The Pit and Exhibition at NCU

I love going to Oregon Duck basketball games, especially Pac-10 games. It's been so busy this winter that I haven't made it to many games but somehow amidst the EIGHT practices/games/birthday parties on our kids' schedule today, Chad and I managed, with the help of friends, to watch the Ducks beat USC this afternoon! It was extra fun with my dad, my bro Marcus and Chad's mom also in attendance. Genevieve was really great at the game as well; I think she was tired and happy to just veg in our arms the whole game. It was a great little date with my hubby squeezed into a busy day.

I can't believe this is our last year in 'The Pit'

  

A sweet picture of my handsome brother and sweet little girl

  

Genevieve was like this much of the game, just relaxing and trading off between Grandma, Daddy, Uncle Marcus, Opa and Me

  

 A close-up of me and my girl. Do we look alike?

After the game, we rushed to Northwest Christian University to watch Gabrielle's basketball team play another undefeated 'Y' team as the halftime entertainment of the women's NCU game. The girls did great and were pretty proud to be playing in front of a crowd. The ten minute game ended in a 4-4 tie! I think nerves got to the girls and their shots weren't falling but they played hard and were a lot of fun to watch! I was busy videoing the game so I didn't get many good pictures but here's the team getting a pep talk from their coach before they started.

Nothing Sweeter...

...than going outside with Daddy to see the cows

and getting a hold of your first ever Powerbar...

 

Nev found an open Powerbar (which I have been trying to keep her away from) and she was so happy I just didn't have the heart to take it away so I let her enjoy it in her highchair (I'll try to make this a rare treat :) 

Julie's Surprise 40th!

On Friday, Pancho surprised Julie with a party for her 40th birthday. It is tough to get anything by Jules so it was especially fun that she was so surprised! Chad and I had a great time celebrating with so many great and longtime friends. I loved the videos Julie's dad, Don, put together of Julie with a lot of us friends from throughout the many years we've been friends! There were lots of laughs!!

Julie was so surprised! Nice job Pancho!

 

Amy, Me, Julie, Liz, Dina, Christy

 

Our great friends, Julie and Pancho

 

Lucy looks so much like her mom!

More of the partiers! There were about 50 people there!

 

Liz, Leticia, Kevin

 

Liz and Jules reenacting a picture from Julie's 24th birthday!

 

Liz and Me

Genevieve is 13 Months!

Happy 13 months to our Genevieve! Nev wasn't feeling great today. She has a pretty bad cold that is affecting her breathing (we brought out the Nebulizer and Albuteral...making it 4 out of 4 kids who have needed these breathing treatments!) but I did catch her sweet, happy face in a few pictures today. She was happy to be outside here!

 

 

 

 

 

I think this is her first 'fake' smile for the camera :)

A few milestones for the month:

~ Genevieve said 'uh-o' for the first time yesterday when she dropped something. I have also heard her say 'here' and 'please' more lately. As well as 'bababa' or 'nanana' when she sees food she wants. Also, 'ma' and 'mom', 'da' and probably five or more pretty distinct other words that we hear from time to time.

~ This month, Nev got in two molars and the other two seem close. That makes ten teeth now.

~ Genevieve is sleeping really consistently at night about 11-12 hours often until I wake her at 7:15 to get ready to take kids to school (later on the weekends). Some days she takes just one 1-2.5 hour nap and other days she takes two naps.

~ Genevieve has started to arch her back when she really wants something and is not getting it (reminds me of her big sis :); her will has definitely come out these past couple weeks though she is pretty easy to distract.

~ She adores my brothers, especially David and James who she see most days and often prefers them even to me :)

~ Genevieve is still a great eater. She has only rejected onions and dried apricots. Otherwise, she's eaten pretty much everything else we've given her.

~ Nev is very active and curious. She wants to walk around wherever we are and especially at soccer and basketball games.
~ I have had a few people comment that she seems older than her age in that she is independent, adventurous and more aware. 

~ People often comment that she is a very happy girl who they never hear cry....they just haven't seen me try to buckle her in a car seat lately :)

~ She continues to adore her big siblings and the feeling is definitely mutual!

We Love You Nev-Nev!

