Football

Once again, Brandon is playing football.  It's his last year of middle school.  This year he has been playing defensive end.  For his game last week, I finally remembered to take my awesome new camera.  I have to say, it does take amazing pictures.  I was pretty far away, and the pics are still really good.  Here is a collage of some of the better shots I got of him.  He's number 33 in white.  Click on the picture to see it a lot bigger, Mom. :)

Stitches

My first-born is almost 14.  I have 4 children.  None of them has ever needed stitches or has broken a bone.  That's quite a track record, I think.  Crazy lucky, I know.  Brandon decided earlier this week that it was high time to change that.

Monday around noon, after running errands all morning long, and before I even got the groceries put away, my cell phone rang.  "Hi, Catherine (I love it when they call me that), this is Mrs. So-and-So, the nurse here at Sage Valley, and I have Brandon with me."  "Great," I thought...just what every mother wants to hear...  She went on to say that he had been playing basketball after lunch, and had somehow split his lip.  She said I needed to come look at it and decide if I thought we should go get stitches in it or not.

So I loaded Jake back into his car seat, left the groceries on the counter and headed for the school.  I had to ask where the nurse's office was...I had never been there.  When I saw him, I immediately knew we would be heading to get stitches.  I think I said something like, "Yeah, that's not good."  He was pretty bloody and had a chunk of his upper lip hanging down.  Awesome.  He said he had gone up for a rebound, and hit some kid's head with his jaw on the way down.  His tooth must have gone straight through his lip.

We stopped at home to put the cold things in the fridge and to get him some more ice, then headed to the Dr.  Tim had called Quick Care to see if they could do it so we could spare an ER bill.  They said they could, so that's where we went.  He ended up with 4 stitches total--one that will dissolve up inside his mouth and 3 normal ones.  I held his hand while they were shooting his mouth with the Lydocaine (sp??), but had to look away for the actual stitches.  I was not cut out for seeing blood.  I don't even look when I donate blood.  Outta sight, outta mind...  Nasty.

He is supposed to get the stitches out this Monday, so we'll see if they did their job and he looks better.  It has to look better without those black threads on his lip...

Here are a couple pics of the stitches for your viewing pleasure, haha.  I should've taken one of before when his lip was hanging, but we were in a little bit of a hurry.  And it was disgusting...

And pay no attention to that 'stache...we took care of that a few days ago.  My little boy has now officially shaved...guess that means I'm old...nah, it just means he's really hairy.

Brandon is officially a teenager!!!

I guess it had to happen someday. I would become the mother of a teenager. I can't believe it happened this fast! Six short years and I'm the mother of a missionary. Crazy!

Brandon's 13th birthday was last Sunday, but with the craziness of having the kids home for almost all of last week, I'm just posting about it today. He had a party last Saturday night with a few good friends. He requested an ice cream cake, so I took a stab at making one. It was o.k., not really great...I need to work on it for next time... I was worried that candles would start to melt the ice cream, so he and his friend Richard pretended to blow out the candles instead, haha! He was really great about letting Sydney and Ryan hang out with him and his buddies for a while (very un-teenager-ish). Here they are all playing Apples to Apples. For the last hour of the party, I made Ryan and Syd go to bed, so Brandon got some party time without them around. I have come to the decision that throwing a party for a 13-year-old is WAAAYYYY easier than for little ones. I pretty much just let him choose what they were going to do and caught up on some DVRed shows while they hung out and played football outside in the freezing temps (much more teenager-ish).

Sunday morning just before church, he opened his presents. He has really wanted a guitar for a while, and he finally got one. He's had fun learning a few chords already. He also got some new clothes, new shoes, and some spending money. He just bought a new video game with his birthday/saved-up-allowance money...some things never change...

I think he really enjoyed his special day. Please pray for Tim and me as we enter this new phase of life...

Sage Valley Football

This year, Brandon is finally able to play for his school football team, instead of in Optimist. For those of you unfamiliar with Optimist, it allows younger kids to play flag and tackle football, which is great, but they practice 4 nights a week for 2 hours and have games every Saturday--rough! Now that he plays for the 7th grade team, he just stays after school and practices and is home by dinner. And games are on Tuseday afternoons! It's been a fantastic change! We actually have dinner around the table most nights now. :) BTW, he is #33 in the navy jersey and while pants.

That's him with his hands up in the air, just before a tackle, haha!

Going in for a sac--watch out, Mr. Quarterback!

Here he is starting to take a guy down. He still really loves to tackle. This year he has been playing mostly defensive end, but then last week he started at fullback and even got to carry the ball a couple times. It's always so fun for me to watch him and cheer him on. At the particular game, he had a nice run at fullback, a great sac, and was in on several tackles. Go D-backs!

Brandon's glasses

Well, not surprisingly, we have realized that Brandon needs glasses. He is, after all, half-Woodman. :)

I think he was hoping that the near-sightedness in our family history would somehow skip his generation...maybe he thought that since I paid oodles of money and got my vision corrected several years ago, that would mean he would inherit my paid-for perfect vision. No luck there! The funny thing is that apparently he's known for a while that he wasn't seeing too clearly, but didn't want to say anything to me because he didn't want glasses. But the truth came out when he had to have a physical in order to run track for the school and he couldn't read the vision chart too well...

I think he looks awesome in them, though, and sadly, even more grown-up.

Happy 12th birthday Brandon Hunter!!!!!

I can't believe it--my firstborn has reached the ripe old age of 12! Tomorrow he will receive the priesthood and start into Youg Men's. It feels like I have aged 5 years overnight. Yikes!

