Picture of the Week - 5/26/2022

 May-madness is almost over...  the end of the hustle is SOOOO close!

In the past week...

- Zane played in the Black and White game.  He played center for the whole game.  He was consistent and reliable and steady.  He's not flashy, but he is a really good football player.  I really do love watching him play.

- Visited with Sharon and Karen who came down to visit from Ohio for the festivities

- Held Quinn's graduation party where we entertained a LOT of people.  My heart is truly so happy to see all the friends and family who came to wish Quinn well.  He's just such a good, likeable dude.  Celebrating him was fun - and easy! - and also a little exhausting! 

- More dinner party fun with Berber and Pappy and Jess and her family to celebrate the graduates!

- Actual graduation ceremony on Sunday and dinner (out again... who wants to cook in May???)

- Then we found out on Monday that Zane made the football team - woohoo!  I'm so happy for him - and he's SO excited about it!!

- Tuesday happened to be our 25th wedding anniversary - and we used it as an opportunity to visit one of our favorite restaurants with some great friends

- Wednesday we had a football meeting for all the players and families that made the team to pay dues and get fitted for gear and such.  We also found out that Zane will get to continue the tradition of a Bovenizer wearing #59.  The coaches know and remember Spencer - and asked if Zane wanted to be the same number.  I love that so much.

- And then here we are back to Thursday - the last day of the 2021-22 school year.

I would say we are doing a pretty darn good job of filling our days up with fun stuff!  This doesn't mean we aren't simultaneously saddened by the tragedy of the Texas school shooting.  That evil weighs heavy - but is also a good reminder not to take any of these crazy, jam-packed, family-centered days for granted.  You just never know...  

Tomorrow we will try to get through the last workday before heading to the Carolina coast for vacation.  I can't wait!

Picture of the Week - 5/12/2022

 Swoooooooooosh - did you feel the first half of May, FLY by???  Good grief!  I feel like I blinked in March and here we are mid-May.

We continue the month of (almost) all Quinn.  Last weekend was his second prom - which started with some awkwardly windy pictures and ended in a super fun (per Quinn and Jess) event in downtown Atlanta - like literally across the street from the capital.  They went with a charcoal grey and pink color scheme for this one and looked gorgeous.  I can't decide which one I liked better - and also couldn't pick just one picture to share.

Then Spencer came home on Saturday.  He's home until mid-August and working as a Project Engineer for Hawk Construction.  He's only worked for 3 days and has already learned so much!  This is going to be a really excellent internship for him.  He's also been busy connecting with some of his friends as they return back for the summer and spent Sunday helping Quinn buy a new car.

Yes...  Quinn has purchased a new (used) car in preparation for driving back and forth to Statesboro this fall.  He got a Hyundai Veloster.  It's cute and suits him well.  He got a (for today's weird economy) ridiculously good deal on it because it's been modified a bit (Spencer could tell you all the things they have added - custom this and that and the other - I can tell you they replaced the Hyundai symbol on the back with a velociraptor plaque.  LOL  

This week Bob has been in California for work and gets to come home tonight.  This weekend, as strange as it sounds, we are going to spend prepping for vacation and Beckett's first week at camp.  We head to the beach on the 28th and Beck goes to camp the day after we get home.  My goal is to be mostly packed for both of these things before we get into GRADUATION activities next weekend.  I can't even believe graduation is here.  Quick topic change or I'll get sad again...  how bout the weather this week!  Gorgeous!!

Have a great week everyone and enjoy the prom/car pictures!

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!  

Picture of the Week - 1/13/2022

 The weather forecasters are saying we might get SNOW on Saturday night.  It's all anyone can talk about!  The boys are so excited!  I'm pretty excited too!  The timing of the storm means that we will all be safe and sound in the house when the rain/snow/sleet/freezing rain/whatever we get hits, so we can just sit back and relax.  It's going to happen after all our events on Saturday, so nothing will get messed up or rearranged.  And worst case scenario for Saturday night/Sunday morning icy roads is that we will have church moved online, which means service in jammies and no waumbaland volunteer time.  There are worse things than looking at some potential snow on a Saturday night in Georgia!!

But before we get to that...  we have some wrestling to do!  

