Picture of the Week - 9/29/2022

 This week has been all about celebrating birthdays and monitoring a hurricane!  (Oh and maybe being jealous of all the folks we know on fall break vacays this week...)

Spencer turned 20 on Tuesday and today is Zane's 13th birthday.  Fun!  

As I was putting together Zane's birthday collage it struck me how much he's changed over the last 12 months.  He's like a totally different kid than he was this time last year.  He's tall and lean and has the best hair in the house.  He kinda grew up in a hurry...  

Hurricane Ian has had my attention for the last few days because it's path for a long time was splitting the difference between Spencer and Quinn.  We have had about 6 different plans of who is staying where and who is leaving and how that would happen.  If you remember, I was supposed to go to Statesboro tomorrow, but Ian squashed that visit too.  

At the moment, in person classes for both boys have been canceled and they are both sheltering in place as neither school has evacuated.  As time goes on, Statesboro looks like it's going to be mostly spared.  They will get wind and rain, but should be totally fine.  Charleston, on the other hand, is currently in the bullseye of the second landfall.  I'm willing the storm to continue the trend of moving a bit farther east.  It would be MUCH better for Charleston if they are on the west side of the landfall.  So everyone cross your fingers!  I'm not so much worried about Spencer's safety - I mean he's on a campus full of some VERY capable people - but it will bother me a LOT if they lose power and I can't check in on him.  He's, how should I say this..., REALLY bad at charging his cell phone!

Tonight we are taking Zane out to dinner and making him wear the funny hat while strangers sing happy birthday to him.  Always fun!  This weekend we are mostly just hanging out on Saturday and then on Sunday Zane gets to use his birthday gift, which is tickets to see the Falcons play the Browns while I head to the airport for a quick trip to Minneapolis.  

Have a great last couple of days of September!  

Picture of the Week - 9/22/2022

 Happy first day of fall!

I love this time of year.  It's that first chilly evening sitting at a football game/practice that gets me!  And sitting in our bedroom sitting area and watching the first leaves fall off the trees.  Love it!

This week is also the last week of BUSY before fall break.  We had a trip planned for fall break at one point.  We were going to tackle Disney and Orlando and I had a whole itinerary laid out.  It was going to be fun and glorious and exhausting.  We canceled.  Many reasons, but it basically boiled down to 1) work and 2) protecting the "recovery time" this week brings every year.  It's nice to know we don't have a bunch of activities/games/stuff and can have dinner together as a family for a couple of days.

I am taking Friday off and heading down to see Quinn.  No real reason - just want to put my eyeballs on him in person and give him a hug.  It's a good excuse for a day off work too.  

I may swing up past Charleston on the way home if Spencer is going to play in the rugby matches that day.  Undetermined at the moment as he got a bit hurt at practice yesterday and may need some time off.  Oh yeah - Did I mention Spencer is playing rugby?  LOL  He's having a lot of fun (or was until he got hurt) and the team has really embraced him.  I love that he's found something to do with people he likes and I'm really proud of him for stepping out of his comfort zone and trying something new.  He even got highlighted on the team's schedule flyer.  I guess if nothing else, he looks the part!

More on all of that next week...  for now - gotta get through one more weekday and one more 5th grade football game (someone remind me it's our turn to take snacks...) before some downtime.  

Picture of the Week - 9/15/2022

 I am not a selfie kinda gal.  I am not good at it.  I've never really tried to get good at it.  It's just not my thing.  

(This is not me passing ANY kind of judgment on those who are skilled at selfies.  In fact, just the opposite, I'm a little jealous that all of you selfie-takers will actually have pictures of yourself for people to remember you someday...)

However, having 2 kids in college and one active social media guy in middle school has forced me into the world of Snapchat.  (I mean, if you want to talk to them, you have to go where they are!  I can send a text and a snapchat at the same time and the snap gets opened immediately while the text is fermented and rotten by the time they notice it's out there.  SO WEIRD!)

So snapchat...  I'm ALSO not good at snapchat and mess things up all the time.  One of the things that even I can't mess up, however, are the amazingly ridiculous lenses.  They crack me up.  I have sent pictures of myself wearing a WIDE variety of costumes and random accessories.  I can sit down in the morning, pick my flavor of ridiculous and start a conversation with the boys even before I've dried my hair.  And they don't even know it cause I'm wearing a digital cowboy hat.  Brilliant!

I was sitting in the parking lot waiting for someone/something this week - I don't remember...  there are a lot of drop offs and pick ups...  and I figured I'd snap the boys.  When I went to take the picture there were all these lines all over the place.  I thought it was super cool...  so weird lens even!  Although I'm sure I could have found something to paint me as a wild animal behind bars - or maybe as a criminal...  I'll have to look!

Normal week around here.  Games and practices - although we've had to skip a couple of weeks of wrestling because of another case of ringworm that's being stubborn...  This weekend we only have 1 game - and a party.  Woot!  Then I have to make about 200 mozzarella cheese sticks for Monday night.  Still contemplating the best way to do that and transport them while staying somewhat warm.  Any ideas?

PS - Spencer's 20th birthday is just around the corner.  If you want to drop him a card, I'm sure he would love it!  Spencer Bovenizer 374 # The Citadel, 171 Moultrie St, Charleston, SC 29409

Picture of the Week - 9/8/2022

 Let's see...  what's new?  

