Recently

Mallory and I helped in the kitchen at the all day Scout event for Hayden's pack.

Mallory even got to try her hand at being a chef!

Hayden played an 'Army Ant' in the 3rd grade choir program at school - so cute!

And has also been playing catcher for his baseball team - and loving it!

That'w hat we've been up to!  Longer post later when I have more time - I promise!!

First Game of the Season

First game of the season.  The excitement has been eating at all of us.  I sent the Waffle a text today "T minus 4 hours."  I posted on Facebook an hour later "T minus 3 hours to game time."  We moved Mallory's gymnastics lesson from tonight to Saturday morning, so that we could all be at the field together.  When we all got home, we went into motion like a well-oiled machine.  Eat. Change. Gear. Drive.  It's in our blood.  We've done this many times before.  We juggle schedules, eat on the run, squint into the sun.  All for baseball.

We don't just have a baseball player.
We are a baseball family.

The team dynamics this season are good.  Good coach.  Good players.  With good attitudes.  After the 1st inning we were down by a few runs.  We didn't make them up in the 2nd.  I was feeling 'ick.'  That's the best way to describe it.  We weren't playing poorly.  They were just playing better.  Outs at 1st and 2nd were killing us.  But the boys stayed in the game mentally.  Then the 3rd inning rolled around.  And we had a comeback.  6 run rule.  I love the 6 run rule ~ kind of.  It's a good rule to have when yours is the team giving up runs.  However, when yours is the team making the runs, it kind of stinks to get cut off in the middle of your momentum.

Fast forward.  Sixth inning.  Time for another comeback.  This time it was their team making the comeback.  They are down by one with two outs and a runner on 3rd and their best hitter is up to bat.  He's been hitting it deep into left field.  Right where Hayden has been playing.  The last time he was up to bat, Hayden stopped the ball and held him to a single.  We were so proud.  Now the pressure is on.  On swing number two, he cracks it out there - left field, and Hayden stops it again!  But this time, he fumbles getting it out of his mitt and actually drops it before he throws it to 2nd.  Bummer.  There was a collective sigh in the bleachers, and then screaming, "Get it in!  Throw the ball!  Hold 'em!"  The tying run crosses home plate easily.  But, we're still tied and the 3rd out comes easily when the next batter hits a pop fly to the infield.

Now it's our turn.  One run.  That's all we need.  It's all a blur now.  Who hit, how many outs, who scored, I don't even know.  All I know is that we won by one run in the bottom of the 6th.

Awesome start boys.  Awesome.

 Pre-game huddle

Hayden swingin'

Left Field

Hayden had 3 great hits.  Unfortunately he didn't score this game.  

And I learned something.  It's extremely hard for me to take photos while cheering.  I may have to hire a photographer, so that I can get some good action photos and not have to give up cheering!

Next year - double digits

A few weeks ago we celebrated Hayden's 9th birthday. You may recall that on Mallory's birthday, I wrote this very special post about the day she was born. Well, you also may have read the Not Me Monday post where I said I am no longer pressuring myself to live up to the expectations of others. So, I didn't do a "day he was born" post on Hayden's birthday. Come on folks! I've just been TOO busy! And I know that I am also a few weeks late writing the post about his birthday, but at least I'm doing it, right???

We chose to keep it simple, as we did with Mallory's party (which I didn't write about, by the way), and go to the movie theater. He was allowed to invite a limited number of friends - the movies aren't cheap, you know! We went to see Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, which was VERY cute! Highlights from the day included Hangman, air hockey and a very interesting round of "Would you rather?" Hayden received many cash gifts, which he promptly exchanged for his much anticipated Nintendo DSi. It's all the rage these days.

His guests included Julia and her sister Anna (who was really Mallory's guest), Christian, Brendan, Jack and Jacob from his baseball team, his cousin Haleigh and his sister Mallory. One little girl from his class couldn't make it, but it turns out that nine was plenty of children to keep me busy!

Here are a few photos from the day.

Waiting outside for all the guests to arrive.

Gift table and the baseball cupcake cake that Hayden requested.

Playing air hockey is always tons of fun.

Show time!

We really did NOT need another version of Monopoly in our game closet,

but it did make the birthday boy smile!

Fall Baseball = Totally Awesome!

