A Week in Review (November 20-26)

A Week in Review (November 20-26)

Watched:  Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. I didn't love it as much as I thought I would. I enjoyed that they created such a contrasting setting as compared with the Harry Potter novels.  I felt that the characters were a bit to predictable. If you enjoy the Harry Potter universe, you should definitely check it out.

Read: I finished up Hidden Bodies.  I really enjoyed this follow up to You.  The author reduced the amount of vulgarity in the book, but stayed true to Joe's character. While this book could stand alone, I think you'd be missing out on several nuances. I hope there is plans for a third book in the series. I'd love to see how Joe handles the latest plot twist of his life.  Next I started on The Traitor's Wife: The Woman Behind Benedict Arnold and the Plan to Betray America.  With it being Thanksgiving break, I didn't get a lot of it read.

Listened: To Jack describe how he sees me.  We were talking about the large amount of money I had spent on Monday buying the Thanksgiving meal, new clothes for him, the items for Preschoolers helping preschoolers stocking, and our new mattress and I said that my job would have taken 4 months to make up what I had spent that day. He told me that the way he saw it I had four jobs. When I asked him to describe them this is what he said:

Well your most important job is taking care of me.  Your second job is spending the money. Dad would never have time to do it.   Your third job is the way your help out the PTA so much. Your fourth job is a preschool teacher. 

I asked him if he was planning to be a good hard worker so that his wife and kids could be as lucky as we are and he said he thought so. 

Made: Jack roll his eyes at us when I wrapped my arms around Nick and told him how lucky I was that we had been putting up with each other's shit for 17 years. 17 years is about as long as I went in my life without knowing him well. I am so glad that we had three years of friendship that our relationship was built on. We didn't have to go through any of that time in the relationship where you have to learn the secrets in the closet. We had learned all of those in our friendship so we went with our eyes wide open.  He is an amazing provider for our family. He is a great counter balance to me.  I can't imagine someone better suited to spend my life with. 

Felt: Grateful that Jack was so helpful over his break.  On Monday, we went to Walmart and purchased 103 items (according to the receipt) and then he helped me unload the car and put everything away. We spent Wednesday morning rotating between games and the chores necessary to get the house looking like I wanted.  I am enjoying the man that he is turning into. I know we will have many days where we try each other's patience and plenty of days where we lose patience with each other, so I am grateful all the days we get along so well. 

Planned: On Jack having a bit more drama inside the dentist office, rather than having his drama when he came out of it. He did so well during the whole appointment not even realizing they had given him the shot of Novocain, as he asked at the end when it was coming. However, he hated the feeling of being numb. I don't think he felt that I was taking his concerns seriously enough. He was so highly dramatic about it that it was hard not to laugh at him.  I promised him it would be over after the movie and luckily it was. I don't think he will forget that moment any time soon. 

Loved: That parts of Nick's family were able to come out and visit us for Thanksgiving break.  I decided that we just needed to commit to having a real bed in the guest bedroom so we purchased a new mattress for our room and moved our old mattress over there. (So if you are out-of-town and reading this, know that we have made your staying experience nicer and you should plan a visit out our way soon!) Lee and Denise arrived Wednesday afternoon and we began in on games right away. We played Texas Poker, although Jack has renamed it Joker Poker. Papa Lee and Jack also played some Guess Who after dinner. Thursday we smacked and watched football all day. Our dinner was enough food for 15, but it had all the traditional fixings on it.  I think we ran the dishwasher three times that day!  Thursday we got the good news and that the Roy and his boys were going to drive out on Friday and stay Saturday and drive home Sunday. We went shopping Friday morning where Jack got to pick out his Christmas presents from Lee and Denise. No surprise, he chose two balls. One of them was a really cool Curry basketball. It will look fancy with his shoes!  Once the cousins arrived, it became of a whirlwind of activity in the house. They were so excited to see each other. They got a good 6 to 7 hours of playing in just that night. On Saturday, Keegan wanted to make himself scrambled eggs. Not knowing our stove very well, he set off the fire alarm waking the people who weren't already awake. We had plenty of time for goofing off before we watched the KU vs KSU game. While they didn't get the W, I think they showed lots of improvement. After the game was over, we headed out to HuHot for some dinner. Next it was off to climb Pulpit Rock. While we really enjoyed it, there was a lot of loose gravel that made things a bit tricky. No serious injuries, but we ended up with a few scrapes. The views were just breath taking though.  Apparently they needed more adventure, so we headed off to Dart Warz.  To end our night, we watched some Fool Us and discussed magic with cousins. I am hoping we exhausted them so they take a nap for Roy on the way back.  We loved having everyone here. 

