Tournament Play

This past week was the boys Pee Wee Tournament for Baseball.  That meant the possibility of 6 games in 5 days.  Thankfully it didn't take that many.  As it turns out there were 4 games in 5 days and that means 4 days at the ballfield.  I'm ok if we don't go to the fields for awhile! :)  Not to mention the fact that at the beginning of the week we took sweatshirts and by the end we were playing in triple digit temps!

The boys all had a great time!  Even Maddie enjoyed herself.  She played in sand, with water, with legos and with lots of friends.  I'm not sure she knows anything about baseball, but she enjoys herself! 
Here she is with one of the coaches daughters, Addie.  Maddie loves Addie because she recently realized what rhyming words are!  "Maddie, Addie and Daddy -they rhyme!", is what you will often hear her say.

I realized too that I didn't have too many pictures of the "Batter Boy" in action. Well this one isn't in action, but it was cute.  When the team takes the field, this is where Eli waits!

 As soon as the team is up to bat, he gest to work!

 Below, Brody (pitcher) and Ronnie (3rd) are ready for the pitch!  (Pee Wee league is coach pitch)

 With such a busy week of ball, there was a lot of bonding time within the team!

 With the triple digit temps there were a lot of water breaks!

But in the end...after a well fought tourney...The Blue Buffalos finished the season and the tournament with a 15-0 record and were the 1st place Champs!

 Ronnie getting his trophy!

 Of course my camera and I fought while Nathaniel got his trophy, but he did get it!

Then even the Batter Boy got a trophy - his grin was huge!

 So here they are the Pee Wee Champion, undefeated Blue Buffalos!

One last huddle

 Go Blue Buffalos!

 It was pretty exciting times around here! 

4 Happy Guys and 3 Trophies!

Then a few of the teammates (and families) went to the sponsors to eat and celebrate, BWW!

A fun season, a full couple of months!  Ronnie and Nathaniel have had a great time and their baseball skills have really improved.  And the little Batter Boy is already thinking about next year!  Coach Daddy had a blast too.  It's fun to coach this age as they are, for the most part, willing to learn!  Maddie and I... we enjoyed cheering on our guys!

Oh, one more thing...last night as we were climbing in the van to leave the ball park, Coach Sean tells the boys - "We have a couple more tournaments!"  "You both made All-Star's" 
WOW, the excitement.  And yes, Ron will be his assistant and Eli was asked to help with the bats.  So we will continue for 2 more weekends!

Keeping Him 1st

The Bible says to Keep God First!  We, as Christians, claim that the Lord is #1 in our lives.  Yet do we live it?  I challenge women in discipleship that if God is really Number 1 and you really live what you say - then shouldn't your day start with Him?  How can God be First and then we wait until the day is finished to talk to Him?  How can we say he is #1 and we choose to not communicate with Him until our day is over and we are drifting off to sleep?

Keep God First means He is the very first thing we think of when we wake.  He is the very first relationship we begin with.  We spend time with our #1 before anything else!

If Ron and I didn't communicate all day long until I was drifting off to sleep - would we really have much of a relationship. 

We must live what we say - not be lukewarm.

If we call ourselves Christians (Christ-like) then we must be in relationship with Him. 

Do you begin your day with Jesus?  or do you wait until all the "important" things are done, then spend some time with Him?

Keep Him First - see how a relationship that begins with Jesus can change your life!

T-ball pictures

Because of helping coach the T-ball team with Ron, I missed out on getting many pictures.  I just got some from a friend and thought I should post some from Eli's ball too - don't want him to be left out!

Here he is playing 1st on Sunday.  His buddy beside him is Elijah (he and his family attend our Farmer church).  Elijah is all about getting his hands on the ball every play!

 One last huddle as a t-ball team - Go Orange Crush!

This is hard to see, but usually in t-ball the coach pitches a few and then the kids have to use the tee.  Well Elijah A. decided after the first day, when he had to hit off the tee that he wanted a new pitcher, Ronnie, to pitch to him.  He has been bugging "Coach, Pastor Ron" ever since.  So the final inning on Saturday, Ron let Ronnie pitch to him!

