Picture of the Week - 2/28/2019

Well...  BC4C 2019 is now behind us and...  phew!  What an amazing week!

We had SO much fun.  We drank so many adult beverages.  We ate so much food.  We laughed so hard.  We spent SO much time sitting around doing nothing.  We listened to SO much good music.  We saw SO many good friends.  We said SO many O-H-I-Os!

We are refreshed and recharged and (after a good night's sleep or two) will be ready to get after it again!

Major props and sincere thanks to my mom and dad for taking such good care of the boys (both 2 legged and 4 legged) while we were gone.  They are a handful for sure, but we came home to a clean house and dinner!  Love you Berber and Pappy!

And while cruises are ALL fun, this particular cruise also has a great cause.  The whole point of the Buckeye Cruise for Cancer mission is to raise money for cancer research.  We WILL beat cancer!  And this year over 3.2 million dollars were raised.  3.2 MILLION!  That's amazing and wonderful and such a cool thing to be such a small part of!

Our hearts are SO full!

(Now back to reality...  Bob's got his lacrosse team out at a practice right now prepping for their first game on Saturday.  Quinn and Spencer have a game on Saturday too.  Bring it on!)

Picture of the Week - 2/21/2019

Bob and I were chatting the other day - about who knows what - and it dawned on us that we never got a picture of all 4 boys together in their wrestling uniforms.  How in the world did we forget to do that???

So I decided to make them all change one evening this week so I could grab this picture.  LOL  They are really such good sports.  Like seriously, none of them wanted to be taking that picture.  They didn't fuss about it - although there was MUCH discussion about whether or not to smile* - and they all just went along with crazy ole mom.  I love my testosterone family!

And I'm really going to miss them this week!!!  But I'm also crazy excited to go on our 7th Buckeye Cruise for Cancer.  We leave tomorrow and board the Independence of the Seas on Saturday.  We are going to Nassau and Grand Cayman, but honestly it wouldn't matter where we were going, I'd still want to go!  I can't wait to get caught up with friends and spend some quality time with Bob and generally just have a blast.  

Berber and Pappy are holding down the fort while we are gone.  I'm sure they will have a great time hanging with the crew.

Cheers!  Have a great week everyone!

*Zane's "tough guy" face is not good...  he looks like he's either sick or angry - so we ended up laughing a LOT during this attempt to look intimidating.  Quinn's the only one who really pulled it off.  LOL

Picture of the Week - 2/14/2019

Happy Valentine's Day!

To celebrate this "day of romance" Bob and I gazed lovingly at each other this morning after hitting the snooze button, a white furry head between us, exchanged "HVD" greetings, and then agreed to try to find to time to have a dinner or something at a date to be determine later.  I actually make it sound much worse than it is, given we are going on an adult-only vacation that starts next Friday!  It's almost Buckeye Cruise time and I can't wait!!

So raising kids is challenging...  right!  I mean anyone who's been through this knows that there are a million things that I could talk about after an opening like that.  We survived sleepless baby nights and terrible 2/3s.  We have gotten 2 kids through the terrors of middle school.  We've watched one kid drive away alone - and are currently gearing up to tackle that task again.  We've listened to a million stories about Minecraft and now Fortnite.  We've juggled finances and schedules and fretted over day care selection and summer camp plans.  Kids are hard.  No doubt!

But to me, one of the most challenging parts of raising these humans is trying to make sure that we're seeing the forest for the trees.  I want my boys to be able to handle life someday - without (gasp) us around.  It means I refuse to pave the road for them.  It means making unpopular disciplinary choices.  It means sometimes not being a "friend" because they really need a parent.  It means sharing the ice cream...  darn it!

And for me, it means modeling behavior that I want my kids to have.  You all know the old "do as I say, not as I do" and that doesn't sit well with me.  If I want my kids to be helpful, they need to see me being helpful.  If I want them to be on time, I can't be late.  If I want them to be kind, I need to be kind.  If I want them to look across a fuzzy white head and say Happy Valentine's Day after 27 years with some other person, they have to see me love their dad.  And if I want my kids to stretch themselves and push the envelope to reach the limits of their potential, then I can not be complacent.  If I want my kids to push themselves, well...  I'm pushing myself to show them how.

And the most recent example of this means I'm starting to plan a trip to Dubai for an elective for my MBA program.  We just went through the process of selecting electives and a couple of my colleagues from the course suggested that we get out of the "comfort zone" of Glasgow Scotland and try to take one of the courses held in a different location.  (Side note - how nuts is it that I consider Glasgow in my comfort zone???)  We are going to be taking a course called "Games of Strategy" in Dubai in May.  Cra-ZY!  Crazy I tell you!  And a perfect way for me to show my boys that "Life begins at the end of your comfort zone" ~Neale Donald Walsh

Here's to stretching and growing and Living a "Do as I Do" kinda life!

Update on sports and activities and such...

- Spencer and Quinn were both eliminated from wrestling last weekend.  We are all bummed that they didn't get to go to state with the rest of the team.  Next year... 

- Pretty much immediately after getting eliminated, Spencer started eating and hasn't stopped since.  His goal is to put on about 30 pounds by August.  (Send food...)

- Also as soon as they hung up the wrestling shoes, they grabbed their lacrosse sticks and cleats and hit the field.  They had their first game on Tuesday night.  They play again on Friday and Saturday.  They are both on the JV team this year, which is kind of fun - and makes our schedule SO nice!

- Zane and Beck also started lacrosse this week and Bob is coaching them both.  We are playing Beck "up" on the U9 team for 2 reasons - one is that he's been playing for 4 years and can't go back to little shooters (he would kill someone) and two is that with them together this also drastically simplifies our schedule.  This may be the easiest spring I've had since Quinn was 5 and the easiest one I will have until Quinn graduates from high school.  I'm gonna enjoy it!

- Zane and Beck are wrestling in "novice state" this weekend.  It's their last wrestling event of the season too, but they will continue working on the mat through the spring.  They are having a blast.

Have a happy week - and go be a role model for someone!

Picture of the Week - 2/7/2019

Hi all!

I hope you are all having as awesome a week as we are!  It's been a bit crazy, but they are ALL like that.  The weather has been great, lacrosse has kicked off for Zane and Beck, and both Spencer and Quinn qualified to continue their wrestling seasons at Sectionals this weekend.  Plus, I've been home for weeks - and will be home until the annual Buckeye Cruise!  It's NICE to be home!!

Here's a happy little picture of our happy little puppy.  This week was also National Golden Retriever day.  Who knew that was even a thing!

Spencer and Quinn start wrestling in the sectional tournament on Friday afternoon.  They need to place in the top 8 to move on to State.  Spencer got the worst black eye I have ever seen last week...  he also wrecked his shoulder...  but he's healed up enough to give it a GO!  Quinn has gotten to practice HARD this week and has the BEST attitude about this weekend.  One match at a time!  Cross fingers and send some good thoughts. 

Have a great week everyone!