Tell me how you really feel

The topic of baseball came up at our goal-setting Family Home Evening last night.  We told Wade that we'd support him in what he'd like to do athletically, that it was important to "do a sport" for many reasons, to learn skills, get exercise, make friends, and get away from electronics, ha-ha!  I enthusiastically encouraged Wade to try a golf clinic or basketball or soccer, sports he hadn't played with an organized team yet.  Jason gave Wade some wise counsel and told him that if he took a year off from baseball, he probably would never come back to it, and most importantly, to not let the last season keep him from signing up for baseball if he wanted to.

Ah, last season.  I've spent 7 months trying to forget about it, but I woke up at 4:30 this morning from a very vivid dream about it.  In the dream I was in a car with Jason and our home teacher Brother Robins and a couple other people, tearfully describing, in great detail, the "character-building" that Wade experienced with the Mustang Tigers.  I couldn't go back to sleep and decided to come down and type it out.

So, here's a pull-the-skeleton-out-of-the-closet, let's-get-real post, in letter format:

To whom it may concern, members of the Mustang division, the IWVYB league, and parents and Ridgecrest baseball coaches in general,

After 4 previous seasons of baseball, our son got his chance to build character in the 2013 spring season as a first-year Mustang.  His team finished with an 0-13 record and mercifully ended the playoffs early.  Despite the difficult season, our family appreciates the time, sacrifice, and efforts of his three coaches, who took time away from their own families and pursuits to coach.

One of the biggest set-backs for our team, in my opinion, was the unchecked egos and bad attitudes of several players on our team.  A valuable lesson--there is no "I" in T.E.A.M (together everyone achieves more)--was not learned. Early in the season one coach thought it would be a good idea to have our son start preparing to be a back-up pitcher.  We were quietly excited about this, but we admitted that he had very little experience except to be pulled from the outfield to pitch in an emergency, nail-biting situation at his Pinto team's final championship game the year before.  (He'd done well with that, too!)  You can imagine how our son must have felt, anticipating a chance to actually play something other than an outfield position, when other "more experienced" boys on his team put up a fuss to the coaches and didn't think that was a good idea for him to pitch.  Our son spent the rest of the SEASON obediently playing in the outfield after that night.

Our team had a lot of talent, full of good baseball players.  But game after game, we'd watch the team implode.  It was a cycle:

1.  The team would start out playing hard, excited, and they'd get ahead.
2.  Someone on the team would make a mistake.
3.  "More experienced" players would start in with bad-mouthing, cut-downs, tantrums, and the like.
4.  The team would implode.
5.  We'd lose the game.

We're proud of our son, though.  He never quit, he showed up for practices and games, he was respectful to his coaches, and he played his best and kept his head high at center field.  He also kept his mouth shut in the dugout and on the field.  But he admitted to getting a sick feeling in his stomach before every baseball outing, and tears were shed after many of them, on the way home in the van.

So, you can imagine how I felt to talk about baseball again.

At this moment, I don't know if our son will want to sign-up.  We've given him a couple weeks to think about it and decide before the final sign-ups deadline later this month.  We'll support him either way.  I know we're probably one of those families that coaches would rather avoid, the kind that digs out the baseball gear just before a season starts and hangs it up at the end, who declines summer ABL invitations to be an "alternate,"the family who doesn't spend weekends and nights at the baseball field, and who, heaven forbid, signs their kid up for baseball so he can have fun and learn how to play, not to groom him to be the high school/college star or the next J.D. Martin.

I get that baseball is the "other" religion in Ridgecrest.  But I'd love to see a different kind of baseball played, especially with these young kids, where parents' and coaches' and kids' visions of grandeur, profanity, and egos are checked at the door.  A type of baseball where kids are rotated through positions more and not groomed for the in-field, where they're allowed to have fun, make mistakes, and learn to love baseball.

Sincerely,
a somewhat disgruntled parent

Here we go!

 

 

This will be a big part of our routine the next 3 months!  Every time I get a little crazy in the head trying to keep it all straight in my brain, I talk to friends who have kids in more intense activities.  One dad told me about what it's like for them during tackle football season--practices and games every night, til late, plus lots of out-of-town games.  And, no, this is elementary-age kids, not high school.  I'll count my blessings!

 

Wade is on the Tigers baseball team, and his coaches are tough, thorough, and AMAZING.  They don't mess around and they don't let the boys mess around, either.  Jason and I are excited for Wade--it's more intense and challenging in this new division, obviously, but if he can keep up a good attitude and pay attention, he's going to REALLY learn how to play baseball!

