My Football Babies

Even though football has not been my favorite thing, I am gaining an appreciation for this sport. I am also learning as a Mom, it is great to sign your child up for these sports, as opposed to lessons. With gymnastics, karate, etc. they have class once or twice a week. With these practices, they have 2 hour practices a day. What better way to get good at something then to have to do it so frequently. The learning curve is much greater with the intense practices.

Anyway, my little Brandon is the slowest runner on the team, since he is one of the biggest. I am so proud of him though. He NEVER quits. Even when he is far behind. And it touches my little heart when I see the whole team lap back to meet him and help him finish his run. How sweet is that?

And something has clicked in little Brandon. He is such a gentle giant. He came to me the other day: "Mom, the coach has told me to be -----off at the other team. Mom, I can't say it cause it's a bad word." Finally, he told me "pissed off". So, he asks me if this is OK. He doesn't feel right about being mad at people. We told him that during the game he can get angry with them, but at the end we are all friends again. Oh my. He got it. You should have seen my gentle giant turn into an animal during his scrimmage yesterday. His Daddy was grinning ear to ear. He plays nose tackle on defensive and guard on offense. He goes nuts on these guys. It has taken three years for this to click, and it has. Beware opposing teams, my Brandon gets it this year.

I also love how little Brandon, after each play, etc (when we are there---cause we also have Ethan in football) looks for our approval. He will give us a thumbs up sign or on occasion a thumbs down. We give him back that thumbs up. May he always care what we think. May he always want our approval.

Then to my little Ethan. He is the smallest, or close to smallest kid on his team. And there is one kid, who is over 200 pounds on that team. Yes, he can eat a kid like Ethan for lunch. So what do they decide to do? Yep, put up my precious, little E-Fighter (as he now wants to be called) against the 200 lb-er. They did it 20-30 times in a row, just let Ethan get creamed by this big guy. And guess what. My little piece of tenacity got back up each time. Knowing he would get creamed again. That takes some mental strength and courage. Seeing them in practice makes me admire my little men. Cause I tend to not admire them much when we are at home and asking them to do chores. I don't always see that tenacity, never-give up attitude, etc. It's good to see they have these qualities in the away from home arena.

May my little men grow up to be good men. May they fight hard in life and in their jobs and with their families. Cause I worry for this group coming up. I am worried about our country, and our economy and how they will fair in the future. These kids need to have skills, tenacity, and be hard working, and full of love for God and their fellow man. And in some of these moments, I see these things. Fills my heart. Maybe I will learn to love football one day. Maybe I will even have a testimony of football one day. Did I just say that? The hallowed "testimony" word saved only for things like the gospel, Costco, kids clothing, garage sales.....could it apply to football one day?

Football Season begins......

Since football costs $225 per child, I thought I would be so smart and save some money this year. I had a feeling Ethan wouldn't really like football, and once he got a taste of it at a football camp, he would refuse to play football again. Not that this has happened before or anything......for example.....like a fishing class or something.

Anyway, I thought $30 per kid for football camp for 4 days might actually save me money in the long run. WRONGGGGGG! Ethan loved football camp and insisted on playing football. I have to admit I have been a bit nervous as Ethan is a bit smaller than Brandon. But how can you deny your children opportunities they so desire. $450 later......OUCH!

And anyway, what better thing for any parents to do with a 3, 4, and 5 year old than go to TWO football practices each night during all of Fall for 2 hours a night that really ends up being 2 1/2 hours. And kids are SOOOO fun that time of night (6-8/8:30pm).

(Don't tell anyone, but this is when I really don't mind working 2 nights a week from 6pm-10pm. Cause that means I am OFF-duty for that fun for at least two nights a week. Thanks Brandon, you are father of the year.)

Anyway, the boys had tryouts this week, and are SOOOOO excited to find out what team they are on. And so are we. I am secretly hoping Ethan gets Brandon's coach from last year, who was SOOOO fantabulous; Coach Williams. He is coaching his younger son this year who is Ethan's age. Cross your fingers for us....... I love a coach who is truly a coach. Full of encouragement, kindness, and motivates by example. I am so grateful for these coaches who give up their whole Fall life for these boys.

So, to all my friends, I love you and hope to see you in about November. Take care of yourselves. Let's plan a great girls night for November sometime! Or feel free to join us at a football field every night and on Saturdays.

I am such a cheezy Mom. I may not have a clue about Football, but the kids look so freakin' cute in their uniforms.....AND last but not least, we have their Halloween costumes covered for this year. SCORE!

Oh, and by the way, Ethan wants to be called E-fighter from now on. And I am banned from calling him angelbaby, sweet angel cakes, cutie-petutie, and other fun names on the football field. Seriously? Could I be as bad as the Mom from Diary of a Wimpy Kid?

Little Brandonism

So my 9 year old busted my chops the other day. We had to get up at around 6am on Saturday to be at football practice at 7am. At about 6:15am, I had gotten dressed and semi-ready, so what do I do? Hop on facebook for a couple minutes. Little Brandon busted my chops, saying, "You have 15 minutes Mom, use it wisely."

