Blogging Rut.....

In case you couldn't tell by my lack of blogging posts the last year I'm in a blogging rut.....
I suppose I have plenty to write about being that I have three loud and busy kids at home and myself having spreading my eggs in lots of different baskets (church, painting parties, substitute teaching, library board, etc......that's an exhausting list.) But none of the things going on lately inspire a lengthy blog post, though I feel like I have enough stuff rattling around in my to keep me up at nights. Some of which......

• We've lived in SW Kansas for 4 1/2 years now. The longest DR and I have lived in one place together our whole marriage. Honestly, I'm getting a bit antsy! We had a good wet summer this year in SW Kansas but I'm not sure if it was enough to start celebrating the end of a 5 year drought. It was odd though to drive down roads this summer and not recognize where I was because of all the green. Other than that life in SW Kansas is still pretty much the same; dry, windy and plenty of tumbleweeds.
• Yip and Yap aren't playing football this year (4th grade). They lost every game last season and were pretty bored since they played on the line and barely touched the football. I love sports but I'm totally fine that they aren't playing football; it's made for a pretty relaxing fall so far! Our Saturdays are open and I'm not rushing them to practice once a week. They are looking more forward to playing basketball...me too!!! 
• Yahoo is in Kindergarten this year and it's meant a big change for me. I'm home all by myself days I'm not working and she's suddenly has independence she didn't have before. Last week was the first time she went to the library program without me. I have to admit that it made me a bit uneasy. Not because I was worried about her but because, for the first time in ten years, I don't have the feeling that I have a child who can't be without me. It's odd. That's just something that takes a bit of time to get used to. I'm learning to like it!! 
• Speaking of Library....I'm on our public library's board. I love my librarian (she's awesome) and other board members (so supportive) but working with other government entities (that will remain nameless) is exhausting. Sometimes I just can't figure out how people in leadership positions can be so stupid and irresponsible. *heavy sigh*
• Substitute teaching is same old same old though I may be busier this year considering the new respiratory virus going around. The school sent home a note about it but really, it was hard to get too worried considering the beginning symptoms were the same as a common cold. So we stocked up on orange juice.....
• Painting parties are keeping me busy too. I'm having so much fun doing them and now that school is back in session I'm averaging about one a week. I could write about them all the time but I'm sure you all would get bored hearing about them. The best part is painting parties gives me the opportunity to teach people who really want to learn!! 
• I could say that I'm also busy cleaning my house while my kids are at school all day long but there's better things to do!!! 

Football Players Don't Smile and Crazy Mama Drama.

Football Season is going pretty well....as in, my boys are having a good time playing football. If you asked them what their team's win/loss record is...well...then it's a different story. Saturday after the games it's not uncommon to see little 9 and 10 year old boys crying because their team lost..again. Not my boys though. They could really care less if they won or lost and that's fine with me (though on the inside I'm just as torn up about my boys losing!) There's more to this life than sports though and as another mom put it today, they are too young to be so torn up over anything. Good point. 

This Saturday I got to take team individual pics of all the boys. I learned a lot this morning that's for sure. I sure wasn't expecting the sun to be so bright but I think the shots turned out rather well. I had to brush up on shooting outside with a flash which I hadn't done in a while. 

I couldn't convince Yip or Yap to smile though...or quite a few of the other boys. I kept telling them this picture wasn't for them but for their moms. 

I don't know what I did but Yip's picture is the only one that turned out awful. He was the first one so I was fine tuning with him. I guess I just didn't fine tune enough. Well, I'll have to drag him out to the football field for another photo sometime soon. THAT should be horribly fun!! 

I have to tell you about a side effect of taking these photos that I wasn't expecting. There's 23 boys on our football team and I'm Facebook friends with some of them but not many. When I was done editing I put all the pics on Facebook and tagged some of the parents. Then I get a friend request from one of the other moms, after I gave her permission to tag my photo. (Can you feel the Facebook drama building??) 

