A Fun Surprise

I had a fun surprise at secondary awards today--Aaron received medals for highest average in both English II and Spanish II! Of course I have to qualify this for you: these are the non-honors sections of those classes. Maybe 4-5 students in each? Anyway, we are proud. He has worked very hard all year to reach this pinnacle. And I'm so happy he can be successful in a regular class rather than tank in an honors one. Huge boost for the kid who thinks he has no school smarts!

Over and Done

It's official. Her high school career is over and done. Her last class was yesterday. She turns in her last paper and project this morning. We still have a week until graduation, but she is finished. It's been an amazing ride--sometimes harrowing, sometimes smooth and peaceful, but always driving us to our knees in prayer. We are so proud of her, of who she is becoming. We can't wait to celebrate the actual event!

End of an Era

The girls lost their regional playoff game today, 11-1. We gave up all the runs in the first and seventh innings. They played well in between. While we are sad, it certainly gives us some breathing room in our schedule, which is nice. But more than a loss, we realized it is the end of an era for us. No more will we watch girls' sports where we have a vested interest in the players or the outcome. It's a bittersweet ending. On the one hand, we've been watching Elizabeth play something since she was 5 years old. On the other hand, now we only have one boys' team to watch each season, which shrinks the amount of games on our calendar. 

It's been a fun ride, but we are excited to see what new things we will get to experience with our daughter!

1st playoff win

One game down, three more to go!

We honored our five senior girls before the game tonight, then we went out and tromped the other team, 12-0 in five innings. Elizabeth struck out her first at bat but had a great single over the first baseman's head that garnered an RBI. In the 7-run bottom of the 4th, she grounded out to 2nd but got an RBI on that one as well. 

One more home game next week. If we win that, it's off to the state semi-finals/finals tournament. One game at a time, but they sure are looking good!

One Place Short

Aaron finished 5th in the 3200 meter (2 mile) race at the Regional Track Meet yesterday. One place short of moving on to the state meet. But he was several seconds behind the 4th place finisher, so at least he didn't have the heartbreak of missing it by a hair! He had a good track season and can now settle in and finish his schoolwork, which has been sadly neglected over the past few weeks!

Finishing Strong

Middle School baseball ended their season on an up note, a 13-3 win! They really did play great, in spite of some questionable calls by the umps. Nathan played third base for the first two innings and pitched the last inning. At the plate, he walked, grounded out to first (although our coach swears he was safe!), and hit a TRIPLE into left field! His pitching was good, too. He gave up a couple of hits but picked off the runner on second base for the first out then struck out two batters in a row to end the game. A great ending to middle school sports!

Elizabeth's team is finishing strong, too. They are playing a few, good, larger schools to get ready for playoffs. Tonight they beat one of those teams 8-5. All we know is that she was 1 for 3 at the plate.

TRIPLE PLAY!!

In spite of our loss this afternoon, 7-4, the varsity boys executed a very exciting triple play in the field. It started with a grounder to the pitcher. He threw to home to hold the runner at third. Meanwhile, the runner on second didn't realize what had happened and was halfway to third base. The catcher threw to the shortstop covering second who tagged out the runner who had been on second. Then the runner went from third toward home. The shortstop threw home and the catcher tagged the runner out. The batter was now on his way to second. The catcher threw a bullet to second and the second baseman tagged the batter out! Amazing!

Aaron struck out once and grounded out to the second baseman. Only a couple more games to go.

District Track Meet

The District Track meet is finally over--and boy am I glad Jeff went instead of me! A long, hot day! Aaron started off well, taking FIRST PLACE in the 3200 meters (2 miles)! Woo-hoo! He shaved a minute off his time from last year and beat the second place finisher by 22 seconds!

He didn't fare as well in the 1600 meters (1 mile). He finished 5th out of a field of 11, with his slowest time thus far this season. So he'll represent us at the Regional Meet in the 3200, but not in the 1600. His team didn't place in points, either, although Aaron himself scored 12 points for the team.

Will he finish top 4 in regionals and qualify for the state meet? I don't know. Let's just say it will be a fun surprise if he does.

The Winning Pitcher

Nathan came out as the winning pitcher in tonight's middle school game. They won 8-5. He gave up a few hits, but most of the runs were from errors or walks. He made some really good plays in the field, both at pitcher and at shortstop after another boy came in to relieve him. He also scored 3 of our 8 runs after reaching base twice on walks and once on an infield grounder (the first baseman missed the throw.) All in all, a good game. And finally a baseball game in baseball weather--sunny and warm!

Extra Innings

We lost a heartbreaker in 9 innings (we usually play 7), 6-5. We tied it up 4-4 in the bottom of the 7th, held them in the 8th, gave up 2 runs in the 9th and could only find 1 run to answer, falling just short of the win. But they really did play well.

Aaron played DH again and went 0 for 4, (this picture is from a previous game), striking out the first at bat but then grounding out the other three times, usually with 2 outs. So he's getting the bat on the ball, he just keeps hitting right to the other team!

