Proud Mother

As a parent, you have many times that you want to burst with pride.  I find myself in that spot almost every single day!  Recently, Colton received his very first college scholarship.  He entered an essay contest and was competing against many seniors.  I was surprised and elated when we got word that he in fact won!
I know that this will be the first of many, but there is just something about your first!

(Pictured from left to right:  Alex Schindler, Rachel (girl winner), David Hoffmann (Colton's coach) me, Colton, Jack and Scott Kerlin)

NOVEMBER 2011

I wanted to share with you his essay... And before you all comment, I helped him with punctuation and a few transitions, but this was HIS story.....

November 7, 2011

To:          Alex Schindler – American Eagles Soccer Club

From:    Colton Huie

Re:         Scholarship Application

Dear Scholarship Committee,

Like most kids, I was exposed to several different sports and activities as a young child.  My parents were convinced that I was to be a baseball player.  After all, that was their favorite sport!  In fact, my great-grandfather played for the New York Yankees in the 1937 World Series as a pitcher.  His teammates included Lou Gehrig and Joe Dimaggio.  My parents to this day, say I can pitch a left-handed curve ball like no other and that if any of the High School coaches saw it they would drool.  They had visions of box seats at the World Series and my picture on the Wheaties box!  I had a different passion and that was SOCCER.  In my book, Baseball was boring and had no action.  I just didn’t see what my parents saw in baseball.  So at the ripe old age of 8, I traded my baseball bat and glove for a full time pair of cleats and shin guards.  I have never looked back and neither have my parents.  Well, after they completed their 12 step program to give up baseball!  Don’t get me wrong, my parents supported me whole-heartedly in anything I did.  In fact, they cheered for me after every goal I scored.  My mom acted as team mom for every team and is still acting as manager for my club team.  I am so grateful for their support. 

From the ages of 4 years old thru 9 years old, I played for the recreational soccer team the Gators as a forward.  During our final season as a recreational team, we won the TOC championship and in the same season we won the National Indoor Championship title.  In fact, during the finals of the TOC, we found ourselves tied at the end of OT.  We had to go into kicks from the mark to determine the winner.  I was the last one to kick and if mine went in, we would win.  No pressure right????  I would be lying if I told you I wasn’t nervous.  My stomach was full of butterflies and I remember as I took the walk up to the mark, I knew my teammates were counting on me.  I took the shot and it went in… The next few minutes were something I will never forget.  My teammates, family and coach cheering, jumping up and down!  We had just one the TOC!  My mom was crying, she said they were happy tears and that she never doubted me for a second!  The reason I tell this story is that moment gave me the confidence to handle any stressful situation.  All I have to do is focus and believe that anything is possible.  I know that even in life, I have the same support and love around me and that gives me the confidence to soar. 

The next step for our group of boys was to begin to try and find a club that fit our needs.  We found our home with the DFW Tornados/American Eagles and have never looked back.  Yes, we have had fair share of wins and losses and ups and downs, but we have also been able to hold our heads high because we have always had strong ethics and high integrity - something that was expected of us all by our parents, coaches and club.  I’ve learned that at the end of the day, your life is not to be measured by your win/loss record but rather how you handle yourself in between.  When we lost – I knew there would be another game and I chose not to let a loss or bad game weigh heavy on my heart.  I am forever grateful to the DFW Tornados/American Eagles for blessing me with two amazing coaches – Victor Medina and David Hoffmann.  These coaches couldn’t be more different, however they are very much alike in one key area…. they both believe that respecting each other and acting with high morals/integrity is very important.  I have learned so much from both men and they will always hold a special place in my heart.  They have helped mold me into the man I am becoming.

