He Kicks! He Scores! Victory!

This year has been the first year for Middle School football (school ball).  T has loved it!  He doesn't even mind that we have to get up super early and he has to be at the fieldhouse super early. 

Two and a half weeks ago, one of the dads on the soccer team (who also has a middle school football player) came up to Mr. H and asked why T wasn't the field goal kicker on our 7th grade team.  Mr. H told him that when they had the tryouts T was at the dentist and they never gave him another chance to try.  It's also important to note that T is the only kid on the football team thats played soccer his entire life, non-stop.  T now plays on a Under 14 team as a 12 year old.  T knows how to kick a ball.

This soccer dad, Larry, told us that he'd come get T the next day, Sunday, and take him up to the football field with him and his son, who is one of T's close buddies.  Well, they came and got T and went to the field and T loved it.  He said he did pretty good and it started a fire in him.  He wanted to try to be the kicker. 

The next day on Monday, T asked the coaches if he could tryout for the field goal kicker position and the coaches said they were busy and would let him tryout later.  Well, T asked Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, game time.  The coaches were always busy.

At the game, we didn't even get the ball off the ground hardly, maybe 5 feet and never scored an extra point.  The on side kick was even muffed and the other team got the ball because it wasn't kicked 10 yards.   Granted, I love the kids on the team and the kickers just didn't have kicking experience.  It wasn't their fault.  Once again, our team lost the game.  We were 0-4 this season.

All this time, T had been either riding his bike with his brother and going to the football field and kicking every night.  Every night, even after soccer practice.  He wanted a chance so bad he could hardly stand it.  I was getting so frustrated at the coaches and disappointed that they didn't even give T a chance.

We went into the next week and we had told T just to lay low and not to ask about trying out.  The coaches had told the boys that if they bugged them about playing a position, they would be guaranteed not to play that position.  So Monday came and Tuesday came.  Nothing.

I even let T skip soccer practice on Monday because he just wanted to spend a little more time kicking at the field.  I had told T just to practice for next season since the coaches wouldn't let him do it this season.  I just wanted T to know that if he kept at it and continued to practice, something good would come out of his commitment and perseverance.

Wednesday last week I was at work and my ex-husband called me on my cell.  He never calls during the workday and it scared me so I answered.  His first question was, "Have you talked to T?"

 It terrified me and I said, "No, why??" 

He said, "He's the field goal kicker!"

WHAT??? WHAT????  He exclaimed, "He made it! He's the kicker now!" 

I could have cried I was so happy!

I called my husband and he said T had just texted him and told him, and when I looked in my messages, he had texted me too. I just hadn't seen it yet.

I almost lost it, I was so excited that he got a chance and it worked!

I had told him not to give up and it worked! It really worked!

That night T went to the field and practiced for about 3 hours.  He was so excited and was serious about this chance.  When T got home he told me that he had muffed the first 3 kicks when one of his best friends Hayden yelled from the other side of the field where his 8th grade team was practicing, "Kick it lower!"

T took the advice and made the next 7 tries, totally clearing the uprights.  T remarked that he was stunned that the coaches gave him so many tries to make it.  They also moved one of the good receivers to ball holder and together they were a great team.

I was so thankful for a friend like Hayden who was clearly watching his best buddy try out and was willing to try to give him the advice he needed to make it.

Thursday got here and it was game day.  I felt sick all day long, just praying that if T kicked he would make it. 

We asked T if he was the kickoff person and he said he hadn't tried out for that, so no he wouldn't be doing that.  I was disappointed but just happy he was kicking at some point.

I took off work an hour early to get to the game to watch them warmup.  The boys dad, my friend Jennifer, my hubby, Small Fry and I all sat together on the same row, ready for the game to start.  When it was game time, T started walking on the field and Mr H said, "He's kicking off too!" 

