Silver linings...a Dodgeball Story

Next to football, there isn't anything my boys love more than Dodgeball.  It's a shame they couldn't play it on a professional level, or at least coach it professionally! ;)  Our church puts on a very successful Dodgeball tournament every year, and it starts to be a topic of conversation for both of my boys and their friends in about September.  Matthew's team had come in 2nd place in the 7th and 8th grade division for the past two years (they started a year early in 6th grade), and THIS was going to be the year that they would bring home the gold medal.  Their dream team was set.  They were ready to play...until one week ago.

Matthew is in the select choir for the middle school, and one of the requirements is to try out for region choir.  He spent the entire Saturday two weeks ago auditioning.  His plan was to tank the audition to ensure that he would not be selected for the all region choir, which conflicted with the dodgeball tournament.  

He didn't try hard enough.

Matthew was selected as one of the bases in the all region choir!  Normally, this would be an honor, since he was in the top 25 of 120 boys trying out, but he was devastated about the tournament.  I even felt sorry for him!  All his friends went on and played while Matthew was here...

 Bryon felt so sorry for him, that he decided to let Matthew play on his adult team.  Matthew wasn't thrilled with the idea and told him no, thinking there was no way he could compete.  Well, we raced back to Waco after the concert just as the adult division was starting.  Matthew reluctantly agreed to play at the last minute.  They won their first three sets easily, and then it was time to play the Tuscan Raiders, which is a team of our friends, who have won the tournament more times than any other team.  The Raiders won the first match.  During the second match, the Raiders were down to three players, and our team was down to just Matthew.  One by one, the Raiders tried to peg Matthew with the ball, and one by one, Matthew caught every one of them!  Matthew single handedly brought down the great Tuscan Raiders!  It was an epic performance.  He also was instrumental in beating them the third match, thereby eliminating the Tuscan Raiders from the tournament.  So, even though Matthew was still bitter about not competing with his team, he has a dodgeball story for the ages!

While I was watching the All Region choir concert, Bryon was texting me the blow by blow of the junior high dodgeball tourney.  Even though Matthew couldn't compete, Thomas and his best buds were in it to win it.  It turns out, my little Thomas is quite the dodgeballer!  Several times, he was the last one standing and at one point, got out three players in a row.  My favorite story Bryon told was when Thomas caught a ball (eliminating an opponent) and walked up the the half court line, beat his chest and roared.  Another opponent decided to throw a ball at him at that point, since it would be difficult to catch so close.  He caught that one too!  Then he threw the ball down and roared again!  I think the thing Thomas was most thrilled about was beating Matthew's team once and catching balls that Matthew's friends threw at him.  Instant street cred for the little brother!

 So proud of these boys, and thankful for their friendships, and our wonderful church!

Fiesta Bowl! Our Arizona Adventure

The benefit of winning the Big 12 conference in football was an opportunity to play in a BCS bowl game.  It was the first time Baylor had ever played in one, and I'm sure wild horses could not have kept us away.  A few days after Christmas, we packed up the car and drove 16 hours to Phoenix, AZ. I hadn't been there in ages, and it was nice to enjoy a few days of sunny 75 degree weather, after such a cold start to winter at home.

I have traveled to 46 states, and seen so many national landmarks, but I had never seen the Grand Canyon.  Despite the fact that it was an additional 4 hour drive away, we seized our opportunity!  I loved how one side of the road was covered in pine trees and snow, and the other side was desert!  After being starved of beauty during our drive through west TX and New Mexico, I drank it all in.

We also enjoyed getting to see our favorite Baylor players getting ready for the game.  This is sweet Levi Norwood, who has come to Thomas' football games and encouraged Matthew in his football pursuits.  He also played Midway Middle School football! ;)

Our star wide receiver, Tevin Reece.

The day of the game was beautiful!  We headed over to the stadium and enjoyed the Tostidos Fiesta Bowl tailgate party.  The entire day was so much fun, so many fans showed up for the game.  Unfortunately, the team decided not to show up!  What a horrible game we played! Ugh!  Regardless of the performance, we had a great family getaway.  We hated that our miracle season ended so badly, but as they say....there's always next year!