Florida Weather Returns!

Whew - we are all glad that the Florida weather has returned. We have enjoyed the return to shorts and short sleeves. We had another busy week. Basketball was good - the boys won in a blowout 26-11. Baseball, on the other hand, was another story. It's hard on your pitchers when your defense makes 15 errors in two games. Yes, I said 15, and I probably didn't count all of them! It was not a good weekend for the Braves.

Gotta go - the football game is back on - Go VIKINGS (ya gotta root for Farve!)

Back to Baseball

Wow - hard to believe it's been over a week since we posted. Well, let's try and get you caught up. We had a BIG basketball game last week as Bradley & Brock were playing against their buddy Carson. We won 13-12 in a very exciting game - although I thought it was pretty sloppy play by both teams. Bradley got in foul trouble and ended up with four fouls. He also was thankfully called for backcourt when he had a "senior moment" in the fourth quarter after he received a wide open pass and took off towards the wrong basket!

We played our first baseball tournament of the year this weekend. The boys came in third place - losing in the semi-finals to the tournament winner. Overall they played well but have a few things to improve on. Bradley had a really good weekend at the plate and it was nice to see all the boys having fun. TR couldn't resist backtalking the ump after a bad call in our first game Sunday morning and got tossed again! The boys are getting more used to this and laughed this time (instead of cried). Of course, they were glad he was back in the dugout for the last game of the day.

Last night we had our normal Monday night baseball practice and it was anything BUT normal. Monsey had arranged for a guest instructor, a formal professional baseball player from Venezuela, to come and do some instruction at practice. It was really just a good way to get the boys to pick up on some little things they can improve on (TR & John thought it was a great way for the coaches to have an easy practice!). About the middle of our practice, the boys received a big surprise when Bobby Abreu showed up to have a little talk. He is a friend of the instructor and talked with the boys at length about baseball and having fun. He patiently answered all their questions, signed autographs for them all and took pictures. Since we had an idea of who was coming, Bradley was prepared and was able to get his Phillies card of Bobby Abreu signed. It was definitely a practice they will not forget! Let's hope it keeps them pumped up for quite a while.

ICE - I Think We've Been Transported

Okay - I'm seriously doubting that we live in Florida. This morning there was actually frost all over my windshield and I had to defrost/deice so that I could see! I asked TR the other night if he was sure we still lived in Florida and he responded he thought that Florida had broken off from the US and was floating North! BRRRR, it's really cold here and I even had to go and buy Bradley some jeans as he only had one pair.

On another note, we had an extremely entertaining basketball game last night - almost 3 full quarters! Bradley's team came out play - redeeming themselves from their last dismal performance before the break. We were up 22-10 (Bradley had scored 6 points) near the end of the third quarter when the other coach apparently didn't like a call and started in on the refs. I couldn't hear what he was saying so he obviously wasn't loud but it must have been bad as he was hit with a technical foul. Keep in mind, this is just rec league basketball - not competitive travel basketball. Having coached in this league for the past two years, the refs aren't the greatest but I've never even been warned, much less received a technical and I'm pretty loud! Rather than give it up at that point, he continued running his mouth and was told by the ref and by the league director to take a seat on the bench. Still not willing to comply, he gets hit with ANOTHER technical which is automatic ejection of the coach. With the coach refusing to then leave the bench, the game is called as over and we were awarded the win. The worst part of this whole situation is that the coach of the other team DID NOT have his team shake hands with our team.

Happy New Year

It's been a busy few days and its only day 3 of 2010! We came home from the Keys on New Years Eve so we could celebrate New Years with our friends the Roes, and the Barbers, Blackmores, Icazas, Claytons, Priesters and more. It was a great evening and kids and adults had a blast. Always willing to throw a party, the Roes had the bounce house with obstacle course in the backyard for entertainment. We also had some pretty good fireworks!


New Years Day brought showers off and on so we kept busy by taking down all the Christmas decorations. Heidi, Austin & Bonnie also dropped by to pick up their RV and it was nice to visit with them for a bit before they hit the road. New Years night found us at the Blackmores (with most of the same crew from New Years Eve) for football - GO GATORS - and a poker game. Good food, good fun, good friends!


Yesterday I worked - trying to stay ahead of things as we have some important meetings this week. Bradley had baseball practice and then went off to have some fun with friends. This included roller skating, a movie and a sleepover. I hope the boys got some rest as they have a baseball game this afternoon. It was definitely their last hurrah as we are back to the real world tomorrow. TR managed to get all the outside decorations down so he can hunker down and stay warm this week as our temps are not even forecast to hit 60! We are all going to turn into popsicles!


As promised, I've included a few pictures from Christmas and the Keys and also one of Bradley who was obviously thrilled to be home and vacuuming after the "undecorating". Enjoy!