Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Too Cool







More 3DS photos.  I noticed Zack likes to take a lot of pictures of himself with sunglasses on.


Then there is this one:
Just having a little fun I guess. I never know what I'm going to find on there.

Monday, January 30, 2012

The Lord Giveth...

...and the Lord taketh away.


My heart has been heavy.


Please pray for the family of my online friend Lisa




She not only lost her husband, best friend, and life partner quite suddenly last week, she is also still grieving the loss of her 10 year old son Noah, who died in October.


Along with her are three little boys who are trying to cope with the loss of a brother and a father in less than four months.


Even in grief we rejoice that we are not without hope.  We rest in the assurance that we will once again be reunited with our loved ones one day.


Please take time out of your day to say a prayer as they prepare for the funeral and beyond.

Saturday, January 28, 2012

Tournament Champions

This was a weekend of basketball with Zack pulling double duty by playing on the B team and the A team (the A team is the older kids).


Our B team won this tournament last year so right from the start they set out to defend their title...which wasn't going to be easy since one of the teams standing in their way was Fox Valley Christian Academy - who they had lost to twice this year already.


Our boys continued to display great team work and worked their way into the Championship game today at 2:00 and their opponents were...Fox Valley Christian Academy.


Were our boys intimidated?  NOT AT ALL!  They pulled together, played some amazing defense, and worked up a 16 point lead.  Fox Valley was not going down without a fight though and an offensive explosion brought them to within two points at the start of the 4th quarter.


This is where my little man came to life... scoring 8 of his 12 points, blocking two shots, and creating two turnovers in a three minute span to seal the win. (No medals this year...just a trophy)




And what does this team do after such a well-deserved victory?
Get on their knees and thank God...from whom all our blessings come.  




The A team didn't do so well...losing the consolation game at 4:00.


Zack is exhausted after playing 6 games in the last three days.  How do I know?  Well, it's 8:20 on a Saturday night and my little man is in bed asleep already!

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

All Grown Up

Heard more than once today:
"I'm a teenager now!"


My pathetic response:
"Are you sure you don't still want to be twelve?"


But seriously, he is growing up so fast and each day he becomes more amazing, more mature, and more independent.  


He's experienced some of that painful growth lately (mostly in basketball) but I am working hard to help him realize that God is using these trials to develop his character.  And then I stand back in awe and watch God work in his life and watch him rise to these challenges and understand that following God means you trust Him to do what is best for you...even though at the time you can't see why.


He makes me happy:


And he makes me proud.


He is such a blessing to our family.


And where did he pick to go on his special day?


Happy Birthday, Zack

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Tournament Time

Zack was asked to play on the A team in a tournament yesterday (A team is the 7th and 8th graders). Report cards just came out and there were a couple players who were academically ineligible so they were looking for extra players.   It was double elimination and they ended up playing three games (both of their loses were by one point). Here he is resting between games.


Overall it was a relatively positive experience.  Because he normally plays on the B team I was expecting him to be a "filler" i.e. fill in for a regular that needed a minute or two break, and that is pretty much how it played out over the course of the day.


The first game went into overtime and Zack played the entire overtime period. He scored 4 points during that time including a basket with 45 seconds left to put his team up by one.  Unfortunately they couldn't hold on to that lead as a turnover turned into an easy lay-up for the other team. He also had a crucial block from behind in overtime but in the end...the turnover cost them that game. 


Now we have a decision to make for the tournament next week... B team... A team... or both.   I know which one I want him to pick (B team) but I'll let him make the decision.




It was a fun day.  AND the girl's A team got their first win of the season at the tournament so I happy for them.

Saturday, January 21, 2012

Friday Night Favorite

Jon left for Platteville today (insert frowny face) so on our last night together we went to one of our fav restaurants.


We don't go here too much anymore - Zack and me...too many memories of when we were four.  My boys and I spent many Friday nights here.




Love those chips and salsa




Glad we could enjoy one more night with Jon before he goes back to college.



Friday, January 20, 2012

Picking It Up

Zack's team has now won 7 games in a row after a 2-2 start.


It's not so much the wins that matter...it's that they are doing it as a whole team.  Everyone getting equal playing time.


The team has ten players which is perfect for two five man groups - each group playing three minutes a period.


And with the exception of one player (not Zack) this is an unselfish group of kids.  Not caring about their own individual stats but passing the ball around until they find the open man... or boy in this instance. 


They are really fun to watch.  And even though I love it when my little man is out on the court...


I am so happy that everyone is getting to play and feels like they are contributing to the success of the team.


It's all goooood.

Saturday, January 14, 2012

Not Great

This is how we spent our Saturday afternoon:




Here is the story:


When Jon finally woke up after his day-and-a-half sleep marathon he was in extreme pain.  I immediately knew...for I had seen this pain before...  Four years ago when (then) 16 year-old C.J. had a kidney stone.  
So we didn't waste much time heading into the ER (because of course this was 12:05 p.m. and our doctor's office closes at noon on Saturdays). Oh well, I'm pretty sure they would have sent us to the ER anyway.  


The first thing they did was get a urine sample from him and I was shocked to see his urine was completely red.  Everything was now pointing to a kidney stone.  


