{The Blogs I Never Posted} That Time When Jeff Was A Coach

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We were half way through the basketball season and our record was 0 and 4.

We’d made 8 points total - unless you excluded those 2 that were taken away because of a foul, and those other 2 that were scored by the opposing team.

So yea, it was going well.

Actually, considering all things, it really was a good season.

Our team was the last team put together and most had never dribbled a ball all the way up the court, much less played an entire game.

We were playing teams that had played together for years. They were running plays and stealing balls while our team was learning the difference between basketball and tackle football and other small details...like which goal to throw the ball into.

We were pleasantly surprised with how well Hayden had kept his head in the game vs. his baseball days.

He was fast and seemed to think it was more of a track meet than a basketball game. If he would have ever figured out how to take a ball down the court with him, he would have been in pretty good shape since he was the first one down the court 9 times out of 10.

Hayden played very close attention to the game when he was on the court. If someone shot the ball, he wouldn’t take his eyes off the ball.

(Not for rebound purposes, but so that he would know when he should start sprinting to the other end of the court.)

Also, if one of his team members happened to catch it, he knew to mimic what the rest of his team is doing…which was to chirp “Pass! Pass! Pass!” like a bunch of baby birdies.

That was about the extent of our “plays” in 7U Basketball.

If you happened to catch the ball (read: get hit in the head with it), you had three options:

1) Shoot it! (regardless of your proximity to the goal)

2) Pass it to one of your chirping teammates! (or a teammate on the opposite team if they seem nice enough)

3) Take a knee and down the ball! (this usually ends in a wrestling match)

***Update: Hayden's basketball career was short lived. It was just one season when he was 7, much to Jeff's dismay...but watch out Johnny Football - he's moved on to bigger and better things!

{The Blogs I Never Posted} The Angler Fish

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The Angler Fish

When Hayden was in 1st ... 2nd ... Some Previous Grade, they did a science unit on oceanography. 

They had to pick an ocean animal of their choosing, study it, 

and for Bonus Points! they could create a 3D version of it. 

Hayden chose the angler fish because I think he liked the teeth and the lightbulb. 

(Clearly this is an old draft - created when the Lyle Family still cared about Bonus Points!)

So one weekend Jeff and Hayden tackled the project 

of creating a paper mache angler fish.

(I have no idea how Jeff drew the short straw.) 

(But in my defense, he is the one that took Art in high school).

 I also have no idea where Hayden went during the process but 

every picture I have was of Matt and Jeff with messy hands covering this balloon.

Kind of like the pottery scene from Ghost, but different.

Anyway, I think we can all agree that Matt and Jeff did a fine job and could ACE elementary school!

 

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Bonus Points! for anyone who can guess what animal Davis will pick when he studies the ocean unit?

And Blake. 

And Nathan. 

{The Blogs I Never Posted} Dog Food

So, there's something that's been bothering me for a while now. 

It's my "Draft" Section on my blog. 

Somehow I have 60 "draft" blogs that I started at some point in the last 8 years - but I guess got sidetracked in the middle of- how does that happen?- and never hit post. 

(Holy Moly! I've been blogging for 8 years!)

Most of them are just titles, although some of them have been started - and some even have a picture included. As I scan through the titles on these drafts, some of them very well could be Blogging Gold - if I could only remember the story behind them. 

Anyway, I figure I have two options to solve this problem: 

I could go through and delete all of them; 

 or I could go through and attempt to finish and post them. 

There must be a good story behind each of these titles if I took the time to type it out "so I wouldn't forget" and so, to just delete these memories feels so wrong... since they clearly no longer reside in my head. 

So, every Friday, I am going to attempt to finish one of my drafts. 

Hopefully, I will remember some of the stories - or at the very least, maybe it will prompt me to tell a new, more recent story....so without further adieu: 

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Dog Food

This is Blake eating dog food. 

Or maybe it's Nathan. 

I'm not 100% sure. 

I am pretty sure it is Blake, but it's hard to say 

because the dog food eating phase was relatively short for Blake. 

Nathan, on the other hand, PREFERS dog food.

LOVES it! 

He often feeds Angel his pancakes and eggs in the morning 

and then heads to the bathroom to grab a handful of Pedigree (small breed) Dog Food. 

He's a smart boy though.

He knows eating dog food is frowned upon, 

(warranting a spanking even)

so when he gets caught in the act, he pretends like he was just giving a handful to Angel. 

And of course, Angel goes along with this charade to stay in his good graces.