Valentine's Day Dates

We started out the evening cheering for SJU at their last home basketball game.  After the game we headed into town to enjoy some fabulous pizza.  

Caught a t-shirt!

We got season tickets to the local universities home basketball games.  At every game they throw t-shirts into the crowd and none have ever been thrown in our area.  Last night the guy came out and right away I said to Spark to stand up quick and raise your hands.  It worked, the guy threw one right to Spark!  I think the guy in the background is thinking, "hmm, why didn't I think of that."  Then to make it even better, there were some co-ed girls sitting in front of us and the guy threw one to them, but it went over their heads and landed at Dancer's feet.  So oddly enough we went from never being close to a t-shirt to getting two in one night.  Now we just need to get some of the pizza they hand out.:)

Basketball Tournament Win!!!

Warm up with a few free throws



Get those rebounds!




Run up and down the court




Play good defense



Pose for pictures for your proud parents



Show off your medal!  This is the first medal Spark's team has ever won and they were so super excited!

He's playing with the big boys now

Well, the big boy's half time anyway.  The 4th grade boys played at half time during the varsity game.

Spark sitting with all his team mates before the game.  I think he thought it was pretty cool to be at a game with friends.  We only go to the one game every year were they play at half time.  I would guess that is all the other boys too.

The boys looked so small out there after watching the varsity team play.  At their tournaments they only play with half a court so this was a lot of running for them.  They did well but they spend a lot of time tackling each other.  Basketball is not suppose to be a contact sport.  Ten year olds think otherwise.

After the half time, right away all the boys ran up to their parents to get money for the concession stand.  I think snacks is what they find the most important part of going to a game.

Spark's First 4th Grade Bastketball Tournament

Spark's team won the first game and lost the next three.  They would start out strong, winning at the half time, and then fall apart in the second half.   The games were all very close which makes for lots of excitement.  I was reminded again that fourth grade boys are aggressive.  The ref would call a jump ball the boys would keep fighting for the ball.  The ref had to tell them that when the whistle blows the game stops.   I remember when Dancer played and now the girls team seemed just dainty compared to the boys.   The picture is of Spark during warm up.  All the other pictures were blurry, we took them with Dancer's little point and shoot.  I will have to bring the big camera next time and use the sports setting.

Basketball is over for 3rd grade

Spark had is last basketball tournament. The team has had a record of not being able to win their first game, and therefore, they get put on the wrong side of the bracket to win a first through third place. They ended up with two wins and one loss. Spark was disappointed they didn't win a medal and it was the last day they would be playing. Both of those things together were enough for a sad boy with tears on the way home. All in all he did a great job and tried his hardest and that is what we told him counts more than winning a medal.

Weekend Whirlwind

The weekend was just nonstop from Friday to Sunday.
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Our church showed the movie "The Secrets of Jonathan Sperry." Don't miss this movie if you get a chance to see it. I was part of the group that did the preplanning and therefore was part of the set up, working the event and the take down. Since it was the first time the movie was to be shown in our state we did a red carpet premiere theme. There was a dinner before hand, which was like a concession area of a movie theater. We had a doorman who was wearing a top hat, tails, white gloves and spats. Once he opened the door for the people to go into the entry way of the church they were on the red carpet like they were movie stars. There were kids yelling for autographs, cameras flashing and peacemakers (body guards) to keep back the crazy fans. Once they were in the sanctuary where the movie was shown the youth band played and they could win VIP tickets to sit in the front rows and get a prize. We showed the movie both Friday and Saturday night. It was a success, we had over 250 people which is a lot for our little town. So Friday was set up for the movie, the movie and clean for the next night.

Saturday Spark had a basketball tournament early in the morning about an hour from our house so we were up at the crack of dawn and on the road. His team won three game and lost two. When he was done playing they had a chance to get third place and medal depending on who won the last game. Since a medal could be in his future we stayed and watched the game. The wrong team won for them to take third so they were fourth overall. The teams went into over time and then sudden death to have a winner. A pretty big deal for a third grade team. We didn't get home until almost 4:00 and then had to be at church at 4:15. That gave us enough time to change and jump back in the car.

