January 20, 2010

Fatime turns the big 40!

Today is my birthday, and I am 40 years old. I do not feel any different than I did yesterday, and I praise God for every day that He sees fit to give me.

The birthday girls: walkers Karen and Fatime share the same birthday

I made a peach coffee cake for my walking group and my co-workers. There was enough for Logan to have when he came down for third lunch. He thought it was amazing! Jim came home with with two gifts for me: he got a haircut (which I have been asking him to do for a while) and flowers (red roses and pink tulips). We were a little late getting to Pastor's house for supper, but it was for a good reason. Adam called to wish me a happy birthday. He talked to me a bit and then wanted to talk to Jim. It was about 5:50 by the time we got to Pastor's, and it was time to get things ready for supper. The oven was already pre-heated, so Jim put the Papa Murphy pizzas in, and we made salads. The meal was simple but good.

So here we are around the table: Jim & Fatime, Brett

Logan, Pastor, and Katherine.

After supper everyone sang and we ate a delicious birthday cake compliments of Pastor Wangerin. I cleared the table while the boys fought over what cable TV show to watch, Jim looked at some political video on-line, and Katherine and Pastor played with the trains. Once everything was back to normal, we packed up and left for home.

What a wonderful birthday!

Saturday, January 16, 2010

January and February are always occupied with basketball games and tournaments.

After Saturday Morning Band we drove to Martin Luther High School for Brett's league basketball game vs. Emmaus. Brett played well on defense. Jim's parents drove in for the game. We asked if we could keep them for the day. We went to Barnes & Noble and had lunch at Pizza Hut. Peter, Sarah, and Ryan joined us. Then it was time to head to Wauwatosa. This weekend we were at Our Redeemer for their 7/8th grade tourney. We stayed for most of Brett's 2:00 P.M. game (which, of course, did not start on time!) but had to drive Katherine to her 4:00 P.M. soccer game. Katherine had a few great saves in the first half and scored one goal in the second half. Poor Lucy was home for nine hours. We got back to take care of her for a little bit before heading back to O.R.

As things turned out Mount Olive faced Our Father's for 7th & 8th place. Mount Olive's coach put in all the
bench-warmers. They played their hearts out, and Brett scored five points.

Mount Olive still lost in the end.

Katherine and Uncle Latif at the game
So an interesting thing happened at the game...a woman came up to me and asked if I was Fatime. I said, "Yes." How could I deny that? Apparently she had been staring at me for a while and asking others about me. She didn't suppose I would remember her. Once I took a look at her I did realize who she was...Miss Bobeck, my favorite teacher in high school. I haven't seen her in almost 21 years! I don't know if it is a good thing, or not, that I haven't changed much in that time. I did think it was a pretty neat turn of events... especially with so many people making such a big deal of me turning 40 this year. In the picture above (with Katherine and Latif), Miss Bobeck is the one with the long brown hair and blue sweater on the end. Her great-nephew plays on Our Father's team.

Here is Cyrus making his first two points of the game. He played well and scored a few points.

In the second half of the game Brett ended up

guarding his cousin, Cyrus...not exactly the best match-up.

Thankfully, Brett's coach put in another kid to guard Cyrus.

Win or lose, Brett and Cyrus are still cousins and friends!