An Update!

My Mom pointed out to me on Friday that I never posted Gwynie's play or Brady's last wrestling match. Sure, I had plenty of reasons, let me count the ways... Ok well it can all be summed up by a book, or rather several books in a series. Guilty as charged. So, since I'm home with a sick kiddo I figured now was the best time to post! (Poor Gwyner has the stomach flu...ugh!)


Gwynie's play was awesome! The leads were 5th and 6th graders and then the 4th graders were all the Munchkins. It was so cute! The kids did songs and everything, and the scenery was amazing! It was too dark to really get some good pictures during the play, but here are two of her before the play.



The first part of the play was a small part from Wicked, basically showing how the Wicked Witch of the West became wicked. Message! :) She was one of the wizards in the classroom, and then a munchkin after Dorothy comes to Oz, and a dancer in the Emerald City. We were SO proud of her! She put in a lot of time at practices and did an awesome job!


Brady had his last wrestling match that same night as Gwynie's second performance of the play, so I went with her to the play and Jake took Brady to wrestling. Earlier that day they had found Jake's old headgear, so Brady decided he just HAD to wear it! He looks so cute!


They all got medals at the end, and Brady is holding his card they used to match them up with their opponents. All the schools got their own medals, so Jake told Brady because his had a blue ribbon it meant first place. Brady got a kick out of that! He even wore it to school under his hoodie last Friday!! (haha we didn't realize until that night, but it was funny!)

P.S. - This picture is sad because look how nice it was on March 19th! Now, we have snow all over again! :(


Now this picture is just for my own personal amusement. All of the high schools in the area have these banners in their school colors in the gyms.


If you can't quite see it here is what it says:

Welcome to (Insert High School name)
Where Sportsmanship is an expectation

Let the Players Play
Let the Coaches Coach
Let the Officials Officiate
Let the Spectators Be Positive

Hehe, that just cracks me up...you would think it would say, Let the Spectators Spectate! :) Guess I'm just easily amused.


And the next part of this is a plug for me, so I apologize, but I'm interrupting your regular Gwynie/Brady program.

I have made a community on Live Journal for Card Challenges. Each month, on the 5th of the month, a new challenge, or technique challenge will be posted by me. You will have until the 4th of the next month to post your completed cards and/or projects. After all entries are in, a random number (or name from a hat!) will be picked to determine the winner. The winner will get a prize or small RAK from me personally! I'm still figuring out all the details, but I plan on sending out RAKS if you post at least once to the current months challenge, or if we get a lot of entries, I'll draw names for one large monthly prize.

I'm really horrible at making cards. No, really! Unless there is something specific I have to make a card for (a birthday, a swap card, or other occasion), I don't just make cards for fun. Very rarely do I make a "just because" card. I don't try new things. I wait for my Stamp demonstrator to do it first (thanks Sharon!), and then I reproduce the effect, sometimes. I spend hours researching new techniques, new products, and card ideas...yet I never make the card. I download templates, but never make the box. So, I decided the only way that I would try the new techniques I want to do, make cards just to have on hand, or make a new box/project, would be to challenge myself. So I thought, why not make it even more fun, and have a Challenge Community? There are sites that are so large I don't feel that I "belong" or can't make myself at home in those vast sites. I decided to do my own, where I would feel comfortable, have fun, and share my ideas or things I found. I want to interact with other stampers and card makers, and I think this will be small enough, yet fun to meet other crafters.

Alright, so here is the deal, I'll post what I make on my krafty blog as well as the Card Challenges community. If you want to join the community its really easy to sign up for Live Journal. If you do sign up, you will see anyone else that posts to the community and you can see all the entries for the challenges. Or, if you would just rather, you can email me (kandipants21@gmail.com) your submissions for the contest, and I'll post them in the community. If you have any questions about the challenges, the community, or Live Journal in general just let me know! Here is the post I did about the community (lol I mostly copy pasted it here anyways...) with the challenge and the pictures of my completed projects. There are templates to download to make the projects. Ok, sorry for the shameless plug, but I thought if there were people that didn't read my Krafty Blog then I better put it here as well!

VERY IMPORTANT PLEASE READ ME!!!

