The End of an Era

One week from tonight Tyler goes through 8th grade promotion. One week from tomorrow he will officially be a Freshman! Wow, where did the time go? It seems like it was just yesterday that we moved home. It's hard to believe that we've lived here for 4 1/2 years! These next two weeks are going to be crazy for us. Ryan has already started baseball practice. I think they are going to be the team to beat this year! :-) He has practice tomorrow at 6 a.m. and then at 5 p.m. While he is at practice I have a meeting with the other 8th grade parents about the promotion party we are planning. Tyler starts baseball practice on Friday. On Saturday, I'm finally going to go shopping for flowers for my yard. Yay!! On Monday Tyler and I have a meeting at the High School to get him signed up for next year's classes. Tuesday is the middle school concert. Wednesday is Promotion and Tyler's last day of school. Thursday is Ryan's last day of school. Whew! Makes me tired just thinking about it.
I can't even begin to tell you how much I am enjoying this time in our lives. I have the most wonderful kids in the world. I love who they are becoming. One of our favorite songs right now is "Your Gonna Miss This" by Trace Adkins. Its SO TRUE!! We have to enjoy every moment, because we will never get them back.
I will try to get some pictures posted of all of the things that are coming up.
Hope everyone is doing well.

SNOW!?!?

It's snowing like crazy here today! I guess it's a good thing - the farmers in the area kept talking about how badly we needed moisture and boy are we getting it. They even let school out at 11:00 today. The boys were so excited! They are playing RockBand with some friends this afternoon. What a life!

Their birthdays went off without a hitch. I can't believe they are 14 and 11! Just think...in a year Tyler will have his driving permit and a year after that he will be on his own...in a car...on the streets of our town... Oh, I'm not sure I'm ready for that.

They got RockBand for their birthday from their dad and Meredith. It's so fun! They even let me sing now and then. I like playing the guitar the best. Playing the drums takes way more coordination than I have. They also got a mini trampoline that they are using to slam dunk the basketball. It's pretty fun to watch them. I just keep praying that they don't end up with any broken bones. :-{

Tyler has been running track and is doing pretty good. He's done the 100 m, 800 m Medley relay, the MILE(!!), and this weekend he is going to do the 800m, 100m, 800m relay and...believe it or not...the high jump! For those of you who remember Tyler as a short, "stocky" kid - you'd be so surprised to see him now. He has slimmed down, gotten really handsome, is really strong and can run!! Not only that, but he also has almost straight A's!! I say almost because we just can't seem to get that Language Arts grade above a B. (Honestly, I don't mind a B in Lang Arts.) Ryan is also doing really well in school. He has all A's and B's as well. Ryan will be starting baseball in the next couple of weeks. He will be in his second year of Cal Ripkin league.

Well, I suppose I better get back to work. Just wanted to post another update. Hope everyone is doing well.

...a track star too???

Ok...who would have thought...Tyler a Track star?? Yup!!
OK...maybe not Kim Schiemenz fast, but like his coach said, "Tyler, during 7th grade basketball you were as slow as oatmeal...now you are one of the six fastest on the team!" When I think back to where he was both physically and mentally in August before his 7th grade year to where he is now it's almost as though he has changed right before my eyes. I swear he went to bed one night as a little boy and woke up a young man. He's taller than I am now and his voice is getting really deep. When I saw him running the 100 yd dash today it was like "WOW - who is that??" Let's not get too carried away...I mean his time was 13.58...not olympic standards by any means, but when he crossed the finish line - 1st place in his heat - that was quite a moment. He ended up 4th over all. Pretty good for a kid that used to be "as slow as oatmeal!" He is also the second leg on the Medley Relay. They took first with a time of 2:02.

BIG WEEKEND

I just wanted to let everyone know that Tyler's drumline (that I mentioned earlier) got noticed... They were invited to preform at the Air Force Academy tonight for the 1A State Tournament. Hopefully they will get noticed there and will get invited to perform somewhere else! This is such a good experience for him.

Also, the boys are going to learn how to snowboard this weekend! We are all headed up to Keystone for the weekend. We've booked lessons for my boys and for Jeff and Tammy's kids. Shoud be a good time. I'll post pictures as soon as we get back.

Have a great weekend!

ok...let me fill you in...

Where do I begin...

Well first of all Ryan competed in the Nugget's Skills challenge regional competition for the THIRD year in a row. He did not place this year - there was a lot of competition in his age group. He did do a very good job though. He plays basketball with such poise and confidence. It's really fun to watch him play. He has a basketball in his hands all the time.

Ryan is also playing the drums in the 5th grade band this year. They played at a pep rally for the wrestling team the other day and did an awesome job! They are the best 5th grade band I've ever heard!

Tyler finished his wrestling season with the Jr. High team with a record of 18-3!! How amazing is that? He has improved so much over last year. He placed second at the League tournament. (There were three in his bracket - him, another kid from Burlington, and a kid from Fort Morgan. Because of the way the bracket was set up the other kid from Burlington was the point scorer for Burlington, so Tyler beat the Fort Morgan kid - pinned him - and then had to forfeit to the other Burlington kid so that he would get more points for the team. Does that make sense?? I guess maybe you had to be there...) But anyway, he did really good all year. He got to experience standing at the top of the podium which I think he thought was pretty cool.

He is going to step it up a notch an wrestle at the Colorado State Middle School Sectional Tournament in Fort Morgan on the 28th and 29th of March. This will be a good test for him. If he places in the top 5, he will advance to the State tournament in Loveland the follwing weekend. Pretty exciting!!

Tyler is also quite the drummer! He is part of an amazing drumline. It is made up of 7th - 11th graders. They played a couple of weeks ago during halftime of the 1A basketball tournament that was hosted by Burlington. You can see it on YouTube if you put in "burlingtoncougarband". The video is a little amature, and it's not the same as being there, but you will still get the idea. Tyler plays the second snare from the right when they are all in one line. In the picture, Tyler is the second one from the right as well.

I have so much to tell you...

But it's already 11:06 p.m. and I'm exhausted! I'll fill you in on what all has been going on in our lives when I get a chance to get back on here this weekend. Here's a preview...

*Tyler is doing REALLY well at wrestling.

*Ryan did a great job at the Nuggets' Skills Challenge.

*Both boys are doing amazing things with their drums!

...more to come SOON!

Here We Go Again!

Well, we are off to a great winter sports season again! Tyler is wrestling again and Ryan is playing basketball. Tyler wrestled in Goodland last Thursday and went 1-1. Then on Saturday, he wrestled in the Goodland Tournament (13 teams) and won his bracket!! He was the champion of the 170B weight class. He pinned all three of his opponents in the second period. It is so fun to watch him wrestle. (I never thought I would say that...but it is!!) He is so calm and so strong. That was the first tournament he's won 1st place. He was pretty excited...as was I of course!! He wrestles in Colby tomorrow night and St. Francis on Thursday.

Then today, we went to the local Nugget's Skills Challenge competition and Ryan took first place AGAIN!!! (3rd year in a row that he's taken 1st!) I'm pretty sure Ryan had the highest score of every one there. He had over 120 points in the shooting competition alone. Tyler decided he would give it a try again this year and he placed 2nd in his age group! I was impressed! Ryan will get to advance to Colorado Springs, but I'm not sure yet when that competition is going to be held.

It's so fun living in a house full of champions!

I will be sure to do a better job at keeping this up to date from now on.