Academic Excellence

Congrats to Ellen! She has worked hard...and has achieved "academic excellence". Due to all of her hard work, we, her family, get to go eat dinner tonight and watch the awards presentation. Im sure it will be long and drawn out and probably somewhat boring, but so very worth it when they call Ellen's name to come get her certificate. Good job sis...keep up the good work!

Help!

I twisted my ankle pretty badly on Wednesday night...well, I blame Carl! We were at wrestling practice and I wrapped my leg around Carl's, like he was showing the girls to do, and he proceeded to throw me, like he was showing the girls to do, only somehow my leg got in the way and twisted around in a weird way. After lying on the mat for about 10 minutes trying not to cry, I hobbled out to the van and went home. I could tell immediately that it was bad when I couldn't even push down the gas peddle on the way home without excruciating pains shooting up my calf. Waaaa!! I made my way down to my bedroom (in the basement) and elevated & iced my poor throbbing ankle.
It felt pretty good the next morning so I eased out of bed attempting to put a little bit of weight on it....NO WAY! The pain was immense so I hopped the rest of the way into my bathroom. It was then that I realized there was no way I could make it upstairs. I was stuck in bed for the day. Normally this wouldn't seem to be such a bad thing ... but the dogs needed to go out and I was hungry... this wasn't good. About 30 minutes later Meg's nurse called saying she was sick and needed to come home...well I cant get to the car, let alone drive! so I told the nurse that I was stranded in the basement and she arranged to have someone bring her home. This was great news...at least I wouldn't be stuck home alone! Megan was truly sick and proved to be no help to me at all so I called and requested that Ellen walk home from school to nurse us. Ellen cooked for me and took care of the dogs....it was wonderful.
Today my ankle seems to be a little better....I put just a little bit of weight on it this morning so I packed up my stuff and had Carl help me upstairs. I didn't want to be stuck home alone in the basement again today! At least I can crawl to the kitchen and let the dogs out or get something to eat if I need to. The only bad thing about being up here is the fact that the kids didn't clean up after themselves at all yesterday and the house is in shambles. I am planning to sit here all day and make a list of chores that need to be done when they get home from school....I have nothing better to do. :)

Missouri Rookie State Wrestling Tournament

The 2009 Rookie State tournament was held in St. Joseph MO this year and I was pretty excited for Madison to be wrestling in it. It is a tournament held for 6 & unders and first year wrestlers from all over the state of MO. It was at our last girls tournament in Emporia KS that Ellen mentioned that she would be interested in practicing and possibly wrestling in the next girls tournament at the end of February. A few weeks ago she said that she wanted to be entered into the Rookie tournament too even though she would be wrestling boys. I still cant believe it....Ellen is so weird about wrestling in front of boys, let alone against boys....but we applied for her USA wrestling card and entered her into the tournament.
So this past weekend me, Carl & one of his wrestlers, Jenny Germany (who just took 2nd at Nationals) took the girls to St. Joseph for the big event. It was crazy there....there were 15 mats and more kids than I had ever seen at a meet before. Ellen was first to wrestle between her and Madi and she was up against a pretty tall kid that was nothing but muscles. She got pinned pretty early in that match and afterward told me that she was so nervous that she was on the verge of crying throughout the entire match and felt like she could throw up at any time. At least now that she had wrestled her first match, she had that out of her system! Madi had her first match and did pretty well but ended up getting pinned in the second round. Ellen wrestled one more time and fought pretty hard...it was much better than the last one, but she still ended up getting pinned just as the first round was ending. Madi lasted longer in her second round as well but also got pinned. Madi's best friend Levi however took 1st place in his weight group and left as State Champion for 10 & under 120lb group! Yay Levi! All in all, it was a VERY long and stressful day for me and the girls...but a lot of fun. Now we cant wait for Feb. 28...MO Girls Tournament in KC!!!

2009 Girls Wrestling Camp

Girls wrestling camp will be from June 28 to July 2 2009 this year at Missouri Valley College in Marshall MO. Madi and Ellen will be participating this year and I'm really excited about it. I need to start planning activities early this year. We plan to have some great energy at camp this year. Hopefully camp this year will exceed camps past and may just involve another famous flour fight! Those are always fun...especially right after swimming! Nothing mixes better with flour than water...to make for a big pasty competition!
For more information on Missouri Valley College Girls Wrestling Camp contact Carl Murphree at murphreec@moval.edu .

