So...This Happened Today

No. 1 Florida Gators basketball (26-2, 15-0 SEC) clinched the outright regular-season 2014 Southeastern Conference Championship on Thursday night without even stepping foot on the hardwood.

I was afraid that was going to come down to the last game vs. Kentucky at home.  But no such worries because Kentucky lost again last night.  

"Spring" Break starts today. The quotation marks surrounding Spring are referencing the predicted temperatures from the last post.  I plan to spend my break sitting next to the fireplace and watching movies.  I was considering getting a tooth pulled (such excitement) It's not bothering me but is the last bit of dental work I need done so I have been waiting for 2014 for insurance benefits to begin again.  However, my oral surgeon decided to take a vacation next week too. The nerve!  So that has been scheduled for March 18.

Zack has found himself in a bit of trouble at school yet again...so it has been fun dealing with that today.  It is something that I specifically directed him NOT to do - so basically outright disobedience.  Being a parent is sooooo much fun!

I would love to go back to these days:

  
But I forge ahead because God commands me to:
Proverbs 29:15 
The rod and reproof give wisdom,
but a child left to himself brings shame to his mother.

and

Proverbs 22:6
Train up a child in the way he should go;
even when he is old he will not depart from it.

He has placed a mighty responsibility before me and I must do my best to make sure my son will live his life according to God's word...so we will be spending a long weekend completely unplugged - no electronics of any kind (including TV).

I am going to let him have his computer to write his Geography report only...and something tells me that thing will be done by Monday - and done pretty well too! 

So, maybe there is a positive to this after all.

And Also

• 
  

RECORD COLD

Meteorologist Rebecca Schuld

Oh the irony of this winter... tomorrow is the final day of our Meteorological winter and on the final day we will take the all-time record for most sub-zero days in a winter season with 49 of 90 days recording temps below zero.  Then, the focus moves to Friday afternoon and evening show showers.  It looks like 1-3" will be possible.  A few additional snow showers will be moving through on Saturday, with continued cold weather into the first half of next week.

Reminder...Warmer Days Will Come

Simply...no...words!!!

RECORD COLD POSSIBLE

Meteorologist Steve Beylon

For the 48th time this winter, we're dealing with sub-zero temperatures in Green Bay and much of northeast Wisconsin.  That ties the record for subzero days for the city (48 in the winter of '76-'77).  More records could be tied or broken later tonight.  Green Bay's record low temp tonight is -17° (1962), which will be in jeopardy of being broken.  Another round of snow arrives tomorrow afternoon into Friday night.  It looks like 1-3" will be possible...

and if that isn't enough...here is the forecast (Good thing we are Florida bound after this winter)

-Day Forecast: Green Bay

Thursday

• 3°
• -16°

Nasty wind chills of -15 to -35. Colder, blustery and turning sunny. Mostly clear tonight. Bitter cold, but calm. GB's record low: -17 (1962)

Friday

• 13°
• 1°

Turning cloudy. Afternoon and overnight snow... 1-3" possible.

Saturday

• 7°
• -8°

Sun and clouds. A bit blustery.

Sunday

• 8°
• -9°

Some clouds SOUTH. Otherwise, mostly sunny and cold.

Monday

• 8°
• -15°

Sunny, cold and brisk.

On Top

Sorry...I just had to post this.  It may not last long.

1 1 Florida (47) 25-2 1,606 2 1 Last Week: vs Auburn W 71-66, @ Ole Miss W 75-71 This Week: @ Vanderbilt Feb 25, vs. LSU Mar 1 2 Wichita State (14) 29-0 1,549 3 1 Last Week: @ Loyola (IL) W 88-74, vs Drake W 83-54 This Week: @ Bradley Feb 25, vs. Missouri State Mar 1 3 Arizona (4) 25-2 1,494 4 1 Last Week: @ Utah W 67-63, @ Colorado W 88-61 This Week: vs. California Feb 26, vs. Stanford Mar 2 4 Syracuse 25-2 1,410 1 3 Last Week: vs Boston College L 62-59, @ Duke L 66-60 This Week:  @ Maryland W 57-55, @ Virginia Mar 1 5 Kansas 21-6 1,310 8 3 Last Week: @ Texas Tech W 64-63, vs Texas W 85-54 This Week:  vs Oklahoma W 83-75, @ Oklahoma State Mar 1

This Week: @ Vanderbilt Feb 25, vs. LSU Mar 1

Just Because

Ups and Downs

Yesterday was filled with so many ups and downs.

  In bullet form 

• Down: Florida /Mississippi State game was supposed to be on CBS at 11:00.  It wasn't.
• Up: Florida won
• Up:  Zack's team took first place in their Division 1 tournament
• Down: He wasn't allowed to play (due to home discipline)
• Down: We planned to go watch a couple of the games but had no way of knowing what time they were playing
• Up: We had a great night playing Sorry and watching the Syracuse/Duke game.  Syracuse lost
• UP: Florida will now be ranked #1 in basketball!!!!!

UGH!!!

Migraine again last night.

What a way to ruin a perfectly good Friday night!

Vomiting and early to bed...but I feel so fortunate that I am able to fall asleep and then they go away.  I know many people who are not as lucky.

