Upward Basketball

Are you ready for some basketball?!?

Sarah played basketball in the Upward Sports League near our house this season.  It started in December, before Christmas, and her last game was this past Saturday. 

 Upward Sports is the world's largest Christian sports league for kids and has become the place to play fun sports for over half a million families in the United States and Canada.  By providing a fun sports experience based on healthy competition, Upward Sports Leagues help kids develop skills for the sports arena and values for life.  Upward Sports uses the universal language of sports to connect with kids at a critical age and help them discover and build athletic skills, values, self-confidence and a life-long love of the game.

These fans are ready cheer on their favorite 5 year old basketball player...

Warming up with Daddy before the game... Eric and Sarah had a great time this season.  Basketball has been something else that they can add to their list of things that they enjoy doing together.  

Sarah's basketball skills improved so much over the past two months!  Dribbling, passing, shooting, and playing defense...

Here are a few pictures from her games.  She was number 12.

Bringing the ball down the court...

Posing after a game with some of her fans...

At the beginning of each game the team members names were announced over the loud speaker as they ran out onto the court with their teammates.  When Sarah's name was announced she would always smile and get an embarrassed look on her face.  Sarah's team's name was the Tigers.  There were four kids on her team, two boys, Ayden and Jacob, and two girls, herself and Makala.  Their coach's name was Danny.

Sometimes before the games Phoebe would help with the warm-up too.  

One Saturday Coach Danny couldn't be there, so Eric got to be the coach.

At Sarah's last Monday night practice during the warm up running exercises, Sarah fell and landed on her left hand/fingers.  I was not at the practice, Eric was there.  He said she complained mostly of hitting her head, but when they got home and we looked more closely at her finger and hand it had swollen up and was already turning black and blue.  I took her in to immediate care, where they did three different xrays, put a splint on her finger and hand, and told us a radiologist would call us in the morning after reviewing the xrays.  The next morning I got the call that her middle finger was broken below the second knuckle.  BUMMER!  So we went into our doctor's office for a better splint, and set up a time for more xrays to check the bones healing progress.  (We are hoping for a quick healing and that the bones heal right for finger and hand growth.)  Sarah was sad and disappointed that she would not get to play in her last game of the season, and would not be able to practice in the driveway with Daddy for a month or so.  She was also somewhat embarrassed to wear the splint and needs some help with daily tasks, like zipping, tying, and various things that she is used to doing with two hands.

On Sunday, we attended the Upward Basketball awards ceremony.  Each team was called up on the stage and given a new Upward basketball and a dvd.

Me: Did you like playing basketball this season?

Sarah: "Yes!"

Me: What was your favorite thing about basketball?

Sarah: "I liked practicing with Daddy.  I liked shooting.  And, I liked dribbling.  But I hurt my hand and then I cried (cause I really did)."

Me: So, do you want to play again next year?

Sarah: "Yeah, and Daddy is going to be my coach."

Me: So, what's your favorite basketball team?

Sarah: "The Tigers, cause that's my team."

Me: Any others?

Sarah: "Umm the K-State team  and the Chiefs."

Me: Chiefs are a football team you silly!

Exclamation Points

I like hugs. A lot.  Especially hugs from my husband.  I like his arms wrapped tightly around me....

Too mushy for you?  Read no further.  This is your one warning.

Hugs from Eric have always been one of my most favorite things.  For real.  Something about the warmth of the hug and just knowing that this man would always ALWAYS protect and take care of me.  No matter what.  His love for me is the real deal.  No doubts, no questions, no room for discussion.  He is real.  His love is real.  And, those big strong arms wrapped around me, his "love", hugging me is real.

Sometimes Usually when we hug I have to redirect his hands.  Somehow his hands sometimes always slip down to my butt and give it a squeeze. (Does this happen to you too?  Is my husband the only one who does this sometimes consistently?)  I find myself saying sometimes a lot of the times during a hug... "Let's have a real hug... one where your arms and hands are around me...not all up and down me squeezing."  Then we both laugh because we both know this just is not possible.

So, when Eric went looking for a Valentine card for me earlier this week here is what he found.  He knew after reading it that he need not look any further.  He had found, in his mind, the perfect card to give me.  Here it is....

Whoa!  It was a perfect card for him to give me.  Except now, every time we hug, as he is squeezing my butt, he says "EXCLAMATION POINT".  Or when he is passing me in the hallway and squeezes my butt, he says, "EXCLAMATION POINT".  Or when I am brushing my teeth, and he squeezes my butt, he says, "EXCLAMATION POINT".  You get the point!!!!!!!!!!  

