NEHLS Basketball Tournament

 Last weekend, we had our annual basketball tournament in York, NE. All in all, it was a pretty fun, basketball-filled weekend. Many kids on the team were battling illnesses and not feeling the best, so we had to throw together a really interesting mix of people all weekend. We also had a good reason to break in the new truck, so we decided to take that to Nebraska. It was fine, except we didn't have a Tonno cover, so we had to keep moving our luggage around when we needed to stop places. 

We headed to Nebraska on Thursday after lunch. We all handled the 4 hour drive pretty well, and then got settled into our hotel. After visiting with everyone else, we headed out for supper. We went back to the Mexican Restaurant we went to last year, and we enjoyed a very good supper again.

Once we got back to the hotel, the kids went swimming, while the adults played some games and visited. We played cribbage and then Uno Flip with some of the older kids. It was a fun evening. 

On Friday, we played a lot of basketball. Bethel had four games to play. We started at 10:30, so it was to sleep in a little. Bethel was outmatched in a lot of their games, but they played hard and learned a lot. They went 1-3 on the day. In between games, we did a lot of walking about Waco, NE to kill time and to avoid bleacher butt. Emma had a really good day. She came out a little flat in the first two games, but in the second two, she played really hard, was aggressive, scored some points, and got some rebounds. It was fun to watch her play and watch her continue to improve. 

We finally wrapped up our day around 4:30pm. We went back to the hotel, and the kids swam until our pizza party. We all enjoyed some pizza, drinks, and more visiting until we were all ready for bed. 

On Saturday, we had our pool play. We got seeded number 8 so we played the number 9 team, and beat them. Then, we had a devotion, awards, and then played again at 12:30. We lost horribly to the number 1 team, and then headed home. 

On the way home, we stopped at the Nebraska Crossing outlet mall. It was beautiful day, sunny and 62 degrees and we enjoyed the outdoor mall. We shopped at Under Armor, Nike, Lindor Chocolate, the Croc Store, and a couple other places. It was pretty fun and helped break up the drive. 

Our next stop on the way home was Hu Hot in Sioux City. We were all starving by that time, and we really enjoyed our supper. It was pretty busy in there, but it was a good stop. We finally made it home around 8:00pm and called it a day. 

Sunday was pretty much a church day and then a catch up at home day with laundry and cleaning. It was a really fun, really busy weekend. 

Dad and Emma at the outdoor mall 

Elliott and his new crocs 

Roadtrip to NE

Bethel Basketball

 Basketball continues on in full force around here. This past weekend, Emma and Elliott had a basketball game at Good Shepherd. My parents came to town for the game and we had a pretty good weekend. 

Mom and Dad got to town around 11:00 am. We visited, ate some lunch, and then we headed across town to Good Shepherd. Elliott played his game first. The C Team did well, but they lost their last game (as well as the rest of them). There were just too many kids not knowing what they were doing. It was definitely a year of learning for them. But, we all had fun cheering them on and watching them play. 

Emma's team was a little more fun to watch. They hung tough and ended up winning. Emma had to guard a girl that was a foot taller than her, and she did a really good job battling down low and playing tough defense. She was getting frustrated at times, but she did really well. She also scored like 8 points or something, and mom and dad enjoyed seeing that. 

At the end of the A-team game, the other team put in some smaller players, so Kristen grabbed Elliott and put him in, and he scored a basket with the big kids. He thought that was pretty cool. 

After all the basketball, we headed to Look's Meat Market for some beers and appetizers. It was a fun place to check out with mom and dad. The kids even enjoyed it. Afterwards, we headed home. The kids showered and relaxed, while the adults went to Blue Rock for supper. We had a couple more beers and some delicious supper. Then, we headed back home and played some games and hung out with the kids. 

On Sunday, we went to church, bible study, and then had a nice brunch at home. Mom and Dad stayed for a little while and we visited and played some Mexican Train. They headed home around 2:00pm. Then, we got into hosting mode, and got ready for the Super Bowl. We had the Hinners over, and enjoyed some food and football. The Chiefs beat the 49ers in overtime. But, overall it was a pretty boring game. 

