Wrestling

Jordan just finished his first season of wrestling.  I admit that I was not excited about this when his football coach (who is, of course, also the wrestling coach) gave all of us football parents his Wrestling is Amazing speech.  My first thought:   "Wrestling?  Ew."

But Jordan wanted to give it a try.  

I walked into the wrestling room at my old high school and nearly gagged from the smell.  Sweat galore.  Ew.  Gross.  But, Jordan wanted to give it a try.  So...

Here's a picture from one of his first practices.  This one makes me smile because he's come so far and is so much better than he was back then.  I still thought wrestling was pretty stupid at this point. 

Practices went on and soon it was time for the first tournament.  Before the tournaments, wrestlers have to weigh in.  Did I mention that the only thing I knew about wrestling was from watching Saved by the Bell?  We went to the weigh in.  It was total chaos and we didn't know what to do.  But we figured it out.  

The tournament was the next day.  Here's Jordan ready to go.  Notice his weight on his arm... 75.6 pounds.  He's since put on over 5 pounds of muscle.  Woah. 

He didn't win his first match that day.  He got pinned, in fact, but he did win some matches and he placed 4th.  Here's a picture of the first match he ever won. 

Something happened to me during this match.  I watched my sweet little baby wrestle his heart out and I became a crazy wresting mom.

No one can believe it.  In fact, neither can I, but I'm a wrestling fan.  I love it.  I even have a shirt to prove it.  And yes, I wear it with pride!

Someone asked me if I ever thought I would be so excited about my son wrestling.  My answer?  "Not in a million years!"

Anyway.

Jordan really began to love wrestling, too.  Maybe the fact that I love wrestling stemmed from watching him find something he really loves.  That must be it, right?  Ha!

We kept going to tournaments.  He wanted to go to every tournament, in fact.  Even those that his team didn't attend.  The bad thing is that beginners tournaments are on Sundays.  Chris works on Sundays.  But we made it happen.  This is Jordan and his friend Connor.

They've played football together for two years.  Connor and his parents are lifesavers.  They shuttled Jordan to tournaments for us so that he could make weigh ins when Chris and I had to stay later at church. We kept each other company during those loooong tournaments.  (They last hours and hours...it always seemed like we were the last ones finished!) We're so thankful for them!

Here are some more pictures from this season.

 I love this one with my dad in the background.  

Photo Credit:  Amber Cloy Photography

Photo Credit:  Amber Cloy Photography 

Now, most of Jordan's football buddies dropped out of wrestling during the season.  I can't blame them, really.  Wrestling is tough.  The practices are tough.  Way tougher than football.  When Jordan decided he wanted to go to the state qualifier tournament, he moved up from the beginners practice to the advanced practice.  And it was so hard.  Hard for him.  Hard for me to watch.  I couldn't watch it, in fact, so I stopped going.  It was so hard for me to see my child suffering through those workouts.  And believe me, they all were suffering.

Since Jordan is a first year wrestler, he wasn't the best in this advanced group.  He got the crap beaten out of him twice a week and kept coming back for more.  After the first (and only) advanced practice I stayed to watch, I asked him if he still wanted to do it.  His reply? "Yes.  I just want to wrestle".  Okay, then.  He's grown up a lot this season.  Last year, he wouldn't have been ready for this. Jordan isn't one to stay motivated when something is hard, so the fact that he stuck it out when the going got tough testifies to how much he really loves it. 

I came in at the end  of one practice to see the team praying together.  This made my eyes water a little bit.  

So, Jordan worked really hard all season and never gave up.  That's how we found ourselves driving to Gilmer County before the sun came up to make it to the State Qualifier in time.  This was a hard tournament.  Jordan was pinned in his first match.  He was really upset  but after he sat by himself for awhile he said, "I'm going to be a better wrestler after this tournament".  And he was right.  He placed 3rd at his first State Qualifier and made it to state.

State was an amazing experience.  Very overwhelming.  
Here's Jordan in front of the Georgia Dome.  Such an accomplishment.

He was pinned his first match and then wrestled really well the second match.  He was losing and then tied it up at the very last second. 

He lost in overtime.  And he cried.  I did too, a little.  But he wants to go back next year.  All in all, he did exceptionally well for his first year of wrestling and we couldn't be more proud of him.  