The next chapter in my soccer career began when I entered high school.  Up until this point, I had only one soccer coach in my life. I found myself having to prove myself to a new coach that knew nothing about me.  I was a 14 year old competing for a spot on the varsity team.  I was told the chances of me making the varsity team were slim to none.  That only motivated me to be better.  When it came time to announce the teams, my name was on the varsity list.  The coach pulled me aside and said, “Colton you have made the varsity squad, but I want to make it clear, you will not see the field much”.  I was ok with that because I knew in my heart that I WOULD see the field.  The high school team played in several pre-season tournaments.  The coach told me that he had plenty of forwards so during a tournament, the coach put me in as a defender.  He put me up against the top scoring forward in our district.  I knew this was my chance to shine and I did just that.  I shut down this player and he did not score a goal while I was defending him.  After that, I was a started in every game.  After the end of the season, I was again pulled into the coach’s office and was told that as a Freshman, I made 1^st team All District.  To make it even more special, he told me that I was one of only 3 Freshman in the district to be given that honor.  I called home immediately to tell my mother, who again cried tears of joy.  During our soccer banquet, I was given the award for Mr. 110%.  This award is special because it is something that your peers determine.  This award is given to the person that works the hardest and never complains.  I felt like that was the ultimate compliment to be given such an award during my freshman year.  I credit this back to my club coaches who expected 110% at every practice and game.

During my freshman year, I was also introduced to our new club coach, David Hoffmann.  Again, I found myself having to earn my spot.  Coach Hoffmann only knew me as a forward, however at this point, I was truly relishing my position as a defender.  My mother invited Coach Hoffmann to a high school game and he got to see first-hand my performance as a defender.  The next practice, he moved me to defender and I have never looked back.  Under the guidance of Coach Hoffmann, our team has risen from the mid-pack of D3 to the Top of D2 (standings as of Fall 2011).  It is funny, even after all these years of soccer, I have never grown tired of practices, games or tournaments.  I continue to be inspired by my coaches and teammates.

Who would have thought that a sport could have taught me so much and added so much to my life.  Soccer has shown me that I must be responsible for my actions on and off the pitch.  I had to learn how to balance my priorities – My God, family, school work and soccer.  I am proud to say that I have been successful in managing my priorities so that in each area I can stand proud and tall and know that I have acted with integrity and pride.  My actions are such that God would be proud, my family is so very important to me and I know they are proud. I am on the honor roll at school and take many Pre-AP classes and in soccer I know that my teammates can count on me.  I am known as the Perry Como of defense.  That means that I am calm, cool and collected in any situation and that I get the job done…

It may sound cliché, but soccer has taught me many valuable life lessons:

Responsibility

Accountability

Sportsmanship

Importance of team work

Respect

High morals

How to handle stressful situations

Endurance

Integrity

Community involvement

As I look forward to beginning my college career, I’m excited about starting another chapter in my life.  This scholarship would help me so much in that my parents have spent thousands of dollars on my club soccer dues.  It would mean the world to me to help offset any cost of college and I know they would be so proud and appreciative if I was lucky enough to be chosen for this honor.

I hope that you will consider me for the honor of this scholarship.  If chosen, you can count on me to carry on the Mr. 110% in every area of my collegiate career.  I will strive to make a difference in the lives of others by leading by example, maintaining a strong balanced approach to life and through my continued community involvement.  Every morning I am told – Make good choices, make good grades and makes someone’s day along the way.  I can assure you that if given this prestigious scholarship, I will continue to cascade what I have learned into the lives of others. 

Thank you for your consideration.  I would be forever grateful. 

Kindest Regards,

Colton Huie

Did I mention that I was one proud Momma......

Kendall Greatest Hits - Volume I Child -v- Woman

As any parent knows - your children give you so much to laugh about over the years and you might think.... I will NEVER forget this... it is entirely too funny to forget.  Well, as the sands of the hourglass continue fall, so does our ability to recall anything and everything.  So for prosperity sake - I want to document all the hilarious things my children do that make me giggle - specifically Kendall for this first edition.....This may parlay into more than one greatest hit....

