Picture of the Week - 12/7/2017

 Greetings all!

I'm wrapping up another Scotland trip tonight.  One more night to get through and then the trek back home starts tomorrow.  I should get home just in time for another busy weekend of sports stuff and then I can finally start to get into the holiday spirit!  Yay!

Last weekend, I missed Zane and Beckett's first jiu jitsu tournament.  They had so much fun and are so excited to do their next one.  Yay!  They both brought home some medals.  Beck came in 3rd in both of his brackets - which were actually the beginner brackets and not the novice bracket because there weren't any other 55 lb 6 year old novices at the tournament.  LOL  He held his own.  Zane got a second and third place and earned his Grey bar.  He's super motivated to get a few more stripes so he can get his grey belt.  

Here's a cute picture of the boys and their hardware.  Stay tuned for more holiday fun updates!

Picture of the Week - 11/9/2017

Newsy sporty kinda email today - lots of good stuff happening!

Quinn made the Senior Select lacrosse team!  Yay!!!  I'm so happy for him.  He got cut from the Junior Select team last year and has worked all year to get better - and it shows.  I'm excited to get to watch him play at that level - and even more excited because Bob's not coaching him and we can enjoy the season together (at least when we aren't spread all over with the little boys...)

Spencer is wrestling this weekend for the Varsity wrestling team for his high school in the 220 pound weight class.  This is no small feat as he's a freshmen and competing with upperclassmen (in a school of about 3k kids).  And he's wrestling "up" as he really should be in the 195 lb weight class, but they needed a 220 guy.  I have NO IDEA how he will do...  I do know that he's LOVING wrestling season.  He is so pumped that I think wrestling has officially become more than just a way to get better at football.  If the football coaches aren't careful, he'll have a new favorite sport soon...  Stay tuned...  

Beckett is playing in a playoff football game on Saturday.  On paper, his team should win, which would put them into the Lanier Bowl the following weekend.  

Zane is done with football for now and focusing on Jiu Jitsu.  He's got 2 more stripes on his belt and thinks he's really close to getting his grey belt.  There is a JJ tournament in early December that I think the little guys may do.  Will be interesting to see how they do with competition outside their gym.  

In non-sporting news...  Our carpet drama is officially all done.  The stairs now match the rest of the floor and all is well.  

PS - all kids doing well in school.  I never talk about school because it's boring to talk about...  trust me that they are all doing great.  

Here's a fun picture of the littles climbing a tree.  They have both recently gone through HUGE growth spurts.  Between the extra inches and the football/jiu jitsu all fall, they have gotten lean and strong.  No more little soft bodies in my house.  Everyone is getting muscles everywhere.  

Have a great week everyone! 

Picture of the Week - 8/31/2017

Hi all!

I'm totally celebrating today!  Today should be a holiday.  It's finally the start of College football season AND Spencer plays his first official high school football game tonight with the rest of the freshmen team against Milton.  I'm ridiculously excited to watch him (even if I will also be more than a little nervous about that shoulder...) and then we get to come home and watch the Buckeyes.  Holiday worthy for sure!!!

Here's our annual O H I O picture of the boys.  Love these!  (The pictures AND the boys!!!)

Here's another picture from Jiu Jitsu this week.  Zane earned his first stripe this week.  He was so excited.  It still surprises Bob and I about how much they love JJ.  We really thought it would just be a way to spend the summer, but those guys really love going.  It's adorable - and they are learning a ton!

Have a great week everyone!  Go West!  Go Buckeyes!

Picture of the Week - 7/27/2017

"I have a lot of excitement in my life.  I used to call it tension, but I feel much better now that I call it excitement."  ~Madeleine Costigan

We are in a pretty significant transition period right now.  Like MAJOR stuff is changing in MAJOR ways.  

Unlike the transition from school year to summer, we aren't winding things down.  Instead we are adding events to our calendar almost faster than the color-coded ink can dry.  Going from Summer-slow to Back-to-School chaos is hard.  And daunting.  My calendar kinda makes me break out into a sweat just looking at it.  And chaos is nothing new to us...

