Football Practice/Pep Rally...

It's obvious I'm loving this football thing. I go to almost every practice even though Jared goes too, I blog about it constantly, and love talking about it. Jared's lovin' this, too. Especially when he gets to help at practice. Today was one of those days.

Jared really gets into playing with those kids. When they have the Dad's join in, he's the one who's really out there playing. They have the Dad's help fill holes so they can practice their plays like it's a game.

Jared's blocking at the far right. I love to watch him out there.

Coaches are playing, too.

Look at the expression on Jared's face. Classic.

T.J.'s blocking right in front of Jared so Jared can get through the line.

Cody doing his reading homework. Love having practice right by the library.

Our team got flags for every player. They'll hang them up on our end zone. Pretty cool.

We also got a vinyl banner for the boys to run through. The middle of it Velcro's back up and then it hangs at our end zone also. The boys were pretty excited for this. They got in their huddle and did the cheer before they practiced running through it.

We had a little pep rally after practice to sike the boys up for their first game tomorrow. We are trying to get their energy levels up more. There's a few kids who are loud, but most of them are pretty quiet. They also got bracelets as their prize for the week. Every week they get something to help with excitement.

Cheer at the end.

I love our coaches. They've done a great job with these boys. Can't wait for the game tomorrow!

Short Day

My boys love short day at school. But who wouldn't?! Especially with all the football practice we've had, it's nice to get out of school and have 3 hours to relax before we have to go. Today Bill, Brodie and Oaklie came over to play for a bit. They haven't had a good rodeo with each other for a while so they geared up for one in the back yard.

If anyone knows Hunter, you know he's always the rodeo clown. When he was 4 years old he said he wanted to be a rodeo clown when he grew up. I made this costume for him one halloween when he was 3 and a half years old and he's played with it ever since. It's been one of his favorite things to wear. He was even in a clown act during a real rodeo in this along with his wig, hat, western shirt, and his face all painted up with marker. Looks like I need to make him a new costume. It was like he was wearing a mini skirt today. He has grown about 5 inches since I made this.

The boys took turns being the bull. Oaklie was the rider today. Cody didn't play today. He was too busy hammering wood together in the back.

Hunter's clown barrel. I can't believe he can still fit down in there.

Jared came home from shoeing to watch the rest of the rodeo.

Poor kid, he's out growing all his cowboy gear. Said it still fits though. (He's still in denial!)

My favorite part of watching them play. They all gather around us after and just talk. They are just like little grown ups. They sit and shoot the breeze about everything. I love that they aren't afraid to talk to us 'old people'. I'm glad my boys and their friends feel comfortable talking to Jared and I. I love these moments with them. These kids are growing up!

The Best Volunteering Job Ever....

This year with all my boys in school all day, I've signed up to volunteer more in their classes. I like doing this so much better then doing PTA. I love being right there in class to see exactly how they are doing in school. This year in Cody's class I got the best job. I come in every Friday and grade their spelling tests. I LOVE it. Don't get me wrong, I like working with the kids and all, but this is right up my alley. I love busy work like this. Cody's teacher~ Mrs. Melton~ has me just come in, find the book to record their scores,  get the stickers to put on after they are graded, and get to work. I just make my way around the classroom as I need to while doing this for her. She told me at the beginning of the year she needs someone whom she can trust to do this. Made me feel pretty good when she asked me to do this job.

When I got there today they were still testing so of course I had to get a picture of this. I remember in elementary school having to use those folders on the desks to test with so wondering eyes didn't see my answers (not that they were always right, hee hee).

Grading. Got the stack of tests, the grade book, the percentage chart, and stickers.

Cody got 100%!! He does so good with his spelling. He barely has to study and he aces it every time. Today they had a review test so there were 25 spelling words. I love leaving little notes on his tests. I do the same to his best friend Bill Drury who's also in his class. I can't resist.

Once I'm done grading I pass out the tests while they are all on the floor. She's usually reading to them but they did something different today. She's such a cute teacher. She does all the voices when she reads to them.

I love this job. Takes me about half an hour every Friday. I love that Cody has such a good teacher this year. In fact, all my boys do. Sometimes it's nice to just sit back and count little blessings like this.

Shook Up

Shook came to practice tonight at the end. Poor kid looked miserable. He had the surgery on his arm Saturday. They put a pin and a screw in. Said it was a pretty good break, it even chipped off a piece of bone. His Dad said he was holding up pretty well though. He wanted to bring him so all the kids could talk to him and see how he was doing. It shook them all up pretty well. Everyone gathered around him. Coaches said they are going to miss him but we want to win the season so he can come play in the play-offs. Poor kid looked like he was going to cry. I know he is going to miss this. He was our fastest guy, too. T.J. was in his class last year at school. I'm glad they go to the same school so T.J. can still see him and let him know how things are going. I hate thinking there's going to be more injuries during the season. Hopefully they aren't as bad as this one was. This has brought the team closer though. We have good kids on this team.

T.J.'s First Real Scrimmage Game Against Bingham

T.J. had his first real scrimmage game against Bingham today (their rivals!). A big game for us, especially since Jared went to Bingham. This was a practice game before the season fully kicks off next weekend. Man, are these games INTENSE! First off, there are five different fields everyone is playing on at this small park so the parking is a joke, there are people everywhere!, and everyone is SO into this. They had a BBQ going on, a snow shack, and treats you could buy. Cops everywhere. It was crazy!                                                                                                                                             It was a fundraiser day so we all had to pay to get in. We got there an hour before it started. T.J. got his X on his helmet. We only have 3 X men on our team. And everyone got their wrist bands to help them remember what they do on which plays it is.

