Week 1...

Well we played our first game of the year and came out of it with a victory!!! As my husband says..."an ugly W is still a W"... so we will take it. From what little bit I actually got to watch (thanks to my active 2 year old) it looked like we need some work in some spots, but hopefully they will be able to iron out these kinks in the next few weeks.

Kenny went into this game a bit worried. Our opponent was very athletic team and could pose a threat at any time. Our D stepped up and controlled their Offense, and our O made plays when we needed them too (mostly thanks to our RB). Great job guys!! We still have a lot of work to do, but we are proud of you!!

As for the poor people sitting around Ellie and I....I am SOOOOOOO SORRY!!! She wasn't bad by any means, but we got there late. You see that 1.5 hour distance from Kenny's school plus the 1 hour commute from Kenny's school to the game site created quite a distance for us to travel. So we asked a friend to save us a seat, that way I would not have to worry about finding a seat when we got there. I knew we would not arrive until close to kick off.

So we arrive and I have to change Ellie out of her dirty clothes from daycare and dinner splatter into something clean. Shorts and a football shirt it is! I grab my bleacher seat and Ellie's bag and Ellie and we begin our walk to this tiny speck of a thing that I can see way off in the distance. Do you know how far it is when the field appears small when walking that way??? Well let me tell you....IT'S FAR!!!! Ellie was pitching a fit that she didn't want to walk, so part of the way I am loaded up with all our FB gear AND Ellie is perched on my hip. Can you imagine what I must have looked like??? I finally get into the game, we watch the coolest thing....They have parachuters come in and drop onto the field with the carrying the flags for the national anthem. Then it's off to the potty for Ellie. We finally make it to the stands right before kickoff. The stadium is PACKED!! We squeeze through the crowd to the center of the section where Amy has saved our seats....(BTW...Amy if you reading the seats were great, but babies work best on the isle especially if they have to leave 100 times for potty breaks!! LOL). To all the people I had to step over several times to get to my seats, I'm sorry if I hit you with my seat, bag, or baby...I really didn't mean too!! Ahhh...relief....we are seated and the game is starting.

Ellie is doing great, then half way through the second quarter she says it..."potty mommy" and we are up again. We have to squeeze our way down the isle stepping all over the poor people sitting around us and head to the potty. As we are leaving the restroom I see the truck and trailer that contains all our video equipment and I have the most brilliant of ideas...The truck is in the endzone area and I can see the game. I place Ellie in the back of the truck to play and Voila...instant Pack-n-Play!!! Ellie plays in the back of the truck for half quarter then her friend Rex comes by, we take another potty break then they both climbs in the back of the truck and play. Now Rex's mommy and I both get a break...sort of anyway. LOL! The two of them play in the back of the truck until half time is almost over and Ellie begins begging for something to drink. We head back to our seats, climbing over all the people along the way. When we get there Ellie so thirsty from playing in the heat of the night that she downs her entire drink!! Poor thing, mommy was neglecting her needs!!

On our way to our seat we added another friend...Erin. She came up after halftime to give Ellie her birthday gift, (We love it btw!) but she didn't stay long...

So Ellie stays seated for a very short time and then she wants another activity...the game is just not doing it for her. HAHA!! So I break out the coloring book. This buys me some time... She loves to color and I am able to watch some of the game. Then a little into the 3rd quarter she says it again..."potty mommy"...and we're off again. (Those poor people sitting around us.) When we come back to the stadium we just sit in the stairway...It's close to the end of the game anyway...When the stands start to clear I get our stuff and we head out. We meet daddy on the field and Ellie gets to run for a minute before it is time to head to the locker area. We wait for the team to load up before we leave to head back to the school. Amy was nice enough to ride with me back to the school since I was alone and tired. She did a great job keeping me awake, but Ellie passed out cold as a cucumber!!

After we saw daddy at the school and then headed home from there it was 1:15 am when we got home...Ellie had woken back up and did not want to go to sleep, but I was exhausted. I battled with her for a while and then finally....peace and quiet. It did not take long for me to fall asleep once my head hit the pillow! Then a few minutes later I hear Ellie awake in her room calling for me. I lay there thinking she will go back to sleep but she doesn't. I open my eyes and find that it's morning and she ready to go. I had my 8:30 wake up call....I guess I can be thankful that it wasn't 6:30...

This Welcome to My World moment was brought to you by the Crazy Life of a Coach's wife

Week in review...

Ellie's Birthday was great...it was a quaint event of just family, but we all had a lot of fun. She played the entire time. She didn't want to eat hotdogs & chips and didn't want to stop for cake & watermelon either.


