Monday 24 October 2016

A Week in Review (October 16-22)

A Week in Review (October 16-22)

Watched: Jack compete in the Landshark's state cross country meet. It was a warm day with the high reaching into the mid 80's. He didn't earn his personal best of the season, but he shaved about four minutes off his time from the same course last season. It's different becauses it's grassy with some different type of hills than he normally sees. He got 28th out of 71 third grade boys who also qualified and participated in the run. I really think he has a lot to be proud of. He also was greeted by a special guest. His teacher came out to cheer on Jack and another one of her students that qualified. We were very excited that she could be there. 

Read:  I kept working on The Invisible Life of Ivan Isaenko.  I am not loving it like I thought I would, but isn't the worst book that I have read ever.  I picked up You, based on the recommendation of a friend.  It seems like it might be a good thriller for Halloween season, so I am hoping I get to it in time. 

Listened: To Jack's teacher award him for being the "Responsible" student in his class. This is the same award he was given last year, so I guess that must mean it's a pretty true character trait.  He chose to go Hu Hot on Friday night to celebrate. 

Made: Myself go jean shopping. I haven't went jean shopping, outside of a visit to a thrift store, in probably 5 years. I was tired of the way my jeans were looking and so I decided I needed to go get a couple new pair. I found one pair I liked at Target and one I liked at JC Penney.  It wasn't as awful as I imagined, but it was harder to find a pair that didn't have rhinestones on the back pockets or were skinning jeans or jeggings. Ummm...no thank you.  I was also surprised to see both button fly and high waist options available.  Maybe I can wait another 5 years before doing it again.  

Felt: Proud. All the teachers at Jack's school reported that he is doing good and is a good classmate.  He even got to play some knockout in the gym with the specials teachers because no one else was in visiting with them. We were both quite surprised to see that his Spanish teacher really had quite the shooting skills. 

Planned: A fun outing with the Peterson's to a local pumpkin patch. They had tetherball that the boys enjoyed playing. They both found there is a ball game that I can whoop them at. Height sure is an advantage in that game!  They also had a corn bin that both the boys loved getting buried in. They had a tennis ball sling shot that launched at the owners house.  There was a short hayride around the back of the property and, of course, a place to pick your pumpkins. Jack even got one straight from the vine. 

Loved: Being back at wrestling tournaments. It was an awkward day, but it just still felt awesome. Because Jack wrapped up his football season on Saturday with one of his best games of the season, he had to wrestle 10u. His bracket was made up of a kid he had wrestled last year and a girl we didn't know.  It's always a bummer when the bracket isn't full, but it is what it is, especially early in the season and with a low weight class for novice at the age.  In an interesting twist, the kid he had wrestled last year was double bracketed and had wrestled in the A group in the morning session. Apparently when he was wrestling, people felt he wasn't close to the weight listed. They weighed him in just before the match began and he was 7 pounds over his listed weight. It was a bit surprising for everyone as most wrestling families don't cheat. He was disqualified, which was pretty upsetting for him. This made them go a best two out of three with the girl in the bracket. They wanted him to wrestle right away, but we were super short on coaches because so many people were involved at other sporting events. I refused to have him wrestle without coach but said he could wrestle the disqualified kid in an exhibition match.  The kid through his standard move, the headlock, and those 7lbs made a big difference. Jack kept squeezing but he just couldn't escape it. He ended up losing the match 5-2, but since it didn't really count, it was like losing a match at practice. He wrestled the girl twice and beat her each time, winning the gold. She was long and strong, but luckily not good at take downs yet. Once she is, watch out world!  Jack wanted to congratulate her on hard fought matches and it turns out she may actually be coming to wrestle for his club.   We are looking forward to him wrestling the right age group next Saturday. It will be weird through because his core group of wrestling friends all aged up this year and are in 10u. I'm not sure if we will just stay and watch, if he will double bracket himself, or if we will make a new core of friends.  I'm sure it will work out. 

Here are the pics for the week:

Aren't they too cute together?
 

Fun at the pumpkin patch
 

 

 

 

 

Apparently he only has either fake smile or "mean" face. I figured this one was better for a post wrestling shot.
 

