big buddy wrestles

A few months ago, William asked me if he could try wrestling.  For whatever reason, wrestling had never crossed my mind for William.  He enjoyed flag football, he was talented at soccer, and he loves snow skiing.  I figured that we would keep him in those sports and see which one he ended up gravitating to the most.  Thank goodness William spoke up about wrestling...I had no idea how perfect of a fit it would be for him...but I should have.  It is pretty obvious now that I think about it.

After William asked about wrestling, I looked into it, and found that there was a rec. club, called "Little Wasps" that practiced for an hour a week, and then had tournaments every Saturday morning.  It was cheap, it was not time consuming, and it was a good introduction, so I signed William up.

He literally asked me EVERY DAY for two solid months when wrestling was going to start.  He was so excited. 

He had his very first practice last week.  Ben took him, and he said that William just did what he knew, and he would just kind of body slam kids!!!  He ended up making a kid cry on his first practice.  Good grief!  He didn't try to hurt anyone, he just had no idea what he was doing, and they kind of just let the kids go at it.

William came home from that practice sooooo excited about wrestling.  He absolutely loved it!  He was begging for wrestling shoes.  Apparently, to him, that was the coolest thing ever. He also could not wait for his upcoming "Battle" on Saturday.  Yes, he calls his wrestling matches battles.  I LOVE it, and we haven't told him any differently.

I contacted my friend, whose husband coaches wrestling, about getting some wrestling shoes.  Not only did they have shoes for William, but her husband, Landon, really wanted William to come try out his wrestling team.  It is similar to Little Wasps, but it is more serious and competitive.  The kids are also older. It is more of a club wrestling.  The kids are more experienced and older, but he wanted William to give it a try.

So, on Thursday evening, Ben took him to Landon's practice.  William came home absolutely beaming!  He had on his wrestling shoes (which he slept in that night) and he kept showing me the move he had learned over and over again.  He was literally exploding with testosterone!

We have definitely found William's nitch.  I can't believe I didn't see it before.  He is big for his age.  He has always LOVED to wrestle his dad and his brothers.  All he wanted to do in football was tackle people and "smash people."  He is a great athlete. It is so perfect.

He had his first "battle" on Saturday.  They have about 4 different matching going on at the same time.  Basically, they just have the kids wrestle for three rounds of 30 seconds each.  They have about 3 different matches. No one wins, no one loses. They have a big cheer and get a sucker at the end of it all.
 It is definitely a little unorganized, but they do their best.  Williams first match was with a kid a little bigger than him.  Neither of them really pinned the other one, or really knew what on earth they were doing.  William loved it though!  He got this determined look on his face, and just went for it. Full force, brute strength.

The second match he had was with a kid that totally knew what he was doing.  His dad was a coach, and he was telling the kid all of the moves to do.  He definitely was better than William, but William didn't care, he had a great time.

The third match, William was with a kid smaller than him.  Neither of them knew what to do. William would get the kid down, and then pin him with his hands, like he was doing CPR, and then he would laugh.

 It was sooo funny!  I finally told him to lay down on the kid, so he just flopped down on him until the whistle blew.  It was epic!

We did notice, however, that William has some great natural talent, and once he learns some moves and has some training, I think he is going to rock this sport!  He definitely has the passion, the drive, and the overflow of testosterone for it already brewing!

It was perfect for his very first experience with "battling."  I look forward to watching his tournament this next Saturday, after a couple more practices, and hopefully him learning some moves.

He loved the practice with the older, more experienced kids, so much, that we are going to take him there twice a week, and then let him do his Little Wasp "battles" on Saturdays.  Landon, the coach of the "club" wrestling, said that he thinks William will do great with it.
Once Little Wasps is over, he will then do the tournaments with Landon's group, if he feels ready. 

Go William Go!

pinewood derby

Sam had his pinewood derby last night.  My dad cut out his car for him, and Sam designed it. 

I walked into the kitchen Monday evening, to see Sam painting his car with a toothbrush!!  For real!

I told him that I bought him paint brushes he could use, and he responded that he couldn't find him, and that the toothbrush was working just fine.  I just bit my tongue and let him do his thing.

He ended up doing a great paint job!  haha!

He had a great time at the derby.  His car came in 3rd out of 4 every single race.  I guess 3 is his number. 

I am so glad that he wasn't caught up winning and in being competitive.  He was having a blast just watching the races, and being a part of it all.  I love that so much about Sam.  He could be winning or losing, but as long as he is having fun, he is content.  What an awesome trait to have.

