That's Ballgame!

Well, M's all-star season ended almost as quickly as it started. After winning one Saturday morning, he lost his second game Saturday night...15-3...yikes. Those other boys were big - -they must have been eating all their vegetables, and then some. Yesterday, M played his final game - against the same team he lost to on Saturday...we held stronger in this game, but still came up short..13-8 was the final.

He had a great time, and wished that his team could have played more than just 3 games...but he can't decide if he will play baseball next year or not...maybe, he said, he just wants to watch. We''ll just ahve to wait and see what that little guy wants to do, ....with him, theres no telling.

Until then, we will just enjoy an OFFSEASON - everyone needs time to relax, enjoy and just have fun playing...no matter what the game or sport!

ps - during the game, we asked some professional assistance from P & W - we needed photos of M in action and couldn't get into the right spot - but these brothers were more than happy to comply. So - photography credit goes to Two Brothers Photography, Inc.

Take me out to the ball game

In the front yard - before the big game

National Anthem - check out M's shades!!

Still in those shades...

That is M in the catching gear...acting like a pro.

M's all star tournament began today - -his game was at 11:00...heat index over 125 degrees (or at least it felt that way)! But, M didn't care - he was too excited. His team won -they came from behind 7-1 at the end of the 1st inning to beat the other guys 9-15 after 6 innings. M got a triple and an RBI. G, P & W are on their way home from basketball camp, so I had to give running play -by-play via text messages and short phone class. They'll be home in time to watch him play the 2nd game.

He plays again this evening at 7:30....hopefully, it won't be as hot then as it was this morning. ..maybe just 100 instead of 125.

Enjoy the pics..pre and post game.

Cinco Amigos

C'est Tout Bon...Not only was that the name of the boat, it pretty much sums up G's time in Costa Rica with his friends.Here are some pics - enjoy.

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Old Men and the Sea

Well - I always knew that girlfriends remained close no matter the time or distance - some of you can vouch for that, too, right? But, apparently, guys do, too. G is off on the ultimate guy trip. He and four childhood/high school buddies are in Costa Rica for a fishing extravaganza. He left this morning via private jet - flew out of the the MillionAir club here in town. They will be spending their days on a Viking sport fishing yacht. Somewhere in there will be a helicopter ride over the mountains.

Seeing all 5 of them together this morning was pretty cool - 5 ordinary men, but all linked by a multitude of memories of little league, swimming in the Teche, bike riding on skeleton hill, high school football and so much more.


I know he is having a great time - probably all will be sore from all the laughing they will be doing. Probably all 5 will return home a little more like the 15 year olds they used to be. Definitely, though, all will return home with another set of memories to add to their stash, so that the next time these guys get together, there will be plenty more to laugh about and reminisce.

And maybe next time, the guys will decide to take the wives, too :)

8th Place - WORLD FINALS

on top of the world :)

looking down from their dorm window

Last week P and his team of 6 other 6th graders traveled to Ames, Iowa to the Odyssey of the Mind World Competition. They had been practicing all year - came in 1st at regional, and 2nd at state, which meant they had qualified for the world competition. I went along for the ride :)

Little did we know how big a deal this was - there were over 870 Odyssey of the Mind teams there, from just about every state and many foreign countries, too. It was a great experience - the kids stayed in dorms on campus, ate in the campus dining halls, and performed on campus.

here they are waiting to fly out last Tuesday - for P and at least 2 or 3 others, this would be their first time in an airplane - -what a great first for them!

and now they are in the lobby of the dorm - on their way to first day of rehearsal.

For those of you unfamiliar with OM it is a competition of creativity and the ability to think on your feet. Each team must find a solution to a long term problem - ie, a skit...they had to write their own skit explaining a "lost" 13th labor of Hercules. Everything in the skit needed to be original, and they were judged on their "style" of creativity and individuality. Our team coach was sooo proud to learn the fact that of the other 64 middle school teams we were competing against, we had the highest score for style! In addition to this long term problem (skit) they also have to solve a spontaneous problem...this time it was building a vessel that would float in water, and hold multiple items...each one worth a certain number of points. Again, creativity is important, plus the actual points earned from the objects in the vessel. Building this was right up P's alley...in fact he came out of that very secretive competition saying it was his speciality!

after their performance - all their costumes were hand made by the team...they even used corn husks for many costumes & props as a way of paying recognition to the host state of Iowa.

