The one where he turned EIGHT!!

My first born turned 8 years old on Saturday!  He started the day taking 2nd place at a wrestling tournament and after that we headed to Casa Bonita....a pretty incredible restaurant.  Then we did a little shopping and then headed back home to eat pizza and cake.  The finally he got to open some presents!  His first day as an 8 year old was a pretty good one!

The birthday boy!

Cute cousins...too bad you can't see the waterfall in the background

Excited for some cake

It was such a long day that 2 of the 6 kids slept through dinner, cake, and presents!

Pizza time!

My boy picked out cheese cake again this year

Blowing out 8 candles!

Some awesome new goalie gloves!!

I had forgotten it was winter

We have had such nice weather I had forgotten it is actually still winter.  We could not pass up the opportunity to play in the freshly fallen snow. 

This boy is such a stinker!!

Wrestling tournaments 4 and 5

Tucker had a great fourth and fifth tournament.  In the fourth tournament, he did awesome!!!!  Pinned his opponent every time.  He got his very first 1st Place trophy this time and was super proud of himself! 
In the fifth tournament he had a tough first match, they were pretty evenly matched and it really could have gone either way.  (I would like to see a rematch...I know Tucker can beat him).  He got really down on himself, but he did eventually snap out of it and came back to win his next 2 matches and took 2nd place in the tournament.   Tucker has a hard time loosing..he is driven to win every time so when he looses he shuts down, but his coaches were super proud of him for coming back and giving 100% effort.

Win by pin in the 3rd round

Win by pin in the 2nd round

Win by pin in the 1st round

WINNER!

1st Place Trophy!!

Getting a congrats from his coach!

2nd Place!!

MLK Day

Everyone had off on MLK day so we took advantage of the nice weather and went hiking.  We went to a nature preserve south of town and took the 4 mile loop trail.  The kids did great despite such a long hike.  Ty wasn't feeling the best, but still managed to walk over half of it.  Towards the end of the hike he fell asleep while I was carrying him and slept the whole rest of the hike.  After the hike we went across the street to one of my favorite playgrounds.  It is set up like an old western town and the kids had fun, but it was short lived because Kim was pushing the kids on the merry-go-round and caught her ring on it and majorly messed up her finger.  It looked horrible, but after a very long trip to the ER, she found out it wasn't broken.  Thankfully it is healing fast and despite her finger, we had a great day off.

Too cool to sit with the rest of the crew for lunch

Eating lunch

The evil merry-go-round

The cutest bank tellers you will ever see!

He was the only one who would take a pic for me

Ty's favorite thing...the canon!

My reason for slacking off just a little...

This year I wanted to make sure I stayed on top of my blogging (well, actually stay more on top of everything in life and not be such a procrastinator...) and I'm actually doing pretty good.  Although my blogging has slowed down a little, but it is for a good reason.  Currently I am taking an online class for my early childhood education degree!  I've know forever now that I want to teach preschool, but I have been focusing on my boys.  Now that Ty is 3 and no more baby plans for us, I am finally ready to move on with my educational goals.  I am hoping to go full time when Fall semester starts because Ty will be in half day preschool, but I decided to get a jump on things and just start it now!  It is a little more involved for an intro class than I was expecting, but they cram a lot into this 2 year degree program, so I say bring it on!

Wrestling Tournaments 2 and 3

Tucker had his 2nd and 3rd wrestling tournaments these past Saturdays.  The 2nd tournament was pretty tough for Tucker. He had to wrestle a boy who was at least 3 inches taller than him and he just couldn't get in to take a shot because this boy just tall.  He ended that day winning 1 match by points and loosing the other 2 matches by points.  He still ended up taking 3rd place.

The pictures below are from the 3rd wrestling tournament.  He was very nervous about wrestling again, but he got out there and worked really hard.  He won 2 of the 3 matches both by pins.  His second match he lost by points, but it was really tough match and close score at the end.  I'm so proud of him for getting back out there and working so hard.  He ended up with 2nd place.  He is looking forward to next Saturday.

match 1 win by pin

working hard to get the pin

match 3 win by pin

2nd Place!

Another Renaissance Assembly

The boys had their Renaissance Assembly for 2nd quater and I was super proud of them again!  They both worked hard and got the highest card this time!  I love that they are such hard workers and strive to do their very best in school.

Another Gold Card for Tucker

Trey getting a hug and his card from his teacher

Trey earned a Gold Card this time!

They both got selected for the game this time!

Lassoing trashcans...They both managed to lasso their cans!

A hike at Red Rocks

We took advantage of the mild weather and went for a hike at one of my favorite places.  It is beautiful and not very crowded. 

Ty reading the signs for us

Tucker's first Wrestling Tournament of the Season

Tucker joined a club wrestling team and this past weekend he wrestled in his first wrestling tournament.  He was so nervous about it, but once it came time to wrestle he did awesome.  His first match he won by points (12-8).  The second match he pinned the guy in the first round.  Then in his third match he pinned that guy too and he did it in 17 seconds (I will try to post the video that I took, but blogger is giving me trouble uploading things today).  He was so proud of himself and we were all so proud of him too.  I love wrestling, but man is it stressful to watch.  I'm so proud of my boy!

warming up for the tournament

Checking in for his first match

Working hard during his first match

Working on the pin

WIN

Waiting for his Championship match to start

1st Place!!

Tucker and his cousins...they took 2nd and 3rd