Is it still fun to play?

If Vegas gave odds on Isaiah's game they were expected to lose . . . by a lot. And they did. I think they were scored on 5 times . . . in the first half! We didn't score and I don't think we converted to a first down once the entire game. Isaiah at center was up against the biggest kid I've seen him face all season and he did great. He didn't do much on D this game but given the score, you could say no one did much on D :) After the game in the team huddle the kids were smiling and coach kept it positive. Does this show a good positive attitude?? or that no one cares?? Regardless I'm glad he's having fun. Final score - not sure, lost count. Something big to zero. :)

After the stressful game last week Mathias's team has gotten intense. They spent all Tuesday's practice "working on getting their pride back" this meant nothing but one on one tackle drills and sprints over and over and over. I'm not sure Mathias understood all the speechifying that went with it but I simplified "Give an effort you're proud off, if that's your best and you lose it's ok. Don't give up and spend the game crying on the sidelines." This weekend they played a team coached by his coach from last year (8-2 2008 record) Great coaches. It was another tough game. Mathias got another interception but he fumbled the first offensive pass thrown to him this season. We made it through the game with no tears so that's a first. He's really pumped about his interceptions. He wants to get one a game. :) Final score was 24 - 7 and final speech was "keep your heads up".

Love to Carpool

3 moms, 3 Honda minivans, 7 kids, 1 mission - get 'em to school on time! Each mom does pick up and drop off for one week. For two straight weeks I can just wave goodbye at the door in my mumu. :) This is my week to drive and baby decides it's her week to sleep in. ??? Miss 5AM is sprawled out completely ignoring all the chaos and she's sleeping like a baby. . . and I gotta wake her up. It's a shame.

Craft Fair Weekend Part 2

I'm standing at the craft fair register watching the clock thinking "it's 8, the boys are warming up, it's 9:30 they just weighted in, it's 10:00 kick off I wonder how they're doing . . . then game over, it's kick off for the next one. I hope they're doing ok. I wonder how the coaches are acting." I didn't have a cell phone so I had no idea how it was going until I finally reached my husband at 2 and he said "It went terrible, kids are all coming off the field crying, both teams lost, some of our players were kicked off the team."

Isaiah's team (the one with coaching drama - you can read more in prior posts) played a team they could have beaten. But it was a fiasco - personal fouls, kid being kicked out, running backs were being smacked before the hand off was even made, issues between parents and coaches etc. Final score 22-7. Isaiah played linebacker and center the whole game and did get some tackles. The Association is will be at practice tomorrow to talk to parents and coaches. . . we'll see what happens then.

Mathia's team was intimidated before they even weighted in - when they saw the cornrows, goatees, and grills. This is an all black south central team. Danny's "brutha theory" is the more brutha a team has the better the team. Coach had announced to our kids this team was the best in the state (this team is blowing out teams who blew out other teams) All the kids were coming off the field crying. Mathias had a crying spell and coach yelled at him to "stuck it up and get control of himself". He did play most of the game and did get several touchdown saving tackles. He played both sides of the ball. They were up 21 - 0 and we'd only had 1 offensive play. They'd kick off and we wouldn't even get the ball - they'd get it. Final score 34-0. Pop Warner has a rule, if you run up the score the coach needs to write a letter of apology etc so at a certain point you can only run up the middle and your bench should be playing otherwise I'm sure the score would have been worse. "You were out worked, out hit, and out hustled. You had your pride ripped from you today." This was coach's bellowing final speech - did I mention he's intense??? Welcome to football - 7 to 9 years olds mighty mite division.

Craft Fair Weekend Part 1

We survived craft fair weekend! This was our first fair - I shared a booth with a friend. She sells frames and hair flowers at www.moiandmine.etsy.com.


Briar Patch puts on fairs all over the valley - it's set up with central cashiers that accept credit cards etc so as a shopper you just collect items and pay at one spot. Each item has a coded tag that gets sorted later by "shop". That relieves us of dealing with each transaction, we can leave the booth unattended, and folks spend more if they can use a credit card. :) Part of our obligation involved working some volunteer hours at the registers. I didn't get to shop much (I had a shower to attend immediately after my volunteer hours)but I did get to meet a really great girl who talked my ear off in a good way! Karlee Fuch makes a wide range of fabric bags and patterns. She's been doing shows from several years and shared lots of tips and information with me (and also encouragement!) You can check out her shop and blog at www.karleefuchs.com.

