The Question of the Season

Yep, its that time of the year, when everyone asks,  "What do you want for Christmas?"

and everyone asks you for ideas of what they can put on their Christmas list.

and everyone asks what you got for Christmas.

There is also the, "What should I get XXX for Christmas"

It is the every lasting question of this time of year.

I have a suggestion for everyone.  Something you can ask for, something you can give people,  something that wont break the bank, and yet they wont return.

Ready?  Got your pencil?

Memories.

Thats right, Memories.

Think back to times past.  Good times and Bad times.  Those memories are what is special.  Not the actual gift, or thing or whatever was going on at the time.  But the memory of that time and who you spent it with.  That is what will stay with you forever.

This past weekend as we were doing back to back family Christmas celebrations, we had discussions about Grandparents.  I lost most of mine while young.  I reminded my father that I do have memories of his father.  This was a long time ago, and I was young, but I have those memories.

At the same time I have memories of his mother, her teaching me to cook / bake things. Spending time with her.

I remember driving my TR3, around town with 12 other girls stuffed inside it  (OK, it wasnt 12, but it was a lot)

I remember walking up to a group of guys 26 years ago and the one I wanted to speak to walked away and I had to chase him down to talk to him.  Yep, that was E

I remember the holidays for E and I way back when was spent mostly in the car driving all over East Texas from one family event to another to make sure we didn't miss any of them and get in trouble.

I remember my life changing with the birth of my child.   (and in case I haven't mentioned this lately,  NO ONE told me that being a mother was a full contact sport)

I remember the first time M cussed.  I got so mad, and E was cracking up laughing.

so you see, these are what we cherish, these are what we dig deep and pull up.  The physical things help us bring back those memories, but the memories are what we all want.

so, whether its aunts, uncles, kids, grandkids, or friends.  Do something with them.  Anything.  Just make memories.

Merry Christmas

End of Fall Baseball

Another Tigers season has drawn to a close and now we sit and stare at each other wondering what we should be doing (not really).  The Tigers did well, had a lot of rain outs which made it a longer Fall season than anticipated but they played hard when they were permitted to play.  Fall season ended with a record of 14-7-1, not too shabby.  Since I didn't post at the end of Spring/Summer the record at the end of that season was 34-25-1.  So, to help you out with the math that means between February 2013 and November 2013 the Tigers played 82 games or about half of a major-league season.  No wonder we're all tired.  Of course, that's only games and doesn't count the practices, lessons, and other baseball-related events of the last few months.

The Tigers ended this season with a charity tournament in Grand Prairie known as Santa Cop.  The tournament collects toys from all of the players to donate to needy kids.  They also collected money for other programs.  Of course everyone was more than willing to help out and they had a trailer full of donations.  The Tigers won both of their "pool" games and were seeded #4 going into elimination day.  They then played 4 games on Sunday, giving all of the parents a heart attack during the 1st game when they were down 6-1 and came back to win it on a Bomber winning walk-off double!!  They made it all the way to the championship but came up short there and had to settle for second place.  They played hard all day and were hitting the ball like crazy!  Here is a picture of the boys taking a break before the last two games:

In case you can't guess, they are all looking at one of the boy's phones playing a game.

Here is a picture of the team with their 2nd place rings.

Here is a picture of the boy with his coach, yes he is taller than his coach!  But, they make a great pair.

Way to go Tigers and congratulations on another great season!

On another note and subject of a future blog post - this is the last picture of the boy and this coach you will likely see....  we already miss you Eddie!

Family Pictures

I used to have a rule and the rule was we got family pictures made at least once a year, usually in the Fall.  This rule was fairly easy to follow as long as the boy was small and agreeable.  Then he got older and it got harder and he became less agreeable.  Then our photographer "retired" and went on to other things.  Then life got in the way and the next thing I knew it had been 3 years since we'd had family pictures.  So I set out last year and found a new family photographer.  The boys like her so it makes things a little easier.  But, no surprise I'm sure, this year when I mentioned it was time again for family photos I got some push back.  But, I held firm and insisted since the boy has grown SOOOOOO much in the last year, these are things the family pictures are meant to capture.

So, a couple of weeks ago we had our appointment with Kelly and, of course, we got our baseball schedule with games scheduled for 11 and 1 with our picture appointment set for 4... hmmmm, this could be a problem.  But, again, I held firm and determined and said we are going to make it work.  It was a challenge for sure but we made it work!!!  So, two years in a row we have stuck to the rule and have new family pictures to show for it.  Are you ready to see them?  I know, the suspense is killing you....

