Donkey Basketball

Never heard of donkey basketball? It is a singular athletic exhibition available as a fundraiser at our local high school. The boosters get some local citizens (often employees of the school, bank, grocery store, and other recognizable faces) to ride donkeys while trying to get the ball through the hoop. Or, to get the ball through the hoop while trying to ride donkeys. The latter is probably more difficult.

I stayed home with a sick baby this year while Damon took the older kids, but we all went 2 years ago, so I've seen it before. It is hysterical.

Basically, there are 2 teams of 4 (I think) plyaers each. One player on each team stays in the center circle of the court without a donkey, and they can help move the ball along. The posturing that goes on just between those two players is comic enough without the farm animals.

The other three players have donkeys and can only shoot the ball while on the donkey. If you miss a pass, you are allowed to jump off, but you have to pull the halter and bring your donkey with you to retrieve the ball. It's not as easy as it sounds. Donkeys really do live up to their stubborn reputations, even on the basketball court. I remember a few fast breaks where no defense was needed; the offensive donkey just stopped short for no reason!

The whole enterprise is completely amusing. I hope they come again so I can watch another time.

The MVPs after the game

Before I Became a Blogger

Tonight I was cleaning up some files on the computer and came across something I wrote nearly six years ago, back before anyone (I knew, at least) had even heard the word Blog. It was typed quickly and soon after the events it describes as a way to record a snapshot of my life as a young mother. I don't know what I intended to do with it--maybe print it out later to put in my journal.

Now it seems so fitting for my "Hood," and is the same sort of snapshot you might see of me on any afternoon in 2011. I have it here exactly as I typed it at the time--no editing.

I could say that this is "a day in the life," but it was really just a few minutes of Monday, April 25, 2005.

I had just started the last load of laundry for the day (making about 7, I think) and stood up to begin peeling potatoes for dinner. Just then, from the counter behind me, Adah pulls down the bin of flour, which I inadvertently left there without putting on the lid tightly. I keep my cool and don't yell at Adah. I was the one who left it there. As I sweep it up, she tries to help, or to at least get her fingers in it to taste it. I get her to take off her pants, stop the washer, and throw them in with the last load.

I send Adah upstairs for new pants, and follow her to avoid a complete wardrobe change. Just as she steps into her pants, I look to the window sill and see a giant bee! I quickly run to the bathroom and grab a cup. (Just then I hear the dryer turn off, signaling it's time to change a load.) I trap the bee and deftly slide him out an open window. At that moment, I hear the kitchen timer going off, telling me the cake is done (or, so I think).

All of this happened while Maggie sat in her bouncer with a poopy diaper, and, ironically, at 4:50, just ten minutes before I'd have another set of hands to help deal with it all.

I thought it would be appropriate to include some pictures from April 2005.

Here Adah is doing dishes while I make a sandwich in the aforementioned kitchen. This was in our house on Mitchell Road on the Campus of Cranfield University in the UK. The washing machine is under the kitchen counter to the left of the sink (where most Americans might find their dishwasher). The stove (seen in the next photo) is immediately behind me.

See the stove (now to my right)? Does this give you an idea of how narrow the kitchen (and that stove) was? The counter in this photo is the one that had the flour on it in my little story.

And, for good measure, the previously named Maggie in the bouncer (though not poopy in this photo, thank you very much).

More Important Than Things

About two-and-a-half weeks ago an old high school friend of mine lost her 20-month-old son to what appears to be SIDS. All I know is that he died in his sleep.

I have watched this story since unfold on Facebook. On the very day it happened my friend posted it. While I don't think I'd be thinking much about Facebook at such a time or be really ready to share it with the world, I'm so glad that she is. Everyday she posts something about her grief and heartache, but it is always grounded in her faith and testimony of a loving Heavenly Father and of eternal families and the hope of the Resurrection. It really amazes and touches me.

Just yesterday she said that her daughter (age 8 or 6; she has 3 children the same ages and genders as my oldest 3) lost her coat for the third time this winter. As she was explaining to her daughter that they would not be buying her a fourth coat, she reminded herself that people are more important than things.

