TGIM!

Good Monday Morning!

I think this is the first time I've actually been thankful for a Monday.    Monday means normalcy.  Quiet mornings with a cup of coffee and time to just be.

Well, usually...

This morning I woke up to the sound of the little man retching beside the bed, only to be hit with my own nausea when I sat up.  Luckily, it seems to have passed for me - that's sheer mom determination right there - while he's sacked out on the couch.  Fortunately he was able to eat a couple of biscuits, so hopefully that has settled his stomach.  Noah, on the other hand, is still upstairs in bed after an evening of the upset stomach.  Eva had the same yesterday, but was feeling fine this morning, so hopefully its a fast-moving thing.

So, instead of going to order our family pictures and partaking in fall parent-teachers conferences this afternoon, I'm home.  And actually kind of glad for it.

What an insane weekend we had!

I'm not quite sure I'm ready for the full-on go-go-go of youth wrestling season.  But I sure did enjoy it!

Saturday found the boys weighing in at 10:00 am at Nashua-Plainfield's Little Huskies Tournament.  N-P usually boasts super-good competition since its the first local tourney of the season.  We were not disappointed.

Noah had a phenomenal day.  He won 4-2 in OT against a boy that beat him 14-2 in his 1st match last year at the same tournament.  That one was a humdinger!  The 2nd match he pinned his opponent in the 1st period and the 3rd match was just as riveting as the first.  I wasn't sure Noah would win since the other boy had pinned the other two kids in no time flat, so we had prepared him for the possibility.  But my boy FOUGHT.  He ended up winning 3-2.  Whoo!  A very well-deserved 1st place for him.

Gotta be "serious" for his pictures on the stands.  ;)

Ian had a tougher day, which I think is going to be the case for him this year.  He's going to be a 5th grader in every 5th/6th grade bracket and you've got kids that are already starting to enter puberty.  In wrestling that means muscles on top of muscles and growth spurts.  Plus, since he just started 2 years ago, they've got technique up the wha-zoo from several years of experience.

He pinned his first match within the first period for a nice win against a very talented 6th grader.  The 2nd match...  Eh.  Another 5th grader and one he's beaten twice previously.  Once in an overtime situation and another match 1-0.  Always close matches because the boy usually just grabs a leg and doesn't move - but is impossible to turn.  Well, the boy got some technique since the last time we saw him.  He showed us!  LOL!  Ian had him on his back for the pin, got too far over the top, got flipped and pinned in 2 seconds.  It was over just.  like.  that.  Ian was not a happy camper, but still managed to go out and pin his next opponent in the first period to take 2nd.  I think he was okay with that.  We've taught both the boys that you respect the kids that beat you, learn from your losses, and move on.  He did awesome on sportsmanship and that's super important in this sport and more importantly to us as parents.

Ian doesn't mind giving me little faces on the stands.
He doesn't take himself as seriously as Noah.  LOL

Sunday found us up bright and early to head to Vinton-Shellburg's Viking Wrestling Tournament, about an hour and a half south of us.  We made a promise to ourselves that we weren't going to do two tournaments a weekend this year, but since we knew a family that lived in Vinton that would be there, we decided to make an exception for this tournament.  And oh my!  I should have known when they requested last year's records and inquired about State Qualifier status that we were going to be in for a tough day.  Bracketing according to record pretty much always means super tough competition, although not always.  Since Vinton is a pretty small town, I wasn't too worried about it.  WRONG!

Vinton turned out to be the Who's Who of Iowa Youth Wrestling.  Everywhere you turned there were names with faces you'd heard from parents talk about who was the tough of the tough.  I saw kids do some things that left me just gob-smacked.  Total excellence.

By the time the boys' brackets were up, I was literally shaking inside and trying to put on a calm, serene expression for the boys.  I knew that both of them were going to face some of the toughest competition they'd ever seen, outside of AAU Kids' State.  To be honest, I wanted to throw up.  Stupid for a little local tournament, I know!  LOL!

Usually, I video tape their matches so we all can sit down and watch them later.  At the minimum, I take pictures.  Yesterday, I didn't do anything but watch...  and mutter prayers.