Did I mention Kelly has a thing for feet?  She swears its not a fetish but I'm beginning to wonder.  I think there's an argument there to be made.  Maybe next time she'll take pictures of something other than our shoes.  Oh, and that reminds me, I really need to get the boy some new shoes, I think he's worn those out.

Annual Tree Picture

The first Fall we moved into this house we planted a live oak tree in the back yard.  That year and each year since I've tried to get a picture of the boy with the tree to show the growth.  I'm fairly confident the boy is growing faster than the tree...  hopefully his roots are just as strong!

2005

2013

The Grid Iron...

As many faithful readers are aware, the boy started 7th grade this year.  Of course that means athletics and FOOTBALL!!!!  The boy has wanted to play football since he was a wee child but he was always too big for the weight categories in pee wee football.  This would mean red shirt and no touching the ball.

He got interested more in baseball and the subject was tabled for a couple of years.  But, he started middle school and all it took was one look from the coach and the recruiting started.  All through 6th grade the coach was on him about signing up for football and the boy was on the fence about it.  Time came to register for 7th grade and he still hadn't made a decision but we put him in athletics and waited to see.

When the school year started he dove right in to football.  This was a huge time commitment for him with practice every day in athletics and after school.  It meant a lot of "superman" in the land yacht as we rushed from football to baseball.  It also meant a lot of figuring out things that could be hot and ready and eaten in the car (besides the $.99 heart attack in a bag).

After a week of practice the coach assigned the boys to teams.  The boy was thrilled to be named to A Team!  He was told his position would be primarily Strong Tackle and he was loving it.

The team worked hard and started the season a little rough.  The boy was added to special teams for kickoff return and moved around there a couple of times.  The team lost the first four games.  The coach then changed things up a bit and had the boy start playing defense in addition to offense and special teams and was assigned a defensive end position.  The team started to win games and gained momentum.  By the end of the season they had won the last four games.  By the end of the season the boy played every down in every game.   The team even had a "Follow Bonner" play where he ran up the side making a hole for the running back.  He had become the football machine the coach wanted him to be.

Family Update

Wow, I cant believe its October.

I means, its October, no joke,  check your calendar if you dont believe me

It has been a long time since I wrote anything here, I know, I have been bad.  I figure I needed to update everyone on all the crazy things going on in our life or else maybe you think we fell off the face of the earth.

Lets work backwards, because thats just how my brain works.

Domino got skunked the other night.  After many baths, he still stinks.  after burning many candles in the house it still stinks.

you would think by now he would learn to not try and play with the little black and white doggy

In case I havent mentioned this before, my dog, he isnt the smartest dog around.  According to E he is stupid.  I wont say that, but smart he aint either

M is playing football this fall.  He is having a great time (this week he played both ways, Defense and Offense)  He is working hard at it and all his coaches are telling him that.  But between 5 days of football practice, 1 football game a week, plus baseball practice, plus lessons, plus velocity let me tell you what.  M now knows the true definition of worn out.

I will say we are very proud of him for working as hard as he has in his school work, football and baseball.  It has taken a lot of dedication on his part and he is really only whiney and cranky 5 or 6 days a week which i think is good for a teenager.

yes I know he isnt officially a teenager, but if you lived with him you would know, he is a teenager. and having a day or 2 of non whiney with a teenage is a big deal

Speaking of skunks (Squirrel!) did I mention we also ran into a skunk at the hanger the other day?  he was waddling around when we pulled up, he crawled under one of the containers and was going after some baby bunnies, (who were screaming at him)   When he came out (without a baby bunny) he met the bad end of a rifle, a couple of times...

and yes, it smelled bad.

I think if E ran across the one in our neighborhood its fate would be similar.

and since we are on the subject of baseball, as I said, M is playing baseball this fall.  he is still on the same team and about half of the team stayed on from the spring so they have picked up quite a few players.  We have played one tournament which they did fairly well in, the next tournament was rained out before it ever got going, the next tournament was rained out almost at the end of pool play, but of course since our games were some of the last pool play games, we never took a pitch, never threw a pitch.  We have another tournament coming up, which of course it is supposed to rain then.

Ahh the joys of playing baseball in the fall.

or at this point, not playing baseball, even though you are supposed to play baseball, because even though you are playing baseball, you arent actually playing baseball

clear as mud right?

G is following in M's footsteps and is on a T ball team, playing on the same fields M played T ball on.

