Basketball, Basketball, Basketball

 The Bethel basketball season has begun. They started practice this past Monday, had another practice on Thursday, and then had their first game of the season versus Good Shepherd on Friday. I was impressed with how well they did, considering they had only two practices before their first game. It was a little rough, but they played hard. 

Elliott is number 11 this year, because he knows I like number 11. He's such a sweetie. He always tells me that basketball is "okay" and it's "not his favorite". But he's definitely a better player this year. He has more awareness of what to do, he's getting rebounds, and he's working on getting open. He needs to work on knowing what to do once he actually gets the ball in the post, but he's improving and he's having fun. And he played the entire B squad game without a single break. He got really tired, but he never gave up and kept working hard. 

Emma is number 20 this year, because that is Kate Martin's number. She still loves basketball and talks about basketball and has favorite basketball players. She played really, really well yesterday. She had to play against a really tall boy and a really tall girl on Good Shepherd's team and she held her own. She was grabbing rebounds, being aggressive, scored 12 points, and played the entire game. She was a beast. She also made 2 shots from pretty deep (there was no three point line, so not sure how deep) and swished them both and then held up threes in both her hands and was a little cocky. It was funny and most people were laughing about it, but we will have to keep an eye on it. Someone's been watching a little too much of Caitlin Clark. 

But anyway, I was a super proud momma and they were actually pretty fun games to watch. I was feeling pretty bummed because Emma's YMCA team fell through because there weren't enough girls. So, I was happy to see Emma be challenged and push herself in this game. All three Bethel teams lost by quite a bit, but they all improved from last year and it was a good start for these teams who haven't played much basketball. 

Hannah T came home with us and had a sleepover with Emma. We stopped at Kwik Star on the way home for supper (at 9:00pm) and then basically just relaxed and went to bed. 

Today was a wild day. We started off the morning by going to the gym (just me) and then going to school to clean. We have the next three weekends for school cleaning. After cleaning, we ate lunch at home, and then Hannah, Emma, Elliott and I headed to Brookings to watch the women's Jackrabbit basketball team play and John went ice fishing. 

The kids had a blast at the game. I found $10 tickets, and we watched the Jacks beat Kansas by 25 points. It was a really fun game and the kids were really into it the entire time. After the game, the team was signing autographs and the kids got every Jackrabbit player's signature on a team poster. They were so happy. They even got a picture with Mesa Byom, and they were thrilled. Then, we finally headed back home. 

We had a little mishap when we got back. We went to the school to get Hannah's stuff, and they decided to laminate their posters, only no one knew what we were doing. So, we got the posters stuck and wrapped around the spindles. They were stuck for a while, and the kids were pretty upset, but we got them out. They are laminated, but wrinkled and curled. It was not our wisest decision, but we are getting them flattened out and the kids are okay with how they turned out. We made some memories anyway. 

Now we are finally home and relaxing. What a crazy day. We all had a good time, but I am beat. We still have Bible study treats to get through tomorrow and then some playoff football and that's about it. We need a day at home. 

A Nelson Christmas

 We celebrated Christmas a little later on the Nelson side this year. We ended up having Christmas on Saturday, January 4th @ Jim and Barb's house. The kids had actually stayed at their house from New Year's Eve until that Saturday. They had a great time out on the farm. They played with their bunnies, the went to the movie Mufasa, played pickle ball, did some arts and crafts, and stayed very busy out there. 

John and I got to the farm around 11:30am. We had Christmas Nachos for lunch, and they were pretty amazing a great crowd pleaser. After lunch, we opened presents. The kids made a great haul and were spoiled like usual. They loved everything they got and had a great Christmas. The older kids all got SDSU hoodies and some cash. It was another successful Christmas. 

The afternoon consisted of some football, puzzles, and some games. We played the horse racing game and 31. Then we all pretended to be hungry and ate some supper, and then everyone headed home. 

It was a pretty simple, but fun Christmas. It was nice to visit with everyone, and it was really nice to see the kids and then bring them home again. 

Sunday was a catch up day before the reality of a full normal week of work and school. We went to Sure Foundation for church because the kids were singing. It was nice to go to church somewhere different and the kids sounded really good with their singing. After church, Elliott went to Polzins' for a playdate and then at 3:00 we picked him up to head to Marion for the 4H bowling Christmas Party. We rented out the entire bowling alley and brought in our own food. We had a lot of fun bowling, playing pinball, playing foosball and just generally socializing. We all enjoyed this setting a little more than the Sioux Falls bowling alley/Pizza Ranch thing. 