I just wanted to share this with you all. One of our field technicians out of the California office sent this email yesterday afternoon. I didn't have to think twice about donating.

Hello all,

Thank you for taking the time to read this.

I am John Croft, a Technician in California, and I am participating in a 24 hour Cancer Dance-A-Thon in Irvine this weekend. Yes, I know I am crazy to dance for 24 hours straight, but I know that it is for a great cause.

I know that Cancer has affected all of our lives in one way or another. Part of the event is to help raise money to support Cancer research and treatment. I know that times are tight right now, but I would like to ask if anyone would like to make any type of donation, even if it is just a $1 or $2 or more it doesn't matter.

You can check out the website http://www.danceathon.org, if you want to learn more. Donations will go to The City of Hope.

For those of you in California, the event is being held at the 24 Hour Fitness Ultra Sport off Von Karman and the 405. It is right across the street from the Irvine Marriott.

You can make a donation online at http://www.danceathon.org/index.php?loadbody=mip&mid=330.

Once again thank you for your consideration

John Croft

With so many people I know that have passed away from cancer (including my co-worker Kurk, and Grandpa Neil), that are currently battling cancer (my friend and co-worker Barb just had breast removal surgery yesterday), or are survivors of cancer (my cousin Trevor's wife Amy and Jake's Aunt Mary), I knew that I had to make some donation, no matter how small or large.

So, I'm certainly not bullying or pushing anyone to donate, but this really caught my attention, and made me want to donate for those crazy people dancing for 24 hours!!! So, if you can spare $1 or $2, it will really add up! It was so simple too, you can use either a Pay Pal Account, or just a debit/credit card. I've been feeling the need lately to be more charitable, and be more active in the giving process so this is a great start for me personally.

Thanks everyone! :)

I see all of these little tag things in emails (sorry I never respond!), but I thought it would be fun to do with the kids.

Gwynie

Five names you go by

1. Gwynie
2. Gwyn
3. Gwynifer
4. Gwynie Po-Po
5. Gwyn Head or Poo Head


Three things you are wearing right now:

1. Jeans
2. Striped Old Navy v-neck
3. Socks


Two things you want very badly at the moment:

1. A cell phone (haha yeah!)
2. .............Nothing she says!


Three things you did last night

1. Watched TV
2. Played the Sims
3. Did homework

Things you ate today:

1. Baked Potato
2. Chili
3. Cereal


Two people you last talked to on the phone:

1. Mom
2. Grandma Della


Two things you are going to do tomorrow:

1. Dress Rehearsal for Play practice
2. Watch TV

Two longest car rides:

1. To Oregon for Thanksgiving and Laci's wedding
2. To Vegas


Two of your favorite beverages:

1. Dr. Pepper
2. Pepsi



Brady

Five names you go by

1. Brady
2. Brado-Potato
3. B-Dog
4. Brayden
5.


Three things you are wearing right now:

1. Jeans
2. Old Navy thermal tee w/ long sleeves
3. Socks


Two things you want very badly at the moment:

1. Another train track (he wants more!!!)
2. To dive with Shamu


Three things you did last night

1. Watched TV
2. Played on the Thomas the Train website
3. Did homework

Things you ate today:

1. Baked Potato
2. Chicken Nuggets
3. Cereal


Two people you last talked to on the phone:

1. Poppa David
2. Grandma Della


Two things you are going to do tomorrow:

1. Go to Wrestling practice
2. Color the pages I printed from the Rory the Race Car website

Two longest car rides:

1. To Oregon for Thanksgiving and Laci's wedding
2. To Vegas


Two of your favorite beverages:

1. Rootbeer
2. Fruit Punch

Brady had his second Wrestling tournament last Thursday. Jake had really worked with him on learning the Double Leg take down before the match, and Brady showed he paid attention! I laughed at this because Brady did the same thing as I've heard Jake did as a kid. He would take the kid down...and then let him back up! Points! Its all about the points! :) Brady won this match 14 - 10.

This post brought to you by the letter W!

Remember how on Sesame Street they end the show with..."This episode brought to you by the letter ___ and the number ____!" Well....

This post is brought to you by the letter W!

First the letter W for - The Wizard of Oz!

