Basketball...A Lesson For Us All

Way back in January, we stepped onto the basketball court with Jacob. He wanted to try it out with some of his buddies and we were really excited to see him play. We forgot one thing - Jacob has never seen a basketball game, let alone played!

So, it was a hard thing to watch on that first Saturday in January. Jacob wasn't alone in his basketball skills, but you could see the joy in his eyes as he rushed off the court to sit on the bench every other quarter. We still cheered the team on despite their inexperience. The score? 36 to 11. Yeah, we needed some work.

Coach Jim was the best. So patient and should be considered for sainthood. I could never do that job! There was a lot of improvement over the following 3 months. But, Jacob grew to hate it and it showed. Frustrating wasn't the word for it, but he was consistent on one thing - running back to the bench to sit and talk for the quarter he sat out! Urgh!

Finally a couple Fridays ago we had our last game. A night game, which was a first and it was to be followed by pizza. We finally found out what motivated Jacob! He played his best game and we left the gym smiling - for real this time! AND he is playing every night in our driveway. Sometimes it takes a real long journey to get where you want to go. Lesson learned.

Irish...If Only For A Day

After living in Elmhurst for nearly 9 months now, I have begun to pick up on a few things. Like, many people have grown up here and are now raising their children here...a good thing - shows it's a great place to live. The other thing is that there are a whole heck of a lot of Irish people here...another good thing. If you've ever met a true Irishmen, then you know they are a lot of fun! Because of the vast amount of Irish-Americans, Elmhurst holds a parade that just so happens to be the second largest in the state for St. Patty's Day.

But, as we found out, it's not just the parade, after all, we are dealing with fun Irish peeps here. It's an entire day of activites to celebrate this very special day. So, we started the day off with a brunch at a friends house before the parade.

Now, being Dutch (aka ultra conservative), I kind of expected a few breakfast casseroles, coffee cake and strong coffee. Nope, this was an Irish brunch. Lesly had the biggest spread ever, severly effecting peoples choices of what they gave up for Lent, which for me and most of the other women was sweets. Then I went for the coffee. We Dutch, take it black, but if you want to have a little fun, you add some cream. Wanna get crazy, make it hazelnut. But, next to this coffee pot here? You guessed it, Baileys. Which I first thought to be chocolate milk. Good thing my kids don't care for that cause I would have poured them a big stiff drink. Anyway, next to the Baileys were the mimosas, and across from the mimosas was the bloody mary bar. It was then that I felt the 2% of Irish in me coming through. Yes, parties can be more than ham on buns with potato salad!

Let's not get too carried away, we did have a parade to go to, so we had a bit of fun and sat on Spring Road. Then we started looking around. Hmmm, were we back in Europe? Is drinking on the street legal? Apparently if you are Irish and at the Elmhurst parade. Tom was a bit disspointed that all he had was coffee. The kids didn't seem to notice and we went home with a boat load of candy.

A breather and then on to the next party, where I have never seen so much corned beef and cabbage! A night of great fun trying to pack away all 30 pounds of meat! We rolled home just in time for bed. And as we laid there, we were thankful for our great Dutch heritage, but pretty impressed with being Irish... just for the day!

Pancake Day!

There are some English things that we just can't give up - tea, biscuits, curry, and our favorite British holiday - Pancake Day!! The boys decided that they wanted to celebrate just the same way that they did back in the UK and hold some pancake races. What this entails is running with a pancake in a frying pan. You must flip and run and if you drop it, you go back to the beginning. We wanted a good race, so we needed more people. Aka, we needed a pancake party.

So, we invited our friends the Arnetts and Kennedys. Both whom have never celebrated Pancake Day and had never heard of it. We had a total of 9 boys and 1 girl (poor Ella!). We headed out to the back garden and started the chaos, I mean races! The first couple went well, but after that everyone was running with metal pan and pancakes were flying everywhere. What can I say, I wasn't meant to be a teacher, so rallying 10 children didn't go so well. But, the kids thought it was great! And the best part was the pancake dinner after. I think we went through about 50 pancakes, 1 lb of bacon and 1 lb of sausage links. With that many boys I better double up next year!

It was so great to share a new tradition! Who knows, it may just catch on...watch out for a pancake race near you next year!

Jacob and Jack during the first race

Shea vs. Will

Boys on Skis!

Last weekend, the boys and I left poor Tom behind with his calculator and balance sheets and we headed to Michigan. Our overnight stop was at the Dupins, which was so much fun as the boys played with the girls...trading DS games! Whatever quiets them down so I could catch up with Chad and Sara! Early to bed for all since we had to leave at 6am to get to ski school on time. And the 6am wake up call was brutal, but we made it to Crystal just in time!

Ok, I'm not a skier and didn't realize how much time it takes to get everyone ready. I was sweating trying to get boots and skis for everyone. And, of course, as we crossed the parking lot to ski school you could spot us from a mile away. I was carrying Jeb, who's ski boots didn't fit, two pairs of skis, a backpack, and a bag full of winter boots. We didn't fit the mold of a "skiing family," but we finally got everyone where they needed to be before Sara and I met up in the lodge.

It's pretty wierd to sit and relax not knowing where your children are in the sea of skiers just outside the window of the lodge. In fact, I'm not sure if we ever relaxed. We ended up searching for our kids. Jeb, was pretty easy to find - surrounded by 2 instructors obeying his every command, even to be picked up. Some things don't change. I spotted Aiden by his huge smile as he snowplowed down the medium hill. He had managed to ski ahead of his class and had an instructor to himself (good value for money is what I thought!). But, I couldn't spot Jacob. So, I headed to the chairlift and as I looked up the big hill, I saw him coming down. It was like seeing him walk for the first time. Jacob doesn't always look too natural at sports, but he was so comfortable sking down the hill and even managed a wave as he passed me by. It was the highlight of the day.

Oh, not to worry, there were lowlights to. I will document them to ensure my boys will read this one day and know how terrible they were in the car. The dinner stop was at McDonalds - with Jeb saying the meal was disgusting and throwing it on the floor (really?! A Happy Meal?!). After answering a billion questions of Jeb and Aiden, I finally heard Jacob from the back - "I have to go to the bathroom soooo bad!" Really, after he told me he went at the end of ski school...clearly a lie. We were in the middle of downtown Grand Rapids, with no where to go. Out came the water bottle. Unfortunetely he was a first time user - we had laundry to do when we got home. And lastly, I decided to get a car wash only to be stuck in the car wash for a half hour after driving 2 hours. I wasn't too happy.

I'll take the good with the bad, cause it all adds up to fun. There is nothing like being Queen of my house and taking my princes out of their kingdom for a few days.