Merry Christmas - A Little Late

But better late than never! We made it to the Keys late Christmas afternoon. I'll post pictures of both Christmas and the Keys when we have a faster internet connection.

We had a great Christmas Eve and enjoyed dinner out with our neighbors, followed by a campfire with marshmallows. Santa made his visit and Bradley made out like a bandit. He enjoyed all his gifts but is anxious to try out his new cleats and ball glove. Santa brought everyone an Ipod Nano so we have been trying to figure out all the neat things it will do.

The Keys weather has been great but not quite great for fishing. We spent most of yesterday just lounging around, getting the boat ready, going to the bait shop, etc. Up early this morning and headed out but it was quite windy and choppy. We managed to stay out until lunch but no bites. This afternoon we have definitely enjoyed the sunshine. Bradley's having fun attempting to catch fish, looking at the banana tree down the road and trying to figure out how to climb the tree to get a coconut! There are also two resident iguanas in our neighborhood which made their appearance this afternoon. We weren't fast enough to get pictures of them but it was cool to see them as Bradley had never seen one in person. It is a much needed relaxing break for us all.

Getting Ready for Christmas

We've had a very busy but fun-filled week. It didn't start out great for me as I had a dental appt on Monday - and I hate the dentist. However, the week did proceed to get better from there. Tuesday was basketball practice and Wednesday was basketball game. Our boys had already checked out for Christmas though as we lost - seeing as how they really only "played" during the last two minutes of the game. We will, however, see that team again with a different outcome I am sure. Thursday after work was marathon shopping - had to get everything finished. TR & Bradley went shopping also. It was a very productive night for everyone. Friday night we wrapped presents and cleaned up to make sure we were ready for our big weekend.

Saturday we had our annual family work Christmas at Don's. It was great fun and we were there from about 1:30 until 8:30. I think Bradley played basketball about 6 of the 7 hours we were there! It was so much fun - good food, good drinks, good presents and great people. It's always fun to watch everyone open their gifts. I think everyone got everything they asked for and then some. We came home to an impromptu bonfire next door - complete with marshmallows and smores. It was nice to sit around and have a few laughs with the neighbors.

Sunday we woke up to more yard decorations. As you can see, all of our geese suddenly have their own signs - I wonder who could have done that? Now, it's game on - I'm looking for very specific yard decorations to add to my neighbors collection. If I can find them, I will definitely post pictures.

We then headed out to the Braves baseball Christmas party at Fun Spot. This is a mini amusement park in Orlando that has a bunch of go-kart tracks and a few other rides. The boys had a GREAT time. It was a perfect place for the party and everyone enjoyed the Christmas exchange. It was so nice to see the boys having such fun. It was cold here today (by Florida standards) at only 60 degrees. Some of our boys - who definitely are not used to cold weather - forgot how cold it was and proceeded to get on the water bumper boats. Not the smartest move but luckily we had some extra jackets to keep them warm.

We also added another member to our family today - JJ the Jack Russell terrier. Now, don't panic, it's a stuffed animal dressed in Magic clothes and appropriately named after JJ Redick. We also had to pick up a Gator shirt for the original Build A Bear - Freddie the Monkey.

My Rant for the Evening

I apologize in advance to any of my educator friends that this might offend.

With that being said, it really ticks me off when the teacher assigns an UNGODLY amount of science homework for one night due to their absence in the classroom. It's really not our fault, or our children's, that you missed your daily job and your substitute did not cover the materials needed to keep you on track. Better yet, at my job, if I am out a day, no one covers for me and I am expected to make up anything that I need to get done on my own time and not at the expense of others!

Sorry, I am used to re-teaching math every evening as math is not his teacher's strong suit and he has told me from the beginning of the year that she doesn't teach them how to do the math in class. However, tonight's 8 pages of science in addition to math took the cake!

