Hop Art Studio

Labor Day Weekend

We had a very nice, laid back Labor Day weekend. My youngest played his first football game of the season and my oldest went to the beach with his friends. Then yesterday we went to our cities downtown and just took it easy. Again, my oldest went out with his friends. (He did spend all day with us on Sunday, it's that "teenager" thing happening. They want to "chill out" with their "buds" LOL.) 

My little guy has been playing football since age 7, as did his older brother. 

Aren't their uniforms cool?! I just love that combo.  They fit in so well with this time of the year - Fall and Halloween. Of course doesn't work once Christmas happens...lol

We hadn't visited our downtown riverside mall for some time and took the trip there. How sad. It opened in the 90's with hopes of revitalizing the area and unfortunately it's nearly deserted. Most of the businesses have left.

The only happening thing was a Krystal Burger eating championship contest. The guy who won ate 68 burgers in 8 minutes. Yuck!

Well Ben decided to get to the dock where the boats moor.

In order to get to the dock he took a short cut and jumped over the railing (he asked permission first). Ben said "Come on Dad, hop on over". Dad, knowing how I am, said that we'd take the ramp on down. Well much to my son's surprise I hopped on over the railing and down on to the dock! "Mom broke the rules!" He had the biggest grin on his little face, priceless.. 'cause Mom never breaks the rules...lol.

Well off went the sandles and in went the feet. It was a gorgeous day, overcast and warm. Not hot as the dickens as it has been.

Check back later on this evening for a special preview of Alicia's newest set for GinaK Designs.

You are going to flip over these images.

Bummer!

Well, the little guys played their first playoff game this morning. They lost. Hubby said that Ben had a great game. So I'm happy about that. This is the first game that the team has lost all season. This is the 15th game this year! Man what a lonnnnnnnnnnnng season, huh.

So the next couple of days they will be having a great time at Disney World. If you've never been to Disney World just let me say it's truly one of the funnest places around. I know that the boys are disappointed right now but I think they'll get over it once they are having fun on all of the rides.

Friday they will play the next game. This will be for 3rd or 4th place. No matter the outcome, the team has had a fabulous season and has accomplished more than any other team in the league has in 20 years. So we are very proud of them.

We Won!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We spent it in a hotel because my little guy had his 4th playoff game the day after. This was the BIG game. The Pop Warner State Championship game.

And boy what a game!

Ben had an awesome game on both defense and offense. He really is a talented little ball player. And he has a ton of heart!

I tell you this was one of the fastest games in history. Very few penalty's and no injuries. It flew.

Our defense held the opposing team to 0 points on the board. Their defense did the same to us. We were an evenly matched team. At the end of the 4th quarter we had possession of the ball. It's was 4th down. 17 yards short of the goal line. With only 6 seconds on the clock our coach decided to try for a field goal. We have an awesome little boy who can kick the ball through the goal post. He sets up. The ball is snapped. The crowd is silent. The ball goes flying through the air. And it....is....NO GOOD! OMGosh!!!

But there's a flag on the play! The crowd goes wild. 2 seconds left on the clock. The referees take the ball back 5 yards because the other team was roughing the kicker. Hence, the penalty. The crowd goes wild!!! Only 2 seconds left. The little guy sets himself up for the kick. It's snapped. The opposing team is rushing to stop the ball from reaching the goal. It's up. And it's GOOD! He made it in the 2 seconds remaining.

We won. Can you believe it. We won with only 2 seconds remaining on the clock. We won on a field goal. Score 3-0!!! Wow what a game.

Now the boys go on to play for the National title. They are 1 of only 4 teams within their age group across the United States to have made it this far. They are already winners. No matter how they place. What a season.

Don't forget today is the deadline for the Hop-A-Thon contest. I'll announce the winner on Monday. (Plus all the extra goodies I have planned for a few other lucky ones!)

Orange and Black

I really enjoyed taking a bit of time off from blogging. So glad you understand the need. Needless to say I wasn't just sitting around!

Well, it's football time again. Man doesn't time just fly bye. If you were around last year you know how consumed my time was once the season began. This year however I'm not team mom and my husband is not head coach. Which is a good thing. We need this time to concentrate on other things. So it's a good break for the both of us.

Ben ended up with the same jersey number that his big brother James had at his age. Man that was not even planned. How cool is that!  He is also playing on the same team, with the same head coach. Now that we did plan. I know he's going to have a great season and a fun time.

