Samuel's freshman Rams tackle football season

Last spring Drew and I were asked to let Samuel play tackle football.  My initial reaction was "no way!"  Even Samuel said no when first asked and I was super surprised by that.  Well, our friends were persistent and continued to ask throughout the spring.  Drew and I discussed what we felt would be best for Samuel and his love of football.  Samuel had a football plan and decided quickly if I said yes, he wanted to play tackle.  But it was ultimately our decision when we allowed him to begin tackle.  That is so much exposure to potential injury on his little body and my momma heart was nervous about the risks.  Obviously I finally relented and registered Samuel for Rams freshman tackle football.  In addition to Samuel playing, Drew was asked to help coach.  To say that we became a true football family was an understatement.

Conditioning for football kind of began in June.  It officially began in July.  Samuel missed a lot of workouts because of our summer travel including a scrimmage.  Thankfully his coach had confidence in Samuel's ability and dedication to game.  Samuel received his game jersey in August.  What a happy boy on that day!

The first game was cancelled because of weather which was a huge bummer.  So, instead of playing the first official game in August, it did not happen until after Labor Day.  Samuel played safety and occasionally linebacker on defense.  He played on the return team as a return player.  He occasionally played on the kick-off team.  He played tight end, wide receiver, and very infrequently running back on offense.  He was crazy good at blocking and running the jet sweep.

The team had awesome coaches.  It was a great group of five and between them it was a tight knit, well coached, and well prepared team. Samuel's team lost two games during the regular season.  They should have lost only one, but the boys learned early that referees don't always make the right call.  That game at Tomball was a hard loss to take.  Samuel loves to win.  Who doesn't?  But, he learned how to be a graceful loser in public this season. He worked through each loss at home. 

Between me and Emma we probably took over a thousand pictures during the season.  Despite all my reservations, it was just so much fun.  Being a huge football fan, I could not help myself when it came to cheering and supporting the team.  I wanted to document every second.

Prayer before the Super Bowl

He was co-captain for the first game and the Super Bowl

Look at that block!!

Being a safety, Samuel did a lot of running around, but did not see tons of action.  Freshman teams don't pass tons.  I got lots of shots of Samuel wanting to be in the action.  It will come with time.  He has a super solid football foundation!

The mommas and their boys....playoff victory #1

Homecoming and our first mum...crazy Texas tradition

Samuel's a hard worker.  He always wants to be better.  He watches football all weekend long to learn.  He simply loves football and all that is involved in the sport.  He never complained about having to go to practice.  He did not complain at practice.  He played hurt.  Whatever a coach asked him to do he did.  I know that sounds like I am a bragging parents and I am.  However, it was just the truth of Samuel this season.  He loved every second of his Rams experience.

So, after the regular season the playoffs began.  Win and move on or lose and the season is over.  The first playoff game was against Tomball.  Tomball was one of the two regular season loses.  It was a hard fought game, but the Rams were a well conditioned team.  They out-played Tomball in the second half and won!  Round two it was!! 

Emma came to every game except one.  She was an awesome supporter of her brother!

The second playoff game was against the Oilers.  The Rams lost to them in the regular season too.  The Oilers were undefeated and there was no way the Rams were expected to win that game.  Well, according to some people the Rams were certainly going to lose.  The Rams won!  Super Bowl bound baby and it was such a moment.  I may have cried a little.  I was shaking as the last minutes were ticking off the clock.  It was just crazy and so exciting.  Samuel had never been happier!

So, the season that began in June (kind of) and officially in July continued one more week.  The Super Bowl would be played November 20th at Klein Memorial Stadium.  That is one of the local high school stadiums.  Seriously, as an 8 year old Samuel was going to play a football game in a high school stadium that seats 8,500 people.  Obviously, that many people did not come to the game, but what an honor!  He and his team and his coaches were in the Super Bowl!

The Rams beat the Saints in the regular season pretty handily.  The Rams knew they could win.  Honestly, they were so well conditioned.  The team had good skill players.  Players who didn't quite get it earlier in the season were playing great football.  It was just clicking at the right time.  All that was left in the season was 32 minutes of football.

The Rams won!  I cried again!  Samuel got the biggest trophy of his life!  I was and still am so proud of this team and the coaches.  Just wow!!!  So much pride for Samuel and his team!

Samuel and his best friend/linebacker/running back Trey

It's hard to express how thankful I am that I gave in and signed Samuel up for tackle.  It really was me who was the hold out.  I would have hated Samuel missing this experience.  It was a once in the lifetime opportunity.  I pray he has this experience again, but at least he's had it once!  Watching daddy and son on the sidelines....no words.

Our October

Our fall was so crazy busy.  Samuel played tackle football and fall baseball which meant he had to stop piano.  That was sad for all of us, but we are planning to begin lessons again in January.  Elena began taking a swim class.  Thankfully that was only one time a week.  Emma and Jonah did not have competitions this fall, but they continued to practice four days a week.  They also had cello and guitar lessons.  Busy!

Samuel playing tackle football was a big deal for us and that will be its own post.  It was a fun month of learning to lose and how to be a better player and team.  He practiced three nights a week and had games Saturday morning.

This was the first season Samuel played for the Dillers.  With football being his main priority he attended as many baseball practices as possible.  Most Mondays and Thursdays Samuel would go directly from one practice to the other.  His dedication to both sports was pretty amazing.  Playing baseball this fall was a good experience since it was the first time for kid pitch.  Whew!  What a difference from coach pitch!  There were ten games this fall with five double-headers on Sundays.  Samuel is learning to pitch, but it's not his favorite thing yet.  He played centerfield for every game.  Baseball will resume again in January. 

In between managing all the kids sports and their schedules, I managed to run a half marathon.  My friend and I went to College Station for a quick overnight.  We had fun. The race could have gone better for sure, but I can say I finished a race inside Kyle Field (the Texas A&M football stadium).  That was pretty cool!

 I went to the Luke Bryan concert with my friend Christina.  It was a super fun night!

Jonah learned to played a Chris Young song in October which made him actually like to practice.

Emma and I did some volunteering.  We organized a wreath craft at the annual NCL craft day.  That was a crazy task for me since I am not crafty at all!  It is a challenge to volunteer lots because of her gymnastics schedule, but we enjoy our time together when we have it!

Of course October means Halloween and it was a big event as usual.  We don't carve pumpkins because the heat and humidity cause the pumpkins to rot within a day or two.  So, we paint them and the kids love creating a masterpiece of a different kind.

Jonah decided he wanted to be Darth Vader.  Emma was Holy Guacamole...so creative!  Elena was Rey and Samuel was a camo ninja.  Elena decided to be Rey when she learned two of her best friends were going to be BB8.  She wanted to go with the Star Wars theme and I guess Jonah did too.  We trick or treated with friends and had a fun Monday night. 

The other big event in October was Field Day.  This was Jonah's last field day at Haude.  It was a crazy hot day, but the kids had lots of fun.