He is such a great kid! Last weekend Tim and I went to the BSU game and Brandon babysat all 3 of the other kids for almost 6 hours straight. He did awesome, and even had to change a diaper! It has been so fun to watch him grow and mature and become a relatively responsible, mature young man. He is a great example to his younger siblings and a huge help to me.

He has always been so creative. He still loves to write stories and daydreams a lot. He has a wild imagination, unlike me. He is super-smart and has all A's in this first year of middle school--we are so proud. He had a great year in football, and basketball is just around the corner, so he's been practicing for that lately.

Today he is old enough to hunt "big game", so he's out with Tim and Tim's dad trying to find a deer right now. Hopefully he's having a great time and gets a shot at one.

I'm so glad to be his mom and be able to know him. Love you, Brandon!!!!

And...we're done!

Well, we made it to the end of football season! It was a lot of fun, but I'm not gonna lie--I'm happy to see its end. Five days a week is grueling! Last night we actually all sat down at the table and ate dinner in a relaxed, unhurried manner. It was awesome!Brandon did so well this year! He started out on defense at middle linebacker and then for the last couple of games, he also played offense at tight end. For one of the games, he only sat out for one play the entire game. He loved that! He is excited to play for the school next year. So am I, since they practice right after school and games are not on Saturdays. :)
Here he is (number 63) bringing down a guy on the other team. If there's one thing Brandon likes to do, it's hit people. This is SOOO the sport for him!

Good job, Brandon!!!!

The streak is over!!!!

Brandon's football team this year has struggled...that's the nice way to say it. :) Before yesterday's game, they were 0 and 4, and hadn't scored all year long. Last week's game was 30 to nothing...it's been more than a little painful at times. We've tried to be positive, and just try to get him to learn what he can this year.

Yesterday was another game. Tim was in the mountains with his dad getting ready for the hunt in two weeks, so I had all the kids by myself there. THEY WON!!!!! And Brandon had an awesome game. He had probably at least 20 tackles, a couple of sacs for loss of yardage, and a fumble recovery. He was pumped up the whole time and I don't think he missed a single tackle. It was so fun to watch! I'm just sad Tim wasn't there...

His team's offense actually scored a touchdown for the first time this year and they won...I still can't believe it! Such a good feeling!!!

Football season is here again!

Brandon started football practice last week. We now have football 5 days a week, with 6 this week. This is a picture of him at the Jamboree at BSU stadium last year. This year he is on a new team, since his coach from last year and a lot of the boys didn't come back. I was a little nervous about how he would do joining an existing team and being the "new guy." We talked with him a lot about proving himself and really pushing hard. AND HE HAS! It's been so fun to watch him practice this year! He has really tried hard and it's paying off. He's starting at middle linebacker, a coveted position. He was so excited when they called his name for that position--so cute to see his expression! Tim and I were talking about how cool it would be if he kept up with the sport and we could still be watching him in high school in a few years... More pictures from last year...I haven't taken any this year yet, but he's made some amazing tackles and sacs at practice and I can't wait to see what he'll do at this year's games! (He's number 33)

I can't wait for the games to start! Now you know what I'll be doing every Satuday for the next couple of months! Go Brandon and the Cowboys!!!

Back to School

Well, the kids started school last week...phew! The last month or so has been crazy around here with our Disney trip (I'll get around to blogging about that now that school is back in session) and all our family visitors (also more blogging to come). I'm looking forward to a more structured schedule and some time to myself (with Jake, of course...).

Brandon and Ryan each started school on Wednesday. Ryan is in 4th grade and his teacher is Miss Schofield. This is the first year that he won't have an older brother at the elementary school with him. He had a great first day and seems to be liking school so far. Brandon is in sixth grade, which means he has moved to middle school, also known as junior high (how old am I?!?). I think I was more nervous about it than he was, but he loved it! He forgot his ID card on the first day and was freaking out a little, but everything worked out and Mom eventually got him his card. He likes most of his teachers and doesn't mind the uniform code too bad. He just wishes he didn't have to tuck in his shirt!

Sydney started kindergarten on Thursday. She was SOOO excited! She is in the same class as her two little neighbor friends, so she is thrilled about that! Her teacher is Mrs. Browning and she loves her! This year her school has changed the kindergarten schedule. Instead of going every day for half of the day, she will go on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and every other Monday for the whole day. On her first day, I went and ate breakfast at the school with her, per her request. It was fun to watch her excitement! Then I dropped her off and drove away... Once she got home that afternoon, I asked her how her day was, and she said she liked everything except recess. What?!? She said it was too hot and she wanted to go inside, but all she could do to cool off was to sit in the shade. Never in a million years would I have thought that her least favorite thing on her first day of school would be recess! Oh, the irony!

I'm so happy they are back in school and things can get back to normal around here. I have high hopes of catching up on my scrap booking (I'm only 2 years behind...) and getting a lot of other things done. Just 5 more years and Jake can go to school!

New hair

So we all know that I get bored with my hair a lot...so Friday afternoon I decided to make a change and got a new 'do. I went for an a-line cut and so far I think I like it. At least it's way less to dry and way less to straighten. That's ALWAYS a good thing! I can't quite do a ponytail anymore which is sad, but it's fun to have a change!

By the way, I just love my Brandon...he has been so helpful lately and asked me several times today if I needed any more help with all the housework. He did a ton for me and it went so much faster! I can't believe he's going to be 12 soon. He sure is getting old! But I'm not! :)