B U S Y weekend x4

It was a busy weekend all the way around. Big things going on for all four boys.

Ty made a big move from living at home to on campus in a frat house at Wichita State. Just thirty minutes up the road, it will cut back on his commute and keep him on campus more.

While Jim and I were following him up to campus with a load of stuff for him, we couldn't help but feel a little sad. Excited for him making this big step and really hopeful that it helps him feel more like a college student with a focus on school.

I won't lie- I'm happy he's close enough to see him whenever we want. Hopefully, this will leave more time to study...

W I C H I T A state for TY

And he's off! Thirty minutes up the road to Wichita State. Love, Love, Love him!

Starting classes this week, he is happy with his new school and excited to be a Shocker.

Not quite a sophomore, he has a year of classes on his transcript taken through the University of Maryland while in Germany.

It was college but it wasn't really the whole college experience. Wichita State is a beautiful college with a strong engineering program.

The basketball team has done an exceptional job the last couple of seasons bringing more money and attention to the school.

Ty has the perfect opportunity to not only enjoy school but to thrive. He has the whole college experience at his fingertips now.

It should be a fabulous year all the way around. What a change from a few years ago...

R E A D Y to move, missing these P E O P L E

We have been asked a lot if we miss the United States.
Three years in Germany is kind of a long time.

Jim has been back many times and has been ready to move back for a couple years.
My answer has been the same for a while.

I really love Europe. I have not felt homesick at all. I've missed family and our close friends, but for the most part have felt fine.

The hardest part of living here now is being so far from Justin.
Putting him back on that plane after every visit is something I do not enjoy AT ALL!
We all miss him and I feel like we are missing out on a lot having an ocean between us.

I have not missed the food. German food is really, really good.
I have done fine without pay-at-the-pump gas and drive-through banking.

I've even said if Justin and Ty weren't in college, I would be fine living overseas for a few more years. I could really see living in Italy. I love that country.

Until now.

I'm ready to move back. We all are except for maybe Coleman. Jim thinks I had maybe suppressed feelings that I really was homesick to get through our time here.

I never really felt that way, but instead have just really enjoyed traveling and have been focused on experiencing all that we can while we are in Europe.

Having a dose of family and friends for a few days reminded me of how much I really do miss living close and how far we really are over here.

We got to see my parents- it's been four years since we have seen them.

Mom flew back from Germany with Ty and I while my dad met us in Kansas so we go to enjoy time with both of them.

A lot of growth has happened in four years- look at these big boys!

We got to see my little sister and her cute family including a brand new nephew that I got to hold and kiss and love on.

I love being an aunt and Germany is way too far for any aunt or sister to live.
I don't care how cool Skype is, it's not the same.

Sisters need sisters and cousins need to know their cousins. They need to play together, to get in trouble together, to know and to love each other.

We got to see my little brother- it's been somewhere around nine {9} years since we've been together. Nine years too long for any siblings to be apart especially ones that really like hanging out.

We got to see dear friends {Deb & Brian, Regan, Jayden & the Mulvane kids Jess, Tay, Chris & Jordan} who made the trip up from Mulvane to spend extra time together.

Late-night talks until we couldn't keep our eyes open along with afternoons checking out Dollar General and counting windmills were therapy for my soul.

And, we got to spend time with Justin and Ashten. To see their rooms and what this Highland gig is all about is something I should have done last year. I feel as though Highland has come to life for me now. Until now, it's all been kind of in black and white in my mind.

As small as it is, I think the days in Highland will always be a big part of Justin's life. In spite of lots of homesickness, it has been the start of his college football days.

He may never miss the town, but I reminded him that he is making friends and memories that he will eventually treasure.

While Highland won't be the small town that we settle in, we are ready and excited to get back and pick up where we left off either in our house in Haysville or another small Kansas town.

I miss it more now than ever.

T Y has his license

Jim and I were not sure how this would go. Fortunately, it turned out for the best.

We bought Ty a laptop for graduation. He ended up returning it using the money instead for his ticket to Kansas to get his license. It is a trade off living in Europe. Cool to see what we have seen, but not quite so cool being eighteen without a license having to have your mom or dad drop you off and pick you up at college and work.

Ty completed driver's ed in Mulvane before we moved which would waive the actual driving portion of the test. The problem is it expired last year, requiring him to take the visual, written and driving tests.