Another Basketball Weekend and More

Cade played in his 3rd tournament of the season with his 4th grade Eugene Flight basketball team. They played in Salem in the 5th grade bracket and were 3-1 for the weekend earning 2nd place. Cade also got to play one game with the Eugene Flight II team in the 4th grade bracket where he played some point guard which he doesn't get to do very often (I caught some on video below). He had a blast as always and even got to spend the night in Salem with his buddy, Jace. Cade and Chad are off to Seattle next weekend for another tourney.

Gabrielle had her first basketball game of the season with her new team made mostly up of girls she plays soccer with. She and her team did great! They are playing in a 4th grade YMCA league. Elle had fun, scored a basket, played great 'D' and her team won 26-9.

And, we can't forget Willem...he didn't play basketball this weekend but did play an indoor soccer game Sunday afternoon which he counted down to all weekend. He was so cute wearing a beanie (like he saw big kids doing), his ManU jersey, his new goalie gloves and mismatched but still both 'Total90' Nike indoor shoes (like he saw a big kid do at a game he watched recently).

Here are some pictures from the weekend with my new zoom lens. I am still trying to figure it out. I think I need to move around the court more to get better action shots but I still got a few good pictures.

 

 

playing some good 'D'

  

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

  

Willem warming up (taking it much more seriously than the other boys :)

For those real Ficek sports fans out there (not sure there are any actually :) who don't get to see our kids play much (okay, maybe there's one in Nicaragua at least :), I put a couple sports videos from this weekend on YouTube.

Cade playing point guard

Willem playing indoor (notice the outfit :)

And, finally, here's a little video of Genevieve (yes, Nev) kicking the ball around. I find her kicking the ball from time to time especially if we have our soccer 'carpet' out in the main room for the big kids to kick around.

Nev Playing Soccer

We'll be sure to get Gabrielle doing something great next time!

Camera Practice with Nev

For Christmas I received a new lens that allows me to zoom more; it's 70-300mm which I think will be great for sports. So, I sold (on e-bay ~ my first time e-baying!) the lens I thought I wouldn't use much anymore and, with the money from my e-bay sale, I bought another lens with more aperture range (35mm f/1.8). So, I've been reading up and finally got to practice with my new lenses this weekend! Here are some shots with my new 35mm lens.

Notice Nev's black eyes on BOTH eyes! She's been walking and climbing and falling!

 

The car seat was in the house today and she loved playing in it

I love her look here...not so sure about the coloring in the picture.

Genevieve loves to look out the window and I also think she likes feeling the cool window

Nev also likes to play with Nelly's dishes! She's trying to ask if it's okay by the expression she's giving me..and she knows it's not :)

I few more fun things about Genevieve lately...

~ She's been saying 'mmmmm' when she eats something;

~ She often picks up toys or my calculator or my phone and puts it to her ear and clearly says, "Hi";

~ She's been saying a few more words clearly though not consistently like "eat" and "please";
~Nev is pretty good at signing for "all done" and "please".

A Look Back at Christmas Break

This past Christmas Break was one of the fuller, busier and most fun breaks we've had. Aside from the obvious joy and fun of Christmas, Genevieve's first birthday and our trip to the Rose Bowl, here are some other things I will remember most about the break...

1. Amber and Jacoby being here for most of it! Yeah for furlough days at Amber's work!

Jacoby, Opa and Genevieve

Willem and Jacoby playing together

 

 

Meleesa, Jacoby, Gabrielle, Amber and Cade playing and hanging out

2. Sleepovers and more sleepovers! With Cade and Gabrielle being so busy with their sports in the Fall, they complained of not enough sleepovers with friends. Soooo, Cade had Jace over one night, Pascal another and then Liam yet another night. Gabrielle had Jorja one night, Athena and Meleesa another and finally Shae and Maddy stayed at our house another night. Willem absolutely loved having all of his big siblings' friends over and thank goodness never asked for a sleepover himself!

Elle, Maddy, Shae, Willem, Liam and Cade (yes, they are triplets)

Jorja and Gabrielle playing with Jacoby

Jacoby and Meleesa

3. Genevieve mastering her walking! It is a lot of fun for all of us to see her master walking though she does have her fair share of black and blue marks to show for her efforts!

I love this shot of Nev!

And this one is pretty sweet too with her hair in her eyes as it gets when she pulls out her clip!

4. And, finally, the Wii! We finally got one and it dominated the kids (and Chad's :) spare time this Christmas Break! It was also great to have for the sleepovers!

Gabrielle playing

Willem watching Cade play the Wii and Jacoby just being cute :)