Prom

The kids had a great time at Prom last night--the only one Elizabeth and Aaron would both attend. Aaron took his friend Lana, the same girl he took to homecoming. Elizabeth went with her friend Spencer, from her class at school. The girls were beautiful. The guys were handsome. It was, of course, bittersweet for the seniors. Their last big thing together, except for their trip after graduation. And for the first time I think Elizabeth enjoyed the whole process--the shopping, the getting fixed up, everything. It was fun to watch her so grown up, so willing to enjoy being a girl! Aaron goes to these things because I make him. He's such a homebody he has to be forced to socialize, although he always has fun with his friends once he gets there.

Track Meet

We competed in a track meet on Thursday, meant as a "warm-up" for the district meet next week. Mostly bigger schools, but not that much bigger. Aaron placed 14th of the 19 in the 800 meter race, with a time of 2.33. In 1600 meters he finished 10th of 14, with a time of 5:45, almost the exact same as he ran it last time. At least he's consistent!

TWO WINS!!!!

Yes, the varsity boys team WON today!!! Woo-hoo!! They pulled out a 9-5 victory. Aaron was the DH for his friend who played 2nd base. He struck out, hit an amazing lead-off double over the head of the left fielder (and eventually scored), and hit a pop fly to shallow center field that was caught. It's the first game I've been to and it was so fun!

Elizabeth's team, of course, won again. 10-2. Elizabeth had a single and 2 RBIs and she threw a runner out at 2nd. 

A Win and A Loss

It's the usual: a win for the girls, a loss for the boys. The girls are officially District champs now, although they have one more game to play before playoffs. 

Aaron, apparently, had a walk and a strikeout. Elizabeth went 0 for 3, but made a GREAT catch in right field to stop a rally by the other team at a crucial point in the game.

A Quick Trip

Elizabeth and I took a quick trip to Louisiana so she could attend registration and orientation. It was truly a whirlwind tour, complete with back-to-back early morning flights, driving through unknown territories in a rental car (a PT cruiser--how fun!) without getting (too) lost (Thanks, Mom and Dad, for the use of the GPS!), and a one short-lived mix-up on our confirmation date of her attendance at the event! But we made it! She has a schedule and an ID and she feels "official." She caused quite the stir, being one of the few from out of state. I told her she'd be famous on campus as "that girl from Texas"! While the trip came in the midst of a very busy time, at least she doesn't have to sacrifice a day of work this summer to go do all that. She's set until we move her in the dorm on August 16! Can  you believe that's just 4 months away??

But one thing I did learn: it is not fun to go down on back--driving or flying--on consecutive days. Unless we run into an absolute necessity, it will have to always be a 2 night trip from now on!

Softball and Baseball

Elizabeth's team sewed up the district championship (even though there are 2 more games to play) with a 22-2 win. Elizabeth had 1 pop up for an out and 2 hits--both of which came in the same inning! If they keep playing like that, a run for the state championship isn't such a pipe dream.

Aaron is filling in on the varsity baseball team while they have a few ineligible players. He played 2nd base today. He walked on his one at bat but was thrown out stealing 2nd. Obviously these coaches haven't seen him much or they'd know he isn't fast enough to steal!

Something New, Something Old

Aaron went to his first track meet today. It was a track meet of mostly large private schools, so we don't expect to place, we just want our kids to get some experience and to see where they are on their times or distances.

Today Aaron did a few new things: triple jump and 800m. He also ran his old race: the 1600m (or 1 mile.) He didn't come in last in his new events and he came in above the middle of the pack in the 1600. He was pleased with his performances but is now ready to concentrate on his better events for the district meet coming up in a couple of weeks. 

The Silver Tongue

Elizabeth proved her silver tongue once more. She finished 2nd in the TAPPS State Persuasive Speaking competition. This involved pulling a random current events topic, being given a few minutes to jot notes and then giving a persuasive speech in support of the issue. She put off preparing her research until the night before and still managed to "persuade" the judges to give her 2nd place! That just shows--it isn't about the facts as much as it is your passion and ability to sway with your words. She got that ability in spades!

3-0 in District

Today, the girls showed they could overcome adversity and pull out a win. Up 6-0 in the 4th, they began to flounder. Suddenly, it was 6-6. It remained 6-6 going into the final inning. That's when our girls stepped up to the plate--literally! They scored 4 in the top of the 7th and held the other team in the bottom of the inning. They won, 10-6.

Elizabeth had two strikeouts and two singles (well, on one she reached on an error actually) and fielded one ball cleanly. 

Now we head to our home field to play three more district games before we head into the playoffs. The girls know the district title is theirs to lose. Hopefully, like today, they can dig deep and come up with victory.

Another District Win

The girls racked up 14 runs versus their district rival yesterday afternoon. They allowed only 2 runs to cross the plate for the other team. Elizabeth struck out twice but hit on her final at bat and got credited with an RBI as well. She played right field and threw out a runner going to first base! More district play later this week.