...is it too much to ask for the MHS football team to have a defense to go with their awesome offense? So far this season we've scored LOTS - 181 pts. in just 4 games! The only problem is that we've allowed 246 pts. in those same 4 games. The closest we've come is tonight - final score 42-41. No, I don't play football, but I've watched enough in my life to know that a team averages 45+ pts/game has an offense that can win. The only possible explanation for the losing streak is that the defense isn't doing it's job. I'm glad I'm a band mom. ((steps down from soapbox))
Speaking of bands, ours did great tonight! The Frisco Wakeland band took a leisurely approach to their show, which lasted nearly 5 minutes past their allotted time and clocked in at almost 20 minutes. Had it been really amazing, we wouldn't have minded, but no one could figure out if they were marching holes, or if they just sucked. The Royal Pride Band then had a mere 12 minutes for the drill team to perform and the band to march. The football team was back on the field and warming up as they were attempting to finish their show.
"We all got up to dance,
Oh, but we never got the chance!
`cause the players tried to take the field;
The marching band refused to yield."
- Don McLean American Pie
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Thursday, September 24, 2009
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Block Party!!
This afternoon, we had a block party on our street! It was fun. Our HOA pres. and his next door neighbor organized the whole thing - actually it's been in the works to some degree for almost 10 years. Mr. Jeff brought his grill and was cooking dogs and burgers for everyone, all the neighbors brought a side dish or appetizer.
We all sat around, yapping and eating for almost 3 hours. (It sort of broke up with the Cowboy game started) The kids were racing around - Mr. Fred made a bean bag toss game that even some adults were having fun with. Ms. Lisa had 3 trash bags full of balloons and some kid games lined up. Lisa also brought water balloons!! It was fun to meet and re-meet everyone, chat and realize that we have common friends that we didn't know about, and just sit around.
One weird thing (there always is): a woman showed up with 2 chubby little kids and was selling cookie dough for their school. It was some school none of us had heard of, but whatever. Well, as things progressed, it came out that they didn't even live in our area. One of the kids said, "We like to come sell stuff over here because it's safer than our neighborhood." Later, she commented to someone that her parents lived nearby - but not our street. So, she and the kids came by, ate big, hung out, chatted us up, played games, sold cookie dough at our block party - and they don't even live there!! They crashed our block party. I suppose if it was that important, then whatever - I wouldn't want the kids to go hungry, not that it looked like they had recently. The part that bothered me was when the HOA pres. was discussing the new crime watch program, and asking for volunteers. This woman was all gung-h0, and said how she would love to help out with something like that. So, she crashes our party, volunteers for our crime watch - what if she was just scoping us out to rob us later? Probably not, but you never know - stranger things have happened.
Anyhow, it was fun, and I hope that the tradition continues. Sometimes it's hard to get to know neighbors that you may have nothing in common with. You see each other as you drive by (or they do) or when you're working in the yard and you wave, but you have no common ground! There's nothing to talk about. Now there is!
We all sat around, yapping and eating for almost 3 hours. (It sort of broke up with the Cowboy game started) The kids were racing around - Mr. Fred made a bean bag toss game that even some adults were having fun with. Ms. Lisa had 3 trash bags full of balloons and some kid games lined up. Lisa also brought water balloons!! It was fun to meet and re-meet everyone, chat and realize that we have common friends that we didn't know about, and just sit around.
One weird thing (there always is): a woman showed up with 2 chubby little kids and was selling cookie dough for their school. It was some school none of us had heard of, but whatever. Well, as things progressed, it came out that they didn't even live in our area. One of the kids said, "We like to come sell stuff over here because it's safer than our neighborhood." Later, she commented to someone that her parents lived nearby - but not our street. So, she and the kids came by, ate big, hung out, chatted us up, played games, sold cookie dough at our block party - and they don't even live there!! They crashed our block party. I suppose if it was that important, then whatever - I wouldn't want the kids to go hungry, not that it looked like they had recently. The part that bothered me was when the HOA pres. was discussing the new crime watch program, and asking for volunteers. This woman was all gung-h0, and said how she would love to help out with something like that. So, she crashes our party, volunteers for our crime watch - what if she was just scoping us out to rob us later? Probably not, but you never know - stranger things have happened.
Anyhow, it was fun, and I hope that the tradition continues. Sometimes it's hard to get to know neighbors that you may have nothing in common with. You see each other as you drive by (or they do) or when you're working in the yard and you wave, but you have no common ground! There's nothing to talk about. Now there is!
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Fighting like cats and dog
My dog is officially freaked out. Cujo had made friends with one of the cats, Balán, but the other cat, Rosco, never could get over it and be nice. He would just hang back and not participate. Cujo and Balán regularly roll around the house and play chase with each other and have a great time. Not this morning.
