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Deep Thoughts

"Great things are brought about and burdens lightened through the efforts of many hands “anxiously engaged in a good cause.” Imagine what the millions of Latter-day Saints could accomplish in the world if we functioned like a beehive in our focused, concentrated commitment to the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ." M. Russell Ballard October 2012 General Conference

Saturday, April 5, 2008

Baseball Part II

FYI-this is another long one.
So after the official start of baseball last Saturday we have had baseball every day this week except yesterday (Friday). Connor and Caleb practice in Overton and all three of the boys' games were there this week so we are going through the gas and putting the miles on the Suburban. Caleb was the first to have his game this week on Tuesday. There are 12 kids on his team so they have to rotate through them. He was kind of bummed because he did not see any action out in center field and he was unable to hit the ball(does that sound better than he struck out?) There really is no nice way of saying that but he was certainly not the only one either but it is so sad to see those kids so dejected when they walk back to the dugout with their heads down-I do not like this part about sports-everyone needs to win! Then Wednesday I had this brilliant idea that I should take my boys-minus Cody to the batting cages in St. George so that they could practice-no there is nothing here in Logandale and yes I pulled them out of school because there is just not another time to go up there in the next few weeks. Well my brilliant plan was not so brilliant. Those balls at the batting cages come really fast and they were not used to it so it was basically a bust and they would not do it very willingly and I did not get any points for being the mother of the year because I was frustrated that I had brought them all up there and they hated it. Luckily I was out only 6 bucks and we did do some shopping before we went over there-Caleb needed new shoes and we could not find what he wanted with what I was willing to pay so finally after 5 stores and 2 hours later we found him some at Journey's in the mall and yes they were overpriced but I could not drag them through any more stores not to mention there were not any more stores to drag them too. Caleb is wearing an 8 in mens and anything that fit he did not like-he is quite adamant about what he wants to wear and that goes for shoes too. So anyway Wednesday at the batting cages was crap and a waste of time and money but hey now we know. (This is where I would like to insert my complaint box about living in Logandale and not having many things accessible to us like shoe stores and batting cages)

So Cayden had practice on Wednesday and then Connor had a game on Thursday where he did really good in right field but he was frustrated because he struck out too. Connor actually made a couple of good plays one where the pitcher over shot 1st base and Connor was able to stop it and get it to 2nd base. Cayden had a game at 8:30 this morning where Don and I coached. It was a little crazy and seriously out of the 15 kids that were playing that game maybe 3 had a clue as to what was going on. I needed another shower after that game mostly because one of our team players hit the ball and was running to first base when one of the kids that knows how to play from the other team picked up the ball and tagged him out. Our player was very mad and took off to find his mom who he thought was at the other end of the park watching his brother play but his mom was actually over watching him but he did not see her. I did not see him take off but a few of the parents (not his) saw him and hollered out-Hey coach you got one going AWOL. So Caleb and I took off after him calling his name but the more we called the faster he ran. About 10 miles later we caught up to him and I told him that his mom was back by our team and so he took off that direction again. I just let him run and did not even try to keep up with him. When I got back to our field I saw that he was pretty upset and said heard him say that he hated baseball and was throwing his mitt and his hat. His mom was trying to talk to him but he was having nothing of it. The funniest thing about this is that he is so little he is about the size of 3 year old but he is actually 5. He came back out the last time we were in the outfield but he was none to happy about. He did stop a few balls but mostly by default because they rolled right to him. It was quite a long 3 innings because you bat through your line up and there aren't any outs until the last batter. We are yelling and hollering directions to the kids the whole time because they still are not sure where to run and in what direction. The funniest is trying to get them to drop the bat and run after they hit the ball. They are like deer in the headlights and frozen in place until they finally hear us yelling to them to RUN! Cayden is at least playing this time-he would not play for basketball if you recall so we figured that if we were coaches then we could "encourage" him to play more. Baseball seems to be his speed-not so much running and confusion. So that game lasted until 9:30 and then we went home until 11:00 to watch a little bit of conference and then leave again for Connor's game. He is supposed to be there 45 minutes early to warm up so we got to watch the end of the other game-I should have brought a book. Connor struck out the first time at bat but then-Hallelujah he hit the ball the next time at bat and made it to first base. I was soooooooooooooooooo glad that he was able to hit the ball. He had the biggest grin and I swear the whole ball park turned when I screamed for him. Then before the next hit he stole 2nd base-unbeknownst to his coach and to my chagrin- and he was very lucky that the other team was not watching very good. We were quite the proud parents after that. Thank goodness he hit it-that has jazzed him the whole day.

Anyway that is how every Saturday will be for the next 2 months except next week because of the fair. So glad that is back in town. Insert complaint box here about Little League age rules and ignorant coaches who think that their kids are all that and a bag of chips. Connor is playing in the Majors which is 11-12 year olds. The problem is that he just barely turned 11 and some of those 12 year olds are almost 13. He is in 5th grade and some of the 12 year olds are in 7th grade because they have late birthdays-the cut off is opening day. Those 12 year olds are double the size of Connor and there is just a huge difference between a 5th grader and a 7th grader-some of these boys played on Don's football team and are huge. Connor is just really little-don't tell him I said that- and compared to those bigger boys he looks even littler. I will not go into my gripes about ignorant coaches who are not just ignorant during baseball but all the time in general. Sufficeth to say it gripes me and their kids are going to end up being ignorant too.

3 Happy Thoughts:

Anonymous

I just read your comment on my blog and had to say sorry. I will call you next time we go down! I think we are going down for memorial day, but not for sure yet. It will be fun to hang out with you and your fam!

Suzanna

You're so funny. I love all the "insert complaint here" stuff. It seems like you are super busy but I think that's so fun that they boys are involved in stuff. I never thought I'd see the day you'd be coaching sports but I think that's awesome. How fun!

Anne Gessel

I would love to watch the boys play baseball and you and Don coach. I hope the season gets better!