Football Season!!

Now that Austin is in 7th grade, the football season doesn't last quite as long.  He only had 5 weeks of games!  He played every Tuesday for five weeks and his team would play one of two games on that day.  I didn't even realize it until it was all over and Brian explained to me that the 7th grade is split into two teams.  Austin's team always played the second game.  They only won 2 this year, but had a really good time.  We had a rough start to the season with  Austin's Osgood/Schlatter's Disease acting up, but after a couple weeks (during practice time, before games started) rest he didn't have anymore trouble.  We actually had an apt. set for him to start physical therapy and then he was feeling much better so we canceled it!  Praise the Lord!  I was really worried he was going to have to quit.  He even said several times that he wasn't sure he was going to be able to finish out the season!  It was so much fun watching him play.  He is getting better and better.  The girls enjoy watching him too.  I just tell Kezzie what number he is and she looks for him.  She gets excited when she finds it and tries to yell for him!  The girls have caught on from the crowd to yell, 'Go Red' so they yell that quite often!  They also spend a lot of time running the stands and bugging other spectators and playing with their kids!  The weather was absolutely awesome too!  Today was his last game :(  We will miss it but look forward to basketball in the winter months!

Austin's Football!

Austins last three games were good.  They went something like this:
Win
Tie (he kicked the field goal to tie it.  Austin got hurt on his shoulder.  The team was vicious.
Loss (game pictured).  It was rainy, and Austin was injured so all he was allowed to do was kick.

Austin's 3rd Ftbl game!

Austin played well today, however they didn't win.  They didn't lose either though!  The game ended in a tie of 8-8.  Nobody scored anything in the first half and then right away in the third quarter the other team scored.  They also got their kick for the two extra points.  It wasn't until the fourth quarter that New Hampton scored.  Austin made the kick for the two extra points to tie up the game just before the time ran out.  Austin said it was a good thing he read the scoreboard wrong because he thought it said 6 to 6. He thought that if he made the extra kick he would win his team the game but that if he didn't make the extra kick that they would still be tied and it would still be an ok thing.  He said he didn't feel pressure under those circumstances so he thinks that is why he made it!  I guess a couple of the bulbs were out on the scoreboard making the 8 look like a 6!  If he hadn't made it, his team would have lost!  I am so proud of Austin!

Sorry there aren't any pictures...I didn't actually get to attend his game because it was during the girls' nap time.  The game was in Fredericksburg at 3:00.  Brian was able to go and even Austin's dad and Linda were there!

Austin's 2nd FTBL game!

We unfortunately had to miss Austin's first game but we were told that he did an excellent job.  Apparently we have a kicker on our hands!  He scored 4 of the 18 points at his first game.  The score was 18 to 0.  Today was his second game of the season.  It was played in Waverly and was another great game.  New Hampton won with a score of 27-0.  Austin made one of the two kicks, scoring his team 2 points.  It was so great to see him play.  He got a hold of the ball a couple times but got tackled.  Adah and Kezzie had a blast.  Mom and Dad came to watch too and Jamie and Keith came about halfway through.
Jamie got hot so she took her sweater off and it left her wearing a white tank-top.  Kezzie wanted to be just like her so we took her sweater off and she was wearing her little white tee.  It was so cute!  She really enjoyed yelling for Austin and telling him he was doing a good job and cheering for him!  She is his personal cheerleader!  She was also super excited because she got to have gum for the first time ever!  She always asks me if she can have 'gums' (that's what she calls it) and I tell her when she is bigger.  If I tell her she is a big girl about something she will say 'I a big girl now I have gums?'  Today was the day and she chewed her first little piece for about 10 minutes and then swallowed it (I think it may have been too small).  We decided to give her a second chance a little later and she chewed it until she was tired of it and the flavor was gone.  I think it must have been close to a half hour!  She really is getting big! 
It was a perfect sunny day for sitting at a football game!  Go Chickasaws!

Austin in Football!

Isn't he stunning? He's my big time 6th grader! Football season is in full force with practice 3-4 times a week for a couple hours each and games on Sunday afternoon. I am really looking forward to watching him play this year as he continues to get better and better! I will keep you updated with games, etc. as the season goes on!

Austin Game #5 & 6!

