Picture of the Week - 3/31/0222

 Wow - last weekend was so cool.  It's hard to really explain.  I'm going to try anyway...  cause that's what you all pay for.  (LOL - there's no one paying anything...)

We went down to Charleston not really knowing what to expect from Recognition weekend.  We also went not really knowing where Spencer's head was.  He has had some rough re-entries from break back to school and this post-spring break return was no different.  He left on Sunday and the next few days we received a series of texts and messages from him that left me pretty worried about him.  He didn't seem happy and I, honestly, was a little unsure about our future at The Citadel.  

So we get to campus and show Zane and Beckett around.  If you've never been to The Citadel campus, you should try to drive through sometime.  It's really not a big place, but it's pretty unique.  It's steeped in history and tradition and just really unlike any other campus I've been on.  So they were all excited and we visited the bookstore and bought new hoodies (always a favorite) and were waiting for the gauntlet to start.

Side note - I'd heard about the gauntlet and there was much discussion about it on Facebook.  The guidance we were given is that if your child asks you not to attend, to honor their wishes and stay away.  I knew it was a series of physical tests - think obstacle course, kinda - and I knew it was designed to be difficult to complete.  There were a series of 10 stations that each company rotated through over the course of 2 hours.  The stations were things like Buddy carries, medicine ball tosses, army crawls, etc.  All of this would be followed by a 1.5 mile victory run around campus.  And then some stuff - including many pushups - behind the walls of their barracks.  I wasn't, honestly, worried about the physicality of the gauntlet.  I figured that Spencer is physically fit to begin with - and was just coming out of wrestling season.  Wrestling workouts are no joke...  so I figured he would be better prepared than the vast majority of cadets.

At some point I got a text from Spencer asking me to bring him food.  I practically ran to the market to buy him snacks and then met him and his friend Bradford (the one looking at the camera in the picture of the 4 dudes) in the athletic building where the wrestling room is - aka his home away from home.  I could not have been more pleased with Spencer's attitude and demeanor.  It was like he was a different person than the texts and messages from the last week.  He was happy, slightly apprehensive about what was going to happen, but ready to tackle it.  Seeing him smile made my day!

Then the gauntlet started.  And it was intense.  It was way more intense than I expected.  Watching the kids struggle through the stations was hard.  Watching them helping each other get through it was AMAZING.  It makes me a little emotional just thinking about it.  This comradery they have built is NOT something that happens at normal college in a normal dorm.  It's awesome to see.  

I was wrong about the gauntlet being easy for Spence.  It was not.  He got pulled out of the group on his third station by a couple of upper-class wrestlers and they FRIED him.  They worked him until he was toast...  and the rest of the stations were a struggle.  I mean, if it's any indication, he was doing push-ups with his butt in the air like an 8 year old - and he could regularly drop and do like 100 without even breaking a sweat.  I spent the time alternating between trying to find him in the mass - and not wanting to watch.  

But they all made it through!  By the time they returned to the parade field after the run they whole group was spent...  and also ecstatic.  

Spencer told us this week that he had underestimated how big the shift from knob to "normal" cadet would be.  I think they all had learned to live with the stress of being a knob for so long that with all the additional restrictions and requirements lifted, it's been a way different experience.  He has talked to me/called me more this week than he has since last summer.  He sounds happy and settled - and is busy making plans for the future...  at the Citadel.  

It makes me so happy, so proud to see him thriving there.  My mama heart knew that this school was a good fit for him.  I knew he could manage the road less traveled.  I knew he had the grit and determination he needed to handle the Citadel.  Now he knows it too.  And there's just no better feeling than watching your son figure that out.

The rest of the weekend was a lot of pomp and circumstance - and it's all cool!  But that Friday when the class of 2025 cadets were recognized will be a day I will remember for a long, long time.  I can't even begin to imagine how meaningful it is to the young men and women who lived it all.  

Here are my favorite 2 pictures from the weekend.  One is the family - minus Quinn.  I love this picture because of how happy Spencer was in it.  And I also love that Beckett is obviously enamored with everything his biggest brother does.  He was SO proud of Spencer.  And also the bulldog mascot - he was very proud of the dog too.  The second picture is Spencer's best buddies.  He spends a LOT of time with that group right there.  They are all wrestlers.  They are all freshmen.  They all went through all the knob stuff, the wrestling stuff, all the stuff together.  Those dudes very likely know my son better than he knows himself.  I'm so very thankful for them!!!  Also, that's just a really cool picture!  It's going in a frame on his wall...  

Things for me now shift to Quinn-focus.  I leave with Q and 3 of his friends and their moms on a Spring Break trip to Sandestin on Saturday.  I'm looking forward to chilling with him and his friends for a few days at the beach.  These are the guys he's going to room with at Georgia Southern next year.  Good group of guys!  

