I don't care if the groundhog did see his shadow a couple of weeks ago, this has been a wimpy winter. We have had cold spells, but they have been more of the exception than the rule. I even heard tree frogs chirping away one night a week or so ago. The temperature dropped a few days later which made me wonder how they fared. Then on the other extreme, the boys are so use to the temperature being in the 50s that they didn't grab jackets or put on sweat pants as we were heading out the door to a ball game. Ben put up a fuss when Vicki told him to put on some sweat pants. He looked to the thermometer to support his argument and said, "But Mom, it's only 24° outside."
I've been in something of a reflective mood the last couple of weeks. Nate celebrated his ninth birthday last Tuesday. We had a small family party for him over at Aunt Mar's. He also wanted to go to Incredible Dave's, a new family fun center, so we saved that for today since it's a holiday. This is the last year we'll have a child in the single digits.
We are also coming to the end of our Upward Basketball season for the year. The final games are this weekend. The boys are hoping to finish the season undefeated. It has been fun to watch them play, but this may be the last time we see them on the court together. It could happen if they both choose to continue playing Upward ball through middle school, but Ben has mentioned playing on the school team. Even if they do both play in high school they probably won't be on the court together being two years apart.
Ben is the only fifth grader on their team. What's been neat to watch is that he's a team player, not hogging the ball to be the star of the show. He has also shown an incredible amount of good sportsmanship when paired against a kid who played a little rough.
Of the two boys Nate has actually grown the most as a ball player. I think he's done things his coach never even expected to see him do. Nate doesn't have a lot of points to his credit yet, but he's gotten his mind into the game. You can see him studying the court when he's out there and figuring out where he needs to be to best help his team. He's in there trying to rebound, he's mindful of the three-second rule and stays out of the lane, and he puts it up when he's open. He's really put a lot of concepts together in his head this year, and it's been a pleasure to watch him on the court.
Jenna's team doesn't have the impressive win-loss record that the boys do, but in many ways they've played harder. All the teams they've faced have been really good, and there was a point when our girls were very frustrated because they just couldn't do anything that would work. Rather than give in to their frustrations they found their hearts and played from there. They learned to play as a team and pulled off some nail-biter wins. Jenna dug up some competitive aggression I've not seen her express on the court before, and she's made some pretty impressive contributions to the team's efforts.
This is Jenna's last year to play Upward ball. She'll be in high school next year. She and Vicki went to Freshman Orientation at school last week and we are due to meet with the high school counselor to preregister for classes. The grades she makes next fall will be on her transcript sent to colleges in a few years. I've said this much to Jenna, but it's quite sobering to hear it coming from someone else.
Ben, too, will be moving up to something new next year middle school. We'll be sitting in Sixth Grade Orientation all too soon. More immediately, Ben wants to continue pursuing Scouts. He will be crossing over from Cubs to Boy Scouts next month. (The boys in his den could have crossed over last month, but they wanted to participate in one last Pinewood Derby.) This really hit home with me when we went to the Warioto District Camporee for a little while Saturday.
Ben actually made a very hard decision a couple of weeks ago. He decided not to play baseball this year. He did so citing all the other things in our lives that keep us busy, but it was a loss that he has also grieved with tears. He's right about being busy whether or not he plays baseball, and if he truly does want to make Eagle Scout as he has stated he has no idea how busy he's going to get. Our hurdle, more than anything else, is to help him learn to manage his time.
I wish I had more funny stories to share, but I don't. Time is moving our family forward. That's always in the back of my mind, but it has been more apparent to me over the last few weeks than it has been in a long, long while.
Joe
Monday, February 20, 2012
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Warm Winter Weather
This winter is nothing like last winter. So far all we've seen is warm weather and rain. The buttercups are in bloom. At least the weather has been easier on the gas bill.
ELECTRONICS AND WATER DON'T MIX. You'd think after Nate's iPod died when he left it in his pants to go through the washing machine and then Ben's iPod became a casualty of a trip to the beach the boys would know to keep their gear away from water.
A couple of weeks ago I was taking a shower when Nate came in to use the bathroom. A moment later I heard a splash and then, "Oh, no!" Then Nate opened the shower door to show me a dripping wet Game Boy.
