Picture of the Week - 12/27/2018

Wow!  What a fantastic week!!!  We jammed a LOT of really great stuff into the last 7 days!!!

First there was the wrestling tournament last weekend.  So much fun watching this team!  Great families.  Great kids.  Great attitudes!  It's SO refreshing to have sport without drama!  I'm a fan!!

Then we got home and jumped STRAIGHT into Christmas celebrations.  We had a blast celebrating with my sister and her family - and of course with Berber and Pappy.  We laughed and played inappropriate games.  We ate and drank - and then might have drank a little more.  Good times for sure!

Christmas with the boys was amazing.  They had just the right amount of fun surprises mixed in with the obligatory wrapped chapsticks and other assorted toiletries.  We watched movies and put together Lego space ships and played with dart guns that are nearly as big as Beckett.  I love this crazy family of ours!

Then yesterday we went to get the newest little member of our family - Brutus!  We've been anxiously awaiting him for a few weeks now and the boys were ridiculously excited to get him home.  He's not disappointed!  He's SO cute!!  And he's SO chill!  Ozzie has been FAR better than I thought he would be.  I was really worried that he would be mean and jealous and aggressive toward a puppy, but he pleasantly surprised me.  We haven't had to separate them since yesterday evening and they even took a nap within feet of each other a little while ago.  I think they will be good buddies very soon!

Here's a picture of our dudes in matching wrestling-themed jammies and a bunch of cute pictures of Brutus.  (He's a European-style light-colored golden retriever.)

Thank you for spending another year with us!  Have a VERY Happy New Year!  Catch-ya in 2019!

Picture of the Week - 12/20/2018

Happy Thursday before Christmas!!!

I can't believe it's already December 20th.  Where in the world did this year go???

Today we are off to Pigeon Forge for some family fun and wrestling tournament excitement.  I've really been looking forward to this trip because it is the start of all kinds of Christmas and holiday fun!!  I love the traditions and the time off work and the chance to recharge batteries and reconnect with all my favorite people.  Yay!!!

We get home on Sunday.  Traditional Christmas Eve brunch at Tricia's and then movies in the fancy-once-a-year treat theater with the cool reclining seats.  Christmas morning with monkey bread and a quiche which only I will eat.  Then dinner at my parents with fun cocktails and lots of laughs.  Then we get to go get the puppy!!  I can't wait to get Brutus home.  I'm not really looking forward to the introduction to Ozzie...  but we'll get through that...

Stay tuned for pictures of wrestling, Christmas-y fun and puppy-cuteness overload!

Picture of the Week - 12/13/2018

Happy mid-December from Scotland!

I'm wrapping up my week in the office over here today and get to head back home tomorrow.  This picture is kind of the perfect summary of my week.  It's a combo of thinking about, worrying over, and prepping for Christmas all while working my tail off over here this week.  I really can't wait to get home.

We will hit the ground running in preparation for the rest of the year pretty much as soon as I get my feet back on Georgia soil - and I am SO looking forward to the coming chaos.  

I still have to finish shopping and start baking.  I haven't wrapped a thing.  I have to pack for our mini-vacation to pigeon forge.  And prep for a puppy!  Like it's a seriously long To Do list, but it's chalk full of fun and happy things.  I am ready to dig in and get festive!

This weekend Quinn is wrestling down a weight class (he's been sick and lost like 5 pounds in the last week) in a JV tournament.  Spencer is off for the weekend (aside from a practice).  Zane and Beck are wrestling on Sunday.  I'm ridiculously excited to just sit and watch wrestling in a gym for 2 days, despite the fact that it's going to put me even farther behind on getting stuff done.  

Have a great week everyone!  And enjoy all your holiday preparations!

Picture of the Week - 12/6/2018

Goodness!!!

Some weeks I really struggle to find something interesting to share.  This week there's TOO much!!!  Where to start...

Last weekend Spencer and Quinn started a tournament on Friday night.  In this same tourney last year Spencer didn't make it out of Friday evening - it's a double elimination.  So we weren't sure what to expect this year...  what happened was NOT one of the options we had planned out.  LOL  Life is like that, right!!  Wrestling season is DEFINITELY like that!  Spencer ended up hyper extending his knee doing a takedown in his first match and was out for the weekend.  Quinn went 1-1 and pinned his second opponent to make it into Saturday competition.  I was so happy for Quinn!  He didn't last long on Saturday, BUT he got there and that's pretty darn awesome!  Check out this cool picture of the 2018/19 Varsity squad!  I'm so proud of my boys!