My sales were minimal and I'll admit to being a bit discouraged. However Sunday's church services were all about our words - so I'll be positive and just focus on that. :) Also our booth neighbor who sells hats said sales were lousy so maybe it wasn't just us. We'll have final tallies later this week. Working the register I saw a lot of elderly shoppers buying food items and decorations and not many young familes which might be more my target customer. Either way I enjoyed making my items and if nothing sells at least Eliya will have a closet full of Mommy made skirts to twirl about in a few years. :) I also set out a papergoods item with my sketch. Most of my sketches are probably best for stationary, cards, print type goods. I'm trying to work with them and do something with them. Also our booth display was mostly 'round the house items (didn't want to invest a whole lot upfront but we plan to change it a bit and add some actual tableclothes and maybe poster size prints of girls in the clothes ad style for the next show.)

Braggin' on my boys

Mathias got an interception this past Saturday. He had one in our pre-season scrimmage and was thrilled to get one in this game. He was tackled before running it back though - but still very proud. He's old enough now to notice things. Initially in practice he was starting both sides of the ball . . . then a few players were shuffled and he's now on second string offense. (White O not Orange O) He had a good attitude about it. He admitted he was "a bit sad, but I'm OK." His team has great coaching staff. We were excepting a win against this team (next weeks team will be tough - they haven't been scored on) So this past weekend the coaches played White O quite a bit and the kids who don't usually play were on the field more often. Despite that, I think the score was 24 - 0? Our head coach's son is really good but I like the fact that this coach gives other kids a chance to play. We car pool with kid that has never played football before. We knew him from basketball . . . he's very athletic and very fast . . . he's also scared to get hit - like most first timers. This past Saturday he was given the opportunity to run the ball and he made some great runs and scored a TD! He also caught an awesome pass for the extra point. I think that's why I enjoy mighty mite football so much - to see kids do something they've never done before and to see how proud they are of accomplishing something. Another kid got his first tackle. It was Mathias's teacher's nephew. . . it always surprises me how in a city this big it seems small sometimes. No I can't point out as many cousins and second cousins as Priscella can walking down Main St but this city can still be homey.

Isaiah played a hard game. He sat out just one play. This was a noon game in 102+ heat. When we got home he crashed and napped for 2 hours. They played an evenly matched team but lost 0-12. Coach's kid was QB the whole game. . . maybe this would have been winnable otherwise . . . I just don't like them looking at the kids after the game and saying "this is what it tastes like to lose." Most of those kids played really hard and it's not entirely their fault. Isaiah got some great tackles in the first half. Leaving the game, an opposing teams parent complimented him. "Great game, you were throwing them around out there." I saw one hit that reminded me of a WWF move - he lifts the guy up then comes crashing down on him. Danny says he'll eventually get a penalty for that, need to tackle a bit diffent, run through the guy instead. In the last quarter, Isaiah got a holding penalty and a false start penalty. He was down on himself about it. I don't remember him ever getting a flag before. I'm sure he was exhausted in that last quarter. Hubby was working overtime, Eliya was screaming (no nap, second game of the day), DJ was puking in the stands (too much heat, too much Horchata icee?) so my play by play of Isaiah's game is a little hazy. Ah well, some days just go that way. Errors or no errors, I'm proud of Isaiah's attitude and effort. He doesn't give up or wimp out or complain or make excuses. That's my boy. :)

Calling Audibles

In the midst of trying to jump start some kind of crafting business I'm still doing credit card customer service work from home. Monday's are a slow family day - Danny takes the kids to watch some friends play softball - so I've been working Monday evenings. Like most SAHMs I have no concept of time and the passing of days. I forgot this was Labor day and actually volunteered to pick up a shift . . . causing the family to miss our usual Labor Day picnic event. :( I'm not a total Cruella though and the boys did get to play with friends yesterday and this morning so they're happy. It's tough to work and hear my baby faintly crying in the background, knowing she wants me but will have to settle for Pops and her bros. I do get breaks and can pop off if I really need to. I'll stick my head out of my office and holler instruction "send the friends home! load the dishwasher! get the pizza! clean up the toys!" My dear hubby says I sound like a coach calling audibles. HA HA they better follow through or I'm gonna bench somebody!

