It's starting to get cold here. It's rained more than 3' in the last 2 days and that's a big deal. So we got out the crock pot and I wanted to share one of my busy mom favorites with you.

Ingredients

• 2 pounds ground beef
• 2 15 oz cans kernel corn (drained)
• 2 15 oz cans pinto or kidney beans (drained)
• 2 15 oz cans stewed tomatoes
• 1 can Rotel Style Tomatoes
• 1 package taco seasoning mix
• 1 package Hidden Valley Original Buttermilk or Onion Soup Mix

Optional 

• 1 chopped onion
• 1 bell pepper chopped
• 2 15 oz cans Golden Hominy (optional)
• cheese for garnishment

Directions
Brown meat, onions and bell pepper. Drain.
Pour all ingredients into large pot and heat over medium to low heat on stove top for one hour, Serve with chips or crackers or even cornbread.

Today during worship we sang "Good Good Father" and like most Sundays I cried. Growing up, I never cried and after I had kids, I cry at everything - commercials, football - I cry. Typically on Sundays my husband or my sons lean around and stare at my face and ask, "Are you crying?! What's wrong?" Nothing is WRONG. I just cry. Nothing is necessarily sad even. I just cry.

This Sunday though I was sitting next to my son, who of course asked the typical, " Are you REALLY crying?" and on the other side was Mr. Williams. Mr. Williams has two kids. I work with one at Tech. I'm sure he had no clue that I cry every week or that touching me and showing compassion when I cry drives me nuts (I know, weird. Who does that). 

He was so kind and when we prayed, he put his hand on my back. I was thinking about my dad, who passed away this year. Here was this dad with two daughters, just like my dad, comforting me. I thought about God who was there to comfort me when my dad left. I was only 8 years old. Here He was again, sending me a father figure to comfort me... even one without a clue what was going on in my head. I thought about how I miss my dad terribly. I thought about my expectations of my dad and how no one could have lived up to what I expected. I was crazy about my dad. I wanted so much from him. I tried to will him to change.

Not until I was married with kids and after my dad had two open heart surgeries, that THE Father changed him. It was a swift and dramatic change. Frankly, the change was hard for me to take. I'd wanted him to love Jesus and live for Him for so long that when it happened and he started studying and praying and ... it was difficult. Waiting all those years for the man I wanted him to be, he became the man God wanted him to be so very abruptly. Good good father.... It's who you are.

Here, once you hit 4th grade or so, you can play 7 on 7 football. I honestly don't even know what that means, but the teams are coached by high school football players and they only play half the field. It's very up-beat and fast paced. The high schoolers/coaches hoop and holler and cheer for the boys. There are lots of hive fives and chest bumps. It's a lot of fun to watch. It was until today...

Once the temps in Texas drop to the 80's, it's a sign the fall is on its way. That a good thing. I love fall - a lot. I really like it... every thing about it.  The new school year is on its way, pumpkin everything comes back, the local corn maize is open... 

Being a boy mom in Texas bring fall to a whole new level. I have watched more football the last few weeks that I ever did growing up in a house with just my mom and sister. It's every night, all the time. However, this was my view of the 7 on 6 game today. wrapped in a blanket, huddled under an umbrella.

It's up to the coaches and players if the game stops or if they keep playing. They decided they were wet anyway and kept playing. The high school boys were freezing and didn't have to continue. They could have gone home, gotten warm, eaten a warm home cooked meal with their families, but they choose to make an amazing memory with these boys.

The parents scattered to get umbrellas and jackets and more blankets and reconvened quickly to watch our boys have the time of their lives. We lined up in along the edge of the field and watched as they slid around and couldn't hold on to the wet ball. The player on our team with glass couldn't see a thing. And they loved it.

Small town Texas football is a sight to behold. After two games on the road, the big day finally has arrived! After a summer of workouts, drills, and tournaments, it is finally time for my son to use all the skills he has learned on the football field, our football field at home in our town.

After 8 years of playing against the other neighborhood school teams, the 7th grade is finally together. The first game at home is a big one -and comes with a pep rally!  Football boys march in like middle school royalty around the gym giving high fives those student on the front rows of the bleachers that line the square. Dancing and chants and speeches accompanied by loud music and cheers from the middle school faithful. It was a sign to be hold - nothing like what I expected a middle school pep rally to look like. 

With our 7th grader being the oldest, his firsts are our firsts. By the time our 1st grader gets to middle school, we should be pro's. But this day, our first pep rally, I we had no idea what to expect. I arrived first. Nana picked up the youngest. They sat on the other side of the gym. My hubby can't find me and just finds a seat. The joy of being in a small town is that you are never without a friend close by. 

After the spirit competitions, awards for the best "Hip-Hop" dressed, and speeches from the athletes, we moved to the field. By game time it was a mere 90 degrees. Families gathered on the old rickety bleachers at the grass field behind the middle school. The visitors sat on one end and we sat other other, with only one set of bleachers at the middle school. Now that our boys have grown, parents have to move up a few rows to see the game over their heads. The days of sitting in our bag chairs watching them pull flags are over.

These boys are big and at times it seems the boys they are lined up against are even bigger. Sometimes it's all this momma can do to stay on the benches and not share my thoughts (brilliant and insightful as they may be) with those boys.  This day, it seems that they didn't need my advice...

The third game of the season and the first at home, the boys walked away with a 44-0 win.

There is something special about loosing that first tooth. It's been loose and wiggling for days. Every day we'd check it, just to see if it was "ready" to come out. Last night we finally tied string around it and when we pulled it, nothing happened. It popped a bit, but the stubborn tooth was still in.

My littlest man kept working and working on it until he started yelling, "It's out! It's out!" His eyes were a big a silver dollars. The shock and surprise of loosing his first tooth made the rest of the family run in to see what the commotion was about. 

The last Medley kid to loose his first tooth... what a fun milestone.