Are you Ready for some Football!!!

I'm super excited about the boys football this season!  We are participating in the Pop Warner league and they are so put together it is such a breath of fresh air from our experience last year in Erie and both Landon and Dayton have awesome coaches.  Actually there are about 9 coaches per team plus a team manager and a team mom.  It's pretty intense.  One of the things that is intense is the price tag!  The initial cost is around $175 ish per player.  This is pretty typical but then you have about a million things you do fundraising for.  At the end of the day the total per player amount is around $400 and goes up if you make it to playoffs and other levels.  I think it's a bit over the top.  Football is not suppose to be a rich kid sport but that's where all the fundraising comes in.  Right now between Landon and Dayton's teams we are selling.....cookie dough, pizza, jewelry, cinnamon rolls, BBQ nights, sports cups, suckers and other food at practices and games, having a team garage sale, poker night?, and asking everyone, every business and their dog if they would like to be a sponsor.  It's sort of insane.  Fundraising sucks but it pays for the equipment-including uniforms, field usage for practices and games, referee's, etc. etc. Dayton was hitting the fundraising road tonight in our neighborhood and brought in about $60 buckaroos.  Parents can do a "buy out" but seriously? I think it sends kids the right message to make them earn the money themselves and that money doesn't grow on trees and gives them good sales skills.  If dad can sell a $80K drug to earn his money they can sell some overpriced cookie dough.  Dayton's team even has their own website www.deervalleybullwhips.com Ummm ya, they are 8 years old.  Anyway. Here are some fun pics.

Landon is a receiver, he is in front looking for the ball.

Oh crap it looks like he is going to miss it?!

Nope, somehow he managed to hold on to it.

Landon has actually been doing really well so far with catching I'm just not that great of a action photographer to get his good catches.  Hopefully the team has some decent passing plays.  The QB seems to have a good arm so if they can connect that will be fun to watch.

In case you haven't heard me say or you don't know but it is hot in AZ.  Like 110 degree hot during practice.  Landon is grabbing a ice cold wet towel from the "towel" cooler.  The kids drape these over their heads and around their necks to cool off during water breaks.  This is "my job".  Everyday I fill up the cooler with ice and water and 20 washcloths, bring them to practice, take them home, wash, dry, repeat the next day. A little different than the Colorado snow we froze in last year during football.

Pop Warner does this magical thing with siblings.  If there are siblings on different teams they work it so the kids will be on teams that practice on fields next to each other at the same time!  Seriously a mother's dream.  So while I'm watching Landon's practice I'm also watching Dayton's practice.

Dayton is #78, Here he is conversing with his peeps.

Dayton is on the line.  Am I surpised? No way, he is solid.  I pity the fool that tries to go through him.  He is third one in on the right.

What I don't like about football is having to "ice" the hurt body parts of my 8 and 10 year olds?  I get it when I have to ice because I'm old and my body has been through the war but little kids?  Every time I ask "Are you sure you want to play football?" The answer is always the same.
Eye roll, followed by a "Yes Mom"

Okay then.  Love you boys.  You're the toughest/coolest football kids out there.