National Tournament #2

Joshua’s entrance fee to a National Wrestling Tournament… $36

Gas to make the 12-hour round trip drive… $240

Admission price for Mom and Dad to watch the tournament… $42

Taking home a 2-foot trophy from a National Wrestling Tournament… PRICELESS!

 

We entered Joshua into his second national wrestling tournament. The venue was 6 hours away, but luckily my parents live nearby so we were able to visit them as well. They even offered to watch four of our six children (we took Jacob with us because he’s still exclusively breastfed and we took Joshua for obvious reasons) and that was very helpful.

The tournament was huge, as we expected. Admission was $12 per person and $30 for a coaches pass that would allow Rick on the floor. There was tons of security, bag searches, and “bouncers” that stopped people from going down on the floor without coaches passes. The arena was huge!

Because it was a national event, there were kids from all the surrounding states. We were worried when we first saw the brackets. Joshua was up against a really tough kid in his very first match. This kid is one of the toughest in our entire region. During his 3-year wrestling career, he has never, ever lost a match. Until today, that is…

Joshua worked hard and beat this kid. He was so excited and we were so proud of him! He beat that same kid a second time later on as well. Joshua only lost one match (barely) so he ended up taking third place. He was so excited and ended up with an awesome trophy.

We browsed the tournament items that were for sale- shirts, hoodies, hat, blankets, singlets, and so on. Joshua really liked a big fleece blanket with the tournament logo on it. When he realized that the tournament shirt had his name on it, he wanted that as well. He even offered to “help pay for both” with the dollar that I’d given him earlier. I ended up buying him both because I couldn’t no to my sweet boy after he’d worked so hard.

It was a great day and Joshua declared that this was his favorite tournament so far.

Another Gold

Joshua had another wrestling tournament today. As usual, I spent yesterday preparing (which, combined with Brenna’s Christmas choir concert, made the evening busy) and got up at 5am this morning so that we could leave on time. The tournament was very large- at the last minute their numbers swelled to nearly 500 kids from around the state. They divided the kids up into smaller groups though so that was nice. It was run pretty well too so we were done by 12:30, which is pretty early as far as wrestling tournaments go!

Joshua pinned his way through the tournament and took home the GOLD MEDAL. He pinned every kid quickly and efficiently and easily, no match was even close. Josh got many compliments from coaches and dads about his wrestling performance. The team coach said he “did everything perfectly” and the assistant coach said his last match was “spectacular.” We are so proud of our studly little wrestler!

The kids and I enjoyed ourselves in the bleachers as well. Maddie had a great time cheering for Josh and making up her own darling little cheers. She was so completely cute! She wants to be a cheerleader and I think she’ll be a great one. She has a bouncy, fun personality, lots of enthusiasm, and she’s gorgeous with those big brown eyes!

Brenna made several new friends and reconnected with a few old friends as well, just as she does at every tournament. Braden spent the entire tournament being a puppy. He was panting and barking and he kept licking my jeans. Asher was exhausted after a very late night last night and a very early morning this morning. He nodded off in his stroller and slept for most of the tournament, with his soft blanket tucked around him and cookie crumbs still on his face. Little Jake was as easy as he always is. He slept, nursed, and gazed around at the busy gym. It’s a good thing Jacob is so easy going and “portable” because he’s been attending sporting events since his earliest days… and I am sure he’ll continue to attend until he’s involved in these events himself.

We had a great day. I’m glad Joshua loves wrestling so much. I’m glad that the rest of the family has fun attending his wrestling tournaments. Wrestling truly is a major family effort and so far we are all enjoying it.

  

Christmas Choir Concert 2009

Brenna sings in a nearby children’s choir. She spent two years in the “young singers” group (ages 4-7). This fall the choir director moved her into the audition only Children’s Choir (ages 8-12, even though Brenna is only 7). The director is amazing, Brenna has learned a lot and made many friends, and she absolutely loves to sing. Being a part of the choir has been a wonderful experience for her.

Tonight was the Christmas concert. Brenna has been really looking forward to this and has been counting down the days for the past few months. Unfortunately, Rick couldn’t get time off work in order to attend. I left four of the kids with our cousins for the evening and took Jacob along with me to the concert. I really missed having the entire family there as we usually do, but I still enjoyed the beautiful music. These children are all so talented and their director has done a great job shaping that talent into something truly magical.

