Picture of the Week - 4/18/2019

Happy Thursday!

I noticed something the other day that was one of those things that could easily have slipped by without comment.  I easily could have missed it - not even noticed until it was so far done that I couldn't remember the "before".  

I noticed that Zane's face is changing.  Like he's CHANGING from the little boy I've grown so accustomed to and BECOMING an older version of himself.  His cheekbones are becoming more pronounced.  He's getting more angular.  I know from experience that this is the prep for all the really big changes coming over the next couple of years.  I know that the little boy is in the rear view mirror.  

What a sucker punch!

Figured I should take (and share) some pictures of my little boys now before they look like grown men.  I will attempt to get some pictures of the big guys this weekend.  Bonus points if that includes pictures with bunny ears on!  (Also - can't go a week without a new Brutus picture...  I might be a little bit obsessed with that dog...)

Newsie stuff

- Quinn got his Driver's Permit.  He wasn't in as big a hurry for it as Spencer was, but he's got it now and we get to start the process of teaching him to drive.  (related...  I'm just going to start signing over my paycheck to car insurance now...)

- The high school lacrosse season is over for the year.  It was...  unfulfilling...  I think it's very likely that both my high school boys do something different next spring.  It's a shame.  Really...  but after watching and listening and experience this season, I don't blame them.  

- Zane and Beck have a game this weekend and then 2 games next weekend and they are done too.  CRAZY how fast the lacrosse season went this year!

- I'm leaving next Tuesday for an extended trip away.  It's going to be pretty fun, but also really LONG.  I know I'll miss home like crazy and I'm definitely dreading that part of it.  I'm also thankful for the opportunity to go do this - London and Dubai - and want to try to do the whole "living in the present" thing while I'm there so I can take it all in.  

Happy early Easter everyone!  Now's your chance to eat all the chocolate and jelly beans you want!

Picture of the Week - 3/21/2019

As I sit down to write the POTW this week I admit to 2 things 1) there's a LOT of grey area in raising kids and 2) some rules are made to be broken.

Spencer quit the high school lacrosse team.  

Phew - feels kind of good to get that off my chest.  This all happened last weekend and, to be honest, I have very mixed feelings about the whole situation.  There is a long back story on how we got to the point where we would even consider entertaining the idea of letting him walk away from a commitment he's made.  We aren't people who DO that...  and yet we just did it - and honestly it feels right.  

I don't want to get into the gory details because I'd be sharing only our side of the story.  I'm sure there's another side to it - although we've not heard it.  I will simply say that Spencer felt like he was wasting his time attempting to participate on a team that didn't value him.  The actions taken by the coaches pretty much proved this to be true at every opportunity.  SO when Spencer came to us last weekend and said he felt like his time would be better spent lifting weights, getting stronger, and starting the preparation for football - we agreed with him.  

There's a part of me that is relieved.  Honestly, watching him go through the first half of this season was painful and frustrating.  It's also obvious that he's comfortable with the decision because he's been in THE BEST mood all week.  Like nearly giddy - and certainly a joy to be around - all week.  I'm sure working out nearly non-stop and the resulting endorphin high is a part of that, but so is being a part of a group that shows him he matters to them.  Seems so simple...

There's another part of me that is pretty damn sad about this whole thing.  The Bovenizer family has put a LOT of time and energy (and money and more time and some additional energy) into the lacrosse program over the past 7 years.  (Yes...  7 years.  Spencer's first season was in 2012.)  I like the sport of lacrosse.  I enjoy watching it.  I really love the fact that all my boys played it.  I loved that they had fun playing lacrosse.  To see that come to an end is sad.  But certainly not a reason to continue to ram your head into the brick wall...

So Spencer's hung up the lacrosse cleats.  We've put the long poles into storage.  He's put on 7 pounds - and looks stronger than I've ever seen him - in a week.  He's gearing up for spring football and summer wrestling.  He won't play lacrosse again.  I don't blame him.

Quinn is still on the team.  Who knows what will happen with him next year.  This particular program doesn't value multi-sport athletes and my boys wrestle.  The combination is... unfortunate.  

