Two Weeks of Craziness then Christmas

The past two weeks have been extremely busy. It felt as if time was against me and I could hardly catch my breath. When one thing went wrong there were at least two more things going wrong to follow and yet somehow, as of today, I can finally exhale. It all began with the finale of Winning With Wellness on a Monday night. I placed 6th and lost over 9% of my starting weight. I am happy to be able to wear jeans comfortably again, my engagement ring fits again, and I am much more healthier. I would have liked to have won a prize to the dealership in town so my husband could get an oil change without having to deal with the freezing weather but those prizes were randomly drawn instead of given out to winners. Whatever. I will continue to work out when the time allows cause I really enjoy it, I feel better when I do it, and there is still weight to be lost. I met a great deal of wonderful people that I want to continue to get to know and become friends with. So the benefits of Winning with Wellness were vast. That following Tuesday Michael had wrestling in Portage. We loaded up everyone, headed up and ended up spending about $2.00 per second to watch Michael pin his opponent in 31 seconds. It was worth every penny! Wednesday was Alex's actual birthday and he wanted to go to Pizza Hut to celebrate. I was game since I hadn't eaten that type of deliciousness in 3 months. Thursday brought more wrestling and since it was at home I managed to make it to kickboxing only to have to rush to the school so I wouldn't miss the introduction of the varsity team. Michael wrestled heavy weight that night and pulled an impressive jap wizzer on his opponent before he pinned him. Proud, um heck yes! Friday night was Kato's work party up in Portage and we decided to stay the night in the hotel. They had an ugly sweater contest which I didn't know I was allowed to participate in until the day before which did not give me the time to come up with the winning look. I came to terms with that slip since he got a new I Pad 2 and has since then shared it with me. Kato didn't participate either tho, he said he didn't want to look stupid all night. Next year I will rock it! I had to get up early that Saturday to head up to Fon du Lac for more wrestling. I watched Michael take 2nd place at the Marty Loy and I was more then proud. I am dedicated to being there for every one this year, no matter how far we travel. My parents arrived that night and waited up for my arrival, it was bittersweet only because the girls got sick and had high fevers. So while they were visiting they too got sick and had to spend some of their time resting in a hotel. I wished that hadn't happened. Alex was in a school program where he was an Indian named Brave Eagle, my mom was nice enough to stay home with Ella and Jade so I didn't have to take them to his performance where they might have run a muck. Anyway, it was a good visit and I appreciated everything they had done. They worked on a beautiful doll house for the girls and since then Jade and Ella have been playing with it everyday. My mom helped me wrap some presents and cook dinner. I ended up taking Ella to the doctor where she was diagnosed with a double ear infection and pneumonia. Antibiotics for Ella and after one day she was almost back to her sweet happy self. Friday was no school and the little kids went to Grandma Jaynes so that Kato and I could watch Michael take 3rd place at Badger State. It was a tough tournament, maybe even tougher then Marty Loy! It was a long day and we didn't get home till after 9:30pm. Saturday was Christmas eve and I had to finalize the grocery shopping and prepare for Christmas at our house. Finished the wrapping, left the cupcakes for Santa (figured he would like the change from cookies), prepared the cinnamon rolls for breakfast, and snuggled in for a movie with my man! It was great! The kids were in bed and awaiting the visit from Santa as they dreamed about the morning glory of goodness that was to come. After 5 short hours of sleep that was interrupted by bouts of Jade kicking me in my back, coughing in my face, and talking in her sleep it was time to celebrate Christmas. Santa left a letter to the children thanking them for the cupcakes and reminding them its about Jesus' birthday and not to yell so much in the house. The presents were opened and they all seemed happy. We ate cinnamon rolls, bacon, sausage and orange juice which was actually mimosas for mommy and daddy. Cleaned up the messes and prepared for a wonderful Packer victory clinching home field advantage for the playoffs. Jayne and Keith came over and we opened gifts and enjoyed their company. I found four bottles of wine with each of the kids names on it because after all they do for them and us they too need a bit of relaxation. It was really nice to stay home and enjoy Christmas without having to rush somewhere and I think the kids appreciated being able to actually open and play with all their new toys. Now that the holidays are over I can get back to kickboxing and release some of the stress built up from all the little things that happened over the past two weeks. thanks for reading xoxo

2nd 3rd 7th

It was a busy weekend.

