My Little Wrestler

Maddox had a phenomenal wrestling season.  I was truly amazed with how much he had learned, and  his intense focus and determination that showed maturity beyond his years.  I am a very proud momma, this pride goes beyond the medals and trophies he brought home this year, and into the realm of his character and personal growth.

Probably my favorite picture of the season,

taken just before his first tournament at GJHS.

First win, via Pin of the season.

Maddox had to wrestle his good buddy and fellow teammate, Teagan multiple times this season.

Maddox is very proud of the smell that permeates his wrestling gear. 
He tole me "Mom, that's the smell of hard work."

Maddox learned a new wrestling move and was quick to secure it in multiple matches for wins via pin.

Maddox and fellow teammate Cole have had to wrestle each other multiple times every year.  At the Fruita tournament it was Maddox's day to enjoy the victory.

He was especially proud of the first place trophy awarded to him for placing first in the Fruita tournament.  All of his other first places are medals.

The Paonia tournament was a tough tournament for Maddox, he ended up taking 3rd, but had been placed in a bracket with 2nd and 3rd graders.  One of the decisive matches was a very tough loss for him as the referee didn't give him his escape points, Maddox was more upset with that injustice than the actual loss.  

One more tournament at Junction ended up being the tournament we would close the season with.  Again he came away with a first place.

This season was a great season for the Little Dawgs, and for Maddox.  Some new things were tried, and showed great success.  They started some mid week wrestling duels with other clubs, gained a lot of respect of the Palisade community as well as within the wrestling community.

 

 

Season Stats:

4 Tournaments, 2 Duels

1st Place: 3 medals

3rs Place: 1

Win via Pin:11

Total Wins:12

Total Losses: 4

As I celebrate the successes of my boy, I have to acknowledge the man behind him, his dad.  I am so blessed to have a husband who is in integral part of our childrens' lives and activities.  I know both of our children get their hard work ethic and determination from him.  Brian helped coach the wrestling team again this season, and though he does it for Maddox, I know there is a part of him that takes personal enjoyment from teaching kids how to wrestle, as well as the camaraderie (and jesting) between coaches.

 

I Just Wanna Skip the "Practice" Part!

I have been reading the book Unglued: Making Wise Choices in the Midst of Raw Emotions.  I am highly emotional, and not in a good way, I allow emotions to dictate a lot of my life.  I don't want to be emotionally ruled any more, so hence the book....

One of the very first things Lisa (the author) makes clear is that you need to accept the fact that change will not happen over night, and that change won't even be linear, instead we need to come to face the reality that progress is progress, even imperfect progress, and be glad of it. 

I am trying to remind myself of this right now as it seems that I am being given a plethora, over abundance, of opportunities to practice what I am learning.  But I am failing miserably, and don't see the progress.  Maybe my progress is the inner progress.... I may not be showing outwardly a different reaction, but I do hear my inner voice queuing me... "reply vs. react"  "perspective" and "is this an issue I will care about tomorrow or in 4 months?" 

So maybe I am making progress.... but I don't like this at all!  It seems that my life has become one big arena for me to practice taking control of my emotions- which means I am being bombarded with irritant after irritant and I can't seem to catch my breath!

The truth of the matter is that I just want the results, so let's just skip to that part of the process.

REALITY CHECK! 

I know this is ridiculous, as a runner I know that I can't increase distance or pace without putting in the effort.  I know as a teacher that my students won't know the material unless they put in the time doing the work.  I know as a wife, that my marriage wont grow unless WE put effort into it.

Knowing and demonstrating that knowledge are two different things.

I know all of this, and I know that I don't want to be ruled by emotions, but it is painfully exhausting living in the practice phase.  This is precisely why most people don't choose change, change is uncomfortable, change is hard..... change  takes us through a process.  The key here is through, I am not meant to be stuck in the middle place called "practice", just as the Jews were not meant to be stuck in the wilderness on their way to the promise land. 

I'm at the Red Sea, and Pharaoh's army is closing in, at this moment, I have a choice to continue through to the promise land or give up and return to be a slave of my emotions. 

Cooper Mtn Ski Weekend

My Mom and her husband Dan, have started a new tradition in gift giving... giving experiences rather than objects.  I have to say that I have come to LOVE these excursions with them.  This year they took us on a ski weekend to Copper Mountain, which included two nights in a beautiful ski side condo one a full day of skiing, and another day of snowshoeing and sledding.

We arrived Friday night, to a scrumptious meal, and watched the snow fall.  After a long day of work and school none of us made it too late, and headed to bed early-ish.

Saturday morning we enjoyed breakfast and got ready at a leisurely pace.  Being at the base of the mountain it was nice to not have to walk out the door until 9:00 to ski.  Usually ski trips require us to wake up early and start the drive to the mountain.  It was an absolutely beautiful day when we began, the sun was so bright, and there was barely a breeze in the air.  We skied the far East side of the mountain all morning, and have decided to avoid Kokomo, Lumberjack, Timberline Express, as the first two are slow and the third is incredibly busy.  Our favorite runs happened to be off of Union Creek, so we will stick to that area in the future.

After lunch the conditions changed, and we skied our way through big fat flakes the remainder of the day.  Super Bee is the lift that was right out side our condo, and even more cool, was that it sat 6, so we could all ride it together!.  Our afternoon runs consisted of criss crossing the mountain from the tippy top of Super Bee to Union Creek, and back to the base of Super Bee. 

I was so impressed with how well Maddox had done.  Earlier in the season I enrolled him in a ski lesson at our local resort, Powderhorn, and he did really well, but I wasn't sure he'd be ready for the blue runs at the bigger mountain.  He did exceptionally well playing follow the leader with grandpa.  Madison is always fun to ski with, and trying to keep up with her makes my legs burn!

Brian felt miserable the whole trip, but was such a trooper skiing with us all day, never complaining, and never being a downer. (he went to the Dr. when we got home and had a sinus infection, ear infection, and strep throat!)

Me and my munchkin, Madison.

Maddox insisted he wasn't done skiing for the day, (though another full run would have been his ruin) so he skied all the way to the condo.

Brian felt miserable the whole trip, but was such a trooper skiing with us all day, never complaining, and never being a downer. (he went to the Dr. when we got home and had a sinus infection, ear infection, and strep throat!)

Madison waiting for our lift tickets

All 6 of us on the Super Bee!

Maddox entertaining himself while we wait for tickets.

Relaxing in the condo before bed.