Wednesday 29 November 2017

A Week in Review (November 19-25)

A Week in Review (November 19-25)

Watched: Jack go from being totally timid and not wanting to hold his new baby cousin to wanting to hold him whenever he got the chance.  He really seemed to enjoy the role of snuggler and letting us know what Angelo needed to be comfortable.  I think he really thought we were going to make him change diapers and he was not down with that idea.  Once he realized someone else would be handling that, he was much more willing to jump in.

Read:  Not a whole lot.  My goal of finishing the book didn't even come close to happening.  My friend and I are talking about doing a buddy read again so hopefully that will kick start me into making more progress faster.  It's just about dedication and I am not showing it like I should.

Listened: To lots of ruckus as Jack was able to get together Roy and Rachel's boys.  He has so much fun with his cousins.  He was able to spend the night at their house on Tuesday and go to the movies with them on Wednesday.  We got a hotel on Wednesday so that they could all go swimming together.  They spent several hours in that pool making up silly games and just having fun being together.  2 out of the 3 even stayed the night with us and continued their fun well into the evening.  Cousin relationships are awesome.

Made: The trip to the Kansas DMV to start the process of getting a duplicate title so that Roy can sign the title over to Nick again and he can start riding.  It will be so nice if it is done by the next riding season.  It's got its new tires and it just sitting there waiting for someone to ride it.

Felt: Surprised that it was already time to decorate for Christmas.  It just seems like Halloween was yesterday and now Christmas decorations are up.  Even though we drove home from Wichita on Saturday, we still made time to get the tree up, with no decorations on it and to pull a lot of the stuff out of the basement.  Nick even hung up a mantle so that I could have a better place for the stockings.  It is supposed to be in the 70s on Sunday, so hopefully we will get the outside light done.

Planned: My Christmas letter.  I always like making it something different and fun for people to read.  I found a cool app to help me do this years.  I can't wait to hear what people think of it.

Loved: Snuggling my new nephew.  He is such a good baby and really only fusses if he is hungry.  He gives smiles and holds your finger with his tiny hand.  I took him every moment that I could get.  It was pretty exciting to not have to share him with anyone besides his parents and Jack.  It is sad to realize that the next time I see him, he will most likely be rolling all around!  They grow up so fast.

Here are the pics for the week:

Lot of Angelo pictures.  Not too surprising!









Forgot to mention we won Hooters Thanksgiving Trivia and got a $50 credit to our bill. 










Nora got a Christmas collar


Monday 20 November 2017

A Week in Review (November 12-18)

A Week in Review (November 12-18)

Watched: Two good games of basketball on Saturday. Jack took the day off of wrestling and instead he decided to just play his double header instead.  They called a much tighter game and it made it more fun for everyone. In the second game, Jack made a long fade away shot against one of his classmates.  Just ask him about it and I’m certain he will tell you.

Read: I made more work on Love and Other Consolation Prizes. It is bit slow, but I’m working on it.  I’m hoping to have it finished before we leave on Tuesday for Wichita.

Listened: A lot of Born a Crime with Jack. I can’t imagine that he finds the story all that relatable but Trevor Noah is such a good story teller that Jack has been requesting it when we get into the car together.  I think it’s given him a few things to laugh at and a few things to ponder.  I did end up finishing it.  It was hilarious! I was literally laughing aloud so many times. He is such a good storyteller that even Jack was intrigued by the storyline. The only reason I didn’t give it 5 Stars was because it was a bit disjointed in flow. Overall, I’d say it was a must read for anyone who enjoys human interest pieces. 

Made: Creamed Spinach for Nick’s company Thanksgiving Feast. It was really yummy and the crockpot came home empty so hopefully that is a sign that everyone liked it. Nick enjoyed it which is who I made it for. I felt bad because I sat my alarm for 5:45PM instead of AM and he had to wait on me to fix it.  If you are on a keto diet and are interested in trying it, you can find the recipe HERE.

Felt: Totally frustrated with the Broncos. There is no reason for them to be playing so poorly. I saw the meme below on Facebook and I just couldn’t agree with it more. I had to save it to here for future reference.

