Friese~Party of 5: November 2011

Friday, November 18, 2011

Basketball....not just a driveway sport!

Since we have basketball on our brain at this house Tim decided to bring Marshall 6foot Fisher Price hoop into the living room. (notice the absence of an exclamation point) Yep, in the living room. The plastic/rubber ball that came with it is our first casualty as it landed in the lamp shade that is behind the hoop and well...it is now in the trash with a nice hole burnt into it!
BUT, it has been fun (I just have to remind myself to chill out...there really is nothing they can break!!) and it's been fun for all of us! Malia is getting pointers from Tim, Morgan is trying to steal the ball while on defense and so Malia has to defend herself! Then, there's Marshall...He is somewhat of a natural already! Dribbling like a pro and shooting with good form!
I can only imagine what the neighbors think as they walk/drive by!! I am sure it is hillarious to see us having a full-fledged game goin on in here!!

The HOOPS boy!

The first hoop--not as exciting anymore!

Oh, ya....usually you will hear Marshall say, "I need my shoes on, I gotta play basketball!!"
But here, he is barefoot! His white short-sleeved shirt is also a MUST when playing hoops!

Jump stop--shoot!! Way to go buddy!

Thursday, November 17, 2011

'Tis the Season!

I do not mean the Christmas season or even Thanksgiving, but rather this "season" of life we are in! Malia started basketball 2 weeks ago and we had her first game last Saturday! Not only is this exciting for her (or so I assume(d)), but majorly exciting for Tim & me! Malia has played basketball here and there and taken a few basketball classes through our small community center and understands that the round ball needs to go through the hoop. How we get that ball in the hoop and all the rules of dribbling and not traveling, stealing the ball and not fouling--well, she will learn as will the rest of the girls on her team!

Last Saturday (11/12)--1st game
3rd/4th grade league for all Mounds View schools--games all at Chippewa which is nice! We arrived early upon her coachs' request and the girls dribbled and did some passing/defense drills outside while we waited for our court to open up and it was fun to see all the girls (11 of them) and the encouragement they gave freely to each other. We finally get on our court about 10 minutes after our game should have started, but no biggie as we are the last game of the day!
And it was a great game! 12 minute quarters, a fun drill at halftime and our team lost 22-18. Not bad for the 1st game and Tim and I are excited to see the girls grow in their understanding and love of the game! Malia was sad that they lost, of course, and sad that she didn't "touch" the ball as much as some girls. But with some good encouragement and a sweet pep talk with my growing-up little girl, she was smiles again.
It's so incredibly crazy being the parent in a sports situation. On our way home both Tim & I looked at each other with knowing smiles and sighed....trying to make our blood pressure go down...trying to relax from the stress of watching our precious Malia out there on the court...wanting her to just do her best and be proud of her efforts and attitude on the court. It was then that we said we were thankful for a week between games! If we only had a day between games we might go CRAZY!!! It is a fun excitement and craziness watching Malia out there on the courts--for sure! We sure are thankful for her sweet spirit, her eagerness to learn and her desire to please us & God while on the court or in school for that matter!! **makes me a little teary-eyed**

On that note--enjoy these pics from her 1st real game!

"Go Knights"
In the hallway before heading to the court! (Malia is #3)

Sizing up the competition!!
Well, really just matching up for who you're gonna guard!

Takin a break and rehydrating!
Malia's classmate Dora takin a breather with her!

I asked Tim to take this pic (Marshall was alseep on my lap!)...I used to
sit that exact way when I was on the bench!
♥♥ my Malia

Friday, November 11, 2011

Painting Project!

So, this week I tackled a project that I have wanted to do for over a year! Last year I can blame the craziness of Marshall and him getting into things!! This year I didn't have a good excuse like that--well other than him potty training while I was doing this...so about every 30 minutes I would hear "Mommy...I gotta go, gotta go!!"
Our living/dining is a desert of browns...brown in the wood floor, brown walls (that I love) and brown nasty trim that I despised!! Well, that brown trim is no longer there--but instead a fresh white that provides a contrast that I longed for!!
I am so excited, too, for the transformation of our a so-called "hutch" into my favorite thing: "Organizing with fabric bins & baskets!"

Before

Dining area with said "hutch"

Living Room

And now for the AFTER!!!! (I still have to paint the inside of our front door red...tomorrow!!)

Aaaah.....I'm excited this project is finished (well mostly) and now deciding which other rooms will have white trim! Once a project gets started....I see 100 more that I'd like to do!!

Monday, November 7, 2011

Fall-"ing" back & catching up!!

I feel like we have just had the best Fall! Truly beautiful weather and days filled with fun, milestones and precious & priceless time together as family friends!

We have wrapped up the fall session of swimming lessons for Malia & Morgan, Soccer is still "in-session" for Morgan, Basketball is just getting into full swing for Malia, Piano lessons are going so good for Malia (she started playing some Christmas music this week & I almost put in one of my Christmas CD's (crazy, I know!!), oh and..........Marshall is POTTY TRAINED!!! We enjoyed some fishing as a family this fall, too! The kids all caught so many little fish and it was quite a riot at the time!
Tim just finished his football season for reffing and is now gearing up for his basketball season! I am trying to figure out this blogging stuff and today I started my long-awaited project of painting the trim inside our house white (I can't wait to post the before & after pics!)!!! We have a weird built-in type of hutch that I took the doors off of and then took everything out of and I am converting that from a hutch to a "homework" station & bookshelf for the girls. I am excited for the baskets and bins to go in there and for it to be updated to something way more useful than just holding the minuscule "pretty" things I own! Plus I love all the new organizational bins & baskets that I see everywhere and I like things to serve a purpose & be useful...and not to just sit there! Maybe that's why I feel like I never sit down--always something I should be doing and getting done!

Work is going great for me, it has been a great last couple of months! I really enjoy all the gals at work--our team work is amazing--and the doctors are pretty incredible, too. It's nice to get up and enjoy going to work!

This past weekend we were finally able to head to Pine Island to visit Tim's parents and other extended family and it's so fun to go their place out on the farm. The kids have so much fun outside running with the dogs and playing in the shed (I would call it a shop...but to them it's a shed! Tim explained the difference to me...I call it a shop because I grew up with a dad who could fix anything in his "shop". Tim's family calls it a shed because they don't fix much--just store stuff in the "shed"!! ((so true, so true)) ) At night, the stars are so beautiful--not quite like a Montana "Big Sky" night of starts, but as close as I'm going to get living in MN!

We also had the blessing of going to church at Harvest Bible Chapel in Rochester. Tim's 2nd cousin Steve Deedrick & his wife Kim are the "church planters" and we were there for their 6th Sunday at their location at a local middle school. Steve really has been blessed with a gift of sharing God's Word and his passion for Christ and seeing others come to Christ and live effectively for Christ is so contagious!

Tonight we enjoyed a small little fire outside and had some toasted marshmallows! Marshall really enjoys bonfires--maybe a little too much!! Although, in the middle of toasting his marshmallow he got up and said, "Well, I'm going to go look for that little froggy"...he did get up and then go down the slide in the dark, but he did not find his little froggy! He is pretty funny.

The kids are now in bed and I am going to end for the night, but then try to figure out how to post some pictures! Thanks for "catching" up on our crazy Party of 5!! I enjoy all the updates I see and read either on FB or on the few blogs that I follow! Technology is so amazing and it's fun to how even our kids are so involved in this new technology age at such a young age already!