WE WON!!!

Yesterday was the last game and it was COLD!!! Chris had his guys show up a little early so they could adjust to the cold before the game. There were still a few who couldn't handle the cold and didn't want to play so they left the game. They were also the same ones whose parents signed them up and it wasn't really their idea, so it really wasn't a surprise they didn't want to hang out in the cold. The orange team scored 2 touchdowns and one extra point. The navy team (was undefeated!) didn't score at all. Here are a few pictures from the game.

This one made me laugh ~ I'm not sure what the 2 young refs are doing, but it looks funny!

The team before the game started. We had a few very large blankets and comforters available for the boys to wrap up in and keep warm. The ones using them in this picture are the same ones who didn't want to play.

The boy carrying the ball in this picture is Conner (he has the red sweatshirt on under his jersey) and he was the only one in the huddle who would raise his hand when Chris would ask "Who wants to carry the ball". It was always Conner (and only Conner) who would raise his hand. The others were too cold and afraid they would drop the ball, but Chris made sure to vary the ball carriers anyway.

This picture is a cool one to show how the Pursuit Drill that Chris ran worked great in what the boys learned. Navy has the ball here and the orange team is "picking their angles" instead of running directly towards the ball carrier. They are running towards the ball carrier will be going.

Eli's mom (the QB) commented that she had never been part of a cheering crew like they were for the orange team (Eli is her youngest of 3). We had a lot of fun cheering for our boys and last week I brought our cow bell :~) Chris wasn't really thrilled at first that I had brought it, but it was fun for the boys to have "real" cheerers. LOL

I am disappointed that I didn't get a picture of the boys dumping the water cooler on Chris! They had waited all season for that and then I didn't get a picture. I was trying to make sure that Chris passed out the certificates that we made for the boys. They turned out really well, I thought, and then Chris wrote a little personal note to each of the players and we listed the kids' names on the back of the cert.

Here is the little shrine that Taite set up in his room as a memento of his first year of football. I don't remember how many times he said that he was going to miss football. We already have plans to go watch a teammates hockey team so we'll have something to occupy our time a little!

Last night Chris wanted to have a celebratory supper with a few of our die-hard fans (those that showed up yesterday because it was coooold!). I had everything in place and even had time to run to town quick and that never happens for me! I should've known to watch for a disaster and it occurred when the coffee was brewing. We have never had this happen before, but the coffee grounds and coffee were running all over the counter! In the process of trying to clean the mess up, I ran hot coffee on my thumb and that hurts! I eventually got it all cleaned up and made another pot with no problems ~ not sure what happened with the first pot, but like I said, I think it just had to do with the fact that everything else went so well ~ hehe! As a surprise for Chris, I made Better Than Sex Cake. I found a wonderful recipe on AllRecipes.com and it's always good. When I was done making it, it looked so good, I couldn't resist throwing some candles on it even though there was no reason for them :~)

I need to confess. . .

We had Taite's conference on Thursday afternoon and we found out why they don't have any homework. It's not because they spend all this time in the classroom to get it done, it's because this has all been review so far from 3rd grade. She said Taite is doing fine, but will probably have an "awakening" when things turn from review and he will have to actually study which is a totally new concept for the kids this age. Things aren't as bad as they first seemed in his classroom (again, Chris would like to rub in that he was right, but doesn't ~ :D)

The Book Fair

On Friday, I helped out at the book fair at school. They always have a book fair during conferences. There was a time slot of 10 - 12 that needed filling because the person who had signed up for it had a sick child. I decided to surprise Bray by having lunch with him after my shift was over. I ran into Taite when he went to lunch and had to disappoint him to let him know that I was only having lunch with Bray, but promised to come back another day to dine with Taite. The book fair was slow when Taite was eating, so I went out to chat with him. He was sitting at the very end of the table and had 3 boys to his right (I only recognized one), across from him was his friend Isaac and next to Isaac was Paige and another boy on the other side of Paige. My first reaction to this was how comfortable Paige was sitting with the boys and vise-versa with the boys. I know a little about Paige and what I know is that she has 2 sisters, but she must prefer to keep up with the boys. :~) In Phy-Ed, they have a goal each year to run and not walk for like 12 minutes or something and Paige blew everyone's time, even the boys', because she was training for it at recess! Remember Paige's name, she'll probably be in the Olympics some year! :~) Anyway, that wasn't the point of my story. I joked around with Taite and chatted with the kids sitting near him. I was surprised to find how even at this age, they were still looking for an opportunity to interact with someone's mom. In the younger grades, you get random things "My mom works at _____" just so you'll give them some attention, but at Taite's age, they don't throw out the random things, but still just want to interact. Kind of cool. So, anyway, still not to the point of my story. The boy who was sitting next to Taite at the table, I didn't recognize. He joined in on the conversation to say he gets into trouble :~) and Paige added that it was on the 1st day! LOL After school, I asked Taite who that kid was and he told me the name and it was a boy on the white football team. This isn't a big surprise, but my first thought was "he looks so normal" ~ isn't that terrible??? This boy tried to rub it in when white beat orange in the game, but Chris told Taite to only say "Good game", over and over. This ended his boasting, but to even come to school and think to say that, is disappointing. As a mom, I am more emotional about this sort of thing and Chris will remind me that they are 4th grade boys, so this isn't so surprising :~) I guess it will only get worse and we can only stress to Taite to keep his good sportsmanship attitude!

Before I forget (to extend the first part of that last "story")

If any of you are ever near the school during the day around 11-12, please go and have lunch with the boys! It will be free ~ they just have to use their code to pay. :~) The food isn't bad either and you get 3 things to choose from.