Freezing Rain

A couple days ago we had freezing rain followed by snow. It was beautiful. The temperatures dropped really low, so even when the sun was out the next day, the ice didn't melt. Instead it glittered on the trees like diamonds. You could hear the branches clinking together like windchines every time the wind blew. It was so pretty.

 

Um, Mom?

A couple weeks ago the kids were involved in an accident on their way home from school. I was leaving the vet with Clara when Danielle called. "Um, Mom? We were just in an accident." Kind of a crummy phone call to get.

The kids were ok. A car a few cars in front of the kids stopped quickly to turn. Tyler and the cars in front of him all stopped in time; however, the car right behind Tyler couldn't. She veered off the road, completely missing Tyler, but the car right behind her rear-ended him. Several more cars had to veer off to the left or right behind them, but Tyler was the only one who was hit. It was mostly a line of cars who had just left the high school, and the kids are always so close to each other when they pull out. It could have been much worse.



Tyler did a great job handling everything. It was a very good learning experience for him, and it was nice as a parent to know your kid can handle things under pressure. I'm sure the other kid's parents didn't feel the same. Turns out he had just gotten his license back from a previous accident. The kid's dad reached out to Ron right away to let him know he would be happy to make things right (in other words, please please don't file a claim with your insurance company). There was just a little cosmetic damage to the bumper, so there really wasn't anything to report anyway.

A couple days later the mail started rolling in. It came to both the kids and to "the parents of". Danielle was a little creeped out that their information was so easy to access. Tyler was entertained.

This ended up being a good learning experience for the kids. It was a huge reminder to me to never be lax in praying for your children's safety.

Building Planes and Memories

Tyler had to construct a balsa wood plane from a kit for his college physics course. He and Ron spent the past week working on that. Of course, in usual Tyler fashion, he procrastinated until the last possible second to start it, so their goal was simply to finish it and not to make it look pretty. The plane was "guaranteed to fly as long as the directions are followed". The plane was too delicate to try flying before class, so it was anyone's guess as to if it would really fly or not. Tyler said his grade was dependent on whether or not it actually flied, but we weren't sure if the professor was joking (or Tyler was exaggerating).

 

 

They flew the planes in class on Friday. They went into the mezzanine in the gym, wound the rubberbands, and tossed the planes across the gym. They could try multiples times, but not all the planes survived the first flight to try again. Some planes went straight down and crashed, some didn't. Tyler ended up trying to fly his plane 6 times. On his 6th attempt it went 62', which put him in 2nd place. (The video is posted on FB.) The winning plane flew 69'. He ended up getting 100% on the plane and a bonus for winning 2nd place. I think Tyler & Ron were pleased with their accomplishment.

Personally, I enjoyed listening to the boys work together. Tyler is at the age where he's positive he's smarter than us, so I wasn't sure he would listen to Ron's advice. Sometimes Ron is a little bristly about that, so sometimes he doesn't listen to Tyler. None of that was a problem, though. They joked around and laughed and for the most part really seemed to enjoy working together, and Tyler was genuinely thankful for Ron's help. I think it ended up being a good experience for everyone.

Interestingly, Facebook reminded me that during this same week 10 years ago, the boys were working together on another project. That was a pretty good experience, too.

I'm so thankful Tyler and Danielle have Ron for their dad. They don't realize how lucky they are...which is exactly as it should be at this point in their lives.

Run Fast!

Our high school offers indoor track as a club sport (meaning it's recognized but not sanctioned). Since regular track & field season overlaps school softball season, Danielle has been looking forward to being able to participate in track in this way. She loves to run, but she also looks at this as a way to get faster for softball. Practices and lifting started at the end of November/first of December. She had her first meet this past weekend.

On the way in to the meet.

Indoor track is typically for the very serious competitors. At most of the competitions, D1, D2, & D3 schools are all competing against each other. And, all grade levels compete against each other. Some of those juniors and seniors looked like full grown adults! And boy, were they fast!! Danielle has always welcomed competition to help her improve her own skills, so it's the perfect environment for her.

Warming up

She did really well for her first meet and especially for being a freshman! She ran the 60m dash and the 200m dash. She was supposed to run the anchor leg of the 4x200 relay, but our first runner was accidentally tripped by another runner and our team ended up being disqualified because she dropped the baton. That was quite a bummer. Out of all the divisions and grades at the meet, Danielle finished 36 out of 101 in the 60m dash. She won her heat in the 200m dash and finished 45 out of 94.

Here is video from her 200m dash.

Danielle and Uncle Ron.

Indoor track state rankings are posted weekly. It's very early in the season, but Danielle is currently ranked 22nd in D2/D3 for the state in the 60m and 24th in the state for the 200m. Not bad for a new freshman!! If she can stay in the top 24, she'll be invited to compete at the state level at the beginning of March. Everyone will be improving as the season progresses, so it's hard to tell what will happen by then. I know she had a lot of fun and is feeling the excitement of actually being competitive in a sport that isn't her primary one. Her next meet is in 2 weeks. We're all looking forward to it!

Goodbye to 2018

2018 was a very good year for us. Ron and I started some lifestyle changes and lost around 200lbs between the two of us. We had a wonderful vacation. We got to watch a lot of softball and band performances. We spent time with our families, who all finished 2018 healthy despite some ups and downs along the way. The four of us spent a lot of quality time together this year, too. We finished out 2018 doing my very favorite thing - spending time together. The 2 weeks around Christmas and New Year are perfect for slowing down and remembering what matters the most, which is exactly what we did.

We all have different highlights for 2018, but here are mine.

2019 has it's job cut out for it. 2018 will be a tough act to follow. Happy New Year!