Regional Runner Up @ 49lbs

My little baby looks so grown up in this picture. He is going to state as a number 2 seed in his weight class. This past weekend Stillwater hosted the Open Northwest Regional for youth wrestling. Cade has already placed 4th at state at OKWA Novice State in Lawton. Since Carey and I had to help with the tournament that was hosted here last weekend we decided to let him wrestle with the open kids just to see how he would do. Much to our surprise he beat the #1 seed in the second round and ended up getting second place. This has given him the opportunity to wrestle as a #2 seed at Open State in Tulsa this weekend!!! He is nervous, anxious, worried but so excited. Regardless of how he does we are so proud of our little man.

Working on the bucket list

I ran 4.5 miles! I took Megan's advice and quit worrying about pace and just decided to see how far I could go. I ran 4 miles a few months ago so I knew I could do it, it's just mental. Surprisingly it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I made myself run R-E-A-L-L-Y slow so when I got to my 3 mile mark I felt really good. I had to run my last mile uphill which sucked really bad but then my last 1/2 mile flattened out and I knew I was so close to my car. Now if I can make myself add a little to that distance every week I should be ready for my 10K... YIPPEE. Thanks to Megan's support and encouragement I'll soon get to check that off my bucket list.

One proud Momma!

Pictures: Top Left Cade on the stage, 4th place. Top Right: Parker on the stage, 6th place. Bottom picture: Cade and his favorite coach, Chad. They just finished playing the Mario Bros on the DS.

I hate to brag but I have the best kids in the world. We spent our weekend in Lawton for OKWA Novice State Tournament. This tournament was huge - a similar tournament to Tulsa Nationals a few weeks ago.

Parker and his coach decided to drop down to the next weight class. He usually wrestles 76lb and he dropped down to 73lb. Three pounds doesn't sound like very much but for a 9 year old... kind of a big deal! I have to applaud Parker for extreme discipline in his diet for 5 days. He ate like he was competing in Mr. Fitness. Of course that meant I had to fix 3 very healthy edible meals for him every day plus snacks. This also meant packing coolers for trips and having a sensible solution ready to eat for melt downs. The three pound drop made a huge difference because Parker won his first two matches beating his opponents by a total of 10-3. Parker wrestled five times throughout the day (which was a 12 hour day... no kidding) and ended up placing 6th. Not bad, huh?

Cade - Cade - Cade.... he is such a unique child. I find myself at a loss for words when I try to describe him. He is such a perfect blend of both Carey and myself. He has Carey's drive to accomplish goals with my out-look on life. Cade had 30+ kids in his bracket. He went into this tournament with complete confidence of placing 1-6. He told me, "I know I can beat almost all these kids." Cade won his first 4 matches putting him in the semi finals. He lost in the semi finals in the last 20 seconds. He ended up taking 4th place. Cade placed in every tournament except one this year. He broke his arm during the season and came back to get 4th in the STATE... one word... AMAZED!

Both the boys have learned and grown so much. They make me so proud by showing such strength in situations that are so difficult. They are my pride and joy!