Thinking About Heather...

That last post got me thinking about Heather. She really surprises me. I know I like to (affectionately) call her Mary Poppins, but she really takes it to heart to raise men. For a girl that had sisters growing up she really wants to make sure the boys are treated like boys and they learn to be men. And I love her for that.
She's just as hard on the boys as I am. Ya'll think I'm competitive. I've learned to be less, because she is sooooo competitive. She hates to lose at ANYTHING! If Jake is slacking watch out Mommas gonna get on him. I give here a hard time for loving on Adam too much, but she really isn't that bad. She knows and doesn't treat him like a baby just because he's her youngest. She doesn't mind if I take them hunting. Well, with Adam hunting is walking in the woods. We're talking about getting the boys 4 wheelers (YES), and she's all for it. And possibly us?! Now that's my kind of woman. She's hot but tough, sexy but sweet, a loving Mother, but will whoop your tail if you get in trouble. She doesn't try and act like she's still a girl. She acts like a woman. That is sexy. She lets them get dirty and play hard, and doesn't worry about them getting hurt. If someone is picking on them instead of loving on them. She tells them to do what Daddy says. Which is, one puch to the nose as hard as you can. For those that don't know, that usually stops a bully from messing with you. Sorry, truth. This is obviously after you have warned him and told the teacher, and nothing has changed. ;-)
I guess my point is she wants the boys to be independent and she doesn't constantly shelter them. We are both on the same page (for the most part) when it comes to the boys and we want them to grow into men, and treat women with respect and that in itself is SEXY.

Ready For The Beach?

After we get through with this District Tournament we're heading to the beach. Normally we go for the whole week, but because of All Stars we're cutting it short. Figures we have several friends (Rance&Aimee, Rick&Rhonda, & somebody else I'm forgetting) that are all going to be coming down. As soon as we have to leave! I'm really sick of All Stars. Heather and Adam are leaving Saturday morning, while Jake and I stay for his game. Then we are leaving, unless we lose then we have to play on Sunday. Fun.
The worst part is I'll feel like I can't relax and I'll have to come back early to deal with Regionals (that start on July4th!). But you sign up for it so you've got to go at it full force. It's killing Heather. She's missing tonight's and tomorrow's game. She loves seeing her boys play ball. I missed some of his games last yr traveling for work, and it really bothered me. I know there will be a 100 more, but we hate to miss one.

Not How I Envisioned Spending Fathers Day!

It started off well. I slept late and the boys were excited about giving me their gifts. We ate breakfast, took showers, and left for the ball park. And that was the end of Fathers Day.
All Stars is killing me! We had to play 4 games yesterday. We won our first but lost our second and had to play our way out of the losers bracket. We lost to Hayden. Heather's step brother has a son on that team. So Jakes was excited about playing his sort of cousin. We played Springville and beat them, played Hayden again and won that time, and made it into the championship game. Unfortunately we had to play them twice. The first game we beat (Morris) them 20-3, but the second it went 8 innings and won by 1 point (14-13). It was tiring. Jake had a pretty good day. His batting was inconsistent, but his defense was great. He had 2 pop flys, but he threw 3 kids out from the fence to 3rd base. Never had a bounce, all were on a dime. So we won the championship. We celebrated for about 10 minutes, and then we all drug ourselves home to get some sleep.
Jake had an opportunity to win the game with a runner on 3rd, 2 outs, and him at bat. He had 2 great cuts on the ball but it was high, and on his next swing he hit a hard drive to the SS. The kid made a great play and got him out at 1st. We held them the next inning and Dutton Whitfield drove in the winning run. I found myself praying that Jake could have made that play to win the game. It was Fathers Day afterall. Then I felt so guilty. Why? Should I not pray for my son to win the game? I should be happy that he had a good game, and was happy that they won. But my pride got in the way. Later Heather told me when Jake got out and came over to the dug out she was talking to him thinking he was upset because he could have won it, and he had this goofy grin and said "Mom I think we're going to win". Now time has expired and we have to hold them to no runs, and he's happy thinking we have another chance. Don't we all wish we had that type of optimism? I'm all upset because "I" didn't have my son win it right there, and he's happy we still have a shot.
I need to pray for some of that optimism and less pride. Although, I'll still probably pray for prideful things I know God loves me no matter how selfish I am.

Some of Adam's Baseball Pics

What Summer Vacation?

It's that time of year when the kids are out of school ready to have some fun and play and goof off and relax....until they choose All Stars. So Jake's summer vacation lasted about, oh 1 week. We've already started playing in one invitational tournament (odenville) and will finish it this weekend, and then we go to Pinson for their Invitational Tourney, which is always a good one. They usually have some of the top teams you'll face later (plus the great hospitality room).
Then the real fun starts we have district June 20th, from there (if we're one of the top 4) we go to the Area Tourney in Ft Payne (I think) which starts July 4th (which means I'll be coming home from our vacation a day early), and then if we place in the top 2 we go to state which is July 11th, and it's (for some reason) in Armore, TN. If you are really good you can make it to the World Series in Southaven, MS July 25th.
Long story short I'm proud of Jake for making All Stars again, but it's killing me. I'm tired from the practice and the games (I coach 3rd base), and lack of sleep. So, I know that poor kid is and it hasn't even started yet. But he's having fun, and learning that you have to step up your game if you want to be truly good at anything. Especially in a harder sport like baseball or football. It's just as much mental as physical.
Adam, (luckily) season is over and is happy doing his thing. He hasn't quite figured out why Jakes is still playing and he isn't. They actually do have All Star's but he's 4 playing in the 5 year old group. Plus he'd rather be at VBS. He's having so much fun at Cedar Grove that it's kind of hard to calm him down at night when he gets home. Heather's been taking him while I take Jake to practice.
Hopefully, we'll get our uniforms in this week for the tournament. Which leads me to another point. If anyone would like to help out our little All Star adventure please let me know. We are sending out letters to everyone we know asking for a SMALL donation. We have to raise around $5,000 and we are asking everyone we know to donate $10 . Jake and I both have to have uniforms that are going to run around $130+/- a piece. Plus the possible travel expenses. So please consider helping us out with a little cash....