This transition into school stuff is bigger than most of the others we've been through.  Maybe the first time we put Spencer on a school bus was emotional comparable, but then we didn't have eleventy million other things going on.  And there was just that ONE big change.  

This year we have a starting Freshman and a starting Kindergartner.  When you say that to people in conversation it gets almost as many exclamations as telling people you have 4 boys.  I suppose there aren't too many people out there with that kind if spread.  And honestly, I'm not sure I'd recommend it.  So. Much. Change.  And all at once.

We have no idea what we're doing with high school.  Everything seems foreign and murky.  I think our high school has done a great job communicating what the kids need to do.  And I think we've done it all.  But I have no idea if we've done it RIGHT.  I guess we'll find out.  I know we will navigate around all of the uncertainty and by the time we get to our last rising Freshman, this will feel warm and comfortable.  But this first time through is, well, it's just daunting.  For me...  Spencer, of course, is totally, 100% fine and ready to go.  He's not worried.  And can't wait for next Thursdays.  He says he's reached the point of the summer where he's "kinda bored".  (Glad someone is...)

I've attached a copy of his schedule for this year.  I swear it took me 20 minutes to decipher what he would actually be doing from one day to the next.  (I may have charted day-by-day, which is a WAY easier way to read this thing...)  This is way more complicated than the schedule I had in high school!!!

Quinn is going into 8th grade.  I can handle 8th grade.  Been there/done that.  He is getting an almost entirely new management team at his school, but given he doesn't need special services and doesn't (knock on wood) spend any time in the principal's office, that's not even a big deal.  We know the school.  We know the people.  We're good!  (Quinn is easily the most bummed of all the boys that summer is over.  He's really enjoyed his summer of lazy luxury!)

Zane is going into 2nd grade.  Again, been there.  We don't find out his teacher until next Tuesday, but it doesn't really matter.  He will be fine.  He'll still be going to the same Horizons teacher and walking the same hallways.  He's ready and excited - despite not getting a new backpack...

And then Beckett.  If there was ever a child ready for the next phase, it's Beck.  I think sending he and Zane to summer camp at the elementary school has probably given him a bit of a false sense of confidence.  He's pretty sure he knows exactly what school is going to be like.  And he's pretty sure he's going to be awesome at it.  (Actually so am I... I just also feel the need to apologize to his teacher in advance for the added challenges coming her way!)  My hope for Beckett this year is that he figures out how to decide when it's time to listen and behave!  We will tackle our very last "School bus Round up" next Tuesday.  So hard to believe...

All of that is just the SCHOOL part of the Back-to-School craziness.  The other half is all sports related - and honestly the part that has me nearly immobilized with anxiety.  Spencer, Zane and Beckett are all playing football.  Their practices kick off in earnest tonight.  Spencer will go every day after school (4-6) and the little boys each have 2 weekday and 1 weekend practice every week until games start.  I guess I was oddly naive in thinking that the little guys would have practice at the same time/same place.  In hindsight, I am WAY more seasoned than that...  and I really should have expected what happened.  They are in different parks at the same time twice a week.  That alone would be fine, except that Spencer is going to need to somehow get home in the middle of that.  So - we'll be begging rides ALL season.  I am gonna owe a bunch of people a bunch of stuff come November!  

Did I mention that the little boys have fallen in LOVE with jiu jitsu and it's been so good for them in SO many ways that we signed them up again.  I mean that's logical right?  They have football on Tuesday and Thursday and jiu jitsu is Monday/Wednesday/Friday.  Seems like fate wants them to do both.  Right?!?!?

Quinn is playing lacrosse this fall.  He's got practice 3 times a week too.  And, of course, 2 of those dates are the non-football days.  It's good because it helps logistics.  It's bad because we don't have any days off.  Ever.  From now until fall break.  (Excuse me while I breathe into a paper bag for a second...)

I kid.  I know it'll be busy.  I know we will get tired.  I know I'll see far less of my husband than I like as we pass in the drive, each following our logistical plan before collapsing in bed at night.  

