More Baseball

They won 4-0, and Ted pitched a complete game.  He was so in control, confident and calm.

I used to be a bundle of nerves when he was on the mound.  There is so much pressure on the pitcher, but T. Bone can handle it.  That's just what he did last night and I was so proud of him and his team.

Tonight they meet Burlington for the third time.  They lost the first 4-5, and won the second 4-0.  If they win tonight, you're looking at the state champs, and the season will carry on.  If they lose, it won't be for lack of effort or heart or soul.  Either way, it will be a run we will never forget!

Where I've Been The Last Week...

At one ball field or another...

These montages just about sum up how exciting it's been for a team of awesome athletes and friends, their dedicated coaches and their loyal fans.

Journey to State

 State Tournament 2015

They have another game tonight.  If they win, they play again tomorrow for the state championship.  If they lose, we get on with everyday life.  So I'm declaring it a win win, but of course, we all want to win.

2 day pass

so the highlight of this weekend was baseball.

2 games.

2 wins.

ted's team prevailed as the district champs and are now on to state.

he pitched an incredible game saturday.

he threw 95 pitches before reaching his count with one out to go.

he also had 10 strikeouts. 

sunday's game i will never forget.

we lost to this team last week and also a few years ago for the championship.

they seemed quite confident that the win would be theirs.

glendale scored first and stayed ahead the whole game, but it was a battle.

and that made the victory all the sweeter.

i have to confess that i started to ball when the ump yelled strike thus pronouncing our victory.

it was a full count and the other team had ducks on the pond.

oh, and they were only down by a single run.

oh, and they were the home team.

we celebrated as a team into the night.

and then the boys celebrated into the next day too.

come to think of it, i haven't seen much of ted is the past few days.

we did get to spend some time with my aunt and uncle who came for a visit over the weekend.

although we were busy and time was short, we managed to do some catching up in between baseball and 50th high school reunions.

Grateful Friday

Today I give thanks for...

1.  Summer is in full swing.  We've been taking it one day at a time, and trying to savor every sunny moment.  So far so good, and we're also managing to take care of some of the shoulds like teaching our resident teenager how to cook.  He's mastered pancakes.

2. She mostly enjoyed her first week at theater camp even though the 9-4 schedule is reminiscent of school.  She even liked her Shakespeare session and is intrigued by Romeo and Juliet.

3.  Lots and lots of baseball this week.  The Knights made it through pool play.  They play in the district semi-finals tomorrow.  The excitement over advancing and a team party following our final game mitigated any sorrow that that was really their last game on our little league fields.

4. A date out with my guy on Thursday for appetizers and drinks before going to see Rickie Lee Jones.  Even though I was exhausted from being out every night of the week, I was so looking forward to her performance.  It was perfect too.

5.  Stars who indulge their crazy stalking fans. I waited in the rain by Rickie's tour bus so I could get a selfie with her after the show.  

6.  Gladiolus.

7. Signs.  I saw a bluebird during one of my walks this week.  I feel like my mom sends them. They're impossible to photograph because they are shy and shifty.  I was able to snap this shot of a crane soaring through the sky before it landed in a tree.  It'll have to do.

8.  Nature's palette as evidenced by wildflowers.

9. Long, sunny days.

two day pass

it was a whirlwind of a weekend.

and it was a great couple of days too.

lil and i had a date on friday.

i took her to dinner at the jackson blue ribbon.

we shared an order of our favorite chicken wings and also fried cheese curds.

then we walked down brewer's hill to see the royal horses perform.

she was super surprised and happy, and every one of the horses was her favorite.

it was a great girl's night out.

saturday i had another date and the rest of the family spent the day swimming at grandma and grandpa's pool.

jess and i went to see motown.

it was quite a show featuring no fewer than 40 amazing motown hits.

my favorite performer was young michael.

the 9 year old actor who played him was spot on.

i only teared up once.

most of the songs remind me of my mom.

after the show jess and i enjoyed dinner at a nearby gastropub.

we called it pork a palooza since we sampled the mussels steamed with italian sausage, a pork belly and bean cassoulet and a flat bread topped with maple bacon.

after dinner we enjoyed the rest of the beautiful night beside another friend's pool sharing stories and wine.

sunday we had almost back to back baseball games and i was proud of both my pitchers.

first ted played in the district pool play and the knights won.

family came by after the game for brats and beverages.

then we all went back to the field for lily's all star game where she was the starting pitcher.

her game ended in a tie.

it was a weekend full of fun.
long on fun and short on time.

