Last Week’s Homecoming and the Final Game

So, I’ve been slacking again, and most of that is because I have been busy working on projects for school.  I’ve still got about 8 weeks to go til the end of the semester.  So far, I have all A’s, which is great.  Anyhow, onto the good stuff.

October 17th was Homecoming for the mighty Ft Meade Cougars.  That Saturday was filled with activities, the crowing of the princes, princesses, king and queen.  Wait for it…..wait for it…..YES, Mike was crowned 11 year old Homecoming prince.  TA DA!  I was such a proud momma.  Then of course they had a dance.  Yes, Mike had his very first dance.  He pretty much just hung around there.  He did say he danced a little bit.

The game on the other hand didn’t go so well.  They played the Rebels again.  If you don’t remember who they are, they are the team with 2 boys that weigh 275 pounds at 12 years old.  I’m not going to get into what I think of that again, but I will say that I stood behind one of the boys at our concession, and I kid you not, he was about 6 foot tall.  How there is a child that tall is beyond me.  It was a 44-0 loss for our boys.

The good thing though, Mike was playing safety and tackled the ball carrier.  Of course it took 4 others helping him to take the guy down, but Mike started the tackle.  Then he went to tackle a guy again, and Mike was wrapped around his legs, but with Mike being as small as he is, the guy just shook him off and ran in for a touchdown.  BOO HISS!

So, the regular season came to an end on Saturday.  The 12U Cougars goose egged the Bucs, with a score of 26-0.  That win ensured our boys a run at the playoffs.  Mike played on offense and kicking team for that game.  He has been on the kicking team before, but hasn’t played on the offense during a game.  He did very well with trying to block.  Of course, it doesn’t help that he is so small, so his blocks really aren’t effective.

Well, I think that is all for now. Remember to say a prayer for those in the military fighting for our freedoms. HOOAH!!

A Visit and 2 More Games Left

Saturday was a great day!  Tori flew in to spend the weekend with us.  It was so good to see her.  She was in such a great mood and was very happy to be home with me.  We went to UNO Pizzaria for dinner.  Man do I love that pizza.  All of us except Mike got pizza.  I was so suprised to see how much food Tori could consume.  It's just crazy!  She ate all but 1 piece of this pizza and then had a brownie sundae.  Even Landen ate all but 1 piece of his pizza.  The way my kids eat, you would think that they are starving.  There's no way since they eat all the time.  Luckily they all have high metabolisms and don't gain weight for every little thing they eat.  Me on the other hand, if I look at a whole pizza, I'm bound to gain a few pounds.

Sunday was an even better day.  Our Ft Meade 12U Cougars took on the Crofton Cardinals.  The game was back and forth.  The ball didn't move very much on either side.  It was very interesting to see our boys go out there and give 110% and keep this team from walking all over them like they have in the past.  Mike got to play 5 plays as safety, and then once on the kickoff team.  He did very well, and I was proud of his efforts.  The 12U Cougars walked away with a 13-12 win.  WAY TO GO COUGARS!!!!

Monday was a sad day though.  We had to take Tori back to the airport.  I was very sad to see her go.  I just have to remind myself that I'll see her next month.  After going to the airport, we decided to drive around some of the cities and get an idea where to house hunt at.  We won't seriously be looking for a house until next year, but we're trying to get an idea of what the other areas look like and if they are somewhere we would like to buy a home.  We took a drive to Ellicott City, and even though it is a nice area, it just didn't fit with us.  We also drove through Crofton and Gambrillis, and those places are very nice.  The place that we both agree on though is Columbia.  Ideally, we would buy a home over there, but the homes are a bit more expensive than the other areas we have looked at.  Our ultimate goal though is to buy a home there, but if we have to buy somewhere else for a few years, then that's what we'll do.  I'm very excited to be able to house hunt, but right now we are just looking at areas and prices on homes to see what we are looking for in a home.