It was a week full of rehearsals, prop adjustments and scoping out the competition. But, last Saturday night we sat in a college basketball arena with thousands of other teams, coaches and parents and waited for the announcing of the winners.Unfortunately, we didn't place in the top 3 and receive a big trophy to bing home, but this team of seven 12 year olds, competing for the first time agianst other teams of 6th, 7th & 8th graders won EIGHTH PLACE! We were so excited and proud of our kiddos! We, as parents know they are pretty bright, but this confirmed it for all to realize, as well. So - here I am, bragging about P and his team of friends, and two very devoted coaches, who have given him an experience that will be one he remembers forever. Thanks, Ms H and Mrs D!

opening ceremonies - Texas is near the bottom right corner...look for aqua shirts and cowboy hats :)

Running just as fast as I can...

This always happens...February ends, March begins, the sun shines, and before I know it, mid-May is here and I don't even know what happened to April. Between school - the one I where I am the teacher, the other school - the one where I am the student, live-arm baseball, coach pitch baseball, 12 and under soccer, throw in a birthday party, G's track season, laundry, and life, I seem to miss the idyllic days of spring - not to mention completely ignoring and neglecting this blog.

Well, at least May does bring some guarantees - -less than a month of school (high school, that is), my last graduate class (whew! why didn't I stay in school at State back in the 90s when I had the chance?), and only a few more weeks of ballgames and practice.

Its a good thing I have summers free - well, relatively free. I need the time to recoup, rest up, and rejeuvenate, so that I can get a running start for next August, and keep that pace going all the way through until NEXT May!

And, hopefully, I will be much more regular with my updates and comments here on the blog.

In Character

I am discovering, in a wierd, self-inflicted torture kind of way, that after 37 years of life, I am now allergic to strawberries. How does that happen? What little switch flipped in my body to suddenly revolt whenever I come into contact with this fruit?

It all started back in December -a wierd outbreak of pimples (more than I ever had when I was 16) and then the dryest skin ever. Over the past few months I have experiemented with changing everything that touches my face - make-up, cleanser, moisturizer, laundry detergent, etc - and now I think I have narrowed it down to strawberries. Monday night I sliced some for the boys to eat with the hamburgers we had for dinner. Tuesday afternoon, I ate 1/2 of one as I was cutting some for M's snack.

Yesterday, I woke up to see a stranger in the mirror! Red splotches, little bumps - not a pretty sight. I packed on the moisturizer, and laid off the make-up, hopeing it would all clear up quickly...nope. So, last night, I loaded up on Benydril lotion and pills...anything to help the new additions to the landscape of my face. Needless to say, all the Benydril knocked me out - -I think I was asleep before my head even hit the pillow, and didn't move all night long.

This moning, I overslept - thanks to the benydryl, I'm sure - and raced into the bathroom to get ready in a flash to make it to school before 7:00am. My new blowdryer packs quite the punch, and I haven't yet mastered the art of wielding all this power at such an early hour. So, I am trying to camoflague the remians of the strawberry rash, style my bed-head, and get to school on time. Guess what? I end up singeing part of my hair because I am holding the dryer too close! A nice-size chunk sort of falls off as I ran my hands thru that part of my hair! Now, I have the burned, broken hair to go along with the red face and look just like the Bride of Frankenstein. How appropriate that I have adopted this new look, just in time to introduce the novel Frankenstein to my seniors as their final novel assignment of high school. Boy - the things we teachers do just to engage our students and capture their attention!

...maybe next spring Ishould consider reading something a little less frigtening - and definitely stay away from the strawberries!