Sean wrapped up the basketball season today with an appearance in the 2009 Boys and Girls Club all star game. He worked hard all season long, and the fruits of his labor really shined today.

Here is Sean filling the wing on the fast break.

Here is Sean playing defense. He had the task of guarding one of the leading scorers in the league. He did a great job.

Sean will have a few weeks off before he dons his basball glove and starts Little League baseball.

Another all star in the family is Stephanie. This past week she finally reached a goal that she has been working toward for quite some time. Her hair was finally long enough to donate to “Wigs 4 Kids”, an organization that you can donate your hair to for the purpose of making wigs for cancer victims. She has had some close friends and co-workers that have lost their battles with cancer in recent years.

Here is her new hair “do” after the donation.

Our all star Cub Scout in the family is Nathan. He has been working really hard and has nearly completed everything that he needs to do to earn the Wolf Badge.

This afternoon he worked toward that badge by spending some time in the park behind our house cleaning up the trash left behind from the windy and snowy winter.

We would be remiss if we didn’t mention one more all star in the family, and that is “Coach Steve”.  Steve has worked hard with Boys and Girls Club 3/4 grade ”Team Black”, spending just about every Tuesday and Thursday evening, and Saturday morning with them since November.  And they came so far! Above he directs the kids on a play. 

At the end of the last practice, Steve treated each of the kids to a bottle of Gatorade, and then distributed special award certificates customized with a quality that they exhibited throughout the season.  In the photo above, Steve explains why each player received his/her award.  Each award had a quality such as “Hustle”, “Perserverance”, “Positive Attitude”, “Most Improved”, and for Sean: the “Dedication” Award.  This ceremony was a great way to wrap up the season and we are all proud of our favorite coach.

Well there is no question that we are at the crossroads between winter and spring. We cannot remember a March that had so many oscillations between winter and spring all squeezed into a single week.

The week started off with a beautiful day on Monday. Sean ran from the van when we got home to change into play clothes.

Nathan had a little bit of homework to do before he could join Sean, but he got it done and was able to join him in short time.

As they played outside the surroundings were starting to display more and more signs of the budding spring.

But just as quickly as spring had seem to come, Tuesday and Wednesday it slipped away as a late winter ice storm gripped the area and froze the spring activities in the driveway for the indefinite future.

Thursday brought another swing into the direction of spring as the bright sun worked away at thawing the ice that had coated the landscape.

But alas, Winter had a least one more punch for Friday into Saturday. Sean will have to wait a little longer for the rebound.

Nathan decided to make one last snowman with the wet heavy snow, hopefully the last of the season.

It got so cold again on Sunday that even the Snowman needed a hat and gloves. (I think I heard him say aahhhh… thanks, Nathan!)

And as the day started to come to an end, the quintessential sign of spring revealed itself. The season’s first Robin!

There is hope indeed that the end to this madness is near.

The Geneva Family YMCA is a big part of our family’s life. This past week, it seemed like we were there so much that we probably could have had our mail forwarded there.  We are lucky to have our community Y a stone’s throw from our home.  Not only do the boys spend some time there after school each day, but this past week they both started up a new session of swimming lessons, and participated in the Youth basketball program that they offer on Saturday mornings. Stephanie also set the alarm clock and went over to the YMCA for the red-eye aerobics sessions that begins at 6am on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Steve was playing basketball at the Y a few days a week before he injured his back last summer.  He hopes to walk his way back into condition to resume playing hoops in 2008.  Carmella (our dog) is a lucky beneficiary of this conditioning too.   

Here is Nathan taking a break between lessons.

And here is Sean getting ready to practice a dive.

Nathan is trying to keep his ball away from the coaches(the sharks) as the Saturday morning basketball session wrapped up with a friendly game of sharks and minnows.

And here is Sean and Coach Steve getting ready for the “big kids” session.

Photo not available of Stephanie attending the early morning aerobics session. (Co-editor’s note: even if it were available, it wouldn’t be posted here )

 Here’s hoping you have a healthy and fit 2008!