Quinn's high school team is heading to a state duals preliminary qualifier after placing 2nd last weekend at regions.  We need to win this qualifier to make it to state the following weekend.  I'm excited to see what this team can do.  Quinn has dropped a weight class (which lots of the kids do this time of year) and will be wrestling the 132 spot this weekend.  Stay tuned!

Zane and Beck are also wrestling on Saturday and it's been a long time since I've seen them both so excited for a tournament.  Should be a good one up in Dawsonville.  

Here's a fun picture of my FOUR BOYS together last weekend at Quinn's tournament.  I love this picture.  A lot.  :)  My dudes.

Spencer is back in Charleston now and tackling his spring semester.  In case anyone was curious, he earned a 3.7 for Fall semester in Civil Engineering - while wrestling and dealing with being a Knob at a military school.  My boys all rocked their grades in the first half of this year...  Quinn got a 3.6, Zane got all As, and Beck doesn't really have letter grades yet, but he's not having any issues.  Proud mom stuff... 

Picture of the Week 11/11/2021

 Wrestling wrestling wrestling - It's taken over my life.  And I love it all!  It's my favorite time of year!

I love this season and this sport.  (Although I do kinda hate that it overlaps all the holidays...  Someday I will relish the idea of an elaborate and calorie-rich cookie tray again...)

So many wrestling things going on...

First - Spencer had his first official collegiate match last weekend.  I am just so proud of him.  My parents and I went down to watch him and despite a 0-2 record for the tournament, I can't help but be in awe of how well he's doing.  He's just so settled.  He's figured out the college life and has his priorities right where they need to be.  He's doing well in his classes, competitive in the wrestling room, and working on finding a summer internship and nailing down his summer plans.  He's thriving in Charleston and it makes my mama-heart so full!

Second - Quinn has won his wrestle off to earn a spot at 138lbs on our varsity team this year.  (The team is SO big, nearly 70 strong, that he will likely get pushed to fight for this spot all year.)  I'm so thrilled for him to be in the Varsity A line-up (yes, we also have a Varsity B team...) this year.  He's worked hard to earn his spot!  And yet, when the team goes to their first competition this weekend, he will not be there.  Why?  Because he's taking a trip with his church Small Group to Chattanooga for the weekend.  His faith is so much stronger than mine was at his age and I love love love that he leans into it.  He's just an all-round cool dude.  

Third - Zane also won a wrestle-off this week to earn a spot at 125 lbs on the middle school duals team.  This is a pretty big feat for a 6th grader!  Our youth program this year has blossomed to over 50 kids.  Zane is a leader in that room and he transitioned from football to wrestling without missing a beat.  I really can't wait to watch him wrestle this year!  He's on the top end of the 12U age group and has a few years of experience under his belt now.  His club team coach asked him to travel with them to a duals tournament in Virginia Beach in December after watching his FIRST PRACTICE after football season.  Zane weighs the same as he did last year, but has grown 2-3 inches.  Should be a pretty fun season for him.

Fourth - Beckett is last, but certainly not least.  He's wrestling too and while he's not old enough for middle school duals just yet, he's got some individual tournaments coming up that should be pretty fun.  Beckett is pretty laid back about things in general, but he does have an aggressive side that tends to come out on the football field and the wrestling mat - when he wants to, he will.  

And last - there's the parental-involvement...  Bob and I are having a really great time volunteering our time and talents to this sport and these teams.  It's fun.  I really enjoy helping new folks learn the ins and outs of wrestling.  And this week, I'm really really glad that all the high school team uniforms are finally distributed to the wrestlers.  They had transformed my dining room into a bit of a messy-storage room look.  Better Homes and Gardens is never gonna come knocking on my door!  (And that's A-OK with me!)

Here's a picture of me and Spencer at last weekend's Citadel Open and a couple of pictures of our vast organizational challenge - aka wrestling uniform distribution...

Picture of the Week - 9/16/2021

 There are so many fun and cool and awesome things happening right now!  Life is good, y'all!

Let's see...  where to start...

Beck and Zane are both doing great!  They are really enjoying school (as much as tweener boys enjoy school) and football.  Zane has settled right into middle school and has found a whole new group of friends.  We are in a weird feeder pattern here where only about 40 kids go from our elementary to our middle.  Thank goodness for sports because there are some friendly football/wrestling faces in the 6th grade hall!  Both of these boys are also growth spurting something crazy.  I'm including a picture of Zane, who is about to pass me in height.  He's pretty pumped about it...