On to more pleasant topics, Bradley's team played in their last tournament of the year this weekend. They played great on Friday night (in the cold - 52 degrees) and won both their pool play games. Bradley pitched and hit great. Sunday, however, was a different story. We played Team Combat, who is a division above us, and a perennial powerhouse. Our boys were kind of psyched out before the game began and a shaky first inning didn't help. We were knocked out of the tournament by the eventual champion. In order to console ourselves, we went to Buffalo Wild Wings for some food & football with the Roe family. While the food was good, the football wasn't as the Cowboys pulled their usual December disappearing act and lost again!

Also, on Sunday morning we woke up our decorations being decorated. Our scroogely neighbors, who still are without decorations, decided our yard decorations needed some spicing up. We had a doctor goose, Hannah Montana goose, and Santa in a bikini.

We did manage to fit in a visit to Santa at Bass Pro so Bradley could tell him what he wanted for Christmas. I guess we'll have to wait and see if he's been good enough for a visit.

Basketball

Bradley played his first basketball game of the season last night and this is the first year since we moved to Florida that I haven't coached. It was definitely different sitting in the stands and watching. Our friend Bev had the best time laughing at me as I officiated the game from the stands - calling travel violations, up & downs and fouls. Bradley's team won 22-6 but really should have won at least 32-6! He scored 4 points (2 baskets) but missed 4 foul shots! Needless to say, he needs to put some time in at the foul line - they're called "free throws" for a reason..... He played pretty good for their first game. Brock (from travel baseball) is our guard on the basketball team and he was all over the court. He had several steals and scored several points.

This weekend we're back to the baseball field for our last tournament of the year. We'll have a very unusual weekend as we play both our pool play games Friday night and then will play elimination bracket on Sunday - no games on Saturday. I'm excited that the boys get to play at night as that is very unusual for them. It's also supposed to be a little cooler here on Friday so that should make for great baseball weather.

FYI - we're living next to the Scrooges who have yet to put up their Christmas decorations. Some of you long-time readers may remember last year's prank with our geese - I'm waiting for my new yard decorations to disappear as TR has started the battle by putting Scrooge signs on their door. Stay tuned ....

Decorating...

It has taken all week to get things decorated around the house as we have had something every day - baseball Monday and Thursday, basketball Tuesday and Wednesday and the annual employee dinner Friday night. TR managed to get the decorations out on Tuesday and even set the tree up for me - but it was Thursday before I finished shaping it and it finally got decorated on Saturday. However, we were supposed to play in a baseball tourney this weekend but it was rained out - which normally I would be very upset about but there was so much that needed to get done it didn't break my heart! We did have a poker tournament scheduled for Saturday night to raise money for the team as we are going to play in the World Series here next summer and we have also been invited to play in Puerto Rico. The Braves are also going to try to travel to a couple of out-of-state events this spring. It will be nice to play teams from other areas. Glad to say our poker tourney was a great success and everyone had a great time - especially since the grand prize was a 37" LCD tv! The Braves are very thankful for Dicey Reilly's Irish Pub and Mike for hosting this event for us and all the support they provided.

The camera cord has disappeared so we'll post pictures of decorating and the poker tourney when it reappears.

Home from the Left (I Mean West) Coast

Okay - we're home from California and our week-long National Convention. I'm not sure that we've recovered from jetlag yet though - especially after takimg the red-eye home Saturday night. We worked some long days but they were very productive and for the most part great fun.

The Pechanga Resort was amazing and the staff was the best we have ever experienced. TR was able to play golf on Wednesday. It was a brand new course that was built into the side of the mountain - totaly unbelievable views. He only lost 18 balls during the round! Guess we know what he needs for Christmas.

It was great to see my old teacher, Don Clatterbough, inducted into the Hall of Fame. He and his wife, Bonnie, are great people and both gave great speeches. Finally, at the end of the night, I received a huge surprise as I (along with two coworkers) was named the EA Ramsey CEO Award Winner for 2009. This was one of the few times I really was speechless.








