Giants

This fall Ethan is playing for the Giants (so it is quite exciting that they will be playing the Rangers in the World Series). We are actually lucky enough to have him and his cousin Garrett on the same team - which is SUPER handy for transportation purposes! He is playing at the "Rookie" level, which is just below Minors. They are learning how to pitch at this age so for the first 2 innings one of the kids from the team pitches and then for the remaining 2 or more innings a machine pitches to the kids.  Ethan is officially the "old" kid this year. There might actually be older kids on his team but I feel that this should be his last year at this level. I don't know that he will excel in the Minors yet but it will at least challenge him, whereas now he can be a little lazy and get away with it.

Ethan loves to play CATCHER! He always has! Even in T-Ball when there was no point in even having a catcher he wanted to be the one to sweat in the gear! This year we decided that if it was his true love we would would buy him his own gear - so we did. We decided on that for a couple of reasons. 1. Hygiene purposes - 13 sweaty boys all sharing the same gear - ick. 2. Knee Savers! The gear that the league provides does not have any knee savers attached to the back of the shin guards (and lets see you squat down for 15 minutes + and see how your knees are feeling!) and we wanted him to be able to walk as an adult. Of course he loves having the gear - it makes him feel pretty studly!

I must mention too - that he is a phenomenal catcher. Especially for his age! He can dig a ball out of the dirt like no kid his age can! I love to watch him catch. He totally understands the game from the perspective of the catcher. He has even been "framing" the ball. Which is where after he catches it in his glove he quickly pulls it in right in front of his chest so it looks like it was right in the strike zone! He is just awesome! ...and so cute!

 Since, at their age they still shuffle positions he usually only gets to catch once or twice a game depending on how many innings they play but he is a good team player so he doesn't really mind sharing the position. Last night, when I took these pictures he also played third base and left field. Both positions were a total bore for him. He was drawing pictures in the dirt with his cleats... and who can blame him - at this age... those positions really are a bore. zzzzzz

 Of course, just like all kids - he LOVES to bat! He is rather good at it too. He can usually get to first with no problem. Like Spencer, he has an amazing eye for the ball and so he doesn't swing at crappy pitches and as a result he walks a lot - but that is okay by me because there is a difference between walking because you stand at the plate and don't swing at anything and knowing what to swing at and what not to swing at.  Last night he walked at his first bats and the second time he got a base hit. (In the picture below you can see the ball come in and hit the ground in front of him after he hit it) Garrett was up to bat right after him and hit a TRIPLE and brought Ethan home, which started a huge rally for the team and we ended up winning 10-8! Our first win!

We are really proud of Ethan and the amazing little player that he is becoming and can't wait to watch MANY MANY MANY more years of  baseball!

Red Sox

So of course, as always, we are in the middle of a baseball season. It is FALL BALL TIME! This time around both the boys are playing baseball and Ryleigh is playing softball but instead of lumping them all together in one post I have decided to give them each their individual post throughout the season, and since I happened to have my camera last night Spencer gets the first post.

Spencer is playing for the Red Sox this season (it does seem like someone plays for the Red Sox every season, too bad we are not Boston fans because we have enough Red Sox hats to outfit the whole family). I really like his coach. He is really good at explaining the game to the kids and teaching them proper techniques. The only down side of his coach is that he takes the “Fall Ball is a ‘learning’ league so it is non-competitive” too seriously. I think we are the ONLY team that doesn’t play to win, and as a result we have not won – EVER. In fact it is usually ridiculous – like 15 –3. I do understand that Fall Ball is a good time for those players that don’t normally get a lot of playing time to be able to play more key positions (rather than Right field) but C’MON! It is killing me!!! And in all honestly I think it is discouraging the boys. Who will want to come play baseball in the Spring if the Fall was full of disappointment Winning is more fun than losing.

Spencer has really grown to love playing First Base this year. I am happy that he has found his little perfect position. To be perfectly honest – he is great at it too! I really like watching him on first base, and at this age it is a LOT of work 9 times out of 10 the ball is not a straight shot at first when they are throwing it. It really challenges him to stretch out and move and get his glove on the ball – plus he is involved in nearly every play, which is just what he likes. We even bought him a first baseman's glove this year which he thinks is pretty rad.

He also really likes to pitch still – but what kid doesn’t? He is a great pitcher when he has a great catcher. I have noticed that when he feels like the catcher might be weaker than others he throws softly and then it doesn’t always make it across the plate – resulting in walks. I also have noticed that I think he is a great closing pitcher. His arm definitely has a 20 pitch shelf-life. But man – when that kid is on target he is ON!

Of course he still LOVES to hit! He is pretty great at it too. He has his very own unique batting stance which I think is adorable, not many kids his age have a stance. He also has an amazing eye. That kid knows what pitches to hit and which ones to watch and which ones to foul off. He reaches base most of the time and last night was no exception. In fact these two pictures of him batting are in the 4th inning. We were down 5-2 and we had the bases loaded with two outs and of course Spencer was up to bat. Not only did he get a hit but it was a BOMB!(Can you see that little white line through the sky in the second picture? that’s the ball!) Right down the third baseline all the way to the fence! It ended up being an 3 RBI triple and we tied up the game! Unfortunately in the 5th inning he came in to pitch again (after pitching the 4th inning) and the team started to unravel. He walked several batters and the catcher started to get tired and stopped catching the ball and there were a lot of over throws on the field. We ended up losing 10-5. Regardless of the score I do love to watch him play though! I hope it never ends.

Kristi & Me

My little sister Kristi and I were hanging out this evening when she informed me that I was in need of a blog update. I told her that I have been horrible at taking pictures lately so I had nothing to blog about. We are doing LOTS of stuff! Spencer and Ethan are in Baseball and Ryleigh is in Softball and Olivia is in Crazy. Plus we had another ER visit (this time for Ethan - more staples!) So we decided to take a couple of webcam pictures of us for me to post! Enjoy....

Happy Birthday Spencer

Happy Birthday Spencer!

I can't believe it! Spencer is 10 today!!!!! 10 - that is like two whole hands...from now on he will always be in double digits! whoa -

But, in all seriousness I love this kid! He brings such a light into our home. He is happy, playful and generous and I have loved every second with him.

This year we have seen such a change in him - he has become more mature and responsible. He is coming home and getting right to his homework and completing it in a timely manner, and he is more focused on the field when he is playing baseball. Honestly, I just couldn't be more proud of him right now.

He is such a fantastic kid and I am excited to see what the next ten years will bring.

I love you Spencer!