Quinn is living his best life!  He has started his college application process, knocked out another round of SAT testing, and hits the weight room regularly getting ready for wrestling season.  We also got his senior yearbook picture proofs back and he has a college visit scheduled for Monday for his first choice school.

Bob and Quinn are heading to Charleston on Saturday with a bag of goodies for Spencer and a couple of tickets to the Citadel football game.  They will get to spend Sunday with Spencer and then will head over to Statesboro on Monday morning to visit Georgia Southern.  I wish I could go, alas I'm on Zane football duty - and of course work...

Bob doesn't have to worry about work next week because tomorrow is his last day at ADP.  He's been there for 21.5 years, so this is not a small change for us!  He will likely end up doing a very similar job, but maybe on the client-side instead of the vendor side.  We shall see.  The change is long overdue and I'm excited for him!

The boys are on fall break next week, which means that next Wednesday we all get to escape for a quick trip up to Ohio.  I am so grateful that Bob's sister has agreed to take Quinn's "real" senior pictures for us!  And we got tickets to an OSU game, which will be the first game we've seen in person since I graduated.  Crazy!

Good stuff all around!  Oh yeah, and the Citadel wrestling roster is updated on the website and includes a picture of Spencer.  That makes the whole thing even more real!  He's the first D1 wrestler West Forsyth high school has ever produced.  Pretty proud about all he's accomplishing and how he's handling the whole situation.  2021-22 Wrestling Roster - The Citadel Athletics

2021-22 Wrestling Roster - The Citadel Athletics The official 2021-22 Wrestling Roster for the The Citadel Bulldogs

Now if we can just get these tropical storms to take a breath and stop sending rivers of atmospheric moisture through Georgia...  

Have a great week!!

Picture of the Week - 6/24/2021

 So this was the week.  We dropped Spencer off at The Citadel in Charleston on Tuesday and drove home.  

How's he doing?  Honestly, I'm not really sure.  He is not the best communicator and I don't want to press too much for information.  I think he's good.  I hope he's good.  He's supposed to call tonight - fingers crossed!

It was so weird.  We aren't allowed in the barracks - so I don't know what his room looks like.  I didn't get to help him make his bed or organize his unpacking.  He's on his own... 

How am I doing?  Well, I'm good, if I'm being honest.  I had moments of being sad and melancholy before I left him, but so far, I just feel like "WE DID IT"!  I'm sure I will miss him and there will be times when his absence is huge here, but right now my whole house feels a little weird, so it's not hit me yet.

Right now Quinn is in Orlando getting ready to wrestle in the Disney Duals.  This is the first tournament in a LONG time that either Bob or I haven't gone, but we just couldn't make this one work.  He's in good hands - and we will get to watch the matches online.  

Zane and Beck have a week off camps and are getting to spend some time with Berber and Pappy today at Camp Berber.  They are excited for an endless stream of donuts and Sunny-D and will be spoiled rotten when we get them back tomorrow.

Zane leaves for sleepaway at Woodlands on Monday and Beckett is doing the Wet & Wild camp next week as we lead up to vacation week!  I can't wait!  Not having Spencer there will be hard...  not looking forward to that part!

Here are a couple of pictures of Spencer with his brothers from this week.  Enjoy!

Picture of the Week - 5/20/2021

 Last week was such a weird week for me to skip a POTW message because so much happened.  And yet, it was also so perfectly busy and fun and happy that I'm not even going to apologize for staying in the moment and not thinking about sending out an email.  I didn't even think about the POTW until mid-day Saturday and then by the time we were home and settled... well I'm not sure we will actually be settled until July...

Anyway - a LOT has happened in the last 2 weeks - and all of it is really good stuff.  And most of it is wrestling-related.

Last weekend we went to Myrtle Beach for a tournament in the middle of a gasoline shortage.  The entire trip was in jeopardy for a while and even as we packed up the car and left for the coast we weren't really sure if we were making the right decision.  Turns out everything was fine and we had a blast - and Spencer had an amazing tournament.

On Friday Spence and Quinn wrestled in a duals tourney.  Quinn was, obviously, with our high school team and Spence was picked up as a "free agent" to fill a spot on a team in Ohio.  Neither team did particularly well in the tournament, but in these big national tourneys a high school team is really never going to be able to compete with a club team full of recruited wrestlers.  We don't go to these things to bring home trophies.  It's really all about experience and bonding with the team (and each other).  

