Friday Night Basketball

Last night, a number of the young men played their first scrimmage game. Considering they had not played together before, and didn't get many points on the board, they showed a lot of potential. No, they didn't win. They were disappointed, but neither we (the families) nor Ivan (their coach) were.

John (JB), Steven, Tim, Dustin, Michael, and Ian were our bigger guys. Grumpy (Chris), Happy (Jeremy), Sneezy (Josh), and Doc (Simon) were our younger ones.

Chris Strikes Again...

Christian couldn't wait to get home from cantata practice and take some pictures of the trees. I don't know how he does it... I may be biased (and proudly so), but I think his work is quite striking. Who knows? Someday, he may become the next Ansel Adams, or the first Christian Thompson :)

Are we ready for this?

Well, I finally figured out how to post pictures! And it was actually easier than I realized -- DUH!

Are we ready for winter? These are a couple of Chris' masterpieces, taken 01/01/08 outside of our house, after getting about eight inches of snow overnight. Sure, it looks beautiful, but I'm not ready for this. Even though I've always had thoughts of quiet, snowy days, I have to be realistic.

BepiKay, you can have it... I'll enjoy it from inside, looking out my window, hopefully listening to soothing music and drinking green tea with lemon... hey, a mom can dream, can't she??

The Great Christmas Debate '08

So, we have some people who would wear Christmas tree sweaters in ninety degree weather and listen to Christmas music year round (BepiKay, I'm callin' you out). I have no problem with that. I love Christmas music. I have a CD where I've burned (legally) a few different versions of "My Favorite Things" and "Carol of the Bells." I have enjoyed baking Christmas cookies with my kids. I even get a rush out of making Christmas dinner, even though I am too dead to eat it when it's done.

That having been said, I really think it's hard to get into the 'spirit' of things when I'm outside without a coat in November... it's also hard to get into the aforementioned 'spirit' when some of the Christmas music is so incredibly treacly (look it up). Chris refers to that music as 'dulled-down, vapid, and infantile.' Okay, we like using words...

What's up with all this Star Wars craziness?

Tonight, the boys are attending a Star Wars Pocket Model tournament. Chris attended one back in September, and said it was, 'the bomb.' For those who do not speak Cool Teen, that means it was awesome. This time, they want to dress as Star Wars characters. Chris wants to look like Darth Maull (sp?), which means really ugly red makeup on his face. I don't know what I'm doing, but I'll try.

Jordan wants to be Mace Windu, which basically means a boring, tan outfit. I think I can handle that one. We'll see.

I guess there are worse things they could want to do.

Not much to post. Tim is coming for a visit, and is flying in tonight. He has a three hour layover in Denver, both ways. I anticipate the next few days will involve a lot of video games, GI Joe animated movies in their room, and a possible trip to the mall and Blimpy Burger for my three sons. That's so cool. And the best part of it is, it's all usually on Tim's dime! All I have to do is smile and wave bye-bye :)

My son, the Renaissance Man

Chris amazes me. We call him 'Bruce Lee-Roy.' It's kind of a 'black thang,' since most Black people that I know, knows SOMEone named Leroy, like my great-uncle. It's also a tribute to his being a brown belt in karate (sort of a 'sawed-off' Bruce Lee). He draws, and takes awesome scenic pictures. He is seriously thinking about going into photography. He likes old black and white movies (thanks to Tim), plays pocket models, and does the typical teen stuff (basketball, sleep in whenever possible, trash his room, inhale food before it hits the table). Yet, for some reason, this budding genius always overcomplicates the simplest math problems. The hard stuff, he figures out pretty well. The easiest problems, he takes the scenic route to get to the answer. I usually look at him and shake my head. Must be a sign of his future greatness...

Anyway, I want to post some of his photographic memories, but I don't know how, and the genius can't tell me! HELP!!

We Need Help!

I was just wondering... is there a support group for parents of Star Wars Pocket Models addicts? Even during our school day, these people constantly talk about Pocket Models, using words like "rares," "uncommons," "base set," "scum and villany;" and I constantly hear names like "Mace Windu," "Darth Maull," and "Plo Koon." Chris even made up a song sung to the "Addams Family" theme about the Skywalker family. I am only posting this because he asked me to. I had nothing to do with this foolishness.

Da da da da (snap, snap)
Da da da da (snap, snap)
Da da da da, da da da da, da da da da (snap, snap) -- this is already getting tiring


They fly around the Galaxy,
Leading the Republic,
Luke and Leia lead the rebellion,
The Skywalker Family.


Anakin was a Jedi Knight,
Padme was a senator,
The Force was always with them,
The Skywalker Family.


Da da da da -- LUKE!
Da da da da -- LEIA!
Da da da da, da da da da, da da da da --ANAKIN!


Luke and Leia were separated,
When Anakin turned to Darth Vader,
He joined the dark side of the Force,
The Skywalker Family! (snap, snap)

I cannot believe I've done this...

Okay, so I'm not the fastest pony out the gates. I was the last one in my family to have a microwave, an answering machine, a VCR, a computer, a DVD player, and a cell phone. So, yes, I am finally getting these kids a blog, after much pestering. I guess my inner Bohemian Flower Child persona does NOT want to become a slave to these things. Funny thing is, I LOVE being on the computer, and I am the resident electronics expert. If I'm gonna own some stuff, I'm gonna know all about my stuff.

Now we'll see how long it takes to post some pictures...