Basketball Awards

Tonight was basketball awards night at Zack's school.

Zack, once again, received quite the accolades from his coach for his playing this year.  He lead the team in all stats except assists so I'd say he had quite a great year.

The coach gave him a medal for offensive MVP.

It was the award we were both anticipating he would get this year...expecting the team's only 8th grader to get the MVP.  It was the right call too (not that he needed my approval) because Matt was invaluable as the team leader and captain this year.
We were happy.

Can I just say again how much I love his coach!

Hooray for another successful season.

And Then There is the Humor

As frustrating as it sometimes is dealing with young children (re: post about banging head against wall) they will also utter some of the most hilarious things that will keep you laughing all day long.

Today was one of those days:

It was Math class again...a story problem on the worksheet said:
Mrs. Pangoni is on a diet. She can have 1,200 calories every day.  How many calories should she have for each of her three meals?

Child brings me his worksheet and says:
"Uh...I'm thinking maybe 200..."

He has no work on his paper and I have no idea how he came to this conclusion so I ask:
"oh...okay, how would you come up with 200 calories?"

Child says as serious as can be:
"maybe a piece of pie?"

Waiting for Daddy

For some reason, Ollie will only bark when the Hubby comes home... I mean, he barks whenever he hears a noise in the garage but once he finds out who it is, he stops...except if it's daddy. He'll continue to bark even after daddy enters the house.

It begins with what I call a "low-bark" which is sort of a "muff" sound...and then escalates from there.

We can't understand why he does this but it's funny to watch none-the-less. 

What? Daddy's coming home?

I'm listening but don't hear anything yet.

Maybe if I get closer to the door I'll hear him

Nope, still don't hear him

You're lying to me aren't you?

Why would you do that to me?

Watching TV

Now that we have the hi-def big screen T.V.  Ollie gets very confused when animal shows are on because they seem so real to him.

Here he is watching the show Too Cute:

He gets confused then and starts looking for the dogs...

but, of course, cannot find them.  So he whines, and watches, and watches, and whines.

It is really quite funny.

Night Out With the Boys

Last night I had a bunch of errands to run and all the stores were located in a row on the Frontage Road.

First, to Target to get a gift card...then to the Dollar Tree for lunch items...to Best Buy to make a payment on our Credit Card...and to Shopko to order new contacts.

In the middle of all these errands, I took the boys to dinner at Appleby's. 

The boys had the 2 for $20.00 deal which included an appetizer.  Jon and I enjoyed some onion rings while Zack just enjoyed the rings and left the onions on his plate.

I always enjoy a night out with my boys...although it still seems incomplete without C.J...looking so forward to his visit in just 5 more days!

Seems Logical

Remember last month?  When we had 8.5 inches of snow and the powers-that-be refused to cancel school...or even close early for the day?

Yeah...well overnight we got a little snowstorm - maybe 3-5 inches I'm not sure - but they closed school today!

Oh well, good day to wash all the sheets and blankets from the beds and do a good house cleaning.

At least I get to spend the day with this little guy.

That Moment You Want to Bang Your Head Against a Wall

I am now at the end of my fifth week of a seven week fill-in in the third grade.

Things are going quite well.

But even though things are going pretty well doesn't mean I don't occasionally feel like walking over to the nearest wall and banging my head repeatedly into it.

Yesterday was definitely one of those days.  

The setting was Math class...

Before I tell this story I need to give some background info...there is always a fine line a teacher walks between "giving help" and having a student become too dependent on you for help.

I found myself walking this line with some students in Math lately so I had to institute a new policy - "I will help you...but you need to at least try to do it on your own first...once you've come up with an answer, you can come to me and ask if you did it right or not."

We were doing fractions

So...2 minutes after saying this a student is back by desk already:

Student: "I don't get how to do this."

Me(with the utmost patience): "okay, well remember what I just got done saying? I need for you to go back to your desk and at least try to do it on your own first. Then you can come back and see if you did it correctly."

He does...and is back to my desk a minute later having drawn a picture diagramming 5/9. 

Me (still maximum patience): "good...I like how you tried to do that but what they are really looking for is not a diagram but a fraction." And I point to what a fraction looks like. "Go back and write this as a fraction."

He's back at my desk a minute later.

Student: "like this?"

Me (still pretty patient): "um...well, you have 9/5 and what number did I say would be on the bottom for this assignment - the larger or the smaller number?"

