God Loves Baseball

YNLL Opening Day 2009

Take me out to the ball park...  Opening day 2009 went off without a hitch yesterday!  Ypsilanti National Little League is officially underway!  Noah was not unhappy, but attempting to hold his stomach in for the picture.  :)  All three boys played great.  Noah did very well.  He still plays outfield, but there are lots of balls that go to the outfield in the Major League!  He's graduated from right to left field and was really great about backing up his third baseman.  I was really proud watching him play.  He got a really nice hit, and was walked a couple of times.  He still really enjoys stealing bases.  I think it's his favorite part of the game.  His team won 6-1. 

 Ricky played third base.  His team "won" also, although there are no official standings in coach pitch.  I was coaching during his game, so I wasn't actually able to watch him.  He got hits both times he was up.  I think he is learning his lesson by choosing to play coach pitch.  The games do not have the intensity that the minors would have, and he is playing with a lot of kids that have never played before.  I am afraid he won't gain much skill wise, as he is never going to be challenged.  Next year they are changing the minor leagues to be 8, 9, and 10 year olds.  Had I known that I would have MADE him play minors.  Playing with 10 year olds after playing with kindergartners is going to be difficult.  

  I am coaching Matthew's team this year.  People have asked me if Brian is boycotting baseball, and truth be told I don't really know what he is doing.   I am trying to do the best I can, and I hope my children realize that.  Here is my darling boy, and his adorable buddy, and then my oh so cute team....

Have you ever seen anything so cute?  Kerrie and I decided that if nothing else, we would have the cutest kids on the fields.  We have last names on the backs of shirts, and first names on their little hats.  So cute!!!!  The kids really surprised us though and played great, so they are cute AND talented!  

They day was long and exhausting, but very fun.  We narrowly avoided a HUGE  storm, and games went on all day as planned.  (Told ya God loves baseball!)

It's a beautiful day, and I should be outside enjoying the sunshine instead of blogging, but I wanted to preserve the memories.

God is good.  All the time.

Pwees Weport Yitto Yeege

We are counting down the days until opening day around here!  Today our tee ball teams canvased the town and solicited donations to help keep our little league running.  I couldn't resist snapping a few pictures.  We send the tee ball players out to beg for money while the "big kids" clean the fields.  Our little guys (and gals) managed to raise close to $1000.00 today! 

It's days like today that make me very glad that I live in a town like Ypsilanti.  People from all walks of life took a minute to not only donate money to the kids, but to ask them about their team.  The little league here is a source of pride, and many of the donors took a minute to tell the boys about when THEIR kids played ball for YNLL.  The generosity of a small town with a bad reputation warms my heart.  There are so many good people here, and I'm glad my kids can be a part of that.  

These poor folks got stopped going in, and coming out...notice the woman has MORE money in her hands!  Where is the newspaper when things like this are happening?!

I realize that in other towns, a generous donor could just write their little league a check for $1000.00, but there was such a sense of community today.  Sharing little bits and pieces of themselves with one another.  Every donor had a little league story....

All in all, a very pleasant way to spend a sunny Saturday.

God is good.  All the time.

How I spent my Spring Break... Sigh...

Happy Easter To All!
 I am amazed by how quickly something you long for can pass so quickly by.  I was counting the days until spring break, and now it is almost over!  We didn't really do anything "exciting" in the traditional sense.  Alyssa visited us BEFORE our spring break, and since we were so busy with the regular life, that went by WAY to quickly. 

Alyssa and the kids at Chuck E. Cheese...

Poor girl spent her break volunteering in preschool classrooms, going on field trips, and attending sixth grade band concerts.  She endured well, and all of us were very sad to see her go back "home".  The highlight for me was taking her prom dress shopping.  We found the store she wanted to go to (DEBS in case you are wondering) and she tried on almost every dress in the store.  Including the ones on the mannequins!  We finally found her perfect dress, and I was happy to buy it for her.  That was fun, but the best part was on the way home when she told me "I could have gone prom dress shopping at home, but I wanted to do it with you."  Getting teary eyed now just thinking about it.  I will be anxiously awaiting her pictures.  Prom is next Saturday.  I'm a little tempted to drive myself down there (what's four hours there and four hours back to see you daughter off to prom?)  and back just so I can see with my own eyes.  Not sure what DH will think of my idea.... 

So the highlight of MY spring break, was going to a much anticipated trip to the Parlour in Jackson.  It's a super yummy ice cream place with gigantic proportions!  It was kind of a celebration of our weight loss competition, although I should have invited more people.... (sorry Ilene!)  Here are a few highlights from that day...

Ricky showing his fruit smoothie finishing prowess.... where did this kid come from?  A FRUIT smoothie at an ice cream parlour?  At least it wasn't a corn dog...  :)

Ruby enjoying her ice cream, and Haley enjoying Ruby... 
Dear friends, and their son.  (Am I allowed to use your names on MY blog?)
Haley, Ruby, and Spiderman...
Today is Easter, we are going to the Brewsters house.  I still wish my extended family was able to figure out how to get together all in one place for the holidays, but I guess I should have thought of that before having so many children!   Girls are exited to have new bikes, Matthew got a new Power Ranger gun/sword (I know...not very Eastery) Ricky got some Bakugan, and Noah got a Snuggie and a video game.  Everyone seems happy for the moment!  

I finally figured out how to upload pictures to my laptop (I know...I am a technology moron) so hopefully I will be able to blog more frequently.  Although that being said,  baseball is gearing up to be in full swing in the next two weeks.  Right now it's just practices that have me running all over!  So maybe I won't be blogging more.  We'll see....  Ruby's recital is in May.  I'll definitely be blogging about that.Hope your day is filled with peace, love, and family memories...

God is good.  All the time.