Here are the pics for the week:

The guest bedroom. Good thing it's called a bedroom because that's all there is room for in there!

 

Our Thanksgiving Feast

 

Although we had hung the lights on Sunday, we hadn't turned them on. While we were cleaning up dinner, Nick turned the lights and Christmas music on. It was amazing. 

 

Jack sneaking some Xbox time while I was decorating and everyone else was catching a cat nap on Friday. 

 

Pulpit Rock

 

I was on the wrong side of the mountain so there are too many shadows. 

 

 

 

This is still pretty close to the top just out on a plateau looking away from the sun

 

A Week in Review (November 13-19)

A Week in Review (November 13-19)

Watched: The Broncos and Chiefs play at the same time. They both squeezed out narrow victories in the final minutes of their games too!  It was nice to have the free afternoon to get some things done around the house. We even had time for Jack to make good on a bet and paint my toenails.

Read:  I still am working on Hidden Bodies.  I am liking it better than the book before it in the series, but with Nick out of town for most of the week, I just don't keep a good bedtime routine like I should.  I need to finish it up next week so that I can get working on my new book club book that came in the mail this week.

Listened: Christmas music a little before the season because I had to make the CD for my classroom. I will admit that I really enjoyed it and can't wait for the month of Christmas carols!

Made: Signs for the PTA craft fair that will run in conjunction with our Holiday Shop. They ended up taking a lot longer than I thought they would, but I am pleased with how they turned out. I've got to enlist Nick's help to stick them in the ground.

Felt: Pleased with my good luck at wrapping. I had a bit of extra time Friday morning and so I decided to get the presents I had bought for my work gift exchanges done. I couldn't believe how perfectly the placement worked on one of them. It just made my heart happy to look at it. I took a picture and texted it to my mom because I knew she would enjoy it too.

Planned: Staying the whole day at wrestling tournament, but Jack's stomach had other ideas. He suffered from really bad gas pain that was leaving him doubled over. I'm not even sure how he wrestled his last match as he couldn't stand up straight before it began.  He ended up losing it, but I think going out there and trying was absolutely amazing. You can see his matches HERE, HERE, and HERE. His first one was three rounds long but I tried to record from the stands and the opposing coaches stood and blocked my view most of the match. I started recording when they sat down.

Loved: Watching the Jayhawks win. In basketball they managed to knock off #1 Duke on a neutral court. Even more exciting was their football win over Texas. Because Nick was needed to coach all day, we watched it behind the rest of the world. Valerie texted me and let me know they had pulled out a victory. I was able to record some clips of him and I think this one is just everyone's favorite. You can watch one very pleased fan right HERE.

Here are the pics for the week:

If only this could happen on a regular basis. 

 

 

 

 

 

A Week in Review (November 6-12)

A Week in Review (November 6-12)

Watched: Days of our Lives in real time. I actually managed to get all caught up and stay caught up in current episodes. It was nice to just be able to take a few minutes and zone out with the people of Salem.

Read: I finished up If You Only Knew.  It was you typical Chic-Lit book. Nothing that really surprised me in the entire book. I always think it's funny when authors make characters from the past and present of the book be connected in ways you might not imagine. Not a bad book, but not one I recommend quickly either.  Next, I started up Hidden Bodies, which is a follow up to You.  I didn't get very far in it, but it looks to be very similar to You.

Listened: To an extremely loud gym at Jack's wrestling match. It was hard to even have a conversation with the noise level.  I guess that just means there were a lot of excited kids and coaches. Jack had B bracket this time. These seemed to be the kids on the easy side of B as he was able to quickly get two pins. You can see his matches HERE and HERE. 