Spencer, however, had an amazing day on Friday and went 5-0 with 4 pins and one forfeit.  He was named an All American and was SO FUN to watch.  

Saturday all 4 boys participated in the individual tournament.  This was the first and only tournament that all 4 boys will ever wrestle in together.  I don't imagine there are too many other families out there who can claim 4 wrestlers in a single event.  It was pretty special.  So of course I had to get matching t-shirts!!    The 3 younger brothers had a rough go, but Spencer killed it again on Saturday going 3-0 w 2 more pins and a win on points.  He only gave up 5 points total all weekend.  It was a dominant performance.  He won the 220 lb high school weight class and is ready to get after it again next weekend in his last high school match.  He's dropping to the 195 lb spot for another duals team competing at Virginia Beach.  This one is another national tournament - with even more wrestlers attending.  The competition should be even better than what we saw in Myrtle, so it'll be a good test.  Zane is also making that trip to wrestle as the elementary team's 120.  Bob is taking on chauffeur and snack duties while I hold down the fort at home. 

But before we can get to that trip next week, we have this small event going on this weekend - Spencer's graduation!!!  He finished up classes and exams last week.  Had senior breakfast on Tuesday.  (Thank you to everyone who sent a letter to him for his Blue Envelope!)  And now we are gearing up for his party and dinner on Saturday and then the actual graduation on Sunday evening.  I have definitely had moments where I'm in utter disbelief that this day is here, but I'm also just so excited to see where he goes from here that it's impossible to be sad.  It's a big milestone, to be sure!  But it's also the opening of a door to a path that will be uniquely Spencer's.  I can't wait to see where it goes.

Oh yeah - and just for icing on the crazy-May cake...  last night at wrestling practice J'den Cox (world/Olympic wrestler) showed up.  He wrestled with everyone in the room - how awesome.  Here's a picture of him with the boys.  

OK - next week I promise I won't flake and forget to send a POTW.  It will be full of graduation memories that I can't wait to capture!

Picture of the Week - 2/27/2020

I'm back!  Wait...  did anyone even realize I was gone?  :)

I don't think I've ever skipped 2 weeks of POTW emails in a row before.  It's like one of those habits that if I let myself skip any more, it would be so hard to get back into the swing of things.  So here we go!

The first week I missed, I just FLAT FORGOT.  I spent the better part of that Thursday watching wrestling on my computer (where I write these things) and I had plenty of things to talk about.  I mean it was essentially the super bowl of our wrestling season!  And I did think about the POTW at some point, but then it flitted right back out of my head and I never thought of it again.  For reference, Spencer lost his first match on Thursday and then won the late one at like 10:30 at night or some crazy hour.  

Then on Friday that week, I did think about sending the email, but Spencer was in the middle of a massive battle to get back through the consolation brackets and into a placement round.  It was pretty tense.  It's not very common for someone to battle back from a first round loss.  I actually did a bit of research and out of all of the kids wrestling in the 7A brackets (14 weight classes and 16 wrestlers in each) there were only 5 total kids who lost a first round match and ended up in a placement round.  It's impressive company.  And I felt like I couldn't really send a POTW halfway through the event without knowing how it was going to end.  On Friday Spencer won 2 more matches in a row to get himself into a placement position.  He lost his last match on Friday and then wrestled in the 5th place match on Saturday, where he lost to the same kid who beat him in round 1 to earn a 6th place state finish.

Placing at state is no small feat.  It was his goal this season.  When he looks back at this season it will be with pride, but also with a bit of unfinished business.  I think he'd like a chance to beat the guys who stood on the podium ahead of him.  I think he's motivated to do just that next season.  Either way, I'm so proud of what he did - and how he did it.  The wrestling season is over now...  and yet all 4 of our boys are still training.  They are still prepping and preparing and getting better.  They are getting ready, already, for next winter.  And I love it!

And then last Thursday I was on a boat with the Buckeye Cruise for Cancer.  I had plenty of downtime to write and email, but the whole point of downtime is doing nothing.  Right?  So I didn't even think about the POTW until Friday.  And on Friday we were off the boat and touring Miami before heading back home.  I am unashamed that I prioritized hanging out with Bob and enjoying our trip over sitting down to write an email.  I love you all, but you can wait sometimes!  