In an earlier post, I wrote about Hayden's fall baseball team, the Mets (who, by the way, are partially responsible for my gross negligence in keeping up the blog lately). Well, needless to say, we had SO MUCH FUN playing baseball in the fall. The league was much smaller than this summer - only five teams in all. The boys were much more evenly spread, as far as talent and skill goes. And Hayden's team actually won some of their games - for him this is a first in two years! They ended up with a 6 - 4 record for the season and placed 3rd in the end of season tournament. They had so many close games, which I found to be quite an effective stress reliever. There's nothing quite like cheering and screaming your head off for an hour and a half to clear your mind! Here are some fun photos from the season - I especially like the night pictures, even though they aren't close-ups.

Opening Day!

Baseball Season has started . . . AGAIN! Yippeee! For those of you who didn't read all of my previous posts on summer baseball, or didn't get a chance to follow the Lafayette Life team blog, you should know that I am a baseball lover! In case you aren't, all it takes is for a child that holds high importance in your life to take a liking to it - and "POOF" you can become a baseball lover, too!

Pre-game Warm Up

This Saturday was opening day for Hayden's fall season. They handed out uniforms before the game - check out that orange! Go Mets! They let the boys pick their own numbers this time - anything between 1 and 99. Of course, 1 and 99 were both taken by the time it got around to Hayden. Not sure why he picked #36, but that was his choice! He had a lot of fun at his first Mustang game. After the summer league finished up, he was able to move up a bracket and now plays with the nine and ten year olds. While he is no longer the best player on the team, he's still enjoying himself. The coach has been putting him in left field, but we have noticed that Hayden doesn't seem to mind playing the outfield. No, he doesn't see as much action as some of the other positions, but he's learning which positions he backs up and also how to get the ball in to make a play. Now, we just need to work on catching those fly balls!

Ready to Play

Best Left Fielder I know!

They lost their first game - the score was 9 -6 or 7, I think. Not too bad. Hayden was up to bat twice - and hit the ball twice. The first time it was a single, and the second time he got out at first. I was certainly proud of him for hitting it! His team is definitely capable of winning, which isn't something we've enjoyed for the past two years. We are all looking forward to the season.

"It's a Base Hit for #36, Kincaid!"

Post-Game Sportsmanship

End of Season Baseball Party

On June 28th, the Lafayette Life baseball team gathered at Prophetstown State Park to celebrate the end of the season. As the Team Mom, I organized and planned the events for the day. It was a super fun time! I made this VERY cool (if I do say so myself) cupcake cake in the shape of a baseball. In case you don’t know, this is a cake that is made up of several cupcakes arranged together and then iced together, rather than individually. Each of the boys also had their own “mini me” cupcake. It was a big hit! (Pun intended!)

After lunch, we played games – first was the water relay. We gathered all the players, all the siblings, and the coaches together, divided up into 2 teams and spread out along the length of the sidewalk. Each person had a cup. The object was for the person at the beginning to fill their cup with water, then pass that water from cup to cup all the way to the end. The first team to fill their milk jug to the line was the winner. It was such fun that we played it several times. Of course, kids just love water.

Tanner and Hayden work together.

The little sisters played, too.

After the relay, there was the water balloon toss. The last 2 person team to have a water balloon that didn’t pop was the winner. And then, the big fun was the water rockets. The Waffle was in charge of this one. You take an empty 2 liter, fill it half way with water, then place it on the launcher. Add a little air pressure, thanks to the air compressor, and BLAST OFF! This proved to be quite entertaining. After launching their ‘rockets,’ the kids got to go into the prairie grass to hunt for them!

Before blast off.

And after!

Mallory's turn!

All in all, it was a fun day for all. We gave the coaches their thank you gifts – a baseball signed by each of the players. And they parents gave me one – a $20 gift card from Bath & Body Works! Sweet! I enjoyed this summer’s baseball season more than any other. I believe it was a combination of good kids, good coaches, and good company!