Since it was a little chilly (for the dog, not me) I decided that Cujo needed a sweater today. Just to try it out and let him get used to it. I chose the Dings-colored sweater (baby blue), and he was fine with it. Balán wasn't. Cujo pranced up to him, ready to play, and the cat puffed up to twice his normal size (tail too) and hissed. He then proceeded to chase and stalk the poor little dog through the entire house, eventually cornering him in the kitchen. Cujo was in a panic and screeching. I rescued him and fussed at the cats. They still haven't gotten over it. Cujo refuses to be on the ground - he's too afraid of the big evil cats. The big evil cats are still puffed up and looking for a fight, even though I took the sweater off the dog.
This sort of presents a problem. A Chihuahua needs to have something in the winter to keep him warm. It's not a fashion thing, it's a warmth thing. Hence the homemade sweaters. But, if the cats attack him every time he puts on his clothes... Which is worse: to be cold or attacked by cats?
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Since it was a little chilly (for the dog, not me) I decided that Cujo needed a sweater today. Just to try it out and let him get used to it. I chose the Dings-colored sweater (baby blue), and he was fine with it. Balán wasn't. Cujo pranced up to him, ready to play, and the cat puffed up to twice his normal size (tail too) and hissed. He then proceeded to chase and stalk the poor little dog through the entire house, eventually cornering him in the kitchen. Cujo was in a panic and screeching. I rescued him and fussed at the cats. They still haven't gotten over it. Cujo refuses to be on the ground - he's too afraid of the big evil cats. The big evil cats are still puffed up and looking for a fight, even though I took the sweater off the dog.
This sort of presents a problem. A Chihuahua needs to have something in the winter to keep him warm. It's not a fashion thing, it's a warmth thing. Hence the homemade sweaters. But, if the cats attack him every time he puts on his clothes... Which is worse: to be cold or attacked by cats?
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Monday, September 14, 2009
Mom & apple pie
Nick asked me yesterday afternoon, "Can I make an apple pie?" We had fresh, made from scratch apple pie for dessert. He even cleaned up. Oh yeah.
Saturday, September 12, 2009
McKinney is weird too
It's raining again today. From two posts in the last month about rain, you'd think that it rained all the time around here. Not hardly.
Today's rain is the kind we really have needed. It's slow and steady - constant and plentiful. Not the kind we usually have - fire and brimstone, thunder and lightning crashing, run for cover, pull in the plants, tie everything down, hail, and tornado warnings. I guess that's OK if it's your only choice. I remember when we moved to Mexico City and within a couple of days it rained. I called my mom and was shouting about how weird it was - coming straight down, no light-show and all. She reminded me that it only rains sideways in Texas.
Once again, my rain barrels are overflowing and my plants are happy. My children are feeling a little house-bound though - Sammi's soccer practice today was cancelled, and Drew's game tomorrow has already been cancelled. Nick had a scout project tomorrow afternoon, but it involves painting, so that was cancelled too. All of a sudden we have an entire weekend ahead of us, and NOTHING to fill it. Sort of like today's rain - it's not what we're used to, but I bet we can still enjoy it.
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Today's rain is the kind we really have needed. It's slow and steady - constant and plentiful. Not the kind we usually have - fire and brimstone, thunder and lightning crashing, run for cover, pull in the plants, tie everything down, hail, and tornado warnings. I guess that's OK if it's your only choice. I remember when we moved to Mexico City and within a couple of days it rained. I called my mom and was shouting about how weird it was - coming straight down, no light-show and all. She reminded me that it only rains sideways in Texas.
Once again, my rain barrels are overflowing and my plants are happy. My children are feeling a little house-bound though - Sammi's soccer practice today was cancelled, and Drew's game tomorrow has already been cancelled. Nick had a scout project tomorrow afternoon, but it involves painting, so that was cancelled too. All of a sudden we have an entire weekend ahead of us, and NOTHING to fill it. Sort of like today's rain - it's not what we're used to, but I bet we can still enjoy it.
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Thursday, September 10, 2009
Fall sports
Austin was fun - the boys didn't win the tournament, but they played very well, and against teams ranked much higher than they are. Drew said that the other teams were D1 or D2. I asked what level his team was, and he said, "Um, D-nothing?" So there.
The best news I've had all week is that NONE of Drew's games this fall are on Saturdays. All Sunday, except for a couple of mid-week ones. That means that there are NO band conflicts! Yay band! You see, the entire month of October we have every Saturday booked with a marching competition. Last year we did OK - he didn't miss any of the competitions, but we did fly through Plano doing about 150mph a couple of times, trying to get from Russell Creek to Clark Stadium in time for warm-up. That leaves Saturdays for marching and Sammi soccer, and Sunday for Manchester soccer. And Tuesday for Faubion football, and Friday from MHS football, Monday for scouts...Wednesday and Thursday? Anyone? Oh wait, I forgot about soccer practice! Silly me.