Ian had an insanely tough bracket.  The only 5th grader in the bracket against three other 6th graders with a TON of experience.    While Ian qualified for State last year as a 4th grader, he didn't place.  But I have to admit I've gotten used to big wins and quick pins.  That totally didn't happen yesterday.

He won his first crazy tough match over a Kids' State Placewinner, 8-5.  The 2nd match he was pinned in the last few seconds of the 3rd period, although he was still losing 7-0.  And the 3rd match...  Well.  Let's just say he found out what it was like for the kids he's been pinning in the 1st period.  It was over that quick.  He took 3rd and although he doesn't believe me, it was the best I've EVER seen him wrestle.  Try explaining that to a competitive 11 year old.  He sulked in the car for the remainder of the time we were there, but at least he held it together on the mat and didn't resort to some of the displays of bad sportsmanship that I saw.

Noah.  Oh, my Noah.  Wow.

Noah has gotten some name recognition over the last 6 months since he won SPW State Runner-Up and qualified for Kids' State as a 2nd grader, so we knew that he would probably be in a crazy bracket.  Yep!

Not only was his bracket tough, he was the lightest of the four.  The first boy was from Wisconsin, outweighed Noah by 6 lbs., and I was rendered nearly speechless by how tough they both wrestled.  And if you know me, you know that's pretty hard to do! ;)  I just didn't know what to tell him.  LOL!  Thank goodness he had 2 of our coaches in his corner and a ton of Go-Hawk supporters!  Noah won that match 7-0, but don't let that zero fool ya.  It was insane.

The 2nd match was even tougher than the first.  He was up against another State Qualifier, a 4th grader, and a name I had heard many, many times - but we've never had the opportunity to wrestle. That match went into overtime, tied 2-2.  Noah took a bad shot at the whistle and ended up in a headlock.  A TIGHT headlock.  He was turning purple around the lips and I was grabbing the arm of the coach sitting next to me (Sorry, Chad!) telling him to stop the match.  Then the official called a stalemate.  There was some confusion as to why the other boy didn't get the points to win it and it literally came down to the fact that Noah had kept his hips twisted in such a way that the ref said the other boy didn't have control.  It was that close.  I was as shocked as the other parents were.  So they went at it again.  I really didn't know how Noah was going to do it.  He had just been purple 2 seconds before!  This time the other boy took the shot, but Noah got behind for the 2 and the win. WOW.  I about fell over!  Unbelievable.  I actually searched out the official (from the look on his fact I think he thought I was going to be one of those crazy wrestling parents that want to argue a call  LOL) and asked him to explain to me why Noah didn't lose since he was in the headlock.  I think he was pretty surprised that I wasn't some nut, but just a parent that wanted to make sure it wasn't a bad call and the other boy deserved the win, like I had had someone come up and tell me.  Scott, on the other hand, thought I was nuts.  Take the win and run with it, right?  Nope.  If the other boy deserved it, he was going to get it.

The 3rd match was a squirrely little 4th grader that Noah pretty much dominated, but couldn't get pinned.  He almost had him, but his hand was underneath on the boy's shoulder blade, so the ref couldn't call it.  We all kept telling him, "Move your hand!  Move your hand!  Your hand is in the way!"  But he kept moving his other hand and not the one underneath.  Finally he just stops moving, looks up at me, and says, "What the frick?"  I just burst out laughing.  It was so typical Noah.  I hate it when he says "frick" and usually get after him, but that was hilarious!  Although, I probably shouldn't have laughed so loud because I got a really dirty look for the other boy's dad.  I think he thought I was laughing at his kid.  Which I totally wasn't!  Anyway...  Noah won that match 10-0 to take 1st.

The other two didn't stick around to be on the stands.
It really was a long wait for that.

 The thing that I really like about wrestling is that most parents instill in their children respect for the opponents you lose to.  And in especially hard matches, they learn to really like and respect the better opponent.  Noah and Jake were fast friends by the end of the day, despite Noah winning in overtime and spent the rest of the time running around together while we chatted with Jake's parents.