They started an IV of fluids - which was good for two reasons.  1). He was still very dehydrated...so dehydrated, in fact, that the nurse had a lot of trouble even finding a vein.  2). The extra fluids on board will help him move liquids (and the kidney stone) out of his body quickly. 
 They started injecting some morphine in the IV as well but had to stop half way through because he was having an allergic reaction to it.  It was enough to take the edge off the pain though so they could move him to the CT room.


The CT scan did indeed reveal a 3mm stone near the mouth of the kidney - good news in that it is small enough to pass without any additional medical assistance.  


After the diagnosis, we had to wait for the fluids to finish before we could leave.


After filling his prescriptions he grabbed the pain pills and took one right there at the pharmacy counter. Ha.


Now, a couple hours later, the pill has kicked in and little bruthah is feeling AOK!  


So now...we wait...and pee in a strainer.

Life...and Whatever Else


The picture was taken a couple days ago when the temps were reasonable and there was no snow.  At present, we have a bit of snow on the ground and the temps are in the normal range.  However, it seems there are warmer temps on the horizon.


Zack just finished his first final exams.  The middle/high school has two days at the end of each semester devoted specifically for final exams.  He got A's on his Math, Bible, Science, and Computer finals, and a B on his History final.  Pretty proud of him.


Jon flew back from Florida yesterday.  He will spend a week here before I have to take him back to college to begin his Spring semester.  Unfortunately,  he also brought sickness home with him.  He is having stomach issues and after a visit to the doctor yesterday we got a diagnosis of norovirus.  He also had some blood in his urine (which they couldn't really explain) and had a ton of  ketones which means he was very dehydrated.  So now we are trying to keep him drinking Gatorade... but that's not so easy when he's been sleeping almost constantly for the past 16 hours.

Thursday, January 12, 2012

Got Game?

Time to hone my skills


Am I Zack?


I don't know.


I just might be...


A basketball machine.


I'm in a zone


Working to hone


my basketball skills







Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Good Feeling Over

Like I said...snap of the fingers!


...WINTER STORM WATCH IN EFFECT FROM THURSDAY MORNING THROUGH 
LATE THURSDAY NIGHT... 

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREEN BAY HAS ISSUED A WINTER 
STORM WATCH...WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM THURSDAY MORNING THROUGH 
LATE THURSDAY NIGHT. 

* SNOW WILL BEGIN IN EARNEST THURSDAY MORNING AND CONTINUE THROUGH 
THURSDAY NIGHT. 

* SIX TO EIGHT INCHES OF SNOW ARE EXPECTED...WITH LOCALLY HEAVIER 
AMOUNTS POSSIBLE ALONG LAKE MICHIGAN. 

* THE COMBINATION OF SNOW AND GUSTY WINDS WILL LEAD TO POOR ROAD 
CONDITIONS AND HAZARDOUS TRAVEL. 

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... 

A WINTER STORM WATCH MEANS THERE IS A POTENTIAL FOR SIGNIFICANT 
SNOW ACCUMULATIONS AND BLOWING SNOW THAT MAY IMPACT TRAVEL. 
CONTINUE TO MONITOR THE LATEST FORECASTS. 

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Feeling Good

Tonight I took a walk with Ollie!  Without a coat on!  In January!  Okay so I probably could have used a light jacket but I was in Berlin waiting for Zack's basketball game to start and I didn't have one.  So, I just did without.  And it's not like I was freezing or anything.
      
     And speaking of basketball... my boy is doing amazingly well!  If he is not the high scorer on the team then he is the second highest.  I don't really know his stats but I'm guessing he has somewhere around 60 points, 15 blocks, and too many rebounds to count.

In fact, he is doing so well that our athlectic director has taken notice and asked him to play on the older kid's team for the upcoming tournaments.  In her words "he has every single basketball skill needed to play the game well and we are impressed."

Way to go, Zack.  Big leap from your first game when you had never even been out on the court.

Monday, January 9, 2012

Learning About Jesus

For a Bible project Zack needed to look through the book of Luke and pick out 15 of Jesus's works (in green on the map).  Then he needed to draw of map of Israel and chart the cities (in black on the map) of those works.  Finally, he needed to trace Jesus's footsteps (in red on the map) as he would have traveled from one city to the next.



Sunday, January 8, 2012

January 8th

I snapped a few pictures of our backyard today because this is the first year (since we've been in Wisconsin) that we have absolutely no snow in January - not even a hint of snow!


Need to enjoy it because that could change with the snap of the fingers around here.







Friday, January 6, 2012

Relatively Warm - Or Cold

Today it is 45*. 


 The newscasters this morning were singing the praises of this marvelous weather we have been having - and will continue to have for at least another few days.


On the other hand:


Last week in Florida the newscasters were warning of some very cold temperatures on the horizon.  It seems that Tuesday, the high temp was "only" going to be somewhere around 50-55*.


Cold...it seems...is a relative term.


Think about that:

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Nintendo 3DS

One of the things that was high on Zack's Christmas list was a Nintendo 3DS.  


We were able to make this happen thanks to a gift card from grandma and grandpa.


I was surprised to find out that this is so much more than a game system.  


Not only can he get the internet on it but it has an SD card for pictures.


Here are some of the pictures he took while in Florida.











Screaming From the Lion's Den

  I heard that phrase in a song a few days ago and I felt it so aptly described my situation and feelings right now.  Screaming From the Lio...