It was a wild and crazy weekend. We were busy, busy, busy but we all had fun. I am finally Christmased out and ready to get back to a routine and some normal days. 

Tin foil ball from lunch 

Presents!

SDSU Hoodies 

Nachos 

Building the puzzle table 

Books I read in 2024

 Hi. Here is my book review from 2024. 

1. Vanished in Vermillion. Lou Raguse. 4 stars. Great local true crime book. 

2. 12 Months to Live. James Patterson and Mike Lupica. 3 stars. Average James Patterson book. 

3. South Dakota's Mathis Murders: Horror in the Heartland. Noel Hamiel. 3 stars. True crime. 

4. The House in the Pines. Ana Reyes. 2 stars. Average Read, nothing special. 

5. Lion & Lamb. James Patterson and Duane Swierczynski. 4 Stars. Good James Patterson read. 

6. Home Front. Kristen Hannah. 3 Stars. Good, easy read. 

7. Slow AF Run Club. Martinus Evans. 3 stars. Good motivational book. 

8. Build the Life You Want: The Art and Science of Getting Happier. Arthur C Brooks, Oprah. 4 stars. 

9. Firefly Lane. Kristen Hannah. 5 stars. Great book!

10. If You Would Have Told Me. John Stamos. 4 stars. Good autobiography read. 

11. The Woman in Me. Britney Spears. 3 stars. Interesting Read. 

12. Missing Persons. James Patterson and Adam Hamdy. 4 stars. 

13. Like a River: Finding the Faith and Strength to Move Forward after Loss and Heartache. Granger Smith. 4 stars. Great read. 

14. First Lie Wins. Ashley Elston. 3 stars. 

15. The Women. Kristen Hannah. 5 stars. **Please read this book. So good!**

16. Crosshairs. James Patterson, James O Born. 4 stars. Great read. 

17. The Frozen River. Ariel Lawhon. 5 stars. *Another great book. Highly recommend!*

18. I'm So Effing Hungry: Why We Crave What We Crave-and What to Do About It. Amy Shah. 4 Stars. Really interesting and helpful. 

19. The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Daniel James Brown. 5 stars. Great story, great read. 

20. The #1 Lawyer. James Patterson and Nancy Allen. 3 stars. Average James Patterson book. 

21. The Secret Lives of Booksellers and Librarians: True Stories of the Magic of Reading. James Patterson and Matt Eversmann. 3 stars. 

22. The 24th Hour. James Patterson and Maxine Paetro. 3 stars. 

23. Soul Boom: Why We Need a Spiritual Revolution. Rainn Wilson. 4 Stars. Weird book, but interesting. 

24. Grimoire Girl: Creating an Inheritance of Magic and Mischief. Hilarie Burton Morgan. 3 stars. 

25. One Perfect Couple. Ruth Ware. 3 stars. 

26. Lessons in Chemistry. Bonnie Garmus. 4 stars. Different book, but I liked it. 

27. On Mystic Lake. Kristen Hannah. 4 stars. Good read!

28. The Underground Library. Jennifer Ryan. 5 stars. *Another great read. Highly recommend!*

29. Adventuring Together: How to Create Connections and Make Lasting Memories with Your Kids. Greta Eskridge. 3 stars. 

30. The Paris Housekeeper. Renee Ryan. 5 stars. *Another banger. Historical fiction at its finest**

31. Wild. Kristen Hannah. 3 stars. 

32. Briefly Perfectly Human: Making an Authentic Life by Getting Real About the End. Alua Arthur. 3 stars. 

33. Home is Where the Bodies Are. Jeneva Rose. 3 stars. 

34. Eruption. Michael Crichton and James Patterson. 2 stars. Didn't care for this one. 

35. The Teacher. Freida McFadden. 3 stars. 

36. Just Add Water: My Swimming Life. Katie Ledecky. 3 stars. Good book, kinda boring in spots. 

37. The Unwedding. Ally Condie. 3 stars. Average read. 

38. Do you Remember? Freida McFadden. 3 stars. 

39. Confessions of the Dead. James Patterson and J.D. Barker. 2 stars. 

40. Hard to Kill: A Jane Smith Thriller. James Patterson and Mike Lupica. 2 stars. Didn't love this one. 

41. If You Tell: A True Story of Murder, Family Secrets, and the Unbreakable Bond of Sisterhood. Greg Olsen. 3 stars. I did this one as an audiobook. It's very dark and disturbing. A lot of abuse in graphic detail, read with caution. 

