Are You Ready for Some Football?!

Who needs the NFL?

Welcome to NYS Football!

Our son Bretty plays for the Bobcats and has been practicing three days a week for over two hours a day for the last month. On a beautiful, sunny 71 degree day, so began the regular season. And Bretty couldn't wait to run out there...



Here he is on the kickoff return team to start the game...



Bretty was originally going to play offensive guard, but during a recent practice Bretty had a particularly good day laying a hit on someone. Assistant Coach Price pointed at him and said, "defense."



The Bobcats scored and Bretty finally got his chance to line up. The good news is that his favorite color is red so he wore a red long sleeved shirt under his jersey. He was the only one with red sleeves so he's really easy to spot. Here Bretty is in a three-point stance at left tackle...



Look at him drive his man back at the right side of this picture...



And though it's hard to tell, Bretty is the man on the left (number 22, like Emmit Smith) gang tackling the ball carrier.



At halftime they all looked tired but listened intently to the coaches...



While the rest of the Bicoy clan found other ways to occupy themselves...



Malia found David's Archie comic book just too much to ignore...



But then game went on. Just look at Bretty engage his man...



And at the end, the celebration began...



The Bobcats won their first game, 27 to 12.

The coaches told them to enjoy it until Tuesday, but then it's back to work for next Saturday's game.

Who misses the NFL? Well, fantasy football, maybe.

Alyssa's 15th Birthday!

During the last posting a few weeks back, we posited that "we're not THAT old..."

Well, perhaps we are wrong.

Today marks the 15th birthday of our eldest child, Alyssa.

And in the grand tradition of our home, each person selects the "cake" of their choosing with which to begin the celebration.

Alyssa wanted a really big cookie...



Of course, the laptop she received at Christmas from us was also her birthday present (which was part of the deal!), but her brothers and sisters did pitch in to pick her up something...



Sims 2: Nightlife Expansion Pack -- which is an add on to an existing computer simulation she loves. What I can't figure out, of course, is how is it when Alyssa's brothers and sisters pitch in to get her something, the pitching comes out of my wallet.

Well, here is the fabulous cookie and frosting that Cari so lovingly put on for Alyssa...



But apparently it wasn't sweet enough. Alyssa wanted more frosting! I suppose with her sweet sixteenth birthday just one year away, maybe she's trying to sweeten up - so we added a little decorative frosting to her cookie and ice cream...



We have a great picture of Alyssa taking a big bite, but we promised we wouldn't put her face on our website in any picture with her eating.

Hence...



If not the spirit of the law, at least we obey the letter.

Kekoa, however, begged us to take his picture with a cookie in his mouth...



And so it is with another birthday in our home.



Here she is, 6 months away from her driver's permit.

Oh boy. I can't wait.