Here's an old picture from Spencer's first season.  I'll miss seeing him out there on the lacrosse field - but 1000% support his decision to do what's best for himself.

This weekend we are looking forward to a visit from Grandpa Bob and Grandma Phyllis.  Quinn's got a couple of freshman games and Bob's U9 team has a game on Saturday too.  I'm off to Scotland on Saturday afternoon for my next MBA course - accounting this time.  My colleague and I decided to take a mid-week day off to do a little tourist sight-seeing and we are doing a highlands tour next Wednesday.  Stay tuned for pictures - we may see the Loch Ness Monster!

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!

Picture of the Week - 6/21/2018

I hardly ever get to share cool pictures of Quinn.  That's why this one is so special!  One of the moms on our team was taking pictures all weekend.  Bless her!  I hardly ever think about pictures - and this weekend was no exception!

We had a great time in Asheville.  It was actually a nice, relaxing weekend away that just happened to have lacrosse games as entertainment.  Quinn's team ended up winning the "B" bracket - which was a pretty fun way to end his youth lacrosse "career".  It's on to high school lacrosse for him now!

Quinn's been hilarious this summer.  He's started lifting (for the first time ever) with the high school lacrosse team and he's also been doing wrestling workouts with the team on his off nights from lacrosse.  He's SORE!  I don't think he's ever worked this hard.  He's been a pretty good spirit about the whole thing and I think he's pretty excited that after like 2 weeks of working out he can already see results.  (This is what happens when you carry around 5% body fat...)

This weekend the wrestling coach took the high school team up to UT Chattanooga for a Dual Camp.  You guys...  I didn't really see/look at the schedule for this event until the boys were already on the way there.  Holy cow!  I'm exhausted just looking at it.  They wrestle until 10 PM and then back up at 7 for breakfast.  It's a combo of technique drills/practice, conditioning, and live matches dual-style.  Spencer will be wrestling 195 again this year and Quinn is probably going to be 112 or 120.  Quinn likely won't get much varsity work this year (which is kind of obvious since he needs more work/experience/practice and there are a BUNCH of kids around that weight), but this kind of exposure is SO good for him.  I'm really proud of him for diving into this team the way he has.  I can't wait to watch him on the mats this winter!

Check out the schedule below!

Tuesday I'm heading back over to Glasgow for some more MBA work.  The next module we are studying is about International Business.  I'm looking forward to this one because it's taught almost entirely using scenario-based training and discussions.  Sounds very interesting!

And then after the class, I get to fly directly to the BEACH for vacation.  I am so excited for some down time!  The packing-prepping-list writing that needs to happen to get myself ready, all the food prepped so Bob can grab and go, and as much packing help as I can do ahead of time for Bob and the boys is NOT fun...  but it will all be worth it when we get to that beach house, smell the salt in the air, and hear the waves crashing.  

Wrestling camp schedule - say a little prayer that Quinn makes it through!  I'm sure Spencer will eat this up...  he oddly enjoys challenges and pushing himself like this (i.e. doing football/wrestling two-a-days pretty much every day this summer), but Quinn is gonna be WIPED OUT!  (*** late breaking update***  I literally just got a text from Spencer saying that Quinn won his first match this evening!  I'm ridiculously proud of that dude!!!)

Competition / Team Camps – Daily Schedule

All Sessions will be held in McKenzie Arena

June 21st

Noon - 3 pm - Check In

3:45 pm – Camp Meeting at Maclellan Gym

4 - 5:15 pm - Technique Session # 1

5:30 - 6:30 pm – Dinner

6:45-7:15:  Team Time

7:15-7:30:  Motivational Talk

7:35 - 8:45 pm - Technique Session # 2  

9:00 – 10:15 pm - Dual #1

10:45 pm - Room Checks/Team Meeting

11 pm - Lights Out

June 22nd

7:00– 8:15 am – Breakfast

8:30 – 9:40 am – Technique Session #3  

9:45-11:45 am – Duals #2 & #3

11:45 – 1:00 pm - Lunch

12:40 – 1:40 pm – Coaches Meeting (Chattanooga Team Lounge)

