A little pickle anyone?

I don't think Luke and his buddy Jackson can get enough baseball. They played some pickle in the back yard with Brian tonight.

I think I am going to have to purchase one of these to keep at arms length for Luke. Instead of a metal piece to open it with I will set a bat on top to break the glass:)

"When you need a friend, you can always count on your teammates." ---Jim Brown

Championship Game

We lost to the Quad City Redbirds in the Championship game. They are beatable because we beat them in May. When they presented the trophies their Coach said "we played the Perfect Game in May and they beat us...it made us mad..." I don't remember the rest but his point was that we sparked their fire and they went on to play some good ball. It was a great tribute to our boys!!

I like this photo because it is after the loss to the Redbirds, and the Coaches took them to the outfield to have a chat. I see smiles so it must have been ok!

These little guys are only 10 and Luke is just 9....look at them watch from the dugout....I wish I knew what they were thinking.......

The strength of the group is the strength of the leaders.-- Vince Lombardi

I want to thank our Coaches for their belief in these boys and the sacrifice of time, they took from their own families to Coach this Team. They are very talented men in so many aspects of life and great mentors for these boys. Thank you again and looking forward to many more games ahead!!!!

Sunday-Bracket Play

Luke's first game was against the Mustangs, who came back to beat us Saturday. We were up the entire game. We were playing good ball.

It was the bottom of the 6th, and the Mustangs decided to rally. They were coming back and I was getting worried....we couldn't lose our first game and be done. Our boys worked too hard....Coach Whitey yanked the pitcher put in Spence and said do your job. He did it and we won.

Then it was time to sit and wait. We were going to play the winner of the Cougars-Altoona game. I am sorry to say but the Cougars lost :( -- The boys were told to sit and watch this game....it did make Luke nervous because he didn't want to have to play all of his friends. They walked away and we continued to play ball :)

We beat the Altoona Curve and it was off to the Championship Game!!

Saturday - June 28

Connor had his first game Saturday at 10a.m., Luke wasn't due to play until 2p.m.

Luke, watching Connor's game anxiously waiting for his time to shine! Notice he is covered up and it is June 28th. It was a chilly morning and windy.

OFF TO LUKE"S GAME

The boys doing a little warm up. At this time Luke's former team the Cougars are playing. They had pulled out their 8a.m. and they ended up winning their 2nd one. They were 2-0 and we had yet to play one game. I had a nervous tummy.

Did I mention that Luke's 1st game was against the Central Iowa Cobra, who were the #1 seed. We beat them 8-0. Here is a Homerun celebration. Nic"Mojo" hit a homerun in that game!!

Then came our 2nd game against the Mustangs. It was close and then we went up in the 5th with a little rally and they came back to beat us. We actually beat ourselves by playing some bad baseball. The boys were down and the Coaches weren't happy. We had some of our former Cougar Dads watching, and they were happy, i'm sure.

We had to make up our Friday rain out Saturday night and we ended up not starting the game until 9a.m. and it was freezing out.

Remember it is June 28th and here are my parents wrapped in blankets watching their Grandson play ball. My Dad has sat through some cold, windy, raining weather this year to watch Luke play. We won this game and were off to bed because it was 10:30ish. Also the Cougars played before us and won so they went 3-0 and were seeded #1 going into Sunday's bracket play.

Summer Weekend to Remember-Friday

Happy 14th Birthday Connor(6-27)

Luke (AAA) and Connor(AA) had State this weekend. We arrived Friday, and it was perfect baseball weather. Connor played at 4p.m. and by the end of his game a thunderstorm was blowing in. So, Luke's games was cancelled :(

With the games cancelled, it was back to the Hotel for some fun and for me to rest. I had been sick since early Thursday morning and wasn't sure if I would make the trip. Connor and his buddy Jack looking cool in their complimentary hotel robes.

2008 USSSA State Championship Runner Ups

Hats off to Luke and his team for finishing 2nd at the State Tournament this weekend!!!!!

The one man team is a complete and total myth.-- Don Shula

more to come........

Yah! Baseball weather :)

Connor and Luke both had games today. I went to watch Connor play a double header against Washington. They won both games. The day was beautiful!

Connor was spiked in the neck by a player sliding into home. I don't like it when my boys get injured. Everyone asked why I didn't run down to see if he was okay. I said"I had to get pictures for my blog, plus if he was bad the Coach would of waved me down".

Here is Connor sliding into 3rd. He hit a triple....yah!!!

If you are going to be a champion, you must be willing to pay a greater price.-- Bud Wilkinson

Having FUN in the rain

A giggle a day keeps the gloom away !!

This afternoon we had a rain shower and the boys wanted to go out and play. They had a great time. This is Luke and his friend Connor"Chubs"

It was nice to be able to enjoy the rain!

I love this picture. It is Olyvia, our neighbor, she kept chasing the boys as they rode their scooters.