Of course, Shaun came to support him.  They may fight like crazy, but they're each other's biggest fans.

On the way home, but check out that hoodie!

We had a week off and now another wrestling season has started-  Freestyle/Greco.  Again, I have no idea what that means except that, according to Jordan, you can't go for the legs.  I really think I need a copy of Wrestling for Dummies.  

This day I had...

This day has really been one for the record books.  It's been bad.  The tail end of a few really stressful weeks finally caught up with me and wacked me in the behind, so to speak.  

Can I just lament for awhile?

First, though, I need to praise.  Part of the reason these past few weeks  have been so stressful is that Chris, The Hubs, finally has a full-time job.  Amen and Hallelujah!  This really is another blog post in itself, one I've been trying to write but just really can't find the words.  This is something we prayed for and God really answered our prayers and I'm so thankful.  

Now I know this sounds horrible, but when your husband works part-time for two whole years, you get a little spoiled.  Not that he didn't work hard (he DID!), but he was also able to get off whenever he wanted or whenever I needed him to help me with something.  Doctors appointments, errands, etc.  Not anymore, and it is taking some getting used to.  Not that I'm ungrateful or wish that we could go back to part-time employment.  Not at ALL.  It's just been an adjustment.  

I've been really stressed.  I think I used the word "drowning" once or twice.  Drowning in homework, the kids' arguments, laundry and housework.  There's not enough hours in the day.  I know, I know, the same thoughts every other woman in America has every single day.  

Jordan had a project and oral report about Vermont due today.   I'd rushed to help him finish it all week.  Parents were invited to come to school this morning and listen to the reports and we were also told we could bring a treat for the class relating to the state our kid researched.  Did you know that Ben and Jerry's ice cream was "invented" in Vermont? Well, it was, and Jordan wanted to bring some in for his class to sample.  I woke up early this morning so I could put on actual clothes and be presentable to go to school and even left the house in time to go by Kroger to get the ice cream on the way.  The only thing I forgot was to let my sister  know that I would be driving Jordan to school...he usually rides in with her on Thursdays so she was confused and, I'm sure, a little annoyed with we weren't at home and she couldn't get in touch with me.  

But I made it to Kroger in time and Violet was behaving and everything was going smoothly.  We got back in the car, I put it in reverse, and the two youngest kids went crazy!  Screams and fights, and I accidentally backed my car into a curb.  And I muttered, "SHIT" when I did it.  I'm surprised the children even heard me, considering how loud they were being, but they did.  And Jordan was shocked.  I don't usually curse, and I guess the fact that Jordan was so stunned proves that he never hears those words from me.  He was really floored!  He thinks I'm Holy, I guess.  Ha ha!  I think it's kind of funny and flattering at the same time.  

The car wasn't hurt and we made it to school in time with our project and snack.  I pulled in and noticed that no other cars were parked.  That was my first clue that I had misread the teacher's email and came to school on the wrong day.  A trip inside confirmed my suspicion.  But at least we finished our project a week ahead of schedule.  But, let me tell you that I felt so dumb when Jordan's teacher told me that I had mixed up the dates.  So stupid!  Violet and I (and the ice cream) walked back down the stairs and outside to the car.  A few moms from Jordan's class were outside talking and I just admitted that I had stressed my entire family out this week over the stupid project that wasn't even due for 7 more days.  And then I burst into tears.  Real tears.  In front of these ladies I barely know. They were kind and understanding.  But again, I felt stupid.  

I got in the car and called me sister.  I said to her, "I'm losing it!  I NEVER make mistakes like this.  Coming to school on the wrong day is something like YOU would do!". She didn't get mad even though I had just sort of insulted her. She even agreed.  Ha! And we had a long talk and I felt a little better.  

Fast forward to lunchtime.  I was picking Jordan up from school and the plan was to meet Chris for lunch.  I had rearranged my day to do this, so I was a little angry when he called me on the way to lunch to tell me that someone had offered to take him and some other co-workers out to lunch and that he was going to see what I thought about him going with them instead.  Well, I told him what I though.  Very loudly.  What I didn't realize was that he was in the car with these people and they heard everything.  Again, I felt so stupid.  Chris asked me to just come pick him up so he could go with us after all.  And then I had to apologize for yelling and embarrassing him.  And then I felt humbled and stupid.  