School started today. I think I was more nervous for them both than they were. It's kind of nice having them back in school. More time to myself again. But kind of sad also. They are such wonderful boys and I really enjoy their company. I know soon enough they will be grown up and gone. Visiting me only from time to time. So I do cherish the times that I still have with them both.

I did get a few projects done this past week. Between buying school supplies, doctor appointments, chores, school orientations, and much more, I still managed to find a few moments to sit down and make something. I'll be sharing them soon.

Super Bowl XIV

Where to begin.

Fifteen counties, all trying their best to make it to the superbowl. Only two teams make it from each division. All the teams battling it off during the regular season to get there. Only two teams get the privledge, one from the north counties and one from the south. Being there is a huge accomplishment!

As parents we tend to forget at times that these are only 9 and 10 year old boys. We would love to be able to jump into their bodies and give them all of our years of wisdom. I know a lot of the fathers would have died to be given the chance to be on our team this year. The boys had a great season. They not only had a lot of fun they accomplished something that no other Bantam team in our city has ever done. That's huge!

I'd like to tell you all that we won. But as you read this I'm sure you figured it out by now that it wasn't so. Were we disappointed? Of course. Everyone wants to win. Don't kid yourself and say winning isn't everything, until you have an undefeated season and are in the Super bowl.  Yes, we wanted to leave there winners. Were we upset at our lose? No. We kept cheering the boys on with, "WE ARE PROUD OF YOU!" And  we were!

We faced a team who goes a bit above and beyond what you would think is normal. They don't follow the chapter rules. They hand pick teams. (They had 3 teams in the Super bowl!) In other words, they stack the team to assure that they win. Every single one of their boys was about the size of Benjamin. No overweight kids. No slow kids. No slackers. I'm not trying to be mean here. It's just the truth. They hand pick only athletes. We worked hard a big part of the season getting our boys into shape, their boys come to the program already there.

Did we have a chance of winning? Not really. Did we hope that we would win. Of course. But it just wasn't to be.

Our boys played nervous and scared. I take some blame for that. As team mom I should have made sure our parents let the boys know that this was just another game. Instead we kinda of made a big deal of it. You know, we got nervous and excited too! For that I'm truely sorry.

Would  it have made a difference in the outcome? Probably not.

The boys did finally turn their attitude around. But by then it was too late. We did not have enough time to turn the game around. When it was all over and they came off the field in tears it broke all of our hearts.

It's okay. I'm still so proud of everything that our boys have  accomplished this year. We did what no one expected. My goodness, we have 9 boys on our team who are new to the game! And let me tell you they are a great little team! I'm so proud of them all!!!!

So it's officially over. Yep, no more practice. No more games. No more fun.

We entered the team in the Towns Christmas parade on Saturday. Then on the 13th we have our Awards Banquet. Our last one here in California. I'm sure there will a few tears.

I want to say a big thank you to everyone who has wished our team good luck and followed the teams progress throughout the season.

Conference Champions!

That's right we did it!!! What a crazy, unbelievable game it was. OMGosh....my stomach was in knots the whole time.

The boys started off the game flat. Like there was no drive in them. It just wasn't our team out there. Keep in mind that our little guys have never had another team make a touch down on them. So when this team made 2 in the first quarter it just hurt them bad! Luckily we were able to make a touchdown before the halftime.

Now I have to tell you my husband made sure they all understood during halftime that they only had 20 minutes of football left. That's it! 20 minutes and it was up to them if they wanted to end it now and go home. Turn in their equipment or go on to the superbowl.

Well, let me tell you those boys brought it the second half of the game!! Our team was back....man did they play hard. Probably one of the best games they ever played. They made 3 touchdowns in the two quarters left (one touchdown was brought back). And the last touch down to win the game was made at the very end of the 4th quarter! It inched it's way to the goal line. I tell ya, the ball was placed 6 inches away! OMGosh...I couldn't even watch the last drive. Touchdown!!! with only 33 seconds left on the clock.

With a few seconds left, the opposing team had the ball right near the goal line. They passed the ball. Up, up, it went....interception!!! WE WON....score 18-16. Talk about heart attack!

Well, it's our last week of practice.  Then off to SuperBowl XIV. Our town has only had a few teams in it's history to make it to the Superbowl, and we are one of them. Come Saturday we will be facing our toughest opponent. Win or lose, matters little. Yes, winning would be great...but let me tell you, our boys are Number One! No matter how Saturday turns out, they ARE the Champions in our eyes.

Super Bowl XIV here we come!

