The Last Saturday...The Many Moms of Me

Previously, I wrote about the last night of football practice. So, now it's time for the last Saturday.......that is the last Saturday football game. I am trying something new here. Let's see how it goes.

Football Mom was tired after a long day of work and cold after sitting out at the football field for 2 1/2 hours of practice. But it was all worth it. The last blog entry was done around 10 pm and it was now time for some relaxation time to clear her head and to unwind. The car was loaded for the next day and things were all ready to go.

ER, CSI and other shows were still on the DVR. The first choice was ER. It was a struggle to stay awake through the show, and she had to change into Soccer mom for a little bit. Soccer mom wanted to get that soccer team picture mounted in the frame before Evelyn came home from the weekend camping trip. It looks good hanging next to Greg's football team photo. Soccer mom was done for the night, but Football mom was not.

ER was done so it was time for some quick Mission Organization shows before bed. Well, that didn't last long as weary football mom woke up on the couch and it was after midnight. Oh, now it's Saturday morning. The alarm will go off at 5 am, that's only 5 hours.

Now the all too familiar sound of the alarm going off. Feels like she hadn't even slept very long. She hit the snooze several times and saw it was 5:25 am. Time to get up!! Football mom crawled out of bed, pulled on her favorite jeans, tennis shoes and for the last time until next August, her favorite white "Football Mom" bling t-shirt. It was cold, so the long sleeve white t shirt looked great under it. She pinned the picture button of her favorite football player onto her shirt, over her heart. This guy sure has won her heart over gazillions of times.

Now that football mom was all dressed and ready to go, it was time to wake up the football player and get him ready for the game ahead of him. Star Greg was quick to wake up as he is always excited about the games and doesn't like to be late.

Football mom ended up burning a pan of oatmeal (helps to read the directions), while her star player was getting dressed. "All your gear is on your chair and your jerseys are in your bag" She always gets out the uniforms the night before to make sure everything is ready. "Mom, have you seen my butt pad? It's not in my girdle?" "Your butt pad? It should be there, it was when I washed it last week." "No, it's not there, see..." "Hmmmm ok, look in your basket" "I did, not there" "In your bag?" "Not there" "Ok, lets get one out of your practice pants. You don't need those anymore."

The butt pad comes out of the practice pants and into the girdle. "It's a little small, but will do. Now do you need help getting on your game pants?" "No, I got them on..... Oh wait..... I think I found my butt pad......Yep, here it is....... It was in the side of my girdle" "Whew. Good thing you found it. Everything else ready?"

Football mom and Star Greg ate a good breakfast of not burned oatmeal. Football mom made sure the dog was fed, the water jug was in the car with the gear bag, her back pack had the camera and water and cell phone and of course that she had a hot travel mug of tea. And they were off to the game, 6:32 am. Not too bad as the plan was to leave at 6:25 am.

Football mom and Star Greg pulled into the parking lot right on time and trudged through the muddy field. While Star Greg was with the team, Football mom, staked out a prime plot of real estate and set up her 2 chairs keeping a good distance in between them to save space for those coming to the game to cheer on her star. She also had time to mingle with the other parents and reminisce about the season. She even braved a trip to the blue AG as the bathrooms were closed and while making a quick escape, bumped her head hard on the door opening. The sacrifices she makes.

Shortly before the game started, Grandma Shirley, Grandma and Grandpa Murphy, Football dad and cousin Matt showed up to join the cheer squad. Aunt Marianne and Uncle Rich showed up shortly after game time.

Football mom's Greg was offense the first half of the game. No TD's in the first half. The 2nd half kick off, her Star Greg caught the return and ran the ball all the way down the field for a TD!!! Greg was playing against 2 boys he knows from school. He said he even tackled one of his friends. The final score was not in our favor, but the Jr. Mighty Might Bears played a great last game together.

The time was now 9:05 am and Football mom had to leave the game as it was almost time to be Scrap mom and head to her day crop. Football mom was sad to leave the game but was glad to have a day to spend with her friends, and make new ones, at one of her scrap events. Scrap mom is one of the planners of a great scrap group called Crops2Remember. (http://www.crops2remember.com/). They had planned this day crop from 10 am to midnight. It was going to be a long day.

Scrap mom had a great day scrapping and chatting with her friends and making new friends. Football dad and sister Eagle Evelyn were at their Adventure Princess camp out at O'Neil Park. Luckily it had survived the Santiago fire untouched! Eagle Evelyn was out having the time of her life with the girls. While Football dad was now Adventure Dad hanging out with other Adventure Dads.