1:45-2:15:  Team Time

2:20 – 3:30 pm – Technique Session #4  

3:45 – 5:00 pm – Dual #4

5 – 6 pm – Dinner

6:15-6:35 pm:  Motivational Talk

6:45-9:00 pm – Dual #5 and #6

10:45 pm – Room Checks/Team Meeting

11 pm - Lights Out

June 23rd

7:00 – 8:15 am – Breakfast

8:30 – 9:55 am – Technique Session #5

10:00 – 11:30 am– Dual # 7 

11:45 – 12:45 pm - Lunch

12:30 – 1:30 pm – Coaches Meeting (Location TBD)

1:35 – 2:00 pm:  Team Time

2:05 – 3:25 pm – Technique Session #6

3:30 – 4:45 pm – Dual #8 

5 – 6 pm – Dinner

6:15 – 6:30 pm:  Motivational Talk

6:35 – 7:55 pm – Technique Session #7

8:00 – 10:15 pm – Duals #9 & #10 

10:45 pm – Room Checks/Team Meeting

11 pm - Lights Out

June 24th

7:00 – 8:15 am – Breakfast

8:30 am:  Camp Photo

8:45 – 9:45 am – Technique Session #8

9:50-10:15 am:  Team Time/What have we learned?  What’s next?

10:20-10:45 am:  Closing remarks from Camp Staff/Check Out Instructions

10:45-11:45:  Clean Up and Check Out

Picture of the Week - 6/14/2018

Happy Middle of June!

I'm so excited that it's Thursday and this week is winding down!  We've got a quick weekend get-away planned and need tomorrow to get here so we can get the show on the road!

This week Zane and Beck went to STEM camp at their elementary school.  They loved it!  (We loved it too because of all the summer camps they are doing this year, this camp had the nicest hours for working parents! HA!)  I kind of love that they went from all sports all the time last week to STEM stuff this week.  Well-rounded dudes!  We bumped Zane up a grade for this camp so he could work on the Minecraft programming.  He had a blast!  (Except for recess time.  The feedback we got was that there were far too many kids on the playground to have "real fun".)  

Today Spencer left with his football team at 6 AM to travel over to Auburn for a morning of 7v7 action.  He left there with a friend - and fellow wrestler - to head down to New Orleans for a wrestling dual.  We'll hopefully be able to keep up with his results somehow...  I'm hoping he remembers to buy a T-shirt because it would be cool to have a "Jazz Town Duals" shirt!

Quinn's lacrosse team is playing in Asheville, NC.  So we're all heading over there for a quick mini-break from reality.  :)

Here's a picture of Spencer and some of his friends from this morning.  This was shared on FB, which I love because I can't be there in person!  These boys are growing up way too fast!

Picture of the Week - 6/7/2018

Summertime and the living is...  chaotic

I'm trying to embrace summer.  I am.  But this week the combo of summer camps, work emergencies, and the constant need to feed someone have left me longing for the days of the school bus!

The boys have had a great week!  The littles got to go to both a lacrosse camp AND a wrestling camp.  They loved both of them!  The bigs are busy with lacrosse and football and wrestling and have lifted a LOT of weights.  Poor Quinn.  I don't think he's ever been this sore!  

This weekend we have a double-lacrosse tournament for Zane and Quinn (6 games on Saturday and ??? on Sunday) and Spencer is doing another wrestling tournament.  So much for chillin' by the pool!

Speaking of pool - we ARE squeezing in pool time where/when we can.  Here's Zane and Beck from one evening this week.  I really love the relationship between those two right now.  They do everything together - and 95% of the time they are best buds.  I can't tell you how often we walk into the toy room and see them sitting (touching) beside each other on the couch watching TV or playing some odd game on their devices.  They are literally connected most of the time they are awake!  Pretty adorable...

Have a great Summer Week!  Enjoy all the summer stuff - and think of us this weekend dodging thunderstorms and slathering on sunscreen under the team tent.  Fingers crossed for a good concession stand...

