The Sturgeon Family Page

2009-2010 Nuggets (Drew's Basketball Team)

noreply@blogger.com (John) — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 15:47:00 +0000

Drew's basketball team (The Nuggets) has had a truly roller coaster season. They got a great coach, but their skill level just wasn't quite up to where some of the other teams were. The first few games saw the team improve so much they were playing toe-to-toe with the best teams in the league. Unfortunately, the season (a 10 game season) saw them lose heart-breaker after heart-breaker (last minute baskets by the other teams, 10 point leads vanish in the final minutes... 10 point comebacks just fall short, etc....). It was tough to watch these kids drag themselves off the court each week, beaten and bruised *literally*, after giving it their all and coming up short.

They finished the season 3-7, and were seeded pretty low going into the playoffs. Their first game was against a 7-3 team that had beaten them two times during the season. They got off to an early lead (seen this before ...) and held them off in a dramatic last couple minutes to advance to the next game. The kids were ecstatic. Unfortunately, the next game was against the #1 seed (the 9-1 Blazers). Our boys had played them hard in both games during the regular season, but the blazers won both times. The Blazer's had beaten the team in their first game 50-35, and were ready to go. The winner of this game would go onto the championship game, and the loser would drop down to the loser's bracket where they would play an extra game to try to advance to the 'third place' game. The game was amazing (I had to leave just about every whistle to walk around, relax, etc...) Our boys had the lead the entire game, but with just 40 seconds left the Blazers scored a basket to take the lead 25-24, their entire team, all their parents in the stands, jumped up/cheered... I kind of saw it coming the whole game, just another heart breaker. At about 30 seconds, one of our kids (Cole) was fouled, and since their team was over the limit, he got to go to the free-throw line for a one-and-one (which means if you make the first one, you get to try for a second one). He hit his first shot to tie it at 25; the place was jumping.. he missed the second, and the Blazers got the rebound (I'm hoping perhaps overtime???). Their best shooter got the ball, but was fouled. He went to the line and missed his free throw (maybe 20 seconds left at this point). Drew's team in-bounded the ball, and one of our good shooters (Logan) was fouled with 11 seconds to go. He made his first free throw to give our boys a 26-25 lead. The other team never really got another shot after that, and Drew's team won, pulling off a huge upset. Today they play for the league championship, but as far as we're concerned, they have already had an amazing run.

Great day with the boys today

noreply@blogger.com (John) — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 04:25:00 +0000

Had an awesome day with the boys today. Ann took her sister out for her Birthday, which meant it was "just us boys". We played some basketball, watched the US-Canada Olympic Hockey Game (ouch... ), and played x-box. Loads of fun.

Looking forward to a white Christmas

noreply@blogger.com (John) — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 18:56:00 +0000

Taken from my car this AM.

Snow has been falling on and off for a few days, the kids only went to school one day this week! Forecast is for more snow, and cold through Christmas. And, well, as the song goes. Since we've no place to go... Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.

Bowling at Big Al's

noreply@blogger.com (John) — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 16:32:00 +0000

The family has arrived, and we spent most of the day before Thanksgiving visiting around the house. Later in the day, we took off to Big Al's for some bowling fun. Uncle Tom (to the left) set the hight score for the day with a 155. It must have been the rolled up pant legs...

And the Family cometh!

noreply@blogger.com (John) — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 15:08:00 +0000

Today, the entire Sturgeon clan arrives for Thanksgiving. We're quite excited; as I type this the boys are getting up early. Matthew has diligently kept the calendar on the wall of his room up to date, crossing off every day as it approaches. The plans right now are to have some family fun today, maybe bowling, and tomorrow... well, it's pretty much football and eating :)

Daylight Holiday Special train ride

noreply@blogger.com (John) — Wed, 18 Jan 2006 18:15:00 +0000

We had a blast riding the Daylight train from OMSI to Oaks Park. Tickets were reasonable, and the whole family had a great time. Santa was on board and gave the kids candy canes. But really, the main event was the train! Getting the chance to ride the Daylight was something that we weren't sure we were ever going to get to do, and the kids loved it.

