Friday Night Football…

…continues and our quest for a 3^rd state title is still alive at least for one more week! Tonight in the 3^rd round of the State Playoffs, the Wolves beat Cook County 26-0, but what was just as sweet was that we had one more home game. Since we finished 2^nd in our area it meant we would probably have to travel most of the playoffs, however we were seed higher than Cook, so we got to host for one last time, and it was awesome! Nothing like Friday night lights at our own home.

Football was fun, but one thing I have come to live for and appreciate this season is our after game late night Waffle House dinners. It's usually just Rob and me, and it's a time for us to have some one on one time to reflect and connect!

As November comes to an end, December will be just as busy as ever, we have another playoff game to prepare for and it's gonna be a fun crazy busy week….but we wouldn't have it any other way! Go BIG Green.

Just a couple of banners that were created from Mom's Huddle...we love and are so proud of our boys

I love this kid...you have no idea how cold it was tonight!

Football, Thanksgiving, and more…

…Football! I know, I know, but what can I say, this is how it's been and hopefully this is how it will continue to be, football during Thanksgiving week that is!

Started early in the morning Thanksgiving Day, cooking all the family favorites for everyone. Mom, Dad, Andy & Edward joined us today; everyone had their fill and then some. Isn't it funny how it takes 5 hours or more in the kitchen on this day and only 30 mins or so at the table?

Our lunch/dinner time is usually dictated by what time the Cowboys play and will this week they played at 4:00, thus, we had a Thanksgiving lunch. Having turkey and all the fixins at lunch was the perfect plan, everyone could eat, sleep, wake up, eat some more and watch football. Cowboys pulled out a win, which is always a good thing for our household, not only do they dictate what time we eat, they also dictate the "mood" of an avid fan, won't call anyone out, but you know which one of us is from Dallas J

Overall it was a very uneventful relaxing day, no camera, no pics, just memories of what my family is thankful for:

Raymond is thankful for his awesome, best kids ever.

Flora is thankful for a healthy and happy family.

Lil Raymond is thankful for good food, family and a roof over his head.

Robert is thankful for a place to live and a roof over his head too.

Emma is thankful for her family and friends.

We are all so thankful for the love that surrounds us day in and day out, all of our family near and far, our friends and all that we have been blessed with. Hope you and yours had an awesome day!

B12 Gives Thanks…

...and celebrates Thanksgiving Dinner B12 style! Thanks to Louie and Diana for opening up their home and allowing us to have our 1^st annual B12 Thanksgiving Dinner!

Thanks to Stacy for cooking the Turkey, the Farrell's for brining the Ham and Randy for providing the drinks and paper products. The boys brought sides and the girls brought desserts and all the food was yummy!

After feasting on some good food we gathered around the living room to talk and reflect on our community service project as well as what we were all thankful for!

Thanks to Lori for having her camera and taking some pictures:

Fellowshipping and getting ready to eat some food.
JZ is thinking this is some good stuff.
Em + Mac-n-Cheese = A happy little girl!
Watkins is ready to eat.
Katrina is right behind her.
This is good stuff.
As Justin pleads the 5th, we are reminded: What happens @ B12, stays @ B12!
What are you thankful for today?

Playoffs – 2nd Round…

…vs. Jefferson! It was a hard fought battle, but the Wolves did their thing, kept their "eyes on the prize", and came out on top, final score was: 30-22!

We are happy to be playing the 3^rd round next week at our home field that has been a big difference this year as the 2^nd seeded team from our region. Being 2^nd means you pretty much have to travel to all playoff games. Although Jefferson was not too far from home, the seating capacity was not the best, at least not for the Buford fans.

We didn't get there early and ended up standing for the whole game, which wasn't too bad, I just didn't like the view, and it was hard to follow the game by watching it on ground level. However it was quite entertaining standing with Coach Rick LeGrant and hearing his game commentary comments, it made for a fun night J.

We are so proud of these guys, they get to keep playing hard and our sophomore class, continues to support the upper classman and our seniors, giving them help as they all continue to chase the "Dream" for a third straight state title…but we still have plenty of football to play before December 11^th!

For some awesome pics like the one below go to: The Peripheral: A photoblog by Kelly Lambert

His #1 fan was at home tonight, so I stepped in to take a pic with our big guy on the muddy, mushy field :)

It’s been a year…

…since my first blog post! Can you believe it? I can't, who would have ever thought I would be sharing the ends and outs of our family on the World Wide Web?

