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.