And here we are, a whole week later and getting back in the groove.  We are smack into our spring schedule - which has a lot of trips to the wrestling studio and a few Zane lacrosse practices sprinkled in for good measure.  Bob and I are kind of both busy working and catching up and getting ready for new projects and more stuff.  It's all good stuff - just not very exciting stuff!  

This weekend, we have nothing.  WHAT????  That hardly ever happens.  We were supposed to be down in Perry, GA at Little Kid State wrestling tournament, but we missed the registration deadline.  (Even organized parents screw stuff up sometimes...)  But it's OK, Zane wasn't upset and he has 4 more years to go to Little Kid State and get himself on the podium down there.  After seeing Spencer's name on a plaque in our High School gym (forever) he's pretty motivated to get up there himself...  

I hope you have all had a really great few weeks.  Sorry if you were wondering where your Thursday evening light reading (boring reading?) was!  I'm back in the saddle!

Here are a few pictures from the last couple of weeks.  Enjoy!

Spencer with his state medal

Spencer, Quinn and Jay just after he wont the "blood round" match to put him into the placement matches.  Those guys RAN down to congratulate him!

Beckett with a beautiful sunset after a REALLY rainy few weeks

Zane after lacrosse practice - boy has he grown up recently - no more little boy there... he's changing SO fast right now!  Growing up before our eyes...

Picture of the Week - 1/23/2020

Oh this sport of wrestling...  what can I even say about it...  maybe I should start by sharing something someone else wrote about wrestlers. 

Obsessed Wrestler

“They suffer in silence.

Day in and day out the men and women of my squad do things others would deem superhuman.

Fight to maintain grades
Fight to maintain weight
Fight off skin infection
Fight to keep varsity positions
Fight to win matches against skilled opponents.
Fight the stigmas of their peers.
Fight against the silence of a community that widely ignores them.
Fight with personal demons.

They do this all in a deafening vacuum of ambivalence. Unseen by friends and family. Locked away in early mornings and late nights they push themselves to the peak of human perfection. Their is a certain beauty in their quiet struggles. No banners. No parades. No accolades. Just the simple promise to themselves that they will be better. That they have to be better.

So the next time you see one of my wrestlers, remember this: that the people of this world that can get things done are the workers. The ones with their sleeves rolled up and their boots caked with dirt. These wrestlers thrive with sweat on their brow.

There is a good chance they have done more than you ever could. And will achieve more that you ever did.

And it all starts with the quiet stillness in their silent suffering.”

- Ryan Lancaster

When I was younger and envisioning my future life, I never once, for even ONE SECOND, considered that I might raise a wrestler.  I didn't know anything about wrestling.  Actually, that's not true...  I did *think* I knew some stuff about wrestling, but it turns out it was all wrong.  Every perception I had about those boys in their underwear, was inaccurate.  Wrestling, for those who aren't IN IT, doesn't make sense.  And if you aren't IN IT, trust me when I say, you don't understand it.

I never would have dreamed that in 2020 I would spend 20 bucks for the privilege of watching a live stream of a Georgia State Wrestling Dual.  Like seriously...  my 1995 self was never going to even BE in Georgia, would have had girls, and couldn't even conceive of the idea of watching some kind of live event through an app on my smart TV.  Mind blown.

And yet.  That's exactly what I did.  And I didn't do it passively.  This wasn't a "put it on for noise in the background" kind of experience.  For 3 days my schedule revolved around when the West Wrestling Team would be wrestling next.  I was useless during their matches.  I paced.  I cheered (yes, alone in my room).  I had the video up on the TV and the live scoring app on my laptop.  I had a spreadsheet to keep track - real time - with points.  My heart raced.  I was a nervous wreck!!!  

And it was SO RIDICULOUSLY FUN!!!

It turns out wrestling is an addictive sport.  It's a FAR bigger adrenaline rush than football has ever been for me, which kind of surprises me to admit.  Think back to the most exciting football game you've ever watched.  Now cram ALL of the emotion into 6 minutes and strip it down to a one-on-one match-up.  Now imagine that one of those souls out there exposed on the field is your son.  If you are following with this imaginary situation, you might have an inkling of what wrestling parents go through during a match.

