Gotcha Day

Today marks one full year with Ryker, the million dollar mutt. His year in pictures. 

I don’t have any pictures of the chewed Direct TV cables, the destroyed patio furniture, the books he chewed up, the eye glasses he ate, or the Knick knacks that he broke. I do have vet bills and a traumatized cat. 

It’s a good thing he’s cute. 

It Was Over Too Soon

And just like that our season is over. We were defeated in the first round of playoffs by a team we have beaten twice this year. I thought for sure another losing season would mean Keagan would decide to play soccer exclusively, but he’s told everybody he plans to play high school basketball next year.

Three years ago an agility trainer told me Keagan was a much stronger basketball player than soccer. He told me he was more comfortable with a basketball in his hands than a soccer ball at his feet. I thought he was crazy. Last night, we went to a girls’ game and a stranger from an opposing team approached me to tell me how great of a ball player Keagan is. She said, “Please tell me I get to see him play with the high school team next year.”  

This decision saddens me and excites me at the same time. AAU tryouts are next month. We are still driving to Nashville but now for basketball instead of soccer. I can't say that I am surprised at all with his decision. It just seems so ironic to me that my big kid with natural talent in basketball chose soccer, and my smaller, more agile kid with a natural talent in soccer chose basketball. 

The above picture speaks volumes about our year. I told Keagan today that if he planned to play beyond middle school, then he had to abstain from "coaching" his teammates. There is no room for coaching a team when you are playing for someone that knows what they are doing. I told him he needed to work on his game and not the game plan. I'm not sure he agreed with me, but he agreed to at least consider my advice. Please, Lord, let him find a coach that will in fact coach.

Winter Ball

I still can't record any plays or games to save my life. This is the best I got and doesn't come close to capturing Keagan's reverse EuroStep that ended in a bucket and a win, his three pointer shot at the buzzer, his reverse layup, or his multiple assists to the guys down low. But I hope I can use this video to always remember how smooth he is with dribbling the ball. He is meant to play PG.

Tonight's win of 52-17 makes three wins in a row. It's too hard to think about the possibility of actually winning four in a row!

Family Fun Day

After church today we played a couple of games of Top Golf. Thanks, Nonnie, for the gift card! Keagan is horrible at golf. Evan is only slightly better. The family next to us had a 10 year old that was swinging her club like a pro, and Keagan said, “Look at that! This makes me rethink my athletic ability.”

With our gift card, we were able to play, eat lunch, AND order dessert. Keagan ordered injectionable doughnut holes. 

Evan said it looked like we were using heroin and refused to taste the ymminess. He was clearly wrong; they were everything you would want with a dessert.

On our way home, Keagan asked a burning question? “When did we change the pronunciation of Israel?” Crickets. No one knew what he meant. So he explained. “Pastor Larry always talks about people in BC times and says /Is-ra-el/, but we just say /Is-reel/. When did the name change?”

Evan:  “Are you serious?”

Keagan: “Very.”

We died. Just died. I take comfort knowing  he’s at least listening to the sermons. 

I’m Cheering for the Mav - Durs

For Christmas we planned to take Keagan to the OKC game in Memphis during our week of spring break. This was going to be his “big” present from us. But then I ran into a soccer mom in Wal-Mart, and she told me the highschool team is planning to play at the beach “sometime in March.” That had me worried. I didn’t want to miss the basketball game because of soccer. So at the last minute, I switched the Memphis game for the Mavericks game. 

Evan is a huge Mavs fan; Keagan is a die-hard OKC fan. Though it was a much longer drive, it would mean both boys could cheer for their team. We arrived two hours early, so the boys could get autographs. 

Evan got Luka’s. 

Poor Keagan just missed Westbrook and got pushed out of the way just as Adams arrived. On top of that, his team lost by a point and Westbrook, his favorite player, had the worst game! His Christmas trip was not at all what I had hoped for him. After the game, though, Keagan gave me a hug and told me thanks for a great Christmas gift. Oh, how I love his grateful spirit!

As a bystander happy with either team winning, I must say tonight’s game was as exciting as NBA basketball gets. Luka and DeAndre put on a show! It was a great game to see live with the winner determined with a last second, missed shot.

Merry Christmas

Santa arrived! Evan and Keagan must have been very good because Santa has been so good to them. They both got new shoes and new jerseys.

Evan's gift experience is a tour of Cowboys Stadium, his favorite gift. He's on the grind putting his Lego Cowboys helmet together. Already he's professed the directions are not clear enough and the colors are not accurate. He's threatening to throw it in the trash. So pretty much it's like the Christmas morning from eight years ago when he got a Star Wars Lego set. We are all about traditions in this house!

Keagan's favorite gift was his robe. He says he feels like a Chinese emperor wearing silks and fine clothing. (I'm afraid Amazon is a far cry from Chinese silks.) He has made his way to the bonus room wearing his robe, carrying his new gaming mic, and clutching a bag of candy. He says he will see us in about four hours.

Wes is super happy with parts for the gun he is building. He bought them. I wrapped them. He acted surprised when he opened them. I did the same with the two pairs of shoes I ordered for myself.

This is the first year in a while where we haven't spent the holiday doing laundry and packing for a Caribbean get-a-way. Next year's trip to Iceland will be epic.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve

Evan and I started the day at an annual holiday event serving meals to the underprivileged. We were in charge of the dessert table and were given strict instructions to not let any one touch the cake. After the first two hours of standing guard, Evan almost fell asleep. We were salivating by 1:00 watching everyone else eat and lucky enough to get our own meals.

We then headed home to pick up the rest of the family for the candlelight Christmas Eve church service. It’s my favorite time to be in church. This year they ran out of candles when I entered the church. I had Wes go in search of one (since I love the candlelight so much), and he found one, but it was defective. I had hot wax all over my fingers within seconds and I had to blow it out earlier than the others. I’m not sure what message Jesus was trying to say about my “light.”

Dinner time meant loaded potato soup and sausage balls. We opened a few family gifts (Mallory’s gifts from the school store are always the highlight!) and made cookies for Santa. Mallory remembered Keagan loved Lightning McQueen as a preschooler and got him a LM ornament. Wes got red duct tape to protect extension cords and Direct TV cables from Ryker.

Now we await Santa’s arrival with Christmas movies and hot chocolate and just a few cookies.