Brenna looked so gorgeous in her white choir robe. I couldn’t help but get emotional as I watched my precious first-baby-turned-big-girl up on stage. She was beautiful and radiant. She looked so grown up and so little at the same time. I had a little flash suddenly, an image in my mind. I could picture Brenna as a beautiful teenager, with her curly hair and her bright smile and that familiar dimple still in her cheek. I could see her singing, babysitting, driving. Imagining her as a teenager took my breathe away and made me a little emotional as well. I know that time is only a few years away. She is growing up so rapidly and is becoming such an incredible young lady. It’s sad and beautiful all at once.

The performance was inspiring. Brenna had a solo (which was actually a group part with two other girls) and sang it beautifully. I was so proud of my gorgeous, precious, incredible Brenna! She is an amazing little girl and I am so thankful for her. Seven years after her birth and I still am amazed by the miracle that she is!

  

First National Tournament

It’s no secret that Joshua loves wrestling. He is totally devoted to the sport and is truly passionate about it. He’s also a good little wrestler. 

Joshua wrestled in a non-competitive recreational league when he was four and five, and started wrestling competitively just before he turned six last spring. It was a huge step up to go from a rec league to actually competing, but Joshua was up for the challenge and proved to be a great wrestler.

After just three months of competitive wrestling in the 2009 Freestyle/Greco season (last spring) and one month so far of competitive wrestling in the 2009 Folkstyle season (which we’re currently in the midst of), Joshua has already amassed an impressive collection of 19 medals and 4 trophies. He usually places first or second at state tournaments. He’s currently ranked #3 out of our entire state in his age division. (Rankings are based on points gathered through tournament wins and are totaled over the combination of the fall and spring seasons. Because Joshua only wrestled in the spring last year, he earned his points in half the time that everyone else did. He still managed to climb the ranks to #3!) At the Freestyle/Greco State Championships last April, Joshua took Gold in Greco along with the Outstanding Wrestler Award for his age group and took Bronze for Freestyle. That’s all pretty impressive for a six-year-old with just one season under his belt!

Joshua has done so well at state tournaments (Can I say it again? Ranked #3 in our state, the State Champion for Greco, and a bronze medalist for Freestyle!!) that we began to wonder how he’d do at national tournaments. We sat down with Josh and explained that state champion wrestlers would travel from all around the country to attend these national tournaments. The wrestlers would be tougher than he’d ever wrestled, the brackets would be larger than he’d even been in, he’d have more matches and harder matches than ever before. Of course, Joshua was eager to try.

Then, just one week before his first national tournament, Joshua got sick. He was violently sick, he lost 5 pounds, and he ended up in the hospital due to severe dehydration. Josh really wanted to wrestle at a local tournament just days later. We were hesitant because he’d been so sick, but finally agreed. Joshua won first place and brought home the gold medal, in spite of his very recent illness.

We were pretty sure that we’d keep him out of the national tournament though, because he was so weakened from being sick and because the competition would be so fierce. This national tournament would be particularly hard because Joshua would have to wrestle in the 7-8 year old group even though he was only six years old. Friends on his wrestling team told us that most boys his age who went were “two and done,” meaning that they lost their first two matches and were out.

Joshua insisted that he wanted to try anyway. He told us he knew he might not win or even place in the top six, but that would be okay with him. We explained how hard it would be, but it did not change his mind. “I like a challenge,” he kept insisting. We explained that they were awarding trophies for 1st-3rd and medals for 4th-6th, which meant that MOST kids would go home without anything at all and he might leave a tournament empty-handed for the first time ever. Josh said that was okay.

Finally, we agreed. After missing two straight weeks of practice (due to Thanksgiving and being sick) and after being so sick that he was hospitalized just a week earlier, Joshua entered his first national tournament. We were a little nervous for our boy.

I had a busy day on Friday as we prepared for the tournament. I cleaned, packed, ran errands, changed the oil in the van, had the tires changed, took Brenna to gymnastics, and then took all the kids to weigh ins. I took them by myself, in the dark, through an unfamiliar, winding mountain pass. We drove an hour away to the tournament venue for weigh ins and then drove home again.

The next morning, I was up at 5am. When Rick got home at 7am, we left. We made the hour drive again.

I expected this tournament to be big because it was a national event, but it was even larger than I’d imagined. The arena was huge. There were over 500 wrestlers there, and nearly 80 in Joshua’s age group. They’d come from 9 different states and most were state champs or placers in their home states.

We were there for 10 hours. It was a good thing that I was prepared to spend the day there- I had plenty of drinks, snacks, toys, coloring books, and so on.

