Biggest Game of the Year

I was "iced in" yesterday so found myself giving the kitchen a thorough cleaning and came upon the article below. My friend has also been waiting for me to do a post on the return of Friday Night Lights (a favorite show of hers and mine). While the Super Bowl is this Sunday and is known as the biggest game of the year, I would argue that this one could take the cake and would make a great episode of FNL!!

There are some games in which cheering for the other side feels
better than winning.
by Rick Reilly

They played the oddest game in high school football history last month down in Grapevine, Texas. It was Grapevine Faith vs. Gainesville State School and everything about it was upside down.

For instance, when Gainesville came out to take the field, the Faith fans made a 40-yard spirit line for them to run through. Did you hear that? The other team’s fans? They even made a banner for players to crash through at the end. It said, “Go Tornadoes!” Which is also weird, because Faith is the Lions. It was rivers running uphill and cats petting dogs. More than 200 Faith fans sat on the Gainesville side and kept cheering the Gainesville players on—by name. “I never in my life thought I’d hear people cheering for us to hit their kids,” recalls Gainesville’s QB and middle linebacker, Isaiah. “I wouldn’t expect another parent to tell somebody to hit their kids. But they wanted us to!” And even though Faith walloped them 33-14, the Gainesville kids were so happy that after the game they gave head coach Mark Williams a sideline squirt-bottle shower like he’d just won state. Gotta be the first Gatorade bath in history for an 0-9 coach.

But then you saw the 12 uniformed officers escorting the 14 Gainesville players off the field and two and two started to make four. They lined the players up in groups of five—handcuffs ready in their back pockets—and marched them to the team bus. That’s because Gainesville is a maximum-security correctional facility 75 miles north of Dallas. Every game it plays is on the road.

This all started when Faith’s head coach, Kris Hogan, wanted to do something kind for the Gainesville team. Faith had never played Gainesville, but he already knew the score. After all, Faith was 7-2 going into the game, Gainesville 0-8 with 2 TDs all year. Faith has 70 kids, 11 coaches, the latest equipment and involved parents. Gainesville has a lot of kids with convictions for drugs, assault and robbery—many of whose families had disowned them—wearing seven-year-old shoulder pads and ancient helmets.

So Hogan had this idea. What if half of our fans—for one night only—cheered for the other team? He sent out an email asking the Faithful to do just that. “Here’s the message I want you to send:” Hogan wrote. “You are just as valuable as any other person on planet Earth.”Some people were naturally confused. One Faith player walked into Hogan’s office and asked, “Coach, why are we doing this?” And Hogan said, “Imagine if you didn’t have a home life. Imagine if everybody had pretty much given up on you. Now imagine what it would mean for hundreds of people to suddenly believe in you.”

Next thing you know, the Gainesville Tornadoes were turning around on their bench to see something they never had before. Hundreds of fans. And actual cheerleaders! “I thought maybe they were confused,” said Alex, a Gainesville lineman (only first names are released by the prison). “They started yelling ‘DEE-fense!’ when their team had the ball. I said, ‘What? Why they cheerin’ for us?’” It was a strange experience for boys who most people cross the street to avoid. “We can tell people are a little afraid of us when we come to the games,” says Gerald, a lineman who will wind up doing more than three years. “You can see it in their eyes. They’re lookin’ at us like we’re criminals. But these people, they were yellin’ for us! By our names!” Maybe it figures that Gainesville played better than it had all season, scoring the game’s last two touchdowns. Of course, this might be because Hogan put his third-string nose guard at safety and his third-string cornerback at defensive end. Still.

After the game, both teams gathered in the middle of the field to pray and that’s when Isaiah surprised everybody by asking to lead. “We had no idea what the kid was going to say,” remembers Coach Hogan. But Isaiah said this: “Lord, I don’t know how this happened, so I don’t know how to say thank You, but I never would’ve known there was so many people in the world that cared about us.” And it was a good thing everybody’s heads were bowed because they might’ve seen Hogan wiping away tears.

As the Tornadoes walked back to their bus under guard, they each were handed a bag for the ride home—a burger, some fries, a soda, some candy, a Bible and an encouraging letter from a Faith player. The Gainesville coach saw Hogan, grabbed him hard by the shoulders and said, “You’ll never know what your people did for these kids tonight. You’ll never, ever know.” And as the bus pulled away, all the Gainesville players crammed to one side and pressed their hands to the window, staring at these people they’d never met before, watching their waves and smiles disappearing into the night.

