MARCH MADNESS!

March truly was MADNESS for the Holland family this year, and what a wild ride it was!

The Memphis Tigers crushed our CUSA competition, again, and won our second straight CUSA Men's Championship. Also, our 2nd straight season without a loss in the conference! Poor guys...

The CUSA tournament featured Caroline's conducting debut, shown here...and Nicholas posing with Tiger great, Anfernee "Penny" Hardaway!






Every year, Nick invites the traveling pep band (the "road band") over to the house to watch the selection show (29 people plus us crammed into our house...yikes!).
Here we are anxiously & eagerly awaiting our seed...






Then we were off to Little Rock, Arkansas for our 1st & 2nd round games, against Texas-Arlington, and then Mississippi State. Other than our first game, I thought we could definitely lose every other possible game in the tournament - boy was I wrong!

We were away for Easter, which was sad for us, but I made the most of it and had "church" with 18 of my students at the Hilton in Little Rock. We had a sweet time together that morning, and managed to beat Mississippi State later that afternoon.

Off we flew to Houston, Texas for the region semis & finals, which meant more meal money for the gang! Here I am passing out envelopes on the plane!






Houston was grueling, but we had a great time. We visited the Johnson Space Center with NASA, and after dismantling Michigan State, we enjoyed an evening in Kema, Texas which is a really neat "carnival" type boardwalk area on the Galveston Bay.
Here's me flying a simulator with the Space Shuttle program...and yes, I'm shuttle simulating and talking on my cell phone...








Before our last pep rally in Houston, I snuck a bite away from the crowd...we were about to face UT in Texas (U-texas that is), and I didn't think we had a prayer...until we hooked 'em!






Check out San Antonio...

Best Friends @ Pajama Day

We had to share this photo of Caroline and her best friend Kennedy Williamson at "Pajama Day" at Sycamore View Pre-school.














And how about a hearty shout out to the team at Sycamore View...they just received their highest accreditation score EVER!

(I think it's because Karen added a "science unit" when she mixed her tea-to-go in her bottle of water)

Seriously though, let's hear for the outstanding teachers at Sycamore View Pre-school! They are truly amazing ladies!

Easter Morning with the Hollands!

One of the highlights of our Easter Celebration is to dress the kids in their new Easter clothes! Here are Nicholas and Caroline sporting their Easter Sunday finest for 2008!

Easter is always a beautiful day in our house, but was a little bit sad this year, because Nick had to be away with the Men's Basketball team in Little Rock, AR playing Mississippi State. At least the Tigers won the game to advance to the Sweet 16 for the 3rd year in a row...

Seeing these two precious ones can make you pretty homesick!

Caroline's New Dress...



































Nicholas' new Sport Coat...














Here are the two of them posing together...How 'bout that in your Easter basket!

Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!

Finally! We had a snow day in Memphis this year...What a hoot!

It came on Friday night, while Nick and the Memphis Pep Band were on our way home from Orlando, Florida. When he got back to Memphis at midnight on March 8th, there was between 4 & 6 inches of powdery snow!

Saturday morning, Nicholas, Caroline, & Dad played in the snow before having to go to the last men's basketball game at home. Karen was stuck having to work, and made her first solo flight/drive in the white stuff...the van came home without a scratch! It was too powdery to make a snowman, believe it or not! We actually had a hard time making snowballs to throw at each other. The next day, there was just enough to toss some at each other when we got home from church...

Check out these photos from our Snow Day 2008!

Zoo Action!

Nick, Nicholas, & Caroline enjoyed some "Zoo Action" on Sunday 2/17/08. Karen was working, so Nick grabbed up the kids, some snacks, some water, and the camera - and off we went to the Memphis Zoo!

We got some amazing shots, starting with this lion! He was most comfy...














We also snapped a neat shot of one of the orangutans, and the giraffe baby with the family.


























One of my favorites shots of the day came courtesy of the African Elephant. Amazing!















Here's a slide show of all the pictures taken today...be sure to check out the Pumas!

The C S Recorder Ensemble

We've posted many times how much we love the C S - here's just one more reason. During a recent family gathering (see earlier posts), Mrs. Susan Van Dyck's recorder ensemble played for the school.

There is a magic wand being waved in her classroom, and we can't wait until Nicholas gets to dig into music even more deeply in her class. Wait until she gets a hold of Caroline!

Our the School's Director, even mentioned that Dr. Holland would be looking forward to these young musicians joining his band at the UofM -

The City Championships

Last weekend, Nicholas' Trinity Cardinals (his 1st & 2nd grade basketball team) played in their first tournament ever. They won their quarterfinal game 24-16, and Nicholas score 10 points and had several rebounds. Later that day, they won their semifinal game 20-8, and advanced to the Championship game in their first tournament ever!

Here is Nicholas stroking his free throw at halftime to boost the lead -















Tonight, they held a 12-11 halftime lead, but ended up falling to St. Luke's 27-23. They fell behind 8 with 2 minutes left, but fought back valiantly to the end. Nicholas had 5 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 assists and played all but 1:30 of the game. What a warrior! All the Trinity Parents are EXTREMELY proud of our CARDINALS! And the competition better watch out - we'll be gunning for the title again next year!















LET'S GO CARDINALS! 2008 CITY RUNNER-UP!