Sunday, December 25th, 2016

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Today was a fun day of relaxing with the family.  Nolan was really excited to open presents, and it was Maxwell's first Christmas!  Grandma Becky came down yesterday and spent the weekend with us.  Yesterday she baked sugar cookies with Elizabeth and then spent a long time frosting them in fancy designs.  I even made some peanut butter cookies with the Hershey's kisses on top.

Santa brought Nolan a scooter, marbles with a construction set that they roll down, and some mashems (Buzz and Woody).  We just got Maxwell some books, sippy cups, a couple little toys, and things that he will use since he doesn't really care much about presents yet.

Then we watched The Land Before Time, and Nolan thought that was really fun.  He kept talking about Dinosaurs all night afterwards.

Tuesday, December 20th, 2016

Tonight I took Nolan with me to Hilton Coliseum where we watched the Iowa State Cyclones defeat the Delta Devils of Mississippi Valley State, 88-60.  This was Nolan's 9th men's basketball game that he has attended, and his third game of this season.  So far, Iowa State is 9-0 is games that he has been to :)

Matt Thomas was the player of the game for Iowa State as he led the team in scoring with 23 points and collected 8 rebounds.  He was joined in double figures scoring by Naz Long (19) and Monte Morris (13).  Naz connected on 6 of 9 from three point range in the win.  Iowa State came into the game unranked after their loss earlier this month to the Iowa Hawkeyes.  It has been quite some time since I have been to a game in which the Cyclones were not ranked... ok, after doing some research I see that the last time I was at a game where the Cyclones were not ranked in the top-25 was back on November 17th, 2013 when they beat #7 Michigan.  That's impressive that they have been ranked for over 3 years!

Tonight was also the third time that I have seen Iowa State defeat Mississippi Valley State.  The previous times were on December 31st, 2014 (ISU won 83-33) and on December 31st, 2011 (ISU won 67-65).

A view of the action from our seats in section 216.

Nolan was a happy boy for the game :)

No scoreboard photo, but here we are with the court in the background.

Monday, December 12th, 2016

MAXWELL TOOK HIS FIRST STEPS TODAY!!!

I just got home from work a little while ago, and Elizabeth had a surprise for me!  She called me into the living room where Maxwell was able to take four or five steps towards me!  I'm so proud of him for being such a good walker.  I knew that he would be doing it soon... it seems like he has been walking with the assistance of holding onto objects (coffee table, couch, etc) for a month or two now.  Elizabeth tells me that he took a few steps towards her when she went to pick him up from daycare, so I suppose those were his true first steps.  She took a video of his walking today when she got home.  I even called grandpa Eben on Facetime so he could witness Maxwell walking.

After I got over the excitement of Maxwell finally walking, my next thought was to wonder how old Nolan was when he first walked (and who did it earlier?).
So from February 1st, 2016 until now... Maxwell was 315 days old (10 months and 11 days) at the time of his first steps.
In comparison, Nolan walked at 327 days old (or 10 months and 23 days) from July 14th, 2013 to June 6th, 2014).  I guess you could say that Maxwell is the "winner".

Monday, December 5th, 2016

Tonight I was able to take Nolan to Hilton Coliseum where we enjoyed watching the Iowa State Cyclones (ranked #25 in the AP poll) take down the Mavericks of Nebraska-Omaha, 91-47.  In case you are keeping track, this is Nolan's 8th time attending an ISU men's basketball game.  I listed the other seven times in my previous blog post if you are curious. Anyways, Nolan was a good boy for me and sat through the entire game.  I did have to bribe him with candy and a large Pepsi, but he made it.

As for the game, the Cyclones dominated from the start.  Deonte Burton recorded the first 13 points for Iowa State (in less than 3 minutes) to give ISU a 13-3 lead.  The Cyclones never looked back from there, and Burton finished with 20 points.  He was joined in double figure scoring by Donovan Jackson (15), Darrell Bowie (12), and Naz Long (11).  Jackson had a nice game off of the bench as he connected on 5 three-pointers.

