Mini Hoopers

Over the last several months Merrick has been playing basketball with the Mini Hoopers league.  We seem to always be playing one sport or another, but this was his first year getting to play basketball (I didn't see the sign up info last year and ended up missing the deadline for sign ups by a day- I was in the dog house).

It shouldn't really be a surprise given his height, but Merrick is a natural at basketball.  When it is time to go for a rebound, his fingers are a good foot above everyone else's and same for blocking shots (which they aren't really supposed to do at this level, but he just can't help it).  The only real problem he had sometimes was getting his shots to fall because they played on 8ft rims this years rather than the 10ft rims he is is used to.  Luckily that problem will be corrected next year and he will hopefully be even better.

I try to support my kids no matter what it is that they are wanting to take on, but with his natural talent and the fact that basketball is played indoors, out of the elements, it is a sport that I can really get behind.  Hopefully we have a long basketball career ahead.

Second Grade Struggles

This week has been a challenge for Merrick.  He has been having difficulty with a friend at school and the situation has monopolized a large portion of our week.  I spent this afternoon writing a lengthy blog discussing the situation and my feelings about what has happened.  Prior to publishing I had Jeremy read it over and, because he is always much more level headed then me, he reminded me that at the end of the day this is a public space and I should be cautious of what I posted.  After some thought I decided not to publish the original post.  Instead you are getting a lengthy explanation from me as to why there really is no post for this week.  I will be back next week though and I promise to bring lots of public space appropriate material.

Ok so on second thought I do actually have something to share.  Friday night was our church Christmas party.  We had a Hawaiian luau themed party that our Bishop and his wife put on almost single-handedly.  They did a fantastic job and how could I not share the cuteness that is my children.

One Last Time

Last year for Christmas, Grandpa and Lollie gave us a membership to OMSI.  We have been countless times over the year and honestly I was starting to feel a little tired of it, so when the topic of this year's Christmas came up, I told them we would rather have a zoo membership this time.  Anyway, all of that to say that our days of being OMSI members are numbered.  I was feeling like before it was official, we should make one last visit so yesterday we made that happen.

There were a couple of new and different things this time than on past visits.  The traveling exhibit was all about optical illusions and there was another temporary exhibit, Gingerbread Adventures.  Both of these were favorites of the day.  Actually, I was surprised by how much fun we all had at each of the exhibits we went to.   I particularly liked going into the fetal development room and seeing just exactly how big baby sister is kicking around in my tummy.  Maybe we weren't as burned out on OMSI as I thought or maybe it was just a little bit nostalgic being the last visit.  I don't know, I just know we had fun and OSMI will be missed in the coming year.

After a long day at the museum, we came home and put the kids in the bath.  I was giving them a few minutes to play before I started to wash them and went to lay down.  Just then the phone rang and Jeremy came to tell me it was someone from church offering his season tickets to that night's Blazers game that started in 5 minutes.  As I laid in bed the prospect of heading back out didn't seem too inviting, but when I heard that the seats were in the 10th row, I decided it was worth it.  I called my parents and, like the angels they are, they agreed and came right over, and Jeremy and I headed to the game.  By the time we drove down there, parked and got to the stadium we missed the first half of the game, but the seats definitely still made it worth it.