Ava's Hot Bat

Ava had a game on tonight in Jacksonville.  Though it was a slow start, our girls ended up winning 23 to 15.  We were a little rusty with our fielding as this was the first team that put the ball into play!  But the highlight of the game was Ava's bat!  She went 4 for 4 including 3 triples and a homerun!  She had 5 RBI's on the night!  It was so fun to see her finally start smoking the ball in a game like she does every Friday with Coach Jeff at lessons!!

Ava had a pretty good cheering squad who were properly rewarded with some snowcones after the game!  Ava ended up going for ice cream with Olivia instead of getting herself a snowcone!

Happy Birthday Keith

Happy Birthday to our part time...pitcher, catcher, diaper changer, big truck player, wrestler, cuddler...and our always full time encouraging, hard working, biggest fan. Our kids are lucky and I am blessed to call you ours!!

And some bonus pictures of our two littles...

Spring Classic Softball Tournament

Carli had a tournament in Ennis again this weekend.  She got to take Naggy and Pappy with her, too!  This tournament had her old team the Sassy Sluggers in it and it was the first time we'd seen them since last fall.  Carli was excited to see some of her old friends!

It was a tough weekend, both to watch from afar to for Keith being there.  Some decisions were made and our head coach wasn't there.  But, live and learn and move on.  I think our head coach said it best in his post on facebook:

3rd place is nothing to hang your head about. In softball as well as life the goal is to be better than you were yesterday. Key word "goal" does it always happen? No. If it did we as coaches, players, parents would never have any issues, no disputes, we would always be better than the tournament before, the prior practice, the prior day at work... we all know that some days that just doesn't happen.. we would all like for it to happen, we would all like to be better day after day.. it's not easy, it takes work, it takes coaches, players, parents working as a team always putting their best foot forward. Sometimes that doesn't happen.. players, coaches, parents, fans, have bad days.. that's expected.. players may not always agree with coaches, coaches may not agree with players, parents and coaches don't always see eye to eye.. but that's OK it's part of softball.. We've all seen and witnessed drama is softball, it's part of it.. If you haven't witnessed issues more than likely this is your first day to play.. the way a team handles those differences is the deciding factor in whether a team survives and flourishes or dies off . There are definitely some ways that are better than others to squash indifferences. Ask your self as a coach, as a parent, as a player, did I handle that properly, is there something that I could have changed to convey my point in a more receivable manner.. As the leader of Texas Glory 2526 I will always do my best to put my best foot forward. I'm asking our parents, our players, our coaches, our fans to always try your best, to be the best softball player, best softball parent, best coach, best softball fan that you can possibly be. We may not always agree but we are a Family. I will go to bat for each and every one of our kids, our parents, our coaches. We're not perfect, we're all human.. but we are a TEAM, we are Texas Glory 2526.

Their Teacher Came...

They may have won, hit a few homeruns, got some good plays and even slid into home but all they'll remember about this game is that Mrs. Grigsby came to cheer them on!

Elaine, Ava, Olivia, Kiyah, Payton and Shilee

The Three Amigas with Mrs. Grigsby

Troup Team Pictures

Troup Bomb Squad - 10u

This is the day that Carli had woke up with eye allergies so bad it looked like she was constantly crying, thus she wore sunglasses in her pictures.  :)

Troup Thunder - 8u 

Carli's Fan Club

Carli played in Bullard last night.  While she isn't getting to pitch, she is getting to play in shortstop which is not a position she has a lot of experience at.  Thus, she is getting to learn the dynamics of playing another position.  She is also getting lots more at bats to work on overcoming her new mental block of swinging the bat.  She had a good game last night that was made even better because both sets of Grandparents were there to cheer her on! 

Mental Health Day

It's been awhile since Carli has been extremely overwhelmed by life in general.  She had a good run.  But I think the upcoming STARR test, combined with every day life hit her last week pretty hard for some reason.  So after dealing with lots of tears and a bit more attitude, Keith, her teacher and I decided to give her a mental health day.  We got her up Thursday morning like any other day, and Keith took her and Ava too school but "forgot" to drop Carli off!  She was all smiles when we got home.  We had a good day.  First we made cake balls...

And then it was time to do her nails...

Then off to Michaels for some craft supplies...

And then we met Keith for lunch at her favorite place, McAllistors!

She spent the rest of the day making American Girl Doll Crafts until it was time to go get Ava.  She was much more relaxed after her day at home.  She was a ball of nerves at her game that night b/c she was playing her friends on the other Troup team.  But she pulled herself together and played very well!  Even 9 year olds need a break every now and then!

2018 Class Pictures

Ava's 2nd Grade Class

Carli's 3rd Grade Class

Mrs. Cover and Mrs. Hultberg are in her picture 

Drew got Dirt

Every Friday we go see Coach Jeff and Drew is in little boy heaven playing in the big dirt pile Coach Jeff has out by the batting cage.  Well, with Stryker's new found love of digging holes and the need for some dirt for the garden, we ordered a load of dirt and I think made Drew's whole year.  Not only did he get dirt but he got to see a dump truck!

 And then Grammy and Pa remembered they had a Digger Dan that they had meant to give Drew for Christmas!  So they dug it out of it's hiding spot and delivered it yesterday.  We had no naps today because there was just way too much work to be done...but showers were a must!

Troup Opening Day

Today was Opening Day at Troup for Carli and Ava.  Ava had pictures bright and early so we sent her and Keith off before 7:30 with instructions to bring us back some donuts!  When Carli woke up, her poor eyes were so swollen, watery and red.  I wasn't sure if she had pink eye or allergies.  So we gave her benedryl and warm compresses with some eye drops.  When Keith and Ava popped back in with breakfast, we decided to keep Carli home for now and sent them back on their way for opening ceremonies.

