CCMS Wrestling 22-23

Since both A and W are in middle school, we wanted them to use this chance to try new things.  We encouraged them to try out for the sports teams available at school.  For winter, they both signed up to do wrestling and it was a new experience for us all.  

The team was small so whoever was committed and showed up to practices was on the team.  They wrestle by weight class so both boys were in different classes.  They would wrestle each other at practice sometimes though.  A wrestled mostly in the 90 lb class and W wrestled in the 83 lb class. The head coach was an assistant from the football team so both boys already knew Coach Murray going into wrestling.  The other coaches were Coach Aiden (Coach Murray's son) and Ms. Senter who was another PE teacher from the school. 

They practiced every day after school until 5 pm.  Every.Single.Day.   Practices were tough and there was a lot of conditioning at the beginning.  The boys were very tired BUT we can confidently say they were in great shape.  There's so much technique involved in wrestling that while it's about strength, it's also about finesse too.    

Matches were very intense.  It's just the two wrestlers out there and no one else to help.  Very different than team sports which is what we've always done so this was new.  I was very tense watching from the bleachers every single time one of my boys wrestled.  I never felt relaxed.  I wasn't worried they would get hurt at all.  I just know how competitive they are and wanted them to do their best and be satisfied with their performance.  I wish I had more pictures or videos of the season but it was too hard for me to record and watch at the same time.  Here's what I do have from their first season of wrestling. 

Waiting for the match to start

The team before regionals

W

Victory

My New Role

I've always been a teacher.  Sure a wife and mother, but my calling and occupation has been a teacher.  I love teaching and love middle school students especially.  My role these days is quite different.  I've transitioned to being a caregiver and I'm really honored I have the chance to do that.  B's parents live with us now and I take care of them full time.  I could list the things I do, but really I just love and care for them.  I really do love them.  They are our family.  I no longer think about my family of 6, rather my family of 8.  It's nice being a multigenerational family (most of the time) and of course we have our ups and downs just like any family.  

My FIL has Alzheimer's and my MIL has some physical restrictions and not much strength.  Bryce and I made the decision to move them in with us around Christmas time and I began looking at houses.  We finally found the perfect house for us in March and moved in April.  P/V sold their house in Texas and flew to NC April 22.  We've lived together in this new house for 9 months!  Our house is great.  There's enough room for all 8 of us and we have a bonus room upstairs so the kids can have some space away from adults.  We have so many funny stories and I wish I would have written them all down, so maybe I'll try to document them here.  

Let me try and play catch up LOL  

Bryce got a job at The College at Southeastern (SEBTS) and we moved to NC in August 2021.  Rin is in 9th grade at Franklinton High School.  She participated in the Marching Band and right now she's on the high school swim team.  Abe is in 7th grade at Cedar Creek Middle School.  He made the school football team and is on the wrestling team.  Wes is in 6th grade also at CCMS.  Wes was the manager of the football team because he was too young to play and he's also on the wrestling team.  Ell is in 4th grade at Youngsville Elementary.  She's on the Battle of the Books team at school.  Her school is year round so every 9 weeks, she has 3 weeks off that she gets to stay home with me!  Paul and Vicki come with us to school events and sporting events too.  I take them to all their doctor appointments, nail appointments, hair appointments etc...  We call them our adult children :) 

Abe turns 7!

Since A wasn't having a multiple of 5 birthday, he didn't get a party this year.  Instead he got to pick where he wanted to eat and who would eat with him.  He began is birthday with cinnamon roles before school and then cupcakes to share with his class.  A wanted to eat dinner at BWW with only Mommy and Daddy so wish granted.  We asked J & L Cook to watch the other 3 while we ate dinner. After dinner, instead of birthday cake, A wanted his dessert at Menchie's frozen yogurt.  How could we say no to that?  Absolutely no decorating, no cooking, and no cleaning :)  It was almost like my birthday too.  After Menchie's, we took A to game stop and let him pick a Wii game as our gift.  We bought him Mario All-Stars which includes Mario 1, 2, 3 and the Lost Levels.  We've played it a lot over the months and it's been a lot of fun to watch A & W play together.  One of the best things about this day was it was actually October 7th.  It was so much fun celebrating A on his actual birthday and retelling him the story of his birth.  He brings us so much joy and makes everyone smile around him.

Abe's extra tooth!

A's teeth are so small.  He grinds them while he sleeps, but they are just tiny to begin with.  We kept asking him if any of he teeth were loose because we knew that usually kids start losing teeth in Kindergarten.  A didn't lose any and didn't appear to have any loose teeth.  Well one day while we were at the mall, A said he felt like he had food in his mouth and couldn't figure out what he was feeling.  R looked in his mouth to help him out and said "A, you have a tooth" and that was the first time we noticed that he had a tooth behind his bottom row.

extra shark tooth

crazy long rat tail that A loves

first tooth lost 8/31/16

First tooth pulled in 1st grade

The dentist said the baby tooth was loose but would need to be pulled if it didn't come out soon on it's own.  We made A wiggle it every night.  Finally, it came out Wednesday August 31, while we were eating dinner at church before Bible study.  A let B pull it and it didn't take much effort.  A got a visit from the tooth fairy and got $1 for his first baby tooth. 

