The team. They finished 2-1 today.
Steve presenting Tyler with his 2nd place tourney metal.

After a long weekend of snow we headed to Cherokee yesterday for the Regional Spelling Bee. The top 13 spellers in Northwest Iowa competed for the top 2 spots to head to Ames for the Statewide bee. Tyler competed very well. Half way through Tyler got the word "carrot".

carrot

My friends call me carrot top because I have orange hair.

carrot

The audience laughed and afterwards Tyler admitted he did too. He got the word right but later on missed a word. He ended up receiving 7th place for his efforts. He did a very good job representing St. Mary's.

After 3 days of no school and being cooped up in the house Tyler went outside to brave the cold temps, wind, and snow to play. I took this picture standing at the kitchen window. Tyler's sitting on a snow drift that had settled right in front of the house. It's no New York but it's enough.

Today at school the Annual K of C Spelling Bee was held. Tyler won for his class. Once again he will be heading to Cherokee on March 4th for the regional spelling meet. Wish him Luck!!!

Two weeks ago Tyler tried out for Honor Choir. Honor Choir is a special group of 5th and 6th graders that travel to Sioux City and perform at Morningside College to an audience. They only take four 5th graders (two boys and two girls) and Tyler was one of them picked. He's very excited to be chosen.

During the halftime of the boys game the team got to play a 5 minute game of 3 on 3.
With Dimitri setting a screen Tyler drives around to the basket.

Tyler playing point guard yelling out play #5.

With ISU on a 5 game losing streak Rich and Tyler (in full ISU gear) headed to Ames. Fortunately, with a little "Tyler magic" and a Wesley Johnson dunk to get the party started, ISU came out on top over Baylor. Afterwards, Rich treated to Chili's for a celebratory dinner. Before we left we had to get in a few rounds of foosball in and playing catch with Rambo and Zella.We left Sunday morning to get back in time for bball practice.

With his finger unwrapped ready to play some ball we headed to Alta for another tourney. The boys won 1 and lost 2. Tyler had a personal best with shooting 55% from the field. Dad you'll be happy to know a lot of them were driving to the basket, in the paint, and layups the old school way (arms straight up using the backboard).

Good job Tyler! Way to go!

After a week of me writing Tyler's homework, classmates carrying his books, and the doctor giving the OK: his wrap is off. Just a yellow green bruise, a good x-ray, and an odor coming from between his fingers to show me he's ready for another basketball tournament this Saturday.

Then to end the day we took a trip to the ER. There we found out he fractured his ring finger and will be wearing this make shift immoblizer for the next week.
During the last game of the day, with an unknown broken finger, Tyler show good defense. The boys ended up 2-1 for the day. They really started picking up the pace and playing together as a team. Good job boys!!!

To start the trip to Pocahontas at 8 a.m. Dimitri, Cole and Tyler sing "100 bottles of gatorade on the wall to loosen up." Their music teacher would be so proud.

With Steve sporting his coaching skills and Tyler his new 'do we headed out in the snowstorm to play in the St. Mary's tourney. The boys played well and worked together as a team to bring their record to 2 wins and 1 loss. Next Saturday we head to Pocahontas for another tourney.

Tyler and Chad participated in the National Elks Hoop Shoot this afternoon at the Middle School. Both boys did a great job representing St. Mary's in the 10 & 11 year old division.

Christmas break has been a fast and adventurous one. First, I had 16 for Christmas dinner. Then Tyler had a wonderful hunting trip with his grandpa and Uncle. Go to "My Uncles Blog" and check out the pictures. The rest of the vacation will entail getting ready for his first basketball tournament which will be on the 13th.

The first annual St. Mary's Icebreaker 3 on 3 tournament was held yesterday. The team was divided into 2 groups: black and white. Each team won 2 games and lost 2 games. This is their first 3 on 3 tournament. The boys did a good job of playing together and Steve did a good job of coaching. They have a month to practice before the tourney season begins. Good luck boys!!!

Thursday night St. Mary's held their Christmas concert. This is the 5th grade with their instruments singing to Child of Peace.
This year Tyler had the oppurtunity to join Show Choir. They practiced every Thursday morning at 7:30a.m. The kids chose the song "Life is a Highway" by Rascal Flatts to move and groove to. They did a good job for their first year.
As if Tyler's room was lacking for plaques he received another one Monday night. This time from 4-H. One year ago he joined the SSSE (Shooting Sports and Safety Education) group. He just completed Air Rifle. Next he will be learning Shotgun.

No new pictures to post just some news to report. We've had a busy last couple of weeks. Thanksgiving weekend brought about a lot of fun for Tyler. We attended a Musketeers hockey game in Sioux City and went hunting with grandpa (no pheasants were brought home). Then on Saturday he spent the night with the Smith's visiting his twin cousins. Then home for another round of Dodgeball.
This week also brought Steve's first practice as coach for Tyler's basketball tournament team. Yesterday Tyler's team in NBA ameteurs lost the championship game. It was a close game and both teams did very well. Today is another day of basketball practice and dodgeball.
It is also Andrea's birthday today so "Happy 32nd Birthday Andrea".
Everyone have a good week and we'll write at you later.

As Rich calls it "Tyler magic". Tyler's never seen the Cyclones lose a football or basketball game. Yesterday was no exception.

What a weekend. Ours started out like this. Saturday morning Tyler played 2 games of basketball at NBA Ameteurs. Their team tied the first one and won the second game. While we were doing that, Steve was in Des Moines accepting Tyler's award for track champion. He received a plaque, coat, and $150 in prizes. After the ball games it was off to Ames to see Coach Mac lead the Cyclones onto the field for one last time. In true Cyclone fashion it came down to the last play of the game but this time ISU prevailed 21-16. Then it was back to Storm Lake where we spent the evening at the Sitzmann's playing games, laughing, and having a good time.
Today is another fun filled day of open gym, dodgeball, and meet the team night at school. Hope everyone had a good weekend. I know all the Cyclone fans did!!!

Here Jasmine Demers is getting beamed with a 7 inch screamin' dodgeball, while Hannah and Tyler look on.

Intramural Dodgeball

As if Tyler wasn't involved in enough activity already, along came Dodgeball. For the next 6 Sunday evenings, teams of at least 4 boys and 2 girls will compete against other 5/6th grade teams to see who is King of the Dodgeball World. Tonight the 5th grade team beat the 6th grade team 4-3.

Steve and Tyler participated in the Annual Turkey Shoot. Each kid and their parent shoots 15 free throws. The pair with the most wins a free turkey from Sara Lee. Tyler and Steve each made 10 baskets to win the 5th grade boys group.

Tyler is participating in NBA Amateurs for 6 Saturdays. The first 3 are practice and drill days. The last 3 are game days. Tyler and his team are in the light blue shirts and they are the Timberwolves. They won their 2 games today. Tyler made the game winning basket in the last game.

Tyler defending his opponent, his good friend Chase, whose birthday party he was at last night.

Cole and Joe

Dakota and Tyler W.

Tyler and his project on Egypt.

Rachel and Hannah

Tyler with his group of Moses and Diew. They did Africa with each kid featuring a different country.
Chad and Dimitri

The 5th grade had World Day today. Each group of students picked a topic that they wanted to report on. Steve got to the classroom for a look and taste at the kids' projects.