UNI v ISU

We are a house divided.  Three of us sported our Panther gear yesterday and one is a diehard Cyclone. So, that means the outcome of the football game made one member of the household happy!

Thankfully the rain ended so we could tailgate for a bit, ride the fire truck to greet the team and watch the game without melting.  (Yes...I am made of sugar!)  Nate, Rachel and Dan came over to cheer on "the red guys"!  Gotta love what a four year old says :)

Carter decked himself out to cheer on the Panthers.  

Maybe a few more tattoos would have helped them win :)  There is one on the other cheek you just can't see!  

Rachel had fun trying to put her barretts on Carter's ears for earrings! She thought he needed a little red to wear.

Dan got to sport the dreadlock hat from the little boy behind us for a bit.

When the Cyclones and Panthers play, we're never going to come home completely happy being a house divided.  Since the purple fans came home happy two years ago, I guess it only fair the one red fan went home happy this year!

Hoggat School

Carter's class took a field trip to Hoggat School, a one room school house, this week.  They were encouraged to dress up as though they were students attending a one room school in the mid 1800's.  Thank goodness for Grandma Ween and her access to theater costumes!  She came through for Carter with some boots, bib overalls, a lovely plaid shirt,  a hanky, and a straw hat.  I thought he looked like a darn cute country bumpkin :)

My favorite part of the experience was Aaron having to try and figure out how to get his "authentic" lunch packed.  The kids were encouraged to only bring things that they had back then.  Lard sandwiches were popular at that time, but we improvised on that one! Of course, Aaron wanted to put his sandwich in a baggie, but Carter told him absolutely NOT!  So, Aaron dug around for some wax paper and then couldn't make tape stick to it so he had to tie a string around it.  I'm so glad I leave for work early in the morning :)  Then he was hunting around for more to add to his lunch and found a banana.  Carter told him there weren't tropical fruits at that time.  I'm sure by this time Aaron's patience was wearing quite thin! You cannot hear me giggling right now!  He asked if an apple was acceptable.  Carter said yes, but wanted Aaron to peel the skin off it.  Yes, he thought a "naked" apple would last until lunch time and not get brown!  Eventually the two of them got something figured out and wrapped it all in a red hanky to transport his lunch.

While they were at the one room school, they got to write on slate boards and experience desks with ink wells for dipping their quills to write with.  It's too bad there was no well to send them to get water from! Carter had a great time, and hopefully came away with some appreciation for everything he has access to in school today!  I know as a teacher, I thank my lucky stars for the technological advances (even though they fluster me) and supplies we have access to in order to vary and enhance our teaching for our students.

If you ever need an authentic 1800's school lunch, just holler at Aaron...he's getting good at tying string around wax paper wrapped sandwiches :)

Simple Pleasures

Oh how I love to come home on a rainy day to an email and text message about football practice being canceled and this...

Supper is done!  And, it's not from a drive-through :)  Miracles really do happen in the first month of school with football practice almost every night!

Aaaaahhhhh...the house smells SO good!  

Now...if the school work could just disappear for one night...

You win some, You lose some

Today was the first official game of the tackle football season for the boys!  Of course, it came complete with football weather - chilly and rainy :(

Since this was Carter's first ever tackle football game, it was extra sweet to come away with a 12-6 win!

My "little" boy plays on the offensive line!  YIKES!  It's extra hard for a mom to locate and watch her baby amongst all those other kids with helmets on, but when you put him smack dab in the middle of the line, it's almost impossible. I couldn't tell you much of what was happening in terms of plays as I was constantly looking to see Carter putting the blocks on the defensive boys!  However, it was a sweet ending to come away with a win.  

Austin was excited for his first game of the season.  After coming off a successful season last year, his team has high hopes for this fall.  

His team started off a bit slow on offense.  They were down 6-0 for the first three quarters.  Nearing the end of the fourth quarter, they pulled out their "secret" play with a pitch to the half-back who then throws to the wide receiver.  Well...IT WORKED...TWICE IN A ROW to score a touchdown to tie up the game :)  What fun it was to watch in the stands!  With only a couple minutes left on the clock, we were able to hold them, forcing overtime. 

Overtime for these games consists of each team having 4 downs to either score or gain the most yardage.  The team who either scores or gains the most yardage wins.  Well...it was negative 4 yards for us and negative 1 yard for them :(  We'll get 'em next time!

One game week down, 5 more to go!

Prairie Field Trip

A mother never knows what might happen when she sends her children off to school in the morning.

Apparently Carter was "attacked" by a coyote on his Doolittle Prairie field trip :)  Grandma Ween went along as a chaperone and captured the "attack" on camera!  What an afternoon the two of them had together.  Not only did coyotes get Carter, so did the ants!  Apparently Carter stepped on an ant hill.  Grandma Ween said the ants started climbing all over his sweatshirt and were so bad he had to take it off!

Here's the badger he "wrangled"!

I'm feeling lucky he came back home to me in one piece :)

Please Pray

Please send up some prayers for a former student of mine whose mother passed away this afternoon.  My heart is just broken into a million pieces for him.  I know his mother is at peace and healed with God now after a terribly hard fought battle with cancer.  However, for her two boys that are left behind, please pray for strength, comfort, and courage to face the upcoming days, weeks, months and years ahead.

Back to school night

The boys were both disappointed that they had football practice tonight and would have to miss back-to-school night.  Mom, the teacher, would NEVER miss back-to-school night.  That goes against everything she believes about parents being actively involved at school!

However, she might not be invited back because she might have stood in the hallway looking like a fool with tears streaming down her face.  All of this was for a very good reason though!  Carter had a write-up on his locker about the person he admires.  Guess who?   YES!  ME!  His mom!  Oh, my heart swelled and my eyes leaked! I'm sure the boys would have run and hid from embarrassment if they had been there with me :)  I know Aaron was glad he had the task of picking the boys up from football and wasn't there with me!