Kendall has always done things on her terms.  She came into the world on her terms (thats another story) and continues to live her life the same way.  Gotta love that about her.  She has always known which buttons to push, when to push them and exactly what combination will cause me to launch into orbit.  She is powerful like that and even my super momma powers can't stop her!

Kendall was about 4 years old and we were having one of our "moments".  I had officially had it with something she was doing and I decided that I was going to take control of this situation and for once use my super momma powers to conquer her evil empire...... I'll let you decide who won this one...

Me:  Child!!!  If you don't stop that I'm gonna drop kick you thru the goal posts of life!

Kendall:  (Hands on hips- Head cocked- index finger waving in the hair) Woman!  don't call me child!!

Me:  (completely shocked and almost speechless) I came back with the best line ever.....Don't call me woman!  (that outta show her)

Kendall:  I won't call you woman if you don't call me child - my name is Kendall Diane Huie the first one!! 

Well heck... what do I say to that... All I could do is laugh... Jack is watching this from a far, laughing so hard he can hardly see straight... Here is how it went down in the official scorebook...

Momma - 0
Kendall - 100

Dang it.. there is always next time.... and I can assure next time has come and gone many, many times and I am STILL waiting on my first victory.

Gotta love me some Kendall

Spring has sprung!!!

That can only mean one thing!  My spring has sprung.... I'm destined for a few months of staring out the window wishing I was frolicking in the sunshine!  There is just something about sunshine that warms you from the inside out....

The scent of freshness is intoxicating and sends me into a total and complete tailspin!  I want it... I want sunshine and spring time NOW!! 

Ok - enough of the flowery and spring time stuff...err I mean bluff... lets get real.... spring time means only one thing.... (insert scary music)

We are that much closer to swimsuit season!  (insert scream here)  yes... I'm starting to hyperventilate - I use the excuse of needing sunshine - but in reality I need the sunshine to tan the fat that became VERY white during the winter months.  Everyone knows that tan fat is so much prettier than white fat!   I rest my case

I'm also realizing that I'm winding down in the years left in my ability to rock a bikini...  yes.. I said ROCK people!  All you young-ins that are reading this.... forget about your biological clock ticking... you need to worry about your bikini clock.... It ticks much faster... Which leads me back to a story I want to share and I hope the parties don't mind...

Ok - so back in the day (pre-baby = pre-stretch marks) I went swimsuit shopping with my mother and my Aunt Peggy.  We all scoured the racks in hopes of finding the perfect suit.... We all piled into one BIG dressing room with high hopes and dreams that we would rock the swimsuit.  There were tops, bottoms, boobs, jiggly middles and lots giggles scattered throughout the dressing room.  I remember laughing hysterically at my mother and Aunt.... I actually had the nerve to point and giggle...they glared at me as if to say "oh no you dent" All they said is "YOUR TIME IS COMING"... Of course I was young and thought my abs, legs and boobs would look like they did FOREVER!  I mean, come on!  No one told me that when I had kids, my boobs would meet a new friend called gravity and my tummy would have this magical train track appear under your belly button!!!  What the hell!! 


Now when I go into a dressing room to try on a swimsuit, I am transported back to that day, but the laughter I hear is my own - Laughing at how white fat looks so bad and laughing at how I laughed at them so long ago and now I am laughing at myself..

I guess its a good thing to laugh at yourself...

Lesson
1.  Tan fat looks much better than white fat (refer to picture above)
2.  You have a bikini clock like it or not
3.  NEVER point and laugh in the dressing room......

Love / Hate

Ok, I've lived my life now for XX years (I won't bore you with the details of how old I am... I'll let you just think I'm 28 again...)... and what I have noticed is this......
You either love me, or you hate me... there is no in between.  Both sides are equally passionate about the love or the hate. 

I have met people in the work place, soccer world and the grocery store who for whatever reason, instantly hate me with a passion.... No matter how hard I try to "kill 'em with kindness" or try to trap them with sugar, it does NOT work.  For years, I have fretted over this, prayed about it and tried unsuccessfully to fix those relationships. 

