ofsaa, elbows and podiums

both of my girls competed at OFSAA last week, the all-Ontario tournament where highschool wrestlers who qualified in their region meet to face off~ the best in the province competing for the top six positions, and ultimately, the gold, silver and bronze medals. 

 

 

it is intense, fun, and a huge culmination of a long season of dedicated training, conditioning, and competing.  St. Clair Secondary School wrestlers travelled with a group of seven qualifiers and Jeff was giddy happy to accompany and offer coaching assistance to the head coach, not to mention taxi services and physiotherapy assessments when needed. 

 

 

sadly, the physio was needed by his very own daughter when Joelle dislocated her elbow in what ended up being the final match she was able to wrestle on that final day.  she was still in the running for bronze when she landed kind of freakishly and the injury occurred.  serious pain rattled her instantly.  she was a total trooper on that mat, most concerned about whether she'd be able to wrestle again next season. :) she handled her agony with unexpected grace and politeness, and the grit she had displayed through each match was evident as she persevered through the pain of joint dislocation.  a quick trip to ER, x-rays and a splinted sling all happened in time to allow her to return to the venue in time to step up on the podium and receive her ribbon for finishing sixth place.  sixth out of 31 girls in the province.  Hannah also finished in sixth place from 25 girls in her weight class.  both girls showed true courage and grace over the course of the tournament. 

 

 

i was proud of their growth and effort. we both were. OFSAA 2015 is in the books, and with no shortage of excitement at that!

 

 

 i'm happy to save the details here, and am thankful to tuck away another wrestling season that developed more character qualities in these two~ qualities that i believe are helping shape them for life...

a month of pics

we have a very excited ten year old (double digits!!!) drummer in the house...he's been banging away (behind two closed doors~ which has actually been very tolerable and even enjoyable)~ often emerging from the basement sweaty and with his shirt off.  we will see where this goes...i'd love to see him officially learn in time, but for now it is just fun and non-structured "i'm in a rock band" style play.

 

Valentines...

serious cuteness with these two tournament buddies...at a wrestling tournament in Brampton (followed by the snow storm of all snow storms that nearly stranded us in the middle of a monumental white out.  yuck.  so thankful to get home that night...)

 

a few days after getting his first drum kit, Hudson saw this guy playing in the hallway at the tournament we were attending. he was joined by a couple others on guitars.  Hudson sat there quietly soaking it all in.  it was so interesting to see how drawn he was to the group.  everytime i'd walk by the small group of musicians, i'd notice they were just jammin', no conversation, just music. 

 

back yard skating, early February before the skies let go of endless loads of snow...soon after this photo it seemed extra difficult to keep up on the "snow removal" efforts.  wow~ some good arm workouts though...

skating and hot cocoa.  a necessary pairing.



now, enough of the winter.  a little spring soon, perhaps?? :) 

self portrait

i'd say Hudson worked hard to nail the right shade of brown...

not bad, not bad...nice effort and detail buddy! :)

now playing...

two songs i'm especially loving these days...my kids feel the same and love when i blast them from our bluetooth speaker. 

the first is called Brother, by a favourite band of mine, Needtobreathe.  it just moves me.  on many levels.  too many to dive into here.  plus, these guys just have one of my favourite sounds in music today. 

the second is by Owl City and Britt Nicole, called You're Not Alone. 

in these days, weeks, months~ the songs actually are very much intertwined for me.  i'm so thankful for my earthly family and friends, yet eternally grateful for a God that meets me in the mess that sometimes seems to surround me/us in this fallen world.  i'm reminded that God is there, walking alongside us, never leaving us alone but lovingly picking us up when we falter, when we lose footing....just like a loving father does with a child.  the peace that brings to my every day is beyond words. 

 

"...i'll never wander on my own for i am yours until you call me home,

i close my eyes and i can hear you say 'you're not alone'...."

the weekend i felt like Lois

this past weekend had me replaying a certain scene in my head.  someone had shown me this clip over a year ago.  i forget who.  it was hysterically funny to me then, and after Sunday came to a close and i tucked the littlest cherubs into bed, i tracked down the clip to share with all of you.  in that moment, i felt as though i had a special connection with Lois and her state of mind.  maybe a few of you can relate as well! :) please don't tell me i'm the only one....

