Talk About Ideal...

(Once again, sorry about the picture quality, my cell phone has been dropped one too many times to deliver what it promised camera-wise when we got it).

Look at that sky! There's this light color blue to it....and something causing shadows...I think they call it the sun - and it's glorious! Granted, we didn't make it to even 60 degrees today, but I am so not complaining. Nobody else was either, as everywhere I went today it was remarked about. I'm guessing today was a banner day of sales at Home Depot or local nurseries (at least as far as Mondays go) as it just inspired getting out in the yard and planting some flowers. (And, yes, Lydia, I purchased some JB seed at Home Depot...I'll plan on spreading it on the back yard the day before we are expected to get rain again...which, I'm sure, will come all too soon!)

While the sunshine today was pretty darn close to ideal, that's not the point of this post. As I've eluded to before, Brayden has now become a one sport guy. He may consider going out for the school's track team next year (if it's not cut from the budget), but as for this year, it's football, period. That has opened up a lot of empty space for our family (especially when Mikayla's made a similar decision regarding just playing volleyball from here on out). It's also left a hole in terms of any conditioning for Brayden. John and him have "talked" about getting out and doing some running in the evenings, but at this point, it's still talk. =) Knowing next year's football season/team will be more competitive than ever with the weight limit being eliminated, I've been a bit concerned with Brayden not being prepared once the season comes - both physically as well as skill-wise.

Then, last night, as I was reading through the paper, I found an ad for a "Gridiron Academy" that will help athletes prepare in advance for football. On Monday and Tuesday evenings, from 5-7:00, 5th and 6th graders will meet up at Springfield High School to practice and condition. And, the best part, the "academy" is run by two former UO Football players, both of who went on to play for the NFL - Darrel Wright and Steve Smith. How cool is that?

Brayden was slightly reluctant. He has a cold (which I'm discovering I now have) - and, being the Riley that he is, sometimes it's more "cozy" to consider NOT having to try something new or the prospect of hard work and conditioning than just hanging out at home. But, we took him on over to the high school anyway, and as soon as I met Darrel - and took a gander at the other kids there, I started to feel like this is one of the most ideal scenarios we could have hoped for.

As it turned out, only five kids showed up today (the program started the first week of April). Two of the kids I recognized from classes I've subbed for. And, they were all about the same size as Brayden. So, two NFL players for five athletes....um, yeah!!! Not only that, but Brayden's skills in the footwork as well as the other drills was quite impressive (especially in comparison to the other four guys). He was continuously praised and, on a couple of occasions I heard "perfect" in description of what he did.

Let's just say, that if we were to paint the perfect possible scenario on what would benefit Brayden the most - the right blend of challenge, but not something so hard he'd dread - this is it! With the strength of playing ability on the Sheldon Pop Warner teams, Brayden is too often low man on the totem pole. Here, he's getting special attention and praise, thus increasing the confidence and desire to shine even more.

While it might be just a little more costly than we'd hope, we are able to pay each week at a time, so anytime we plan on being out of town this summer, or when mid-school week comes at Harlow, it will be no problem at all to miss out. Not to mention Monday and Tuesday are two great evenings to have him be doing something consistently.

This is kind of a long-winded post about something that probably doesn't sound like much at all, but it's one of those things that I consider an answer to a prayer that I didn't even really know how to pray about. God is good!!!!

(Brayden's the one running, Darrel is the big guy watching. I have no doubt that John will bring his camera soon to replace this cruddy pic with plenty of really good ones)

While we were hanging out, keeping an eye on what the program looked like, Mikayla and I did a little bit of volleyball practicing (which totally made her day). In addition, this might be one of the last pictures you'll see for a while of Mikayla in glasses. This morning, she got fitted for contacts and was able to demonstrate her capability of putting them in and taking them out for the gal at the office. Well done, sweetheart! Now, on any given day, the entire family could be in contacts - each a different brand and prescription....