We love the Panthers!

Last Saturday our family joined 1000's of other Midway Panther Fans in Texas Stadium to cheer on our team. Our little family, or at least parts of it, have been to almost all the the Midway football games this year. Rob has a passion for High School football so having "a home team" again has been really fun for him, and for all of us. When we found out the panthers were playing in Texas Stadium, there was no doubt that we would go.
We decided to get a hotel room Saturday night since the game didn't start until 8pm and make a weekend out of it. The game was not so great for us the first half, but we were still in it! It was a total thrill just to be watching our Panthers play in the home of the Cowboys! Texas Stadium has been the "Mecca" of Texas football for as long as I can remember. While High School playoffs will most likely continue to be played there for years to come, this is the last year it will be the official home of the Dallas Cowboys so it's even more special that Midway got to play there!





Halftime!
Look at those cute Santa Panther-ettes! They were so fun to watch this year!

After the half Midway came ROARING back! It was such an intense last two quarters that I don't know that we sat down much. EK kept me running in and out but still it was such a great half! The game ended in a tie. 35-35!
In Texas High School football when your just two games from state, there are no ties. So Midway was given the first chance to score from the 25.

They DID!
And kicked the extra point!
But then the Lobos ran it in...
And decided to go for 2.
This is where it gets dicey.
The Lobos quarterback was taken down short of the goal line, but his hands stretched out and went to if not over the line. That is exactly what he should have done. Any good football player would have done the same whether he was down or not. It's just basic instinct, or it should be. However if his knees were down before the ball crossed the line it should not have counted. There are even those who say the ball didn't cross the line until it was out of his hands. The Midway guys thought the Lobos quarterback's knees were down so they were waving it off. The line judge was running from the side to see. By the time he got there the Lobos were jumping up and down and saying they won. The ref agreed. It was a very controversial call and an awful way to end such an incredible season! As the wife of a former High School basketball referee, I know it's easy to blame the ref. Refs are just human and that guy had to make the call the way he saw it. Still, I felt a little cheated for Midway!

Here is the KWTX story that shows video of that last play.

It would have been easier to loose by 14 than to have come so close. But that's just it, it was so close that it easily could have gone either way, and this time it went the other guy's way. OUCH! It was just heartbreaking for our boys in red and blue! I hate that it ended that way for them.
But they had gave us a great season! Thank you Panthers! You guys are a class act! The Seniors can be so proud of their work this season! We can't wait to follow the Panthers again next year! :)

After we drove to our hotel in Grapevine and collapsed from the exhaustion and the excitement of the game, we all slept really well!

On Sunday we saw Santa and attempted Christmas card pictures in church clothes at the Gaylord Texan. The Gaylord is always decorated so incredibly this time of year. I only wish we could have been there for pictures at night. The lights are just breathtaking! Santa was fun. The picture taking... not so much! I'll post pictures from that later.

When I was sure we would not be able to coax one more pose or smile out of Ella Kate and crew, we loaded up and headed to Rob's sisters in Bells, Texas for Rob's niece Katie's birthday party.


We rarely make it up there so it was fun to see Rob's family and let the kids play with their cousins. Needless to say we were absolutely pooped when we finally made it home late Sunday night around 10:00pm!

I don't know how I made it through Monday. I "hosted' a fundraiser reward day of inflatable parties and money machine grabs at Rhett's school all. day. long! 240 kids participated. After coordinating the schedule to get the prize winners from 5 grades in and out of their party without disrupting the whole school or loosing anyone in the process was just crazy! And it was so LOUD!!!! But it was a fun day and I think the kids really enjoyed it. That is what I think PTA is for.. to help our kids make the memories you can only make while in elementary school.

I had so much great help from my PTA sisters Monday that actually my job was pretty easy! There is a small group of regulars that always help, God love them! I'm afraid they are going to all be worn out and despise PTA by the end of the year though. But we are having fun and making great friends in the process while the kids are benefiting... Which is the point! So I guess I'm saying it is worth the long hours and craziness. At least I try to convince myself of that!

As for my poor house... well our Christmas tree is up, but not decorated. It's been so crazy the last 9 or so days that I literally have not been able to find the time or energy to get Christmas going over here. So I really have to quit this blogging business and get with it. But I wanted to record a little of this crazy fun because these are the days....
Yes.
These are the days!