Made: $20 to Orange Leaf for taking out on of Jack's coaches during the charity poker tournament for the club. I ended up getting ninth overall which wasn't good for much expect knowing I did better than the other people I came with. Haha. Hopefully it brought in some good money for the boys. 

Felt: Disenfranchised with the election results. I can't believe that Trump one. It makes me (and Nick!) very scared for the future of our country. How someone with such a volatile temper and record of hateful speech and lies could be voted on by such a large number of people doesn't seem to bode well for the country.  I tried to eat my feelings with some leftover Halloween candy. When that didn't work, I tried day drinking!  That didn't really work either. I am sure I am just being a pessimist.  I hope that we all take the time to stay involved and make sure we are aware of what's going on in the world. 

Planned: What I would wear for my first book club. Going to a new group of women is a lot like going on a first date. Luckily, the first date was a match. There were lots of laughs and even some good book discussion. We picked our December book and it's a bit lengthy. It is called The Traitor's Wife by Allison Pataki. I've got my copy ordered from Amazon and it should be here next week. 

Loved: Jack's school program. The third graders perform a Veterans Day program each year. It was fun to hear them sing classic patriotic songs. Some of them had partner parts that were new to me, but complimented them excellently.  Jack was very nervous and wouldn't stop messing with his clothes. The stage doesn't appear to be his place of comfort. 

Here are the pics for the week:

Angry goose arms. Haha

 

I saw this meme and really felt it was accurate for my feelings on watching election results. 

Program Night. You can sure tell how nervous he was. 

 

His first place pose

 

A Week in Review (October 30-November 5)

A Week in Review (October 30-November 5)

Watched:  Jack bravely go through the "spooky house" in our neighborhood on Halloween night.  While we were walking over there, he ran into one of his teammates who thought it was hilarious  that Jack was in his actual uniform.  The teammate was dressed as zombie football player.  They walked together for a while, but then we split up again.  He ended up with a pretty good loot for the night.  It was a nice mix of chocolate for me and gummy stuff for him.  He even took a loot bag to his teacher.  She wasn't thrilled because he put a Warhead in there and she put in her mouth in front of the whole class.  She didn't want to lose face by spitting out and so she finished it.  I tried one and it was instantly horrible and I have no idea how she did it.

Read:  I finished up You.  So this book was pretty intense. The language in it was absolutely vulgar though which caused me to drop it a star. It's definitely not a book that I would recommend to someone who is newly in a relationship. You'd really question all your partner's motives. I am going to need to read the sequel. I am anxious to know if it will reveal more of Joe's back story.  I started If You Only Knew next.  I am super excited about why I am reading it.  I was invited to join an in-person book club.  I thought I wasn't going to be able to make it because it was slated for this Friday, which I was already booked with Fall Festival.  Luckily, the hostess had to change so it is next week.  I will have to read it at a mad pace, but I am willing to rise to the challenge to be able to be in a book club again!

Listened: To the unfortunate news that Jack has a cavity. He's really, really not a fan of the dentist or needles so the filling appointment should be just lovely. We are going to try just laughing gas. They only do cavities work from 8-12 because they want to be around if something happens when it wears off. So that is how we will start out our week of Thanksgiving break.

Made: Jack realize that he is still a quality wrestler, even though he took a pin this week.  Unfortunately these beginning tournaments are quite small and he is getting stuck with wrestlers who have properly declared themselves "Advanced". The kid who pinned him has been wrestling since he was 4. He lost another match 2 to 0 to another A kid, who had just as much experience. His only B match was a teammate and he handled that pretty easily.  It's hard to see him get down on himself when it's clear to me that he just needs more time to master the moves. You can watch his matches HERE, HERE, and HERE. 

