Another Opening Day

At the end of last season, Jake said goodbye to T-ball.  He also said goodbye to the White Sox. He's playing "Coach Pitch Baseball" this year.  And while he's not wearing the Sox uniform, he's still playing with the same group of boys.  We're now the Giants.  That's right!  With Jake playing for the Giants & Lila playing for the Dodgers, we're an all Californian household.  And with his head of curly red locks, Jake's a little easier to identify in the field this year.

So what's coach pitch?  In coach-pitch, each player is thrown four pitches.  If he doesn't get a hit, he has three opportunities to hit the ball off the tee.  There are three outs or five runs per inning.  The biggest challenge in coach-pitch as far as I can see?  Finding a grown up who can throw four consecutive good pitches to a 5/6-year-old.  That's a pretty small & low strick zone!  But our coach and our boys do great.

We were actually late to the Giant's season opener, because Jake had a soccer game that morning as well.  That explains why Jake is a little out of uniform in all the pictures.  But inspite of running around a soccer field for an hour, changing jerseys in the car and getting to the game just in time for his at bat, he played a good game.

Jake's got a good swing and can make contact with the ball.  But I'm pleased to say that when he struggles hitting the pitch and has to hit off the tee, he takes it in stride.  Last year there would have been some frustrated fits in those situations.  A little maturity goes a long way.

Jake can teach Delila a thing or two about base running.

The opposing offense never had a chance!

No more kicking around in the dirt - Jake's focused and ready in the field.

Jake's been playing with most of these boys for three years now.  They know the score and when the innings over....

They know when to take off their batting helmets and take the field.  They look more and more like "Big Boys" every game...

...the dugout talk is more about baseball and less about shenanigans.  Although there's still plenty of fooling around.

It's going to be a fun season!

Play Ball!!

Well, soccer's over and t-ball has begun.  At least for Delila.  Jake doesn't play t-ball.  He's moved on to 'coach pitch'.  But that's a story for another day.  Today it's all about Delila.  She's been chomping at the bit to follow big brother's footsteps on the diamond and now she's got her chance.  And she's pretty as a picture in Dodger blue.

Right down to her fancy beaded socks.

She practiced fiedling grounders before the game...

...but the Dodgers were up first.

Swing batter batter, SWING!

Run, Lila, RUN!

No!  Not that way!!

That's right.

Yes, good idea.  Drop the bat.

Whew!  Safe at 1st.

And safe at 2nd.

Lila takes the mound at the bottom of the 1st.

I got it! I got it!

She gets the force at home plate.

Good game!

Coming soon to a blog near you...Opening Day for Jake & his Giants.

A Day At The Beach

I know, I know...I've been really bad about keeping up with the blog lately.  OK, not just lately.  I'm hoping to catch up on things in the up coming months.  But before I start playing catch up, here's a glimpse of what we're doing right now.

Our friends, the Sporers are visiting from Germany.  Yesterday, we all hit the road for our first trip to the Texas seaside.  We'll be spending the next 4 days in Galveston.  It's not Ocean City or Santa Cruz, but there's sand, sun and surf and that's just about all a kid needs to have a good time.  I've got the pictures to prove it.

Jake & Lukas had a great time running as far into the waves as they dared.

Lila & Sophia followed the Big Brothers' lead - in a cautious 'Girl' way.

Lila can jump really high - especially to keep the waves from tickling her toes.

So the waves aren't that impressive and the sand is kind of dark and sticky, but when it comes to shell-gathering, this beach rocks!

The days seaside treasure haul on parade.  I'm sure there will be more booty added to this collection before the sun sets tonight.

A Snowy Day

:: Japanese Pine ::

I know. I’m terribly behind on this blog. I’m sorry. This pesky life just keeps getting in the way of the things I want to do. I promise, updates will come soon – starting with where I left off – which was Halloween. I’ve got a LOT of catching up to do.

::  Indian Hawthorne ::

But today I’m going to start with yesterday. The big Snow Storm of 2010. They’ll be talking about it for decades, I’m sure. It’s nothing like what’s been happening back east, but 10” of snow is pretty darn significant here in The Big D. There will be more pictures to follow, but I thought I’d share what the first blue light of day revealed this morning.

:: A Chilly Daffodil ::

::  Front Yard ::

::  Back Yard ::

Gotta go! I hear a big berm on the golf course and a bright orange sled calling our names!  See ya in the hot tub later!

:: Spa Fountain ::

A Week of Halloween

Halloween - does it get any better? Sure, Easter's great with its candy eggs and chocolate bunnies, but Easter comes with all the heaviness of death and resurrection. Not Halloween -- all the blood and gore in this holiday is just for fun. No big spiritual message or life lesson to this Hallmark holiday. So…without further ado…let the fun begin!

