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!

The Blue Devils

Maddy played his best game ever yesterday, picking up 5 rebounds, 2 assists and 3 intercepts (according to Daddy's statistics LOL). We also gave him credit for shooting more (at least 5 attempts) as he rarely does and passes off to his team mates. I managed to capture a few pictures but kept forgetting to film him in action as I was too busy cheering him and his team on.

Shooting practice

Half time break

Time out

In action

ready to pass it off

Maddy assists a team mate

Basketball Class

I forgot to charge the camera and missed out on taking more videos and pictures of Maddy learning the basics of basketball.

There were suppose to be 13 kids but only 5 turned up. Not surprising, considering the muck up they had last weekend. Everyone was told different times and venues and two of us weren't told about anything lol. Oh well, at least we made it to this one on time and at the right place lol.

The age group ranges from 6-10, with Maddy and Ben (smallest one) being the youngest of the group. They practiced different passing and dribbling skills and also shooting skills as well. Because they only had 5 players, there were no scrimmages, but they did play a few shooting games. Overall he had fun and didn't want it to end.

More B&W Shots

Basketball season has come to an end

Basketball season ended last weekend with a party at Fuddruckers. Maddy went along with his friend Michael and his Mum to the function. I was very ill and couldn't attend. Maddy was fine about it though and was only interested in receiving his award and playing games at the arcade LOL.

The boys did well this season, learning the basics and the rules of the game. They each received a certificate and trophy for their achievements.

Next on his activity list is Soccer and Tae Kwon Do.

Team Photos

Today we went to Thoreau Middle school for Maddy's basketball photos and individual ones too. I ordered one 5x7 and one 8x10 for our photo collection. I took a few of my own but they didn't turn out very well - I think I've buggered up the settings on the camera again LOL.

When we got home, we decided to take a walk up the road to the store to buy a few supplies. We stopped off at Office Depot to buy some poster paper and felt tip pens for Maddy's school project, bank some checks, visit the dollar store, and then we wondered over to Noodles Company for afternoon brunch.

Enjoying his favorite pasta dish - 'house marinara'

Game #5

Inbounds the ball to Sammy who scores one for the team

Rebounds

Nearly makes a shot

Dribbles and hands it off to Sammy who scores another for the team

Defending (or eye-balling his opponent LOL) and Intercepts a pass

Maddy in Action - 3rd Game

Warming up before the game

Rebounding

Even though they lost this game, they played a good game overall especially on defence. We have more videos of Maddy in action but because the files are too large, they were taking too long to upload - will try to keep them shorter next time.

They Won!

The Black Knights Basketball team won their first game on Saturday, 6 - 4 and what a great game it was. No scores are taken but Daddy and I were keeping count anyway. The first half of the hour was spent on skills testing like running relays and dribbling skills and the second half was the game. They played for six minutes each quarter and did quite well. Maddy came off the bench on the second and last quarter and had a good game, defending and passing the ball to his team mates. It was nice to see all the parents there cheering their children on.

Aunty Lu and Uncle Steve from Connecticut arrived that afternoon too and came to watch the game as well. Uncle Steve had a meeting in DC so they spent the weekend with us. We went bowling Sunday afternoon and then had dinner at Sakura - Japanese Hibachi Cooking Restaurant - YUMMY.

I forgot to take the camera with me so no pictures were taken but when I get a chance, I'll take one of Maddy in his uniform.

More Basketball Training

Third week of practice and the boys are improving on their basketball skills. Tonight they practiced their dribbling, bounce passing and shooting and ended the night with a scrimage. Their first game is on Dec 13th - not sure who against but we will find out at next weeks practice. Their team name is Black Knights and they will be receiving their uniforms next week.

Dribbling Practice

Bounce Pass Practice

Defence Practice

Scrimage

Basketball Practice

Dribbling Practice

Shooting Practice (1)

Shooting Practice (2)