In the world of Faubion football: the football jamboree was on Tuesday. All 5 middle schools in town showed up to do a round-robin of 20 minute scrimmages against each other. Brad did pretty well, from what I could tell. He's playing nose guard, linebacker, and right or left guard on offense. He doesn't know yet whether he's on A or B team - I suppose we'll know soon, since the first game is next Tuesday! He's really had a great time with it - the only problem has been trying to coordinate football games/practices with band rehearsals. It stinks when you're forced to specialize at 13.
Speaking of band, Sammi is really enjoying playing her clarinet. They have progressed to the point of putting the entire instrument together, and she can play a few notes in succession. Cool thing is that she isn't squeaking, as beginner clarinets are prone to do.
First halftime show in full uniform is tomorrow!!! Can't wait...
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The best news I've had all week is that NONE of Drew's games this fall are on Saturdays. All Sunday, except for a couple of mid-week ones. That means that there are NO band conflicts! Yay band! You see, the entire month of October we have every Saturday booked with a marching competition. Last year we did OK - he didn't miss any of the competitions, but we did fly through Plano doing about 150mph a couple of times, trying to get from Russell Creek to Clark Stadium in time for warm-up. That leaves Saturdays for marching and Sammi soccer, and Sunday for Manchester soccer. And Tuesday for Faubion football, and Friday from MHS football, Monday for scouts...Wednesday and Thursday? Anyone? Oh wait, I forgot about soccer practice! Silly me.
In the world of Faubion football: the football jamboree was on Tuesday. All 5 middle schools in town showed up to do a round-robin of 20 minute scrimmages against each other. Brad did pretty well, from what I could tell. He's playing nose guard, linebacker, and right or left guard on offense. He doesn't know yet whether he's on A or B team - I suppose we'll know soon, since the first game is next Tuesday! He's really had a great time with it - the only problem has been trying to coordinate football games/practices with band rehearsals. It stinks when you're forced to specialize at 13.
Speaking of band, Sammi is really enjoying playing her clarinet. They have progressed to the point of putting the entire instrument together, and she can play a few notes in succession. Cool thing is that she isn't squeaking, as beginner clarinets are prone to do.
First halftime show in full uniform is tomorrow!!! Can't wait...
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Friday, September 4, 2009
Austin IS weird
Yes, there has been a drought in central/south Texas for, oh, most of the summer. Apparently that's due to end this weekend. Also this weekend, is the Austin soccer tournament that Drew's Manchester team has been looking forward to since last year when we were here. Hmm. Rain + soccer = bummer. Hopefully it will hold off - at least the lightning part during the game times. We don't care about rain - only that it makes the ball wet and the ground slippery and the mamas fussy. Otherwise, I've been told that playing soccer in the rain is FUN, mom.
All 5 of us are in a room here at the Comfort Suites in Georgetown. There's mandatory bed-sharing going on, Brad is on a air mattress on the floor, and seems to be snoring! He is definitely his father's son. More later.
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All 5 of us are in a room here at the Comfort Suites in Georgetown. There's mandatory bed-sharing going on, Brad is on a air mattress on the floor, and seems to be snoring! He is definitely his father's son. More later.
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Thursday Night Lights
Weather can sometimes really mess things up. My big boys had the first football game of the season last night, and it was almost rained out. It first was delayed for 30 minutes, then after about 5 minutes of play, it started POURING rain, with lightning. The band dove for cover in the school to wait it out and save the instruments. They delayed the game another hour, but the band finally got to go home. Maybe the football team should have gone home too - they lost 56-26. Granted, it was against a 5A team and we're only 4A, but still. One of the few plays we saw - the defensive line opened up (think parting of the Red Sea) and the guy with the ball had no one within 15 feet of him, all the way to the goal line.
The band did have fun - they were in their "sexy shorts" and band shirts, not regular uniforms. The shorts are Dockers - SO not the right style for high school, so they make fun of them. But, it was sort of a run-through for all the freshmen. I have high hopes for next week's game. Home against Denton Ryan. We may not win that one either, but the band will march and play, and the band mamas will go home happy. And dry.
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The band did have fun - they were in their "sexy shorts" and band shirts, not regular uniforms. The shorts are Dockers - SO not the right style for high school, so they make fun of them. But, it was sort of a run-through for all the freshmen. I have high hopes for next week's game. Home against Denton Ryan. We may not win that one either, but the band will march and play, and the band mamas will go home happy. And dry.
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