There are a few more pictures of the trip if you're interested.

Happy Halloween (2005)

noreply@blogger.com (John) — Wed, 02 Nov 2005 21:37:00 +0000

Drew and Matthew had a great time for Halloween. The weather was miserable right up until the kids were ready to go, then the rain stopped. Of course, they had to wear jackets but that didn't stop 'em.

We only trick-or-treated for a short time, as the kids really enjoy handing out candy to the other kids more. I have a feeling that will change in the future.

This is the probably the last 'friendly' costume year, as Drew announced that next year he wants to wear a scary costume "with a spoooooky mask!". Matthew said no way, but about an hour later, out of the blue, he says: "You know... I think I do want to wear a scary costume next year".

Halloween fun

noreply@blogger.com (John) — Tue, 02 Nov 2004 00:27:00 +0000

We had a great Halloween. Both Matthew and Drew dressed up as Astronauts, I'll get some pictures up as soon as I can.

We spent about an hour going through our neighborhood, and I have to say that so far this year was the most fun. Drew was more excited than I think I've ever seen him, and Matthew just feeds off of Drew.

After we hit much of the neighborhood, we came back home and handed out candy. You have to understand our neighborhood. Kids are shuttled there in vanloads just to go trick-or-treating. This year we bought candy for about 400 kids and in the hour (maybe) that we actually were back at home handing out candy, we gave out over 1/2 of it. The kids got to bed an hour late, and were wiped. Mom and Dad had some candy and went to bed...

Diversion of the day

noreply@blogger.com (John) — Fri, 10 Sep 2004 18:15:00 +0000

Engrish.com

A bit of catching up

noreply@blogger.com (John) — Fri, 06 Aug 2004 01:30:00 +0000

Last I blogged, we were going to have my parents come to town, do a bit of camping, and go check out the boats for fleet week. Well, we had a great time with Nana and Papa, and Drew and I stayed in their trailer overnight while they were here. It was Drew's first camping experience (if you really want to call it that... gee, let's see 30' trailer.. .big popouts... yeah.. tough life kid), and he had a great time. I'll post with a bit more detail and some pics later.

A big weekend ahead

noreply@blogger.com (John) — Wed, 09 Jun 2004 16:19:00 +0000

We have a big weekend coming. My parents are rolling into town with their fifth-wheel, and camping/visiting for a bit. On Friday, I'm going to take the day off, and we're going to go to Fleet Week at the Rose Festival here in Portland. The kids love to see the big ships. Then on Saturday, we are going out to visit my parents at Ainsworth State Park, and Drew and I are going to be staying overnight.

Tooth #2

noreply@blogger.com (John) — Sun, 23 May 2004 17:13:00 +0000

He pulled and he tugged... Then he swallowed. For two days, Drew worked on getting that second tooth out, then last night during dinner, it finally appeared to be coming loose. It was literally hanging on by a thread. Finally, towards the end of dinner, Drew said: "It's gone".

Me: "Your tooth?"
Drew: "Yes... I can't find it."
Me: (having a good idea here that it went down with the Chicken) "Drew... I think you swallowed it".

Now Drew's reaction here was quite interesting. He didn't seemed really that bothered, just more intent on finding his tooth. I think he was under the impression that if he didn't find it, that the tooth fairy wouldn't come.

Drew: "Noooo... I didn't swallow it... It must have jumped out. Maybe it fell out! Let's look for it."
Me: (After a brief, unsuccessful search) "Drew... You know, the Tooth Fairy will still come."
Drew: "Oh... Well, I still want to find it."

We never did, but before bed, Drew wrote an adorable note to the tooth fairy, which, when I get a chance, I will scan in, and left it under his pillow. Guess what. The Tooth Fairy came ;)

The tooth fairy cometh

noreply@blogger.com (John) — Sun, 16 May 2004 16:48:00 +0000

Stick with me. It's kind of a long story, but cute.

