An Action-Packed Agenda

This weekend was chock-full of fun things to do. On Friday night Miss M had a basketball game, and it was a nail-biter!! Who knew third grade girls basketball could be so exciting? The other team seemed to have better control of the ball, and an uncanny ability to steal it from our girls. Coach Dad continually reviewed the ONE offensive play he taught the girls – guards pass the ball to the center who will pass it to a forward who will shoot it in the hoop. Sounds pretty simple right? Well, those scrappy girls on the opposing team knew how to play defense - they were making it very difficult to complete that one play. It finally came together by the end of the game when, with only seconds left on the clock, Miss M scored the basket that tied the game. Grandma, Grandpa and I were cheering from the stands, and beaming with pride I might add. The crowd went wild as we went into overtime and our girls scored again. Unfortunately the other team did also, and it was tied once again. It remained tied at 10-10 even after a second overtime. What a game!!

On Saturday we were running in all different directions. Miss M and Dad went to Basketball practice (to again review that ONE play), while I went with Grandma and Grandpa to the Cathedral Basilica for the Annual Commemorative Mass & Prayer Vigil. Gramma came over to stay with the little guys. As soon as she got home from practice, Miss M had to get ready for a birthday party for a friend. We picked her up from her party just to go to another party. This time it was a BIG Reddy birthday party. First we had cake and ice cream and presents, and then went swimming in an indoor pool. The kids had a ball! As if all that wasn’t enough, we went to CiCi’s for All-You-Can-Eat Pizza after that. It was no surprise that we had kids falling asleep left and right on the way home.

It was also no surprise that everyone slept until 8:00 Sunday morning. It snowed overnight so we woke up to a winter wonderland. It was difficult to get the kids to Sunday School before going outside to play. They went sledriding with Dad for a little while, came home for some hot chocolate, and then it was back outside to make a snowman. The snow was absolutely perfect for making a snowman, and was rolling up with the greatest of ease. Because of this, they got a little carried away. They realized this when they tried to lift the second part of the snowman onto the first part. It took every ouce of Dad’s strength (and Big D’s and Miss M’s) to hoist that second part up there. “Dad’s gonna feel that in the morning!” I said. When they finally got him all put together, they needed to accessorize. We happened to have a carrot for his nose, but they got everything else from the garage…and it showed. With swim noodles for arms and tennis balls for eyes, we decided he looked like an alien snowman. He’s definitely an original!

But wait…there’s more! There was still more on the family calendar for the day. We waved good-bye to our snowman and went to my Aunt’s house for dinner. The spread she had prepared for us reminded me of a backyard barbecue, which was just delightful in the middle of January and with snow on the ground. We enjoyed every bite of the fried chicken, potato salad, and mostaccioli, and even had cake for dessert. We played some games and worked a puzzle, all while trying to keep Banana happy (she’s coming down with a nasty cold.) It seemed like we just got there when we had to go, but Miss M had homework and it was a school night. We had a couple of kids nodding off on the way home again. What a weekend!!