Harlem Globetrotters Night

Back in April, Grandpa took Cubby, Emily, Christian, and Kyle out to see the Harlem Globetrotters!  They had a fantastic time and the kids LOVED watching the game and giggled and giggled over getting to heckle the Washington Generals.  They were amazed at the ball-handling skills and said it was such a fun night!

Meanwhile, at home with the littles...

Britta went to bed and I put in a movie for Juliana and Kari to watch.  Not even 10 minutes into the movie, little Miss J falls asleep.  So, it turned out to be a pretty fantastic evening for Kari and me as well.

March Madness

 March Madness was in full effect at our house this year!  First up, the NCAA tournament!

Everyone fills out their own bracket and then we keep track of all of the winners on our big chalkboard wall.  The winner gets to pick where we go to dessert as a family :-).

Next up, basketball for Em!  This was her first year playing and she REALLY ended up liking it!  Their team got off to a rough start, but, by the end of the season, they'd pulled it together and ended up playing in the consolation bracket of their tournament!  Emily has good instincts and is a pretty good shot too!

She was sad when it ended, but is looking forward to playing again this year!

New Hoop!

On the way back from Kansas City (back in October), I got a message from one of my brother's best friends (and second brother to us), Bryce, saying he had a surprise for us...it was a brand new basketball hoop!!!  Bryce works for Dick's Sporting Goods and someone had apparently bought the hoop online and didn't like it (??).  When he returned it, Dick's wasn't able to restock it since it was bought online.  So, the manager asked if anyone wanted a free basketball hoop!  Bryce remembered that I had been asking about one on facebook a month or so before and brought it over that afternoon!  And that's how we ended up with a $700 basketball hoop--for FREE.  A blessing?  You bet.

 A few weeks later the boys came over and helped Cubby dig a 4 ft hole and poured the cement for the hoop.  Then, the following weekend they came back for the hoop raising ceremony!  A big job, but the guys had fun.  (And we lucked out with good weather too!)

Juliana looks on--very serious stuff, indeed.

And it's up!

Slam dunk!