The K Bombers

Football is serious business. 

Fantasy Football is a whole other world.

Millions of people play fantasy football every year.

It is addictive.  It is intense.  It is football.

I've been playing fantasy football for 6 years now.  I am the only female in a 10 team league.  My team is called the K Bombers after Kanin

(Kanin Bomb).  In 2008, I won the championship and I'm looking to win it again in 2010.

To be successful at fantasy football, you've got to do your homework.  Here are some of my ranking sheets:

We draw names each year to pick the draft order.  This year I was #10.  The 10th spot is a crappy spot but we go up and down the order so I also get the 11th spot.

Can you feel the tension in this picture?  Notice how everyone is studying.  Some people even bring their computers to look up players and depth charts while the draft is taking place.

Of course, using that many brain cells takes energy so we had to order up some pizza and wings.

Here's the sheet we use to keep track of everyone's picks.  Every other year I have filled out each team's picks but this year I decided just to write my own down.

Can't wait for opening week!

Caleb In a Box

Who needs toys when a box can be so much fun?

Summer Naps Are the Best

I walked up to put Gracie down for a nap today and this is how I found her...

1st Day of School For Mommy

Yesterday was Kanin's first day of 1st grade and the first day that he went to all-day school.  I dropped him off yesterday morning and had myself a good cry.  His school starts at 8:20 and at about 9:30 I checked my watch and realized that I still had a long day ahead of me.  I packed up Caleb and Gracie and we headed to the mall.

It was really weird knowing that I wouldn't pick Kanin up until 3:20.  Last year I barely had time to run to the grocery store before it was time to go get him.  Yesterday, though, the day seemed to drag on and on.

At 3:15 I headed up to school to get him.  School gets out at 3:20 and first came the day care kids.  Then, all of the bus riders.  Finally, it was time for the walkers and car riders.  I was so happy to see him and he was happy to see me, too!

Kanin's First Day of 1st Grade

I have had so much anxiety about Kanin's first day of school.  No snacks, all day school, all day away from Mommy.  I wanted to make sure that I wasn't projecting my fears and doubts on to him so I wanted to make his first day extra special.

He thought it was really cool that he got to blow out a candle and it isn't even his birthday!

The all-important backpack shot.  He chose Iron Man this year.

He got to move doors and go in the 1st and 2nd grade doors.  He thought he was really something.

Meet the Teacher . . . No, Meet this Teacher

Today was Kanin's "Meet the Teacher/Supply Drop Off" night for 1st grade.  These past few weeks I have experienced a lot of anxiety about Kanin going into 1st grade.  Since he had half-day kindergarten last year, this will be the first year that he is away from me all day.  Even though there are times that I feel like I am going to pull my hair out over things he does and says, the thought of going all day, every day and not seeing him just breaks my heart.

My anxiety not only stems from the fact that he is going to be away but I also have it because I feel like I am losing control of him.  Up until now, I have said what he can and cannot do, what he can and cannot eat, I have known where he is and what he is doing at all times.  I, along with Scott and other designated people, have been fully in charge of discipline and correction and now there will be somebody, lots of somebodies, who will have more control and knowledge over what is going on with him on a day-to-day basis than I will and I hate it.  Yes, I know that I might sound like a bit of a control-freak and when it comes to my kids, I am, but if you haven't been here before, you just wait.  It stinks.

On top of the normal "I don't want my baby to go to school" drama that has been going on, I have had somewhat of a drama with his new teacher, as well.  I won't bore you with all of the details but, basically, I received a letter stating that his lunch time is a 20 minute lunch from 11:20-11:40 and that there will be no am or pm snacks.  This immediately threw up a red flag in my mind and I called the principal that day (the teacher wasn't available).  I expressed my concern that since school got out at 3:20 that that was an awfully long time to go with nothing in his belly especially since we wouldn't get home until at least 3:45.  School starts at 8:20 so he would be eating a 20 minute lunch and that would be the only thing he would eat in a 8 hour day--not healthy, not smart, not good.  I expressed my concerns about his behavior, sluggishness, blood sugar level.  The principal was open to my concern and asked me to send an email to the teacher expressing them, as well, and stated that she was sure we could work something out. 

Let's just say that the teacher was NOT as receptive as the principal and this resulted in a bit of tit-for-tat emails so on the way to meet her tonight, I had quite a bit of anxiety.  I kept reminding myself of all the great advice I had gotten over the last couple of days but I was still preparing for this battle face-to-face.  Well, to my surprise, we go to the school and Kanin was moved to a new classroom!  I cannot tell you how relieved I felt when I realized that he was not going to be in such an overly rigid, structured class where the teacher was really not open or willing to communicate with the parents.

