Fall Baseball

Since the end of our summer tournaments, we as a team decided to play less competitive recreational baseball for the fall season. This decision was a hard one. After being so competitive and playing "real" baseball it was hard to go back to the mentality of "it's just for fun". Fall Recreational Baseball is to learn the fundamentals. Our head coach decided that we as a team needed to learn some of the fundamentals of the next level of baseball - kid pitch. None of our kids have ever pitched or been pitched to by another kid so we did have some learning to do. Still - being with kids that are just there to have fun is really hard for a mom like me who wants to WIN!

Tyler is getting lots of needed experience catching and dong a great job as usual.

This was him daring someone to steal home.

getting a wild pitch - that happens a lot.
Bunting is a fairly new thing for our kids too. We were allowed to bunt over the summer but never quite had the situation where we needed to. Now we can practice it during a live game because after all - we are just having fun right?Stealing home is so exciting. Both of them are looking to the ump for the call......SAFE!
Oh yes that is my boy!

Now the tough part - pitching. He has the basic steps down but in the heat of the game and when your team is down 8-0 and all of the pressure is on YOUR shoulders - not a good combo. He tried so hard but just kept pitching the ball high. He did strike one player out but that wasn't good enough for him. If he doesn't strike them all out in a row he feels like he did terribly. He holds a high standard for himself.

We ended up losing this game - no surprise there - but we are learning some basic fundamentals without the competitive pressures.

The call

We finally got the call we have been waiting for.....Home Study is approved! Only 5 months longer than we expected that to take but oh well. Not much you can do about it so why get upset. I have to say that I have been at peace through this entire process.

Whenever people ask me how it is going they always say "you must be so anxious"
But you know - I am not.
I am just at peace.
I know that God has a perfect plan for how this is all going to happen. He already knows the time and place that I will come to know my new children. He is preparing their hearts for us and our hearts for them. I pray for that every day. I just want them to know that we love them no matter what they have been through.

Now this isn't to say that I don't get excited about the possibility of having a little girl. One that I can buy dresses for and put ribbons in her hair. One that will just melt my heart when I look into her eyes. Or another boy full of life. One that loves to play hard and get dirty. One that will become a best brother for Tyler.
I get very excited for these things. But then I have to remember - it isn't up to me. I have no say in any of it. It has all been laid out for me and I am just walking the life that God planned. I sure wish I had listened to His call a lot sooner. Who knows how many kids we would have!

Thanks to everyone who has been praying for us through this - keep it up - we are not done yet.

Labor Free Weekend

We haven't been to the Zoo in a while so we decided to go visit our local wild animals over the long holiday weekend.

They have some new ones running wild!

Tyler always enjoys the areas where you get to be hands on with the animals......Daddy however is just looking for the hand sanitizer.


He was so excited to catch a little tiny leaf....why? No idea.

The last time we were at the zoo this exhibit was under construction....now we get to touch a real alligator skull! Cool!

Always a favorite....becoming part of the Meerkat world.

To end our day we went to the play area. After completely wearing himself out with all of the slides, climbing, crawling and running he had to cool off with the sprinkler.

Perfect.

Gotta love a day enjoying all of God's creations.

The Fair

Last night we attended our local fair. We are never quite sure if these sorts of events are really worth the money to get in because Tyler was gun shy of going on any rides. He didn't like things that spun or went high or were fast. That is pretty much any ride at the fair.

Well once again he surprised us......

He rode this ride at least 7 times if not more....we got our money's worth from the bob cars alone.

This was the only ride he would get on last year and he loved it again this year.

The flying was a new experience for him and at first he was not quite sure about it...his face was in panic mode until just about the end of the ride. Then the smile of approval. He just has to know what it does then he is ok.

Daddy's favorite part of any fair is the animals so we forced Tyler to take a break from his daredevil riding to enjoy some of God's creatures. This camel was definitely the bully of the group. He was able to run around the outer circle with all of the other little goats and lama's and baby calf's. He never said excuse me and he would trample over anyone to get to the carrots...he loved carrots.

Over all a great time was had by all....until next year.

Budding Artist

Tyler's latest masterpiece

Responsible

Responsible: adjective; answerable or accountable as for something within ones power, control, or management.

This word definitely does not describe Tyler.

I don't know what it is but he just can't quite grasp the true meaning of it.

Here is just a glimpse of what I deal with....