So the West Wrestling team 4 years ago was struggling.  It wasn't a successful program.  Spencer and Quinn were in 6th and 7th grades.  We had just decided to rejoin the world of wrestling because Spencer's football coach convinced him it would be good for his football career.  We were football first, wrestle-to-work-on-footwork people.  

Then the high school got a new coach.  The energy around the wrestling room shifted.  Spencer, unexpectedly, got to wrestle varsity as a freshman (admittedly largely due to the fact that the program was kind of in shambles at the time and there wasn't anyone else.)  And we all fell in love.  We never even saw it coming...  the transition to "wrestling people" just happened.  

Wrestling is, of course, a sport that demands physical preparation.  It requires strong bodies and focus on strength and endurance (in 6 minute bursts).  I love this about the sport because my guys all need a kick in the pants to get moving.  I want them to be of sound body and this sport demands it.  

But wrestling is also a sport that demands mental toughness.  It is this that makes it my favorite sport (of all those we've experienced).  I believe there isn't a better way to prepare for L.I.F.E than to get ready for a wrestling match.  I think this is especially true of Duals.  If you are like me, you may not understand anything about wrestling.  It's taken me 3 years to figure out some of this stuff.  In a high school Dual, each team gets 14 weight classes and each weight class has 1 wrestler from each team.  They battle it out in front of the entire gymnasium full of people and whatever points they earn from their match go toward the TEAM'S total.  The TEAM wins or loses - even though that win is made up of 14 individual battles.  Some interesting strategy comes out in some Duals.  Kids can be bumped up a weight class or held out of a match based on what the coach thinks will happen.  It's a chess battle, with a ton of physicality required, all played out on a mat without anywhere for the wrestlers to hide.  They don't even get pads.  

When West, and Coach Goff, started rebuilding the wrestling program, I don't know if anyone thought that they would be on the State Dual Championship podium in year 3 of the process.  At best it was a stretch goal.  West is a 7A school.  This means they have to compete with some monster programs.  When they went down to Macon, GA last weekend and won 3rd place no one remotely connected with the program took one minute of that experience for granted.  It's the best finish the program has ever had - and it was earned in spectacular style.  

After going 2-0 on Thursday, the team went head-to-head with Camden County Friday evening.  Camden is a perennial powerhouse and we lost... badly.  Of the 14 guys, we only won 2 matches.  It was basically a slaughter.  Saturday morning, the team got after it again.  They had the mental fortitude to put the beating behind them and move on.  They beat Brookwood to earn the right to wrestle Archer in the consolation final match.  And don't for one second think that anyone on that team was focused on the word consolation...  this was their final and they were fired up.  

The Archer team is loaded at the lighter weights.  For a Dual competition, you might be surprised to know that the wrestling doesn't always start at the light weight.  It just so happens that, based on the way the tournament went, this final Dual started at the smallest weight and would end with heavyweight.  We lost 6 of the first 7 matches and found ourselves down 3-19 before the tide turned in our direction.  The whole time this was going on, I was doing math.  Spencer wrestles 220 and our heavyweight is amazing.  If we assumed we would get a pin (6 points) at the heavyweight match, would Spencer's match matter? 

Turns out Spencer's match ended up being the decision point of the Dual.  NOTE - I do NOTE think that anyone who wrestled before or after Spencer didn't have just as much to do with the win as he did.  If any of the other guys had gotten pinned instead of "just" lost or had any of the other wins gone differently the whole Dual would have changed.  

But in the moment, when Spencer stepped on the mat, it was HIS PERFORMANCE that would determine the fate of his team.  (This is again, assuming Dylan, our heavyweight would pin his kid... which is always a good assumption...)  When Spencer started his match the team was down 22-25.  He needed to win.  If Spencer got pinned, the team would lose.  If Spencer lost on points, the team would have lost on tie-breaker rules.  It was a high drama situation.  I nearly died...

Spencer pinned his kid.  And I have never been so happy for him.  I cried real tears of joy on his behalf.  It was a special moment.  (Then I drank wine... because Holy Hell that was stressful!!!)

I am so proud that my kids - all of them - are a part of this program.  They just completed the BEST EVER finish the high school has ever had.  They are a part of something special.  And what they are gaining through the process is, literally, priceless.  