Jake pretending to sock Noah.

Noah "wapping" Jake with his jacket string.  LOL!

It was a good day, but a long one.  We didn't get home until 7:00.  Next weekend we'll be at it again, but not two.  Nope.  Like we promised.  We'll go to a Saturday tournament and go to church on Sunday.  And that's the way it should be.

This week is a crazy one, so don't expect a lot of postings about anything crafty.  I've got dentist appointments, parent-teacher conferences, and wrestling practices.  Although I don't want to lose any of you as followers!  I'll just do the best I can!  Just gotta get into the swing of wrestling season.  :)

I hope y'all had as fun of a weekend as we did and  were able to get up to some craft goodness!

Take care,

Friday's Finds... #09 and Friday's Favorites Linky Party!!!

WOW!  Friday already!  To be honest, last night I was racking my brains about what I could do about today's blog post and then I was like, "Doh!  It's Friday!"  LOL!  I just don't know where the time goes! I gotta be honest with you.  This week's finds were a little slim.  Nothing I'm gushing over, just a few picks on the cheap that will eventually find a place in my home.  However...  No worries!  I finally figured out how to host a linky party (needed to switch over to the new Blogger format) and I'm now ready to go!  YAY!  I totally can't wait to see what great things y'all have found this week!

First we'll do my finds and then at the bottom of this post there will be the "rules" for what I hope will be a weekly linky party.  :)

First up, I scored this heavier than heck mirror from our local thrift.  Dang!  Even the hubs said it was heavy.  The country blue is gonna go, but can you imagine how pretty this is gonna be with some white paint and glazing.  Oh yeah!  $10.00

Obviously, I haven't gotten around to the Windex.  LOL!

And I think I've really developed a thing for old books.  Just the history of them is enough to intrigue me, but I love seeing the names written inside with such beautiful penmanship and think of the hands that held them so many years ago.  I'm up to 14, that are bundled with hemp twine or stacked here and there around the house.  These new finds include a very interesting one about our Founders written in 1929 and another on Civil Government copyrighted in 1918.  I gotta say...  The history they're teaching our kids now is MUCH different from these books.  Its been an eye opener.  I also found three that are titled "Language Lessons For Common Schools".  Two of those don't even have copyrights, but are dated 1907 and the other is copyrighted 1918.  How cool is that?  Total cost $18.00

And its always great to find something you have to do nothing to, like this pewter candlestick holder.  SCORE!  $1.50

And I told you I'd be majorly looking for frames for our family pics.  I picked up these that will all be getting a fresh coat of paint.  $5.00 for the large wooden one, $2.00 for the square mirror, $0.50 for the small gilded one, and $0.75 for the oval.

I actually got another large square frame pretty similar to the one above, but my laziness and hatred of the cold knows no bounds.  Its out in the back of the Yukon, but I wasn't going to brave the temps this morning to lug it in.  I paid $2.00 for that one.

I picked up a couple of books of music for $0.75 each, that I have already used to make a sheet music wreath.  I would have loved to have found some actual sheet music, but yeah...  Didn't happen.

I picked up this beat up firewood basket for $5.00.  Totally getting a coat of spray paint.  I needed a place for all the birchwood I'm stealing from the hub's stockpile.  ;)

And once I again I was bitten by the Christmas bug...

These pictures of vintage Santas were $0.75 each.  All the frames need is a little paint.

If the price tag that was still attached is to be believed, this retailed at $46.99 from Mission Gallery.  You gotta be kidding me?!  I paid five bucks.  More than reasonable.  :)

And since several of the many Christmas treasures I lost when our basement flooded was all but one of the Nativity Scenes I've collected over the years (*sob*), I picked this one up for $3.00.

And this little ornament (lost every single ornament but one, too), I  grabbed up for $1.00.  I saw a similar one at Wally World last night for $4.99.

And since I know all these need is a coat of silver spray paint to look TONS better, I snatched up these gold Christmas tree candles for $0.75 each.

