you know there is running involved right?

imagine my surprise last week when C brings home the permission slip to join the cross country team. His father is always after him to hustle on the ball field, the basketball court, the boy can run he just takes his time, perfect when you are hitting a home run but... I was concerned and gave him several outs before buying running shoes this weekend after the running shoes I told him he was committed and he had to run whether he wanted to or not at that point and in a related note do you know how expensive running shoes are? I did not and was surprised we didn't want to buy him crap shoes but we were certainly not going high end for his first pair. Flas forward picked him up this afternnon after the first practice & he loved it and the shoes were "awesome to run in". Who knew? I should know better than to sell my son short on anything!

over scheduling

not a fan where my son is concerned for many reasons all the PC ones of course but the oft left out in fancy schmancy articles about how we are screwing up our children is that if he is over scheduled it makes me over scheduled..well even more over scheduled than I already am. I am also not a fan of him sitting in front of a television or computer screen every afternoon not that we allow that during the school year anyway but I digress. As he gets older he has more interests, interests I like to encourage, interests that will over schedule us this semester perhaps. He takes taekwando twice a week, CCD once a week, we are going to let him try baseball again this fall contingent of course upon his school work if it starts to suffer he will get pulled out again just like last year and last but not least his new found love of swimming with new classes starting in September. I am tired just thinking about it all especially when you add in my full time job, school, laundry etc etc etc
and yes I know I am whining over just one kid those with more than one God Bless 'ya I have no idea how you do it!

snuck up on me

turned out to be report card day for C and yipee for him every single grade had been raised since the last time! There was nary a C or an S to be found. So as it stands he will indeed be allowed to play baseball this spring.

taxpayer field

one of many things that irk me is the seemingly endless practice of corporations getting stadiums & arenas renamed after them. I understand corporate sponsorship, lots of money blah blah but can't they find another way to get their name out there? naming every skybox or parking garage after the sponsor? or even street names perhaps? plastering logos over everything? something, anything other than taking away the personality & history of these venues. After all it did not work out so well for Enron field and now the diabolical plot to rename Shea Stadium is in question. With the current bailout some NY politicians are suggesting renaming the stadium Taxpayer field!

so much for baseball season

this was next punishment on the chopping block
3rd grade may very well kill me

fall ball

C had his first baseball game of the fall season yesterday he had base hit, a walk & hit by a ball, it was a good game and his team managed to come from behind & tie it up 10-10 apparently a tie being as good as a win in this league. He has moved up to the Roberto Clemente which is coach pitch for 2 innings then move to kid pitch. It really changes the game for them as they learn, I suppose the key is to score as much as you can the first 2 innings or hope you can get runs walked in as the kids start to pitch which helped our team, that one child was a pretty bad pitcher. You had to feel sorry for him he was trying but it just wasn't working out for him. C knows he is not very good at pitching and shows no real interest which is good David & I have seen way too many episodes of Real Sports that have focused on how pitching hurts young kids! Plus it seems to fall under the odd category of things David did in his youth that he doesn't want C to do-pitch or play football in that category currently. I think he plays 3rd base very well and David thinks he is better in the outfield, although he is pretty strong as catcher I guess we'll see they still move the kids around each inning in this league.
I am curious about the no gum rule this is the first time we have come across it chewing tobacco ok but gum?

the fair is back!

it started last night and we all know how much I love the fair! TVA fair was loads of fun and we had a great time last year. Why on earth had I not gone before? Plans are for a trip next Saturday with the gang I kinda wish we were going today but C has a baseball game this morning and I think we are cooking out this afternoon weather permitting I suppose. Not to mention he has school work to catch up on(more on that a later time) It was such a crazy summer that we didn't get the chance to cookout half as much as we usually do. I think we are going to try to put together one more big cookout it won't be a Meatfest but we'll see what we can come up with.

rountine of things

summer is most definitely over for us and we are well back in the thick of things.
-Last week was the first week of school and C also started back at tae kwan do after his summer hiatus. This was the first time he took the summer off but with scheduling the way it was we found it too difficult to make classes so dropping it temporarily was the easiest fix. I was surprised that it won't put him behind in belt testing at all and he will test for the next belt in September and if I am not mistaking it will be his red belt? maybe black tip?
-Yesterday morning we signed C up for CCD-the Catholic version of Sunday school-and I am standing by my assertion that it should be on Sundays but they apparently don't agree with me. I must admit to spending each and every Wed evening wishing he was going to Catholic school
-Fall Ball started yesterday and practice is on Sunday afternoons! We do have a few Wednesday practices but only for the first 2 weeks and thankfully before CCD starts up. Spring baseball was difficult for about a month while the 2 overlapped, C would go to CCD is his baseball uniform and we be a little late for practice each week. Games start just after Labor Day.
-Basketball-yes I am going to let him add it to the mix this year I believe sign-ups are in October by which time baseball will be over
-school starts for me next week as well-class twice a week plus a lab
David has already started fussing that we need to drop something but that is not going to happen at this point. MIL has been conscripted to help with chauffeuring duties plus with BIL in town as well I think we will manage just fine-at least that's what I am hoping for!

this child has it bad

he has found football.
The Army/Navy game from 2000 but football nonetheless.
Good grief!

season is over

after a devastating 15-12 loss our team is out of the tournament on the very first night.
It's a shame they are a team with potential but with the wacky weather this spring the only had 4 practices ah well they had fun which at the end of the day is all that really matters.
I am kind of horrible but we established that some time ago did we not? back to being horrible I am secretly happy they lost I think the tournament goes on well into June and I have school starting next Wed and would have had to rely on MIL to get him to pick him up, feed him then get him practices & or games or D would have to leave work early and well this is just easier on everyone involved.

