Awesome Athlete

This Saturday was jam-packed, enough "material" for several posts.  I'll start with Caleb.  He's playing flag football this fall.  He played tackle the last two years--you can view my favorite memory here.  My very favorite homecoming picture E.V.E.R.

I don't know how long flag will last for Caleb.  He's really enjoying playing less rough (read: getting hurt less often), and he's really enjoying the small team and getting to play a variety of positions, thanks to a good coach.

But he's just not as passionate about flag as he is about tackle.  And much as the mother in me likes the relative safety of flag, the other mother in me so wants him to be playing something he absolutely loves.

In any case, it's much easier to get pictures of him this season.

 He's a wily little flag snatcher.

 Sometimes (although I didn't catch it on camera) he looks like a viper, using his eyes to assess and evaluate and then darting in to grab that flag.

On this particular play, he opted not to flag-snatch.  He could have, but he didn't.  You could see him eyeing the position of his opponent's flags.  Yeah, that's a girl.  I was pretty proud of him for his choice.  Of course, you could argue that if you're gonna play, you gotta man up.  Haha.  After this play, the young lady was asked to readjust her flags so they rested on her hips.

 He really loves to run the ball.  Had some pretty sweet catches today.

And he still gets to QB sometimes.  Still got a great arm.

So proud of my athlete.  Who'd have thunk?  How did I end up with an athlete?  Definitely Bob's genes going on there.  I don't think I have a single athletic gene in my body.

November to Remember Football

I've never really been that into football. I like to cheer, I guess. And I like to root for the underdog. But I've never really felt a need to stay up to watch my favorite team play, or that sort of thing.

And then I became an OU student, a Sooner. I got more into football. But (dare I admit this publicly), I could still go to bed in the middle of a game and not be too concerned about it.

And then...I became the mother of a football player.

And THEN I became a football mom.

And a coach's wife.  (And dang, that coach looks good in that shirt.  He'd better, darn it!)

Yeah, I'm THAT mom.  I bring my cowbells (even though they weren't originally my idea, they were a fabulous addition to my arsenal).  And I cheer even when no one else is cheering.  I've told my boy to man up and get out there and play for real.  (And I've flinched when he's gotten an ouchie.)

I've watched my kids play basketball and softball and baseball and soccer.  But there isn't anything as exciting as watching my son play football.  One of the other football moms was talking about it today, too.  Watching your kid play football is just different, more intense than the other sports.  It's crazy, really.

But it's not going to stop me, because he loves it, and I love watching him do something he's passionate about.

Life in the Haynes Lane

I'm too lazy to go through my pictures right now to find some to post. We've been busy, busy, busy. But I'm not sure doing what. Life, I guess.

Sariah has been on her bedtime routine for 2 weeks now. She's improving slowly but steadily. She is still waking up at night, but now she will stay in her own bed and go back to sleep on her own. Keep your fingers crossed, because last Friday night was a disastrous, demon-possessed child night, and it came sorta outta the blue, and I've no interest in doing it over again.


Meanwhile, I've been working on a routine to get Samuel down at nights. I'm not ready to let him cry it out yet (largely because Sariah is a big enough job right now), but we are working on reading a story and singing a song and laying down not-quite-asleep in the hopes that we can prevent our current toddler sleep issues for the future.

Caleb started football again this week. I know, ALREADY!! So far he's been practicing to play QB and he looks good out there. He's having a lot more fun this year, too, so I'm really excited for him. Plus, he offered me the indescribable opportunity of feeling his sweat-drenched shirt yesterday. What more can a mother ask for?

Rex is growing up on me. Every time he smiles his permanent teeth grin, I can't believe how time flies. He had a first sleepover last weekend, which likely won't be repeated anytime soon, given that Zach's mom reported they talk more than any girls she ever knew.

Lizzi's home, Lizzi's home, Lizzi's home! I'm so glad my girl is home again. But she starts middle school in a few weeks. How can this be?