Also on Monday, Landen got into a fight with a table at the dentist's office.  Needless to say the first couple of days it was very swollen.  It's not swollen anymore, but it sure is black and blue.  He wouldn't let us near him with any ice.  When we got home I gave him some Tylenol and then put him down for a nap.  When he woke up he was pretty cranky and I could tell he wasn't feeling well since he was happy just curling up in my lap. 

School has been going fine.  I do have this one professor that is a pain in the ass.  She is very rude and expects way too much from people.  As an example, we have weekly conferences to do on certain subjects.  Well, if someone quotes most of their response from the book, there isn't much more for you to add that hasn't already been said.  When you give your opinion on something, and a little bit of repeated information, she gets really nasty and tells you that you need to add more terms and information from the book.  Really?!?!  Why am I going to repeat what has already been said?  That is just stupid.  Every week I get docked points on my conferences because I don't like to repeat what has already been said. 

Well, I think that is all for now. Remember to say a prayer for those in the military fighting for our freedoms. HOOAH!!

Football and General Stuff

So, I've been slacking on keeping up with this.  Mostly because of school dominating my daytimes.  Bear with me as this entry is going to be pretty long.

Two weeks ago mom and aunt Sandy flew in for the weekend to watch Mike play on Sunday.  We played the Panthers.  The game wasn't as bad as the previous ones, but we still didn't win.  It was a 31-13 loss for our Ft. Meade 12U Cougars.  Mike ended up playing in 8 plays.  At one point, the Panthers were going to score, and Mike was playing safety, and he ran the guy out of bounds.  I was so proud of him and how he was doing in that game.  Even though we lost, our boys didn't seem too upset because they were able to score a couple of times.  We did have a penalty on us that I had never heard of, it was a roughing the ball snapper.  All of us were like huh??  So, at halftime, I called my uncle.  He did tell me that it is a real penalty, but it is not very well known of and hardly ever used.

Last Saturday we played Andover.  Mike did not get to play in that game, nor did he practice the day before that game.  I got an e-mail from one of his teachers saying that he didn't turn in a project that day.  So, as a punishment, he was not allowed to go to practice.  As for the Saturday game, Mike was warned 3 weeks prior that if he had any funny looking letters on his interim, he would not play in the game the weekend interims came out.  Funny looking letters are C's or lower.  I know that he is capable of A's and B's, and that he is very smart, and most people would think that I am being hard on him, but I expect him to use his full potential.  Not just that, but if he wants to play sports in high school, he's going to have to maintain good grades.  Needless to say, Mike was very upset with me.  All I could tell him was that he did it to himself.  We did find out from other players that they walked away with a 13-12 win.  WAY TO GO COUGARS!!!

In other stuff, I have been very busy doing school stuff.  My classes don't seem to be too hard, they are just very intensive.  I guess that's what it is like when you're working on a Bachelor's and dealing with a large university.  My BMGT class isn't bad at all.  I'm actually learning some stuff that I never knew.  The LIBS class is such a snore bore.  All it really teaches is how to use a library and how to research stuff.  The IFSM class, it's easy, but the prof isn't one of the nicest people I met.  She's actually very rude.  I know from now on not to take a class with this woman again.  When I haven't been doing school, I've been working on fundraising stuff for football.  We had a car wash a couple of weeks ago that brought in quite a few cars, and alot of money.  Then last week, we had a bake sale in front of the commissary.  That was a very fruitful fundraiser as well.

Andy ended up being sick the other day when he did his PT test, and he failed the run by 30 seconds.  Since he had a failing PT test, he is not able to go on that TDY.  I'm happy that he's not going right now, but on the other hand I wish that he could go just to get it done.  At least he'll be home for Thanksgiving.  I was dreading having to make that drive back to Ohio.  Now, Andy can do a majority of the driving, and that makes me happy.

