Nerd On

How did we end the week?

Once everyone got home, we picked up dinner, drove by Pokestops, and settled in to watch season 2 of Voltron Legendary Defender.

Popcorn and PJ's Book Night for Homework

"Big" Books we've read with Shane:
Magic Treehouse: Twister on Tuesday (the first)
Magic Treehouse: Earthquake in the Early Morning.
The Hobbit (Daddy abridged)
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
Prince Caspian
Peter Pan (Great Illustrated Classic version)
The BFG (edited out a lot of the child eating details, but not 'human beans')
Fantastic Mr. Fox
Esio Trot
The Magic Finger


Observation: British lit rules.

Didn't plan it that way. The twister book just happened to have a tornado on the cover. That started Shane on chapter books (bigger than Fly Guy). Then, JRR Tolkien and then CS Lewis were my influence. Peter Pan happened to be on a book shelf and Shane likes Jake and the Neverland Pirates. Then Roald Dahl showed up in a collection for Christmas.

Mary Pope Osborne is the only American author on the list, but the kids help Morgan Le Fey (the Librarian) and go to Camelot in the Magic Tree house books. Coincidence? (Those are Arthurian references for the uniformed - Very British).

I did not include audio books in the list. We've certainly listened to a few! (Not much lately, though).

Yet Another Picture of Carrie Sleeping with a Cat Sleeping on Her

....or is this the first one I've posted? At least in a while? I might have been banned. You'll know if you read this and don't see it later!

Some Wrestling Progress

It's been a while, but we made it to wrestling this week! We had to run in a little late. It's hard to get Shane, shower, feed him, and get back on the road to be on time.

Shane's looking a little better. He's not crying when he gets bumped.

He looks like he's having a little fun, too.

......., but he's still a goof off. Notice all of the other kids looking at the coach. The picture doesn't show Shane spinning in circles, falling over, and then rolling around.

One of the coaches had to tell him to stop trying to climb up the mats.

There was live wrestling at the end. Shane ended up with a partner who was just his speed...

Play Day!

No school = play day

We met Dylan and Eli at the Discovery museum.

The boys started off together, but eventually wandered off on their own before reuniting.

I wish Shane moved on from the wall a little sooner.

I'm not a germ-o-phobe, but I made Shane stop at a hand-sanitizer station. Then, I washed my own hands!

The boys did a really good job of playing with each other. Tempers can run short, but everyone was on the same team today.

Eli did his own thing.

We went out for pizza to keep up energy and patience levels.

Then Krista treated the boys to dessert.

Sugar is a powerful force.

I wonder if my students would be that focused if I had a see-through vault of treats.

After a short break, we rendezvoused at Dylan and Eli's. The older boys attached themselves to a tablet.

But bubbles broke the spell.

For a little, at least.

Alexa was another big hit. It was John's Christmas present to himself. Dylan kept requesting the Star Wars Theme. Shane got the Pokemon theme in there once.

I count electronics as social time when friends are involved.

The boys got rough with some wrestling.

It was all fun and I didn't mind until Shane stood up and launched a full kick. He got a time out and apologized. Wrestling's fine, but we don't hit.

Krista and I herded the boys out for some yard time. The boys were showing some signs of friend fatigue, but they had spent hours and hours together.

I counted it as a win, and we said our goodbyes. Shane and I got home in time to have dinner with Mommy. She may have driven Shane to a Pokestop to wander around with her later. I will neither confirm or deny my wife's Poke-addiction.

Shane's words: "This is the best day ever!"

Pokemon GO!

Sunday was a day of discovery. 

First, I taught Shane how to play table football at brunch with a sugar packet.

The kid needs to stay occupied. We didn't kick field goals (no innocents were injured).

The real revelation was Pokemon Go. We're over half a year behind the trend, but Carrie and Shane are all in. I had to drive by a Pokestop and then Carrie had me drive slowly around the parking lot in case a Jigglypuff was near.

We ended up walking around Food Lion to clear out their Ratata infestation.

With cold groceries in the back, Carrie and Shane made me detour past our house to swing by another set of Pokestops.