Bradley managed to survive the week but is glad that we are both home.

Unfortunately, we didn't get to do much sightseeing - no San Diego Zoo or other fun things. However, we did manage a stop in Beverly Hills to Rodeo Drive and the Beverly Wiltshire (where Pretty Woman was filmed) on our way back to the airport as we had time to kill before our flight. It was really neat seeing all the shops and the Christmas decorations.

Still Playing Ball

Okay - so I will freely admit that one of the best things about Florida is the weather. It is great to still be running around in shorts and playing ball in the first weekend of November. Last weekend we played great on Saturday, only to completely fall apart in the 5th inning of our first game on Sunday and lose. Our boys worked hard at practice this week as we knew it would be a tough state tourney this weekend as we were playing up a division.

To kick off the weekend, we had Orlando Magic tickets for Friday night against the Pistons. Bradley loves JJ Redick but normally when we go to the games, JJ sees very little playing time. Not so this time (maybe Miranda was the good luck charm). JJ saw a bunch of playing time and we got some great pictures - even one of Dwight Howard fouling Villaneuva! Better yet, Bradley managed to get not one, but two t-shirts during the game from the Flight Crew, which never happens and they don't usually throw any shirts in our section. (The second one was a total fluke that hit something and fell in his lap!)

Saturday we took to the fields for our state tourney. We had two tough pool play games and were glad to finish 1-1. Bradley pitched 4 innings in one game and then played left field during the second game. Sunday morning pitted us against the EP Cobras who beat us badly both games a few Sundays ago. This morning we sent Bradley to the mound and he pitched an amazing game - going all 5 innings we played and leading his team to a 4-3 win. Bradley had used up all of his 9 innings of pitchinig for the weekend.

We then had a two game break before facing the Hitting Academy Rebels who have won all three tournaments they played in this fall. Our boys put up a good fight and played defense, but the Rebels didn't miss any plays in the field and we only managed three baserunners during the whole game. Bradley entered this game in the fifth inning and played second base for the first time all year. He did a good job, listened to the coaches and held the runners on when necessary. We hung in and took the game all the way to the sixth inning but still lost 7-0. Our boys didn't have any reason to feel bad though but now know how hard they need to work to compete at the top level of baseball in Florida.

Happy Halloween!

Whew - hard to believe it's already Halloween. We had a good week - Bradley's baseball team won two games last weekend during their doubleheader. TR had his stent removed this week and feels 1000% better. We won our co-ed game this week.

Bradley's team is playing in a tournament this weekend and went 2-0 today. He pitched great the first game - leading the Braves to a 10-4 win. We then won the second game 7-4 and won our pool putting us in the driver's seat for elimination bracket play tomorrow and our first game won't be until noon!

We got home today in plenty of time to enjoy the Florida sunshine - here's a pic of a typical afternoon at our house - lots of kids in the pool! This is Bradley, Blake, Morgan & Josh who love to hang out together.




After that, we had dinner with our neighbors, set up a table for candy and the girls took the kids trick or treating while the guys stayed outside and gave out candy. The kids all had fun and got plenty of candy (good thing Bradley's dentist appt was earlier this week!) Our first trick-or-treater was Arianna from across the street - she was Wednesday from the Addams family - complete with the headless doll.




Erin was a witch - she should have been Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz and could have carried the puppy around with her.
Bradley and Blake on escaped dog patrol before we went.




Bradley had a good time dressing up as Tebow - especially after a Gator win.

Riley, Erin & Haudie May

Brrrr - It's Cold

Brrr - our first cold front of the year came through this weekend and it was a balmy 54 this morning. Today's high was a mere 68 with winds that were 15-20 mph. It was a chilly day at the ballfield! It definitely wasn't a weekend at the ballfield. Our coed team played in the Mixed Worlds this weekend and ended up 0-2. TR couldn't play since he had kidney stone surgery this week and then our shortstop that we picked up for the weekend wasn't able to play on Saturday as his wife went into labor! We had to start our second game with 6 girls and 4 guys. It was very disappointing but we look forward to playing more tourneys soon.

