Xander and Clare

Always has a ball at-the-ready during Clare's basketball games so he can go out and shoot during timeouts.

Teaching me how to play Qwirkle.

Practicing his selfie skills.

Improving. :)

Still building stadiums...

The Seattle Mariners caravan came to town and I took the kids and Xander's teammate Josh.

Clare was pretty excited about seeing the Mariner Moose.

Meeting former Mariner catcher and announcer Dave Valle.

Happy kid.

Meeting our new closer Steve Cishek.

The Moose disappeared back onto the bus before Clare could snap a picture with him, but this worked out just as well.

The boys got autographs from everyone, but then decided they needed to go back through the line to get photos taken with each player, as well.

Meeting lefty pitcher Charlie Furbush. (Yes, there was a clothing change mid-meetup, as X had to get ready to go to basketball practice.)

The boys' photo appeared the next day on the Seattle Mariners' Twitter feed (a retweet from WhatcomTalk's post.)

Clare has wanted "a boy haircut" for, well, years. We finally said go for it, kid. Here's one last shot of her longer hair.

X being shorn on the left, Clare (way at the back) on the right.

Adorable. And she loves it!

D-Block watching a nail biter of a game just before they play.

Their coaches -- former WWU basketball teammates -- are just the best.

Subs!

Some days, Clare is so excited to play Minecraft when she gets home that she forgets to take off her winter coat.

A photo on the wall at school recognizing great readers.

Jump!

Clare's final game of the season was a bit rough, even though her team won. She had to defend a girl on the other team who routinely shoved her around (until our coach talked to her coach and she got pulled for much of the rest of the game). Clare handled it really well (and so did I -- I bit my tongue, knowing her fantastic coach would take care of it). She's a brave, tough, tenacious (yet kind) one, that Clare.

What a fun season.

Go, Crushers!

Birthday party for Soheil.

I barely recognized this too-tall-for-the-loveseat kid, what with him wearing jeans and a collared shirt.

Waiting for the show to start at Mount Baker Theatre.

We went to hear a retired astronaut, who I interviewed for an article for work, Dr. Stephen Robinson. We basically got to see his home movies and photos from his four space shuttle missions. It was great!

Pre-Super Bowl stadium-building with our neighbor Sydney.

One of Clare's Lego creations.

Clare branded herself with this star sticker because,
"I'm the best Grounders player in my class!"

The Valentines are ready to go. It's the last year Xander will hand them out for a class party.

All the D-Block teams (5th through 8th grade) met up at the Squalicum vs. Lynden game last night.