Football and Food. . . Always go Together . . .

Enjoyed sometime with family on Sunday with lots of appetizers and what else but, football.  I have not entertained like that since we had the boys and I have to say it was kind of nice.  I made several different appetizers and we enjoyed eating and watching the games.  The hubbs and I used to do that quite often with friends and family  before the boys came along and maybe even right after they were born.   The boys got older and were involved in sports and Church and we never seemed to have the time to "entertain" like we did before the kids.
I remember one time in particular before we were even married that I fixed a big pot of my infamous chili and appetizers for an afternoon of football.  We had all the hubbs friends over to eat and watch the games and it was a lot of fun.  It snowed that day and after eating all that chili they went out to go sledding.  I skipped the sledding that day. 
Here is what we had on Sunday for our little get together:

Deviled eggs with a little horseradish and sour cream, scrabble (chex mix), cream cheese with red pepper jelly and crackers, and a bean dip called Texas Trash that I found on Pinterest, along with olives,  and last but not least chicken soft tacos.

Coaches and Their Responsibility. . .

Please forgive my rant this morning.   I am so sick and tired of coaches that think it is ok to put a student down in front of other students or to the student themselves.  I really wish people would grow up and act like adults instead of middle school playground bullies.  I posted earlier this year that Sprat was not going to be playing football in his senior year due mostly to the coaches and how they acted to the players.  In my dear son's words "they sucked the fun out of football."  We have always told our kids when a sport becomes more of a job than a sport and they are no longer having fun participating, it is time to move on.  Sprat made this decision on his own and has moved on to Lacrosse.  He is absolutely loving lacrosse and loves his coaches.  He comes home every night with a smile on his face and bruised from head to toe, but he is loving this sport.  I am so thankful for the men and the other students that are helping to coach this team, they are wonderful!!  
Now as for football I am beyond done and so is Sprat.  The football coach had to open the locker room the other day for the lacrosse team to get in.  This coach saw Sprat and called him by name in front of his peers and asked if he was going to sit the bench in this sport too.  I cannot tell you the restraint that it took as a mom to not go and have a prayer meeting with this two bit you know what. My son being the amazing kid that he is replied in true fashion of our family,  "that is a real knee slapper coach."  I cannot tell you how proud of my son I am because he repeatedly deals with this two bit you know what and he repeatedly proves that he is the better person and more of an adult than this two bit you know what will ever be in his wildest dreams.    Yesterday one of Sprat's teammates told him what another football coach said to him about my son.  Why is this coach talking to another student about my kid when he is not even involved in lacrosse or involved in any fashion with my son.  Can we please grow up and quit acting like children and start setting a better example for our kids.  Why would a "teacher," and I use that term very loosely, talk to anther student like that?
Now I am going to rave over the coaches that are working with this lacrosse team.  They are wonderful and they are setting a great example on how to be a man.  Again, I cannot say enough how thankful I am for these men and Lacrosse.  This sport has come at a time when my child needed someone and something to shoot for.  He said the other night that how much he is loving this sport and he even said how much he likes his coaches and how supportive they have been of him.  He has never played this sport before and with their encouragement and support and help he is doing really well.  He has also taken on the very difficult position of goalie and usually nobody wants to play goalie because you get his with balls coming at you at 90+ miles an hour.   My poor baby has the bruises to prove it, but he is very proud of everyone of his bruises.
If you are reading this and you are a coach please take what I have said to heart.  No matter what you think of a player do not, I repeat, do not talk about them to another player or anyone else for that matter unless you are raving about how good they are.  It will get back to them and their parents and their mom may not have as much restraint as I.  

First JV football game

Lots of firsts yesterday.  Sprat had orientation for  his freshman year of high school,  Big T had his orientation for middle school, and we had our first JV football game.
Sprat, even though he is a freshman, did get to play last night in their first game.  We also chalked up our first win for the season.  Big T has a jamboree tomorrow with his football team.  I hope they are going to have enough kids to play this year. 
School starts Monday,  dear hubby is taking the day off so we can  have a date.   It will be very simple a nice breakfast and then grocery shopping.   I know it is not romantic but, hubby and I celebrated 21 years this year and we don't have to have elaborate expensive dates.  Simple things and just time together is all we need. 
We have been doing our little date on the first day of school for a couple of years now and we celebrate and commiserate about our babies growing up.

