A Smorgasbord of Life In Our House (Because I have not written.....)

I have not written because I have been exhausted.  With the holidays approaching and everything else going on, I am feeling drained.  Here is a brief synopsis of life in our house the last few weeks.

Dylan is on the Fountain Valley High School wrestling team.  He had his first wrestling tournament on Saturday, December 13.  It was my first meet, and I did not realize it was going to be 7 hours.  I stayed in that stinky gym for those 7 hours for 6 minutes of adrenaline pumping wrestling (Dylan).  He lost his first match against his own teammate.  He was winning in the beginning, but he ran out of stamina and lost the match in the last few seconds.  He won his second match though.  I was proud of him.

 

The kids and I did a Run for A Clause 5k holiday race.  Mia got a PR and completed the 3.1 mile course in 38:04.  It was a difficult course because it was hilly, and the pathway was so narrow, and you had to weave through all the walkers.  IRRITATING.  She complained the entire race.  Her socks bothered her.  Her knees bothered her.  Her shoulder hurt.  She couldn’t breathe.  I finally told  her that if she continues to complain like that, her race days are over.  She smiled slightly and then continued forward.  I had to push her, but I’m proud of her. Brandon ran in 34:02.  It was a fun family-oriented race where hot chocolate and cookies were served. We also got to visit with Santa.  The kids have their next 5k in two weeks.  While they are doing the 5k race, I'll be running a half marathon.  Lance will be participating in this one as well (the 5k).

 

 

 

Lance traveled to Texas in early December to go on a fishing trip with the guys.  He is not a fisherman, but he enjoyed being around his Texas friends.  They rented a house and only spent one day fishing.  The rest of the time was spent drinking whisky, beer, and chatting.  Well, at least that is what I'm told.  

Of course, we texted each other.  It is still very, very hard to be apart.

 

 

Lance and Dylan started their second season of coaching Brandon’s Gryphons basketball team.  Brandon is the best player.  He is the only player who can shoot and handle the ball so Coach Lance and Dylan are not too optimistic about a winning season.  It isn’t about that though.  It is more a chance for these guys to bond.  This season will be more of a challenge as we have a particularly difficult parent on the team who already has lashed out at Dylan because he didn’t get the message that practice was cancelled, which was completely NOT Dylan’s fault.  First game of the season is on January 3.

My training for the LA Marathon officially began with my most mileage on one day being 16.  I’ve been doing speed runs during the week, and this impacted my training dramatically.  I’m able to run much faster.  I’m trying to continue to maintain my weight training, but it is difficult to make time for both running and weight lifting.  I just do not want to lose muscle strength.

 

 

I did the Elf on the Shelf this year, which is completely exhausting for a parent.  Mia is so sweet with her innocence. She wakes up earlier than usual every morning in search of Snow.  We named the Elf Snow (Brandon's suggestion).  I'm not that creative so I stole a few ideas off the Internet.  One morning, I even forgot about Snow, and Mia was so disappointed.  Though it's time consuming and requires me getting up even earlier, it is all worth it when I see Mia's eyes light up with wonder.  Brandon still believes.  At least, I think he does, but he may be just playing along to appease me.  Snow even brought the kids an early Christmas present from Santa.  (I was able to squeeze time in to take the kids to see Santa.)

 

 

 

 

 

Lance and I took Brandon to the Staples Center to see the OKC Thunder vs. Los Angeles Lakers.  It was our treat to Brandon because he does so well in school. We focus so much of our attention on Dylan and Mia's academics that poor Brandon feels neglected.  It is the typical middle child syndrome.  I wanted to do something special for him.  We went to dinner at LA Live and watched a very exciting game.  Unfortunately, Kevin Durant suffered an ankle sprain and did not play. We did see him on the bench, and we loved watching the rest of the players.  I absolutely love basketball. It is my favorite sport to watch. 

 

 

 

 And there you have it......for now anyway......