I have to say, its not one of the greatest trips I've had to the thrift, but not too bad either.  I'm really having to reign myself in over the Christmas stuff, but I have a ball looking at it.  Its going to be an extremely hard, long process to rebuild our Christmas treasures - not to mention, really expensive.  :(  And since the flooding was  caused by ground water backing up into the floor drain, home owner's insurance covered NADA.  Can you believe that????  Better have flood insurance, even if you don't live in a flood plain, peeps.  And we live on a hill!!!!  I don't even want to think about all my children's handmade ornaments that were lost.  Those were priceless.    

Soooooooo anyhoo, now its time to show of your stuff!  What was your favorite find this week?

Its Linky Party Par-tay Time!

WOO-HOO!

1st EH-VAH

Friday's Finds Favorites

And YOU'RE Invited!

Here are the "rules":

1.  Please link up your favorite find of the week.  It can be something you found yourself or something you found online and featured on your blog.  Please link directly to your post page, not just to your blog.  

2.  Please become a follower and help yourself to my blog button to let others know you've shared here.  You can either use my button or a text link, but please link somewhere/somehow on your blog to help spread the word.  Thanks!  :) 

3.  Please visit a couple of other shares that have been linked up and show some love.  We all love to hear compliments on what we've found.  You might even make a friend or two.  :) 

4.  Have fun, but please do not link up Etsy store items or any other commercial ventures.  The goal is to share, not sell.  Thanks!

5.  Be sure to stay tuned next Friday to see if your favorite find was featured as one of my faves - and of course, be ready to link up against next week.

Thanks for sharing and I can't wait to see what y'all found this week!

Stairways to Heaven

If any of y'all are following me via my account on Pinterest you'll have noticed I have added a new board:  Stairways to Heaven.

Why?

Well, that's my new project:  Painting our stairs.

When we bought our house, our stairs looked like this:

Whoo-boy!  If we had only looked at the wallpaper when we moved in, we would've never bought the place.  Ew.

BUT...  You don't even want to see what it looks like today.  A few years back, I was into all things primitive and decided to strip all the wallpaper off and paint the stairwell this hideous mustard yellow.  Yeah.  Bad.  And the sheen I used showed every last imperfection in the plaster.  And who knows why, but now its starting to bubble off like Eva's room did and I know for a fact we used a good quality paint.  I'm beginning to wonder if the walls weren't painted with an oil based paint, which gives birth to all kinds of issues with painting our walls.  I do not even want to THINK about using oil based paint and the mess that would ensue. :(

Okay.  I promised full disclosure, so I'll give you a peek (deep breath here, Laura) at what I'm going to be dealing with:

How do I live with it?  Well...  I just don't look at it when I go upstairs.  Ever.  Its amazing what you can ignore and how long you can ignore it for.  Kind of reminds me of those poor people on "Hoarders".

Needless to say, its a HUGE undertaking.  That's probably why (Okay, that's TOTALLY why) I've been putting it off.  Not to mention that the stairwell soars clear to the top of the ceiling of the 2nd floor (we're probably talking 12 feet) and you have to balance (okay, SCOTT will have to balance) on top of a ladder that is propped onto the highest stair to be able to reach the top of all the walls.  He didn't like doing it the first time and thanks to my color choice (that he asked me repeatedly if I was sure about), he now has to do it at least 3 more times as we prime and paint to cover up that hideous shade of baby poop.  I'm seriously considering dry brushing pallet board and nailing it to the walls to be done with completely - that would also take care the hanging light fixture that some home improvement moron decided not to put behind some sheetrock or something.  I don't have a clue what to do.  Any ideas for a fix that isn't a budget buster????

So, to try to get my boo-tay motivated to do something with that stairwell wall, I'm going to at least paint the stairs and railings.  That's the first half of the project.  Goal date to finish to finish the whole entire thing:  November 26th.  Crunch time.  The day after Thanksgiving and traditionally the day we put up our Christmas stuff - after Black Friday wrestling, of course.  That way, I can put my garland and wreaths up and not have to photoshop the heck out of my pictures. LOL!

So here's some inspiration I've found around Pinterest:

Kika Reichert

 Definitely NOT for the color, but the idea of hand painting words on the risers, except I would do a Bible verse.