So, as part of the new me..... I've decided to let them all go.  They do not deserve the privilege of my friendship and therefore shall not have it. Here is my message to you....

I have decided to focus on the people that do love me with all their might... and I must say, this has been a freeing moment for me!  How exilerating to use the energy that was once reserved for fixing relationships to be used on the people that have loved me as much as I have loved them.

Wow!  If I'd only been this smart years ago!  I would have less grey hair! To all of those that love me just the way I am......

To all those that don't

I love the new me!!!  In my new Tee...... Tee-Hee!

I do love Soccer!

Those that know me, know that I have fallen in love with the sport of soccer.  Yes, I fought it tooth and nail because soccer was not a sport in Texas.  I mean come on, in Texas the sports go in this order - Football, football, football, baseball, basketball, golf, tennis and then way at the end of the list after badmitten was soccer.

As I parent, I was determined that Colton was going to be a baseball meca.  He is left handed, can throw the heck out of the baseball, can knock it out of the park plus he had the genes from a professional baseball player.  His biological great-grandfather played baseball for the New York Yankees with Lou Gehrig and Joe Demaggio.  For you trivia buffs that will check this out, he played in the 1937 World Series.  I have signed bats and baseballs to go along with it. 

During the off season of baseball one year, Colton wanted to play soccer.  I can't even remember how it happened, but we signed him up.  Little did we know that this small act would change our lives FOREVER.

It didn't take long for Colton to assess that Baseball was a slow moving game.  He didn't enjoy sitting in the dugout waiting for his turn to bat.  Soccer, unlike baseball, has very little slow time and when you did get to sit and rest you welcomed the chance to catch your breath.  Colton decided that baseball was not for him when he was 8 years old and told us that he wanted to only play soccer.  Jack and I both were devastated.  What?  There goes all our hopes and dreams about having a left handed pitcher in the major leagues - season tickets and all that goes a long with it.... so we did what any parent would do........ we begged him not to give up baseball..... Just Kidding... We embraced the sport our son picked.

Colton is a natural - in all the years he has played soccer, he has never tired from it or grown bored.  He has excelled under his coaches and has made Jack and I extremely proud.  At the age of 10 his team - The Gators - won the Tournament of Champions and the National Indoor title.  From there he began his select soccer career with the DFW Tornados.  They have had their ups and downs, but are currently in the middle of a HUGE upswing!  I couldn't be more proud for him and his teammates.  Here is a photo from their most recent tournament in Germantown Tennessee.


Then came High School Soccer with the Richland Rebels.  Here is has earned the nick-names Beast and Precious.  He has also won the hearts of the varsity girls team - or so I have been told. When he touches the ball, the girls all squeal and cheer - GO PRECIOUS!  I of course swell with pride and love every single second.  Some of the parents look at me like I'm crazy when I yell - Come on Doodle Bug - Lets go Sugar sweets!  They all say, Colton is gonna kill you.... but you know what..he has never said a word.  He knows that it comes with the territory, plus he is secure enough in his play and manhood that it doesn't bother him.  If someone on the field makes fun of him for being called Precious, then he can look at them and say, you just got school by Precious!  Not that he would - he never talks back - just proves his ability with his feet - not his mouth. 

Here is Colton in his Letterjacket that he earned as a Freshman! 


This year his High School team is off to a great start.  There is an undeniable chemistry and commradory that oozes from the field.  Its like one giant ooey,gooey chocolate chip cookie.  Sweet, wonderful and addicting! 

Some have desribed Colton as the Perry Como of the soccer field.  Another used the word elegant.  I don't know how I would describe it except that I am one proud mother and I am addicted to watching him play soccer.