At one point during the derby, the Scout Master asked all of the boys to tuck in their scout shirts.  Sam and his best friend, Blake were wearing sports shorts, but he made them tuck their shirts in anyway.  Karli, Blakes mom, and my best friend, was sitting by me.  We about died laughing watching our boys run around with their shorts up to their ribs and their shirts tucked in.  We literally laughed until we cried when we saw this picture. It was great.

Can't wait to pull this picture out when they are seniors in High School....hahahaha

This picture melts my heart.  It is so true to the friendship these boys have.  They have so much fun together, they are happy together, and they watch out for each other. 

The most ironic thing of the night...Sam won the best paint job award!  hahahaha!  I guess painting his car with a toothbrush was the way to go.

oh penny

In August, not too long after we found our cat, Penny, after she had been missing for 29 days, we noticed that she seemed to be missing again.  I figured she was just hiding in one of her corners in the house, so I didn't think much of it. 

After a full day of nobody seeing Penny, we realized that she was gone...AGAIN!!  It was my fault this time, and I felt terrible.  I had opened the back sliding door to let Penny get some air.  She stays right on the back porch, and then she comes in after a few minutes. 

I got distracted a few minutes later, and I shut and locked the door...for the rest of the night.  The sprinklers went on that night, and I am sure, they scared her away.  I felt so bad.

For the next month, we continued to check where we found her last time, ask neighbors if they had seen her, and we checked the shelter often.  No had had seen her at all.  After 2 months, and the cold weather, we finally accepted that she was probably dead, especially since nobody had seen her anywhere.  We were all pretty sad.

I ended up throwing away her litter box and washing out her food dishes and putting them away.  It was a sad moment.

Three months went by with no sign of Penny.  We had given up all hope completely. 
Then, one night as I was praying, I felt very strongly that I needed to pray for Penny to return, or for somebody to find her.  I truly thought she was dead, but I prayed for her anyway.  I prayed until I believed it.

The next day, I was out cleaning up the sandbox, and Sam came running down the road from his friend's house, yelling for me.  I knew by the sound of his voice that it was one of two things. Either someone was seriously hurt, or something very cool had just happened.

He told me that he and his friends were playing in Trey's sandbox, and Penny ran right through the sandbox with a dead mouse in her mouth!  He said that Trey and Blake were following her, while Sam came to get me.

I dropped what I was doing, and ran to Trey's house, while I told Sam to grab a blanket and meet me there.  If it was Penny, and if I did get her, I was not going to get torn to shreds by a freaked out cat again.

By the time I got over there, the boys had lost sight of Penny.  We were in a big field.  I told everyone to stand still and be very quiet, and I quietly started calling for Penny.  Seconds later, Penny came running to me, out from under a big wood pile.  At least it looked like Penny.

The cat had her same coloring, but the cat was tiny, almost the size of a kitten.  I almost didn't pick up the cat, but Sam's big, blue, hopeful eyes, made me decided to at least bring it home.

I wrapped the cat up in the blanket, and once I took a step, the cat totally freaked out!  Thank heavens for the blanket!  I still got scratched up, but not as badly this time.

I brought the cat home, and set it down.  I just wasn't convinced it was Penny.  It was so incredibly small, but looked clean and healthy.

Ben got home soon after, and I asked him what he thought.  He wasn't sure either, so he pulled up a picture of Penny on his phone, and we compared the markings.  There was no doubt it was in fact Penny!!!  We absolutely could not believe it!

She cuddled with anyone who would hold her the rest of the day.  She ate and ate and ate, and I had to scrounge up a bin and borrow littler from a neighbor to make her a litterbox until we could get her one the next day.

The kids were so excited to have her back!

 Penny is also very, very happy to be home.

The next day I went straight to Petco and bought her a litter box and a collar with her name and our phone number on it.  William put it on her the second I got home.  He really missed her so much.

As with the last time we brought her home, Penny tried to sleep like this the first night...

No joke.

Sorry Penny, I love you, but nope, not happening.  I prefer to not have cat in my mouth all night long.

I am so grateful for the prompting to pray for her.  I am so grateful that Sam and his friends saw her.  I am so grateful that even though I didn't think it was her, that I brought her home.

I am so grateful for tender mercy's...and that Penny is home safe and sound.

primary program

Our ward had our primary program 2 weeks ago.  Mary wasn't in it this year, because she's too old, and Molly wasn't in it, because she's too young, so it was the year for the boys to do their thing.

They memorized their parts and did a great job.  I love the primary program and the pure faith the children have, and their powerful spirits.  It is always a very special meeting.

The kids looked so cute before church that day, that I had to snap a picture of my precious babies.  They are my everything.

she's the only one who enjoys pictures, so she gets a lot of them

she was being a little ham, so I took advantage

oh yeah, she is definitely 3

halloween 2017

Halloween this year was great.  For the past 5 years, it has been another reminder to me of how amazing of a place we live in.

