Picture of the Week - 3/26/2021

 Last night we held a celebration recognizing the 2020-21 West Wrestling team.  It was so good to get to applaud the success this team had this season.  I am so so so grateful that we were able to wrestle this year.  And I couldn't be more proud of the role my boys have had on the team.

Spencer earned his 4th letter as a starter on the varsity team.  You all know his season didn't end the way we wanted it to, but he's got his head high and his goals even higher.  He's not done yet...

Quinn earned his 3rd varsity letter and is determined to regain a starter role again for his senior season.  He's putting in the work and is motivated.  

Wrestling has given our family more than I could have imagined or dreamed.  

Bonus picture of Zane and Beckett wearing their new Citadel t-shirts.  I bought a bunch of Citadel gear this week so we can support Spencer's new school and the boys were more tickled than I expected they would be.  The spirit wear arrived yesterday and today 3 of 4 Bovy boys are wearing Citadel shirts.  I love that they support each other and they are excited for their big brother.  

My heart is full today.

Picture of the Week - 3/18/2021

 Get a job!

This was our charge to Spencer and Quinn starting somewhere around the first of February.  They didn't work during the fall prep for wrestling season and of course they couldn't work during the season.  With the end of the season in sight, we got them started thinking about gainful employment.  

Watching the way they have gone about this is yet another clear example of their very different personalities.

Quinn focused on finding a job somewhere his friends worked.  He had many friends to pick from - and many different options.  He considered a car wash, tennis warehouse, mellow mushroom, taco bell, and who even knows where else.  We nudged him along and for a very long time we left him to workin his network.

Spencer, well, Spencer was pretty unmotivated and didn't really do anything.  Until all the sudden he jumped into action, applied with a friend of his at dairy queen, and called it a day.

About this time, Bob went and picked up pizza for dinner at a local place and saw a "help wanted" sign.  Then the next day he took Zane and Beck to get haircuts and they stopped at a new cookie shop called Crumbl as a reward.  Crumbl also had a "help wanted" sign.

Maybe the next day, Spencer got a call back for an interview at Dairy Queen and I happened to have a one-on-one dinner night with him.  He thought maybe he'd go ask about the job at Luca Brasi (pizza place) before he accepted anything at DQ because Luca Brasi is literally next to our neighborhood and on the way to the high school - far more convenient for him!  He walked in and I waited in the car for him, expecting a bit of a wait while he filled out paperwork and talked to whoever was in charge.  He walked out in exactly 4 minutes, announced he had the job and that he started the next day.  He had zero information, had no idea what he would be making, filled out no paperwork - other than writing his name and phone number on an order pad, and was happy as a clam.

He's worked there for about 3 weeks now and really enjoys it.  They aren't open late and he goes straight from school to work.  He gets enough hours and is pretty proud (ha) that since he's able and willing to run the pizza oven he's moved up to the kitchen A team.  Oh - and his boss is a 17 year old girl with purple hair.  He's set until he takes off to Charleston.

Quinn...  well Quinn needed a little more direction, but after not making much progress with his many options, he agreed that maybe talking to the cookie place would be OK.  He went and got an application, came back and it took him 3 days to take the completed form back.  Then they called him in for an interview.  Few days later he went and met the owner.  She, of course, loved him and told him about the job.  He was supposed to come back and talk to us about it because they are open quite late.  (Apparently people eat late night cookies on the regular???)  We agreed to some set curfew-friendly hours and he agreed to take the job.  THEN he found out that he had to have a food handling certificate that took him 4 hours to complete.  He also had to get appropriate uniform pieces.  

Bright side, he started today!!  Also, he's surrounded by a bunch of cute teenage girls...  and icing.  It's perfect for him - I think.  Guess we will find out!

If you happen to be in our area - stop by for a Pizza and grab some cookies for dessert!

Picture of the Week - 3/11/2021

 Slowing down doesn't mean we aren't still fulfilled

Mundane isn't boring

Routines without stress are a blessing

We are settled into a nice spring routine with work and school, wrestling practices without competition, activities we want to do instead of things we have to do, and a calendar with more white space than we are used to seeing.

And it's good!  I love the time to plan new projects and research future trips.  I love having the boys around my table for dinner (most of them, most nights).  I am cherishing this "last spring" before our little family looks different in the house.  It's good!

