First Basketball Game

This week flew by.  We had something to do every night but Wednesday I think. 

I took Monday off and headed to Mooresville to Xmas shop with my mom.  We got a lot done and I felt much better at the end of the night.  It was a nasty, rainy day out but it didn’t slow us down.  I headed back and went straight to the hospital for a family advisory council meeting.  I was exhausted by the time I got home.  Shopping wears you out!

Tuesday as soon I got home, Drew walked out the door to go to Operation Christmas Child with a group from our church and help process shoeboxes.  The kids and I ate a quick dinner and headed to Will’s basketball practice.  I didn’t get to see a lot of it because I was entertaining Lindy.  She loves dribbling the ball on the sidelines.  Too bad she loses control of it and it rolls all over the place.  I stood between Lindy and the court and chased a lot of balls.  She was calling me ‘Coach’ for awhile but I told her I felt like more of a ‘Ball boy.’  She asked what it was and I explained it.  A little later the ball was rolling away and she said, “Go get it, Ball Boy!” 

Thursday night I stopped at Target on my way home to do some more shopping.  I ran in the house to pick up the kids and took them to choir practice.  They had a little holiday party with Ms. Anna which they enjoyed. 

Friday night we had a Christmas party at church for our friends from the three UMAR houses in town.  We had yummy finger foods, played the bells, saw Sister Act and Blues Brothers performances and watched our friends open the presents we bought!  I saw some very excited people and no one said ‘Yuck’ so I guess we did okay!  We helped clean up and headed home to put the kids to bed.

Saturday morning we were up early to get to Will’s very first basketball game ever.   It was the funniest thing I’ve seen in a very long time!  Will was so excited about playing a real basketball game.  Unfortunately we had to play a team I’d been watching practice who is way too good for a bunch of 5-6 year olds!  It was definitely a learning experience for our little guys who had never alternated offense/defense or run up and down the court.  They had NO clue what they were doing!  All the while the other team did know what they were doing!  Will bounced the entire time he was on the court and he said he had so much fun!  As long as he had fun, that is all that matters.  The one thing he did not like was the buzzer.  That totally took him by surprise.  After the end of the first quarter when he heard the buzzer, he started watching the clock to see when the buzzer would go off.  When there was about a minute left on the clock he would cover his ears with his hands. 

After the game we got ready and headed to Mooresville to see my parents’ house.  They moved in on Wed. the 11th!!  We were so excited to see the finished house and help them out a little bit.  We got there about lunch time and we ate lunch and got to work.  The kids stayed up in the bonus room playing with tons of toys they haven’t seen in a long time.  My parents’ house has been packed up in a storage unit for over a year!  The kids kept busy all afternoon which let us help my parents out.  Drew carried boxes to give my Dad’s back a break.  We put up their Xmas tree and got it decorated.  I helped mom organize the kitchen and then I went through boxes in my room.  We loved their house!  Despite a very trying building process with the contractors, it turned out great!  I wish I had more time to help them unpack.  It’s much more enjoyable when it’s not your house you are unpacking! 

Around 5pm Drew and I headed to Charlotte and met up with Anna for dinner and a concert.  Last April Drew and I went to Merlefest (a big four day bluegrass concert) and we heard this musician named Pokey LaFarge.  We loved him!  We got his cd’s and the whole family became big Pokey fans!  I found out they were coming to Charlotte so we got tickets and we saw them last night.   They were opening for another band so they only played an hour.  It wasn’t nearly long enough.  After they were done I headed to the bathroom and on my way back I saw Pokey!  I got to meet him and get my picture taken with him!  He is from St. Louis, MO so I told him I was from MO, too, and that I had seen him in the rain at Merlefest.  We had so much in common!  Drew couldn’t believe I’d met him!  We stayed to hear the Carolina Chocolate Drops and left around 11pm.  We headed back to Mooresville, stopped by my parents, snatched our kids from their sleeping beds and headed home.  We got home way late but it was worth it! 

Today we had church and the kids sang and rang the bells.  They also carried in presents during the Hanging of the Greens service.  They did well today.  We got home and I straightened up the house and then ran to the store.  When we got back I frosted our gingerbread house and then the kids decorated it.  Usually we do it with Mimo, Aunt Anna, Molly and Aunt Jamie but I think we were all too busy this year.  The kids had a ton of fun decorating their sides. We have a plastic house that we use year after year and so they each get to decorate two sides and one side of the roof.  Someday we’ll have to pick up another one.  I let them go to town and didn’t help at all.  Lindy decorated long after Will was done and I’m not sure there is a centimeter of open space on her sides!  She filled that sucker up!  I think she ate as much as she decorated, too.  We ate dinner and then we wrote letters to Santa.  Lindy had no clue what to ask for so I steered her towards one of her Santa gifts!  Will asked for things Santa is not getting him.  Someone else is getting him one of his things so that will help.  I kept trying to steer him towards one of his Santa gifts but he wouldn’t catch on to what I was talking about.  We can check two things off our Xmas check list!  It was a productive day!

The next week looks busy and Christmas is going to be here before we know it!  Looking forward to getting my sister and family in North Carolina next Sunday!  Last week Will said, “For Xmas I want the Beaver family to come to our house.”  We are excited to see them in NC and hopefully in WS!

