Brooks Turned 30

My sweet husband celebrated his 30th birthday March 8! Originally, I planned a surprise birthday dinner with some close friends and was going to cook, and then our boys ended up getting Hand, foot, mouth disease (hence why Gavin is laid on the couch in some pics and looks a little rough).  Unfortunately, I felt it was best to keep our friends and their kids away from us until everyone was healed and feeling better.  Instead, we had a small party at home just the 5 of us.  We gave Brooks his presents, which the kids loved helping their daddy unwrap them, and we picked up a Cookie Cake, which the kids loved helping their daddy blow out his candles.  It was a fun evening all about Brooks and while it wasn't the original, ideal big party planned, but it was still good!!  

Basketball, Part 2

Gavin had the opportunity to play basketball in another league whose practices and games started the week after his other basketball league, and this time Brooks was the coach!  Gavin LOVED having his dad as his coach and really learned a lot playing back to back for several months.  It was impressive to see how much he improved on his skills.  Brooks LOVED being the coach... I mean, if he could quit his full time job and become a basketball coach I'm sure he would!  He had a team of 8 boys from 1st and 2nd grade while Gavin and Jeven, who was a brother of one of the other players were the only kindergartners- they let them play since Brooks was the coach.  Brooks did his best playing all his guys and making sure they all had ball time.  Brooks and the other teams coach spent time on the court with the players while they were playing to direct them and offer assistance and advice on what to do while they were playing.  This really helped keep the kids focused rather then being a distraction.  

This league did things a little different.  Not only did the teams play games, obviously, they also had skills test.  Each team would compete against one another in drills.  Players could earn points for shooting free throws, tossing the ball back and forth without dropping, racing another player by dribbling back and forth on the court, etc.  The points went towards the overall final score of the game. I really liked this idea since it caused the kids to practice skills they needed to actually play the games.  

Some games were a little more laid back then others and some were hard core...penalties being called, kids having to sit out, etc.  It was very interesting to watch parents reactions to some of the players actions, but I guess that's part of sports these days.  I realized I'm one of the parents trying to encourage my child on the sidelines, too, but always in a positive way (at least I think!).  I'm happy to say and very proud of my husband that our team had a 7-1 record and rocked it.  The boys improved every week, Brooks picked out each kids strengths and built on those and they did great!!  

Basketball was and still is a BIG thing in our house.  Gavin loves it just as much as Brooks and spends a lot of time with a basketball in his hands!  Of course, whatever Gavin does, Miles wants to do so he got in on some of the action, too.  We got him his own size basketball that he toted around everywhere and practiced dribbling, shooting, and passing!!  This truly became a family affair.  Brooklyn and I cheered everyone on from the sidelines!!  

Basketball

Gavin started playing basketball in a local league called SLAM.  It's very similar to Upward Basketball, a church sponsors the practices and games, devotions are shared during halftime, kids are encouraged to act and play Christ like, but, overall have a good time!  We were very fortunate that Gavin got on a great team, with good coaches, and teammates who were nice AND good at BB.  

To be honest, the first few games, I was a little nervous for Gavin because he just didn't seem like he could play to the level his teammates were playing and it just didn't seem like Gavin fully knew what was going on during the games.  Don't get me wrong, he could follow everyone and he would run up and down the court with his team and attempted to play defense, but he just wasn't "all there".  I quickly realized I was THAT mom yelling from the sidelines to her kid about what to do, where to go, who to watch, etc, etc.  After some convincing from Brooks that Gavin was going to be fine and things would eventually click for him, that he didn't have to play like a professional-- I started backing off and enjoying the games!  After a few more weeks of practices and games, one day everything clicked for Gavin.  He was scoring baskets, stealing, assisting, passing, and really playing ball!  Brooks and I were so proud of Gavin and you could see that he was having fun and even more proud of himself then we were!  

At the end of the season, Gavin was given the Most Improved Player on the Team and he really deserved it!!  I think we have a future star on our hands!!

 

 

Brooks got to participate in the Parents vs Coaches game and showed off his mad basketball skills!  It was so fun to watch him play and compete against some other great athletes.  He helped the parents stay up with the coaches, but in the end, Brooks' team lost by 1 point at the last second.

Basketball

This past week Brooks experienced his last Tuesday night Saudi basketball game. It was the end of an era for him and I'm pretty sure this will be the thing he misses the most about Saudi.  He has loved getting to play basketball every week with a group of guys the last 3 years! Before Micah and Dan left for vacation we took some pics at basketball to remember these times.   I'm thinking Brooks is going to have to find a group of guys to play with and a court in our new place!  

What my boys have been doing

Brooks has experimented and played with his tortilla maker and really likes it.  We found a homemade flour tortilla recipe online and tried it out (we didn't use lard and it still worked).  They were pretty good.  

Gavin's starting to get a goofy personality.  He's always made amusing facial expressions but now, they're to a whole new level.

When my mom was here, she helped me tweak a few things around my house and had a great idea to hang chalkboards on the wall in the kids play room area.  Gavin, his friends, and even Miles love writing and drawing.  Gavin shocked Brooks and I when he drew a sun, house, and tree, with some grass in this picture.  At school last month, they learned about houses and whats found outside a house, thus what prompted this drawing!!

Miles, our little tornado, is living up to his name!  He made every effort to get the bowl of Fruit Loops and I've finally decided those dumb suction things don't work.  He got to the bowl by climbing up on a chair and throwing it off the kitchen table.  I was changing Brooklyns diaper while this was going on and found him eating the Fruit Loops off the floor.  

 He's also our climber.  He climbs on everything, all the time.  Nothing seems to work to keep him from climbing on things.  He could fall down, hurt himself, be screaming crying from the fall, while trying to climb back up the very thing he just fell off of.  

Gavin being goofy!

Miles eating his first popsicle.  The child HATES cold things... like hates them!  We have to fix his milk cup and let it sit for 10-15 minutes to take the chill off before he'll even drink it.

Miles also learned how to escape from our yard.  Since we live on the end of the compound (literally, the 10 foot wall of our compound is next to our house) and there is a street for cars to drive on we called the carpenters to install a fence to keep Miles in.  This has made life very easy in letting the kids play in the backyard.  

That's what my boys have been doing!!

Brooks Birthday

My wonderful husband turned 28 earlier this month and we celebrated him and his special day all day long!  His morning started by having the day off (a BIG treat for a weekend),  getting to sleep in, then enjoying a huge breakfast- homemade waffles, eggs, and (beef) bacon.  Next, Brooks got to open presents, which were all surprises for him.  Brooks hates the tortillas here... like hates them so I thought it'd be clever to get him a tortilla maker so we can make our own homemade tortillas.  He laughed when he opened the box.  

 

 

We spent the morning playing with the boys, took a walk on the compound, relaxing, then got ready for a joint birthday party for Brooks and our friend Micah.  We had all our close friends over for chili, cake, and games! It was a fun night!  Our group hasn't gotten together in a long time and just hung out.. we tend to eat and run with all our kiddos around and husbands working long hours and usually not having a day off during the week.  So this night was a special treat.  We played Cranium, girls versus boys, which the girls WON- woo hoo!  We laughed and joked around and had a really fun time!  

I pulled out my cake stuff and made Brooks and Micah a birthday cake as an extra special treat.  We sang happy birthday to them and the little ones got to help blow out birthday candles.  Miles had fun dancing to the HB song.

 

Happy 28th Birthday to the man I LOVE!!