Stealing

Normally we'd be very upset if one of our kids stole something, but it is encouraged in most sports. Nadia has had a few steals this season, but today was her best game ever. She stole the ball multiple times, particularly from a boy she guarded who was shorter than her. She also made two baskets, and that was a first for her to get two baskets in one game. Way to go, Nadia! Next Saturday they will have their final game of the season. Next year Oliver will be playing on a K/1st team, Ian will be promoted to a 2nd/3rd grade team, and Nadia will have her first experience playing on an all girls team (grades 4-6). She'll be playing on a full court next year for the first time. Her team dominated again today. They have only had one close game thus far this season, and if you go by the actual scores, they are undefeated. I say actual score because they don't allow the gap to be bigger than ten points so many of their baskets aren't recorded because they have a lead greater than ten points.

The last few years I have often purchased the 8x10 memory mate when they had professional pictures for soccer or basketball as it included an individual photo, the team photo, and the team name. This past fall I didn't

do so for soccer because they had raised the price on the item plus I would have been buying three of them for the first time, and it just seemed to be too much money to spend. I was thankful that the photographer they used for Upward this year had an option for a 5x7 team photo for $5. Sold. I bought one for each child, and for some reason they gave us three (two of Nadia's) so we got three 5x7's for $10. Nadia smiled for her team photo, but Ian didn't. It's always a gamble purchasing a picture before it's been taken.

Paul and his dad met us in the parking lot at 1:45 right before Nadia's game. Paul's dad didn't stay to watch the game since he had been away from home since Wednesday. They were in Cleveland this week, and the kids and I are planning to go to a museum there next month en route to Chicago.