Updates and such

- Everyone is wrestling this weekend!!!  Zane got clearance today to resume normal activities as the pressure in his eye is finally back to normal.  He's still on the drops twice a day for the next couple of weeks, but we are soooo excited that he's healing well and can get back to normal!  Zane and Beck will wrestle in a tournament on Sunday.

- The high school wrestling season now transitions from Team-based Duals to Individual battles.  Spencer will be wrestling in a big tournament - at Archer, of all places - this weekend.  Quinn's assignment is slightly up in the air as the guys around him all jockey for position.  He will either wrestle in the same tournament as Spencer (which would be very nice for the parents...) or he will wrestle in a JV tournament.  Either way, I'm excited to get to watch him put in some work as it's been a while since I've seen him wrestle live in person. 

- If you need us this weekend, check the gymnasium.

Picture of the Week - 6/27/2019

Some weeks it feels like nothing much happens.  Other weeks it feels like A MILLION things are going on.  This week was the latter.

Newsy updates...

Last Friday was the Wolverine Round-up wrestling tournament.  It was really fun!  We hosted 15 teams in a fast-moving wrestling scramble.  The club made some money and the team had a great showing.  Spencer wrestled very well - at 220 lbs - and is very pumped up for the season.  Couple of pictures of him doing his thing...

Quinn didn't wrestle because he's sidelined waiting on some tests.  I've not said much about what's going on with him because Quinn didn't want to talk about it and it wasn't really my story to tell.  Short story is that he's had 3 episodes of seizure-like activity - all while wrestling.  The last happened on their trip to New Orleans.  Since then he's seen his pediatrician and a neurologist.  They both agree this this is mostly likely vasovagal syncope.  It's a stress/pain/anxiety reaction that essentially causes his body to shut down to protect itself - basically he passes out and then the body realizes the threat is over and he's fine.  In some cases, the limbs spasm, like a seizure.  It's scary as heck to watch!  But the neurologist told us that it's not a true seizure and leaves no evidence in the brain waves.  He had an MRI today to rule out other bad things, but given his physical exam this is likely just a precaution.  And what the heck, our deductible is already gone anyway, so why not.  Quinn's handling the downtime well, but is disappointed that he didn't get to wrestle in the Wolverine round-up and also sad that he's got to skip the team trip up to the OSU intensive camp.  (More on the camp in a couple of weeks.  It's the week after vacation.)

Luckily for Quinn, he was distracted by The Walk this past week.  This is a camp our church hosts.  They took over 900 high school kids and around 250 small group leaders to Panama City for 4 nights.  I have enjoyed hearing his stories since he got back SO much.  It was a week full of fun and fellowship and worship.  I think it was a life-changing kind of week for him.  I know that sounds cliche, but to hear him talk.  Goodness, I'm glad he got to have that experience!  That kids deserves some fun and frivolous!  Check out the adorable picture of Quinn and his girlfriend Lily.  I died of cuteness.  

While Quinn was gone, Spencer sold the project truck.  I think it's REALLY fascinating that he "lost" so much money on this project and NO ONE is upset about it.  I'm not.  Bob's not.  And most importantly, Spencer's not.  When you are 16 and only have a couple thousand dollars to your name, losing the vast majority of it on a project that didn't quite work out could be seen as a failure.  It could squash dreams or make you shy to try another wild idea.  I'm really proud that none of those things are true for Spencer.  He considers the lost money "tuition" because he learned so much about how to work on cars while this was going on over the last nearly 2 years.  I consider it tuition because of the life lessons he learned.  Yes, he now knows how to do a LOT of things to a car that I don't know (Bob doesn't know, my dad doesn't know, etc.), but he also learned how hard it is to budget time, how irritating it is to try to deal with unreliable businesses/people, how expensive shipping is, how to sell things on the internet, that even a grandparent's tolerance of a weird situation runs out after a while, and it's OK to mess up and not quite make it to the end of your goals.  There are actually probably a hundred more little things he's learned along the way.  I'm proud of him for trying.  I'm relieved it's over.  And I can't wait to see what he attempts next.  So long rusty red truck.

Oh - and I almost forgot - we got TP'd for the first time ever.  I don't imagine it'll be the last time with a house full of boys...  

We have 1 more day of work left before we head on vacation for a MUCH needed week away.  I can't wait to sit on that porch listening to the waves and watching for dolphins, adult beverage in hand and all my favorite people with me.  SO close!

