According to Jack...

the holes in black olives are belly buttons.

To Daddy

Thank you for being their father.

But, more importantly, thank you for being their Daddy and for teaching them about their heavenly Father.

We love you!

The All Star

Look! Another post about baseball! I know, I know! But I'm a proud mama, remember?

Liam was invited to try out for the summer traveling All Star team, and he made it.
I can't believe we just signed ourselves up to play ball during the summer! Did I ever mention that we live in Texas?! Where it's already in the triple digits, and it's only June! Ohh, the things we do for our boys!

Our first tournament was this past weekend. Unfortunately, we didn't do very well. Our team is young and unexperienced compared to our opponents, and it showed.

Our team needs more time to get to know one another. Even the coach doesn't know his players well enough yet to know where they play best. He put Liam in the outfield for way too many innings during the first game. My baby needs to be at first, second, pitcher or shortstop, where all the action is.

Because nobody puts Baby in a corner. (Name that movie!)

Coach did eventually move him to second, and Liam was able to prove himself.

He also played pitcher, where he continued to shine and even made a double play at one point.

Of course, he had to slide home a time or two.
What a boy!

Our Dirtbag

Liam's team, the Dirtbags, also ended their season last week. I'm sure you're tired of hearing about baseball by now, but it's pretty much all we've had time for as of late.

The Dirtbags ended the season with a championship game. My #14...

He proved himself to his team again and again with his stellar abilities. I know I'm his mama, and mamas tend to brag for no reason. But when I tell you my boy is a super star, I'm not just being a mama. Again and again, we have coaches, players, and parents tell us how impressed they are with his skills. And we smile proudly.

And pray for scholarships.

And pray that he continues to dodge poor pitches.
He may need a new booty by the time his baseball career ends, because he slides at least once every game. Do they do booty replacements?
I love the above photo for another reason. The man yelling in the background is my boy's Daddy. Rick helped with the team all season, and he was able to stand near first base and coach the kids at every game. Rick and Liam both loved it.

Not only can Liam hit, run, slide, and dodge balls, but he can reeeach.
Ohh, how I love that boy.
What I don't have a picture of is how he is always looking in the bleachers for his entourage of fans. Every time he's up to bat or returning to his defensive position, he scans the bleachers for us and waves once we make eye contact. I've decided I really love the age of seven. He's able to compete and do such grown up things, but he's still innocent and loving.

His team lost the championship by one painful point, but the Dirtbags were still happy to receive second place trophies.
Even Daddy was rewarded.
We're hoping to keep the team together next year. It should be fun to see them play with another year of strength and coordination under their belts.

Jack and Garrett's baseball season ended over Memorial weekend. The Tigers were an average team, and I can't say I cried a tear over telling their team goodbye. I suppose that sounds bad, but my little boys were given so so coaches, and we're just ready to move on.

But my boys sure are cute in uniform.

Garrett was chosen as one of the four Tigers to go onto the All Star tournament.
Look at his hands on his pants. Poor baby! He was so nervous to play on a team where he only knew 3 other kids. The All Stars were put on a team with coaches they've never played with, and my boy is still suffering from the shyness. He didn't play too swell, but he had a good time. By the end of the tournament, he was finally beginning to hit the ball like himself.
They won the championship game for their age, and they received trophies in addition to the medals around their necks. But did I get a picture of the trophy? Of course not! I guess I better go wash that uniform and stage a photo of Garrett with his first ever trophy.

And a word on Jackson... When I told him that G was chosen for the All Stars but that he wasn't, he handled the news quite well. He was happy for his brother, and he understood why he wasn't chosen. As he put it, "I don't focus very well on the game." Perhaps another year of maturity will help him to focus on where the ball is.

Bike Racers

I need to play catch-up on the blawg. In my absence, we have been busy with end-of-school this and end-of-school that and a baseball game or twenty. Throw in a few hundred meals, a few thousand loads of laundry, and you've got life with three boys, and we're living it to the fullest.

Over Memorial day weekend, we stayed in town due to, what else?, BASEBALL! (I like to complain, but really, I LOVE the fact that my boys love the game.)

Between games, we were able to join our friends for a bike race in Fort Worth. It was some sort of professional road race.... I was going to try to bluff my way through a legitimate description of the race, but let's just say that lots and lots of men and women road their bikes really fast for 90 minutes in the Texas heat, and I just think that's plain crazy.

While the race was going on, the parents visited, and the boys ran around like their typical wild selves. We did stop them for a group photo. Introducing the 6 CupRunnethOver and the CupRunnethOverFriends...
Left to right: Cab (7), Liam (7), Jack (5), Caden (almost 6), Solomon (10 weeks), Garrett (5)
(Garrett, I'm sorry your Daddy cut your left arm off in this picture.)

Between adult competitions, the boys participated in a kids' race. Here are our little racers in front of the beautiful Fort Worth skyline. Beautiful might be a stretch of the imagination.
Jackson came in 6th for his age group.
Liam and Cab raced together, and I have no idea how they did. Let's just say that Liam won't be giving up baseball for bike riding.
The finishers....
If you're looking for Garrett in the race pictures, you can stop squinting. He didn't race, because he is refusing to ride his bike these days. He and I are at a standstill regarding his bicycle. A standstill is what you get when you join a strong-willed child and a strong-willed parent. Ahem.

Garrett's training wheels broke two months ago, and I told him we wouldn't buy him any new ones, since it's high time he learn to ride his bike like a big boy. He's athletic and strong enough to learn, but he's also strong-willed enough to need to decide he's ready for it on his own timetable. He's now saying that he never needs to learn to ride a bike, because he'll just get a scooter and never need another bike. But I refuse to buy him a scooter, so what we have here is a standstill.

Anyway, what I think we also have here is another Memorial day tradition...bike races with our friends.