Sam takes 2nd at NC Freestyle States

My Mother's Day gift from my son Sam was a day spent with him while he competed in the North Carolina Freestyle Wrestling States in Mooresville, NC.

Getting up at 5:15am to drive to the tournament while he slept in the backseat. 

Whenever we are getting ready to do any of these tournaments or anything really that requires my having to extract information from my 14yo son the conversation usually goes like this.

Me: Sam are you going to do the tournament? I need to know so that I can register you.

Sam: mnmnmmmmmcmcmmmcm (mumble mumble mumble)

Me: OK. How much do you weigh? I need to know so that I can put it on your registration. Weigh yourself at school so I can register you.

Sam: 

Me: SAM! Did you hear me? 

Sam: WHAT?

Me: Just do it.

We have this conversation about 4 times prior to my registering him. 

The thing is you have to know how much you weigh so that they know what weight class you are in. Most tournaments are so that if you do not make weight then you cannot wrestle. I did not want to drive all the way there and have him be .4 ounces over and then be sent home.

So we finally get the registration done and his weight class is  120lbs. 

I keep reminding him to ask coach about a singlet. They need to have a specific singlets for this tournament..one red and one blue. Apparently this went in one ear and out the other without stopping in between because Friday night before we leave I ask him if he has a singlet.

No.  Realy kid? Seriously? We are leaving at 5:30am and it is 9:00PM on Friday night and you do not have a singlet? 

I text the coach and ask him if he has an extra, thankfully he does and will be at the match at 9:00am. 

Saturday morning rolls around and he is getting ready to weigh in and finds out that he has to have a singlet on to weigh in and cannot wear is underwear like he was planned. Remember that weigh ins are at 8am and the coach will not be there until 9am.

Imagine that. Mom was right.

So he scrambled and borrowed one from someone else. And he stood in line.

And he weighed in.  

120.4 

He is over by .4 lbs and has 15 minutes to lose .4lbs.

Let me tell you there is one place you DO NOT WANT TO BE and that is anywhere near the men's room. 

He managed to make weight in those 15 minutes and and registered at 119.7lbs.

I then ran to Hardee's and picked up 2 sausage biscuits.

His first match he won with a pin.

That is his coach in the yellow.
Cracks me up with his body language.

Notice the red singlet.
Borrowed.

The other guy was winning with points.

Not for long...Sam pinned him.

Second match.

Sam racked up the points.
I won't even begin to explain how that is done.

He just ran up the points and won by a teck fall.

That is when you have 10 more points that the other guy.

Kind of a mercy rule.

He won his second match.
The third match will be for 1st place.

I know he could just taste that first place medal.
He has never won one.

His third match was against this guy and he was good.
Strong.
Sam did his flip thing he does when his foot gets picked. (he is in the blue this time)
But it wasn't enough for the 1st place medal.

Second place at Freestyle States is nothing to sneeze at.
He did awesome and I am so proud of him.

After he readjusted his nose from being seriously bent out of shape for losing that match he regained his sense of humor.

Harrison's dad thought he was being funny.
I laughed.

Aaahhh, The joys of a root canal!

Wonderful. Pleasant. Enjoyable.
All adjectives that do not describe the wonders of a root canal.

I am a chicken when it comes to anything dental.
The word dental work and dentist (sorry Dr. Shannon Butler) I associate with torture.  If I were ever captured and held hostage, threatened with dental work to make me talk I would sing like a canary. Disclaimer: Dr. Butler is not my dentist.

Shots for a root canal in the palate....OUCH!
No, I am not okay.  THAT HURT!

But don't you just love it when you are laid back with 3 different tools in your mouth and they ask you "Are you doing okay?"
Ummm...uhhhuihhh?
I should have memorized Morse Code like the Jeremiah Denton when he was a POW and blinked T-O-R-T-U-R-E.
Ya, that would have come in handy.

Oh and then when the hygienist and the doctor and talking back and forth and you are dying to interject....
Being that I could not say anything I am saying it now.

NO it is not okay that your 36 year old brother in law is still living with his parents. He should move out. His parents should kick him out. WHAT are they THINKING.

Dentist"You doing okay?
Me: Uh,  i ckanot beath.
Dentist:You're doing great.


Threatening your 9 year old daughter that if she does not start behaving you are not going to let her have a birthday party? REALLY.
I am strict, but that is just mean.

