Carter's Last 7th grade Basketball Game

Carter had a great game today.  They did not win, but they were able to make a comeback and had there been a few extra minutes left, they might have been able to pull off their first win of the season!  They played a Christian school and obviously, they were used to different rules... the ref's warned them a few times that they are supposed to play man-on-man defense and this team was NOT following those rules.  It was a little frustrating.  Reminded me of playing Cretin when I was younger.  I always dreaded playing against them.  I was glad to hear when they weren't in the St. Paul conference any longer.  Never should have been.

Carter loves to score, but he did great this game with passing.  He had quite a few that were really nice and though they did not always lead to a score, he had the right idea.  Though they did not win any games this year, and 4 games were canceled due to the crummy weather we had this winter, it was a fun and learning year for him.  Can't wait for next season, though I would LOVE to see him in a basketball camp or 2 this summer!

 One of the only clear shots I got of Carter this game!

 Carter's saying "pass me the ball!"

Another Basketball game!

Another game tonight!  It was another FRIGID cold night...getting a little tired of this cold, Mother Nature!
Carter driving into the basket!  the ball goes up...

 will the ball drop???  And, he scores!

 Free throw!

 How can you not take a picture of this cutie-patootie??? Loving little Tanner!

Finally... a game AND my camera!

Carter has a game today!  Yippee!  It has been frustrating trying to take some photos in these gyms.  The lighting is just terrible and with the fast action, my flash is just not good enough.  It is still fun to watch and with all the cold weather and cancellations, it is just fun to watch a game!  This is the 1st of 3 games this week then the season is over.  Too short and not enough games!

Carter is the kid in the black shorts in this photo...darn #10 knocked the ball away from him!

Break away!  Go Carter!  photo #1

 photo #2

 photo #3

 Photo #4 - He missed, but here is the ref calling the foul on the other player!  

 photo #5... he missed the first free throw but got the 2nd one!

First bought of Strep since October!

Dave and I were pretty confident that Dawson had strep.  The quick onset of the fever and he did not complain too much of a sore throat, but that darn headache that our kiddos tend to complain of when they have strep.  He was really adamant about going to the clinic - after a dose of Advil he was feeling fabulous...but once that started to wear off at the clinic (I knew it would and the downhill trend would start!) he was not a happy camper.  He doesn't like the cultures, but we had to confirm with him that not too many people enjoy being gagged by a q-tip in their throat!

It came back positive, which was no surprise!  Let's see who else gets it!  One positive thing for him about this trip was that he had a gift card that he wanted to spend, so he bought himself some of his own Pokemon cards!  Carter has given him quite a few, but these he bought with his own money!

Gramps n Reese

Reese and I went to visit Gramps today.  He had DAve Zschokke's wedding to go to - which Uncle Tommy was picking up him and bringing him.  I helped him pick out a nice cardigan sweater (with the TAGS still on, of couse) with a green polo shirt underneath and a NICE pair of dark, almost new jeans.  And, who would he be without that hat?  At least he is wearing nice jeans!

Day @ G & G Coleman's house

We try to get together around Valentine's Day to celebrate Grace's birthday.  This year it worked better to do it the weekend after Valentine's day as both the girls had basketball tournaments last weekend.  It has been so cold lately, it was an OKAY day out today so after we ate brunch the kids wanted to go outside and play in the snow.  These photos don't even show how much snow was really on the ground.  Grandpa has snow blown trails through the yard so that he can get to the woodpile and out to the little pond to put out some corn.  Honestly, I think that the piles were about 3-4 feet tall!  It is a CRAZY amount of snow.
The kids had a blast sledding down the hill.  The snow was pretty fluffy so it wasn't creating the best path (every time they went down, they would sort of create a new path) but eventually Uncle Todd had a pretty decent path shoveled out for them and they could sled almost to the pond.  It was like a LUGE path!  Here we come Olympics!

After sledding, we let Grace open her gift.  Dawn had mentioned that Grace has been into "finger knitting" so we gave her some yarn.  Dawson was really curious about learning to how to "finger knit" so I told him to go sit by Grace and have her teach him how.  He made me a scarf, which I proudly wore to the restaurant (much to Carter's dismay, oh how he doesn't know what it means to be a mom!).

