I don’t think it is a surprise to anyone that we are HUGE Gator fans around here!!  Along with being a Gator fans, we are also huge Tim Tebow fans.

Recently, we watched a special on Tim Tebow with our tween. It was about Tebow preparing for the NFL draft. It showed how much hard work he put into preparing for the draft. We continue to be so impressed by the incredible athlete and positive role model he is to our tween.

He recently filmed a commercial for FRS sports drinks. In the commercial, he talks about how people always told him he wasn’t good enough, fast enough or strong enough to be a quarter back. It is a really awesome commercial and quite inspiring .

As parents, we need to find these great role models for our tweens. The media is full of quite a few scum bags (in my opinion) that I find it so refreshing to find such a good person and athlete as a role model for my tween.

I hope that Tim Tebow continues to find success in his NFL career with the Denver Broncos.  I hope kids can look to him as an inspiration in their lives rather then half naked singers who teach them that partying and beauty are more important then a strong character and work ethic!!

Way to go Tim Tebow, keep up the success and being such a great role model in the lives of our children!!

Why is it that boys can sit and watch football for hours on end?  They don’t feel the need to have constant conversation…they bond while ‘doing’.   Toss the football around with my tween, play battleship with him or watch a Gators game with him.  That is all that he needs.

As much as I try to make myself, it kills me to sit through an entire football game.  As a Mom, I always have ten million things to do and I just can’t spend five hours on the couch on a Saturday!  But, I want to be a part of my tweens world.  So…….I yell at the tv with him while watching football and toss the football with him.  I play battleship and keep away with the soccer ball.  Are these my favorite things to do…?  Nope, I would rather be painting my nails or in my kitchen cooking.  Let’s just add that to the list of things we do for our kids.

Even though I don’t always enjoy playing catch, I know in those moments I am making priceless memories, building our relationship and teaching him to love and trust me!

Motherhood changes you, it teaches you unconditional love and teaches you to be selfless.  These years are going to go by fast.  I want to work as hard as I can to build a relationship with my tween NOW, so when those teenage years approach, we will have a very solid foundation and relationship.

Let the good time’s roll…..in this wonderful and complicated world of Motherhood!

What are some ways that you bond with your tween?

I hope everyone survived the rains this past week. With two “rain days” the boys and I were both home from school/work like so many of you. While I was not happy to be cooped up for a couple of days, I have to admit that I did enjoy the break from tennis and flag football. Our schedule is not jam packed, but being able to relax at home every night was a nice treat.

My Two Favorite Boys

It started Monday with the rain and no football. We all know what happened by Thursday….with school canceled it meant no football that night either and canceled tennis was not far behind on Friday. The football game on Saturday was even put off since the field was still too wet. We took advantage of the time off and had some fun over the past few days.

By the end of summer I was ready for school to start….ready for structure to our days and, dare I say it, a break from mom duty for a few hours a day. One month into school and I am already missing time with my boys. The rain days gave me some time with them to go out to lunch (and watch the Buckeyes) and to decorate the house for Halloween. With school and practices every week, there is little time left for stuff like that and I was happy to get some Jake and Sam time I would not otherwise have.

What about you? Do anything great during the bad weather?

The boys had a rough flag football game this weekend. They lost 49 to 7. It was not pretty, but I will say they were excited about that one touchdown What really bothered them more was the way the other team (and coaches) conducted themselves. Even with their coach on the field with them, the other team had no problem calling our kids names and doing some major trash talking.

After the game I explained to the boys that sometimes in sports people trash talk to upset the other team. I was met with “Is that when you talk about garbage?” After I had a good laugh, I realized how happy I was that my 6 and 7 year olds didn’t know what that was. Never in a million years would they dream of looking into another kid’s eyes and calling them things like “loser” or “stupid.” I was a little sad that they were being thrust into such a grown up world already.

I am not sure why the other coach allowed his kids to behave this way. It might have had something to do with the 7 dads from his team all sitting on bench as “assistant coaches” barking orders at the kids. Whatever the reason, it was wrong and should not have been allowed. Jake and Sam will face more talk like that if they stick with sports and even outside of sports, but at that moment I was really happy to have two boys who were still innocent enough to think waste management was involved

Have you run into kids who behave poorly at sporting events? What have you told your kids?

Fall is quickly approaching here in North Carolina!!  Fall makes me so HAPPY!  By now, I am done with the sunshine and the swimming pool.  It was a great summer, but quite frankly, I was over it!

For my tween, fall means college football!  He was able to go to Florida to watch BYU play FSU.  College football is just one of the activities he loves about fall.  Here are his top ten activities that he is looking forward to this year.

1.  Taking a trip to Mikes Farm to go on a hayride and pick out his favorite pumpkin.

2.  Halloween – choosing and putting together a fun costume to go trick-or-treating in.

3.  Candy Corn and all the other yummy treats that go along with fall.

4.  Gathering together with his friends and family to celebrate Thanksgiving and help out with the pie making and turkey carving.

5.  Long Saturdays on the couch watching college football.

6.  Chilly Saturdays running around the soccer field trying to stay warm when the weather turns chilly.

7.  Raking up big piles of leaves to run and jump into, only to rake them up again and do it all over again.

8.  Going for walks and bike rides WITHOUT dripping in sweat.

9.  Watching ‘Star Wars the Clone Wars’ on Friday nights.

10.  Cleaning and cutting out jack-o-lantern’s to display for Halloween.

As you can see, both my tween AND I are more then ready for the fall to get here.  I know it is right around the corner and I am ready….come on Fall!!

What are some of you and your tweens favorite things to do in the Fall?