Actually, I'm just addicted to Soccer now... I manage Colton's select team - DFW Tornados.  I also do whatever is needed for his High School team.. Mostly I just spread sunshine and love to all the boys on both the Select team and High School team.  I also just got my Referee badge so I can start referring with Colton (per HIS request)..... yes people, he likes spending time with his mother....what a gift.

The part of soccer that I treasure are the friendships that I have formed over the years. One of my very best friendships was born from soccer.  I have made some new ones since High School and I will always treasure them. 

What a gift soccer has been to my life....I look back at how devestated we were when he gave up baseball and I laugh.... I think about how different my world would be and I think......... I do love me some soccer..
I love this boy....... check out the muscles in those legs!!!  ooohhh--la-la!!

Happy New Year!

We all start the new year with resolution to be better.  I am no different.  I am going to be thinner, stay on top of my laundry and make my bed every single day....... for 2 weeks.  In addition, I am going to be more diligent in making sure my family has home cooked meals.  Especially since Colton apparantly keeps track of when I cook and when I don't!

So in the spirit of welcoming 2011, I got with one of my bestestest friends, Taryn and we prepared our meals for the next two weeks.  Taryn and I have done this for about the last 2 years and it always makes me smile.  This is how the day goes.  I prepare our menu (she never complains), then we go grocery shopping together (This is my favorite friend time... I get her all to myself!)  Then we unload the groceries!  While we unload the groceries, her teenage sons, Garrett and Grant, always go YES!  Jennifer is here to cook!  As long as they keep smiling and getting excited when I come to cook, I will keep on keeping on!  Then we start the process of preparation.  It is total mayhem of where is this?  I can only find one can of soup!  Crap!  Do we need to go back to the store.... Nope.. here it is!  It really is quite comical!

I still can't believe that she allows me to come back to her home every two weeks to cook.  Why, I'll never know.  I am the worlds messiest cook.  I think her husband goes into encephalitic shock when I come in because he knows he will need to sandblast the floor, walls and ceilings.  I can't help it people - I'm like the mad professor of cooking!

Here is our menu for the next two weeks:

Poppy Seed Chicken

Spaghetti

Magic Pot Chicken

Meatloaf

Enchiladas

Penne ala Shrimp

Lasagna

So like a good girl (bragger), I posted my accomplishment on Facebook and I was totally surprised by the amount of applause and accolades I received!!  I was also completely flattered that people wanted my recipes - So - if your new year resolution was to provide more home cooked meals for your family, I will share with you a recipe that has become a staple and classic in my home..... brace yourself... wait for it.....

Poppy Seed Chicken

4-6 Cooked, diced chicken breast (be sure to season it with black pepper and Tony C's)

2 cans - Cream of Chicken soup

1 Cup sour cream

2 Cups Grated Monterrey Jack cheese

1/4C - 1/2C white wine (use water if you are a sissy)

3T poppy seed (divided)

2 rolls Crushed Ritz Crackers

1 stick melted butter

Angel Hair pasta

1. Place the chicken in the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish
2. In a medium sauce pan, combine the soup and wine over medium heat.  Cook until all lumps are gone.
3. Add sour cream, MJ cheese and 1 1/2 T of poppy seeds.  Cook until cheese is     melted.
4. Pour sauce over chicken - is it just me or did you just hear the Hallelujah chorus?
5. Melt your butter in the microwave and then add crushed Ritz crackers and remaining 1 1/2 T poppy seed
6. Sprinkle over the top...... The chorus is getting louder
7. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes until bubbly and golden brown on top!
8. While the dish is cooking prepare your angel hair pasta according to the directions
9. Serve over pasta with a yummy tossed green salad
10. Take a bite and sing!

This delicious recipe is especially wonderful left over after spending the night in the fridge.  No telling what goes on in there when you close the door and the lights go out.... but I think the flavors "do it" because they certainly taste like they have been married!

Helpful hint from Huie - If you think you might be tested for drugs, don't eat this the night before.  Poppy seeds tend to show up as Opium.... But don't let that stop you!

It hasn't stopped me!