Swing Batter!

When you are a parent of four kids and they all like sports its an interesting situation. This year Jackson is in Varsity Baseball and Cassie is in Varsity Softball. I love watching them play ball. Its both their first year in High school for the sport.

The only thing that is hard for us is when they have home games. You would think that was easy right? Wrong! They both play double headers at the SAME TIME. So we find out who is starting first which is usually Cassie and go to her game. Once we done watching her play for at least half the game we drive quickly over to Jacks game and watch him for another half of the last game. Then we continue to watch for the first part of the second game. Once its halfway there we head on back to Cassie game. Are you confused yet? I sure am!

I always feel bad when we miss a great hit or something. I am hoping they just both remember how we were in the stands cheering them on as we eat our sunflower seeds. I think Josh and Jason love home games too because they get out of school an hour early to go watch their siblings play. Cant beat that right?

I am pretty excited to see Jackson play his Senior year. I am glad his friends talked him into it.
He use to play in middle and elementary school but never wanted to play in H.S. Baseball is so much faster than Softball I am always amazed at how he hits or catches the ball.

Cassie I am proud of because this is her first year ever playing Softball and she is doing fantastic! It nice to see a sport she comes home excited about and is excelling in. I cant wait to see her play next year too. They haven't had a softball team for many years and finally have enough girls to play! YEAH!

Who doesn't love watching their kids play. Who doesn't love hotdogs and sunflower seeds. Who doesn't love watching your kids get way tanner than you are. Wait...I don't love that one but they do ha! The home game happened. This season is going by so fast. I am thankful to be able to watch them though. Next year we will have Cassie playing again and Jason too! It will be another great year!


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Awards

Have you ever had one of those days where your heart wants to burst with happiness just from being proud? That is how I always feel every time we go to an awards ceremony. This time it just so happened that it was Jackson, Jason and Cassie awards for Fall Sports.

Jason got the award for participating in Football. It is his freshman year and to play Varsity 8 man football is a big honor. I loved when the Coach talked about how much the freshman meant to the team. How it’s a big deal to be playing with seniors as you are just starting. I loved watching Jason’s face smile as he got his award. To think he has 3 more years of Football really excited me! He is going to keep getting bigger and better. I am so proud of him for deciding to do it as the end of 8^th grade he wasn’t going to at all. He really enjoys football now. Even makes me watch Football Life on TV ha!

 

Cassie is in Varsity Volleyball. She is a junior and a participation award and also an award for having great grades while playing. Right now she has a 4.10 GPA which is pretty impressive considering all the games they go to through the year. I liked how the coach talked about her team and what fun they had. Volleyball actually had enough of a team to play JV and Varsity which is great. Cassie really strived hard to continue to get better and would go to both practices. I am so proud of her.

 

Then there is Jackson. Yep, my senior and his last Football Sports Award. He got his participation award. I loved hearing the Coach talk about no matter what you asked him he would go and do. He said he was so respectful, never talked back and always wanted to play. Ryan and I laughed when they said he never talked back. We even teased him later and Jack laughed. We were really proud because he got Honorable mention for All League and then out of all the kids on the team he got the Coaches Award. That was a pretty big honor. I am so proud of him.

 

I am proud of all three of my kids, their awards and the kind words said. Joshua didn’t get to play Football this year as he was making sure his knees would be good for his sport..Basketball.

It was a good night and I am glad we were there to experience it with them. Until next season. Basketball has begun. All three boys are playing and this time its Cassies turn to sit out.

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BV Championship Game

Before Thanksgiving Break there is this one Friday that is so important to the Collins family. At least it has been for the last two years. Our sons have made it to the Division Championships in High School Football.

Last year it was Jackson and Joshua who were at the Championships. It was pouring down rain and I thought for sure everyone would end up with Bronchitis. Joshua was just a Freshman and Jackson a Junior. We play 8 man here, usually Seniors are doing the playing. It’s the whole team though that is winning or losing. You can see it from the sidelines….even if you are covered by some weird poncho thing to keep from being soaked.

This year was a very special year. Jackson is a Senior which makes this his year for football. Jason this year is playing as a Freshman. Freshman don’t get a lot of playtime but they are learning as they are in a Varsity team. I was excited to see my boys playing. They were going against the same people that we went to Championships and won last year too. It was an amazing game! This time it was a nice day! Thank God!

