"I haf ortered dee feesh-heds".

The other day I went into the end of wrestling practice to drop off some paperwork to the coach and I heard Coach D announce that he had ordered fish heads which made all the boys cheer.  Weird.  

Unless you know Coach D and the Twin Falls wrestlers. 

This is Saiid Dabestani.  Possibly the best coach in the world.  

At least in our world.

Our local newspaper recently wrote an article about our boys' wrestling coach that gives great insight into Coach D's philosophies that make successful wrestlers.

“The wrestling culture, these people are obsessed with winning and when a kid loses they don’t realize that he is likely doing his best,” Dabestani said. “You have to stay positive. I discipline the kids, of course, and hold them to account, but you have to do it in a positive way so that the kid doesn't lose self-esteem. The coaches that are negative and yell, they all have it wrong.” 

Aren't we the luckiest parents?!

“Kids need attention; you have to give it to them,” Dabestani said. “Now is it positive or negative? You coach them like your own family member. I’m their grandpa, dad, you name it. … They are smart. They may not want to work hard, but they see right through you. You have to be very smart and honest with them. They know who you are and if you’re BSing them. You need to balance their time.”

Coach Dabestani is originally from Iran.  He was ranked third in the world championships in wrestling but gave up the Olympics and wrestling in general to come to America to go to school with a college scholarship.   He has a PhD in Chemistry. I'm sure he could easily be anywhere in the world.  I am so honored that he spends his days with my kids.  He has a great philosophy of creating success by increasing self-esteem

I wish all coaches could be coached by Coach Dabestani.

Coach D lost everything and started over from scratch three different times in his life. He says that wrestling gave him the determination to continue on with courage.  He is determined that his wrestlers will learn the same determination.

He is committed to teaching not just winning.

He is committed to encouragement not criticism.

He loves his boys.

To read all about coach D and the TFHS  fish head tradition read this awesome article written for the TimesNews.

Coach Saiid Dabestani news article.

'rasslin

Landon wrestling  against Canyon Ridge

 Wrestling is something that has always come naturally to Dallin and Landon.  {As Dallin put it when they were young, "we've been wrestling since before we were born and Landon stole all my blood." (Twin to twin transfusion--Landon had extra blood shunted to him through the placenta, Dallin was super anemic)}

This year is no different!

Wrestling in high school has been the most intense sport that the boys have participated in.  They come home with their clothes literally dripping with sweat.  The workout are hands-down more difficult than anything the boys have done so far--and they have done some intense workouts.

Dallin missed a good portion of the year with his knee injury. He tried to get back into the swing of things right after Christmas only to have his knee swell up to double its size again.  So he went back to physical therapy and we had a family fast and many prayers for him.  His knee improved rapidly and he was able to get back into workouts mid-January. He found it extremely difficult to keep up after a couple of months minimal exercise but he stuck it out and did his best.

This last week we had district finals here in Twin Falls.  Dallin went in as the dark horse at the very bottom of the rankings.  Actually he wasn't ranked at all.  He ended up beating the first place sede in the first round and then went on to beat the fourth place sede for a place in the finals. He ended up 2nd in district overall and will go to State in Pocatello next weekend.  We are thrilled for him!

Landon was ranked 3rd in district and he was the only ranked freshman in the state. He ended up having a much more difficult schedule than Dallin and after a LONG day he placed 4th in district and earned a place at the State competition next weekend as well.  If he hadn't worked so very hard in all those workout this last winter he never would have made it through the six matches he wrestled on Thursday. Wrestling is the only sport I've seen that can leave the athletes so exhausted they literally can't hold themselves up after only 6 minutes of competition.

All the wrestlers show so much courage.  They keep going even though they are injured or hurt  until they have literally exhausted all glucose and glycogen stores their bodies have to offer.  They cheer for each other and offer encouragement and tips.  One kid from another team even offered Landon a tip about how to beat one of his opponents.  It was a long day that was awesome to watch.

Actually I have to admit I don't think mom's are meant to watch their children wrestle. It's so hard to see those expressions of pain.   Dallin and Landon weigh almost exactly the same so I have my fingers crossed that they won't have to wrestle each other...