Football Tears

Mighty Mite ReCap

Mathias's first game was canceled due to excessive heat. Today we were two minutes from the half, up 6-2, when the rain hit. They called rain delay and we found shelter under the shade canopies. Crashing thunder and lightening. When we were able to play again, the other team scored so we were down 6-9. There was concern they'd call the game at the half because there were still storm clouds all around. However, we were able to finish and won 19-9. Mathias played cornerback and got an awesome cross the open field tackle that saved a touchdown. He was pretty proud. :) Then he missed a block on O and got yelled at by coach . . . then he was almost in tears. Dad comforted him "you have to take the good and the bad, and get back out there . . ."







Pee Wee ReCap

After last weeks 0-36 disaster, we weren't expecting much today. However they were playing at team more their level and wound up going into double overtime tied 0-0. Very exciting! Isaiah played great at center and played linebacker for much of the game. Our D held them near goal quite a few times. Also, in O, Isaiah got a sack that resulted in a fumble causing the second overtime! They're not allowed to run it back in O - no turnovers. So great game, exciting, and if we get to play a few more teams like this, that would be nice. Final score our win 7 - 6. And of course Isaiah cried - happy tears. :)

Ordinary Drama

Money makes the world go round . . . and causes lots of problems along the way! I don't spend too much time at my oldest son's football practices because I'm involved as a team mom on the other son's team . . . but there is major drama concerning money raised and where it went. I don't gossip the sidelines but the bits I've overheard and the great defensive (more like offensive) pronouncements made by coaches at team meetings seem to signal general unrest. Of course a 0-36 lost doesn't go down well . . . no matter how pretty the team uniforms! The other teams parents are beginning to pipe up as well. Our "main" team mom will bring a breakdown of money in and out to pass out to parents. Even with all our fundraising, we'll still have to cough up half the cost of the boys jersey. So we'll see how this goes over tonight . . .

My sister-in-law always said I'm full of ideas . . . that never go anywhere! Very true. I'm having a hard time deciding exactly what to do for the craft fair and etsy. I should really focus on a few things instead of bits of everything. This week I'm been sewing a lot of little girls skirts. Very cute, designer fabric. And to keep costs down, these are just scrap pieces I've picked up at a warehouse place. The odd size pieces means I have to be more creative in what I do with them. I don't have a set pattern and buy the supplies accordingly. If the skirts are a hit, I plan then to design a "line" and purchase those supplies in bulk wholesale. It'll be easier to "make to order" just a few select designs then a slew of OOAK items. I'm working on a few little girl models and need to organize some props and do a few photo shoots - advertising style. I'm excited about doing that - I always have fun taking pics. It's still a bit hot out, but an evening shoot should be good. And of course in the back of my head I know I'll need to do some printing, tags, signs, labels, some stationary type items from my sketches etc.

And on the home front . . . all is well. The boys are settled into school (chess will be starting soon) and baby is growing. She crawls around while I sew. Today I got a peek at her mischievous side - she'd unplug my sewing machine while I was sewing and then giggle as I crawled under the table to reconnect. . . and I had to rip out a seam because she crawled over the foot pedal.

There's squawling in the hall way . . . the kids are home and need a referee. :)

UPDATE:
One of the parents was "written up" for comments made at the game on Saturday.

http://www.eteamz.com/azyff/standings/index.cfm?season=544565&division=4422497

Looks like half the games were blow outs. Danny explained it to me. This is what happens when you have coaches leave the league with their best players for another league. The "left overs" get lumped together with the "first timers" to create new teams. These teams will almost always have a rough year when playing against established teams that have been together for several years and maybe even play together in the off season elsewhere. This leads to drama all around - the drama that caused the initial coach to dismantle his team and leave (my oldest had been with these guys for 4 yrs) and then the drama of dissatisfied parents on the new struggling team. . . of course coaching decisions, athleticism of the players, etc all have something to do with the outcome on the field. Most kids just play sports to have fun and be with thier friends . . . why the parents get involved is a whole 'nother story.