I almost died, at that moment, I could have actually gotten sick from excitement and sheer nerves.  I just wanted this to be me and to take the pressure off of my baby. I knew he would do good though.  He's kicked soccer balls across the soccer field for years.

T lined up and kicked a great one, about 25 yards.  I was so thrilled!  It was the best kickoff, by far, this year and everyone was cheering for Tyler.

The game started and it wasn't 15 minutes before our team made a touchdown!

Uh oh, that meant my baby was going in.

I honestly at that moment remember that everything went quiet for me.  I was so intent on watching!  I did hear people saying, "Come on T!"  It made me proud.

T lined up, went in for the kick.....and it sailed right through the goal. 

It was so pretty!

I jumped up and said, "Whooooo! Alright T!  That's how you do it!  I threw my arms up and was cheering so loud the entire 8th grade team in front of me was looking up at me.  At that moment, I thought my heart was going to burst!  I looked down and saw his buddy L and his dad Larry sitting right down below me and they were smiling so big.  Larry and I pointed at each other like, "We knew it! He did it!"

Everyone was so excited!  All of his family and friends were going crazy!  Not only had he made his first ever goal, it was the only extra points we had made all year!

I saw T walk off the field and all of his teammates were hitting his helmet and patting him on the shoulders.  It was honestly, one of my proudest moments.  I know you aren't supposed to live through your kids, but by golly, I loved it for T.  I knew it gave him so much confidence to do it again.  I just knew he wouldn't be able to wipe the smile off of his face!

A couple of the dads came over to talk to us and congratulate us.  It was amazing. 

The game ended and our team won,  8-6, meaning that T's field goal won the game for us.  He was the reason we had won.  When the boys were walking off of the field, everyone was tellling him, "Good game T!"

Also, when the receiver coach, who is usually T's coach walked off the field, my hubby walked up to him and put his arm around his shoulder and told him, "Thank you, you have made a boy very happy tonight!"  The coach said, "Why didn't he tell us he could kick?  Where has that been all this time?" 

Mr. H told him that he had asked to tryout but just hadn't been pushy enough about it, he guessed.  The coach just laughed and said, "We needed that three weeks ago!"

When the high school football coach came off the field (he is practically related to my hubby, his father is Mr. H's Godfather), the coach said, "Why hasn't he been doing this all along?  We had no idea he could kick like that!"  Coach also told us that all of the coaches had been sitting in the coaches office on Tuesday night when they saw someone kicking a football through the uprights.  They asked who it was and someone said it was T.  Right then, the coaches said he was going to be the kicker.  He was doing good. 

That right there gave me the greated thrill, you see, T didn't even have to tryout.  That's why the coach had given him so many tries.  He knew he could do it.  T just needed to settle down.

Needless to say, I have a 7th grade boy who is on a cloud right now.  He is beyond thrilled with himself and I am the one that hasn't been able to wipe the smile off of my face. 

I now am the Mom of the team kicker and I couldn't be prouder of my guy!!!!

Brachial Plexus Birth Palsy Update

Right arm Brachial Plexus injury

A couple of months ago our soccer coach, who is also our Physical Therapist, told me he noticed that Tater Tot's arm (the right one) was drawing in a little more lately.  Our coach, Jeff, always works with TT during soccer and he said it looked as if his elbow was getting stuck in the joint, not allowing him to straighten it as much as he could.  

See, my son can't straighten his arm.  It stays in the slightly bent position due to nerve damage to his shoulder (brachial plexus) caused by a birth injury.

This nerve damage caused my baby to be paralyzed at birth and begin a heartbreaking journey for us. 

His right arm was completely dead with no movement from damage to the nerves running from his spinal cord during the birth process.  He was born cupping his face, which resulted in his being stuck in the birth canal.  It was an emergency situation and we both are lucky to be alive today.

At 5 months old, he was put on a prayer chain and in an absolute miracle, raised his arm the next morning.  You can read about it here.