Zane and Beckett were also wrestling on Saturday in their very first wrestling tournament.  The pretty much got stomped, but they had a blast.  The were already asking when the next tournament is almost before they were even home.  They go again on the 16th.  Beckett got to wrestle 5 times and went 1-4 - he also lost a tooth during his second match.  If it's possible, the missing front tooth makes him even more irresistibly adorable.  Zane was in a weight class with only 3 kids in it, so he didn't get as many opportunities and went 0-2.  He was pretty bummed about the losses, but has spent a TON of time this week thinking about (and then talking about) exactly what his opponent did to beat him.  He learned a ton!

Then on Sunday we got a NEW PUPPY!!!!  I'm so so so excited!  His name is Brutus and he's a golden retriever.  He's really light colored and ridiculously cute.  He was born on September 15th and will be around 14 weeks old when we bring him home.  The timing was probably not ideal because of all the travel we have coming up (see below), but the breeder we found has a cool program where they will keep the puppy and complete training with it.  This is kind of like a win/win!  We got the puppy we wanted and when we bring him home hopefully he will already have MAD SKILLS!  LOL  We are picking him up the day after Christmas.

Tomorrow I am heading to Scotland for a week.  Both the time of the year and the meeting agenda for next week have me kind of dreading the trip.  Bright side...  the weather over there this weekend is going to be nicer than here - weird!  AND Edinburgh is pretty gorgeous at Christmastime.  So I'm going to find my silver lining...  as soon as I pack.  Until then I just feel unprepared!!!  

While I'm gearing up for a UK trip, Bob is packing for a whirlwind trip to Orlando for a wrestling tournament.  He's driving 5 of the wrestlers and they leave at 5 AM Friday to return sometime in the wee hours of Sunday morning.  Thank goodness for Berber and Pappy - otherwise Zane would be in charge for 48 hours.  LOL

When I get home it will be mid-December and we will still have last minute shopping and wrapping and baking and a mini-vacay to Pigeon Forge (wrestling tourney) to cram in before Christmas.  We also have to prep for a PUPPY.  I'm just taking one step at a time - and maybe this will be the year of the New Years cookie platters...  

Have a great week everyone!  If you are so inclined to send some "energy vibes" my way - I could use them!

Picture of the Week - 11/29/2018

Greetings and happy last Thursday of November!

Today is an MBA exam day for me.  That is much like a normal work day - with the added "fun" of having to drive to the Georgia State campus to take an exam I don't feel ready for on a pretty nebulous topic.  Good times for sure!  Bright side - it's not raining and I don't have to drive in rush hour!  Also after today I will have one more module/class DONE!  Onto the Entrepreneurial Management and Leadership assignment and prep for the Analytical Decision Making module coming up in January.

In other - more interesting and fun - news!

• We bought new furniture for our living room!  Yay!  This is probably only fun for me (and Bob is good about pretending), but I'm excited!  
• Spencer and Quinn are knee deep in wrestling season.  They had a dual last night (Quinn lost, Spencer got a forfeit win).  They have an individual tournament this weekend - double elimination which starts on Friday and goes into Saturday if they can get a win the first night.  The wrestling schedule for the next month is BANANAS!  Next weekend they go to Orlando, then they have a very rare weekend off (to recover?) before going to Pigeon Forge the weekend before Christmas and then Louisiana the weekend after Christmas.  Wrestlers get no holiday break...  they just eat vegetables and workout.
• Zane and Beckett are also gearing up for some wrestling fun!  They are doing their first tournament this Saturday.  (Note that if the big guys do well in their tournament that necessarily means that either Bob or I will have to miss the first tournament for the little guys.  Ahhh...  divide and conquer...)  They are excited.  I'm excited for them!  I hope they love it as much as their brothers.
• Next week I am headed to Philadelphia and am SOOOOOO happy that the weather looks like it's going to be in the high 40s/low 50s and not snowy.  An overnight to Philly for work is bad enough without having to worry about weather-related travel issues!  Then I have to put away the overnight bag and pull out the big suitcase for my last trip to Scotland for the year.  This one will have me gone for a week and will, essentially, be the last of the heavy-lifting for my (paid) job this year.  I have lots of PTO time and I'm taking most of the rest of the year off!  I.  Can.  Make.  It!

