My picks on the guys...

Well, I certainly hope that the girls are better on American Idol. I did kind of choose who I like though, out of the guys. That, of course, sometimes changes as the show goes on and they start singing alot of different genres of songs. I do know I don't like Sanjaya and Nicholas (just didn't sing well at all), so they can go home this week. I do like the beatboxer (Blake) - because he is different...beatboxing maybe a little old school but it's nice to hear something different. Granted, he didn't beatbox last night, he proved he can actually sing pretty well. I do still like the Jack Osbourne look alike (Chris)- probably because he is different too, not afraid to sing things different. I also like the bald guy (Phil), not because he reminds me of my hubby = ) - but because he is a sailor (like my hubby was), has a nice family story to go along with him and he does have a nice voice. I also liked Jared - just because he sounded good. So, there you have it...my picks - Blake, Chris, Phil, Jared - We'll see how far they get!

American Idol begins...

I've caught most of the auditions from this season of American Idol but tonight I believe the voting begins. The top 12 guys sing tonight. Last season I liked Taylor Hicks right away...just because he was different and stood out, not to mention had a great voice - almost like an 80's voice. This season the guy that stood out for me was Chris Sligh - the Jack Osbourne look alike. I think it's just because he looks like Osbourne...I haven't really been able to listen to him sing so I'll have to pay attention this evening. As for the girls...haven't been able to really watch them. I'm looking forward to watching it tonight although it is sometimes hard for me to catch because of wrestling and it's on like 2-3 times a week. I like to dish about it with my good friend, Lina, though. She usually keeps me updated. We'll see how it goes this evening...I'll get a better idea of who I like and who I don't after this week. I'll keep you posted!!

Aunt Mary and Uncle Bill

We had a going away party for my aunt Mary (dad's sister) and uncle Bill today after church. They will be moving south of Ft. Myers, Florida for good in about a week. It has been a hard month with my grandma passing so we thought it would be something good if we had a surprise going away party for them. We had a great turnout-all the brothers and sisters were there (in picture below Joe, Jim, Mary, my dad, and Marge). Great food, great conversation, great family. Ben and the boys made it back from Indy in time to join in the fun. We wish aunt Mary and Uncle Bill well and we are looking forward to visiting them in the nice and warm weather!

Happy Birthday, Amber!

Wanted to write a small note about my sister in law, Amber. We couldn't have asked for a better person in Chad's life! We never thought Chad would find a good girl to spend his life with until Amber came along. She has truly been a Godsend for him-she has strong family values, is passionate about what she cares about, is an awesome mom, and is an honest, loving person in general. We want to wish Amber a very happy birthday with many more to follow! We love you and we are so glad you are part of our family.

Schmucker

Tyler won his match tonight against Schmucker 6-0. The team also won their conference meet. It was fun to be able to sit with the Hummer family (our neighbors and Tyler's good friend) that we met when we moved in almost 8 years ago! You see, when PHM redistricted we opted to keep Tyler at Discovery while the Hummer family went ahead and decided to send their kids to Schmucker. That's okay though, you can't keep good friends apart. Michael's mom, Kathy is great when it comes to catching some awesome photos and she has already taken many and sent them to me (thanks Kathy). Michael also won his match for Schmucker - he's looking good too! Congrats to both Tyler and Michael!!!

Sledding Fun

Yes, I had to try out the You Tube that my brother taught me to do (below) and that is Trenton, Tyler and Gabi all on the same sled wiping out. We had a great time today sledding at Elm Road. Here are some still photos from our day together (since it was a snow day)!

We ended our Valentine's Day by enjoying a dinner out at Between the Buns. They have the best magician on Wednesday evenings. All of the kids enjoy watching him! They also have 1/2 price kids meals and 1/2 price chicken strippers (my favorite)...we had a good time!

Sledding Video

Valentine's Blizzard

We ended up getting about a foot of snow during the
"blizzard" yesterday. Tyler and Gabi took advantage of the snow and went to the small hills right behind our house to sled. It's nice because I can watch them right from the kitchen window. They came back for some hot chocolate afterwards. The kids have a snow day today so we may go do some more tubing somewhere...I do know my little valentines will enjoy the snow today though. Happy Valentine's Day!

