Well we lost the basketball game again, by about 25 points. We started out a lot better, but then everything went downhill. Our next game is on Tuesday; we'll see what happens then!

Saturday we came home from Winterfest. We left for Winterfest yesterday. We arrived in Oakbrook(?) at about 6:00 and went directly to Panera Bread. I had the you pick two Sierra turkey sandwich with the creamy tomato soup in a bread bowl. Dad left to check us into the hotel while the rest of us finished eating (we took the car and the van). I was really glad that he checked in before the rest of us arrived, because what usually happens it Dad parks the van in the unloading lane, we all jump out and then stand in the lobby looking silly and definitely out of place with all the college students while Dad stands in line for fifteen minutes or so waiting for our room key. This time, however, we were able to all take our stuff and go right up to our rooms. After we brought enough stuff for (almost) a week up, we pretty much just watched t.v. until bedtime. Nobody got very much sleep because nobody conceded to sleeping on the floor. Julia slept in a pack n' play, but everybody else slept in four full (no pun originally intended!) beds. Needless to say, the little sleep I did get wasn't very deep. I also punched the headboard in the middle of the night and drew blood. It really wasn't very bad though. In the morning we went swimming. For lunch we had Little Caesar's pizza.

We (as in everyone except Dad, Katherine, Anna, Mary Ann, and Kristian) went right to the basketball game from Winterfest. Unfortunately, we lost again. By 29 points. However, we keep getting better. For some reason, I was wondering how that was possible, until Mom pointed out that the other team is getting better too. Duh..... I shot approximately four times during the game and made one easy lay-up. I think I got about four rebounds and I blocked at least one pass forcing a turnover. My guy tried to pass it to a teammate and I got a finger on it. Consequently, the desired recipient had to reach for the ball and essentially knocked it out of bounds. I'm still holding out hope that we can win the next 6 games and have a winning record....

Today we had co-op, and it's been one of the best co-ops so far. I didn't get brain-dead at all, unlike what usually happens. After we were done with school we went to Culver's to have $1.99 banana splits (today only!). Yesterday I finally went to choir practice. I haven't been able to go to any of the other practices because basketball practice has been on the same night as choir practice. But, we aren't going to have any more basketball practices on Monday nights because the school team where we play basketball at is having games on Mondays. I'm hoping that I will be able to learn the songs for Easter in time.

Today was the first basketball game that I was able to play in. I'm excited that we didn't lose... by as much. Last game we lost 57-22. Today, we lost 43-31. If we keep this up, we should be able to win next game! Also, we have one more player who hasn't been to any games yet who is pretty good.
I'm also excited that I only have a little bit more schoolwork to do before Tuesday.

Today is the beginning of the second week of school. I have to agree with Rebekah that I dread the beginning of school but then don't really mind it once I get used to it.
Jill Weiss's (formerly Roebuck) wedding was on Saturday. Mom played the guitar and sang twice during the service. It was really funny because right before the pastor said, 'You may now kiss the bride' one of the groomsmen yelled 'cut' and the best man, the brother of the groom, started putting makeup on the groom!  The ceremony was very nice, but I kind of wish there would have been some congregational singing, but I didn't realize that it was missing until after the service was over. Although, they did have a 'Sing-a-long' of Disney songs while we were waiting to congratulate the newlyweds. The wedding started at 1:30, but the reception wasn't until 5:30, so we waited for an hour or two playing ping-pong. At approximately 4:30, we left for the reception. Stephen, Rebekah, Katherine, and I had been requested to help serve the meal. I did enjoy serving people, but it was crazier than I expected. After the meal we danced. I enjoyed the dancing, especially the English country dancing, but I only was able to dance one of the English country dances, because I couldn't find a partner in time for the first one. When the dancing was over some of us talked to a couple of the other servers our age. I really like meeting new people at weddings.
Well, I still haven't finished spinning (well, plying) the alpaca for Julie Weir. There are four balls out of nine left to be plied, so I should be done... soon.
Apparently, our basketball team lost, 57-22, the game they played on the day of the wedding. Although I am hopeful for this next game since I originally thought that Stephen and I were the only players not there, but I found out yesterday that another good player wasn't there too. We'll see what happens on Saturday!

I'm bummed out. Our basketball game for today was cancelled, probably because of the snow. As, if that wasn't bad enough, next Saturday we are going to a wedding, so I'll miss the next game too. I do like going to weddings though.
On a brighter note, here are some pictures of some of the Punta roving that I got for Christmas that I dyed on Wednesday with Kool-aid. I think I'm going to make myself a pair of gloves with it.

That is a spindle full of white alpaca. That's eight ounces, folks! And, that doesn't include the weight of the spindle. I'm excited because I'm close to finishing spinning all the alpaca for Julie Weir. I'm hoping to be finished with it by the time Co-op (yikes!) starts on Tuesday.

Chili's and Julia

Yesterday we went to Chili's for supper to celebrate Dad being done with the move at his work. I ordered Cajun Chicken Pasta. Delicious! A bed of penne noodles bathed in garlic alfredo sauce, topped with grilled cajun chicken and onions, tomatoes and parmesan cheese. It also came with a piece of garlic bread.

On the way home, I was listening to Julia sing the chorus to 'Angels We have Heard On High'. I was marveling at how she skillfully hit all the notes, but then she started singing it wrong. I was disappointed until I realized that she was singing the soprano part to a song our choir sang at Christmas! She hit the high notes in 'Love Came Down at Christmas' almost perfectly with just a little bit of screeching. Julia regularly surprises me with how many songs she knows and how well she sings them.