Sledding

We had planned on going sledding at some point this Christmas break. We checked the weather and decided that if we didn't go right now we wouldn't be. The weather was due to get really bad later that night.



Here they are plotting away.



Why does Anthony look concerned and Megan laughing.



Because Jason decided he didn't need a sled he called it "doing the penquin". Of course, he didn't count on going down head first.



Getting ready for another run down the hill.



Steve can't resist and Jason is just not sure how this is going to work.



Look at Anthony's face. He is thinking the same thing I am. If Steve breaks something, who is lugging him back up the mountain.



At some point Steve loses Jason.



And rolls a couple of times.





Jason is worn out.



Megan and Anthony worked on digging a snow cave, then decided Megan should get buried. You can see her boots and the little mound at the top of the picture is her head.

We are hoping the weather clears enough so we can go one more time before Christmas break is over.

Wrestling

Wrestling season is well under way. This is how we will be spending our weekends for the next couple of months. Below is Anthony at the tournament here in town. You can really see the concentration on his face. This is the first tournament were he did not place in the top 3.

Below is the tournament I talked about in my Christmas post. He weighed in at 145 but is wrestling 152. He has really matured in his skills.



A couple of pictures for my Mom. This is Anthony's coach and yes, it is Anthony's blood he is wiping up. Just another reason why I hate wrestling. There are more pictures to show the level of pain my baby went through this day.


Here they are bandaging the kid up. You will notice that Anthony's head gear has a strap that goes right below his chin. In another tournament someone pulled that head gear and rubbed under his chin raw. This is what is bleeding. Now if you remember the Christmas post were I pointed out the rash all over his face. We believe that he caught some sort of bacteria from the mats. Either because of this cut or a nice lovely one that happened the week before above his eye. They keep these mats sprayed and clean. They do body checks for rashes and other signs of infection, but it still happens. The things these boys put their bodies through for this sport, but he loves it. Last year we dealt with ringworm the whole season. The year before that, his good friend struggled with staph. Anthony came home from his first tournament looking like he had been hit by a truck. Black eye, cut over eye and nose, but he took first.


Look at this picture, that is not a smile. The arm that is being pulled up over his head is a shoulder that was injured last year. That is a face of pain. Why doesn't he wear a brace? Because the other kid would focus on that shoulder. My suggestion was to wear the brace on the wrong shoulder. Hummmmmm, I think it is a great idea. Or, better yet, take up knitting.


But he is determined to beat this kid, injured or not.



Look at him go!!!!


He pins him!!!


This is the part I like.



However here we go again. His opponent picked him up and threw him on the ground. Crap, hurt again.



He gave it the good fight but didn't win this match. He took third in the tournament.

Christmas Card Pictures

It was a hard decision. Which one to pick.

This one they were all looking at the camera. Looking unnaturally sweet.


This one they were standing on a frozen river. Anthony was threatening to jump and break the ice. None of them are looking at the camera but having a blast.



I choose the first one. Only because they were looking at the camera. The second one is being framed and hung on my wall.

Christmas Recap

What a week it has been. This is what our street looked like the week before Christmas. We however didn't have a white Christmas. The winds picked up and took care of most of the snow. I am always a little sorry when the snow melts however I am never sad to see the ice go. Unfortunately these nice snowy streets become ice very quickly.

Anthony had a wrestling tournament the weekend before Christmas. We had a lot going on that Saturday and Steve and I divided up the list. It meant he would take Anthony, I would meet up with him in a nearby town to watch part of the tournament and go to a play with the Church's youth group. This is what we woke up to. A total surprise. There was no way Steve's car was going to make it and we had to totally rework our schedule. Things worked out and we had a great time. Anthony took 3rd place in the tournament. I took this picture at 7:00am, standing in the middle of the street, in my pajamas and boots. My neighbors are used to me doing this kind of crazy stuff.

For the last 4 years, some combination of my kids sing in the Christmas Eve Choir. Megan sometimes sings and sometimes not. You can see her standing behind the piano and Jason is on the top left. Steve had to work this year so it was just Anthony and I in the pew's. After mass we headed out to dinner. We had a couple of hours to kill before the movie started so we went home to change. We started the movie on Christmas Eve tradition the first year we moved from Sacramento. It was tough not having something to do that first Christmas Eve and we headed to the mall to wander around. We saw the movie theater was open and decided to check it out. We have been doing it ever since. We have had lots of invitations to go other places but we have always stuck to our Christmas eve movie. It just gives us a chance to relax after all the craziness of getting ready for the big day.

Getting reading for the movie I discovered that I didn't have my debit card. I had it at the restaurant. Anthony jumped on the phone and found out that indeed the card was still at the restaurant. We had 20 minutes before the movie started. This would normally not be a problem because our town is just not that big. But the roads were icy and I needed gas. So it was off to the movies first, then out to the restaurant and finally to the gas station. We got home at midnight. Put the kids to bed, finished stockings and in bed by 1:30am. I don't think I mentioned that I woke up Christmas Eve morning with a cold.

Steve got home around 5am and we were up at 8am ready for present time. Notice Anthony's poor face. I will talk about that in my wrestling post. 10 minutes later all the presents were unwrapped and everyone looking at me for our breakfast. Linguica and eggs, something my mom always made for Christmas breakfast.

I wish I could say that my living room looks this good. This picture was taken before Jason started opening up all of his toys. Yes, Megan got an electric guitar and Anthony a new cell phone so he can text easier. We all know how important that is. The rest of the day was pretty mellow. I am still fighting the cold but feeling much better.

This time of year always makes us miss our families. We are saying extra prayers for our family members dealing with losses this holiday season. Steve's family is missing his Dad, my cousin and the loss of his wife and some friends of ours and the loss of their son. Each one of you are in our prayers.

I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas Everyone!!!

I will post about our Christmas in the next couple of days. But for right now I am going to go sit on the couch and watch a movie with the family. Well.......if I can find the couch.

A week before Christmas

I am not going to write a post about how stressed out I am, because I am not. I have the house decorated and it looks like Christmas around here, but that is all that I have done.


I have a list of cookies I want to bake, a list of gifts that that need to be purchased, cards that need to be mailed and a house that needs to be cleaned. But guess what, I don't care. I have spent the weekend I watching my son take 3rd place in a wrestling tournament. I spent today in a nearby town watching the Beauty and the Beast play with my family. Then having dinner with the youth groups from all the catholic churches in our county. Right now I am sitting watching a movie with Steve, Anthony and Kagen. This was a great weekend and I am glad to have taken the time to do it.


Don't get me wrong, tomorrow I will probably be completely stressed out, but that's OK. I am just glad to have taken the time to enjoy my family this weekend.

The pictures above are of Steve's Mom, Megan and Aunt. And of course Anthony and Kagen.

I will have lots of pictures of the last two wrestling tournaments as soon as they come off the camera. Now go and enjoy the Christmas season.