Winter 2012

Hmmm, it's been 5 months since I last updated Maddy's blog. Oka, what a slacker! I'm going to try and update his blog on a more regular basis from now on. It's not like there isn't much to blog about, Maddy has been pretty busy with school, bowling, basketball and cello.

Maddy is still enjoying school and his steadily improving grades are proof of that. His enthusiasm for the cello is fading though. Given the short attention span of kids these days, it's understandable. He wants to join the choir and band next year instead and has expressed the desire to play the tuba.

Really? Where does this kid come up with these ideas?

Maddy's basketball season ends next weekend. He has become quite the rebounder and shot blocker. He is the tallest boy on his team and so his coaches put him at center/power forward but Maddy would prefer to be a point guard. He doesn't think it's fair that the shorter kids get to bring the ball up and do most of the dribbling.

Maddy is also excelling at bowling. He has passed his momma in terms of average and he loves reminding her of it every chance he gets. Our family team has won the last 2 rounds of our Samoan league mostly thanks to Maddy. He had his personal best 224 game a couple of weeks ago!

Maddy now stands at 5'3" tall. I think it's safe to say that he will be slightly taller than BatGran and Papa by the end of the year at the rate he's growing.

Maddy and his mom horsing around

Maddy playing the role of James Madison, 4th President of the USA

Pres. James Madison, Living Museum, 4th Grade

Maddy, at 9 and a half years old

Farewell Winter, Hello Springtime!

Rach and I were talking about the changing seasons yesterday and came to the realization that we have been in the U.S. for almost 4 years now. Where did all the time go? Has it really been that long? It doesn't seem that long but here we are, Maddy is in 2nd grade, almost eight years old and he has 2 new cousins named Micah and Isla that he didn't have when we moved here in 2006. Wow.

The weather has been great this week. The sun has been out for four straight days now and all the snow on the ground has disappeared. Maddy will be starting his 3rd season of soccer soon and he can't wait to get out there and run around with his friends after being cooped up all winter.

This weekend will be a busy one for the DC Branch. We have bowling league tonight followed by Maddy's school annual Fun Fair tomorrow morning. We might try and have a little BBQ afterward and then there's the Sunday bowling league where we are in 2nd place (after finishing the first 2 parts of the season in last place). If we have time we might try and squeeze a father/son haircut in there somewhere too.

The pics are from Maddy's end of season basketball party where he got a trophy for being the best rebounder and most aggressive on the team. That's my boy!

The Return of Normalcy

I don't want to jinx ourselves by declaring that the worst of winter is behind us but it seems like the worst of winter is behind us.

It was pretty dramatic watching the drama of 2 consecutive snowstorms unfold on the TV from the comfort of my couch - car accidents on the roadways, power outages from downed power lines, grocery stores running out of food and people grumbling about how much the snow was inconveniencing them.

I don't know what all the fuss was about, at least we didn't have to go to work for a week and if we didn't run out of munchies midweek it would've been a perfect week.

Now that the roads are clear of snow and the temperatures are steadily rising, life is returning to normal. Yes, we can actually buy bread, milk and water at the local Safeway again. Maddy is back at school, Rach and I are back at work, Maddy's got his basketball and Rach and I have our bowling games to look forward to.

Speaking of games, Maddy had a breakout game this weekend. My little superstar scored his first basket ever and ended up with a stuffed stat line of 4 pts on 2-5 shooting, 7 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals. I don't know what happened, he just decided to go for his own shot after he got the offensive rebound instead of passing it out like he normally does. I normally advocate good teamwork and passing the ball but just this once I was glad to see him go for his own shot.

I asked him after the game if he played well because he had an awesome dad who taught him the basics but he said no, it was just him.

We had a fun night at Fati & Vai's place over the weekend where we had a nice dinner followed by a little friendly poker game. Maddy spent the night there to go to church the next morning but slept in and missed church altogether. If only it was that easy to skip church when I was his age!

It's Snowing

Maddy having fun in the snow. As soon as he stepped off the bus yesterday afternoon he had a snowball fight with Taehoon and Arjit and then wanted to do a snow angel in the snow. All I wanted to do was get inside because I was freezing my butt off LOL.

Daddy is currently in Thailand for two weeks and I have a part time job for the holidays at Macy's, a large department store. I am one of many Customer Service Managers who are assigned an area to assist Sales Associates and customer queries and complaints. It's only for 4 hours a day while Maddy is in school and during the weekends, depending on how often they need me. It's very hard on my feet as I am not use to standing all day long. I have this weekend off because Matt is away so that is a relief.

I have finally received the calendars and will send them off as soon as I can. I hope you all got Maddy's school photo :) Not to worry Sachi and Mark, yours is with the calendar and will be sent soon. Until next time, take care!

Winter is Here

I think winter is finally upon us here in the northern hemisphere. I had to walk through ice on the street on my way to work this morning. Yeah you heard me right. There was ICE on the street today! The cold weather has been on and off lately but I when there's ice on the roads you can pretty much say that winter is here; bring on the snow!

I wonder if we'll have a white Christmas this year? Wouldn't that be nice? I don't remember having a white Christmas since we lived in Alaska over 20+ years ago.