On the way home we drove through Osceola - Dave wanted to show the kids Trollhaugen ski hill.  It really is a cute little town.  We stopped for dinner at a local restaurant called the Tippy Canoe.  Okay food, a little spendy ($6.25 for a kids pizza with black olives on it, and that did not even include a drink, that was an extra $1.25!).  Cute atmosphere though and it looks like it would be a fun place to hang out on the patio in the summer time and have a Leines!  Unfortunately, once in the restaurant, Dawson informed us that he was not feeling well.  He did not want to eat anything and wanted to go sit in the truck.  Daddy only ate 1/2 of his burger then went to the truck so that Dawson could just watch a movie.

Dawson hiding out under the big pine tree!  A perfect little fort!

It was so pretty how the sun was shining through the trees - you cannot see it but the trees were covered in a little layer of ice and it just sparkled.  A winter wonderland!  Grace, Anna and Kendall!

Reese and Anna...the snow was SOOO deep!  Good thing Grandpa plowed a path to the wood pile.

Uncle Todd trying his hand at sledding!

A real actual SNOW DAY!

This morning about 5:30AM Dave's phone rang.  He thought maybe it was someone from work.  But then instantly my phone & the home phone rang and we received text messages!  Another day of no school.  About 10 inches of snow on the ground and a lot of the roads had yet to be plowed.  I think a lot of the cities are over their snow removal budgets (and almost out of salt &/or sand) due to all the snow and bad weather that we just cannot seem to get rid of this winter...spring!?
The kids were so excited to have a snow day!  Wahooo...

This is the view of the deck as I am laying on the ground in our kitchen.  

 Sure looks pretty.  If it was December or January!

 About 10 inches of snow on the deck!

UGH... more shoveling to do!

This morning Dave's phone rang at about 5:30.  He thought it was work but then about a second after he grabbed his phone, my cell phone and the home phone rang.  School really does not want to miss us.  It was school calling to tell us that school was canceled today due to the condition of the roads (6th day of the year, but 1st actual snow day!).  It sure was a snowy night.  Biggest of the season, I guess.  But, at least today is an actual day where the kids can play outside if they want.  After all, there is about 8-10 inches of new, fresh snow out there.  When Dave and I were out there taking care of the driveway at 5:45AM, the plow driver actually stopped to talk with Dave about how he was plowing the snow.  He said that snow is supposed to stay on your property and that he noticed Dave was pushing it along the street on our boulevard.  Guess you can get reported for that!  So, it was all about good old shoveling after that.  Even with the 2 of us out there, we could not finish.  We were so tired.  I am guessing that when the plow came by, the snow drift left from him was about 3 ft wide and about equally that tall in some spots.  It was lots of snow!

I was supposed to have my last Pilates session with Sharon today, but I canceled due to the kids being home.  And I am sure glad I did.  Sharon later told me that people were getting stuck in the parking lot & that roads were terrible!

More fun in the snow!

Another decent day so we are trying to get out and play.  The kids need some fresh air after all this COLD weather!  A few of the neighborhood kids came over as well and a snowball fight broke out.  While I was NOT crazy about them playing on the snowbank next to the street, they were having such a blast that I let them play on those banks since I was standing right on the sidewalk.

I love the clouds and the sun in this photo.  The snow does not look very pretty, but the rest does!

Cooper was NOT happy with the snowball fight so here he sat.

More of that WHITE stuff...

More snow today!  At least it is not ~25 degrees anymore so the kids are at least able to enjoy it for a while!  I love this photo of Cooper.  He did not want me to take his picture, so he kept turning away and hiding.  When he would turn back I got this photo.  It is so cute!

Dawson building a snowman!  Maybe the last of the season???

Making a snowfort - Reese, Kendall and Cooper

Girls, daddy & mommy lunch date!

Dawson was with Nathan, CArter was with his dad, so daddy and I took the girls out for lunch...at Culvers!  Many times one of us takes the girls, or the boys but hardly is there ever a chance to take both of them!  And, they love it here since they get a free cup of custard after they are done with their lunch!

Dawson's 1st trip to MOA without one of his parents!

Dawson's friend, Nathan, invited him to the MOA to go to Camp Nickelodeon.  A day spent with NO siblings going on the rides with his friend.  He was more than willing to go.  They left in the morning about 10AM and did not get home until about 6.  He had a lot of fun and was tired out!  He loved going on all the rides and I think it was enjoyable for him to not have little siblings around - Nathan's sister is older so no little siblings tagging along!