Sunday, January 31, 2016

Sunday AM coffee


 I'm back online with a new to me computer, compliments of my brother. Thank you Jeff!

 It is quite a pain in the ass to get all your computer related junk transferred to a new set up and learn all the different features. I'm not very technologically advanced so I do a lot of head scratching, calling help lines and bugging the daughter for assistance. Not to mention I accidentally broke our old router and had to get a new one too. 
It's been a long week, but I think everything is coming around. 

One of my favorite childhood pictures of my brother and I. 
Our dog Bear and her pups Wolfie and Snowball. 


It was a slow week for wrestling, only one tournament which Caden took 3rd in. 
The kid took quite a beating - bloody nose, black eye, fat lip and knots on his head. 
The other boys just had a bit more experience and that made the difference. 
I think there are valuable lessons to be learned when you lose. Our boy just has to find a way to apply that knowledge in future matches. 

It was incredibly warm for January yesterday. It got up to 46* at our house. What little snow we have is melting. I even had the windows open for a while and got rid of that stuffy winter air. Being able to do that for a little while felt wonderful. Today wont be as warm, but it will be close. I may even take ol' Scotch out for a ride later. 

We put out bird feeders for the first time this winter. I am amazed and the amount and variety of birds that visit our feeders. Big, little and all sizes in between. Some of the colors are so vivid and bright against the bland winter landscape. The cats are enjoying the birds as well. They camp out in the window sills facing the feeders and watch for hours at a time. 

Have a good one :)




Sunday, January 24, 2016

Sunday AM coffee

My computer finally died so this is from my lovely kindle.
I think I'll be ok with all my pictures/files from the old computer as I did have everything backed up on an external hard drive. Don't think it captured all the favorites I had bookmarked on my internet browser though. Oh well.  

In the last seven days our boy has been to three different wrestling tournaments. 
He has totally rocked all of them!
My absolute favorite was the one in Arcadia.
It was an eight man bracket and he took first place pinning all of his opponents within the first minute! 

Yes he has taken first before, but these folks put on a huge show for the medal presentation. Not to mention all the people from Colfax totally brought the house down cheering for Caden when they announced his name and continued for several minutes after he was up on the podium! Seriously was a wonderful moment for him and us.
Super proud of him.


We are over our cold spell and have temps back up in the 20's which feels quite mild. Much better weather than that below zero crap.

The second semester of school has begun.
Seriously the second semester, this school year is half over. 
And January is almost done. Crimaney May will be here soon. First time I've ever been so anxious for May to arrive. I don't remember being such a nervy wreck about Colton graduating, why for Chyann I'm not sure. 

Anywho. All else is well here. 
Take it easy :)


Sunday, January 17, 2016

The week in review

 Our girl turned 18 on Wednesday.
Hard to believe, but it's true.
We had a little celebration at home for her.

Total happenstance that Colton showed up on the screen saver and it got stuck on that one picture the whole time. 
Colton was there in spirit apparently.


A little cake and ice cream to eat as we listened to old records on Chyann's new record player.
It also plays the radio, cassette tapes, cd's and your phone can be hooked into it to play whatever music you've got on it. 
Pretty cool. 


The first record was the Eagles Hotel California.
I tell you it sounded awesome!



Yesterday we spent the day in a nearby town for wrestling.
Caden's first tournament was here one year ago too.

I got a bit cranky with the set up for the tourney.
There were eight freaking different middle schools there and don't you think out of all those kids they could have matched him up with someone other than one of his own team mates? One would have thought, but nope. 
When the brackets were announced the other boy from his team says to Caden that he can forfeit the match if he didn't want to wrestle him. Caden says are you kidding? So they went at at and Caden damn near won. Did I mention that this boy has been wrestling for nine years and has been the state champ multiple times? Well he was and Caden gave him a hell of a match.
The next boy was a dirty little wrestler. He even managed to punch Caden in the head which the ref somehow didn't see. I've got it on video and it makes me want to be one of those bad parents at youth sporting events. GRRRR..
Anywho, he took third and really he did very well going up against those boys who both had tons more experience. 
I told Caden to look at it as a good learning experience. Take what you can from it and make it work for him next time. 


Did you watch the football game last night?
Oy, the Packers almost had it. 
Maybe next year.


It was only -20* here this am. We've got a light breeze going too.
It's freaking cold out folks.
Spring is on the way. Spring IS on the way. That is what I kept repeating this am when I fed the horses and my eyelashes started freezing.
Speaking of spring, have you noticed the gain in daylight in the evenings? I sure have. Love it.

Anywho.
Have a good one, stay warm :)




Sunday, January 10, 2016

Sunday AM coffee


Good Morning!
Dang it's cold out today. 
Our thermometer says -15* ~ burrrrr
The expected high temp is about zero with wind chills down to -25.
This cold spell isn't supposed to last long though, maybe till Wednesday. 

Wednesday though is going to be a big day here.
Our darling Chyann will turn 18 years old.
She says she doesn't want to do anything - no friends over or anything, but I can't hardly believe that.
I'm not sure what all we will do, but we will do something.
Picture of her taken a few weeks ago when she went bird counting down on the Mississippi River with the boyfriend and his family. 


Nothing will scare you more than getting ready for bed and opening the wash rag drawer and having this ball of fur jump out at you!
Not to mention, gross. Now I've got a whole drawer of cat hair rags to wash.


 Wrestling season has begun again and Caden is off to an excellent start!

Friday after school we traveled to a near by town for a tournament. 
One of the perks of being in middle school this year is riding the bus to meets with the team. He said it was nothing but laughs the whole way there.
Sure would be nice if our boys had matching outfits like some of the other schools that were there had. 
The boys warmed up and then had to cool their heals for another hour since they were having computer issues and weren't able to create the brackets. Seemed like it might have been easier to get out some paper and pencils and make them, but nope this is the computer age and no one can make a bracket without a computer apparently. 
A lot of the boys there screwed around during the delay wasting their energy. Which likely impacted some of the kids' performance.


Caden had three matches. 

The first was quickly won.


The second one was a hard fought win in OT.
OMG it was a nail biter! My heart was about thundering out of my chest the whole time. 
In the end though he won 11 to 7!
It was freaking intense! 
I think once you get into OT it's a matter of endurance. Which boy has more in the end will determine the winner.


 This last match was pretty tough too, but Caden won by pin!


Caden is a bit beat up. He has a black eye, a few new bruises and sore all over, but feeling great about his accomplishments.

An amazing day for our Middle School wrestlers to be sure. I didn't hear the official word when we left, but I feel confident in saying that our school collectively took first or second at the least. 

Happy Sunday folks ~ Stay warm :)