Day 219 (12/10): Basketball and another Wildcat Team

Colton joined a new basketball team this year. And their team name...drum roll please...might be hard to believe....Wildcats!  They had a choice of the Flying Penguins or Wildcats so not a hard choice for most kids...or adults for that matter if you live in Manhattan, KS.  So far they have not lost a game and Colton has done very well. 

He has made some interesting poses while on the bench.  I feel sorry for the fool that has to sit under those armpits.  He has surpassed the smelly boy stage and entered into the atrociously smelly man stage!  Perhaps that is why there is noone next to him in the one picture.  They know. And that is why in the second picture they are making him keep those armpits down and enclosed in his jersey.

 

The one thing I asked the coach to work with him on was layups and he has improved ten-fold.  Last year he would always do a jump stop instead of a layup on a fast break but now he has mastered the layup and makes them!  He has also been fouled (not fowl odor in this instance  - has that mastered too!) and made about 50% of those shots.  I figure as long as he is doing better than KSU players he is working hard....right?

The Wildcats took first in their first tournament and got some pretty cool medals. 

And of course, we have to take a silly shot!

Day 217 (12/1): KSU Ball Boy

As a surprise, I bid on the KSU auction for Colton be a ball boy.  His friend had done it several times last year and I thought he would enjoy it.  Well when I first told him about it, he was not happy. Not sure why he just wasn't as thrilled as I was when I won the bid on the auction board.  I think he was nervous.

So we get to the Octagon of Doom an hour early so he can start his duties as ball boy.  He basically watched the team warmup and they all high-fived him as they came out of the tunnel but we missed it because we couldn't get into Bramlage that early.  He also got a shirt and it was humongous.  He rolled it up at the bottom so it wasn't down to his knees.

He was able to take some shots when the teams were back in the locker room.  He looked so cool on the floor - hopefully he gets to play there when he gets older...or when he grows into that dress shirt they gave him.

 For the first game he sat on the side we were on so we never really got to see his face.  But he did get out there with a towel and wipe up some sweat spots.  Now if he'd only get that towel out on our hardwood floors at the house!

For the second game he decided to sit on the other side.  No shirt so I'm guessing none of the other kids could fit in theirs either so they stopped giving them out.  The funny part of him being on the side where we could watch him was that he would mimick the guy that was supposed to be in charge of him.  If he was leaned forward in the chair, Colton would lean forward.  If he had his arms behind his head with his legs all stretched out, Colton would do the same.  I never could get a picture of them both doing it at the same time without a referee or player in front of them but it was so funny.

Plus on the other side they gave him a big mop to use.  He liked it so much he came home and tried out the swiffer on our floors.  So all in all the auction was worth it if he thinks it is fun to mop now!

Go Wildcats!

Day 188 (5/10): Kids-n-Kups

Baseball. Batter Up. Boys. Bats. Balls. Boring. Maybe I should have left that last B-word off but the sport is boring to me. I try to make it to a couple of Royals and KSU BatCat games a year but I go for the atmosphere. When Colton was asked to try out for a traveling baseball team, I thought "How hard can it be?" A few tournaments on the weekends and then double-headers one day a week. Well it has been hard for me. The weather has been horrendous - 35 degrees for 5 hours outside is cold. Then throw in the rain and it makes for a very unpleasant night. Now add a dash of 20-30 mph wind and it is miserable.

I have to get my jollies somehow to make the walking and stealing fest of 9 year old kid-pitch baseball go a bit faster. I've been concentrating on taking pictures of the kids. You see a lot through the lens. Kids dancing in the outfield because they have to go to the bathroom or are that b-word. Kids mowing the outfield with their glove. Kids watching the game on the next field. Coaches have even asked me to take pictures of kids in the unready position. So it has made those baseball (insert other B-word here) games go a bit faster.

The one thing that is new to Colton is the equipment necessary for baseball. Most of the other kids wear a cup. Colton has refused to even try one on. I got him one. It has been sitting in the back of the car still in the package just in case. I was thinking the peer pressure of the other kids all having one would make him start wearing one. Mark has told me that when he gets hit with a ball there he will start wearing one. That has yet to happen. I finally wanted to see if it even fit so I forced him to try it on.