Landen's birthday is today.  He's a big 2 years old.  It doesn't seem like he should be that old yet.  His most favorite thing in the world right now is his books.  Every night he expects a book to be read to him.  He's even got to where he recognizes some of the words in the books cause we have read them so much.  We took him to Books a Million last week and he was just so excited in there.  He must get his love of reading from Andy, cause he sure didn't get it from me.

Tori is supposed to be flying in this weekend.  I'm not going to count my chickens before they hatch though.  I'll be very happy to have her home for a few days.  I usually call her once a week to see how things are going.  She seems to be doing well.  She's still in ballet and gymnastics, and says that she's been learning some new things.  Maybe I'll get her to show me what she's learned while she is here.

Well, I think that is all for now. Remember to say a prayer for those in the military fighting for our freedoms. HOOAH!!
 

Friday Night Football

The Ft. Meade 12U Cougars travelled out to Cape St. Clair to take on their Cougars.  Our boys were pretty evenly matched to them, other than they were a bit taller than ours.  CSC was the first to receive the ball.  As we kicked off, they received it, and ran it back for a touchdown.  OMG!  Then they went out there, and like the Seahawks a few games back, they were a kicking team.  They kicked the extra point.  8-0  So, we got the ball back, and of course we get out there and try to move the ball.  Try being the operative word.  With no such luck, we have to give the ball back to CSC.  They do a pass play and score on us again.  Kicker comes out, and kicks it right through the uprights.  16-0  /sigh  At this point our teams parents are starting to get upset and telling the boys that they need to pick it up and do something to stop this team.  Well, when CSC got possession again, did the same exact play as the last touchdown and scored again. 

During the 2nd quarter, our Cougars were able to keep CSC from scoring, but the way that they were playing, there was no way that we could come back.  Our defense stepped up and was able to stop CSC's offense, but when we had the ball, our offense couldn't get anywhere.  We weren't holding tackles, they weren't blocking, they just weren't doing anything to help our running backs get through with the ball.

Most of the game was a blur to me after halftime.  I sat watching and waiting for Mike to go in and play, but nothing happened.  I was very upset.  At some point during the game, the other team scored 2 more times, making it 32-0.  In the last minute of the game, Coach Fred asked who had not been in the game yet, Mike, the other boy who is Mike's size, and 2 others raised their hand.  Coach Fred sent them in with a few of the starting defense.  So I thought, "Great, Mike is going to get to play."  WRONG!!!  The other team took a knee twice.  Game over.

Mike walked off of the field.  The expression on his face didn't match what came out of his mouth.  At that point, I blew up.  Loud enough for the players, coaches and other parents to hear.  I pretty much called it bullsh*t that Mike was sent on the field to watch the other team take a knee, how he is always at practice early, how he gets his butt kicked all week just to stand on the sidelines, and how it's absolutely messed up.  I was furious.  I asked Andy for the keys and took off to the van, cause otherwise, I was going to jump all over the coach for sitting my son out 2 games in a row with no explanation. 

On the way home from the game, I sent an e-mail to the coach asking him why Mike didn't get to play.  I did point out how other boys show up late to practice, disrespect the coaches, act like they don't give a crap, and they dominate the time on the field.  I asked him if I should have Mike doing those things to get play time.  Of course he couldn't give me an answer to that, but he did say that he and the other coaches enjoy having Mike on the team.  Really?  If that is true, then why don't you play him? 

What I didn't know was that there were some other parents stirring the pot too.  An e-mail arrived the next morning that had been sent out to the director of CYSS, the coaches and all the parents.  It was from one of the other parents who child is a starter, but she was pointing out how it is unfair that there are boys who are getting little to absolutely NO play time.  Needless to say, it started a war with some of the parents.  Most of the parents whose boys that start were defending the coaches, while those of us who have boys that don't play during games were saying that it's not about the coaches, it's about the boys, and it is a YOUTH LEAGUE.  All the boys should get a chance to play regardless of skill.  Frankly, as bad as we have been getting beat lately, the non-starters couldn't do any worse than the starters. 

