Michael's Final Game

I don't have any great pictures but had to blog about Michael's final game. The day started with the great hunt for his tennis shoes. Actually it started the night before when I searched the entire house including their room with a flashlight looking for them. Fortunately, they did find them hiding in a cubby in their room (I thought they were too big to fit in such a small cubby so I didn't check there--I won't make that mistake again). Then, the game began. It was a very low scoring game but fun to watch anyway. It is so much fun watching little boys try to handle such a big ball. There were two boys on the team who had never made a basket in the game, so the coach was really working on having the boys pass to them. Yes, one of them was Michael. I think having the coach tell the boys to pass to him really pumped him up. He stayed on top of everything . . . defense he was all over his man and even got two rebounds. It did help that he was guarding a boy half his height but regardless the rebounds were his! He even stole the ball once and got caught up in the mix of a couple of jump balls. This was amazing because he usually just lets the other person have the ball. He is such a nice kid!

Then, for the most memorable moment of the game. . . He threw the ball into a player from the sidelines on their side of the court, ran and got open, had the ball passed to him, caught it, ran all the way down the court with the ball, stopped, shot and MADE IT!!!!! Yes, it was his first basket in a game and it was awesome! Hopefully next time around he can make a basket in the correct hoop but we take what we can get. It was an awesome game and Michael was on cloud nine the rest of the day. We might just do this again next season. Way to go Michael!

More Kitchen

The Kitchen

So, I'm just a crazy blogger today. I put together new sketches of our kitchen remodel, and I wanted to share and get feedback. General notes:

• White cabinets with vertical insets. Yes, like Michelle's; just like Michelle's, I think.
• Removal of the soffit above the existing cupboards; who thought of those anyway?
• Cupboards on far left of the window are glass front, cabinet to ceiling, with a row of cubbies. I love the cubbies, but might forego them if I need a little more counter space.
• Dark wood countertops unless I find something I like better.
• Dark wood (laminate) floors.
• Stainless steel appliances.
• The walls will be a real red, I hope, and not that pinkish crayon red that appears here.
• We're closing the door into the kitchen and shortening it on the other end to open it into the living/dining area. It's going to be a great room (yup, totally chuckling to myself . . .)
• The island will match the cabinets, but be about 3" taller.
• We think we'll be able to center the sink better under the window with minimal effort. We'll see.
• The sink is a huge farm-style basin with a huge frontal presence. I love it, and will love it even more more with a tall antiqued faucet. Yum.

So, here's the floor plan, subject to some ooching and shuffling, but pretty well in place:

And here is each wall, first the way it is, then the way I wish it was:

And this is what we're doing right now to make sure that everything will work the way we want it. I decided to tape off the actual area of the island and put the table there for good times, then tape off the new wall of cabinets. I did this all early in the week, of course, then I opened my Martha Stewart Living tonight, and lo, there was someone doing exactly the same thing so he could see where his furniture would sit in his room. I am obviously Martha-worthy.

So, what do you think? Thoughts? Advice? Mean-spirited remarks meant to taunt and annoy? Well, if it's too mean, maybe you should email it . . .

Winter Photos

Catching up for Valentine's

We've had tons going on in our lives, which of course relates directly to our inability to log them. So, in the spirit of sharing with those we love, and in an attempt to remedy our neglect, here's a catch-up:

Jacob: is sick. He's got the vomits, but still manages to be the sweetest piece of pie you've ever seen. He's enjoying his days with his mom, learning his letters and numbers, and playing with animals and cars. His brothers got him a special car for Valentine's Day and he woke to find it on his bed waiting. He was elated, despite being lightly crusted with last night's sickness. He's sad to miss Sunbeams today, because he loves being the big boy in there.

Joshua: is pushing, pushing, pushing. Liz and I had just settled into our movie at the theatre Friday night when my phone rang. The result? For the first time ever (we're talking almost ten years) we had to cut our date short and come home to exert a little parenting. Wild Joshua had reared his head and he was not retreating. He has a new love of puzzles, and loves doing them over and over and over. His strengths continue to be quite physical and mathematical—he loves his play time and his math books, and not much else besides meal times and lap time. This wild animal loves a daddy cuddle more than almost anything in the world, although he still maintains that Grandma's lap is better.

Michael: is growing up. He loves his basketball, his reading, and his new love of writing. He's taken on some new, quite limited, but mature responsibilities with the computer, including his own email address that allows him to email only his relatives, especially when he wants to share a book he's recently penned. He's learning more about other people, and is continually growing more sensitive and thoughtful. He loves being the oldest and having special privileges like staying up later to read. He also enjoy the special responsibilities of being the oldest, like being a good example and helping out around the house without complaint. He's such a gentle creature, but can be quite determined and stubborn when he sets his ind to it. I'm sure he gets that from one of his parents, but it's hard to know exactly which one . . . Last week during the snow, he and his friends earned $35 shoveling walks. We thought he was going out to do it as service, but the entrepreneur apparently took over mid-shovel. Either way, we were impressed.

Liz: is amazing. She's loving her new full-time work with APUS, and together we recently decide to decrease her course load with AIU so that she has fewer chats and live interactions with her students. It makes her work much more flexible and compatible with her more important roles. She's continuing to learn and serve with the Young Women, and last week's New Beginnings was a great success. The Young Women really love her, and she loves them. She's still in love with all the really important things: budget spreadsheets, doing her taxes herself, and schooling her boys. I've noticed that a big favourite for all is lunch time history. I think they're about to journey to the New World, and I know I'm excited about the discovery!

James: is tired. Rehearsals started this week for our Spring Musical, The Baker's Wife, and it's going to be a dynamite show if I live to see the end of it. He's also still teaching all the music majors, and is preparing a new class style for the Fall Music Appreciation classes. We're going to try a blended, or hybrid class: the majority of the work will be done independently and online, but once a week we'll hold class to answer questions and go over important musical concepts. It's a different approach, but I'm hoping the students (and the teacher—me!) will find it a great delivery method that minimizes classroom time, but maximizes learning. Our spring choral concert is March 4, and if we're very diligent, we'll actually be ready for it! When I'm not grading, planning classes, organizing concerts or piano competitions, I'm either baking or working on my kitchen remodel. The final plans are getting closer, but I'm still working out some kinks and trying to make sure everything is just right. We've decided yes to the island and we're probably going to go with the IKEA cabinets because they offer the greatest level of customization for the smallest price tag and still come with a hefty warranty. In fact, they might be identical to Bryce and Michelle's cabinets. Imitation=flattery, of course.

In general, life is both good and busy. We're excited about our upcoming trip (3 WEEKS!) and we're planning to have the best time in the whole world. So there you go—life as we know it, again. We really should record smaller, more specific events and memories, but who has time for that? Oh well.

Who do you eat lunch with?

We started doing history using 'The Story of the World' during lunch and love it! So, we each lunch with people like Genghis Khan, Charles the Hammer and many others (we'll be eating with Joan of Arc tomorrow). I have learned that I don't know much about world history but am loving learning about it now. Yesterday we read about the Turks conquering Constantinople. If you don't know the story you should read about it and the role the eclipse played . . . very fascinating! So, today we just had to listen to 'Istanbul' by They Might Be Giants (the one that talks about Constantinople and Istanbul). The boys thought it was awesome that there was a song about what we had just learned. It was tons of fun and the boys are still pretending to play the instruments while they listen--so cute! I'm pretty sure we have listened to it about 20 times now. :) That was one very well spent dollar (literally $1).

But today we learned about the bubonic plague--I had no idea how many people died and the effect it had on society. Absolutely incredible! Well, now you know how fun our lunches are . . enjoy yours!