411 The Walters Bunch

  We used our time between games for a little shopping. I made T walk behind me so I wasn't downwind. He did NOT smell good. He says that helps when people try to guard him😂 This week we had two practices and a total of four games. This is the worst our team has ever played at ANY tournament! I am not sure exactly what the problem was. I think it was just a combination of factors. It's not like the boys didn't play well. We played some of the most physical games we've played all season. I think the combination of injuries, illnesses, and players that are hurt so bad they can't play anymore just wore on us. The first of our games we only had 7 players and since 5 play at one time, there was basically no subs. They hung in that game for about 2.5 quarters and then just started to collapse and get sloppy from being tired. When you play really good teams, the tiniest mistake, such as a not 100% perfect pass, can IMMEDIATELY get turned on you and you lose points, or mor

❤️My in-laws ❤️ It was good to see them. It had been way too long! We have been trying to celebrate Christmas with my in laws for about a month now. First, we got sick, then they got sick, then the crazy artic cold air came and we had to cancel to take care of the animals. Of course, this weekend there was freezing rain expected again, but not until mid afternoon and early evening so we decided to chance it, leave early, and come back before it was scheduled to start getting bad. We did not want to have to miss seeing them again! My father in law had his weather app that we were periodically checking and when it looked like it was starting to get close to us, we left. Fortunately, we just encountered some light rain and our drive back was fine. We did get some freezing rain after we got home and some more over night, but nothing too bad. We just had to be a little more cautious. We joked that after we left that their puppy Duke would crash from all the playing! The girls napped too on

 At least this time the crazy cold weather will only last 3 days and NO days will be below 0. Actually, we won't even get close to 0. The lowest temp should be around 8. Now with the wind chills, that will feel about -3, but that is still way better than the infamous freeze of 2021 where it was -6 with -15 wind chills. Whenever it gets down to single digits, we move the chickens into a tent in the garage. It's kind of a pain to do it, but it is really nice when they not only get to stay warm, but we don't have to go out all the time to check on them. We still have to go out 3-4 times to check on the horses and make sure their water isn't frozen over and clean up a bit, but it's nice to not have to worry also about checking on the chickens water or making sure we get eggs before they freeze. We even brought Murdoch in. He is in a cage next to the girls tent. He is actually doing better in his little cage than I thought he would.  This week we actually have NO games!

  One of the things we got the kids for Christmas were tickets to go to the Harry Potter Forbidden Forest Experience in Little Elm. I had bought tickets way back in August when it was announced that it was coming to our area. The kids had asked about getting tickets back then and I told them no because it was pretty expensive. However, after thinking about it for a bit, I decided we COULD get tickets as a Christmas gift. D and I bought the tickets and managed not to say a word about it until AFTER the kids opened their gift. I had been getting a little worried that they no longer wanted to go since after the initial asking they literally did not mention it again. There was no "I wish we could go" or "that looks cool". Literally nothing said about it again. However, they were really excited when they opened up their gifts. Even L, who I wasn't sure would care too much since she's not really a fan of Harry Potter, seemed to get caught in the enthusiasm of the

  Merry Christmas and Happy New Year  Fortunately, T was feeling much better by Christmas and, other than A, no one else got sick. We had brunch with C and his wife and my parents. It was nice. We had  Basketball Tournament a couple of days later, which we placed fourth overall so we did pretty well, but it feels weird that so many tournaments are held at such an already busy time for everyone. We really only have about 6 weeks left of basketball season because after state in the first week of February we really don't have a lot of games until Nationals in mid March, which we will be at Springfield for over a week. We decided to just stay at the same campgrounds we stayed at for both last year. They both had great internet so L will be able to keep up with her school. She is taking 2 art classes. She needs to start doing something, but hopefully won't get overwhelmed and regress in the progress she has made to be "normal" again. We're really not sure what she can