This tale has a happier ending because after spending a week atop one of the vents in the floor the game dried out and began to work again. Of course, it is the $5 yard sale game that would do this and not the $200 iPod. I'm just wondering if Nate washed his hands after fishing the game out of the toilet!
LOST TOOTH. Nate was starting to feel a bit left out with Ben losing a couple of teeth and his loose one would never let go. Well, it finally came out the other day. That evening Nate was trying to figure out where to put it for the Tooth Fairy. We never hide them under a pillow here because our Tooth Fairy never finds those, so the teeth are usually left on a night stand.
Nate, however, is a great collector of stuff. His night stand would make a great picture for an I Spy book. Last I looked there was an alligator's head, a collection of shark teeth, a marble collection, a rock collection, Pokémon action figures, among a plethora of other treasures. So, after trying to figure where to put his tooth he comes back down and declared with a shrug of his shoulders, “There’s no room for it.” The tooth ended up on the kitchen counter beside 36's tank.
CONFESSIONS HEARD DURING THE SUPER BOWL. Heads up: This is gross.
So, we're sitting here talking as we watch the Super Bowl when Jenna confesses that when she was little she remembered taking a bath in the tub when she peed in the tub. She was little enough that she really didn't think about how gross this was so she continued to bathe in the water and then…she drank it! Yuck!
ANOTHER POEM. I am so glad those of you who have Aunt Mar's book have enjoyed it. Many people have contacted Aunt Mar to tell her what they've thought about her poetry. This has meant a lot to her. Thank you for doing that.
Mom ran across a slip of paper the other day that had a poem of Aunt Mar's we had not seen before. This would have certainly made the book if we had found it in time. Given that it is just now turning up I will share it here. It was written on March 1, 1991, in reference to Ezekiel 40:4.
Joe
ELECTRONICS AND WATER DON'T MIX. You'd think after Nate's iPod died when he left it in his pants to go through the washing machine and then Ben's iPod became a casualty of a trip to the beach the boys would know to keep their gear away from water.
A couple of weeks ago I was taking a shower when Nate came in to use the bathroom. A moment later I heard a splash and then, "Oh, no!" Then Nate opened the shower door to show me a dripping wet Game Boy.
This tale has a happier ending because after spending a week atop one of the vents in the floor the game dried out and began to work again. Of course, it is the $5 yard sale game that would do this and not the $200 iPod. I'm just wondering if Nate washed his hands after fishing the game out of the toilet!
LOST TOOTH. Nate was starting to feel a bit left out with Ben losing a couple of teeth and his loose one would never let go. Well, it finally came out the other day. That evening Nate was trying to figure out where to put it for the Tooth Fairy. We never hide them under a pillow here because our Tooth Fairy never finds those, so the teeth are usually left on a night stand.
Nate, however, is a great collector of stuff. His night stand would make a great picture for an I Spy book. Last I looked there was an alligator's head, a collection of shark teeth, a marble collection, a rock collection, Pokémon action figures, among a plethora of other treasures. So, after trying to figure where to put his tooth he comes back down and declared with a shrug of his shoulders, “There’s no room for it.” The tooth ended up on the kitchen counter beside 36's tank.
CONFESSIONS HEARD DURING THE SUPER BOWL. Heads up: This is gross.
So, we're sitting here talking as we watch the Super Bowl when Jenna confesses that when she was little she remembered taking a bath in the tub when she peed in the tub. She was little enough that she really didn't think about how gross this was so she continued to bathe in the water and then…she drank it! Yuck!
ANOTHER POEM. I am so glad those of you who have Aunt Mar's book have enjoyed it. Many people have contacted Aunt Mar to tell her what they've thought about her poetry. This has meant a lot to her. Thank you for doing that.
Mom ran across a slip of paper the other day that had a poem of Aunt Mar's we had not seen before. This would have certainly made the book if we had found it in time. Given that it is just now turning up I will share it here. It was written on March 1, 1991, in reference to Ezekiel 40:4.
Look with your eyesAn additional verse, Psalm 20:4, is written out below the poem.
Hear with your ears
Pay attention what the Lord is saying
Don't become blind
Wasting his time
Not to fear the need for praying
Joe
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