Watching the team play and cheering them on was amazing. The thing I kept thinking about though besides this is Jacks last game is how many people from our family drove up to root on the boys. Family is everything. Will they remember that game…..yes of course. Will they remember more that their family was there rooting them on….even more so!

Josh, Kelly, me with Mariah, Jason, Jackson, Cassie, MIL, Ryan

Boys with their Mom Theresa

Boys with Ryan

I was so proud of Jackson and Jason. They had their Grandma Sally cheering them on (MIL), their Aunt Kelly and cousin Mariah, then there was us (Ryan and I and their siblings Cassie and Joshua) and of course their mother was there too! That is a lot of people loving on them! We drove the shortest amount which was 2 hours. Everyone else came from 4plus hours away to see this event.

Aunt Kelly, Cassie, Me, Mariah, Ryan and Sally (MIL)

 

Cassie playing with her cousin Mariah

I am proud of the Cardinal team. They may not have won this year but they won in the hearts of Big Valley. They did a great job playing and I am so very proud of them all.

Jackson #15

Jackson looks MAD lol

Here are some highlights of my son playing and some good old fashioned family picturesJ

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Homecoming and Sad/Happy Tears

When you have four teenagers your life is dull. Ok, seriously did anyone believe me when I just said that? Because if you did you need to stop right now because you are living in some weird bubble somewhere and have never been around one teenagers let alone four ha!

This was homecoming night for the school and also senior night for the well…Seniors.

Events started at 4pm and ran till 10pm. We started out with Cassie having her Varsity Volleyball game. They looked so awesome in their outfits for Breast Cancer Awareness month. I loved calling Cassie name from the stands. She had Grandma (MIL), Nana Robin, Papa Pat and all of us cheering for her and the team. She kept giving us the “omg mom don’t embarrass me” look. Ha! Then they had JV Volleyball. After that everyone moved to the Football Field to the Homecoming game. Before the game they had senior night where they announce each senior playing Football and what they like and love and will miss. The seniors then go and give their parents a rose to say Thank you. We however thought this happened at half time. Ryan and I ran all the way back to the house because we brought the good camera but forgot to grab the battery. We wanted great pictures of all of this.

We actually got there JUST as the football game started. Got to the seats and sat down. We had a whole crew of us. Ryan’s Dad and other Mom were visiting from Texas just to come see this game (mind you we live In California), Mil was there as usual and then Ryan and I and the kids. After sitting down a good friend of mine came over and said we had missed the Senior part of the night. I was devastated. I thought that it was at half time like it usually is. They had changed it however because they were doing Homecoming at half time now. I didn’t realize that. Lets be honest…I broke into tears. I missed my one son doing Color Guard and my other son trying to show his gratitude. The part that hurt me as a parent the most is that I knew he was looking for us and we weren’t there. Josh wasn’t upset we missed Color Guard because he was doing the exact same thing a week later and we would see it and get great pictures. To him it wasn’t that big of a deal. He did amazing though and carried the American Flag. Friends gave me some pictures. I hugged him and told him how proud I was of him.

At this point you just have to say to yourself that there is nothing that could be done. So you just have to put a smile on your face and enjoy the game that your two boys are playing. Jackson who is a Senior this year and Jason who is a freshman. To have their grandparents there cheering them on along with their parents was pretty darn cool! They made some great plays and we heard Jacksons name over the loud speaker many times for great blocks to help the team get a touchdown. It was a great game! I wish Jason would have been able to play but being Senior night they let them play a lot more than usual even. I loved the small moments when Jason and Jackson were standing next to each other getting ready to go in.

Sidenote. Jason is #16 but didn’t want his own jersey as when Jackson graduates he is going to take his jersey. That’s why it doesn’t say Collins on the back of both of them. Jackson is #15 because that is his little brothers bday. Its just so cool.