At the time I read it, I just thought, "Yes, that's a good thing to remember." I suppose I just looked on it as one of those oft-repeated adages that, while true, didn't really move me as some of her other heartbroken, yet hopeful observations.

Later in the day, though, I remembered it and really put it into practice in a way that made my home a happier place.

Last October I purchased some size 10 (kids) orange-and-black striped pajamas at the Salvation Army. I tucked them away in my costume box figuring they would make a great Halloween tiger costume for some 10-year-old eventually. Well, on Saturday 3-year-old Gunnar discovered them. They are way too big on him. I have to roll up the sleeves and pant cuffs, and we tie a shoelace around his waist to keep the pants from falling down. He's worn them almost non-stop since Saturday afternoon. (He will get dressed to leave the house, but he did sleep in them Sunday night.)

Gunnar loves orange. He loves tigers. So, of course he loves crawling around in these giant pajamas and growling. Yesterday afternoon I thought, "I've got to put a stop to this or he'll totally wear out the knees before anyone can really wear these."

Then I remembered my friend. "People are more important than things."

I decided to let Gunnar wear that "tiger costume." He loves it. It makes him happy. And who knows whether or not any of the kids will even care about tigers when they're ten.

This is a tiny thing really, but at least a little bit of peace and happiness in our home thanks to little BW and his amazing mother.

Gunnar Never Cuts the Cheese

I find Gunnar to be much more independent in the kitchen than his sisters were at age 3. I think it's because he sees the girls get their own snacks from the fridge and pantry and dishes from the cupboards. Sometimes it's great, but I've cleaned up enough spilled fish crackers and broken bowls to influence me otherwise.

The other day as I was finishing up my shower, Gunnar came running into the bathroom saying he wanted some cheese. I had visions of him standing in the kitchen in front of the open refrigerator door just waiting for me to come out and get the cheese for him. (We have a fridge-on-top-freezer-on-the-bottom unit, so all but the bottom shelf is out of his reach.) So, I quickly said, "Okay, Gunnar just a minute. Is the fridge open? Go close the fridge. Gunnar, make sure the fridge door is shut. Wait for me."

I quickly dried off and put on a robe to hurry out to the kitchen where I was sure I'd find cold air spilling out into the kitchen aglow with the light from the refrigerator. Not so.

Instead, Gunnar was standing there holding this:

No need to wait for Mom, he figured. He just climbed up in the fridge, pulled the Tillamook Baby Loaf out of the drawer, and took several big bites out of that hunk of cheese a la George Costanza. sigh . . . and laugh

One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, DEAD Fish

I'm not a pet person. My dad says, "The highest pinnacle of human civilization is to no longer share living space with animals." That has always sounded pretty good to me. And, as a mother of young children I have never been ready to bring another thing into the house that I'm in charge of keeping alive. I don't even do houseplants.

Well, Adah LOVES animals. Due to my cat and dog allergies we've been able to give her a consistent and defensible no-cat-or-dog answer to her pet requests. As I said, I've never wanted a pet at all. But, we finally decided to get our animal lover her first pet. Damon's parents gave us a large aquarium for Christmas, so we decided that a fish was the way to go. Because we were leaving town the day after Christmas, we also decided that we'd wait until the new year to get said fish. This also allowed Adah to choose her pet.

On January 5, Adah & Damon returned from the store with a betta fish that Adah named Joyle. She liked the name Joy and was happy about her new fish. However, as she put it, "Joy is a girl name, so Joyle makes it more like a boy." It was a male betta.

Joyle was a gorgeous fish who enjoyed the large tank. Adah chose to get a betta because she didn't like that they were confined in tiny containers at the store. She brought him home and immediately began researching bettas on the internet and trying to teach Joyle tricks. She even got a little plastic hoop in the hopes of teaching him to swim through it.

Well, about a week after arriving home, Joyle didn't look so good. He wasn't swimming around much and his fins were looking bedraggled. He didn't eat all day. Damon did some internet research and we thought that perhaps the water was too cold. Previous research led us to believe we wouldn't need a heater, but we purchased one and the next day Joyle seemed to perk up.