Anyway, with the economy six feet under and Christmas running on about three and a half reindeer, it’s nice to know that one of the best presents you can give is still absolutely free.
Hope.

Sometimes there is crying in football right??!!

Picture Challenge

I was reading my sweet friend Heather's blog and she issued a picture challenge. I am posting from work so I was a little afraid of what my choices might be but I must admit that the picture made my heart smile. I followed her directions and below is the picture I landed on:

The picture was part of a collection of pictures I used to make one of those photo bracelets for my Grandma (Jackson's Great Grandma). I needed ones that had good clear pictures of the kids faces and weren't too big. Clearly, Jackson's love of sports started at an early age, I think he was about 18 months in this picture. Eric had taken him to visit his twin sister in west Texas and her husband had a tennis camp going on that weekend. Perfect entertainment for our little ball boy! The other funny thing about this picture is that I have absolutely NO idea who the little friend is in the background. No relation and not even a friend of a friend. I also think it is funny how Jackson would wear a baseball cap all the time, forwards, backwards, whatever! My other son I can't keep socks and shoes on let alone an unnecessary accessory like a HAT! Oh well - still a cute picture and Heather was right - it seems like forever ago and just yesterday all at the same time!

Wanna play along? Just follow these rules:

1) Choose the 4th folder where you store your pictures on your computer

2) Select the 4th picture in the folder

3) Explain the picture

GREAT FUN!

New Twist on an Old Verse

I got this in an email from my friend StacyA (she is my "anonymous" commenter - come on...you didn't think I would be cool enough to have someone I don't know reading my blog do you?! Silly you!) and thought it was definitely "blog worthy". She had no way of knowing but oh how I needed to read certain parts of this.....{[SIDENOTE: Am I the only one that sometimes finds myself working really diligently towards a goal that seems like a good thing only to realize that isn't the most important thing? I'll talk more about that later.]} Anyway, I know this is meant to be lighthearted but I hope this speaks to you in some way too and puts a new twist on an old verse.

Perspective from 1 Corinthians 13

If I decorate my house perfectly with exquisite flowers, pristine vases, perfectly leveled pictures, and fine rugs, but do not show love to my family, I'm just another decorator.

If I slave away in the kitchen, baking dozens of cakes, preparing gourmet meals and arranging a beautifully adorned table at mealtime, but do not show love to my family, I'm just another cook.

If I work at the soup kitchen, sing at the nursing home and give all that I have to charity, but do not show love to my family, it profits me nothing.

If I bake meals for friends in need, attend a myriad of social gatherings, attend church regularly, and sing in the choir, but do not focus on Christ (and share Jesus), I have missed the point.

Love stops the cooking to hug the child.

Love sets aside the decorating to kiss the husband.

Love is kind, though harried and tired.

Love doesn't envy another's home that has coordinated china and table linens.

Love doesn't yell at the kids to get out of the way, but is thankful they are there to be in the way.

Love doesn't give only to those who are able to give in return but rejoices in giving to those who can't.

Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never fails.

Ocean of Emotion

I find it so fascinating to watch children learn and deal with their emotions. My children are at completely different ends of the spectrum when it comes to the ocean of emotion. One is just dipping his toes in the surf and mimicking every point of contact that he sees. While the other has his wet suit on and surf board tucked under his arm - staring in awe at the cresting waves all the while keeping in the shallow waters. Both get their emotional cues though from those around them not the least of which is us as parents.

Take for instance with Baby G. He is just starting to really show a personality and on Sunday when we were at the grocery store, just he and I, he kept leaning his head out over the cart towards me and making a "mmmm-mah" sound - for those of you who don't speak Gavinese - that is a big ol' KISS. He did it over and over and it was just so precious that it sent a wave of warm emotion over my heart. So much so that I almost directed my cart to customer service and asked for a copy of their video surveillance of the frozen food section just so I could keep that memory for posterity. Fearing child protective services and the "Code Pink" (crazy lady on premises) on my next visit, I obviously just tried to take a mental picture of him for when he is in the throws of the terrible twos and exhibiting no redeeming qualities what-so-ever! Not to mention that he is exhibiting many of Eric's personality traits so if that continues, I know these unabashed displays of affection will not last forever.