I missed game 5 since it was right over Kezzie's nap and in Allison. I guess it was a good game though. The boys won 22-0! Game 6 was undecided about where it was going to be. Either Wartburg again or in Mason City. It ended up at Mason City. Wartburg would have been closer and I think our team would have had more fans there but it went ok. Mason City is an hour drive for us and the game was at 3:45. The boys needed to be there by 3 so we left our house by 2. Luckily Kezzie had already woken from her nap...I hate waking a sleeping child! Our first venture was to find a bathroom! Kezzie needed to go pretty much since we left the house! My parents decided they would make the drive to see Austin play his last game. It was 1.5 hours for them! It was really nice of them to make the effort. It really meant a lot to Austin. And Kezzie really enjoyed having their company throughout the game. I am pretty sure they equally enjoyed hers! We were able to snap a final shot of the whole team after the game. By the way...they lost 22-0...no comments!! After the game we all (grandma and grandpa too) went out to eat before heading our separate ways. It was another great day! We are so blessed!

Austin Football Game #4

Game #4 was played at Wartburg. What an exciting game! Austin got the ball and was able to run it until a kid from the other team came and pushed it right out of his arms! We played Charles City which isn't too far from home! I didn't get very good pictures but I did take some video. I will try to get them uploaded soon! Kezzie was sleeping soundly at Grandma and Grandpa Smith's so I was able to sit and enjoy the whole game by myself! Although it was very chilly and wet it was still relaxing to be at! New Hampton won 12-0! GO New Hampton!!!

Austin Football Game #3

Game #3 was played yesterday-the day we came back from the river. Kezzie only slept for one hour in the car on the way home and was up before 6 that morning so I wasn't sure if she was going to enjoy being at the game or not. We attempted to go anyway. We basically walked in the door, unloaded the van and Austin got his gear on and we were headed back out the door to head to Cresco. We had to get there an hour early so the team could stretch and run through some plays. For some reason that is the only thing I took a picture of! Kezzie was pretty ready to leave by half time but managed to stick it out. There was a lot of field for her and I to run and play in when we weren't watching the game so that helped. We laid in the grass and looked at the clouds, I would run and she would 'tackle' me...she thought that was hilarious. The game was a blast to watch but New Hampton didn't win. When it was all over we grabbed a couple subs and headed home for some much needed rest! The next game will be next saturday at Wartburg College...should be a fun one to see!

Austin Football Game #2

I don't know if I will blog about every game, but it's hard when they are all so fun! There are only 6 total too so it's not like he has one every day! Practices have settled down a little bit since school has started. Austin practices 1.5 hours 3 days a week now instead of 2 hours 4 days a week and has games on Sundays. He is slowly wearing down with it, not enjoying it as much but talks about playing next year and in high school and even talks about getting a scholarship to play in college! I just tell him, let's get through this season first! Game #2 was a lot of fun too. I only made it to half of it since Kezzie was napping but NH won 12-0. Kezzie really enjoyed watching the cheerleaders (yes there are 5th grade cheerleaders-I couldn't believe it either). They spelled out S-C-O-R-E and she started 'singing' the alphabet. After every cheer she would clap and yell 'yea'. She also tried yelling for daddy and Austin on the field but got their attention with little success! Austin hasn't gotten the ball much but I see him doing a great job at blocking. I think at this weeks practice he said he is working with the ball a lot more so maybe next weeks game he will have a chance at it! I guess that only means he could get tackled more so I don't know if this is necessarily a good thing or not! This weeks game is in Cresco...

Austin's first football game!!

Austin played his first football game of the season today! It was played at the UNI Dome and it was so much fun to watch! My whole family was there to see it along with Austin's dad's whole family. I think it really meant a lot to Austin to have everybody there! Ethan and Kezzie really enjoyed watching it together. I don't think Ethan ever took his eyes off all the players! Even though they lost their game they played very well. They were playing against one of the Waverly teams. All of the Waverly teams have several extra players they can rotate in...being as small as we are we only have a couple extra guys on our team. It was a tough competition but in the end we lost. After a long talk with Austin, with many encouraging words, he was feeling much better about the loss (and the fact that he got tackled-who would have thought you get tackled in tackle football?). I wish losing wasn't so hard on kids. It's just a game, right?!!