We had her party at the splash pad and she loved it. We pulled up and she began yelling "water, water!" and she went straight to it when she got out of the car. We rushed to get it all set up as the kids played (we only could reserve the pavillion for 2 hours). The kids arrived and ate their hotdogs, then went out and played some more. Then we cut the cake and had watermelon. We chose watermelon because it was so hot outside that ice cream would not have survived. It was actually so hot that the cake was melting!!! Literally Melting!!! (Notice the poor Mickey Mouse Clubhouse...the cake was perfect when the day started!!)



Then she opened gifts...She had already gotten a kitchen from Nana...then Alyssa got her fruit and pots for it along with a bowling set... Korey and Kolton got her some PJs and a Minnie Mouse shirt and a book! She also got some playdough and bath crayons from the Ivey Crew... Ellie loved playing with those crayons that next night...


Saturday night we had a football kickoff party at some friends house out on the lake...Can't beat that plan....party for the kids in the morning and party for the adults at night! We had so much fun. It was great to be able to socialize with adults without the constant interruptions of a 2 year old. We laughed with all our friends all night long....and that included laughing at one coach who actually "crop dusted" a group of us... (btw...crop dusting has nothing to do with crops in this scenario)...so Coach Campbell, thank you for that breath of not quite so fresh air!! LOL! But more importantly thank you to my mother for baby sitting and allowing us an evening to let loose. It was MUCH needed!!!

Sunday Kenny was headed to the field house early!! He needed to set up the new computers they had gotten in before the boys got there....and the first game week of football began...

Monday afternoon we had Ellie's 2 year checkup. She went in like a big girl, and she was all about seeing Dr. C. She loves him! He was great and said she was perfect. That she was more than active and was far advanced in her speach (and I love him because he credited Ellie's mom for that achievement!! LOL). Then the time came for the shots. The nurse came in and told me to lay her down and told Ellie to "give mommy a hug." The nuse then looks at me, and with the most serious face says "She looks strong so hold tight." I reply with my most serious face, "She is so you too!" Ellie crys and I comfort her.

After the shot she is on the fast track out of there! She was pissed and she was just a jabbering on about something and it did not sound happy. Then out of the jabber she clearly says in this pitiful voice..."she just stuck me!!!" I just bust out laughing. I couldn't help it, it was too funny!

Tuesday was the only night that we didn't have plans, so I did laundry, dishes, and cleaned up around the house. We had just dropped everything from the party and weekend and week...our home was a MESS!!!

Wednesday I had a chirpractic appointment then I drove up to Kenny's school to meet them for dinner with the team. They always do a Wendesday dinner at a local pizza joint with the team. Ellie played with her Daddy some. Then I met a friend of mine and we took Ellie to play on the new football field. We had so much fun watching her run all over the field. I taught her how to do a three point stance (it was hysterical!!).


Tonight we had the picnic on the turf. This was a great fundraising event for our new stadium. The community bought tickets for a picnic on the new field and they had music, silent auction, and live auction. It was so much fun to spend time with everyone! It has finally gotten me in the mood for some FOOTBALL! Up until now I have not been able to get ready for game day, but when those lights hit that new turf and the entire stadium glowed... it all came together! It is FOOTBALL TIME!!!

All this and I still found time to actually teach my classes every day!! Can you say I was busy!! hahaha....But this Welcome to my world moment was brought to you by the crazy life of a coach's wife!

Long Day...

You know you've had a long day when you put something in the oven and look at the time so you know about when it should be ready...400... Then you peel and dice potatoes to start cooking and then you surf the internet some (who knows how long you were doing that) then you go back to the oven to check the time and it says it's still 400! What still 400??? That's when you realize you got home after five and it's your oven temperature that you were looking at the whole time!!!

Hope I can tell when it's done by the wonderful aroma or we will be eating raw or dry meatloaf!!! LOL

This welcome to my world moment was brought to you by the crazy life of a coach's wife!!!!

Lost a dear friend...

Right after I finished updating my blog last night, I received a phone call. My dog had died. He was 14 years old and was living with my Mother-in-Law (due to the fact that we are living in an apartment at the moment and he is an Aussie and needs the outdoors). It was around 8:00 and we instantly loaded the car to make the hour drive to the lake to say our goodbyes and bury him.

Poor little Ellie fought to stay awake during the drive. She is normally in bed around 7:30 every night so she was exhausted. We got there and we all went to where he laid. Ellie bent down and petted his head. She looked at him and then said to me "Shep night night" She had never said that about anyone/thing before and she has seen many people sleeping so it was bitter sweet to hear it come out of mouth at that time. I told her that Shep would not be a GiGi and PawPaw's any more and that we needed to tell him goodbye. She raised her hand and said "Bye Shep." It was so difficult to watch. She loves that dog so much, as do I.

Shep has been through so much with us and he has always been there. He was one of those dogs that had that innate since of things. He knew if you had a bad day or didnt feel well. He aways adjusted to you, you never had to adjust to him. Shep was the best of companions and will be greatly missed!