Grateful Friday

Today I give thanks for...

Being off the grid.

Getting back on the grid.

This entry on RLJ's blog.  She absolutely nails what it's like to be in the audience while she performs.  It is a little bit holy, and the energy is electric and emotional.  Reading this today has me even more excited to be a part of it all again next week.

Tickets to take Lily to the Royal Horses tonight.  She doesn't know.  It's a surprise and I think it's going to be a night she will remember maybe...forever.

Surprises.  I'm horrible at keeping them under wraps because when I'm so excited about one, I want the recipient to be too.  My Mom was like that.  It's why she could never Christmas shop before the month of December.  

Tomorrow I have a date with Jess.  We're going to Motown and then out on the town.

T. Bone's first tournament game is Sunday and the Knights get to play on their home field.  I have good ju ju with regard to their chances this year to advance.

Lily made the All Star team and she plays this weekend too.

I finished The Life and Death of Sophie Stark, and I loved the quirky little novel especially the characters.  The protagonist is one of literature's best emotional vampires. 

Pictures of pictures.

A trip to the bank with the kids this week to deposit some of their earnings.  Next step is making some investments.  Coach put together a spread sheet for each of them to track their earnings too.

Juicy, farm-fresh peaches from my aunt and the crisp they are about to become.

Audubon camp.  Lily is in her element there among the critters of the woods and ponds. This year she enjoyed it even more because she shared her time there with her favorite friend.

Next up is 2 weeks of theater camp.

Today is Sam's last day.  He and Ted are on their annual golf outing.

Next up for Ted is more golf and baseball.

Another beautiful weekend.