Anyway, after the soccer coach mentioned this slight difference in Tator, we made an appointment with an orthopedic doctor that looked at him during the sports physicals at school.

We went to see the doctor yesterday and he told us that the radial bone in his forearm was not aligned with the ball of his elbow (I hope I explained that right).  He mentioned that there is a new pediatric orthopedist that's coming to Tulsa in the next couple of months and he would be a great doctor to see for TT.  He said there might be a tendon release surgery that could be performed on TT's arm and it might release those tight tendons, allowing him to straighten his arm more.   I looked at TT when he was saying this and he was trying not to look worried, but I knew he was.  He was having a hard time in the car when we left the appointment. 

Tater Tot turned to me and said, "My arm will never be better."

That broke my heart for him.  You see...as a mother...all I've ever wanted is for him to never feel pain, suffering or any anguish from this injury.  At 12 though, Tater Tot is starting to really figure out what's going on with his arm and that makes me so sad.  Granted, I'm so thankful that he has as much movement as he currently does, but I still hurt for him. 

We'll start intensive physical therapy in the next week or so and then see the new pediatric orthopedist at the end of the summer to see what they can do for Tater's arm.  I honestly just hope and pray that the therapy helps and he doesn't have to have surgery.  That is my prayer for this summer.  I'm linking up with Kelly's Korner Blog in hopes that people will pray for my sweet son.  We could really use it right now.

Awards and Good Grades

The school year is out and the boys did great this last semester.  Small Fry worked so hard on his reading and language arts classes and ended up with B's in those classes and A's in the rest.  I'm so proud of him.  His tutor even told me in April that he didn't need to come twice a week, she just needed to be on an on-call basis because he really didn't need her that much.  That made me feel so much better about things. We had a rough first semester but I think he pulled it together and started really putting some effort into school.  I'm so proud of him!  I can't wait to see how great he does in the 5th grade!

Tater Tot did great in 6th grade.  We made it through the first year of middle school with all A's and one 89.4 B.  He came home with the President's Honor Roll and the Star Reading Award.  He worked hard and had a fun year with his buddies.

Tater Tot loved 6th grade because he had six different teachers this year.  He especially loved his Life Skills teacher and all of the coaches that taught him.  He constantly talked about Coach Paulk, who is a young coach that teaches Science.  TT thought he was so cool.  I think Coach Paulk was even the person that taught the kids about Twitter.  Thanks Coach Paulk.....I think.

I plan to keep the kids busy this summer with some sort of educational activities.  I don't want their brains to turn to mush...ha!  We are going to try to visit the Philbrook Museum of Art, Gilcrease Museum and any other fun places that might teach them something.  I tried to mention the library and they both laughed.  I guess the library is not the "cool" thing to do.  Maybe we'll go to the library in the next town!  I'm sneaky that way.

TT starts Summer Pride next week, a program to keep the kids in good condition for sports.  He'll go in the mornings all summer.  That means I have to get up at 6:30am to take him.  Ugh!  But, I'm so glad that they are having them run when it's cool and not hot.  TT is dreading it but I think he'll enjoy it.  He loves being active.

We've already started the crazy summer running around.  We've already had 2 kids spend the night.  I think someone has either spent the night with us or the boys have been at a kids house everyday since school got out.  It makes me feel a little crazy since I like to have a routine and order.  I think I'm going to have to get used to this tween summer crazy life!

Soggy Saturday

This morning we woke up to pouring rain and two scheduled soccer games, both out of town.  I hoped and prayed for the text messages saying that they'd been cancelled but no such luck.  Mr. H and I split up the duties and I took Tater Tot to his game, which was about thirty minutes away.  I grabbed my standard baseball cap and threw my hair in a ponytail so I could avoid the inevitable mess of crazy, curly hair that results on rainy days.  T-man was super excited to play in the rain and mud because it means more sliding and falling in the muck the entire game.  Boys love the dirt...especially 11 year old boys that play very rough!