Happiness often sneaks in through a door you didn't know you left open. ~John Barrymore

Take Me Out To the Ballpark

It seems like forever since Luke or Connor have had a baseball game. Last night Luke's team played the Prairie Hawks, double-header. We lost the first game 2-0 AND were the Coaches upset. The reasoning is because the boys didn't come out to play. I guess they thought it would be a cake walk. I think it was good they lost because it just shows you have to come out and play 100% no matter what the caliber of the team is. We won the second game in 4 innings. Coach Behn giving the boys a stern talking to before the second game. It must of helped because they looked like a new team.

I can just imagine what Coach Whitey is saying :)

A little running sprints after the first game....kinda like a butt whippin, so to speak, so they would get their heads in the game. Luke is #17.

Some of the sibling catching tadpoles in a puddle by the ball field:)

"Hey Spence, can you believe your Dad and Coach Behn, yelling at us-they must really LOVE us alot because Coach Behn says he only yells at me because he loves me-it can't be because we didn't play good ball...I mean really...we are awesome:)" (Luke speaking)

"Yah Luke, but making us run sprints is uncalled for, it is not like we are that bad, hey we had a bad game.....it happens in the major league all the time, right?"(Spence talking)

Sometimes don't you wonder what is going through your child's head or the conversations they have that we can't hear. I am just speculating above with dialog. We have GREAT Coaches, who believe in the boys so much it upsets them when they play like they have never played ball at all.

Coaching is a profession of love. You can't coach people unless you love them.-- Eddie Robinson

Cute T-Shirts

I haven't felt like posting, since the flood but I remembered that Jackson brought me my t-shirt, that his Dad had made for all the Mom's on the Team. The last few days seem to blend together so this morning when I opened my closet here was the t-shirt. I never really even looked at it.

This is the front view. Isn't it so cute:) and it is pink!

This is a full view of the front.

This is the back of the t-shirt. I just love it.

What a thoughtful gesture from Coach Behn, and they arrived at such a good time, it brightened my day.

Great thoughts come from the heart...

Father's Day

Luke and Connor with Grandpa Chic.

Due to the flood, Brian spent Father's Day in meetings all day.

Official Gawkers

I had to see the flooding with my own eyes, so we all awoke at around 5:30a.m. and took a drive
over I380 bridge. Words cannot explain what we saw. The water went on forever, the devastation is massive, and at the moment recovering from this seems impossible. We took a walk down 2nd avenue, and like Connor said "the smell and the quietness is just eerie". The water reached Mercy Hospital, which seems impossible. Anyway here are a few photos I got as we gawked.

This is the Linn County Admin. Building in the upper left corner. This is where Brian works and it is surrounded by water.

A couple pictures of the Veterans Building.

I think this is looking down 1st St.

This is looking down 9th St. towards Mt. Vernon Rd.

Looking down 3rd. Ave. from the Gazette building.

The other things I have been thinking about....Will the Freedom Festival go on? Will there be anymore Uptown Friday Night Concerts? Will we continue the outdoor movies at C.R. Bank? Will there be anymore Baseball games for the boys? I don't mean this is in selfish way but they are events that will impact our community and our children. We had a awful winter and spring, everyone was looking forward to some nice weather and enjoying the outdoors. We will need to get the focus off of this for our kids and get them back to some kind of normal summer. I know for myself you can really get hooked on this and stay in front of the T.V. taking it all in, and talking about it constantly, so I need to figure out where I go from here with the boys and their summer.

Problems call forth our courage and our wisdom,
indeed they create our courage and our wisdom.
It is only because of problems that we grow.
It is for this reason that wise people learn
not to dread but actually welcome problems

(by M. Scott Peck from "The Road Less Traveled")

More Flood Pictures

Aerial view of the downtown area.

Library is to the right, lower left round building is the Science Station. and the upper left building is Ground Transportation Building.

Czech Museum

These are City buses on there way down to pick up prisoners at the jail this morning.

I obviously didn't take any of these pictures, but wanted to post them for friends and family who have been calling and asking how we are.

Perfect Headline

This is a photo from the Cedar Rapids Gazette. If you double click on the picture you should be able to enlarge it. This used to be Mays Island.

FLOOD of 2008

Please keep us in your Prayers. Here are a few pictures but they don't even tell the story of the devastation here by the floods. The picture that really hit me hard, which I don't have a photo of, is the Czech Museum. This is downtown, and by now the water is even higher, most likely over the top of this car.

Quaker Oats

This is the Court House, I think. This is located on Mays Island, there should be a bridge in front of this building.

This is the railroad bridge, by Penford that collapsed.

This is looking towards downtown, but it is far worse now. They are saying that there is 8ft of water in the downtown area. The pictures they just showed on the news of Smuelekofs, it is at the tops of there display windows. This isn't even the worst of it because we have had major rain today and the crest is going to be even higher. I can't even explain how bad this is and there is flooding all over in Marion, Palo, Hiawatha, Fairfax, Walford because the creeks are overflowing. There is no where for the rain water to go.

After the rain goes........Rainbows !!

A smile can brighten the darkest day!!

Life is fragile...handle with prayer!!

Everyday from this day on is a gift -- use it well!!

Hope is one of the principal springs that keep mankind in motion!!

Faith can move mountains!!