So he put it on. The conversation went something like this...
Mom: So how does it feel?
After a long pause...
Colton: It makes my....you know what...look really big.
Mom: (trying not to laugh too hard) Someday you will want that thing to be that big.
(Mom leaves the room to cover up totally cracking up.)
Mom: Try moving around to see how it feels.
Colton: I can jump in this thing?
Mom: Yes you can run and do everything else baseball players do.

Oh my...what a memory. He'll probably kill me for blogging about it if this is still around when he gets a few years older. But kids are kids and they wear cups in baseball. They talk about cups in baseball.

The other night when I was standing in the dugout, a player came over to his dad who is also a coach and says, "Where's my nut cup? I'm going in as catcher." I, of course, start laughing but that is how I'm coping with baseball. Pictures and the funny stuff that kids say and do on and off the field.

Day 146 (9/8): Football with Pads

I absolutely love this picture of perspective under the stadium bleachers at the Manhattan High School football field. 

Colton tried out for tackle football last year and made the team. It was 2-3 hours of practice three nights a week during August - October. The coaches were intense and I was worried about Colton quitting after the first practice. After about 2 weeks of serious thinking I called the coach and said that he should invite someone that wouldn't quit since I was unsure about Colton.  It was a 3rd grade team and he was only in 2nd grade then.  I didn't want him taking someone else's spot that would have stuck with it.

Well one year later and here we go again...he wanted to play football with pads on.  I had asked a few people about this coach and they said he was not as intense as last years coach so we went to tryouts.  We knew several parents and Colton knew a lot of the kids trying out for the team so I knew he would stick it out.  He made the team and we have been practicing and conditioning for about over a month.

The interesting part is that he doesn't want to use those pads.  He shys away from contact.  He sees someone coming after him and he just weaves out of the way.  That is good if you have the ball but not good if you are supposed to be protecting the guy with the ball.  It has been a long frustrating time for a parent that is used to seeing her kiddo excel in sports but I will make it through.  I have faith that he will get better.

These are pics taken when the team picture was shot.  They look so cute..or do I say mean...in their uniforms?  I'm a mom - they look darn cute!

As we left the stadium, a double rainbow appeared.  You can't tell by the pics but look above the real apparent rainbow and you will see it faintly. Hopefully that is God's way of saying to keep the faith and hope that this little boy that has loved football will take a risk and use those pads to tackle someone. 

Day 145 (9/4): Harley Day at the Bill

The traffic was crazy. The weather was perfect. The smell of charcoal was amazing. The sight of purple was everywhere. The day was AWESOME with a KSU football win over UCLA. KSU Wildcat fans filled the Bill Snyder Family Stadium to full capacity and were ready for the first football game of the season.

It was Harley Day and Matt, Kristi, Madeline and Chandler came up to cheer for the Cats.  Colton was at his dads and was bummed because he got to miss the first game.  The Harley's were lined up before the game and we checked out the one that had team spirit! Chandler was totally crazy at times. 

One thing that was new at Harley day was this photo booth that allowed you to take 3 pics of yourself while wearing crazy hats.  We all tried it and the girls did it twice.  You will have to check out the pics on my fridge because we are looking really cool!

Mark learned that the Band did play before the game.  He usually doesn't make it in for pre-game but I did drag him with me a little early because I like to watch the purple train on the video board come racing through the sights of Manhattan and Willie take out the mascot on the other team on the field.  That's just something that gets me pumped up and ready to cheer on the Cats!  Well that and 100s of Harley's revving their engines in the stadium and Willie in leather and a do-rag.

It was a total packed house for the first game..even more people there than Bill Snyder's return!  We sat in different seats so that Mark's family could all sit together.  I would not suggest sitting in the first row of teh bleachers over section 8 and 9 on the west side.  There's a bar that will be in your way unless you are about 8 feet tall!  It was a win for the Cats and a totally great start to the season!