HGTV's Sarah's House Season 3

 Love the idea of a numbered staircase, but maybe a little overused now.

Source Unknown via Pinterest

 However, I still love the look - especially two-toned with an accent stripe on either side.

Or how about these lovelies...

Country Living: Cottage Of Many Colors

 I adore the hues and aged quality of these stairs!

 Whimsical perhaps?

Source Unknown

How can you go wrong with an aged aqua plus a little whimsy from the Wizard of Oz?

Or I could go more old farm house-y...

Source No Longer Available

 These gray and white stairs' simplicity is lovely.

But, I gotta admit on the ones below...  The mice on these stairs freak me out a little.  Yeah...  Mice have their place.  Not on my stairs.  Preferably in a trap.  Dead.

Source Unknown

And no post about stairway inspirations would be complete without these beauts from Donna @ Funky Junk Interiors.

Although I'm not sure I'll have the guts to try something like this.  :P  I know my limitations.  LOL!

Anyhoo...

Better get to cleaning those stairs, so I can have them primed before I go to bed.  God knows why I'm starting this on a day when I have a meeting tonight and wrestling tourneys planned for the entire weekend, but I am.  Maybe it's because I know I work best under pressure.  ;)

Take care, y'all!

Sheet Music Wreath and Mirror Makeover

Not a whole lot of time to post tonight, but since its been a while since I posted some crafty goodness, I thought I'd get this up really quick.

Remember the mirror that I posted on last week's Friday's Finds?

The hideous hunter green 1980s throwback?

No?

Okay...  Well, here it was...

Can we say, "Ewwwwww!"

And then I took the mirror out, sanded that horrible green off, and then primed it:

Yes, that is snow outside the window!  :)

Added a little paint, distressed it, and then quickly glazed:

I decided to add a music sheet wreath, since just the mirror seemed a little plain.  Not too sure I like the wreath, but all in all - not to shabby for a wet, melting snow afternoon.  :)

Don't you love all my "to re-do's" in the reflection?  LOL!!  I need to get to work - or stop thrifting!  ;)

And one more pic for, Shannon @ Fox Hollow Cottage because she loves aqua...

Hope y'all are keeping warm!

Digital Scrap Booking Giveaway!

Do any of y'all like to scrap book?  Seriously, if I had the time, I'd totally do it.  I am ashamed to say that a majority of my pictures are crammed into rubbermaid containers, shoe boxes, or have never been printed off my computer!  That's just plain sad!  Do NOT be like me!  :P

However, if you've wanted a reason to scrap book, I'm about to give you one:  A giveaway by my friend, Nicole over at Davis Domestications and Furniture Facelifts.  Its her very first giveaway and she is giving you an opportunity to win some digital scrap booking software by My Memories.  Please click on the link above to enter for your chance to win!  I have!

**This giveaway ends November 20th, 2011.

Living the Life of a Wrestler's Mom

First of all, I just want to thank each and every person that left such kind comments yesterday about my blog post.  Each one touched my heart.  :)  We had a wonderful day, Landon enjoyed his new Innotab (which eats batteries like no tomorrow), and we got a good laugh when he ran away while we sang Happy Birthday.  I have yet to figure out why he doesn't like it when we all sing to him.  LOL!  We did manage to coax him back to the table, where he blew out all his candles at once - with a little help from his big brother and sister.  :)

I didn't get any crafting accomplished this weekend and from now until March, that's going to pretty much be the norm.  You see, we're entering into wrestling season.  Time for tournaments!   WOO-HOO!

Here is a different side of myself that I've decided to introduce to you...  One of a fiercely competitive, insanely supportive, 100% mat mom.  That's what the mothers of wrestlers are called.  :)  And I personify it to a T.  My boys love it and so do I.

This is their serious "wrestling face".  No smiles.  Ever.  LOL!

Even Landon gets in on the action:

Show me your stance, Landon!

Although we won't put him into practice on a competitive level until he's 6.