Getting ready with wristbands.

It was so hot! And this park didn't have much shade. The boys were trying to stay cool before the game.

But not our boys. They were a little crazy. I think from all the excitement there. Aren't they cute in their jersey's though?!

                              

Warm-ups. T.J. is on the second row from the back on the very left.

Love this!!! Good spirit about them. This has really helped them get motivated more.

Pep talk before the game. Coach Joel gave a good one. Some kids were scared about getting hurt. He told them to do the best they could and do what they've been taught these last few weeks.

First kick-off.

GAME BEGINS: Seriously within the first minute of the game, we score a TOUCHDOWN!!! It was awesome! Shook took the ball and ran it the whole way, about 50 yards without getting tackled! We all went crazy!! I would have had a picture but it turned out really blurry.  :(

T.J.'s on the defensive line. He's out there blocking right now. He was blocking center.

T.J. is right there in the middle blocking. The saddest thing happened on this play. It was seriously within the first 3 minutes of the game. Shook, who had just scored our touchdown, was running down field with the ball and got tackled. Not just tackled, but they held onto his right arm and somehow he came down on his left elbow and broke it pretty bad. At first they thought it was just dislocated, but after x-rays they saw how bad it was. He had surgery that day and had a pin and screw put in. He gets his cast in 2 weeks, and has to wear it for 6. Poor kid. He's out the rest of the season now. You could see as he and one of our coaches was walking off the field that his elbow was pretty messed up. 

The medic vehicle until the ambulance could get there. They have EMT's on scene at every game. The kids who were on the side lines watched in shock as they helped Shook. They hooked him up to an IV and gave him pain meds fast. Jared went over to the players and reminded them to pay attention to the game. He told them "Let's win this for Shook. Now get out there and make they pay for doing this to him."

Poor kid. Once the pain meds kicked in he told his dad he was feeling better and wanted to get back out there.

T.J. did awesome!!! They all did. They hit hard, blocked well, and really worked well as a team.

Half time. They got watermelon.

We were so impressed with T.J.'s blocking. He did so well. He knocked over the center almost every time. He got knocked over once, but jumped up and ran to block some more like he was supposed to. We were so happy with how well he did.

T.J.'s team ended up scoring 2 more touchdowns and we won 21-0!!!! It was AWESOME!!!!!!

The coaches couldn't have been happier with them. We all were. The coaches later told T.J. he was the fumbler out there. 3 different times when we were on defense, Bingham's center (whom T.J. was blocking) would hike the ball, T.J. would immediately hit him and knock him into the quarterback, causing him to fumble the ball almost every time!! They said T.J. was one of the reasons Bingham didn't score!! Way to go T.J.!!!

Carrie, Clare, Heather, Teegan, and Kai, and also Jared's cousin Dallen, his wife Whitney and their cute baby Remington came to watch. Dallen used to play in high school and said he'd love to come watch T.J.

T.J. loved it! He said playing that was so much fun. Oh, he's so cute!

We stayed after to watch Brodie play his game. T.J. was so hot so he sat under this tree most of the time.

T.J. loved when Brodie came over to the sidelines. He'd only get to talk for a sec but they are so excited to be playing. It's so cute to listen to them talk. Brodie's team ended up loosing 0 to 7.

Afterwards we had to stop for Slurpee's to celebrate. Plus, cool us down. What an awesome game it was!!! I love this whole football thing. I love the spirit about it. And watching all those cute boys out there!

So Excited!!!

I have awesome news!!!! My brother Jim and his wife Cherie are going to have a baby!!!! Wahoo!!! They came and told us on August 1st, the day they found out, while we were at T.J.'s first day of tryouts. Oh, I was so happy. I couldn't stop laughing!! People around us must have known something was going on. The boys are excited, too. But we had to keep it a secret for a while. They wanted to make sure everything was ok. I thought the boys would have a hard time with this, but they did really good and didn't tell anyone.

Cherie had her first ultrasound today and sent me this picture...

So dang cute!! My niece or nephew's first picture!

Everyone thinks it looks like a gummy bear. I do too.

She's due March 30 or 31. Same month as Hunter's birthday.

Aren't they going to be good parents?!

(Never leave your camera on the floor at church when they are sitting right behind you. You just might end up with this as your new screen saver.)

Congratulations Jim and Cherie!!!

Jared was helping the boys with their spelling words before the their big tests tomorrow. While he was helping Hunter, he could tell he was having trouble with a couple of words. He just couldn't remember how to spell as and sit. So Jared being his clever self thought of a way for him to remember the word as. He said, "It's like spelling a...s...s, but with only one s." Oh dear. So the rest of the night Hunter is making up these songs spelling out a...s...s. I'm going got be so embarrassed if he brings home his spelling test and has a...s...s written down. Thanks goodness he didn't remember how to spell the other word that's like sit, if you know what I'm saying.

** I must explain we do not use that kind of language around here. Doing rodeo we heard every word in the book and so the boys soon learned what words we don't say. But being boys, they get a little giggly when they start spelling them cause they know they aren't supposed to. That's why Jared thought Hunter would remember how to spell as if he put this twist on it. Trust Jared to come up with this. I think I'll stick to the spelling with the kids from now on. **