Bradley's baseball team played a doubleheader today against the Elite Performance Cobras. They are in the division above us so we knew it would be a tough day. We ended up losing both games but the second game our boys committed 11 errors! Thankfully, Bradley only committed one. He played well today, had a bunt double, hit a shot back to the pitcher for a fielder's choice, had a basehit to center and then struck out looking on a pitch right down the pipe! We have a couple of new players that we're having trouble figuring out where they should play in the field -seems like whereever they were they couldn't get the job done in the field. Practice on Thursday should be very interesting.....

We had a busy week with TR's surgery but we he made it through and hopefully will be passing the last of the crushed kidney stones this week. We'll know more after his x-ray next week. In the meantime, enjoy this picture of TR preparing for his procedure....(couldn't resist and Bradley thought it was only fair since we posted a picture of him at the doctor!)

Go Gators!

Where does the time go? Didn't realize it has been so long since our last post. We've been busy as usual - and managed to make it through the three slow-pitch world tournaments we have in September back to back along with our committee and board meetings.

We took a break last weekend and went to Tampa - no sports for the whole weekend (except what was on TV). Enjoyed a relaxing weekend and visited Busch Gardens Tampa. We had a great time and enjoyed several great roller coasters. The park was not crowded and we pretty much walked right on every ride.

We're back to the ballfield tomorrow for a doubleheader - but first, a little college football. Go Gators! If the Gator's don't win, Bradley will be in a deep depression, especially since Tennessee finally woke up and played football today.

Bradley and I are enjoying sitting here watching TR fold laundry! He's become the laundry king since we got the new washer and dryer. Of course, I may have to pull laundry duty for a day or two this week after he gets his kidney stones blasted on Wednesday.

Enjoying the great Florida weather - shorts and flip flops every day - no long pants needed. Promise it won't be as long between our next post.

Braves Win 2

So I realize my posting is overdue. To catch everyone up, last weekend was Labor Day and we had our Conference Championships for the men's major softball at our office Friday, Saturday and Sunday and a banquet on Saturday night. Poor TR had a kidney stone that started moving on Friday so he wasn't feeling well and he and Bradley never made it to the field Friday but he did find out that he had one stone that was moving and five more left in his kidneys. Saturday he kept a low profile but sitting in the house was getting to him so he did go with me to the banquet - good thing he was on Percocet as he did pass the stone that was on the move during the banquet Saturday night! Sunday he was feeling much better and was able to resume his duties as bat tester for the final day of the tourney with the assistance of Bradley who ran the bats from the field to the testing room.

Monday we decided to take a trip to Aquatica - first time for TR & I although Bradley had been once with our neighbors shortly after it opened. We were there early and had done everything by noon! It was great in the morning as lines were short and if we liked the ride we were able to get right back on. By the time the the park began to get crowded we had done all but one thing which Bradley deemed as spinning too many times. We had a blast and look forward to going back.

This weekend brought us back to the baseball field on Sunday for the kickoff of the fall season. The Braves had a doubleheader at home against the Warriors. The Braves played good - not great and not terrible - and came away with two wins on two different fields! Bradley pitched the entire first game for a 19-4 win. Our home field had rain on Saturday and the batters box was very muddy when we arrived - took some stay-dri and TR's expertise to get the field playable. When the rain came down right at the end of the first game, the field was deemed not playable but Coach Monsey called to the other field we play on which is only about 5 minutes away and they had hardly any rain - so we packed up and moved over. The second game was much closer - we trailed 8-2 at the end of the second and finally tied the game in the last inning. Since we were now the visitors we held them in the field and sent the game into extra innings. We managed to score 2 and hold the Warriors off, thanks in part to a great call by the Braves scorekeeper (me) who caught the illegal substitution to give the Warriors their second out in the bottom of the last inning (I'd warned them on three different times about illegal subs - since they didn't listen they paid the consequences). Nevertheless, the Braves came away with a 12-10 win. Will post a pic of Bradley after the games - wet and dirty - when I find the cable for the camera.....