T-man did a great job in the game, as did all of his teammates.  We ended up the game with a win - 9-6.  His team is really starting to work together and pull off some great passing plays.  It makes me so proud to see them do such a great job!  My sweetie scored two of the goals too!

After the game was over, it started raining really hard so we decided to go into town and look around the mall.  T-man wanted a new pair of running shoes since his foot seems to be growing a size a month. HA!  He now wears a 7, which is close to my size.  He's already 5' tall at 11 years old.  He's going to be bigger than me before I know it!  The big decision today was whether to get him slip-on Vans or more running type shoes.  I personally don't really like Vans so I was pushing hard for the running shoes.  Anything resembling the skater boy look scares me to death.  That's a total stereotype but I figure that's my Mom perogative.  I let T-man look for himself though.  After he looked at the Vans, he decided the Under Armor running shoes were his favorite and I was super happy because they were actually cheaper.  You have to love that!

We went into one of the kids shoe shops and I was stunned to see a ton of Ralph Lauren Polo tennis shoes.  Just...like...the...80's!!! Please, please, please let preppy come back!!!  I had to have a pair of white canvas with navy and I bought a cute pair of plaid canvas shoes for Small Fry. I wanted to surprise him!

We also had to stop into Abercrombie because they have the cutest t-shirts!  T-man got one with an Indian Chief on the front-he loves that because Mr. H is Indian and T thinks he acts like an Indian Chief sometimes. Tee-hee!

He also had to have this Bulldog shirt since that's the schools mascot.

The cutest thing about the entire shopping trip was when we bought T some Aviator sunglasses in one of the kids shoe shops.  They were Vans sunglasses and he thought he was so cool that he'd check himself out in every mirror in every store we walked into.  That's right-he wore his new sunglasses inside....he's cool like that!  Maybe that self-esteem that I always try to instill in my boys has backfired on me! HA!

I heard from a co-worker yesterday that Hobby Lobby was having some great sales so we headed there next.  I scored some great stuff!

A glass beverage server that I'd been eyeing forever-50% off!

A new outdoor rug for the back porch

A few things to hang on T-man's wall collage that I can never seem to finish-ugh

We finally made it home after a great afternoon of spending some nice mother-son time together and Mr. H and Small Fry had spotted the ice cream man in our neighborhood.  They had saved us both an ice cream sandwich in the freezer.  You can't find a better end to a relaxing afternoon than that!

Thankful Thursday

I'm thankful for Small Fry and Tater Tot - they are the best 2 things

that have ever happened to this Hautemama

I have a lot to be thankful for on this Thursday.  I recently read about a wonderful blogger that just found out some heartwrenching news about her baby that she's expecting in a couple of months.  Please pray for Megan and keep her in your prayers as she carries her baby that may have many medical problems when born.

I feel especially sad for her because I too went through a heartbreaking situation with my first born.  My son got stuck in the birth canal while being born.  His hand was cupping his face and his arm and nerves from his spinal cord were damaged during the birthing process.  He suffered a brachial plexus injury, also known as Erb's Palsy or Brachial Plexus Birth Palsy.  His right arm and even the right side of his face were completely paralyzed until he was five months old.  He started physical therapy when he was four days old.  The sheer sadness and absolute heartbreak of having a child with a life-long injury is something I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy.  It destroyed me for quite a while; insomnia, depression and just utter confusion as to what went wrong. 

This was in 1999, when the internet had only been around for what seemed like a couple of years.  I remember bringing him home and sitting up every night, all night long researching on the internet anything I could find that would help him.  There wasn't very much information, and blogs definitely weren't an option.  What a wonderful tool that would have been to reach family and friends about news on my little Tater Tot.

I consider him an absolute miracle.  His great-grandma put him on a prayer chain at her church one Sunday and called to tell me about it.  I politely thanked her and told her I really appreciated it, hung up the phone and thought that it was sweet, but I wasn't getting my hopes up.  That's the point I was at...I was beaten and spent every moment questioning myself.  Did I do something to cause it? Did I do something wrong while pushing?  Was it something I didn't do while I was pregnant???