Student: "ohhhhh...yeah."
 And switches it around to 5/9.

At this point I am pleased and tell him to go back to his desk and finish up the remaining 3 problems in just the same way.

Two minutes later he is back at my desk to check his work again.

For all three he has the larger number on top!?!?!

Me (now lacking patience but trying to sound as if I still have some)*speaking between gritted teeth*: "alright" I point to the first problem..."was the larger or smaller number supposed to be on the bottom?"

Student: "oh..yeah" and switches 5/9 (the only correct answer) back to 9/5.

REALLY????? How much patience am I supposed to have?????  

I kept my composure and we got the four problems done correctly...and then I went to look for that wall!

2012-2013 OCS Basketball Team

This year's professional basketball pictures were taken back in December when Zack was stricken with the terrible fever virus so I knew there would be no professional team picture this year.

So, on Thursday after their last game of the season they all grouped together for photos and I jumped in to take a few.

His coach is the most amazing man (in my opinion).  I couldn't be more pleased that he's been Zack's coach for the past two years...I'm hoping for one more year!!!

Matt and Zack

Zack was starting 1st grade when we moved to Wisconsin and he started attending Oshkosh Christian School.  

His class at the time consisted of only 10 kids - 4 boys and 6 girls.  Through the years, as is normal in a private school, some of the 10 left and new students have come in.  Out of the original 10, 5 are still there...3 girls and 2 boys.

Zack and Matt have run the gamut of friendship status.  Mostly they seemed like casual friends...they would hang out for a while and then not speak for weeks or months.  It's not that they were angry or fighting with each other...they just would go their separate ways.

Well, this year they seemed to have really bonded...bonded over basketball mostly.  But their friendship seems to have strengthened and risen to a new level.  I am happy about this because he is such a nice kid with amazing parents!

Sadly, because Matt is in 8th grade, they will not be on the same team next year.

Their last Middle School game

Hopefully they'll be re-united in High School.

Last Game of the Season

Last night we drove to the tiny, remote town of Manawa for the last basketball of the season.  Although the score and outcome of the game were disappointing (another loss), it was one one of their better team performances of the year.

For a change their passing was crisp and purposeful with few turnovers, and Zack only had 8 of the team's final 27 points.  

In fact, he made the most unbelievable play...after a rebound by the other team, as everyone was running to the other side of the court, the guy who had rebounded the ball was holding it... preparing to pass it to the point guard.  Well...Zack just stepped right up, took the ball out of the kid's hands, turned around and made a basket!

The drive home was torture with blinding snow while driving along back roads at 25 mph.  I could not see the road.  Actually, the only was I knew I was even on the road was by looking at the Garmin.

So Zack's 7th grade season is over.  I didn't think it was possible but he played even better this year than he did last year.

My stats have him scoring 143 points this year...less than his 148 last year but he played less games this year.  Overall, he averaged about 9 points a game this year compared to 8 last year.

So proud of you, Zack.  

No Title

Hmmmm...wonder what this kid is doing in this picture:

Why watching this - of course:

He eats, breathes, and sleeps basketball.  

His last game is probably Thursday night.  There is some talk about a make-up game next week Friday night but it is still just talk.

This Already?

Sunday night while I was watching Downton Abbey, Zack wanted to know where the camera was.  I told him where it was and asked why he wanted to use it.

As he gathered up Ollie in a big hug he stated, "I'm gonna post this on facebook and score some major brownie points with V (a certain girl). I mean who can resist a picture of a guy with his dog?"

Ollie does not like the flash...he closes his eyes every time

the one he ended up putting on facebook

Who indeed!

Sickness in the House

Jon rarely complains of being sick so when he asked where the thermometer was this past weekend I knew something was up.

Add to that the fact that he spent nearly the entire weekend in bed and asked for some Tylenol and I was feeling a bit uneasy.

But, last night, when he said to me, "wow, my throat has never been this sore before," I knew a trip to the doctor was on tap for today.

Sure enough, the rapid strep test came back positive.  In fact, it took the doctor longer to decide  what to prescribe Jon than the test took.  Jon is allergic to so many antibiotics...Amoxicillin (which includes the whole penicillin family)  and Zithromax give him hives - and I don't mean just a few!  

