals with.
If you like what I am writing about and you like my posts be sure to comment so I know. Thanks so much :)
As you may already be able to tell, I am not writing this with properness. Thats a strange word...properness, but the spellcheck on here is not calling me on it so I guess it is a word :) Learn something new every day right? Anyways, back to the point, I am not writing this to be perfect. I am telling you up front right now the spelling here is not going to be perfect and neither the grammar. And....as you can see, I do not punctuate correctly, instead using many ........ and !!!!!
So, to sum everything up, thanks for reading all this. Please subscribe and comment if you enjoyed it. If you didn't....thats totally cool.
Thanks!
Victoria