Cravings

I have a craving.  Not for food.  For warmth!  For some color.  I REALLY want the green grass and the green leaves and the blue sky and the pretty colors of new flower buds.  I am sooooo tired of the snow.  The cold, wet snow.  I hate being wet all the time.  And I REALLY don't like dirty snow, you know the brown snow we are constantly driving through.  ICK!  I WANT SPRING!  I want warm temperatures.  I want to go outside without wearing a million layers.  I close my eyes and I can see it...

I can almost feel the sun beating down....Oh PLEASE PLEASE bring us Spring SOOOOOOON! 
And while I am on my kick of cravings...I have really been enjoying these lately.  Nature Valley Granola Thins.  Peanut Butter.  A great idea for on the go breakfast.  MMMMM!  Another favorite my mom has turned me on to....From Snapple - Mango Madness.  THE best.  And I am LOVING my new running pants Ben got me for Christmas.  They are working out perrrrfectly. 
Another thing I want but can't seem to find ANYwhere....this necklace.  LOVE IT.  WANT it. 

Also, can you actually believe I enjoy folding laundry lately???  Has to be straight out of the dryer WARM though.  Love it.  I am desperate for WARMTH!  BRING ON SPRING! ASAP!

Life's curveballs

Many or most of you probably already know that our family has been hit with a curveball just in the last month or so.  Ben's dad had been complaining for quite some time (even back into fall) of a "hitch in his giddyup."  His hip seemed to really be hurting him when he sat for too long.  Ben continually told him to get it checked out and he finally did.  What they found was a fracture.  He had thought it was caused by a fall he had while walking the dog, but to his surprise it was not.  In fact, it was worse.  After many tests at the Urologists office, the conclusion was prostate cancer. 
Cancer.  An ugly word.  One I hate to see, hate to say, hate to hear. 
I hated this for Ben.  All the memories of his mom came flooding back. 
I was proud of Ben, though.  He decided this was not going to be like his mom.  This was different.  Everyone would be involved.  He would be involved. 
So we are educating ourselves.  Using the internet, listening to the doctors, getting second opinions.  Praying. 
He starts his first round of hormone therapy for the mestasis to his bones today.  I am praying for him.  I am praying for the family.  I am leaning on my faith that this is just a curveball for now.  We all know life throws us one or two from time to time.  But we take them and we swing away.  And we are.  Please continue to pray for Ben's dad and his family during this time. 
*Philipians 4:6-7  In nothing be anxious, but in everything, by prayer and petition with Thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.  And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus
Proverbs 3:5-6  Trust in the Lord with all your heart; and lean not onto thine own understanding.  In all they ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths.
*(mom R's favorite verses)

LaSalle

Last evening Gabi had a game.  A rough one.  These girls from LaSalle were just rough...somewhat even "bullyish."  They had a bit of heighth but their toughness was what helped LaSalle stay alive in the game.  This proved to be a challenge for Gabi, but was definitely one she was willing to take on and win!  It also seemed like our girls were off on their shots, maybe because of the bullying around on the court or perhaps the game was just moving so fast that they couldn't slow it down to their pace.  Either way, Hums stayed behind in points up until the fourth quarter.  We actually came back from behind and started to hit baskets in the last three minutes of the game.  Final score - Hums 17 LaSalle 12.  The free throws were a good thing too and helped out quite a bit.  Gabi made one basket and one free throw for the team score.  Not bad...she came home with lots of scrapes on her poor little knees from fighting for the ball.  Loved her expression when she sunk her basket to actually move ahead on points.  Her arms spread out looking at the audience, face red, huge smile.  Loved it.  And you can tell she does too :)

19 Years

Cannot believe Ben and I have been married for 19 years.  He brought me home a dozen red roses - a fave of mine and a beautiful card.  Tyler had a wrestling get together for dinner so we decided to take Gabi and go to another fave of all of ours - Logans.  Can't beat the deals they have.  LOVE the terriyaki chicken dinner.  We even splurged and went with the 2 dinners for $19.99 so we could get the strawberry cheesecake to take home :)  Ben knows I love doing that...
19 years of ups and downs but more importantly, 19 years of taking those ups and downs together.  I have to give credit to both sets of parents for being role models for us...showing us how it's done.  I am hoping and praying that we can give that to our children.  It is by far the greatest gift we could ever give them.

