Brett's basketball highlights (part 1)

 Brett loves basketball more than anything else.

When he's not playing it, he's watching it.  Or reading basketball news.  Or organizing a fantasy league.  Or setting up a Marsh Madness bracket.  Or playing it on his ps4.  Or playing it on his phone.  Or watching NBA highlight videos.  Or designing a court floor using some sort of online tool during his study hall.  

Yeah, that's a thing.  It's Brett's thing.

We love Special Olympics basketball, and will continue to do it.  But we wanted to expand his opportunities, so he joined the city youth rec league this year.  

We've had some pretty ugly experiences with youth sports, so have mostly avoided them with Brett.  We were hesitant, but decided to give it a try - and be willing to bail if it was awful. 

It wasn't.  Prayers answered, he landed on a team with just the right coach, and welcoming teammates.  He was even made a team captain!

The team was lousy.  They lost almost every game.  Brett loved every minute of it.

December photo dump

Reggie's "Penny" is a cuddle bug!

At the Special Olympics Christmas tree raffle fundraiser, Brett put his tickets in the drawing for the Timberwolve's tree again.

I put my raffle tickets in the drawing for the wine tree!

We have had over 80 inches of snow and over 100 consecutive days of snow on the ground so far this winter!

These three just barely made the "nice" list.

Our very own Christmas Eve band.  They should have practiced!

Meemaw and Papa added a foosball table to our teen hangout space.

Thought it would be fun to put lottery tickets in the stocking this year!

Lydia really wanted to do a gingerbread house

Meemaw helped.

Brett got a donut maker.

Sledding with friends!

Happy 15th Birthday, Brett!

Brett turned 15 in December!

Full disclosure, Lydia and Brett's birthdays this year were a struggle. Bryan tested positive for Covid that week, so he was isolating.  We had tickets to my nephew's Christmas concert in downtown Minneapolis on Brett's birthday, and then the next night, Bryan was supposed to take Brett and Reggie to the Timberwolves game - also in downtown Minneapolis. I hate driving downtown at night, with traffic AND snow, and I got to do it two nights in a row!  And what was my reward? I got a full five days of isolation myself when I tested positive for Covid the following day!  

It was a struggle, but I'm glad it turned out the way it did and Brett didn't miss the Timberwolves game.  Brett LOVES the Timberwolves.  Pictured above, you see his Timberwolves hat which has barely come off his head since he got it on his birthday.  It looks so white in that picture compared to what it looks like now!

Life has changed so much for Brett in the last year.  We moved, and he went from being homeschooled to attending the public high school (@2000 students)!  He's really doing great.  He's so independent.  He gets himself to school by walking or riding his bike most days.  He navigates his schedule and school work mostly on his own, and his case manager has all good things to say about him.

Brett has three classes with his case manager and three general education classes.  He is taking general education science with support.  I have also convinced Brett's case manager that he should take gym every day of his high school life.  He's a gym rat, haha.  The third class has changed every trimester and he's taken drawing, food prep, and health and wellness.  

Brett loves basketball more than anything else, and he wanted more opportunity to play than the short Special Olympics season in the spring.  He was able to join our community youth rec league and had a great season.  It will be it's own post soon.  Brett also loves his youth group at our church, his guinea pig, Oreo, and online shopping!  He likes to create things with his computer - make video projects, etc.  And he enjoys cooking and baking.

One funny thing about Brett is he hates all of your standard breakfast foods - cereal, toast, bagels, oatmeal, etc.  He will eat eggs or pancakes, but that's a hassle on your average weekday.  Instead, he usually eats leftovers or makes himself mac'n'cheese!

Another funny story about Brett is he loves thrill rides.  He will go on any rollercoaster or spinny or droppy ride.  He sits there expressionless - you can't tell if he's afraid or enjoying himself until he wants to go again.  At Valleyfair this summer, the last ride of the day - my favorite - was the farris wheel.  We stopped at the top as it was loading, and I was trying to get a picture of all of us.  Reggie was moving around and our cart was swaying a little as a result.  I turned and looked at Brett and he was clinging to the arm handle with the most terrified expression I have ever witnessed!  I had no clue he would be scared on the farris wheel, and I made Reggie sit still for the remainder of the ride.😉

Happy 14th Birthday, Lydia!

Lydia turned 14 in November!  She wanted to make her own cheesecake.  So I let her, and she did a great job! Lydia's birthday always sneaks up on me right after Thanksgiving - there wasn't much fanfair.  But over the holiday break, she had a sleepover with some friends.  

Fourteen has been a good year so far.  She is generally happy about life and rolls with the punches.  She has adjusted to her new home and made friends.  Lydia likes her downtime, and when given the choice between going to a highschool basketball game (where she would see friends) and staying home, she always chooses to stay home.  And while I can totally relate to that, Lydia is also a joiner and has many interests and talents!  She continues to take piano lessons (from my nephew), and helps lead worship in our children's ministry. She joined the jazz band, plays volleyball, and is involved in the church youth group.  This spring, we thought she would do track like she has done in the past, but instead she decided to audition for the middle school spring musical!  My apprehension for her is that as she moves into high school next year, she will have to start "choosing between" and narrowing her many interests.

School is going great and eighth grade has pretty much been a breeze.  We went to the incoming freshman night and her two takeaways were doing volleyball camp this summer, and taking American Sign Language for her World Language credits.  I'm looking forward to cheering her on as she navigates yet another big change in her life!

I always think it will be fun in future years to look back and read what gifts we gave them.  I bought her a new lunch box because she hates the school lunches, and filled it with some of her favorite treats, and a three month subscription to Disney+ (which was enough to watch everything she wanted to).