42. Slow Dance. Rainbow Rowell. 3 stars. 

43. Fly Away. Kristen Hannah. 3 stars. 

44. The Last Letter. Rebecca Yarros. 5 stars. This one wrecked me. I bawled like a baby, great book. 

45. The House Across the Lake. Riley Sager. 4 stars. 

It was another great year of reading. I liked most of the books, and look forward to reading more this next year. Hope this list helps you find a good read. 

Happy New Year 2025

 The calendar switched over last night, and we are now in 2025. It's wild to me that another year has come and gone. Time truly does fly. 

For New Year's Eve this year, the kids were out at Jim and Barb's house, so John and I went out to eat supper. We tried to go to TC Referee's, but they had a 30 minute wait, so we walked next door and went to Dynasty. We were seated right away, and we had a nice meal. The waitress is always a little crazy, but it was good. 

After supper, we went to BBs for a couple drinks, live music, and some nachos. We stayed until around 9:00pm, and we headed home for a drink and some TV. We made it until midnight, said Happy New Year, and then called it a night. The kids and Jim and Barb also made it to midnight, and they blew horns and celebrated and then went to bed as well. 

Today was a chill day at home. I enjoyed a nice breakfast while watching the Rose Parade this morning, then went to the gym, and cleaned the house. I got some some things done around the house that I had been meaning to do for a while, so that was nice. John went out and bought some shelving and got some shelves hung in the kids' bedrooms. They look really nice and it will be a fun surprise for them. We are hoping the shelves can help control the absolute mess that their rooms are. We also went on a long evening walk, and then ate some delicious tacos for supper. It was a great way to start off a new year. I also spent some time reading, and now blogging. I really couldn't ask for a better day. 

Goals for 2025:

1. Go on more walks. In the summer, John and I are really good at going for walks, but in the winter we don't go as often. I would like to go on more walks, year-round. It feels good, and John and I have some of our best talks while out for a walk.. 

2. Spontaneous Trips. We are pretty good at planning big travel trips, but I want to take more day trips. There are plenty of State Parks, cities, and outdoor activities within 90 minutes of Sioux Falls, that we have not explored yet. I want to be better at jumping in the car and spending the afternoon exploring something new. 

3. Continue blogging. I really enjoy blogging. It make me think, they are fun to read later on, and it's a good reflection. I go in spurts where I blog for a while and then I lose track and don't blog for a month or two. I hope to continue blogging and do it consistently. 

4. Read. I like to read. Last year I read 43 books. That's a pretty good number. I want to keep it up and keep expanding the authors and books that I read. I also read with Elliott, so really I should count those books. Right now, we are reading the Little House on the Prairie books, and we are really enjoying them. 

5. Continue to go to the gym. This habit has really solidified itself the last couple of years, and I plan to continue. I look forward to my gym visits, and it's a great stress reliever and I definitely feel more confident when I am making myself stronger and fitter. Three cheers for health!

6. Intentional Time with the kids. Emma is getting to the age where she hides in her room a lot and Elliott can get a little too into his Ipad and Nintendo Switch, so I want to be better at spending intentional time with the kids. We have some things. Emma and I volunteer at the Humane Society together, and that is great quality time. Elliott and I read together, and sometimes we play legos together. We also all 4 watch a show together most evenings to wind down and spend time together. But I want to keep being consistent with that and find more way to spend quality time together. 

7. Date night with the hubby. Along the same line, John and I need to be better about just planning dates and doing them. The kids are old enough to stay home alone, so we can pretty much plan a date night anytime we want. And we could be more creative in what we do. It doesn't always have to be a meal, we could bowl, throw axes, take a painting class, play bingo, or a million other things. We need to remember to be creative and intentional with our time as well. 

8. Try new recipes. We sometimes get in a rut of the same 15 meals over and over again. I want to be better about cooking new things in new ways, and making the kids at least try some of the food. They can be pretty picky at time. 

