GREEN MACHINE FOOTBALL

As if running his own baseball team while dealing with his medication changes wasn't enough, Nathan went ahead and let a buddy talk him into being the defensive coach for Cole's football team, too.After the very first practice, he was pumped about it because he said it was so much more fun than coaching baseball. Baseball practice is a little slow and boring, especially when the kids can't seem to hit very many of the balls, but football tends to pack in a little more excitement.Between baseball and football, we had 4 practices during the week and 3 games on the weekend. Cole loved having stuff to do but, Brooke absoultely could NOT stand it. Nathan and I thought it was kind of fun but, it was very physically draining on him. That much I didn't like for sure.

I have to admit, the first time I saw these two guys standing next to each other on the field during a game, I was a little beside myself. Mostly, because I couldn't believe that my son was old enough to play full contact football but, also because his daddy was able to be out there on the field with him.

This is how Cole spent a lot of his time while on the field...Completely flattened.Needless to say, it was discouraging for him since he couldn't figure out why he kept getting knocked down all the time. Nathan could've so easily said, "Cause you're weak, boy!"We tried to remind him that it was only his first year playing and as one of the youngest out there. Acutally, we often had to remind ourselves of that little fact, too...If someone else didn't do it for us.The team was named Homestead Pest Control Eagles...AKA...Green Machine. Odd? Why yes. Surprising for these parts? Uhhhhh NO.
Cole will have to really toughen up if he wants to continue playing. I'm glad that he doesn't have that natural aggression factor like lots of the little punks out there because that would probably give us lots of problems at home but, a little aggressiveness goes a long way in such a rough and tumble sport.
We'll just have to wait and see what next fall brings out of him. He may completely shock us or he may just have to settle for being a future kicker. LOL!
If girls were there at the games or practices, Brooke was loving every minute of her social time...BUT if not, she would constantly let me know how much she disliked being there.You'll have to look really closely for Cole in the video. It's a lot of chaos out there but, he's usually the one running away from the play or lying face first in the ground. Poor baby had so many bruises all over his arms and legs all season long. We may as well have beat him with a stick because it looked awful. But he said it was worth it and loved playing football. Well, ok then...I guess.

FALL BASEBALL

So Nathan decided that he wanted to take on the task of forming his own team for fall baseball and being the head coach. It ended up being a bit of an ordeal since the whole system was completely disorganized and unwilling to help new coaches. Nathan managed to make it all work despite butting heads with one of our team's coaches and a few parents. Not to be rude but, if your kid absolutely stinks at a sport...Don't be surprised, shocked, hateful, and down right stupid when your kid doesn't play in the prime position. I mean seriously, get real. Nathan was actually really good at mixing it up and giving all the kids a chance to play in several different positions. This fall season was about learning since the kids were going from coach pitch to kid pitch for the first time. The rules are completely different for the batters and the pitching is wild and crazy. Every player was scared to get hit by a pitch and had such a difficult time adjusting to several different pitchers each game.After a couple of games, Nathan decided to try Cole out as catcher. After just one practice, he was convinced that there was definitely where Cole belonged. He could barely even catch a baseball at the end of the spring season and then suddenly he's the catcher...And a pretty darn good one. It's really unbelievable. He spent a lot of time running after wild pitches but he hussled his scronny little tail off. And several times he played a football game and two baseball games on the same day. Cole never really got a hit the whole season. He usually only got on base by walking or getting hit by a pitch. It was frustrating for him but, it was a learning experience.He took quite a few dingers including one right in the back that knocked the breath out of him.Brooke quickly learned how to go buy candy at the concession stand this year with the other siblings stuck at the fields. It was the only thing that kept her happy in the middle of all the games.
Cole, you did such a great job. You tried your hardest out there, kept a positive attitude, and cheered your team on every step of the way. That's all we can ask for. I can't wait to see how much more you improve this spring season!Check out Cole as the catcher in the videos. He did so awesome following the ball wherever it went. That position is by far the hardest one out there. Run here, run there, chase this, chase that, throw it here, throw it there. Poor guy was exhausted after every game. On some of the days that he had a football game before the baseball game, he couldn't even make it as the catcher the entire game. But he always put out the effort.

KNIGHTS! I totally forgot to give myself credit for choosing the team name and jerseys. Black was a little hot some days but I thought it all looked pretty cool. The kids looked sharp out there for the jerseys being just t-shirts. No need for anything fancy for just a short time. Anyway...Woot to myself! :)

HALLOWEEN

Yep you read that right...A post about HALLOWEEN right after New Year's Day. Cool, huh?

Nathan actually dressed up bright and early. The football coaches sprayed their hair green for the football game. Silly but the kids liked it. I made a huge banner for the team the night before and the kids were so pumped. They thought they were hot stuff running through it.Thanks for holding my hours of labor all crooked there, guys! Awesome.I didn't think we were going to do trick or treating so we scrounged up some costumes at the last minute. Cole was the professional dirt bike rider, Travis Pastrana, again this year.Brooke was Hannah Montana and was beyond excited about wearing lots of make up. We ended up going along with several friends around their neighborhood in their hay-filled trailer. Yep, that's how they do here in the country parts.

Who did your make up, girl? Ooooh la la!

I feel sorry for the boys that she suckers with those eyes in the future. Yea so...We're riding along on the trailer and Cole suddenly says he needs to throw up. Whaaaa??? Luckily, we were stopped and I told him to jump off and throw up in the grass. I thought he was kidding but I quickly found out that he wasn't. Poor guy laid all curled up in the hay during the rest of the trick or treating.
Drew and Sean are obsessed with spirits from the beyond and begged Nathan to take them to cemeteries. They went 2 weeks before Halloween to several cemeteries for hours and had all kinds of nerdy cameras and sound recording devices to "capture" any spirits. Dorks.

They couldn't find one specific place so Drew's mom took all of us on Halloween night. It's called the Dollhouse Cemetery because a man literally built a dollhouse at his infant daughter's grave site many years ago. If you're brave enough, you go inside of it in the darkness. Evidently, it's the big thing to do around here. Did I mention that we're basically in the country???
All in all Halloween did turn out to be lots of fun, minus Cole's brief barfing experience, even though Halloween really isn't our thing. Stay tuned for more holiday updates that I'm months behind on. :)