Jackson on the other hand is my loving one. Which unfortunately for him means that he inherited his mommy's ......ahem...."passion" (that is the word that E always uses when he gets the "describe your wife in one word" question). I will admit, it has it's good points and bad points - both of which we have already seen in him. Because I prefer to focus on the positive, both for his sake and for mine, I wanted to tell you a cute story that happened Monday evening. I picked the kids up from school and Jackson was already charged with excitement at the thought of picking up his new battery powered Jeep. He had been checking our email (funny in and of itself) waiting to see when it was available at the store for pick up and just about leapt through the phone when he called to tell me we could pick it up the next day. By the time the store clerk brought it out, he was grinning from ear to ear and almost yelled when he saw the picture on the box "Mommy - it's BLUE!!!" (his favorite color). I admit, I was excited for him and as I got in the car and made my way through the parking lot, I launched into this soliloquy about how much his great grandparents loved him (it was their Christmas gift to the boys) and how he should feel so blessed to have such a generous family and how thankful we should be to God for these blessings, etc. etc. (yeah - I was having one of "those" mom moments). I looked in the rear view mirror both to make sure he was listening and to see that big toothy grin and I was surprised to find him with his hand over his mouth, appearing to be close to tears, and taking these short little breaths. I said "Jackson, what's wrong??" I swear I am not making this up...he looked right at me and said "I'm just...just...filled with joy". Obviously as my son, he has seen me choked up and I've had to explain that people sometimes cry when the are happy. Looking at him, it occurred to me that the hand over his mouth was as much trying not to cry as trying to hold in all joy - he didn't want any to escape. I probably should be embarrassed that this happened over a "toy" but I just took it to mean that he got what I was saying - he literally FELT blessed. Wherever my kids are on that ocean of emotion, I'm happy to grab my own surf board, scuffed as it may be from thirty some odd years of catching waves of my own and meet them right where they are at! As a mom, there's almost nothing that beats getting back some of the emotional energy that you put into your kids! LOVE IT!

Catch up Post #1 - The Haircut

Well since my oldest son has declared his intent to be the next Vidal Sassoon, I thought I would show you what my youngest thought of his first trip to the salon. It was blissfully uneventful (praise God) and we were the only customer there when the haircut started. In fact, the only time he seemed to even show emotion was for approximately one minute when he dropped the duck he had been holding for security. He looked like such a big boy and took it all in stride....

With brother there to show him the ropes (J reminded me that he wasn't getting his hair cut here - "I go to Sportclips"- mental rolling of the eyes)

The "before" picture....did I really let it get THAT long?

"Hey - check out my new ride!"

"A car, a cape -this place is pretty cool"

The first CUT...

"So pretty much I just sit like this the whole time? Well this is easy!"

"But I dropped my ducky...."

"...oh good, blue ducky is back- continue on with whatever you're doing"

"what about clippers?? - I hadn't even noticed.."

"I'll just look down here while she cuts the back...you know me Mr. Accommodating"

A little gel...and more importantly, a BALLOON!

Tah Dah! ALL DONE!

"Mommy says I'm a pretty handsome fella"

I would say I just got lucky that time but I have been back for another haircut since (remember this is the first of many needed catch up posts)and he was just as unimpressed with it the second time. YEAH! I know I am completely and shamefully biased but who wouldn't love this face!!

A New Year through a Child's Eyes...

New Year's Eve is different things to different people. For some (early 20's folks), it is a time to go out on the town and kick up your well dressed heels. For others (late 30's crowd), maybe it is a nice dinner with friends and celebrating with the Californians before heading off to bed (ding ding ding - we have a winner!). Have you ever wondered what New Year's eve means to a toddler? Well thankfully the teacher at Jackson's school thought to ask her class about it. When I went to pick him up yesterday, I found the class bulletin board filled with papers where each child answered the questions she asked and she dutifully wrote down exactly what they said. I have talked to her before about another version of this exercise (remind me to tell you later about their "recipes for Thanksgiving" - hilarious) and I know she writes absolutely word-for-word what they say and doesn't try to explain the question in order to get a "right" answer. It's no accident that they used to have a whole television show based on the funny things that kids say because there were some laugh out loud funny responses. Here are Jackson's...

