Gymnastics and Birthdays

We made it through the busiest week of our year!  It is busy and tiring; however, it is fun.  Both of our boys had milestone birthdays:  18 and 16.  J’s gym hosted a great meet.  We worked hard, had fun, watched some great gymnastics starting with the college gymnasts Friday night, and had the opportunity to visit with old gymnastics friends from other gyms.

The Senior

S has worked REALLY hard this week to try to finish up all of his work before going to Minnesota.  I told him what needed to be done before we fly to Minnesota, and he has tried hard to get an extra week off for Christmas.  It didn’t quite happen, but he just needs to wrap up his research paper.  

He finished up 2 week’s worth of his College Algebra, so he is done with math until January. He finished up his World War II unit.  He is writing his research paper.  He found out he received a “B” on his Human Eye Lesson 3.  He was happy with that.  It was a more difficult lesson for him.  He will be back to a full workload in January, but it was nice to have a modified workload while we had company.

S had to do his first “adult” task this week.  The clinic called with his lab results, and he had to call them back himself since he is over 18.  They checked his Vitamin D levels and thyroid. They are monitoring his thyroid numbers.

The assistive technology person from DARS called the other day to touch base with S.  He wanted to see if S had tried some of the recommendations he had been given for AT tools.

He has tried some.  The AT person is going to be down in our area a couple of times during the next couple of weeks if S wants to meet with him.  We think he’s okay right now.  The next few months will be the timeframe in which we need to wrap some things up for him with DARS and DBVI.

S has horseback riding this afternoon.  I really enjoy that noon time slot for a number of reasons!  He is back with his favorite riding instructor.  They have a great connection.  He responds very well to her. He has the same side walker that he has had for a while now.  She is awesome!  She made him birthday brownies.  He has the same horse lead also.  They are all a great team.

Volunteering

Our family is ringing bells for Salvation Army on Saturday for 1.5 hours.  S loves doing that every year.

He is also volunteering at the museum on Sunday afternoon for 4 hours.  He has a busy Sunday.

The Sophomore

J has had a BUSY weekend and week.  We were up at the gym last Friday night to watch the college gymnasts.  He helped us with some work after the gymnasts were done.  Saturday he had the chance to sleep in.  He finished up his homework before we left for the meet at 3:00.  

He had a good meet.  He has some things to improve upon.  He does a great job of self-reflection without being down on himself.  He knows he has harder skills this year, and we like the fact that he is trying them.  He placed on pommel horse (least favorite event) and parallel bars.  He improved his all-around score.  As one of the other moms said, “If you are going to keep placing on pommel horse, you can’t keep saying it is your least favorite event.”  He would disagree.  He has improved a great deal since he moved to this gym.  His coach told him 3 years ago that he needed to learn to love pommel.  I don’t know if he will ever love it, but he doesn’t dislike it as much as he used to.

We made it back home at 11:30 Saturday night.  We were still up at midnight, so we were able to wish J a Happy 16th Birthday!

We were out the door at 7:20 Sunday morning to head back to the gym to work the meet. First, we had to go to Starbucks for J’s birthday treat!  We were at the gym at 8:20 and worked until 3:00 (stayed longer than our shift).  J worked wherever needed.  He did athlete check-in. He was a runner.  He worked the concession stand and has a new appreciation for food service workers.  

Before we left the gym, J had to say good-bye to a coach who is moving to Washington state. This coach was his first coach at his other gym.  They were together for 3 years.  When J switched gyms, she did too. She left a couple of years ago, but we have stayed in touch.  Her parents live a few blocks from us, so we have seen her when she has been back to visit.  She came to watch J in a meet last year in Maryland.  She has been back for a few months coaching again while her husband was attending a military course.  She and J have been carpooling buddies which has been nice for us.

Finally, we made it home where we were able to relax and enjoy his birthday.  We had tacos and enchiladas for supper followed by his Chocolate Ganache Cake that he made Friday after school. He enjoys baking.  Who am I to stop him?

This week he had a Chemistry quiz and a Math test along with daily homework.  He is ready for break.  He doesn’t believe me when I tell him his teachers are more ready for break.

Practice

J had practice for 14 hours this week.  Tonight is the Holiday party for the gym.  That will be fun.  

On the Homefront

As you can tell from above, we have been busy.  My husband had 2 PT appointments this week. My parents flew home Tuesday morning. It was nice to have them here for 2 weeks. They hung out with S on Sunday while we were working the meet.  My husband attended a community meeting on Wednesday night regarding a rezoning issue in our neighborhood.  It wasn’t well advertised; however, there were over 300 people in attendance.  It’s going to be interesting to see what happens.  I was able to attend the Advent service at church with S.  It was nice to sit and enjoy the season.

Prior to the meet, my mom and I did our nails.  Neither one of us are “nail” girls; however, my mom had been to a Jamberry party and bought gymnastics nails wraps.  They were fun for the meet.

Our dog has been sick this week, so there has been A LOT of cleaning the kitchen tile.  Thank goodness that it has been the tile and not the carpet!  Always look for the positive in a situation.  A lot of candles have been burning this week. He is at the vet this morning.

This coming weekend is very busy too, but we are busy doing Christmas things for our family.

Tonight, we will be at the Holiday party for gymnastics.  Tomorrow afternoon, our family is ringing bells for Salvation Army.  We will have our family Christmas in the evening.  On Sunday, we will attend church which is the Sunday School Christmas program.  After that, we will go out for lunch, drop S off for volunteering, pick him up, and head over to a friend’s house for a Youth Group Christmas gathering.  J is excited because he is able to attend.  With his practice schedule, he often misses out on Youth Group activities.  

My Christmas shopping is almost complete.  I have 2 things I need to buy when we get to Minnesota.  My sister takes care of getting a lot of gifts we need for family members, and I write a check.  It works well.  

You will find me on the couch with chocolate listening to Christmas music.  Enjoy your weekend!

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