Another showing of the movie and then we had to take down all the decorations and put everything back in the church so it would be ready to go for Sunday morning. It was quite late by the time we got home and then we had to go out and do chores.
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Sunday morning we had an early appointment to have our taxes done. It is about a 40 minute drive to get to the accountant so we were up and out of here by 7:20. We let the kids sleep in so Dad and I went out to breakfast all by ourselves after the appoinment. That is a rare occurrence for the two of us to do anything alone.

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When we got back home about 10:30 I flopped in to bed and fell asleep instantly. I woke up at 1:00 and flew out of bed because we had our 4-H Valentine, bowling, pizza party at 2:00 and no one had gotten me up. Dancer and I still needed showers and we needed to leave no later than 1:40 to be there on time so it was a crazy half hour. The bowling alley we went to didn't have automatic score keepers so the kids got a quick lesson in how to keep a bowling score sheet. Spark had the high game for everyone who bowled, 121 points, so he won a prize. There was also a prize for the low score, that game was 5 points bowled by a kindergartner. She was pretty happy with her score when she realized it won her a box of DOTS candy. They also got a pencil if they rolled a strike and Spark got one of those too. The kids exchanged Valentine's so there was plenty of candy to go around.

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Grandma came by to watch the bowling and brought us a hotdish for supper. Bless her heart, it was much appreciated because we got home 15 minutes before we needed to get Dad up for work. There was enough that I sent some with him to work and didn't have to make him lunch either. I was more than happy to get home and just sit down!

Rain and Snow, Snow and Rain Ruining Our Day

This morning was suppose to be Spark's first basketball tournament and we were pumped. However, a strange thing has been happening here, rain showers which are unheard of in January. I should say shower because it has been non stop all day.

It started raining last night so I took the phone in the bedroom in case we got the call that the tournament was canceled. No phone call so we got up early and started getting ready. Ice was covering everything so we were surprised that it wasn't canceled. Maybe they just aren't calling us and we need to listen to the local radio for the announcement. Our local radio station plays polka music, yes they actually have a huge following just not us, so we don't know their call numbers right off the top of our heads. The phone book was of no help so I hooked up the internet, we have dial up, to find the info. Now as some of you may remember, if you don't live in the dark ages of internet like we do, that dial up is ssslllloooowwww. Finally the page loads and we get the right station. Through the crackle that is coming out of the radio, we hear that their tower is so covered in ice that the reception we are hearing is the best there is. We also tuned in just in time to hear that "those are the weather related closings." A fat lot of good that does us, we need to wait until the next time they announce them, however, being Saturday it could be a while. We decide that if the tournament is still going on that Dad will take Spark in the truck with the 4-wheel drive and if it gets less treacherous out Dancer and I would come later.

While we are figuring all this out our door bell starts dinging like someone is frantic at the door. We open it up expecting to see a traveler who has slid off the road and needs help, but instead it is our neighbor. Just about the time we unplugged the phone to get the internet up, the coach called us. Not getting an answer, he called our neighbor to say that we weren't answering and did he have the right number for us. Instead of seeing if we answered again, the neighbor drove over here on the icy roads to see why we weren't answering and to tell us the tournament was canceled. Next door neighbors to us means anyone with in a mile radius so it was a risk for him to drive over on the icy roads. Twice in two days now we have had people do wonderful nice things for us, first the letter and now this. To reward him we sent him home with a big box of blonde brownies Dad and Dancer had baked for the boys playing today.

I wish the rest of the story was that the sun started shining and the rain stopped but that wasn't the case. It rained and then snowed and then rained and then snowed the rest of the day. We were planning on going to an event at church tonight too but that was canceled as well.

The rain also froze into ice as it hit whatever it fell on so our gutters are completely filled with ice. This makes for ice dams to form on the edge of the roofs, which push up the shingles and now our porch roof is leaking. We are hopeful it will self correct in the spring when all this melts but my feeling is it is going to cost us some money. It is always something. I am just thankful that it is the porch and not the living room or any other part of the house.

Spark the basketball star

Well he's not exactly a star....yet. He just started last week and has been thrilled to wear the uniform. The boys get a jersey, shorts and a bag to put them in. When Dancer played, the girls got a jersey. What's up with that?

Hard work makes you tired

Spark finished up basketball camp today. He had a lot of fun all week and made a new friend. He was also slept really well, didn't have to tell him to go to bed twice, ate a lot and drank a lot (the drinking was because that is what the coach told them to do so he followed orders). We went to watch the last half hour today and oh boy can 30 hot little boys stink up a gym. To celebrate his week we went for ice cream afterwards.

