Cade's first, and last football game

After surviving two-a-days, strep throat, and a mono scare, Cade was ready for the opening football game. It was in Thatcher and was billed as the "Public School State Championship". Thatcher had beat us last year, and expected a close game again. By the time kick-off arrived, I was slightly sick to my stomach. Yep, I get nervous watching my kids games. Heck, I get nervous watching college football on TV. But that's beside the point.
Cade took the opening kick off, didn't fumble (yep, I'm a pessimist too) and ran it back about 15 yards. The next play, he ran the ball up the middle and kept, running, and running and running. Sixty yards later, he had scored the first touchdown. At this point, I'm hyperventilating. Luckily, I settled down as the game progressed and was able to enjoy a wonderful first half of football.
At the beginning of the second half, we were up 21-0, and I finally got around to taking out my camera. I got this picture of the team lined up while the captains met in the middle. I didn't even get Cade in the shot. . .

The next shot, of the team huddled up before kick-off does include Cade. (#6)

Cade ran down the field in his usual Kamikaze manner looking for anyone to hit. Well, he found one. The biggest one. After the collision, Cade thought he had a stinger because he couldn't feel his arm, but still got back in the play to help with the tackle. When he got off the field, he tried to move his arm, but it wouldn't move. The next, and final football picture of Cade was after the trainer put his dislocated shoulder back in place. . .
She was great. She got the arm back in place really quickly, filled him full of drugs, wrapped him up and consulted me and Ryan. She was concerned that she may not have got it fully back in place, and he could have broken his collar bone as well. But, she didn't think he needed to go to the hospital that night, so we let him stay for the game and ride home on the bus. (Yes, that sounds like we are bad parents, but the bus has A LOT more room than our car). Plus he was so high on drugs that he had no idea that he was even hurt.

The next day, we took him in to the hospital where they checked him out and took X-rays. Luckily, nothing is broken, and his arm was in the right position. There is a big gap between the collar bone and the back of his shoulder, but I guess that is common with this injury. So, we have to get him an appointment with an orthopedic doctor this week in order to form a treatment plan. The ER doctors said he would be out for about six weeks. Coach Morgan thinks he should be back in half of that. Personally, I think I'll go with the Doctor. Cade will miss the two biggest games of the season-versus Round Valley and Show Low-for sure. But after that, we just have games against reservation schools, so there is no sense in coming back too early.

In the meantime, he is sore, achy and bored. But he is also one spoiled rotten boy. There has been a steady stream of phone calls and visitors at our house. He is going to be FAT before it is all over. He's had plates of cookies, candy bars, cinnamon rolls and even homemade tortillas. Syd was sick of all the attention at church and finally told someone not to bring anything to him, because he had enough. But if they wanted to bring it to her. . .

Truthfully, I am humbled and grateful by the outpouring of love and concern that people have shown him. From church leaders, to coaches, to his friends and their parents, people have gone out of their way to express their best wishes. Just one more reason I'm grateful for this little town of St. Johns.

Queen of the Mound

Sydney and the 8th grade softball team had their first game last week in Show Low. Syd has been working all summer long to improve her pitching. The high school pitching coach worked with her every morning for about 3 weeks, as well as every Saturday for about 2 hours. How lucky can a girl get to have all that personal coaching?! She had told me she was improving and her speed was increasing, but WOW! I had no idea. It was awesome to watch. I was really proud of her. She also has the personality to handle that kind of pressure. Personally, I would fold after about 3 batters, but she just gets more determined and more competitive as the game goes on. She pitched 3 innings and only gave up two runs. She also had a beautiful hit deep into left field. Unfortunately, she had just hit a deep foul to that area, so the Show Low coach had moved her left fielder into the perfect position to catch the ball. Oh, well. It was a great hit anyway. The game ended up being called due to lightening-with the score tied-so everyone went home happy. You gotta love those days!

Sweet Sixteen. . .

. . . and never been KISSED! Yeah right.

Cade turned 16 on August 18th. It was a pretty low-keyed day. We had celebrated over the weekend with a trip to Flagstaff. So the actual day was just filled with school and football practice. My mom did steal his car from school, clean it out, fill it up and return it before he ever knew. She also filled it full of balloons. He said that he was pretty mad at the dumb girl who did it, but when he found out it was Grandma, he thought it was pretty cool.

That evening Jake and his girlfriend brought over a slice of cake and sang to him. It made Cade feel pretty cool. Jake was a senior when Cade was a freshman, and they bonded over rides to school and baseball games. Cade often talks about how much he misses him. So Cade left to go hang out with them at the park.

Pretty soon it was nearing Lauren's bed time, and she just had to have Cade blow out his candles. So we called him and he sprinted home to let Lauren light the "sparkler" candles she had picked out for him.