Back to Normal

We spent our Sunday at the baseball field - felt good to be back watching Bradley's team play. They won their scrimmage 17-10 - at times they looked good, at times they looked bad but they all had fun. It's a big change this year as we move up to 10U as they get to lead-off. This makes the innings very long as pitchers begin trying to pick people off. We did manage to pick off a couple but our pitchers, including Bradley, need a lot of work - good thing for fall ball! This was, of course, followed by our usual post-game "supper" with the Barbers and the Roes - good times!

On another note, we also went to the movies - a rare treat indeed! We saw GI Joe and it was definitely fun and everyone enjoyed it. Looking forward to the next installment as there is sure to be one.

Closet Makeovers

So we recently bit the bullet and had a professional come in and work on our closets. While Bradley's closet is a pretty standard shape, both mine and TR's have angled walls in our closets which presented a small challenge. Never fear, our rep Cari came up with a great plan for all the closets.

Wendi's closet - plenty of room for clothes and shoes! I can fit lots more shoes here now.

TR's closet - shelf space, hanging space and a great slat wall where you can arrange a variety of hooks, brackets, baskets, etc to store odds and ends.

Bradley's closet - drawers to serve as his dresser and plenty of room for all of his shirt, hats and other stuff!

Back to School - and Other Hilarious Things

Okay - so we're back to a pretty normal schedule since school started on Monday. Bradley likes his teacher and the two other boys from our neighborhood are in his class - what's the chance of that happening? He's done really well with the whole back to school routine. New this year, he has his own alarm clock and is reading BEFORE school. He's really a good morning person so this schedule works well - especially the reading as it eliminates the arguments at night. One slight problem, Bradley's class has "lunch" at 10:30 am - he refers to this as his "second breakfast". Needless to say, thankfully his teacher has implemented a snack time at 2:00 pm as the boys in her class can't go that long without eating. The first day of school when he got in the truck TR said that he was absolutely starving.

The Pride finished second in the NPF Championships last weekend. We had plenty to do around the house and it rained most of the weekend so that gave us a chance to watch most of the games on the internet. Some players went directly to their homes from Akron, but some did come back here. We said goodbye to them this week which was very sad - we'll miss them all.

Since Bradley's bout with the flu, he had a check-up and follow-up visit with the doctor yesterday. Imagine my surprise when I received the picture below with the caption "He said he feels like a paper plate!! LOL! I'm laughing so hard I'm crying." The best thing was that I also laughed so hard I cried (BTW - I still laugh every time I look at this picture). It brings back memories of the first time I went to the doctor and only had the "paper gown" for a cover-up. It's really hard to turn 10!

Go Pride - Bring Home the Cup

The USSSA Pride is in the Championship series of the NPF - knocking off Chicago Bandits and Jennie Finch earlier today. They face the Rockford Thunder and Cat Osterman in a best of 3 series. The Pride took the first game tonight 4-0 and it looks like it will be Abbott vs Osterman for game 2 at 1:00 pm tomorrow. You can all watch it live on the internet - www.profastpitch.com. Go PRIDE!!!!!

Catching Our Breath

Never ones to let grass grow under our feet we are trying to take a little breather this week as it is not quite so full as more recent weeks. The Pride finished their home games on Sunday which was bittersweet. While it certainly means fewer late nights and maybe only working 6 days a week for the next couple of weeks, it is sad to see the girls go on the road and to the playoffs knowing that we won't see some of them again this year. It also meant it was time for Nana and Grandma to go home for some much needed rest. Our break didn't get off to the best start however as Bradley has come down with the flu (confirmed with the test at the doctor's office yesterday). He actually didn't feel well Saturday after a 3 hour marathon football practice - even went so far as to sleep on the souvenir table while we were prepping the field for Saturday's game! Sunday morning he had a fever and had thrown up! With a confirmed diagnosis his football season is over (and mom is clapping quietly). I really think he's happy he'll be able to play baseball this fall too.