Last night the Tooth Fairy made a visit to our house. Growing up, my Tooth Fairy experience was pretty typical. Lose a tooth, wrap it up in a Kleenex, stick it under your pillow, wake up, find a quarter. Ann's was a bit different. Lose a tooth, put it under your pillow, wake up the next AM. Tooth still there. Mention it to Mom. (Mom goes "oops"). Try it again the next night. Hopefully, after two or three nights, she got a knock on the door, and magically the Tooth Fairy left a little something on the floor outside. I haven't asked Ann what happened to the tooth.

We decided to go with Tooth Fairy version 1.0 (my version). The only problem is that Drew just turned five, and the concept of a quarter (or whatever inflation would warrant since my experience 30 years ago) would be completely lost on him. We decided to go with a small toy.

Now here's where it gets a bit complicated. The Tooth Fairy can't really stick Legos under his pillow without him waking up at some point too early (say 5am), seeing them, and wanting to get up and play. So the Tooth Fairy decided to leave them on his night stand.

Then next AM, Ann got up with Matthew at his usual 6am, and I slept in a bit. I got up at 8am, and Drew was still asleep. Ann mentions that he has been making noises since 7:30, but hasn't gotten up... This was a bit unusual, but not unreasonable. 8:30.... 8:45... Now it's getting a bit weird... 9am "Daddy Daddy!" I go up there "Daddy, I have to go pee, but I'm not ready to get up yet". "Really buddy? Are you sure?" "Yep I'm going back to sleep because the Tooth Fairy hasn't come yet." Oh. Now it's all making sense. "Drew, Maybe we should look around the room a bit to see if the Tooth Fairy left something." Drew: "Oh Wow.... " Me: "Drew... Are you ready to get up now?" I couldn't believe it, the little guy stayed in bed all AM because he thought that the Tooth Fairy hadn't come yet.

Drew's first tooth

noreply@blogger.com (John) — Sat, 15 May 2004 23:32:00 +0000

Drew lost his first tooth today. I'll get a picture up as soon as I can. He's so excited. The thing has been "hanging on by a thread" (as Drew said) for days now. As a parent, I have witnessed many milestones in my son's life, first step, first words, his first day at pre-school, but for some reason, every time I see that kid smile and there is a tooth missing, it reminds me that he is growing up. This one seems to have had a lasting impact on me.

Round 'em up!

noreply@blogger.com (John) — Wed, 12 May 2004 21:49:00 +0000

Kindergarten roundup was quite a bit of fun. Seeing 50 or 60 five year olds gathered in one place is great, but what is amazing is seeing two teachers corral those kids, and keep control. Drew is definitely excited about school. At first, he thought that this was going to be the first day of Kindergarten. I think Matthew wants to start Kindergarten as well (wait a few years kid-o).

Too much time, not enough blogging

noreply@blogger.com (John) — Tue, 11 May 2004 22:02:00 +0000

I just wanted to throw out a quick update about what's been going on with us over the past few months.

Drew is getting ready for Kindergarten. Or perhaps more accurately, we are getting ready for Kindergarten (paperwork, immunizations, government forms.. and Kindergarten Roundup!).

Ann and I each recently finished attending our respective Cursillo. It was a great chance to deepen our faith.

I continue to work on our Linux Home Theater PC (What a geek... I should put some pictures of it up here...)

Thanksgiving Travel

noreply@blogger.com (John) — Thu, 04 Dec 2003 21:07:00 +0000

The family traveled down to the Bay Area for the Thanksgiving holiday. As I get more time, I'll post a couple stories and photos. We had a great time down there, we visited each of our families for three days, and they both layed out the red carpet for us and made us feel very much at home. The flight was a bit hectic, next time we might just take two days and drive.

Hunger site

noreply@blogger.com (John) — Wed, 05 Nov 2003 00:39:00 +0000

One more plug for the hunger site... If you didn't read my earlier post, please read my earlier blog about it.

