Playoffs

Corey's team- the Nuggets -  are undefeated going in to the last game of the playoff!  Woo-hoo!  She's had a real good coach, he's taught her a lot, and at the end of the season is still enthusiastic about playing.

Kim had the reverse experience - poor coaching, inexperienced team.  They were eliminated in the first round of playoffs and she's taking a basketball break and concentrating on the school play for the next month. Summer league basketball begins in May.

Time Flys

Wow- it seems like school just started and now it's time to start planning summer camps!  The spring youth basketball season has ended- playoffs begin on Saturday.  Corey's team finished undefeated and we hope they'll continue that way through the playoffs.  Her strength has proven to be as a defensive player- she's small but tough and excels at stealing the ball.  Kim's team had only 3 experienced players and mediocre coaches and they ended the season with a 1-9 record.  They will probably be out after the first playoff game.  Oh well- you win some, you lose some! 

On the other hand report cards came out - Kim is the only one who gets 'real' grades, and she made all A's except in math and science.  In those subjects she got A+!  We weren't able to come up with the extra $2,000 for the middle school trip to Washington D.C.- a real disapointment as I remember what an impact my school trip made at that time (it was to Paris).  Money is just too tight right now.  On the other hand we are planning a family trip to Disneyland as soon as school is out!  That trip will be free (the entry fee for DL anyway) as we will have earned the tickets through the Disney promotion - Give a Day, Get a Disney Day! 

Kim is also in the school play again this year- one reason we are ready for Bball to end is the conflicting practice schedules.  Corey continues in the school choir.  Alia is catching on to reading and Eli is finally, at age 7, out of size 3T pants.  He's too tall for 3's but still awfully skinny for anything bigger.  We are looking forward to shorts season!

Someone Has A Birthday Soon

My darling, delightful, dramatic, difficult daughter- Alia- will be 7 on February 1st.

Catching Up

We had a nice Christmas- thank you to all who participated in making it so- and the kids were happy to go back to school after the break. Ventura Youth Basketball Association has started its season and both Kim and Corey are playing. Corey lucked out and got a great coach and a good team. They have won every game by a large margin. A nice introduction to the sport. Kim unfortunately got neither a good coach or team and is valiently trying to take her old coach's advice to heart - when you are on a less experienced team you get to be the star. Doesn't help much when they lose every game by 30 points! We are sticking with it but it isn’t fun to either play in or watch the games. Hopefully the summer league will be more rewarding.
After a fairly warm and benign winter we have finally begun getting some storms- nothing too dramatic as long as you are inside and don’t have to drive in them! The rain will be good for the water supply- a big issue here- but each winter I’m reminded how little California drivers know about driving in the rain!
Kim’s middle school class is planning a trip to Washington DC over spring break (April!) so we are busy fundraising for that. I wish I could go along but have no one to watch the rest of the family and suspect she will enjoy the time with her friends so I’ll just have to stay here and worry. She is doing well in school and her current career goal is to be an architect.

Back Online!

My laptop died around Thanksgiving - thereby depriving me of all my holiday Ebay earnings!- and it's taken some time to resolve issues and get back online. Here's a brief update on things you missed over the past 3+ weeks.
Kim and Corey had successful performances in the Slippers and Mask dance recitals and the Holiday Choir (Corey) and we are now free of rehearsals! I opted out of the expensive photos and DVDs of the performances so I don't have any pictures to post- sorry. Frankly I didn't really get the dance recital anyway and am glad that BASKETBALL is starting again. That's more my speed. Kim is on the Ventura Youth Basketball Association team the Magic and Corey is on the Nuggets. Practice has begun and the first game is January 9th. The season is January-March.
In April Kim is off to D.C. (assuming we can raise the $) with her middle school group and in May it's back to basketball with the Wildcats clinic.
Parent teacher conferences were held over the past few weeks and Kim (top 5 of her class) and Corey are both doing well. Alia and Eli continue to struggle a bit and really need more academic support.

The kids are looking forward to Christmas (and I am enjoying NOT having a white Christmas).

More Teeth Falling Than Leaves Around Here

Last week while heading down to Santa Monica to visit my brother, both Alia and Kim (after a certain amount of competitive wiggling) lost a tooth. Yesterday both Alia and Corey lost a tooth. Since Alia had lost a tooth about 3 weeks ago as well we have as may lost teeth as falling leaves around here!
Alia was having fun singing "All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth" - after confiding to me that she really wants a nintendo ds. Eli is conflicted about whether to feel left out as the only person who hasn't lost a tooth, or to be happy about it after seeing the bloody teeth his sisters bagged for the tooth fairy.

Family Visit

Yesterday, Halloween, we went down to Santa Monica and met up with my brother and his girlfriend who is attending law school at UCLA and explored the Pier. It's a fun place- just celebrating a life of 100 years- and a mix of the old (carousel) and the new, the pure entertainment (arcade and rides) and the educational (aquarium). The kids enjoyed having two fun adults who were happy to indulge them in games of air hockey and other games. Couldn't afford the rides (and no adult really wanted to get on a roller coaster anyway) so maybe we'll return some day and try out a few more things. The kids liked the arcade (Kim played basketball games and guitar hero, Eli sat on all the car and motorcycle games even though his feet couldn't reach any pedals, Corey challenged uncle Mike to games and Alia watched everyone else) and we all enjoyed the aquarium and each other's company. Here's thew view from the Pier- it was a beautiful sunny day. Those tents are the Cirque de Soleil tents.