Happy Face, Sad Face

District XC was today. The top 3 teams move on to Regionals to compete as a team. the top 10 individuals move on to compete on their own. Gatesville WON!! 3 in the top ten, 5 in the top 20. Abate will go on to Regional with the team. He came in 11th he will not compete individually. He was devastated. He missed it by 5 seconds. His injuries still plagued him, he hasn't had a hard workout in two weeks. His ankle was hurting him for most of the race as he miss-stepped into another one of those dreadful huge holes caused by the drought. He kept pushing. At the two mile mark he was in around 20th place, I was discouraged. I could see the pain on his face. He ran on down into the loop out of sight. When they reappeared I thought I was seeing things - that couldn't be him - so close to the leaders? It was! Abate was sprinting, he was pushing the limits, he was so close. So close...but what he did he did for the team, while he may have missed qualifying as an individual, his performance in that last mile won the meet for the team. I couldn't have been prouder! To me he is a superstar! My hero. No sad faces here, just one of sheer joy.

Finding Inspiration

Well we are in the final weeks of the Autumn sports frenzy. There are only two football games left, and it's doubtful Abate will be allowed to play in either of the two. The coaches are not about to let him risk an injury as we head into the final cross country meets. Fantu on the otherhand is toughing it out with an injured hamstring and is still cheering, but hasn't raced in weeks. This week is the District meet. High school races on Wednesday morning, Jr. High that afternoon. For Jr. high it is the final race, but for High school the top 10 individual runners and the top 2 teams will race at regionals in Houston on Nov. 5th. From there the top 2 teams and top 10 individuals will race at the state meet on Nov. 12 in Round Rock. We are hopeful that the Varsity team will qualify for State, the last time Gatesville sent a team was in 1993. Dare we hope to dream that this will be the year?
I'm sure everyone that follows these posts wonder if Abate and Fantu actually study or even take any academic classes since I seem to only mention sports. Fantu is an average student. SHe is very clever and if she asserted herself in her studies she could do very well, but Fantu being Fantu is thrilled to just not have failed any of her classes. Woo hoo Mom look no F's! Abate used to try to make all A's, then he became happy with a B or two. Now as long as nothing is lower than a B he is content. High School it seems holds too many distractions for A's to be so all important. So how do we motivate them to do better? How do we get them interested in putting forth that extra effort to improve. Now I've never been one of those parents that award good grades with money. Paying children to do something that doing well should be enough of a reward. I just never felt it was the right thing to do. But I never had kids like Abate and Fantu, they love doing things well to get some extra money to spend. So Alan and I re-thought it and came up with the following plan. We have their first report cards of the year and are 3 weeks into the 2nd 6 week grading period. In their academic subjects for each point the raise their grade they make a dollar, for each A they get a $5 bonus. Should their grades drop where they would owe us money, they have to work it off by doing the other's chores for a week. This makes it a bit competitive, and a bit fun. Where it stands right now at the 3 week mark - Fantu has a $4 credit. Abate is in the hole - Fantu is hopeful she will get Abate to do her chores, I feel sorry for him if things don't change. I wouldn't want to clean her room, She picks up her clothes on Saturday morning - and never again until the following Saturday. It's a mess by friday evening. Fantu also has to clean the living room and of course shares the dishwashing with Abate. He would have to do all that if his grades don't improve. Is Abate worried... no. He is always at this point halfway through the grading period, by the time it ends, his grades have all come up. If he could only do what he does the final 3 weeks for the entire 6 weeks, he'd make straight A's. I will have to remember to post an update after the reports come out to let everyone know if this worked or not. They do seem a bit more inspired to do better.

A Short Break in Training

Luckily that was the only break. Abate's leg was fine by the end of the week and the x-rays showed no sign of a fracture or other injury. He was back on the field Friday afternoon after the all-clear by the Doctor. His next race will be this Saturday morning here in Gatesville. It's just a Fun Run. The district meet will be next on October 26th. Training is getting much more intense. He also has returned to Football practice, his game will be tomorrow night, back with the Freshman Squad as the Punter/Field Goal kicker and probably a bit of offense too. I'm excited about the game.

Fantu has also missed nearly two weeks of practice, first after taking ill after getting dehydrated at the cross country meet, then pulling her hamstring. She is back at practice this week and competed in the XC meet yesterday. She hasn't talked much about it, except that she had fun. She'll be back at Cheerleading tomorrow but will be at an out of town game so I'll miss it.

It has been crazy busy at work so a holiday weekend was well deserved this past weekend - Thank you Columbus for your contribution to a paid holiday for government workers. I was able to tackle a few things that needed doing around the house plus get a few minutes relaxation in there at some point in the middle of the afternoon.

We finally got some measurable rain this past weekend, oh the pleasure of hearing the rain fall throughout the night and into the morning. It was a sound that had become a distant memory. We are also getting a break in temperatures, we are getting a few more seasonable temps more frequently and it isn't venturing into the upper 90's very often. Tomorrow 79f for the high and upper 50's overnight. Do I dare dream of pulling a sweater out of storage? Snow is starting to fall in the Colorado - Rockies, and the weekly runs up there look like they'll be a regular fixture on Alan's weekly schedule. He has built up a bit of seniority now there so hopefully he can avoid the loads that take him over multiple mountain passes in a day. I envy the beauty that he sees there each week, but not the dangers of the roads.Good thing these kids keep me so busy as it doesn't leave me much time to think (or worry).

