Coach Mom

Kevin had the camera. I had Adam. I can't even remember what made me call him over. I am sure he was misbehaving. Adam is trying to work on being nicer to people, so I am sure I was reminding him that he needs to be nice. We probably weren't saying a thing about basketball but it sure looks like I am giving him some good pointers.

The Basketball Finale

After the whole get the stitches out and get some ice cream incident we headed over to the YMCA to watch Adam's last basketball "practice". They had a cute little ceremony at the end.

 They always start off with some stretches. I think sticking the tongue out must help in stretching the muscles.

 Then they huddle up around the coach to find out how they will be grouped and what skills they will be working on.

 Adam practices some dribbling. They had to dribble their ball around the edge of half the court. I was surprised at how well he was controlling the ball.

 He's taking a shot. Look at that face of concentration.

After their little basketball exercises, they lined them all up and gave them a chance to "cut" the net and take a piece of the net with them.

 Adam chooses just the right piece.

 I still can't figure out why they didn't let these three and four year olds actually cut the net. What were they thinking? They can use scissors, right?

 Coach Mark places a medal around Adam's neck and gives him his certificate.

 Adam was so proud of his medal. He wanted to take it to school the next day to show his friends.

 We can't leave without a big group high five.

Oh, in case you are wondering. Yes, Adam is wearing the wrong color shirt. They give them a shirt every year they participate. The shirts look alike but the colors change each year. Adam has quite the collection of YMCA Family Hoops Shirts because he has his two and Jackson's two. Kevin accidentally grabbed his shirt from last year which was burgundy instead of this year's green shirt. Oops!

Holiday Happenings

It's December and I have decided that it is definitely the busiest time of the year. We started our month off with a visit from Ivey. Emily and Joe came with her too! They went to Joe's Christmas party, and Ivey stayed and played with Sarah. Kevin, Jackson, and Adam headed to the Mebane Christmas Parade.

Sarah knows she is not supposed to touch the Christmas tree. I think she was surprised I was letting her touch it so I could get a picture.

Soccer has ended and basketball has started. This is Jackson's first game and the only one he's been able to make so far (I told you December was busy!). He made a shot but unfortunately we didn't get a picture of that.

Adam is playing basketball, too. He and Kevin are in a program called "Family Hoops" at the YMCA. They are learning basic basketball skills and have no organized games.

Jackson was Herbie in the 3rd grade musical, "The Reindeer Whisperer". His famous line was, "I want to be a dentist." On the same night, Adam and Sarah performed at their school. Aunt Jeanne and I watched Adam and Sarah, and then we all headed over to Smith School to watch Jackson. We made it just in time. They were singing their first song.

Adam and Sarah right before their performances.

Adam's class sang "All God's Creatures Have a Place in the Choir". He was a frog. They also sang Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer which seems to be Adam's favorite song this Christmas season.

Sarah's class sang "This Little Light of Mine" and waved their flashlights all around.

The next night I had a Christmas party to attend, so Kevin took the kids to A Victorian Christmas in downtown Burlington.

They were making it "snow" on the street. Jackson was quite shocked that he was catching soap bubbles and not flakes!

Jackson talks to Santa.

Adam talks to Santa. I heard that Sarah would give him a high five but nothing more.

Sarah is in the library "writing" her letter to Santa.

Adam must be thinking about what to write.

Jackson takes this letter writing very seriously. This would actually be his second letter to Santa.

Adam and Sarah have been taking a Creative Movement class at their day care. Miss Kim comes once a week to tell stories, dance, and do other fun stuff with them. I believe Adam has learned his days of the week by keeping up with when Miss Kim comes.

Sarah's group showed us some of the fun stuff they've done with Miss Kim.

Adam's grouped performed "Miss Kim's Nutcracker". Obviously Adam was one of the toy soldiers.

Don't let this sweet innocent look fool you!

After the Santa incident in Downtown Burlington, we thought we'd make a trial run at visiting Santa. We went to the mall in Burlington knowing that Santa wouldn't be too busy there. Sarah refused to let go of me but would let me stand next to him. She looked at the camera, they cropped me out, and viola! We got a decent picture of the three of them with Santa. We are not risking it by trying again, so this unofficial visit became our official visit this year!

The next exciting thing.... Sarah got a new bed! She is so excited to have a big girl bed. She's actually become quite possessive of it. She won't let anyone near it saying, "My bed. Get off Jackson (or Adam)!" She insists on sitting on it when getting dressed and undressed which makes it difficult to get the pants on sometimes.


Last night Adam had basketball practice and Santa showed up! Adam visited with Santa for a few and then went back to shooting hoops.

We are winding down here to the end, but the fun just doesn't stop. We are going to a live nativity and Christmas in the Park tomorrow night. I'd like to squeeze in a trip to Tanglewood, but I just don't think it's all going to fit in this year.

The boys are so excited that Christmas is only 4 days away. They anticipate opening the advent calendar each day and finding Fred, our resident "Elf of the Shelf". He has been reporting to Santa quite regularly and has even brought some letters back from Santa. Let's hope we've all behaved well enough for that visit from Santa!