stuff...

So last night was the first PeeWee basketball season of the year. Lyndsey's team played. They won. But the best part was Lyndsey made a basket. The look on her face was one of complete awe and amazement - you'd have thought she had just been crowned Miss America. Then her coach subbed her out. Kevin kind of wondered why she was coming out so soon. She come to the sidelines and gets mobbed by the girls - high fives, hugs, screaming, etc. Then her coach says "good job - you are back in on the next stop ball." He'd pulled her out just so her team could congratulate her.  A little back story on Lyndsey, basketball, and this team. Lyndsey played basketball for a couple of years when she was younger, Kevin was her coach. She has not played for about 2 or 3 years. This year she decided to try it again. She was put on a team that actually includes several of the girls that were on her original team that Kevin coached. They have been playing together this whole time, and have had the same coach since Kevin stopped coaching them. They are a very good team, and I think won the district championship last year, if not the year before as well.  Lyndsey is Lyndsey. She is improving a lot, very quickly, but is behind these other girls in skill. She has made baskets in practice, but rarely. It was great to see the whole team behind her. And true Lyndsey style, she wants to be better, and was talking about the things she needs to work on during the ride home. Totally wish we had a camera, although Kevin was running the clock and I was keeping score, so not sure how we would have gotten pictures anyway.

This is from the last year LuLu played - she is just barely visible behind #51's head. #1 is on her team this year, and is shorter than Sierra. The coach (#1's dad) wanted to know why Sierra wasn't playing on his team this year. um, cause she is 7 not 11. He pointed out to his daughter this out to his daughter - that a 7 year old was taller than her. Yeah, Lyndsey is taller than the coach. Just saying. Oh and #23 is Kaylee, and that is Sierra peaking out from behind.

So Kenzie has a field trip tomorrow with preschool. They are going to the library. The parents were given the choice of dropping their kids off at the normal start time, and they would coordinate rides over to the library, or the parents could just meet at the library with their child, stay for the tour, and then either leave for the day, or take their child back to the school for the last hour of class. I had been talking to Kenzie about field trips, and she said that she had never been on one. I reminded her about the Pumpkin Patch. She said that wasn't a real field trip because I drove her there, and she didn't go to the school at all. So when I was telling her about this Library field trip, she asks "are you coming?" I explained that I could, but that it was also possible for me to take her to school and she could ride over with one of the other parents, and I'd just pick her up at the normal end of day. She said "I don't want you to come." And then she thinks about it and I think she realizes that might not sound very nice, so she adds "is that ok? you could do laundry or something right? you don't want to come do you?" So I agree to let her just go by herself. Turns out I'm the only parent not going, and now Kenzie will ride to the library and back with her teachers. She thinks she is pretty cool.  I feel like the odd parent out, that doesn't care about her child, but she is happy.

(Taken at her preschool Christmas program)

For years I haven't gone on field trips with my kids because I always had younger kids at home. I was actually thinking that next year, I'd be able to go on the kindergarten field trips. Apparently if Kenzie has anything to say about it, I won't. It cracks me up because she is usually such a momma's girl - and is sad when I'm not home in the evenings or at bed time.

And last, I have been a total insomniac lately. I totally can't go to sleep, no matter how tired I am, until about 1 am. And then I totally drag the next day. About a week ago, it was about 10pm and I was cold, and wanted "something". I didn't really want hot chocolate, so I decided to try making a "steamer", only I just stuck a mug of milk in the microwave. I then added some caramel syrup and a dash of Cinnamon Plus
  (from pampered chef).
It was really yummy. And I went right to sleep that night. So the next night I tried it again. Again went right to sleep. That whole warm milk makes you sleep thing is actually true. Go figure. Since then, I have picked up some vanilla bean syrup from Cash and Carry, and Morgan and Kaylee have started having some too - so we put it in our cocoa machine like this one...

which makes it all foamy and delicious. Yum. Will have to try some other syrups like buttered pecan or toasted almond or hazelnut...