Indians Outfield Adventure

This past weekend, we went on the most unique campout. Ever. We pitched our tent on the outfield of the Indianapolis Indians' Victory Field! It was amazing. The Indians host an annual Cub Scout Campout where scouts can attend the game, watch a fireworks show, then see a movie on the big screen scoreboard, and finally camp in the outfield. It was C-O-O-L. As many of you know, we love to camp. Yes, in tents. And yes, we all went. It was a whirlwind weekend for the family. Hayden had his own ball game at 5:15 on Friday. After his game, we hit the road to Indy. We arrived during the 3rd inning and there was no score, so we hadn't missed much. Our seats were pretty good - 2nd level, 1st baseline - perfect for catching foul balls. The Indians won it 2 - 0. Hayden was really into watching the game - I've noticed this much more lately. He is really turning into a basbeall player and fan. He's watching them to see how to get better. Being at the field after the game was over was pretty neat, too. We got to see everything they do to care for the field - they worked a long time on the pitcher's mound, then they rolled out a HUGE tarp to cover all of the infield. Sure wish we could get some of those for our little league fields! The fireworks show was very good. I couldn't believe how long it went - very impressive. Then it was time for the movie. They played Everybody's Hero which was very fitting for the occasion. Pitching the tents was total chaos, but the picture I got when it was all done is totally worth it. I've never seen anything like it. We obviously enjoyed every minute of it. And when it's time to do it again, we will be there. Definitely.

Practice makes perfect

The Waffle has taken Hayden to the batting cages here in town a few times this summer for some batting practice. I was able to go this past weekend and got some shots of him in action. He's got good form and some strength, too. It's funny to watch him, because, even at the cages, you can tell he wants to drive it as hard and far as he can. Can you say "Tes-tos-ter-one?"  

Great form

And . . . the swing!

Here he is during a game.  I just love watching him bat.  He's really good at it.  

And here in this photo, you can really see the form.  

That hit got him a triple!  Way to go Kincaid!!!

Since one of the boys on his team had to move, he's been playing first base for the past few games.  Turns out, he's not too bad!  He knows where to stand, how to hustle, and how to make those plays.  Yes, I'm proud of him.  I know you can tell.  But mommies are supposed to be proud of their babies, right???  Here is a photo of him playing first at last Friday's game.  The first base running coach (in the dark shirt) is a friend from high school.  His wife writes a blog.  She's the one who inspired me to start this one.  You can check it out here.

Well, the Waffle is turning in for the night.  And, for some weird reason, I feel that we're more connected if we go to bed at the same time.  So, even though I have so much more to say, it's time to sign off for today.  Besides, he called me a "Blog-aholic" . . . is that bad???

The Rookie? The Natural? Field of Dreams?

The season is in full swing and we're having a ball. Eating a lot of quick meals and burning a lot of gas driving around town, but we're having fun. Brett and I have both noticed a distinct change in Hayden's attitude towards baseball, which has made it a lot more fun for all of us. For the past few years, he's been a little moody, didn't seem to care much whether the team won or lost, always wanted to play infield. I'm proud to say that so far this season, he has been the ideal team player. He's playing well. He has his head in the game. His attitude is top notch - no complaining about positions or anything else. His team hasn't won any of their games yet, which is kind of a bummer for him because he's really having a pretty good season! His first game, he caught a fly ball to make an out and got a base hit. His second game he made some good stops at 2nd base and had another base hit. And his third game he got another base hit and played an excellent center fielder! (No complaining!) Needless to say, we are proud of him! Here are some photos to enjoy . . .

He has great form - don't you think?

That was a foul tip, not a strike!

He's down and ready - I love the sports glasses!

It's Spring Training Time!

Like many people in the Midwest, I simply cannot wait for the time when the snow melts and the flowers bloom . . . there's just something about green grass and tulips that says SPRING! Well, around our house something else says spring, too. BASEBALL! We've had sign up and round up, and now today was our first practice of the season. This is Hayden's 4th year of baseball and his 2nd year in the Pinto league. I told one of the coaches today that I can't figure out why, but I am just really excited about baseball this year! I've been a 'team mom' every year, and this year is no different. I just get the challenge of being team mom *and* shuttling the kids between two sets of practices and games this year. And, I'm excited to say that I have even set up a blogspot for Hayden's team! You know, to share photos and schedules and to talk about how the season is going. Check it out: http://lafayettelifepintoteam.blogspot.com. Here are a couple of pics I snapped today at practice.

Mallory has decided that she wants to play this year, too. We gave her the option of playing on a team with boys and girls mixed, or with all girls. She chose all girls, so we signed her up for softball. Of course, our little Mallory has a pink bat, a pink and purple mitt and a pink and white ball. Now, if only we could have found pink shoes in her size!