Kenny was up until 11:00 digging his grave in that Southern Red Clay, then we drove that hour drive back home. After we got home, the kitchen straightened up, Kenny showered, and finally into bed it was well after 1am. I felt awful sorry for Kenny as the alarm went off at 4:30 and he left by 5 to head to school for morning workouts. I felt sorry for myself and Ellie when my alarm went off at 5:30 also... But the day is awful strange knowing that Shep is no longer there...

So Goodbye to my dear friend, you will be forever missed.

This Welcome to my world moment was brought to you by the Crazy Life of a Coach's Wife.

My Last Sunday...

So it's our last Sunday together until after football season over (then hunting begins, haha). You see football coaches don't get their weekends to themselves. Their weekends go something like this...

• Game Friday night. After the game the coaches get all the boys dressed, they try and make sure that all injuries are assessed and trainers see any player that may have an injury or pains. Then they often watch the "Sideline" shows as they are running the game film into their film program in order to start breaking down their own film for assessment of how well their own players did in the games. They also have to make a copy of the film for the opposing teams coaches (they will trade these on Saturday). All this often takes them into the wee hours of the morning, especially if it were an away game and they have to travel back home.
• Saturdays one or more of the coaches will meet the next weeks opponent and trade films to prepare for their next game. Then the coaches go back to their home school and begin inputting the video into their video programs. Once that is done they take copies home to begin breaking the film down in order to find any tendencies that the other team's coaches may have, to see the schemes that they run, and look at personnel. They do all this so that they may prepare for practices for the next week and make any adjustments to their own personnel that they may need in facing their opponent. They also prep film clips to show their players. This allows the players a better understanding of their opponents game plans. Some schools will have their players come in for a light workout to stretch those sore muscles to help recovery. (My husband's team meets with their kids on Sunday afternoon)
• Sundays the coaches meet early to go over the plan for the day with their players. Players come in a watch film of their opponents, injuries are assessed and often a light workout or stretching is done to relieve achey muscles. The players will watch video clips of their own game to understand and mistakes made and to highlight any extraodinary achievements, then they will watch film of their upcoming opponent to understand what they will need to prepare for. After players leave with and idea of what their opponent will be like, the coaches begin to meet and make a game plan for the next week. This includes practice schedules and ideas. Often this lasts late into the night. For my husband this will often last into the wee hours of the morning...This is what the other coaches refer to the "mad scientist" hours for Kenny.

So as you can see weekends for football coaches are not leisure time....they are working many more hours than many think. I jokingly refer to all coach's wives during this time as "Football Widows". LOL! As much as we laugh about this, it is often VERY TRUE. We are left to make sure that everything family is taken care of by ourselves. It is a sacrifice that you must be ready to make if you plan on marrying a coach because it will not change after you are married or even after you have children. Their income depends on their success and "their boys" depend on their preparation.

Football season kicked off two weeks ago and our first game will be August 27th. This means our first official Sunday Schedule will begin on the 22nd, but our weekend work began the first official week of football season. (Not counting summer workout program, which my husband is responsible for. Offensive Coordinator/Weight training coach). Today was nice tho...Kenny did his work at home and would take stops to play with Ellie and I. We actually got him out from behind his computer, which is almost impossible to do during Football!!!

Ellie has enjoyed playing with him and being able to spend a lot of time with him during the summer. She can tell Football is getting ready to really begin. She is noticing that he is not home as much, and when he is she doesn't want to let him out of her sights. She knows that during football she sees him VERY little. She is often in bed before he gets home (7:30 bedtime) and he is often gone before she wakes up in the morning (morning workouts at 6:30 so he leaves around 5:30am). Our weekly schedule she gets to see him on Wednesday afternoons because we drive up and eat dinner with the team. Thursdays he tries to get home early (right after practice is over) to see her and works from home on the final game stuff after she goes to bed. He also gets to see her Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning before Church. The rest of the time is touch and go...If we are lucky we can work in more "Daddy Time."

However, this week should be fun and exciting....We are planning Ellie's 2nd Birthday!!! She will officially be 2 on Friday the 20th but we will Party on the 21st!!! However, this means all prep work will be done by me since Kenny will be at football practice. Hopefully this week will bring some funny events to post about.

And Erin...if your reading this...buckle down baby, your in for a heck of a ride during your first football season!!!

This Welcome To My World moment is brought to you by the Crazy Life of a Coach's Wife!!!

Seriously, you gotta be kidding me!!

