I have lived in places filled with wildlife for a long time. Usually, I like it. I like to see them from a distance. Earlier this month as I was driving home from dropping off Devon for his early morning club, I saw a squirrel trying to cross the road. I slowed for him to make up his mind. Once he was safely off the road I began to speed up only to have a startled deer run into me. I think we must have made the same face as she bounded away. I have never hit a deer before, and it is an experience I do not wish to repeat.
Winter in Missouri is a wild ride. We've gone from sub-freezing to 50* in a week. I'm not accustomed to such drastic changes. Here's Lizzy with an iccale from the van.
This week, we had a snowstorm. We got about an inch, and then it all melted the next day. The winds took out a lot of power lines, though. My sister-in-law was without power for a day. Due to the wild swings, we all have colds. Yay. I'm ready for spring to really take over.
On the last day of February, Lizzy and I went East to Columbia for the State wrestling competition. She went with the three other boy wrestlers who qualified. Since she was the only girl wrestler, that meant she got her own room, and she was happy with that. Daniel was able to watch from home, so he got to see her matches while taking care of the rest of the kids.
Waiting in the wings.
Her first match went all three rounds; she did well but was riding too high to pin her opponent. She lost but didn't get pinned!
The second match was so close; she ended up being 1 point behind when time ran out.
After reviewing the video, she realized how close she had come to winning both rounds; small changes would have cinched it. She did really well though, and I am proud of her. She ended up getting her shoulder wrenched and limped off the mat. I was worried, but the doctor thinks she won't need surgery, just physical therapy. She will start that next week. Of the boys, only one placed. JP took 4th. The other two were out the first day too. There were mixed feelings on the ride home. I'm glad she has some time to recover.
Charles had the lesson for our Family Home Evening and dressed for the occasion. He had prepared a slide show which was well done.
For President's Day, we celebrated by eating several of the former president's favorite foods. I made spoonbread for President Monroe, mac and cheese for President Jefferson, fruit for President JQ Adams, Leather Britches, or green beans with bacon for President Jackson (a personal favorite), President Lincon's favorite was bacon so this was a twofer. Corn for President Harrison, pickles for President Coolidge, cottage cheese with ketchup for President Nixon, (only Emily was brave enough to try that). For dessert, I had bought the Lady Baltimore cake mix from President Truman's museum a while back and decided now was the best time to try it. The recipe called for raisins and nuts soaked in brandy. So I did raspberry jam and lemon curd as the filling instead. We served it with ice cream for Presidents Madison, Ford, and Biden. It was tasty.
Oh, and we had grilled cheese for lunch for President FD Roosevelt. I had each kid tell us a fun fact about a president and President Teddy Roosevelt was the clear favorite, 3 kids had a fact about him. It was fun.
For Valentine's Day Daniel had the day off because it was districts for Lizzy. He suggested we go to The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. I have tried to enter that particular museum several times. It has always been closed. So I laughed but agreed to try. Remarkably, it was open and it was lovely. Teddy was less enthused by the museum, but he did let us peruse for about an hour. I loved it. Teddy liked the armor the best.
These were the ones that caught my eye.
The cloister took me back to Spain. I visited a few on my mission.
For lunch, we visited this BBQ place that always is packed, Zarda BBQ. It was very tasty, but the burnt ends were by far the best! Teddy keeps asking when we can go back.
Emily and Teddy made their Valentine's boxes. Lizzy helped.
On to districts!
Our Ladies did really well. On Friday it was win after win!
Lizzy was on the big screen!
Aubry
Rylie
Natalie
Audry
Payton
Natalie
Luke
Daniel took up the mantel of wearing her tiger on his head in support.
On Saturday one by one, the other girls dropped off until it was only Lizzy who qualified again. It was hard on the girls, but they gave it their all and we are really proud of them.
She won all her matches, except the last one. She did win against her in a duel previously. They bonked heads and Lizzy was concussed again making her performance less than stellar. Even so, she took 2nd once again qualifying for State!
