a bright, bright sun-shiney day!

things are looking up! terri finally feeling better and we're getting dug out from the 8 or so inches of snow that came in on thursday night. still cold (-4 this morning) but winter sports wrapping up and emma's got a softball camp this morning so spring has to be on the way.  later this evening, doug and ben planning to go hear a couple soc grad student bands (Talcott Parsons Project and Angry Feminists) play in someone's basement. how fun does that sound?

jazz, jesus, basketball, and health

we woke up to about four inches of snow on saturday morning, so the winter continues on. and so do we, though the past week a bit more of a struggle than usual as we found out in the middle of the week that Terri has pneumonia and a bad sinus infection. she went to the doctor, got medicine and has been laying low since, but the doctor said it would be a minimum of 5 and maybe up to 10 days till she's better.

other news: emma's bball team lost by 1 point in the playoffs on thursday night: was kind of  disappointing but they played well and it sure makes our lives and scheduling for hockey a lot easier. the skaters had their last regular season game friday night (3-3 tie, to the team they lost to in the championship in Winona a few weeks back), and she and doug saw the gopher's women's team clinch the WCHA championship on saturday night. those two also squeezed in a children's theater play (Guraffalo) on saturday morning. 

ben's rec basketball team had a big weekend, winning 3 games in a row to capture the class B city championship on sunday. Catholic league playoffs will be the first week of March. in between the games, ben was part of a little jazz ensemble that played a few songs at Hope on sunday morning for a fundraiser for the youth trip to new orleans ("Justice, Jazz, and Jesus") this summer. it was actually really good: ben played bass (he's self-taught remember!) on When the Saints Go Marching In and then did a solo verse of Amazing Grace on the baritone sax during communion distribution. it seemed like the latter really woke folks up and they got a lot of complements. 

all for now....

sports update and such

ben's rec center bball team won their first two games of the post-season tournament so they get to play again next weekend. his school team (6-2) has a make-up game this week and then the CAA playoffs the following.

emma's hockey team won their last regular season game last night 6-1; they've got a makeup game on Weds, and then playoffs the week after. oh, and there's supposed to be a mom and daughter scrimmage tomorrow night though terri's still not feeling well.

other activities of late: ben's band spent all afternoon rehearsing on friday; emma and doug took her friend stephanie skating on saturday to try to convince her to play on the spring league team; we all went out for valentine's dinner on saturday night at the newly re-owned Saigon; emma acolyted and doug was reader at home; ben probably going to play sax with a little group next sunday to raise $$ for the new orleans trip this summer.

no school for the kids again tomorrow...but great conferences with their teachers last week!

midweek update

so apparently the weekend wiped us out...emma's been home sick all week, and terri hasn't been feeling that well herself. ben and doug still plugging along. those two went to the gophers game on tuesday night (a not-particularly-satisfying victory over last place Indiana) and then their 8th grade team had a pretty easy win yesterday afternoon.  more importantly, they went on a tour of Como HS on weds morning--it was a very good visit, confirming terri's impressions from the open house: very enthusiastic and diverse students, engaging teachers, and an impressive overall environment and AP program. and one of the art teachers got her degree from SEMO!

long weekend coming up for the kids--parent/teacher conferences friday, and president's day monday. also rec center bball playoffs begin, and emma's last regular season hockey game (with pizza party and gopher's game the day before). 

Celebration!

Como Girls proudly display their new hardware following the tournament.

Emma, Jillian, Hannah and Maddie show off their hard-earned individual tournament trophies in pic below.

Here's Emma with the Tournament Trophy following the game,

we're back

back home here sunday night and trying to rest up from a fun but busy weekend. basic chronology:

friday night: chicken pot pie at roy and marry's house, talking over the como h.s. open house terri attended thursday night. (terri quite impressed; ben and doug going to tour on weds) Terri and Emma make Valentine treats with Mary Drew.

saturday morning: terri, doug and emma drive to Winona for hockey tournament; ben gets ready for bball;

saturday afternoon-sunday afternoon: hockey and bball games galour--emma's wins the first team handily and the team wins second place which comes with a cool trophy; ben's team goes 3-1 and wins first (a medal).

sunday drive home: return via 61 Highway which follows the Mississippi. See at least a half dozen bald eagles working the frozen river.

sunday early evening: reconvene in Como and have dinner at johnson's (where Ben spent the weekend) celebrating their daughter mia's 9th bday.

sunday night: laundry, homework, getting ready for the week.... besides sports stuff, ben is working on an essay, practicing for jazz band and now serving as sound manager for the 8th grade play. emma's got a project due on weds and tries to catch up on drum practicing...

Oh and one of our favorites from the weekend was that emma got named captain for the championship game and wrote out the following notes for her pre-game speech:

"We are a team.
We must play as a team.
We must love each other as a team.
And right now we must pull ourselves together to WIN as a team!
WE ARE THE COMO GIRLS."

she didn't think it worked but we sure liked the effort.

lookin' ahead

hey everyone: we're headed to Winona tomorrow morning for a hockey tournament for emma. ben will stay in town as he has a game tomorrow, and then a tournament of his own sunday. should be fun stuff...and the weather has gotten warmer too.

great sports day

This afternoon, Ben's bball team got back on the winning track with a double digit victory over neighborhood rival St. Agnes. The team played really hard, pulling for each other the whole way. Ben played was exceptionally, scoring 7 points, dominating the boards (though no stats kept on that front), and taking their star player out of his game in the second half. Then tonite, Emma's team had an exciting, come-from-behind win over their arch-rival Highland. It was particularly satisfying for emma as she had probably her best game ever. Her defense was outstanding, and she had an assist and scored the goal that got the rally started!  The goal was her first of the season. She shot it from the blue line (great to begin with) and the first shot from that far out in the history of her team. Now, if the Gophers could just come back in the second half, we'd have a trifecta...

morning after addendum: emma dreamt of hockey and woke up thinking the game may have been her best sports performance ever. the rest of us still think her defense in the city championship soccer game still probably tops but who wants to quibble? (the gophers, btw, got embarrassed.)

super weekend

wow, where to start? how about the mom's hockey game. the warmer weather (first time over freezing all month!) brought slushy ice, but a great time had by all--so much so that the coaches want to arrange a scrimmage of the moms against the daughters and the moms are talking about starting up a team of their own. everyone said terri played just like emma--they even called her "Hartmann" just like they do with emma. The ribs afterwards were great, and the hockey team sleepover (13 girls) had less drama than last year's event according to emma. 

Ben seems to have had a very good time on his confirmation retreat: the sledding was fun, sleeping a bit tough, but apparently lots of provocative speakers and talks. He spent yesterday afternoon writing song lyrics with deep, spiritual themes. 

Our superbowl party was also fun--nachos bar, baked potatoes, nana's stuffed mushrooms by ben, and chocolate cake. A veritable feast. We liked the commercials, loved the Boss at halftime, and the game was awfully exciting too, even better than last year. 

The week ahead promises a basketball game for ben, and a hockey game for emma (both on Weds), and then tournaments for both on the weekend. Emma's down in Winona, Ben's here in town. Hoping we have time to squeeze in a post before then, but who knows?