Playoff Game 3

The boys did it again! Another win....Wow how exciting is that!!! Final score 14-0 (The referees prevented us from making an extra touchdown with minutes left on the clock.)

Ben had an awesome game. Boy is that little boy tough. Again they had him double team blocked. And when he ran with the ball he was a little power house. No one was gonna bring him down without a fight! I have to tell you our boys are the best. Each one of them gave 100%. They all have Heart! Wow, how fun.

We are playing for the Bantam North Overall Championship this weekend against a team that we beat early on in the season. I have to say, I'm a bit nervous.

Should we win this Saturday then it's off to the Superbowl! 

Keep our little team in your prayers and thoughts.

Playoff Game 2

Yes, the boys did it again. Win number 2! How exciting. I have to tell you that my stomach was in a knots most of the time.

Ben made 2 touch downs. Ending score was 22-0. Now I do have to tell you that the referees were not playing fair. They threw a bunch of flags against our team that were bogus. Bogus? Yep, the penalties just didn't exist. Now how can that be? Well, sometimes refs feel the need to make a game more even by calling penalties against a superior team. The bad part is that the boys who get a penalty called against them don't understand what they did wrong. Luckily my husband made sure that our boys knew they had done nothing wrong. OMGosh we had one flag thrown after the touchdown, holding, against a boy who was standing on the sidelines! Now that's a hoot! We had 3 touchdowns flagged and called back. I'm praying that we have refs that are more by the book this weekend and don't pull that kind of stuff on our team again.

Game number 3 this Saturday. If we win then we will be playing Thanksgiving weekend for the playoff championship. The winner will be going to the Superbowl game.

Play Off Game 1

We won! 38-14. The way playoffs go is the top teams go up against the bottom teams for the first round. Sounds unfair I know, but you never know what upset will happen. Another top team was defeated by one of the bottom teams. So anything is possible.

They have a silly rule here that doesn't make much sense to me. When you are up 25 points the other teams head coach can chose 6 of your players to sit the bench. They sit the bench until the other team scores. I like the rules that we had back East with Pop Warner. You're whooping up on the other team, game ends.

Keep our boys in your thoughts and prayers.  We have had no game time injuries and they are doing so great, I want to end this season on a possitive.

It's a new week, and a new game ahead. Wish us well.

Champions!

8-0! Yep, that's right....we did it. OMGosh and what a finish it was.

I have to say it was a nail biter kind of game. My stomach was in knots the whole time.

Well, the boys did not come out strong like they usually do. Something was just not quite right. They were just not playing to their full potential. I have to tell you it was really hard to watch. We were up against a team that was 4-3 and boy did they want to beat us!

We were 8 - 0 in the first half. Into the second half the boys started to pick it up a bit and by the 4th quarter they were finally their awesome selves! Yep, we finished the game 20-0.

I have to tell ya, Ben was driving that ball hard. They were all over him and he just kept pushing it through. What a tough little boy. And when he was defensive end they were double and triple teaming him. By the end of the game they were just not able to hold him back and he made some sweet plays. Can ya tell I was just a bit over excited. OMGosh was it ever fun!

One of our player, bless his heart, told the team if they won this game he was cutting his hair off. Now this little boy has had long hair the whole season. But he made up his mind that he was going to cut his hair off if we went into the playoffs 8-0. And boy did he! I wish I could share his pic. His long blond hair was down to his shoulders. He went to one of our coaches houses after the game and showed up later to the restaurant where we were celebrating. In walked his parents with a cake. The boys cheered and clapped like crazy when they saw him. He was bald! Yep, completely bald. And grinning from ear to ear. What a great kid!

Now it's off to the playoffs. But I have to tell you that Coach, myself and all the parents are sooooooooooooo proud of our boys that no matter what happens next it's okay with us. 'Cause they have exceeded all of our expectations. Way to go Bantam White!!!

Class Act

Wonderful news, it's win number 7! Wowzer, what a wonderful season we have been having. I remember one other season like this one when my eldest son James was also 10. They went undeated. What an exciting time. James also ran the ball that year. Now it's Ben's turn.

We have only one more game left of the regular season. I think the boys will do well. Whether they win or lose is fine, they have exceeded all of our expectations.

Ben was back to his normal self. No more illness. He was once again able to run the ball. He made his first ever interception in 3 years! OMGosh he was so shocked he didn't know which way to run. How cute!

