Nate the Great: Posted by Nate Himself

Hi. This is Nate. You won't believe what I got for Valentine's Day! I got Mario Sports Mix Wii, the video game. My favorite characters are Mario, Bowser, Bowser Jr., Yoshi, Ninja and Black Mage. There are four sports. They are volleyball, basketball, dodge ball, and hockey. I would place them like this...
1. dodge ball
2. basketball
3. volleyball
4. hockey.
There are mushroom cups, flower cups, and star cups. These cups are the prizes for when you win tournaments. I love to play Mario Sports Mix!

Mom's Note: So you heard it straight from the horse's mouth. This was good writing practice for Nate. They've been working on 'small moment' stories at school. These are stories that focus on one small event or subject. For example, instead of writing about Valentine's day, write about one specific part of Valentine's day. Mario Sports Mix has definitely been what Nate has been focused on lately. It's how he spends almost all his free time. It's a good alternative when snow has blanketed the outdoors! And though the pictures aren't that exciting (It's never much fun to watch someone else play video games.), you can kind of see how much he's grown. He's getting so tall!

Caz's New Toy

Caz turns 4 months today and is showing many signs of growing. He is learning to use his hands, working on that hand coordination. He gets multiple daily ab workouts as he's always trying to sit himself up when he's laying down on an incline. We have to begin being more careful leaving him lying on the bed as he can roll to his side now; he hasn't quite made it all the way over, but I'm sure that's just around the corner so we'll have to keep an eye on him. To keep up with his new moves at trying to grab at things and desire to always be up and at 'em, we got him a new jumper toy. I think he was a little overwhelmed at first, so many new sounds, but he quickly got comfortable and began to try to explore. It will be fun to watch him grow into this toy, and we hope it makes him very happy for at least a few months. :)





And as you can see by the dampness of his shirt and the evidence hanging from his chin, he continues to be a master drooler and a total sweetheart.

My Valentines

I love my three little valentines...

Basketball

It's cold as ever here, and cold weather means basketball season. This is Mari Cagle's second year playing, and she's really enjoying it. She and her teammates have wonderful coaches and they even enjoyed a Lady Husker's basketball game together. They play better and better each week and seem to be having lots of fun, so it's been a great season. Yesterday, MC had her best game yet, playing "with her hair on fire." Her dad was especially proud that she fouled the other team. I realize it may sound mean and a little odd to reward her for getting called for a foul, but it's a real challenge to get young girls to play aggressively, so in that context, we were excited. I put together a montage of clips from the game so you can see just how great she played. It includes some great defense, her foul, and her shot! (To make your viewing a little easier, MC's team is wearing the blue jerseys, and MC is wearing pink shorts and white basketball shoes.)