All Busted Up -- Pinatas and Mommies

I have nothing of humor or importance to post after this busy weekend, but thought I could at least share some pics and details of the last few days. Friday night was spent sewing two pillowcase dresses for a birthday present to give to Abigail's friend, Skylar. I attempted to guide her in fabric choices, but she was in charge of the selections. I did put my foot down when she selected the Dora fabric, but her final picks were cute. She was eager to model the dresses, as you can tell from her posing, but they were much too big for her, as Skylar is 6.

I wasn't too sure about the butterfly fabric, but it turned out okay. The trim helped cuten it a bit, but it's certainly not my favorite. 

But, before the birthday she-bang, we had a t-ball game. Unfortunately, the Indians were not near as entertaining as last week's Pirates. The Indians never once tried to field the ball while running the bases, nor did they have any unwilling players being drug through the game by moms. Oh, well. The kids played well even if they did not bring the laughter.

Abigail played third base in the first inning and shortstop in the second. She still seems to think she's playing some type of football/t-ball combo game and makes a diving tackle if anyone gets to the ball before she does. The young man playing shortstop (in the above background with his father) cried every time someone other than him fielded a hit. Unfotunately, that was every hit of the game. (I attempted to cheer him up and help him, but his lack of English speaking and understanding caused a problem in that.) 

Abigail's hitting improved tremendously this game, and she's a a speed demon on the base paths. Here she is running towards me at third base.

Okay, so she's not a speed demon.  You can see the runner coming from first to second has already arrived, and she is just halfway between second and third base.  But, she made it. That's all that counts.

In the meantime, Cooper was safely strapped into his stroller and unhappily watched the game from the sidelines as Sissy and Mommy took on t-ball while Daddy fulfilled the American dream -- at work.

Once t-ball was completed, we raced to the next event which had been highly anticipated all week: Skylar's birthday party. I was pleased to see Abigail quickly toss the cleats and stirrup socks for pint corduroys and some girl chatting in the park.

Of course, the party was not complete without scooping up candy from the busted pinata...

And, now that the weekend is over, I'm certainly feeling what that pinata feels. From sewing to t-ball to party to church -- I'm thinking that next weekend I'll go to work and let Daddy manage the carpool.

Does It Matter?

I'm pondering the question these days and am now asking you, does it matter who gets elected? Don't get me wrong. I'll still vote. (In fact, this will be my first time to actually vote in a voting booth. I have never voted anything but absentee by mail, since I maintained my Texas residency/voter registration, but didn't live in Texas. I'm a bit nervous and don't want to look like a bafoon, but will be at the polls with bells on.) 

But, I can't help but wonder if it really matters. Over the course of the last week or two, I've watched George Bush exercise a wide (or in my opinion, illegal) range of his Constitutional powers and push for spending that I never thought he was capable of supporting, much less instigating. (Oh, how I wish I was in a Conn Law class now instead of 10 years ago.) It makes me wish the George Bush I voted for in 2000 was the one currently at the helm. He's just not the same politician these days. Does Washington do that to all of them? 

  

Will it matter who gets elected? I've decided it won't matter. Whomever Sen. Obama or Sen. McCain says they are now, I don't think either one will be a spittin' image of that person in eight years, or even four, from now. 

So, I'm sticking with putting God at the helm. As Rich Mullins sings, "You have been king of my glory. Won't you be my Prince of Peace." Instead of putting my faith in the hands of politicians in this time of "crisis," I'm choosing to live in peace and not worry, fret or debate over what the right course of action is, whether the issue is financial or presidential. Isn't that what all the hippies have been saying for years? Peace, man. 

Wheaties Box in 2024

My great friend Emily, or Mrs. Morgan if you ask Abigail, used her wonderful skills to teach Abigail how to swim early in the summer. Then, Abigail proceeded to spend the rest of the summer pretending she was a fish. While we stayed with Gran & Grandad for five weeks during our move, there wasn't a day that went by without Abigail in their pool. Some days, she was in there on more than one occasion! If she spent the morning swimming with GiGi, she was still eager to spend the evening swimming with Grandad. 

It was obvious that once we were settled here in Austin, we had to find a pool for Abigail. Yes, we have a neighborhood pool, but that isn't open year-round.  So, she swims once a week at Nitro Swim Club. 

Every Monday morning, we race over there after school in time for her lesson. She has mastered her freestyle and even makes pretty turns at the end of each lap, but she's now been working on her backstroke for a few weeks. She says it's too many things to remember all at once. After this week's lesson, I discussed with her in the car about listening to the instructor and letting her tell you what to do instead of worrying about remembering so many things. Smartly, she said "Well, Mom, my ears are in the water and I can't hear her when she's talking if I'm swimming."

A co-worker of mine commented to me recently that swimming is his favorite sport for his kids. I assumed it was the year-round availability or lack of expensive equipment or even the healthy aspects for their bodies. It was none of those. He loves that it tires them out! 

I'm thinking the money will be my favorite part. You know, when Abigail becomes the female Michael Phelps in 2020. She's told us several times that she only wants to join a swim club that's on TV, so she's set her goals in the right direction. Can't you just see it now...

Keep Your Eyes on the Mariners

The Mariners were the team to watch on Saturday. I know, you think they're season is over. Don't be mistaken. I'm not harkening back to the MLB team looking for a new general manager to bring them a winning season in 2009. I'm referring to the Mariners vs. the Pirates on Field 2 of the Round Rock YMCA T-Ball Fields.