Have a great week everyone - stay warm!

Picture of the Week - 11/22/2018

Happy Thanksgiving 2018!!!

Enjoy the day and all the blessings in your life!

Picture of the Week - 11/15/2018

Quickie update this week because I just got home from a work-trip to Nashville that was pretty much the opposite of "fun" in just about any way I care to measure it.  

Putting that behind me and gearing up for a fun weekend!

Spencer's football team is still in the playoffs and will be traveling to play on Friday night.  

Saturday Quinn (and Spencer IF they lose on Friday, but if they win on Friday, he's still out for wrestling for another week) will get to participate in the first varsity dual of the year.  I much prefer Duals to individual tournaments.  And if you had told me 2 years ago that I would even HAVE a preference, I'd tell you that you were a little crazy.  

I'm ridiculously excited for the holiday week next week!  I'm going to enjoy the heck out of a one-day work week!  And we are hosting a wrestling tournament on Tuesday which should be a fun time!  Then it's holiday season!!!  Woot!!!

Here's a fun picture of Zane & Beck that I'm sure all our Buckeye fans will love.  LOL

Picture of the Week - 11/8/2018

This guy...  you guys...  my heart explodes with pride...

Quinn is wrestling this year.  I think I've talked about this before, but not really in any depth.  Bob and I really wanted Quinn to wrestle this season.  We like the life lessons that wrestling teaches.  It forces you to be independent, confident, mentally tough.  We knew that wrestling would help Quinn in many ways - focus, strength, character, etc.  We also really wanted him to spend time with the coaching staff that had SUCH a positive impact on Spencer last year.  These are GOOD men.  And when you are raising teenage boys, it's really vitally important to surround them with good men.  That old phrase that it "takes a village" is SO true when it comes to teenagers.  What a coach says to them (and what behavior is modeled) has FAR more impact than any lecture mom or dad is going to give!

So we really encouraged Quinn to wrestle.  We played up the positive benefits he would see on the lacrosse field from wrestling and (probably) downplayed how hard it would be on him.  We got Spencer involved in the "sales pitch" too.  And ultimately, when Quinn decided to wrestle this year, we were thrilled!

We were also about to be really shocked.

Given the amount of coercion involved in getting him to sign-up, we were ALL unprepared for the intensity with which Quinn would embrace the sport.  From nearly the moment he decided he was in, he was ALL IN.  He started working out in the summer.  He attended most of the voluntary events.  He made friends with other wrestlers.  He changed his schedule so he would have weight training with the wrestling coach - and about half the team.  He worked hard on learning the sport.  He came home sweaty and tired.  He was sore.  He got muscle definition!  He earns a new "personal best" bench press or squat or whatever just about every week.  He has become somewhat obsessed with his diet.  He's turned into a WRESTLER - and isn't just someone who is on the wrestling team.

The transformation has been amazing - and awe-inspiring.  

And then you look at him and remember his past.  Sometimes I just stop and think about all the things he's overcome and am reminded that he is amazing.  I am convinced there is nothing in this world that child, check that...  that young man, can't overcome if he wants to do it.  He's the definition of a growth mindset - and kind of my current role model.  

Oh...  and he's earned a starting varsity spot at 126 lbs at this weekend's first VARSITY wrestling match of the season.

So.  Proud!

In non-wrestling Quinn news, if you don't mind sharing a wee prayer for him on Monday, he's going for a cardiologist appointment.  It's a check-up and should be boring...  but prayers for boring would be much appreciated!

In non-Quinn news...  both Spencer and Beckett are still playing football and their teams are in the playoffs.  Zane is done with football and has also moved onto wrestling for the winter.  As a matter of fact, I'm typing this from the car while Zane is in at practice.  The overlap between sports seasons is rough!  I'll be pretty glad when we can hang up the football cleats and break out the headgear x4!

Picture of the Week - 11/1/2018

So here's a "truth bomb" I saw on a GIGANTIC sign on the Royal Conservatory of Scotland on my walk from the hotel to class this morning.  