So halftime events came up and all the sudden over the speaker I hear “ There is one Senior who wasn’t able to give his mom a rose as she just is a month out of brain surgery and got here in time for the game. Jackson collins…..go find your mother”. Jack ran from the field and came up to me to give me a rose. I look over and Sally (MIL) is bawling too! He hugged me, then Mil, then went down the line hugging his Nana Robin and Papa Pat and then his dad. He had tears in his eyes too! It was so special that we actually ended up not missing it. I was devastated when I thought I had. I am sure that Jack loved loved loved the extra attention since everyone in the stands was clapping and hooting. Made his day too!

He went out after and finished the second half with a storm. His spirits were high and we were all cheering like mad. It was a great event. I was so happy that Ryan’s Dad and other mom were able to be here. Not only did they get to see one child but they got to see all four of the teenagers doing something. I loved hearing how much they love our little town and how impressed they were of all the kids. It was fun introducing them to our friends and showing them around our town. We were lucky that they came to visit as Texas is a long ways away.

The night turned out great. We won the game and are now in playoffs for the Championships. Josh has another Color Guard for Veterans day and Cassie Volleyball season is coming to a close. It was a great day.

So, I don’t know if you are wondering how they knew that we weren’t there or how the announcement ended up coming over the loud speaker at half time right before Homecoming Court came out. Well at one point in the game my husband said he had to go to the car to get another SD card for the camera that we brought and missed everything for ha! He actually went up to the box and talked to the announcer about if they could redo that moment just for me. The town knows that I had surgery and this was my first real outing since then. It was important for me to be there for all four of my kids. I wouldn’t of missed it for the world. That’s true love. When you see that your wife and your child missed something that couldn’t be redone. He made it happen. I always tell him that he is my superhero. He truly is. We all were able to experience that event and it ended up being even more special because he decided to go talk to the announcer about it. I love the look on Jacksons grandparents faces. It was priceless. The look of crying or the look of how proud they were. I seriously cant believe I am going to be doing this three more times with my three other children in the next three years. Someone seriously help me! I am not going to be a good empty nester at all. Horrible in fact!

The night ended well. Everyone was happy and things always happen for a reason. Even if that reason ends up being your hubby making the night better for you and your son. I will forever remember that moment!

 

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My Small Town VS Big City

Being an Army brat I went to 22 countries before I was 20 years old. It was an adventure that I wish now I would of paid more attention too. We lived in big cities like Tokyo, Japan or Munich, Germany. Stateside we were always in big cities too. Funny how I should end up in a town of 250 people that is actually big in size because of all the ranches. I thought I would write a blog about the difference between this small town and a big city so all of you see what we do here.

1.When I moved here seeing the stars at night was amazing! If it wasn't cloudy there were a billion of them. The moon was so bright we could almost walk around using that as our light source. There are so many stars to be seen that once a year many travel here to go to a Star Party in our town. People bring telescopes that are larger than I am. Its pretty neat to be able to see Saturn's rings up close. I love that you can at least weekly see a shooting star.

2. Small towns means everyone know each other. When you go to get gas at Juniper Junction (our only gas station) you are met with a smile and a hello. Its not fake....Shari and her crew already know your name and genuinely care when they ask how your day is going. They also do flowers, balloons, gas and its our only place in town to rent movies.

3. We only have one restaurant which is really good. Its open for lunch and early dinners. They have good home cooking BBQ on the weekends. Its a small town so most of us have a tab there and pay weekly or monthly. Great service and again....everyone knows your name. Its kind of the place to go too. Its packed a lot of times especially on Friday nights and Sundays after church. The Oney Frosty is the ONLY place to go! Love the girls that work there! They know your drink before you even ask for it. If you go there though try their milkshakes!

4. Living so far out we don't have mail service to our homes. No one in town does actually. Everyone has a PO Box. The only time we will get mail at our homes if you order something and FEDEX or UPS brings it to you. Even then you know you live in a small town because they bring your dogs snacks and know them all by name. No one is afraid to leave it on the front porch if you aren't home because who wants to drive down the 5 mile dirt road to get to your house to even look.

5. Traffic....When I first moved here we made a video of the "traffic" because we found it so different. Let me show you a pic of "traffic" in the hussle and bussle middle part of town. If two cars are on the road then its normal. If three cars are on the road then you start to wonder if everyone is going somewhere and you didn't get invited ha!

