Change is good

So about the games on Saturday, they lost. Both boys lost their games, blah blah blah lost. So it was pretty unremarkable BECAUSE the only thing I could think about was that it was ...

HOT … hot, hot, hot!

I've lived here my whole life and honestly, the heat just doesn't bother me anymore. HOWEVER, Saturday, I seriously was concerned for my well-being. Here I was sitting with my niece Joely and nephew Jace under an umbrella with a makeshift fan that we made from the empty Gushers box. We were dressed lightly and had cold water bottles at our side. We were prepared! We were prepared and we were absolutely soaking, dripping wet. There was no relief from the heat. I don't even know how hot it got Saturday, but I'm guessing at least 147 degrees!

So I have two questions:

1. How in the world do these football players do it? Under full pads and uniforms, out in the middle of the field under the blazing sun!

2. Who in the heck scheduled a noontime game in the middle of September in AZ?

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Now here's the great ending to this story. Near the end of the second game, just when I thought I was seriously melting and there were a group of us huddled under a small circle of shade, it happened! Some clouds rolled in, a breeze picked up and the weather literally changed right before our eyes.

Today the temperatures are much more tolerable. I think we've made it through the worst of a very hot summer, and we've moved on. It seems that just when you can't take another minute of the heat, which could be symbolic for all of life's scorching challenges, the burden is lifted. Change is good.

Football Saturday!

It's game time again. This week, Keaton plays on a Saturday afternoon and Jake has his first football game of this season at 10:45. Luckily we only got up to 111 degrees today ... YES!

Jake will be playing with his Pop Warner Team the Sioux and they'll be taking on the Spurs.

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Keaton will be taking on Gilbert High School.I don't know anything about them, but they have a wicked awesome logo! Keaton was treated by the trainers again this week. He's got some more contusions, strained muscles and bumps, but he's no sissy. He is excited this week because there's a new kid in town! A boy just moved here from Chicago who was a big wrestler and football player over there. His name is Derek and he will be taking Keaton's starting defense position, so Keaton will get to rest for a bit when our offense is resting. His Mom feels much better about that since he still starts on offense.

We'll see how it goes!

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I have a problem ...

I have a problem. I'm confessing it on my blog in hopes for some possible suggestions, but really I just enjoy humiliating myself. So here it is.

FOOD …

FOOD IS MY PROBLEM!

Now you're probably thinking "Oh brother". And I'm telling you this is a serious problem! I wake up, and all I can think about is "I wonder what I can have for lunch today." A couple of months ago, Julie called me and said "Karen, I'm over at my nieces house and they are having Won Tons!" For those of you that don't know what Won Ton's are, well I'm so sorry for you. But the weakness I have is homemade by Mac's little Asian family and they are so absolutely yummy and I'm sure they're sooooo fattening. So what did I do upon Julie's phonecall? I raced over to their own little Sunday family dinner and I LOADED up a whole entire plate of won ton's and ate them all!


Another time, Julie's mother-in-law sent over a full bug of frozen Won Tons that she had put aside for me. I horded the entire bag. I shared a few with Kacey, but I specifically remember not wanting to!

Another of my latest weaknesses is this amazing new candy bar.

I have always loved dark chocolate, so they don't have to convince me it's special! Oh dang! You put one of these in the refrigerator ... it's a piece of dark heaven to me! Um, would that be hell? I told you I HAVE A PROBLEM!

Update on Keaton ...

Sorry to all of my loyal readers. I'm sure you've been checking and checking to find out how Keaton is doing and I just left you hanging. So the technical diagnosis given to Keaton is that he received the gift of a lateral contusion to the left side of his shin. Keaton has broken his leg before, and he really thought it was broken again that night - and he aint' no sissy! However, he is back at practice already and doing fine. He'll be ready for the next game on Saturday. For all of you who are like me and wondering what a contusion is, here's the definition I found.

Contusion … con-tu-sion (noun)

An injury to the body in which skin and bone are not broken, but damage is done to tissues under the skin, causing a bruise or bruises.

So it just sounds like a fancy word for a bruise to me, and it's my new favorite word. It's much more fun to say than ... bruise. So from now on, it is the word I will use whenever I have a purple circle to show after bumping into the kitchen table for the umpteenth time. I've had so many contusions in my life that I consider myself a professional contusionist!

Rough Night!