Joshua was up against a tough kid right off the bat- the 8-year-old state champion from a neighboring state who ended up taking 1st place that night. Josh did well against such a strong competitor, but he still lost by a few points. Then Joshua surprised us by PINNING the rest of the kids in his bracket! The competition was so steep that we did not expect that. Josh was thrilled and so were we!

Joshua ended up wrestling in the finals for 3rd and 4th place. He wrestled the kid who’s ranked #1 in our state. Josh has pinned him several times in the past so we felt pretty confident that he could win and take home a 3rd place trophy. Unfortunately Josh was pretty tired by that point. His head was obviously not in the match. He didn’t look like he was really even trying and he seemed so out of it. He lost by just a few points.

Joshua was bitterly disappointed because he didn’t get a trophy. We told him it was okay to be sad, but to also remember how well he had done. He’d come to his first national tournament just a week after being sick, he was up against older kids with more experience, who were state champions themselves. We were told by several parents on our team to expect him to be “two and done” at this tournament because it was so, so competitive. And, in spite of all of that, Josh took fourth place!! We told him that we were proud of him and he should be proud of himself too.

Josh couldn’t be consoled by our words, but he did cheer up when he took his place on the stand and an enormous 4th place medal was placed around his neck.

We gave the team coach and his kids a ride home in our 12-passenger van. We went out to dinner as a family afterwards. It was a good day and we are so proud of our tough little guy!

  

Ramblings

We went to the mall yesterday evening. Rick and I wanted to find cell phone covers and car chargers. It was a nice family outing.

Braden was really tired that night. He’s three so he usually walks while we’re out and about, but he was so tired that I pulled out the umbrella stroller for him to ride in. So we had our giant double stroller and the umbrella stroller. I’ve often wondered when we’d need more stroller space than the double stroller could provide. This was the first time that I’ve used three stroller seats all at once, and it was the first time I had two older kids who could easily and reliably push the umbrella stroller for me. Even though we didn’t absolutely need the umbrella stroller too, it was still kind of fun because it’s a scenario I’ve imagined in the past.

While Rick shopped for cell phone gear, the kids and I browsed Gymboree just for fun. The girls, of course, were quite into it. They each found a winter hat that they loved and I was so tempted to buy them… not because we needed them, but because Maddie’s hat had brown trim that totally made her brown eyes pop and Brenna’s had blue trim that was exactly the color of her blue eyes. I didn’t buy them, but I still want to.

We bought the kids their matching Christmas pajamas next. We selected fuzzy fleece jammies with polar bears on them. I also found Jacob a size newborn fleece hat (that is still way, way too big on his itty bitty head) and we bought the older kids new slippers because theirs have gotten too small.

We snacked on cinnamon almonds and enjoyed our evening out. And we got all the cell phone stuff that we needed, which was the reason we went in the first place.

The mall closed at 9pm so we went across the street to Target. We’d promised our eager children that they could do a little Christmas shopping for each other there. The kids were so excited. We split up with them, helping them to each pick out a present for the sibling they were buying for. Brenna got Joshua a Star Wars toy, Josh got Brenna a Fur Real Friend, Maddie found Braden an orange magnadoodle, and Braden picked out a fancy tea set for Madalyn. Amazingly, all four presents were kept secret from the child they were purchased for. Our two youngest boys did not pick out gifts, but I will probably have the older four kids work together to pick out presents for Asher and Jacob soon.

We left Target just as it was closing. We went home, put the kids to bed, and Rick and I enjoyed watching a movie together (but then we both fell asleep during it).

Today was  fun, busy day. I actually got to SLEEP last night! Asher slept all night long and didn’t get up until 8am! And Jacob went longer than usual between nursing sessions. It was nice!

We finished our morning chores quickly and got started right in on school work. Rick is still working night shift so he was supposed to sleep all day. But he woke up before too long. He’d slept a lot the night before. And he wanted to exchange some of the things we’d bought for our cell phones the night before.

I love spending time with my husband every chance I get so I decided to go with him. The kids were busy with school so we brought their work along- the stuff they hadn’t finished already that morning. Thankfully, the older kids don’t seem to suffer from motion sickness! They worked on their assignments while we drove. There were some things that couldn’t be done in the car; those things we’d either finished already that morning anyway or just decided to save for later.

On the way to the mall, we stopped at Target again. Rick and the kids waited in the van while I dashed in and secretly bought a few Christmas presents. We’d seen a few toys at Target the night before- ones the kids really wanted that we knew would get harder to find over the coming weeks- so we decided to buy them while we had the chance. The kids knew I was buying presents, but didn’t know who they were for or what they were.