Birthday Boy

Was able to skype with the "birthday boy" tonight and catch up on some things.  Boy do I miss him.  He looks good.  Looks like he is doing well.  Studying hard.  Working.  Slowly recovering from his concussion, looking to take the comprehension test to get back to wrestling in the next few days.  So glad he took the time out to talk with us.  Sounds like he is going to have some people over for his birthday.  He said he thought one of the girls (Tarrah) made him a cake. 

20 years old.  Wow.  Hard to believe. And what a handsome fella!  My baby is becoming a man.  So glad to see him smile and laugh tonight.  It did my heart good.  WE LOVE YOU TRENTON and hope you had a wonderful birthday, son!

ND vs. St. Johns

Just got back from a women's ND basketball game.  Gabi brought her friend, Madison Kreil.  Front row court side seats.  Sat next to Tricia Sloma and her daughters.  Watch St. Johns lose to ND 69-36.  Gabi got to give her fave women's basketball player, Skylar Diggins a high five AND pass her the ball like three times!  No big deal.  lol  Great time!  Loved every minute of it!

One thing I did not enjoy...coming home to watch the Bears lose.  Cutler sucks.  On that note...Go Irish!

Twin Branch - Nailbiter!

What a game!  We knew it was going to be close considering Twin Branch had beaten Emmons by 30 points (same as us) last week.  And Gabi was prepared.  She knew she would be facing Twin Branch's point guard and knew she was good because she played with her on her ICE league last spring.  It certainly was a nail biter.  All of Twin Branch's girls were tall.  Every one of them.  I have to admit Twin Branch turned it up after half time leaving the 3rd quarter with a 10 point lead.  I was worried at this point.  Fourth quarter bell went off and our girls hustled.  Gabi was ready and she shut down Lindsey (Twin Branch's point guard).  Our girls worked over time tying the score 21-21 when the game bell went off!  Gabi had already scored 3 baskets plus 2 free throws!  2 minutes was put on the clock and it was go time!  One of our girls got fouled and we ended up making one free throw so we were up 22-21 with about 30 seconds to go when we got another basket to secure the win!  We were all very excited for this win!  Tyler even made it and was ready to "rush the court!"  So proud of my little "bulldog" (described by another parent)...she plays HARD and goes after what she wants, that is for sure!  3-0 now!

Out

We were able to go out with another couple last night - Ben's buddy from work and his wife invited us to go to dinner and see "The Dilemma."  We asked Uncle Dave if he would be willing to keep Gabi for us while we did this and it worked out well!  From the sounds of it, they ended up having a blast!  They played Clue and baked cookies!  The best part - got to spend time with Uncle Dave, grandpa and cousin Bren came over and they decorated their cookies all by themselves!  And they were YUMMY too!!!  We thought "The Dilemma" was going to be more funny than what it was...don't get me wrong, it was funny in parts, but it also had a serious side to it.  I can say I enjoyed it, it kept my interest and had a good plot to it.  Thanks Uncle Dave!  We appreciated you entertaining Gabi - she really had a great time!

Senior Night - Clay

Can't believe the time has come to watch the FINAL wrestling home dual meet that my sons would ever participate in.  Where has the time gone?????  This match was for the NIC title so it was important.  Tyler was set to wrestle.  They wrestled under the lights for them and our seniors wore their white championship singlets.  It was a special time.  Unfortunately, he had to injury default to his kid...more on that to come.
10 seniors say goodbye this year.  I had the opportunity to make the Senior Flyers along with the Wislers.  Pretty happy with the turnout.  Also were able to make showcase tables for each senior like we did with Trenton.  Also happy that we got that done and able to use it for graduation.  Soooo happy that we had so many family members come to support Tyler last night.  That is one thing I am extremely thankful for.  We could not ask for a better set of family on both sides.  My parents, Chad/Amber and family, Ben's dad, his brother and sister, Aunt Annie and Uncle Jay, Aunt Becky all were able to come.  On a good note...we are NIC Champions!  Won the meet 39-27 
I still don't think I have grasped the concept of not having a kid on the mat...well, high school, that is.  Even so, not sure what Trenton is thinking about next year.  With all his hurdles and with school really taking presidence...it seems wrestling may be coming to an end with him also.  We will have to wait and see.  Boys sporting events could be coming to an actual close.  I have to say though, it has been an awesome 7 + years of wrestling and being able to be a Mishawaka Cavemen has definitely made it all the more sweeter.  Oh we will most definitely be around here and there at the meets to come, but it just won't be the same knowing my son is not out there.  The plus side is...maybe my blood pressure will get better ;)
So here is to Senior Night and here is to the MANY years of wrestling.  Many memories.  Many good times.   

