Reunited with Anais

During our winter break, we finally managed a LONG overdue reunion between Kaitlynn and her sweet friend, Anais. Due to summer travels, they weren't able to connect last summer, so it had been well over 1.5 years since they had been together and they had missed each other so much. Theirs is such a sweet friendship that has endured long distances and time apart but has never dimmed their connection.

For their brief stay together, Kaitlynn and Anais packed in a ton of fun at our house including video games, karaoke songs and dancing, and a little bit of backyard softball.

But the best activity of all was planning another weekend together for the following month. They wanted to make sure they had another play date on the calendar after going so long apart.

The Bears

At the end of last year, Kaitlynn joined a Katy Youth Basketball (KYB) team with her friend, Libby, for the winter season. It was her first time playing basketball here in Katy and she was excited to show off some of her skills she learned last year in Dubai. Kaitlynn's team, the Bears, had several practices before the winter break as well as a scrimmage against a boys team, but the official games didn't start until earlier this year.

As the games began in mid-January, our #24 was enjoying the play time and getting to know her teammates. The team was a mix of 5th and 6th graders from various elementary schools in the area, and the girls were having a great time playing together during games and practices.

For her part, Kaitlynn did a great job during the season. She started off a little rusty and there were a few practices that really deflated her spirit, but she persevered and showed great improvement from game to game. After one particularly tough game, I couldn't resist taking her out for a much deserved ice cream treat.

It was overall a tough season for the Bears, who only won 1 game during the regular season. The girls played hard but we didn't seem to hit our stride as a team until late in the season. We also missed several players most weeks as many of the girls had softball tournament conflicts. By the middle of February, the team was ready for the KYB Playoffs.

Timberwolf Basketball

After Connor broke his wrist in the fall, he was officially released to play contact sports on December 1 and he was thrilled that he could finally join his junior high basketball team. Of course, by then the team had been practicing and playing together for 2 months. The coaches asked Connor to participate in an official tryout, after which he was added to the C team roster of the WoodCreek Timberwolves. He had a lot of catching up to do but he was excited to be a part of the team. At that point in the season, however, there was only 1 game left before the long winter break. He didn't get much playing time but he really enjoyed the experience.

When the team resumed games after winter break, Connor was able to see more playing time little by little. He didn't get as much playing time as he had hoped, but he did manage to score some baskets and free throws. Jeff and I truly enjoyed watching our #34 play and improve game by game, while Kaitlynn and her friend Libby loved hanging out during the games.

When the season ended in late January, Connor wasn't ready to be finished with basketball and asked several times about joining another league. He enjoys basketball so much and was really hoping to continue playing, but it was time to switch gears and begin preparation for baseball season. We're so thankful for the (short) time that our Connor was able to play basketball for his junior high school, and hopefully there will be a lot more play time in his future.

Jeff's $100 Challenge

Back when Collin and Kevin were young teenagers, they dabbled in various activities like baseball and football but eventually landed on swimming and water polo as their preferred sports in school. As the boys progressed in their abilities, they would often challenge Jeff to a race or swim-off in the pool. In their younger years, it was usually no contest because Jeff could beat them easily. But he (wisely) always knew the day would come where his boys would outperform him in their talents.

Somewhere along the way, in true Jeff form, he managed to turn the casual summer swim-offs into a more formal challenge. He let the boys know that whenever they were ready, they could pick an activity - their choice - and officially challenge him to a competition. Whether it was running a certain distance or swimming a particular stroke, they could declare the challenge and attempt to beat him. At stake was a whopping $100 for the first time they were able to beat Jeff at their sport, whatever they chose. To a 12 or 13 year old boy, that was an exciting prospect and one they were anxious to take on! Both Collin and Kevin attempted to beat him a time or two at running or swimming, and he easily put them in their place. But sure enough, it was only a matter of time until they became stronger and faster and surpassed Jeff's abilities in the pool. I think it was around age 13 or 14 that Collin and later Kevin issued the official challenge and easily beat Jeff's time in the race, securing their $100 winnings and, best of all, bragging rights. It's something the boys and their Dad talk about often and definitely a rite of passage for them all.