I also know we'll get through it.  I know we'll have a blast along the way.  I know the boys will all grow in so so so many different ways.  And I know that this time of utter craziness is only a phase - and one I will likely miss a great deal.  Next fall Spencer can drive himself around.  And act as a 3rd driver to get through all the other activities.  In the blink of an eye, my weekly calendar logistic gymnastics will be a distant memory.  Before we know it we'll be down to 2 schools instead of 3.  Then 1...  

Time flies.  And with a schedule like ours, it'll be over before we even realize it's kinda hard.  

I know all of this...  it's just the suspense is killing me!

Have a great week everyone!  And if you come for a visit, expect to play chauffeur!  

PS - for anyone interested, Spencer will play his games on Thursday nights.  The little boys will have games on Saturdays.  Quinn's season is a bit different than seasons past and is focused on development over games, so if you are looking for some lacrosse action, check back in the spring when all 4 will be back on a lacrosse field.    

Picture of the Week - 6/29/2017

Holy cow - June is over.  How did that happen?  

This past week has been a whirlwind of company and business travel and kids going a million different directions.  I guess that's what you get when you try to fit in ALL the things that go along with summertime!

Here are a couple of pretty low quality pictures from Bob's cell phone.  I don't know that I took a single picture all week.  Oops!

The little boys have started Jiu Jitsu.  If you've ever heard me talk about Jocko Willink, that's why.  He wrote a book called "The Way of the Warrior Kid" and now Zane and Beck are throwing themselves into learning Jiu Jitsu.  Know what...  I kind of love it!  There's definitely something different you get out of participating in an individual sport that you don't get out of team sports.  Both have valuable lessons and I love that the little dudes are so willing to work on this.  Also, they are actually pretty good at it.  Zane is a rule follower - which fits very nicely with the discipline of martial arts - and he's relatively athletic for his age.  He pays very close attention to learning new moves and once he gets some direction from the coaches, he remembers all of it.  Beckett is less about the discipline and actually spends a fair amount of time with his nose on the mat in the Jiu Jitsu version of "time out".  But he's also very strong for a 5 year old and when you combine that with the fact that he's very aggressive and kind of nasty and absolutely fearless...  he's got the right stuff to be really good.

One of the pictures is Beck showing off his muscles in the pool.  While we were at the beach, my mom taught the boys to snorkel.  So I got them some snorkel gear for our pool and they love it!  Pretty cool to see them and it has REALLY improved their swimming ability too!  Win win!

The last picture is Beck and Quinn playing video games.  Yes, they've played a LOT of games this summer.  Probably more than they should, but they enjoy it and sometimes you just need to let them do something that will keep them happy and quiet for a while.  (Remember we are often working from home before any judging occurs!)  One of the things I love about this picture is that it so accurately captures this relationship between #2 and #4 that's really blossomed this summer.  Those two are buddies.  Quinn takes care of Beck.  Beck adores Quinn.  They almost never argue.  It's (at least at this moment in time) the best relationship between any of the boys.  I'm sure things will morph and change (because they have before...) but for now I'm really enjoying watching those 2 together.  

If you might be wondering why Spencer isn't in any pictures it's because he's been gone pretty much since last Saturday morning.  He went away on a church trip with 900 other high school kids (ouch...  just referred to one of my kids as a high schooler...) to Panama City Beach.  They stayed in a resort with their small groups and seem to have had a great time.  It's impossible to get any kind of details from a 14 year old boy, but he said he'd go back next year, so it must have been good.  He got home last night and then turned around at 5:30 this morning to go to a football camp over in Rome, GA.  This is the last of the planned trips he's got for the summer and my guess is that he'll now be singularly focused on getting ready for the football season.  I imagine the weight bench in the basement is about to get a workout...

Have a very safe and happy 4th of July everyone!  Happy early birthday to my sister.  We aren't really sure WHAT we are going to get into over the weekend or for the holiday, but I'm sure it'll be full of summer fun!