Districts

     Over Valentine's weekend, Lizzy had Districts. Daniel and I went to cheer her on Friday night. She won her first bout and then broke down a bit. Her new coach doesn't know how to motivate her. He is used to coaching motivated college athletes.  Lizzy wrestles for the fun of it and doesn't respond well to demands of being the first to win at state. While she likes awards, she wrestles because she likes to. He got into her head a bit, and she was ready to quit. Daniel talked her down, and she lost her next match.   

    Her opponent was one she had pinned several times in the past, so when she pinned Lizzy, her jaw dropped in disbelief. It was rather hilarious. The match had the most restorative effect on her. Lizzy tries hard to be friendly with her sparring partners. And they had fun during their bout. She said that it reminded her of what she likes about wrestling. She was still quite fragile, so I asked if she would like Daniel to stay with her on Saturday. We had planned to head to Charly's Wedding. She needed more support, so Daniel stayed with her. I was worried about leaving her, but she was feeling much better on Saturday. She won all her matches and took third.

She's headed to State next!

Things to Celebrate

  We had a couple of things to celebrate last week. It was senior night for Lizzy. That means she made a poster of her wrestling career, and we got to walk her onto the mat to be honored. 

    We had been to several Senior nights, and a few had treats with their posters, which got us thinking. Lizzy is known for making chocolate crinkle cookies. She didn't have time to cook them, so she made the dough, and I cooked them up. Unfortunately, they came out flat as a pancake, so I bought some from Costco. The other girls brought treats too. 

    The main gym was getting used for a basketball game, so we were in the west gym. It was the first time I had been in that gym. It's quite a bit smaller. We were told to stand along the wall, get a picture, and then enter the circle.

I snuck into the big gym to take a quick picture of her senior banner.

    Since they didn't have them up in the west gym, Luke drew these:

After presenting her, she got to wrestle.

It was quick and her 100th pin. Aubry made her this poster.

    After her pin, we headed to the middle school where Devon was honored for academic excellence.

 

 Doesn't he look so happy waiting for the speeches to be over?

We're so happy for both of their accomplishments!

Wrestling Update

     Lizzy has had a remarkable season so far. Her girls' team has been doing well, too. After warm ups...

Aubry pinned her opponent handily. She has really improved and has dominated this year. 

    Lizzy pinned hers as well.  She went against the 170 because her team didn't have a 170, but did have 2 155s. She graciously offered to take on the heavier opponent, much to the relief of her teammate. 

    Next, she went to Butler for a tournament and took 1st. Winning another block of wood for her collection.

Her team is ecstatic.

    

Parkhill:

Next, our home game vs Blue Springs South.

    She won each bout and was looking forward to Queen of the North, but we're due for a snowstorm, so it was cancelled. Lizzy is super bummed. I hope it gets rescheduled, but who knows. 

2026 Hits and Miss

 Aldi's has these cute winter ceramic kits; there were only 4 styles, so I got two of the gnomes and Christmas trees. This, it would turn out, was a poor decision. Henry didn't like the snowman, but the others seemed ok with their kits.

    On Dia de los Reyes, I made a French-style King's cake. It's an almond-filled pastry. My family prefers this style to the Mexican ones I like. I had put aside a whole almond to represent Jesus, but mixed it in and sealed the cake, so I didn't know where the almond was. In the end, no one got the almond, so we didn't get a king. Henry ran upstairs, brought down a tiny crown, and put it in his slice. Declaring himself king. I had to laugh.

    Daniel calls Dia de los Reyes my holiday. I found out that in Ireland, it is referred to as Women's Christmas. Known as Nollaig na mBan, where women get a break from holiday chores, it marks the end of Christmas festivities. So I guess I'll claim it as my holiday.

New Years!

     We were invited to Ron's for New Year's Eve. The Blacks, Heather, and Floyd came too. Unfortunatly Lizzy and Daniel had to work, so they missed out. We ate and played games.

    It was fun and over too soon. Later, we celebrated with our New Year's Crackers.

    The kids went to their New Year's dance on Friday. I think they looked great! Lizzy sported my old shirt, which was fun. It's wild the things she likes from when I was her age.

    True to fashion, they didn't dance much, but they had a good time. It's nice to have Lizzy drive them. I was happy they had a good experience, but am always astounded by how Daniel and I produced so many children who dislike dancing. Alas. 

Merry Making

     We decorated gingerbread houses. 

Played games.

    Heather made a delicious pistachio pie that she shared with us. Henry loved it so much that he licked the plate clean.

    The older three have a New Year's dance, and it's Devon's first dance. It is formal, so we went suit shopping. I took them to Burlington first. I haven't been inside one since before my wedding, but back then, they carried suits. I guess things have changed a bit in 20 years; they didn't have any, and there was a bouncer at the entrance! He gave us a spiel about safety, then lifted the rope for us to enter. It was a bit surreal. We quickly realized that they didn't have anything for us, so we left for JCPenney's. They were having a sale on the suits, so that was fabulous. It took a bit of digging, but we struck gold. We found this burgundy suit coat that was reminiscent of the Doctor from Doctor Who, and I still can't get over how good it looked on Charles. We found a fun matching tie and black shirt, and he was set. For Devon, we had to look farther. He really wanted a vest, but the suits his size do not have vests. I found a lovely blue suit that fits well. I ordered a vest and pants set from Amazon to round it out. Devon was a bit upset that the shades were a bit off, but honestly, they looked great together. 

    After a successful visit, I was hungry, so we went to a nearby breakfast/brunch joint called Shack. It scared Devon because the decor was interesting, there was a huge sign that said something to the effect of: eat bacon so you don't get kidnapped. It was meant in jest, but it unnerved Devon, and he was scared that there were kidnappers about.  He ducked his head under the table and refused to eat. I was unaware  what caused this commotion, as I had not seen the sign, and Devon would not engage with me in conversation. I let him be,e and the rest of us enjoyed a delightful lunch. 

    We had a good day, and the end of our membership collide so I took the younger three to Wonderscope. It was done up for the holidays. It was fun watching the kids play. 

 

    Henry was frantically running back and forth on the train, as I tried to capture him, I could only just get the heel of his foot.

    It was a good day. A nice end to the year.