The next morning after the prayer chain went out, I got up to feed my little sweetie, while his Daddy was getting dressed for work.  I finished nursing him and I laid him down on the bed and turned to tell my husband something.  When I turned back around, our baby had his paralyzed arm straight up in the air.  I remember blinking and turning to my husband but I couldn't say a word.  My jaw dropped.  I looked back at his arm and it was still in the air. 

I turned to his Daddy and said, "Do you see that?"

He replied, "I do, but I don't believe it!"

I think we must have stood there for what seemed like 30 minutes. 

My little baby was lowering and raising his arm up in the sky.

It was more than I could have ever asked for.  He was moving his arm.

I immediately called my Mom, my mother-in-law and the great-grandma that had put him on the prayer list.  They were so happy and grateful!  His great-grandma told me, "See honey, prayer does work!"  I told her it definitely did and I would always tell anyone that asked about my little miracle that he was healed by a prayer chain, so don't ever doubt that they work. 

God has a plan and he listens to everything we ask of him. Sometimes, the plan may not be clear, but eventually it will become clear.

I have to say that I am most thankful for that one moment in my life.  Granted, Tater Tot had to continue therapy and he will never have 100% movement in that arm, but he is considered by many of the Brachial Plexus doctors to be an extremely blessed child to even be able to move his arm at all.  His only challenge now at 11 years old is that he can't straighten his arm or lift it up in the air correctly, but people hardly even notice his "lucky fin", as we call it. (If you have a child, you will know about the lucky fin that Nemo had in Finding Nemo).

What I didn't realize then is that by having Tater Tot in therapy all these years with kids who have cerebral palsy, down's syndrome and a host of other challenges, he has learned the great gift of sensitivity and humility.  He never stares or comments when he sees anyone with a disability or a challenge.  That's a wonderful gift to learn at such a young age.

Tater Tot at the Shriner's Hospital in Philadelphia with his wonderful Doctors and Therapist

When I was a single mom, we had a new neighbor move in one day and he stopped in the backyard and talked to us across the fence.  About 30 minutes after we introduced ourselves and started talking, Steve, our new neighbor said to both of my sons, "Why haven't you guys asked about my leg that's missing?" He was walking on his crutches and didn't have his prothesis on that day.

Tater Tot piped up, "We didn't ask about it because just 'cause you're missing a leg doesn't mean you aren't a good person." 

Our neighbor smiled really big and said, "That's a good little guy you've got there!" 

At that moment, it all became clear in my mind.  I had a little boy (who was 5 at the time), that never saw disabilities.  He understood that people are the same, no matter what they look like or what they may be facing.  He has compassion and that's one of the greatest gifts he could've ever learned.  For that, I am very forever thankful.

  Hautemama

Sick Day

Today Small Fry is sick so I've stayed home with him. He has some sort of stomach virus which makes me sad for him. I can't stand when my babies are sick. I'm actually surprised that I didn't have more of a chore getting Tater Tot (the older brother) to go to school.  They are such peas in a pod that if one stays home from school the other begs to stay home with him. I get the whole "It's not Fair" argument.  Tater Tot did say that they have the Little Olympics coming up for the 5th grade and today was tryout time for the relay race.  He had set up a relay team of the fastest boys in his class for tryouts and he didn't want to miss it. So cute that he really takes his athletics endeavors so seriously.  He's even started asking if he can run around the block in the afternoon to stay in shape for soccer. Granted he's 11 but I'm glad he loves to be active. 

It's been hard to be active this winter because it has been the worst winter we have ever seen in Oklahoma, especially northern Oklahoma.  We have had 4 major snowstorms, including a horrible blizzard on Christmas Eve that ruined everyone's Christmas plans.  We even woke up yesterday on Valentine's Day with an inch of snow on the ground.  The weather guys had said something about a dusting of snow but we didn't expect everything to be white when we woke up.......it was really pretty though!