Life is not a dress rehearsal

Such a good reminder.  Such an important fact.  

Go live...  to the fullest.  For me, that means making the most of the time I have here working on this MBA with these fabulous fellow students and then eagerly awaiting my return home to "my people".  I may be off doing great and wonderful things (far too often), but my heart is where my boys are - and I miss them terribly when I'm away.  While it's often hard, it's part of my story - and I'm going to make the best of it.  After all, this isn't a dress rehearsal and I don't get a do-over!

Have a great week everyone!  I'm back home on Sunday after filling my brain with information about Entrepreneurial Management and Leadership!  Can't wait to see those smiling faces waiting for me at home!!

Picture of the Week - 10/25/2018

How often do you REALLY pay attention to someone?  I mean REALLY connect in a way that let's you see them and understand them and (ultimately) support them?

I have LOTS of acquaintances.  I have some friends.  I have a small group of people I love - a lot.  But I am not always connected to these people.  Not, at least, enough to pick up on the subtle cues and the unspoken.  To be honest, not all of "my people" really require me to be deeply engaged.  Beckett is just OUT THERE and you know what he is about without really trying very hard.  He's easy to read.  And Quinn is another one who is open and confident enough to just say what he thinks.  He's not manipulating the situation or looking for some ulterior motive.  He's Quinn and he's pretty perfect.  (BTW - WHOLE post is needed to talk about Quinn and wrestling season and freshman year and how dang proud I am of him...  but I'm saving that for another day...)

The other two boys are not so straight forward.  My oldest is hard for me to read.  And I mess up with him regularly.  He's actually far more sensitive than he seems - and far less likely to actually tell you what's going on in his head.  The benefit I have with Spencer is that I have a lot more practice with him.  And he's more mature and more capable than Zane.  So while Spencer and I clash more often than I'd like, I am pretty confident that he's gonna end up just fine!

Zane is really subtle and tricky and it's super easy to miss his cues.  If you just go about life and don't stop and proverbially smell the flowers, you will totally miss SO MUCH of Zane's personality.  Zane is in that phase where he's trying to figure out his crowd.  He is just on the verge (or maybe already into the shallow end) of the awkward social pecking order time of his life.  I know from my older guys that this is a really sucky time - but it passes and high school is SO much better!  Given that Zane doesn't often let anyone into what's really going on in his head, I worry about helping him through this phase.  We'll do it, but I know it won't be easy with him for 2 reasons.  One - he overthinks everything.  He thinks through all the possible situations and comes up with alternate scenarios and outcomes.  He does this with everything.  His mind is truly impressive.  The second reason this will be hard on him is that he's actually really sensitive and needs far more reassurance than I'm used to given - and have needed to give to his brothers.  He needs more comfort and confirmation of security.  He needs to know he's OK and he belongs.

He needs frequent hugs!

For anyone who's been reading these weekly updates for a while, you may remember what happened with we first moved Zane out of the security of a crib to the freedom of a toddler bed.  For months he slept UNDER the bed with a vast collection of stuffed friends and blankets barricading him in so that you couldn't even see him.  He was perfectly happy in that cave for a long time.  It provided him with comfort and security.

Through the years this need to feel safe and secure could be seen in the fact that he almost always wants a good long snuggle when he wakes up - from his bed that is covered with stuffed friends.  Recently he has convinced Beckett that they should move all of their friends and blankets and pillows into their closet every weekend so they can sleep, together, surrounded by fluff and plush and softness.  They make a giant mess, but have a great time.  And I don't mind any of this because I know this cozy little cave that they build fulfills something that Zane needs to feel settled.  

I hope I can stay close enough to Zane to stay tuned into what's behind some of his odd behavior.  I hope I always remember to look beyond the obvious and try to understand what's going on with him.  

I hope I am always around to give him hugs.

Picture of the Week - 10/18/2018

Tomorrow Beckett turns 7!

It's so cliche for me to say that I can't believe he's been around for 7 years, but it's also so true.  He feels like he's always been here!  It seems like he's always been sitting at the chair in our kitchen eating dry cereal or sausage pancake on a stick (with the stick removed and cut into pieces).  

It seems like he's always been at Zane's side and always contributed to the impressive noise level in our house.

