spring arrival?

I see that it has been a little over a month since I've uploaded pictures to my computer and wandered over to my online journal.  In March, Reggie wrapped up his wrestling season and started swinging his bat, we had spring break, and Bryan celebrated his birthday.  The meteorologist said this morning that March felt more like April and April is feeling more like May.  For that, I am thankful.  My seed starting has taken over the dining room and patio, but I haven't gotten out to prepare my garden beds yet.

Reggie participated in three qualifier wrestling tournaments, earning two second places and one first place.  He qualified for the state tournament.  To comply with the Covid restrictions, the state tournament was spread out over two weekends.  He was only allowed one spectator, and because he wasn't there with a sanctioned team, he didn't have a coach.  While in a typical year, a state tournament would merit a stay in a hotel with a pool, eating out, extended family, and team comradery, this event was straight to the point.  I arrived with Reggie around 1:30 on a Sunday.  He went inside for weigh-ins, then came back out and we played cards in the van until he could get on the mats to warm up.  The wrestling was competitive and intense, and matches were spaced very closely together.  At times, I don't think Reggie got even fifteen minutes between matches, while typically there would be at least an hour. But Reggie accepted the challenge full-heartedly and earned a spot on the podium.  He had to overcome a number of obstacles to get there. We left the tournament three hours after we arrived and stopped for ice cream on the way home.  Reggie will continue his wrestling school until the end of the school year, but he is done competing for the season.  He is already gearing up for baseball!

Even without Covid, our spring break probably would have been scaled down this year because Brett's spring break landed on a different week than Reggie and Lydia's. I gave Brett the week off from home school, so we had half-days to do fun stuff. Most of our fun stuff ideas came from a book my sister-in-law gave us, The Adventure Challenge Family Edition.  The challenge that turned out to be the most fun was creating a life-size board game with sidewalk chalk on the driveway.  It took us most of a day to create and play the game! Another challenge was human "Hungry Hungry Hippos" using round candies and ballcaps to collect them.  We roasted hotdogs over a fire for the first time this year. Lydia's Violet celebrated her birthday with her very own salad and apple.  We had cupcakes.  We completed our tour of county parks.  Lydia and Bonnie shopped for earrings. We also got to see Meemaw and Papa and collect sap and make maple syrup. 

Also in March, we celebrated Pi Day with a homemade chicken pot pie and St Patrick's Day with corned beef, cabbage, potatoes and homemade Irish soda bread. I made turkey breasts for Bryan's birthday and Brett and Lydia made carrot cake bars with cream cheese frosting.  Bryan set up the basketball hoop and the kids have had their own March Madness.  The kids have been training for a 5K Special Olympics fundraiser, which is coming up in about a week. They've been playing a lot of chess, too.  I love the new patio and furniture we bought.  The table can be used for chess or checkers!  

Well, I think that brings us up to Easter, which I will save for another post soon.