Picture of the Week - 5/31/2018

This week - pictures of all my boys!

The picture of Quinn is from last Thursday night while he was all dressed up for 8th grade honors night.  He won an award for highest GPA in math.  :)  The next day he finished 8th grade - and middle school - and is now officially a Freshman in high school.  Goodness...  

The little boys got their hair cut last week and this silly picture of them is just after seeing the barber.  Shortly after this I gave Zane a buzz cut to get rid of the rest of the nits from the Great Lice Incident of 2018.  Happy to report that both boys are clean and free of unwanted "friends".  

And Spencer's picture is from the national wrestling tournament he went to in Virginia Beach last weekend.  (He's the one in the black shoes if you can't tell.)  He ran into some stiff competition - which we expected - but learned a ton, gained more confidence (which comes with experience) and came home ready to get into summer wrestling season.

Love my handsome boys!

This week the little boys are doing a camp at Forsyth County Parks & Rec.  Spencer and Quinn have kicked off summer conditioning.  Spencer is doing football and wrestling - most days he has both - and Quinn is doing wrestling and lacrosse.  It's pretty funny because Spencer's all obsessed with his "job" for the summer - which is to work out, get stronger, get ready...  and Quinn is just sore!  I'm proud of both of them for putting in the work this summer!

This weekend Quinn goes to a lacrosse tournament and Spencer is doing a Wrestling dual tournament.  (Get ready to hear that for the next 3 weekends in a row...)  We finally look like we might be breaking out of the weird, wet weather pattern we've been stuck in too!  

Happy Summer!

Picture of the Week - 4/26/2018

It's football season, y'all!!!

Spencer started spring practice today.  The team is practicing and preparing for the Spring Game on May 10th!  Spencer seemed to be kinda lukewarm about the whole thing, until it started.  Now he's fired up!  He's going to switch positions this year and will hopefully be playing line backer.  He's not big enough to play with his hand on the ground anymore, so it's time to find a new role.  Should be fun!  Here's a picture of Spence and Bob after practice tonight.  

I also thought I'd send along this (really poor quality) picture of Zane from the other night.  He took a shower, brushed his hair, and gave himself a wave in the front.  (Side note - he's got the BEST hair!  Just wave enough, thick, blonde, easy...  the girls will be jealous some day!)  Anyway, he combs his bangs into this perfect flip/wave and then turned to Bob and said - "Dad, new hairstyle.  I call it Sydney Harbor."  (Bob said it really did look like the opera house!  LOL)

This weekend is the last weekend of lacrosse games for Quinn this season (until the summer tournaments) because he's off to a band trip next week.  He's got 2 games.  Zane is playing on Saturday afternoon too.  And Bucky gets to go to a Jamboree just for U7 guys.  Lacrosse AND bounce houses...  they will be in heaven!

I'm off on Tuesday for my next MBA module.  When I get back the weather better be sunny and hot!  I've had enough chilly rain!!!

Have a great week everyone!

Picture of the Week - 4/19/2018

Happy Thursday!

And it really IS a happy day!  The sun is out.  I'm home for the weekend.  We don't have overlapping schedules.  It's a low-stress, high fun kinda weekend *just* around the bend!

And man do I need a low-stress kinda weekend!  My mom asked me today where we were staying for an upcoming out of town lacrosse tournament.  My answer - um...  I haven't even thought about it...  Another telling sign that we've had too much going on...  it's mid-April and I still have 4 weeks left to figure out what the little guys are going to do this summer.  (I do have a fall-back plan...  and it's not like they couldn't just stay here...  but normally by the time we hit March 1st, our summer plans are locked and loaded.)  

I'll get caught up.  Eventually!  