This past week flew by in a flash, and it was crazy. We were busy every single night. We filled the week with basketball practice, basketball games, parent-teacher conferences, Ash Wednesday, and a sick kid. Emma went home on Thursday not feeling well, but she was back at school today and feeling better. 

Today, we are enjoying a nice Friday afternoon. The kids don't have homework so we are listening to music, playing and just enjoying ourselves. And doing a little cleaning. Tonight, we are going to check out the brand new Dairy Queen that opened right by us. They just opened on Tuesday, and since the kids had good reports in the parent teacher conferences, we are rewarding them with some ice cream. 

Otherwise our weekend is pretty quiet. We don't have much planned, and we are okay with that. :)

Augie's New Hockey Stadium 

The fan club

Basketball Updates

 Time just keeps chugging on. We are well into February now. One noteworthy thing, has been the weather. We have been up in the 40s-50s for a couple of weeks, which is really abnormal for this time of year. Almost all of our snow has melted, and everyone is enjoying the nice weather. We have even been on some evening walks, in February, which is wild. We also have had many mornings that have been very foggy, which causes some commuting problems. It sounds like colder weather is headed this way next week, so we aren't out of winter yet. 

Otherwise, we have been keeping busy with basketball and school. Elliott is really enjoying his second year of basketball, and he has improved a lot from last season. He even scored 4 points the other night, and he was so excited. Overall, his team still needs a lot of work and is doing a lot of learning, but they sure have a lot of fun and energy out there. 

Emma has improved so much in her skills from last year. She is aggressive, goes after the ball, gets rebounds, and isn't afraid to shoot. She still loves defense more than offense, but she loves basketball overall. She also really enjoys playing with her friends. She plays post on the B team, and she's getting really good at being in control down there and making those box shots. She also communicates well. They have only scrimmaged Good Shepherd so far, but they have played really well and I'm excited to watch them play at tournaments this year. She also plays on A team, but usually as a guard, and she can hold her own with them as well. 

Jeff and Samantha came to their games last Friday, so that was really nice to visit with them and they had fun watching the kids. On Saturday, I brought Hannah P and Emma to a girls sports camp at USD. It was a pretty cool program. We arrived at the USD Sports Dome at 3:45, got registered, and then the girls broke into age groups and went through different sport stations that were led by student athletes. The sports stations were Golf, Soccer, Volleyball, Softball, Cheerleading and Track. The girls seemed to really enjoy themselves. After the stations, they got to have a pizza party, and then there was an inspirational speaker for them. Then, Jim, Barb, John and Elliott met up with us and we got to watch USD vs SDSU Women's basketball game. Emma and Hannah got to be on the floor for the National Anthem and the player introductions, and then they came and sat by us. We watched a good game, and SDSU ended up winning. It was a really fun day. 

Sunday was also busy. We had church, and then we had our 4-H bowling and pizza party. We bowled a couple games at Eastside Bowl and then went to Pizza Ranch. It was a wild weekend. I also finished my giant diamond art I was working on for a few weeks, and I just brought it to hobby lobby to frame it. 

This past week has gone by pretty quickly. Emma had a game last night with her YMCA league. They played Abby's team, and they beat them 36-10 or something like that. Our girls played pretty well, and Emma was being really aggressive and having a lot of fun out there. 

Today was a day off for me. I did laundry, went to the gym, cleaned the house, met John for lunch at Inca, shopped at Hobby Lobby, and now I'm catching up on blogging and doing homework with the kids. I feel like we are always busy, busy, busy. John is at the dentist right now having a new molar placed, yuck. 

This weekend, my mom and dad are coming to town to watch the kids' basketball game at Good Shepherd. I'm sure we will go out for beers or for supper as well. And then it's Superbowl Sunday on Sunday, so we have another crazy weekend in store for us. 

Emma got a Caitlin Clark cutout!

January Catch Up

 I haven't blogged in like 3 weeks, but in my defense, there hasn't been a whole lot going on around here. We have been keeping busy, but just with the normal day to day things. 

Basketball has continued for Emma. Her YMCA league continues to play well, and now Bethel has started up. So, far Bethel has just had practices but their first game is on Friday. Emma continues to improve with her basketball skills and she is getting really fun to watch. I love that she loves basketball. 