It all started by inspiration from Kelly! Then it truly became just another way to let family back home in Texas see what we were up to here in GA. I never knew I had a passion for writing…now having the time is another story, but when I get some time, it's just a great way to put down in words, what's in my mind.

So much has happened in a year, so much I have shared, so much I have not…but I treasure the things I have, for they are a reminder to me on how blessed I truly am and a reminder to me when I want to go back in time if only a year ago to see what we were up to and to see how my family has changed and evolved in one year, it truly is a treasure! Thanks again Kelly… so with all that said, Happy Anniversary to "ContrerasFamilyof5" blogspot.

Thanks to everyone who has dropped by to read what were up to, leaving comments, either here on the blog site or on facebook,

B12 C.S.P…

...Community Service Project! Okay, I have to always reflect and remind folks that Beyond 12 was suppose to be a summer bible study, 8 weeks and were done! No one ever told us that we would have such a dynamic group of kids that just won't let B12 end! And for that I'm grateful to God and to everyone who has played a role on supporting and making B 12 the success it has become.

This past Saturday, we had our 1^st ever community service project. We knew we wanted to do something, we knew we needed to give back; we knew all this, but didn't know what to do. The Zamora's gave us an action plan; they have some elderly neighbors who live next door to some property they own right here in town, they have lived in their home over 50 years. Needless to say time has not stopped and when you live in a home that long and get up there in age, some things just don't get done or can't get done the way it use to be done, and that is where B12 stepped in to give a helping hand.

We now consider them our "adoptive family" and know that we have plenty more opportunities to go and help Rachel and Kurt, as Saturday was just the beginning.

ZamFam brought out several generations of their family to give a lesson on what it meant to "volunteer" and give back! Special thanks to Louie, Diana, Yvonne, Serena, Christiana, Ajae & JZ (a.k.a Jonathan)! I had Robert, Emma and even Hannah came out with us. Thanks to Stacy, Melissa, Celia, and Brandon for swinging by, bringing us lunch and taking time to talk with the family and sharing some thoughts as to what we can do next for them as we look at doing some roof repairs and painting.

Today we worked on raking leaves, cleaning gutters and picking up around the yard. While we were here, the Farrell's and a couple of the girls, were fast at work preparing a meal, so a big thanks to Lori, Carson, Elsie, and Katrina for taking time to cook and deliver this meal to the family. I know it was appreciated!

I can't remember if it was Louie or Diana, but one of them told me that this family made the comment that in all their years there no one has ever offered to help them…my what a blessing for us, what a blessing for B12, what a blessing for God to share His love and use B12 to bless someone else! No matter how small you think it is, if you have the chance to be of service to someone else, I hope you take it, there is no better way to look at your own life and be reminded on how bless you already are.

I didn't have my camera this day and took some pics with my phone, they don't do justice, but you get the idea:
JZ cleaning out the gutters
Louie, setting the example and showing us how it's done!
Serena & Hannah
Ajae & Em
Rob raking the roof.
Rob & Em picking up leaves.
Diana, killing two birds with one stone...she is raking leaves next door for a single mom who was at work ;-D, I'm certain God was pleased!
Brandon
Katrina, Carson, Elsie, & Lori, dropping off the yummy meal the made.
Simply Beautiful...you can't help but smile and feel good when you do something kind for someone else!

What kind of service have you done lately, how have you given yourself away?

1st Round of Playoffs…

…BHS style! We hosted the first round of the playoffs against Pepperell HS. Overall it was a good game; I'm guess I'm not surprised that some folks in the community have a low expectation of this team. However seems like no one ever told the players...final score was 24-0! Just as this year’s senior motto: “New Year, New Team, Same Dream”, they haven't lower their own expectations and will do all they can, with all they have to keep the "Dream" alive!

Being two time defending state champs brings high expectations, and the reality is that you can only be on top for so long. When you have to open up against the 10^th rank team in the state it seemed that the first round was going to be a lot tougher than even the most faithful thought our guys could handle. But once again they did their thing and well we get to play at another week, Jefferson here we come!

Rob and his #1 fan after the game.