Of course she has a pink bat and M never had a pink bat, his was red though so i guess that counts.  Red is close to pink

Speaking of school, M is in 7th grade now,

I know, 7th grade, OMG!.  He is like 6 feet tall.

OK, maybe he isnt 6 feet tall, I think he's actually only 5-10.  But he is still taller than me.  E keeps trying to convince me to wear heels so I will be closer to his height.  My problem is heels and I dont get along.  If you ever saw the movie "the birdcage" the guy there says  "I dont wear shoes because they make me fall down"  well I feel like that when it comes to heels.

SQUIRREL!

so anyway, 7th grade, I guess he likes it about as much as he likes any school.  One of his electives is a class called "outdoor education" where basically they are teaching them about hunting and specifically archery.  Its taught by the archery coach so I think its just a class where he is trying to find people who can shoot a bow, but M seems to enjoy the class so thats good.

Well, I am sure there have been many other things that have happened, but considering how long it took me to start writing this, and how long it has taken me to get it finished and to this point, I should probably go ahead and post this

I will do my best to keep this more up to date

Tigers at the Mavs

It's good to have friends....  our Team Administrator made arrangements for the Tigers to have a suite at the Mavericks game on Wednesday.  So, instead of practice, we had team night at the Mavs game.  The  boys had a great time with all the hot dogs, chicken fingers, and soft drinks they could eat - not to mention the dessert cart they nearly wiped out.... fun was had by all!

I think there was a basketball game in there somewhere too, but who really cares about the Mavs anyway??

Phoenix Condo

In looking for a place to hang our hat in Phoenix I tried several different avenues and talked to a lot of different people.  We wanted a house so we'd have the convenience of multiple bathrooms, a kitchen and a real place to relax with elbow room.  The 1st place I tried wanted $4,000 for the 5 nights, uh, I don't think so.  The next place $3,000, better but uh - no....  I tried a few more with similar results and was starting to look at hotel options while waiting on responses to my queries on vrbo when I finally got a response I could live with.  It was a condo, not a house, in North Scottsdale.  A little out of the "target area" I was looking for but it looked nice and the price was reasonable and, even better, he was willing to rent it to us for the 5 nights!!  SCORE!

It was a 3 bedroom, 2 bath, 2 story condo.  One thing  you learn quickly looking in Phoenix for rentals is they are overrun with condos.  All of those winter folks getting away I guess.  Benefit for us was that this community wasn't on a golf corse or next to Old Town Scottsdale so much more in our price range.    Here are the photos of the place, excuse the mess, it was move out day - I really should remember to take pics when we come in a place and it's nice and neat and tidy and not as we're on our way out when it looks like it's been hit by a tornado...

Master bedroom

Master bath with separate shower and huge closet, not that we needed the closet.

Balcony off master bedroom

 M's Room

M's bathroom

M's room again, note he has his own tv which, of course, meant as soon as we got home he ran up to his room and we didn't see him again until morning.... he's now on the war path to get a tv in his room - NOT.

View looking into living room from stairs.

The 3rd bedroom, downstairs.

Patio downstairs

Dining room, kitchen

Living Room from dining room

Downstairs 1/2 bath

Kitchen with a laundry area between it and garage

It was very comfortable and had all the conveniences we could want.  We made a trip to the store and fixed dinner one night, took lunch to the ballpark a couple of days.  If you're planning a trip to Phoenix let me know and I'll get you the contact information for the couple that own the place.  They were very easy to work with and reasonable with everything!!  Which reminds me, I need to go leave them a review on VRBO...

Spring Training

This year for Spring Break we decided to make the trek to Phoenix and to Spring Training.  You know we're all about the baseball and April is way too long to wait for it.  We learned, after we'd booked our flight, that almost all games in Phoenix start at 1:05, our flight landed at 12:30... maybe.  Well, we decided we didn't want to miss out on a day of baseball so we bought tickets to one of the games and decided we'd get there when we got there.... and we were off!

1st stop - Mesa - Hohokam Park

Mesa and Hohokam Park are the home of the Chicago Cubs.  On Saturday the Cubs were hosting the Cleveland Indians.  Hohokam Park is in the middle of a neighborhood and, not knowing the lay of the land, you are directed up a wide residential street to get there.  Where they had parked up both sides of the street and in the middle, which made it a tight squeeze to get through.  Uggghhh, we thought, this is not good.  We passed the ballpark and saw someone selling parking in their "yard" - SOLD!!!  We parked and hurried over to the game, it was the middle of the 4th inning, not bad.  We had bought lawn seats so we knew we could get in and didn't have to really worry about finding seats - those Cubs fans can be brutal if you're interrupting their game.  Turns out, the place was half-empty so we found a big empty section and camped out.

