London Is 'Thriving'

Alyssa just met with London-Mila's kindergarten teacher.  She says Lon-Lon is 'thriving.'  Proud of my little girl!  

The only questions that I had going in where:

1 - How is she doing?
2 - Is she progressing at the appropriate rate?
3 - What does she do well and what does she struggle with?
4 - How is she socially?  Does she have friends?  Is she a leader or a follower?

Her teachers said that she has so many friends and talks to everyone.  Not just English speaking kids (because she is in a dual-language class).  They said that she is way ahead of where her big sister was at this point, which is a big deal if you know her big sister who has always excelled and is an achiever by nature.

London, you are a light on a hill that cannot be hidden, and I hope that you always shines your light bright before others so that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

A Weekend @ 6 Flags

Just a video and some pics of our time at 6 Flags!!

Fundamentals of Dribbling

It's like driving: when you can dribble (drive), you can go anywhere you want to go.  You have to have your eyes up, you have to pay attention, but you can go wherever you want to go.

When you drive, you have to keep your eyes on the road and you can't look down.  It's the same when you dribble - you have to keep your eyes up.  When you are looking up, you can see everything around you.  When you look down, you can only see what is below you.

Stay low in a good stance so that if the defense crowds and pressures you, you can quickly and explosively get away.  If you are standing up tall, the defense can crowd you and pressure you backwards.  Be ready and in position to attack.

Use your fingertips.  Learn how to make music with the basketball.  Play with the basketball.  Have fun with the basketball.

Let Your Light Shine

Last night, I made a mistake - I held you back when I should have let you shine.  I taught you a terrible lesson that I will work hard to undo - we work hard and we should be proud of our gifts, blessings and the work we put in to get the most out of what we have been given.  I won't do that to you again.  I am sorry.  Let your light shine so that in you others can see Gods blessings in and through you, and the work you put in to show your appreciation for those blessings.

You look forward to your games, and your family looks forward to those games.  You work hard for those games and we all love watching you play.  We travel to watch you play.  It's not fair to anybody to not let you play more because you are better than others.  What would be fair would be for me to play you as much as you work.

Matthew 5:16 New International Version (NIV)

16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

Doc Rivers talks about when one of his sons complained about playing time:

No coach wants to lose.  If you do the right thing, minutes go up. Kids need to learn how to fight for it and need to hear the truth father than hearing you bash the coach.  

"I support you and I know you can play.  But, you have to keep working and earning your spot [while respecting the coach and your teammates and while being a great friend and teammate.]

If You Want To Be The Best, Start By Being The Best That YOU Can Be.

If you want to be the best, start by being the best that YOU can be.

You have to practice, you have to work on yourself and your game .... everyday.   There are always people out there better than you, so you have to work hard knowing that someday you will meet and play against them.

Will you be ready?

You also have to find someone that believes in you, someone who has a plan for how to help you be the best you can be - and then you have you trust them.  You have to accept constructive criticism as just coaching and helping you to be your best.  Be happy when you have a coach that yells at you when you start walking or jogging because you have someone that won't let you fail.  If left to ourselves, we might not work as hard as we need to.  But when we have the right coach, they won't let us settle.  So be appreciative and thankful when you get that coach that yells at you to get better.

Finally, find the best and go play them.  If you're the best player in the gym, it's time to find another gym because you aren't getting challenged enough.  Nobody likes to lose, but if you never lose, you never grow because you get satisfied and your weaknesses don't get exposed.  When we lose, it forces us to face our weaknesses head on, learn from them, and grow them.

1 - WORK every day to become the best YOU

2 - Appreciate good, tough coaching

3 - Find the toughest competition

London-Mila the Homebody

London-Mila is the biggest homebody.  Anytime she is away from home for too long, she starts 'whimpering' to go home.

She loves her toys, loves her toy room, and loves her sisters.

On Monday, she was excited to spend the night at her Gammy's and was having s great time until she realized she was staying alone with her sisters.  Long story short, she ended the night at home with her family.

London-Mila loves her home.

4 years ago today ...