Church was closed. We spent the morning in. We finished the BFG and Shane made a highway system from Legos.
They're still on the floor.
The roads were drive-able in the city, but not so much out of it. I messaged Dylan's mom about sledding and their street was ice. They had to ditch their truck at the bottom of a hill.
Carrie kitchened up. She made dinner, homemade potato chips, and taught me how to use the rice cooker (again).
We stayed in basically all day. Carrie and Shane loved the slowness. I started to go a little stir crazy, but that translates to "ready and eager for school and wrestling tomorrow!"
We woke up to snow! Shane woke up singing at 6:40 AM. On school days, I have to shake him awake by 7:05 AM to catch the bus. We snuck downstairs to check out the snow and let Mommy sleep.
We tried to stay quiet. By 'we,' I mean 'me.' Shane nearly drove me out of my mind. I threw him outside as quick as I could. He was excited.
Note: This is the first and last time you will see Carrie outside today.
I shoveled at first, but Shane and I set off on an adventure soon thereafter.
We were the first people to sled the big hill.
We spent over an hour before we came back in. Carrie used the waffle iron to make grilled cheeses (She'd already used it for waffles earlier).
We went out again around 1:00 PM. This time, Silas and Zora joined the fun.
Shane had no interest in sledding with me from this point onward.
Zora chased us all over. Silas and I tried to catch her in the snow for a while. We tried to use Shane as a moving wall to herd her, but it was impossible. The snow didn't slow her a step and she could turn on a dime.
We did get to see another family come out for a little bit. We shared our sleds, but they went in after a handful of runs.
That evening, we went out one more time with Silas, Zora, and now Monica. Can you guess who Shane wanted to sled with now?
Shane really wanted to get in on this action a little later.
He wasn't fond of the definition for "max capacity." He does a great job cheering, though.
We didn't try to drive anywhere all day. I saw a couple of cars fail to ascend the hill by our street. Our neighbors SUV handled it without issue, though, so 4x4 in the truck would have worked in a pinch.
We played in the snow, watched TV, and Carrie cooked. There's not much else I hope for from a snow day!
Carrie took Shane to Richmond to pick the truck up from the shop. Snow was inbound, and she didn't want to wait. I had a joint wrestling practice with another local school, so Carrie rented a car dolly to haul the bug back. Shane loved it.
The snow started before they made it back. I pulled into the driveway, saw Carrie wasn't home, and called. Then I backed right back up and met them 10 minutes later at the local U-haul.
We unloaded the bug in the snow. Next time, we'll remember to extend the ramp from the dolly. We dropped the dolly off next, drove the truck home, and then returned to collect the bug.
Stuff's been happening here! The wrestling tournament for me and the bridal show that Carrie agreed to help with were both cancelled, so Saturday will be much slower.
Match night! It was a little over an hour bus ride. I had six of my eight. The other team brought twenty-six. It turned out I wrestled with their coach in high school, too!
We cycled through my roster three times. Each kid got at least two matches, some three. They didn't all get wins, but I was pleased with the heart they showed. We won some tough matches, lost one when a ref stopped a pin due to a bloody nose, and looked better as a team overall.
I got home around 8:15 PM. Shane and Carrie watched a lot of Pokemon while I was out! I think they're on the second season now.
There was a bomb threat at Shane's school today. They evacuated and called in the police dogs. To combat the cold, the kids were loaded onto buses and driven to the Food Lion parking lot around the corner. I found out right away, because the security officers at my school were listening on the radio.
I let the student who was with me that period know what was going on, but asked him not to tell the other kids. He kept his word. He liked being in the know, and I wanted him to see how I handled the situation, too.
An hour later, the police gave the all clear. Shane got to go to after-school as usual. It was a good thing, too, because I had to hop on a bus for a wrestling match!
Carrie asked him how school went and he told her they went on a big "scavenger hunt!" They even went on buses!
I thought it would be a busy week, so I took Shane to TKD on Monday. It was sparring week! He was thrilled.
The first 30 minutes of practice were fantastic, but he got super goofy at the end. The instructor had to tell him to stop climbing on pads/mats a couple of times. He probably would have earned a black stripe up until then.
I asked the instructor if Shane could come back on Wednesday since he missed the two previous weeks. He said, "Sure!" so we showed up again.
It was much more crowded than Monday! It helped that it was sparring week. I didn't get any guff from him when I said it was time to go.
I'm not trying to turn my kid into a martial arts fanatic, but between wrestling and TKD it almost seems that way doesn't it? If he could sit still for longer I'd put him in a music class to balance it out, but he's not there yet.
Shorter term: If there's time (and he'll listen) I want to talk to him about how to pivot his foot to throw a roundhouse TKD style.
I'm busy with wrestling. Shane's playing with wrestling.
We're still working on the listening, focusing and actual practicing. I was annoyed with how wild and goofy Shane was. It's not my room, so I largely left it be. It raises my blood pressure, but presents as the best option.
Shane got with the program some later. Soccer you can run around on your own somewhat. Wrestling requires you to learn how to work with a partner. That's a skill in progress.
Shane even got to work with the coach for a little bit when there was an odd number of kids.
He had fun. Shane got to wrestle some with both Ryan and Matthew. The fact he recognizes them and remembers their names is awesome.
Shane didn't want to leave when practice was over. I let him run around wild with some of the other kids for a little bit, but I was beat.
We still had to get gas on the way home, too. It was after 7:30 PM when we did pull up. Mom and Pokemon were waiting.
Upcoming biggies: Baby horse due in March/April. Shane goes to 1st Grade in August. 2017-18 is a Teacher license renewal year. Half my wrestlers go to high school: Will there be enough the following year?
Goals explained
1 - There's always room to grow. These are my momentary, daily, weekly, yearly, and lifelong goals.
2 - I had a social network growing up. I'd like to get Shane plugged in and teach people are more important than things.
3 - I've thought about this for a while. I could drop the 'Dr' when I talk to PhD/MeeDs and say, "Oh, I have one of those, too. That doesn't make us doctors!"
4 - Because I don't have one yet and don't know what it will be.