1. What does New Years Day mean? It is the first day of the first new year. [I know it seems like a straight forward easy question but there were very few kids who "got it". One kid put "It's a day to sleep"...(I'm guessing his parents were over 30 from my examples above and tried to pretend they were still in their early 20's)]
2. What do you want to do more of at school that you didn't do last year? I want to play more in the morning first. [Okay so my kid who seemed so smart after the first answer now thinks that he should have more time to play....learn - no, improve handwriting - no, better behavior - no... well okay good to know that our expectations are the same - hmmmm]
3. How old will you be this year? 5 [As all kids do, there were a couple kids who attempted to be more specific and add a "and a half" to their age. I can remember the week after Jackson's fourth birthday he told a neighborhood friend that he was "almost five".... close.]
4. What is your New Year's resolution for 2009? I want to go to church more. [This could be good or bad....either all his classmates parents will think that we NEVER go to church or we have a church that is so fun and it is back to the whole "more playing" thing again. I chose the later and personally I think it has something to do with the fact that he is only a few "attendance tickets" shy of one of the prizes he thinks is so cool.]
5. What did you do for New Years? I was sitting and throwing the football. [I didn't glance at the other answers on this very well but I can only hope every other kid's family was being equally as "lazy".]
6. What would you like to be when you grow up? First I will be a haircutter and then I'm gonna be a football player. [Okay seriously - where to start with this answer...."haircutter" - what!?! First let me say that he has never mentioned it before and I think it is only because of his new found obsession with Sportclips where his teenage cousin got him hooked on - watching sports while doing anything is right up his alley. Secondly, how do I break it to him that I don't know a single beauty school dropout that played football or even vice-versa. I know, I know - I don't break it to him....instead I just smile, chuckle to myself, and file this little paper away to pull out at the football banquet when he is a high school senior and embarrass him mercilessly! Incidentally, the most comment answer from his class was "teacher"...probably because they are lucky enough to have a GREAT one!]

Another post for another day...

I suppose I should start with an apology for my lengthy absence. I've started this post about one million times in my head. My reason(s) for not putting thoughts to electronic paper is a little bit of thousands of "reasons" which include (and as usual in no semblance of order or sense) thoughts of "who cares - no one is reading it or commenting anyway", "there are way more important things to do", "I'm so busy that my head literally hurts" (side note: I hate the word 'busy' since it is so overused, completely relative, and truth be told could almost always be avoided - but that's another post for another day), "I'm not that funny/interesting/noteworthy/[insert any other self deprecating adjective]", "my problems seem so minor compared to what some of my friends are going through", "I'm sad", "my kids need more of me", "my house is a mess", "I need to go buy one more Christmas gift", "I can't write", "I have 350 pictures that need uploaded and my computer is starting a coup against me and refusing to work at anything above a one-legged turtle's pace".

I am aware that no one was asking for a reason but I know I am not alone in the feeling of always being compelled to justify everything. If someone asks us to do something we can't just say "no I can't", we feel the need to list of our day's itinerary so they can see for themselves and know that we REALLY can't. When someone apologizes, we want them not to just say "I'm so sorry", we want to know "I'm sorry for 'X' and 'Y'" just to make sure that if they didn't know they needed to apologize for 'Z' - well they do now (again - another post for another day). Part of my trouble starting this post was just that - knowing where to start!?! It is sort of like me in my scrapbooking. I have these wonderful pictures in my new camera (OMGoodness - I got a Nikon D90 for Christmas and it absolutely rocks - another post for another day) that I would love to make pages with but the engineer in me feel the need to keep going in order which would mean that I am on year 2 of Jackson's almost 5 years of life. And poor Gavin - I promise mommy will make you a scrapbook too....as a second child myself - I am truly ashamed - ASHAMED!

So there you go - not knowing where to start led to a bunch of rambling and thinking of a thousand things that I want to say... but at least I have let you know that I am still alive in the blogging world, I LOVE your comments, I beg your forgiveness for my hiatus, and I promise to catch you up with the goings on at the Huffman House....but that's another post for another day!