Our Weekend

For the past several months, it seems that most of our weekends, with the exception of a few, have been busy. Jax actually qualified to wrestle in the state tournament in OKC, but after really talking with him, we realized he was much more interested in staying in a hotel and swimming rather than actually competing. Rick had already promised to take the kids to the bedlam wrestling dual on Sunday, so we decided to make Stillwater a little weekend family getaway and skip OKC.

Friday night, Rick and I managed to carve out time for date night and then on Saturday, we headed to Stillwater for the night. The kids were thrilled to swim and then we spent our evening watching a movie. It was nice to just relax. Sunday, we took the kids to Joe's and introduced them to the OSU campus before heading to the wrestling event. I'm not exactly a fan of this sport, so I got my entertainment from watching the kids, as this was their first college sporting event. Jax kept saying, OSU is everywhere! He watched the tournament with great intent. I was a little shocked. Delaney was excited to spot Pistol Pete and they even had the opportunity to shake his hand. They followed along waving the wheat, and shooting off their pistols.
The kids were all grins and shrieking with laughter and joy as they played with Rick in the water. This is certainly not the best picture. No one was really interested in having their picture taken, and I only had my camera phone.

The house wasn't cleaned,papers weren't graded, and I generally felt a bit unprepared for the week ahead but it was well worth it.

Our Little Champs

It wasn't the Olympics but competitive spirit was in full swing Saturday. Rick decided to enter the boys into the Open Wrestling Regional Tournament mainly so they could gain experience, knowing that they would be up against more expereinced wrestlers. Baylor went 2-0 but Jax ended up having a great day and even qualified for the state tournament by placing in the top 6. He probably could have placed a little higher, but once he realized that he had a medal wrapped up he lost a little of his competitve drive. We are very proud of him and Baylor. As the boys returned from their tournament, Delaney and I were walking out the door to her first dance competition. She actually came down with strep on Friday, but by Saturday evening she had 24 hours of anti-biotic in her system and was insistent on competing. Her group took 1st place overall in their age group. They received a team trophy and each girl took home a ribbon and medal. By the time she received her medal, it was close to 11:00 and her make-up was pretty much smeared all over her face. She was pretty excited even at such a late hour.

Maybe most of all, I am so proud of Baylor who didn't receive a medal, but was a true champ in supporting his brother and sister. He told Jax on several occasions that he was so proud of him for getting a medal. He then came home and greeted his sister by saying, "Delaney, you look very pretty." This morning, when Delaney announced to her brothers that she had earned a medal at her dance competition, he immediately celebrated with her. Seeing all three of them share in and celebrate each others accomplishments was the absolute best.

Be My Valentine

Of all the holidays, Valentine's Day is probably my least favorite. I've just always felt that its a bit commercialized but I suppose anyone could argue that about any holiday. I knew the kids were having a Valentine's Day party at school, but hadn't made plans to attend. I guess I thought it wasn't all that big of a deal. However, yesterday, the kids suddenly asked who was coming to their party and began talking about all that they had planned. Knowing it was a bit late to make arrangements to attend, I called my brother, who fortunately was on vacation and he agreed to be their special valentine.

I then broke the news to the kids that Uncle Patrick would attend to which I was met with the following reactions:
Delaney jumped up and down, squealing with joy.
Jax said, " Sweeet! You know we love Uncle Patrick."
Then Baylor added, "Yeah, He took us fishing."

(Never mind that I carried them for almost 35 weeks, not to mention I believe I took them to Disney World). Actually, I am just kidding and was just as thrilled that they were so excited to have their cool Uncle attend.
While I typically don't go all out for Valentine's Day, I had actually bought the kids some cute cheap V-Day t-shirts. They boys said, "the ladies love me."

My Mr. Agreeable, Jax, who by the way the ladies really do love him, refused to wear the shirt. Go figure.

They sang a few song, danced to Michael Buble, enjoyed exchanging Valentines, and made strawberry floats. I am so grateful that they are functioning well in the same class. It makes days likes this so much easier. Thanks again, Uncle Patrick for making their day a little "sweeter."

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