Thursday 20 October 2016

A Week in Review (October 9-15)

A Week in Review (October 9-15)

Watched: The Broncos lose twice in one week!  It is awfully painful.  The team has looked so lackluster and limp.  I am hoping that they are able to turn it around so that we can make it back to the Super Bowl.  If the Raiders win against the Chiefs they will be alone in the top spot.  I can't handle that so I will be cheering for the Chiefs on Sunday.

Read:  I did it!  I finished Child 44. I feel like I've been reading this book forever. It wasn't poorly written, it just took a lot more effort to connect with the characters. I think this is because I was so disturbed by the actions in the book. Once I got rolling, it really turned into a good book. I'm glad my library will be glad to have it back after having sat at my house for nine weeks. Next, I started on The Invisible Life Of Ivan Isaenko.  It was recommend to me by one of the gals in my online book club, so I like.  Funnily enough, it also a Russian sub-theme like Child 44.

Listened
: To the fun things that Jack learned at wrestling camp on Saturday.  It was a pretty small group so they got quite a bit of one-on-one time instruction with some Olympian wrestlers.  I was glad that he was able to make it because with football, he isn't getting a lot of mat time.  He has first tournament in Pueblo next week and he has to wrestle 10U because of a conflict with football.  I am very excited to be back in wrestling season full swing.

Made: Progress on Jack's football coaches gifts.  We are going to give them a frame with for their team picture.  We are going to get a mat to go around the outside to have all the kids sign to make it a little more personable.  We are also putting together a photo book for them with highlights from the season.  We will spend the remainder of the money on a gift card for them.

Felt: So proud of Jack.  He had his friend over after school on Wednesday because Landsharks practice was cancelled and the runners were instructed to go on their own.  It was an awful day.  It was drizzly and cold and really just meant for snuggling up.  Nonetheless, he went and ran the course his coach had laid out for him.  I always think people think I am horribly mean making him run while I follow in the car.  It's just the only way I know to give him a good distance set.  A lady did pull over to make sure that I was his mom.  Good to know people are looking out for our kids!

Planned:  On spending next Thursday afternoon with the Wolf boys while their mom went to conferences and we can enjoy hanging out with them.  I am sure it will be an afternoon of hat games.  I am so glad Jack has made such good friends with such a nice family.  They were even good enough to drive clear down to his game on Saturday and cheer him on!  They picked a good one to come to since he got to play every play in the second half, expect one.  

Loved: Jack's football picture.  The photographer really wanted him to give a charming smile, but that's not his football persona.  He wanted it with his mouth guard in.  The photographer tried to stop it and I insisted that he let him take it like he wanted.  If I paying a ridiculous amount of money photos, he should get to have it be what he likes.  He posted the proofs to his website and I am just in love.  It totally cracks me and shows his unique personality better than any posed smile!

Here are the pics for the week:

 

 

 

Just found this picture on Nick's phone and wanted to share it.
 

Sunday 9 October 2016

A Week in Review (October 2-8)

A Week in Review (October 2-8)

Watched: Jack be exhausted teaching my classes. I am not exactly sure what he thought I did during my time at work, but he realized it was a lot more tiring than it sounds. The kids had a good time seeing him and I enjoyed spending the day with him. He even asked me when he could go back again, so I think he had a good time. 


Read: I finished up I Let You Go. I wasn't sure I was going to like it very well since it was kind of a slow start, but it was absolutely AMAZING!  If you read it, let me know so we can talk about it. My goal is to have Child 44 finished by next week. It's quite a bit of reading to commit to but since I have had it for almost nine weeks from the library, I would really like to finish it.

Listened: To my boy snore beside me.  Since Nick was in Phoenix Monday-Thursday night, Jack got to sleep in bed with me. His allergies seem to bother him most during the morning and evening hours. I did find that putting some of Doterra's Breathe blend on a cotton ball seemed to help him. I really do miss Utah's lack of allergies for him!

Made: Jack have some crazy hair for his school spirit day. His hair is pretty short so we couldn't really spike it or anything, so we just used the hair spray paint on him. We had four cans lying around and so he decided he was going to have Jayhawks stripped hair. He absolutely hated the feeling of it in his hair so I am not sure if we will have a repeat performance or not. He did say that he thought his hair was the craziest in his class, so maybe.  He also made the front page of school's website so he was pretty excited about that. 

