March Madness

Emma and Katie at DI meet

It's funny how time speeds up or slows down, depending on your perspective. It can appear to drag on FOREVER, as this winter has--especially with the almost daily snowfalls we've had to shovel our way through. Or time can sneak on by, slippery and fleeting, as it did earlier this week when I realized that the kids had already outgrown the pants I bought them six months ago.

Similarily, I've been reminding myself frequently, "Do the blog this week. Things are piling up," but somehow a month has snuck by.

Go figure.

I guess it's the stage of life the kids are at right now. Everything's happening fast. This past month some of their main school activities have been winding down... DI (Destination Imagination) for Emma and basketball for both her and Michael.

As you can see in the photo above, Emma was excited that her DI team won their category at the regional tournament in Prescott. She and the five other kids on the team will be going to the state competion in Stevens Point this April. Last year they came very close to going all the way to the national tournament in Tennessee, so it's exciting to think what this year might bring.

Emma's basketball team plays tournament

Michael's basketball season ended a few weeks ago, with a pizza party and bowling. Emma's season ended just this weekend in Wausau, with the sixth graders participating in a 2-day tournament with over 20 local teams.


The Colfax girls worked hard this year and really came together as a team. It was fun seeing them cheer each other on and progress as they did. Michael's team also worked hard. One of the best things about this year was that, due to his job change, Jon was able to go to every one of the kids' games and cheer them on himself.

Michael sitting among the fans in Green Bay

Besides being busy with their own practices and schedules, Michael, Emma and Jon were regular "fans in the stands" this basketball season, watching most of our town's highschool basketball games together (both the girls' and boys' games). What started out as a father-children bonding time (and something to do at the end of the week) became unexpectedly big this year when the Colfax girls' basketball team played so well they went all the way to state.

Colfax has amazingly enthusiastic fans. It's a growing community and all their highschool games were very well attended (as the season went on, most were sold out prior to the games). So Jon and the kids hurried to buy their tickets to state.

The first night of the tournament, Jon, Michael and Emma rode the fan buses together (five school buses plus a charter bus hauled the Colfax fans to Green Bay). The 2-way bus ride cost each rider $5... a pretty good deal considering the price of gas these days! Colfax won their game the first night, so the excitement continued to build.

The second round of games was Saturday. I was gone for the weekend (more on that later), and Jon had to stay home with a sick Leila. But Michael and Emma rode the fan bus and watched the tournament to it's completion (unfortunately, things didn't end up the way Colfax wanted it). One fun thing about the experience was that we were in regular texting / phone calling contact with John and Jim in Madison, who knew about the big game and are themselves devoted super fans (of the Badgers and Packers), so were living the big moment with us.

John and Jim visit during spring break

We had just seen John and Jim a few days earlier when they'd visited. John had a few weeks off from his university job for spring break (he works in New Jersey now). He had just flown in that day, dropped his stuff off in Madison, and then drove straight over to see us (for a one night stay, followed by a visit to Mom and Dad's in Rhinelander).


We had a good time. I thought John looked very "professorial" in his brown cordoroys and dark wool coat.

Green for St. Patrick's Day

I saw John again that weekend when I snuck away from Jon and the kids for what's become my annual trip to Madison to stay at Laurie's. It's kind of nice having more than one sibling use the same town as a home base... during my visit to Madison I was able to see John, Laurie, and Bob all in one shot. Here you see us gathered at Badgerland Grill (Laurie's husband Mark is the restaurant manager), where we met for brunch (Bob's girlfriend Nancy also joined us. She was taking the picture).

My trip to Madison (the silly version)

Laurie likes to do this thing where every time you pose for a picture, you next have to pose for a silly picture. Therefore we posed like Egyptians in the next photo. (Nancy was visibly embarrassed snapping this picture for us, but we made her do it anyway). Hee hee.

Laurie and I literally hugged when we discovered this booth

Laurie took me shopping in nearby Mount Horeb, with it's scenic main street full of interesting little stores and restaurants. Our first stop was an antique mall, where we happily discovered an interesting booth full of crafts, fabric, and home decor... and everything was 50% off. We were a little bit excited about that.


Over the course of the weekend, we also shopped at some craft stores and specialty shops, ate some really good meals, and talked a lot. It was fun for me, and I was very appreciative of my wonderful husband who stayed home that weekend and watched a sick Leila (missing that big final game in Green Bay I told you about earlier) so that I could have my weekend at my sister's, as planned. I came back with all kinds of little goodies and a happy heart.

Jonathan and Jack in their hoodies

Once a week our grandson Jack stays overnight with us (we watch him on his parents' busiest day. Both Jonathan and Lindsay work and are full-time students). He and Leila get along well, though there is an age difference... he's two and she'll be five on April 4th. He's getting used to things at our house but is always SO HAPPY when his daddy comes to pick him up.

Entertaining Jack

I noticed once how much Jack liked looking at a picture of his dad and him I had taped to our refrigerator. So I surprised him by making that be our desktop image on our computer. Boy did he like that-! He kept returning to it throughout the day to have a look at Jonathan :).



One exciting little piece of news is that I am all signed up to run a 5-K in May. I've been walking and jogging with my neighbor Jessie K, and the two of us, along with four other Colfax ladies, will be participating in Valley Fair's Rave Run. It's not a timed event (thank goodness), but is promoted as more of an "experience". The run happens at night (starting 9 pm), and there are light shows and music all along the path. Participants wear glow in the dark things. Sounds interesting, huh? I am just happy to finally have a fitness goal and a walking partner who knows how to crack the whip with me. Apparently, when left to my own devices, I am inclined to take naps and eat jellybeans a lot. I need someone to call me up or text me during the day and say "We walking?" Also we exchange healthy cooking tips and I'm making such drastic changes in my life as not pouring a quarter cup of sweetened creamer in each cup of coffee I drink. So thank you, Jessie K.

Deadly eave situation

I'll end this blog with something that just happened about an hour ago. Jon came home from work and noticed this large sheet of ice coming down off our garage roof. It was like a glacier coming off in one big piece, but it had hit our electric pole and that was apparently the only thing stopping it. Jon consulted with one of our neighbors, and while the guy was still here gave the side of our garage a good "tap" while standing far back. The whole thing came down in one big piece. That could have killed somebody-! I never even noticed it. Yikes. That's enough winter now, thank you very much.