Star Greg was hanging out with Grandma Shirley who took him to cousin Jake and Nathan's house to hang out and play. Adventure Dad got star Greg around 9 pm and brought him home for the night. Adventure dad had to leave early Sunday morning for his flight to Pittsburgh as he had to spend time at his new companies main office and be Work dad.

Football mom will go away now until next August. However, Soccer mom will be around for at least another week. The other moms will be released as needed, but Diva Mom will never be far away (ok, this is something the kids like to call the Mom because of a pair of pj's she loves to wear)

To view the video of the last game, click here: http://web.mac.com/jfpd/iWeb/SVBears/Game10.html
Football mom has not watched the video yet but will do so when Star Greg is home so he can see it too.

Football mom, Football dad, Star Greg and Football Sister Evelyn would like to thank everyone who came out for the games to cheer on Star Greg and the rest of the Bears. It was a long season, a huge commitment, a lot of work on Star Greg's part, but it was all worth it an it was a lot of fun. Star Greg says he loves playing football. Star Greg has a few months of rest until baseball season starts up.

Until next time................. The Mom signs off..........

Bittersweet

Tomorrow is the last football game of the season. I am sad (and a bit relieved). Greg loves playing football, and I have to admit, he is pretty darn good at it too. Yes, it has been very time consuming and I have done some complaining (but not too much). But I do love watching the games. And I also want to show my support for the activities my kids want to do.

So, tomorrow morning I will arise around 5:30 to get myself ready and then Greg for his 8 am game. This means we must be at the field at 6:45. At least the game is in Rancho Santa Margarita, and at that time of the morning, probably a 10 minute drive.

I still get nervous before the games, as does Greg. But he doesn't admit it as much as he used to. But I can still tell by the way he acts. The teams have been switched around again and this time Greg will be offense the first half of the game. He says he likes playing defense first so he is not as nervous when he has to run the ball. I agree with that. So tonight I told him he just has to get out there and show the other defense what he has right away and don't hold back. His last chance to score another TD or 2. He is also playing agains some of his buddies from school.

Tonight we had our last practice. Our last night sitting at the field huddled in blankets and jackets chatting, reading, and watching the guys practice. It was kind of a sad night. The boys had a really good practice and the coaches had nothing but good things to say about the boys, the season and the parents. This is the last time this group of boys will play together. All are moving up, some to Mighty Might and some to Jr. Pee Wee.

It has been a great season and a great experience. Way to go Bears!!

Well, I am tired and it's only getting later. Have a few things to do and want to sit down to watch some of my shows that I recorded earlier this week.

Let's go Bears!! Go Greg #88!!

Football highlights Bears v. Griffins

Saturday was Greg's first official game. And it was a hot day for football, let me tell you.
We played at Aliso Niguel HS in Aliso Viejo. Very nice stadium. The boys had to be all suited up to be weighed in at 1:00. Tom took Greg over while Evy and I got there before the game.
We set up our easy up in the stands for some much needed shade. There was a little breeze but it didn't help very much. I can just imagine how the guys were on the field. There were 3 easy ups on the field for the guys to sit under, and benches too!
Los Alamitos scored the first TD. But the Bears went on to get 3 more and the final score was 20 - 6. Go Bears!!
Greg had some great tackles. And, he scored his first Touch Down!! Raced down the field for a score! So awesome. That was the last TD of the game. He was so excited!
This video clip is highligts of the game. You need quicktime to play it. There are also links on the website for other photos.
http://web.mac.com/jfpd/iWeb/SVBears/Game1.html
Greg is #88, wearing white. His TD is toward the end of the video. In the TD before Greg, you can see Greg do the hand off to the guy who scores.

After the game we headed home for a quick change and back to Eric & Chrissy's for dinner. (They were also at the game). And the kids went swimming after dinner. Came home and I just crashed. Kids were so tired too, especially Greg. You could just see how tired he was and how he was trying not to be tired.

Way to go Bears!!

Football highlights 2nd scrimmage

Saturday was a very long day! Had to make sure everything was ready for pictures and later on , the game. Bags everywhere!!

Around 10:30 we headed off the Opening Day for football. Talk about crowded! We found our booth and spun the wheel a few times for raffle tickets, played some games at other booths and then Greg headed off with his team for pictures. Needless to say, out of all the raffles we entered, did we win???? NO! Evelyn did win a coupon for a free dessert and a free appetizer at Carino's a new Italian restaurant. Ok, so we will go for appetizers and dessert one day.

We did have a super bbq hamburger from Lone Star Restaurant. Best burger I have had in a long time.

Headed home for a short rest period. I had to be back at the field for my 2 - 4 snack bar shift. Time went by fast. Then over to the game. What a nice surprise to see Eric, Chrissy, Nate, Jake, Deni and Ed at the game too!