Here's how we figured out what room he was in . . .(since our original letter had our original teacher's name and the principal had just made the decision and had not contacted us yet.  She actually called us while we were in our new classroom).

We were all a little confused walking into the room because we hadn't talked to our principal yet.  We unloaded our school supplies and walked around a bit. 

Here is our new teacher, Mrs. Vice.  When I explained my concerns with her, she was very open and willing to work with Kanin and I to make sure that he has the best experience possible.  She assured me that she had no problem slipping him some animal crackers or apple if he needed it and if we needed to be a little bit me structured then he could go down to the nurse's clinic.  Such relief!

To make this day even better, we found out that one of Kanin's BFFs, Blake, is in Mrs. Vice's room, too.  He was so worried after

kindergarten that he would not see Blake or Hayden (other BFF) when he got into 1st grade.  I think Blake's mom and I were just as excited as the boys.

How cute are they?  Blake recently got his hair cut and wanted to have spikey hair like Kanin and Hayden.  LOL 

I'm sure that throughout the kids' school careers that there will be other issues that pop in.  I am so thankful to everyone that told me to hold my ground and be Kanin's advocate.  To some this may have seemed like such a small battle to fight but as I told teacher #1 I know my child and I am so thankful that I do!  He is a sweet, quirky, soft-hearted, hard-headed, athletic, obnoxious (at times-lol)all-boy boy and I am so proud of him!

God's Promise

Bye Bye Crawling, Hello Walking

Caleb is a walker!

TLR-no, not Total Request Live

This past Sunday I was invited by my friend, Teale, to go to the ballgame.  They were having honoring Group Leaders and she got the tickets from her school.  The day included tickets to the game, a cocktail hour and a dinner with a photo opportunity with a couple of players.

Usually when the Cardinals do something like this, the free tickets end up being the ones at the very top of the stadium.  These seats, however, were really good.  They were in Section 267, Row 11.  This is on the same level as the Bank of America Club and Big Mac Land.

My friend, Donna, came down as well and since we had a couple of empty seats she was able to sit with us.

I had to take a picture of the Left Field Bleachers, our normal seats.

The cocktail hour was held at the Champions Club.  It was cool.  Free beer, wine, soda and water and then a few appetizers.  While sitting there waiting for the events to start, I looked over and saw John Mozeliak standing there.  I thought to myself, "This could be really, really good."

By chance we ended up at the very first table.  I literally could have stretched my hand out to touch all of the speakers.

Mo got a pretty good reception when he came out.  He was surprised with the reception because of the Ludwick trade just happening on Saturday.  He explained his reasoning behind the trade and sounded very sincere in saying that he did not want to get rid of Ludwick as he and Ludwick were actually pretty good friends.  He talked about how it was a very hard decision but that, in the end, he really thought that we needed another pitcher with the uncertainty of Loshe and Penny.

Next we Jay Randolph, Jr.  He is definitely not one of my favorite announcers but he seemed like a very nice, kind, gentle, grandpa-ish type of man.  He gave a few stats and then introduced Bill DeWitt, the son, President of the Cardinals.

The son talked about the business part of the Ludwick transaction.  He also talked about being in the top 10 in revenue sales but still being #23 of viewing markets.

Next was probably the most exciting time of the day, TLR (Tony LaRussa) came out and talked to us for about 20 minutes.  I have never been a fan of TLR as it always seemed that his ego was larger than life but I have to say that he actually made me like him a little bit more.  He was witty, sincere and open in his talk.  He had a question and answer session with the fans (as did the son and Mo) and ended up answering about 6 or 7 questions.  He talked at length about Ryan Ludwick and how much Luddy had meant to him personally, as well as, the team.  He did state that he was for the trade but that it was really difficult to see Ryan go. 

After TLR's talk, we started moving downstairs to the Clubhouse for dinner.  There were 350 of us so they moved us down in groups of 50.  We were 283/4 so we were in the next to last group to go.  While waiting to go down, I noticed some really cool signs and decided to take some pics.

Once we were down in the Clubhouse, we got to take our picture with Jaime Garcia and Colby Rasmus.  They had a professional photographer there to take the pics so we didn't get to use our own cameras.  They are supposed to send the pictures to us in a couple of weeks, signed by both players.  We also were not able to ask for autographs as they kept the line moving.  Both Garcie and Rasmus seemed very nice but very quiet, as well.  I told Colby that I sit behind him in left field and he told me to be sure to yell at him next time to let me know that I am there.  We'll see . . .  LOL

Overally, it was a great experience and I am so thankful that Teale asked me to go!