After lunch, the kids and I ran some errands and went to the gym.  I dropped Violet off in her classroom and then went to the locker room to change clothes.  I went to put my shirt on and realized that I had packed the wrong one.  The whole family gets "spirit wear" for football every year, and I grabbed the wrong shirt.  This one was too small to work out in.  To be honest, when I first got the shirt it didn't fit me at all.  It was sized way small and I couldn't squeeze into it.  Now, it's not too small.  It actually fits, but I like longer shirts to work out in.  This one was too short!  And of course I didn't have a anything to layer under it.  So I wore it anyway and spent the whole time on the treadmill pulling my shirt down.  Good times.  

After the gym I had to take Shaun back to shirt for band practice and then the younger kids and I went to Kroger on the way home.  I just had to get a few things so I used the self checkout lane.  I scanned all of my items and went to get my wallet...that I had left in my gym bag.  Still in the car.  So off we went, after telling the manager what had happened.  He just left out stuff there, so everyone gave us "looks" when we rolled back up to pay for our things.  

What a day.  

It was such a day that it's tomorrow and I'm still writing about it.  Yes, this was actually yesterday.  Ha!

But today was better.  :)

Stranded

Last Sunday night I left my keys in Chris' car, by accident, of course.  And he, in turn, drove off to work with my keys the next morning.  Also by accident, of course.  So the kids and I were stuck at home for the entire day.  

I was so upset.  We had plans.  Shaun's piano practice.  The gym.  Errands.  But, by the time I realized where my keys were, it was too late for Chris to come back so we dealt with it.  The piano lesson was moved to the next afternoon and I let the gym and errands go until then as well.  

The kids and I stayed home the entire day and got so much accomplished!  

Jordan finished all of his homework without being rushed, Shaun completed a whole day of schoolwork (usually, since Jordan is home on Monday's, we don't get everything done and have to double up the next day).  The kitchen finally got a really good cleaning and I even started catching up on my laundry.  

Oh, and the weather was gorgeous that day.  Temps in the 70s and bright sunshine.  We spent a lot of time outside.  The boys played football and rode bikes.  Violet rode her little car and jumped on the trampoline.  We read some books and had snacks outside and just enjoyed the weather while crossing our fingers and hoping that the cold weather was gone for good.  (It wasn't. I think we had highs in the 30s for the next few days)

It was a really good, low-key, relaxing day. All because I forgot my keys in Chris' car.  It's good to slow down and take it easy sometimes.  It made me miss the days when the boys were little and we'd blow off school to  take a "sun-shine day" at the park.  I need to take Violet to the more often!  

The bottom line, and the reason I felt the need to blog about this day a whole week after the fact, is that I needed the reminder to take time to just "be".  Even though I was inconvenienced and irritated at first.  

The Big 1-5

Shaun...my baby, my first-born...turned 15  years old last week and I still can't wrap my head around how in the world this happened so fast!

He's grown so much over this past year.  Physically- he's TALL!  Way taller than me or his dad, of course, but he's also passed my sister.  That's pretty tall!  And it doesn't look like he's slowing down any time soon.  He's grown in other ways, too.  Emotionally, intellectually, spiritually.  He's one of the most kind-hearted people I've ever known.  He loves the Lord and he loves serving at church.  He's still taking piano lessons and he's getting better and better-  he wrote  his first song a a few months ago and he's been perfecting it.  It's beautiful!  

He's also following in his dad's footsteps and learning how to run sound at church.  He gets up super early every Sunday to go in with Chris and help with the sound system for our kids' service.  Chris is so proud, he says Shaun has a good ear and knows how to make it sound right.  I don't know much about that, but Chris does, so I'll take his word for it.  

Sometimes we will be talking and it's like I'm not talking to my child anymore.  More like a friend.  He's growing up!  He finally convinced me to "just try 1 season" of The Walking Dead.  Now I'm hooked, so we have lots of good talks about that!  

He's come so far from that little miracle baby I gave birth to 15 years ago.  Sometimes his baby days seem like they happened eons ago, and other times the years seem to have passed in the blink of an eye.  