6. The cost of living is lower here. More so I mean in the sense of rent. There aren't apartments to rent or apartment buildings anywhere. Its either a house, Mobile home or a trailer. Most houses are nice ranch houses with lots of out buildings, barns and sheds. Some are extremely nice but most are modest nice houses! Cost of renting a house though is much lower. Probably because there aren't many people who don't live here for a long time. I will give you an example. A four bedroom 3 bathroom house with acreage goes for less than 1000 a month. Most cities that would be a one bedroom apartment. When we moved here we stayed at THE LAST RESORT IN ADIN for two months while waiting on our house to open up. Its a motel that has 6 rooms. Its super clean and we were treated like family. Kerri who runs it makes sure that all is good for you in every way. She even helped us find the church we go to and when we were at a basketball game made us dinner. Dave and Linda the owners were fantastic. We were really blessed. Everyone is so hospitable.

7. The school is pretty neat here. Every teacher pretty much knows every student in the whole schools name. If the kids do something at school you better believe I will know what happened before they even get home. News travels fast in a small town. There are about 200 students K-12 grade here. Its 4 towns together that go to this school. The classes are small and you really get that one on one attention that you need. It would be really hard for you to try and hide and not be known. The kids have a lot of sports even though its small. Football, Volleyball, Basketball, Wrestling, Baseball, Dance, Softball and Track. Kids can stay pretty busy. There is a lot of clubs also like Science Club or 4h, FFA and leadership etc. Its not just the parents that are involved. The whole community comes out to these events and really support all the kids. GO CARDS!

8. Cooking. Planning meals is something you really had to do. We do have a corner store that has meats, milk, canned foods etc in it. Its high priced though so its really for going to grab something if you ran out of it. They do have pizzas and sandwiches there which is cool. Mostly though to get to a real grocery store its 70 miles away. Also that's our nearest Starbucks. When you go shopping you really stock up. Its not going to buy food weekly but usually bi weekly or monthly. Most people with large families freeze their milk or bread and thaw it out when its needed. A lot of people but not all have gardens during the summer and some can their foods. It seems like everyone has a deep freezer for meats. You really do have to plan your meals out if you want to follow a recipe. We have to stock up being a large family. We have one deep freezer and are purchasing our second next month. One is filled with lamb and chicken and the next will be full of beef. That leaves the inside freezer in our fridge for ice, ice cream, etc.

9. Its pretty cool because you get to see land for miles  without any obstructions even. I love it here because I love all the animals that are all over and I have a fondness to Barns. Don't know why I love them but I do. I take pictures and paint them a lot. Just on our ranch we have cows, horses, lambs, dogs, cats and soon to be chickens. Usually we have a couple pigs also but we haven't picked them up yet. I love driving on the country roads. Breathing in the fresh air and being able to see for miles. It was funny when my nephew came to visit ( he lives in Maryland) because he just could not get over the fact that their weren't buildings everywhere. He also though it was too quiet. I personally love the quiet.

10. Everything does seem to be far away but that's what makes an adventure. If your child comes home the night before an event and says, "oh Mom I need black pants and a red tie tomorrow I forgot to tell you". Its not like you can just run out and get it. You can call up your friends which happens a lot between the parents to see who has what. Home Depot is 2 hours away which makes it difficult sometimes. If you want sushi that's two hours away too! A movie theater is about 45 minutes away. The nearest stop light is about that far too. We do a lot of planning. When we go to the city we have a list a mile long and fill up the truck to capacity when coming home. You better believe I have a Starbucks in hand though. When someone goes to the city they also call their friends to make sure they don't need anything that they are missing. I love this town.

There are a lot more differences of course. Probably millions....okay probably just hundreds but those are the top ten that come to my mind. I love living here. Our friends are amazing and so so kind. The town itself is cute and every one waves as they drive by one another. Their are some downfalls but not many. Things may be far away, people know everyone's business, the bus stop is 5 miles away so its not like the kids can walk home, and ohhhhhh I don't have DSL and it drives me crazy that I have to be on satellite and there is a cap each month so that does drive me crazy. The rest of it though I love! Wouldn't trade it for the world. Still am going to travel a lot because its good to get out and experience the world....no matter where you live.