9. Family Devotions. I don't know why, but it's really hard for us to take 5 minutes in the evening to do a Family Devotion. I have a couple really nice devotional books, I really hope to set this into motion this year. Also, I have a daily bible plan on my phone and I hope to be more intentional with that was well. 

10. Camping and outdoor time this summer. Last summer we didn't do very much camping, so this summer I hope to do more. It's so good for the kids (and us). So, I want to fill our summer up with camping trips, fishing, hiking, and swimming. 

Happy New Year!

Christmas Break

 John and I both took some time off around Christmas this year, and it has been really nice. We had the whole week of Christmas off, and we don't go back to work until New Year's Eve. 

On Thursday, the kids and I headed to Bethel to shoot hoops. We also had plans to fly Elliott's new drone, but he forgot batteries for his remote, so we had to put that on pause. We did have fun playing basketball and just getting out of the house for a while. Then, we went to Hobby Lobby to get Emma some felt for her masks she has been working on, and I enjoyed shopping the Christmas clearances. After Hobby Lobby it was back home for mask creations and to take down Christmas Decorations (sad face). But don't worry, the tree is staying up for a while yet. 

John and Elliott went to Watertown yesterday to go ice fishing. They brought their new ice shack and spent the nice on the ice. They had a lot of fun and played chess, made food, read books, and Ipaded, but they didn't catch any fish. They still had a really good time. They had a lot of bonding time and beautiful 40 degree weather while they were out there. 

In the meantime, Emma and I enjoyed some time at home. We went to the Humane Society to volunteer for a couple of hours, and then we decided to go and see Wicked, which was an awesome movie. We laughed and enjoyed it together, even though it was almost 3 hours long! When we got back home, we ate a late supper, watched some Modern Family, and just enjoyed a girls' evening. 

Today, Emma and I went to Bethel to shoot hoops and then we enjoyed a 50 degree, sunny walk around the Bethel neighborhood. It was a beautiful day, and wonderful time spent with Emma. 

The rest of the weekend is pretty open. We hope to get Elliott out flying his drone tomorrow. We also might head back to Bethel for more shooting and maybe some Pickle Ball for something different. I also signed Emma up for a basketball camp at the Pentagon on Monday from 11:30-1pm, so we will plan to do that on Monday. I'm still trying to get over my cold, and catch up on some things around home before it's back to work on Tuesday and then back to crazy weeks when the kids go back to school. 

In the meantime, we will enjoy our time off together. Happy Holidays!

Kitty Paws 

Humane Society Time 

Ice camping 

Christmas 2024

 Just like that, in the blink of an eye, Christmas is over. It came and went in a flash. We stayed pretty busy this December, but it wasn't as busy as past years. 

The weekend of December 14th, Ryan and Emily came to town to visit. They came on Saturday morning. We hung out, ate some lunch, had some beers, and then hung out with the kids as well. They also took the kids shopping for this Christmas gifts, which was a really nice way for them to bond for the afternoon. We also took Ryan and Emily to Falls Park, and they really seemed to enjoy that. 

The weekend right before Christmas, mom and dad came to town as the kids had their Christmas Program on that Sunday. Dad installed a new light switch for us, and also put in a new outlet in the basement that wasn't working anymore. We also went out for supper at The Sand Bar, and took them to Falls Park as well. We had a nice little weekend. 

The kids did really at their Children's Christmas Program. Both kids played piano pieces before the program, and they did great. I was a proud momma. They also both did very well with their program parts and songs. They were a joy to watch, and I think they enjoyed themselves. Emma only has one Christmas program left! I cannot believe that. 

After the program, mom and dad headed home and we went out to supper with Jim and Barb. We ate at Fizolis and caught up with them. When we got home, we had our Christmas with the kids. We all had a really good evening opening gifts and spending time together. Elliott got: Legos, a new Ipad (his favorite gift), baseball cards, an Ipad case, and some other odds and ends, the Ipad was a big gift, so he didn't get as many items as Emma. Emma made a good haul. She got a Buddha Board (which is a painting board that uses water and dries and can be used again and again), she got a Ring light for her Youtube videos, basketball shorts, a Lynx Basketball sweatshirt, t-shirt, and a Napheesa Collier tshirt, sweatpants, airpods, arts supplies, and some Warrior Cat books. Everyone made a good haul. I got some Dove dark chocolate, a new duffle bag for the gym, and sunglasses. And John got some Duke Cannon soap, a Duluth Trading company fleece, and a monogrammed shower kit. It was a great Christmas. 