Pumpkin seeds

noreply@blogger.com (John) — Mon, 03 Nov 2003 23:31:00 +0000

Now that Halloween is over, you probably guess what's next. Yep, pumpkin seeds. Normally, I just do the plain old salt-em, and roast-em pumpkin seeds, but this time, I decided to try something slightly different. For those of you who want to try something new, here's what I did (note These amounts are approximations. I'm the kind of cook that just kind of throws everything together, and occasionally something good happens):

Two pumpkins worth of seeds (maybe 2.5 Cups?)
1.5-2 Tbsp of butter-margarine
Salt (to taste, whatever that means when you're putting salt on something before you're cooking it...)
Cayenne pepper (to taste... that means just a little bit... maybe a teaspoon? I really haven't the faintest idea, because I just kind of sprinkled it on, and then thought... 'hmm.. that wasn't very much... I hope I can taste it...')

After gutting your pumpkin, explain to your four year old that you're not killing it, then take the seeds and rinse off all of the pumpkin goo (which you should now stop calling pumpkin guts just before carving eyes, nose, mouth etc, in this thing that -- to your four year old -- is beginning to take on life).
Soak your pumpkin seeds in salt-water overnight (how much salt? How much water? Who knows... Just guess, it'll all work out in the end)
After soaking, spread them out on a pan or something and let them dry. This can take well over a day.
Once dry, combine the seeds and butter in a big bowl, and add the salt and cayenne pepper (just a little bit.. not too much here)
Pre-heat your oven to 300°F
Spread your seeds out on a cookie sheet, and roast until they begin to turn slightly brown (usually 15 minutes) stirring every 5 minutes.

Good Luck!

A bit too cold for Halloween

noreply@blogger.com (John) — Mon, 03 Nov 2003 22:43:00 +0000

As temps dropped into the teens, it was a bit too cold to march the kids outside at night. As an alternative, there was a trick or treat event earlier in the day at work. The kids got all dressed up, and came to work, and along with many of my co-workers kids, followed a pre-drawn path around the entire site for almost two hours. While that was fun, I think Drew had much more fun handing out candy to the kids as they came to our door later that evening.

At one point, some kids came to the door, and there were only five pieces of candy left. As Ann went to get more, Drew was explaining to the 10-12 kids standing there that we were out of candy. "Sorry.... we've run out of candy, we only have five pieces left." Fortunately, Ann returned to the door before the egg-throwing and rioting began.

Halloween is coming

noreply@blogger.com (John) — Tue, 28 Oct 2003 22:41:00 +0000

The kids tried on their Halloween costumes today, and they are very excited. Drew is going to be a firefigher, and Matthew is going to be BOB THE BUILDER (click on the pictures for a larger version). As is the annual tradition, temperatures are forecasted to drop into the high 20's. Prompting the Halloween in the NorthWest quandry: "Should the heavy jacket and rainpants go over or under the costume?"

Front yard fun

noreply@blogger.com (John) — Mon, 27 Oct 2003 21:31:00 +0000

This weekend, we had some unexpectedly nice weather, so the kids and I took to the front yard. Drew just loves to draw all over the driveway with sidewalk chalk. He draws trains... loooooong trains. He could seriously be out there all day. (click picture for full size)

At one point, we saw a Praying Mantis hanging out on one of our bushes. Drew was fearless. He actually petted it!

Giants Lose!

noreply@blogger.com (John) — Wed, 08 Oct 2003 23:53:00 +0000

Yep... they lost to the Marlins in the NLDS. Not much to write here, except ughhh!

The Giants are in the playoffs!

noreply@blogger.com (John) — Mon, 29 Sep 2003 23:50:00 +0000

The regular baseball season just finished, and the Giants are in the playoffs. I'm very excited that they have a chance to redeem themselves for last season. Not that they didn't have a great season, it's just that bad feeling of having the World Series in their grasp, and letting it slip through their fingers.

The Great Football Pool is back

noreply@blogger.com (John) — Mon, 29 Sep 2003 22:02:00 +0000

For those of you who know me you probably also know that every football season I run The Great Football Pool, which is neither 'Great' (some people think it is ;) or a Pool. We are in, I think, our 10th season. If you are interested in learning more, you can check out the web site, and send me an e-mail to request a login.