And speaking of how things can be ... we discovered today that Hannah has apparently shot up in growth. We knew Caleb was growing, and Elisabeth has kept pace with him, but all of a sudden Elisabeth and Hannah don't have to stand back-to-back to prove who's taller. No doubt about it--Hannah is the tallest by several inches. Who knew?

As for me, besides mothering these teaming hordes, I've been on vacation, been to PTA convention, am planning another short vacation, am PTAing like crazy, and just the general hubbub of activity around here. I think I need to take a deep breath ... and keep on truckin.'

Hugs to all!

Sigh of Relief

Football season is over.  Can you hear that huge sigh of relief?  I have loved watching Caleb play, and seeing his team (finally) come together.  But three practices and a game a week is enough to kill anyone.  He says he's not playing next year.  Rex says he is.  We shall see....

Busy, Busy

We've had busy times lately.  A youth temple trip one day; a temple night the next day.  A Scentsy party on Saturday--mmmhmmm, I love that stuff.  Dinner with good friends.  A football playoff game (yay! the season's almost over).  Church, including the annual primary program.  A sick baby.  PTA stuff--just when you think it's going to die down, it starts up all over again.

I think the football game was the most exciting part of our weekend.  We had to drive all the way out to Prague, which is over an hour away, for Caleb's first playoff game.  It was also his first game starting off as quarterback.  He did a pretty good job.  They finished the first quarter with a score of 0-0, which I have to say is unprecedented.   Usually by the end of the first quarter, the score is 24-0, and not in favor of us.  The game wasn't a complete shut-out either--we got a touchdown!!  These boys have come such a long way from the beginning of their season.  They're starting to come together and get it right.  In any case, I think they had much more fun than they've had in the past.  They were still really psyched when the game is over, so I 'm going to count that as a win.

On the agenda this week, fewer football practices, a visit to the doctor for Sariah's hurting ear, less facebooking and more blogging....

#14: My Favorite Football Player

If you know me, you know I've never really been that into football. I still remember watching as a child and wondering what the big deal was and why the heck boys would play something that dumb. I attended all our high school football games, but only because marching band was fun, and so was hanging out with all my friends in those dreadful uniforms up in the stands. I never really got into the tight-pants thing, or the cool jock phase ... although I did temporarily have a huge crush on John Elway (why????), which was the only reason I watched all those Bronco games with my mom. And I've never been impressed with the Dallas Cowboys. I will admit, though, that Sooner Mania is very infectious, and I will get into a Sooner football game, as long as they're not doing something stupid.

But times, they are a-changin', especially now that there's a #14 in my world. No, I'm not talking about Sam Bradford, even if he is pretty impressive and cute, too. Football has suddenly become much more interesting (obsessive even) to me now that my baby boy is playing. He looks good, doesn't he? And he's waaaaaay more impressive and cute to me than Sam (sorry, but I have to be honest here).
I think some of my newly discovered love for football stems from the fact that Caleb is good at what he does. That's not just the mom in me talking. He's seriously good at football. That's not to say the first few weeks weren't hard--he hated learning to wear the pads and the helmet, but oddly, these are things the mom just wouldn't budge on. But once we overcame that hurdle and the 3 times weekly practices, Caleb really started loving it. He can do just about anything they ask him to do out there. He typically plays safety, but he can run the ball, catch passes, and sack the quarterback. He also played QB a couple of weeks ago, when both of our QBs got hurt.

He's a team captain, if that's what they call it at this age.

And he's a pretty darn good kicker. The first game he kicked, he actually beaned another player in the head. Coach Ryan says the refs were stumped because they weren't sure where to place the ball after that. However, we took him home, and set him in front of Mom's "new" Suburban, and told him to practice kicking WITHOUT HITTING MY TRUCK. It was pretty effective--he never hit my car once. And now just look at my kicker in motion:
But, as with all things we love, there are sacrifices that must be made from time to time. Who knew they did homecoming in the 3rd grade? And that you have to escort a cheerleader? Ugh! (If only he would still feel this way about it when he's 16.)