A Spa Moment...

Don't worry...he's fine.
Jason took Jack to get his haircut and since they were first timers at this establishment, they gave both of them the whole works, which included a facial, head massage and a back rub. Jack loved every minute of it.

Jack actually wants to get his haircut now...along with a facial, head massage and back rub!
Really? 
Sam saw this picture and said, "Wow. I want to go get one of those"
Really?

A Family BIllboard!

Memory Bound has put up billboards around Des Moines and we were lucky to have been chosen for one of them! It just so happened that it was placed by the "Dogwoods Lodge" which is a pet place..not a bar which a fellow employee thought!

Our billboard is on highway 141. The easiest way to see it is to get off on HWY 141 (which is the curve where i80 turns in to i35. I use that exit to go to the Target on 100th street) The billboard will be on your left, so you will need to turn around and head back to the interstate and it is right there..on your right! If you see the "Dogwoods Lodge" you have gone too far and it is time to head back!

 

A New Position...

Sam played a new position in football this weekend...he played center...which means he hiked the ball to the QB (in case you weren't sure.)

He loved being center.

I didn't like it that much...I couldn't get very good pictures of him!!

 

So thank goodness, he was put in on defense a few times!

He lunged at the other team's QB...and missed.

Here he is "jumping" to block a pass.

He looked for me again!! I asked him what thoughts are going through his mind when he looks for me. He shared that he likes to know that I am there...and that sometimes he thinks, "Geez...why does her laugh need to be so loud!"

They finally placed the ball where I could get a good shot of him hiking the ball. It's all about getting the picture!

It was a good fb weekend for us! Sam's team won their first game. Jack's team won their first game. ISU didn't play, so the didn't lose!  And the Vikes...yea. We aren't talking about that one.

 

A New Toy....

We bought a new squeaky toy for Moose.

We get "pelts" for Moose. Stuffed animals that don't have any stuffing in them. Somehow she is still able to find stuffing in her pelt toy. Once she gets out all the "stuffing" she is good to go. I guess that is her way of making it her own.

Jack and His Pink Gloves...

In yesterday's post, I mentioned Jack and his pink gloves.
Thought I would share a few pictures of Jack's game last weekend.

You can see in his face how excited he was to be playing AND wearing football gloves!

I can tell when Jack is going to get the ball..he looks at me as if he is saying, "Make sure to watch! I am going to get the ball!"

Unfortunately, the other team had a good block. Too bad it was on my kid!

Jack can turn on the wheels when he puts his mind to it!
Did I mention that the gloves were a little big for his hands?

Doesn't this picture look as if it was taken in the 70's?
Just love how it captured a quiet moment of Jack.
Pretty rare.

A Little Dance...

It was nice to see Jack having fun on the football field this weekend.
Last weekend wasn't much fun...for any of us.

Last weekend he was super excited to wear Sam's old pink gloves during his football game.

He wore them proudly all game, but when he got home, he was crying big crocodile tears and so upset.

"What happened?" I asked him while he crawled into my lap.

He told me the other boys on his team made fun of his pink gloves at the end of the game. "You are wearing pink gloves and pink is for girls!"  It crushed him.  He just wanted to be like the older boys...and Sam.

Jason did address the issue with the entire team. Jack wasn't the only one who had been made fun of during the game.

Sam and his friends (along with his mom and dad, but it helped more hearing it from Sam and his friends) reassured Jack that pink was VERY cool to wear and LOTS of FB players wear pink! He felt better.

So when he pulled a flag this weekend, it was nice to see him happy again, celebrating in his new YELLOW socks. (When Sam saw this picture, he did give Jack a lecture about show boating and how that was NOT ok to do on the field. I don't think Jack will do it again, so I am glad I captured it this week!) 

Another Amazing Commercial...

This says so much with such few words...

Jack...My Little Thinker...

Jack's football season also began on Sunday. He is playing flag football and Jason is his coach.

The boys had their games at the same time, so I went between the games. The pictures are blurry, because I took them through the fence. Jack wears his tall black socks...just like his big brother!

Jack was successful and pulled another players flag...yes, from the other team!