Planned: Photos for our wrestling club. We have a situation where the father may pass before the end of the season and we wanted to make sure that we got photos with him included in them. I have to give up my works Christmas party to be there to organize them, but I think for the family it will be well worth it. 

Loved: My annual Thanksgiving Plate. I think it shows the true nature that Jack feels in the house, especially this season where the Broncos are playing so horribly. We truly are a house divided. I am always excited to see what he will give to me. Little does he know I’m going to make him keep doing them for quite some time.

Here are the pics for the week:

Nora loves car rides. Her face at this stop light just cracked me up and I had to grab a pic. 


Yummy burritos and homemade guacamole from my hubby. 







Isn’t this just the best magnet ever?  They wrapped up Harry Potter club by having these fun magnets put together. 



Monday 13 November 2017

A Week in Review (November 5-11)

A Week in Review (November 5-11)

Watched: Jack really struggle with wrestling. He just wasn’t seeming to be very into his matches and if you aren’t feeling it, it’s hard to perform in a sport that requires your all. You can watch his matches HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE.  We actually had to stop a match where it took a hard slam to the head and then stopped defending himself and we worried that the guy was going to do some serious damage to him. Luckily it just left him a little beaten, but otherwise fine.

Read: I finally dedicated myself to making progress on my books. I simply have too many borrowed from the library not to. With my goal, I was able to finish up They Both Die at the End on Friday.   This book was so disappointing for me. I was really wanting it to be concluded for me and instead it just a lot of things hanging. Sure I could guess how it goes, but I don’t want to write the rest of the book. Ugh!   Saturday I didn’t read anything with our go-go-go day, but I am planning to start Love and Other Consolation Prizes again. I’m hoping to finish that within a week. 

Listened: My book club picked Born a Crime as our December read and I just happened to have been given the audiobook from Audible as a free listen.  While I didn’t get very far into, I really do enjoy listening to it. It’s author read and he does a phenomenal job of story telling. I’m hoping to have more time to listen next week. It doesn’t look to be quite as busy. 

Made: Considerably less than I thought we would at our annual Fall Festival.  The first year was definitely the biggest money maker. I don’t know if this is because it was just so new and different or what.  The kids that were there continued to have a good time, which is a good chunk of the reason why I do it. Jack knows that I am stepping away from many of my PTA duties next year and I think he’s just looking forward to spending more with me at the Fair. I’m excited to see someone excited to take it over and make it their own.

Felt: Exhausted.  I’m in the middle of a large argument that I feel really passionate and I’m up against two other strong headed people as well. I feel like we are all just talking in circles. I just feel like we will be doing a large group of people wrong if I am unable to sway them and that weighs heavy on me. At least, I can hold my head high knowing that I tried my best to do what I thought was right. 

Planned: An ingenious idea for storage for all of Jack’s balls. We got new-to-us shelves for the garage and the openings looked perfect for bungee cords that could just keep the balls from rolling off the shelves. It works well and we all enjoy it. Love it when a simple idea works like you thought it would!

Loved: Playing poker with some families from our wrestling club. We use it as a fundraiser to help pay for our parties and our Champions of Character gear. I made it to the halfway point, but not much past that. I did spend a lot of time chatting with people while Nick and Ryan played on. Ryan made it to 6th, which just stings as he was only one spot away from the money.  All in all it was great ending to a busy day. 

Here are the pics for the week:



I think this pretty well sums up how he felt about the tournament.  He asked me to take a picture for him because he was sure he blood and cuts everywhere.


Tuesday 7 November 2017

A Week in Review (October 29-November 4)

A Week in Review (October 29-November 4)

Watched: The Shining. Jack came home telling scary stories that Miss Coomes had read in class. I thought it would be fun to end our Halloween night with a spooky show that wouldn’t be too scary.  He liked it as well as you can like any scary movie. He was totally freaked out that he and the main character share the same first name.

Read: I got a bit more into my book They Both Die at the End; but I still didn’t make it very far. I’m kind of behind on everything else and I’m just not prioritizing books. I really need that to change!