Felt:  Overwhelmed by all the little details to think about for the Fall Festival.  There is so much to organize to make sure that the event goes off with as few bumps as possible.  I have to say that I thought it went pretty smoothly. We had lots of volunteers and I saw lots of smiles. We didn't make quite as much as we did last year, but it was still a good chunk of change for my month long effort.  I do it in part to help fund the PTA, but I really do it so that my kid has life long memories of the fun times he had at school with his friends. When we were talking about what he spent his tickets on, it was primarily pieing the specials teachers and principals.  I was very lucky to have a couple of moms text me fun pictures they got of him throughout the night.

Planned: On just a relaxing night in on Saturday, but Jack asked me to invite our friends Katie and Jonathan over. They accepted and we all had a blast together. We played a ton of games and were go, go, go.  We ended the night with Life.  It was funny because the rule of the house is that you have to state who you are marrying and it can't be someone else who is playing the game. I picked Joseph Gordon Levitt, Katie picked Matt Damon, Jonathan picked Natalie Portman, and Nick picked "Ara". What a good guy, huh?  Jack picked, of course, Kate. It's fun to have good people to hang out with. 

Loved:  This year's turkey plate. The day after Halloween, I pulled down all my Halloween decorations and put up my Thanksgiving ones. In 2012, I started a tradition to put his handprint onto a plate and having him decorate it and write his name on it.  We both love looking through at the various years and thinking about what really occupied him that year. This year it was back to football!  I'm going to keep this tradition going as long as he lets me. 

Here are the pics for the week:

The only picture I took of him this Halloween

Look at that loot

 

This year's turkey handprint plate

 

All the years lined up

Fall Festival Fun

 

 

 

A Week in Review (October 23-29)

A Week in Review (October 23-29)

Watched: The Chiefs game from Buffalo Wild Wings. We had a good time tablegating. It's a lot more expensive and not quite as relaxing as the game being on at home, but it is nice that Nick still has access to all his games. There was a Bronco cut out that Jack got his picture with.

Read:  I finished up The Invisible Life Ivan Isaenko.  So I had heard a lot of good things about this book, but it just fell short for me. I wasn't particularly connected with any of the characters. You might like it more if you were a fan of The Fault in our Stars.  Next I started reading, You.  It is a really messed up book about a man obsessed with a woman.

Listened: To my students giggle with delight as we acted out Raffi's There's a Spider on the Floor. I love how easy preschoolers are to please. I made sure everyone was able to take home their own spider ring and thought it was just the neatest thing ever. I really look forward to the time I spend with all my students. 

Made: Our Jack-o-Lanterns on Wednesday night. It was great to have a night free from sports so we could just enjoy a family activity without rushing to be somewhere. Nick tackled our giant pumpkin. I think scooping it took all his muster, so he went with a simple but totally Nick design.  We all really loved the hair on Jack's pumpkin. It makes it fun to look even when it isn't lit up. 

Felt: Nervous for Jack. He was placed in a very rough bracket on Saturday. There were two A quality wrestlers and another good B one. None of the kids had ever gotten a third in recent history and had never gotten a fourth. He ended up winning one and losing two, but all were hard fought matches. The other wrestler he beat was also 1-2, so he ended up with third. He wasn't proud of it in the beginning and said it deserved to be down his singlet.  I think as time went on, he realized that he had worked hard and that's what was really important. You can watch his matches HERE, HERE, and HERE. 

Planned: A Panda Express night for Jack's wrestling club. Because we do not have tax exempt status, not a lot of places are willing to work with us. I was so excited when I found out they would. I am hoping it's a good turnout and the club makes a couple hundred dollars for not a lot of effort.

Loved: Going to lunch with Nick on Wednesday. I have been asking him forever to use Cozi so that he can add things to the grocery list, add appointments, etc. He finally downloaded it and as I was looking through my day, I saw "Lunch" on my calendar. I was trying to figure out who I was supposed to have lunch with when I realized that Nick had probably put it on there. I double checked with him and he confirmed it was him. We went out to Salsa Brava, which is always delicious. As we were leaving, our waitress (who was also the bartender) offered a small glass of passion fruit margaritas.  With my history with tequila, I didn't think I would like it, but it was surprisingly yummy!

Here are the pics for the week:

 

He says this is where a third place metal belongs, under the singlet!

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.

 

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.