Ashten said he would have no problem. We should have listened to her because she was right. We drove thirty minutes from our Best Western in Hiawatha to Seneca, Kansas to for him to take his test.

We could not have found a more-perfect DMV in small-town America across the street from Hardware Hank to complete this task. The ladies were fabulous, not a person in sight, the streets were quiet and best of all: he passed!

A drive around the block and he didn't even have to parallel park. Good thing since I had him looking up YouTube videos the night before to see how it is done. Yikes!

He even passed the written with a score of 100 percent. What a relief.

Now, he can take a written test for his license here and start {legally} learning to drive.
He is one happy driver!

chick-fil-a and N F L players

It was a quick week.
A really quick week.
Ty and I are still struggling to get back in the right time zone.

With Jim home {to be with the little guys} and mom ready to go back to Utah {after six weeks in Germany visiting}, we planned for Ty and I to fly back to the United States together with a weekend in Kansas.

I knew it would be a quick trip with just four full days to cram everything in.

The main objectives included:
- getting Ty's driver's license
- catching one of Justin's football games
- time with family
- time with friends

Fortunately, we were able to accomplish everything and more on our list while creating some pretty amazing memories on the side.

Jim has said it is way easier to get adjusted to US time, than it is to adjust back to Germany time.

He's so right.

As the first time back to the United States for Ty and I since moving to Germany {almost three years ago}, we did alright adjusting to Kansas time.

It was a ten-hour flight to Atlanta, then an hour and a half from Atlanta to Kansas City. We left Germany early in the morning and arrived in Kansas in the early evening.

It worked out well to go to bed at a normal time. I did not feel jet-lagged at all which was nice since we didn't have time to catch on sleep even if we wanted to!

Our flights went smoothly.
No lost luggage.
No delays.
All on time.

It felt strange to plug the laptop into the wall without a converter.

We were super excited for some Chick-fil-a in Atlanta.

We were more excited while waiting to board our flight to discover two NFL football players standing in front of us on the flight from Atlanta to Kansas City.

I knew they were big boys. I had to ask if they played football, then what their names were. Of course they play football.

I asked the bigger guy if I could come bother him for a picture or autograph once we got up in the air.

He graciously did both and talked to us for a while in flight.

He gave me some football advice for Justin (work on his hands, work on being physically aggressive, follow the dream), talked to us about his cousin in the Army stationed in Germany and told us his mom doesn't know football so not only does she not stress out, she doesn't watch him much.


It was a pleasant conversation with a really nice guy who happens to play football.

At the end of our conversation I said, "I'm really sorry I didn't know your name."
His response, "That's ok, it's Tyson."

Both play for the Kansas City Chiefs- Tyson Jackson {3rd overall pick in first round of the NFL draft in 2009} and Justin Houston {AFC Defensive Player of the Month- September, 2013}.

Chick-fil-a and NFL players in the same afternoon?

Welcome to America.

Y E A H ... school is in session

Maybe things can calm down now.... maybe...

Ty started college last week.
So grown up.

Well, too grown up except his mama still has to drop him off and pick him up from school every day.
Oh, well.
I think he'll survive.
The downside of living in Europe.

T Y is an adult... 18 years?

In all of the craziness of Caden getting hurt, I almost forgot to post the news that we officially have two adult children!

He wanted to go bowling, the pool and a good German dinner.

Can you guess how this turned out?

Yes, he landed straight on his side causing a sting and quite a few "Ahhhhs" from anyone watching.

Yep, he's 18!

We went to the bank first since he's now old enough to have an actual checking account/debit card on his account. That took too long, so we decided to go straight to the pool and skip the bowling alley.

As soon as Jim was off work, we left the pool and were ready to head to dinner.

Have I mentioned yet how much we L O V E  the food here?

We do.
ALL of it.

The place I picked to eat at in downtown Kaiserslautern had closed its doors. Bummer. The second place we went to try was only open on weekends. The third place was open and was good. Not our favorite, but good.

Yummy schnitzel, pommes and salad. The salads are so good here.

It was a great time for a super fun kid.
Welcome to adulthood.
Yikes!

a day in the life of a T O U G H guy

It was just another day in the life of Caden.
Without a doubt, he is our little tough guy. We are constantly reminded of this truth.

Here were some stitches and another crash and a little {major} fracture here. A few more tears and blood are here. Have I made my point?

We knew when he was two and we made our first trip to the ER {when he split open his nose} that there were many more ER trips in his future.