Here's a fun picture of the little guys at one of Quinn's recent lacrosse games.  That electric box has been an interesting fixture for them over the years.  (Because they really have grown up at that park.  I distinctly remember both of them at that field as infants...)  Anyway...  this is the first spring that they have been big/strong enough to climb it themselves.  And Beckett conquered it first - which caused more than a little bit of sibling rivalry-induced motivation for Zane.  LOL

This weekend we have 3 lacrosse games.  I think we only have a handful of weekends of lacrosse left this season.  It goes so fast.  The boys only have something like 24 days of school left.  Crazy!  Spencer's lacrosse season is over.  He starts football spring practice on Monday.  He starts preparing for the summer wrestling tournaments basically now.  He's also in the thick of trying to finish off his freshman year with pride.  Not sure we'll quite get to a happy place with grades in ALL his classes, but he's had a really strong year.  (Spanish is kicking his behind!)

I'm home all next week.  I WILL NOT travel next week.  I don't care who asks!  Next trip is May 1-11, back over to Scotland for an MBS module/class and a week in the office with my team.  Then it's magically summer.  Even the pool will be open when I get back!  We almost made it through one of the busiest stretches we've had in a LONG time.  Almost time to exhale... just a few more weeks.  

Have a great week everyone! 

Picture of the Week - 3/29/2018

I know I'm biased, but I really have the best kids!  Goodness...  they blow me away!

I've been away from home a lot lately.  And I miss my kids - and they miss me back - which is both heart warming and a bit heart wrenching.  

Zane and Beck found some old cell phones in our junk drawer.  They were determined to get them working.  They bugged Bob - and bugged him and bugged him and bugged him.  Zane was particularly persistent while I was away from home last week.  Bob worked on them for a while, then got distracted with things like cooking and care taking and taxi service, then worked a bit more.  They needed new Apple IDs and the old kind of chargers and had to get cleared out.  None of that is hard, but just takes time.  

So Bob would do a bit and then walk away and Zane would ask if they were done.  Rinse and repeat.  Finally on the day before I was scheduled to come home, Zane asked again if they were ready and Bob said no, but he'd work on them that night.  Zane said, "OK, but I really wanted them so I could Facetime with Mom."  I mean, really!  How sweet is that child!!!

Zane and Beck now have working phones (well "working" when on wifi...) and now have the ability to both text and Facetime with me.  This week while I was at my strategy meetings (only away for 2 nights this week...) I got pretty consistent texts from the boys.  (Aside, I'm sort of also blown away with both Zane's vocabulary and his sense of humor, which is VERY dry.)  I LOVE this!  I mean REALLY love it!  It is so cool to be able to communicate with them while I'm away and to get a glimpse of what's going on with them.  I also get lots of pictures of the dogs.  LOL

This picture is a selfie Zane took and sent to me Monday morning before he left for school.  Gosh my kids are cool!

Here are a couple of really cool pictures of Quinn too from his game last weekend.  He had a great Low to Low shot and the league photographer happened to be in the perfect spot to capture a whole series of pictures of the shot.  Quinn's really growing up in the last 6 months or so.  He's easily taller than me...  has muscle definition and is turning into a young man.  Sigh...  only 2 months of middle school left for him and then onto high school!

I can't wait to get to spend some quality time with Spencer and Quinn and Bob next week.  We are leaving on Saturday night for a trip over to London and Edinburgh.  It will be a cool - and very different kind of - trip!  Mostly I'm just looking forward to hanging out with these cool kids - while my little dudes hang with Berber and Pappy and send me adorable text messages!

Happy Easter everyone!  

Picture of the Week - 3/22/2018

Hi all!

Greetings from Glasgow Scotland on day 2 of my MBA journey.  So far so good - although I have had WAY less time this week to try to keep up with emails and "normal" work than I expected/hoped for...  so tonight you get this picture of pre-dinner drinks with some members of the course.  This has been a relatively easy module...  mostly a way for us to gear up for the coming courses and get to know the rest of our cohort.  It's been a wild week...

Tonight all my boys are participating (along with their dad!) in youth lacrosse night.  This is, sadly, the second year in a row I've missed the event.  It's a fun night...  and I really wish I could be there.  Alas...

Tomorrow is our last day of this first module - and then I'm headed home for a *whole* week before heading back to the UK for spring break.  LOL  More on that next week!