And then I stop and actually look at him and realize that he's definitely NOT the same boy he was even a few months ago - and definitely not the mellow, laid back baby we first brought home 7 years ago.  Once upon a time, Beck was super content to sit and watch what was going on around him.  Little did we know that he was really just filing away ideas for future chaos in his mind.  

Beckett has recently gone through a big growth spurt.  He's outgrown all his summer PJs and every pair of pants we've tried since the weather finally turned cool enough for pants last week.  We laugh every night when he squeezes into those PJ tops with a strip of his belly showing all the way around.  (Mental note - definitely time to do the closet purge!)

Beck has always been the most athletically coordinated of our boys.  Who knows if this will translate to athletic success as he gets older.  It will definitely depend on how much he wants to work to get better, but the deck is stacked in his favor.  He's sturdy and smart on a football field.  He's a natural lefty on the lacrosse field, a big benefit for an attackman.  And he's vicious and fearless and quick on a wrestling mat.  He'll be pretty fun to watch over the coming years.  Oh and he taught HIMSELF how to ride a bike without training wheels this year.  Classic 4th kid thing to do...

Our darling, sweet youngest child is kind of a hellion at school.  He's not super prone to wanting to listen to directions or settle down and work quietly.  He's not shy about displaying his displeasure at being told what to do and has shared his feelings in some interesting (and appalling to me) ways.  We have talked to his teacher, the counselor, etc.  They all love him, but suggest that he's being held back by his behavior issues.  My mom gut tells me it's a phase and he will grow out of it - just like Quinn did.  I refuse to medicate him and really don't want to crush his spirit in the process of trying to get him to learn when it's appropriate to sit on the circle on the floor.  It's a delicate balance that I'm hoping we will master soon!  Things do get better most weeks with the occasional two steps forward, one step back and since he's mastering pretty much all of the 1st grade standard work and reading on nearly a 3rd grade level already, I'm not super stressed about this.  It's just one of those things that makes you question all the parenting abilities I think I have after tackling this job for the last 16 years.  

I can't really describe accurately how much I love any of my boys, but this one is especially difficult to describe.  He is not only a super cool dude in his own right, but he's made our family OUR family.  He's filled in a hole that I don't think we even knew we had with his special and unique personality.  He stretches us at the exact same time he soothes us.  He's one of my very favorite people in the whole wide world and I can't wait to see what this year brings for him!  

Happy 7th birthday Beckett!

Picture of the Week - 10/11/2018

I love October!  

I love the events that happen in October and the weather in October and the swap to soup for dinner and sweatshirts on Saturdays.  Such a fun time of year!

This October, like ones before it and more to come, is full of football.  We have 4 games a week - give or take a game.  Last week was a SUPER fun football week!  Spencer had a really great JV game on Thursday night.  He had a bunch of important tackles - including a solo killer tackle on about the 3 yard line just before halftime, a sack on the quarterback and a fumble recovery.  Beckett was up next on Saturday morning with his coach (who happens to be married to me!) and his team brought home a big win with Beck scoring a touchdown and 2 extra point conversions.  Beck is the first Bovy boy to even score in a tackle football game!  We wrapped up Saturday with Zane's team winning too!  Zane is playing Center this year and had a great game.  He also got to play on the d-line and had a handful of tackles (against some gigantic kids) late in the game.  Fun stuff!

Here are some fun football pictures.  The ones of Spencer are the series of shots of his sack.  And the others are from the football photographer this season.  He makes the boys put on "game faces" which always make me laugh.  

Have a great October week everyone!  I'm traveling (for the first time in a while) next week and kinda dreading it.  I've really enjoyed my time home the last couple of months.  

Picture of the Week - 10/4/2018

I know lots and lots of people who say that the fall is their favorite time of the year.  I think it's mine too!  Although I do love something about all the seasons, so it's hard to say that just one is my favorite.

Fall is the time of year that kicks off all our fun traditions.  We are creatures of habit and having these little consistencies year after year just makes things feel comfortable.  Am I right?

So many of our traditions include pictures.  I justify the drama these sometimes cause with the knowledge that someday I will have these pictures to look back on and remember all these crazy, busy fall days where it's often impossible to stop and acknowledge all the awesomeness around us.  

