Oh the most favorite holiday of them all... In October that is! This year, Little J did NOT get to go trick or treating due to basketball practice (he is trying out for the middle school team).. so - the hubby took our favorite "cat" our for awhile... then we picked up Little J and headed to CWU for some games and candy... gotta love free candy!
Today was DAY ONE of the Fair! Little J will be showing in Market classes today. Market class is where the judge is looking at the conformation, build, condition and market "value" of the animal. For pigs - they must weigh between 230 and 300 pounds to qualify for the Market class. Speedy weighed in at 230 (JUST BARELY) and Twister came in at a respectable 250. For goats, the judge looks at the same things and the minimum weight is 70 pounds. Lady Baabaa weighed in at 84lbs.. one of the smallest goats, but she is also the prettiest (in my opinion!)
Today was our final wrestling tourneyment of the season (can you say WHOOHOOOO!) Even though we went to four meets, Little J did not medal at any... he came in 4th place twice - but no medal.... until today! He won both his matches and got to wrestle in the championship round!!! He was psyched! He has done really well this year! He ended up with the silver and he was REALLY proud of how well he had done.... overall a great season!!!
Around our house.... March signals wind, cold, the potential start of spring, and of course WRESTLING season!! Today was our first match in Royal City - a really really small town about an hour east of us (aka - the toolies!!).
Both boys won their first matches, which meant that they would be wrestling at least two more times. Little J lost his second match, so he qualified for the consoluation round (3rd and 4th place). In that round, he lost 1-0... he was a little bummed - but thrilled that he ended the first meet with a 4th place finish and one pin!
Big Al won his first, then was working really hard on his second match... while taking the other wrestler to the mat, the other child landed wrong - and broke his arm! It was awful to watch and just as awful to sit there while the kid is in horrendous pain! Ugh - not fun! Big Al then went on the wrestle in the championship round. His heart was not in it (understandably) and he lost by 3 points. He had a tough day and decided it was just time to leave after that match. I was a bit surprised that he didn't even want his medal... but its understandable...
Now... to see if they still want to do this NEXT Saturday (and every ((UGH)) Saturday in March)
Big Al in the Championship match
Little J getting ready to start his match
Well, it's official! Little J's team, the Blue Devils won't be completely defeated this season!!! They won their FIRST (and probably only) game this season!! It was an awesome game to watch! Little J scored 8 points and had a great game!!!
I am having a hard time with how fast time has flown!!! My little guy is TWELVE today... Holy Cow! 12!! Where did the time go???? And man oh man has he grown!!
Happy Birthday Little J (or should I start calling him medium J?)
This season in Basketball, Little J has really come out of his shell! While his team has yet to win a game (yep- I had to mention it!) they have tried really hard! Of course I am a biased Mom, but Little J has ALOT more hustle than 90% of the kids on his team. Not saying that to be mean, just factual... a few kids on his team can hardly run for more than 10 seconds without having to stop... pretty sad! Must be the fact that we constantly have him outside and not in front of a computer or the tv...
He has really come to love Basketball! Which is great, because it is a sport that "just" he is into (meaning no brother involved - lol!) and he loves that fact! Hopefully, next weekend they will have a winning game... keeping my fingers crossed!!
Today was Little J's first basketball game of the season...His team, the Blue Devils, lost today by one point - 20 to 19, even though they led most the game. The boys all seemed to have a great time, especially since most of them know each other from school and other activities. Little J scored his teams' first basket of the season and ended the game with 6 points! He had a great time, which is the most important part!
What boy does not have the dream of tearing around on motorcycles all day long?? Ok, I know more than a few that DON'T think that would be fun... but my two... well... they really dig it!
Right before New Years, some good friends of ours, their sons, and the hubby and the boys went about an hour south of here and enjoyed riding in the "desert"! It is a great place - wide open with some hills to climb, room to whip around, and of course some jumps!
The really GREAT thing about motorcycles is the fact that if the boys are both on the bikes - they leave each other alone (for the most part)... no fighting, very little bickering - and it makes it alot harder for them to get in trouble! Since I usually do not go on these events, the hubby gets the more fun activity (while I get a much quieter house and alot of Princess time!) of having to keep those boys in line!
While it CAN be dangerous (Big Al came home with a shiner and a little roughed up).. it is a great thing for these two to be able to burn off some energy - while both getting to spend some time with old friends.
Hopefully, they both can keep their behavior in line for the next trip!!
Little J managed to "capture" one of our cats - Lyger.... who is very smart when he thinks that there is a child in pursuit of holding him... he is one smart cat and hides up on the cupboards in the kitchen! He is such a big sweetie though!
Tonight was the winter quarter/Holiday Band Concert... I have to admit - they have gotten ALOT better since the first concert two months ago! At first, Little J did not want to pose much pictures, but he soon got goofy and changed his tune!
I made the "mistake" of letting Little J take my camera on their little road trip over the weekend.. here is just a SAMPLE of the 200+ pictures he took in 36 hours.. 
I am having a hard time believing that my Little J is actually going to the Middle School!!! WOW! He is really excited (and I think alot nervous!) to go into 6th grade! Here he is on the first day....
Little J showing Chopper in the Show Ring
Little J and Shiloh in the Show Ring
The Fair seems to come sooner and sooner every year! We are never quite ready for it to get here and then always really really ready for it to be over - haha!
This was a tough year, since Little J was going to be doing the Fair all by himself, since Big Al is in Montana.
Little J's two pigs were primped and pampered and feed really well.. washed, clipped, wormed, scrubbed and exercised... more than ready! Shiloh walked into weigh in sporting a healthy 268 pounds. Chopper, sadly had pushed the weight limit of 300 pounds at 304... which is fine because we knew that one of them would be freezer filler :)
Little J and his piggies took Blue Ribbons in all his classes. He was pretty proud of himself and enjoyed Fair (for the most part)!
At the end of the year school bbq and field day, Miss O got some help on the rock wall at the school from her soon-to-be-graduated 5th grade brother! Wow- how time flies! Hard to believe that this was the only year that these two will be at the same school!! sniff sniff!
We got thru the entire wrestling season! Whooo hooooo! Both boys did really well! Little J is finally able to really use what he has learned and does a whole lot less crying! haha! Big Al is getting better and better - but he needs to gain weight to be able to have someone else to wrestle! Here are both boys at the Ellensburg Wrestling Club end of year match! Way to go boys!