 Eli fielding

 Eli with 2 buddies from our Farmer Church, Elijah and Andrew!

 Eli was excited to run home, because it was the only time he was allowed to slide!  Missed getting the slide on camera, but it was impressive :)

As I said, Eli had a great time - and his Orange Crush team seemed to learn a little too!

Games, Parties and Fun

On Saturday morning, Eli had his last t-ball game of the season. He was excited.  Daddy let him play pitcher and then 1st!  He also got a couple of hits!  He has had a fun time playing t-ball this year.

To top it all off, Grandpa and Grandma Adkins got to come watch him play!

 We also celebrated 2 Ronnie birthday's.  Ronnie's was last Saturday and Grandpa's is Monday!  The kids were pretty excited to have a party for Grandpa.

 There was also lot of fun...

 snuggling...

 more fun...

 and more snuggling!

 Ron with his parents!

Thanks Grandpa and Grandma for coming to visit!

Taking Care of Sis

I love it when we begin our Sunday mornings by helping out others! 
Below Nathaniel and Ronnie walk Maddie to church!

Regular Season

Last night was the boys final game of their regular season! 

These 4 have had a great time together on the ball field!

 They played  a doubleheader last night against a team they hadn't played this season. They went on to win both and have a 12-0 record for this season.

 Ronnie batted great this season, getting a triple both right and left handed and multiple doubles and singles.  He went every other bat throughout the season - left handed then right handed and did great!  His running has improved tremendously this year as well.   Ronnie played 3rd base all year and would occasionally be put in the outfield to give the other kids a chance at infield!

Nathaniel was very impressive with his bat this season.  He managed to get on base all but 2 times all season.  He had an in the park home run, 4 triples and multiple doubles and singles.  Nathaniel played shortstop (which makes his Daddy pretty proud.  He also played some outfield on occasion.  It is fun to watch him play as he really thinks baseball!

 Maddie enjoyed the game last night too.  Her friend, McKenna, brought some water toys and a tub - so Maddie was entertained through the entire doubleheader! 

After the 2nd game.  The coaches lined them up supposedly for pictures, but then...

The water fight began.  Several parents brought cooler's of water balloons and everyone enjoyed the cool down.

Eli was used as a human shield - by his Daddy!

Coach Sean Bergman and his youngest daughter, McKenna.  Ron has coached with Sean for 3 years now (beginning in t-ball). He is a great coach and knows the game, as he played in the major leagues for 13 years.

The team enjoyed some pizza and bonding as a team after the game and water balloons!

Maddie enjoyed pizza too!

So, now the undefeated "Blue Buffalo's" (sponsor is BW3) are ready to begin tournament play.  Next week there will be 4 or 5 tournament games!  We'll see if their winning streak continues!

Congratulations Blue Buffalo's!

Girls Day Out (Part 2)

If you missed the post below with Part 1, please read it first!  We had a great time at the Butterfly House, then we headed to the park for a picnic and fun!  It was a VERY hot day, but we found a table with shade and Maddie was excited.  This was her "bucket list" item for the summer!  She wanted to have a picnic.  So she was thrilled for a 2nd one in less than a week!

 Reese and Maddie both seemed excited about the picnic, although once they drank (remember it was hot) they weren't too interested in food - they wanted to play at the park!

 We corralled them as long as we could...then we turned them loose!
Both Maddie and Reese love the swings and they were looking forward to swinging together, but the heat had made the swings way to hot.  We found one slide that was in the shade  and it worked perfectly!

 There were a few other things that were in the shade!

 So a Butterfly House, picnic and a park - all in one day!

 By the time we climbed into the car, they were tired and whining that they weren't done playing (well maybe it was just Maddie who was whining)

The nose level on the way home was much quieter and Maddie gave in before we got dropped off at home.  She woke slightly as I carried her in and began whimpering, "I don't want to be done, I want more Girls Day Out"!

She had a blast, we both did!  Fun, Memory Making Day for both of us!
Thanks Ms Cathy and Reese for inviting us!