Picture of the Week - 3/24/2022

 Did you know...  March 24th was Quinn's due date?  Maybe a strange thing to remember, but it's one of those dates that will always hold a little something extra in my mind.

This week we got to celebrate the 2021-2022 wrestling team with a fun little recognition evening.  It's always good to get together with our wrestling family!  I'm really going to miss this class.  Aside from the obvious (Quinn is in it) we watched these guys enter the program and will now watch them exit and move onto bigger and better things.  We cheered for them, drove them all over the place, and felt every emotion of every match alongside them.  Bittersweet...  and I know from last year's experience that this is the first of the lasts for the senior class.  It's an emotional roller coaster until we get to graduation day - which is now less than 2 months away!

Later today we are off to Charleston with my parents, Zane and Beck to celebrate recognition weekend with Spencer.  It's the end of the 4th class system and they will no longer be considered knobs after this weekend.  (For the layman, it's the end of the bulk of the harassment and extra rules the freshmen class has to endure.)  I'm really looking forward to celebrating with him - and to a mini-vacay.  The weather is going to be ideal and Charleston is just a fun place!

Have a great, early Spring week!

Picture of the Week - 3/17/2022

 Spencer is home for Spring Break this week.  Actually, I think it's probably more accurate to say Spencer is not in Charleston this week because he's on spring break.  LOL  I would love to say we've spent hours catching up and chatting, but I feel like I've hardly seen him!  

It's OK though - he's spent the break catching up with his friends, relaxing, and having fun.  And apparently also stocking his "sleep hours" bank.  

Yesterday he and his friend Brody drove over to Birmingham to go to a concert for a band I've never even heard of.  Ahhhh to be young.  I know they are having a blast - and should be home again (to shower and eat before heading out somewhere again, I'm sure) this afternoon.  

I've implemented a plan tomorrow for FFFF (Friday Forced Family Fun) and told all the boys we are going out for a nice dinner - a no t-shirt dinner - just the 6 of us.  Looking forward to at least a couple of hours without distractions to enjoy my boys.  :)

Spencer heads back to school on Sunday. Sigh, the time goes too fast!

Kitchen reno update

- We have contracts signed for countertops and backsplash and get to go pick out materials tomorrow afternoon.  I'm oddly nervous that I'm going to pick something I won't love - which is weird considering how much I hate what we have now.  LOL

- We are currently in the process of trying to track down someone who can make us a desktop (for the desk portion of the kitchen) out of reclaimed wood because I think it would be cool to break up all the countertop with something "warm".  I found a guy on Etsy that will do it - because EVERYTHING is on Etsy...  but trying to decide if his price is reasonable and I'm just out of touch with reality or if he's overpriced and we can find something better.  

- AND I found a lady who will paint the cabinets for us too...  on Facebook of all places!  I love social media.  She's pretty booked up, so we probably won't get that part done until the summer.  I'm dreading that step - to be honest - because it'll take about a week and, well, the kitchen is important when you are raising boys - especially boys doing the growth spurt thing*

- This is a fun - and expensive - project that I'm SO excited about - and also kinda dreading.  Ya know what I mean???

* Zane is in full-out growth mode.  He can't stop eating.  He's constantly hungry.  And this morning when he came in to say goodbye, I had to noticeably look UP into his eyes.  He's probably grown a full inch since Christmas.  

Picture of the Week - 3/10/2022

 News from the Bovys...

Last weekend we had a free weekend for the first time since like August - and it's got me wanting to do ALL THE HOUSE PROJECTS now!  We did some small stuff last week and did some big planning.  Gonna tackle our kitchen remodel SOON and I want to paint like everything.  I really like painting - but I really hate cleaning up.  So Bob gets that job.  :)

I am back in class again.  This time I'm taking a course to earn a certificate in HR.  I don't want a job in HR, but the products I build serve HR professionals, so this is really good foundational knowledge for me.  It's not *hard* content, but there's SO much reading.  And it's boring reading.  So the time suck is bigger than I really expected.  Oh well - only 9 more weeks to go...  

Zane and Beck are back to wrestling too.  They took a week off and are on a reduced training plan for the spring with only 2-3 days a week.  They are having fun and that's all that really matters right now.  

Bob and I just got back from a high school wrestling board meeting.  Turns out we can't walk away from that program and will continue to work with the team next year even without a wrestler in high school.  It will be an adjustment for sure to figure out how to help without being quite as invested.  I'm looking forward to enjoying the team and the parents - without the stress of having your kid on the mats!  

Tomorrow Spencer comes home for spring break.   I'm looking forward to seeing him.  I really haven't talked to him much the last month or so.  He seems busy doing his own thing.  It will be good to catch up. 

No big plans for the weekend - which is good because the weather is awful.  I hope this is our last cold snap before spring hits for real!  I'm ready for shorts and t-shirt weather!

