Football of 2010

Lucas is playing football again. I really wasn't sure he wanted to play again after his first experience with football last year. All year he said he wanted to play again. I was surprised because he was terrified the whole football season about getting hit and getting hurt. His emotions were really messed up from the beginning of the football season because his first game he got his trash kicked by an "X" man on the other team. The boy weighed over a hundred pounds while Luke weighed about 70 pounds. Each play the "X" man would slam Luke down to the ground. Luke was crying after the first play and had a miserable experience.

After that game, he just couldn't play football very well because he was terrified. So, I was hesitant about signing him up again, but he said he really wanted to play. He did asked if that "X" man is still playing with the 7 and 8 year old teams. I told him "No" and Luke was instantly relieved.

So, here we are a year later and this time Luke is a completely different player. He is bigger and more confident. We weren't sure how he would be but we are amazed at practices how aggressive he is.

I don't know who is more excited about Luke playing football, Luke or Jordan. I think it is probably Jordan. He wants Luke to play well that he is willing to do anything to get him motivated. So, Jordan made a deal with Luke (obviously I wasn't there) that if he tackled the guy with ball 4 times during his first game that Jordan would buy him a cell phone. Why a cell phone? Because for the past year Luke has been begging to get a phone. I basically told him when hell freezes over (O.K. maybe not in those words) that an 8 year old in this household would not have a cell phone. But, he consistently asked again and again. Jordan thought that this was a safe bet but we learned real quickly not to underestimate Luke when it comes to material rewards.

So when Jordan said he would get a cell phone, he had a fire in his eyes that I haven't seen him before. The game begins and within the first quarter he tackles the guy with the ball 4 times. We were both in shock. That punk has been holding out on us the whole time.

I was mad at Jordan. Why did he make this bet anyways? We are just teaching him that he only works hard when he gets something. But, we kept our word and today Luke has a cell phone. It is a go phone. So, it is a pay as you go. We paid $18.00 and now Luke has to earn minutes. The only semi-good thing that came out of this is that Luke has to earn minutes on his phone. The phone came with $5.00 of minutes (which equals about 2 days of calling and texting). He hasn't earned anymore yet, but I am sure he will.

Also, we told him if he played hard during practice we would shave his head into a mohawk. This is another thing he has been asking for. So, the night before his first game, we shaved his head. He has perfect thick hair for this haircut. He look pretty cool. He only had it for one day because he can't have that kind of haircut for school. But we did get a few pictures.

Here they are....

Well, Luke has played three games and they still haven't won a game. They did score a touchdown last week. Even though they didn't win, Luke has played really well. He got a taste of what it is like to do well and I hope he will continue to work his hardest.

Here are some more pictures of Luke playing football.

Staples in the head

As I said previously, Mason is the most accident prone child (except McKay Brinkerhoff) I know. He literally hurts himself several times a day. It really doesn't even phase me anymore. Well, last week we went to back to school night for Lucas and Dylan.

I was walking down the hallway and turned to go into a classroom. At the same time, Mason was running down the hallway after me and as I was turning into the room, he runs into me and then bounces off my hip and hits his head into the classroom doorknob. Immediately, blood started spurting out of his head.

I couldn't believe it. Not again! So, Jordan picked him up and started running down the hallway. Blood is all over Jordan and running down the side of Mason's head. The administration of the school rush to help out and gave him a towel to cover his head.

Jordan needed to get the car so I took Mason outside and waited for him on the curb of the school. A women who worked at the school stayed by my side and was very concerned for Mason. There was blood everywhere and it looked really gruesome. But, I was calm and I wasn't really concerned. I knew head wounds bleed a lot and I was sure it was just a little cut.

I didn't think it needed stitches but Jordan said we needed to take him to Wee Care because he was sure he needed stitches. We went to the doctor and he took a look at it and said immediately "Yeah, it is a deep cut, he is going to need staples in his head". Dang it! Jordan was right.

I was shocked, I didn't think it was that bad. But after he cleaned up all the blood and I took a look at the wound, I realized it was a deep wound.

But, Mason was a trooper and didn't cry as they put staples in his head. Actually, when they took the staples out of his head a week later he laughed the whole time.

I wish I could say that this would be the last time I am going to report about a head wound from Mason but I am going to be honest and tell you that we will probably have another one in a week or so.

Until then here are the pictures of his staples...