Santa Claus Is Coming To Town

A variation on the Christmas standard, as sung by me on the way home from the Christmas Eve service last night with three tired, over-excited children:

Oh, you'd better stop fussing
You'd better quit complaining
You'd better cease your fighting
I'm telling you why:
The number of presents you receive tomorrow is inversely proportionate
To the amount of screaming that happens from this point forward

You'd better stop whining
You'd better settle down
You'd better get quiet
I'm telling you why:
Santa Claus is getting increasingly grumpy
And might be disinclined to give you everything you asked for tomorrow morning if the fussing doesn't stop

Oh Christmas Tree

After several weeks of continued protests from the kids (and, truth be told, from Linda, who wanted to be able to vacuum the carpets), I finally caved in and dismantled our Christmas vacuum (which had been serving as our temporary Christmas tree).

Despite my suggestion that we replace it with a bigger, industrial-sized vacuum, the kids insisted that we go with an actual, honest-to-God Christmas tree this year.

Basketball Season Opener

Zach played his first official basketball game of his season last weekend.

He didn't touch the ball much, but he worked hard and played pretty solid defense. This season could a be tough one for Zach, as he's still developing his basic basketball skills, and he's playing against kids who are almost all older and bigger than him (as evidenced by the photo showing Zach, #8, playing defense against the black team.)

In light of this situation, Team Houserspawn added a supplementary provision to Zach's contract, allowing him the opportunity to earn a milkshake at Nifty Fifty's following each game where he scores a basket.

He's going to need to keep working at putting himself in a position where he has a chance to score. But hey, when milkshakes are involved, anything's possible.

(Epilogue: Zach's Maroon Team won their first game vs. the Black Team, 16-15.)

Eight Years Old

Zach turns eight the end of this month. So last Saturday, we rented the gymnasium at a local church and threw him a Pokémon-themed birthday party.

Upon arrival, the guests were placed into Pokémon teams. Then for the next two hours, we put a room full of second graders through a grueling battery of Pokémon training exercises, including piñata smacking, balloons batting, basket shooting, relay racing, and finally, group singing and ice cream cake consumption.

Basketball Season Begins

Basketball season is now in full swing for Team Houserspawn(tm). After three weeks of clinics and scrimages, teams have been chosen, and official games begin on Saturday.

We opted to keep Phoebe back with the younger kids so that she and Ben could be on a team together, while Zach chose to move up and play with the 8 and 9 year olds. It'll be a challenge for him, as he's one of the youngest kids in his league, but so far, he has held his own.