It's not getting old yet...

Another weekend, another tournament. The J-Cats took first place in this one, too! That's three so far this year. Em played quite a bit in the championship game, and scored two baskets! Someone's mother made a fool out of herself cheering today, also. I might resemble that remark. Just saying.

My camera wasn't working so well. I didn't get very many good shots. We'll call this one "blue ghosts playing basketball" See the blur in the lower left corner? That might be Em. I'm not sure.






Em and her trophy after the game:

Emily kicks Satan's butt!

Last night, Emily kicked Satan's butt!

well, actually...
Last night, Emily's basketball team kicked Satan's butt!

ok, trying again...
Last night, Emily's BB team kicked Satan's basketball team's butt!

one more time...
Last night, Emily's BB team kicked butt against Seton Catholic School's basketball team.

Maybe someone accidentally mispronounced Seton as Satan. Maybe the thought of Satan Catholic School made the other family members in the car laugh so hard they snorted on the way to the game. It was a darn funny accident, though!


Em's team was ahead by a goodly amount. She played quite a bit, and had a major movie moment at the very end of the game. One of her teammates was on the other side of the court, and got the ball. She passed the ball to Em. Em caught it, then shot the ball with less than half a second on the clock. The buzzer rang. The ball went around and around, then finally went in the basket! It was so exciting! It was the kind of shot you see at the end of a movie, you know the one where the shot breaks the tie in triple-quadruple overtime and the underdog team wins in the end, and they show slow-motion shots of the ball going around and around and around... before it finally goes in.

Somebody's mother (ahem...) made a fool out of herself by cheering so loudly.

It was wonderful. We are so proud of her!

Jordan Basketball Tournament

Emily's school hosted a fifth-grade girls basketball tournament last weekend. Emily's team was undefeated, and won first place! I forgot the camera at home, so I don't have any pictures of the girls getting their trophies. Richard took these at home:

Champions!

Em is on her school's fifth-grade girls basketball team. This weekend, they played in a tournament at United Township highschool. After a couple of really close games, they went on to the semifinals, and then to the final game. They won! (go, J-Cats!) Each girl got a medal, and the satisfaction of knowing that they won, while the fifth-grade boys team from their school finished in last place. I guess that's what playing like a girl will do for you!

New Year's Eve

We were all still recovering from being sick, so a big New Year's Eve celebration was not in the cards for us. Instead, we got in our jammies, then watched Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and had junk food for supper. After it was over, we cracked open the bubbly stuff to celebrate the new year (that was really still several hours away for us!) The girls had fun drinking Welch's Sparkling Grape Juice out of the wine glasses.







Em likes it:









Evie isn't so sure:
I will stick my tongue in to taste it



What is this stuff?



It tickles my nose!



I think I like it!

Christmas

We drove to Hays to stay with my parents for Christmas. It's somewhere around 10 hours in the car, so not as long as our recent trip to Austin.

We had a great time visiting with everyone. We got to see my cousin Sharol's new baby, we had Chinese food at The Mall with Mom, Dad, Aunt Ardie, Aunt Marsha, Uncle Cary, Cam, and Niki, then did some shopping. I saw an old friend from high school and her two kids, and got in touch with another old friend, one I haven't seen in years. Rich and I saw a movie (alone! without kids! it wasn't a cartoon!) Jeff and Angie had to go back to work, so they made the trip home on Christmas day and we kept Logan with us.

Em, Evie and I went to see Marie, and have fabulous new haircuts, now. I just got a trim, Evie has a cute new bob, and Em got a lot cut off but still has the longest hair! It was great to see Marie again.

We got to stay a week (we got there Saturday night, we left for home Saturday morning), which was hardly long enough. Friday night we went to Uncle John's and Aunt Denny's for a holiday party, and had a great time talking to my cousin Kelly and her husband Tony. (Rich wants a motorcycle, so was talking with Tony about his.) Our night ended quickly, though. Poor Logan was attacked by a viscous coffee table in Aunt Denny's living room! After a quick triage in the kitchen, we decided that he probably needed to go to the ER. He was very brave, and ended up with three staples on his head, and a stuffed puppy named Sophie. I'm guessing that he's had the staples out by now.

We got up bright and early the next morning and headed for home, expecting an uneventful trip. Evie had other plans, and came down with the stomach flu at about Minneapolis, KS, just a couple hours into our trip home. A long car trip plus a sick three year old is not a good mix. Evie's favorite thing to say now? "Mama, I frow UP in car!" She points to the ceiling when she says up. She also likes to mimic throwing up into a trash can. We stopped at the Walmart in York, Nebraska to buy one, some pedialyte, some towels, and some air freshener. She did end up sharing her tummy bug with the rest of us. I think we're finally back to normal, now. Mostly, anyway.

Christmas Pictures

trimming the tree









Evie sleeping with her chin propped on her fist:






Papa and Evie






Evie and Logan and their new scarves from Papa:











Evie is using hers as a baby sling to carry her lamb, Dandelion.

Emily and her new panda webkinz, Em in her new shirt









Em and Evie with new haircuts. Em got about 4 inches trimmed off, Evie got her hair trimmed into a cute little bob.
















Super Evie! Logan introduced Evie to playing superheroes. He has a reversible cape (Batman on one side, Superman on the other). Evie doesn't have a cape, so we used an old apron that Grandma had put away. I'll have to try to find a picture of Logan in his cape, I can't believe that I don't have one.