Hoop Dreams

8th grade basketball has come to an end, and what a season it was. We had lots of ups and downs this year, starting with Fuller not making the A team. This initially seemed like a bad thing, but as the season wore on we all realized (especially Fuller) that this was in fact a really good thing. On the B team Fuller got so much more playing time and experience. He also got to be with a group of kids that he likes a lot better, and got to be a co team captain.

Their season got off to a very rocky start when their first game was canceled due to a mud slide and then they lost the first game they played 32-4. Their next game wasn't much better, and I feared for the worst. Fuller was discouraged, and frustrated with his team.

But as the season wore on they improved, and learned to work together. Then they actually won a few games. It seemed that they were hitting their stride. Fuller had several games where his point totals were in the double digits and he was his team's high scorer. Enjoyment for the game returned.

Then Mother Nature intervened. Their last 2 games of the season, which they had a good chance of winning, were canceled due to snow and the season just fizzled out.

For many of the boys on this team this will be their last year playing. The "no cut" policy at the middle school definitely doesn't carry over into high school, and two teams worth of boys will be trying out for one team. It will be interesting to see how Fuller fares with that level of competition.

We were really proud of him. He worked hard and did his best, and it was a joy to watch him play!

Cake Decorating

This week was Grayson's third,and final, cub scout "blue and gold" dinner and annual cake decorating contest. This years theme was "Space Odyssey". I gathered a few decorating supplies and baked the cake, but the decorating was all him. He had a great time doing it.

Since Fuller also participated in this tradition for his 3 years of cub scouting, this was our 6th consecutive year of attending the dinner and making a cake. Afterward, Rowan reminded me that he will be old enough to join scouts soon, and next year it will be his turn to make a cake.

Three more years.

How did we get here?

Last night I couldn't sleep.

Yesterday Fuller got in the car after school and with just one sentence managed to ruin my day and break my heart. "Did you know that in like 4 years I'll be getting ready to graduate and move out?" he said with a big smile.

Let me just say:
I AM NOT READY FOR THIS!

I know I should have seen it coming. He's been on that darn slippery slope to growing up for a long time now. First he became a teenager. Then he started having to shave (well at least monthly). And just recently he grew taller than me. But denial is a powerful force.

With the school year now half way over they have started talking to the 8th graders about high school. And planning out the courses they'll need to graduate, and get into college,(and move away). Yesterday Fuller brought home his high school curriculum guide and a sample forecasting sheet to help us plan out his future. It all seems so much more complex than when I was in high school. There are so many more options and things to think about. If you know at 14 what you want to be when you grow up you can now get a good jump start in high school. But if you don't know, will you be behind because you tried out a lot of different classes trying to figure it out? Will the fact that you took "International Cuisine" and "Ceramics" instead of "Business Principles" and "Marketing" as a high school freshman one day come back to haunt you?

Aren't they still supposed to be having fun, and not worrying about their 10 year plan just yet?


I want to go back to this stage:

I liked this stage a lot.

For My Sweetie

Happy Valentine's Day!

Love you!


(Embroidery idea found HERE.)

He's just such a great kid!

Today Fuller received two awards, one for making the honor roll and one for citizenship. It makes this mama proud! He's going to be 14 in a few weeks, and it seems like we hardly see him sometimes. Between school, sports, scouts and friends he is one busy guy. It's nice to hear he's doing ok out there in the world.