Basketball Boys

Love Shane's role in the 7th grade team - he is the shooter and often the 3 point shooter - this photo captures in on the foul line.  He is a supporter in everyway and I love when he gets excited about his baskets!

This guy is a scrapper and the point guard.  He is in your face and giving every ounce of effort.  This was a TOUGH game that they WON.  At one point he fell on his face and his opponent stepped on his face.  He was face down on the court crying.  I was being help back from rushing out to him.  Is coach (Paul Hiscox who we adore) went out to get him.  He literally grabbed him by the arm and pulled him up.  He is a tough kid, but geesh!  I loved that his wife sitting behind me shouted, that wasn't very loving Paul!  She's got my back (and Drew's too)

With out a second thought, drew went to school on Monday.  He ended up in the nurses office with a headache saying that the lights were bright etc...  Hmmmm.  Concussion maybe?  I felt horrible and let him sleep in on Tuesday.  A little therapy day for my tough dude.

So here are the teams - 5th graders!

7th Graders!

Is there a better memory than this one?  after a tough basketball game that Nick got to see, these are my 2 boys!  I could hardly get my phone out fast enough in an effort to capture this memory that I want to treasure forever!

From the courts to the Slopes - Presidents day weekend with my sis and the Bishops!

Straight from a basketball game to the car to the slopes!  We tried to squeeze in some ski weekends where possible.  This is Presidents day weekend and we are headed to Killington with my sister's family and the Bishops!

A rare capture of just our family of 5!

Check out this carnage.  A great day of skiing with this crew.  Jon spent some time re-aquanitning Kim with skiing.  She hadn't been since 8th grade.  What a good sport (both of them!)

Night time for good music, chatting, some games and maybe a little dog love.

Checking out this lounging motley crew.  Perfect snuggle spots if you ask me.  I loved the dynamics and how the kiddos had fun together.

Everyone ready to do it again!?!  Beautiful snow day for groomers.  We loved it and had some cocktails at the end of the day with some Leadbetter sandwhiches.  

Great weekend all together!

 

Speaking of wrestling - what a season for this guy!

Never wrestled anyone other than his brothers - played basketball with tons of heart, but realized it wasn't going to be his sport, successfully swam for hours achieving great times, however CHS doesn't have a swim team - so he our 'school supporter' re-invented himself again.  Here he is placing 2nd at the NCCC conference championship.  The girl that placed 1st is a senior headed to college with a wrestling scholarship!

 

The next photo is Nick accepting the metal for a MUCH larger weigh class that a senior (Mark Freedenburg) earned (the same senior that tipped us off to joining the team!)  Apparently it a senior spoof for a new freshman.  Nick hopes to continue this tradition in 3 years.

Nice to see this group of boys back together for Tate's birthday.  They are all in different directions doing wrestling, track, basketball and hockey.

Here is Nick headed to school PACKED for Killingly - which was his STATE tournament.  This includes a cooler packed with food, an overnight bag or stuff - and his school bag in case he can get some studies done too.

Dad went on Saturday and I went on Sunday.  It was great seeing Nick put out all his efforts on the mat.

This match went into triple overtime and Nick came out victorious and EXHAUSTED.  So much so that he next match wasn't as victorious.  But the season was a SUCCESS for him! 

group photo at the NCCC conference championship taken in Killingly.  Love the coaches and their kiddos making the photo.  Nick frequently wrestled Maela' who is a sophomore.  I loved cheering for the females!!

Another move festive photo of this die hard crew!

only group photo at the killingly class s state champion chip (according to Nick)

 

Ice day and concert time!

We all love how Wendy loves to wake us up and cuddle in the morning.  The sweetest little snuggle.  Her ears and tail wake us up every time.  But her desire to get under the covers and curl up with you - has you going back to sleep in no time!

Kinda a bummer in the snow day department - but its a win if you like basement video gaming with your neighbor buddies.

Love seeing these 2 pooches basking in the sun together.  They are sun worshipers for sure!

Shane escaped for the night to celebrate James's birthday at a cool hotel with an arcade, movie room and pool

Meanwhile we attended a pretty impressive band concert.  The program was put on but the senior class.  It was called Prism's,  Went through music of the Decades.  The hallways were decorated with iconic labels of each decade - Music ranged from Led Zeppelin to Backstreet boys.  They were surely appealing to their audience =)!

While at the concert my folks were in Florida hanging out with the Kluba's getting nostalgic.  We were posting photos of what we were doing at that moment.  So here we are!

Meanwhile at tub nearby......

Monday morning I had a great meeting with my boss - as a celebration we took the family out for dinner!!  As we pulled into Georges, my thought was, I hope the May's are here - And guess who's car was in the parking lot?  Guess who we got to enjoy dinner with?  Blessed!

This is a favorite scene in the family room - boys wrestling with dogs.  

 

Neighborhood snow fall and activities

Nothing beats a huge snowfall and seeing Mr. Canny roll up in his 4X4 to save us the snow plow time.

I few days later I convinced this crew to join me cross country skiing.  4 sets later we are all out there!

Seriously - my kids and James are just the best.  Love that they did this with me.

Look at Drew out there.  He really is good at it! Surprise surprise.  Drew and Shane even raced.  Shane was steady and drew had a killer sprint at the end...  At least we got some good energy out.

Kiddos went over and helped to shovel off the neighborhood skating rink too  Thankful for more time on the ice!

 

Pricilla's Birthday party!

Pricilla ordered up a whopper of a snow storm for her birthday!  She originally had her favorite band scheduled to play and the little red barn.  We had party outfits and all.  Sadly the band cancelled - she rebooked a DJ and we danced, and sang all night!  The DJ didn't want to go home either.

 

Dog BFFs

Could this doggy friendship be any cuter?  We offered to grab Latte for a playdate.

Latte HATES the car, but with Wendy, maybe its not so bad?  But sitting with Wendy in the car is even more helpful right??

They played hard - than they took a nap together in the sun.

Latte woke up first and is now starring down Wendy in hopes that she wakes up soon too =)!