They wore Xmas shirts all last week but I only got pictures of two days.  Year 2 of our favorite Xmas shirts! They think these are so funny!Ringing bells at church Friday night at the UMAR party.  Will is a serious bell ringer!See?  He takes his role seriously!Pluto brought two new Christmas movies Saturday morning.The players saying their basketball pledge.Warming up.Passing the ball!Dribbler!Waiting for the buzzer to ring.Cutest baller out there!Saturday night in Charlotte listening to Pokey LaFarge!Meeting Pokey!  He is a “Plain Old Midwestern Boy!”Christmas church outfits today!Singing today at church.Ringing the bells.The before picture of the gingerbread house.Working hard!Lindy’s finished product.Will’s finished product.

I know, I’m late this week….

To appease the mass of readers (okay 5), here is my weekly update.  I was out of town most of last week and ran crazy all weekend.  If I don’t get a post done on a Sunday night then the week gets too busy to do one, too.

So let’s see what happened last week.  On Monday, the 2nd I left to go to Orlando for a three day work training.  For three days I learned about March for Babies.  Drew brought the kids to the office after school on Monday so I could see them and then I left for the airport.   My week was good and the family survived without me.  I made Drew practice pony tails on Sunday and he actually put her hair up every day.  I face timed with them every morning and evening and at one point Will said, “Again, Mom?”  He told me another day, “Well, three days really isn’t that long.”  I could just tell how much he missed me!

The kids did have some fun while I was gone.  Tuesday night Will started basketball practice.  It is his first time ever playing basketball.  So far he loves it.  He has had three practices and is having a blast.  Drew got him a basketball and now his favorite pastime is practicing basketball.  Lindy is loving it, too.  She really hasn’t asked about actually playing much.  We are bringing the basketball to Will’s practice and letting her play with it on the sidelines.  This seems to appease her – for now.  The other night I was begging her to play my phone because she kept letting the ball go out on the court and she wanted nothing to do with my phone. 

On Thursday, Lindy had a Christmas party for all the deaf and hard of hearing kids in the school district.  It was from 10-12:30pm.  Drew told her teacher he would be taking her to it and her teacher suggested he keep her the whole day and do something fun with her.  WHAT?  So Drew kept her out of school all day!  They had fun at the party and brought home some neat crafts.  The best part was she got to see her old hearing teachers, Ms. Asbury and Ms. Mary.  I know they were all excited to see each other!  I wish I could have seen them!  After the party I think Lindy got to go to work with Daddy as they had to go to the church and visit some folks.  I’m sure she thought it was great though.

Thursday night the kids had choir practice.  I flew in Thursday night but I didn’t get home until 12:30am.  Late night!  Drew did take the kids to school for me Friday morning so I slept in a little bit.  I still had to go to work on Friday.

Friday night we surprised the kids with tickets to Disney on Ice.  I have always shied away from things like this (plays, circus, performances) because you just never know what Lindy will see.  I’ve just never wanted to spend the money on tickets and her not see.  I decided I really wanted them to see this show but I decided if we were going to do it then she was going to see.  So I bought her a front row ticket!  I bought two more tickets right behind us for Drew and Will.  We went to eat at Steak-n-Shake and headed to Greensboro.  We got stuck in traffic and ended up being about 3 minutes late to the start of the show – so irritating.  I think Lindy could definitely see more than she ever has but I think she still missed a good bit.  I kept pointing things out to her to see.   They skated by pretty fast.  At first she seemed excited and then I think she assumed she couldn’t see and asked for my phone.  I told her no and started pointing things out to her and she was fine the rest of the night.  Towards the end she started laying on me but I think she was probably just tired.  Will was even tired towards the end.  Drew bought some popcorn and honestly that was Lindy’s favorite part.  The production was really great.  Disney does neat things. 

Saturday morning Will had basketball practice at 9am in the morning.  We stuck around the house and I worked on some Christmas projects.  Saturday night we went to a play that our church put on.  We watched that and then helped put the church back together so we didn’t get home till late.

It started raining on Saturday and the temperatures plummeted.  We woke up Sunday morning to rain right at freezing.  After much discussion they ended up cancelling church.  With some new  found free time I made a grocery shopping list and headed out to do all my grocery shopping for the month.  It was a yucky cold day out but I got it done.  I was home long enough to unload groceries and headed out shopping again.  We were in charge of doing the shopping for a Christmas party we are having Friday night for our friends at the UMAR houses.  I shopped for about 15 people and came home and bought a few more on Amazon.  I was on a shopping roll!  Drew was going out to do it himself but he is just not a shopper.  It could have sent him over the edge.  Plus I was spending someone else’s money so it was fun!

So that wraps up the week!  Drew even took some pictures this week! He’s the best!!

Lindy seeing Santa for the first time this year!  I wish I knew what she told him because Santa has no clue what to bring her!  Lindy and Ms. Mary!Lindy and Mrs. Asbury!Disney on Ice!A couple blurry iPhone pictures from basketball practice Saturday morning.  He takes his defensive position seriously.The other baller!Never up, never in!  (GrandBob’s advice to him).Looks good – but it’s really no where close!Lindy took Will’s picture Saturday night.Our house decorated for Christmas!