Happy Birthday Tyler

Turning eight has been GREAT for Tyler.

We spent the entire weekend doing what he loves best - baseball.

Saturday morning he had a game. His mind was already on the evenings plans so he said he couldn't "concentrate" like he should. He has been looking forward to his birthday for 3 months so that was understandable. He still performed well for not being able to concentrate - 3 doubles and several put outs. He made more errors than he normally does but that must have been when his mind wandered a little!

The team sang to him after the game and we all enjoyed some cupcakes

Later that day we went to our local AAA affiliate - The Nashville Sounds - for his birthday bash.

He was so excited to get all of his goodies!

A baseball

An authentic jersey
A cake

AND he got to throw out a ceremonial first pitch!
This is his dream - to pitch from a real mound.
He started on the rubber and almost made it to the catcher behind home plate.


The entire stadium sang happy birthday to the kids celebrating....pretty special!

It definitely gets a notch on the list of best birthday's EVER!

Happy birthday Tyler - we love you more than you can ever know!

Heart Stopping

I always get a picture of my two boys - this one is perfect!

They are both so intent on the game it makes me giggle.

They say that baseball is the most dangerous sport to play. When you think about it it really does make sense. There are metal bats that the boys are swinging around with every ounce of their being. Then they hit this small, very hard ball that when hit hard enough is like a rocket coming right at you. Tyler has never really been in the line of fire until last night. He had just taken his position at 1st, looked around the field and BAM! The other teams batter hit on the first pitch and it went straight for Tyler's head. He ducked and put up his glove just in time for it to hit the tip then proceed to hit the bill of his cap before hitting him square on the forehead. This is when all parents hearts go to their stomachs. In true baseball fashion he finished the play then worried about his head! He was OK but he had quite the knot and a little headache. Didn't stop him though - he still got out in front of it and made the play the very next hit.

I happen to catch it all on my camera too!

He should be tired

Three games in 4 days......you would think this would wear him out.

Where is he right now?

In the backyard playing catch.

We finally got our first win as a team last night. It really helped with all of their confidence. We were getting pretty frustrated because we were only losing by 1 run every game. We were so close to winning but we would always have that one bad inning that just let the other team get a lead on us and we just couldn't catch up. Charlie made some changes to the line up and it really helped. We didn't seem to have that gap in our defense and they really played well.

This is my favorite picture of the entire day. The intensity on his face just says it all.

This video needs a little explaining. At the end of last season one of Tyler's teammates hit a ball out of the park. Since then that has been Tyler's goal too. Out of the park is 150 feet and to me seems really far. Every game this year Tyler inches closer and closer to hitting it out himself and today was the closest he came. Since I have no other duties this year except to take pictures and videos I want to get some good ones....last year most of the videos started off good but then when I tried to look and see where the ball went I never moved the camera so I would always get Tyler taking off and then a great still shot of home plate and nothing else. So this year I am determined to keep the camera on Tyler - but I have no idea what is going on with the ball. This hit was no exception. He hit it and everyone went crazy, when I had him rounding 1st Charlie was jumping up and down and the only reason I could think of for that is that Tyler finally hit one out. I even heard a loud thump and I thought maybe he hit the score board. He didn't hit the score board but he did hit the fence sign - HARD. So hard that the outfielders didn't even have to move. They just stood there and the ball bounced back so hard it went to one of them and they threw it to second. This got our pitching coach and Tyler so excited that the pitcher started to pitch a little to fast and Tyler swung a little to late. He did get a hit the next time but nothing like this one. I know that by the end of the season I will get to post a video of him hitting one out of the ballpark.

Happy Easter

I have gone to church my entire life. Sometimes you get a little knumb to what each holiday stands for and you go through the same traditions that you did as a child. So today we put on our Easter outfits and headed to church. We all know what today is - the day that Jesus rose from the dead and is now sitting at the right hand of the Father in Heaven waiting for us. I went there expecting to hear the same story told the same way - God was having no part of that.

A few weeks ago I started serving in a ministry called Stone Soup. This ministry is for the special gifted children at our church. The teacher of this class really knows his stuff and each week I am amazed at what I take away from it. He doesn't baby these people and treat them like they won't or can't understand. Today was no exception. He started from the beginning of the Easter story to tie it all together - all the way back to when Abraham had to sacrafice Issac to Jesus' ressurection. In one part inparticular God spoke to me. The teacher asked them who do you think hurt more - Jesus for taking on the physical pain or God for having to turn his back on Jesus so he could take on all of our sin? I had never really thought about it before but God suffered more - he had to not only send his son to die but then had to turn away from him while he did it. All of our sin was on Jesus and because God is so Holy he couldn't look on it. Wow. My entire life and I just got that today. That just showed me that each and every day is new and that I have so much more to learn!

After church we came home and did our traditions - I love them too!

Tyler got hooked up with some new Star Wars Legos

Then outside for an Easter Egg Hunt!