Our guys played tough again and got scored on 2x. Way to go Benevides for scoring our TD!!! Greg had some good tackles, knocked a guy out of bounds hard. He chased him down the field for the tackle. Got a good picture of Greg's feet in the air for that one! Greg has a new position so is carrying the ball more on offense. One play he got hit hard and got knocked out of bounds. He was laying there for awhile and got up holding his arm and side. It was on the other side of the field so I really didn't know what happened. But Greg got right back in to play. Later he told me he landed on a water bottle and got the wind knocked out of him.

Greg gets the tackle
Greg's legs. The out of bounds tackle.
Bevevides for a touch down!!
After the hard out of bounds land on a water bottle tackle, being assessed by coach Allison and Jones.

As a result of this game, even more bruises on top of old bruises, a scratched leg and small abrasion on his elbow. But Greg's a tough guy and think he likes the sympathy of people looking at his bruises.

We went to pizza at Round Table after the game with Eric, Chrissy , etc... then some ice cream from Skimmers. Jake and Nate had fun playing with their big cousins. Then Jake decided to play lick tag with the kids. yuck!!



Sunday the kids and I did major errands getting shoes, etc... for school. Didn't get any for Evy. We have to continue our search. She can not wear flip flops to school. Tell ya, her feet are growing every few weeks.



Thanks for checking out the highlights. Sorry not to get them posted earlier. It was a busy weekend and not much time on the computer.

Bears game schedule ready!

Well, we have our game schedule. Most of the games are early :) Like that. Away games are in Pasadena, Yorba Linda, Cypress, Montebello and Rancho Santa Margarita. Little bit of driving to do.
Look to the link at the left for the schedule.

Remember, game 4:00 this Saturday, August 25 and Los Alisos.

Greg has a new offensive position now. He scored 3 td's at practice last night! That made his night.

Go Bears!!
Go #88

Let's see if this works, video highlights of last weeks game:

http://web.mac.com/jfpd/iWeb/SVBears/scrimmage1.html

Give it a few minutes to load, then click on the triangle to start playing. Make sure you have volume. No numbers on the back of the shirts. Bears are in white. Greg is wearing black arm guards. He is in a lot of the plays. In one play where the ball pops up, Greg made that tackle. In one he chases the runner to tackle him in the upper left of the screen. Some other good tackles and blocks about half way through. Sit back, relax and enjoy :)

Football highlights first scrimmage

In the heat of a Saturday afternoon, Greg had his first scrimmage. He is on the gold team (gold and blue teams). They were the second team in to play defense. Interesting scrimmage. Most of the coaches were on the field. The guys played 10 plays and then switched teams. So, after 20 plays it was half time.

Greg had some really good hits. I didn't capture all of them but took 55 pix and did get some pretty good ones. One hit that I wish I had was when Greg raced around the pack and got in front of the running back and full on forward tackled him. Hear the crowd say, "it's Murphy again".

Don't really know the score as no one was keeping score. And Greg knew 2 boys from the other team. Goes to school with them. Greg's team is white with blue helmets. They are wearing their practice uniforms so don't have any numbers on them. I knew Greg as he was wearing black arm guards and I have gotten to know the way he stands on the field.

Here are some of Greg's favorite pictures:

Greg gets the tackle
Another tackle before the goal line. Greg gave a good chase and got him!
Greg carrying the ball. He got pretty far before getting tackled.

We came home after the scrimmage and rested up for about an hour before heading out for the team picnic. That was fun! Got to sit and chat with other parents while the boys played flea ball, water balloon toss, baseball and just got to goof around and hang out.

Came home exhausted. But we still did some jumping out back. Found many bruises on Greg's arm.

Well, off to bed. My eyes are very droopy.

Practice - week three

practice is going well this week. The guys are now able to hit each other. So, after warm ups, the defense and offence drills involve hitting. They like this. At the end of practice they guys have a scrimmage against themselves. Looks like they are getting the plays down.

On offense, Greg is the one who yells "Ready, Ready Ready..... Set....Go!!"And the play begins. He said his job is to block for Rooker and Reyes and he is a 2 back. I have no idea what position that is. (Rooker played baseball on the Angels, and Greg knows him from baseball )

No practice Thursday. Ahhhh, a night off and we get to hopefully finish setting up the trampoline and have dinner at the dinner hour :) Oh no, what am I going to cook??? Better dig through the freezer and see whats inside.

Practice again on Friday and the the scrimmage on Saturday, 11:00 am. Oh, and Greg is #88!

Go Bears!!! Go 88!!!

As for me, I am 3 for 3. That is I have gone running 3 nights this week. Figure I am there, so might as well make the most of my time. It's hot and dusty (dirt track) and I have to keep a look out for kids and othe people crossing the track. But there are other runners and walkers too, so I am not alone. Pop on my i-pod and take off for 3 miles. I also finished another book tonight. I actually read it in less than 24 hours. Started last night and finished at practice today. I will post on that later.

