Kieran's First Basketball Game(s)

Kieran decided he wanted to play basketball this year, after regretting not playing last year.  Basically, every Saturday, he has two games sometime during the day (early games start at 8:00 and the latest games start at 2:00) from now until mid-February.

Last Saturday was the first basketball games he's ever played and he did well, even though the team lost both games.  Kieran was in the starting five for both games...here's moments before the opening tip (he's number 22, you might see just one of his 2's....).

The very first tipoff went straight to him!  Here's a limited video of the scene...

The first game did not go well for the team...they lost 41-4 (ouch...).  But Kieran did score 2 of the 4 points!

The second game was much more competitive...it was back and forth for most of the game, the kids enjoyed it and so did all the parents...

It's also the first game in which I was able to record Kieran scoring points...he had a long breakaway for his first points of the game....here's a video that should repeat...

Altogether, Kieran scored 12 points that game...even though his team lost 35-30.  They played a better game and you could see they learned from mistakes made the first game.  After talking about things that could be worked on to do better on the way home, Kieran said "at least I scored half the teams points the first game and 12 out of 30 points the second game."  Good point...

Santa visits Kleinbank in Cologne...

Santa was coming to the bank in town, but Luke was home sick all day...in fact, he was sleeping when I got home and kept sleeping for another hour.  I picked up Lex from daycare and came home to get Kieran.  When I said "Kieran, do you want to see Santa?"  Luke hopped up and said "I'm coming..."

So we all went....Lex regaled Santa with lots of stories...

Kieran and Luke hung back while Lex was talking before eventually coming up to the big guy...

Pretty easy day with Santa...except that Luke had lots of questions...Mrs. Claus had said to Lex "I see you in church often" when Lex was talking to them and that wasn't missed by Luke...

Craig's Deer...

So...my day started with a SnapChat from Craig at ~7:20 am saying 'Season Started'....I watched some television with the kids and went for a run before checking my phone some 2 1/2 hours later.  Thats when I saw this picture had been texted to me...it said...season over...

Craig had started the Muzzleloader season at the farm in Franklin and considering the outcome...the kids and I had to check out this buck killed....

A 12-point buck...pretty big...but it bring concerns with Luke...

He's different...

Slightly off some might say...

Yeah...

But it was a nice deer....

Thanksgiving Science

Maybe you saw this on Facebook, maybe you didn't, but on Thanksgiving Day pops wanted to regale the kids with a little science.  He ran the test several times and did a nice job explaining how air pressure was affecting the outcome...

The girls you see in the video are Lex, Ally & Belle (my cousins' kids)...

First Snow...

Got our first measurable snow last night, somewhere around a couple of inches (there was a little last Friday, but that was less than an inch).  Since we all started Thanksgiving break today, there was lots of time to play in the snow...

Luke's goal was to build a fort, from which he could 'battle' people..

It's basically a big, protective wall....but should do just fine as long as it doesn't soften from the above 32 degree temperatures...

Lex wanted a snowman...one that likes warm hugs (a Frozen reference)...

We've had a fun day so far...

Stream Table Work

I had to go into school a few Saturdays back to score some projects and the kids came with...Kieran was content watching a football game via the projector (a bigger screen than at home), but Luke and Lex loved playing with my stream table...

You can get a look at what the stream table is (including a video of the table working) at the link here....

Pops built the stream table several years ago and it has been an invaluable resource for my 8th grade students every since.  Honestly, I need another one in my classroom for the class sizes we're getting these days...

Luke and Lex were just like my 8th grade students --- they did everything that my students do...in the process they were learning about river systems (without realizing it) and even argued about who was supposed to do what with the river system (just like 8th grade kids).

Of course they've seen stream tables before, just not this size....the Science Museum has a huge, outdoor stream table that they've played in many times...

Luke even said on the way home from Delano that night "dad...we need one of those at home...."  

Raider Football - State Quarterfinals

So the Raiders made the State tournament in Football this year, second time in three years.  Kieran was giving me a hard time, saying that this is the second time (in his 10 years) that he's seen a team go to state, while I've only seen four state quarterfinal games (in my 39 years...though the actual total is six).  He says his average is better....a state game every five years of his life versus a state game every seven years of my life --- what he doesn't realize is that it's really tough getting to state.

This year the Raiders played Maple River (who they lost to 47-0 earlier in the year) at Shakopee.  The field in Shakopee is a little different than what we're used to in Norwood - turf with a fantastic video scoreboard...must be how the other half lives...

The kids and I went with Craig...and it got cold that night, into the mid-30s...

The Raiders had their opportunities, their first drive started inside the 20 and they didn't get any points, but they played Maple River close...

It was 12-0 Maple River early in the 4th quarter, before the Raiders scored a touchdown to bring it to 12-7...

A couple of key stops by the Raiders forced Maple River to punt with about a minute left...the Raider returner took the punt over 50 yards to bring it inside the 20 yard line again...the Raiders had 4 plays inside the twenty to try for the win...but they couldn't do it...they lost 12-7, not bad considering how the game went earlier in the season.