Busy Times

A lot has been going on lately. Madi is in a wrestling tournament every weekend, which involves getting up @ 430 a.m. to travel...sitting on hard bleachers all day...then travelling home. Its exhausting and generally takes a day or 2 to recoup afterwards. She has practice 2-4 times per week in the evenings and of course the holidays + Ellen's birthday came and went in between.

Whew....

Sometimes I feel like I barely have time to breathe, let alone keep up with a blog! Maybe its a good thing that I dont have many people following my blog!

The girls got a Wii for Christmas, along with the Guitar Hero World Tour bundle with the drums & microphone. They also got a Wii Fit (which I have taken control of) and some other games. We spend so much time playing Wii! The entire family (minus Meg most of the time) is in the livng room together playing tennis & golf...bowling, skiiing, doing yoga....it is SO much fun...and great to spend time together as a family. This was a great investment!

Madi had a tournament in Jefferson City yesterday and kicked butt! I told her on the way there that I knew at some point the fighter in her would come out and then she would realize that she can beat these boys and yesterday was that day. She had the first kid an inch away from being pinned for over 30 seconds until time ran out. It ended up in a tie and the kid won the tie breaker but Madison fought til the end....I was so proud of her! We are looking forward to a couple of all girl tournaments coming up...Ill keep everyone posted!

Weekend Activities

Here are a few pics of Madi's 1st wrestling match!

Here she is warming up...

she was so nervous that she walked out onto the mat biting her fingernails.

They shook hands and off they went...


Madi wasnt being very aggressive, she spent more time trying to defend herself


This kid had no mercy...we found out later that he was a state champ last year.

And theres the pin....it didnt last long...but everything seemed to be happening in slow motion.

I was a nervous wreck the entire time!

This kid came up to her after the match and said she did a good job and patted her on the back.

I thought it was sweet....he knew how nervous she was.

The Rockettes!!!

We spent all day Saturday in St. Louis. It was such a great day! Em & Chris have an awesome apartment on the top floor of this huge building. It was really cool. We all exchanged gifts and then went down to the fabulous Fox Theatre, where Em works, to see the show. We went into the private entrance and the place was breathtaking. I cant put into words how beautiful this theatre is. All of the details were overwhelming and we hadnt even seen inside the theatre yet...this was just the hallway! The lobby area was amazing...the enormous ceiling and great detail in all the painting and woodwork. There is no way I could justify it with words.

We had private club level seats, which were big comfortable chairs around a little table. Our waiter kept our drinks full through the entire show and the kids had french fries, candied nuts and rock candy suckers during the performance.....and the performance...WOW! It was so fun....the Rockettes are amazing. The wooden soldier part was my favorite. It is unbelievable how they do some of the stuff that they do. When they all fell down on each other, like dominoes, we couldnt beleive it...it was wonderful! One of the best parts of the show was the live Nativity scene. They had Mary on a real donkey....the set was spectacular! The wise men's clothes were beautiful and the camel's were so sweet! Madi swears she saw one guy whispering harshly to his camel and was all worried about it.

Anyway...all in all, we had a very amazing, fun-filled, exhausting weekend that words cant even completely describe.

Rockettes....Here We Come!

Thats right!

We're going to see the the Radio City Christmas Spectacular featuring the world famous Rockettes!!!

Emilee works at the Fox Theatre in St. Louis and has acquired several tickets to this wonderful show and invited Carl, me, the girls & my mom to go see the show on Sunday. Em even said that we wont be sitting in general admission seats...we will be sitting in the Fox Club Seating, with a private entrance & waitresses come around throughout the show to bring dinner & drinks. I cant express to Emilee how very grateful we are...this is a once in a lifetime opportunity & I can hardly wait!

More booties & onesies

Here are the pics of the other sets that I made for the baby shower.....the moms-to-be loved them!

Bitty Booties & Onesie

2 of Carl's wrestlers are pregnant with boys so I have been making booties with matching onesies to give to them at their baby showers. I got the bootie pattern from Heather Bailey's website, which I love, and the idea for the onesies from Martha Stewart's show. I dont normally watch Martha Stewart, but I do love her....I just happened to stumble across the program one day and thought the onesies were really cute. I took pics of this first set but have actually made 2 sets of booties & onesies for each baby. If I can remember, Ill take pics of the others tomorrow before I wrap them up.