Listened: To parents complain about the length of matches. Jack’s second wrestling match seemed awfully long. Apparently they had them on 90 second periods which is what you work up too as you age. However, for kids that aren’t ready it’s quite the body shock.  Luckily I said something to a Dad whose club was hosting the tournament and they resolved the issue. Jack ended up getting third losing to one opponent by one point and the other by two points in OT.  You can watch his matches HEREHEREHEREHERE, and HERE

Made: A big goofy pumpkin for our annual pumpkin carving. Nick went the odd route and went very traditional with his face. Jack went with NFL heartbreaks. I’m glad that Nick was home and had helped me get the kitchen in good enough order so that we could carve pumpkins as a family.

Felt: Chilly on Halloween night. We’ve been fortunate to only have warm Halloween’s for Jack’s first 8 years, but this one was chilly. I was glad his outfit had warm fleece tights and we could easily put on two shirts. Nick also made me realize that beanies wouldnt hurt our costumes since we had masks on. We walked around the new neighborhood for a bit. There was one really fun culdesac that had lots of people participating and lots of fun decorations up. After that we headed back to the old neighborhood to the known full size candy bars and then off to the spooky Fairfax cemetery, which is actually the house of a classmate. We ended our trick or treating by swinging by Landon’s house.

Planned: Details of poker night for the wrestling club. It will be a fun night that will bring in a good chunk of change to be able to finance our parties and Champions of  Character gear.  It’s nice working with other people who are good at getting things done.

Loved: Having Nick home for the whole week. It made me feel so much less stress and it’s nice having a partner to share in the responsiblities of child raising. He also got a ton of stuff done around the house. I’ve put several pictures below.  I tried to get before and after when I remembered.

Here are the pics for the week:





















Thursday 2 November 2017

A Week in Review (October 22-28)

A Week in Review (October 22-28)

Watched: Jack have a great opening tournament for the 2017-2018 wrestling season.  He was in a bracket with 2 other intermediate wrestlers (B) and 2 novice wrestlers (C). He started off with his two C wrestlers. Then he had to do his B opponents back to back with only a five minute break in between. They are all a lot of fun to watch and I'd highly recommend it as a way to spend 15 minutes of your day. You can watch them in order HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE.

Read: I had a book come of my hold list and it's called They Both Die at the End.  It had a great start, but I just can't seem to dedicate myself to reading.  I am getting quite a backlog and I had better hurry it up.  I am hoping to dedicate more time next week.

Listened: To Jack's performance twice.  When we realized that Nick wasn't going to be able to make it home, I knew I was going to have to record it for him.  I think that you miss somethings being behind the camera lens, so I went to their run through in the afternoon.  It was great show with an international flair.  If you would like to watch the video you can watch it HERE.  Jack is on the far left of the stage.

Made: A large purchase for prizes for the Fall Festival.  It's only three weeks away.  I think that we have a good mix of prizes that everyone will enjoy and parents won't feel is all just junk.  I am so thankful to have a helper this year as I can't imagine how overwhelmed I would be feeling if I was trying to do the majority of it on my own again.

Felt: Glad to have planned the wrestling Christmas party.  It is almost unbelievable to me to think that Christmas is just two months away.  Seriously, how did that happen? Weren't we just enjoy nice long summer days.  Buying the house really has made fall fly by for me.  We are going to be back at The Summit for laser tag and arcade games.  The kids will get a couple slices of pizza and soda.  I can't believe what it cost to host a party for so many wrestlers.  I really hope that all the kids have fun and enjoy themselves.

Planned: A long list of honey-do's for Nick.  We will find out about the project just after Thanksgiving and so I don't want our time wasted.  It's going to be hard to strike a balance between pleasure and work.  I know that not everything has to be done right away, but sometimes I just get so antsy.  I know that he is a hard worker and so I am sure he will be able to get things done pretty quickly.

Loved: Watching Jack get to play basketball with so many friends and former teammates. His Y ball team this year has 6 players that he already knows.  Three of them are from his football team and three of them are from last seasons Y ball team.  Landon gets to come home with us and then we pick up Luke from his after school care and all go to practice.  The head coach was Jack's defensive coach on football.  It's nice being so familiar with everyone.  The boys decided they needed more time to goof off together and so we will be picking up Luke directly after school next Friday.  I also love that I am lucky enough to be able to stay home and make these things happen for my boy.

Here are the pics for the week:

Apparently, I took way more video this week than pictures.