I was working on my household notebook last night and staying home from work has allowed me to work on it some more. I love The Organizing Junkie so I'm listing my menu for
Menu Planning Monday.

Monday - Grilled chicken breasts with white wine mushrooms and onions, roasted vegetables, salad with balsamic dressing
Tuesday - Chicken enchiladas (made with leftover chicken)
Wednesday - Sandwiches and soup
Thursday - German smoked sausage dish (recipe below)
Friday - Homemade cheese pizza
Saturday - Pork chops with mushroom gravy
Sunday - Leftovers

German Smoked Sausage Dish
1 medium onion, chopped
3 turnips, peeled and chopped
3 large carrots, cut into large dice
3 potatoes, peeled and medium dice
1 package turkey smoked sausage, skinless

Brown turkey smoked sausage in small amount of oil, about 2 tbsp.  When sausage is browned, add onions and rest of vegetables.  Let them saute' for 10 minutes and add a small amount of water (1/4 to 1/2 cup of water). Cover with lid and let cook for approximately 30 to 45 minutes. The amount of water is purely up to you. It should be just enough to steam the dish when you cover it.  This dish is so easy and you can turn it into a chunky dish or more of a stew if thats what your family prefers.

I've also been looking at blogs on my lazy, sick day.  I've been looking at some of the best blogs.  I've listed a few below for your blog reading pleasure:

Tatertotsandjello.blogspot.com
Tidymom.com
Thepioneerwoman.com ( she lives near me and I went to school with 2 of her cousins) One of the cousins talks to the hunky Marlboro Man daily- can you even imagine??!!
Theothermama.com
Thisisreverb.com  ( Ryan is an awesome cook and just a great all around guy
Asoftplacetoland.com
kellykornerblog.com
Ronisweigh.com (great weight loss blog-she went from overweight to a marathon runner! Wow!)

I could literally read blogs all day long.  The blogs above are the more popular blogs that I started reading a couple of years ago. That's when I discovered the whole blog world and couldn't believe how much there was to learn from reading a person's blog.  I've learned about saving money, how to plan my family's menus more efficiently, great photography tips, where to look for the best sales on clothes and household items and how to do my own blog header.  It's so much fun to get all of the greatest decorating tips and DIY instructions.  My next goal is to learn Photoshop and how to make my photos really stand out.  Heck, right now I just need to remember to download my photos to Photobucket or Snapfish and actually order them.  I like to order two copies of each photo because I put one in a photo album sleeve with the date and a tidbit about the photo on the back and the other can be used for framing or scrapbooking.  I still love to actually scrapbook with real stickers and paper, not just a digital copy.  I'm a school and office supply nerd and proud of it!!!!

Growing Up

Last night something happened that really hit me hard.

My 11 year old son asked if he could make a CD for someone.  That someone being his little "girlfriend" Emma.  The girlfriend stuff is starting too early for me.  I know it's completely innocent in the 5th grade but why is he making a gift for another girl and not his Momma!  I actually thought it was cute and sad all at the same time.  There was a time when all he thought about was what he was going to make me for Valentine's Day. I was his best girl.  Guess I have to let him grow up sometime....just not too fast.  He's still so young and sweet.  It was a good idea - I just wish he would make me one too!   He does have more songs on his ITouch than I have on my little Ipod Shuffle. 

Do you see what's wrong with this picture? I have a measly Ipod Shuffle while my 11 year old has an ITouch that he can text message from and load 8 gigs of "stuff" onto.  And... he actually bought the ITouch all by himself.  He saved and saved until he finally had the money to buy it.  It was a good moment of victory for him.

Guess he is growing up.  Buying his own electronic doodads and making CD's for girls.  What's next?!