Monday after getting everyone to the airport, I came home to the boys resting and a Happy Birthday cherry pie. Darla, Kevin & Riley came over to help celebrate quietly.

Tuesday came around and TR and George had plans to celebrate the end of the Pride's home season with an off-shore fishing trip. Bradley went to work with me and watched movies all day. TR and George were having a great day fishing - had several fish in the boat - when George lost his prescription Oakley sunglasses when he leaned over the boat to wash his hands (if there was some hair on his head to keep them on this may not have happened - I'll post a pic of George later). Deciding to head in a little after lunch they were approached by the Coast Guard about 27 miles offshore. Little did they know they had traveled into a live-fire exercise. Not wanting to be targets, they quickly sped toward Port Canaveral. On the way into port, the motor suddenly cut off. Try as he might, Mr. Fix It couldn't get the motor to stay running and alas had to call Sea-Tow. Needless to say, it was probably the most expensive Mahi either has ever had. Of course, when the boat made it home it started up immediately!

Since TR has been home taking care of Bradley, he's had a chance to get a few things done around the house - I'm so excited as the closet people are installing our new closet organizers on Monday! Happy Birthday to me! This also means the last of the carpet has been removed from our house (my closet & TR's closet) - YEAH!!!! We'll take pictures after everything has been installed and moved back in.

Hard to believe but school will be starting here in about 10 days - summer is over for Bradley.

Super Cool Kid

Okay - it doesn't get much better than this for a 10 year old boy - here's a picture of Bradley with 6 Olympians! Unbelievable to have them all in one place, much less the opportunity for a photo - Bradley with Lisa Fernandez, Caitlin Lowe, Stacey Nuveman, Monica Abbott, Jennie Finch and Kelly Kretschman.

Here are a few other pics from opening ceremonies - Bradley and his girls - Pauly, Desi, Sara, Diggy & Schnake (his big sister he never had!) By next year he'll be as big as Schnake.

Good Stuff

Well, we had a super busy week last week as we had multiple events going on including a 15/16 AAA Baseball World Series, Pride home games, Registration for our 16/18 Elite Baseball World Series, and Registration and Opening Ceremonies for our 10, 12, 14 Fastpitch World Series and preparation for this week's SlugFest events. Whew! We all worked very long and hard last week. On Sunday, we kicked off the Fastpitch World Series with our opening ceremonies that featured an appearance by our USSSA Pride Pro Fastpitch team as well as Jennie Finch, Lisa Fernandez, Stacey Nuveman and Stacy Nelson. Bradley was VERY excited to meet Stacy Nelson. After a marathon rain delay(s) the Pride finally finished the game we started at Noon around 8:30 pm. Thankfully this week has been better as the Pride are on the road so that at least has freed up the evenings a little so we can get to bed at a decent hour!

We Are the Champions!!

Bradley's baseball team won the USSSA 9AA World Series on Saturday! Oh what fun we had as the boys went 6-0 during the tournament! They really played great all week. Bradley didn't pitch as well as he would have liked but he played an awesome first base all week and hit and bunted very well. We're so proud of the Braves! We started off the event last Sunday evening with opening ceremonies at the stadium at our office. The Pride team came out to help and the boys (9, 10, 12 and 14 years old) really loved that. One of the perks of working for USSSA is Bradley's team was named the host team for the event and he got to throw out the first pitch!

But as you might have guessed, there's never any rest for the weary and we went straight from the baseball field to pick up the football equipment and have weigh-in and then followed that up with the Pride game. Bradley's team was recognized at the Pride game for winning their World Series and his coach threw out the first pitch.

It's been a very busy week and weekend but lots of fun nonetheless.