Wrestling Sectionals March 6 2010

So this weekend was Sectionals Tournament in Vandalia. Britton's first match was against a little kid who was actually in the 7-8 year olds, but their coach bumped him up so he could go to sectionals. They all were pretty confident and jumping around and showing alot of enthusiasm. Here is Britton doing exactly what his dad told him to NOT do..tie up with the head and try to throw him down...but our boys like this move for some reason... This is a cute picture of our cute wrestler

Troy loves this picture as Britton is "riding the legs" and doesnt even know it! haha.

Britton worked this kid over pretty good, even though his dad said his wrestling wasnt pretty! But I do love this pic of Britton on his toes! The ref called a pin just as the buzzer rang, so he reversed it and said no pin..he just won on points...bummer!

Jalan had a VERY tough weight class. He also got put in the absolute worst spot on the bracket, with him going in in 4th place. First match, the top kid....oh boy!

Thankfully the match didnt last long..so I dont have many pictures. Jalan got pinned in the first period. It wasnt pretty. This kid was GOOD...wrestling for years and very talented. Its ok buddy! Jalan has struggled since breaking his foot..not winning a match since! He came off so good, and has struggled ever since his injury. We think he forgot what winning felt like, and the more he lost, the less confident he got...it was a trap!

Brittons second match was just about the same as the first...same team and another 7-8 year old. This pic shows how Britton is out there. The kid is all ready to go, and Britton is so timid and shy, making sure everyone is ok and ready first..haha..they have to work on that for next year!

Britton doing a nice cross face, and he said the ref said "wipe that face clean"! haha..

Britton is very proud of this picture..rolling him over and using the leg like dad taught him...but he forgot to straighten the arm! Somehow the score didnt show how the match went..Britton beat him 4-2 only. Troy told him how easy that could have went bad with small scores like that...

But he did come out the winner! And on to the championship round! yipee!!

Jalan had lost his first, but luckily he got to "wrestle back" since the guy he lost to was going for championships. But once again, Jalan got in the worst spot there as well..so he got to wrestle this guy, the 2nd ranked guy, who had just lost to the guy jalan lost to in the first round...oh boy...this kid had pinned lexi, the girl from mt. vernon in about 10 seconds in regionals...

Well, this match was pretty much like the first...the guy took him down, Jalan gave up and he got pinned quickly. It was tough for Jalan to lose again, but he really didnt even try...he knew he was beat before he stepped on the mat, and that he was. He was knocked out of the tournament. Tough times. We love you buddy!

Britton's last match for Championship was going to be tough. This kid was experienced, and had the "fire". He was jumping around, and getting all ready, trying to intimidate Britton. Troy had watched him wrestle and told Britton to NOT tie up with him, and to shoot on him, and he could beat him...but if he did tie up, he would get him in the headlock and he would be in trouble...He started off good, but didnt shoot! Why wont they listen to dad???

Britton worked this kid pretty hard, and had him on top a few times...he looked like he would be ok to beat this kid.

He fought hard, but this kid had so much experience, he was quick to roll out of moves Britton got him in. Britton couldnt hold him off. He ended up losing 13-5. While we were so proud of Britton for taking 2nd place in Sectionals, he was not happy with 2nd place...Losing was not in his vocabulary! Great job bud!

Jalan was not this happy most of the day, after getting beat out, but here he is later when he had started feeling better, sporting his sectionals tshirt with PORTER on the back! We are proud of you Jalan for working hard and doing great your first year!

This was a great learning year for the boys, and they did excellent! We are so proud of them both. I also want to say on here how proud I am of Troy...I already bragged to his family, but I will brag here for the rest of you. Troy was such a great dad, teacher and coach to the boys this year. He was so supportive and loving and there for the boys no matter what happened on the mat. I was so proud of how he handled this tough situation. He never yelled at them or got mad at them...he was always there with a hug and words of affirmation or consolation, regardless of how they did. I saw many dads this year yelling at their boys and blowing up, but not my hubby. He showed such great love and caring for his two little guys. I love him so much for that! Just wanted to give him some appreciation too!

Cabinets-in progress

Ok, so you asked for it..here it is, not done yet. This is the island..minus the countertop, sink and dishwasher...oh ya, and bar...so excited!! Here is one wall. Troy has so nicely already gotten my fridge in, microwave and oven installed too...looking so good dont you think?? I LOVE the crown molding!

The oven and desk area. Once we get the countertops and backsplash in it will change dramatically...hopefully within 2 weeks it will be finished!! They came yesterday to measure for the countertops...I am getting the integrated sink into the solid surface countertop!! yipee..a dream of mine for say...almost 10 years...so ready!!

I am so in love with this kitchen, and cant wait until it is finally finished. It has been a long time coming!! I will keep you posted with the progress until its done!

