Another busy one...

It was another busy weekend but definitely full of fun. Saturday was all about baseball. Riley and Owen each had their final games of the season. Both boys played well and finished the season with some nice hits and good plays. Owen had 2 balls hit to him at first base and stopped them both and then proceeded to get back to back hits off a pitch. Way to go Owen! Riley’s team struggled the first few innings of their final game, but rallied in the last 2 innings. Riley squeezed out 2 solid base hits and looked good fielding a few balls out in left field with strong throws to the infield.

Sunday after church we headed to an ice-cream shop for Owen’s end of year t-ball party. Owen was so proud of his trophy and we were proud to hear the description his coach gave of our O. He said, “This young man is a great ballplayer and an excellent team player. He always responds with a ‘yes sir’ and I don’t think I ever had to remind him to get back on the field or pay attention. That is rare for this age group. And he’s a great left-handed hitter too!” That is consistently what we hear from his teachers and now his coaches, that he is well behaved and very obedient. I’m so proud! I only wish he behaved that way for Lance and me but I guess he knows how to cut a few corners at home and it doesn’t help that his brother is pretty good at pushing his buttons.

We left Owen’s party and headed to the park for Riley’s birthday party. We were a little worried about the weather forecast – thunderstorms. It turned out there wasn’t any need to be, we had beautiful sunny skies the entire time. We had his party at the BMX track and used the picnic pavilion there. The kids were in a hurry to hit the track so we cut the cake, opened presents and off they went to ride. The track is a double-‘S’ so a couple times around and they are ready for a break. We cooled them off with popsicles and they headed right back to the track. Riley had a couple of falls, but nothing too bad and he was back on his bike after dusting off the dirt. Owen declared himself the ‘coach’ and positioned himself at the start gate to watch and coach. Our niece Abby had a good tumble on the paved berm, but thankfully she was OK too, only a few scratches on her hands and chin. Riley told me later that night that it was his favorite birthday party ever. That is all I needed to hear to declare it a success. I’m so glad he had fun and all his friends, most of which had never ridden on the track, had fun too.

More Baseball Tales

If it seems like all I talk about on this blog anymore is baseball, it’s because it’s true. By the end of the month the season will be over but for now it’s what rules our world, or at least our schedule. Friday night after dinner we went by a local sport goods store to buy a bat for Riley. Did you know it’s not uncommon to pay $300 for a little league bat?! I knew there were people that were *way* more into their kids baseball careers than we were who might pay that kind of money for a bat, but I really thought that was the exception not the rule. I mean really. These bats are locked to the merchandise rack like fur coats! It’s ridiculous! Fortunately for us, Riley picked up and quickly grew attached to a $50 bat. Honestly I never thought I’d pay $50 for a bat but considering the alternative I thought we did OK. Especially since at least 2 kids on his team have the $300 version that he can borrow during most games. Not that he will ever choose those bats over his prized new bat. The icing on the cake was the ‘Hit Stick’ we also bought for batting practice at home. The ‘Hit Stick’ is a long, flexible pole with a rubber, ball-like end on it that both boys can use to practice their swing. We stayed an extra 30 minutes after the store closed practicing Riley’s swing in the parking lot. He loved it and was so excited. Seriously, he has been baseball-obsessed since those two purchases Friday night. We spent no less than 4 hours this weekend playing catch, pitching balls to him or holding the ‘Hit Stick’ out for him to practice with. Saturday morning I woke to an odd thumping sound. After I got up and investigated I found Riley in his room hitting plastic balls (like those from a ball pit) against his bedroom wall. Needless to say the bats’ new home is our garage and a new rule had to be made that it was no longer allowed inside despite Riley’s plea to the contrary and his promise to never ever do that again. Owen took a few swings over the weekend, but wasn’t nearly as impressed with the new equipment as his big brother. The first game with his new bat will be Tuesday night. He can’t wait!

Lance finished plowing half of his garden. This is the half where the corn will grow and he and Owen sewed the corn seed Sunday afternoon while I mowed the yard and Riley (yes, you guessed right) was hitting the baseball on his own. We are slowly but surely getting our outdoor projects done although the list seems to grow faster than we can check things off. What we did accomplish this weekend was done between a birthday party, a baseball game, baseball practice and of course church and a shopping trip to Sam’s.

Saturday night our niece Abby hosted a slumber party at her house with nine, 8 year old girls. Needless to say, my brother-in-law, nephew and youngest niece evacuated to our house Saturday night to escape all the estrogen. Plenty of female reinforcements were at their house to help with all the girls. Our house ended up being much like a smaller slumber party. Riley and Tyler shared the top bunk, Owen in his bed, Scotty and Kaylee in our guest room and another friend who wanted to join in the fun, Garrett, crashed on our couch. We enjoyed the company and of course the boys had lots of fun with their cousins.

One sad note from our weekend, instead of 10 we now have 9 chickens. As we were coming outside Saturday night to get in the truck and go find something to eat, Scotty noticed all the feathers in the yard. It turns out the there was a small area where the fence was about 4 inches off the ground and the chickens were escaping from their pen. Apparently this one had gotten out and Escher had found him. We knew there would be casualties going into this whole thing, but I really didn’t think Escher would be the assailant.

Lance and I will be driving to Norfolk next week on a business trip (Lance is tagging along with me on an NS trip) while my Mom and Dad sit with the boys. The boys are excited and Lance and I are looking forward to it too. I’m sure there’ll be plenty of tales to share following that week.