Well, we're still proud of our team. Here's a quick recap. Hamilton scored on us in the very first minute. They plowed us over and they played a bit dirty. The refs were apparently employed by the Huskies and missed at least four face mask calls and made some of the dumbest calls I've ever seen in the history of making dumb calls.
At the end of the first quarter, we had one player down on the field that wasn't getting up. Unfortunately, Maurice #36, is out for the season. He blew out all of the tendons in his knee-cap. A few minutes later, another man down and not getting up. Luke Swisher #27, received a compound fracture to his left leg (which never did assume it's normal position) and soon we had an ambulance out on the field carrying him away on a stretcher while he held up both hands giving his team and his fans the Toro sign. The crowd went wild.

By this time they were a couple of touchdowns ahead of us, but we were still playing hard. Shortly after we lost #36 and #27, I looked down to see Keaton under a pile of humans and he wasn't getting up. I stood up, dropped my phone and held my breath. He got up and everyone cheered. However, he limped off and he was out for the rest of the game.

You can see Keaton #54 here sitting on the bench. His leg was wrapped in ice and the trainers were paying lots of attention to him. Long story short, it was a long night. Keaton said that Hamilton was doing what was called "chop blocking". It's illegal, but that didn't stop them. I'm still not sure what chop blocking is, but it's blocking them at their feet somehow that is obviously hazardous. So, some bad refs and dirty plays combined with their huge bodies and talent, we lost 41-26.




Thankfully Keaton is a great sport and just needed a Jumbo Jack and Onion Rings to make it all better. He is really hurting and will report to the trainer at 7:00 a.m. to see what he thinks is going on.

Labor Day - 2007

Two posts in one night ... look at me go!
Labor Day was a fun day at Roosevelt Lake for the Shaker's.

Gary took Jake and Garrison and spent the whole weekend on Grandpa Vince's houseboat.
My in-laws, Vince & Carol Shaker
(who also live right across the street from us)
spend every weekend at the lake. They've got a pretty sweet set-up and they are happy to entertain their family and friends.
Check out their floating four-bedroom home away from home.

Keaton had football practice on Saturday morning at 5:30 and Kacey was just getting home from camping with her friend Lainey - so when all of that was done, we headed over and met Gary and the boys. My favorite part of this amazing boat is the very top. It's beautiful up there. Comfy furniture that allow you to just sit/lay and relax while you take in the view.

The kids' favorite part is the slide that takes them off the back of the boat into the lake for a
nice swim.

Right next to the houseboat is this handy dandy bar-b-que area where Keaton and his buddies enjoyed some steaks - cooked to perfection by Gary ... and the rest of us had some delicious hot dogs. Behind this picnic area, you can see our little boat parked next to Vince's bass boat. Between these and the wide expanse of the houseboat, it's our own little Sunsplash!

Here's Kacey surrounded by her "little" brother and his friends Zach and Dallin.

Gary's Mom & Dad raised him on the ocean, so this is as close as it gets for him now. This is his comfort zone and he loves the water. He is now passing the tradition on to the next generation as he begins to teach Jake to drive the boat.

This is Jake's first boat that he learned to "drive". He took me on a little tour around the marina.

Andrea, Jace & Joely followed me up and it was nice to have them there. Garrison loves to hang out with Joely and they did some awesome fishing ... which I got absolutely no pictures of.
Jace wasn't quite sure about the water, but before we left he was going off the slide like it was his own little playground.

Kacey can barely move today after taking such leaps and plunges on the tube that we (yes, we) rode on, but a good time was had by all.

Thanks for the hospitality!

Game # 2 ...

OK let's talk football for just a minute. So last week we won by 41 points. That was great! BUT, we weren't playing against the Hamilton Huskies ...

I refuse to say too much about Hamilton because they don't need the press. I'll just say one thing. Their JV team has NEVER lost. Now when I say never, you probably assume that I am exaggerating. Nope. They've never, ever, ever ... lost! HOWEVER! They've never played Mountain View! So although I can barely sit still with excitement over this challenge and we still have 23 hours left until we even play (clearly by we ... I mean them), I'm still a realist. Hamilton is very good. I haven't done enough research to find out why they are so incredible, but they are. A couple of things they have over us is that they can recruit. They search the state and find the best of the best to come over and play for them. Mountain View has to work within it's boundaries. They are also a four year High School, unlike Mesa schools. This is our JV's first year of playing together and they're still green. So we'll see how the game plays out. Will it be the upset of the decade? Or will we just be proud to be the first Mountain View team to play Hamilton's JV team? Either way, it should be an interesting night! Stay tuned ...