Emmons

Gabi was "on fire" according to one mom last night in her basketball game against Emmons today after school! :)  She made 10 of the 33 points they scored (against Emmons' 9 points).  She stole the ball, she moved, she blocked and she made baskets!  Their team is so much fun to watch this year - they have such chemistry with them being able to play on a league team out of season.  I am just so glad Gabi is having fun and it shows!

GO BEARS

In between wrestling meets and basketball games - we are always up for the NFL games!  And yes, I am still rooting for the Chicago Bears!!!  Big game Sunday against Green Bay Packers and it's on to the Superbowl!!!!!

On Hold

So it has been some time since I posted about Trenton wrestling.  The reason...well, first came the ankle sprain which lasted quite longer than expected.  Trenton actually started back live wrestling about two weeks ago.  He has been going lightly on his ankle because the doctor had noticed that the sprain was actually in a strange area which was much harder to heal.  Unfortunately, time was something Trenton didn't have if he wanted to get back on the mat for the season.  On probably the third day of live wrestling I got a call from Trenton saying he had hit his head pretty hard against one of his teammates.  Trenton immediately had the dry heaves and was dizzy.  I asked him if he had told his coach and he said no and that he did not go to the trainer either.  Ben and I told him that he most definitely should let coach know and should see the trainer the next day.  Since this is the fourth time he has gotten a concussion we were very worried that the doctor would tell him that sports were not an option anymore, but Trenton's life means far more to us than any sport could.  He took our advice and told the trainer.  Doctor Bob made the appointment for yesterday afternoon.  The good news...Trenton is not done with sports.  The bad news...he is probably done for the season (since there is only a month left).  Trenton will have to take it easy and take some tests when his symptoms subside.  Even better news...he is already starting to feel better.  This was just a reminder, however, that even though we love to watch him wrestle, his well being is priceless to us.  That is all that matters.  Wrestling is just the icing on the cake, so to put.  So, this is why there has not been much posting about Trenton's wrestling at North Central.  He is absolutely still part of the team, just taking a bit of a break to get healthy.   

NIC Superdual

So maybe it was our faults that Tyler lost his first match of the NIC against Riley (2-8)... we allowed him to go to a Wiz Khalifa concert with Abby, her brother and his roommate and his buddy last night.  We were originally told he would be back around 1 am and Abby would be driving home so he could sleep the whole way.  Things suddenly changed as soon as he arrived in Indy.  I got a text saying it wouldn't start till 9 pm, possibly 10 pm.  And with them having to take Abby's brother back to school (Ball State) it would be a 4 hour drive back home.  Needless to say, we were not happy.  I missed Tyler's first match against Riley (Nate Coddens) and agreed with Ben that he needed to be there for Tyler since it was a pretty big match.  While I was at Gabi's basketball game I got the text saying he had lost and basically didn't do much in the match.  Ben was disappointed.  He felt like Tyler could have done much better and was blaming it on Tyler being lethargic.  So, of course, Ben told Tyler what he thought, Tyler didn't like it and things were kind of tense till I got there.  Tyler sat out the second round against Elkhart Central.  Coach decided to wrestle him against Niles (Jacob Hill) and against Marian.  Tyler pinned them both in the first periods.  I was glad.  I didn't want to see Tyler in pain and I didn't want Ben to think Tyler was slacking.  Regardless, I can say we were glad to see him wrestle today.  We are surely looking forward to Senior night Thursday where we will be showing off Tyler's younger years, etc.  Big meet against Clay for the NIC title.  Should be interesting.

First Win In 2 Years!

...according to Gabi.  And that is Hums Basketball team!  Gabi was soooooo excited that the team won.  She told me during the week, "daddy said he thinks we are gonna win a game this year!"  - Lo and behold, Daddy was right!  Gabi split time with another girl playing point guard and did an AWESOME job!  She even made two baskets for the team (she put it up probably at least 15 times but only made it twice unfortunately)!  Score against Beiger....29 to 10!  Way to go Roadrunners!!  A special thanks to Aunt Annie, Uncle Jay, grandpa R, Aunt Pam, maw maw and paw paw for all coming to watch her first game of the season!  She is already looking forward to the next game!