Fast forward about 10 years, and Jeff and Connor began talking about the same challenge. Jeff shared the stories about how Collin and Kevin were anxious for that $100 challenge and had some losses along the way, and of course Connor was ready to get in on the action sooner rather than later. I'm not sure how many challenges Connor issued and lost previously, but it was during winter break in January when he felt pretty confident to declare he was ready for an official challenge against his Dad. It would be Connor versus Jeff in an epic game of Around the World (basketball game), right in our front driveway for all the world, a-hem, street to see!

Kaitlynn and I made sure to witness the momentous occasion. They played the best 2 of 3 games, and it turned out to be quite the close competition with Jeff finishing strong in game 1 for the win and then Connor taking game 2. It all came down to game 3...who would be the ultimate winner?

With $100 and bragging rights on the line, it was truly a great battle. The competition came down to Jeff's final shot - if he made it, Connor would lose. But as luck (and skill?) would have it, Jeff lost his shot and Connor got a shot at redemption. He had to make 4 around-the-world baskets to reach Jeff's status and try to win the game. There was a lot of back and forth trash talking and definitely some nerves as they played it through.

In a stunning come-from-behind win, Connor sunk his final 4 baskets to take the 3rd game and the ultimate victory! It was a great battle down to the final shot, and Connor jumped for joy at beating his dear old Dad to take home his $100 prize money along with the title of Around the World Champ. It should come as no surprise that there was quite a bit of celebration on the court after his win!

Connor happily took his $100 and is still reveling in his big win to this day. Next in line for Jeff's $100 Challenge is Kaitlynn, and we're all anxiously awaiting what she decides as her sport of choice before she is declared the 4th and final victor!

Fun during the Winter Break

We still had a long winter break ahead, so we tried to fit in some fun activities while the kids were out of school. Once Kaitlynn received her roller skates, she was almost never without them. She skated all around the downstairs of the house, sometimes even with her new karaoke microphones in hand. I honestly don't think there is a more fitting picture that would describe this girl's current personality -- wearing a zebra t-shirt and shorts, rollerskating in her zebra-striped skates around the house while singing loudly into a microphone. That's our Kaitlynn!

Connor took some time outdoors with Kevin and Jeff to enjoy his new BB gun. They set up some targets in the backyard and really enjoyed the shooting practice.

On another day, I decided to take Kaitlynn out to use her new roller skates at the local skating rink. Connor begrudgingly joined us and was quite hilarious on the skates. He ended up getting the hang of it, and both kids were quite impressed when I put the skates on myself and showed them how it was done, ha! For her part, Kaitlynn has become quite the skilled skater as well.

On another occasion, I decided that I wanted us to spend some family time together and declared that it was "Family Fun Day." That turned out to be a little insensitive when we ended up using our time to visit the Houston Holocaust Museum, which was something we'd been wanting to do for a while. We enjoyed the museum and learned some interesting facts we'd never known before, but of course, it was definitely not your typical idea of fun. Afterwards, we drove downtown so that Jeff could take us to one of his all-time favorite Houston establishments - Treebeards. He was in heaven with his red beans and rice, while the kids barely found anything they would even try. Will these kids NEVER become less picky?! *insert eye roll*

On another occasion, we visited Katy Mills to see a movie. We were stunned to show up and find out that all shows were sold out within the following 2-3 hours. Apparently in this day and age, everyone buys their movie tickets in advance. That is a hard adjustment for me, as I'm used to showing up and not worrying about a seat. Oh well, at least we were able to snap a quick photo of the kids.

Lastly, much of our winter break was spent going back and forth between our house and the Aasmyr house, as we were pet sitting for their family zoo, ha! Their 5 pets were all at home and we visited 3 times a day for 2 straight weeks to make sure they were happy and well cared for. Sometimes we couldn't stay as long as we wanted, but we definitely got some focused love and attention from Duke, Abby, Pringles, Ollie, and Charlotte. Well, maybe not so much from Charlotte - she's the cat who just can't quite warm up to us. I snapped several photos during our times with the animals, but none was more special than the completely random picture I managed to take with ALL 5 PETS in the same photo! It was a complete accident but oh-so-difficult to accomplish!