Michael had a wrestling tournament in Sun Prairie. It was the first time the Sauk Prairie wrestling team went to this event. There were 17 schools competing. Michael did fantastic and took home 2nd place. It was the first time I had seen him pin a guy using only his legs. I was very impressed. The team took home 2nd place which was only 14 points behind first. It was a great day of wrestling!

I came home to a house full of young lads anxiously awaiting cake. Alex had his birthday party to celebrate turning 7. He had about 6 boys come over for a slumber party. We got right into opening presents, cake, and ice cream. Afterwards they changed into pjs found a spot on the couch or floor and watched Cars 2 with popcorn. Most fell asleep before the movie ended. Some were still awake when I went to bed. A few claimed they stayed up all night, I know it wasn't true cause when I came down the next morning to make pancakes, bacon, and sausage they were sleeping. They got picked up by 10am and we got ready for the next round of birthday celebration.

Jade's 3rd birthday fell on that same day but because of wrestling schedules, holiday parties, and Christmas we had to give Alex his party on Jade's birthday. She insists she is only 2 1/2 and frankly I don't care how old she says she is as long as the terrible twos are over! She isn't that bad but she does have her moments. Since I had just made a cake for Alex I bought a very small already made cake for Jade and decorated it up a bit. She opened some presents and blew out her candles. She sang happy birthday to herself and even though it was technically the day after her birthday she didn't care. She was perfectly happy to celebrate the way it was.

After all the birthday stuff was over, we cleaned up a bit and settled in for Mr. Poppers Penguins and called it a night. It was a very busy weekend which will be followed by an even busier week. So AWESOME Job Michael, Happy Birthday Jade and Alex and thanks for reading xoxo

Alex's Indian Artwork

Alex has been learning about Indians in school. He was very interested in learning that he has a very small amount of Indian in him. It got a bit complicated explaining that its not in his foot or arms but yet his entire body. He then explained to us that his hunting skills and part of his warrior skills are in fact because he is Indian. I told him the best person to talk to about this kind of stuff would be Grandma Kim because she also makes wonderful Indian art and has learned more about the Indian heritage of our family then I have. Anyway, he got very interested in the Indian life of long ago and made some really wonderful pieces of art. He was excited to show us all the things he colored and created. He showed us the types of homes they once lived in and even made a map of the United States showing us where they lived. He was very proud of his work. I am very proud of his work. I picked a couple of pieces he recently brought home and decided to share them with you. So here is his Woodland Indians Designs and his Thunderbird. thanks for reading xoxo

Potty Training Went down the Toilet

Time is flying by and I haven't been able to write much lately. We have been potty training Jade which is more difficult then we thought it would be. We hunkered down one weekend, put her in big girl undies, got stickers and had her go potty on the potty every few minutes. By Sunday I was running out of pp on the potty dance moves and I was honestly feeling like giving up. She did great for those "little jobs" but when it came time to do the "big jobs" she basically just had no desire to even try. Since I am not opposed to bribery and she really wants Lalaloopsies I tried to use that as a way to promote the use of the potty. It didn't work. So here we are a few weekends later and although she does good she is not quite there. She turns three next Saturday although if you ask her she is only 2 and a half. We will keep trying until that one day comes when all of sudden we realize she isn't wearing any type of diaper anymore. thanks for reading xoxo

Lime Green Wrestling Machine

Wrestling season is here!! The Sauk Prairie Wrestling team has already made it great! Thursday was his first match against Sun Prairie. The team won 48-24. Gator pinned his opponent in about 1 minute. It was a great night. He has yet again selected lime green as his color. I guess it fits with the name Gator!!

Saturday was the first dual tournament that they had. It was in Janesville which is about 1 1/2 hours away. I was lucky to be able to go. Michael had 6 matches to compete in. The first was against Parker High which he won by a pin, next was a forfeit from Middleton which gave him a win, then came a win by points against Lake Mills, followed by another win by points against Edgerton. His final win was a quick pin again Turner High. He was surprised to find out later that two of his opponents were also State qualifiers last year. He went undefeated along with about 6 others on his team. The team won 1st place and left very happy and tired. He is a team captain this year and if you ask me, he is leading by example! GO SAUK PRAIRIE WRESTLING!! thanks for reading xoxo