Picture of the Week - 3/4/2022

 Wrestling season is over for us for another year.  Bittersweet, if I'm being honest.  I love wrestling season.  I enjoy spending time with my wrestling family and as crazy and busy as our schedule is - it's a GOOD busy, ya know!  I miss it when it's gone.  (I'm pretty certain that no one reading this, with maybe the exception of Bob, feels this way...)

Last weekend we went down to Warner Robins so Zane and Beckett could compete at Kids state.  It was a very long - and mostly awesome - weekend.  

Both boys exercised some "demons" by beating kids that they had lost to (at least once) during the season.  Zane beat a kid who teched him (beat him by more than 15 points) just the weekend prior.  That was BIG.  A real clutch moment and showed us some tremendous growth in his mental ability to tackle this sport.  It was easily his best win of the season - where he won a lot.  This win put him into the medal rounds and he fought from there to get 4th place.  So proud of him and can't wait to see what's next for him on the wrestling mats.  But for now...  he's continuing to do some wrestling through the spring while his focus is definitely shifting to football.  Middle School football tryouts are just around the corner and he's determined to secure one of the coveted 7th grade spots on the team.  More (likely much more) on that later...

Beckett was able to win (with a pin) against a kid he has never beat.  This other wrestler goes to our club and will end up at our high school.  These guys will, literally, be competing with and against each other for the next 8 years.  His older brother will (hopefully, if Zane makes it) be on Zane's football team.  We will, in other words, be around these people for a long time.  They are friends.  But it was still pretty awesome to watch Beckett win this match.  It was good for him to realize he can do it when he tries.  The bracket Beck was in was STUFFED full of people we know.  He wrestled against 4 other boys that are in either our club or the West Youth program.  Some people look at the fact that we have 5 110 lb 4th graders as a problem and want them to separate out into different weight classes.  I think exactly the opposite.  Let the boys compete against each other for the next 4 years...  and when they get to high school they will be monsters.  They are all really good wrestlers and I'm thankful that Beck has them (literally) in his corner and also as solid competitors.  

We took this week off all things practice related.  Bob was traveling, so it was great timing for us to have a quiet week.  Monday, they are back to work at Morris, but it will be less intense because there won't be events every weekend.  The spring/summer is for building technique - and of course having fun - until football season launches in earnest.  

While the boys were wrestling, I decided to do some volunteering for Team Georgia, who was hosting the event.  One of the moms from our high school team is heavily involved with Team Georgia and asked me if I could help out.  If you know me at all, you know that I'm a really soft target and can't say no when someone asks me to help.  So I said yes - not really knowing what I was getting into.  

OH MY GOSH!  Y'all - you know I love this sport.  It has been the single biggest positive influence in the development of the men I am raising.  (I do not say this lightly as they are all church-going, education-minded, living-in-my-house boys).  But it's true.  I love wrestling.  But this event...  these crazy parents...  they ruin it.  There were SO MANY mean people.  Why do people - anywhere, doing anything - feel like it's OK to yell at and make demands of volunteers?  Everyone on Team Georgia volunteers their time.  Without them, there would be no event.  And yet...  I saw so many people show their asses.  

I was in charge of being a "greeter" - which meant walking the (extremely long) line of people trying to get into the event to make sure everyone knew where to go.  I understand it's a long line, I am also cold, I am sorry they have to wait.  Sigh...  And then I served as part of the team of people responsible for handing out awards.  This was - no joke - probably the most stressful thing I have done in at least 10 years.  Everyone wants to get their stuff first.  No one listens to instructions.  Everyone is out for themselves.  It was awful.  

I share this, not looking for any kind of pat on the back for how I chose to use my time last weekend, but to hopefully remind you all that kindness goes a long way.  I saw a lot of shit this weekend that makes me think society is doomed, but I refuse to believe that.  I will continue to serve others when I can.  I will look for ways to be NICE to everyone around me.  I will let the car in front of me in traffic.  I will politely wait my turn in line even if I see someone else cut in front.  I will be respectful when asking questions.  I will, never ever, assume I know more than someone in a role leading others.  We can fix this crazy world if we just focus on being KIND and worry far less about comparing what we are getting/doing to those around us.  Good grief people - we are trying to teach all our children the respect and honor that comes from the sport of wrestling, while behaving like whiny babies...  we can do better!

Soapbox over...  

This weekend we have an end-of-season event for wrestling tonight.  Zane will have to miss it because he's off to a weekend away with his small group from church.  We will be doing some small projects around the house - mailbox painting, birdhouse feeder fixing, weeding, etc.  The weather is going to be in near 80 and sunny and I honestly can't wait to just fuss around this place!  We are also in the very early stages of gearing up to redo our kitchen.  It's long overdue, let's be honest...  and I'm excited about it.  I have an itch to paint everything and freshen this whole place up.  It's like I'm nesting - but I swear there's no baby on the way!

Here's a sweet picture of my dudes after we were all done last week.  I love them!