Are You Ready for Some Football?

Flag Football began today, and I was a bit worried it wouldn't live up to CW's expectations (and that B10 would be VERY bored).


My concerns were for naught, as B10 (wearing #12) spent two and a half hours outside and only searched for bugs twice (that HAS to be some sort of record).


Meanwhile, CW (wearing #3) was almost in tears when I told him that he couldn't wear his jersey to bed, at least not until the season was over.


GO enjoyed watching from the sidelines, I held her a bit and she sat with her Daddy on the ground for a while, cheering the brothers on (only about three years until SHE can be out on the field).


The "play of the game" - at least for us - was the play where B10 was Quarterback and CW was snapping the ball. They did it perfectly and B10 handed off the ball, where it was run for a touchdown! It's a bit fuzzy of a video, but you can clearly see the touchdown sign at the end! :)

Coach Q is amazing. Both the Caterpillars (and Hubby and I) were just in love with him by the end of the second game. He has a wonderful way with kids!


You can even see GO enjoyed sitting in on one of the huddles.




I can't wait for more football. I highly recommend i9 Sports (www.i9sports.com) for anyone who wants to put their kids in sports that are FUN and about LEARNING, as opposed to your kid getting yelled at when they fumble the ball.

~Lone Butterfly )i(

4 to 1 - Take That Phillies!

The newest Braves fan just wants to point out that you should never discount the Braves.

Especially not when they're wearing their spiffy new Away jerseys/hats.

And she's wearing her spiffy new t-shirt. (She stayed awake for almost the entire game!)

She's her Mummy and Daddy's girl!

~Lone Butterfly )i(

Camping - Day Two

(Look! A picture of me! Proof I also went camping! Thanks, Queen, for capturing this!)

Do all Caterpillars wake up at 6:45 a.m. and ask to go down to the dock to watch the sun rise? I mean, they are pretty good about getting up early when they have to - but to voluntarily ask for an adult to walk down with them to see the sun come up...

Before I let them out of the tent, I put their jeans in their sleeping bags to get warm so they could change. Hubby and King built a fire, and I managed to start a pot of water on the stove for hot morning drinks. It got down to the 40's overnight, but wasn't too awful in the morning.


The pre-dawn sky was beautiful, I love this part of camping.



The theme of the weekend was books, so I had made green eggs to go with the snasauge (ie: Ham) for our family. I reheated boiled peanuts for my protein-filled meal, to go along with my cups of hot coffee/chocolate.


There were three stations in the morning, and three groups of scouts/siblings again. One station was a scavenger hunt, where each team had to find something that began with every letter of the alphabet. The second was capture the flag.


I assisted with the third station - funnel cake making. My job was to add the toppings (who knew chocolate syrup would be so delicious???) for the scouts.


CW had a blast making his, until the other leader melted his plate.


B-10 enjoyed eating his also.



After that, all the scouts went around picking up trash, while the parents began loading up. The hope was to be out of the campground by noon, however, Hubby and King ended up having to help lots of other families pack out (and we didn't park at our campsites - so there had to be LOTS of traffic control with scouts running around).



We eventually got out a little before 1:00 p.m., which wasn't to shabby, but the Caterpillars (and myself) were asleep before we got to the interstate. There was an accident on the interstate, which held us up for about 20 minutes, and we decided to pull off right after we broke through the traffic and grab lunch at 2:00 p.m.



I called Mum, who met us at the house, so two adults could unload the car and sweep the tent and tarp clean - while one of us (that would be me) bathed two dirty, stinky, smelly, off-color caterpillars.


We didn't have much of a rest, because I took the Caterpillars back to Cookie's so I could work on grading papers and preparing Speech CDs for her. Hubby stayed home to rest and study for his CPA exam. It was a long day (the Caterpillars finally fell into bed around 11:30 at night), but very productive.


(Especially for Eli, who managed to pull out a win in the fourth quarter - that long snap turned the tide of the game, and taught me something!)


~Lone Butterfly )i(

And So It Begins...

I had to work late today, nothing major, but nothing fun either. I ended up getting home around 6 p.m., which is just enough time to take a quick bath and snuggle down in front of the TV to knit

Because tonight was the biggest night on television, at least this week.

No, I'm not talking about the RNC - although I've heard that was pretty big.

