My All-Star

With the craziness that April and May brought, I didn't get to post much about baseball, or anything else for that matter. I keep thinking I will get it all caught up, but that isn't working out so well.

That didn't stop the baseball machine from going forward, though. We were on the ballfield all the time, because if Kyle wasn't playing then Todd was. And many times they were playing at the same time, which is more manageable if they are playing in the same town.

And they played hard. Baseball is Kyle's big passion. With three ballplayers, we will be spending every spring living part time at a ballfield somewhere, and that is okay with us.

Kyle was accepted on the All-Star team again this year. For the last couple of weeks he has been practicing for 12-15 hours a week; batting, catching, pitching, outfielding, infielding, running, sliding.. essentially living and breathing ball. Yesterday they suited up for their team pictures.

Next week he and this fine looking group of boys will be traveling to Bentonville to compete in the All-Star tournament. They are excited, nervous, and ready to play. If they win there, they will be moving on to compete in state. Either way, it is going to be awesome. Good luck, guys!

Odd Todd

I am working on uploading a baseball video of Kyle's team, but it is giving me problems. In the meantime, I thought I would share a conversation I had with the boys two weeks ago.

We were at Crawdad Days (update to come) and eating lunch around a picnic table with a group of friends. Todd asked me why we named him Todd. I started to tell him he was named in honor of Todd Beamer when Kyle piped up instead.

"I know why they named you Todd. It's because it has the word "odd" in it!"

Brotherly love is so sweet, is it not?

Today...

As promised, I am returning to my normally scheduled blogging. I will be posting make-up posts, but today it is all about ... today. Trust me, today was enough for anyone. The pictures aren't edited, simply because I am running out of time. Give me a week, and then school will be over and baseball will be nearing its end, and I will have time to edit pictures again.

The morning started with a flurry of activity as we got everyone up and dressed and ready to meet on the square. The school's PE teachers have a contest going where the child who walks or runs the most miles this week will win a season pass to Silver Dollar City, and my four middle children really want to win that pass. Everyday this week they will be walking to school from the square to start logging their mileage, and then there will be a walk-a-thon marathon event this weekend. There were about 12 kids total, so my kids already have a 1 in 3 chance of one of them winning this. They are excited. I am willing to get them there for the competition. Honestly, though, the thought of just one of my kids winning a season pass to SDC sends shivers of fear up my spine. I will just let you imagine the nagging of several and gloating of one that will occur.


Today I wasn't able to walk with them all the way to school. We just saw them off. Jack had an appointment to have an ultrasound done. No, he isn't pregnant.

Unfortunately, though, he does have clots in his legs, which can end up being very serious. The doctor should have all the results and a plan of action by tomorrow. He may be able to just treat the clots with medication, but I really can't say anything for sure at this point.

After his appointment, Beth really wanted to see the pond at the hospital. (Does your hospital have a pond??) She loves looking for her favorite critters, frogs. Today we saw a couple hopping, and a turtle popped its head up out of the water, and there were some guppies swimming on the pond's edges, all while birds were skimming bugs off the top of the water and a monstrously large dragonfly flitted across the pond. Ponds are simply teeming with life. And that, my friends, is why I refuse to swim in ponds. I am too outnumbered by creepy crawlers and critters.

This one particular bug was just spinning in circles in the water. Over and over and over again. Sometimes you are the bug. Sometimes you are the windshield. And sometimes you are the bug who just buzzes around in circles and foolishly thinks you are getting somewhere. I don't want to wax too poetically about it, though, because I suspect at least one of those describes me all too accurately.

After inspecting the lilypads for more frogs for a few more minutes, we headed back to town for me to go to work and earn my paychecks. Knowing the rest of my day would be packed, I also wanted to get as much of the Tuesday Night Dinner ready as possible.

I finished putting in my hours at both of my paying jobs, returned to the church to help my friends finish the dinner prep, and then dumped the majority of my children at home. We have had huge rainstorms the last few days and I did not want to deal with wet and soggy children at a ball game. Matt had to go get a physical to play sports next year, and then it was off to Kyle's game.

Tonight they were having team pictures taken before their game. The photographer got a shot or two of them making good faces I guess, but I like this one better.

The game was tied when it came to the last inning. Kyle's team managed to stop the other team from scoring any runs, which sent them into overtime.
At this point, his team really rallied, and a ho-hum game became very exciting. The coach said he was going to have a heart attack if they kept this up. Everyone was hitting and coming home. The pitcher was striking the other team out. The score went from a tie to a clear victory. Those boys got their game on and you could see it in their faces. It was awesome.

After the extremely long baseball game, Kyle and I rushed home so we could take Jack his dinner during his break. We got home just in time for me to rally everyone to their barracks to sleep. Now I am getting ready to crash because today is nearly over and tomorrow will bring its new to-do list all too soon. Sadly, I won't have all of today's to-do list completed, but that is okay because we did get the important things accomplished. I think.

Spring has officially arrived!

Some people think spring is all about daffodils bursting forth, birds singing merrily, animals getting frisky, and vegetation turning green. I know some consider spring a time of rebirth, a return to warmer temperatures, and longer days thanks to Daylight Savings Time.


But some of us moms know better. Some of us know that spring is about new cleats because last year's are worn out. Some of us know spring smells like popcorn and hotdogs. Some of us know spring means laundering red dirt out of white pants. Some of us know spring isn't spring until baseball starts. Spring has truly sprung in the Ozarks.







Go Red!