just poppin in

....to say "hello!"  We're deep in the throes of play offs...two teams down, one team to go!  Our Varsity Girls are headed to the state Semi finals...so exciting!  We wrapped up Middle School basketball last week and this weekend we finished off with Jammer's 10U team.  They both finished well....not quite what everyone wanted, but that doesn't take away from amazing seasons.

Jammer shooting free throws in round two of the playoffs.

I decided I'm done hoping for snow.  I packed away all my taunting snowmen.  They just sat there, reminding me of the fact that we haven't had any measurable snow since December.  Boo.  I've moved on.  I'm ready for daffodils and crocuses.

my old sled...on the front step....with no snow.  

My wonderful family threw me a surprise party over the weekend.  I knew about it.  (I know it's shameful)    Last week on the way to church, John asked me to send an email for him to his team.  When he handed me his iPad to send the email, and I opened up the app and there was a blank email right on top that read "Re: Lisa's Surprise Party".  Stink!  I didn't want to know that.  There is nothing harder than trying to figure out when you're going to be surprised and then how you're going to act surprised when it happens. ...but it was still an awesome party with all of my favorite people (minus a few that couldn't make it :)).  I really had a wonderful time catching up with everyone and enjoying my awesome friends and family.   My dad even made it.  He decided to skip the post game show and high tail it back to Maryland for the party.  He does the color commentary for the WVU men's basketball team and they had a game on Saturday.  He missed just for me.

flowers at the party from my mother in law....I only got pictures after the party of the decorations

Reflecting on the party, I thought I was a pretty laid back wife...you know, compliant, easy going, flexible.  But this surprise party made me realize that I'm not quite as flexible as I might like to believe.  After Jammer's morning basketball game, we came back to the house and my husband suggested that he and I go out and do some shopping.  Hello!  West Virginia was playing at 2 o'clock.  I did not want to go shopping.  I wanted to stay home and watch the game.  The girls suggested that I DVR the game.  Hello!  Who DVR's sporting events?  Not me.  Just as I was about to be stubborn, it dawned on me that it was all about getting me out of the house.  So I said "Sure!"  And off we went.  We had a great time - just the two of us.  We actually listened to the broadcast of the game as we traveled to the outlets.  It all was great (well not the game...they lost).  But I knew that if it hadn't been for my suspicion about the party, I would have been less likely to agree to this interruption in my agenda.  Ouch!  So, I'm working on it....you know, being who I thought I was!  Trying to not hold onto my agenda...to allow myself to be open to change.

party favors from my mom for everyone at the party

It's been a good week....lots of basketball, plenty of love and surprises and a bit of stretching and learning on my part!  Hope your days are filled with all that makes you smile and that along the way, you grow, learn and keep on enjoying the blessings around you!

Insta Friday

I'm linking up with Jeannett at Life Rearranged for Insta Friday.  Here's my last week in instagram/cellphone photos....no editing, just real life!

 My mom always takes the birthday grandchild out for lunch and shopping for their birthday.  Kenzie just turned 16 and she wanted to go to a mall down the road, so since my mom hadn't ever been there before, I got to drive!  Maggie came along and we all had a great time.  Kenzie found lots of great things...and I finally found a pair of black flats that I like!  I've been looking for quite a while!

 The middle school boys had a game the other night.  Jammer was taking a water break in between quarters.  It was a game where everyone got lots of minutes.  One of the boys looked over at Jammer and said, "This is so much fun!"  Gotta love that!

This is Sunny.  He showed up in our yard the other day...just wandering around looking so cold and hungry.  We brought him in, fed him and warmed him up.  He had a tag with a phone number on him so we called and he was returned to his owner.  We were sad to see him go, he was a sweet boy.  Molly wasn't so sure about the whole thing,  she kept sniffing and sniffing long after he was gone.  