Cheers!

Picture of the Week - 3/15/2018

Man - the days and weeks are FLYING by!  I sure wish Mother Nature would take the hint and decide it's time for spring.  I'm tired of being cold!

This week has been a "normal" week - which really just means that I've been home to help with taxi duty.  LOL Bob (legit) puts 100 miles on our car every Monday because of the back-and-forth we have with all 4 boys every Monday.  Crazy!

Today I worked from home, squeezed in a hair cut, and then got to watch Spencer play (and win) lacrosse with Beck and my mom.  It was a good day!  Then I came up here to send out this email and got totally distracted by the NCAA wrestling tournament.  If you had told me 6 months ago that I'd be willingly watching wrestling on TV (by myself), I would have told you that you were crazy.  Alas...  I may have fallen for the sport almost as much as Spencer has.  

This weekend will be a fun one - if the rain holds off.  We have a lacrosse clinic taught by Swarm professional lacrosse players for the little boys.  Then Quinn has a game, Spencer has a game, and finally Zane has a game.  Good stuff - and that's just Saturday.  Sunday we have another game for Zane and Bob's U9 dynasty team.  LOL

Monday I'm off to Scotland to start my MBA experience.  Stay tuned for more info!  I'm actually really anxious about the whole thing, but I'm sure once I get the first class under my belt, I'll settle down.  

Here's a goofy little picture of my little dudes from tonight.  Goodness they are fun!

Picture of the Week - 3/1/2018

Did you miss me last week?

So I had TOTALLY planned to send an email out last Thursday from our cruise.  I even had the draft all set up so all I had to do was attach a picture and hit send.  I didn't even THINK about it until Friday night.  LOL  THAT'S how relaxed and disconnected we were last week.  And it was awesome!

A big thank you to my parents for watching the boys for us every year so we can go on the Buckeye Cruise for Cancer.  This was our 6th one (crazy to think Beck was 4 months old the first time we went!) and they are more fun every year.  This year's cruise raised 3 million dollars for cancer research.  It's a GREAT cause and a GREAT vacation!  And we may already be looking forward to February 23rd, 2019...

Here is a fun picture from our trip.  We had a lot of laugh with Greg and Chrissy and it's so fun to catch up with them every year!

We did miss a ton of stuff - including more HS lacrosse games for Spencer - one Freshman and one JV - both wins.  We also missed his participation at the Georgia Freshman State wrestling tournament, where he came in 3rd.  I think Spencer has played in 5 high school games and tonight is the first one I get to see - if it doesn't get rained out.  

This weekend kicks off games for Zane and Quinn too - and it's thankfully going to be a nice, sunny weekend!  Spencer has a game on Saturday too!  Then I'm off to a week of customer visits starting with travel on Sunday evening and wrapping up on Thursday.  I sure hope it's warmer in St. Louis and Boston than I think it's going to be...

Have a great week everyone!

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 - 12/21/2017

Wow!

A LOT of stuff has happened since last weeks email.  This has been one weird - and mostly good - week.

As I'm sitting here with a glass of wine and really want to go plop on the couch beside Bob for a while, I'll make this a new-sy kind of update and  leave the philosophy for another day!

Since we last "spoke"...

- I had surgery on my eye again on Friday.  I'm still messing with this droopy eye.  I had it fixed last November and it looked way better than it started, but still looked pretty different than the "good" side.  So we did a different procedure this time and I *think* once the swelling is gone and the stitches all heal and I look a bit less like Frankenstein, I'm going  to be really happy.  The recovery for this one was much easier than the last procedure, which was great!  But it still sorta knocked me on my butt last Saturday.  

- While I was applying cold compresses on Saturday, Spencer and Bob were at a wrestling tournament.  For this one, Spence got to wrestle at 195 lbs, which is his "real" weight class.  He did really well and ended the day in 4th place with a 3-2 record.  The 2 losses were both to the same guy.  There were 11 guys in his weight class.  The first time the guy beat him, he got pinned in about 35 seconds.  The second time, they went to the 3rd period, so Spencer definitely improved.  Tomorrow he's going to a BIG tournament down here.  It's a 2 day deal and he'll be at 195 again.  We're taking all the kids to watch him tomorrow (except Zane*) and hopefully it will be another fun day for him.  