We live in such a fun neighborhood FULL of kids.  The Elementary school still makes it a really fun holiday, and so does our church and our community.

This year, we had our ward trunk or treat the night before Halloween.  Our bishop invited another ward, so it was definitely happenin'! 

The kids came home with bags bursting with candy, and tummy's full of hot dogs and chili.

Halloween day was full of class parties, the school parade,

and orange chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast, and a spooky dinner made by yours truly.

When the big night finally came, the kids were soooo excited! 

Sam...shadow man

Luke- warewolf

Add caption

William- zombie

Molly- puppy

Mary  - baby

 

Mary and her friend had made a map a month earlier, and knew exactly the route they were going to trick-or-treat.  The map had 209 houses on it...no joke.  And yes, they hit every.single.one.

Sam went with his buddies, and the three younger ones went with Ben.

They all came home with a ridiculous amount of candy!  Not only candy, but soda, toys, and a second dinner in their belly's from people that gave out hot dogs, popcorn, cotton candy, hot chocolate, chili.  Like I said, best neighborhood ever!

Of course, the kids came home and had a huge candy trade with their friends.  Now that is what memories are made of!

It was a great Halloween!

bridal veil falls...maynard style

Last month, on a typical Sunday afternoon when we were all climbing the walls and the kids were threatening to drive me to the looney bin, we decided to take a family outing to Bridal Veil Falls.

The weather was turning, and it was chilly, so we grabbed sweaters and jackets, and headed out.

It was a beautiful small hike/walk down to the falls.  The leaves were turning, and the air was crisp.  It was so refreshing.

We got to the falls, and the kids began hoping around on rocks and just playing around.  The water was FREEZING, so I was not at all worried about them actually getting in the water, or getting very wet.

 

Ben and I were talking, and enjoying watching the kids play, when we heard people laughing, and we heard Williams yell/scream he does when he is doing something crazy, "manly" or daring.  This is what we saw.


William was walking across the water in bare feet, and the water was quickly getting higher and higher.  He was screaming and hollering from the freezing water, but he was also laughing.  I could not believe it!  That kid is nuts.

Sure enough, Mary ended up following close behind.  She was shrieking and shuddering as well.  What the?

All of the people there, bundled up in jackets, blankets, were watching the craziness and chuckling. 

I could not believe that Mary and William could stand it.  It was hilarious hearing them holler and yell.  Come to find out, Sam had dared William to do it, and Williams testosterone filled brute boy personality, could not pass up the dare.

They made their way back to us, and at that point they were completely numb.  We just shook our heads.  We kept on hanging out, when I glanced over, and saw this!!!

 There was little Luke, in his fleece pajamas, screaming his way across the water.  What the?!?!

We could not believe it!  By that point our family was definitely the spectacle at Bridal Veil Falls.  Epic.

After Luke finished his daring adventure, everyone was freezing and begging to go home.  Go figure.

We quickly snapped a family picture, and got in the nice warm car.

Definitely a Maynard style outing.  Love it.

haunted half 2017

About three weeks after the St. George Marathon was the Haunted Half-Provo.  I had previously registered to run it with Chelsea Riddle (my marathon running buddy), Becky Phillips and Shauna Goates.

I had taken quite a break from running, in order to heal up after the marathon, so I was a little nervous about being able to race 13.2 miles.

The Haunted Half ended up being a blast!  We all just took it easy.  We didn't worry about time, we didn't listen to music, we didn't stress at all.  We just ran, talked and had a good time.  It was perfect for a post marathon race.

The distance was just the right amount as well.  It definitely pushed me, but it didn't kill me.  When we crossed the finish line, I was completely spent, but felt great!

Again, I had completed a race with no stomach issues, no hip issues, and no IT band issues.  It was so awesome to be able to run two races in a row feeling so great!  It is always really fun to run with friends too.  It was the perfect combination.

It is a costume race, but none of us can handle running with loads of stuff on us, so we all bought Superwoman socks with capes, they were also compression socks.  Win, win!

The course was gorgeous, and the day was sunny, and beautiful.  We ran a trail that followed the Provo river.  We ran past waterfalls, under trees that were bright yellow and red, through parks with flowing streams, and we always had the huge majestic mountains right over us.  It was an amazing course.

rock the socks

freezing our butts off at the starting line...no joke.  It took about 4 miles of running before I could feel my fingers or my toes again.

Shauna Goates, Becky Phillips, yours truly and Chelsea Riddle.  Very fun running crew! 

Haunted Half Provo...you rock!

See you next year for sure!