Yesterday was another one of those trips.

We had just arrived at the swimming pool. Mieseau- our favorite outdoor pool. Within fifteen minutes of arriving at the pool, I looked up to see Caden in Ty's arms covered in blood.

He and Ty went down the slide at the same time. Caden said he was on his knee and with a little extra push from Ty, we think he flipped over and hit his mouth on the slide.

Ty said even with the water, crowd and kids everywhere he heard the bang and knew that he was hurt.

There were little pieces of the red fiberglass from the slide on Caden's neck and towel from the crash.

Seriously, he took chunks out of the slide. What seven-year-old does that?

I jumped up off my towel and in an attempt to remain calm started wiping the blood off to see where the source was. I realized it was his mouth, but was not prepared for how gruesome it would look. This photo is with all of the blood wiped up.... much better looking.
He said he hit his tooth on the slide. As soon as he made it down the slide, he looked over at Ty and said, "Ty, my tooth."
He definitely hurt both front teeth. Both front permanent teeth.

At a glance {without looking too closely since I had to hold it together and figure out how to get to the hospital from where we were}, his right tooth looked as though he chipped about half of it at a diagonal angle.

His left tooth looked gone and the hole where the tooth was seemed huge. The amount of blood coming out was huge.

I told the other kids to gather their things and head to the car. Ty was amazing and carried Caden.

I ran to the German lifeguards to ask for some ice. Even speaking in German, they thought I was CRAZY. There is little to no ice in Germany. Not for your drink, not for an injury.

I finally got them to give me a plastic bag and luckily had ice in our cooler to make an ice pack.

After finding the address in the GPS, we were on our way- just 15 minutes to Landstuhl and the ER. En route, I had Ty texting Jim to have him meet us there.

I had our friend texting her mom to meet us there as well {she took the other kids home and Ty to work later}. I knew we would be a while.

Both Jim and Heidi were at there shortly after we arrived. Luckily, Jim was in a class and he had arrived home from work as soon as Ty called.

We are reminded once again {especially being here in Germany} how important our good friends are to us. We are so grateful.

After a while at the ER with the doctor not sure what to do, it was decided we would go to the dental clinic.

They gave him some Tylenol and Motrin and we were on our way.

I am so grateful we happen to know one of the doctors in the dental clinic. She worked on Justin and Ty's teeth. Her husband coached them both in football.

It's not often that I use the phone-a-friend card, but we wanted to make sure there would be someone in the clinic.

The ER doctor told us they couldn't get anyone to answer the phone at the dental clinic which worried us. Little did we know- we was calling the on-call phone at 3:00 in the afternoon instead of calling the clinic DIRECTLY since it was open. Ugh.

As we left the emergency room, I received a comforting call on my cell that our friend had called the dental clinic doctor and let them know we were on our way.

She also gave the general dentist a head's up that he needed to keep the oral surgeon and pediatric dentist there so they could check him out as well.

Just knowing she and her husband both took the time out to make the calls for us meant a lot and calmed my nerves.

As soon as we arrived {a 15-minute drive from the ER}, they were ready for him. The pediatric dentist was the first to open his mouth and knew immediately that his tooth was still there. Jammed and twisted, it wasn't knocked out.

The body is amazing.

The doctors agreed that this was a good injury. Caden would be alright. In time, they expect his tooth to come down and straighten itself out. His gums should close up as well. At the worst, they think he might need a little orthodontic help on that one tooth to straighten it out.

They spent a while covering up the cracked tooth to seal the nerve and reduce his pain. We will have to get that tooth fixed as well.

As if we were not amazed enough- the most amazing part of the whole experience was Caden.

He did not shed a single tear. No crying what-so-ever.

When they asked his pain level on a 1-10 scale, he said about a 3. Of course, he was clinching his fists and grimacing as the van hit each bump on the way to the hospital.

Then, he told them when he fractured his jaw the pain was about a 4. We decided his pain scale is a 1-5 instead of a 1-10.

The doctors {all 4 that he saw} were beyond AMAZED at our little tough guy.
We heard no fewer than a dozen times how shocked they were with him holding himself together.

We are excited to see how long this little tooth takes to drop back down.

T Y graduates

There is not much that can make this mom more happy and proud than to see my boys happy.

Graduation was Friday night. The weather was beautiful- our first week of sun and warmth this summer.

The ceremony was long {3 hours} but, really nice. With more than 200 in his graduating class, long is just part of the course.

