Mini Basketball...What exactly is that?

I really do love our school but what exactly is Mini Basketball I asked when my son called and said he wanted to coach it. His exact words were "I want to Coach Mini Basketball and you cant say no". I laughed. He told me what it entailed and I thought it was great. Of course I said yes.

So our school as some of you know is small. From K-12 (even though there is an Elementary school and a separate High school they are right next to each other) there is roughly 200 students total. These 200 students come from 4 towns that we call Big Valley. We have a JV team when we have enough players in High School and we have a Varsity Team always. After Basketball Season is over for the High schoolers they have a Mini Basketball Season for 3rd-6th graders. Its a week long after school. They start on a Monday and have a tournament on Friday.

4 amazing teams and all their helpers!

Its so cool seeing how many kids come out to do this. I don't have kids in elementary school anymore but if I did they would totally do this. How exciting for the kids to play and the parents to watch. Why is this special to me personally? The teenagers get to coach. So my oldest son Jackson (17) stayed after school to get to know the kids and coach them for the tournament.

Kellen on left, Jackson on Right and the Wolves!

The tournament is four teams and they get to play two games each. The Big Valley Lions Club sponsors it which is amazing. They supply the kids with all their T-shirts and all the stuff they need. We are very lucky to have them sponsor us. Its so gracious of them. Also, my good friend Becky also works really hard getting it together. She would die if she knew I even wrote about her. She is one of those people who never wants to be thanked and hides if she thinks someone is going to. Thank you though Becky!!

With a small town you always have a lot of helpers. We had the Basketball Coaches from high school helping, parents, Ms. Silva and lots of teens too helping with being a Ref or Announcer.

So Jackson had a hard first day or two when he went. He really wanted to be able to do more with the kids. We had a family discussion about how they look up to him and he needs to keep on keeping on. By Wednesday Jackson got his team which made him feel more like a Coach. At dinner he was talking all about each child and how excited he was. Heck his excitement made us excited. We were excited about him and the kids in his team.

Jackson became Coach Jack to them.

Friday came fast. It was a half day at school. Jackson stayed after school along with great volunteers to help his kids decorate their shirts. His team was now known as the Wolves. There were also three other great teams that they would be going against. Its funny to see siblings on different teams or bests friends. Its all in fun and each child got to play and play a lot. Go Wolves!

As a parent I was excited at the game watching my son be excited while he coached. I thought he did a stellar job always pumping them up, high fives and good jobs everywhere, and a big smile on his face. When one of his girls made a basket (she is really shy) he jumped up and down screaming. It made my heart swell! At that moment I wished it wasn't just a week. He had a plan on how to have every kid play a lot. They did too! I am smiling just thinking about this event yesterday.

Go Team!

They won both their games but even if they didn't they were all winners. The kids had so much fun. It was great seeing all the teenagers coaching. I loved being in the stands watching. It was a lot of fun. Really shows the lil guys how much fun Basketball can be and gives them someone to look up to also. Whoever started this event years ago was ingenious.

I was a proud mom. I was proud of my son and how he behaved with the kids. I love how he got a technical and talked to the Ref in a good manner. I love how he pushed his kids to do well and to lead them into doing well. I love how those kids became his friends and how he said on Monday he is going to keep it going by telling them how awesome they are. I love that he gave Gatorade to all his team. It was funny to hear the kids tell their moms they didn't need water because "My Coach bought me Gatorade!". So funny.

I never thought I would be the "sports" mom but I have been for awhile. Yesterday Jackson told me I was now the "Coaches" Mom. I really hope he does this again next year too. Its an amazing event. Couldn't be more proud of my kid and his team!

Thank you to BV Lions and all the Volunteers from Jackson

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My Small Town VS Big City

Being an Army brat I went to 22 countries before I was 20 years old. It was an adventure that I wish now I would of paid more attention too. We lived in big cities like Tokyo, Japan or Munich, Germany. Stateside we were always in big cities too. Funny how I should end up in a town of 250 people that is actually big in size because of all the ranches. I thought I would write a blog about the difference between this small town and a big city so all of you see what we do here.

1.When I moved here seeing the stars at night was amazing! If it wasn't cloudy there were a billion of them. The moon was so bright we could almost walk around using that as our light source. There are so many stars to be seen that once a year many travel here to go to a Star Party in our town. People bring telescopes that are larger than I am. Its pretty neat to be able to see Saturn's rings up close. I love that you can at least weekly see a shooting star.

2. Small towns means everyone know each other. When you go to get gas at Juniper Junction (our only gas station) you are met with a smile and a hello. Its not fake....Shari and her crew already know your name and genuinely care when they ask how your day is going. They also do flowers, balloons, gas and its our only place in town to rent movies.

3. We only have one restaurant which is really good. Its open for lunch and early dinners. They have good home cooking BBQ on the weekends. Its a small town so most of us have a tab there and pay weekly or monthly. Great service and again....everyone knows your name. Its kind of the place to go too. Its packed a lot of times especially on Friday nights and Sundays after church. The Oney Frosty is the ONLY place to go! Love the girls that work there! They know your drink before you even ask for it. If you go there though try their milkshakes!