real reason I am not headed to the derby

hats-I can't wear 'em. I love them. I love the idea of wearing one. I just cannot pull it off, I'm ok in the occasional baseball hat but that's it. And mint juleps just sound gross I can't even stomach a mojito but for some reason I still really want to go to the derby...
one of these days....

play ball...finally

C got his first game in at last yesterday. He missed the first 3 games with the nutty weather, make-up games and the busy first communion weekend we are lucky it has only been 3 games. He did very well got a base hit first at bat, struck out the second time but considering they have not had a practice in about 3 weeks I was proud-he on the other hand teared up-not full on tears but those eyes got big & watery. The coaches are great told him what he was doing wrong and I pointed out that even the major leaguers strike out sometimes which seemed to settle him a bit. He also played catcher the entire game and did well but complained his knees were starting to hurt towards the end. The Pirates did win 15-14!
it may be all for naught though as he has recently decided on a wrestling career when he grows up...

rained out

baseball rained out on Saturday but not to worry games rescheduled for Sunday unfortunately they emailed me the info...
our computer at home still does not work..I suggested maybe a phone chain to clue parents in?

opening day is tomorrow!

um well little league opening day is tomorrow-
C is looking forward to his first game are the hubby & I except the parking issue why is there not parking at these ball fields? and why are there so many bad drivers? and parkers?
Sunday will apparently kick off birthday season C got 2 invites this week alone. The jump it up/pump it up places seem to still be the party of choice amongst the boys. I am still trying to talk C into a bowling party but it has worked yet ah well I still have a few more months to work on the lad.

off to the races

D scored some tickets for Bristol tomorrow so the boys are off to the racetrack for the day. C is of course over the moon about going to the race. D got 3 tix but is taking along one of his friends, I must admit I would have liked to go however that said D's buddy is a race fan and will enjoy the ticket far more than I would. Not to mention a day to myself always novel and welcome!
agenda for the day?
-go back to bed after getting boys out the door
-catch up on DVR'd shows
-movies? In Bruges got a recommend and I have been wanting to see it
-lunch
-couch shopping
-trip to the book store
-a nap?
the possibilities are endless

baseball season is fast upon us

and "tryouts" were Saturday morning. I say "tryouts" yes with the annoying air quotes because we've paid our fees, the check has been cashed the boy will play baseball, they were really evaluations which I must say it seemed a little sublime at this level of baseball. C is playing machine pitch again, it is one league up from playing with dirt and picking flowers in the outfield but they have "evaluations". Around 20 maybe 30 coaches sat at long tables while each boy ran the length of the gym, hit a few balls then fielded a bit. I guess we get a call later this week to find out which team C was picked for. I am hoping it will be the same group of coaches he played for this past fall they were a good group of guys that let the boys still have fun hell they're only 7-8 not quite ready for the UT scouts just yet...
There was one coach last fall in this league who was a little too gung-ho for my tastes, way too aggressive for the age group he would storm about the field with his blue tooth firmly soldered to his head yelling out alligator each inning we still don't know what it meant. Our coach's wife & I were going to make something up to yell out to our kids when they were in the outfield I believe we came up with watermelon.
I am really hoping this is not our coach....

well when did that happen?

I'm a football fan?
GO GIANTS!

road tripping the return

so we are back in rainy 'ol Knoxville. I was very happy to be back sleeping in my own bed next to my dear sweet hubby. When we are at my folks house I usually wind up sharing a bed with C this is better now that he doesn't snore so much but he tends to be a bed hog, kind of cute when he was 20 lbs not so much now that he is 83 lbs! My Dad is talking about cleaning up some space, getting rid of an old couch & buying a day bed in the new year which will be nice.
We tried to go to bed early Friday night in anticipation of the long journey ahead and it was fine till about 2 a.m. when C started tossing and turning which involved thrashing his whole body about, grunting and stealing the covers I threatened him repeatedly but it was a crummy night of sleep regardless. As I related this story to D the next day and C pipes up with his head & legs hurt-gotta love those growing pains! but I pointed out that he needs to say something next time so I can give him some tylenol to help!
The drive back was happily uneventful we were making good time so D decided to push on through normally we stop for a hour or so to have lunch and get out of the car but we grabbed fast food & ate on the go which made the trip only 12 hours instead of 14, we made really good time.
Around 6 C wanted to put a call into grandpa to find out how the Patriots/Giants game was going-grandpa being the die hard Giants fan-so I had to let C know the game had not started yet and grandpa was out at a party anyway.

I doubt my parents felt guilty..

well it never seemed like they did, if we couldn't do something or they didn't let us do something it just did not happen. They did not necessarily explain reasoning to us and near as I can tell there was no guilt involved. So why do I feel so guilty telling C he can not play basketball this fall? I feel horrible but with all we have going on it seems silly to sign up and miss a bunch of games & practices, these things cost money and if we aren't going I consider that a waste. He has surgery & convalescence time coming up, we are planning on a trip to CT for xmas, plus he still has CCD on wed nights , tae kwan do tues & thurs and I am thinking I will take a biology class next semester which is 3 hours class time & 4 hours lab per week. Basketball seems unreasonable at this juncture but I feel like crap telling him no.

benedict arnold

Last Saturday at C's little league game just one hour in the sun reddened my scalp so I decided to pick up a baseball hat of my own instead of grabbing one from the boys. Went looking for a Yankees hat-why wouldn't I? Found a cute little pink hat with the NY Yankees emblem at Target just perfect and on clearance at that! a comment on their season? or just a pink hat merchandised in the men's section? Yesterday evening was the perfect sunny day to wear said hat at C's last game little did I know they were in fact playing the Yankees...