Felt: Overwhelmed after our PTA meeting. I realized that we have a ton of things to do and only a month to do them in. Ahh!  I have feeling you will be seeing plenty of details of what was on that list as it will take up a lot of my free time between now and then. 

Planned: My voting station for the yearbook cover. I think it turned out pretty well. Each child got a penny to vote for which cover they would like. When the day was over, I counted them up and determined the winner. The one I thought would get first ended up in last, while the one I had assumed for second was a clear winner for first. Now that we have a cover, we can work on getting the page layouts going. 

Loved: Spending time with my mom. As Jack says, time speeds up when she is here. On Thursday, she got in just enough time to play a game of Pie Face with us and the Wolf boys. Then, we went to a bitterly cold football practice. Friday, was a slow start to the day but we managed iTopIt for lunch and visiting Manitou's penny arcade before heading to another evening of chilly practice. We went to Hu Hot for dinner.  In the evening, we attempted to teach Jack some five point pitch and played some neighbor. Saturday morning started with Jack's football game.  Jack had his best game of the season with good blocking, a good run, and a strip tackle!  After Jayhawk football and a trip to Sam's, we played more games including pitch. Jack really caught on amazingly fast.  Sunday morning was too short so she could get on the road to rest up before heading to work that evening.

Here are the pics for the week:

Nora's ears were laying funny and so I just had to grab a picture of them. 
 

Crazy Hair Day
 
 

Pics from my mom's visit
 

 

 

 

 


Monday 3 October 2016

A Week in Review (Sept 25-Oct 1)

A Week in Review (Sept 25-Oct 1)

Watched: The first part of CBS's documentary on JonBenet Ramsey.  Even within the first few minutes they let you know they think that her older brother did and his parents helped him cover it up.  I will be interested to see what develops in the second half.


Read: I made my goal and was able to finish up Truly Madly GuiltyThis felt all too similar to another title by this author, Big Little Lies. It was told in a way that the story drew you in and kept you guessing at where the story might headed. Once it got to the climax of the BBQ, nothing else really surprised me. I did really enjoy Harry's final chapter. It had A Man Called Ove feeling for me.  Overall, a book I would recommend to others.  Next, I started I Let You Go. Nothing about the book cover or the title prepared me for what I read in the first couple of pages. I am hoping to have this one finished up next week. 

Listened: To Nick crack a joke when we were out and about while Jack stayed over at his friend's on Saturday. We were at a natural food store that had a deli that I wanted to try. In their seating area they had a bunch of art prints in a basket and a brochure that said Therapy for... and I couldn't read what it said after that. I mentioned it to Nick and it said it must have been Therapy for "a full wallet".  We had a good time messing around playing games and mapping out what we needed to do before he left for Phoenix. 

Made: New order forms for Popcorn Friday at Jack's school. I think they seemed to work pretty well. I know there was a lot less frustration felt at the accounting methods on our end. We had a great response from the students and received way more orders than I thought we would. I felt bad leaving them to do the popping and cleaning while I went to work, but I am glad that I have an awesome group of women who can totally do the job without me!

Felt: Thankful that Valerie, Angel, Austin, and Macie were able to visit and watch Jack's early morning football game. They had gotten in at 2:00am and so being somewhere at 8:30am was a real labor of love. They took a great picture after his game that I really love.

Planned: The layout for my Halloween decor. I love getting everything out and seeing the years worth of memories.  The house always feels so special to me with the decorations out and about.  I hope the nice cool weather stays for all of October and we get to have a bit of Fall before Winter sets in. 

Loved: The 2016 Cardboard Challenge. Jack decided to make a football theme ball maze.  It was a little nerve wracking to watch him use a box cutter, but he did great. He had a good time attempting to figure out what obstacles he wanted to put in and how he could create it. He and Nick created a tunnel that ended up being two small, so he used it for an obstacle.  We spent a couple hours putting it together Monday night. On Wednesday, we decorated it with print outs from the computer and then he made a YouTube video. You can watch it HERE.  He had so much fun showing it off to his classmates and teammates. He really felt like a rock star because so many people enjoyed it. I am glad that he put the time and creative energy into it because it was a lot of fun to see him excited. 

Here are the pics for the week:

Ball Maze Pictures

 

 

 

My Halloween Mantle
 

The Ortiz's & Jack