This was Abigail's first t-ball game, and she was an all-star! Our Mariners took the field first, with Abigail at short stop. She was all hustle as she fought her way to get every ground ball on the left side of the field. Anything left of the pitcher was all her's no matter what the pitcher and third baseman did. The funniest times were when she had to wrestle with players from the Pirates who left the base path to mistakenly field the ball instead of continuing to run to third base.

Her first at-bat was a stellar performance with a quick single to second base. She was so proud to stand atop first base for the first time!





It sounds simple, but it wasn't every player who made it to first base alone. Many had parents running alongside them to direct their paths. The funniest site was one of the Pirates who felt very strongly about his desire to not be on the field. His mom held his hands onto the bat and hit the ball for him, and then drug him through the entire basepath. As a sidenote, I don't see a manly future in this young man's path. Not only was this scene hilarious, but due to the unusually large size of the shirt on his small body, his well-meaning (yet, very wrong) mother gathered his shirt into a ponytail at the small of his back and bound it with a hair scrunchy. He looked like he had a tail! I felt sorry for the boy, but it was good entertainment for us. Back to the game...

Abigail made it around the base path, never straying to field balls, as many players did, and was ecstatic to score her first run ever.

In the second (and last) inning, Abigail was at third base. We instructed her to stay back, near the base, so that the other kids could have a chance to field the ball. We didn't want her to be as much of a ball hog as she was in the first inning. The best highlight of the inning for us was watching her wrestle to catch the ball when it was thrown to her in an attempt to throw the runner out coming to third base. However, the wrestling was only because the runner was trying to catch the ball! (I'm telling you, this is great entertainment if you're looking for something to do on a Saturday!) I was on the first base path, so I didn't get a great shot of the struggle, but you can get an idea.




In her last at-bat, Coach Joe worked on her swing, and she took a few cuts before making contact, but it was a hard hit.

She rounded the bases nicely, until having some problems when she reached third base. I was readying the after-game snacks nearby so I didn't have my camera in hand, but I was just a few feet from the fracas. She was head (his) to shoulders (her's) with butt ponytail boy who was standing with his mom on third base. His mom didn't seem to understand that just because he was supposed to be on third base, didn't mean that his actual location was to be atop third base. The Pirates' young fielder and my daughter nudged each other off and on the base a few times until Abigail grabbed him by the shoulders and gently placed him where he should be standing near the base to field the balls. It was a great moment! She was nice about it, but strongly assured him that she was supposed to be standing on the base and couldn't because he was in the wrong place. I definitely needed the video camera for this moment in time.

In the end, the teams shook hands and got more excited about snacks than anything.

However, Abigail asked many times throughout the rest of the day about who won the game. I tried to explain to her that they don't keep score, no one wins, and no one loses. Daniel has repeated this to me every time I ask. He says we're just out there to learn the game and have fun, so I relayed this speech to her. She wasn't pleased with that idea (I'm on her side with this one), and insisted that she wanted to win. I'm with her! Don't kids need to learn how to win, and lose, as much as they need to learn the fundamentals of the game? Eh... I haven't shared this with Abigail, but there's no need because she came up with the same ideas on her own. She's such a smart girl.

Going Green: Update

So, I took the plunge and bought a stack of the reusable shopping bags at Wal-Mart. Guess what?! I love them!

I'm not going to lie. I'm not earth conscious, (Not even just a little. Okay. Close your mouth and stop gasping.) but I am digging these bags. Anything that makes life easier for me is awesome. They hold twice as much stuff as a plastic or paper bag, and have long handles so that you can throw them over your shoulder to bring them into the house. It takes just one or two trips from the car to bring in enough groceries for two weeks! That's worth it!

If you haven't grabbed some of these for yourself, go for it. 

But, I recommend getting the bags from Whole Foods. They're super-cute!

AMBER ALERT: Stephanie's Mind

Has anyone seen Stephanie's mind? She appears to have lost her mind, as she hasn't been seen using it in more than a week. 

Maybe the people who helped Britney Spears find her mind will be able to offer their assistance. Is there a search team that specializes in this type of search and rescue effort? 

Any assitance you can offer in finding this important piece of equipment is appreciated. 

Going Green?

Not completely. Maybe I'll be a sage green, but not all the way green. 

I've always had an issue with the mounds and mounds of plastic bags I end up with after bringing home a load of new groceries. It seems like such a waste, and I hate seeing them strewn along the side of roads. Fortunately, our local IKEA has a donation box where they collect these pesky plastic bags and recycle them. I've been collecting my own mound of suffocation-risk bags and planning to drop them off next time I'm there. 

But, I think I'm done collecting the bags. I've decided to jump on the re-usable cloth bag bandwagon. I'm a little surprised at myself. You see, I'm not an Al Gore groupie and I still drive a gass-guzzling SUV.  But, this issue just seems to make sense. 

However, I'm a little peeved about one thing. I don't want to actually buy the bags. I know I have no choice, and I will buy them, but I don't want to. Since the neighborhood grocery stores currently pick up the tab for the millions of plastic bags we use to carry away our grub, shouldn't there be some kind of kickback to those not costing them money? I mean, I want some actual "green" for being green. I propose a discount to those not taking the free plastic bags. If the grocery giants didn't have to buy the plastic bags, they would be making more of a profit. Do you really think they don't build in the cost of their supplies to the prices you see on your receipts? I shouldn't have to pay for the bags everyone else is taking and tossing. Or, I have another option for the Waltons and their less wealthy counterparts. Give the bags away for free. For one month, each shopper can pick up 10 bags per shopping trip. After that month, the plastic bags and free re-usable bags are gone. It sounds reasonable to me. We're working together to be sensible, right?