Coach Ben

I thought I would share some photos of Ben coaching Tyler's wrestling team. Sometimes the coaches seem to be another sideshow that is just hilarious to watch! Head coach Donati really gets into the matches. He is constantly off his chair, leaning this way, moving his body in all different directions - basically imitating what he wants the wrestler to do. Ben just seems to fit in really well because most of the time he does the same thing. It's just too funny to look over and see Ben and Coach Donati with their bodies leaning in a certain direction totally focusing on the match at hand. And then when Coach Donati wants to show the wrestler how to do a move he grabs Ben up and will use him as his "dummy." It's just sooo funny! You can sure tell that wrestling is a passion for them both. Here are some pictures and I'm sure I'll be posting more before the season is over.

Cutting Weight

Many of you know what happened over the weekend with Trenton and I am not going to relive it all (basically the bouncing weight caught up to him)...although we cannot truly understand and know what Trenton went through, we have certainly learned a valuable lesson. We are disappointed that things got out of control for him and there are many people, including ourselves, we could blame, but instead we are wiping our hands clean of this year, taking what we have learned and moving on. We're glad nothing serious happened to Trenton's health as well. We really appreciate everyone's support during the season! Trenton is taking a couple of weeks off to refocus - get back on track in his classes and focus on his health and well being as a person. He is still planning on wrestling in ISWA (he won't be cutting any weight) so we are looking forward to watching him back on the mat in time. Here is some valuable information to look over in the meantime.
A sneak peek into the mind of a wrestler cutting weight, cutting weight the right way, wrestling with weight.

Wrestler's Sis

Gabi was less than thrilled when I got her up this morning for school. She said she was so tired and never got to sleep in because of the wrestling meets! You see, that is our usual routine since I have to get her up so early to catch the bus. She goes through the routine of complaining that she doesn't like school and she wishes she could get up when it is light outside.

This morning when I was getting her boots on she said, "I just don't want to go to school anymore."

I said, "what will you do when you get older and want to get a job?"

Her reply was, "I don't need to get a job, mom, I am just going to live with you forever."

Oh boy, what do you say to that one????

She is just so adorable and she does such a great job at the wrestling meets on the weekends - they can really be long days! Here is a cute picture of her at Tyler's meet...notice the "Wrestler's sis" pin she wears.

West Side Superdual

Tyler went 3-0 over the weekend at the West Side Superdual! He did so good - a much better performance than the Concord match. I think we were all a little more at ease with him going into his matches on Saturday! He got a medal for going undefeated and Discovery won the tournament as a team. GREAT JOB TYLER! Here are some pictures from the tournament...notice the "lucky socks" Tyler got for Christmas. We was so excited to get them!

Wrestling, wrestling, wrestling...

We went to Tyler's first wrestling meet last night at Concord. It's so funny going from watching a high school match where the 3 periods are 2 minutes each to jr. high school where the 3 periods are 1 minute each. It's almost like they don't have enough time to do anything. Tyler won his match 5-3 and the team ended up winning as well. I think the coaches were a little disappointed because they thought we were better than what they saw. I, however, think that we always start a little rusty...we have to get the hang of it and get on a roll, then we seem to excel. I don't know, I could be wrong, but I think we will only go from good to great in time! As for Tyler's match, he did really well. He had us worried for a few minutes when the opponent scored first. But Tyler came back and got his points he needed to win! And as with most of our boys' matches, Tyler got a war wound...he bit the side of his tongue and it looked nasty! Anyways, he did good and we are very proud! We were certainly looking forward to this official start of his season.
And here is a link to Trenton's brackets this weekend at Semi State...we are excited! Unfortunately, Ben and I can't be at two places at once and Tyler also has a tournament this Saturday. We are very thankful to maw maw and paw paw for going with Tyler to support him. We will keep each other up to the minute constantly. Tyler knows we are there with him in spirit - Good luck Tyler! We love you buddy!

Winter is definitely here!

