Tuesday, December 23, 2008

I AM Smarter Than A Fifth Grader...

...at least I think I am.

Yesterday I was a Target shopping for a few of the final pieces to this puzzle that is my Christmas shopping... or should I say was my Christmas shopping, because I AM DONE!!!

Anyway, I was in the toy department and spotted a Nerf Hoop, which brought back many very fun memories. My cousin Aaron and I had many a fiercely contested games of one-on-one and H-O-R-S-E back in the day. So I thought Summer might like a Nerf Hoop and if she didn't then Nicol and I would have fun shooting some hoops. [ ;-) ]

The first thing I did when I got home was tear open the package and to put my new gadget together and play a little. The only problem was I couldn't figure out how to put the stinkin' thing together. I was like, 'I know I can do this because if I could do it when I was in 5th grade, surely I could do it now.'

No such luck.

There were 5 steps, complete with diagrams, on the back of the package. Steps 1-4 were a snap. Step 5? Different story. The hitch? I couldn't figure out how to attach the bracket to the backboard so that I could hang it over the door. I messed with it until I was ready to slam dunk it (pun intended) in the trash can. Then Nicol and Summer got home and I very meagerly asked Nicol if she could figure it out. Nope. Two almost-40-year-olds, one with a degree in political science from Wheaton College, the other with a master's degree from Moody, and neither one of us could figure that thing out.

Fastforward to this afternoon... I looked again at the diagram for step 5 and noticed something that I didn't see last night. I had been trying to attach the bracket in completely the wrong place... and I wasn't even in the right ballpark! So I found the right place and, presto, my Nerf Hoop assembly mission was complete.

Next, of course, came the mounting on the door.

And then, the first shot.

Swish!

And after all that, I found out that I AM smarter than a fifth grader. [ :-) ]


My new toy.

13 comments:

rthling said...

Nothing but net!
Swish!

Merry Christmas to you and your whole family.
I'll be praying for you to have peace.
Love in Christ,
Diane

Anna said...

So funny! Have fun playing...

Scuba Girl said...

If you were a woman, we'd all say, "You go, girl!" BUT since you're not, we'll all say, "Rock on!"

Paige said...

Will and Mark have awesome competitions in our foyer with our nerf goal...you would think it was the end of March out there or something! All for bragging rights til the next match up!

Enjoy!

Katie said...

Merry Christmas Sponberg family. Contiunuing to keep you in my thoughts and prayers.

Tamara Mitchell said...

Merry Christmas to you and your family! I will be specifically praying for you all during these next couple of days.

Anonymous said...

Greg,

What a fun memory. Thanks for the reminder!

Why didn't you just ask Summer? This grandmother thinks she already is smarter than a fifth grader!

Merry Christmas to you, Nicol and Summer!

Love,
Mom/Grammy

Ang said...

Have a very Merry Christmas
Ang

Taylor Luv said...

I just got done doing the same thing, the same nerf set.... talk about confusion and alot of muscles to get that net part into the plastic (well not too much muscle once you figure out the trick to getting the net in the plastic piece) :) I plan on my boys 8 and 10 to enjoy many inside games til they can get their new basketball and football outside in the warm weather again!

Gotta love the into nerf sets for the middle of the wintery snow months!

Hope your holiday went as good as gets for you Nicole Summer and lil Lukey in heaven!

Penny said...

Just a note to say we have been praying for your family. I hope your hearts are healing. Your children are beautiful!

Just a side note I was blessed with Nicole singing on Life today. I love the song Breathe of Heaven and Nicol did a wonderful job!

Bethany said...

We had the EXACT same problem with that toy! lol Except we ended up ripping the backboard and couldn't figure out how to connect the over-the-door hook to the rim....sheesh! So it's hanging on our two boy's bunkbed rail. Oh well! Still works!
Merry Christmas to you all!!
Bethany in Michigan

Pam D said...

Came here from Bring the Rain.. and we have the exact same Nerf hoop on my son's closet door. And we had the exact same problem putting it together, which tells me that God wires our brains differently than the way the instructions were written. (that's my story and I'm stickin' to it!).
Praying... simply praying....

Chris Lee said...

Thanks for the post! Was struggling with the same thing. Google to the rescue. Your image showing the last bracket actually went on the top of the backboard was what saved me. I kept trying to attach it to the plastic bracket at the bottom.

Cheers!!