View from our "seats"

Boys enjoying the game - yes, Edd is back there but hiding

View from the other side

Parallel bullpens

On Sunday we travelled to Peoria to the shared facility of the Padres and the Mariners.  If you get there early you can watch the teams practice.  The ENTIRE team, from AA up to the Majors all on several different fields.  We watched the Mariners practice and then headed in to the game.  This time we bought grass tickets at the window and again, picked out a spot in the stands to watch the game.  Peoria turned out to be one of our favorite parks.  It had a good set-up, easy access, great people working there and up close view.

This day the Mariners were hosting the White Sox.  Funny enough, last time we were in Chicago we saw the Mariners play the White Sox...  coincidence?

The line up!

M doing his thing...  they were having a contest for pitching speed.  He did pretty good considering no warm up.

Our view

Teaching M how to score a game

On Monday we travelled to Surprise to watch the Rangers take on the Giants.  Yu Darvish was pitching, bonus!  This time we bought real "seats" which turned out to be a good choice because we were in the shade and the place was PACKED!!!  Again, we went to practice and if you don't know the lay of the land the Rangers practice area is a little remote from the field.  There were a lot of people in the practice area, a lot more than were at the Mariners.  We did find our friends the Kirkpatricks there which was cool, they were busy collecting autographs from their favorite players.

1st Major League Team we've seen "warm up" together

The boys...

Rangers take the field!

Darvish

Moreland on base

 The stadium

On Tuesday we planned a double header as it was one of the days they also were having a night game. The day game was at Phoenix Municipal Stadium, the home of the Oakland A's.  It was our least favorite park.  There is no grass seating, there are bleachers over dirt down the lines.  Also, the practice area for the team is 2 miles away and while there is a practice field next to the stadium you can't get to it, and can hardly see it even when you are in the stands.  So, it's not a very fan friendly place.  Luckily, the Cubs are building a new facility in Mesa and the A's are going to move to the Cubs old facility in a couple of years.  On Tuesday the A's were hosting the Royals.  The one neat thing about this field was the park area next door, so you could see the rocks past right field.

Batting practice

M doing his thing again, without a mound

More batting practice

Warm up, the "bull pen" was on the field right in front of the stands

Play Ball!

Tuesday night we saw our 1st "night game" at Goodyear Ballpark which is the shared facility of the Indians and the Reds.  We were hoping to see M's teammate and his dad who is a hitting coach for the AA division of the Reds but no luck.  The practice facility for Goodyear is a healthy walk down the street but it was a beautiful day and we were excited they were having practice before the evening game.  The Reds were hosting the Dodgers.  We happened to sit on the Dodgers side of the park and got a good luck at some of the line up, like this guy - I think his name is Ethier???

Our view of the field.

Wednesday was also going to be a double header day for us with day and night games.  For the day game we returned to Peoria to see the Padres host the Angels.  We hadn't really wanted to see the Angels (otherwise known as the Ranger rejects) but, it was either that or watch a team we'd already seen and our ultimate goal was to see as many facilities and teams as we could.  We arrived early and watched the Padres practice before the game.  As I said, Peoria was one of our favorite parks, very fan friendly.

He who must not be named, at least he played just as bad for them as he did for the Rangers.  

Our final game Wednesday night was at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick Resort.  This was an impressive facility and tied in our mind with Peoria.  Great set up, easy access, fan friendly.  And, they had GREAT food!!!  Not just ballpark food, there was a hawker in the stands selling Chocolate Chip Cookies as big as your face!  He was funny.... "you know you want one" and you could hear him all over the park.  We did eventually get one after getting two half-pizzas and a serving of garlic knots for $20 - I mean, really, what ballpark do you know that you can feed your family for $20?  Well, you can at Salt River....  and it was great pizza and garlic knots, hard to not go back and get more except we were stuffed and, of course, saving room for that cookie.  Salt River is the shared home of the Diamondbacks and the Rockies.  This evening the D'Backs were hosting the Brewers.  We watched the D'backs practice and then the game.  The lighting wasn't great for taking pics but here's a few...

 If you know where to look, M is in there getting autographs.

All in all we saw 7 games, 14 different teams (sorry Rockies, next time) and 6 different facilities.  The only other things we saw in Phoenix were Cabela's, Bass Pro Shops, the Under Armour outlet, two movies and some restaurants.... and a lot of highway as we circled around and around and around the city.....