I'm not talking about the second running of the Series Premiere of 90210 - although as a child of the 1980's/1990's it certianly is important.

I'm talking about this:

(Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)

All hail football season. For many, many years, if you had asked me my favorite sport, I would have said Professional Baseball. Followed closely by College Football, then Professional Hockey, then Track and Field, then almost everything else. At the very bottom of the list would have been Professional Football and ANY form of Basketball.


When Peyton (and then Eli) moved into Pro Football, I began to watch quite a bit more frequently. I had followed their games every since they were old enough to have games televised. Super Bowl last year was beyond thrilling for me. So last night's NFL opener was the only thing on my television.


CW and I watched the entire 1st half (and most of the 3rd quarter) together, before he went off to bed. He very much enjoyed the Giants versus the "bad guys", once he figured out it was Eli and not Peyton (in the 6 year old's defense, they both wear blue). And he was equally excited to know this morning that the Giants won 16 to 7, a nice clean victory for our Super Bowl MVP.


Hopefully Sunday we'll make it home in time to watch Peyton's first game together. I love watching Peyton with him, because he insists on calling the Colts the "Horseys", and I'm sure the Bears will become the "bad guys" for that game.


I hope everyone else had a wonderful evening, even if it didn't include a Manning.


~Lone Butterfly )i(

The Olympics Light Dreams

CW (and B10) have been watching the Olympics every night. It's interesting, because this is very clearly the first Olympics they can remember. (B10 was only 4 during the Greece Olympics and wasn't even a year old when they were in Sydney. And CW is 2 years younger!) B10 (not unexpectedly) prefers to watch the competitions that involve individuals. Even the swimming, which he loves, gets "boring" when it's a relay race.

CW, on the other hand, has been fascinated by watching plenty of the team sports. Beach volleyball and the relay swimming races are his favorite. Last night, I turned on the TV and he curled up beside me to watch the entire women's marathon.

Seriously, the six year old watched the entire 2 1/2 hours worth of running - and he was asking questions the whole time. I found it amusing when we had a very brief discussion about how runners and swimmers have to practice every day, because the difference in a winner and a loser is how hard you train.

Then, before 7 am, this happened beside my bed:

Notice the shoes in his hands. Oh yes, I got out of bed and sat on the driveway in my pajamas and watched my son do stretching exercises and run up and down the street.

Because I am NOT going to be the reason he doesn't make the 2020 or 2024 Olympics!

~Lone Butterfly )i(

History's Witness

On Tuesday I received a call at work from my Uncle. He wanted to know if I would like to go to the Braves game with him that night.

This was an important day for Braves fans, because John Smoltz was 4 away from reaching the 3,000 strikeout mark. There are only 16 major league pitchers that have reached this in their careers - so it's pretty amazing. Smoltz was the starting pitcher (vs. John Lanman of the Washington Nationals, an excellent pitcher in his own right).

I said of COURSE I want to go and sat at work until 5:15 p.m. for Uncle to come and pick me up. We drove out to Turner Field, ate a great dinner there, and had incredible seats. Three rows back from the Nationals dugout. (Which was perfect for not being in the sun!)

Here is Smoltz on the mound.

The game was amazing.

Smoltz did make his 3,000 strike out (3,006 in total by the end of the night). Even though we lost, just knowing that I was there for history to be made felt so cool.

Either way, I kept my program from the game, so fifty years from now, I'll be able to tell my great-grandchildren about how I was there when Smoltz set a record. It's kinda cool knowing that I'll be able to tell stories, just like my grandfather told me stories. History in almost any form has always fascinated me, and this is a pretty awesome way to be a part of it.

ETA: Pictures up!

~Lone Butterfly )i(

Spring Bicycling

For Christmas Granddaddy, Jr and Minnie Mouse gave the boys and me bicycles, Husband received a bike rack for the truck. The weather has been rather chilly until about two weeks ago, and then the boys were gone – so this afternoon was only the fourth time we’ve been able to practice with the boys.

CW did wonderful his first try, but since then has decided he doesn’t want to learn. I think he’ll come around when he sees everyone else getting to ride. But this time was spent with him running around the yard with his helmet on.





B10 and Husband practiced for over a mile, with B10 actually riding by himself for a bit of the journey. I’m really proud of how well he did, wearing his helmet without complaints and trying his best.

