Holy Sports Weekend Batman

I must be nuts. That's the only reason I can come up with for why I would say yes to two kids playing soccer and two kids playing baseball all in the same weekend. Here's how my weekend looked:

Friday 6 PM Ty had baseball at our home field
Saturday 7 AM Ty had soccer 30 minutes away
11:20 AM Ty had another game - same field
1:30 G had soccer 1.5 hrs away - 1.5 hrs back to...
4:20 Ty had another soccer game - same field as before.
Sunday 7 AM S3 had baseball 1.5 hrs away.
12:30 PM Coaches for S3's team decide to play a double header
5:30 PM Ty had another soccer game 2 hrs away.

I put somewhere around 250 miles on my minivan iin two days. That was a lot of running, even for me. And now onto the pictures...

Ty is the one with orange sleeves and black socks.

I'd forgotten how much I like to watch him play. He really focuses on the game and plays hard and even though they usually lose, he's always in a good mood afterward.

Waiting to sub in.

She hasn't been terribly aggressive with the bigger girls but when the ball comes near her, she wins it every time.

I've decided I must need to invest in some catcher's equipment because look who else decided to give the position a try...

Honestly at first I was a little disappointed because he's so good in the 2nd base/short stop position plus I really felt like it was cool that Ty had something kinda special by being catcher but once I saw S3 play I stopped being disappointed. He was fantastic.

It must be genetic. My dad was a catcher too.

Poor E. Doesn't she look totally worn out by all the sports?

The girls were driving me crazy by the end of the day so I let them play with my camera so they'd let me watch the soccer game. G accidentally caught a generational pic. It's not a great pic of any of us but I thought it was kinda cool.

So that was my crazy weekend. Now I'm going to go crash. If you need me, I'll be in bed.

Rage Home Opener

It was youth night at the Rage home opener so G put on her uniform and we went to watch the game. She got a free season pass and my ticket was only $7 so it was a cheap date! They had the really little kids and the U-10 girls make an alley on the field when they announced the starting line-up. G looked so small out there. Rage ended up beating the Virginia team 2-1 so it was a good way to start the season. Some pics from tonight (the mascot is a bull btw):

Who Is That Masked Man?

Ty's baseball season has officially started. They had their fourth game last night and Ty seems to have fallen somewhat naturally into the catcher's position. It's really nice to see him trying something different from his brother. I don't remember ever seeing S3 in the catcher's position.

He needs some work; he's still not sure what to do with his other hand while he's catching but last night he caught more than he dropped and he really seems to enjoy it. It's so awesome to see him really get into the game.

Ty has been an every-other year player since the first time he picked up a bat and glove. Every other year he says, "Oh, I don't want to play baseball this year" and then we'll go watch his brother play and he'll say, "Oh I wish I had signed up for baseball!" This year is an on year and I think it might break the every-other pattern.

It's funny, neither of my boys are very strong batters but they're both above average fielders. I'm not sure why that would be other than maybe it's easier for them to practice catching than it is batting. Ty had some batting instruction on Saturday but he still looked a little awkward at the game last night. I know he will improve as the season progresses.



I'm late in blogging this but I didn't actually miss the event. Ty turned ten years old on May 4th. We went with my grandfather out to eat at Friendly's and Steve (who pushed to get home for the special day) took him to the driving range. We let him pick out his own birthday gift at ToysRUs and he chose a Nerf semi-automatic dart gun. I think having his dad home for those couple of days was the best gift though. It never fails to amaze me (no matter how good I think I'm doing) how much a boy needs his dad. No pictures. I accidentally deleted them when I was taking pictures of Beckham on his first day home. {blush}

Happy First Decade Ty!

Ty Makes Life Interesting

I'm not sure what got into him this morning but after he got dressed for school and ate breakfast and packed his lunch he started cleaning out the refrigerator. Do not ask me why because I really don't know. He had the water filter out and filling up and he was asking me, "What should I do with this salad dressing that's dated from three years ago?"

Finally I said, "Ty the bus will be here any minute. You need to stop worrying about that and get your shoes on.

He said, "Ok but what should I do with this cream cheese that's dated last week?"

I said, "Ty I am not kidding with you. Put the cream cheese down."

At just that moment G (our lookout of the day) yelled, "BUS!" G and S3 took off but Ty ran around, panicked like a headless chicken, still with the cream cheese in his hand. So I came and helped him calm down and grab his things but he was running so far behind he had to carry his shoes. I saw Eileen the bus driver laughing when he got on the bus.

You can't say it wasn't an interesting morning. And at least I have a half clean fridge now. And a box of outdated cream cheese sitting on my couch by the front door.

I've Been Tagged (twice)!

Both Margaret and V have tagged me with 7 Things About Me.

Here are the rules: Each player starts with 7 random facts/habits about themselves. People who are tagged need to write on their own blog about their seven things, as well as these rules. You need to choose 7 people to get tagged and list their names. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they have been tagged and to read your blog!

So, here it is:

1. When I was younger I didn't want to be a mom. I don't like kids and I didn't want to be tied down.

2. Since I now have four kids, people tell Steve he should have been a salesman.

3. There's nothing I like better than being a soccer mom. I love running my kids to games and practices even when it's really stressful trying to get them all to different places at the same time. It's still absolutely my most favorite thing to do.