Picture of the Week - 11/3/2016

Happy November!

My goodness the last few months have gone quickly!  I can't believe we are already in November - and the holidays are just around the corner.  It's almost time for me to exhale and regroup!!!

My football Booster Club president duties came to an official end on Tuesday this week with the end of season banquet.  I still have a little bit of turn-over work to do and some things I want to prep for next year's board, but there's no real time pressure on that.  

I can honestly say that I really had no idea how much work this would be.  I knew it was a big time commitment, but fall sports took over my life.  It's time to get back to normal things.  Like cooking dinner...  I haven't cooked in ages!  I just have one more trip to the UK to get through before I can slow down for a while.  

For anyone on Facebook, this news will be a little bit of a repeat, but it's worth sharing here.  At the banquet, there are always a bunch of awards given out.  I don't think any of those boys plays the game for the awards, but it's nice to recognize the members of the team who excel.  This year's banquet was more fun than most because in addition to all recognition, we also got to celebrate the championship.  

There are 3 types of awards given out at the banquet - academic awards, team awards, and county awards.  Spencer took home one from all 3 categories.  (It's about now that I get braggy and if you aren't into that kind of thing, you should stop reading and just look at the pictures.)  

He got an award for all A's (which I think they were a little liberal on as he didn't manage to pull up his grade in Band after missing a month of playing time due to the concussion, but we weren't questioning it too much).  

He got a team award for Defensive Player of the Year.  You guys, the things his coach said about him are the things that you want to be said about your kids.  His work ethic and "unstoppable motor" and how dependable he was during practice and every play of every game.  He ended the season with 34.5 tackles, which he got playing in just 6 games.  He missed 3 games due to his injury.  The ALL TIME Vipers tackle record is 35.  If he had played the whole season, he would have crushed the record.  He was THAT good this year.  That dominating.  We have had several people (connected to football programs in other middle schools) tell us that they have seen him on tape and he's easily one of the best linemen in the county.  It shocks me at how proud it makes me to know that there are people out there watching my kid on film and talking about how good he is at what he does.  It pleases me to no end to hear his coaches talk about how hard he works to be that good.  

And he was also presented with an All County award.  This one is voted on by the coaches from ALL the middle school teams.  Each school gets at least a couple of All County awards.  The better your season, the more All County winners you get.  Because the Vipers won the championship, they got 5 All County awards.  The young men who won alongside Spencer are a class act - every single one of them.  They are smart, hard-working, kind boys.  They are a special group and I feel so blessed that my son is able to call them his friends.

It was a special night.  It was the end of a very special season.  I will remember this year for a long time.  I am proud of the work I did to support this team.  I'm proud of the work my son put in to help take them to the very top of their goals.  Actually, they surpassed everyone's goals for this year.  The coaches talked at length about the fact that they weren't really sure how this year would go, but they quickly realized that this team was the most coachable team they had the chance to work with.  

Coachable kids who are willing to put in a ton of work and do what is asked of them without questioning - that wins championships.  The 2016 Viper Football team is proof.   

Saturday morning is Zane's team's first playoff game.  It could be his last game as a K/1 football player - or we could surprise some folks and win.  :)  This week we are also full of lacrosse practices for the big guys who are getting ready for a tournament next weekend and I'm off to Scotland for my Q4 trip.  After our unusually warm (hot!) October and our drought conditions, I'm not sure I'm ready for 47 degrees and rain...  ouch!

Have a great week everyone!  Enjoy some pictures from the banquet. 

This is a great group of 8th graders.  Truly great kids!

Spencer's first football coach, Andrew Dickman, with the other guys who were on his very first football team as 6 and 7th graders.  That team won the Lanier Bowl Championship after going undefeated - just like this year's team.  It was so cool that they got to win another championship together!

This is Coach Taylor.  One of the best men I know.  He coaches for all the best reasons and cares WAY more about helping to build good PEOPLE than winning football games.  It was an honor to help him this year and we are so blessed that he and his coaching staff were a part of Spencer's life for the last couple of years.  

Spencer with his trophies.  

These are the All County Award winners.  From left to right - Spencer, Thomas Dickman, Kyle Peterson (who also won the Lineman of the Year award), Drew Southern, and Tiernan Pepple (who also won the Offensive Player of the Year award.)  So proud of all these boys!