Ty was so happy.

Once we found him after the ceremony, the smile on his face could not be wiped off.

He gave me the biggest hug while he picked me up swirled me around. Seeing him so happy brought tears to my eyes.

High school has not been the easiest for him, but he's done really well.

We are really hard on him because we know he can always do better.

Showing his work has always been more difficult than doing the work.

This last month was especially hard to keep his head in the game.

Switching high schools half way through his sophomore year was no fun, but I think both Justin and Ty now realize that our time in Germany and graduating from Ramstein High are experiences they would not trade for anything.
Change is hard, but it also brings growth.
Ty's growth has been phenomenal.
We can't wait to see what big things he does next...

We are so happy and beyond proud of him.

A great W E E K

It's been a really great week.

Justin got home.

Ty qualified and competed at  Europeans for track.

Coleman and Caden had baseball games.

The sun even came out a couple times.

Tonight is prom for Ty.
He looks really, really great.

We are off to take pictures with the parents.

Hopefully, the rain holds off.
I'm not betting on it.

love of the P I A N O

While looking through pictures, I found so many surprises and reminders of happy times.
Look at this little gem that I was so pleased to come across.

Ty and his uncle Seth both have a love for the piano.

In this picture, Ty was probably bugging Seth as he was working on a song. They are both a little persistent. Looks like Seth might have given in and let Ty up on the bench back then. I think it is so sweet.

Seth can pretty much sit down anytime at any piano and impress anyone within hearing range with his amazing talent and ability. He never uses sheet music and has the most beautiful ballads at the tips of his fingers ready to play for anyone lucky enough to listen. He is beyond amazing.

Ty took piano in elementary school and decided he didn't like it, so I let him stop after just a year of lessons.

He started up asking to get back into it in middle school. After several attempts at finding a teacher, I unfortunately let the ball drop.

Now that he is a senior, he was able to sign up for piano as one of his electives. He even just spent his money on a new keyboard as well so he can play and practice at home. Figures for the first time we don't have a piano in the house- he is taking lessons.

It is definitely in his blood. I'm happy to see him so excited. I really hope he will keep going with it.

W O R L D cup ski jumping

I'm SO happy for the fun we had during our winter break.

If you are going to live in Europe, you have to travel.

That’s all there is to it. It’s a trade-off being so far from family in the states and makes it worth being over here.

We are absolutely amazed each time we visit a new place.

This time with Justin home and the boys out of school, we planned another trip to one of our favorite spots: Garmisch-Partenkirchen in the Bavarian region of southern Germany. 
 

Staying at the military resort, it is the most central, most convenient spot. With a small base, we can shop at the commissary and get our rationed gas {saving a ton of money}. 

As a bonus, we always seem to meet up with friends staying there at the same time. It makes it so much fun for the kids to hang with their friends.

 About the only thing we do the same each time we visit Edelweiss is the hot tub and pool. There are so many things to do that our day trips and sightseeing is different every single time. 

 

For this three-night, four-day trip the survey of favorites ended up as follows:

Jim: Italy/Ötzi
Sheila: World Cup Ski Jumping
Justin: Italy
Ty: Olympic Arena Ice Skating {duplicate from a trip last year}
Coleman: Ötzi
Caden: Olympic Arena Ice Skating

I think it is super important when trip planning {especially with kids} to balance the busy with the relaxed. It is tempting to plan an agenda getting up at the crack of dawn every day to get as much in as possible.

 

This time around, it was nice to sleep in a little. It was nice to watch movies at night. Other than our four-hour drive down to Garmisch, it was nice to stay within a two-and-a-half hour drive radius of our hotel. Needless to say, we still saw a lot.  

Day One was my favorite hands down.

 

We drove straight to the hotel, parked and called a taxi to take us to the venue. With 30,000 people attending, we decided not to try to find a parking space.

The Germans were so excited. I loved the energy in the air. They were especially excited when their German competitors were up to jump. They started singing and waving their flags. It was great. The jumpers were amazing- even from a distance to see them take off and go so far was incredible.

It was cold.

It was even a little crowded.

The boys were a little bored, but did alright. They were much better with a hot cider in their hands and German kuchen in their mouths. It was fun to have our friends Randy, Michelle and Ryan to hang out with too.

The taxi let us know where he would pick us up in an attempt to avoid some traffic.

We called him and what was supposed to be a 15-minute wait turned into an hour. The boys might have liked my plan a little better had we not froze waiting for the taxi.