Shaun, your dad and I love you and are so proud of you!

As his age progresses, Shaun is hating posing for pictures more and more, but here are a few from the past few weeks.

I think he's quite handsome!

Most of the time I get a goofy, scrunched up face or a grunt when I ask for a picture, so I'm always glad to get a good one!

I can't wait to see what this next year brings for Shaun.  

Ice and Such

Well, this Georgia weather has been downright mean lately.  We  had an ice storm and everyone lost power.  When I say "everybody", I mean everyone I physically know in Georgia lost power at some point on Monday night.  My  vehicle is currently in the shop, so I had to take Chris to work Monday morning and go back to pick him up that evening.  The kids and I actually went really, really early- like several hours early- and just hung out at church waiting for him so I wouldn't have to drive home in the sleet.  

On the way home, the roads were fine, but the ice continued to fall and then we saw a big blue explosion in the sky.  Chris said, "There goes our power", and he was correct.  

We were totally unprepared.  One flashlight and 2 candles.  Ha ha!  We stopped at  my parents'  house on the way home just to kill some time.  While we were there, the power came back on.  We all screamed in delight.  Then it went back off.  And we booed.  This went on for several more rounds before it became dark for good.  Then we went home and settled down in the living room.  Shaun  said he felt like he was in The Walking Dead and I had to agree.  The lights came on once more but then we lost power around midnight and it stayed off until about 5:00 the next afternoon.  Oh, and Violet had an ear infection.  Fun times!  We got really desperate around lunchtime on Tuesday and built a fire in our fireplace.  I can only remember doing that 2 other times in this house, years and  years ago.  The kids loved it.  Violet said it smelled like chicken.  

Jordan has been out of school this whole week due to the city's lack of power so we had a snow week.  Or ice week.  Church was called off last night as well.  We've been watching movies, reading books, and eating.  

We were actually one of the lucky families who experienced the least amount of time without power.  Some people close to us still  don't have it.  And  now we're under another Winter Storm Watch for tomorrow.  

I'm over winter.  

My Little Song Bird

I can't believe it's  been over a MONTH since I've been here.  I really want to start posting regularly again.  I have lots to report-  a lot has happened already this year to my family.  But all in good time!

Today, at the request of my sister, I'm going to blog about Jordan and his newfound ability.  

He has taught himself to make bird calls, and he's really very good!

His teacher at school loves birds.  Jordan loves his teacher, and wanted to get her a real live bird for Christmas, but I talked him into settling on a bird scarf.  Mrs. Klein has a whole classroom full of bird paraphernalia...books, posters, even a clock that chirps on the hour.  This is how Jordan's ability was discovered.  I think he began mimicking the clock.  He was so good at this that his teacher thought it was time to go outside for recess.  Ha!

He told me this story when I picked him up in the carpool lane that afternoon.  And he tweeted like a little bird the whole way home.  Now, he's learned more calls for different birds.  He goes outside, hears birds, and mimics them.  His teacher says he has a gift.  He's even going to show off his gift at the school's talent show in April.

Jordan has been going around "tweeting" for several weeks.  Everyone is amazed.  He turned 9 last week, and when I went to school to bring a birthday snack, his teacher asked him to show off his gift.  I have to say, he is some kind of adorable when he does it.  His little cheeks puff in and out and he really sounds like a real live  bird.  My dad   has called him "Birdie" since the day he was born... since Jordan's name begins with J, which leads to "J Bird", and then shortened to "Birdie".  I guess the name finally fits!

I can't wait to see what kind of presentation he puts together for the talent show.  He'll probably be able to whistle like 100 birds come April.  Ha ha ha!

Our Christmas, mostly in pictures!

Okay, well, a few words first.  I have really enjoyed this Christmas.  This isn't always the case.  I'm usually depressed or worried about money.  This year, though, the Lord gave me the best gift of all.  Peace.  He really did, even though that sounds super-cheesy.  For the first time in my married life, I didn't stress out.  I enjoyed the season with joy in my heart that can only come from God.  He has really provided for us this year, but more importantly, He taught me to trust Him.  

Now, on to the "mostly pictures" part.