On Monday, we had a catch up day in the morning. We cleaned, did laundry, put new toys away, ran some errands, and then headed to Minnesota after lunch. We got to mom and dad's around 4:00pm. We got settled in, ate some Spaghetti for supper, and then enjoyed some games before bed. We played Sheepshead and Buck, and then played a little Rummicube. 

On Monday evening, I started getting a cold and not feeling the greatest, which was a bummer. I didn't sleep great, and then it was Christmas Eve. We had a pretty slow morning. The kids went out and played in the snow, and John and I went for a nice mile long walk in the winter cold, just to move around and not go stir crazy. After lunch, Emily and Ryan showed up with some snacks, and we started putting together the appetizers for the rest of the day. 

At 4:00pm, we went to Emanuel for the Children's Program (which was good, not great) and then we went back to the house for snacks and visiting. The kids opened gifts, and then we enjoyed some games of Bingo for something different this year. After Bingo, we just enjoyed visiting and hanging out. 

On Christmas Day we went to church at 10:15, and then came back for Christmas Dinner of meatballs, potatoes, corn, rice pudding, squash, and Christmas cookies. It was good. After dinner, we were ready to go home. I still was feeling pretty crappy and run down, the kids were stir crazy, and we were just ready to be home. So, we got home on Christmas Day night at around 5pm, unpacked, and relaxed for the rest of the evening. 

It was a good Christmas. I wish I would have felt better, but overall it was good and it was nice to be with family. The Nelson Christmas will be next weekend, so we still have a little more Christmas ahead of us. 

Falls Park

 We are in the full Christmas swing around here. This past week wasn't quite as crazy as usual, but it was pretty busy. Work has gotten really busy for me, so it's not unusual for me to have really busy days and work long days. This past week I worked 45 hours, and I was shot in the evening when I got home. 

On Tuesday evening, John and I had a free event to attend through Legacy Lawyers. It was a Prairie Christmas hosted by Jeff Gould. It was cute, and funny, but it got long, and the crowd was really old. So, at the intermission break, we busted out of there and went home. It was a little bit of a bust. But, we tried!

On Wednesday, we had our first Advent service. My group was serving the supper, so I had to get there early to prepare the Walking Tacos, and then serve and clean up. It's always a little bit of a crazy time, but it went well and we survived. Then, we had church, and finally home. 

Yesterday (Friday), it was unseasonably warm, so we decided to head to Falls Park to see all the lights. We were impressed with all the upgrades, and we really enjoyed ourselves. We spent a solid hour walking around and getting plenty of photo ops. The kids really enjoyed it all. They loved the lights, the photo spots, the falls, and they even rolled down the hill like a bunch of little kids. We did also buy them some Hot Cocoas, so of course that went over really well. I love these kind of Christmas things. 

Today, the boys decided to go up to the Watertown area and go ice fishing. They left around lunch time, and they won't be home until late. They have had some luck catching some small fish, but nothing worth keeping. But, they are having fun. They also bought a new ice shack this year, and John has it set up in the garage to test it out. So, of course the kids had to sleep in it last night in the garage. They said it was really fun and they enjoyed themselves. They lasted all night and seemed to really like it. 

Today, Emma and I decided to have a girls' day since the boys were gone. So, we headed to OakRidge Nursery this morning for Mimosas and Hot Chocolate (and Santa, which we skipped). We had a lot of fun, and we looked around and shopped while we were there too. I bought a cute Gnome with a kitty print hat on it, because Emma and I thought it was perfect for both of us. We also bought a cute wall hanging. It was successful. We also stopped at Walmart (which was crazy busy) and found a few clothing articles for Emma and then supper items since Emma invited Hannah T and Lily over for a sleepover. 

I picked up the girls around 1pm, and they have been out in the ice shack pretty much the whole time they have been here. They went outside for a while, but otherwise they have been hanging out in their private tent area. It's pretty cute. I'm making them tater tot hotdish for supper, and then an ice cream sundae bar later tonight. They are going to sleep in the ice shack, and I'm going to see if I can get the projector going out there for them so they can watch a movie. They are having fun. 

Then, we have church tomorrow, and Children's program practice, and then a 4-H meeting later. So, the weekend is busy, but we are having fun. 

Happy Holidays!

The ice shack 

Falls Park Family Fun