Are You Ready For Some T-Ball?

When our oldest was younger she kept our early summers occupied with rookie baseball and then softball.  It was a great time but Mother Nature was very unkind at times.  Well Emily has moved on to bigger and better things so now the title of Sports Jock has fallen to our 7 year old Gabriel.  He was in little kid basketball his kindergarten year and was your typical "I would rather be playing tag with my friends than pay attention" kid. (as was most of the kids in this league)  Well this past year, after watching his first game, we thought "here we go again."  Well, on the way home from that first game, Albert had a man to man talk with him about being a good player and paying attention.  So he started practicing out in the driveway. Well that lasted a day or so but the talk must have stuck with him because at the next game and all the ones after he was an animal. He literally got almost every rebound, including the ones he fought his teammate for....:-/.  Well the same went for T-Ball.  The first game consisted of him playing tag with his friends and not paying attention at all!  In his defense, they only have 1 real practice before their season starts and he didn't get a good feel for the game last year because Mother Nature rained out most of his games! Well, Albert had another man to man with him and now he pays attention better but tries to get every ball in the outfield and always wants to be first at bat.  Hopefully by the time he gets to the higher levels of play, he will have a better understanding that his teammates are actually there to help him! :-)  I also hope that when he is a senior in high school playing basketball, he still waves to me and tells me "Mom, I love you!"

Gabriel playing 2nd base. (in the red shirt...his team is called the Cherry Bombs)

Still on 2nd base

Getting ready to bat.

Slugger!

Just made it to 1st after an awesome hit!

What Rollie does at the T-Ball games.

(notice the lovely shade of blue on his toes...his Dad loves it!)

Another photo op for little brother!

You Ever Been So Nervous You Wanted To Throw Up?

I felt that way every time I had to give a speech or do a demonstration in school! But this isn't about me, it is about my Emily. Ever since the softball season started this year she has been telling me that she wants to be a pitcher. She mostly plays outfield or second base but last night was THE night! She finally got to pitch for the first time! We were playing against a team that mostly had little girls on it and only the ten year olds were supposed to pitch, but the coaches talked it over and decided that it would be ok for Emily and a fellow teammate who is also 11 to pitch. I think they allowed it because neither one of them had ever pitched before! I think what made her the most nervous was that she was our first pitcher on the mound and didn't have a "guide" to follow! She actually did quite well for her first time! She got a few strikes and managed not to hit anybody. (hey...that is doing good in my book) She almost got a girl out at home plate and she even got a hit that took her to second base! To top the whole night off the coaches only gave out 1 game ball last night and Emily got it! I hope last night was the just the boost she needed to finish out the season strong! Thanks to our game tonight in Livingston I will be missing my first night if golf league....We are so proud of her and we hope she does well! Until next time....

BUSY! BUSY! BUSY!

I hate when I let so much time lapse between posts, but April/May/June is always super busy for us with all that the kids have going on and the end of school nearing! We have been on the go for softball since the end of April and it will last until the 2nd week of June. Two weekends ago my husband, my mom and dad, 2 friends and I went to Anaconda to a bowling tournament. How did we do, you ask? If there had been a trophy for drinking we would have brought home first! Last weekend, we packed up the family and headed to Alberton for our 2 oldest boys' graduation...one from high school and one from 8th grade! (1 outta high school and 5 to go!)

In lieu of all the craziness, I have decided to post some pictures of our latest happenings....I hope you enjoy them! In case I don't get back on here before Memorial Day, I want to wish you and yours a happy and safe holiday!

Our Softball Queen

What up, dude?!

One cool guy!

Emily singing in the Spring Concert

Emily's 1st place at the Art Show

Another fun day at our house...

Blaine graduated! YEAH!!

Graduation after party

Yes, that is part of a potty training seat!(Luckily it was brand new!)

Band-aids fix everything!

Madison's field trip to the zoo

More zoo (shouldn't the monkeys be in a cage? ;-)

Here Spring, Spring, Spring! Come on Spring!

