Tball

Eventually I'll get around to downloading the camera and posting a ton of what I'm sure are GREAT action shots of Emma in her first Tball game.

In the meantime, Emma's coach shared this photo of Emma and one of her teammates before the Opening Day ceremonies this past Saturday

Take me out to the Ballgame!

Finally, after months and months of planning and meetings and tryouts and drafts and paperwork and hassles, the Spring baseball season is finally upon us.

Michael had his first game last night, before Opening Day on Saturday. He is a member of the Major division Marlins. As a 10-year-old, he is only one of a few his age in the division. As its worked out, the team that drafted him is giving him a lot of great opportunities to play pitcher and first base. The team overall is probably going to struggle a bit this season.

But, we won our first game last night - 3-2. Michael pitched 5 innings and only gave up 2 hits and 1 run. He had a pretty good outing for their first game!

And just for comparison, I thought I'd share a photo from one of his first Single A games pitching as a little 7-year-old on the Pirates

I am not a bowler!

Really, I'm not. I am in a bowling league because Mike is a bowler and well, this is more of a social league than a bowling league

I started off by saying my average was a great golf score!

We are almost done with our second year of bowling. I've gotten better. Still not good, but better

We had to bowl 6 games yesterday. Power Bowling - just the two of us on two lanes. We had to make up 3 games last week we missed for Michael's baseball tournament and 3 for next week we are missing for Little League Opening Day.

6 games - in 70 minutes.
That's about a game every 11 minutes.
That's a frame every minute - you do the math

It was quite a workout. With 10 lb weights!

By the end, I was convinced how out of shape I was, and my right arm was physically sore from throwing weights for an hour.

But, I had all six games over 100. My average before this was 86. Not any more.
In one game I had a Turkey (for non-bowlers, this is 3 strikes in a row). I took a picture because that was never gonna happen again.

By the 6th game, I knew I was cooked. I hit 3 pins on the first ball and 3 more to finish the first frame. My arm was tired.

But, somehow I managed to bowl the best game I have EVER bowled - 166. I took a picture because, frankly, I doubt I'll ever see that score again, or that many marks in a single game. I have had entire 3-game series with fewer marks than this one game.

And my arm is STILL tired!

The boys of ... Winter?

So, we are scheduled to play our first baseball tournament of the spring season this weekend.

It's been rained out the past two years - two years ago, we got to play one game on Friday night IN THE RAIN before they cancelled the rest of the tournament. Last year, they cancelled it on Thurs evening due to rain during the week contributing to soggy fields that wouldn't be dry in time.

So, here we are Friday morning. It hasn't rained since Wednesday. But, it also hasn't been above 45 degrees. Water certainly has a hard time drying up when its cold.

And on Sunday they are calling for an inch of snow on grassy areas! EEK!

So, do you think they'll give us flourescent-colored baseballs (like they have in softball) so we can see them if they land in the snow!

It's gonna be a COLD one!

EDITED ON Sunday: So, we played two games yesterday in the C-oo-llll-dddd! The second one was miserable. The snow in the forecast for Sun morning convinced us there was no way we were playing. We got a one hour delay at 6:15am while the snow was coming down. At 7:15 we got the word we were on for 9am. Just won that game and waiting to see if we make the top 4 seeds for the semi-finals!

The Horn...The Horn...

The Horn is Forlorn!

Michael went to "band night" last night - its a night where the band director from the middle school talks to the kids about band and the kids get a chance to try out some instruments, and the band director and the student make a choice of what they think the best fit is. The director also uses this to make sure he doesn't get 95 clarinets and 2 trumpets.

So, Michael tried out some wind mouthpieces and brass mouthpieces and even some of the percussion. In the end, the mouthpiece for the French Horn was really a great fit for the shape of his mouth. The director even let Michael play his PERSONAL French Horn, after many warnings about the value of the instrument, and the sound was good

So, next year for Michael, we'll be hearing the deep honking sounds of the French Horn. But, with only a few in the band, its certainly an opportunity for him to get some specialized attention instead of being in a sea of clarinets or trumpets!

Disney Dream and Wonder Meet in Port Canaveral

Just another example of how everything is done "Disney" style. Listen to the end to hear the horns!

Epiphany!

Epiphany. The arrival of the Magi. The 12 days of Christmas.

These are all things you hear when you talk about January 6th. The 12th day after Christmas.

I'm not sure how it has happened, perhaps its Mike's Catholic roots, but we leave up our Christmas decorations through Epiphany.

I think the first year we lived in South Riding, this was even after our neighborhood scheduled their Christmas tree pickup, but they have since adjusted and always have a Christmas tree pickup the Monday AFTER Epiphany.

Our tree is ready to come down. What looked majestic is now looking a bit sad. And I'm ready to reclaim my family room.

So, the decorations will start getting put away after tomorrow - Epiphany - and by the end of the weekend I'll be able to reclaim my family room, and my living room, and my dining room table, and, and, ...

Happy New Year!