Dentist: Do you need suctioning?
Me:  Blinking my eyes frantically
Dentist: Don't want to water-board you here. Are you doing okay?
Me: Smile. At least I think I smiled. It may have come across as a sneer but both with work.

Having the dentist describing the dental conference and new burs coming out and having your engineer husband describe it as a nerd fest. I have an engineer for a husband too! They have a lot of nerve describing a dental convention and nerdy...pot/kettle. Honestly.

Dentist: We are going to clean this out, drill this, cram something in your tooth. It is going to smell funny but that is just all the gunk. Of course this is not what she said but that is what I am hearing.
Me:  Smile/Sneer
Dentist: You doing okay?

I am looking forward to hitting the land of Lewis Carol and ignoring the pain that has entered my mouth. But then again it was not nearly as bad as when I was out of the chair and met the receptionist and she handed my bill.
Torture I tell you . Torture.

“I wonder if I've been changed in the night. Let me think. Was I the same when I got up this morning? I almost think I can remember feeling a little different. But if I'm not the same, the next question is 'Who in the world am I?' Ah, that's the great puzzle!” 
― Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland

Turning Eleven is a BIG Deal!

 Turning eleven years old is a big deal!
Especially if you are the one whose birthday it is.

 Some how at this age, and younger the birthday turns into a birth week.
With his dad being out of town the week of his big day it ended up being celebrated  with a cake and gifts a week later.
He was a trooper and waited without complaint on opening his gifts.
The other two chittlins would have never done that without making a lot of noise.

 But that is Carter.
Always concerned about making it easier for others and not being a bother.

His God Father Mr. Primeau hooked him up with an awesome t-shirt, he thought this was very cool.
My little rocker who can name 70's and 80's rock bands and make his dad so proud.
My youngest who asks for a cross necklace and makes his mom's heart melt.

 My youngest who keeps checking to see if he has passed me up in height, a battle I am quickly losing.

 One thing is for sure though, he will ALWAYS be my baby.

Easter Weekend...He has Risen, Indeed!

Easter weekend.

Is it bad that I love Holidays that don't require a lot of planning?

I had originally planned on having a small dinner at home and it was just going to be the 5 of us.

 Ham, scalloped potatoes, green bean casserole, kale and brussell sprouts.
And Jello.
Is it just me or does Jello go hand in hand with Easter?
It was all pretty simple which is a good thing.

 My in-laws called on Thursday and said they were heading to Asheville for Easter.
Great!
Of course I did not have a bit of food in the house.
And my house was a mess!
It is quite impressive just how fast one can clean a house when there is a time limit!

 But Friday things changed.
I woke up with a bugger of a toothache.
A big ol' oh my goodness this hurts like nothing I have ever felt before toothache.

And of course Friday the dentist office is closed.
I hated to call him on his day off.
But considering I had been up since 2:45am it took a lot of will power to wait until 7:30am to give him a call.
He met me at the office at 9am and my 9:15am I had confirmation of what I pretty much already knew. Abscess and a root canal were in my future.
RATS!

So he loaded me up with Amoxicillin and  Oxycodone.
Every four hours.
I have been trying to not miss a dose.
It hurts when I do.

Dinner plans were changed for Friday night.
It was thought best not to take me to a fancy shmancy restaurant 3 sheets to the wind on pain medication.
I wonder what they thought would happen?

 But with the rain all day Saturday we hung close to home and this was a good thing.
We did make most of the food for Easter dinner ahead of time.
And I did take lots of naps.

 Church on Sunday morning was nice.
Unfortunately I did not take my meds prior to heading to church.
Thought maybe it may not leave a good impression with my looking stoned during church.
Wish I had.

But we have had a nice visit with my in-laws.
They are easy to be around.
It always cracks me up when people give me that odd look when I tell them my in-laws are coming for a visit.
I have to correct them by saying..no, it is okay. I like my in-laws.

 So Happy Easter from the Virginia and North Carolina Mosby's

 Hugs!

My cell phone is going to be the death of my picture taking.

 I've been sitting here looking through the pictures on my laptop.
It took me about 2 minutes to get through them all if that long.
I have been taking a lot of useless photos on my cell phone.
Crappy photos actually.
Snapping pics and putting them on Instagram or on FB.

 It is just so easy and I don't have to lug around my big camera.
Well, because if that I have very few pics from the last year and half.

I must rectify this.
This has to change.

I am not keeping up my end of the bargain of irritating the crap out of my kids, insisting that they smile for the camera.