Night All!

A tough night at practice

Greg is so wiped out after practice. All day long he was asking how many days till his first scrimmage. 9 days to go. Then during a water break he told me he does not want to do this anymore. Hang in there bud, I know it's tough, but you can't give up now, you made a commitment to this team and your coach is counting on you. I gave the best pep talk I could in the short time he had to get his water bottle and back onto the field.

But I do have to admit, these guys are being worked tough. Warm ups, running, drills, more drills and even more running. During defense drills Greg was diving on the ball, being dog piled, taking a beating. I did see him get kicked in the leg (not intentionally) and rammed in the back by a helmet (not intentionally). I told him this is what it is like in the games. Also told him he is one tough guy and will be able to take it. And he is not the only one getting roughed up, in fact most of the guys are.

He is really getting his dose of reality now. Football is not like soccer or baseball. Even though Greg can make soccer a contact sport.

I have to admit, Greg is one of the fastest guys on the team. Since he is first to get through the defense pads the coach is holding up and first to dive on the ball, yep, he is going to get beat up. By this I mean, end up on the bottom of the dog pile and get knocked around.

And I also see him out there thinking about what he is going to do during defense and offense drills, anticipating where the ball will be going, finding the holes and getting through them.

Got home close to 8:30 and Greg and I had some granola and chatted about practice. Then we snuggled and watched the rest of Dirty Jobs before I tucked him into bed. Have to admit, I am wiped out too. Makes for a long day.

Hang in there Greg, tomorrow is another day. This is only your second week of practice and you are so looking forward to your first scrimmage. You are a tough guy and this will just keep getting easier as the season goes on. We will get through this and you will have a good first football season.

One more practice this week and then the weekend. Ahhh! the weekend! Time to sleep in (and clean this very messy house - it's been one of those weeks) . Next week is full contact. Should be fun......

Practice - week two

Week 2 of practice means full gear and contact! Ok, now it's really hard to pick Greg out of the crowd of boys on the practice field. Today he wore his blue socks and one was up and one was down. That made it easy. With all those pads on Greg just looks so much taller. I do need to measure him. And he just looks so much older. I know he has grown so much this summer. Evelyn 2. New shoes for her every few months. At the rate she is going, we will be sharing shoes by 2008.

So, after I did my 3 miles around the track, I plopped down to watch practice. Warm ups and drills first. Who is passing up everyone when they are doing the warm up runs - Greg. Oh my, it really is him. He has mastered the Karaoke (who knows if I am spelling it right - but it's pronounced like when you get up and sing a song you really don't know but want to impress) and that is tough, crossing one leg over first then the other all the while going sideways. Back peddling, passing up guys. Some guys even fall over and we have seen the domino effect many a practice. Greg was a domino one practice.

Water break, sweat running down his head after the helmet was removed. Let me tell you, there is a unique way to remove these helmets as they are very fitted. Starving kid so he downed a Tiger's bar and grapes not to mention water and Gatorade. Then the kids were split in 2 groups to practice offense and defense. Have no idea what defensive position Greg was at but it was on the side (have to do some googling here to learn the defensive and offensive positions). The boys would line up and 3 coaches would run plays. Greg was quickly off the line every time getting right to the coach with the ball. Coach told him to hold back a bit (guess that was what he was supposed to do) and Greg did and watched the pass and got the coach for the tackle! Whoo-hoo. A few of us mom's were cheering our guys on, they were doing so well. A few boys had to rotate in and out, but Greg stayed in every play.

The boys were not allowed to tackle each other, only the coaches. Hard for a 7 or 8 year old to down a 200 pound coach! But they sure tried.

Water break and then it was time for me and Evy to head home as Tom came to relieve us.

Evelyn was busy playing with Maddy, her new friend. Sometimes they watch the practice. But mostly like to lay on the pads or hang on the soccer goal post at the end of the field.

It's fun watching these guys practice. Can't wait for the games to start and they are almost here. Scrimmage on the 18th is at 11 but don't know where yet. Opening day is the 25th! Don't know the time yet.

So, I guess I can add football mom to my mom list - soccer mom, baseball mom, softball mom, girl scout mom, boy scout mom, adventure princess supporter mom, Diva Mom, and I am sure I have missed many mom titles in there. But the one I love being the most is Evelyn and Greg's mom. Mom to the best kids who ever walked the earth (my earth!). I don't mind going through life being known as Evelyn and Greg's mom when some one can't remember my name (I do the same thing too).

Go Bears!!! Whoo-Hoo