10 strep throats, 7 sinus infections, 6 Broken Bones, 3 Sprains and 2 ingrown toenails

My 13-year-old son is going to wear me out!!

This morning I took him to have his fingers x-rayed,

thanks to football. 

Tomorrow we see a podiatrist, 

whose nurse swears that once this doctor has seen my son, 

he'll never have another ingrown toenail again. 

EVER.

This is the same child who used to get strep throat at least twice a year when he was younger.

Broke his ankle three times in one year.

Good lord have mercy.

Don't worry, I'm going to remind him of all of this when he's a grown adult 

and I need him to take care of ME!

I was part of the Chain Gang last night

I volunteered for it.

I know, I know, it sounds like something bad...

it wasn't.

It was a lot of fun and I learned a lot.

OK, I held the down indicator sign/placard thingy on the sidelines of my son's middle school football game. Three parents help every game to assist the refs with measuring downs and keeping up with what down it is and marking the line of scrimmage.

It was my first time ever...and I learned a lot QUICKLY.

I had a great view of the action.

I heard the awful things the coaches mutter.

I heard the players trash talk.

I really heard the hits...and grimaced every time.

But, best of all?

I got to stare at a cute referree's hiney the whole game!

hehe

More Side Effects

The Vampire giveaway was going to end today at midnight,
but I've decided to extend it to Friday,
so you can get more entries.
One comment a day, every day, for more entries.
Post about the giveaway on your blog for three extra entries.


A while back I wrote a post about the side effects of football.
I still have a hard time looking at those photos.

Well, I'm here today to show you yet more side effects.

I should have know, after reading Shannon's post about her daughter and Valarie's post about her son, that these things happen in 3's.

It took me a week to clue in to our medical issue.
Girls, I think we all three win Mother of the Year Awards.

It was our turn.

Here we are in the orthopedic waiting room, where they have a chess board.
The waiting room was packed with kids and adults,
but no one was playing, so Donny and I did.

I checkmated him fairly quickly,
and then our second game was cut short.

And we headed back to an exam room to have the doctor look at our x-rays.

The Doctor identified the small fracture on his pinky immediately, and told us Donny needed a cast.

DARNIT.

That's the splint the emergency center had given us.

And now on to the cast making...

He chose bright green.

And he has to wear it for six weeks.

But, the kicker is, get this...he can still play football!!

Is that nutty or what?!!

Donny only has one or two games left.

Football & Soccer...Soccer & Football

We spend a lot of time outside on the fields these days with both boys playing a sport.

Donny is playing football for the first time ever, and he seems to like it!

He has practice two or three times a week and one game a week.

But the season's about to end.

I've been taking tons of pictures at the games.
Here's the team warming up with jumping jacks.
I love warm up exercises in unison.

Here's some actual tackling.
My son's in this group, but you can't see him well.
His team is the light yellow.

They are in a neat looking formation here.
Does it have a name?
I have no idea.
I can't keep up with the ball half the time.
I need a translator sitting next to me at the games.

I do notice the sunlight twinkling off the helmets though,
and how well things match,
and the synchronized movement and warm ups.

Gosh, I sound awfully girly, don't I?!

And then Remy is playing soccer.
I'm one of his coaches.

Soccer I actually understand because I played it as a child and in high school.

I love soccer. And these boys are adorable.

I've tried to avoid overwhelming you guys with sports photos,
because these are things I see and experience daily.
In large amounts.

But I love watching my kids play.

What do you take the most photos of?

Side Effects

For those of you not around this weekend, I was interviewed on David's blog.
I'm a dork, I know.
Who else talks about gas in their first interview?!

This is Donny's first season playing football.
He and I, we haven't really known what we're doing.
He's catching on a lot faster than I am.
I still need translation during the games, to understand what the heck is happening.


They had team photos this weekend, right before their game.
I can't help but take photos over the photographers shoulder.
He's used to annoying parents by now, surely?

My boy looks so handsome in his uniform.
A mother has to brag a bit.

I doctored up the team photo to protect the innocent.
The arrow points to Donny.

We lost the game.

Actually, we've lost both our games and both our scrimmages so far.

But, the coach reminds us, this is a team of newbies,
and he doesn't expect them to win until their fourth game or so.

Quite a pep talk, no?

A whole nother game's goin' on under the bleachers.
The rugrat siblings of football players are running a muck in the trash and dirt.

That's a whistle in his mouth.
It was a party favor at a birthday party he attended before his big brother's game.

He also had a soccer game earlier that morning,
which I don't have pictures of because I was coaching.

Coaches with cameras aren't taken seriously, apparently.

While I'm glad my boys are in sports and having lots of fun,
there seems to be a side effect to football that I don't like.

Good lord have mercy. My poor boy.
There is no way a woman invented football.

Were you ever injured in sports growing up?
What activities are your children in currently?

A Jedi Car, Purple Grass & A Bad Mom

I bet no one has ever had a post titled with those above three things. I'm unique that way, y'all.

So, we were at a football scrimmage this last weekend, and I, of course, had my trusty camera with me. And, Remy is grouchy and refuses to get out of the car. It's only about 100 degrees, so I shouldn't worry about him frying in there, right?

Bad mother example ONE.

I keep looking back at him to check for signs of life, and I see something strange. Do you see it?

Maybe this will be easier...can you see it now?



Yep, that's right. My car has become a Jedi Master. It fights with it's own light saber and is strong with the force. We can expect great things.

Oh, here's proof that Texas Home Boy really exists...REALLY.

Bad mom example TWO.

I'm taking more pictures of random things than my son playing football. But, I haven't figured football out yet. It just looks like a bunch of boys running into each other. It looks like it hurts.

Look, y'all, I can turn the grass purple! It's magic. Ta da!!

Bad Mom example THREE:

That pad is supposed to be in the FRONT of his leg, not the back. See, I didn't know I had to buy pads to put into his pants. I found out at the last minute, so I had to run to Sports Authority and buy this pack:

These are hip pads, a tailbone pad, thigh pads and shin pads. There are special little pockets and snaps in the football pants just for these little guys. And I managed to put them in wrong.

But, my boy had fun. He loved it! He wasn't sure about this whole football thing, but got talked into it by his baseball coach...who is now his football coach. And after this scrimmage, he says he gets it now. He likes it.


I've discovered the SECRET to football now. The reason guys love it? Because it allows guys to ACT like guys. Rough, aggressive, sweaty and dirty. It makes sense now. I get it.

Look, now I can turn the grass red! Ta da!!