I haven't blogged enough this year, so this is probably going to be a mess, all of our Christmas festivities rolled into one.  But  here goes!

Jordan's Christmas program at school.  He's the angel on the right.  He did such a good job.  He is his mother's child, though, and proved as much by getting his robe stuck in the chair he was standing on.  He was embarrassed, but I think he made the play!

Kidpak Christmas Party at church.  This was a volunteer appreciation party that the Kidpak staff threw for us.  And we did feel appreciated.  The fellowship hall was gorgeous, the food was delicious, and everybody  had fun.  I didn't get many pictures because I ran around after Violet, but it was a great party.  

Here's a picture of Violet and her best friend Natalee at the party.  

The boys sat with their own friends and had a good time, too.

Chris had to stay at work after the party, so the boys and I did some errands and grocery shopped.  Then we came home and attempted to make a ginger bread house.  I knew, just knew, that I would mess up this house, but they didn't want to wait for their dad.  So we wound up with this. 

Ha ha ha!  Good memories and lots of laughs, though. 

This is a picture from  Christmas Sunday.  Chris picked out Violet's dress for her.  She was in a mood when we were shopping and didn't want to get a new dress at all.  I talked her into it by saying that Daddy thought she would look so pretty in this dress.  And she did! 

Christmas Eve's Eve didn't go as it normally did.  My sister and I didn't get to take our annual last-minute shopping trip because her mother-in-law passed away that day.  So sad. I did go shopping for her, because she needed help finishing up her list.  I took all of my kids and my oldest niece, Keri-lyn.  It was an experience... the weather was stormy and we couldn't find everything we needed.  We tried hard, though.  It could have been a lot worse.  I ran into several people that I hadn't seen in years.. my old Sunday School teacher from the days when we only had 1 kid, my old boss from Eckerd Express Photo.  We were looking for "Real Live Pet" birds and butterflies, some kind of horse, and some sort of "stuffable" unicorn toy.  We didn't find everything, even after trips to multiple Targets and Wal-Marts.  At the end of the day, the kids looked like this.

Ha ha!  It was a long day, but I think we made some fond memories.  

The next day was Christmas Eve.  The weather was still bad, but the boys and I ventured out to finish up our shopping (we STILL weren't finished!) and went to the candlelight service at church.  I look forward to this service every year and I wasn't disappointed.  I think it was the most beautiful one yet.  Jordan's height is perfect for sneaking shots of him when he's not looking.

After the service, we went straight to the Christmas gathering for my mom's side of the family.  Because of all of the circumstances, we had it at their church's fellowship hall.  

Random Christmas selfies...

And there was "portrait time":

My mom with her sisters and their husbands.

Cousins!  

The best one we could get with the cousins and our husbands.  

Then  my mom wanted a picture of her daughters and their husbands, and this happened. 

Why's it so hard to get one stinkin' picture?!?!

We did the usual Christmas stuff, too.  We ate, the kids opened presents and us "adults" played our annual round of White Elephant Christmas.

Some of the kids, patiently waiting until it was time to open.  Their faces!  Ha!  

And then it was time.  My boys' gifts had a distinct theme all Christmas long:  The Walking Dead for Shaun and football cards for Jordan. Violet's favorite gift from this gathering was an Ariel doll. 

I think my niece liked her new book!

We left when the festivities died down and put the kids to bed so we could put Violet's new kitchen together and finish wrapping.  We went to bed a little after midnight.  Jordan came bounding into our room at 1:00 and 1:38 am wanting to open presents.  And then, he and Shaun apparently stayed up all night.  Kids! 

The only picture presentable to post here is this one of Violet.  She's saying, "Oh my gosh!"  So adorable.  The rest of the kids chose to open presents in their boxer shorts.  

We also went to my parents' house for breakfast and gifts that morning.  Then we went to my Granny's for Christmas lunch.  Granny received a tablet and is now on Facebook.  This is my favorite Christmas memory, I think!

And a few more from  Christmas at Granny's:

 We went to visit with Chris' grandparents later on that night.  We ended our Christmas Day with some Chinese food.  Ha!  Jordan said he felt like we were in A Christmas Story.  

We came home in a food stupor and crashed.  It was a great Christmas!