For those of you who don't know a lot about the sport of Folkstyle Wrestling, there is nothing like it in the world.  For three years, I wrinkled my nose up at my brother-in-law as he tried to talk us into getting the boys into the sport - Wrestling parents are weird, don'tcha know.

Two years ago, Ian decided he wanted to go out (My brother-in-law got a hold of him) and badgered me to death until I said okay.  I approached sign-ups with trepidation and hoped he'd try it out for the one year and move on to a more civilized sport...  Like basketball.  Noah, who was in 1st grade at the time, didn't want to be left out since his older brothers were becoming more involved in various sports activities, so he was signed up as well.

I mean, what's the point of two sweaty guys rolling around on a mat in a bathing suit???  How do you keep score?  Ride time? Takedowns?  Shots?  Single-legs?  Double legs? Kill the head? Drive him? Break the arm? (You're going to break someone's arm????)  It was like another language.  One, I can assure you, I speak fluently now.

Now fast forwarding two years later, with one Super Pee Wee State Runner-Up, two District Runners-Up, two State Qualifiers, and a trip to the AAU Kids' State Wrestling Championships under my belt, I am 100% Mat Mom.

You know...  the crazy moms you see on youtube that look like this:

Yep.  That's Scott and me with two of the wrestling coaches mat-side during one of Ian's matches last year at the Columbus Sailors' Black Friday Tournament.  No Black Friday shopping for this mat mom.  We're gonna go wrestling!

I literally have thousands of pictures of Ian and Noah in action.

Ian's fastest pin:  0:18

Some people think that wrestling is barbaric, especially when children are young.  I even had one of my good friends tell me it was a "cult" and I should hear how I sound to others when I'm talking about tournaments, matches, competitors, and my sons' weight. (We do NOT cut weight.)  However, we do what every other parent does when they're child is in a serious competitive sport:  We eat healthy.  We have good bedtimes.  We pump them up mentally.  And there is nothing wrong with that.

Wrestling teaches so much that many other sports do not.  Mental preparation and self-confidence is key.  You can't blame your failures on anyone else - "My line wasn't blocking", "It was a bad pass", "If he hadn't..."  Wins and losses rest on your shoulders alone.  My sons learn to respect their opponents and the ref, and most importantly, themselves.  What other sport makes their athletes shake the hands of their coaches at the end of each practice?  And although wrestling is a singular sport, the team concept is one where they encourage and support each other before, during, and after matches.  My sons head for their friends after a hard loss, not to Scott and me.  And if they have to compete against a friend?  Well, gloves off during the match and the friendship and respect still endures.  They gain not only a physical strength by conditioning, but also a mental strength with a drive and work ethic that will stay with them the rest of their lives.

We have formed bonds with other wrestling parents that I just don't think you see in other competitive sports.  If others think its a "cult" because of this, well, so be it - even though I still love and respect the person that told me that.  :)  These people are our family.  We celebrate their victories and we mourn their losses.  We are a tight-knit group that cares, supports, and looks after each other and our children.  And I can't imagine my life without them in it.

This is why we wrestle and that is why we love it.

So, from now until March its focus, determination, and a drive to win.  We may not have as good of a season this year as we did last year, but we look forward to it nonetheless.  And you know...  There's always next year.  ;)

Noah in action:

2010 AAU Super Pee State Placewinner 52 lb K-1 Division
2011 Season Record:  63-11
2011 AAU Super Pee State State Runner-Up 58lb 2nd Grade Division
2011 AAU Northeastern District Runner-Up 60 lb 3/4 Grade Division
2011 State Qualifier as a 2nd Grader - 60 lb 3/4 Grade Division

Districts and State are usually reserved for 3rd-8th grade only, but 2nd graders can attempt to qualify.



Ian In Action:

2011 Season Record:  56-13
2011 AAU Northeaster District Runner-Up 75lb 3/4 Grade Division
2011 State Qualifier 75lb 3/4 Grade Division

It won't let me post Ian's video due to copyright violation of the music I used (eyeroll), but here's one of our wrestling club that I made last year at the end of the season.  Look for Ian in it - and Noah, as well.

We're pretty hard core.  :)