Elliott has just started basketball practice at Bethel, and it seems to be going really well. His first game is on Friday also, and I am super pumped to watch him play. It's always an adventure to watch 3rd graders play basketball, especially his class. He is really excited about it, and I think he is going to be a lot more aggressive this year. 

We are also staying busy with archery this year. Both kids have been going on Tuesday evenings, and they are enjoying it. Elliott really likes it, and I think that Emma just tolerates it. But, it's a fun skill to watch them improve with, and if they happen to qualify for State and want to go shoot in Pierre that would be pretty cool.

A couple weekends ago, we went to an Augustana hockey game at the Denny. They were really fun to watch. It's pretty exciting to watch D1 college hockey after watching the Stampede be mediocre for so many year. We brought Katie with us, and we all had a really good time. I think we will be going to more hockey games in the future. 

Otherwise, we have had some pretty cold weekends the last couple weekends, so we just stayed home and watched football and cleaned and organized the house. We ended up getting a lot of the house cleaned, and we got rid of a lot of stuff, so that was satisfying. We also have been watching some Home Improvement, spending lots of time with Legos, reading, and John and Elliott have discovered the Nintendo Switch again. I also started my huge Diamond Art, so I have been spending some time with that. 

We are also staying busy with work and school. No big news there, we just continue to spend time doing homework, working through the catechism, and staying on the kids to stay on top of their work and not Ipad constantly.

Basketball pictures at school, I love them!

Made Hot Cocoa Bombs 

Basketball YMCA league 

Snow!

Augie Hockey 

Happy New Year 2024

 Happy New Year! Somehow it is 2024!

This past weekend has been pretty fun. On Friday, Jim and Barb brought the kids to town, and John met them at Fizolis (I was working). Then, the kids were home again, and pretty happy to home. 

On Friday we went to Bethel to the gym to play pickelball and let Emma drive her drone around. After that, we headed to Triple Play Cards for another reveal party/drawing. This time we didn't win anything, but the kids still got a couple free Pokemon things. And Elliott found some new cards to add to his collection again. Then we went home and enjoyed a quiet evening. The kids played of their Ipads and John and I watched some Yellowstone. 

On Saturday, John took Emma to the Kitty Cafe in the morning. She LOVED it. She wouldn't stop talking about all the cats, and the smoothie she had, and she wants to work there when she's older. 

Meanwhile, I took Elliott to Dave and Buster's and we enjoyed some arcade time. We spent about an hour playing games and racking up tickets. Then, I took him to a new candy store in town and we picked out some bulk candy, and then finally I got him a smoothie at Scooters. We had a great day. 

We spent the rest of the day at home. We enjoyed some snacks and movies in the evening, and just enjoyed some family time. 

On Sunday, we went to church, and then the boys packed up to go ice fishing in Watertown. They spent the afternoon/evening fishing, and then stayed the night in a hotel in Watertown. They did finally catch some fish, and even kept one to clean. Today, they are fishing again, and then once it gets quiet they will head back home. 

Emma and I enjoyed some girl time yesterday. Emma helped me clean church, and then we went to the movie "Wonka" at Cinema theatre. We got some popcorn and candy and enjoyed a really good movie. We had plans to eat at Cracker Barrel afterwards, but we were too full, so we went home instead. We worked on some art projects, flew Emma's drone, and then watched a movie. Emma wanted to stay up until midnight, but when I was showering at 10:30pm, she put herself to bed. 

Today, we are just chilling. I decided to catch up on blogging, Emma's reading a book, and we have plans to go shoot hoops in a while. 

I also made some personal goals for 2024:

1. Blog more often. I need to try to blog once a week or at least once every two weeks, so I don't have to blog 5 posts in a row to catch up. Plus, I would remember more details and do a better job if I kept up on it. 

2. Read more books. I need to find more time for reading. I don't even watch very much TV, but we do put sports on a lot in this house, so maybe I need to cut back on that and read more. Also, throw in nonfiction and self-help, faith-based books as well. So good for the soul. 

3. Lose 25 pounds. I joined Noom again, and I'm pretty excited about that. I had good luck with that last time, so I'm excited to try it again. I do already go to the gym quite often, now I need to focus on nutrition and eating better. 

