Picture of the Week - 1/25/2018

Anyone else having a hard time grasping the fact that January is almost over?  I swear Christmas was like 25 minutes ago!

This week has been a good one as we gear up for a February Calendar where I am going to spend 18/28 nights away from home.  I have a sneaking suspicion that I will be looking for February in my rear view mirror come March too...

Quinn started lacrosse practices this week.  He's having fun with his new team - and is ridiculously excited to be playing with a whole team of boys that are really good.  He's going to learn a ton this spring - and hopefully have a blast!

Spencer is still wrestling, which means he's missed a whole week of high school lacrosse evaluations.  The transition periods between sport's seasons for multi-sport athletes is terrible.  This year it's not really impacting any decisions that might be made because Spencer will play on JV and not really have a shot at varsity anyway.  But if he DID have a chance, the fact that evals is the same week as prep for the regional individual wrestling tournament stinks.  And he's going to have to end up making decisions about what sport to prioritize all through the summer.  So much schedule conflict!  He's planning on doing wrestling weight training AND lacrosse practices all spring.  He's nuts...  and busy...  and really motivated.  

The little boys are still doing jiu jitsu and start lacrosse on Feb 5th.  The way the lacrosse practices worked out, Zane will be able to do both JJ and lacrosse through the spring and Beck will only miss one night of JJ because of conflict.  They are also ridiculously busy...  Bob and I laugh about the fact that our boys don't really know any different.  I think they think it's just normal to go to school, grab dinner, head back out for some kind of activity and then rinse/repeat.  

Last Friday night was the Mother/Son event at the elementary school.  I think I've mentioned this before  but I will have a son at that elementary school for 14 straight years.  That's a lot of cold pizza and laser tag/ice skating/bowling!  LOL  The picture this week is the boys while we were waiting for our neighbor to leave.  They were racing back and forth in the hall and having a blast because "running at school is prohibited".  Ha!  I thought it was cool to get a picture of them in their mostly deserted school with a completely empty hallway behind them!  BTW - their faces are painted because it was a black-light/laser tag event.  Just picture a dark gym full of noisy boys with laser guns.  Good times...

Saturday Spencer wrestles for a spot in the Individual sectionals.  They will take the top 4 wrestlers at each weight class to sectionals.  There are 7 schools in our region.  There are 2 guys we know he can't beat...  like I love him, but there's no chance...  so that leaves 2 spots for 5 guys.  Decent odds...  we shall see what happens!  

Then Sunday we have a parent meeting for football.  For next year.  You know...  because there aren't enough things to think about right now!   HA!  I'm sure they just want us to start fundraising...  anyone wanna buy mulch?

Have a great week everyone!

Picture of the Week - 1/18/2018

You guys know I love my boys.  Right!  I love them a LOT.

But y'all, this week has been SO challenging!  

Bob and I are both up to our eyeballs in work for our actual paying jobs right now.  It's a busy time as our companies are coming out of the holiday slow periods.  Stress and work and phone calls and blah!

And then there's prep for lacrosse.  Not complaining about this one because I actually (mostly) really enjoy this stuff, but there's a LOT of work that goes into kicking off a spring lacrosse season for 220 boys.  Logistics are NO JOKE.  I have easily spent a couple of hours every day this week on this "hobby" of mine...  not complaining, but it's work that needs to be done and I'm the one who needs to get it done.  

And then it went and snowed.  And got freezing.  And school was cancelled for 2 days.  This has changed ALL our plans this week.  It has changed wrestling tournaments and practice schedules and of course the boys have been stuck at home all week.  

Perfect storm.

The result is a SERIOUSLY depleted "snackin' closet" and 4 boys who have essentially run a muck most of the week.  This picture is from dinner last night.  Your eyes are not deceiving you, they are all in pajamas.  We did get them to get dressed today and at least the big ones bathed.  

Tomorrow they go to school!  (Thank goodness!)

Tomorrow is also the Mother/Son Laser Tag extravaganza at the elementary school and Spencer is participating in a JV tournament as the varsity tournament is cancelled for the weekend.  Also Quinn starts lacrosse practice this weekend.  Hang on - Spring season craziness starts in 3.... 2.... 1.... GO!

Picture of the Week - 1/11/2018

Do you ever get involved in something, casually, that at some point you realize is probably going to take over your life?  

We did this with lacrosse.  When we first caved in and let Spencer try lacrosse it was really as a way to keep him quiet.  We were baseball people.  He was a catcher.  We didn't *do* lacrosse...  

and now we are up to our eyeballs in sticks and heads and small rubber balls.  We plan weekends and vacations around game schedules.  We are looking at flying half the family to a sleep away camp in June.  We serve as coach and schedule coordinator and vice president of the board.  We have a line item in our budget just for lacrosse...

And now (I fear) we've done it again.  With wrestling.

We got the little boys involved in jiu jitsu, as I've mentioned, over the summer to help keep them busy and teach them some stuff.  Never did we dream they would love it as much as they do.  And I admit we failed to see, until recently, how the jiu jitsu is very likely going to bleed into wrestling.

I think we realized that the little guys might have the potential to be pretty good wrestlers because we've watched Spencer fall in love with the sport this winter.  And THAT was unexpected!  Spencer has always wrestled because it made him a better football player.  Period.  He didn't wrestle for the sake of wrestling.  

Until this year...

West Forsyth got a new wrestling coach this year.  And he's awesome.  And he loves Spencer.  And Spencer loves him.  And I think this is going to be one of those coach/pupil relationships that causes great sadness when it's over, but serves to help build a really great man in the process.  

Spencer found himself in a somewhat unexpected (OK, VERY unexpected) situation this year when he was named a starting varsity wrestler as a Freshman.  We really didn't see this coming...  and were totally unprepared!  I'm so very proud that he was willing to step onto that mat knowing the chances were good he would be outmatched, because that's what his team needed him to do.  

He learned a TON this year.  And he now has his sights on being a great wrestler.  He's focused on this sport for the sake of the sport, not just for the conditioning.  Very interesting.  Who knows what will happen when football season rolls around.  Maybe he will decide his first love is still between the end zones.  Maybe not...

Maybe he will commit himself fully to helping build a stellar wrestling program at West.  Because this team is poised to be something special!  They are at the state dual tournament this weekend.  They overachieved to get there.  They probably won't do very well at the tournament this year, but BOY what great experience and preparation for next year!  What a fun team to be around!  It's so very cool to see kids enjoying a sport without a bunch of pressure and expectation.  Refreshing!

(And I say that even knowing that wrestling is likely to take over our lives in the coming years!)

Here's a picture of the high school wrestling team this year.  I'm betting there are 50% more kids in next year's picture.  (Spencer is the last one on the right hand side in the back in the grey singlet.)

Have a great week!  

Picture of the Week - 1/4/2018

Happy belated New Years 2018!!

We have been having a great week down in Orlando.  Lots of fun - and lots of cold!  We are all exhausted, but it's that happy-memories-have-been-made exhaustion.  

Here's a picture of us in front of the castle all lit up for Christmas.  

Cheers!