 

 

you know how i like to keep things real and honest in this tiny corner of cyber space, right?  well, Jeff had been away with the oldest two at a full weekend wrestling tournament.  basically, everything went quite smoothly while the other five of us were here on our own from Friday to Sunday.  there were fun moments with movies and popcorn and basketball and the McDonald's PlayPlace....but one thing struck me (again) in the period of those three days.  i'm in absolute awe of the number of times i hear "mom", "hey mom", "mom, guess what" "mom, look!" "mom, remember when..."and so on.  it is staggering.  really truly, no exaggeration, it is hundreds of times per day.  you have to believe me.  i did the rough math one day while driving to basketball.  and pleasssseeeeeee don't get me wrong.  it is wonderful.  even joyous.  it is the ultimate gift.  it is a direct sign of just how blessed i am.  i know all of this deep in my heart.  i love that they all have so much they want to tell me, report about, share, make up for my benefit (ahem...it rhymes with Flood-son), ask me, etc....  really truly i do.  because i know from experience that the opposite trend of not wanting to tell mom everything is just around the corner.  it's not even like they are toddlers anymore~ they are growing up soooo fast...i don't want to wish this time, these years, away.  and yes, i even see their chattiness as a direct correlation to the level of joy and security they feel in their daily lives.  they are boundlessly engaged in life and super interactive with me~ this is all reallllllyyyy gooooood...yet honestly, even still, i'm only human.  just one wee person with very real limitations...some days there is just only so much available sanity brain capacity to process and react to each little nugget of information.  each bit of utter ridiculousness. the very deep and not-so-deep questions.  the issues. the stories.  the full-of-beans conversations and topics they think up.  the things to see outside the window of our moving van....etc....i try hard, i really do.  some days i know i barely succeed. others i manage to be present and enthused in an adequate way....but on Sunday night, as i salvaged a shred of sanity during a hot bath in sheer silence, Lois and the clip above were on the forefront of my brain. 

 

there you have it.  that's real deal me.  the end. 

this makes me smile

AJ came home with this large piece of paper a few weeks back.  it most definitely made me smile.  some of the written information is true, some of it is brand new news to us, and some of it is a bit of a stretch of the truth :) (i mean, c'mon, do i look like i'd want to be the owner of two dogs?? and AJ's never seemed the least bit interested in soccer (baseball, basketball, wrestling??).  i think maybe the pressure to give an answer won out on that one...still, all of it is soooo cute.  oh, the "ww" above certain words refers to the words on the word wall that the kids in grade 1/2 are learning at school.  also, you can't see it well, but AJ's full first name actually has an "e" after the "y", which was added after.  sidenote~ he's starting to seem more interested in his given birth name and has finally mastered the spelling of it, i think.  

the water cycle~ by AJ

i am so intrigued by my seven year old...he is sharp and attentive, and brings home lots of little facts and bits of academic knowledge that he is picking up during each day.  his teacher would be happy to know he is really listening and taking in what information she is teaching.  the other day we were reading a story, and i could tell AJ was thinking about whether it was true or not.  i offered "AJ, this isn't a true story, you know that, right?"  he added "then it's FIC-TION", spoken clearly, even without two front teeth...i smiled, and gushed~ telling him i was most impressed that he had learned that detail, and he continued to talk about fiction versus non-fiction.  super cute.  i can only hope that a keen interest in science, or simply school, continues......

 

then the other day as he was heading out to the rink, the topic of the ice came up, and with it mention was made of rain...well, he launched into a full description of the water cycle, which was mostly accurate too!  i contained my grin and decided to later record his description because it is one i want to forever remember.  once the camera was running he wasn't quite as elaborate in his explanation, but i think it still captured it well enough...

 

 

my little budding science guy, perhaps...