Roadblock! New Route!

 

So, lately I've had a hard time posting. I've mentioned that we only have dial-up, which makes everything take sooo long. It's slow for me to do this and slow for Renee to socially network. Many evenings, I would want to update things on-line only to find the above situation.

No more! Yesterday we hooked ourselves up with some high-speed Internet and a wireless router!! Granted, Rod had to wait for the guy until 11:45 for our "early morning" "appointment." But, now Renee can go into another room and network and Lauren can be in another room and feed hungry diners and I can go on-line and do "whatever it is Mom does."

I will be doing some updates here very soon!

Super Softball Weekend!

On Saturday, Lauren's team had a double header. The first team they played is pictured with them at the end of the game. Can you tell that they are a bit bigger than many of our girls? We were short a player, so they played with only 2outfielders. But, our girls came out on top! This was only their second victory! We were very proud of them. They ended up losing the second game to an even bigger team who kept nailing it into center feild. Our 2 outfielders just kept at it chasing down those balls and getting them back in. The one needed her inhaler, but kept plugging away!

 

After Lauren's games Renee was scheduled for 2 games. They were going to be short 2 players. Lauren and Kara from the 12U team stuck around to play with the 16U team. They played so well!! Renee had to pich both games which is a lot of work. Having a 10 year-old on 3rd and her 11-year-old sister on 1st actually made the game easier for her. The girls were nervous about the older, faster pitchers, but, they both managed to have nice hits and got on base in both games!!

Rod and I were very impressed with our Green Girls, as the older girls kept calling them. They were both given game balls, a lot of thanks and earned a ton of respect from girls 5 years older than themselves. Not to mention that they also played 4 games. My family slept like babies that night.

 

On Sunday, the girls participated in a mini training camp. Renee is shown here with University of Michigan all time hits leader Traci Chapman Fischer. She is a former All-American and Professional Softball player who put on a 4 hour clinic with 2 other All-Americans. The girls showed themselves well. One of the coaches who was helping with the program told both Rod and Renee that she should be playing travel ball. She excelled in the outfielding drills and hit the ball the furthest off the pitching machine.

 

They need more words for me to tell you just how proud I was of my girls this weekend. Is there a superlative beyond proudest parent? That was Rod and I this weekend.

Way to go girls!!!

Zombies!!

 

Here is the shot of Renee and Janie.

Mandy, I need to know how to put up more than 4 pictures at a time. I had 5 saved, but it only took the first 4.

Happy Halloween!

The girls had lots of fun gutting their pumpkins!

 
 
 

Lauren was Artemis, Goddess of the Hunt. We recycled this from last year, but couldn't find the Moon headpiece or the bow and arrows. Renee was a Zombie. Janie was a pirate wench zombie. They looked pretty creepy.

 


Rod and I sat home to wait for the Trick-or-Treaters. Trick was on us - no Treaters. Maybe next year we will have to put out a sign or a flyer to the homes with little kids. The houses in our neighborhood are so few and far between that the kids all go to more tracitional neighborhoods. But, they all drive past our house, so maybe we need to do something more than have the porch lights on, the pumpkins lit and 5 bags of candy waiting by the front door. We'll try harder next year!

Incredible!

 

It's so fun to remember these different looks from my girls over the years! Aren't they eincredible!

Memories!

 

 

 

 

As the girls get older, it's fun to look back at the incredible little girls they were! They are more incredible every day!

Victory!!

 

As I mentioned before, Lauren has a very young team. They finally had their first victory!! They were down by 2 going into the the bottom of the last inning. They had the tying run on third and 2 outs. Our fourth girl in the line-up was up, our power hitter, Kara. She took it to a full count before blasting a rocket between first and second. The outfielders chased it to the fence. Home Run for Kara! Victory for the team! Go Sluggers!

We had lost to this same team twice already. We had just gotten beaten by them 15 to 1 on Saturday. So, Tuesday's victory was extra exciting!