These beautiful pictures of Landon under were taken by Drew Nash.  Check out his blog for the photo setting specs.
Twin Falls Vs. Canyon Ridge Wrestling Duel--Drew Nash

Easter-egger

Our chickens have started laying eggs.  It's so exciting for us!  We are really glad we have five easter-egger chickens!  We have some lovely greenish and bluish and pinkish eggs along with a couple shades of brown.  I don't think all the chickens are laying yet.  I am still hoping for a pretty bright blue egg like Jot and Jamie have.  But really finding eggs in the chicken house is fun no matter what!

I can't figure out how to get the camera to capture the true color of the eggs.

Jackson is giving us an early peak into the terrible two's.  When the boys were small everyone told us to "just wait until they're teenagers,"  but Rustin and I think teenagers are our gift for surviving the toddlers.  

This kid is a pill.  Cute but sooo busy. And he can throw a serious fit. 

He runs in and begs for Jenna's horses as soon as she leaves for school so his "guys" have something to ride on.  

 As soon as he gets tired of horses (10 minutes max) he moves on to his next favorite playmate--Beau.

 Poor Beau.  

Can I nominate a dog for the Nobel Peace prize?  

Jackson bites.  

Most people worry about teaching their dogs not to bite their kids.  Our problem is the other way around.  Thankfully Beau doesn't seem to mind too often.  I spend a couple of minutes every day having Jackson hand out the treats while Beau practices sit/down commands.  They both like it. In fact they play together all day.  Jack shares his food and scratches Beau's ears and throws balls all day long. The other day I couldn't find Jackson and I was  calling for him and Beau came running upstairs and then down and back and forth (like Lassie!) to tell me Jack was downstairs.  It's funny how you learn to communicate with animals when you live with them.  

When Jack isn't swiping toys or biting dogs he is begging his brothers to play with him.

He calls Benson "Bents," and Jenna 'Jen' and he makes them come in and sit on the floor by the castle to play with 'guys.'  He tries to make me play with him when the kids are gone but I'm pretty boring.  

He makes Dallin and Landon do push-ups with him on their backs.  

He has a cute little maniacal baby laugh.  I need to record it.

We are waiting out the last melt/freeze/slush days until spring comes in earnest. 

We will confine the chickens to their house and fenced in yard so we can get some much needed work done in the back yard.  I love spring! 

The big break-up

I finally broke up with Brandon Sanderson.

I must admit this is one of my harder break-ups.  You know that feeling when you realize that your day has lost purpose and there is nothing to look forward to?  That's me tonight.

I hate finishing a book.

My boys sucked me into fantasy-type epic adventure stories years ago when I started reading out loud at night to keep myself from going insane while trying to make my small children go to bed.  Our first adventure together was The Hobbit.  Which is still a favorite for us.

Long book series are the worst for me because of the time commitment.  Thankfully all the books in my current obsession have been written.  Waiting for the conclusion to an awesome story is torture.

We are currently waiting for the next installment of the  Stormlight series. (also by Brandon Sanderson)  We loved the first Stormlight book.  When the boys and I are reading a book we love we will read for hours at night until I cannot keep from slurring the words together.  Then they chuck pillows at my head as I nod off mid-word until it becomes physically impossible for me to keep my eyes open.  We have rarely read about a hero as awesome as Kaladin.  We are waiting on pins and needles for the next book...

Speaking of waiting--Rustin just finished the last book in a series that he has been reading for--TWENTY-THREE years.  Seriously.  23 big ones.  I started reading the books as well but got lost somewhere around the fifth book...The author actually died before he finished the series.  Thankfully some fellow fantasy epic adventure fans got together and hired Brandon Sanderson (BYU English professor) to finish the 13th and 14th books in the Wheel of Time series.

This week I have been reading the Mistborn Trilogy.  My big boys have been trying to get me to read these books for months.  The problem is that I am a binge reader.  I can't stop in the middle of a story.  I have been known to make dinner  while holding a book in front of my nose which doesn't go so well for the dinner--or for any other chore for that matter.

I have ten loads of washed-and-not-put-away clothes to prove my current level of book drunkenness.

How many people can come up with ten loads of laundry at a time?  Sheesh. I just recently discovered that Benson has been wearing his socks day and night until one of them actually gets a hole in it.  Bleeh!  Honestly! The sheepish look on his face when he explained his sock wearing theory was priceless.  He hates looking for socks almost as much as I hate matching them.

Anyway, the sun came out for a couple of spring preview days which inspired me to pull my beloved seed catalogs out.  I can't wait to get out and get things planted.  I have a million projects in mind but tomorrow we are expecting another snow storm so I will just have to go tackle the neglected laundry.  And socks.