At the mall, Rick exchanged phone stuff and we went shopping for shoes for Joshua. At one point, we split up. Maddie wanted to go with Rick and then Brenna decided that she did too. I felt such a surge of joy as I watched the man I love so much holding hands and walking with our two beautiful daughters. I’ll never forget how cute the girls looked and how it warmed my heart to see them each holding onto one of their Daddy’s hands. Then I glanced down at the four sweet sons that were still with me and felt even more joyful as I looked at the four of them. How blessed Rick and I are to have each other as husband and wife and to also have two daughters and four sons together!

Our mall trip was brief. We headed home so that Rick could nap before work and Brenna could attend her 3pm gymnastics practice. Brenna went to gymnastics while the kids and I waited for her. I enjoy watching her practice; she is such a beautiful, talented little gymnast. Gymnastics ended at 5:10 and Joshua’s wresting practice started at 5:30. The kids and I waited again, for Joshua this time. They all had fun playing with their friends while we waited, and it was fun to watch Joshy wrestle and practice.

We got home about 7pm. As fast as I could, I put everyone into warm pajamas and fed everyone dinner. We left the house at 7:30 for Asher’s flu shot booster. He handled it really well and the other kids were so polite and well-behaved that the nurse gave them all suckers.

After we got home again, the kids helped me tidy up, we had family prayer, and then everyone went to bed (without too much talking).

It’s 10:15. The house is quiet, and it’s time for me to go to bed myself. I feel so thankful and so happy tonight. I am truly blessed. There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t thank Heavenly Father for all I’ve been given! I have an amazing husband who is my very best friend and truly my soul mate. We are sealed together for all of eternity. Together we have six incredible, beautiful, sweet little children, with the promise of more to come. We have the gospel in our lives. We are busy and active and healthy. We have a suitable home and enough money for the things we need. I find complete fulfillment in my role as a mother. I trust my Heavenly Father completely and I feel so peaceful- both with where I am and where I am going. I’ve never been happier than I am now!

Determined Wrestler

Joshua was extremely sick at the end of last week and over the weekend. He was hospitalized on Friday for severe dehydration and he lost 5 pounds total in just a few days.

Last night Joshua had a wrestling tournament. We knew he wasn’t contagious anymore, but we also knew how weak and depleted his little body was. We decided to keep him out of the tournament to give him a chance to rest and recover.

We sat Josh down and gently broke the news. Our die-hard wrestler burst into tears. He wasn’t throwing a fit and trying to get his way; these were the tears of a truly heartbroken little boy.

Joshua’s strong emotions made us reconsider. Rick and I talked again and we decided that Joshua’s health and safety were not on the line. The only issues had to do with his stamina and strength. Since he wasn’t in danger of getting hurt because of his recent illness, we decided to leave the choice up to him. We talked with Josh about everything his body had been through and how he was still weak and recovering. Then we left the chose of it up to him. Of course, he chose to wrestle anyway.

His first match was a little tough on him. It was obvious that he was physically weak and exhausted. After the match Joshua was even debating whether to continue in the tournament or just forfeit the rest of his matches because he was tired. But Josh really is a die-hard and before long he had decided that he wanted to wrestle one more match and see how he felt afterwards.

There are several really effective throws in wrestling and Joshua has mastered them. If he can lock a kid up, it’s pretty much guaranteed that he’ll throw and pin him. This year Rick has told Josh that he’s not allowed the throw because he wants Josh to practice and perfect other skills instead.

After seeing how tired Josh was during his first match, Rick gave him permission to throw. He told Josh to just go for the easy throws and pins. Matches would over more quickly and this would save his energy rather than depleting it.

This proved to be a great strategy. Josh threw and pinned the rest of the kids in his bracket. The matches were over quickly so had the energy to wrestle them all. There was one really mad dad who thought that Josh was cheating because he was using throws. Of course, we wouldn’t have allowed Josh to do anything illegal. This dad just didn’t know the rules (that throws and headlocks are perfectly legal) and was mad that his son got pinned.

Joshua, who was in the hospital on IV fluids just days before, wrestled six matches and took first place in this tournament.  We are proud of our determined little wrestler!

You can see how pale and scrawny Joshua has become during this illness, especially if you compare these pictures to the ones from a tournament several weeks ago. It’s frightening to watch a child lose weight so rapidly and it’s scary to compare the before and after pictures. Thankfully, Joshua is gradually gaining weight again now!

Here he is tonight, with his gold medal. He’s looking better every day!