Next year he may not have so many eggs in the basket - hopefully he will have to share with a new brother or sister!

Since there was enough candy in the basket and I am not one to have it in the house I decided to fill the eggs with quartes, dimes and nickels.

He thought that was a great idea too.

Boys Night Out

Last night was Boys Night Out!

Tyler and his best friend took their Dad's to a Sounds Baseball Game.

They had good seats, ate lots of food, and stayed out way too late.

A good time was had by all.

Notice all of the empty seats?

That is because they got there right when the gates opened.....at 4:30. The game, it started at 6. This is the part of going to games I do not enjoy so when they said they wanted a boys night I was all for it.

Since they got there so early they were chosen to participate in one of the in-between inning game fillers. In this one they had to spin around with their head on a guitar until the music stopped then run to the finish line.

Tyler already thought he would lose because running is not his strong gift.

His goal - beat the girl!

Sean won 4 tickets to a game for winning this race and as a compensation prize Tyler got a Sounds mini baseball bat (from daddy). They had fun and it really was a big deal to get to go on the actual field and do this.

Notice the irony in this picture?

These two are best friends - but look at their hats......see the two can come together in peace!

Tornado

This tornado was in Spring Hill! Lucky for us on the other side of Spring Hill.

Yesterday was a very intense day for us here in TN. We are all OK but I can't say the same for the folks about 40 miles east - an pretty big tornado reeked havoc on lots of homes.

I had the day off so I was home with Tyler and a friend who was spending the day with him. They were quietly watching Star Wars 3 when the tornado alarm went off. They panicked!

Me - I am Mrs. Calm and don't freak out about much. I turned off the movie and of course the satellite was not working so I loaded up the lap top to see where the storms were and how bad. They were insisting we head to the basement so we did.

The basement is on my parents side of the house and Papa met us at the door.

The boys headed to the basement and I headed to watch the news to see what we were dealing with. There was no immediate danger so they came up and watched with me.

Tyler loves this type of weather and was fascinated by it.

After a while the really bad storm started to hit. The hail came, the tops of trees were swirling and the boys and I headed to the basement. Within 5 minutes it passed and things were tossed and turned in the backyard. Papa said it was one of the worst storms he had seen. He decided NOT to go to the basement - he is a closet storm chaser I think.

While we were down there Tyler's friend asks - "Are we gonna die?" I answered - "No." "Do you promise?" "Ummm - No." He said "What! You are supposed to tell me that you promise and it is gonna be OK!!!" I told him I don't make promises I can't keep! That took the stress out and they calmed down.

Then we watched the coverage from the devastation for the rest of the day.....

Good times on Good Friday.

And now we wait

Yesterday concluded our home study visits. All that is left is for our social worker to enter all of our information into the computer and get it approved. For him to look good this needs to happen ASAP. They have a deadline of 60 days from the end of your PATH class to complete your homestudy. We are just about there. Whatever motivation works I am all for it.

We feel like the process hasn't really been that long. There was a two week break between classes and visits so we have been moving right along. Others in our class haven't even had their first visit so I am feeling pretty accomplished.

Charlie and I are both excited and aprehensive over the pending new children. My friend who is also a foster parent has had a very eye opening experience happen to her over the last two weeks which made me realize I need to really pray. Pray that God sends just the right child to us. Pray that we see it when he does. Pray we are picky but not too picky. Pray that all of my uncertainties are answered clearly. That is all I have left to do. Everything I had the power to do is complete - the rest is up to Him.

So hopefully the call will come soon and we will have great news of more children.
I personally cannot wait.

That boy can play ball!

Tyler can do it all this season....

Stop the ball...

Hit the ball....

Make the plays.....

He absolutely LOVES to play. The worst part about today was that he didn't get to play "up" like we thought he would. The coach that called him up got a little over prepared and called up too many players. Tyler was very bummed...he had been looking forward to that game all week - even more than his own.

Lesson learned by all - don't call until you are sure you need them - don't say yes unless you know who they are.

Regardless of that little set back Tyler really did well today again.

First time up - home run. Second time up - home run. Third time up - ground out at first.

Here is the second homerun that I just happen to catch on video....

Enjoy!

And he is only 7 years old.....

Play Ball!

Last night started our new season of baseball! Have I mentioned before that I LOVE BASEBALL!!!! Especially when Tyler plays. I love watching him learn and grow each and every season.

This season started off the best ever for him personally. First hit - a homerun! Second hit - a triple! Third hit - a single! Fourth hit - would have been a double but the first baseman triped him. We don't like him. So all in all he had four hits and 5 RBI's. He was so proud and so were we!

Today a coach called Charlie from the next level up and asked if Tyler could play "up" on Saturday. This is a real honor and only kids with a head for the game are asked to play. He is very excited about this and knows that not everyone gets this opportunity. I get nervous for him when he plays so Saturday I may just throw up.

I didn't get any pictures last night because it was just cold. I didn't have it in me to stand in the cold wind and snap pictures. Saturday will be a different story......twice!