It was another shut out game 18-0. Again, my husband did not ring up the score. He told me later that the score could have been anything he wanted. The neat part was at the end of the game the opposing teams coach came up to my husband and gave him a hug. He said we were a class act. And that he really appreciated him for taking it easy on his boys. Man how cool is that!

Well, Saturday will be the deciding game if we are truely division champions. Then it's off to the playoffs, where it's sudden death. Win you keep going, lose you go home....season over.

Exciting Game!

I sometimes feel silly writing about our football team on my stamping blog, but then again it's soooooooooo exciting, that I just have to share. I mean, it does take up all of our time right now. (I know I'm gonna miss it when it ends.)

I have to tell ya, this was a nail biting, hair splitting, stomach turning game!!! OMGosh...way to exciting. Okay, we were up against another team that is 5-0. Huge boys once again, seriously. And they were cheating. (Yep, sad but some coaches will do anything to win, even at this age group.)

We made the first touchdown in the 2 quarter. Then they made a touchdown. Then with only 23 seconds left in the 4th quarter we made a touchdown. We came unglued, I tell ya!!! We thought no way could they make a touchdown. Boy were we wrong!!! With only 20 seconds left they made a touchdown...OMGosh.

It was a tie ball game.....and.......then they went for the extra point. Yesssssssssssss...our boys stopped the extra point!!!! Crazy I tell ya, totally crazy. What a game. We won. 14-12.

And I have to tell you, the sad thing was a lot of our boys were ill. There's a bug going around and most of our key players came to the game with stomach aches. One boy was vomiting during halftime. My heart went out to them. It came upon them suddenly. Ben was ill also. (The whole team was fine the night before at Chalk Talks.) Man and still those boys wanted to play. Talk about heart!!

Thankfully it's a 24 hour bug and Ben is much better. Only a low grade fever for a day. I hope the rest of the team isn't ill this week. We only have 2 more games left. If we should win them, we will be the division champions.

Win #5!!

Holy Cow football fans!! Another win....I'm so proud of our boys. This is win # 5. Is that not wonderful? It sure is!

We have only 3 more games until the end of the season. We know we have made it to the playoffs because of our record so far, and if we should win all of the following games then we will be division champions. How cool is that!

Once we make it to the playoffs  (which consist of 4 games) and if we were to win all of those games (which would be great, but there are some really awesome teams out there) then we would go to the superbowl. Man we are just excited about our record right now. Going to the superbowl would be a dream!

Benjamin made 2 touchdowns. The score was 30-0! My hubby really was not trying to run up the scoreboard. The boys were just playing a great game. Next week we face a team who is also 5-0. It should be a fun game.

Win #4!!

Can you believe it! I know I sure can't. Well, I take that back. The boys and coaches have been working really hard and they had an awesome game. But still, it's hard to believe....it's win number 4!!! Omgosh, crazy I tell ya.

Ben had another outstanding game. He sacked the quarterback a few times, made a lot of yards in key plays and did an awesome job blocking. He's becoming quite the star this year.

Funny how it takes longer for them to come to their own in some sports. I'll never forget his first season. He had just finished the prior year playing flag football, he was 7, and now it was his turn to play tackle. He was so funny to watch. He was completely brainwashed into thinking that you never tackle the man (thanks to flag) and he was always reaching out with his arms. It really takes a lot of training to teach them how to hit properly. Trust me for a new mom it's a hard thing to watch her baby taking hits and giving them! OMGosh the sounds that those pads make. Crash, bang, boom!!

Well, in my eyes he's still about 7. And I sometimes cringe when I see him take a hit. But he's tough. And he's really athletic. And you know what, I have found out after 7 years of youth football, they rarely get hurt. Man they sure wear a ton of protection. And if they are coached properly on how to hit, and  to stay low they do just fine.

So it's 4-0. Next Saturday a new game. And hopefully the streak will continue. If not, it's okay. Cause you know what? Ultimately they are just 9 and 10 year old boys, learning the game of football.

Win #3!

Man O Man, another exciting win. I can hardly believe it.  The opposing team made no touchdowns. Final score 20-0. What a fun game.

Ben played his little heart out once again. He's on both offense and defense, so he never leaves the field.

He ran over 80 yards for a touchdown! Boy was he winded at the end.

It seems like only yesterday when we were back east and my oldest son James was also on his third year as a bantam player. He ran many a touchdowns then.  The team finished the season undefeated. I wonder, will that happen to our team this year?