 Jammer has been under the weather all week with a cold.  But even when he's sick he still finds some inner energy to create.  He made this fires of Modore (from Lord of the Rings) one day.  He rigged up some little lights to give it cool detail.  When he called me down to see it, the room lights were out and he had Lord of the Rings music playing!  He's pretty amazing.  

Molly kept looking for Sunny all week.  I also think she was trying to enjoy a bit of sunshine...the sun finally came out the other day!  I've bee missing it.  I want a big snow storm, but then I see the sun and I think I might be ready for spring!

 John gave me a bouquet of roses for Valentines day.  We had a game that night (so romantic) and I was keeping the score book.  Right before tip off, he walked over and presented me with the flowers and a kiss.  The middle school boys were all clapping and one of them said, "yeah!  That's the way a real man does it!" My son, told me later he was so embarrassed that daddy had kissed me in front of everyone!  Nothing like middle school boys for a good chuckle!

 My mom gave me this for Valentines day...she knows me so well!  It's my favorite coffee of all!

And finally, tulips from my wonderful mother in law...love them too!  Hope your week was full of unexpected blessings and moments to give thanks!  It's really all the little things that make a life so full!

on the other side of last week

Last week was jam packed.  If we weren't busy with a basketball game, we were hosting a party.  Out of the five games that we had, we had 4 wins and 1 loss.  Not bad for a week of basketball! Maggie hit her very first three point shot in a game last week....that was fun!  You can't really do an excessive amount of celebrating when it happens (unless you want to sit the bench) so we got this instagram shot in the car on the way home.

 In the middle of the week, Maggie invited the senior basketball players over for pizza and fun.  They worked on the banners that they'll run through on Senior night and they did some crazy skits that my John will incorporate into the end of the season video that he does for all 4 basketball teams.

  There was a lot of laughter! Some of the clips had to be done over several times.  But they were all good sports and made a lot of memories.  It poured all night and one of the girls who lives farther away, spent the night.  Nothing like getting rained in!

(instagram photo)

On Thursday, Mckenzie turned 16!!  I always call her Kenzie Love and so her birthday chalkboard had to reflect that as well.  We had classes on Thursday, but we celebrated with birthday pancakes and she got to open her gift before everyone headed out the door. 

 She'd been wanting these headphones for awhile...I think we were successful in surprising her!  They of course had to be pink so she was beyond excited about them.

On Saturday we had her sweet 16 party.  We had a photo scavenger hunt.  27 kids and 5 adults met in the parking lot of the local grocery store.  I think the manager of the store was a bit concerned about the number of kids who showed up.  (my mother in law has a picture of the group on her camera...I just can't figure out how to get it off)

 They were divided up into teams and off they went with their drivers to collect points by finding and documenting different tasks.  At the cut off time, everyone met back at the house and got to see everyone's photos on our TV screen.  It was so fun!  They got pictures with firemen on fire trucks, pictures doing a good deed for strangers, waddling across the street like a line of ducklings and tons of other crazy things.

(these girls won!  They joked that they were the under-dog team.  They were the only team without guys and they had a grandma driving them...) 

The winners ended up with the most points accumulated.  After that, the kids danced and ate and giggled their way through the evening.  We set up a candy bar and for their party favors, the kids got to fill a Chinese take out box full of candy to take home.

I made this bunting for Kenzie's party.  She wanted some zebra stripes, but since I didn't have any we went with all pinks and decided we'd leave it up for Valentine's day.  After that, she can put it in her room which is pink, pink and more pink.  It will go perfectly.

I also realized that I love how paper whites look, but I can't stand their smell.  My neighbor gave me the bulbs about a month ago and I've loved watching the progress of the plants as they were forced to life.

 But about a week ago I kept getting a whiff of something odd....I couldn't figure out what it was. As more and more blooms opened I finally realized it was the paper whites.  boo!  I guess everything can't be beautiful and smell good too...

Well, that's last week in a blur.  I hope you're enjoy the other side of last week as much as I am!  Welcome February!  Good bye paper whites!