Picture Day…

…Fall '09 for Emma's Pre-K class. Just another day for the Contreras family, I'm not sure if the 3^rd child syndrome is to blame here or the fact that I was at a conference all week the day she had picture day, none the less, memories have been made that we will able to look back at and reflect.

Everyone one who has know Emma since birth, knows that the girl has some hair, she had so much before she was born that you could see it wave during the ultrasound checks. And those who know her even better knows that brushing her hair is one less battle that we like to deal with in the mornings. Thus in the summer of '08, it all came off, we chopped it off, okay, I had it chopped off. It has grown back thicker and curlier than ever!

Back to picture day, there should be some days that moms who can be there, be there and this is one of those times! It wasn't until the end of the day last Thursday that we even realized that it was picture day, it was only when she came home upset on this day that we realized that it was picture day…oh my. She was so upset, thus made Big Raymond upset, as he felt her feelings were hurt because everyone else must have been dressed up and had on their picture day best. Needless to say, mom was to blame, it's okay, I'm used to it, but later on after talking with Emma, we came to find out, she was not upset because of how she was dressed, or that her hair was wild, but more so because it was picture day and that meant that they would not have time to do "stations" in class!

Reminded me of that Publix commercial when the little one is playing soccer and doesn't do too good, at least not in the eyes of his dad, and dad is there at the end to console him only to hear his son say "I did awesome"! In our case Raymond's heart was broken that his little girl was upset about how she looked, only to find out, she was upset because she missed doing her favorite "station" that day!

Hope you enjoy her wild hair in these pics as much as we enjoy it every day…this is who she is, this is our Emma!

Sunday Afternoon…

...Football, what else would be doing in the fall?

We have football Friday night, Saturday, and Sunday too and sometimes Monday if we are interested in who's playing.

These past few weeks we have been in football heaven, with Buford winning on Friday nights. The Longhorns having a perfect season thus far..."Hook 'em Horns", and well we never know what we are going to get from the Cowboys who are currently 6-2, but we still have to tune in and wear our jerseys around the house...big Raymond wouldn't have it any other way.

Since we do live in ATL, we do pull for the Falcons as long as they are not playing the Cowboys. This past Sunday, Robert had an amazing opportunity to go to a Falcon game. No big deal you say, he's been before, however this time there were some extra NICE treats that no one else in our family have ever experienced. A HUGE thank you to the Bratton's, who invited him and Brandon, not only did they see a great game but the extra treats included pre-game sideline action as well as an opportunity to meet some players after the game & get autographs.

Rob was amazed and in awe and very grateful to have folks like the Bratton's in his life who were kind enough to share this kind of opportunity with him! It truly is a day he will remember for a long time.

Pre-Game Picture: Robert, Brandon, Phillip Daniels (Washington Redskin) Justin, & Randy
Matt Ryan, QB, #2
Tony Gonzalez, TE, #88
Todd McClure, Center, #62
Thanks again to the Bratton's for the invite and including Robert! You guys ROCK!

Buford Football…

…and our last regular season game. We had GAC as our last regular season game and won 45-14! Our overall record is 10-1, and we placed 2^nd in our region, which is awesome, but as a side note, it is the first time in 10 years that the Wolves have not finished first in region, but we will live and life will go on, you can't win them all.

While at this last game, we had some cheering entertainment and well since we know she will NOT be a cheerleader, I took some snapshots of Emma and some other little "Buford Wolves Fans" who kept the crowd entertained by doing some cheers. Even though Stacy was laughing at me while taking pictures of Em, with my phone, and Kim & Rick yelling ridiculous things like, we have a future cheerleader, in the background, I couldn't help but think, I may be eating my words one day, but until then, here are some snap shots of my little "cheerleader" trying to figure things out and learn some cheers.

I say green, you say gold....green....gold
We want a touchdown, gotta have a touchdown, now, right now!
Now that we are playoff bound, everyone is excited and we could not be happier for the team. First round will be this Friday night and we will face Pepperell HS. We spent this past Sunday decorating the commons area and field house to get the boys pepped up for the week! This year's senior motto is "New Year, New Team, Same Dream", and we did what we could to build around that motto, I think the moms did a pretty good job if I say so myself! As Coach Wood would say, "It's great to be a Buford Wolf!"

Wall hanging in the common's area of BHS
Wall hanging in the field house