Good Kind of Tired

After 4 months of regular season baseball, three post season tournaments, and 20 All Star games in 25 days, Little League is finally over for the year. Cade's 9 year old team lost the first two sectional games right away, so he only missed one of his 9/10 games. That simplifies that long story. Summary of the first game, we started it at 9:25 PM, stopped at 12:20AM tied and had to come back the next night to finish the game. Crazy! His second team went all the way to the championship game but lost. And Cooper's 11 year old team lost in the semi finals. So we brought home a gold, silver and bronze medal which is pretty exciting! The best my boys' teams have ever done in All Stars. But it was for sure exhausting for all of us. I was secretly wanting Cade's second team to lose so we didn't have to go to sectionals with them.

In the midst of All Stars we had VBS. I was the preschool director again, which I dearly love doing, but this year was really hard with baseball going on at the same time. We weren't getting home and in bed until after midnight most nights and then I had to be back at church bright and early. I was very thankful that we got Thursday night off from baseball games. I don't think I got out of bed that day once I got home from VBS. I knew ahead of time it would be tiring, and when I get that tired I usually have an emotional breakdown, so sure enough it happened during Cooper's Wednesday night game. I was feeling way too stressed and sleepy to sit still, so I had been walking around. Coop got up to pitch and ended up walking a run in and he started crying. So of course I lost it. I had to walk to bleachers on another field so no one saw me as I completely fell apart and cried for awhile. But then I was ok. I just needed that time to reboot I guess. VBS was a great week, the smoothest I can remember. We had recruited the best preschool leadership team that I can remember. That takes a huge load of stress off me! So thankful for them! I always think I'm going to lose weight during the week from stress, but when I eat a brownie every time I walk by a snack room, that doesn't happen!

We made it through VBS and to top off the week, while we were at Coop's Sunday night's game, I hear someone crying behind the bleachers and am pretty sure I recognize the cry. So I get up and as I come around the bleachers one of the older kids is bringing Campbell to me and says "he's bleeding." Thanks. Campbell tells me that he just "bonked" his head on a rail, but "my hands were still on the rail." Quick excuses. I should have known better. He has a big gash in the back of his head. Friends suddenly appeared from all over to come help me. I quickly moved the mob away from the field so hopefully my coach husband doesn't know what's going on. We get the bleeding stopped pretty quickly for a head gash, but one of the dads on the team used to be an ENT and tells me he's going to need stitches. So I have to decide if I'm going to leave the rest of the family there, carless, to fend for themselves while I take him to the ER or wait until the game is over. Have I mentioned its already after 10 at this point? When I had walked away we were losing 4-1, but when I came back we were losing 7-1. So yes, let's leave.

I take him to the ER and we didn't wait too long. But we were put in a room with a girl who had a sore throat and fever. Please stay on your side of the curtain. The doctor came in for all of 2 minutes to make sure he didn't have a concussion. Jason comes in at that point convinced I would need him to hold Campbell down while they stitched him up. But the nurse comes in, tells him to lay face down on the pillow, and that he will feel a sting. I turn my head because I don't want to see her sticking the needle in his head. I'm expecting to hear screaming, but instead I hear clicking sounds. I look back and she is putting four staples in his head! That kid never flinched, never whimpered, never shed a tear! I told him how brave he was and J says that's what got him in trouble in the first place. Apparently he got the real story after I left from the big boys who were hanging with him. He was sitting on top of a hand rail and said "look, no hands" and let go, and promptly fell backwards. Nice. I should have taken a picture of him that night with the bandage and tape wrapped around his head. Pulling the tape off his head the next day hurt worse than getting the staples. He gets them pulled out on Monday. Hopefully that is as painless.

So that's been our last few weeks. This week we have slept late, really late! I did nothing the first two days and then started cleaning because I couldn't stand my house that hadn't been cleaned in a month. And lots of laundry, clothes other than baseball uniforms. We are tired, but its the good kind of tired, where you have made lots of memories and done things that make you feel very fulfilled. We don't have any baseball until mid July so I am going to enjoy this time of rest! God is good!

Trades of Hope Giveaway

My sweet friend Cari, who has an amazing blog by the way, is featuring Trades of Hope today with a giveaway from yours truly. So read her blog, and get entered for a Haiti bracelet!

http://certainlydiscoveringjoy.blogspot.com/2013/06/trades-of-hope-giveaway.html

Championship Baseball!!!!

Cade is on the 9 year old NASA West All Star team and we knew when they were all picked it was a special team. Ten of them were on the All Star team last year and our two new additions are great players, including the best girl in little league baseball. We were excited! And it turned out we had reason to be.
Here are pics of how it all began back on Saturday, June 1st.