First Day of School 2016

August 22, 2016 was the first day of school for public school.  I made R, A, & W dress the same because of pictures.  The traffic was bad as expected, but we parked and walked them into the school.  I had already been working for a couple of weeks, so after bringing them to school I had to rush off to work.  We actually sent E to Aunt Mo's house on Sunday because her preschool hadn't started yet either.  Everyone was excited and we knew that they would LOVE it.

Together after school 8/22/16

Ell started Pre-School at Sugar Creek Baptist Church on August 31, 2016.  We took pictures of her just like the other kids and she was excited and read to be there.

Meet the Teacher

I for one was excited about returning to the same school for a second year in a row.  I know R expressed that she was a little tired of going to a new school 3 years in a row so she was happy also.

W was starting Kindergarten and had meet the teacher on Wednesday August 17th.  He was very excited and to say ready is quite the understatement.  He's been ready for Kinder for quite some time.  We all took him to the orientation and listened to all the K teachers talk about things we needed to know for Kinder.  We remembered most of the items from A's Kindergarten year but it was good for W to hear things. 

After the opening session with everyone, we were released to go to the rooms and meet the teachers.  We found W's classroom and his desk and met Mrs. Volz.  She had been a 2nd grade teacher the year before, so R knew her, but she was new to the rest of us. 

R & A had their meet the teacher on Friday August 19th.  There was no orientation or information session, just a meet and greet.  We went to A's classroom first and met Mrs. Huseman.  A found out that Brayton and Cameron were in his class again this year (both boys from his K class).  Mrs. Huseman is his math/Sci/SS teacher and Mrs. Williams is his ELA/Writing teacher.  R's homeroom teacher is Mrs. Keller and she's got several friends from last year too.  Her ELA/Writing teacher is out on maternity leave but should return to class in November.  Mrs. Ortega is her maternity sub and seems to be very nice. 

We are very excited about a great year at Williams Elementary School. 

Dallas Soccer

A wanted to play soccer again so we signed him up at the YMCA and he was on a team of 8 kindergartners.  A's team had 6 boys and 2 girls and he knew one little boy from his school.  Coach Aaron knew a lot about soccer and said he's played at the next level (not sure if that means college or what....) but his son, Brody, is one of A's buds from school.  A has played 2 seasons of soccer so he already knew the basics.  This outdoor season was 5 v 5 with 1 goalie and 4 field players.

A scored in most of his games, but his natural tendency is to play more defense.  We had to find something to motivate him to want to score and finally settled on money (we should have known).  I think in the small games they play we want to see him run up and down the field and play both offense and defense but if he continues to play to the point of actual positions, I can see him playing a defender and then not going up to score as much.  He also enjoys goalie, and he was good at it too, but I don't think that's where he will end up.  But what do I know?  He's only 6 and seems to be athletic up to this point.

His coach, Aaron, asked us at the end of the season if we would consider joining the Lamar Soccer Club and playing under him.  He's trying to put together a team of kids that have talent and potential and coach them and keep them together season after season.  A doesn't even realize that this is really a nice thing that his coach wants to develop him, so it's something that B and I will have to discuss.  We like the Y because both soccer and t-ball games were played at the same place, but the thought of A having a coach that actually knows stuff about soccer is nice as well.  Lamar Soccer Club is offering a soccer camp in June, so that's our first decision, is if we are going to sign A up for soccer camp.

A's first game April 2016

Last Days of School

May 31, 2016 was A's Kindergarten program.  The entire Kinder class sang a few songs an then the teachers called out each student and recognized them for finishing Kindergarten.  A wanted to dress up so he picked out his Easter clothes and I spiked his hair too.  He surprised us by not telling us that he would be a student conductor for one of the songs.  He was really enjoying his time on stated and sang his little heart out.

June 1, 2016 was R's 2nd grade awards ceremony.  The 2nd graders do not sing or dance like the Kindergartners but they did have a nice award's ceremony.  Each student was called out and 2 awards per student were announced.  Inside R's folder she had many certificates for her achievements throughout second grade.  I wanted to check her out after her awards, but she did not want to come with me.  So I left her at school and just checked A out instead. 

June 2, 2016 was the last day of 2nd grade for R and Kinder for A.  Both kids had a great year at Williams Elementary School and we are looking forward to a fun summer together.  Next year I'll have 3 kids in school and they are going to rock it!

You can really see how much A grew over the year