In an effort to will positive thoughts to Mother Nature to just allow spring to happen, I have changed the layout of my blog page. I am trying to "Think Spring!" I love daisies, so I was pretty stoked when I found this layout! I think it is really fun and vibrant....just like me! ;-)
I may sound like I am grasping at straws but I need all the positive reinforcement that I can get right now. I would say that I am far from being depressed, but this weather is really starting to get the best of me! I went crazy with a paint brush and starting painting most of the rooms in my house a few months ago. I have many more plans for painting and "spring cleaning" (which is really just hauling A LOT of useless crap to the dump to make room for more useless crap!) but I have really lost my motivation this past week. I wake up every morning with big plans and then I look out the window! I really only need a couple of days of sunshine in a row and I would be back in business!!!!
Don't even get me started on softball.....there should be a rule that games can only be played if the temperature outside is 60* or above! (I know, I know....we will be complaining about the heat before too long) The girls had their first game this past Monday and Aye Chi WaWa!! (I know -- not spelled right but you can still sound it out!) Their game got cancelled last night (Thank God) and the jury is still out for Friday's game.....come on sunshine!!!!!
I have been trying to get the motivation to go paint my bathroom or "spring clean" all day but to no avail. Then about 1 hour ago the sun came out and I felt like I could jump up and get everything I wanted to done and then some....amazing what 5 minutes of sunshine will do for ya! And yet here I sit blogging instead.....I must be screwed up from the time change! (Isn't that what everyone blames there troubles on?!?!) Everyone help me count to three......1...2...3....Here I go!

Wonder what 2nd place looks like?

2nd place looks pretty darn good if you ask me or any other parent of the girls on our softball team!! Our team went into the tournaments with a bye because we were in first place but we lost our first game which meant we had to claw our way back up to play for 1st and 2nd. Then we had to play 3 games on Saturday and come back early Sunday for another! I know she won't decide until the very last minute (like everything else) if she wants to play next year and I will be fine with whatever she decides, but I sort of hope that she will continue with her softball career. I think she saw things differently towards the end of the season, especially during the 3rd game of the day when we had a tie score and she slid into home for the win! Not too bad for a girl that was always too afraid to slide before!! Now that softball is over the girls are pretty excited to get down to real summer business -- swimming and sleepovers! It is hard to believe that a month ago they hated school and in a month they will be asking when it will start again!! My second oldest darling had to endure tournaments on her birthday so we are having her party tonight. Which reminds me....I better go get her cake baked for the party!! Until next time....

Is is June or December?

My oldest darling and I travelled to Livingston last night for one of her softball games. All day long I waited and waited for my phone to ring saying that it had been cancelled. I had good reason -- we had already suffered through a miserably rainy game IN Livingston the night before. Honestly, I would have taken the rain again over last night!!!! I am pretty sure that I saw snow on the way there. When we got there I waited in the car with a friend until the game started (or so we thought) and we decided that since neither of us had any of our other children with us that we would just sit in the bleachers this time -- the cold, hard, metal, small (barely big enough for a 6 year old butt to fit on) EXTREMELY UNCOMFORTABLE ones!! I kept wishing I had brought my comfortable chair to sit on but it was all the way back at the car and the car was about 20 miles away. (Our girls get the great privilege of playing in the back forty)
I was dressed for June with a sweatshirt when really I should have been dressed for December in my winter clothes! Silly me....I never thought to bring my snowsuit! The game finally got going and after a while the sun did come out for a bit....long enough to thaw my nose out. I even had to do the one thing that I always get after my kids for doing.....pulling my sweatshirt down over my knees! (I hate the shirts stretching out) That almost turned into a trip to the emergency room for me when my foot slipped and I fell forward. Had I not caught myself I would have smashed my faced right into the lower bleacher! After my friend stopped laughing she said that had that really happened she would have at least waited until she got to the car before she laughed at me! Now that is a TRUE friend! LOL. By the time we got ready to go, nothing on my body worked. Except, of course, my nose which wouldn't stop running! I had started shivering uncontrollably and all of my extremities were numb. It was an interesting walk back to the car. Despite all of that the game actually turned out to be a good one....we won and everyone played well. I can't wait for the next game...anyone want to go with me?? Until next time....

Rain, Rain are you gonna go away?