Little Gymnast

We believe that when time and money are available, extracurricular activities do children a lot a good. We’d never force our kids to participate, but we work hard to provide them the encouragement and resources that they need in order to do so.

Last year I asked Maddie if there was any activity that she’d like to try, but she wasn’t too interested. (She did briefly try a dance class, but then didn’t want to go anymore.) Now that she’s a kindergartener and feeling braver, I’ve encouraged her to try another activity. She has tried two different cheerleading classes and a dance class and today was her first day of gymnastics class. I guess she is as indecisive as her mommy!

Madalyn loved gymnastics today. On the drive there, she kept saying, “This is the greatest day of my entire life!” She was so excited to run into the gym and line up with her class. She kept waving enthusiastically up at me during class and bouncing around with delight. She was somewhat distracted, which is typical of our imaginative little girl, but she focused well when it was her turn to participate. Her coach, who used to work with Brenna last spring, said Maddie did great and she was excited to have her.

Maddie will continue in gymnastics during the month of December. In January she’ll choose if she wants to continue with gymnastics, or go back to cheer or dance, or do nothing at all. At this point, she is thinking about either gymnastics or cheerleading… or dance class. Ha! Like I said, she’s a little indecisive. Last year she wanted to do nothing, this year she wants to do everything.

State Gymnastics Finals

Brenna competed today in the state gymnastics finals. She was so excited for the big day!

Joshua also had a wrestling tournament today as well, and it started at the same time as Brenna’s meet. Anyone who knows Joshua knows that he lives for wrestling. He would rather starve (literally) than miss even a wrestling practice. Even so, Joshua knew that if he attended his own tournament today, that that would mean that he and Daddy both missed Brenna’s state meet. Our sweet little guy offered to skip his tournament today so that the entire family could attend Brenna’s meet and cheer her on. He said he knew state was important and that we should all be there for Brenna. I was so touched by this. Josh gave up the thing he loves most in order to put his sister ahead of himself.

The meet went well. Brenna, as usual, had a wonderful time. Her beam, floor, and vault were are really strong today and her scores were high. She had a little trouble on bars. Overall though, she still ended up with her highest all-around score of this season… a 31.95.

Brenna got a bronze medal for her all-around and ribbons for each event. She also got a state meet t-shirt and a goody bag filled with treats. And she got a beautiful poster with her name and level on it, and professional pictures of her competing in each event.  

Brenna glowed during the entire meet. In between events, she bounced and giggled with her friends. When it was time to compete she was all business- composed and confident… and still grinning happily, of course! I loved seeing my girl so happy, so confident, so brave, and so beautiful.

It has been a wonderful season for our little gymnast. Brenna has pushed herself hard this season, working to build her skills and her confidence. She has overcome her fears on several events. Fear is something she deals with in general and I never want her to hold herself back because she’s afraid. I am so pleased to see her overcoming her fears in such a tangible and rewarding way. I am so, so proud of my big, brave girl!

Brenna loves gymnastics and I love seeing how happy it makes her. She sparkles every time she’s in the gym, whether she’s there for a practice or for a meet. I love it! Her happiness is my happiness too and I’m thrilled that we can give her something that makes her so happy!

Plus, gymnastics has given Brenna a lot of self-confidence, many physical benefits (like strength, balance, coordination, and an active lifestyle), and a wall filled with medals, ribbons, and awards. She has also made many good friends through gymnastics and she’s such a social little thing that this is a huge plus for her. I love seeing her with her friends.

So for many, many reasons, I am so glad that Brenna is participating in gymnastics. I am glad she’s had such a great first season, and I am so proud of her! Spring season starts in March and Brenna is already counting down the months!

Congratulations on a great gymnastics season Brenna! We are so proud of you!!

   

Monday Funday

Our life is getting busier and busier. Between Rick’s work schedule, homeschool, household duties, and the many time-consuming activities that our kids are involved in, we are constantly doing something. We work hard to create family time in the midst of our jam-packed schedule. On Monday (Rick’s day off), we used to visit the library, go grocery shopping, and run errands, but lately we’ve been focusing on planning a fun family activity for Monday morning and afternoon instead. Shopping and errands and even the library can wait. We wanted our kids to be able to count on a fun family activity every Monday.

Today for Monday Funday (as the kids have begun calling it) we saw the movie UP. It was playing in the dollar theater.  (We never see a theater movie unless it’s in the dollar theater.) We had a great time together and the movie was very cute.

