Girls' Day Out and Date Night

We had friends over today, and it's always a special treat when we can get together! There were only 11 of us, with Liz being on a birthday trip to Idaho, and we were all scattered. Logan walked to his basketball game. Jim took Steve and Sam to the game. I took Amy, Anna, Bethany, and Katherine out for the day (a couple hours, anyway), while Brett and Elijah stayed home. It was a sunny afternoon, and I knew that I did not want to spend it indoors. I asked where they wanted to go. Bethany said, "somewhere awesome." Since that didn't narrow it down any, we stopped at sites I thought they might enjoy.

First stop was the Wisconsin Humane Society (www.wihumane.org). We looked at all the puppies and dogs that were up for adoption. You can click on the site above to see the ones we saw. Once we left there, we drove down Wisconsin Avenue and got to see various landmarks along the way to the lake.

Our next stop was the Milwaukee Central Library (http://www.mpl.org/File/branch_central.htm). It is a very impressive building, and I think we could have left Amy there all day. She loved the fact that she could touch and read the books, unlike at the Library of Congress! We walked up and down and in different parts of the library.

*outside the Central Library

*Katherine, Bethany, and Anna in the lighthouse, which is in the Children's Library

*the girls on the staircase in the library

How rude of me to make the girls walk on such a beautiful, sunny Sunday afternoon. We parked down at the marina and walked to the Milwaukee Harbor. There was a ten year old who couldn't believe we were getting out and walking, but we all had fun walking on the icy path and looking out at Lake Michigan. There were many geese and one beautiful swan. We didn't walk the whole length, because it was getting late. I promised the girls that we could pack a picnic lunch this summer and come back to the area. Anna is holding me to it!

After driving past amazing houses on Lake Drive, we made our way to Trader Joe's. Anna found Millie right away, and all the girls got lollipops. We picked up a few things and got yummy samples. Anna asked, "how many samples do we get?" Are you kidding me? One, please!

Then it was definately time to head home for a quick supper of Chinese food before our friends left.

I am thankful that these four beautiful girls spent part of their day with me!

Tonight, Jim asked if I wanted to see a movie with him. As most of you know, I am not a movie person but spending time with my James is always nice. We saw "Blindside" at the Times Theater. We loved it! To quote a famous cucumber, "I laughed, I cried, it moved me, Bob!" We highly recommend all take time to see this movie. Take your family. Take your youth group. It is based on a true story.

Boys' Basketball Tournament (2/5/10-2/6/10)

Last Friday and Saturday was the Mount Olive 7/8 Grade Boys' Basketball Tournament. Mount Olive had two teams playing. Brett was on Team Two. Friday's game was a disaster. Mount Olive's "Bench players" playing Mount Calvary. The good thing about Friday was seeing Bette. Brett had left a message on her answering machine, inviting her to the tournament. It was a wonderful surprise., and Brett was very happy to see her. Unfortunately, I had a severe headache and couldn't wait to get home.

Saturday was a much better day. My headache was gone. There was a lot of running around to do. Brett had Saturday Morning Band at MLHS. Then it was off to the tournament. Team Two won their 10:00 A.M. game. Grandma & Grandpa, Bette, and Mrs. Flory were there to cheer on Brett. I had to get Katherine to her 11:00 A.M. soccer game. The Shooting Stars lost by one goal. It was not a good outing for our goalie. Our friend, Sue came to watch Katherine play, and Jim's parents made it from the basketball game. It was so nice having people there for Katherine, besides Mom.

We drove home to hit the showers. Then it was time to get back to the tournament. If Brett wasn't playing, we were watching Cyrus' team play. We were so blessed to have family and friends come to the games! Brett's Team Two won their second game of the day, which earned them the Consolation Champion trophy. They beat St. Martini by one point. Brett had five points! We are so proud of the whole team!

*Bedull and Katherine

*Ali and Katherine


*Katherine and Brianna
*Fatime and Katherine

*Cyrus and Brett

Consolations Champions!

After the tournament was over we headed home. Cyrus was sleeping over. He and Brett had so much fun playing video games and goofing around.

We had a special guest in Bible Class ...Ava the Great Dane. The kids love her! She was going from Bible Class to the Humane Society to learn to be a therapy dog. She will be great!

*Logan, Cyrus, and Brett with Ava

*Katherine with Ava

Dead Sea Scrolls and Happy Birthday to Ali

Wednesday, January 27th, Jim & I went out on a date! We had an early supper at Louisa's, across from Cathedral Square. We loved it! Then we went to the Milwaukee Public Museum to see the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit. Our advice: Don't buy the audio-guide. Do bring Pastor Wangerin or someone who can read Hebrew and Latin.

Friday, January 29th we celebrated Ali's 16th birthday. It is a tradition, for those who are crazy enough, to eat the birthday cake with no hands. Logan won (though Ali said that she let him win)!

Cousins: Cyrus, Logan, Vera, Brett, Ali, Katherine, and Nevi

My beautiful niece, Alexandra, turned 16 on Saturday, January 30th. I went with Bedull and Ali downtown to their hair salon. Ali got a facial and a manicure. I got a pedicure. It was wonderful!

Friday, January 22, 2010

Mount Olive's Family Fun Night

The gymnasium was transformed into a large game room. Adults, if they are smart, had Tylenol with them. Jim & I took turns manning one of the game booths. I must say that it was a lot of fun (unless you are a fifteen year old boy with no one to hang out with)!

*Katherine and Brianna
*Charley



*Brett and friends



*Nastassia and Fatime

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!

Monday, January 11, 2010

We haven't posted a picture of Lucy in a while. If you haven't heard, we love Lucy. She is such a good dog! Jim took this photo Saturday afternoon.
Yesterday the Green Bay Packers lost a playoff game to the Arizona Cardinals. It was a game that was in our reach to win. Logan, who lives and breaths sports, took it very hard. He wore all black to school today.