Monthly Archives: September 2010

This week was a CRAZY week in the health deparment.  Every single one of our kids was sick at one point or another.  Angela and I have escaped the bugs so far and are feeling very blessed right now!

It’s tough for the kids to miss school around here.  One day and it seems like they’re a week behind.  Well, hopefully this week will be it for a long time!

Tonight, I went to Fall Junior Parent night at Metea and “became informed” about all the information regarding standardized testing, post-secondary planning, and all kinds of other “getting ready to empty your wallet for college” stuff.  🙂  It’s really hard to believe that Sarah is going to be a senior next year, graduate, and go off to college.  She was JUST BORN YESTERDAY!  YIKES!!!!!!  🙂

While I was learning about how I would have to spend my money, Angela was off learning how to save money!  🙂  As mentioned in other blog posts, she is BIG into this black-belt couponing suff.   She got a call from a friend who told her that the lady who is the “authority” on couponing in our area, Jill Cataldo, was going to be giving a seminar in our area.  Naturally, Angela jumped right on it and the two attended together.  It still amazes me at how much we can save by doing this.  Check out Jill’s web site:  http://www.jillcataldo.com.  It is geared toward the Chicago area, but it has tips that anyone can use.  The first month that we did the coupon stuff, we got over $1,000 in food for under $250!  Crazy!  🙂  It really helps our budget!  🙂

Zach played his second game today and had a great time!  They could have won, but the weather was bad and they ended up having to cancel.  They’ll scrimmage with the team next Tuesday, but the game won’t count.  🙁  Zach really didn’t care, however.  🙂  He is starting at Center now and really enjoys snapping the ball all the time.  🙂

Ben wants to be just like his big brother when he grows up!  He’s always wanting to wear Zach’s football uniform and helmet.  It’s actually really funny but adorable as well!  🙂

Today, Angela and Ben flew  home!  It was great to go pick them up at the airport and see Ben light up when he saw me!  That kind of thing makes life worthwhile!  We tried to have the house as clean as possible for Angela (although we had some definite improvement to make) so she would be happy!  They were zombies when they got home, so we all went right to bed!

Welcome home Angela and Ben!

Tonight was Zachary’s first football game!  He was a little nervous but VERY excited!  We all went over to Knoch Park to watch.

When we got there, we saw the team that they were going to play…  The Browns.  They were huge!  It looked as if all but a couple were held back a few years.  Most of the kids on the team were at least 2-3 inches (if not more) taller than our kids, and outweighed our kids by at least 10-15 pounds.  There was one kid that was at least 50 pounds heaver than Zach!  We as parents were all a little nervous that our kids were going to get squashed, but we didn’t tell the kids as they seemed really excited and we didn’t want to make them any more nervous than they already were.

The kids had  a big paper banner that they broke through, with cheerleaders cheering on each side.  It was quite official…

The kids played their hearts out and actually did really well!  Zach got paired against the biggest guy on the team (the one that weighed at least 50 pounds more than him).  We were nervous about how he would do against a guy that was so much bigger, but he did really well!  The big kid was slower than Zach, so Zach got some good blocks on him.  Zach couldn’t push him out of the way, but he could stop him and that was all that was needed!

In the pic above, Zach is on the right (in orange) directly across from the really big kid.  Not a very even match-up, is it?  🙂

Zach didn’t get much of a breather (him above sitting on the bench while the other team has the ball) because the offense was out on the field most of the time.  🙂

In the end, our team lost by 1 touchdown in the last minutes of the game.  Final score was 35-28.  The kids had no reason to be sad as they really played well against a team that was so much bigger.  Turns out the other team didn’t play by the official league rules either, so our coaches let the league know for future games.  They had a tall, fast kid playing both ways, and they had their team running through the offensive line between the center and guard to get to the quarterback and running backs faster (illegal in this league at this age because they are slow at snapping the ball and getting more experience).

Great experience for the kids and at the end, they all got Broncos cups with candy, a football key chain, and other  and stuff in them, cupcakes, and bottles of Gatorade.  This was probably just as exciting for the kids as playing the game!  🙂

Great game Broncos!

Today, Mom and Dad Hobbs had their mission “non-farewell” where they spoke in Sacrament Meeting.  They did a great job and lots of family and friends were there to support them.  It’s hard to believe that in less than a month, they will be in Tokyo!

They will do a wonderful job and be faithful servants.  It’s also crazy that Mark is now in Mexico and working his tail off doing a great job!  As normal, it is a huge adjustment for him as Spanish doesn’t sound anything like what he learned in the MTC!  🙂

While Angela was there, she took a bunch of other family pictures, some of which are below.  They are of Ralph and Diane Burns (Moms Brother and Sister-in-Law), Susan and Arlen Mounteer (Mom’s Sister and Brother-in-Law), and them.  She also took some pictures of Mom with her three girls.  🙂

Angela and I are very excited as we are going to go to Tokyo sometime late spring/early summer to visit Mom and Dad on their mission.  It will be a great experience!  🙂

Today was a pretty busy day!  We miss Angela and Ben and wish they were here!

Today we cleaned house (much needed), and then took Zach for his team and individual football pictures.  We put his jersey on for the first time today, and the thing is so big, it goes down almost to his knees.  When you tuck it in, you can hardly see his number so we have to do some tricky moves to get it to show.  🙂  I actually put his shirt on and it FIT!  It’s a little tight and short, but that’s how big it is!  🙂  He looked so cool in his full uniform (although he didn’t like his long blue socks that go almost to the top of his legs so they don’t fall down).  🙂

After we got the pictures done, we hurried home so Sarah and Brittany could go to a quad-stake dance in Schaumburg.  They had a great time and danced with a lot of people!

Out in Idaho today, Ben was learning to do a little gardening!  He went outside with his Grandma and did all kinds of harvesting.  He had a blast and loved getting dirty!  He was so cute doing this!  Angela took a lot of pictures!

Keep up the great work Ben!  You’re a great help to your grandma!  We will love to see you work this hard when you come home to Illinois!  🙂

Ben had a GREAT day today!  He visited Grandpa Hobbs at work and got to ride in the loader with him.  He climbed all over the machinery and was in heaven!  The first things he said when he called home were “dozer” and “loader” as loud has he could!  It was really funny!

He got a small metal loader that he loves, and told me he wants a big one!  That will be a little steep in price and he can’t even drive yet, so we have some time to save up!  🙂

Today, Angela and  Ben flew out to Idaho to visit Mom and Dad Hobbs and to support them in their “Mission Farewell” this coming Sunday.  We will miss them a TON and can’t wait for them to get back!  Even Ben called and was sad to not be here with us!  He is having fun, but misses us too!  🙂