Bob looked at me the other day and asked if I was planning to stop doing the birthday picture collages when the boys turned 18.  To be honest, I'd never really thought about it.  But yeah...  I guess I will.  I mean, once they are out of the house I don't suppose I'll really have so many pictures of them.  I guess that means I also only have a couple more years of all these traditions with the whole family.

Like Burt's Pumpkin Farm.  

I have pictures from Burt's EVERY SINGLE YEAR since Spencer was 1.  Those pictures chronicle the growth of our family from 3 to 4 to 6 - and I guess they are going to also capture the coming shrinking back down to 5 and then 4.  I am not sure I'm OK with that...  It's really the first time I've stopped to think about how daily life will change when Spencer (and then Quinn) leave.  I mean, we've talked about going to college and we've discussed who moves to what rooms.  We have sort of thought about the big stuff.  But not the "small" things...  and now suddenly these small things feel big.  I have 2 more Burt's trips with Spencer.  3 more Christmas's.  Sheesh...  talk about a gut punch!

So my goal is to not let these things sneak up on me.  I am thankful for the reminder that time is fleeting and these boys of ours will fly away before we know it - and before we are ready.

Spencer got his license today.  He's now legally able to drive solo - and with a family member in the car.  He has to wait 6 months before he can drive a non-family member around.  This is fine with me!  It still means he turns into an uber driver for his brothers!  (I'm probably more excited about that than I should be...)

Coming events...

- Tonight - Spencer JV football game

- Tomorrow - Spencer Varsity football game

- Saturday - Zane and Beck both have games again - and they are HOURS apart, which means I get to see both!  Yay!

- Quinn's fall lacrosse season really gets going this weekend too and he's got games every Saturday in October.  

Now if only the weather would catch up with the calendar and cool off...  it's supposed to be near 90 for the next 3 days.  I'm ready for jeans and sweatshirts instead of shorts and sweat for all these games!

Here's my favorite picture from this version of the Burt's trip.  And after contemplating on how quickly the next 2.5 years are going to go, I'm gonna treasure it for a long time!

Have a great week everyone!

Picture of the Week - 9/27/2018

Sweet 16 and Nifty 9 birthday edition picture of the week!

Today we celebrate Spencer's 16th birthday.  

In some ways it's completely unimaginable that he's 16 years old and in other ways I can't believe he's only 16.  

Spencer has a wise, old soul.  This doesn't mean he doesn't occasionally do silly teenage boy stuff.  I chalk that up to an under-developed prefrontal cortex.  (No really...)  He has a quiet confidence and natural ability to talk to people that will serve him well for a long, long time.

Spencer has built some great relationships with a really good group of kids.  I love that he can bounce between groups and has friendships with lots of people. 

We really couldn't have asked for a better role model for the other boys than Spencer.  He's doing well in school (not awesome, but we're working on that) with a very difficult course load while still playing 3 sports and regularly putting in 12 hour days between school and practice.  It's a tough schedule - and yet he rarely ever complains - except about homework.

I can't wait to see what this year brings for our oldest.  He's getting his driver's license this week.  He's getting more freedom - and more responsibility.  I have no doubt that he will SLAY everything that comes his way this year.  And I couldn't be prouder to stand behind him as his biggest (or at least co-biggest with Bob) supporter and cheerleader.  

Happy, happy birthday Spencer!  Enjoy every day!

****************************

We also get to celebrate another birthday on Saturday!  Zane turns 9 in just 2 short days.  

Zane is kind of famous these days, but he really doesn't even know it.  His unique, and highly sarcastic and honest, personality is regularly shared in Bob's Bus Stop Zane stories.  If anyone thinks these stories are embellished or exaggerated, I assure they are not.  He's like that all the time.  He's ridiculously quick witted and processes information on several different levels.  Having raised two 3rd graders already - and been around a lot of them - he's pretty unique.  

Every day Zane seems a bit more equipped to handle the everyday frustrations of life.  Sometimes he still loses his mind when things don't go the way he expects they should.  He's pretty stubborn - and often doesn't communicate super well.  So it's hard to talk him off a ledge when the carefully laid out path he has in his mind verges off course.  This is a maturity thing - and a resiliency thing - and something that we continue to work with him to handle.