 

Batter up!

for·tu·i·tous

Jason picked up a call on his cell phone tonight--it was Wade's new baseball coach for the season, Coach Tony Martin, whose Tigers team won the Mustang championship last year!  Woo-hoo!

Usually I'm the one who gets those calls, but I was so glad that Jason did tonight.  In a few sentences he conveyed exactly what the coach needed and wanted to know, gave our family's support, talked about Wade's strengths, his possibility as a pitcher, and his good attitude. 

Let the good times roll!

Baseball and Bed Angels

As part of our mini-getaway last week, we went to a Lancaster Jethawks baseball game Wednesday night.  We had a great time and GREAT seats right behind the Jethawks dugout!  The sunset was amazing, too!  Thanks, Daddy!

Oh, and here's how we stayed entertained while we were waiting to head to the game:

Wade's 20 seconds of insane courage

We thought Wade's last baseball game in the playoffs was a couple weeks ago--his Red Sox team played his friend Nick's Yankee team and beat them by 10 points, BUT they had to play again because the Yankees hadn't been double eliminated.

So we played again.  On Rhiannon's birthday.

The game started at 5:30 and ended at TEN O'CLOCK at night!  It was crazy!  At 9pm the president of the league came on the field and said we'd played past the time limit but had to finish the game--the kids could keep playing or meet again the next night to finish the game.  Jason and I yelled and waved our arms--"KEEP PLAYING!  FINISH THE GAME!"  We got some looks from tired folks, but I think many of us just wanted to be DONE!

Hang in there, Wade!  He was tired, but still smiling!

Wade's team was behind but finished out the 6th inning and tied the game....so we kept playing!

Wade's team was "Home."  The game was tied at 19 after the 6th inning so we had to keep going!

Here's Rhiannon with our good friend Sophia--her brother Nick was on the opposite team.  It was about 9:30pm, and this is how most of us looked!  It was so sweet that these sisters stayed to see the game through--they were worried about not getting enough sleep for their middle school finals the next day!  Not to mention Rhiannon was spending 5+ hours of her 12th birthday at the ballpark! :)

And

then

something

AMAZING

happened.



Our team had burned through all our pitchers and then some.  So Coach Griffin called Wade out of the outfield, where he'd been the WHOLE game, and asked him to pitch.

Jason and I looked at each other, our jaws dropped and eyes wide, probably thinking the same thing--"this could be really BAD or really, really cool."

Wade practices some pitches and gets tips from his coaches

We woke up a bit when Wade walked out to the mound!

Wade got up to the mound and had to be taught how to place his feet.  Here was a kid who'd thrown a few "pitches" in the backyard with Mom and Dad and hadn't been practicing all season like the other kids.

A kid came up to bat, and Wade's first pitch was a beautiful, perfect STRIKE!  I went a little crazy and hooped and hollered a bit after that!

Wade kept throwing these awesome straight pitches--some were too high, but they were straight as could be.  He got two strike-outs and was able to get his team out of a painful first half of the inning.  The Red Sox weren't able to get enough runs to come back, but they made it through a nail-biter of a game!

It is very difficult to put into words how proud we were of Wade, but I think his coach put it perfectly.  After the game and pictures Rhiannon and I went home, and Jason hung out for Wade.  Jason thanked all the coaches for a great season and for helping Wade out so much.  One coach replied that he wished they'd had 12 Wades on their team--he worked hard and did everything they asked him to do, including stepping onto the mound for the first time in his life during a final championship game.

I'm thankful for Wade's "20 seconds of insane courage" and the wonderful way he carried himself--what a great kid!

There was one other really cute moment during the game.  I missed it while I was gone signing up Oscar for obedience classes.  Jason said Wade got hit by a pitch and went to first base.  As he touched home plate, he did this to Dad:

No one knew what that meant but Jason and Wade--they made a deal that everytime Wade got hit by the ball, he'd get a scoop of ice cream.  The "peace sign" from Wade was his signal to Dad that now he owed Wade not one but TWO trips to Baskin Robbins!  Too funny!!!!!!!!

Congratulations on a wonderful season, buddy!

2nd Place in Pinto Championships!!!

Thanks for a great game, Red Sox and Yankees!

Wade's baseball season so far...

Now that the regular season is over, Pinto Playoffs will start this week.  We're excited for Wade and his Red Sox team--so far they're in 1st place!  Way to go, Wade!



It's Thursday but it's Friday

I don't know if I've ever looked forward to a 4-day weekend as much as I have this Presidents' Day one!  There's something about helping kids through sickness and dealing with crazy winds that just makes me want to pull the covers up over my head!  Hopefully I'm not getting what Rhiannon had--I don't feel feverish, just run down and tired. 