We got into the spirit early with a surprise package from Mimi & Bubba. 

Glow in the dark Pez, light up pens and Boo pony-tail holders -- all a big hit!

We pretty much partied it up all week.  Festivities started on Thursday with the party at 'school' (Infinite Bounds), continuted into Friday with school party #2 for Jake (at Teddy Bear Junction) and Scare on the Square in Old Town McKinney.  We definitely got our money's worth out of this year's costumes.  Lila was Lady Bug Girl...

Jake, following through on the Birthday racing theme, was Dale Earnhart Jr.

We still hadn't had enough of the fun and games (or the candy) when Halloween actually rolled around.  The evening got off to a creepy crawly start with an unexpected visitor.  I wanted to put him in my cauldron and serve up some eye-of-newt soup.  The kids wanted to keep him as a pet.  The final decision was to set him free in the front yard where, hopefully, he'll enjoy dining on all the mosquitoes.

Next we carved our pumpkin.  The weather can be pretty warm and often damp in Dallas this time of year, a carved pumpkin can get really scarey really fast around here.  So we usually hold off on carving until Halloween afternoon/evening.  I think this fellow has quite a charming smile, don't you?

We invited a few friends over for some pre trick-or-treating snacks and then the kiddos hit the neighborhood with a vengance.

While the kiddos terrorized the neighborhood, 'Aunt' Karin and I hung out by a cozy fire (and a bottle of bubbley) to hand out treats.  Duke built us a great fire.  We were very happy campers.

I think everybody had a great time.  The kids are all hopped up on sugar -- and I'm pretty sure they will be through the end of the year.  Jake's taking a cue from the squirrels and stashing his in corners, under beds, etc.  I'm pretty sure I'll be finding sweet stuff hidden around the house for many days to come.

Jake's 5th Birthday

It’s official! Jake’s 5. And true to form, we ushered in the start of his 5th year in style…racing style!

I started asking Jake how he wanted to celebrate his 5th birthday shortly after his 4th birthday party. He said he wanted a “Race Car” birthday. OK, great! How on earth do you throw a “Race Car” party?! I didn’t stress about it too much. I figured he’d change his mind several times in throughout the year, so I had nothing to worry about. Well, guess what…he didn’t change his mind. By mid-summer, it was pretty obvious we were going to have to find a way to throw Jake a race car bash. So while I struggled with ways of throwing a racing-themed party at home, Duke came up with the brilliant idea of go-kart racing! After a few phone calls, it was all set up. We were Speed Zone bound!

It was a great day for a party. The weather was warm & dry. Most of Jake’s pals were able to come. Everybody had a great time zooming around the track. Judging by the pictures, it’s hard to tell who was having more fun – the boys or the dads. I don’t think I’ve ever been to a kid’s birthday party where it was mostly dads. Usually party-duty falls on the mom’s to-do list.

After an hour of racing, we had a little fun with video games and then went into the party room for pizza, cake & ice cream. Of course, the cake had to be about racing too. Jake & I scoured the metroplex looking for racing props to put on his cake. We finally (and I do mean FINALLY) found these tiny NASCARS. (I’ve got to give Walmart credit here – I hate going to that place, but I usually find pretty good stuff there.)

After cake, there was time for a few more turns around the track.

We actually celebrated Jake’s birthday the weekend before his special day this year. That meant we still had to find a way to make Jake’s actual birthday special. So, we started the day off with a Birthday Waffle Sundae – complete with candle. Then Jake went off to school.

Jake attends two schools this year – Teddy Bear Junction (TBJ) on Mondays, Wednesdays & Fridays; Infinite Bounds (IB) on Tuesdays & Thursdays. It was Wednesday, so that meant he would be at TBJ - a ridiculously rigid, nut-free, home-baked-goods-free school. They gave me an “approved list” of compliant snacks that I could send in with Jake to share with his class mates. I’m sorry, there’s just something wrong about sending your kid to school on his birthday with a box of Fruit Gushers instead of a cake. But I’ll blog about that some other time. Suffice it to say, that I prefer the anything-goes atmosphere at IB much better than the restrictive style of TBJ.

While Jake & friends were enjoying their fruit gushers, I hatched a plan to surprise him by inviting some of his IB buddies over for an afternoon of fun. So with Lila as my faithful sidekick, I loaded Brody & Finn into the car and headed to TBJ. My partners in crime hid quietly outside the classroom door and yelled HAPPY BIRTHDAY, when Jake walked out. It was a lot of fun. As fun as Speed Zone? Probably not, but at least it made a middle-of-the-week birthday a little more interesting than just hanging with Mom, Dad & Sister.

So, what will next year bring? Who knows. I haven’t asked yet, but I’m sure Jake’s got something in mind. Until then, we'll see ya around the track!