Preparing for Middle School

Middle School preparations have begun (yikes).  One of the big decisions right now is choosing an instrument (choice between band, orchestra, music lab).  So they had time at the middle school to try out most of the instruments (and very sweet older students to help them figure it all out).

Carter and a bunch of friends from Waterford first went to the band room.  The trumpet was harder than Carter expected (they tried the mouth piece not the instrument).  But he did like the saxophone.

Then to the orchestra.  Carter tried the bass, viola, and violin.  Carter liked the bass and violin.  Carter even did a very brief hot-cross-buns on the bass.

Now, what to choose?

Who did they pick?

For the first time, Carter and Luke filled out their own brackets for the NCAA tournament.

Luke very meticulously selected his teams, looking at records, season standings, previous games, etc.  He spent a lot of time.  But still coming down to UVA.

Carter just sat and filled his out.

Then the first night of the tournament, Jeremy and I surprised the boys with a night out for dinner (the only night we didn't have practices) at the Green Turtle that has TVs at the table and on every wall.  The boys brought their brackets and seem to be in competition with each other.

Every morning at breakfast they review the games from the night before (they cannot stay up late enough to see most of them) and compare to their own pick.

It has made watching the tournament this year all the more fun!

And so far the boy's favorite players:  Joe Harris UVA, McDermott from Creighton and the player (who I cannot remember his name) dribbles the ball and does a little shimmy shake before his foul shots (they have reenacted this move many times).

The winter that doesn't end

With Jeremy traveling more and more...and the crazy amount of snow this winter, Carter is being trained to plow.  The ATV and the plow, out working with his Papa (Jeremy's dad), clearing the driveway so we can make sure Brayden's nurse can get in and Brayden's can get down the driveway for his bus the next day.

Meanwhile inside, Brayden is relaxing by the fire and Luke is sick in bed (and I am running back and forth between the two).  Another snow day with no school.

2014 WLBL Allstar

Carter had the privilege to participate on the 5th grade WLBL All Star 2014 team.  With just a few practices, they headed to a tournament and made it to the finals.

A busy weekend with great competition (against teammates from travel basketball and old neighbors).

And the two cutest helpers in the entire tournament...who insisted they were assistant coaches...their input was encouraging the tallest 5th grader to do an alley-oop (he looks so tall to them, they think he should be able to do it).

Family Ski

We have to squeeze out every last opportunity to ski since this has become the never ending winter...

So we headed to Liberty with Jeremy's side of the family.  Carter and Luke could not be more thrilled than to ski with their cousins.

Carter and Luke had a great day, conquering lots of blue square slopes and even their first black diamonds.  They are not even nervous about trying them.

And then the next morning, Jeremy headed to Whitetail with the boys for a few more hours of skiing.

House League Semifinals

Carter's basketball house league came to an end.  The season ended with a loss in the semifinals.  A good season with lots of success.

Carter was one of the captains for the last game and also did the jump ball.

Mom takes them skiing

Yet another day off from school because of the winter weather and extreme cold.  So now that means a ski day for the Jenkins.

Jeremy was at work so it was my turn to take the boys skiing...for the first time by myself and first time at Whitetail since my one visit in college.  The boys had been there so they were thrilled to show me the ropes.  We got family passes and it needed to pick mine up, then put on all the gear and finally head out to ski.

 A great day with the boys.  And I only had a couple of spills of which the boys informed me one of my spills was a yard sale...meaning I fell and skis, poles, etc went all over the "yard".  They skied great and only want more.  My favorite part is sitting on the ski lift with them, just talking and listening, loving to have those sweet conversations.

 Whitetail from Carrie Jenkins on Vimeo.

More Sports Weekend

Carter basketball team won their Quarterfinal game (lots of 5th grade teams this year).  Carter started off the game with the first two baskets and continued to play great from there.

And Luke finished his wrestling season at the Regional Tournament.  A long day with some tough losses but he worked hard and put it all out on the mat.  Even had his first ever bloody nose...which kind of turns into an ordeal in wrestling...trainer is called, cotton is stuffed up the nose and the mat is cleaned, then the match continues.  A good season for Luke wins and losses and he improved so much.