Another weekend, another tournament...

This past weekend, we drove to the fun town of Pasadena, Texas for a softball tournament.  I know...you are surprised.  Another tournament!

To give you an idea of the town that we spend our Saturday and Sunday afternoon in....people around Houston call Pasadena, "Stinkadena"  Does that help?  The place we played only had 4 fields and there were a ton of teams in this tourney...so that left for some big gaps between the games.  Good thing for us that we printed out the movie schedule for a theater not too far away.  Aaron and I instantly became the "best parents, EVER!" when we announced that we were going to see the newest Shrek movie during our break.  I mean, really, do you want to sit out in the 90+ degree heat and wait for the next game (3 hours) or do you want to sit in an air conditioned  movie theater and enjoy a movie with the kids?  Yeah, us too!

The movie was cute...not my favorite Shrek-that would be Shrek 2, but it was watchable and it was in 3D.  We went to the first showing of the day so we got in for the extra low early bird price of $8 a ticket...Joy.  Forty bucks for our family of five to go to the movies and that was without popcorn and my beloved coke to drink.  Don't worry...I still got my coke. 

The rest of the team followed us to the theater...it was pretty cute....10 little girls in bright yellow uniforms taking up a whole row in the theater.  They loved the break and I enjoyed the cool air...all forty bucks worth.
We all went back to the ball fields in Pasadena and won another 2 games followed by yet another long break...this time, we all decided to go to the mall.  It's really no fun to go to the mall and not buy anything...I'm just sayin'.  But the cool air was nice and we made it back to the fields for our last game of the Saturday night, which they won.

Sunday was a great day for Grace.  She hit not one...but TWO home runs for the Cobras.  This was a HUGE confidence booster to her and I'm sooo excited for her!  She hit one in the early game and then one in the last game where most of the team had given up...she didn't and made a awesome hit.  I was so proud...can you tell?

They ended up getting 3rd place and Grace wore that medal very proudly.

She should...she completely earned it!

Missing things....

It started raining on Friday afternoon and didn't stop for about 24 hours...that is good rain for all of us down here in Houston.  We loved it.  It greened things up, it gave us the chance to stay home all weekend and it got me thinking....(I know, we are in trouble now!)  It hasn't rained here in about a month.  That means that we haven't slowed down in, oh, about a month.  That is just crazy!  I know, we've brought it on ourselves....someday, we will learn to say no....I hope! But for now, we are having fun and running around in this crazy game that we call life. 

Worship yesterday was great.  Aaron is teaching the high school class so I went with him to class and he did a great job.  I just love being around those kids.  They are fun and just easy to talk to...most of the time.  It makes me miss my Florida kids from when I was a summer intern all those years ago...now all of my "kids" from that summer are grown and getting married and a few of them even have babies! Yikes.  One of my girls is getting married in the fall and I hope I can make it over for the big event.  Love them.

Had a couple of "texting" conversations with friends far away yesterday.  Man...I have to say, I miss real phone calls.  I do.  Texting is great and when you get a little one that makes you smile and makes your day brighter...texting is awesome.  But, some days....you just want to talk to a real person.  I know we are all busy and texting is fast.  But...you'll be having a little conversation and then all of the sudden...they are gone and you wonder, "where did they go?"  "Did I text something wrong?"  I guess that is why I'm not a huge texting fan...although, I do text more than most people.  Okay, I text more than a LOT of people.  Sometimes it's just easier...but easier doesn't always mean better.  :)  So, I guess I'm just missing my friends this morning.  Love ya'll...you know who you are....When is our next trip??  I want a weekend at the beach! How about ya'll??

Well...time to stop missing things and get back to life...Playing with Parker, Wal-Mart and my newest Jodi Picoult book! 

Rain, rain, we love you today!!

Oh rain...we haven't seen you in a while and this weekend we are loving that you are here!!  Today was field day at Grace and Susannah's school.  I worked as a score counter this morning indoors and then for 4 hours this afternoon, I was outside and in the heat and sun that is the heart of Houston.  I was running the soccer kick game...fun until about 2:45 and then it turned wonderful.  Yes, the relief that we have been praying for down here....the RAIN!  It felt great...especially after a long afternoon in the hot sun.  I've got a tad bit of a sunburn, but mainly just a little pink.  The girls had a great day!  Grace got second place in her class and little SusieQ got first place in her class!! We were all excited and loved playing in the rain at the end of the day. 

The rain is still coming down and I have to say that I am loving it still.  Grace and her team have a tournament tomorrow in Deer Park (over an hour from our house) and we were going to have to leave the house in the morning at 6 AM for their first game of the day.  So, for now....I'm loving the rain and hoping that it keeps coming down!

Spa Day with Mom

1. 