Gobble Gobble

Thanksgiving is here, and Im sure everyone is looking forward to the turkey. Well, everyone except for the poor turkey.
I was watching the news last night and heard that there was a man delivering live turkeys in New York when a freak accident occured, and several of the turkeys were thrown carelessly from the truck. Thank goodness, they survived the incident and could be heard gobbling, "WE'RE FREE! ... Run for it!" Of course the police came and an ambulance (not for the turkeys), and since the driver and truck were fine, the driver was released to go on with his delivery. But not before they caught the turkeys that were thrown free and PUT THEM BACK ON THE TRUCK. Can you believe that? Why would they do that? I think this accident happened for a reason....maybe God wanted them turkeys free. Maybe they had families to return to. Oh no....the police caught the poor little guys and put them back on that truck which led to their certain death.
So as you all sit down today to eat your delicious turkey dinner....think of the poor little turkeys that were almost home with their families...but now are probably in the bellies of yours.
I leave you with a Thanksgiving song.....sung to the tune of "Oh Christmas Tree" :
Oh turkey leg, Oh turkey leg...Im glad you lost your feathers
Oh turkey leg, Oh turkey leg....your skin's as tough as leather
If you could speak to us right now...You'd say, "Why me, and not a cow?"
Oh turkey leg, Oh turkey leg, We'll see you next at Christmas"
Sorry turkeys!

We survived the frozen tundra

I think no matter how many scarves you pack, you cant be totally prepared for North Dakota weather. It is about a 13 hour drive to Jamestown ND...and that is only if no one wants to eat or use the restroom along the way. We stopped in Sioux City, IA and stayed the night. That was a nice, relaxing stay. We got there about 8pm so Madi had time to swim in the pool and we (those of us that didnt have to make weight the following morning) walked over to Culver's for dinner and ice cream. The girls that were trying to make weight were working out and making steam rooms in their bathrooms so they weren't out socializing much, but the rest of us had fun. The girls weighed in at 7am the next morning and then we were free to eat and be merry. Spirits were up more now so people were a lot more talkative and happy on the bus. We drove on to Jamestown and ate dinner and settled in to our hotel room there. We all walked (yes, it was very cold) over for frozen yogurt and hung out at the hotel. Carl had a coaches meeting at the college and Madi went to play charades with some of the wrestlers in their rooms while I hung out in my room relaxing and playing Sims on the laptop. The next day Carl and the girls left for the tournament around 7am....Madi and I stayed in bed and watched TV until 11. We took a bus (which Madi hated) to the college for wrestling until 4pm. This was a VERY long day. Right after the tournament ended we drove an hour to Fargo and had dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings (yum) and then headed south. We made it all the way to Sioux Falls SD before stopping for the night....then up REALLY early the next morning and off for the 9 hour drive home. Needless to say, we're exhausted. Madi is sick now...I think this trip just sucked the health out of her. She is home today from school to recuperate and will hopefully be all well and good by Thursday!

Heading North

There is a wrestling tournament in Jamestown North Dakota tomorrow and I am the assistant bus driver for the trip. Carl's assistant coach couldnt make it so Madi and I are on our way to the frozen north. After much deliberation we made the decision to allow Megan and Ellen to stay home alone for the next few days. Megan is 17 now and Ellen is a very responsible 13 ...not to mention that they have several viscious dogs there to protect them (and keep parties from happening).
The temperature in Jamestown over the next few days is supposed to be FREEZING COLD so we packed plenty of layers to wear. The girls will only be wrestling for one day...but it will be a long day so Madi and I may try to brave the weather and walk somewhere. There will be breakfast with Santa at the hospital ... about a block away from the tournament ... and there is an art museum and some shops we could browse through. Of course it may be so cold that we decide to just watch wrestling.

Caesar

Julius Caesar was a big success. Megan and I had seats near the center about 12 rows back. It was perfect! This was the first time I had ever seen a baroque (long O sound....not pronounced like our new President) opera before so I must admit I was a little shocked when Caesar started singing...it was all I could do not to snicker a little (Meg says I did). Most popular operas that are performed now were written in the 1800's & 1900's but this one is from the mid 1700's and back then all masculine male roles were sung in very high pitched voices. Once again...it would have been nice if I had known this in advance. Overall, it was a great performance....great opera.... and Megan and I both had a wonderful time and really like it a lot!

Julius Caesar -- the opera

Meg and I are off to the opera...just the two of us! Meg is studying Julius Caesar in her English 2 class and I found out that Julius Caesar the opera is being performed tonight at the Lyric Opera of KC so off we go! Carl and Madi both have wrestling practice so they cant go...and Ellen cant put her book down for 5 minutes so shes not going either. It will be nice to be able to spend a fun evening with just me and Megan. It has been a while since we have been able to do that. Im sure this will be a great opera anyway...its all about desire, seduction & power...what could go wrong?!?

