Friday Night Football is Back!

Photo by Shannon Atkins

Friday Night Football is back! And that also means Fall is right around the corner! We are officially one month away! My favorite time of year! But I digress. This is about football.

This past Friday was Elijah's and the Holly Springs High first game of the season. All summer Elijah has been attending football workouts and camps at universities, and now it was time to shine. He's a Jr this year and we are striving for a scholarship!

During football season, I call Friday nights our date night. Fonzy and I go out to dinner, then head to the game. Fonzy said all day at work he was excited for the game, walking around the middle school campus like he was getting ready to play. We both were excited.

We arrived at the stadium early to moody skies. There was some sunshine, but one dark cloud rolled in right over the field. While the teams were on the field warming up, it started to sprinkle and rainbows appeared. What a start to the season! Then the heavens opened up and the rain came! We figured it would pass over, but ended up raining for nearly 30 minutes. The field, players and everyone in the stands were soaked. But luckily no thunder or lightening so the game went on.

Spirits were high as we got the first touchdown, but unfortunately didn't last. We had 4 fumbles, with 2 being Elijah. The final score of the game was 21-6.

My heart went out to Elijah. He has worked so hard all summer! I blame it on the rain. Of course, the coaches could care less about the rain or anything else for that matter. "Hold on to the ball!" I'm sure was yelled at him. No excuses! And nobody I'm sure was harder on him then himself.

Being Mom, I wanted to make it all better. To let him feel a little less down. I told him it was okay. It was only the first game and in the next games he will be awesome! This is his year!

He WILL shine this year! I'm speaking it into existence!

Here's to Friday Night Lights and the start of an awesome season!

Elijah #4

We'll Beat You One Day

Every since the boys were little, they've played basketball with Fonzy. Fonzy would tower over them, and play them as if he was playing someone his own size, not someone only up to his stomach. The boys would try their hardest, but they always lost. They would be mad, and at times would have tears in their eyes, but swore one day when they were taller than him, they would beat him.

Fast forward to now.

The boys are taller than Fonzy now and sometimes it's a still a struggle for them. There's much smack talking, lots of pushing around, fouls being yelled out, and yes even tears sometimes. But as they once swore as little boys in the driveway, "we'll beat you one day!" They do beat him. But most of the time, he still beats them. No matter how much taller they are!

Elijah

Elijah is heading off to sleep-away basketball camp today. He's excited, but I'm sure a little nervous. Or maybe that's just me. He's never been to sleep-away camp, and even though it's about 20 minutes away, he won't be home with us.

This week has been a such a sad, heartbreaking week. With the mass shooting in Orlando, and the toddler being killed by an alligator in the happiest place on earth, it's just too much. You just want to gather up your loved ones and lock them safely away. But of course we can't. Having lost one son to gun violence, I worry constantly whenever my boys aren't in sight. I know that's not a way to live, but I can't help it. Fonzy says I'm negative and always think the worst. And honestly, I try not too, but the worst HAS happened and in my worry, and warnings to the boys I'm just trying to feel better myself. To let go just a little and pray with all my might they return safely home.

Elijah has been working so hard. Even though it's summer break, he's up at 5:45am every morning for football training, along with basketball practice in the evening. He and Fonzy don't get home until around 8pm each night, having left at 6:30am! It's long, tiring days and he hasn't complained about it once. He's striving to be the best he can be in both sports. I can't believe he will be in high school this Fall! Our last baby is growing up.

These pictures are from his 8th grade graduation. The graduation started out a little rocky, but by the end, it was all good. He even was awarded Athlete of the Year! Good things are in store for him, including camp!

So......I'm going to pray, let go just a little, and think the best, not the worst! He's going to have the time of his life at camp and return to us safely Sunday afternoon, having grown up a little bit more.

Happy Birthday Elijah!

Valentines Day in our household is spent celebrating a birthday. Elijah Valentino - mine and Fonzy's Valentines baby!