Welcome to my world...So this has been the longest 48 hours of my life!!! It all begins on Friday, I am at my school (which is an hour and a half away from Kenny's Schools) and I have to get to Kenny's school for the program pictures. After we have pictures we go to a dinner with the boosters and coaching staff. We end up staying really late. Instead of driving both vehicles home, we decide to drive one and I will drive Kenny up on Sunday to get his truck. So Sunday Ellie is running a fever and is really cranking. So now instead of taking Kenny up to get his truck, we decide that I will take him up to school on Monday morning before I take Ellie to daycare and go to school...

Seriously, what was I thinking!!!! Do you remember when I said my school is an HOUR AND A HALF away from his....Do the Math, That's 2 hours and 15 minutes of driving!!! and between stops I have to take Ellie to daycare. So we rise at 4:00 am and start the day!!!! I make it to work by 8:30... not too bad.

Monday was supposed to be a teacher workday. This was designed so we can get our classrooms ready for the first day of school, which is Wednesday!! Instead of going to my classroom to work on the disaster area that I call a classroom, I have to go to a faculty meeting. The meeting lasts till 12:00! Seriously....you gotta be kidding me....Over 3 hour faculty meeting!!!!!!

Well it finally ends and I have to find some teachers to help me out with my Morning Duty Schedule. You see my husband is a football coach and they have morning workouts at 6:30. This means that he leaves home before I am even up so he can make the 45 minute drive to his school. I have to drop my daughter off at her daycare at 7:00 (when they open) and then make my 45 minute drive to my school. Morning duty begins at 7:30. This means unless Kenny can take Ellie to daycare, I can't do morning duty. I begin trying to find teachers to swap weeks with me. I figure it should be easy since all I need is an even trade, a week during Football Season traded for a week after Football Season. Boy was I WRONG!!! It took me about an hour and a half to get that done. Now it's almost 2! I work in my room for 2 hours and then leave. I'm exhausted...

Tuesday Morning...

Before I head to our day of meeting, I begin talking to the teacher across the hall about assisting her in doing a ceiling mount for her projector. All of a sudden I feel this brush across my foot and look down and see the tail end of a mouse running across the floor into a closet. I scream like a total girl.."OH S@?#!!!" Seriously, it ran right over my foot!! Talk about a way to begin your day. (BTW...I work at a really nice school so this was one crazy encounter!)

Meetings until noon...They were supposed to be till three, so I am loving my Principal for ending early. I head straight to my room and begin working. I was really stressing out, but then God sends me these two angels my way...Two of my students came walking through my door. They spent at least an hour and a half helping me clean and organize my classroom. I truly would not have gotten done without them! I have some of the best students ever!!

So I get Ellie home and fed and then it happens...(brace yourself because this isn't for the faint of heart)...

My daughter (who is not quite two but well on her way to being potty trained) says she need to go potty... I am stoked! She just told me all on her own, without having to be asked!!! So I follow her into the bathroom and help her pull down her shorts to go potty and SQUISH!!!! I feel this gross, warm, mush all over my thumb and out of my mouth comes "Seriously!!! You gotta be kidding me!!!" Yes, she has pooped her pants and told me a little to late! My thumb is disgusting and all I can think is 'GET IT OFF, GET IT OFF!!!' I leave her standing there, by the tub as I begin franticly trying to wash my hand. Then I turn to her and begin to remove her clothes and place her on the toilet. As I see that it is all over her legs and now on my toilet it becomes obvious that she must go straight into the tub for a bath, and I begin cleaning the bathroom fixtures! Out of the mouths of babes I hear Ellie say...."Daddy...where are you??" I pull my head out from under to toilet that I am now cleaning to see her looking up the water faucet and calling to her daddy! Oh, if only Kenny had been home from practice and gotten that potty trip!!!!

I hope you enjoyed laughing at my life because this Welcome to my world moment is brought to you by the crazy life of a coach's wife!!!

Welcome To My World:

This blog is to cronicle the unique daily experiences of my life as a mother and coach's wife. Many days there will be funny experiences that occured during the day, some days there will be rants about the difficulties of being a "football widow," some of the posts will be up lifting events that are witnessed through out life.

I am a Mother, Teacher, and Coach's Wife and all of my roles are very important to a variety of people. As a mother to my 2 year old daughter Ellie, I try to do my best to teach her the important things in life. It is truely and trial and error event. As a Family and Consumer Sciences Teacher, I like to focus on the importance of Etiquette. We seem to have forgotten simple etiquette in our daily lifes. As a Coach's Wife I try to be supportive of my husband's career choice. His role is probably one of the most important roles in the lives of many boys. Coaches often spend more time with their players that often parents do. They can impact the lives of those players in a very positive or negative way. If I do my job as a coach's wife well, I will inable him to do a better job at his.

My goal is to blog at least once a week. I hope you check back with me to take a peek into what it's like to be a coach's wife.

This Welcome To My World moment is brought to you by the Crazy Life of a Coach's Wife! :)