We even made the homily at St. Bernards the following Sunday....we bumped into Father Gregory at the game, his homily was about great moments (vacations, births, etc) in life versus granular moments (the every day things).  He used the four of us as and example of granular moments....a dad with his kids out enjoying the night.

But I don't take the kids to football games for that...all three of them have a sense of their 'school' and will root for them no matter what, Kieran especially.  It's fun for me to see them care for a team and want them to win (out of 11 games this year, we went to 9).  The granular moments I like the best are the nightly dinners discussing their days, working with them on their homework, reading at night with them, etc.  The list gets pretty long of the small things I enjoy...wouldn't trade it for anything...

The Supermoon

Kieran and Luke came home last week talking about looking at the moon and other solar system objects through a pair of binoculars or telescope (knowing we have both).  Saturday night, we all took a look at Mars, Venus and the almost full moon through a small pair of binoculars.

Then they asked about using a telescope.  I suggested we wait until Sunday night and go to Eagle Lake Observatory at Baylor Park where there would be a public star party to look at the full moon and other objects.  They thought that was a great idea!

The star party started at 5:00, just as the moon was rising.  We stayed for an hour or so, but the kids had a great time.  They looked through 6 or 7 different telescopes, looking at objects like Venus, Saturn, the moon, a double star and the volunteers even pointed out an iridium flare (the kids loved it)...

Here's Luke looking through a scope --- sorry its dark and grainy...

Everyone agreed we need to do that again....the MAS has star parties there twice a month, spring through fall.  Here's a couple of pictures I took after we returned home (I was using my iPhone and pointing it through a 20X80 pair of binoculars)...

Raider Section Final

The Raider football team reached the Section Final this year....one more win and they'd go to state.  The game was at St. Cloud State University against the Maple Lake Irish.  Kieran and I (and later Luke and Lex) have been going to Raider football games since he was very little -- it's one of those things that he and I spend a lot of time doing --- and Maple Lake is one of those schools Kieran hates....I mean hates...

5 years ago, the Raiders and Maple Lake played in another Section Final football game at St. Cloud (literally, the 5 year anniversary was the day before the 2016 Section Final), Kieran and I went to the game, but the Raiders lost.  It was close, they lost by a point or two, but Kieran cried most of the way home and we had to stop at McDonalds for ice cream to cheer him up.  He never forgot that game...

He was anxious about the rematch...but I always tell him "that's why they play the game...."  So the four of us headed to St. Cloud to watch a football game...

Kieran generally likes to watch the games --- at games in Norwood, he'll run around with his friends for a quarter or two, but he was into this game...the game even held the attention of Luke and Lex for most of it...

But eventually, Luke's curiosity and need to move took over....

So Luke, Lex and I took a walk to get popcorn and gatorade...we also watched the game from a different point of view for a while....

When we got back....Kieran hadn't moved from his spot...he had some friends at the game, but they weren't watching it as closely as he wanted to, so he stayed with us...

It was tense...0-0 at halftime.  Then the Raiders kicked a short field goal near the end of Quarter 3.  Kieran's thought for the rest of Quarter 4 was "can they hold on."  I heard that a lot that quarter...

Eventually, Kieran got comfortable enough to take a picture with the game still going on....it's 3-0, with a little over a minute left in the game...he was happy (bad thumb and all...)...

The Raiders won 3-0, but we couldn't leave until the awards celebration...who watched it the most?  Of course it was Kieran...

No more hating Maple Lake....State Quarterfinals are this Friday night in Shakopee at 7:00 against the team that has already beat the Raiders...tough game.

On the way home Kieran asked how many section finals I've been to and how many they won (I've been to 6 and they won 2)....Kieran said his percentage is better (he's been to 4 and they've won 2).  He also pointed out that he's done that in just ten years compared to my.....hopefully he realizes that going to state in any sport does not happen most years....

Kieran's Thumb...

Friday afternoon I was observing another teacher when I got an e-mail and text from Sarah saying "call me."  Being in the middle of the observation, that was tough for me to do, so I texted and asked what was going on....I got this picture sent back....

I know those fingernails anywhere....that's Kieran.....Kieran was playing football at recess and had an 'incident.'

As soon as the observation ended, I walked into the school's office and showed one of my secretaries the picture and she said "see you Monday."  After throwing a quick plan for the last class together (they were just testing), I left to try to catch up to Kieran and Sarah.

I was within five miles of the clinic when I got the message they were leaving the doctor, but I also got this picture then....

It very clearly shows the dislocation in his thumb...

Kieran then texted me this picture of his protective brace...

I joked with him that he wouldn't be able to play the playstation for awhile (since you need two thumbs), but he figured out how to use his pointer finger in place of the thumb that night....

He's in the brace for a week or two and has some strengthening exercises he should be working on.  He had a good day today with the thumb being just a little sore.  It's odd that Kieran (the one of these three who deals with pain the worst) is the one whose had stitches, dislocated thumb, x-rays last spring for a foot issue and several others when he was younger.  He even said 'it's time for Luke and Lexy to do some of this....'