Halfway there

Ok, so the cabinets are mostly in...today they come to finish up the moldings and finishing touches...I am debating if I should show pics of it half done or wait until it is finished.....cant decide. We will see. I am on cloud 9 today!!

They are here!

So the cabinets are here!! Yesterday the delivery truck brought these beautiful babies to our house! yeah!!! So here is Troy peeking in to see what they look like! Here is what they brought...it pretty much filled in the whole entry room...the guy said, "I hope your kitchen's big enough" haha...it is!!

So here are a few pics of the before...the kitchen empty!!

dont you just love this wall..with layers and layers of gross stuff under there??ughh...cant wait to cover that up!! plus we changed wall colors like 6 times, and we arent sure about this tan either..we will see:)

the darker brown is the older color we painted, and didnt like how it matched with the cabinets, so we changed to the lighter tan...what do you think?? I guess we will see when the cabinets are in...

And the installer comes today!! I am sitting here waiting patiently..not really...for him to get here and start putting them in! I will post the after pictures tomorrow when he's done! yeah! of course, we have to wait another week or two for the countertops..but I can wait, its almost done!!

IKWF Regional Tournament

Here is our boys wrestling team. These are their coaches as well. What a group! Britton got paid a dollar from one of the boys for making a face...little stinker! WE went down Saturday to Herrin for the IKWF Regional Tournament. (Illinois Kids Wrestling Federation) Here are our 2 studs all ready for the Regionals!

Britton found out there were only 2 boys in his weight class...and he was one of them! haha. He was only to wrestle one match for Championship...and this boy he had pinned in one of his first tourneys in 30 seconds....so....we knew it wouldnt even be a match. Troy told him to not go and pin him right away, to try some moves on him....

But he didnt listen and pinned him in 31 seconds....He said it was too hard since the kid was too easy to do anything with! haha. Good job Baluba!

And he is the winner! Jalan had 4 kids in his bracket, making him automatically advancing to Sectionals next weekend...the top 4 go. Jalan's first match was against a girl from Mt Vernon. She beat him in the previous tournament. Jalan was pretty confident that he was not gonna let her beat him again! He was sooo great off the start. He was quick and looked so good...but she tied up with him, and got him in the headlock, and before he knew it, she had a takedown with 3 back points. Jalan managed to stay out of being pinned. Look how good he looks in his wrestling stance!

The second period started off good, Jalan was working her good, and got a reversal, but somehow, she got him in the headlock again, and another 5 point takedown and back points.

The third period he was down 11-3. He had gotten a point for her stalling, and she got an escape. We knew he could still pin her...he worked her over really good, but she just stayed on the bottom and stalled, so Jalan couldnt get her in a good position, and ended up losing. Boy was he upset! We knew he could do it, but he just needed to work on finishing the moves..and get some more experience! She has been wrestling for several years, it makes a difference!

Jalan's last match was a boy from Mt Vernon, who had beat Jalan at the previous tourney as well. Jalan can beat him easy, so we were hoping for the best. Jalan took off so great, and did a nice cross face to rough up the kid right off the bat...but...it went downhill from there.

Jalan could beat this kid, but he was sloppy and didnt finish his moves that Troy has been teaching him, but he will beat him next time! He ended up pinning Jalan in a freak move...Jalan was VERY upset, and couldnt stop crying, much to his dads dismay! Poor kid. the little punk boy always goes up to Jalan and trash talks him after, and it makes me so mad!! We cant wait for the day that Jalan whips his butt, which will happen soon!! Here is our Regional Champion!! He just had to go stand on the podium for a picture!

Jalan, again not thrilled with his medal, or with mom taking a picture so close to his losing his match..

We are so proud of our boys, they are awesome wrestlers!!

Our CHS cheerleaders

So we finally got to go to one of the girls games the other night. Our lives are so crazy, there is never a free night! Anyway..here are our cute cheerleaders....GO ORPHANS!

Ofallon tournament

So things have been so crazy around here, I havent updated our happenings in a while. so two weekends ago, Jalan and Britton had a wrestling tournament in Ofallon. This was Jalan's first match back since breaking his foot, and we were a little nervous. He had been out over 2 months. Troy was on call this weekend, so mom had to go it alone with the boys...bad luck! Jalan had a hard time getting his "wrestling legs" back. He had to wrestle 5 matches in one day! And...he took 6th place...losing all 5 matches. Anyone who knows Jalan, once he gets down, he has no confidence and pretty much gave up the rest of the day. We were really sad. He still got a medal, but he wasnt too thrilled with it! Britton, of course, had a very easy bracket. He only had to wrestle 2 times, and won both, taking first place! yeah!! Here he is with his second trophy. Great job buddy!! I didnt have any pics of their matches, since I had to do the video recording for dad..:(