4. I really wish someone would submit my mini-van on "Overhaulin'" or "Pimp My Ride" because if I have to drive a mini-van, shouldn't it be cool? But I'd have a hard time choosing between Chip Foose's classic style and getting to meet Xzibit. I would hope that my van would end up some combination of pink and orange.

5. My best and worst quality are the same. I have a terrible memory.

6. It's my best quality because I don't remember to stay mad or hold grudges and I don't remember what you did or even that I was hurt. I don't remember any of the bad stuff. I don't remember a lot of the happy stuff either but I tend to assume most everything thing so far in life has been happy. It makes me easy-going and forgiving.

7. However it's my worst quality because I miss important dates and appointments. I forget my anniversary and what time of day my kids were born or how much they weighed. I forget that my SIL had major surgery and I never call to see how she's doing. I don't remember to check up on my friends or to send sympathy cards. I think it makes me seem uncaring.

I'm going to tag....
Vicki, Deb Hannicks, Miss C, Emmie, Jer, Chris (who I don't think has time to play but I hope she does anyway) and the next person who comes up when I click the "Next Blog" link at the top: M.W.

Even MORE Baseball Drama

So I told you about S3 and the school team and S3 and the City-County team right? Well the Jr. Legion guy called and said he also really wanted S3. I said thanks but we've already accepted another offer. That's when he started telling me how Ex. has instituted a "no tolerance policy for those who leave the league."

I was like

So he goes on to tell me that if S3 leaves Ex. to play city-county, he can't come back and play for Ex. ever again. Freaked me out. Maybe I misunderstood but I don't think it matters because no matter what he said, that's what I heard.

So I called one of S3's old coaches who I knew had older boys that had gone thru the program and I said, "What the heck?" because I signed up with Ex., S3 had try outs with Ex. and the C/C coach got S3's name from the Ex. signs and trys so how are we leaving the league?

The ex-coach explained it all so that a first-time mom could understand and long story short for a number of really valid reasons (one of them being I have FOUR children in different activities every night of the week and the practices were close enough for S3 to walk) we decided to stick with C/C and called the Jr. Legion guy and declined the position.

The next day the C/C coach called and said he was really very sorry but they couldn't field a team this year. Really. Veeerrrrysorry. Really.

I went to bed and cried for an hour. That's the truth. I couldn't do anything but lay there and cry I was so stressed out. I just can't believe all the politics and headaches that are going along with my child playing Little League. I mean COME ON PEOPLE! What's with that? He isn't 30 and playing for a million and half dollar contract; he's 13 and I have to pay a million and half dollars for him to play.

So here we were, turned down from or turning down four different teams in one season. Everyone wanted him and noone wanted him all at the same time. OMG how does that happen?

I called that poor Jr. Legion guy about 100,000,000 times and finally he called back four days later and said S3 still had a spot on his team if he wanted it. So I'm saying this very quietly because until I see the uniform on my kid, I don't think I'll believe it but S3 is playing Jr. Legion this year.

Whatevah.

David Beckham Has Come to Our House

"David Beckham?" you say, disbelieving.

Yes. David Beckham was pooping on my kitchen floor just hours ago. I swear it's true.

What? You still don't believe me? Well see for yourself.











Meet Beckham, the newest addition to our family. We picked him up yesterday at the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival. He is a German Angora Hybrid in the color "chestnut agouti." We debated the whole way home between Beckham, Donovan and Hartman (my favorite goalie) and then because he's German we threw in Barrack but the kids all thought he looked most like a Beckham so Beckham he is.


He doesn't seem so very happy to be part of our family just yet but I'm told it can take a while for a rabbit to get used to a new home. He's a lot bigger than I expected but at almost a year of age, I'm told he won't grow any larger. When I first held him (the first bunny I ever held!) he winked at me and then kissed my nose. I knew he had to come home with us.

I know this probably seems sudden to you all but I have actually been preparing for more than two months and getting an angora was the reason we went to the festival. I'll leave you with a few more pictures of my baby.

Look at his adorable big feet!

10 Things I Learned Today

1. When the moon is full, it will rain the minute you step out of the car to change a flat and stop raining the minute you are at the repair shop. Also it will be the one day of the month that instead of wearing your typical black, you will be wearing white and powder blue.

2. Monroe doesn't put the lug nuts on so tight that a girl can't get them off.

3. Dummy tires don't have a label on them that says, "This side toward car," but there really is only one way they'll go on.

4. Camera phones and email come in real handy when you can't figure out how to lower a jack and your dad is and hour away but sitting in front of his computer.

5. When you lower the car, do it slowly or you might startle yourself and the kid strapped in her carseat inside the car.

6. My husband (it's his car) is a slob. Or a pack rat. Or maybe both. Either way, there was a lot of junk in that trunk. On top of the spare.

7. I realized if I ever planned to murder someone, I couldn't risk putting their dead body in the trunk of the car.

8. Tires are heavy.

9. If you are wearing eye make up and changing a tire in the rain, you have to look carefully at all your fingers to decide which is the cleanest one before you can lick it and clean the mascara from your cheeks so that the repair shop guys don't think you were crying.

10. After 15 years (half my lifetime) I can still change a flat tire.