Our little Ball-er

This was McKinley's first year playing basketball, and she had SO MUCH FUN!  At her age, they concentrate on teaching the kids the concepts and rules in basketball as a team for 30 minutes, and then they get to play another team for the last 30 minutes (without keeping score!)  I thought it was great that it kept it from getting too competitive, and they lowered the net a bit to make it easier to actually score points, which was nice.  Of course, it was a tad odd to see some of the girls forget to dribble the ball when they were running up the court carrying the basketball (odd=slightly painful), but they learned a lot and we learned to be very easygoing about letting the kids learn at their own pace.   

So McKinley enjoyed every moment of every game, and we are so glad that she found a talent that she comes by honestly, since she probably isn't going to be the fastest runner, the most coordinated dancer, or the best singer (thanks in large part to her mother).  But Baskteball?  She get's that from both Milt and I, so we think that just might be her golden ticket if she works hard at it.  Let's just hope she keeps getting taller!

Here are some pictures taken from a few of McKinleys games.  This first collage is pics taken during the game where McKinley's team just happened to play the team of one of her good friends from school.  And lucky enough, they even got to GUARD each other, which resulted in both of them hugging DURING the game -- they were just so excited they got to "stand" by each other.  Those killer competitive instincts were definitely not kicking in!  I happened to catch a couple pics of them smiling at each other and comparing their cute shoes instead of playing (I never caught a picture of them hugging out there, probably because I was yelling something at the time like "McKinley...no hugging!  You're supossed to be playing baskteball right now!)  I'm sure she'll grow out of it, right?  Because if she hugs her opponents when she gets older, she's going to foul out of every game, and she'll never get a basketball scholarship for college.

This picture below is of McKinley playing point, and I love it because it totally looks like she is getting ready to shoot a three.  (She obviously didn't, but she DID probably double dribble after picking up the ball, cause they did a lot of  that in these games.)

And as for how Maddox and Kennedy handled coming to cheer their big sister on?  Well Maddox would scream because he wanted to play, and these pictures show what Kennedy did DURING the game (she was obviously very into watching it).  Yes, she seriously was sprawled out trying to take a nap on the sidelines RIGHT next to where the girls were playing because she was so bored watching.  It was pretty funny.

But the little kids DID like playing with Daddy in the other gym! (and Milt felt very tall with the hoops down lower).

And what was McKinley's favorite part?  The TROPHY that she got.  We kept telling her that there wouldn't be a trophy since there was no keeping score, but little did we know they actually had trophies for ALL the girls in the league.  BRILLIANT!  Here is McKinley with her friend Hannah at the awards day.

Here is the whole team, The Tigers (thank you orange t-shirts), with their very patient coach.  It was a great year, and just long enough!

Lessons on "Saving" a Lollipop for Later...

A couple of months ago, I found Kennedy's hiding place of where she had been stashing her contraband lollipop in between licking it occasionally (you know, whenever she needed a little sugar rush).  She had been hiding it behind the toilet for safe-keeping. (Yes, I know that is so disgusting that it is painful to even contemplate, but it is so true).  I explained it was dirty back there, but since she couldn't see the dirt on the lollipop, she probably thought I was making it all up just to keep her from having her little treat.

But yesterday she once again tried to hide a lollipop on the ground so she could save it for later (at least this time it was the kitchen floor), and this time there were actual dirt particles and fuzzies that had gotten attached, so she finally understood that floors have dirt that sticks to lollipops and make them yucky.  I was pretty proud of myself for finally getting through to her.  Until this morning, when I found THIS on the floor underneath one of our chairs, "hiding" from us parents: 

Apparently Kennedy took what I said to heart, so she found herself a little lollipop "holder" to keep her lollipop from being on the floor.  I started to ask her about it, but then stopped and decided to grab the video camera first so that I could record whatever explaination she was going to try and come up with.  Someday, I want her to be able to wach this video and be as gross-ed out as the rest of us about how completely wrong it is.

Party of FIVE (Children)

A couple of weekends ago, we got to have Maddox's best friend Drake and his little brother Bubba over for a little overnight party, and Milt and I were so excited to be the pretend parents of 5 kids for part of a weekend, since we probably never will in real life. In fact, because we felt like we needed the whole "experience," we went up to the nearby outdoor outlet mall with all 5 kids for a little outing, and it was pretty eye-opening! We couldn't believe how many comments we got on how many kids we had...it would totally get on my nerves if people had to comment every time I went out with my own children!