He is so on to me.

Foozball Boy

My little man works hard at practice! I am proud of all his hard work! He is growing up so fast it is scaring me a bit. 4th grade sounds so old. He is a great kid and I am grateful to be his Mom!


Brandon is far left (in pictures below, the white jersey!)
 
 
 
 

Brandon Fans

We all love to support our little Brandon! Go Brandon! Boys will be boys, as you can tell. Dirt, water, football, food....
We are all Brandon fans, even in the pouring rain!

My baby!
 

 
 
 

My Human Missile

Brandon did really well at his Football practice yesterday. He worked so hard. His coach even commented to him, "You are like a human missile." He was so proud of himself for his hard work. Good job buddy!

Football Practice

Well, little Brandon (9) wanted to do football again this year. 2 hours of practice each night. Very intense. I love his coach this year, it is his friend's Dad, which always makes it more fun! Tonight we all went as a family to watch him practice! I am proud of my little fella! He is working hard and enjoying it!

 

 


What the kids do at his practice----play, play, play! Somersaults, and rolling down the hill!

 

BYU vs U of U Rivalry Fun

When you have friends who are U of U fans, kidnap their flag, put up a BYU flag instead, and don't forget the signs on the garage. Our neighbors just did this and we had a good laugh from the sidelines. This should turn into quite an amusing neighbor prank game. Sorta' glad we don't have a flagpole about now.


Payback Time!
So, it was payback time. Too bad BYU lost! Bummer! It was time for the "U fan" neighbors to have some fun. They put the BYU flag at half mast. Poor BYU!

The "U fan" neighbors posted this sign on the garage of our "Y fan" neighbors.

Till next year-----

Gotta' love rivalry fun!

BYU vs. U of U Football

There is a big game today. BYU vs. U of U.
I think my little Ethan summed it up so well:

After drawing this, he showed it to me and said, "Dad will be so proud of me."

Father-Son Football

What do you do when you have four boys? Yeah, football in the park.









And Maddie and I got to watch and play with a Pink Pony and weeds. It was so freezing cold, we could only play for about a half hour!

The Last Hurrah (for now)!

My Brandon (#97)

Well, they lost the game today, so they don't go to Finals. It was the perfect day for Brandon's last football game. The weather was warm, and Grandma and Grandpa were able to come watch the game. I am glad Brandon enjoyed the season. His coach even teared up during their last post-game talk.

We will soon be starting the basketball season for Ethan. With four boys, I have a strange feeling this is the beginning of a long sports journey. I am glad though, I definately want them to be involved in positive activities! I just need one deep breath (or maybe a month) before starting the next sport!

Kid Halloween Party

Making mummies with toilet paper


Silly String Wars






After Football Practice, little Brandon was invited to a Halloween party of someone on the team. It was every kids dream party. There were at least 40 kids there. Some of the activities included making mummies out of toilet paper, and having a silly string fight. That is one brave parent, willing to give each child a roll of toilet paper and a little later, each child got a can of silly string. Fun kid times!!! The kids had a blast.

On the way to his Football practice, I was teasing little Brandon. Oh, I can't wait to go to your party with you. It will be so fun. He said, "Mom, I like you, I just don't like being embarrassed." Then he continued to tell me, "You embarrass all the kids with your kid quotes."

I think we are entering a new phase of development, the "I am totally mortified and embarrassed by my parent" phase. Fun times ahead.

The funny part is I was teasing him about going with him to the party. Unfortunately, it took me about 20 minutes to find the house where the party was being held, and we only had about an hour left for the party, so I stayed in order to not get lost again. Don't worry, for Brandon's sake, I tried to stay in the background and out of the way. I think he survived the party without being embarrassed by his Mom. Hope so.

Bye-Bye Football?

I'm going to cry, I am getting a bit misty. (In the above picture, that is my sweet little #97, otherwise known as "Bone Crusher".)

Yesterday afternoon may have been little Brandon's last Football practice. As much as I will miss 3 (2-2 1/2 hour) practices and Saturday games, I will somehow have to pull myself together and handle life without this obligation in my life. Thank goodness. It is freezing out. Their practices always last about a half hour longer than they are supposed to---which leads to another half hour added to each practice. I guess I shouldn't complain, I should be grateful for all the adults who are willing to put in this time commitment in helping my child with football.

Today may be the last game. If they win, Brandon's team will go to Playoffs. As my husband has said, Do you think it is wrong to cheer for the other team? That way we are done with this season of football. Yeehaw! Although, on the other hand, I know little Brandon would love the memory of playing in the Playoffs.

I guess I am not the Football Mother of the year. I didn't even spend the $60 on the videos they made of all the kids games, that many of the other Mom's purchased. (No offense, but why would I want to re-watch all these games---as exciting as it is to watch 8 year olds play football!) I guess I need a little more heart when it comes to this Football thing. At least that's what they always tell the kids----to have heart when they play ball.

Like the tin woodsman of the Wizard of Oz, I need to find my heart, my football heart. Maybe next year??? And maybe next year I will even buy the videos. Stay tuned.....I know I have you all on the edge of your seats!