And here is the first shot she made .... NOTHIN BUT NET BABY! :)

More photos from Bellmont

A friend captured these for me and I love them :)
Thanks Kathy!

2 For 2 at Bellmont

Tyler wrestled twice at Bellmont yesterday and won both times!  The team had Fairfield the first round and won 33-21 but Tyler did not wrestle.  He wrestled against Bloomington South (ranked #14), the second round (Dakota Thacker, freshman) and beat him 11-3.  The team did well - winning 39-24. 

Next up was Bellmont and Tyler sat out this round, along with a few that were pretty banged up, leaving the team to lose this round, 30-38.  Round four was against Whitko (Wes Gensch, junior) and Tyler got a pin in about 50 seconds or so.  The team won this round as well, 60-14. 

The last round was against #2 ranked Perry Meridian where Tyler sat out with the others who are injured...and the team lost 10-54.  A good tournament to say the least and with several of our wrestlers still banged up, this gave some opportunity to let them wrestle against some easier teams and sit out against the rougher ones.  This year has been frustrating for Coach Snyder...he has said several times that this is the most banged up team he has EVER had.  We are young, with only 10 seniors this year...7 being starters but 5 injured (3 done for the season)!  It's definitely been a trying year so far and we are really hoping for the best come Sectional time.  Considering Tyler has been hurt pretty much 3 out of the 4 years, we were hoping for a good year this year...seems to not be happening though.  Tyler does seem to be encouraged though, he keeps the team in good spirits as a leader and this does my heart good. 

Golden Boy

84-0 win over St. Joe last night.  Tyler wrestled.  Stuck his kid in like 20 seconds.  Ran a move called the "golden boy" - a move Steven Sandefer would run and would "wow" the crowd.  Pretty cool!

Also got the chance to meet Tyler's workout partner...a freshman named Nathan Szalay who they call "Millhouse" because he supposedly looks like him (from The Simpsons).  Anyways, he is a fairly new wrestler and Snyder puts him with this boy because there is no chance of hurting Tyler.  Well, "Millhouse" said he really enjoys working with Tyler because alot of the JV kids don't push him hard enough and he wants to get better.  He says Tyler is good, even if he is hurt.  He was also super excited that Tyler wanted him in his corner last night.  What started out as somewhat of a joke (trying to go super easy) by putting him with "Millhouse" has started to grow on Tyler.  "Millhouse" asks for advice and really wants to learn and that is good.  I keep telling Tyler that one day "Millhouse could be wrestling for a state title and he could very well give you alot of the credit" :)  I think Tyler enjoys working with him and Tyler officially calls him "my boy" now.  We will definitely be keeping an eye on "Millhouse" in the coming years and wish him only the best! 

So, without further adieu...the "golden boy" -

Practice Pays Off

Gabi seemed a little nervous about basketball this year...she desperately wanted to make the A Team this year.  She asked Ben to practice with her over the Christmas break.  Uncle Chad graciously made that happen as he practiced with Presley as well.  I am happy to report that the practice she had payed off!!!  She found out today she made the A Team at school.  Needless to say, she is VERY excited! Her first game is next Saturday!!!  She is READY!  Congrats baby!!!  So proud of your determination and drive!   

Welcome 2011

Got an invitation to spend New Year's Eve with Chad/Amber and family to play some board games, wii, etc etc.  We ordered some Rosini's pizza, had a fabulous salad, some shrimp, cupcakes and oreo dessert!  Tyler and Abby came over for the Notre Dame game before spending some time with us over at Chad's house so we were all together for a while. 

Apples to Apples was the board game of choice while the girls entertained us with Just Dance 2.  Lots of talk and laughter.  A good family time. 

Gabi, Presley and Addy were so excited to stay up to see 2011!! 

I must say I was pretty indifferent with seeing 2010 go, some ups and some downs...I guess what some would call just a "normal" year for us.  2011 will definitely bring lots of change...Tyler will be graduating high school and going off to college this year...Gabi will begin her last year in elementary school...Trenton will become a junior in college.  I am sure I will see and have many emotions this year.  Many. 
Psalm 94:19   "In the multitude in my thoughts within me, your comforts delight my soul."
I am ready for whatever comes my way.
Welcome 2011!