I declined her Facebook request. (No feedback yet, cross my fingers.) See here's the thing, I have a problem with people wanting to be my Facebook friend when I've only ever talked to them three or four times. I have a problem with someone wanting to be my Facebook friend just because our kids are in the same class/football team/time zone. Just because our kids hang out with one another, sometimes against their will, doesn't automatically make us "besties". And I REALLY have a problem when one of these moms wants to be my Facebook friend and she's. just. crazy. The mom I friend declined just dripped drama. 

Is it just me or do other people have to deal with these "drama mamas"? Is it getting more prevalent? Have there always been crazy moms or is it just my generation? I haven't seen drama like this since I taught middle school and really, I could see some of my crazy moms going back to junior high right now and fitting right in!

I'm getting better and identifying crazy mama drama. I didn't use to be. I used to be too dang gullible and these CRAZY moms sucked me into the whirlwind of nutso. It's exhausting to climb your way out of someone else's crazy. It's like climbing out of a hole of peanut butter. So I'd rather just be known as the unfriendly mom rather than to get sucked into all that. 

If I didn't have family 1000 miles away to talk to, I would give up Facebook in a heartbeat; they're the only ones keeping me on. As soon as my family is off Facebook I am too.

How do you deal with Mrs. Crazy Mom? 

(Unless you are one? Are you? ARE YOU?)

Right now my dealing with crazy mama strategy is avoidance, the buddy system (always attaching myself to a normal mom) and avoiding eye contact with the crazed beast. So far so good. 

Football Season is Here Again!

Tomorrow we'll be traveling an hour, yes an hour, on a Saturday morning for the boys' third football game. One thing I've learned living in Kansas is you have to drive to find people to compete against. Living in Kansas makes Warsaw, Indiana look like a booming metropolis! 

I forced the boys to pose for me before their first game. Hey, I'm the MOM!! Photos of "firsts" are my right!!

Don't they look impressed?? Ha! 

This is their first year in tackle football and they love it, even if they might not really understand what it is they are supposed to be doing. Heck, I don't even understand exactly what they are supposed to be doing on that football field. (Basketball will be a whole different story! DR says I can only attend basketball games if I'm gagged!) 

This year we have #30 Yip and #9 Yap. 

I've got lots of shots where Yip is blocking and he's made some good tackles! 

Yip blocking...good job!! 

Yip blocking while Yap #9 is looking on. Yap doesn't quite get the whole gist of football yet. He's not quite as willing to jump into the mix as Yip. I have yet to get a good photo of my #9 in action. 

Of one the dads told me not to worry about Yap though. He said as soon as Yap realizes that football is nothing more than legalized fighting then he'll be right in the middle and be just fine. HA! 

Two games down and 4 to go!! Wish em' luck tomorrow...they need it! 

Football!!! Finally TACKLE with all the fixin's!

Football equipment has invaded my house and Yip and Yap couldn't be more pumped! This year, in third grade, they are finally old enough to play tackle football. So a couple weeks ago DR took our boys plus the neighbor boy to pick up their equipment then they spent a good hour adjusting helmets and pads. I never realized how many separate straps and pads come with a football uniform. Sheesh. 

I found it particularly funny how DR would check the fit of the boys' helmets. He'd grab them by the face mask with one hand and with the other he'd give em' a good hard smack a top the head, three or four times,  and ask, "Does that hurt?" What resulted was a room full of giggles...not very intimidating! 

DR did a thorough job fitting the helmets and pads...but he forgot the pants. 

The boys first practice was helmets only. The second practice was helmets and shoulder pads. The third practice was a full uniform which meant they got to wear their pants. DR neglected to have them try on their pants. Tuesday evening as we were getting ready to go to football practice, and DR was still at work, I sent three boys downstairs to put on their pants. I waited. And waited. And waited....and waited. Finally I had to holler down to see what was taking them so long. 

Their pants were all similar to these except black. 

See the double loop buckle. Well, none of the three boys knew how to loosen it up; I doubt they tried. They came hobbling up the stairs with their pants hanging under their butt. So I had to help them with that and they had a flap of fabric below the laces (kind of like the tongue on a show) that they didn't know what to do with. So there I was giggling to myself in front of these rough and tough cool 9 year olds....who can't get dressed without their mom! 