Last night Wade started baseball again.  His practice was at 7pm for an hour, and he did really, really well!  His 3 coaches are AWESOME and sure had the boys working hard.  It was hard to believe it was a first practice--everyone was doing so well!  Wade doesn't know a single kid on his team--it will be an excellent chance to widen his circle of friends.  I was proud of him for getting out there and trying his best--his catching was good, and with some tips from his coaches, he had some great hits, too!  For the next 3 weeks he'll have practices on Wednesday nights, Friday nights, and Saturday mornings.  The Friday and Saturday practices will be longer.

The only downer for me was that after sitting on the bleachers watching Wade for an hour in the cold, I couldn't feel my face.  Every part of me was COLD.  As soon as we got home and said prayers, I jumped into bed with 3 layers of blankets, wearing my flannel pjs and cozy socks and still felt cold for almost 30 minutes.  I guess it takes a while to thaw out.

Today Jason is taking me out for a lunch date (I am so spoiled! :)), then I'm subbing for two hours in the afternoon, followed by piano lessons, some sort of dinner, and Cub Scouts and Mutual.

Here are our weekend plans, so far:

Friday:
5am substitute paper route with Rhiannon
Wade and Jason will work on pinewood derby car
Jason has Scout campout
The kids and I--?? maybe pizza and a movie

Saturday:
SLEEP IN
Rhiannon babysitting in the evening
???--probably some shopping

Sunday:
SLEEP IN
Church
No extra meetings?

Monday:
Wade gets orthodontic appliance and dental cleaning in the morning
Both kids have been invited to birthday parties that afternoon
Yard work date with Jason? :)

Piano! Baseball! Science Fair! Medal! Trophy!

It's time for a massive blog update.  What can I say, life gets a little busier (if that's possible) in May!

Rhiannon had a piano recital on May 21st (Happy belated birthday to Uncle Jordan and cousin Alex!).  She did a fantastic job playing "Red Robin Rag."  I'm sorry--I didn't get video this time. :( 

Our sweet girl is making good progress in piano.  Her teacher paid her a compliment at her lesson this week--she hadn't been making notes like she usually did because she was enjoying Rhiannon's piano playing too much!

Wade's team finished up the season on Tuesday at the championship game.  It wasn't a pretty game (the other team scored a LOT and the Dodgers didn't get any runs), but the kids were pumped about making it that far and were excited to get some nice 2nd place trophies.  After listening to the other team's coaches, I was again thankful to Coach Jones and Coach Martin for their efforts--they did a good job keeping the kids positive and didn't bark at them too much.

Wade got his first HIT of the season at the last game, too.  Even though it was a foul ball, the whole team AND his coaches were excited for him to make some contact!!! 

Baseball started for us back in February--it's been a long 4 months, but it's been full of great memories, too.  Will Wade want to play again next year?  Stay tuned!

 

Rhiannon made a model of the heart for her science fair project this year.  There were some wonderful resources online--once she took the time to study all the materials her mother had gathered for her, she was off and running and had a good time with it!

Rhiannon also won some awards at the last school assembly yesterday.  She got a third place medal for AR points for the whole year (translation:  that means she read A LOT of books) and also was honored with her 4th million "dollars" for reading that many words over the school year.  Congratulations, sweetie!

I hope she won't kill me for the bedhead pic--I wanted to get this blog updated quickly! :)

Sandlot! Sandlot! Sandlot!

Today was an amazing, beautiful day.  After some up-and-down weather, it was nice to have a break from the cold/wind!  Jason and Wade were gone in the morning getting some baseball gear and playing football with a bunch of guys from church.  I thought it was nice that kids were invited--they both had a good time.  Rhiannon and I watched a chick flick on Netflix called My Girlfriend's Boyfriend and enjoyed being together, and then we all went out to lunch when the boys got back.

On our way home, we saw our neighbor friends Katie and Keagan on a walk.  They met us back at our house and then the kids and I joined them on a walk to Albertsons.  30 minutes after that our family headed to the closest park to play some baseball.   There were a LOT of people there, all out to enjoy the weather, too!  Before long our friends the Samuels family joined us, along with some kids we hadn't seen in a while from our old ward.  It reminded me of the Sandlot movie, because these kids came up and just jumped right in, asking "Can we play with you?"--they were so excited to play, and pretty good baseball players, too!  Jason was the good sport of the day, pitching LOTS of balls to nine different batters.  I had a great time in spite of myself, even though I "throw like a girl" and can't catch a ground ball to SAVE MY LIFE!

We'll all get some good sleep after being outdoors so much today!