Only Four Years to go. . .

My dear oldest starts high school in a few weeks and in four years will be headed to college.   Time has flown by,  it seems like yesterday I was preparing him for kindergarten.   This will probably be my theme this year.   I only have four more years and my baby will be gone to his next adventure. 
The boys have always had savings accounts, even as babies they had savings accounts.  Anytime they received money from relatives it went to their savings.  I always joked that grandma and grandpa had to pay to see their grandbabies.  A dollar here and there along with spare change does add up.   Now that Sprat is approaching the driving age he will need a checking account.   That is next on our list for this year and again proves that he is growing up.  
Big T is also going to have big changes this year.  He starts middle school this year and this will be his last year for Saturday football.  It will also be his last year for his dad to coach him in football.  I think my dear hubby is taking that one hard.  He loves football  and has enjoyed working with the kids.  He also has enjoyed watching those young men that he coached when Sprat played, now playing at the high school level. 
The boys are each taking giant steps this year.  Stay tuned. . .

Mission Camp over Church Beautification Just begining. . .

Mission camp is winding down and I have to say I am very proud of our youth and our youth leaders.  They have re-done the labyrinth and it looks great.  They did some painting in some of the Sunday School rooms, picked up furniture for their new class room, and cleaned the basement of the fellowship building.  They even had time for fun: swimming,  hicking, bowling,  and a neighborhood movie night.   They watched "Heaven is for Real." 
Two weeks before Mission camp we found out Sprat would also have football camp at the same time.   When he found out he told his dad and I that he was going to do both.  We told him that was fine and we would do everything we could to help.  I am so proud of him and proud that he worked so hard to be able to do both.  He loves football and he loves youth fellowship.  It was a crazy week, but so worth it.   Feeling bleesed.  

We survived the first day. . .

We each survived the first day of school, now it's all down hill from here.  Big T came home happy and said he may need to brush up on his multiplication tables.  He did his reading and then we worked on math.  Went to pick Sprat up at football tryouts, he did make the Middle School team.  Yipeeeee!!!!!  He was a little nervous and I was a lot nervous for him.  He and two of his best buds made it also.   I am looking forward to football season, both my guys playing and dear hubby coaching.
Dear hubby and I went out this morning for our traditional back to school date.  He takes the first day of school off every year and we spend the day to together.  We don't do anything fancy just spend the day together.  We usually go somewhere for breakfast and go do some shopping.    We had to do it today because he had his boss working with him yesterday.    It is nice just to spend the day without the kids constantly interrupting with some complaint of the other not doing something or do something too long.  Ahhhh!!  the sound of silence. . . .   But, I cannot wait to hear about the kids day at school and football practice.

Football season is about to begin. . . . .

Football season begins and I become a football widow or, more to the point a single parent trying to keep two kids and husband fed, in clean clothes, and at practice and games on time.  I love watching my boys play but it is hard to keep up with everything during this time.  Oh, and let's not forget school work too, mine and theirs.   I guess that is the nature of being a mom, taxi driver, coach, cheerleader, chef, student, teacher, wife and maid.
Dear hubby is going to help coach on Big T's team again this year.  He only has two more years to coach him so he is going to take full advantage of it.  Hubby loves the game and loves coaching.  He worked in a lab third shift and was an assistant coach at a local High School when we met.  We actually took a kid on a recruiting trip because his parents both worked on Saturdays and could not take him themselves.  That is how dedicated to coaching and helping kids my dear hubby is.   He does not want to coach anything else but, he has helped coach basketball in the past.
I like football, not professional really, but college and high school.  We usually go to the games on Friday nights and we do go to some college games.  Hubby and Sprat both like Miami and Sprat hopes to attend the U of M after graduation.

Football. . .

Jacks' team made the playoffs.  Yeah!!  I am very happy for them.   They play Saturday at 10 am and it is going to be cold.  They play the best team.  This team went 6-0 and they are big and mean.  I am worried about poor Jack, he plays quarterback.  Mark says his position is merely a ball distributor.  Some of the parents were complaining because Jack was playing quarterback and Mark laughed because all the glory goes to the running backs not the quarterback in this offense.  But for those dads' that think the quarterback is the most important part it was a sore subject.   They actually use three different boys to take the snap on different plays.  So Jack really only is the "quarterback" for a small amount of the time.
Any who, back to my concerns.  There is one kid on the team we play that is huge!!! and he is good too.  Our kids, for the most part, are afraid of him.  The other teams have told them how big he is and how physical he gets with the opposing team. 
Just pray nobody gets hurt on Saturday.  That is what I will be praying for and that we don't get beat too bad.  I would like for us to make a good showing.  I would really like for us to win, but I don't see that happening.  It is not that I don't have faith in our team.  I just know the reputation of this other team.