Jacob slept through the entire movie and the four older kids watched from start to finish. Asher was the only difficult one. He sat quietly in the beginning, but then he started to fuss. He got more and more upset and before long even the candy and popcorn we had wasn’t enough to console him. Rick took him out for a while, then I took him.

As I walked the halls Asher got more and more upset. He was crying so hard that I started to worry about him. Concerned that he was hurting somewhere, I took him to the bathroom and checked him for an injury or something that might have been poking or hurting. Then I had the thought, “Take off his shoes. His feet might be hot.” I slipped his shoes off and he was asleep in my arms within five minutes. Go figure. We stopped for lunch after the movie.

With our Monday Funday activity finished, we went to gymnastics. Brenna went to practice, Rick and Josh worked out together in the same rec center, and I took everyone else grocery shopping. We met back up for dinner and wrestling practice.

It was a wonderful, fun, memorable Monday.

Tournament #2

Joshua had another wrestling tournament yesterday. It was over an hour away and began at 9am so we had a very early start to our day! But more on that in a minute.

Friday was busy. We homeschooled as usual and I completely scoured the house. In the afternoon, Brenna had gymnastics practice, we went grocery shopping, and then took Joshua for “weigh ins” before the tournament. We were home by 7:30. I fed everyone a late dinner, put Josh in the bath, dressed everyone in pajamas, and put them all to bed.

Brenna stayed up to help me get ready for the tournament. Together we packed snacks, water bottles, coats, diapers and wipes, extra clothes for the little guys, wrestling gear, a bag filled with toys and games and coloring books… We need so much stuff to attend an all-day wrestling event! We laid out clothes for the next day, tidied the house, and then snuggled in my bed and drank hot apple cider together. I was so grateful for Brenna’s help and it was fun to spend time together at the end of the day!

I didn’t get much sleep that night, between Jacob needing to nurse several times and Asher getting up around 1am. Jake got up at 4am to nurse again and I just stayed up after that. It was a very early start to my day, but mommies adapt! Rick got off work early, and helped me dress the kids and load the van. We were out the door by 6am and drove just over an hour north- through a windy mountain pass in a snow storm, but we made it safely and on time (early actually).

The tournament went great. We grabbed a section of bleachers and set up camp just like always. We ate breakfast and Rick and Josh warmed up together and worked some drills. Even though I have dreaded wrestling season just a bit because it is such a huge time commitment (4 practices a week and tournaments every Saturday, from now through July) it actually felt good to be at a tournament again. It was fun to sit together as a family and talk and play and snack. It was fun to watch our 6 year old light up like we’d given him the world just because he was at a wrestling tournament. There’s just a certain energy that comes with a wrestling tournament and it’s fun to share that together as we cheer Josh on.

Joshua’s first two matches were easy, as most of his matches are. He “teched” the first kid (technical fall, Joshua scored 15 points and the other kid scored 0) and he pinned the second kid.

On his third match, Joshua ran into his old “rival” from last year. This boy is ranked #2 in the state (Josh is ranked #3) and they went back and forth all year last year. Their matches are always really competitive and always intense, and you never know who will come out on top. Josh lost by just one point and he had the kid so close to pinned for the last 15 seconds of the match. Josh was broken-hearted when it was over, not because he lost but because he knew he could have pinned him and was upset that he hadn’t. We had a good talk though and Joshua ended up happy.

Joshua actually says that this boy is his very favorite to kid wrestle. When I asked him why, Josh said that when he wrestles a harder kid he gets more time to wrestle cause the matches aren’t over as fast. That made me smile. Then he added that he has more fun and learns more too. Joshua also told me that this boy is “sort of my buddy now too.”

Joshua ended up taking second place in the tournament and going home with a nice silver medal. He was glad and is looking forward to a great wrestling season! I am sure that it will be LONG (longer even than last year because we started late last year). But we’ll also have a great time as a family and Joshua will have a blast! That boy just loves to wrestle. I couldn’t put so much effort into a sport that requires so much time and money if Joshua didn’t love it as much as he does. And I couldn’t put so much effort into it if Rick wasn’t just as excited about it as Joshua is.

There’s another tournament next weekend, beginning at 8am on Saturday. Brenna has her state gymnastics meet that day as well. I am crossing my fingers that Joshua has a small bracket and that the tournament is efficiently run and that Brenna’s meet is in the afternoon. Worst case scenario, Rick and I will split up to get the kids where they need to be or Josh will just miss this tournament. But if the stars align (small bracket, well-run tournament, and the meet in the afternoon), then we should be able to attend both events as a family. That’s what I am hoping for.