Yes, winter has decided to make its presence known. The kids have had no school for two days because of subzero temps, ice, and drifting snow - they finally went back today! Tyler and Gabi were able to go and visit with Uncle Jeff, Aunt Pam and Bren on Monday. They ate pizza, drank Mountain Dew and played some X-Box. Unfortunately, coach called Trenton just before Uncle Jeff came to get them, stating they would be having practice so he wasn't able to go. Yesterday, we basically just relaxed. Trenton had practice again so that was the only time we actually got out of the house. Gabi watched some t.v., played on the computer at Disneychannel.com, played Barbies, read some books and colored some beautiful pictures. They were pictures of Gabi and me - one under a rainbow (notice the pot of gold at the end) and one of us reading a book together. After looking at them, it reminded me not only of how special those pictures are now, but also how special they will be in years down the road. I love to get out the old art projects and pictures the boys colored when they were small. I'm so glad I kept them. Here are the pictures Gabi colored for me...how beautiful and special!

Superbowl XLI

Well, I am disappointed about the Superbowl last night. I guess you could blame it on Rex for basically forcing the defense on the field practically the whole game and throwing a couple of key interceptions. I thought the Superbowl would be more fun this year but I was pretty much disappointed in the whole thing. The game in itself, Prince wasn't that great (he only sang one song I really liked...Let's Go Crazy) and the commercials only had me chuckle a few times. It just didn't seem to thrill me like I thought it would. Maybe it was because the Bears just didn't play good. Oh well, I guess there's always next year. Wouldn't it be great if it was Colts vs. Bears again???? At least there is one happy camper in our house...Tyler! He was excited his Colts won. Congrats Tyler and yes, we'll find you a Colts Championship shirt...

Go Bears-Beat Colts!

Need I say more???????? GO BEARS!

Beat up...but goin' to Semi State!

Today was Individual Regionals for high school wrestling. Trenton went 2-1 and placed third! Since they only send the top three to Semi State, Trenton is on his way! It got down to his last match (for third place) and he gave it his all! We were so proud of him!!! Unfortunately, Trenton is pretty spent...he was up almost all night from the anticipation and he got pretty beat up today during all three matches! He did say, however, that his shiner could actually be a "chick magnet" on Monday...ha ha! We'll see! Anyways, EXCELLENT job Trenton. You did us proud today!

Something that touched my heart...

Last night after the Parent Night, Tyler came up to me and gave me a HUGE hug and kissed my cheek, looked me in the eyes and said, "thanks for coming tonight, mom." It made me wonder...does he really think I'd be anywhere else-he knew I needed to go talk to the parents? Then I thought about it... no, I think he is just loving me and being the sweet, loving boy he is. I love you too, Tyler...

Parent Night

As you can see we have been super busy with Tyler's wrestling season starting up now. Last night we had parent night at the school where the basics were gone over with all the coaches. I will be in charge of the food for the tournaments there as well, so I had to give my speel to the parents. We also get horse blanket pins for the wrestlers signifying everytime they get a "pin" and they wear them on their letter jackets. It has been a tradition for quite some time now so we took up a collection for that too. Ben will be an assistant coach again for Tyler's team - I know he loves to coach and this gives him the opportunity. This will be Ben's 5th year coaching their team now! Trenton came over from his practice to be a "referee" for some of the exhibition matches that went on last night, so as you can tell we were all pretty involved. Here are some pics from last night. Notice Trenton "the ref" (in a blue shirt) and I love the last pic of Trenton and Tyler wrestling around in between matches.

Team Regionals

Happy February! I can't believe how time goes...it seems January just flew by! Anyways, last night was High School Wrestling Team Regionals. Trenton beat his first opponent (from Plymouth) 5-0. We then had to face off against Mishawaka (the winner of the other bracket) and unfortunately, Trenton had to go up against his friend, Harper again (State champ from last year). Trenton did really well (2-0 Harper) up till the last period and got caught. That's okay...he did well and he is looking forward to Individual Regionals this Saturday. On a positive note as well, cousin Mike and his wife, Shannon and Trenton's youth leader from church, Josh, were all able to come and watch. It was a good time. Here are a couple photos from last night.