It was short-lived. On Friday, January 14 we found Joyle dead in the tank. It was very sad for all of us and Adah was especially upset. Joyle was laid to rest near the garden with a grave marker made from a popsicle stick and a canning lid.

More research insued which included water testing kits. The particular aquarium we had suggested a few fish and eventually Adah decided on a zebra danio. Damon surprised her by slipping a little guy into her tank on Saturday afternoon. Adah didn't discover him until bedtime. We were still uncertain about the water's chemical make-up and leary of whether or not this new little guy would survive.

Adah name him Nile (as in the Nile River). He lived all day Sunday. On Monday morning he was stuck in the filter. He managed to get out, but died by that evening. The demise of this second fish was taken a little better by the whole family. Understandably, though, it's made us quite hesitant to pursue the fish-owning life. For now, we've decided to at least switch aquariums, having learned that the particular one we had has a history of issues. (Don't buy a Biorb.) In generaly, I think our family's pet ownership future remains tenuous.

Dance & Twirl with the Birthday Girl

Maggie is six!

As per tradition, Maggie got to open up her family gifts before school. We broke with tradition, however, to let her open her first gift before getting dressed. . .

Look at that first photo again. This girl needed a new robe. My favorite part of giving this gift was that right after she opened it she got so excited and just lunged at me for a hug, exclaiming, "A new robe! Just what I wanted! Thank you!!!" I knew she wanted one but had been a little nervous she'd be disappointed at it not being a toy.

She made out alright. She got a LiteBrite (who knew they still made those?) from Nana & Gumpin and lots of Fancy Nancy books from both grandparents. Maggie is becoming a very proficient reader and Fancy Nancy fits her just right. We also gave her a set of cards that gives step-by-step directions for drawing "Fantasy Creatures," like fairies, unicorns, elves, and ogres. Maggie is quite a good artist; she wants to be an art teacher when she grows up.

Her other gift from us was a pair of ballet slippers with long ribbons, perfect for wearing to her ballet-themed birthday party that afternoon! Here she is, moments before guests began arriving, all decked out in her best ballet outfit:

Adah also donned the requisite leotard and tulle, and the not-so-requisite silly face:

All of Maggie's friends came in their own tu-tus (although there was one flapper. . . . ?). They played "Pin the Ballet Shoes on the Ballerina" (seen behind Maggie below), "Ballerina, Ballerina, How do you dance?" and "Ballerina Says." In the last two games they essentially got to choose silly ways of dancing and poses to strike and others had to follow. There was also plenty of Classical music playing for freestyle spins, twirls, arabesques, and grand jetes.

Here's the ballet slipper cake. I narrowly avoided my first foray into fondant-making by spotting Bubble Tape in the check-out aisle. It worked perfectly for ribbons.

The birthday girl loved it all!

She had such a great time that she crashed on the floor just before 7:00--wearing a new tutu that one of her friends gave her.

Happy Birthday, Mags. We love you!

Clowning Around

I neglected to mention one of my best Christmas presents from Damon. He got me BALLOONS! Lots of long, skinny balloons for making balloon animals. Or swords & flowers. That's what I'm best at.

This summer, my sister-in-law, Cotton Candy the Clown, taught me how to make a few different balloon sculptures. I hadn't done any of it since then, but I told Damon I wanted to do more, so he got me a variety bag of balloons, an air pump, and a how-to book. We've have had lots of fun since then. Adah's actually quite good at bending and twisting the balloons into recognizable creatures--probably as good as I am, if not better. Gunnar loves giraffes and swords. Maggie likes flowers.

Here's a flower I made. We orginally thought that the variety pack came without green(!), but last time we pulled them out we discovered that the "black" balloons were really black, purple, dark blue, & green. Now I can make flowers with green stems, which is so much more respectable. Respectability is important in balloon art.

And now, word of my novice skill has gotten out. I've been suckered into my first ballooning gig at the library in April. Adah is going to help me out and I've requested that they look for at least one more amateur to keep up with the crowd. I better start twisting!