But we had a delightful time, mainly because these two little guys are practically like family, probably because Drake already calls us Mama and Dada, and Bubba eats just like Maddox. We just found out that their parents are stealing them away from us and moving to a land far far away in Utah, so we're all very sad around here! As Milt says, "We should never make friends, because they always just move away." Sad, but true at times! We're still in denial that they are actually moving, so that helps some.

But we did learn some important lessons from our time with 5 kids, and we are kindly going to pass them on to you all (no need for thanks).

Lesson #1: The rule we normally follow on only watching movies in the van is that we can only watch a show on trips of 1 hour or more. This is NOT a good rule with more than 3 children. So, we've added an addendum: With 4+ children, watching movies in the car is totally acceptable for any car ride longer than 10 minutes.

Lesson #2: When eating at a food court, try to sit as close to the food places as possible, so that you're closer to the napkin dispensers. And also the ketchup dispensers for Kennedy.

Lesson #3: Having 5 children is much easier when the littlest one is always happy, so aim for that if possible. Bubba was so happy the whole time he was with us (as long as we were feeding him).

Lesson #4: When one child gets hungry and asks for a snack, prepare at least TWO, because you'll end up needing another one.

Lesson #5: Having two boys the same age (who everyone assumed were twins) makes things much easier, because they can both be obsessed with cars and trucks together. They then can spend HOURS at a time standing and watching out the windows and then yell and laugh any time a car drives by.

Lesson # 6: Little boys like to color pictures for each other just as much as little girls do, so supply lots of paper to keep them busy.

Lesson #7: To avoid sibling rivalry, try to borrow children that aren't yours for awhile, so they can be a "novelty" for your own children to play with. Then when you give the borrowed children back, your kids are used to being nice to the little kids that they are living with. [If you look closely, the little boy in this picture is NOT Maddox...the girls just love Drake to pieces!]

Lesson #8: We should probably get a lock on our fridge because I kept finding Maddox and Bubba helping themselves to whatever they wanted, within reach (and Bubba REALLY likes that Maddox is tall enough to open the fridge all by himself)!

Thanks for coming and staying Bubba and Drake...and feel free to run away from home and live with us when your parents try to make you move! We'll take you in!

We forgot to put this great video of Milt with Bubba on here at first, but it is pretty fun! It's been awhile since Milt's had a baby around to try this with, and hopefully it won't freak out the Hannas!

Our own little Walt Disney

McKinley got to participate in her first ever Wax Museum experience this week, and she enjoyed it immensely. In fact, some of the other parents commented that she has a future in public speaking because she was so good. And just seeing her in a suit (borrowed from some nice friends at church -- thank you!) was so odd because it made it too easy to imagine her conducting meetings in boardrooms with her authoritative manner! But she really did a fabulous job, and I was very proud of her for being the only one who had memorized their whole speech and spoke so loud and clear!

Here's the video of her performing it at home for Milt and everyone who didn't get to come and see it at the school during the day. And this is pretty close to exactly what she did at school, (no joke, she really was this dramatic!) This girl has not a bit of stage fright! I had a lot of other parent smiles directed my way as they watched her! 

And while you watch this and see her mannerisms, I promise those are ALL McKinley...I had nothing to do with coaching her for this! I was as surprised as everyone else when I saw her give her speech at school...what a hoot!

We should also add an extra thank you to our 'Disney-Fanatic' friends the Taylors, from whom we have learned so much about Walt from visiting Disney World with (& taking the time to let us read every single part of the Walt Disney exhibit at Hollywood Studios!) This one's especially for you guys!

Happy Birthday Papa Kirby!

We got to have my dad (aka Papa Kirby) here to celebrate his birthday this year, and we had so much fun! We had yummy Texas Sheetcake and lots of good things to eat, plus he got a haircut from his favorite daughter for a present. We should have taken before and after haircut pictures, because he looks great! Of course, it looked good long too, but if we had let his hair grow for a few more months he would have been close to his New Zealand- hair days from the 70s!

In honor of his special day, here is one of his favorite "classic Kirby" comics, from his favorite, Dilbert. Now you can see it any time you want, Dad!

If you don't 'get it', he has been known to be a COBOL programmer in his life from time to time. Hope you had a good birthday Papa Kirby! We love you LOTS AND LOTS! And Happy [almost] Retirement! It's just around the corner...YEA!