I see a lot of "EXCLAMATION POINTS" in my future.  But I LOVE his hugs, so I will take the exclamation points, and the laughter, and the smiles that come from his "EXCLAMATION POINTS"!

Love and Kisses

Happy Valentine's Day from the Hendrickson Family...

Sarah, Phoebe, Silas, Stacee, and Eric

Valentine's day is a day to remember that everyday should be about love. 

And kissing... I like days that are about kissing too.  

P.S. I LOVE my HUSBAND!  What a hottie.

I Am Cute

A while back after one of Silas's doctor appointments I was telling Eric where Silas fell on the percentile charts for his height and weight at that time.  When I finished Eric asked, "Well, did the doctor tell you he was in the 100% percentile for his cuteness?"  "No", I said, but she sure should have!

I like to sit in my bouncy seat for short amounts of time.  I smile and play with the toys so that my family can see how cute I am. 

Sometimes I get to sit at the dinner table with my family and play with some toys.  I flash mommy some of my smiles and she runs for her camera... She thinks I am cute.

When I wake up in my bed I like to roll around and talk.  When mommy or daddy come into my room, I look up and give them one of these big smiles... They think I am so cute.

Peek-a-boo!  Look at me peeking out of this carrier cover.  I am not sure if you can see me or not... But I am smiling and I am cute.

Here I am.  Yep, the cutie in the carrier, that's me.

Sleeping in my swing, sucking on my fingers and trying to cover my face, this one can be hard to pull off, but.... I am still cute.

Getting ready for a fun ride in the jogging stroller with my sister.... I am cute.

 Mr. Cutie Pants, that's me.  All the time... Cute, Cute, Cute.

 Even moments like this, when I make my square crying face, I am cute....

 Here I am with the other local cuties.  Their room is across the hall from mine.  We like to have Cute kid hang-out time.  Daddy keeps telling us to "Stop being so cute."  But, we just can't stop.  Smiling and being cute is what we do.  It is who we are.  That's right Daddy, can you hear me?  Cute kids rule!

Can't Stop Singing

Popee and Nanee came to watch Sarah's basketball game Saturday morning and then took the girls and I to Sesame Street Live ~ "Can't Stop Singing" that evening.  Sarah and Phoebe were pretty excited about going to the show!  Popee called earlier in the week to ask them if they wanted to go and to talk to them about it....  When we hung up Phoebe kept asking Sarah if she was going to go and talking about seeing Elmo or "Emo" as she sometimes still calls him.  When I asked them each which character they were the most excited to see, Phoebe said Elmo and Sarah said Abby Cadabby.

We arrived early so that we could go into the Sesame Street Play Zone area where we could take some pictures, and see some of the characters up close.  We got to watch Ernie, Zoey, Cookie Monster, and Murray dance and sing.  Sarah got to touch each one of these characters hands after they sang.  Phoebe was a little scared of them up close and would not go up front with Sarah during this part.  Instead she stood behind Sarah, or liked being held up high by me or up high on Popee's shoulders so that she could see.

Pictures in the Play Zone area in designated picture spots... with The Count, and in Big Bird's Nest....

with Zoey, and Abby Cadabby.....

with Cookie Monster and Elmo....

Phoebe with Bert and Ernie, showing me that she is three...

and Sarah with Grover.

When the show began Sarah and Phoebe were all smiles.  There was lots of music and both girls did some dancing in their seats and in front of their seats.  We had a very fun time!

As we were leaving the arena and walking to the car to drive home, Phoebe was singing over and over... "Can't stop singing, can't stop singing, can't stop singing..."

Thank you Popee and Nanee for taking us to this fun, music-filled show!

Ladder Quilt Rack

This is the quilt ladder rack that my Dad made me for Christmas.  I absolutely love it!  It has five rungs that are evenly spaced out, so that it can hold/display five quilts.

 I have it placed in the corner at the bottom of our stairs in our house, and it looks great.  Right now I only have four quilts on it, but will soon add another.

The ladder quilt rack would make a lovely birthday or Christmas gift for the quilter in your family, or even the person who loves lots of blankets.  They can be made with fewer rungs to to be shorter or more rungs to be taller and hold more quilts.  They can also be stained a variety of colors or left unstained.  Quilt ladders can be special-ordered and purchased from Hastings Woodworking and Crafts.