Here are 16 things I LOVE about Cade:

1. His smile

2. He has the softest heart

3. He plays football like he doesn't have a soft heart

4. He loves to hang out with his sisters

5. He is a patient friend-he really thinks about what his friends need

6. He loves all types of music-from Chuck Berry to ACDC to Brad Paisley

7. He loves to stay up late and share his thoughts and ideas with me

8. He calls me "Mamma"

9. He isn't shy about telling me he loves me in front of his friends

10. He always finds Ryan and I (and his grandparents) after games and thanks us for coming

11. He can get along with any type of person-he has a wide variety of friends

12. He likes to mow the lawn

13. He sings at the top of his lungs while he mows the lawn

14. He has a thoughtful and sincere testimony

15. He has a beautiful singing voice

16. He takes out the garbage without being asked (who could ask for anything more)

AND ONE TO GROW ON: He opens the doors for women whether it is at the store, at school, or at church.

Random Thoughts

So, my life is totally kicking my butt at this point in time. I haven't had time to even sleep, let alone post anything on my blog. But, rather than completely give up, here is the shortened version of the past few weeks, in no particular order:

1. Going back to work has exhausted me! I miss summer. This year I was given all of the 7th and 8th special ed. students. Last year I was only in charge of the 7th grade kids, so 32 kids is completely overwhelming. Seven of them have pretty severe needs, so it feels like 50 kids.

2. During the first days of school we had lots of meetings. One of them was a special ed. meeting, where we were given our list of kids, then told about all of the new IEP requirements that we are in charge of implementing. I burst into tears! I felt like an idiot. I wanted to cry silently in the corner (my favorite spot for all meetings and social activities), but no, there were too many compassionate people there who felt the need to get up and console me, thus calling more attention to my totally unprofessional behavior. Luckily Spence and Kirstin invited Ryan and I out to eat that night, so I could relive the moment with humor instead of humiliation.

3. Compounding that stress, was the fact that I had been called as the new Primary President, and we were taking over the Primary that weekend.

4. Now, all complaining aside, school and Primary have been just fine. Funny how that always is. Ryan tells me that I just like to worry. I like to call it preparation for the worst. Ha.

5. School has been hard, but rewarding. A lot of it seems to be training the new 7th graders that, yes, we know you are in special ed., but no, you still have to do schoolwork and actually turn it in. I admit, I kind of get a kick out of how shocking this is to their systems. But it is incredibly rewarding when you get to the end of the year and see how much progress they have made, even if it is just in being a more responsible student. It's also nice to see how capable the 8th graders are after the same training last year.
5a. Oh, and I have 3 new aides that I am in charge of. Not my best skills, being a supervisor. But we seem to be getting the hang of it.

6. Those same 7 severe-needs kids are some of my favorite. I shouldn't listen to previous years teachers, because they always freak me out. I was expecting a lot worse. (See #4 above). Actually, one girl in particular completely makes my heart happy every day. About 15 times a day.

7. I love my counselors in Primary. They rock. I have a problem with thinking I have to handle all the problems in the world by myself. I've just been amazed that they are willing to handle them with me. Hee Hee. I really am a dork this way. I am absolutely certain that the lesson I am to learn from this calling is to rely on the Lord and others. I couldn't have picked better women to help me learn this. OK, lets be honest, I'm also certain that God picked them to help me learn this.

8. Utterly random thought: The Olympics certainly didn't help with my sleeping habits. From all the yawning at work, I think everyone had my same problem.

9. The kids seemed to have settled into school quite nicely. Nothing too exciting. Lauren loves her teacher, Syd continues to be a fabulous student, and Cade is enjoying "The Crucible" in English. OK, that one is probably fairly shocking.

10. Miracle Grow is the answer to lots of tomatoes and cucumbers. I only have a couple plants of each, but more vegetables than I can keep up with.

11. Cade turned 16 on August 18th. A little tradition at the High School is to put a sign on the chain link fence on campus to announce the big day. I told Cade that I couldn't do it because it would be a big sign announcing that I had been letting him drive illegally for 6 months. He agreed.

12. Ryan is coaching Jr. High football again this year. He's been doing it for about 10 years. He loves it.

13. Ryan and Quinn spent a weekend in the middle of August searching the Northern part of the state for buffalo. They didn't see any, but found lots of sign. They also found out that the animals are now on the Grand Canyon park, and won't come off until Spring. So, I guess I will have my husband around more often than I expected. That's a good thing, in case you wondered.

14. I'm setting a goal right here and now to keep my flowers alive past Labor Day next year. Every year, school starts and I kill off my flowers. This year, I have kept the vegetables alive, next year, I'm going to extend the love and actually water everything.