Zane is a breeze student - he just doesn't find school hard - so he can focus on the things he likes and really enjoy them.  Right now he is really into STEM (science specifically - less so math) and reading.  He's also into video games and plays Minecraft and Fortnite and who knows what else!  

Zane's best buddy is Beckett - hands down.  Beck is also his biggest enemy.  I suppose you can say they are Frenimies!  They play together SO well and are constantly helping each other - they play video games together, sports together, read together, fight together, scheme together...  Those two are really the epitome of brothers!

Zane also has very special relationships with the older boys.  He worships Spencer.  The bits of attention that Spence gives him are received with awe and he really blossoms from the smallest gestures.  Zane views Quinn as a semi-parent - and definitely as an ally when he's having a spat with Beckett.  I'm pretty confident that Zane knows that Quinn would help him with just about anything he needed - just about any time he needed it.

9 years old can be sort of an awkward stage, but I think Zane is going to flourish this year.  He's really enjoying football this year - as he gets to play Center and some Defensive Line.  This winter he is psyched to wrestle and I can't wait to see him on the mats after all he learned in Jui Jitsu.  And then in the spring it's back to lacrosse - where I expect he will have a great season as one of the oldest boys in the U9 program.  In the middle of all of that, I'm sure he will also continue to entertain his BSZ fans (and his parents) with his special "take" on life.  

Zane is going to celebrate his birthday with his friends next weekend once everyone is back from fall break, but we will be busy celebrating him on Saturday with waffles, and cupcakes and creme brulee (his choices).

Happy, happy Birthday Zane!  Tahnks for being such a special little dude!

Picture of the Week - 9/20/2018

It's been a while since I have heard from lots of people on this distribution list.  Everyone out there?  Anyone want me to stop bothering them with my weekly drivel?  

Hit reply.  Tell me something going on in your life.  Or tell me to get lost...  

News this week:

• Spencer JV football game tonight
• Spencer Varsity football game Friday
• Beckett and Zane football games on Saturday
• Then we are packing the whole sweaty crew in the car to head north where we are meeting Bob's sisters and mom at Kings Island for a good old fashioned "Roller Coaster Day"!  Complete with ponchos and rain showers...
• Next week is fall break - we'll be celebrating by moving furniture, getting flu shots, and shuttling Spencer back and forth to football practice.
• We will also be celebrating a 16th birthday next Thursday and a 9th birthday next Saturday.  Pretty sure that means CAKE!  

Hit reply - go ahead...  do it now...  I'll appreciate you for it!!!

Picture of the Week - 9/14/2018

Bob and me at Spencer's game last night.  

Have a great weekend!

Picture of the Week - 9/6/2018

It is SO good to be back home and surrounded by the "boring" day-to-day.  I don't know that we are really BORED all that often, but it's also not like we have super new, fun, exciting stuff happening all the time.  We get up, go to work/school, come home, grab dinner, go back out the door to some variety of sporting practice and/or uber-driver duties.  Then we go to bed and get up the next morning to do the exact same thing.

95% of the time - I LOVE IT!!!  This mundane rinse-and-repeat is pretty awesome and I can't imagine any other life.

Here're a few pictures from yesterday and this morning.  The football one is from Zane's practice last night.  That's him on the far left hitting the tackling dummy.  Zane and Beck practice on the same nights this year.  Since Bob is coaching Beck's team, that means I get to spend a lot of time with Zane and his team.  It's the most one-on-one time I've had with him (or really any of the boys) in a long time.  I cherish those sweaty, jabbery rides home.

The other pictures are from this morning as the boys were out the door and on the way to school.  Zane and Beck had pictures today.  Aren't they handsome?!?

Tonight Spencer has a JV game.  Tomorrow is a Varsity "Friday Night Lights" kinda evening - with the added benefit of YOUTH NIGHT - which means Bob's team full of bobble-heads gets to step out onto the big field in front of all the HS fans to play a little scrimmage.  Adorable!  Saturday we have 2 games for Zane and Beck - and then get to settle in and watch some Buckeye football.  Yay!!

Have a great SEPTEMBER week everyone!  

Picture of the Week - 8/30/2018

Happy football season kick off!  O-H-I-O

Have a great week - I'm over in Scotland just now - heading back on Sunday - already can't wait!!