Double Dribble

Nathan Basketball Game from tsechief on Vimeo.
This video is from their second game...the first one was before the Christmas break and the real second one was canceled because of snow.  He is number 1 and there are two Nathans on the team so it sounds like the other kids are shouting at him all of the time.  I love how they do that.  As soon as they pass the ball, they are shouting at whoever has it to pass it back.  The one with the ball is concentrating so hard on the ball that they probably do need to shout to remind him or her that they are there.  I also love that all of the defenders go to the ball.  They are so cute.  Note the "swish".  He had another one earlier that I almost caught on video.  A tiny bit of a ball hog, but he's working on that.

Ever since Nathan was first introduced to basketball last year (other than The Wildcats on HSM because he only admits to certain people that he has seen and likes all three movies...) he has loved this game.  The boys all started playing "knock out" and "P-I-G" or "H-O-R-S-E" last year and this year apparently play more of the actual game with teams and judging by what we saw on the court during their first practice and game in December, they use "playground rules"...as the guy with dirty teeth on Grease said, "The rules are, there ain't no rules".  The coaches have been working hard on deprogramming these little guys to be slightly less aggressive.  I mean they are beginners and it is co-ed for goodness sakes!
In my opinion, (and yes, I realize I am his mother) he is pretty good for a 7 year old.  We're absolutely certain that his ball handling skills did not come from his mother or his father.  Anyone in the family wanna take credit?

Other than basketball, life is moving along at its usual busy pace.  Nathan had a sleepover on streroids Friday evening with 3 friends from school.  They had a great time.  The highlight of the evening was a Nerf gun battle.  One of the boys brought an entire box of gear like he was going on some kind of hunting expedition.  I don't get it, but apparently they are on a totally normal track.  At a small group Bible study we attended on Saturday evening, one of the moms with a college aged son was lamenting about how his grades have fallen just a little and she said that when she called him not long ago he said, "Mom, I can't really talk right now because I'm at Wal-Mart buying Nerf guns for a battle".  Ah, boys will be boys.  Apparently for a long time.  (At least that story wasn't about someone's husband...although I'm sure someone some where could tell that same story about her husband).

The sisters are busy as well.  Hannah is busy being fabulous.  She is such a girly girl.  I love that she knows exactly who she is.  Her class recently took a vote on their next mini unit of inquiry (what they are learning about) and the class chose bugs.  Hannah did not vote for bugs.  She told me prior to the date of the vote that she had suggested learning about the body.  She came home very distressed that her friends had chosen bugs instead.  "Mom, they didn't even think.  They just all copied you chother!"  (She always says "you chother" instead of "each other"...we're not sure why).  I was so proud of her for voting for what she wanted rather than going along with the crowd and was telling her so when she confessed that some of her distress came from the fact that she had tried to change her vote, but she wasn't allowed.  Oh well, at least she made up her mind about what she wanted in the first place, right? 

Because she was invited to a birthday party to which fancy dress was requested before Christmas, she has decided that she should also be fancy at every party she attends.  Why not?  I tried to get a good picture of how fabulous she was as we headed to a birthday party last weekend, but this picture doesn't do her ensemble justice.  She is very well accessorized and lately she spends quite a lot of time lotioning and using her new chapstick (or "lipstick").  I find my two girls are already spending so much time primping in the morning that I am very, very afraid of the future.  And true to stereotype, their older brother is fully dressed and waiting at the bottom of the stairs quietly checking his watch every morning.  He's going to make someone a very patient and understanding husband some day.

Here she is after a play date involving some pretty fancy glitter make-up on Thursday.  (Oh the joys of having friends with older sisters!)  She requested to sleep in her glitter make up and I agreed after removing most of the giant circles she had drawn around her eyes.  She still has a substantial amount in her hair even after washing thoroughly and now her pillow and sheets are incredibly sparkly, but the girl is fabulous.  What else can we say?

And on to the little one...her big day is fast approaching.  She even knows, "My birthday is on Tuesday!"  She has been talking about her birthday for months and finally, finally it is here.  I was giving her a bath last night and telling her that I was a little bit sad that she is turning 3.  She said, "No Mommy, you aren't sad.  You're happy!  You aren't crying".  She was looking at me very carefully checking for tears as she said this.  She insists that she is "the baby".  Not sure where that comes from, but she obviously likes her status.  She's going to get a chance to celebrate her birthday with two of her little friends on Tuesday.  Her brother and sister are very upset with me for celebrating her birthday at a time when they are in school, but I promised  them we will celebrate again with Daddy in the evening.  I didn't mention that Daddy is coming back from Italy on Tuesday morning and just might stop by the house to celebrate a little with us during lunch.  That would not go over well.  Figuring out a way to fit birthday celebrations into these already very busy kids' lives is not easy!  Another busy week ahead.  We're still not sure what our future holds, but trying to focus on being here now and I'm trying to be patient and keep the stress to a minimum.  (It feels like I'm on an emotional roller coaster and one minute I'm okay, praying and asking God to handle the details, the next minute I'm a mess--just human that way).

Nathan's friend William (a former classmate in PreK in Kindergarten) now lives in Boston and came to visit us via "Flat Will"--their version of "Flat Stanley". They personalized their "flats" with a picture and an outfit. I was a little sappy on Thursday when I opened the letter and saw that it was actually like having Will come for a visit. He had a play date with Nathan and another former classmate and even sat at our dinner table. He went to school with Nathan on Friday and I stopped by to take a picture of him with Nathan's class (I've mentioned how awesome his teacher is, right?) so that we could put the picture in "Flat Will's Passport Journal". Seeing as William is half Belgian, and that he has lived here before and even visited in real life this past summer, we didn't have any pressure to take him sight seeing. He was content to play with his friends and visit his former school. ;0)