Football

Yesterday we had two games.  Jack played at 10 and Thomas played at 5.  It was so cold at the 10 game I was covered from head to toe.  I looked like I was preparing for nuclear winter.  The kids even had on multiple layers under their pads.  Jack wore 2 under armor shirts and a t-shirt too. 
We had an injury to one of our better ball players.  He broke both bones in his wrist.  He had to have surgery and pins put in that day.  It was very sad.  We were wining by 2 points at that time.  Our kids really came together and worked  as a team to win that game.  The sad part about all this is the way the other team behaved.   You try to teach your kids good sportsmanship and general good Christian behavior and it is so difficult at times because you have to battle others that are supposed to be adults and role models for the kids.  After our player was hurt Jack came off the field almost in tears because he was so mad.  I could see him talking with his Dad on the field and Mark said you go tell them what he said.  I knew then someone had said something ugly on the field.   I had no idea who or how ugly it was.
While our player, with the broken wrist, was laying on the ground after the hit the other teams' coach stood over him and said, "Take that number 8".   That was what Jack heard and he was mad.  Now I ask you, what kind of example is that setting for his team?  Why would an adult say that to a child laying on his back screaming in pain?  Why?  None of our coaches would have done that and I can say that with complete certainty.  Our coaches would have been checking to see if he was ok.  Not taunting him.
I am saddened deeply by this display.

A sports loss. . .

Why is it so hard when one of our kids looses at a sport?  I don't mean for them, I mean as a parent.  Both of my boys teams lost today and I think I took it harder than they did.  Why is that?  Yes, I am competitive, but why do I get so tied up over their stuff?   I think I felt more sorrow over Thomas and his teams loss than I did over Jacks.  Not sure why.  Tom's little team all had tears in their eyes and I was welling up too.   They just had progressed so much this year and I think all of the parents were sad too.   We watched these little seven and eight year olds learn the game and really start to understand the game.  
I hope they will all continue to play.  Thomas will move up to tackle football next year and that is a whole other animal.   Several of the boys on Tom's team will be old enough to move up and I hope that they all do.  They are all such good athletes.   Well, my time on the football field is done I guess.   I don't think they allow team Moms on the field in tackle football.  HA HA!!  Maybe I should be a coach?    Yeah, I know all the men would give me heck. 

Date Night. . .

Mark's niece came to babysit the boys on Saturday so Mark and I could go out on the town.  HA HA HA!!  We debated over where to eat and what movie to see and ended up eating at a local little Italian restaurant and not going to the movies.  We were both tired, Mark had worked in the yard all morning and  I went to Women's Football camp at Wake Forest University.  Yeah, I went to football camp.  One of my friends and I try to go every year.  It is really kinda cool, they take you out on the field and run you through drills just like they do the players.  They have to explain more to us though.  We don't put on the pads and heavy equipment but we do learn to block, tackle and run with the football.  It is pretty neat.  You know that Saturday was going to be around 97 and on the turf you add at least 10 more degrees.  My friend and I decided at the last minute we would do the indoor stuff this year.  They offer two options; you can go out on the field and run drills or you can stay inside and the coaches go over each position.  I always feel like I learn something new each time I go.   They always feed us really well too.  They give out door prizes and this time my friend won two tickets to one of the games.  Yeah!!  They always give us a t-shirt or a bag and this year we got a really cool canvas bag for participating.   The money we pay for registration goes to a childrens' charity.  It is a nominal fee to participate and like I said they feed you really well and then send you out on the field and make you puke.  HA HA  just kidding about the puking part.  
Back to out hot date.  We ended up going to a store called the "Hobby Lobby."  We walked around in there to let our food settle and  then went for ice cream.  We did not go to the movies.  Are we old or what?  There was really nothing out that we wanted to see that the kids did not want to see too.  That is one of our family things, to go to the movies together.  There is a lot out for the kids to see too.   So much for "Date Night."