Zaheeda in the back seat

[on our drive to Grantsburg, WI today] Here Zaheeda is in the backseat taking care of Annah. Normally Maya sits in the backseat with Annah but instead of looking after her sister Maya ignores her until she starts screaming uncontrollably forcing Zaheeda to give up her front seat to go back and calm Annah down. Poor Zaheeda never gets a break.

Dinner at Joe's Crab Shack

Today while returning from a memorial service in Grantsburg, WI we stopped in Roseville and had dinner at Joe's Crab Shack. Here is Maya ready to get crackin' on her crab legs.

Practice

Now that basketball is over there are no excuses for missing violin practice time.

Electric Tiger Pizza Party

The Electric Tigers basketball team are having an end of the year pizza party at Hillcrest tonight - not sure if they are celebrating the season or the fact that the season is over, but either way it should be a lot of fun. Maya is gong miss her teammates and we'll have to wait and see if any of them end up on her volleyball team next month.

Electric Tigers Lose in a Heart Breaker!!!

The Electric Tigers lost their last game of the year this afternoon to Mac Groveland but they were so close to pulling out a win. Up by two points with 50 seconds to go Groveland scored taking the game into overtime. The game remained tied with about a minute left in overtime when Groveland went up by one point. With nine seconds left in the game there was a jump ball - the possession arrow pointed our way which meant we'd get one more chance. The ball was inbounded under our basket - we got off one shot.... miss!!!! another shot.... miss!!!! We got of a third shot... miss!!!!!! When the buzzer sounded ending the game. But wait - Matteah was fouled on the last shot - she gets to shoot two free throws!!!!! If she makes both shots The Electric Tigers win. If she makes one of two the game goes into double overtime.
First shot..... miss Second shot..... miss. The game and season was over:-(

Tournament loss

The Electric Tigers came up short in the first round of the tournament today but the played hard and put up quite a fight. Maya scored three points and had her first opportunity at free-throws making 1 of 1. This is quite an accomplishment because at the beginning of basketball season she couldn't get the ball to the rim from the free-throw line. So we're kind of bummed the team lost but very proud of Maya and how well she played. So we have two more games tomorrow and then the season is over.

Hair repair

Tonight I took Maya to Great Clips to get her hair cut (we had a coupon). We needed to try and fix her bangs where she cut her own hair last summer. Now her bangs are kind of angled so it looks more like a normal hairstyle. She looks just like a regular person again :-)

King of the hill

Went for a walk with Maya tonight and she spent most of her time walking through the snowbanks and climbing the snow piles. It's good for her to wear off some of that energy before bedtime.

Off from school tomorrow

No school again tomorrow for Maya. This couldn't come a better time because she needs to catch up on her sleep and further recuperate from her rock climbing soreness. It's getting to be that time of year when school feels like a bit of a drag, making these little vacation days a welcomed reprieve.

Simpson Champion

Maya has been nagging me for two months to play The Simpsons Scene It game that she got from Lisa for Christmas and this afternoon I finally gave in and said I'd play. She had played the game with her friends, but their depth of Simpson knowledge made them less than formidable opponents. Well I pretty much whooped her today making me reigning Simpson trivia player in the house. All Maya could say was, "Doh!!!"

Climbing

Friday night was Maya's friend Georgia's birthday. For a party the girls went climbing at a local climbing center. Maya said it was a lot of fun but was left feeling sore in places she didn't even know could be sore.

Tech Grandpa

This weekend we took Grandpa to Micro Center in St. Louis Park to get a new laptop and wireless router. He's turned tech savvy in his advanced age. He needed the laptop to work with his GPS unit as well as his night vision motion activated field cam... We don't know if he simply likes gadgets or if he has been secretly recruited by the CIA. If he starts building a landing strip in the back field for a remote controlled spy drone we may have to start seriously examining this.

Electric Tigers

Close - but The Electric Tigers came up a little short again this week. Maya's Grandparents were over to see the game and Maya played really hard but unfortunately Hillcrest lost. Next weekend is the start of the playoffs and The Electric Tigers will be playing this weeks team in the first round. I have hope that they can bounce back and win. We'll see...

Sushi Earrings

Maya used some of her babysitting money to buy these very fancy sushi earrings - they look like real sushi!!!

Web Designer

For career day all the kids had to apply for different jobs by writing out a resume, doing and interview and ultimately (or hopefully) get the job. Maya applied and was hired as a web designer because she is good at math and likes art. Hopefully, soon we'll be able to see the page she designed.

School JFK Project

Driving the Queen to school

Maya had a big project on Greek Mythology that she was taking to school today and wanted me to drive her so it wouldn't get smooshed on the bus.

Knitting

Here Maya is wearing her new green coat and thumb ring, doing her knitting while waiting in the car for her violin lesson - such an eccentric child.

Lost!!!!!

Tonight is the big night!!! Lost season premiere!!!!

Please, no calls between 7-10PM.

88,888 Miles

While gassing up the car in Glen Flora, WI on our return trip from Wisconsin I noticed the odometer on the car was getting relatively close to reaching 88,888 miles (yep, all 8's all the way across!) We began to calculate and surmise whether or not we'd roll it all 8's before we reached home. We were checking the miles, checking the road signs and it was going to be very close. Well, we rolled it with about a mile and a half before we reached home... Oh the excitement!!!! Now we have to see if the car will hold up and we can reach 100,000 miles? It doesn't take much to keep us entertained.

Funeral for Great Grandpa Schmitt

This weekend we headed to Wisconsin to attend the funeral of Great Grandpa Schmitt. Though a sad occasion, the funeral went well, and it was a nice opportunity to see some extended family.

This is the last picture we have of Grandpa - from this last summer - as he takes a break from his puzzle to listen to Maya play violin.