It looks like this kids mouth guard needs a little trim! From this angel it looks as if it is tickling Jack's ear!!

My tough little thinker boy!

What a facial expression!

Jason and Jack talked after the game and Jack let him in on his thoughts about football.
"I decided that I would let the guy have a little space (like above) that way when he catches the ball, then I can get his flag."
Jason said, "Well, you need to be by your guy so he WON'T get the ball. What if he catches the ball, takes off and you don't get his flag?"
Jack, "Hmmm...never thought about that."
 

He went on to share, "I'd like to get an interception sometime."
Jason, "Then you need to be beside your guy."
Jack, "OK."

So we will watch to see if Jack changes he game plan at next week's game!

 

Football has Begun...

Our junior football season officially started last Sunday. It was warm out, but as my mom kept saying, "Love the breeze!" Sam's team lost after putting up a great fight. The other team did not score in the second half...so we like to refer to that as "Winning the second half!" due to us scoring in the second half.

This year Sam is number 65. His jersey is huge on him. He tried to keep it tucked in and then just gave up. We liked that because it was easy to spot him on the field!

During football, I rarely get any face shots of Sam. Sunday was a successful day with several face shot opportunities!

If I am correct, Sam plays left tackle on offense and right guard on defense.

 

 

 

These two went after it all game.
Careful on the wrist, Sam!

Got in on a tackle.

This is one of my all time favorite pictures. There are very few times that Sam will actually turn to look for me or at me when he plays. This picture says a thousand words..."Oh good...you're here." It may also say, "Dang, it's hot out here....Why is your laugh so loud?...I am going to blast this guy apart." Though, I like to think it was the first comment!

We still have a lot of football that needs to be played...and you know what that means...lots of pictures to share each week!
 

Lazy or Smart?

Walked into the kitchen the other day to witness this...

No big deal - right. Jack using a straw to get a drink of water.

Until you see the distance that the water is from his mouth. Only four straws away.
Would hate to see him move closer to the water!

Guinness Basketball Commercial

 

This is one of the best commercials...ever.

A Football Weekend...

The season has begun! We had a lot of football this weekend. Two games on Saturday and one on Sunday. We battled the heat at both games.
 

Sam went after the QB, but stopped just in time so he didn't get a "roughing the QB" call!

Nothing like a little double team!

The heat started to take its toll on all the boys.

Sam got in on tackle!!

Go, Sam, Go!!

And suddenly I don't like that MY boy is on the bottom of all that!!!

It was a good game and all were having fun until this happened...

The blue guy tackled Sam and cracked him pretty hard with his helmet.

I knew something was wrong. I could tell because when the next play was happening, and as you can see, Sam wasn't really doing anything. Why am I still taking pictures? I watch a lot of the game through my lens so I can see the game better. So while I am watching, I do click off a few photos and happened to catch this shot.

After that play, they took Sam off the field...he did walk off on his own. My stomach hurt. It's not a good feeling when it's YOUR kid that is hurt. I wanted to run out there yelling, "OH MY BABY!!! ARE YOU OK?  MOMMY'S HERE!!"  but Sam would have been mortified, so would have Jason and then after I did that, I too, would have been mortified!!  What was awesome was that the other dads, that were on the field,  headed over to check on Sam and to help him out. 

So I watched from the side lines. Jason headed out there to see how he was doing. The EMT, on the left also watched him for a bit. He was a bit dazed, but no signs of concussion (phew.)

He had played the entire game, offense, defense and kick-off...so he was a bit over heated and needed to get cooled down. 

I was thankful that Jason stayed with him.

The coach came over and talked with Sam and told him that he was done for the day. They took off his pads and I started asking, "WHY ARE THE TAKING OFF HIS PADS??"  Another dad reassured me, "Katie, they are hot. Sam needs to cool down." oh. ok.

So there he sat for the rest of the game. Safe. (yea!!)

The team did go on to win the tournament!! Yea Bombers!!
We did keep a close eye on Sam for the next 24 hours and happy to say that he doing just fine.

 I am off today to buy a bunch of foam to duck tape around his body for next week.