*Zane is staying home to go to a Minecraft coding camp at the High School.  I think he's almost as excited about this camp as he is about Christmas!

- On Sunday we got 2 new members of the family - a couple of Guinea Pigs we've named Phineas and Ferb.  They are adorable.  We are all kind of smitten with them.  Quinn likes to put one on his shoulder and carries him around nearly everywhere.  The boys aren't even phased by the fact that these guys are poop machines.  LOL  Ozzie hates them.  Or maybe he's afraid of them.  He's been a nervous wreck since they got here.  Willow could care less.

- On Sunday we also got to watch Quinn play a lacrosse game.  He's definitely got more of a temper now than he used to.  I guess testosterone will do that to you!  At one point he got a penalty - then mouthed off about it - and got an extra minutes.  LOL  I kinda love the  fire!

- Somewhere in there we discovered that the truck wouldn't run.  So we left it parked with a plan to get it to the shop on Monday.

- Sunday night we got to go out to dinner and a concert with my mom and dad.  We had gotten my mom some concert tickets for her birthday and it was SUCH a cool night.  We went to a Korean barbecue restaurant and then watched a really cool Christmas concert with For King and Country and Casting Crowns.  Such a fun night!

- Monday we did the work thing, Bob went to Beckett's holiday party, and we found out the truck needed 6000 worth of transmission work.  BLAH

- Tuesday Bob went to Zane's holiday party while I took Quinn for a check-up at the scoliosis clinic*.  Then we went car shopping.  I test drove a bunch of different options and picked a car we thought we wanted.  Of course when we went to test drive it, the battery was dead.  So back home we went with a plan to revisit the next day.

*Way more on the scoliosis thing next week.  Short story is that his curves are worse than they were last year.  He has 3 instead of 2 and they are all more curvy.  So we need to go see a specialist.  I was, honestly, shocked because to me he didn't look any worse than he had before.  Oh well...  we have an appointment with an orthopedic scoliosis specialist next Wednesday.

(We were still trying to work through all of these distractions.  Work...  BLAH!)

- Wednesday Bob and I both put in a few hours at our jobs and then headed back to Carmax.  (BTW - This is the second time we've used Carmax and I really couldn't recommend them any more highly.  It's an easy experience.  No pressure.  We love them!)  I bought a black 2014 Infinity Q50.  I love it.  To say it's a step up from the 13 year old truck is about the biggest understatement of the decade.  

- Today we did the work thing again, gather up the big boys - who both got out of school early today because they had finished their exams, and had a lovely lunch with them.  Then I had an appointment with the eye doctor.  After that pleasant experience (seriously, does anyone enjoy getting stitches OUT???) we drew names and let the boys shop for their annual gifts to each other.  This year I had Quinn and Zane and Target.  LOL  We had fun!  Knocked over a whole display of wrapping paper.  Bought WAY too many bags of holiday M&Ms and giggled through the store.  Goodness I love those boys!

I am SO excited for Christmas!!!

Before we get there though...  we have MORE stuff going on!

- Tomorrow is wrestling day (and somehow I need to find time  to grocery shop or there's going to be a mutiny...)

- Saturday is WAY up in the air because our plans will depend on how Spencer does in the tournament tomorrow.  It also will, hopefully, include our Church service and our traditional Christmas Eve-Eve Mexican dinner if we can squeeze it in!  (If not, concession food it is...)

- Sunday we get to go to my sister's for our annual Christmas Eve brunch and then we are going to see Star Wars.  One of my favorite days of the year!

- And of course Monday is Christmas.  I can't WAIT to share some of the secrets that we have wrapped under that tree!

I wish you all the Merriest Christmas!  Enjoy those around you!  It's such a special - and kinda nutty - time of year!!  I love it!

Cheers!