Ava and her team took their annual picture with the older 15u Thunder team.  Ava had a blast all morning at the ball field.  Meanwhile, we decided benedryl wasn't strong enough but Carli refused to take a pill so I crushed up a Tylenol Severe Allergy pill and gave it to her in apple sauce.  Within 30 minutes you could tell a major difference in her so we decided she had eye allergies and got ready to go to the ballfield for Ava's game.

Ava's team played at noon and Ava had a good game at the plate.  Her hitting finally clicked and she hit a scorcher of a line drive to Right Center, all the way to the fence!  She got a 2 RBI in the park homerun.  Her next two at bats were good hits that resulted in singles and 2 more RBI's.  Her team won 12 to 1.  She didn't get to see much action on the field as nothing really was hit to her at pitcher.

Carli took her opening day pictures in her sunglasses b/c she didn't want red eyes in pictures!  I told her that was okay!  It had started to rain before Carli's game but there was no thunder or lightening so they played.  We decided to let Carli play league ball so she'd get more time on the mound and help build her mental toughness.  I am pretty sure it is testing her mental toughness!  The team they played is the other Troup team.  Last Thursday they played the team and were beat 11 to 5.  The Shockwave has a select team pitcher who is in the 5th grade and throws in the 50s.  So yeah, it's a bit intimidating for most girls, but especially girls who have never played.  In our opinion our girls did very well considering the opponent.  It was much like watching David and Goliath!  Carli pitched that game and only 3 girls really hit off her but she had the mental game of overcoming her anxiety of playing against her friends.  She struck out 12 batters in 4 innings but walked 8 with 6 hits.  She threw 120 pitches.  She really did struggle to find her groove, but that's the point of playing!

Fast Forward to Saturday and they are playing the same team and the rain but guess what?  The select team pitcher was not there b/c she was playing tournament ball!  Carli pitched the whole game, striking out 10.  She walked 4 and only gave up 2 hits.  It was another 4 inning game and she only threw 84 pitches.  It rained the entire time!  Her team came back from behind to win 6 to 5!  They were so excited and I was so proud of Carli for overcoming her allergies, anxiety and weather to help her team win!  And another positive was that Carli slid, twice!  It's so fun to watch her improve and things start clicking!

Field Day 2018

Today was Field Day and for the first time since Carli was in kindergarten, I did not go.  It was super windy and right in the middle of nap times.  I was sad to miss it but I really think the girls interacted and played with their friends more since I did not go and distract them!  Carli actually participated in a three legged race and maybe a water balloon toss.  She was suppose to have run the 75 yard dash but got very worked up over racing with 4 boys and the fastest girl in the 3rd grade!  I usually am one to make her tough it out, but she was on an emotional roller coaster and we decided Field Day should be fun and not stressful.  So we did intervene and request she be allowed out of the race this time around.

Ava did a 4 person relay and a three legged race.  Those were all she could "remember" to tell me about!  But from all accounts she had a blast with her friends!  ha!  Ava's teacher sent me lots of pictures.

Olivia, Ava and Elaine

Olivia, Ava, Elaine with Mrs. Howard

The Three Amigos

Worn out after a fun day!

Friday Evenings

Our Friday's usually consist of celebrating that we survived the school week and gearing up for the weekend which is usually full of softball.  How better to start that off than to go see Coach Jeff for some hitting lessons.  He always is a big encouragement to Carli and Ava.  Drew always has a blast playing in the dirt and on the "playground."  And well, Maggie just thinks that is what we do on Fridays and knows no different.  Of special note, she did grace Coach Jeff with her very first major blow out diaper this week at lessons.  Ha!

Everyone always asks me who I think Maggie looks like.  She looks like Ava, they are twinkies just 7 years apart!  Ava was holding Maggie and I snapped this picture...do ya'll see it now?

After lessons, it's Mom's night off from cooking so off we go to meet Grammy and Pa for some burgers at Legends.  Most of the time the kids talk Pa or Keith into getting ice cream too!  Then on home for bed so we'll be ready for a softball games the next day.  Drew is usually pretty wound up because if he stops moving at this point he'll go to sleep.  Tonight, Kitty Tom was the recipient of his attention!

Even Maggie was excited about the weekend to come.  She was not quite ready for bed at 9 pm...Momma was though.  At least she graced me with some big grins and cuteness of playing with her hands.  :)

Maggie Reese is 3 Months Old

Maggie Reese turned 3 months old. At 3 months, Maggie doesn't really have a consistent schedule thanks to the busy schedules of her sisters! But one constant thing (knock on wood) is that she sleeps thru the night. She'll go to sleep between 8 and 9 waking once to nurse but the sleeping til 8 am. She has come to terms with a taking a bath but not so much with the car seat. She sees the car seat and she cries. Not even kidding. She has the biggest gummy smile and has started cooing at us. She is so close to giggling and we can't wait to hear that precious sound!!

Hard Hats and Rolls

Drew has really taken to using his tools and fixing up things around the house...thankfully he's done more fixing than destroying!  

Maggie is really starting to fill out...can you see her arm and leg rolls?  She's still the smallest of all my babies!

Ava's 2nd Grade Field Trip

Ava had her second grade field trip today.  I'm not really sure what all they saw and did except for the fact they got to play at the park for like 2 hrs!  Ha!  Her teacher was kind of enough to send me a few pictures since I could not go with them this time.

Mrs. Grigsby with her crew

Olivia and Ava were bus buddies