In other news, I had quite a bit of my hair cut off on Friday.  I've been asking Andy for awhile if I could do it.  He prefers my long hair, but it just got to be a pain.  It just wouldn't do anything for me.  I do like it, but part of me misses my long hair.  It's not like I really did anything with my hair anyway.  I usually just pulled it up, but even when I did that, it just hung there.  I need to get it colored soon, but that'll just have to wait. 

Well, I think that is all for now. Remember to say a prayer for those in the military fighting for our freedoms. HOOAH!!

Big Loss

Saturday was a bad day for the Ft Meade 12U Cougars.  They were playing out in the boonies against the Southern Bulldogs.  Our boys played with a little more heart this game than last week, but it still was not enough to pull off a win.  It was a 33-0 loss.

These boys from Southern were probably some of the worst behaved kids I have ever seen.  The coaches and parents weren't much better, and honestly, they were cheering their boys on with their bad behavior.  Those boys were out there cussing our boys out, throwing them all over the field, cheering when our boys would get hurt, which was quite often, and just overall were exhibiting unsportsman like conduct. 

We had 3 of our boys pulled out of the game completely because of pretty bad injuries.  They were being tossed around like ragdolls.  When they got hurt, the other team was not taking a knee like they are supposed to, instead, the coaches and parents and other players were cheering and telling the players on the field how they did a great job taking our boys out.  Really?!?!?!  You people are sick!!!  At one point when I was standing near the sidelines, there was a flag thrown, and one of the boys from Southern started yelling, "F this, F that, GD this and GD that."  Coach Fred told that boy that he needed to go to school and get an education and learn how to talk.  It was just rediculous. 

The refs for that game were obviously biased toward the Southern boys too.  They were horsecollaring our boys, which is a big no no.  They were showboating, which is a big no no.  They were doing false starts, which is a big no no.  They were roughing the quarterback, which is a big no no.  Did the refs throw a flag on any of those things?  You guessed it right.  Not at all!  I don't know what the deal was with the way they were calling that game, but they sure weren't calling it fair.

So, needless to say, the Ft Meade parents and coaches were not happy campers on Saturday.  There were just so many things wrong with that game it was just disgusting.  We can only hope that our game on Friday turns out better than the last couple of games that we have played.

In other news, Landen has been a pistol.  He has been running all over the house talking up a storm.  Sometimes it's words, other times it's full sentences.  On Monday, before practice, we stopped at Wendy's to get something to eat.  Mike had a hold of the bags, and out of nowhere we hear Landen yell, "Give me my fries!"  Just a bit demanding he is.  I started laughing and Mike was like,"I just got told.  My brother just burned me."  Yeah, pretty much son.

So then we get to football practice and Landen runs all over the place and goes to mooch off of one of the other moms who always brings candy to practice.  LOL!  When we had to go get Andy from work, Landen spent most of the ride talking to me about his "nice book".  The only things I could really make out was nice and book.  He just really cracks me up.

Well, I think that is all for now. Remember to say a prayer for those in the military fighting for our freedoms. HOOAH!!

9/11 Never Forget

Never Forget! 9/11/01 I remember where I was. I had just dropped Mike off at Ellen's and stood watching Tower 1. When Tower 2 was struck, I knew that it was no coincidence. My heart sank. I drove onto work not really knowing what was going on and surfing through the radio stations looking for anything to tell me what was happening in New York. Nothing. I got to work, and when my co-worker came in, she told me that a plane had hit the Pentagon. All I could think was OMG, what is happening. I spent the next few hours trying to get the tv in the salon to work, or to pick up anything on the radio that could tell us what was going on. Again, nothing.  We had a few people coming in updating us, and that was when we were told about the plane crashing in Pennsylvania.  Where was that plane headed?  It was rumored the White House, but no one really knew.  Finally, at 1pm, they decided to shut the mall down and send us home to our families. I went and picked Mike up, and got home to watch the tv for the rest of the day to try and understand everything that unfolded that morning.