This was the second time that I have watched ISU defeat Nebraska-Omaha.  The other was back in 2012 when the Cyclones won 93-65.  Another funny thing about this game is that the Mavericks just finished defeating the Iowa Hawkeyes on Saturday, 98-89.  How bad are the Hawkeyes??

Tip-off between ISU and Nebraska-Omaha.

Nolan and I enjoying the game from our seats (Section 216, row 16).

GO CYCLONES!!

Sunday, November 20th, 2016

This afternoon we were able to take our whole family to watch the Iowa State men's basketball game against The Citadel.  This was special because it was Maxwell's first time going to a basketball game, and I believe that this was Nolan's seventh men's basketball game.  Let's see if I can list the games Nolan has attended:

• 2013-14 ISU 110, UMKC 51.
• 2013-14 ISU 84, TCU 69.
• 2014-15 ISU 73, UMKC 56.  
• 2015-16 ISU 106, Grand Valley State, 60 (exhibition).
• 2015-16 ISU 106, Chicago State 64.
• 2015-16 ISU 80, Kansas State 61.  
• 2016-17 ISU 130, The Citadel 63.  

Brian Gleason was in town for the game, and he had some extra tickets in section 132, so naturally we upgraded seats for the game.  We sat in the 9th and 10th rows, so the view was spectacular.  Eben and cousin David drove down for the game and used my normal tickets up in section 216.  

The game was record-breaking in that the 130 points were the most ever scored by Iowa State in a single game.  It was also special in that Monte Morris recorded a triple double for just the 5th time in school history (he finished with 17 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists, and zero turnovers).  Because of that, he was an easy pick for player of the game.  Although, he was one of EIGHT players in double figures scoring for the Cyclones.  Morris was joined by Naz Long (26), Matt Thomas (18), Merrill Holden (13), Darrell Bowie (13), Solomon Young (12), Nick Weiler-Babb (10), and Donovan Jackson (10).  That's a crazy amount of players to score in double figures.  Coming into the game, The Citadel had the fastest pace of any team in the country.  Being completely out-matched by Iowa State, and trying to run at a fast pace was a recipe for disaster and led to the gaudy high scoring.  

Maxwell and myself at the game.

Here is the view from our seats during warm-ups.

Here Donovan Jackson is pulling up and about to hit a jumper in the lane.

Iowa State 130, The Citadel 63.

Monday, November 14th, 2016

Another blog post, another Cyclone sporting event... Tonight's game featured the Iowa State Cyclones (ranked #20 in the AP poll) vs. Mount St. Mary's.  It was not exactly a flashy win for Iowa State, but they did manage to cruise to an 18-point victory, 73-55.  I suppose I will go with Monte Morris as the player of the game for Iowa State as he led the team with 18 points.  He was joined in double figures scoring for the Cyclones by Matt Thomas (13), Deonte Burton (10), and Nick Weiler-Babb (10).

What I will remember most about this game is that the Mountaineers featured Naz Long's brother, Elijah. He led Mount St. Mary's with 19 points.  In case you were wondering, Naz had a bit of an off night as he shot 2-10 from the floor and scored 8 points.

Eben made the trip down to watch the game with me.  The last game he watched with me in Hilton was Iowa State's win over Texas Tech last season.

Iowa State wins, 73-55.

GO STATE!

Saturday, November 12th, 2016

Last night I enjoyed watching the Iowa State men's basketball home-opening victory over the Savannah State Tigers, 113-71.  My cousin David came along to the game with me, and then we went out and had a little fun at the bars afterwards :)  Elizabeth and the boys traveled up to Mason City for the weekend to visit Becky.  It was kind of nice to have a "night off" from childcare duties once in a while.

As for the game, the Cyclones dominated and led by as many as 43 points in the second half.  Monte Morris led Iowa State with 21 points, and he chipped in 11 assists without committing a turnover.  Other Cyclones that scored in double-figures were Naz Long (18), Matt Thomas (14), Merrill Holden (12), and Solomon Young (11).  It was strange watching a game without Georges Niang, and there were quite a few new faces on the team that I will have to get used to.  Anyways, it was nice to finally have basketball season return, and it was nice to watch a Cyclone victory!

I believe the 113 points were the most that I have seen Iowa State score in a game!