Our VERY LAST Flag Football game!!!

This weekend we celebrated a great day...our LAST Flag Football Game!!!

Oh, we didn't celebrate because we are happy that our short little football season is over, OH NO!! 

We celebrated because the next football game my boys play, next fall, will be TACKLE!! With pads and helmets and all the parts of a football uniform that I'm clueless about! 

My boys have had so much fun playing football this fall. 

We had a bumpy couple of weekends where our games were cancelled because of weather so this past weekend, instead of playing one game we played three. 

My boys took turns playing center...I guess they did a good job I really don't have a clue about football! 

I have to send a big shout out to all the DADS that helped out this season. I think there must have been 5 or 6 that volunteered to help out this fall, what a great bunch of DADS!!! 

Run Yap RUN!!! Don't STOP! 

Yip's calculating the distance.....

....he takes the extra long stride.....

and...HOORAH!!! Has the flag!! 

Have you ever tried to get 12 little boys to sit still for a camera? 

I think I got about 10 photos taken before they finally sat still. 

Well, sort of sat still! 

What a great group of boys. I can't wait to break out this picture when they are juniors and seniors in high school! 

Are You Ready for Some Football!!

I can't even read this post's title without thinking about Hank Williams! 

It's football season!! And once again poor coach has to keep reminding these guys that we are playing FLAG football and not TACKLE! 

I love football and football weather, especially football weather. COOL weather. Ninety degrees is too hot to be outside running! 

Getting a drink like the big high school boys! 

"Watch out!! You're going to get sacked!!"

Of course Yip and Yap are on the same team which at the same time makes it hard and easy for me. Easy because I'm only running to one practice. Hard because they are one another's biggest competition. They don't like to face up to each other. Rather than work as team mates they'd rather criticize one another. How do you get twins to understand that on the field your brother turns into just another guy on the team? They are the tallest and the oldest and probably catch the worst. I blame their father for their stone hands. We'll see how the season goes :) 

Even if they never win a game they are having a great time with their friends. 

Even the little sisters find a way to enjoy football practice. 

I'll never understand this part of football. It's the one time of year that it's okay to let somebody touch your butt. 

The boys were a little disappointed after their first practice when they learned they had to play flag football for one more year. Those helmets and pads have a big attraction for little boys Lord knows why! They look hot and uncomfortable to me. 

Football - More commonly known as Hoosier basketball conditioning! 

Week 10 - Quiet

The high school football field is only two blocks from our house. 

Although our town is pretty darn quiet it isn't on Friday nights in the fall and we can hear all the details of the football game at our house. 

But now it's the end of winter and the field is silent just waiting for track season to begin. 

f/8, 1/200, ISO 100

f/10, 1/200, ISO 100

f/11, 1/320, ISO 100

f/14, 1/200, ISO 100

See? I knew I wouldn't find quiet at my house :) 

Week 11- Smooth

Football with a New Camera Lens

I got a new camera lens this week!! Woo Hoo!

A zoom lens; 70-300mm. And boy did it come in handy this week at the boys flag football game. It's been an awfully fun lens to use because I can get photos that, otherwise, I'd only get if I were right up in the subjects face. The only thing I'm still learning about this lens is how to focus. My other lens, the 18-55mm one that came with the camera, has an auto focus so it's not something I've had a lot of practice doing. Focusing manually becomes instantly harder when the subject is running too. So forgive me any blurry photos today. Besides...it's football, you get the idea blurry or not.

HA! The only photo they are both in. These coaches are smart....they don't put Yip and Yap near one another or they'll end up tackling one another!

Yip, #6. Go get em!

I'm not sure what this look is for he's giving me but he's awfully cute with that mouthpiece jammed in his jaw!

Yip down in his stance.

Yap...I think it's against the rules to hold on to his shirt.

God Bless Coach Mike! He sure is positive with all the kids.

He's giving Yap some encouragement here.

Yap, I DEFINITELY know a straight arm to another guy's face is against the rules!

Geez, I kind of wish they had pads and helmets!