Sadly, we never found Carrie's Jigglypuff.

Shane must have heard Jigglypuff's song, though.

Little man passed out while I was pumping gas at Costco later. I topped off, parked, and sat around for over half an hour.

He was still groggy when I threw him in a shopping cart and went it.

Maybe he was worn out from all the Pokemon Go-ing and the wrestling tournament Saturday.

Shane was fully recharged and ready to go on a walk when Mom suggested it. They walked around the circle on the hunt!

For once, I opted out and stayed behind in the warm. I think it's cute Carrie and Shane have something to share they're crazy for!

Tournament in Powhatan

Shane and I picked up Izaiah at 7:30 AM. There was no bus. Wrestlers had to come with parents or find rides. Izaiah ended up being in car entertainment for Shane (He quizzed him on Pokemon....that statement works either way).

We drove right by the club, but found it on after a u-turn. It was much nicer on the inside. People trickled in after us. Six of my eight made it and started to eat. The 9:00 AM weigh-in was a misprint. The brackets were made off of what coaches emailed in.

By 10:00 AM, the place was packed. There wasn't going to be much downtime or space to do anything save wrestle.

Or mooch electronics. Shane spotted a kid on Minecraft when we walked in. He was his new best friend.

I felt bad for the kid after a while. I don't think he bargained on gaining a shadow. One of my wrestler's sisters loaned Shane her device after a while. He happily started a Minecraft forest fire.

Thankfully, Shane didn't get to keep the device forever. I don't know what burned out first: the batteries, the girl's patience, or Shane's ability to sit still. Maybe something gave simultaneously. I was too busy coaching to notice. Shane spent the rest of the day playing with Ryan.

They were contained to the bleachers for a short while.

Then they accosted random wrestlers.  ("_____, do you know these kids?"  "No.")

I liked it better when they attacked wrestlers I knew.

The practice mat was a God-send.  The boys played hide and seek, tag, tackled each other, and any other kid who didn't look too tough.

One of their new friends stole my hat when I checked in once. The boys did a decent job of playing nicely and not getting in the way. Shane started to run onto a live mat once just as I walked in to the room. He didn't make the mistake twice.

Mixed bag of results, as always. There was some stout competition. My boys are getting better, but there are some stout kids out there. I saw some 8 year-olds wrestle what looked to be a high school level match. My best wrestler's record of the day was 4-1 (which he started off with a freak accident in his first match - He broke a girl's arm).

Shane and I grabbed Sheetz on the way home. I hadn't ate all day. Shane was so worn out he slept, a half-eaten hot dog clenched in his hand. We got home after 5 PM.

I'll need to remember this tournament for next year.

Four-man push-ups

Because it's fun and funny.

HS Wrestling Meet

I swung back by the HS after practice for the HS match. Shane stayed with Carrie this time. 

The kids got murdered, but they're showing progress. You get better by being tough and hanging in there. Going out knowing you haven't a prayer requires courage. Refusing to give upIt takes time.

One wrestler learned not to tie and tape his laces if he can't get his pants off over them.

Each lesson is a victory. I learned not to jump over chairs and gash my head at a match once upon a time.

The real test will be next year. If the kids stick with it, momentum will be established. Some will have grown enough they can start winning tougher matches. I'll pass on four wrestlers and the team will fill out. We may even have wrestle offs. If I can recover my losses, we may have the start of a true team with a feeder program instead of a one-shot.

I don't know when and where I'll be able to practice if we keep growing both programs. The room is only so big.

After School Action

Couple of pictures from Shane after school this week.

"Dad, can I play in the snow?"

"N....," Pause. "Sure. Someone has to do it before it melts."

"Great! Now get back in here before you have a cold, soaked-through butt."

The next day, Shane didn't want to leave, because he was playing some sort of Wild Kratts cheetah racing game on the computer. I had him get up and let another little boy on. Now, it was a chance to be a blessing, so we stayed a bit.

It's a good thing Shane likes to stay after. Otherwise, he'd still be there, but miserable.