4. Living so far out we don't have mail service to our homes. No one in town does actually. Everyone has a PO Box. The only time we will get mail at our homes if you order something and FEDEX or UPS brings it to you. Even then you know you live in a small town because they bring your dogs snacks and know them all by name. No one is afraid to leave it on the front porch if you aren't home because who wants to drive down the 5 mile dirt road to get to your house to even look.

5. Traffic....When I first moved here we made a video of the "traffic" because we found it so different. Let me show you a pic of "traffic" in the hussle and bussle middle part of town. If two cars are on the road then its normal. If three cars are on the road then you start to wonder if everyone is going somewhere and you didn't get invited ha!

6. The cost of living is lower here. More so I mean in the sense of rent. There aren't apartments to rent or apartment buildings anywhere. Its either a house, Mobile home or a trailer. Most houses are nice ranch houses with lots of out buildings, barns and sheds. Some are extremely nice but most are modest nice houses! Cost of renting a house though is much lower. Probably because there aren't many people who don't live here for a long time. I will give you an example. A four bedroom 3 bathroom house with acreage goes for less than 1000 a month. Most cities that would be a one bedroom apartment. When we moved here we stayed at THE LAST RESORT IN ADIN for two months while waiting on our house to open up. Its a motel that has 6 rooms. Its super clean and we were treated like family. Kerri who runs it makes sure that all is good for you in every way. She even helped us find the church we go to and when we were at a basketball game made us dinner. Dave and Linda the owners were fantastic. We were really blessed. Everyone is so hospitable.

7. The school is pretty neat here. Every teacher pretty much knows every student in the whole schools name. If the kids do something at school you better believe I will know what happened before they even get home. News travels fast in a small town. There are about 200 students K-12 grade here. Its 4 towns together that go to this school. The classes are small and you really get that one on one attention that you need. It would be really hard for you to try and hide and not be known. The kids have a lot of sports even though its small. Football, Volleyball, Basketball, Wrestling, Baseball, Dance, Softball and Track. Kids can stay pretty busy. There is a lot of clubs also like Science Club or 4h, FFA and leadership etc. Its not just the parents that are involved. The whole community comes out to these events and really support all the kids. GO CARDS!

8. Cooking. Planning meals is something you really had to do. We do have a corner store that has meats, milk, canned foods etc in it. Its high priced though so its really for going to grab something if you ran out of it. They do have pizzas and sandwiches there which is cool. Mostly though to get to a real grocery store its 70 miles away. Also that's our nearest Starbucks. When you go shopping you really stock up. Its not going to buy food weekly but usually bi weekly or monthly. Most people with large families freeze their milk or bread and thaw it out when its needed. A lot of people but not all have gardens during the summer and some can their foods. It seems like everyone has a deep freezer for meats. You really do have to plan your meals out if you want to follow a recipe. We have to stock up being a large family. We have one deep freezer and are purchasing our second next month. One is filled with lamb and chicken and the next will be full of beef. That leaves the inside freezer in our fridge for ice, ice cream, etc.

9. Its pretty cool because you get to see land for miles  without any obstructions even. I love it here because I love all the animals that are all over and I have a fondness to Barns. Don't know why I love them but I do. I take pictures and paint them a lot. Just on our ranch we have cows, horses, lambs, dogs, cats and soon to be chickens. Usually we have a couple pigs also but we haven't picked them up yet. I love driving on the country roads. Breathing in the fresh air and being able to see for miles. It was funny when my nephew came to visit ( he lives in Maryland) because he just could not get over the fact that their weren't buildings everywhere. He also though it was too quiet. I personally love the quiet.

10. Everything does seem to be far away but that's what makes an adventure. If your child comes home the night before an event and says, "oh Mom I need black pants and a red tie tomorrow I forgot to tell you". Its not like you can just run out and get it. You can call up your friends which happens a lot between the parents to see who has what. Home Depot is 2 hours away which makes it difficult sometimes. If you want sushi that's two hours away too! A movie theater is about 45 minutes away. The nearest stop light is about that far too. We do a lot of planning. When we go to the city we have a list a mile long and fill up the truck to capacity when coming home. You better believe I have a Starbucks in hand though. When someone goes to the city they also call their friends to make sure they don't need anything that they are missing. I love this town.

There are a lot more differences of course. Probably millions....okay probably just hundreds but those are the top ten that come to my mind. I love living here. Our friends are amazing and so so kind. The town itself is cute and every one waves as they drive by one another. Their are some downfalls but not many. Things may be far away, people know everyone's business, the bus stop is 5 miles away so its not like the kids can walk home, and ohhhhhh I don't have DSL and it drives me crazy that I have to be on satellite and there is a cap each month so that does drive me crazy. The rest of it though I love! Wouldn't trade it for the world. Still am going to travel a lot because its good to get out and experience the world....no matter where you live.