I think the kids are spending a bit too much time in front of the telly this evening so I'd better go get them going on their homework. No breaks for me!

Take a Bow

Caleb celebrated his 6th Birthday last weekend. He had a whole lot of presents to open. Hestarted by opening a few cards - he loved getting money that was tucked inside a few of them.He then opened the two presents we brought for him. The first was a photo book I had made that told the story with pictures from our Summer Road trip that he went on with us. We also gave him a Lego mobile police unit, something he played with for several days afterward. He then opened a small simply wrapped present from his Aunt Andre'. The excitement and expression on his face was priceless. And what was the present that elicited such squeals of delight from this 6year old... A Bow Tie! Just what he had been asking for.

Do Over's

Do you ever hear when a child makes a mistake or gets beat at something they will ask for “do-overs”? Well this was one of those weeks I would like a do-over. It was one of those weeks that brings out that Parental protective instinct to the surface.

The week started out with Fantu having a bit of trouble at cheerleading. There was one particular girl that kept trying to boss several of the girls around. When it was Fantu's time to start a cheer this girl kept getting on to her that she was doing the wrong cheer, it wasn't right, wasn't her turn... well you get idea. She had also been doing this to a few of the other girls during the game. Fantu is not one for having a peer try to dominate her. She blew up in a fiery anger, she had to be held off beating the crap out of this girl. Luckily it didn't come to blows but it definitely got the attention of the cheer coaches.
When I picked Fantu up she was honest with me about losing her temper and wanting to beat this girl up, well in fact she was still wanting to. She was even angrier because this girl along with her Mother claimed total innocence in the whole matter, they even said Fantu cussed her out, something Fantu denied (and Fantu cannot tell a lie). I of course got a call a short time later from the coach. We talked about what had happened. I also filled her in that Fantu has had some trouble from one or two of the other girls prior to this. The coach was also not aware of Fantu's background and her history. Something I have now shared with her so that she will have a bit of understanding as to why Fantu can put up a defense so quickly.
I am really trying to teach Fantu better coping skills with her anger. I constantly worry that I will be getting a call from the school. Fantu usually has to be pushed emotionally before snapping - but these kids are pushing her so frequently it seems. If it should come to blows it won't be a pretty outcome for either. Fantu will literally beat the crap out of them, she's quite the little brawler. Fantu will of course be kicked out of Cheerleading and probably get suspended from school. I think I smoothed things over with the coach, and talking to Fantu about her temper I am hopeful that all will be okay for now.

On Wednesday Fantu had a XC meet. It was a very hot day so they postponed the races for a bit hoping that the temperatures would cool down. The only problem with this is the kids didn't get enough to drink while waiting. Fantu collapsed during the race and one of her teammates helped her up to finish the race. She was unresponsive by the time she finished. Luckily we had friends at the race that stepped in and helped out. On Thursday she was still feeling sick and by lunchtime a bit dizzy, so I dashed home and took her to the Doctor. She was dehydrated and slightly anemic. I took her home, made sure she had plenty of liquids and she soon felt better.

Saturday was Abate's XC meet. It was a big one, they would be running on the same course that the State meet will be held on in November. There were nearly 400 runners in his race. It really is way too many in one race on this course. He passed us at several points during the race and he was doing well. A bit off the leaders but still towards the front. At about the 2 ½ mile mark he stepped into a hole ( they are bad everywhere due to the extensive drought conditions we are having) as he was pulling his foot free another racer pushed him. He felt a pop in his leg and a pain, he continued to run. His pace slowed but he kept on going. He finished the 3 mile course in 18.01 well off his best of 17.10. As he slowed his pace to a walk after crossing the finish line the pain kicked in and he had to be helped to the medical tent. I nearly beat him there. They iced it, then put a splint on it and said I'd need to take him for x-rays. We were planning on leaving the race right away to go to Caleb's birthday party and then dinner at a new Ethiopian restaurant. Abate insisted we go on ahead and do these things then go to the emergency room once returned to Gatesville. So that's what we did.

Caleb's party was fun. I will write more about it later in the week. The dinner was so very good. Abate and Fantu were in heaven... okay I think I was too. It was that good. We then headed home. After a stop by the house to freshen up and change we headed up to the hospital emergency room. X rays were inconclusive. No apparent fracture, but there was a suspicious spot on the film at just the point where the pain originates. Femur fractures often don't show up immediately, sometimes it takes 7-10 days. He was ordered to stay off it for the next week. He was given a pair of crutches and has to see our physician in a week. If the pain is gone by then, well thats good! If not then more x-rays to see if a fracture shows up yet. So now we wait for a quick recovery and hope the pain heals in a week. If it is a break then that's the end of his XC and Football seasons this year. His XC coach will be in tears if that happens. He has a team that he thinks will qualify for the State meet this year. But he has to have Abate as his number 2 to do it. I would love to see that happen. It would be an amazing achievement for a freshman to run in the State XC meet. Abate will get his Letter Jacket his Freshman year ( possibly in several sports)I would love to see that State XC patch on it!. It is going to be a long week waiting and watching.
I sure don't want to repeat this past week – but I'm sure the kids would like a do-over.