So he settled on this

 There are only 2 in there because our pharmacy closed at 5:00 so I had it sent to Walgreens. I wanted him to start taking it today...but the cost without insurance was $96.00!!!!!   

Thanks but no thanks....I ended up paying $15.00 for two pills and will get the rest filled tomorrow at the pharmacy that accepts our insurance.

Now I hope no one else gets it.

Date Night

with my son.

Tuesday night I dropped Zack off to watch the girl's basketball game and Jon and I had 1.5 hours to kill before Zack's game so I suggested going to Outback Steakhouse for dinner.

He, of course, was all for it.  And I was happy because I hardly ever get to eat there - and I hardly ever get to spend time with Jon alone.

Jon had the expensive New York Strip and I had the less expensive steak sandwich.

I am So Happy

Oh my ya'll... I feel like shouting this from every rooftop...but I'll have to be content to say it here:

Diclofenec is a wonder drug!!!

I swear I haven't felt this well in years!  

My pain is totally gone.  And even my coughing and the "I can't breathe" feeling have been improving over the past week. 

I'm still not 100% but I would say that I have improved 90% over what I have been living with the past year. 

So happy!

Another Rough Game

While I enjoy witnessing my son achieve success out on the basketball court, I am not overly happy with games that he scores half - or over half - of the team's final points. 

I would much rather have games like this weekend where everyone contributes equally to the success of the team.  

But today, it was not one of those "everyone contributes" games.

It was one of those games where their team had only 8 points at halftime and all 8 of them were scored by Zack.

It's not that they didn't get some good looks at the basket...shots just weren't falling.

But even more frustrating than shots not falling were the 25-30 turnovers they had.  One of their players was responsible for 17 turnovers!

The final score was an ugly 34-17 with Zack scoring 10 and another player scoring 5.  These are truly games that are not fun to watch. 

But I am proud of their sportsmanship and after the game Zack was given a nice compliment by a parent from the other team.  He singled out Zack after the game...complimented him on his playing...but also said he could tell Zack was a very kind person by his actions on the court. 

Two games left!

Money Found

On my agenda this weekend (as if it wasn't full enough) was a trip to Best Buy. A couple days ago hubby decided to pull out the receipt for our big screen T.V. and compare the price we paid with an advertised special in their weekend flyer.

That is when he discovered that they over-charged us...by $200.00!!!!

The item was rung up on the receipt as $999.00.  The actual price should have been:

I took these pictures in and they credited our account $210.00 just.like.that!  No questions asked.  I love Best Buy.

While there I had to update out Kaspersky internet protection and I bought a little MP3 player for $32.00...so some of that money was spent right away.

Tournament Completion

Because of the nature of the tournament, we did not know which team we would be facing until the round robin portion was complete.

I was not exactly thrilled when I walked into the gym and found out we would be facing the team we played here, and here, and here. I was also quite surprised since that meant they had lost sometime throughout the day (and they had been undefeated).

Zack is amazing at the opening jump ball often out jumping boys who are much taller than he is.  Here the boy is at least two inches taller but Zack still won the tip off.

But we had an advantage this day...while Zack's team had been able to rest since their 9:00 game ended, the other team had played two games since 11:00.  One went into overtime and the other was a game they were beat on a 3 point buzzer beater.

So, we were able to jump out to an early lead (we are guest)

The whole game remained close with the teams flip-flopping leads...sometimes we had as much as a 5 point lead but could never extend it and they would always come right back.

As the fourth quarter started we held the slight lead

But, of course, they came back and going down to the wire the score was tied.

A time out was called

Things from here on out were a flurry with the teams trading possessions without scoring.

And then...the second worst thing happened.  Zack was cornered in the back court and had the ball stolen away and they scored.

They then forced another steal and we were so far from the bonus that, even though we kept fouling, we could not get them to the line.  Finally, on the next foul we would force them to the line - and the first worst thing happened!  Someone blew a coverage and left their man wide open for an easy lay-up on the inbound pass.  

With only two seconds left, they stole the inbound pass and scored again so even though the final score was a loss by six...four of those points were in the last 3 seconds so it was a lot closer than the final score indicated.

This was the final score - not the score with 2:52 left...don't know where that time came from.

We then received the biggest surprise (and compliment) as our boys were awarded the Sportsmanship Award (trophy)...citing their positive attitude and for playing their hearts out even though they were the youngest team there!
(Zack had 7 points and a few nice blocks)