But it's kind of boring to write about.  There's not really anything earth-shattering going on.  It leaves me a little stressed about finding some topic to share in the weekly POTW so I don't let you all down!  

This week we have a dog with an eye infection, a kid about to (fingers crossed) land his first job tomorrow, a couple of boys learning how to do Greco wrestling throws, and a Saturday full of yard work planned.  It's in the mid 70s this week (won't last, but is a very welcome teaser!) and I've worked every day this week with the windows open listening to the birds.

Life is good.  

I hope you are enjoying life where you are too!  

Picture of the Week - 3/4/2021

 Spencer is going to The Citadel for college.

This isn't a secret.  We have told people.  But it dawned on me the other day that we never really "announced" the decision about his future plans.  I'm not really sure why...  maybe because all of this came to a head around the same time as wrestling season heated up.  It's certainly not because we aren't proud of him.

We. Are. So. Proud!

Spencer didn't even have The Citadel - aka The Military College of South Carolina - on his radar when we started applying to schools.  We took a trip for a campus visit last October and he fell in love with the school.  Honestly, so did I.  

The Citadel is located in Charleston, SC.  It's about a 5.5 hour drive from our house.  It's absolutely beautiful and has easy access to many cool and fun things.  There are so many things I love about the FIT between Spencer, his interests and this school.  (NOTE - I don't think this is the right experience for everyone...  not even everyone who lives in this house, but for Spencer, it's perfect.)

The Citadel is one of 6 senior military colleges in the country.  This is important to Spencer because he wants to serve the country.  He's a little torn about which branch - so that's TBD.  He leans Army, but I think it will come down to where he feels most comfortable when he gets there.  Everyone at The Citadel participates in ROTC courses for 2 years.  If you want to commission as an officer, which is Spencer's current plan as of today, then you continue to take ROTC courses and upon graduation, become an officer in your chosen branch.  This commits you to serve for a set number of years after which you decide if you want to continue on (active or reserve) or leave for civilian service.  About 1/3 of their graduates leave as commissioned officers.

One of the special things about The Citadel, which is very much tied to the military nature of the school, is that the entire 4 year experience is very, very structured.  (Not sure Spencer knows he needs this, but I know he does...)  There is a 4-year plan to develop leaders which all students complete.  I love that.  There are mandatory study times.  Love that.  There are rules and consequences.  Planned physical training sessions.  There are very few (if any) frills.  It's SO Spencer.

Spence is going to study engineering.  Similar to when I was a senior in high school, he's been a little unsure about what variety of engineering he wants to tackle.  He leaned mechanical for a long time, but recently has been really interested in Civil engineering with an eye on a future career involving some kind of construction.  I think Civil engineering will likely be his chosen major when he matriculates this summer.  Really, he can't go wrong as The Citadel has a great reputation across all their engineering programs and is consistently ranked in the top 25 nationally for engineering schools.  They have an incredibly impressive graduation and placement rate too - which makes me happy.

Will he wrestle?  This is a question that we get asked from time to time.  Short answer is - maybe.  Spencer is a little unsure if he wants to try to take on college courses, adjusting to life at a military school, ROTC requirements and wrestling at a Division 1 school.  To be clear, he's not being recruited, but that doesn't mean he couldn't walk onto the team.  He happens to be large in stature for the general population of Citadel Cadets.  In fact, he falls outside the height/weight guidelines for admission and had to get measured to prove his body fat is within their acceptable range for entrance to the program.  (For clarity, he has like 12% body fat... clearly he's not out of shape.)  This does put him in an interesting position for the wrestling team - which has to have big guys for their upper weights.  Maybe he will wrestle.  Maybe he won't.  I think it would be really fun if he does, but that's not a sport you can do "part way".  If he goes for it, it will be because he loves it and we will become instant Citadel Bulldog fans!

I admit that it's really nice that he's made a decision.  It's doubly nice that it's a decision that I am so comfortable with because I think it checks every box I could think of for a good fit school for him.  I really can't wait to watch the next 4 years (and beyond) unfold for Spencer.  It's an exciting time for sure!

So yeah, Spencer is going to The Citadel for college.  And we couldn't be happier!