Nothing - everything

I asked Spencer how he was doing the other day and his response was something like "same as yesterday, I think I'm in Groundhog's Day".  And that's kinda how I feel.  It's the same every day - get up, get kids out the door, work until my back aches, take a break, work some more, dinner, pick someone up or drop someone off or both, do load of stinky football uniforms, brush teeth, go to bed.  Next day - basically the same...  pick-up/drop-off routine may change and sometimes we throw in a game for fun.  But it's rinse and repeat.  

And in that day in - day out - same same same - it's REALLY easy to lose sight of what is actually happening.  Progress and growth and decisions and and and.  It's not a small, meaningless, repetitive existence here.  These days of "puttin in the work" are, in the end, the important ones.  These are the days that make us who we are.  Am I right?

Yes, the vacation pictures and game highlights and dinners out with friends get all the limelight on the socials, but these "normal" days are where the real magic happens.  

And it's so easy to forget that.  I admit I get lost in planning vacations I may never take.  I reminisce in FB memories of big game moments from years past and look forward to the ones that have yet to happen.  I scour restaurant menus and arrange plans to "get out".  I do all these things because they are exciting.  So today, I'm reminding myself - as much as you teeny number of people out there still paying attention to these POTW messages - that exciting is fleeting.  The routine and mundane should be just as celebrated because it's just as (I will say more, even) important.  

Life is ACTUALLY the stuff in between the highlight reel...

So what's new?  Nothing - everything

All boys are well and settled very nicely into the fall "real life" stuff.  Spencer has decided not to wrestle this year.  I was sad, at first, but he's really happy to not have that pressure, stress, and time commitment anymore.  And he's taken up Rugby on the Citadel club team.  He is taking a LOT of classes this semester and handling things pretty well so far.  He's got a good roommate this year, whom he likes and generally seems happy.  Tomorrow he's interviewing for some internships next summer and apparently he's got a "hot date" this weekend too.  All good there - and we are looking forward to going to see him for Parent's Weekend again in a few weeks.  

Quinn continues to be GOOD.  He spent Labor Day weekend on campus and with the extra downtime, headed to Savannah for dinner.  Sounds so glam!  At one point both Spencer and Quinn were on Islands (Daniel and Tybee, respectfully) while Bob and I sat at home listening to the rain and cleaning stuff.  Those boys are living their best lives...  Quinn also got to learn how to deal with a flat tire on the interstate.  He got to talk to tow truck operators and find a tire repair place and all kinds of grown-up stuff.  (Of course he called me first for help.  Why me?  Tires are a dude thing.  I handed the phone to Bob like it was on fire!)

Zane is still crushing 7th grade.  He's frustrated with football this year because as a 7th grader on a 7/8 team he's not getting a ton of playing time.  He's a lineman - and a good one - but he's undersized.  He gets some playing time, but not like he's used to.  This is not a unique experience - and honestly it's exactly what we expected - but it's new for him.  He's still having fun on the team with all his buddies though - and really isn't that what's most important anyway.  (We aren't shy about our desire to leave football and go full-time wrestling with ZnB at some point, but the timing is totally up to them!)

And Beckett is just adorable.  He is home alone with us a LOT more than he's ever been before.  First of all he's on "early elementary" time this year, which means he gets home at like 2:45.  Zane wouldn't get home until 5 without football practice - with football, they never see each other.  Beck leaves in the am before Zane wakes up.  Then he's out the door for wrestling/football practice before Zane gets home and by the time everyone is back under one roof, it's time for bed.  I think there were around 48 hours last week those 2 didn't even SEE each other.  Weird!  Also hard to make dinner plans...  Anyway, Beck is great.  He's funny and helpful and he talks A LOT. 

Here's a picture of Beck with his serious football face.  His football experience this year has been interesting.  This is the first year Bob hasn't coached him since he was 6.  He's been bounced to a few positions (all on the lines...  Bob and I make ATVs, not sports cars) and has landed in an O guard spot and right D tackle.  He's having a blast this year and it's pretty fun to watch him make his own way.  

OK - enough rambling...  I'm off to pick up Zane and reheat some dinner for him.  Then comes the load of stinky laundry, brush teeth and bed.  :)

Picture of the Week - 9/1/2022

 September already.  I continue to feel like this year is moving ever and ever faster.  It's crazy that we are already into September and right around the corner from my favorite month of the year.  The last few weeks here have been so hot and humid that I can't wait for some crisp air.  (And this from someone who is, literally, always cold!)

All is well with everyone.  No news...  is good news.

It's been a typically busy week with all our "stuff" in addition to some extra work to pull together a gigantic uniform order for the upcoming wrestling season.  We are looking like we are going to end up with around 90 kids this year.  It's been SO fun to help this program grow!  (Remind me I said that when all these boxes show up in my dining room for sorting and distribution!)

I think the promise of a 3-day weekend at the end of this week has helped make everyone's mood a bit better!  I know it's helped me!  We debated a number of things for this weekend - we have a couple of kiddos we could go visit or we could head to the N Ga Mountains for a bit of a break or we could have done a million things.  In the end, we decided a mini staycation with a focus on chilling out a bit was best for everyone.  We will be doing some household chores, some shopping, and a good bit of football watching.  Yay!

Here's our annual O H I O picture.  I had to get a bit creative with it this year because it never crossed my mind to grab a picture before Quinn left for school.  I truly love my boys for agreeing to get these college campus versions of the O and H this year.  I think it makes for a fun picture - and will be a good memory of what we were all up to in September 2022.

Go Bucks!