Last weekend was the league tournament for Noah's AAU team. They didn't place in the top four in the regular season standings so their only chance to play in the next tournament against another league was to win the WESCO title. They played three amazing games, but only came away with one victory.
The first game against the Knights was their only win. The Eagles won by more than 10 points.
They lead the second game against Mount Lake Terrace till early in the fourth quarter and lost when Terrace got a slim lead and went into a stall offense. Our boys managed to steal the ball back and tie it up, but Terrace won on a last second shot. My favorite picture is the one where Noah is blocking the ball. Although Noah was quick to point out that he was called for a foul on that play. But the Terrace kid only made one of his free throws so it was a good foul.
The third game of the tournament went to overtime and was a great game personally for Noah. He played with lots of intensity and his future coach at the high school was there to see it. He emailed me at school to pass along his compliments to Noah, and he spoke with Forrest too. The upside of not qualifying for the next tournament is that we have a sports free weekend something we have not had since the middle of August.
Noah has started lifting weights with the high school team and starts a spring basketball season on Sundays next week. So our break is very short.
On the Alyssa front, she has made her commitment to EWU official by sending in her deposit. She should be receiving her housing packet soon so she can try to get her first choice of dorms. She is looking forward to prom (pricing limos, picking out hairstyles, etc.). Since she is 18 now she can close at work so she is picking up more hours at the daycare. Alyssa has received her first scholarship from EWU for $2500 a year for the first two years. She is in the process of applying for others.
Forrest has his third furlough day of 12 coming up this Friday the 19th. He enjoys having a day off here and there to get some things done around the house, but doesn't enjoy the cut in pay.
The administrators in my district are getting ready to lay off more staff this year. I'm very fortunate to not have to worry personally about this, but my former student teachers are in jeopardy again. They were laid off last year and then rehired in the fall. We just got news that another teacher is retiring so maybe that will save someone's job. Work is very hectic now with getting ready for the statewide testing in May. My grade level has a strange composition of kids. Fourth grade at my school has more special education students than 2nd, 3rd, and 5th combined. Basically that means we're in jeopardy of not meeting the No Child Left Behind standards again because we have so many students with significant learning disabilities. These kids are all making steady growth but at a slower pace than their peers, yet they're expected to pass the same tests on the same timeline. It's maddening! I guess this is enough ranting for now. I should start enjoying my free Saturday.
Daffodils in Skagit County. They're almost done and the tulips are right behind them.
An early field of tulips. The rest are not far behind and they will be followed by crazy tourists who block traffic, swear at Forrest's flaggers, and park where ever they want to. The weather forecast looks promising for early crowds. Forrest might have to work next weekend before the official start of the season April 1.
Noah's social studies fair project on the history of the signal corps. His teacher was in the gym to 2:00 AM grading them. I think it deserves at least a B. We'll see.
Our last AAU end of season team party at the Bryson compound. We've watched most of these boys play ball since 4th grade. Now these young men are in the home stretch of 8th grade heading towards high school. When they started playing together Alyssa was taller than all of them and she's been a surrogate big sister. When I requested this photo with all of her "brothers" she got teary since she'll miss most of their freshman season while she's away at college next year. Today Noah had his first spring ball game as part of the high school program at a local community college.
Watching the 2 on 2 tournament that the boys organized during the party.
Presenting photos of their past championships to Coach Bud and Coach Jeff.