I watched the news and how they grounded everything in the sky.  How weird it was to walk outside to hear and see nothing in the skies.  This was not normal.  This was not the way that things are in America.  What was going on?  Would someone please explain who did this, and why?  What did we do to deserve this?  These were things that were running through my head.  I'm sure there were other American's thinking the same thing.  My heart just broke for everything going on.  It didn't help watching the news cause all they did was show the destruction over and over again, with no explanation as to why.

So, 9 years later, I sit here watching the ceremonies at Ground Zero, Pentagon, and Shanksville on CNN, still wondering what could we have done so horrible, to have so many Americans killed?  Although Mike was too young to understand what was going on back then, I make a point of explaining this day to him as best as I understand.  So, I ask you to remember that fateful day in America, and remember the lives of those that were lost.   

Well, I think that is all for now. Remember to say a prayer for those in the military fighting for our freedoms. HOOAH!!

Cougar Football and Such

So, Saturday's game didn't go so well.  The Ft. Meade 12U Cougars walked away with a 23-0 loss.  Needless to say, they needed to go home and lick their wounds.  They played against the Edgewater Seahawks.  I do have to say that the Seahawks were a very good team.  They kicked better than some high school and professional teams I have watched.  When they kicked for the extra point, which at this age group, they get 2 points for it, they were clearing the uprights with no problem.  If they had wanted to kick a field goal, they could have with ease.  The Cougars, just really didn't show up for the game.  Some of the boys were just standing around on the field.  They weren't holding the line either.  I don't really know what got into them.  It was very obvious that the coaches were very frustrated with the boys too.  All I can hope is that next week, our Cougars show up to the game and play their hearts out and show that they want to be there and want the big win.  Obviously you win some and lose some.

In other news, I had to cut Andy's hair on Saturday, and I decided that I should cut Landen's too.  Well, Landen was having no part of that.  I even tried to bribe him with a lolli.  Well, bribery didn't work either.  So, I was standing in the kitchen and at one point I told Landen that he couldn't have a lolli, and he asked me, "Why?"  Really?  My little one knows the word why!  I told him because he didn't get a haircut that he couldn't have a lolli.  He then points to Mike and says, "Bubba, lolli."  I told him, "Yes, I know Bubba has a lolli and he didn't get a haircut and he's bad for having a lolli, but that's just how it is."  I guess the way Landen sees it is that you shouldn't have a lolli unless you get a haircut.  Pretty smart logic if you ask me. 

Yesterday, we did some grocery shopping, which we really needed to do since we were practically out of everything.  I hate grocery shopping.  I wait until we are practically out of everything before I make that trip.  It's always a very large bill, and then it's alot of bags to drag into the house and lots of stuff to put away.  So, before we came home, Andy wanted to stop at the PXtra.  He comes out with another football.  Like Mike doesn't already have 2.  What does he need another one for?  So we get home, put the groceries away, and Mike calls his bio to tell him about Saturday's game.  Well, Andy decided there was going to be no rest so we headed out the door to go up to the practice field.  We spent an hour and a half up there working on some stuff with Mike, that he needed to work on.  He had Mike working on kicking, which our team really doesn't do except for kick offs and such.  So, Andy had Mike kicking through the uprights.  One of them went through the uprights, others went under, most went to the left.  Really, he just needs to be able to get some lift on the ball and get it straight.

While I was working on dinner last night, Andy had Mike doing sit ups and push ups and all kinds of other stuff.  It was interesting to see how he was working him out.  Really, just trying to build him up.  He tends to do this with him a few times a week.  Most would probably say that he is working him too hard, but I honestly believe that it is just showing an interest in what Mike does and trying to help him out.  It makes me very happy and proud that I have a wonderful man that is willing to do these things with Mike.  This just shows me that he really is a wonderful dad.

Well, I think that is all for now. Remember to say a prayer for those in the military fighting for our freedoms. HOOAH!!