Let Them Be Little

This weekend was filled with a lot of football.  Saturday was all about USC football with the boy.  We ventured out to the desert (aka Riverside) to hang out with some friends to watch the Steelers vs. Raiders game.  But what I took out of this weekend wasn't that I'm a really good girlfriend to go watch all of these football games (which I do enjoy, by the way).  No, what I realized more and more was what kind of kids I want.

I realize I might have lost you there.  There's not a clear connection between football and children, especially when you throw in a tailgate or two along the way.  But, my dear friends, let me show you how this is done.

While watching USC win, there were two brothers sitting in front of us.  I'd peg them at about ages five and three (or younger) and they were THE cutest.  Both were geared up in USC red and gold from head to toe; my favorite were the ears sticking out from under the too-big baseball caps.  I was skeptical of the parents at first.  The mom had her nose pierced like a bull and had a half-shaved head with crazy-big earrings.  I totally judged.  But the boys put my judgement to shame.  They were extremely well-behaved and I could tell that they genuinely loved each other by their actions.  The older brother would push the little brother back into his seat if he got too close to the edge.  They shared a water bottle.  The older boy pointed out the airplane because he knew his brother would get a kick out of it.  They didn't cry.  They didn't scream.  They weren't running around.  But they were still happy, funny, friendly kids.  So I have to give mad props to the parents for the way those boys were acting; I'm sure it's not easy raising two young boys.

Take-away lesson number one: Raise kids who know how to behave in public but still have fun.

On Sunday I had the pleasure of hanging out with two little girls who are six and three.  They reminded me so much of me and my sister; they played really, really well together.  They spoke the same language and fed off of each other's enthusiasm.  They were so creative!  At one point, I found myself in a "doctor's waiting room" with an un-diagnosed illness.  After that, we were at a crazy dance party.  And then, of course, they had to take me to the yoga show.  

My favorite part of the day, though, was when they were running around in the backyard (which was mostly dirt and rocks) barefoot.  They weren't worried about their feet getting dirty or stepping on painful stones.  They were having too much fun showing me their chickens and swing set.  This struck a chord in me.  Most of our backyard growing up was gravel and although the first couple of steps out there always stung a bit, once your feet got used to it, the darkening sky at the end of the night was the only thing holding you back from a whole day of playing.  

Take-away lesson number two: Teach girls that it is perfectly acceptable to be dirty and running barefoot is freeing. 

These are obviously only two things that I hope to instill in my children.  But it's so good to see that children can grow up without iPads or distractions from their parents (which I didn't see at all this weekend).  Kids can be kids.  That's what I want. 

CSU, CSU!

That is all.

Ok, and this.  

For all you Ram fans out there who don't have the privilege of living in the great state of Colorado, and you still want to watch the big game, check out the CSU Alumni Association's list of Hometown Huddles.  These are groups of Ram fans in various locations around the country who get together to show their colors (green and gold, of course).

Fight On You Stalwart Ram Team

It's college football season, peeps!

And, this upcoming weekend is the Rocky Mountain Showdown, which pits in-state rivals against each other.  My beloved Colorado State University Rams take on the University of Colorado Buffaloes on Saturday.  This is a long-standing rivalry between the two schools and gives the winning team bragging rights within the state.  CU won last year (boo) and CSU won two years ago (yay!).  So, to get everyone pumped for the big game, here's our fight song.

Man, that's a great fight song!

I remember going to my first CSU football game as a freshman.  They were giving out free t-shirts to the first 500 or so students, so of course, we had to be there early.  Because we were newbies, we showed up WAY too early and ended up hanging out in the empty stadium while everyone else tailgated. Wow, we were nerds.  But hey, we got our free shirts!

Another staple of CSU football games is the singing of Fum's Song.  Thuman "Fum" McGraw played was a great football player for CSU and became one of its athletic directors after an illustrious football career for the Detroit Lions.  His song goes like this:

"I'll sing you a song of college days, and tell you where to go.
Aggies, where your knowledge is, and Boulder to spend your dough.
C.C. for your sissy boys, and Utah for your times, 
D.U. for your ministers, and drunkards School of Mines.
Don't send my boy to Wyoming U. a dying mother said. 
Don't send him to old Brigham Young, I'd rather see him dead.
But send him to our Aggies, it's better than Cornell.
Before I'd see him in Boulder, I'd see my son in hell!"

It should be noted that when CSU was first founded back in 1870, it was known as the Agricultural College of Colorado (hence the Aggies reference).  The name of the university has since been changed to Colorado State University, but in reference to it's agricultural heritage, we've been known to say, "Go Aggies!"  The school has also started a big push to remembering the history of CSU and every year, for the Ag Day football game, people wear the old school colors: pumpkin orange and alfalfa gold.

And then, how could anyone forget the famed CSU trombone suicide routine?!  The crowd goes absolutely CRAZY when the band busts this out in the middle of their marching routine.

Being part of something bigger and feeling like you are a part of a great community is awesome.  CSU taught me this and this week is big for us.  The Rams are going into the Showdown 2-0 and the Buffs...well, they're 0-2!!  I don't want to jinx anything, so all I'll say is, "Here we go Rams, here we go!"