Being the last baby, it seem he grew up the fastest. 14 years have flown by! A few things have remained constant since he was a toddler. He still loves sweets, candy, cakes, you name it! And he carries a ball with him AT. ALL. TIMES! This is his current ball, which he bounces all day long. If he is up, he is bouncing a ball.

Being a Valentine baby is kind of hard. We normally don't go out on his birthday because all the restaurants are packed with Valentine dates, so he normally has a low key day. I try to make what he wants, but it's not always a success. This year he wanted red velvet cupcakes. So red velvet cupcakes I made. Not sure why he wanted them, since he wasn't even sure how they tasted. He was surprised they tasted like chocolate...kind of. For birthday breakfast I always make him heart shaped pancakes. He got heart shaped french toast and bacon this year. For dinner he wanted a Philly cheese-steak which wasn't cheesy enough for him. I bought him a bunch of candy, so I won with that. You win some, you lose some.

Happy Birthday Elijah!!! We love you to the moon and back!

Candy Apple Goodness

Yum!

Happy 13 Birthday Elijah Valentino

Happy Birthday to our Valentine baby.

He keeps us on our toes! LOVES sweets a little too much. And says he has the best hair in the world! You can't tell this boy anything! He knows it all. Or so he thinks. But we love him none the less!

Elijah and Titus

When we went to pick Titus up to bring him home with us, Elijah was the first one to hold him. At 6 weeks Titus was so tiny, wobbly on his little feet, and oh so cute.

Dogs are something special. If you've never had one, I don't think you can truly understand. You might just say, "oh, it's JUST a dog." I was actually one of those people until Titus came into our lives. This April he will be 2 years old and I can't imagine our life without him. He's a constant companion and showers love on all of us. From the first moment Elijah took him into his arms, we were smitten and still are.

Youth Day - Elijah

Today was Youth Day at our church at Elijah was one of 3 boys chosen to give a message. His nerves got the best of him when he first got up to give his message and he was unable to give it. But after some encouragement from Fonzy, he was able to get up there, fight his fears and make it through his message. I was proud of him.

Brunch after church and home for a much needed Sunday nap. Sunday naps are the best!

Fishing

Elijah loves to fish. I've been promising to take him fishing and today was the day. And what it day it was!

So I grew up in a fishing family. Dad fished, brother fished, Grammy fished, Aunts fished, cousins fished. We all fished. It's been a long time since I've been fishing and when I did fish I didn't put the bait on the hook or take the fish off. I just cast out the line, and reeled in the fish. I figured Elijah had been fishing several times with his older brother Manuel, and has been with his Uncle Jay, so he should have no problem fishing. I was wrong!

I pack up the boys, dogs, fishing poles, worms and off we go!

From the start Elijah was having problems. He would cast out his line, but it wouldn't go very far. Fishing line was getting tangled, pole wasn't working, anything that could have gone wrong did. At one point, his line went flying into the water, and came off the pole. That was the last straw! Elijah started having a metal breakdown! It didn't help that Ezekiel was teasing him by putting his pole in the water, and acting like he caught "the big one." I tried to call Manuel to see if he could help us over the phone, no answer. I called my brother Jay, no answer. Ezekiel tried looking at YouTube videos, but nothing helped. And then I noticed a guy fishing on another pier. A life saver! We went to where he was fishing, and I asked him if he could please help Elijah because he was having a meltdown. The guy chuckled a little and kindly helped Elijah. He untangled the line and showed Elijah how to cast out correctly. The guy caught several fish while we were there, Elijah none. He told Elijah there were plenty of days he fished and caught nothing. It's all part of fishing. Elijah was still disappointed, but at least now he knows how to cast out the line, and next time we go fishing, he is going to catch some fish. I hope....

Shoulder Lean

One day soon he will no longer lean on his shoulder. He will have outgrown it. One day it will be the last time and we probably won't even notice it. So capturing the moment now, just in case this was the last time.

Looking Out

Torrential rain outside right now. Elijah and Titus enjoying the view.

4:45pm - Homework time!