1. Takes Daddy's silver dollar for show and tell at school and loses it.


2. Gets a brand new hat for his baseball team and leaves it at the Chinese restaurant.


3. Leaves his Bible at church week after week.


4. Owns two belts and NEVER knows where they are when it is time to get ready for school.


5. Has three jackets so that at some point we can at least find one of them.


6. Leaves his PSP in his grandparents car and they can't find it for a year.

This is just a short list of the things he does to drive me crazy.

This isn't good because school started this week and he has a responsibility chart that comes home every day. Great.

Fourth day of school - already got a mark - NRH (not returning homework)

HHMMMM?

I distinctly remember asking him everyday if he had any homework and every day I got "nope".

Then the chart comes home. He suddenly remembers. Definitions - that was his homework. So I added one word - responsible.

Catch up!

Our summer is officially over with the start of school. Here is our official first day picture.

I hope to get a lot more time this year in his actual classroom as a volunteer. Last years teacher didn't really like parents in the classroom so my hopes and dreams of seeing him through 2nd grade as a room mom where quickly demolished. So my first question to the teacher this year was not about anything other than when do I get to come and help? Luckily she doesn't have the same phobia of moms in classrooms as last years teacher so I hope to be doing a lot of classroom help. Careful what I wish for I know. So anyway how was the very first full day of 3rd grade - "OK". That is all we get these days for just about any question. He likes his new school, his new teacher and his new friends. All is good in the school world. Except they told him his shirt was the wrong shade of green - the list called for shamrock green - you show me your version of it and I show you mine. He is wearing this shirt - I bought it. Nuf said.

So with the beginning of school we look back on our summer. What did we do? Well......

We played baseball. Lots of baseball.

We formed the team the Franklin Thunder an 8U tournament team. We learned a lot this summer. Not just about baseball but about commitment, effort and earning your right to play. Some of these lessons were very hard to learn but they will never be forgotten - I promise. The team did well during each tournament - always ended up in the top 3 seeds but for some reason we could never pull it out for the big game when we needed to. We did walk away with one 2nd place that really meant something. We are the 2009 Cal Ripken 8U State Runner Ups. We almost got to go to Florida to play in the Regionals.....maybe next year~

We also learned that Tyler can swim.....

Not just swim but jump off of a diving board and come back up swim.

I can't even do that. I tried once when I was about his age. My parents enrolled me in swimming lessons at the local YMCA. I went for one day. The instructor threw some diving toys into the pool and said go under and get them. I said no. He said it again and I again said no. He then put his hand on the top of my head and pushed me under. I never went back and to this day I am afraid of water. Thanks YMCA swim instructor.

Charlie and I didn't know he could do this until AFTER he did it. I know - what kind of parents let their child jump off of a diving board that aren't 100% sure he will resurface? US that's who. Charlie was ready to jump in and save him if need be - fully clothed mind you. But that was just not necessary because my boy knows how to swim.

We vacationed.......

We took one very short mini vacation this summer to a local lake. It was the most relaxing time we have had in a very long time. There was no T.V., no internet, no nothin and we just soaked it all in. This trip came about because Papa had promised Tyler a fishing trip earlier in the summer. The day they were to go we got scheduled to play in a tournament so we had to cancel. That really was a bummer for both Tyler and Papa. So Papa did some research and some digging and found that you could rent cabins at a nearby lake. So he did. It was originally going to be just Mimi, Papa and Tyler on a weekend fishing trip but it soon turned into a family getaway. We played games, ate, fished, ate, walked, ate, talked, ate, swam, ate, then ate some more. I think in the entire 3 days there we had two full meals. The rest was pure snackin - and it was good! It really made us spend some much needed quality time together and away from the hustle and bustle of everything else. We promised Tyler some more times like this and now every Friday night is game night. It really did our family good.

To end the summer we went to Vacation Bible School. As a child this was my favorite part of church. Every summer we would go and have so much fun learning God's word. I am so happy that my son loves it just as much as I do. He had baseball practice two of the 5 nights and he made daddy promise to bring him to church as soon as he could so he wouldn't have to miss it all. He is already shaping up into a man of God. I can't wait to see what his future holds.

I also started a clothes closet to help those families that are having hard times. I have had donations pouring in and that in itself is amazing. I didn't think I would have so much just given to me. I am so blessed to be used as a part of Sharing Life Ministries in this way. I can't wait to see how many families this will bless!

So that is our summer of 2009.

It went by way to fast but we have a lot of memories to hold onto from it.