I have a photo from when my mom and I went to D.C. when I was 13yo. I can still  hear her saying..."stand over there in front of that monument and smile".  By the time we were done with that vacation I was ready to hurl that 110 camera into the Potomac River. There were just one too many photos of monuments growing out of my head.

These pictures are from almost a year ago on the day we brought Betty home. Oh my gosh she was so little and cute!

 And OzMan. Miss that darn cat so much.
Now we have Sometimes Cat.
Sometimes he is here, sometimes he is at work.
Sometimes he is nice, sometimes he is mean as a snake.
Sometimes I like him, sometimes not so much.

I will start taking more pictures.
My kids will be thrilled.

Spring Break

 I am such a terrible mom.
I forced my kids to get outside on spring break.
Made them play disc golf for the afternoon, breath in fresh air and get a little exercise.

 These two didn't hit  par many times if any but they played with some style.

 Carter gave up on disc golf a while ago. He prefers to ride his bike and occasionally ends up being the caddy.

 Betty thoroughly enjoyed running around like the ninny that she is.
Unfortunately I forgot to bring treats to "encourage" her to come when called.
This girl needs some more home schoolin and I am slacking on that big time.
She was very intrigued with the discs and kept trying to retrieve them or should I say snag them and run away with them. Retrieving is not in her vocabulary.

 Besides riding his bike he will throw in a tree here and there.

 Open your eyes Carter...it's the sun!
I know you have locked yourself in your room becoming one with your ds/computer/ipod but it is time to enter the world.

There are no pictures...I don't have the energy to find any.

Christmas is looming down. Fast.
I am beginning to wonder if I will get anything done. What I need to get done and what I want to get done are probably two different things.

Christmas cards are done. Correction. The Christmas cards are addressed but they just needs stamps.
I have not had time to go to the post office.  I know there are people that would say "why do them, why add more to your plate?"
Well it is Christmas and it is what you do. Plus I like getting Christmas cards.

The tree is up and it is pretty.  It does need a topper, a star or an Angel. Something. I will get to it soon.
Maybe. The kids (Carter) would like to see something up there, it has been mentioned a few times.

The mantle is adorned with  Nutcrackers and is in dire need of a wreath.
I have determined that it is not going to get one.

I did accomplish lots this weekend. Laundry. Many loads of laundry.
Laundry is the epitome of shoveling snow before the blizzard has ended.

Oh, and it was my husbands birthday so I was able to make dinner...and Sophia made the cake.

I cleaned the bathroom, kinda. It needed a new shower rod and after driving to two different stores to buy a true tension rod shower curtain holder that does not fall down I discovered that they do not exist. The one I brought home to replace the one I have was broken. Now I will be toting a broken shower rod in my car in hopes that I remember to return it.

I would love to get cookies made sometime before Christmas but I guess if I don't actually get them done I will save myself 10 lbs.

I was asked if I had made my Christmas list? Really? The last thing on my mind is what I want for Christmas. Right now I am way more concerned that I can figure out what to get my kids and husband and when I am actually going to get it done.
Between wrestling practice and matches, swim practice and meets, violin practice, making sure there is actually food in the house to eat, laundry...oh so much laundry. Cleaning and ridding the house of the dog fur that is exploding around me.

Why do dogs shed so much? I mean really. Why?

I did hire a housekeeper. The first time she came was great but then it has quickly deteriorated. The last time she came to the house she must have had been a REAL hurry. Not only was it a poor cleaning job but she left the the door open and Betty took that as a clear invitation to come in and eat and chew everything she could reach.
I decided to have a talk with her about the issues I was having and go over theses things on her next visit.  She canceled.

So now I am feeling guilty telling her that I don't want her to come any more. Go figure.

My husband says I need to find something that makes me happy. Less stressed.

I know.....give me more hours in the day and I will spend some time figuring out what that is. Until the I don't have time.

Kicking off the Christmas Season

This weekend has been spent at Christmas Concerts and violin performances.

Pressed khakis and ties.

Singing Silent Night and Jingle Bells.

If going to an elementary school Christmas program doesn't put you into the Christmas spirit I don't think anything will.

Asheville Christian Academy put on a beautiful production. What children are capable of doing when given the opportunity and support is just amazing.

After we finished the Christmas concert on Friday we had the violin concert on Sunday.

Little bitty guys to the big guys.

For now the tree is up.

The house is a disaster.

And I need to make Christmas cookies and send my Christmas cards.