Cat singing at Roller Skating

Roller Skating

 

      It was roller skating day and off we went.  Kiara and Grace were there with their family and invited us there with them.  I don't know what I was thinking but I laced up the old skates and took my life in my own hands, not to mention the lives of everyone around me.  I didn't fall.   Laura, never one to miss a good time, accompanied Catherine and had a blast... Jackie had never skated before and he was touch and go most of the time.  After falling for about the tenth time he yelled at me that it was all my fault because I made him go there with me.....but of course, everything is better with Jackie being there so he figured it out and ended up playing the arcade games.  Catherine astonishes me sometimes.  She did a karaoke song all by herself....it was awesome.....sometimes she is so shy and timid but other times she is fearless. She was so fun to watch during the anticipation of her name being called.  She was looking forward to singing so much, you could see it all over her.  That smile, oh goodness.... who would imagine that she would wait so patiently so she could get up in front of about forty people and sing a solo....so cute.

 

 

 

Gymnastic State Championship

     She wasn't too pleased with her score on the floor routine, but I thought she did just wonderful.  About ten days before the State championships she had a slip on the bars and it resulted in a concussion.  She was kind of sluggish for a little bit but she recovered enough to make a good run of it.  She didn't want to miss the State Championships after all.  She really has a lot of fun and she loves it.  Of course I personally think she's the greatest gymnast ever, but some say i'm biased

     I was worried about the beam the most because of the concussion and her balance.  She did very good, did a turn around with no problems at all....

     She becomes a different person when she's competing.  Her confident person comes out and she just goes with it.  I would never think she would get out there and do a routine in front of all these people but she just puts it down.  She's so fun to watch....the smile, I could watch her all day long.

  The girl in the orange shirt had a tattoo on her face.... Catherine liked it!!!

He never knew Bucky Dent

     Jimmy's basketball team lost in the semi finals last night.  It was a tightly fought affair with the game going  down to the last possession.   The games were so entertaining, Umple Eddie, Doe, Nana, Aunti Jo, Bae and her mom, Jack and Laura all joined us to cheer him on.  It was quite a run for a 3-10 team but it got me to thinking, this kid has seemed to win everything he's been involved in and has known only winning sports teams since he was born.  Last year, his basketball team won the championship, his little league team was the town championship.  He's known four Super Bowl champions, three world series champions, a Stanley Cup winner and an NBA championship.  How are we going to teach this kid the agony of defeat??  He has Tom Brady, we had Tony Eason.  At least we had Larry Bird to show us there are champions but what about Bucky 'bleeping' Dent and Bill Buckner...no, he knows none of that....Our theme song was Whitney Houston singing 'didn't we almost have it all'...and we loved it, we were used to losing....well now he knows a little bit of defeat and knows how his pop, uncles and aunts felt like every stinking year,  especially with the Red Sox. 
     But it was a great game.  He is an unbelievable athlete and it really is fun to watch him play any sport.  He is no different than when he was 7 years old and running around the court in the church league (not winning the most christlike award).  I know its not the truth, but he makes everyone look like their standing still because he runs from one end of the court to the next constantly and is always running toward the ball, never dragging his feet. 
     I know life isn't all about sports, but its really fun to see all of them compete every weekend.

Setting new highs

     Jimmy is in the playoffs for basketball.  Its a lose and go home type of deal.  His team is quite interesting,  but its fun to watch them play.  Last year, the basketball team that he was on lost most of their games but during the playoffs, they hit a hot streak and won the whole thing.  This years team...i'm not so sure.  but we'll see how far they go.  Anyway, they are winning so the games continue on.  The other night, he scored twenty points...I mean, twenty points, talk about the whole family point total for our whole careers.  We weren't really much of a basketball family, except Timmy, but he's hitting outside shots and hitting all of his shots from up close.  Its certainly fun to watch.  Friday night the games go on. 

Hockey Night out

 It was college hockey night with the little buggahs and Catherine Q.  Same as last year, we all loaded up and went into a private party and got some great chicken fingers drinks and enjoyed the game.  During the game we went for a couple of walks around the arena and got some ice cream and H&R Block free goodies.  We stayed for the whole game, which ended up in a tie.  Its so much fun and exciting to watch because its non stop and its a great brand of hockey.  It was a fun night and everyone got to yell and scream a couple of times at goals!!

Jackie and his basketball.

     I could just sit and watch this all day long.  Its so fun to go and watch him play any sport at all.  On Saturday mornings he goes off and plays soccer.  Aunt Jo is the lucky one that usually gets to bring him there but I get the update on how many goals he gets.  On this day, he played in a round robin basketball tournament after soccer.  One thing you can say about Jackie is that he certainly doesn't get cheated out of any shots.  Here, he drives down to the  hoop after stealing the ball and banks the shot, then flies up the other side of the court.  He does shoot a lot but there is nobody on either side that matches his hustle so its no wonder he has the ball all the time. 
     He scored ten points during the games today.  I wish I had the camera running about five minutes after this basket.  He was beyond the three point line and near the out of bounds line towards half court.  He had the ball and nobody on his team went to help out so he did what he does best....he heaved the ball with one hand up and towards the basket and sure enough it went 'kerplunk' right off the rim and into the basket.  I keeled over I was laughing so hard.  He just turned and ran up the court.  You could hear everyone just start yelling and laughing in disbelief.  I have to say, its just great to watch them play!!!
     I of the things I really enjoy are his stories he tells after the games.  I could usually watch either his soccer or basketball game and the story that he tells me about what happened are so much more interesting and glorious then the ones I watched.  Sometimes I wonder if I saw the same game he's describing.  On the way home or at home after the game, he'll describe step by step what happened and how far away he was when he scored the basket/goal.  Its great.  Well, after the basketball game he was describing to me his long distance/half court shot and was saying "I had two guys on me and I was looking for someone to pass to'...I stopped him right there.....HOLD UP MISTER, I WATCHED THE WHOLE GAME AND I KNOW YOU WERENT LOOKING FOR ANYONE TO PASS TO......He laughed and said 'you're right dad, I wasn't looking to pass".....he loved that and told everyone that exchanged between the two of us.....
     I have watched this over and over again.  I think I laugh every time I watch it.  He cracks me up just by being him.  Just look at the way he runs back down the court after he hits the shot....like a cool dude.  What a great team!!!