Game(s) On

It rained yesterday - pretty much all day.

There were high school games scheduled for last night but for some reason the team who was supposed to travel cancelled.  

Possibly because the weather that was forecast was much worse than the weather that actually occurred.   As I said, it just rained.

Anyway, it was decided that instead of the scheduled games, there would be a friendly little game of coaches/8th graders vs. the high school players.  Zack, of course, would never miss an opportunity to play...although he said it was actually more fun being on the bench.  I agree, it was fun to watch.

First, the girls played.

The younger set lost 31-13

Then the legends/future all stars (as they were called) played the high school boys.

I love that the coaches played too

the bench...and breaking out the wheelchair for the "old" ones

driving the lane and paying the price

Toward the end the older legends/futures all stars were losing by about 10...the refs thought that was unfair so they called a couple of bogus technical  fouls which was hilarious.

two shots for a bogus technical

It gave everyone a great laugh and the score was closer...but they still lost.

What a fun night.

I Struggle...but Occasionally it Pays Off

Raising teens is an experience.  

They seem to have their own set of acceptable rules and they usually don't look anything like the guidelines that you would have them follow.  

I think I struggle with Zack more than the other two because I play a very big part in his day to day school life (and I can hear my other two thanking God they didn't have to deal with that).  

Anyway, I see his daily interactions with those around him and I see his classmates and friends when they are hurting or being ostracized and that hurts me too.  

I try so hard to teach him that if you can't be nice to someone then don't say anything at all or walk away from the person.  

Sometimes I don't feel as if I am making any headway with him because he, of course, wants to follow the path of others and be accepted. 

But this past Saturday, God gave me a little pat on the back when I witnessed a conversation between Zack and a friend he had over.

They were discussing who the nicest person in their class was and the boy said, "I think you're the nicest boy in our class, Zack.  You're pretty nice to everyone."

YES!!!! Thank God for the small victories.

And Then There Was Pizza

Before the game started on Friday our good friends, Bill and Carey, asked us if we wanted to go to Culver's after the game.  Although I wasn't excited about adding yet another thing to my already busy day, I thought that it would be just what Zack needed to take his mind off his situation and give him something to look forward to.

I am so grateful for friends like them and feel so blessed that they have made going to some of Zack's games a priority.  He has told me how happy it makes him that they are there just for him.

Anyway, after the game was over, we discovered that the girl's and boy's basketball teams were going to Christiano's for pizza.  They were donating a certain portion of their proceeds that day to the orphans in Myanmar.  

I wasn't planning on spending $20.00 on pizza and sodas but it was worth it to see Zack so happy when an hour earlier he was falling apart - and to help the orphans in Myanmar.

He loves being around his friends

The batteries in my camera died while we were there so Bill came to the rescue again and took these pictures with his cell phone.  

Afterwards

The exact minute the buzzer sounded at the end of the game, Zack broke down in sobs.

I was thankful he was in the game for the final couple minutes or he surely would have been on the bench creating a spectacle.  

As it was, he was distracted enough by playing that he held it in until the spotlight was no longer on him.  

Brotherly hug in the gym

I was so touched to see Jon comforting his brother. They do love each other.

After the game, the team moved to the locker room where Zack gave quite an emotional speech and then they all gathered around him and chanted his name over and over.  I wish I could have been there for that.

When I walked in, he was in an embrace with one of his teammates - truly touching.

The one whose back is turned to the camera is the one who was hugging him

I was not able to get a picture of the hug but I did get great pictures of him with his coaches.

swollen, red eyes from crying

Neat story:  the bigger guy on the right has been Zack's coach for the past three years.  But the guy on the left, I graduated from high school with and he just put his kids in our school this past year. It was such a surprise to see him.

These two men have been fantastic.  Wonderful, godly role models for the boys.

The Last Game

Not an original title I know...but it tells the story.

Unless something miraculous and totally unexpected happens, this was Zack's last game at Valley Christian.  

Before the game started, they announced the team - something they have never done.  They started by announcing the 7th graders, then the non starting 8th graders, and then the starters.  They saved Zack for last...and the applause was amazing and just what he needed for his self-esteem.  Unfortunately, because of my awful camera, I was unable to get a good picture of him running through the line his teammates had formed.  I hate that camera.

Because coach started only the 8th graders and the boy who has been doing the opening tip off this year is a 7th grader, Zack was assigned to do the job.  

the other boy was at least 2 or 3 inches taller than Zack but never jumped for the ball so Zack won it easily

The game spiraled out of control quickly.  Zack had 8 points in the first quarter alone.  By halftime the lead was 31-2.  

Coach instituted the "no shooting until you have passed five times" rule for the third quarter...but even that was not working and the lead continued to build so they changed it to ten passes.

The scoreboard in the background is from the B team boys game...this was taken during warm-ups

Soon they were ahead by so much the other coach could have opted to institute the sympathy rule (down by 40 = forfeit) but after the refs explained that this was their last game and the team had many 8th graders on their team, the coach allowed the game to continue (which was nice). 

The ending score was 49-4 but they could very well have scored much more.

Yes, there were tears after the game...will post about that later.