4. More quality time with the kids. I need to be better about having game night, or activities to do with the kids. We spend a lot of time together, but sometimes it's with them on their Ipad, and us on our phones, and we need to be better. The years go too fast to waste our time together. 

5. Keep Traveling. I have never regretted any trips we have taken. Both with kids and without kids. I want us to be good about continuing to plan and take the trips as they come our way. We only have so many years left to travel with our kids. 

6. Experiment with meals. I want to keep trying new foods and recipes, sometimes the things the kids end up loving really surprises me. 

7. One on one time with the kids. I love taking one kid at a time to do something. They are so different when they are by themselves with me. I love the talks and things I learn when we have one on one time. 

8. One on one time with John. Also important to get our alone time and date nights in. This is much easier now that the kids can stay home alone. We need to keep planning date night-and surprise ones sometimes are great as well. 

These are the things I plan to focus on in 2024. I'm looking forward to all the things that will come with the new year. 

Happy New Year!!

Books I read in 2023

 I don't know what happened, but I wasn't as productive reading books this last year as years past. Our evenings are a little fuller than they used to be, so that could be part of it. But, I still enjoy reading and try to fit some in every day, although that doesn't always happen. 

I kept track of all the books I read, and I rated them out of 4 stars. If there are any extra memorable things about the book, I will include that as well. 

Here are the books I read in 2023:

1. The Ninth Month- James Patterson and Richard DiLallo **

2. Dying of Politeness- Geena Davis ***

3. Triple Cross- James Patterson. ****

4. Accidental Rancher- Eliza Blue ****

5. Fairy Tale- Stephen King ****

6. Friends, Lovers, and The Big Terrible Thing- Matthew Perry ****

7. Wrong Place, Wrong Time- Gillian McAllister. ***

8. Verity. Colleen Hoover. ****

9. City Under One Roof- Iris Yamashita. ***

10. The Light We Carry- Michelle Obama. ****

11. It Starts with Us- Colleen Hoover. ****

12. Dreamland- Nicholas Sparks. ***

13. Mad Honey- Jodi Picoult/Jennifer Boylan. ****

14. Diana, William, and Harry- James Patterson-audiobook. ***

15. Storyteller- Dave Grohl, audiobook. ****

16. Ugly Love- Colleen Hoover. ***

17. All the Dangerous Things-Stacy Willingham. ***

19. Someone Else's Shoes- JoJo Moyes. ****

20. The House of Wolves- James Patterson/Mike Lupica ****

21. Spare- Prince Harry ****

22. The 23rd Midnight- James Patterson ****

23. Winter Garden- Kirsten Hannah. **** (I sobbed in this book, but so good)

24. Night Read- Kristen Hannah ****

25. Someone We Know- Shari Lapera ***

26. Real Women of the Bible- Dr. Paul Kelm ***

27. Soul Care- Amber Albec Swenson ****

28. The Four Winds-Kristen Hannah**** (This one was also amazing)

29. Stories to Change your Life- Mike Novoty ****

30. The Surgeon's Daughter- Audrey Blake **** ( I really like this one too!)

31. Obsessed- James Patterson/James O Born ****

32. All Fall Down- Jennifer Weiner ***

33. Just the Nicest Couple- Mary Kubica ****

34. Count Down: A Thriller- James Patterson/Brendon Dubois ****

35. The Secrets We Keep- Laura Prescott. ****

36. Distant Shores- Kristen Hannah ***

37. Angel Falls- Kristen Hannah ***

38. Thicker than Water- Kerry Washington, audiobook. ****

39. 23 1/2 Lies- James Patterson ****

I still enjoy James Patterson as you can see, but I did discover Kristen Hannah this year, and I really like her books. Currently, I am reading Vanished in Vermillion, and I am really enjoying that book. It's sad, but so interesting, as it's a true case that happened in Vermillion, SD. 

I also have about 5 podcasts that I listen to weekly, so that also takes some of my time. And occasionally I throw in an audiobook, but it takes a long time to get through 11 hours of an audiobook. 

Sometimes there aren't enough hours in the day to fit in everything I want to do!