Summer Vacation IRL

Wake at 7:33.  No complaints here folks: that's sleeping in.
Phone rings at 7:34.
It's T. Bone.  He needs to be picked up at the club because they don't need caddies until the tournament at 1:00 the afternoon.  A tournament I am quite sure has been scheduled since he caddied last over the weekend. Never mind that Coach got up early to get him to the caddie shack.  It's summer...he loves to work longer hours.
7:40 Wake Lily for camp knowing it is unlikely she set her alarm, and take my coffee to go. Put on my new Rickie Lee Jones cd as I embark on my first route of the day.
8:00 Drop Ted off at home and head out with Lily to pick up her friend E. for camp.
8:30 Buy a bottle of bug repellent and spray the girls down.  Never mind, that I have no less than 4 brand new bottles at home.
9:15 Decide to get out on the trails before I am summoned to chauffeur again. Put a new battery in my audio book...this is just the kind of day I can see my battery dying mid miles and I am so not taking any chances.
10:30 Wait for Teddy to get off Mine Craft so I can edit some pictures and blog.  Funny how I'm rarely able to use MY computer these days.
11:00 Make Teddy lunch before taking him back to the club.  Funny how he claims not to be hungry until I offer to make him a sandwich, and agree to toast the bread and melt the cheese for him too.
11:50 Drop Teddy at the club in one direction and pick up the girls from camp in another while listening to RLJ again.  Her latest album is already becoming familiar.
12:30 Make Lily a chicken taco for lunch because she doesn't eat sandwiches unless they are served on toasted Sciortino's rolls lightly buttered and sprinkled with garlic salt and filled with real, not processed, meat.
12:00 Clean up the kitchen before thinking to make myself something to eat.  Get an ice water instead, which reminds me to water the flowers the kids are supposed to be tending to every day because they look severely parched.
1:30 Get a call from Teddy that even though he was the third caddie logged, he didn't get a bag and can I please come pick him up stat.
1:40 I do along with my girl RLJ.
1:55 Turn around and back track to the club because he left his favorite sweatshirt in the shack.
2:10 Realize I'm starving now.  Grab a handful of almonds and a glass of iced tea as I'm summoned to chauffeur again. Since Ted cannot caddie, he decides to play nine.  He makes plans with a friend and I drive in the opposite direction of the course to pick said friend up.
2:30 Drop the guys off and realize that they are, in fact, full blown guys now and soon will be able to drive.  There is a God!
3:00 Take Lily shopping for craft projects while the boys golf because I promised earlier in the day.  I say yes to all three projects because I have three 40% off coupons.  All three of her crafts are excluded from said offer, and of course they are, but I buy them anyway.
3:10 Decide that I deserve and also desperately need a pedicure. Lil shows me her feet, and of course she does as well so we sit side by side and I enjoy the silence and pampering so completely for 40 minutes that she questions whether or not I have fallen asleep.
3:55  She bumps her big green toe because she's moving her feet under the drier in simulation with the racing game she's playing on her I Touch.  The same I Touch she tried to leave as a tip for the deserving nail tech (you should have seen her toes!  He may have deserved it!)
3:56 She marches back over to him at my insistence and politely asks him to fix it because she can sense my blood pressure elevating dangerously.  Of course he does and that costs me because now we must give him an even bigger tip.
4:00 I get a text that the boys are done and to pick them up stat.
4:02 I nick my blue toe getting into the car, but I cannot go back to fix it because I have no more cash or time.
4:20 We arrive at the course and must wait for them to finish their putting challenge and I realize that I have learned all 11 tracks of my new RLJ album in time for next week's show.  Bonus!
4:30 We stop for ice cream at the same place we stopped yesterday because "Oh my God today's flavors are Butterfinger and Grasshopper Fudge and THE-BEST-EVER" and really what kind of Mom denies the kids a treat right before dinner?!?
4:32 Ted asks for a double scoop because how is he to choose, and I'm ashamed to admit I acquiesce because I am simply without words at this point, and beyond the point of wanting a cone of my own.  He may as well have mine!
4:45 The empty light comes on in my car on the way home, which should not be a surprise as all I did was drive here and there all day long.  That and the fact that I am now sick of my new RLJ cd are proof that I need to hang up my keys for the day.
5:00 I pour the last glass of wine from the bottle I almost didn't open the day before and sit in silence paralyzed.
6:00 I open another bottle and start dinner, which I may be too tired to eat when it's served.
And that folks is summer vacation in real life.

Summer is Happy Everything

1. Happy 8th grade graduation and Happy Birthday America!  To most the holiday weekend says bbq, but we washed down our taco bar with margaritas and cervezas.  Fiesta!

2. Our guacamole girl.  She makes the best!

3. Our boys on chippie patrol.  This is where and how you'll find them unless they're sleeping which is less and less as the critter traffic amps up.

4. Lily and E. after a day of canoeing at Audubon camp.

5.  At the ready at short.

6. Getting ready for the 4th of July. I love that she tries on all the gimmicky wear and smiles while I snap away.

7. Pancakes 101 with Gramps.  His secrets are more sugar, a super hot griddle and patience.

8. Peanut's "Please let me outside right this very second" face.  Btw...it almost always works.

9. Besties on the bench.

10. Extra cane sugary party drinks for the children.  They were all gone.  The beer; however, was not!

11. Red, white and blue bouquets.  Somehow it all worked.

12. Tres leches for dessert.  It's a crowd pleaser and I was pleased as baker since my interim oven is unreliable at best. Thankfully, it cooperated Saturday.

13. Boys chilling after the parade and before the party.

14. Family...

15. and friends who may as well be family because they're stuck with us.

16. The "little boys" playing a serious game of croquet.

17. The "little girls" eating watermelon.

18. The "big boys" playing a serious game of cribbage.

19. The "big girls" chatting and catching up.

20. Of course, there was and will always be a little baseball, bocce and ghost in the graveyard too.

21. The explosives.

22. The sparklers were the first to be lit.

23. And then Brad lit up the sky with a firework show that rivaled two nearby country clubs and two parks.  Jesus, Mary and Joseph!

24. Crack!

25.  Boom! Amen!  No one was hurt and the only casualty of the day/night was a crock pot full of the most delish spicy pork so once again we are just happy.