Because I am his Mama, and this is my blog....

I know last week I posted about my oldest son's first ever junior high football game. And in that post I firmly stated a promise that I would not bore you with my mediocre photos of football all season long. (Although to be honest, I do have some great shots of some of the varsity guys that I may show you sometime.) However, I did put in a small disclaimer that if I did happen to get a good shot of my boy doing something fantastic....I'd be putting it on our blog.

So, here's the deal....with a little background information before the big news.

I take pictures of various sporting events at our school for the local newspaper. (Think small. The paper comes out once weekly.) During football season, I'm usually on the sidelines the whole game trying my hardest to get some good shots. Some nights are easier than others....but it's always fun and I enjoy it tons. Now, on with the big news.....

Friday night rolls around this week. The team has been playing well, leading like 46-6 at the half. Therefore, when our boys took the field in the 3rd quarter, Coach began playing 2nd string folks....and 3rd string folks.....and 4th string folks.

I'm still clicking away, trying to get pics of these guys.

Then the 4th quarter arrives. Sometime during that time, a good guy friend of mine, also on the sideline, yells down a few yards to me.....

"Hey, Kimberly, your boy just took the field."

I think to myself, laughing on the inside....he's such a kidder. My boy can't possibly be going out there.....this is a VARSITY FOOTBALL GAME for crying out loud.

Then, LO AND BEHOLD.....I look through the camera lens again and this is what I see.

Look to the far left....that little 92-pounder is joining the huddle.

And he's not just out there running them a bottle of water or towel, he is lining up on the FIELD OF PLAY.

Oh, my Lord. Do you see that?

He's twelve, in the 7th grade, and he's lining up on the FIELD OF PLAY

....in a VARSITY GAME

....on a FRIDAY NIGHT

....in the SOUTH

....where FOOTBALL rules.

In fact, he was out there for several plays. Huddling up. Waiting for the play to be called in from the sideline. And then trotting over to his "x or y" or whatever position that is...lining up, pointing to the referee to show he was there, and holding his sweet hands up just like a REAL football player.

Y'all.....He. played. on. Friday. Night.

We won 60-6. No, he was never really invovled in a play....the action was all done by the older guys. But he was one of the 11 men on the field for our team. And this mama couldn't be more excited for him.....and he couldn't have smiled any bigger than he did once we were home....away from the "I am a football player, and I can't smile just yet" scene.

I couldn't even get a good picture of him on the game field during play because my heart was racing too fast. However, I love this last shot on my camera for the night.

After each game, win or lose, our boys shake hands, pray together at center field, and then come line up on our sideline facing the crowd and listen to the band play our school's Alma Mater.

Our younger son, Broken Leg Boy, ran onto the field to see his brother and stand behind him on the sideline after the game. It was a precious moment. So stinking sweet I wanted to kiss them both right there on the field.....however, how completely UNCOOL would that have been???

So, I refrained. But I will always cherish this pic and remember the heartfelt words Broken Leg Boy stated shortly thereafter....

W : "Mama, Rivers got to play in tonight's game....he lined up at wide receiver....did you see him?"

Me : "Yes, I sure did. Can you believe it? Pretty neat, huh? What do you think about that?"

W: "I thought he was gonna get killed."

There you have it. Another moment in the life of brothers posted on the blog. Another moment etched in this mama's memory....the first time my boy took the field, the VARSITY field, during a FRIDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL game, as a player.