Oh, well.
 

It was a once-in-a-lifetime thing that we can check off our list. No regrets, right? 

Check out this brotherly love- melts my heart.

a S L O W E R pace

It's been busy lately.

I think I might possibly have overused this short sentence in the last couple of years. As I look back on the last couple of months, we truly have been running all over the place.

It has been too busy.
I'm tired of busyness.

Caden has had soccer- that has been two nights each week.

Coleman has had swimming lessons one night and baseball one day each week.

Ty has had football every single night with games on Saturdays.

Even being seventeen, he doesn't drive which means picking him up every single day.

Jim is plugging along on his Master's Degree with two intense classes this semester.
They have required a lot of time. Too much time.

I've been the fall coordinator for our Imbiss {German word for our high school concession stand} which has been a big job on Saturday home games.

I started working three weeks ago as a substitute teacher at the elementary school.

and...

As a captain's mom I was in charge planning and executing our huge end-of-the season football banquet.

I tried to delegate to the other moms, but for some reason, I still ended up taking on the bulk of it.

I did it for Ty and for no other reason.

The banquet was last night.

We had 214 guests.
It turned out really nice.

Twenty {20} seniors which means 20 senior gifts.
Seventeen {17} coaches and supporting staff gifts.

Decorations.

Coordinating the location/menu/time/publicity.

I'm exhausted.

One of the academic coaches who I adore came up to me and said I need to stick around next year to help. Then she joked that they could hire me as the party planner. I laughed.

NO way.
The tradition is for captains to get up, present gifts and give quick speeches.

Last year, Justin was among the shy boys who didn't want to talk. It was painful.

This year, Ty was maybe too comfortable in front of the crowd. He did a great job and had no problem talking.

He also got an academic award {which he should have} but, we're proud of him. 
Today, I'm very happy.

Soccer is over.
Football is over.
Imbiss volunteering is over.
Coleman will finish this session of swimming up in a couple weeks. We intentionally did not sign the little guys up for basketball so we could take the winter off.

One day of baseball- I can handle it.

I'm excited to cook more. I'm excited to have a hot fire in the fireplace ready when the boys come home from school and Jim comes home from work since we won't have to go anywhere.

I'm excited for a slower pace.

F O O T B A L L sunday

Update: Bummer... another HCC loss with the final score of 24-31 Independence.

I found a VIDEO link for Justin's game: http://www.ihigh.com/independencecc/broadcast_257689.html?silverlight=1

 

It's the Super Six finals for Ramstein with another win yesterday- they remain unbeaten and headed to play Patch {that team I really don't like} next Saturday. We had snow yesterday and even bundled up were freezing.

As much as The Water Boy is one of Ty's favorite movies, he didn't think he'd be the actual water boy. He's doing ok, taking his new role on the sidelines in stride.

A visit to ortho this week along with new x-rays confirmed that his collarbone looks like it is healing well. In three weeks, he might be able to move and even lift light weight.

That makes him happy. For now, he still has pain any time he moves his arm or shoulder wrong.

I don't think next weekend will be much warmer here in Germany.

It's the final game of the season for the Scotties. They didn't make it to the play-offs. Justin was pretty bummed about that. There is next year.

Highland (1-5, 2-6) is playing at Independence (1-5, 3-5), Kick-off is at 2:00 Kansas time. It's a team they should be able to beat with a similar record. Ending the season at 3-6 overall sounds a tad better than 2-7.

I'm really hopeful for no injuries- a football mom's biggest worry. In last week's game, the Benedictine guy taken off in the ambulance broke his leg. Highland's LT hurt his knee and was taken off in the gator.

Especially with Ty's fractured clavicle injury this last week, I'm reminded of how rough sports are.
I'm also a little more nervous.

I'm not sure if we are going to be able to watch or see Justin's Highland game tonight, or not. It is their last game and his last game as a freshman- he's more than a little excited about that.

The Scotties are playing Independence and have a good chance of winning.

I emailed the Independence coach several days ago, called the athletic office and have searched their Web site for a link with no response or results.

On the Jayhawk conference Web site, they have a link posted for KKOY radio. That link is not working for me now. Might be because it only works once the game starts.

If you follow the link below it will take you to the Jayhawk conference.

http://www.kjccc.org/football/fbindex.html

On the left-hand side of the page is a list of links for each team in the conference. I am hopeful that this link for Independence Radio will work once game time rolls around.

