Thumper!

This is the finished tree. I think it turned out really well. Everyone had a hand in decorating it. I hide the Christmas Pickle first and they hunt for it- which is hard in a real tree! The branches are thick and you have to push them aside to look. Becca won this year by finding the hidden pickle first. It's a goofy tradition. I read it to them from a library book about Christmas traditions in other countries. They were in elementary school at the time and they thought it was a joke. Nope, I said, it's serious stuff! And a tradition was born.Here are a few of my elves...

As the volleyball season wrapped up, Becca came to us and asked if she could play middle school basketball for Covenant School. I was pretty surprised because although she's always been really active, Becca's never played a lot of team sports. We were thrilled for her to have the opportunity for routine exercise over the winter months, so we said Absolutely!

Now, Becca has never played basketball and so Louie took her down the street to see what she could do. After pointers from dad and several weeks of practice, they had their first game- an away game at a Christian school over in Kentucky. We all went to see our sweet little Becca in this new role of "athlete". Hannah even painted her face!

There aren't very many middle school girls, so I knew she'd get to play a lot... and she was a starter. She was the shortest girl on the team (no surprise there) so the girl she blocked was a head taller. Becca loves her coach, Mrs. Taylor, and when she hollered at Becca to get in front of her and be more aggressive, Becca listened! Before long, my sweet little baby daughter earned a foul! They were winning with a minute left when Mrs. Taylor told Becca to wait under the basket. She had an older girl pass the ball to Becca, who laid it up and made her very first basket- 2 points! Woo-Hoo! She scored the last 2 points of the game and Covenant School won their season opener.

She was so excited that she talked non-stop all the way home. Practice was canceled the next day and she was disappointed! So cute. The next morning she was thrilled to discover that she had a huge bruise on her arm from where she was elbowed during the game. I have a feeling that kind of excitement will wear off.

The next day, I spoke to her coach. She said she'd given Becca a nickname. I held my breath. This could be good or this could be bad... Thumper. Thumper? Yep. Like from the movie Bambi. Why? I asked. She said that Becca reminded her of the bunny from the movie because she is constantly running/bouncing up and down the court and the sidelines, eagerly. She always has big eyes and a smile and is super enthusiastic.

Thumper. I like it.