Baseball and Field Trips

Baseball is what we’ve been doing a lot of lately. Riley’s games have really become exciting to watch as there are now boys in his league who can knock homeruns over the fence. Riley isn’t quite there yet but he has gotten a few line-drive doubles and made some exciting plays in left field. Last night he jumped to catch a fly ball, caught the ball in the air (he and the ball were in the air) but then the ball fell out of his glove. Exciting even though he didn’t get the out! Catching fly balls in the air is still somewhat rare in this age group. Riley is the youngest on his team, the only one not to have turned 7 already. And since they are playing in the 7/8 year old league, there are a few mostly-8-year-old-team that have smeared them. But they have improved some each game and had a great near-win last night. Exciting! What’s also fun is that Riley is now looking for Braves games on t.v. and will sit and watch inning after inning of a professional game.

Owen’s league is always fun to watch too. Owen is not as into the sport as Riley but then again Riley wasn’t so into it at that age either.

Football sign-up is in a couple of weeks. It seems like the two seasons get closer and closer together. We’ll be done with baseball by the end of May and then football will start practice in July and games in August. We’ll get a little break at least and only have 1 son playing in football. It’ll be at least another year before Owen is ready to try that.

We have so much to do around our house and yard too, but there just doesn’t seem to be enough time. Lance did get ½ the garden tilled and hopes to get the rest done this weekend. Then there is planting the garden, but that is the fun part for Lance. I still have those azaleas to plant and the grass is in bad need of cutting again. The chickens are in their new home although there is some work left to do there too – build a gate and then clean up all the scrap lumber.

Wednesday I went with Riley and his first grade class to Noah’s Ark. It’s an animal rehabilitation facility and also has a children’s home for foster kids. I was paired with Riley and 3 other boys for the morning adventure. Would you believe I forgot a camera?! Lance had it all setup and ready for me and I left it sitting on the kitchen counter. The trip was fun. The kids got to pet a few animals – deer, goats, lama’s, ostriches. And they got to see many more – bear, monkey’s tigers, a lion, buffalo, tropical birds, chickens and the favorite by far of the 4 boys in my group - alligators.

Hard to believe school will be out soon. We’re all looking forward to summer which brings vacation, swimming and lots of fun outside.

Opening Day

Unfortunately my brother-in-law, Scotty, was admitted to Emory Thursday night with heart complications. I ended up working from home on Friday so Lance could be at the hospital with his family while Scotty underwent a heart-cath procedure to diagnose the problem. The procedure brought great news – they were able to fix he problem by eliminating some scar tissue on his heart left from surgery at 5 years old. There would be no further treatment needed for now and everyone was beyond excited and thankful. Unfortunately after being discharged on Saturday, he was re-admitted on Sunday for a pulmonary embolism (blood clot in his lung) as a result of the heart-cath procedure. He will be in-patient for a few days as they resolve the clot with blood thinners. Please keep him and his family in your prayers.

Not completely understanding the circumstances, my boys are excited since it means their 3 cousins spent the night with us last night. A sleep over on a school night is otherwise unheard of!

Although overshadowed by my brother-in-law’s stay in the hospital, opening day 2008 was largely a success. It was a long day but we couldn’t have asked for better weather and plenty of fun. The parade was at 9am, which is what both Owen and Riley were looking forward to more than their games. Lance went with Owen and his team and I went with Riley. It’s a short parade route, maybe 1 mile if that, but they love throwing handfuls of candy at the scattered bystanders on the roadside. Owen’s game was immediately following the parade/opening day announcements at 11am. Have you ever seen 3 and 4 year olds play baseball? It is so funny! Owen is quite proud that this year he is one of the 4 year old veterans who can occasionally hit the ball without the assistance of a T. He did that during the game and made his turn around the bases. Another boy on his team had a great hit and then proceeded to run to centerfield to fetch his ball. Too funny! Even funnier was the jabs Lance made at this kid’s Dad, a former Atlanta Brave.We had a few hours after that before Riley’s 2:45 game. All the teams have fundraising booths and the local high school ROTC runs inflatable slides and bounce houses so there was plenty to do before Riley’s game. Nacho’s, Dippin’ Dots, Cokes, Cotton Candy, Hot Dogs, it was all there.

Riley’s game went well too. They lost, but still a good game. This is the first year with real strike-out’s. No T to use if you miss the pitches from the coach. It’s still coach pitch, but no T. It tried to rain on us before it was over, but nothing more than a drizzle until we got in the car after the game was over and then it rained pretty good. Owen kept complaining that it was “dripping on him.”

OB’s BBQ for dinner. I got to pick since it was my birthday. A busy, hectic day for a birthday but I got to watch my 2 guys do some of their favorite things – play, eat, play baseball – you can’t ask for much better.

This update wouldn’t be complete without confessing my ‘uh-oh’ on Friday. Lance was at the hospital with his brother (40+ miles from home) and I was taking the boys to the ball field, they both had a 6:30 practice. We headed out and as soon as the garage door closed behind me, I knew what I’d done. My keys (car and house) were on the kitchen counter behind the now locked, garage door. Oops. Lance has the only other house key. Even worse, my cell phone was also on the kitchen counter charging. Needless to say we had an opportunity to meet our nice neighbors who called their locksmith friend who was at our house in about 30 minutes. So after nearly 45 minutes and $90 later, I again had possession of my keys and off to the ball park we went. At least we made it in time to get everyone’s uniform for the Saturday morning festivities.