Independence Hot 105.5FM - KKOY Radio

Kick-off is at 2pm CST time. I'll keep looking for a better link and will update if I can find one.

Go Scotties!

my broken T Y

It was Ty's weekend. It just didn't go as planned.

Friday night was yet another trip to the ER.... this time it's a fractured clavicle (2 breaks) for my Ty.

It happened during Friday's practice. It was their walk through in preparation for Homecoming today.

He dove for a ball, landing on his shoulder the wrong way.

He  wasn't sure what was wrong, but the pain hit instantly.

He thought it was a separated shoulder and called me to pick him up after just a few minutes.

Jim grabbed him, ran him home and we headed up to the ER at Landstuhl. All four boys have now fractured a bone. Justin's wrist, Coleman's arm, Caden's jaw and now Ty.

It is definitely fractured with two separate breaks. They're clean, but my guy is broken. His spirit is broken well. It makes me sad to not only see my kids in pain, but to be so sad.

They sent him home with a shoulder sling, Motrin and heavy-duty pain killers. We will make a trip to ortho this week to make sure it's ok and they don't want to do anything else. It hurts to move. It hurts to use his arm at all.

Instead of playing today, he got to watch from the sidelines. It was senior recognition. It was homecoming. They won 48-7, but it was really hard to watch. It just wasn't the same without him playing.

His football season is over. He was planning to wrestle. He's not doing that either. We'll have to search to find the silver lining. I'm sure there is one.

Tonight was their Homecoming dance. Chantelle and Ty looked really, really nice.

We met as a group of friends and my friend, Mary had finger foods ready for the kids.
 

We dropped them off at the dance and plan to have movies and more food at our house afterwards for their small group. I love having kids over.

 It should be fun. 

Ty might be out of it, it's been a long, long twenty-four hours for us both.

ty is on a bus to E N G L A N D

It's been a busy week- I am so happy for Friday. Guess I am always happy for Friday.
Ty left last night for a 16-hour {+} bus ride to England for a football game.

That is one long bus ride.

At least it's a nice tour bus.

Both J & T assure me that doesn't help too much. It's still really, really long.

It is cool being his third trip to England. He's only seventeen.

I have yet to go. Jim's not quite ready to take me yet. He spent too long {most of July} there.

Justin plays tomorrow at home v. Garden City. Kick-off is at 1:00 CST.
The HCC link to watch it is:
http://highlandcc.edu/pages/sports-live-stream

The Garden City link is:
http://www.westernkansasnews.com/gccc-sports-streaming/

They had a new radio cast on the last home game. They were horrible. Caden was learning how to make tally marks in school that week, so we decided to count {by tally mark} how many times the guy cleared his throat on air.

We counted 84 times.
Eighty-four.
We did switch to the other school's site, but the video was even worse, so we ended up hanging with the Highland crew.

Hopefully, this weekend is better.

Can't really be any worse. We might be watching from the Garden City perspective if it is.

We got a frost here this week. Today it is a cold rain and super grey skies. The fall colors are are really a sight to see here. Lots of orange and red.

I like that the geraniums are still beautiful. I'm hanging on a every bit of summer in spite of knowing that it's gone.

Mine are about ready to clean out of the window boxes.

I think it's about time for winter- fires in the fireplace, hot soups, mittens, scarfs, socks, and hot chocolate.

Not sure I'm ready.

Guess I have no choice.

weekend = F O O T B A L L

It's the weekend which  =  Football in our house.

Ramstein got a chance to play last night under the Friday night lights. What is normal in the states, is a cool thing here in Germany as all high-school games are normally played on Saturday afternoons.

They pulled out a win, 14-0 against Wiesbaden in spite of it being an ugly, sloppy game. They'll take the win. It's Lakenheath, England next week for Ty and the Royals. A long road trip, but how cool is that?

Justin and the Scotties are on a bus this morning headed south to Coffeyville, Kansas. Highland is 1-4 and Coffeyville is 3-2.

On the message board picks of the week- Coffeyville is picked to win by all eight who weighed in. One member guessed they'd win by 28, another by 21.

Whatever the outcome, the odds are not in Highland's favor especially with a few key offensive-line players out of the match-up due to injury and one suspension (from the Hutch game last week).

It will be another battle. A clean battle would be nice. I'm sure the Scotties would agree.