Yes, we won that game 31-0. It was painful for us to watch, even more for the other team's parents I'm sure. We won our next two games 10-0 and 16-6 which put us into the championship bracket. We had 3 days off and were afraid it would mess with our momentum and it did slightly. On June 7th we played Bayside and lost 6-1, mostly from errors we made from being unfocused and a little cocky I think. But it's a double elimination tournament, so we weren't done yet. The next night we played another hard team that we had thought was going to be hard to beat and knew a loss would end it for us, but we ended up beating them 13-0. So that brought us to the championship game against Bayside. They hadn't lost yet, so we would have to beat the team we lost to twice to win the title. No stress at all!
Game one was rained out, making those poor stressed out boys wait another night to play. Game one was Monday night and we won pretty easily 10-2 giving the boys a huge boost of confidence. Our best pitcher pitched the entire 6 innings, unheard of in 9 year old baseball. They can only pitch 75 pitches and his last pitch was number 75. Craziness!
So last night was game 2 for the district championship. We woke up to an email that one of our best hitters had a stomach bug and had been up all night sick so he was out. Oh dear! We flipped and were home team. At the end of the first inning, we were down 4-3. End of second inning, tied 4-4. Third inning was painful to watch, error after error, three of them from my kid. End of third, we are down 9-5. It looked hopeless, but those boys didn't quit and give up. They plugged away hit after hit. Top of 5th we were down 10-7 and entered the 6th and final inning TIED 10-10. I don't think I have even been that nervous for my kid and I can only imagine what those boys were feeling.
Bayside bats first and ends up scoring 1. We get up to bat down 11-10. That one run could lose it for us. After that I don't think I can remember everything. It was too crazy and nerve wracking. But it ended with us having a runner on 2nd and 3rd, we got a great hit and our runner came home to tie it at 11-11, the runner on 2nd base came home and got out at home. The batter was trying to get to third and got in a run down with the third baseman. The third baseman threw the ball to 2nd for the out and OVERTHREW the ball and it went out to the right field. Our runner ran home and the ball was thrown in from right field and by the skin of his teeth he was safe at home for the win 12-11!!!!!!! I had planned on trying to video the last play of the game but at the last minute decided I was too nervous and didn't want to miss experiencing it being behind the camera. But I wish I could resee it. The boys and coaches were in a dog pile, we were all screaming and jumping up and down the bleachers dangerously close to falling. So many other NASA players and coaches had come to watch and were cheering and screaming. It was one of the most exciting moments I can remember. I can't imagine the stress of parents whose kids make it to the Little League World Series. I don't know if I could watch. Here is the end of this leg of our journey.

 

 

 

 

We had to celebrate with a Sonic trip and we were all up until almost midnight because we were so wired. Cade wouldn't even take off his uniform to take a shower until 11:40.
Now we play sectionals. There are only 4 teams and its double elimination. The problem is two of the players, one of them mine, are supposed to be playing on the 9/10 team, first game Monday night. And two of the coaches, one of them my husband, are supposed to be coaching the 10/11 team, first game Monday night. And did I mention VBS starts Monday? So while I hope we continue our winning, it would be easier if we didn't. But we'll figure it out. I'm so excited for Cade and Jason to have this memory together. Such a great night!

"Big Church"

For those of you who have more than one child, do you forget between the first and second and now third how you did some parenting skill with the others and its almost like starting over? I can not remember for sure how old my older two were when I first starting bringing them to "big church". I think it was sometime during pre-K. I am sure I brought Cooper pretty early because he's always been the perfect quiet child. And I think I probably waited awhile longer to bring Cade because he has not always been the perfect quiet child. And for those of you who don't know me, know that I have been going to worship by myself with my kids since we came to UBC. Hubby is a pastor and is always somewhere teaching or making connections, etc. So its just me and for the last 4 years a child on either side of me.

Well, here comes child three, who again, is not known to be perfect and quiet. Out of my three, he is the least quiet and perfect so I was planning on putting off bringing him to big church until the fall when he started kindergarten. But about a month ago, he asked me one Sunday morning if he could come with us. I couldn't say no. Jason and I believe you should train your children how to behave in church, they should see by example how to worship, and even if they are doing something else, that hearing God's word is priceless.  So here I go into "big church" with one of me and three of them.

The first challenge was the seating arrangement. Where? After we had sat down in our usual area on the left side, half way down on the floor, I remembered that when child two joined us, we moved to the balcony for awhile away from people. But we were already seated, so we'll take a risk. Then, which brother do I put him with? Middle brother, who is more compassionate and caring, says "please let him sit by me. I'll help." Not a good plan because they have way too much fun together.

So here we are a month later and we haven't looked back. He's been in church with us ever since and he's been doing really well! I've only had to take him out one time. He sits between me and oldest brother and that seems to be the best fit. During worship, he stands in the aisle so he can see but during the sermon, he either sits quietly like he did today, or I draw him dot to dot words that he can practice writing on. I don't think we've made it through the whole hour and a half without needing to go to the bathroom, but that's what big brothers are for. I'm am pleasantly surprised and proud of how my little one is growing up so big and making the transitions on his own time and so smoothly. Maybe God knew I needed that since I'm doing it on my own. What a blessing!