Don't get me wrong, I know we need the rain and I personally like the rain but couldn't Mother Nature be kind and spread it out a little? I would be happy to endure a few 100 degree days if it meant actually getting some rain in July and August. Really the only inconvenience it poses to me is baseball. We are suppose to end the season toward the end of June but we will be lucky to finish by the time school starts after we makeup all of the games that got rained out!!!! LOL We are supposed to have a game tonight but we won't know for sure until this afternoon....hmmmm! All the "unseasonably cool" weather does not deter my kids from the pool, though!! The only day they haven't gone so far is one when it rained all day! Trust me, they would have gone if they could have. My oldest lovely asked the other day if she could go to the pool and I said I didn't think it was nice enough. She told me, "Mom, they don't close the pool for wind just thunder!" It's a good thing they don't or our pool would never be open! You can certainly pick out the pint size swimmers in the community......you know the ones - they have chlorine green or bleached out hair and, what I call, swimmers' face -- the shiny red eyes and the burnt skin from the chlorine. My kids hate the fact that I make them wear sunscreen all the time but I am trying to save them from repeating mistakes I made as a kid and I am still big enough to tell them what to do!! LOL Well, my lovelies will be up soon and I need to go find them something to do so that there will be at 10 minutes without fighting today -- that is another bad side effect of rain...."the trapped children in the house that like to pick on each other for fun until mom can't take it anymore and then we get into trouble" syndrome!! Oh sweet sunshine, where have you gone and will you ever come back? I want to use my swamp cooler!!!! Until next time....

Where did she go?

In case you (all 2 or 3 of you) were wondering where I have been....I will tell you! On the 20th of May my sister had a new baby! He is such a dolly! As his favorite aunt I have been doing my share of spoiling him and helping out his mom. We have also been trying to get the deck done, the kids have their last day of school this Friday, I had 3 graduation cakes to make last weekend, we have had baseball (when they weren't cancelled by rain) and I have a wedding cake to make for Saturday! So I bet you are asking yourself -- that's it?? That's all she's been doing?? Oh wait -- that is what my husband would say.....sorry I got confused for a second! Actually, my husband is a great help when I need it and he even worked on the deck last weekend IN THE RAIN and I didn't even have to send him down guilt trip lane. After the big wedding cake on Saturday I have my son's 3rd birthday on Sunday. (his birthday is really on Saturday but I don't get paid to make his birthday cake -- LOL) We have had a couple of baseball games cancelled due to rain so I am sure we will be playing until August to make them all up!! LOL Anyways, I have rambled long enough....I guess I will get back to baking more cake! If it turns out ok maybe I will post a picture of it when I am finished!! Until next time....

Here comes summer....that means baseball!!

Our oldest little darling has been playing baseball/softball for about the last 4 years. When I say playing I mean chasing butterflies on the field or finding really pretty rocks for her collection. She was also more worried about what the "snack kid" brought for snacks than whether she got a hit or not. In the rookie league each kid gets about 100 attempts to hit the ball before their turn is over and then they usually forget where first base is. The whole point is to try and teach the kids good sportsmanship so they don't even keep score. (At least the adults don't...there is always at least one kid per side that keeps score!) My little lovely has finally moved up to the minor league. Her first game is tonight and she is TERRIFIED! She is scared because this is her first year with "fast-pitch" and she is afraid of getting hurt. (I have seen some of these girls pitch and I would be a little afraid myself!) She told me that she hopes she gets to play somewhere in the outfield where she doesn't have to do much....I told her that I don't think there is a position of play on the OTHER side of the fence. I am sure that if there was a position for "hot dog getter from the concession stand" she would be first in line. I'm not too sure but I think that the other 3 fourth graders on her team might feel the same way. I tried to tell her that after she gets through her first game she will get the feel for it and do better. She is already asking if she HAS to do this next year! We will see how she feels next year but she WILL finish this year....I already paid for everything! I will try to keep you updated on her season -- she has tournaments to finish out the season in July so I am sure there will be a few blurbs about it here and there. Lets hope that she stays safe, can maybe learn something and (you never know) she may even find a new special butterfly or rock!! Until next time....