Back to Quilting

Ive started working on my quilt again over the weekend and this morning. I had quit working on it for almost all of October because I was busy with halloween costumes and other things. I must say it is nice to feel like Im making progress toward the quilt again, but I am hating the pinwheels. What used to be so much fun and exciting is now a tedious downer. They are really pretty and cool to look at, as long as someone else is making them. Kathy gave me a wonderful guide to an easier way of making them...THANKS KATHY!....but I still dont enjoy them nearly as much as I used to. The pattern that I am using calls for 90 pinwheels and after making 12 this morning, I now have 70 done. I know...most people would say "Wow, your almost there, why not just bust them out and get it over with?"...and I would say "why dont you come over and bust them out for me...Im tired of them." So now I am going to piece some blocks together and cut squares and maybe Ill feel like doing more pinwheels in a day or two.
P.S.
I was going to take a picture of the blocks but one of my lovely daughters has used my camera and didnt put it back where it belongs...so now we will have to wait until they get home from school and return it.

Our New President

Broc Obama

Election day was a lot of fun for us. I was really excited to go and cast my vote on Nov. 4 2008. Carl and I generally always go together and this time was no exception. We talked all morning about the issues that would be on the ballot and looked things up online so that we would be educated voters this time. Not that we normally arent, but there always seems to be something on the ballot that I didnt remember reading about or dont know much about ... so this time we went in prepared.

The girls came home from school all abuzz about who their classmates voted for and who won at their school...Obama won at both Bueker Middle School and the High School. Ellen said that Bueker has picked the president for as far back as any of the teachers can remember so I became a little worried. Madi and Ellen both voted for McCain...Ellen had been campaigning around the house for Obama for weeks and changed her mind at the last minute. Madi never waivered in her choice. She told me back in April or May that she was picking McCain. She had learned that he has a lot of pets...16 or 17...and thought that if he could manage that many pets, he could manage our country. Shes very wise for a 10 year old. Megan, on the other hand, chose Obama. I think she just liked him because everyone in her school was saying that McCain was an old fart and Obama was younger so he would be a better president. They didnt really have any facts...typical for teenagers, if you ask me....and this is my blog so my opinion is the only one that matters. hahaha

Anyway...we attended an Election Extravaganza at the college library that evening. There was folk music, cookie voting contest, funny masks for everyone to wear of their favorite candidate, door prizes (I won a calendar), and of course we all watched the progress of the election on TV. It was a lot of fun...but all good things must come to an end. We came home and continued to be glued to the news/internet watching the results....Obama wins....congratulations Megan...she is the sole winner in our house!

Happy Birthday Meg!

My sweet little girl turned 17 today.

We spent the day at Worlds of Fun yesterday

for Meg's birthday and she took her best friend Christy with us.

Every time we go to amusement parks Meg has always refused to ride anything that

goes upside down. She loves roller coasters, as long as they stay upright.

This drives me crazy because I know she will like them if she would just try it...

but NOOOOOOO...she wont even try....until yesterday.

Yesterday Christy convinced her to try the Patriot, and guess what?!?

Yep! She loved it!

She then went and tried the Boomerang and loved that one too.

I was so proud and we all had a lot of fun!

She's growing up!

Goth Barbie

Ellen was Goth Barbie for halloween this year. I found this cool dress at a consignment shop here in Marshall and it worked out perfectly! The super goth shoes I found on eBay and may have paid too much for them, but it all looked great! Ellen's barbie box was fun to make, we covered it with pink wrapping paper and wrote funny "goth" things on it. A couple of things we put were ... Accessories Included : Home Facial Piercing Kit, Punk Black Lipstick, Overall Bad Attitude....it was really funny. We had a lot of fun with the costumes this year. Halloween isnt officially over yet but we're already thinking about next year!....

Madi's costume 2008

Last night (10/28/2008) Madi went to "Trick or Treating on the Square" here in Marshall and her costume was a big success. We usually dont go to this event because their homemade halloween costumes always involve a lot of preparation and I dont want to go through it twice but Madi really wanted to go so we did. Im glad we did, it was so much fun seeing everyone come up to her and comment on the costume. She even had her picture taken twice by the local newspaper. Hopefully we will see her in the paper in the next few days.

Im now on facebook