warning: crazy proud mother behind the camera...

today's offensive player of the game

This was SuperGirl's first season to play Upward Basketball. I haven't asked, but I think she is the youngest kid in the whole league. And she's probably the smallest, too. She doesn't get the ball much - most of the time she just gets to throw it in. She's happy with that - she's just having fun.

About two games into the season, she realized she could actually get the ball into the basket during practice. It was after this that her little friend Co and her mom began the mission to get SuperGirl to score. Co would get a few baskets during the game and then she would start passing the ball to SuperGirl. Usually, she would dribble it a few times and someone would steal the ball from her.

Today was the last game. We still hadn't seen a basket. Another little girl on the team got on board with the mission and started hollering when SuperGirl was open. It was really cute. Co got the ball and literally put it in SuperGirl's hands. She'd tried this exact shot about 2 minutes previous and missed. But this time, the ball went in. It was beautiful.

And I screamed like a crazy woman. Video to follow...

sushi 101

Sushi. Never tried it. Unless you count the California Rolls they sell at HEB and Kroger.

DN. She's going on a trip and needs to learn to use chopsticks and eat things that don't look like brisket or chicken fingers.

Moms. We needed a night out.

Add all that together and we had a very fun evening!!

Ordering was hard because none of us really knew anything about ordering sushi. AT knew a little bit and she got us started. And our little waiter was a huge help, too. He recommended a lot of things. He even offered to bring us forks when we were having trouble eating the fried rice with the chopsticks. Everyone tried using the chopsticks and it was fun to laugh with each other as we turned our hands this way and that to make them work. And can I say that having to put the whole sushi roll in my mouth without biting it goes against everything I fuss at my kids about? It's hard to look each other in the eye when you pop one of those things in your mouth and your mouth is very full of food!

I don't know that we ate anything that was actually raw. If we did, I don't want to know. I wasn't surprised that I liked all of it. I can't wait to go again - I know exactly what to order now! Of the seven of us that went, only three liked it enough to go have actual sushi again. I wish my sweet sister lived closer. We've been trying to go out for sushi for a couple of years now. Now that I know we have something local, I know exactly where we'll go the next time she is here.

The restaurant we went to also had a hibachi grill area. I think we're going to go back and try it out for our next girls' night out. And with this group of ladies, I know we'll have fun whether we like the food or not!

the view from my window

This man. He's the best. That is a very stinky trailer full of dirt for a flower garden that he is making for me.

This window. It's about three feet from my bed. And outside that window is weeds. By the time I go to bed tonight, there will be a beautiful raised bed for flowers. I can't wait.

I had to help Hubby with the layout and shape of the bed. I literally had to get him "out of the box." He wanted to do a square flower bed but I wouldn't hear of it. So I put on my new gardening boots, took his work gloves, and went to work. Once I was happy with the shape, Hubby went to work.

He's very thorough. Notice the level? He's also a closet pink person. Notice the pink paint in the grass? After trying to make my shape with a hose and then finally using the bricks, he pulled out pink paint and got all professional on me. I'll have you know he did all the work, but I made the shape! I wanted a flower garden, not a flower box.

The plan is to start shopping for plants soon. (Like tomorrow, maybe?) I know it is supposed to be a cold weekend, so we may have to hold off on getting the plants in the ground, but at least I'll have them ready to go. I can't wait for spring!!

lady aggie basketball rocks!

It's the end of the Upward Basketball season. This week was supposed to be the last practice before the last game. That was, until Coach got wind of $1 tickets to the Lady Aggies basketball game against #2 Oklahoma.

Sweet Hubby decided to treat the whole team to the game. And he treated the girls and I to $1 hot dogs and popcorn, too! We all sat together and had a great time.

The game was AWESOME!! It was fun watching Pickles understand what was going on in the game instead of wanting to play on her DS or complaining that she was bored, or hungry, or sick, or had to go potty, like some other child in our family.

It was down to the last few minutes of the game and it just got better and better. At one point, I thought we were beat, but I was so wrong! Talk about getting every cent of your money's worth. Hubby yelled to me over the crowd, "This is the best $1 I've ever spent!" It was fun watching the girls celebrate on the court with about half of the crowd down there with them. And watching them saw Varsity's horns as a mob was cool from our vantage point.

I think the best part was when Coach Blair grabbed the microphone in the middle of the celebration and thanked the crowd for being there and supporting them through this incredible win. I was so relieved he didn't actually cry, well, because you know me... I'd have cried with him!!

What a fun, fun night.

four strikes and a spare

What a fun night! Our youth department is awesome. This is the second family night of the year and we have had an incredible time at both! The first one was the Amazing Race. Hubby, Summer, Giggles, and I were a team. For those of you not local, I haven't changed the name of a kid to Giggles... she's not in our family, but pretty close! We came in a very, VERY close second in that race. I have no idea how the first place team passed us up at the last minute, but they did, and we came in second.

So this time, we were pretty fired up about making a run for the trophy. We all LIKE to bowl. But not all of us are that good at it. Let's just say that some of us should stick to... dancing. Even with the bumper guards for the younger two, we didn't come in first.

BUT! We did come in third overall and won a gift card. We also won the contest for the most creative team name. We were "Four Strikes and a Spare." I think we should have also gotten a prize for taking the longest to come up with a name. Seriously. It took all night.

We shared a lane with the C family and we all had a ball. Here are some pics from the night...

this makes me happy...

Does that make me weird?