Today at SusieQ's school was "Spa Day with Mom" or as we Mom's called it...."Make your Mom look like a clown day!"  I'm just kidding.  Susie and her two friends had so much fun today at school, putting make-up and nail polish on me.  Mrs. Holdman read us all a story and we had cookies and punch for a snack and then the Spa time began!! The other two girls Mom's couldn't come so I happily filled in for them today.  I had more eye shadow and lipstick on than you can even see in this photo....Really.  It was so funny.  They kept saying, "You look like a queen!" and "You look so pretty...you need more pink stuff!"  It was a fun morning and I'm so thankful that I got to go. 

But the clean-up...wow! That was a fun time for me here at home with my make-up remover and nail polish remover.  I had no idea that I could use that much remover in one sitting!! Fun times with my girls.  Love it!

A girly girl??

My oldest daughter, Grace, is a softball player.  She's played every fall and spring for 3 years.  Not a big deal and we really were not that "into it" until this year.  After this springs' season was over a few weeks ago, Grace was invited to try out for the All-Star softball team.  Okay, no big deal, we thought.  Trying out would be good experience for her later.

Well....she made the team.  Yeah, we knew she was good, but THAT good?  We just thought that she really liked to play and she can catch and hit...but, can't they all??  Can you tell that we just aren't real competitive at our house?  Now, our little family spends our weekends traveling to various towns around Houston, going to softball tournaments and cheering for Grace.  My point?  I have a daughter that LOVES to play softball, yet on Sunday when it is time to pick out what she wants to wear?  You got it.  Strasburg.  Every time.

Grace loves her dresses.  She has friends at school that don't even know she plays sports because she wears dresses so much!  Isn't that a hoot?  She had everyone fooled with her athletic abilities, because she was wearing beautiful dresses.  Thanks Strasburg for the great disguises! Both of my girls wear theirs proudly.

Do you want to know why I'm blogging about dresses and softball?  I'm the newest guest blogger for strasburg children!  I'm so excited.  I get to blog and I get paid for blogging!!  So, if you don't know where I am...check out strasburg children or the softball fields....I should be at either one of those places!!   Our website has been on the fritz latey...so only 8 of the 10 bloggers got to post last week and then the site went bonkers.  Hopefully, they will get it back to working this week and you can see both of my posts.  We'll see!!

They sent me a picture!

Aaron was out of town for this past weekends' tourney and had my camera with him...but someone sent me a picture!!  Here is Grace and the rest of her teammates after a long weekend of games and being rewarded with a trophy.  I think any team that wins 9 games deserves one, don't you think?

Grace is on the back row...the shortest one on the back row...that doesn't happen to her very much (she's pretty tall for her age) but in a group like this...she fits right in!!

She's a Cobra!

I really don't know if I've blogged about Grace lately....actually, I haven't blogged about anything, have I?

Well...back to Grace.

Grace has played "rec league" softball for the past 5 seasons (that is fall ball and spring ball) and this year, her coach gave her an invite to try out for the All-Star team.  The league has 2 All-Star teams.  One team has been together for a year and they travel all over Houston playing in tournaments.  They had 3 spots available on that team and they are really good.  The second All-Star team plays 5 extra games and then they are done for the season.  There were 31 little girls that came out on that Sunday afternoon to try out for 15 spots...total.  The remaining 12 girls made the second all-star team.

Aaron took Grace to the tryout.  I stayed at home with the little ones and then Sus had a birthday party later in the afternoon.  He would call me every few minutes and was about to burst with pride.  After the tryout was over, we met Aaron and Grace at an ice cream place and she was so excited about her try-out.  We thought for sure that she made the 2nd team.

That night we got a phone call.  Grace made the first team.  The travelling All-Star team!!  She was in the top 3 girls that tried out and was so excited to make this team.  Well....here we are.  We are now officially a travelling softball family.  We literally eat, sleep and drink softball all of the time and will continue to do so until after the 4th of July.  Aaron took Grace to her first tournament 2 weekends ago because I had a wedding shower and Susie got sick.  Aaron was out of town this weekend so I was fully inducted into the softball travelling family with 3 children...BY MYSELF!!  OH MY WORD!!  It's just crazy!!  Who in the world thought it was a good idea to let 8 year olds be so stinkin' competitive?  Really?  We will finish the season with this team, but this will probably be our last "travelling team" for a few more years.  I think if we continued to play softball at this intensity and this level...she will either love softball for the rest of her life or hate it! 

So, for this season....Grace is an official "Cobra" and a member of the1st All-Star team.  They won first place in the tournament that they played in this past weekend....over an hour drive from our house. I would put some pictures up, but I don't have any yet.  Aaron has the camera. :)But...these little girls are intense.  They lead off, they slide and they don't joke around on the field.  I just can't decide if I'm ready for my little girl to be thrown into the fire so quickly, yet.  Winning this tourney was great, but I'm dead tired from spending all Friday, Saturday and Sunday in the sun, keeping 2 little ones entertained and watching Grace play.  I'll keep on rooting for my little Cobra.  She's a tough one....maybe I need to get some thicker skin, too!!