15. Fina ran out of Pepsi for a whole week. They are lucky I didn't completely boycott them. I'm lucky they have the problem fixed this week. A girl shouldn't have to teach Jr. High without a Pepsi for lunch.

The Death of Summer

It is the day that has spread dread through our home for weeks now. It has caused moans and whines out of seemingly brave children. It has even caused my normally chipper Lauren to stop smiling. Yes, it was the first day of school.

Normally, the kids and I look forward to school. It sounds sick, I know, but it breaks up the boredom of summer. The kids get to start sports and see their friends. But for some reason, no one was really looking forward to it this year. We had such a fun and relaxing summer that it is difficult to force ourselves back into a routine.

The kids woke up early. Cade had to be to early morning football practice at 6:15, so he was out of the house pretty quickly. The girls and I got up to read scriptures, get ready and take pictures. Cade got home about an hour later and grudgingly let me take a couple pictures of him.

Lauren is starting second grade with Mrs. Moreno. She is so excited to have her as a teacher. She wasn't too concerned about who was in her class, as long as she got the teacher she wanted. Things went pretty well for her, until the bus ride to my class. She ended up riding the bus for a full hour before they brought her to the Jr. High. But we think we have it worked out for tomorrow. Lauren gets pretty freaked out about change, so we have to rehearse tough situations like bus rides. Luckily, she knows the bus driver so things should go well. I don't know who I am trying to convince-her or her nervous mother.

Sydney is in 8th grader now. She thought the day was incredibly boring. She figures that they are eighth graders now and everyone should know the rules and we should just get on with the program. She does have friends in all of her classes, so she should survive. Actually, she will probably never look up from her book to even talk to anyone. She caught the reading bug about the end of sixth grade, and hasn't stopped ever since. Cade is a Junior this year. I can't believe it. Only two more years to have the kid at home. It makes me sick to think about, so I just try to ignore it. In typical boy fashion, he didn't have much to say about school. He likes his schedule this year, having most of his hard classes in the morning so that he doesn't miss them when he leaves for sports. He did have a few things to say about practice like, "I hate Morgan." (the coach) but I think he is just sick of running.



I'm just as ornery as the kids about starting school this year. I've got a busy, rough year ahead of me. But even more so, I just miss watching Law and Order reruns. Oh, the injustice of my life. . .

Flowers, flowers, flowers

Boy, I have had a surprising week. On Monday, I returned from a trip to Flagstaff to find a bouquet of flowers in my front room. It was going to be my birthday on Wednesday, so I thought maybe my sweet dad had them sent. When I opened the card, all it said was "Heavenly Father wants you to know that he loves you". Nothing else. I was so shocked and touched. I have know idea who sent them. And I'm not sure I even want to know. It seems like it is one of those things that you just have to promise yourself that you will "pay it forward".


Wednesday, which was my birthday AND the my first day back at work (Rrrrr!) I was presented with another beautiful bouquet of flowers. This time it was from my dad. He always remembers special occasions. I sure appreciate him.

I've got skills

In fact, I've got crazy, mad skills in the fine art of night crawler hunting. I honed those skills as a young girl, pouncing on the fat suckers down at the old High School. My dad would keep an eye out for irrigation day, and then that night, he would take me and Kellie down to the school. He was in charge of finding them with the flashlight and then one of us would slam our hand down and then slowly pull the worm from its hole. Actually USING the worms for fishing wasn't high on my list of things to do-but night crawler hunting-that was one of my favorite times.

So tonight, Ryan and I headed out to hunt night crawler so that we can go fishing tomorrow. We had a rough time finding a place that had been irrigated, but we lucked out when we drove past Quinn and Michelle's house and heard the water pouring through the garden and out on the lawn. (They were out of town--sorry guys. But I did check to make sure the water was going where it needed to before I looked for worms.) Anyway, it was as fun as I remember. Even Ryan had to bow down to my superior skills.


We took Syd and Lauren along with us. It took a little while, but Syd caught on, and was even doing the two worms at a time maneuver. Lauren was in charge of collecting the worms and putting them in the jar. We all had to admit that it is addicting, pitting your skills against such a small minded creature-which is probably what the worms are thinking. . . But, finally, we tore ourselves away. When we got home, we put them in the fridge where all good fishermen keep their worms.

Which brings me to a horror story of my poor mom's. When she was newly married, my dad got some worms and put them in the fridge to keep until he went fishing the next day. Well, sometime in the night they escaped their container. So when my mom got up the next morning to make breakfast, she opened the fridge door to find worms hanging from every nook and cranny! Needless to say, I checked the lid on our worms a couple of times already. Now we just have to see if they will catch some fish.

UPDATE: Let's just say that the night crawler hunting was more successful than the fishing. . . but I did get a nice tan.