Exciting day for Spark

Spark had two exciting things happen to him today. First, he started basketball camp. He will go every day this week for 2 1/2 hours and run around a gym with 25 other boys to learn how to be basketball stars. He thought it was the greatest thing and can't wait to go back again tomorrow.

Second, he sold two of his rabbits. A couple of weeks ago he put a Bunnies for Sale sign out by the road and waited patiently for some one to stop and buy them. There were 16 he could sell and I think he was surprised that the first 16 cars that went speeding by didn't stop to buy one. Today was their last day before we were going to cull them and tonight about 6:00 a mom and little girl came to get two of them. He brought them out back to see all the rabbits he had for sale, gave them a water bottle and a hanger, and said that if they had any questions that they should just stop back and he would be happy answer any questions them might have. He was the perfect little salesman. He gets half the price that he sells them for, the other half is to pay for their food. Actually, their purchase price wasn't even close to the amount of food they have eaten but he gets a little change in his pocket and at the same time learns about business expenses.

Dance, Dance, Baby!

One of the days of the year Dancer can hardly wait for came today. It was the first dance competition of the year! She has been so excited that she has spent the last two days making lists of everything she needed to bring with and then packing and checking to make sure she packed everything over and over. We went to St. Paul to the Excel Center so it was a long trip and we had to be there at 8 a.m. Early, early morning and our family does not do mornings too well but we all bounded out of bed by 5:30 a.m. at the excitement of a competition. Her dance team did very well. They won three golds and three first place trophies! Dancer was chosen to go up and get the award for their ballet dance and here she is with it. We are so proud of her! On the way home we drove by a store that had these big cement sports balls outside of it. We pulled over and she and Dad hopped out to take her picture with the basketball. It was all so fast I didn't even see what the store was. It was a long but fun packed day.

We are the Champions!!!

Dancer's team took first place at the basketball tournament today. They won all three of their games. 23 -10, 14 - 8, 25 -18. Very exciting for them, it was their home tournament and their last day of the season.

Just Thursday - 2

Spark, with his fine young elephant Jeffery watching, finished up the year end review in his math book. Monday he will start the new grade level!

The mailman rang the doorbell with a nice surprise - a box of Valentine gifts from Grandma. What a better way to start the day than to get mail that isn't a bill and then it be a gift as well. She sent jammies, shirts and sweatpants. Thanks Grandma! Dancer made Valentine's for her team on Saturday. She cut hearts out of orange paper, drew lines on them to make them look like basketballs and the taped them to a pencil. She was a bit disappointed in the pencils. Last week we bought pens for Spark to make valentines with (he cut out hearts, put a sticker on the heart and taped them to pens) for 4-H and a few other friends. This week we went to the same display, saw the pattern on the pencils, thought they were pens and didn't look any further at the package. Teach us not to assume things always stay the same. Dancer had an extra basketball practice today so Spark and I took her up the school and then went back and got her. It doesn't seem like such a big chore anymore when it is still light out at 5:30. Some how when we had to go out in the dark it seemed a much more daunting and cold task. Two trips to town is over 30 miles so we are only home about an hour in between but there isn't even a grocery store in the town the school is in so we have no where to go but home. In the summer we could go on the bike trail, but in the winter it is a snowmobile trail and not conducive to anything else. While Dancer was at basketball practice, Spark and I got a few chores done. We collected eggs, filled rabbit water bottles, gave hay to everyone and water to the chickens. On the way into the house the cat, Kacheekers, was winding around us and telling us he was out of food. He was happy to have his dish refilled. Yes, it is a sand toy. We have found them to be the sturdiest in our cold weather. A lot of plastic dishes just crack if they get bumped around a bit in the cold. If you are old enough, remember the plastic vinyl book bags before backpacks became popular for school. Every year I think I broke at least three of them because they were cold and I knocked them on something.

Took the never ending pile of laundry down a few inches today by doing a couple of loads. I try to do one load a day but it still seems to get away from me if I don't have a couple of days a week when I do more than one. Who is wearing all these clothes when it seems the kids are in lounge pants and t-shirts most of the time? This is just part of one of the loads.

Basketball head

Dancer had a basketball tournament today - 2 wins 1 loss. This picture we got of her makes her look like she has a basketball for a head! Every other picture we took she had her back turned. We could really use a faster camera.