Our driveway is on a hill, and he even walked his bike up to the front door by himself! Not an easy feat at the end of practice. (Husband carries our bikes through the house to the sun porch in the back.)

I even pulled out my bike and rode up and down our little street, while CW raced me on foot. I am still adjusting to having to wear a helmet, but I am really loving my new bicycle!

~

I can’t wait until we can all go biking with the Sheeps – BooSheep received a bicycle identical to mine, and Hubby Sheep received a new bicycle that has a small trailer attached, so Little Sheep can ride with us! (And Little Sheep can carry a picnic basket – HANDY!)

THANK YOU Granddaddy, Jr and Minnie Mouse! We love our Christmas presents!

~Lone Butterfly )i(

Gwinnett Gladiators Hockey (ECHL)

Woo Hoo! It's one of my favorite Cub Scout Activities (acutally, one of my favorite activities, overall). It's Cub Scout Night at the Gwinnett Gladiators Minor League Hockey Team (GO ECHL!).

~

Hockey is one of my personal favorite sports to watch, coming in right behind Baseball. Now, if it's on the TV, I prefer Football, but few things beat a Hockey Game in person. I'm so glad the boys agree with me!

~

B10 was able to sit with one of his good friends, Prince -

This was because he was sitting in Princess' seat. Where was Princess you ask?

Right here -

- sitting in my lap. She didn't move for almost three hours, until we had to leave. You can see CW in the background, scoping out his hot dog options (the hot dog was his fifth meal that day).

I'm so excited that Princess was also there at the Hockey Game with us - I'm (hopefully) going to be a co-leader in her Daisy Troop (Girl Scout Troop) next year when she enters Kindergarten. I miss Girl Scouts so much!

We won, 8 to 3, beating the Augusta Lynxs. It was a good win, even though we'd already secured our spot in the post-season. Let's hope the Gladiators bring home another Kelly Cup!

~Lone Butterfly )i(

It's Sweeter the Second Time

(Image Andy Lyons/Getty Images - FOX Sports on MSN Website)

I'm not sure what to say about last night. I actually had tears in my eyes when the final second ticked off the clock - Eli kneeing down.

It was a hard fought win, but I think that you fight a lot harder for your first ring than you do for your fourth.

The final run that set up the win - with the scrambling Eli showing more footwork to get out of being sacked than I think anyone's every seen from him, to David Tyree's unexplainable catch, it was breathtaking. When Plaxico Burress caught the winning touchdown, and 35 seconds was left on the clock - I still held my breath.

35 seconds and 3 time-outs: that's not impossible odds to scoring a field goal, which is all Tom and his little band of boys needed to do to tie it all up.

But he didn't, he couldn't, and the reward wasn't his.

I'm a Manning fan. Anyone who knows me knows my entire family loves the Mannings. My grandfather (and father) are from Mississippi, and watched Archie in college and then through the 'Aint's. I can remember listening to conversations about the prospects of the boys when they were in High School, and the shock when Peyton committed to Tennessee.

We watched both boys play college ball (and would occasionally discuss how much we wished we could be watching Cooper, also.) I'm a Colts fan and a Giants fan, only because of their quarterbacks. The day Eli or Peyton moves teams - I'll buy an entirely new wardrobe for Football Season.

Last year, I watched with delight as Peyton won the Super Bowl. While I liked Eli better, I have long felt that Peyton was a better player. This year, watching Eli win, it was even sweeter.

My point in all this is that you would be hard pressed to find another family who has been as dedicated to the Manning family as long as we have. Archie's leadership, Peyton and Eli's talent, even Cooper remains involved in his family's trade - coming out every year to the Manning Football Camp.

But the Manning that holds them all together? The one whom I most admire?

There's a reason that you don't see Eli and Peyton making fools of themselves. A reason why when they speak they don't use foul language and coarse humor. A reason why trash-talking isn't associated with the Giants or the Colts Quarterback.

Their Mama. Olivia Manning, who is, as anyone who knows me well will tell you, my favorite Manning. Husband and I will be naming our first daughter after her. As I raise my sons, I can only hope that I teach them to be good strong men first, and excellent at their chosen vocation second.

I can only imagine that while this win is sweet for me, it that much sweeter for Mrs. Manning this second time around.

~Lone Butterfly )i(