Kick-off is at 7pm CST.
Highland (1-4) at Coffeyville (3-2), 7 pm

The audio/video link for the Scotties is:
http://www.coffeyville.edu/athletics/Live-Video-Streaming.cfm

If you have troubles with that site streaming, they also have a radio link with audio only:
http://www.radioresultsgroup.com/

little # 8 2

Saturday re-cap:

It was a great game for Ty. Ramstein beat Patch 27-0 improving their record to 3-0.

Ty had a nice reception which made him very happy. It's frustrating for receivers who rarely get the ball thrown to them.

Justin had a rough game which resulted in another loss for the Scotties. At the end of the game, two of the Hutch coaches were thrown out of the game.

Not long afterwards, a Highland player was thrown out as well.

The commentators said moments before being evicted he was complaining about being punched in the neck.

On a side note, the commentators drove me CRAZY. I think the one guy was the worst on-air radio voice I've ever listened to.

We tallied no fewer than eighty four {84} times that he cleared his voice. It was horrible.

Justin said they were the most disrespectful team. I'm glad these last two games are behind them.

As soon as we got home from Ty's game, Caden decided it was time for his game.

Saving all of his birthday and Christmas money last year, he bought his own {$65} helmet. It was silver. He wanted it to be navy like Justin's.

Of course he wanted it navy. Justin's is navy.
So, he decided to use a Sharpie and colored the entire thing. Ugh. I wasn't happy.

What do you do?

He even colored a yellow Highland H on the sides. I think he used a highlighter for that. Creative, we'll give him that.

We put vinyl on it to help a little. Not sure it helped much.

He also insisted on putting his number {82} and DICKEY on his mesh jersey. He is our little Justin.

Silly boy loves his big brother more than anything.
I forgot to ask if he won his game or not.

HCC v. Hutch

Are you ready for some FOOTBALL? Yeah, we are!

Ty plays at 1:00 here in Germany against Patch. Justin plays at 1:00 Kansas time against Hutch. We'll be watching both live- how cool is that?

Justin hurt his shoulder in practice last week and played with it hurt {sprained} against Butler. He says he's feeling better this week- hopefully, he's not just telling his mama that to make me feel better.

The Scottie's link for Justin's game gave me grief last week. We ended up switching over and listening to Butler's broadcast. Here is the Scottie's link and the Hutch link- just in case.

Kick-off is at 1:00 CST.

http://highlandcc.edu/pages/sports-live-stream

Here's the Hutch link:
http://www.bluedragonsports.com/

According to the Hutch Web site:
This is the 31st meeting all-time between Hutchinson and Highland in a series that dates back to 1970. The Blue Dragons lead the series 28-2.

Not too promising.

F O O T B A L L weekend

We're well in to football season. I love it.

Last weekend, Ty played in Vilseck, Germany- about a three-hour drive from our house.

We decided to make the most of it and went a little early to hit a historical site.

I'll post more on that this week.
It was well worth the extra driving.

The sun was out, but the temperatures definitely dropped.

Of couse, I had to wear flip flops and froze my little toes. I think I'll be wearing shoes this weekend. Maybe.

Ramstein walked away with the win. They're now 3-0, a nice start to the season.

This weekend, Ty is at home against Patch- a team that beat Ramstein last year.

A school that I really don't like. I didn't like them in football or basketball or soccer or track. I just don't like their lack of sportsmanship.

Secretly, I hope they can pull out a huge, decisive, dominating win.

Actually, I kinda hope they kill them. Is that bad?

Justin is in for another rough game against another nationally-ranked junior college, Hutchinson.

Before making his decision on where to play, Justin had contacted Hutch. Keeping all options open, he was checking out every school.

As soon as the head coach at Hutch found out that Justin really was a Kansas kid instead of an international kid, he emailed and wanted Justin to call him right away in an attempt to sway him to go to Hutch.


Justin, Payton and their friend Zac who played at Mulvane

By then, Justin had met the coaching staff and saw a little bit of Hutch. Needless to say, he wasn't too impressed. I'm sure they're good and it won't be an easy game.

Last weekend, the Highland broadcast wasn't working too well for us. I ended up switching over to the Butler site to listen to their commentating and watch their broadcast.

The picture was much more clear and level of broadcasting was a tad higher.

Alesia took these great pictures- thank you, my friend!

I'll post the site to watch online for Justin's game tomorrow.

Kick-off for the Scotties is at 1:00 CST Saturday.