It's funny the parents often say I'm a pessimist when it comes to games. Oh don't get me wrong, I get very excited when it's game time, but prior to a game I'm the voice of reason. You know, they are only 9 and 10 year old boys. Ultimately it's up to them if they want to play their best. And you know, boys do get sick this time of year. Luckily for us we have enough talent on our team that even if one or two boys get ill there are replacements. OMGosh....I'm starting to sound like a coach!

Well another week of practice and game #4 on Saturday.

Hopefully, if time permits, between the washing, cleaning, cooking, helping with homework, dog grooming, grocery shopping, hair appointment, doctor appointment....I'll have time to stamp...LOL.

Touchdown!

Another exciting Saturday at our house.  We had another early morning game. This was our second Saturday game scheduled to begin at 8 am! Wow, what luck, huh? Of course that meant all the players had to be on the field, geared up and ready to go by 7am! Now these are 9 and 10 year olds...who usually have a heck of a time getting up for school during the week. Ahhhhhhhhh  hah...but this is football. They were all there, on time, ready to play. What fun.

Ben was able to once again run with the ball. This time he made 3 touchdowns. How totally exciting! He's such a good little athlete.

Oh yea Touchdown!!!

This is the second win of the season. Last Saturday the score 28-8. Our win. This weeks score was 26-0! (Again our win.)

Okay, so I get a bit excited during our games. LOL...they are way too much fun.

Next week we will be at Home. Thankfully it's not another 8 am game.

More Football!

Not to be left out, my 14 year old is also playing football this year. He just started high school, 9th grade. He's one of 63 kids on the team!! LOL...well, the school doesn't cut kids off the team. So during our first game last night he stood proudly on the sidelines!!! (We lost  7 to 16) He is actually a very good ball player, however, he still hasn't hit that growth spurt and doesn't have an ounce of fat. So he's over looked. No worries here. Boys grow at different rates. Men keep growing well into their 20's. So he'll catch up. It may be some boys year this year, it may be James' next year. As long as he does well in school, I'm happy.

These pictures were taken during their Labor Day practice. (Yep, we have no life!) Half the team didn't show up.

I know, I know....when is she ever gonna show some stamping and art projects? I haven't stamped in about 3 weeks. OMGosh...shocking isn't it. Yet, life sometimes just doesn't give us the opportunity to do everything. Maybe next week.

Is it Tuesday Yet?

I'm sitting here. Exhausted. Barely able to stay awake and it's only 3! Man what a week.

It's hard to believe that so much can be crammed into so little time. You know what I mean? Let's see. It was the first week of high school for my oldest. I spent 3 hours waiting in the front office the first day of school trying to resolve a scheduling mistake. Then the next day a spent on the phone trying to resolve a locker mistake. Gees! Of course it was also the first week of 5th grade for my little one. Wow, 5th grade. Hard to imagine. Time sure does fly.

To top it off. I'm also in deep as head mom for our younger sons team. I honestly enjoy doing it. But it is a lot of work. Especially if you want to make sure things turn out right. Sooooooooo....with the uniforms getting handed out, helmet stickers being put on, t-shirt orders being organized, equipment bag money being collected, scrimmages,...shall I go on...LOL. You get the picture. Thank God I was able to submit stuff to magazines when things were slow.

Honestly, I figure after the 9th (our first game) and a couple of weeks into school, things will slow down. Not to mention, my hubby goes back to work on Tuesday. Bless his heart. Love him to death. But I was looking forward to the first week of school. To having some time to myself. It's all good. Blessing happen to those who wait.

Here's some cool photos of my little one in some scrimmages. Youth football is a lot of fun! Truely. We get way too excited during the games.

Well, thankfully tomorrow is Tuesday. I have a card that I need to get ready to send to a magazine. (Totally excited that it got accepted.) And! I plan to clean the house....ha, bet you thought I was gonna say stamping, LOL.

 

Football

Well, we are into the first two weeks of our football season. Boy oh boy has it been busy so far. I think for the new parents it has been a total shock. Even for us veterans it's an adjustment period. But in the end we all become a team and everyone has a good time. The games are always so exciting to watch. Even the games we lost last year were fun, because we knew the boys had done their very best and gave it their all. I'm hoping for just as good a season this year.

Once the boys get back to school I'll have more time during the day to create. Right now they are the priority and I'm spending most of my day being with them. I actually enjoy the summer break with them. They are so sweet and loving. I miss them when they go back to school in the fall. But I do get more done during the day. One day, I think to myself, my boys will be all grown up and gone. So for now I cherish every moment I have with them.