It is interesting to observe the differences in the twins’ personalities
by the way they play basketball. Davey always has a smile on his face. He loves
the running and the contact of the game. Unfortunately, Davey has little to no
idea what to do or what’s going on, but he’s enjoying every minute of it!
Benji, on the other hand, is dead serious. Winning is important to him , and he
wants the ball in his hands with the game on the line. Benji may be a little
smaller than the others, but he won’t back away from anyone. With a much
greater understanding of the game he knows just what to do when he gets the
ball. At every opportunity, Benji will bring the ball down court, make a move
to the paint and take the shot, like a typical point guard. On Saturday, Benji
scored his first basket this season. It won’t be his last.
TBT – Look how little Benji and Davey are here. We tried to photograph every
old train along our way to California in 2011, and we found a real surprise at
the Arizona Historical Society Pioneer Museum in Flagstaff. It was an “Owensboro
Wagon”, and a covered one at that! I’d never seen one of these. At first, I thought
maybe a pioneer family bought it in Kentucky for their migration westward, but
the local “Owensboro Wagon” dealer’s stamp was printed clearly right on the
sides, “Sold by Babbitt Bros Trading Co Flagstaff Ariz”. Now how cool is that?
An authorized Owensboro dealer in Arizona!
Benji entered my room and asked how to spell “Draw”, and then ran back
to his room with the answer. Soon he returned asking me how to spell “How” and
then disappeared again. After it was uncharacteristically quiet for a while I wondered
into his room to see what was going on. It was amazing. On his own, he figured
out how to find Google on his computer, and then he typed “How to Draw Abraham
Lincoln” and found a YouTube video on that exact topic. Benji had a book on the
president but didn’t like the drawing in it, so he decided to draw his own. He
is an extremely talented artist, but also a pretty smart, capable, and determined
first grader.
As he learns the game, several of Davey’s natural traits will serve him
well in becoming a great basketball player. Davey’s not afraid of contact, in fact he relishes
it. He began life posting up his twin brother for the first position in his
mother’s womb, and so holding a basketball defender in check in the paint is
second nature. Davey’s also courageous. He’s never been afraid of older, larger
kids, even when that would be prudent. Perhaps seeing this, Davey’s coaches
often match him against the opponent’s biggest players, as they did Saturday. While he couldn’t quite yet match their size
and basketball experience, one learns from the best and by season’s end, Davey
will be better a better player.
It was a gloomy, rainy Sunday afternoon, but mommy made it fun. I
wondered why she was saving empty milk jugs. Today, Sandy and her boys brought
them to life with a little felt and glue. What this photo doesn’t capture is
the blinking Christmas lights flashing inside the jugs. Not only was this a fun
family project but also another Cub Scout project. Well done!
Davey is so proud of this train! He built it completely by himself.
Earlier in the week, he made a mistake at school and his punishment was one
week without his train room. All of his favorite toys were off limits, so he
built his own. First he built the locomotive complete with cab, boiler, smoke
stack, dome, and cowcatcher. He then built the tender and passenger cars. This
project illustrated his thorough understanding of trains, his ability to
assemble his vision for the materials available to him and his stubborn
determination to play trains even when they are all off limits. He is a very capable
boy.
Applesauce for Benji - Compared to his twin, Benji was slow to lose his baby teeth. However, he's been catching up quickly. In a short period of time he's lost four front teeth. Such a hole will slow his apple a day habit, but applesauce will keep him healthy. After seeing Benji's new smile, several people suggested the hole looks like the Batman logo and Granddaddy Edds began calling it the Bat Cave, which Benji loved!
