And the champions are...

This was the first year the boys played football. They could have started playing at age 7 but we didn't know that so they started at age 8. We signed them up for a week long summer camp in August which was a great trial into the new world of blocking, tackling, running, and catching! I wasn't really sure how they'd do at camp since the weather was quite hot and they were in full pads but they loved it. A week later the football season began. The coaches spend the first few weeks looking at their strengths before assigning them to a position which they remind you can change at any point based on performance. Connor played weak side wide receiver on offense, while Ty played center nose guard on defense. I loved that I didn't have to focus on two kids playing at the same time. Most of the new kids play as linemen their first year because it's a great way for them to become acquainted with the sport, learn to feel comfortable making tackles and being tackled, not to mention learning and memorizing all sorts of plays. Their team is called Wildcats Rookie Red and they range in age from 7-9. This year they had a large number of first year 7 and 8 year olds on the team so no one knew what to expect. The head coach had coached the Rookie Red team the past couple years and had a reputation for building a disciplined, mentally tough, and very skilled team. This year he managed to exceed all expectations, including his own by seeing his team go the entire season undefeated with only 12 points scored against them. This included winning all the playoff games and the championship game! We spent close to 3 hours a day, three days a week at practice and every Saturday was a game. It turned into a family event with Sage spending each practice hanging out with a bunch of her new friends, me enjoying spending time with the other moms and Jack enjoying watching his two sons learn to play football!

Here are some of the highlights:

Practice: Tuesdays and Thursdays were full pads days and Friday was a shorter no pads day. Whichever the day, Sage had plenty of friends to play with.




We couldn't have asked for better fall weather. I can't think of a prettier place to watch my kids play football. Not to mention I don't know of anywhere else where your kids can be playing football while just a short distance behind them wild elk are roaming...




Home games are red jersey's and away games are the white ones. Whatever jersey the boys aren't wearing, Sage and I are. I'm hoping the jerseys will be easier to squeeze into as the boys get bigger but sadly I was reminded by my friend to enjoy it while I can because before long it's the girlfriends who they'll want wearing their jerseys!!!



Introducing the center nose guard and the weak side receiver:




Nothing like brother on brother...



Here are the boys taking a short break in between plays at the jamboree which kicks off the season and is a good indicator of how much they've learned in the past month of practicing. It was clear at this point they were going to be just fine as a team...



I have over 1,000 photos from the season since somehow I also got roped into doing some team photography so it's hard to pick out the best photos that capture the season but here are a few. Ty (also referred to as T-Rod by his coaches) is #6 and Connor who later became C-Rod is #19. Unfortunately there is no symbolism behind these numbers as they were the ones that were assigned to them. Ty could always be found dead center on the line while Connor being a receiver was out on the edge. The easiest way to spot Connor in photos is to look for the blue on his Nike's. Other hints were their gloves, under armor shirts, and even how Ty's sock were rolled at some games...

Here are a few of Defense and Ty:




Here are a few of Connor and offense:




Connor having a heart to heart with dad after a missed catch...



The sweet taste of victory... I'm very nervous about next year's season and we have barely finished this season. Where do you go after having such an amazing record and never experiencing a loss? I guess we'll have to wait until next year to find out...




Because in the history of Wildcat junior football, Rookie Red has never made it to the championship game, there was all sorts of buzz surrounding this accomplishment. In addition to being written up in the paper, the boys got to be honored on the eve of their Championship game during half time at the Mt. Si High School playoff game. I think they were all more excited to watch the game than actually march out onto the field to be honored.



We had strict orders the morning of the Championship game to get the boys up at 6 a.m., have them do a wake me up shower, and then a hearty breakfast. We were to be on the road by 7:15 a.m. for a 7:45 arrival time with game time at 9! Here are some favorite shots captured at the end...



"we are the champions..."

Halloween...check!

One of the highlights of September is waiting for the back to school stuff at Target to move out and the Halloween stuff to arrive. The boys get so excited for the day that the costume section is finally filled up. Me, not so much! I mean really, since when did paying upwards of $50 for a KIDS costume become acceptable? Then when you take into consideration the last time Connor actually wore the mask that his costume came with or the last time Ty went trick or treating carrying all the guns, swords, etc. that his costume "requires" it really seems expensive. We got lucky with Connor this year and on our first trip he found the costume he wanted and thankfully it was in his size. Ty on the other hand found a costume he wanted but they didn't have it in his size and after checking back several times I became doubtful it would ever come in. This is when creative, strategic thinking on my part paid off. Knowing we had just spent over $40 on Connor's costume which will be worn for no more than 4 hours including all parties, I decided to try negotiating with Ty and offered him $20 to wear Connor's costume from last year. Last year Connor was an Air Force pilot. The costume was as a little big at the time so I was pretty certain it would fit Ty perfectly this year. After about 5 minutes of thinking about it and me reminding him of all the things he could buy that would far outlast a halloween costume he decided to shake hands on it. A definite win/win! Of course the next thing I heard was Connor requesting a "rental" fee for the use of his costume. I like that thinking! Sage wasn't happy with the collection of costumes that Target had in her size so thankfully she was happy to use a cute Tinker bell outfit that some friends had given us several months ago and boy did she look cute!



This year we didn't make it out to the pumpkin patch as a family but I did get to join Sage on her preschool trip. We went on a hay ride, ate smores around a campfire, and of course searched for the best pumpkin Sage could find...




The weekend festivities began on Friday with a party for the kids at Jack's office. It was a lot of fun. Each floor had games, a haunted house and of course lots of candy. As the kids went to each floor, they were given a sticker and if they visited all the floors they'd get a big gift bag full of fun stuff at the end. After all the candy they came home with from this party alone, I could have called Halloween done...

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After the Starbucks party we hurried off to football practice, came home and grabbed a bite to eat before Ty and I headed out to the Fall Festival at the school. (Connor had decided he wanted to get started on his pumpkin so they started that while we headed out). Then we spent the remainder of the evening doing the pumpkins. Can I tell you how proud I am of Ty. They always get so excited to pick their patterns that they want Jack to carve on their pumpkins but this year Ty wanted to do all the work. And he did!!! The only thing he didn't do was the initial cutting around the stem. As you can see his skull and bones turned out very good!!! Jack was sure happy to have one less to carve too...



This year Jack and I had a couple adults only Halloween parties to attend. We decided to break out a costume we had done back in NJ. I won't go into some of the comments we'd hear, dance moves Jack attempted, or facial reactions we'd receive but we can always count on it for a night of laughs...



And then it was the moment everyone had been waiting for....trick or treating! Thankfully, the stars were aligned and the rain decided to take a day off on Halloween (at least until 10:30 p.m.). We had a perfect fall day and evening and the trick or treaters were out in force. Like in past years, Sage wanted to always be the first one to ring the doorbell while Ty again mysteriously arrived home with more candy than the rest!




One of the highlights of the weekend was having Steve drive up to spend Halloween weekend with us. He brought along his girlfriend and we all had a nice time. It was a quick trip for them but we'll take what we can get...