I had been meaning to post this for a few weeks now! Gwynie is in the school play, The Wizard of Oz! They were doing tryouts while we were going to be in Florida, but Gwynie talked to the teacher in charge, and they let her audition early! All the 4th graders got to try out to be Munchkins! :) They had to learn a song and perform it. When we came back from our trip, and she went back on track, she found out that she made it in! She's been working really hard for the last month, and has practices every day after school for the next two weeks! Their big parent performances are the 18th and 19th of this month. We are so proud of her, and can't wait to see her cute little munchkin self!

And....the next thing that starts with W...is Wrestling!

Tonight was Brady's first Wrestling Tournament...

I can't tell you how nervous I was before Brady's little wrestling match. Sure, this is just for fun, its not for medals, or anything like that...but STILL! My stomach was in knots, and I kept talking big gulps from my water bottle to try and dislodge the sick lump that had settled in my throat. It would finally go down, down, down...to where it would sit in the pit of my stomach. With the butterflies, and the knots. Those butterflies would then send that lump back up in my throat to lodge there, once more, and I would have to repeat the process. I know Jake was just as nervous as I was. His hands were shaking as he helped Brady put on his wrestling shoes and run through drills.

I know, I know, we had nothing to worry about, no reason to feel this way. As Jake said, "Wow, now I know what my parents went through!" I guess I really can't even begin to describe the emotions that were coursing through me. It was never like that with T-Ball or Basketball, or when Gwynie had her dance recitals or soccer games. This my friends, is a whole new Monster. This feeling...it...it blew me away. Never before have I ran this crazy, crash-course of emotions. Never before have I felt the elation of a proud Momma in one instant, and then was on the verge of tears watching my "baby" get ready to take down his opponent. I'm still not quite sure I understand it all. I honestly can't put it into words.

I was so relieved when Jake's family showed up. His Dad, Mom, and older brother Dustin came to cheer Brady on. I love hearing the stories from when Jake and Dustin wrestled as kids. The stories would get even better as the boys got older. I've heard a few times before that people around Deb (my MIL) would say, "Don't watch the match, watch that Mom, now that's where the show is!" She would get worked up, screaming, yelling, cheering, and cussing the refs. I guess that's what I get to look forward to. :)

I think I finally have it figured out though...thanks to my wise husband. He just said, "Yes, it's a whole new Monster. It's different than T-ball because that was a team sport. This is Brady, all alone out there, standing up and proving himself."

So....onto the match stuff! Now that my crazy emotions are finally going back down!

Brady's first match rocked! They way the do the matches, is the kids wrestle for three, one minute rounds. If they pin the other kid, they just restart the match and keep going. Well, in that first round, Brady pinned the kid! When we got the score sheets we were all like, no way, that's wrong! They had the match as 10-14 with Brady losing. Sure, they still raise both kids' hands at the end, but we were told they wouldn't be keeping score. I knew Jake and his family would still count points anyways though. Well, we got home and Jake watched the video. Sure enough, the score sheets were WRONG! They gave Brady's points to the other kid! >:( I know it doesn't really count, but it irritated us. Well, we watched it and we kept seeing over and over again where they didn't give points, or they gave the other kid points when they shouldn't have. So, after all was said and done, it was 13-9 with Brady winning! If it was high school, or any other tournament, with Brady pinning the kid in the first round that would have been it. Done, finito. But because they kept going, they kept counting points. So, even if Brady hadn't pinned him, and gotten his 3 Near Fall points, he would have won by points alone, at 10-9!

Now the second match...not so much fun. Brady was so distracted by everything else around him and he just didn't pay attention. We reminded him on the way home that the reason you pay attention is to not get hurt. Anyway, I won't say it was all on Brady because it wasn't. The kid he was up against kept choking him, and at one point they stopped the match because you could see that Brady was having problems breathing. Well, I guess I wouldn't want to stay involved in that match either if that was the case. I would probably be distracted, too. Also, when Brady was in bottom position, the kid, instead of cupping his elbow and crouching to the side, was sitting on top of him! Actually straddling him! Why the refs didn't fix that before telling them to start is beyond me. Well, probably because they are high school kids, but still. This is all about teaching the kids the basics, and the right way to do stuff, without hurting other people. So that match was 0-4, but Brady fought hard, and that's all that matters! :)