Bases Loaded with One on Deck

With an Eye Towards Spring

Last week, with a great amount of giddiness, I announced to my children that the 10 day forecast included many days in the mid to upper 30's.   Some of us (namely me) were more thrilled than others (that would be the boys), but obviously it got at least one child's mind thinking about the warmer days to come.   

 

 

 
 

 

The above set of balls came on Thursday.  41 that day. (Technically 40 since the boys won't play with the pink ball.  For now it has been carefully set aside for a certain little girl to have when she is old enough to play.) Over the weekend they secured about 70 more.  And considering these little suckers cost about two bucks a piece new,  I'd say we're saving quite a bit on "green fees"!

Obsessed?

Even though he only plays baseball during spring and fall, 99% of the year James come down the stairs dressed for the day like this:

 

or this

 

or this

 

or this

 

(Not pictured; The Cubs, the Rockies, the Braves, the Marlins, the Yankees, the Cardinals, and the Phillies.  Being added to the wardrobe rotation as soon as spring uniforms are handed out; The White Sox (James's team) and one more Pirates shirt (Matthew's), because the three we already have just aren't enough!)

It's Bowl Pickin' Time!

And Kent has already scored some major points with me by picking up this set at Crate and Barrel yesterday!

I started coveting these last year, but they sold out on line and all they had at the store were the spring colors (I am not a "spring color" person).  Fast forward to this past Monday when I was on line admiring their Christmas selection and noticed that they had these in stock again.   Someone obviously paid attention to how excited I was.

I guess I'll have to fill these bowls with snack type food this weekend so we can fuel up on carbs as we sit around our new kitchen table (it arrives this afternoon) with a list of all bowl games and choose who we think will be the victor of each game.

Kent, with the help of his laptop, will discuss the point spread with the boys, as well as the team's colors and mascot.  I don't care how big the spread is, my boys are not going to pick a "Duck" over a "Wolverine", should that be the match up. 

Me, I have my own system of picking, and it has nothing to do with who's favored to win. 

1. Always pick a team from Texas over one who is not from Texas.
2. Never pick a team from a west coast state (California, Oregon and Washington) or Florida.
3. If Florida or west coast teams are playing each other, pick by mascot or color.
4. A team from a state where one of the boys has been born takes precedence over other teams from other states.
5. If there is no opinion on either team playing, choice is made by mascot or color.

Now just to let you know, I have never come out the winner (that title usually belongs to John, so one of these years I'm going to have to take him to Vegas).  As a matter of fact, I think I'm always last.    So if you have money on the line, consider yourself warned and do not use my strategy!  This would go for college basketball as well, since I use the same method.  This past March both Matthew and I had Texas winning the whole thing. Kent laughed at our optimism, but to our defense they were ranked 4th in their bracket so really it could of happened!   

My Longhorn has a long face

As you know, we have four boys.  Each boy was born in a different state.  Matthew is our Texan. 

He loves all things from Texas.  His favorite pro team is unfortunately not the Cowboys (that would be mine!), but the Texans.  Today they played the Falcons, in Atlanta, and after some begging and pleading from Matthew to go to the game, Kent was able, after some begging and pleading of his own, to secure 4 tickets to the game today from his work.  If you look at the picture below, taken at the end of the game, I think you'll be able to figure out who won.

We Have Ourselves a Pitcher Folks!

Matthew is 9 and therefore moved up to kid pitch baseball this year.  Tonight he got to pitch for the very first time.  He was a bit nervous, but I guarantee you, there were 2 people sitting behind the backstop fence that were even more nervous than he was. 

He did very well for his first time on the mound.  He didn't walk anybody.  He struck 2 guys out.  One kid got a hit and got to first, another kid got a hit and got out at first.  No one from the opposing team scored that inning! 

Nicole, wife to one of the assistant coaches, had her camera there, and was kind enough to take some pictures for us.  We can't thank her enough for doing this, otherwise we'd be stuck with the blurry camera phone shots Kent took with his cell phone.  Not exactly the way to capture the memories of your kids first time pitching.  I thought having a blog would make me better about bringing the camera places.  Guess I still need to work on that! 

Somebody's Seven Today!

Happy Birthday John!

How did the birthday boy spend his day?

8:00 - Bagels!

9:00 - John got to open his presents early

12:00 - James had his very first baseball game!

3:00 - John had his game, and since it was his birthday, he got the game ball!

5:00 - Matthew's game.

8:00 - Pizza

9:00 - Cake and ice cream!

Aside from the birthday festivities, this is pretty much how we will spend the next eight Saturdays.  Next week Michael starts flag football, so that will add to the mix of games.  And of course, nobody's games are at the same time, so if you really need to get ahold of us, I hope you have our cell numbers, cuz' we sure won't be home!

There is No Crying in Baseball!

At least not today! 

John's team, the Marlins, won the championship game for their age division.  They had an incredible season, only losing 1 game.  Truly a perfect ending to an almost perfect season!

Matthew also played baseball this season.  His team, the Mets, didn't fair quite as well.  They won only two games and got knocked out during the first two rounds of the tournament.  Even though they don't have the medals to show for it, they are winners in every other sense of the word!

And you can file this under "What are the chances of that happening?"  Because in every age division today, the Marlins team for that division were playing for the championship. 

I Will Survive

Kent had his cell phone in hand, ready to call 911 at a moments notice, but fortunately I made it through tonight's game unscathed, and so did John's team.  They won 15 to 9, didn't even have to go a full 6 innings. 

Next game is Saturday, they play for the championship.  If I'm still conscience when it's over, I'll let you know who won.

GO MARLINS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Who Knew Baseball Games Could Be Hazardous to Your Health!?

I woke up with a scratchy voice this morning, and a sore right hand. 

John had his first playoff game ever (he's 6).  His team, the Marlins, are in first place going into the tournament.  They really haven't played many close games this year, but that all changed last night!  Final score, 13 to 14 Marlins!  It was that close the whole game! 

I'm sure you could guess what the scratchy voice might be from.  The sore right hand probably needs an explanation.  Let's just say I got a bit excited during one of the plays and didn't realize how close I was to the backstop fence.  My right hand took the brunt of the crash.  I am thankful that everyone else was just as into the game as I was, because no one seemed to notice what I did.  Kent was actually standing right next to me and gave me a weird "What's your problem" look as I fell back in agony into my chair.  So I told him. He, of course, got a good laugh and proceeded to give me the "Only you could manage to do something like that" shake of the head, while still laughing, look. (This from a man who drove his lawn mower off a 6 ft. retaining wall!!!)

Next game is Tuesday.  Kent will bring duck tape so he can secure me to my chair.  I am bringing Cloraseptic and Advil for when I manage to break free. And as soon as the shooting pains and funny twitches go away, my right hand should be just fine.

Now, to give credit where credit is due, I must mention Scotty.  He was a player for the other team.  He hit a true over the fence home run!  You don't see that very often at the 6 year old games.  Luckily for us (and the backstop fence), they had no one else on base.