4-H, Sweet Potato Soup & Johnny Football

Back in December, Will competed in the Travis County 4-H Food Show. Little did we know that little foray would lead us to Johnny Football. But, I’m getting ahead of myself.

First, he had to whip up a batch of Sweet Potato Soup and be a real food and nutrition whiz kid. Nutrients, their functions, the My Plate categories/serving sizes, food safety, food substitutions and proper kitchen skills are just a few things he had to share with the judges. It’s a bit of knowledge, skill and public speaking all rolled into one. Yet another reason why I think 4-H is the bomb diggity.

After competing at county, he landed a spot at the district show. While he didn’t have any competition here at home, we knew he would have a pretty experienced bunch at district. This was his first year to compete in the intermediate category and he was up against 7th, 8th and 9th graders.

We left eeeearly on January 7 for Kerrville. As in, before 7am. It was just Will, Luke and I. The ride over was pretty smooth sailing and Google Maps even took us on every back round in Gillespie County. I’m admitting now that I was slightly nervous come 8am and I still had no idea where we were. We rolled into town and were immediately greeted by signs, banners and flashing lights. Okay, no flashing lights, but K-town is mighty proud of a little boy, now famous man. You may have heard of him. Johnny Football.

After we passed all those signs, we got settled in, ran through the questions one more time, got the dish “interview ready” and off Will went to impress the judges. Man, that boy looked sharp. I was so proud of him. I think Luke was, too.

What does one do while his big brother is dazzling the judges? Play Temple Run, of course.

We had a bit of time between the interview and the awards, so I emailed a friend from Kerrville and she led us to an a-mazing restaurant in town, Rails. As Will said, “Those were the best fish tacos I have EVER had in my life.” I’m pretty certain it was one of my favorite meals of all time. I was on a date with my oldest and youngest. That moment was not lost on me. If not for the awards, I might’ve sat there all afternoon. We swung by the stadium, picked up a Johnny Football shirt for Luke and headed to the awards.

4th Place! Great showing as an intermediate. The two of us were nervous as cats, y’all. We swung by Sonic for a sweet treat, both boys crashed on me for the ride home and I thanked the good Lord for a pretty spectacular day.