A Chilly End

We braved the 25 degree wind chill for our first game this morning, which we won 14-0. Elizabeth was hit by 2 pitches (she's okay) and hit a good double.

We knew the second game would be much harder--and we were right! We lost a heartbreaker, 3-4. Elizabeth struck out, walked and singled as well as caught 2 pop flies. We just came up a bit short. 

But all in all, they did well, playing close with the bigger schools and annihilating the schools our size. That, we hope, bodes well for district play and on into the playoffs. We'll see!

Football Weather for Softball Games

Elizabeth's team is in a softball tournament this weekend. That wouldn't be so bad except a cold front moved in this afternoon. It went from 69 to 42 in a few hours, with about 20 mph winds. Needless to say, it was not fun sitting in the cold (which most of us weren't totally prepared for) watching softball!

Here is a brief summary of the three games:

Game 1: We won, 10-0. Elizabeth had a double and a walk.

Game 2: We lost (to a bigger school), 6-9. Elizabeth had a great bunt which scored a run and she made it to 3rd on the overthrow. She scored on a passed ball. She also struck out for the final out of the game.

Gam 3: We won, 10-1. Elizabeth hit two doubles and a single, scoring each time on overthrows or passed balls.

And guess what? We get to brave the 30 degree weather in the morning to do it all again. Yea, us!

Back to the Bases

Well I really thought the games today would be rained out, but after a quick, hard shower, the sun and wind dried everything pretty quickly. Unfortunately, the games were still kind of a bust.

Elizabeth's team played a district rival--except that no umpires showed up! So they scrimmaged. They won, but it didn't count.

Nathan's team also played an area rival, but one whose "school" team is playing in a competitive league and has players (most of the good ones) that don't go to the school that is our rival. (Did you follow all that?) We got trounced 13-1. Nathan had a good stop at shortstop. Not such a great throw, but the first baseman made a good play and we got the out. He struck out once, walked once, and got thrown out at home plate. He also came in to pitch in the last inning with bases loaded and no outs. Given the situation, he did ok. He struck out one. Gave up three hits (all but one had fielding errors), fielded a ball hit back to the mound and threw out the player coming home, and caught a pop fly to end the inning. Not bad for not having thrown at all during Spring Break AND having both his Tetanus and Hep A shots this morning!

A Great Vacation

This is a view from the balcony of our hotel room at the Boardwalk Inn Resort at Walt Disney World. It's one of the reasons I love Disney vacations: when you aren't in the park, you feel like you are at some ultra relaxing resort! What we loved about this hotel (besides a fun view) was the proximity to Epcot and Hollywood Studios (both a short walk away) and the several sitting areas inside the hotel and out (including one right outside the door of our room!) where Jeff and I often took our books and read during our "down times." 

Disney's newest roller coaster is Mt. Everest, pictured above. It was very fun. In fact, while we are not known as a "roller coaster family," our motto on this trip was "everyone rides everything." Unlike our last trip to Disney (when the kids were 10, 8, and 7), they had to coax us to ride rides instead of us coaxing them! And we did. We all rode all the "big" rides. And it was fun! Of course, the kids were embarrassed when I screamed through several of them. 

And yes, we saw Mickey. This time (again, different from last time), they didn't care about seeing the characters. But we did make them stand in line to get this picture. Oh, and they willingly stood in line to have their pictures taken with Tow Mater and Lightning McQueen from Cars. All in all, it was a very fun trip. Since this was the last time we'll all have spring break together (Elizabeth's college has theirs in April and the boys' will be in March), we are happy to have good memories. 

District Play Begins

The girls began district play on Monday with a 5-4 win! Their pitching has been tremendous with fielding and batting pretty good, too. But the difference in close games comes down to our aggressive base running. They are brash in their steals, even stealing home when the ball is in the hands of the pitcher! We'll see if they can keep it up, but so far so good.

Piano and Persuasive Speaking

We had two kids competing today. Nathan did one of his piano competitions. We won't know his results for a few days, but he did not feel like he did well at all. (He apparently forgot portions of both of his pieces. I'm not sure how obvious it was, but he was not happy with himself!)

Elizabeth, on the other hand, succeeded in making the cut for the state competition in persuasive speaking. (She didn't make it in original oratory or current events.) In this event, they draw a topic then have some time to prepare with whatever materials they've brought with them. Then they have to speak on the subject for 7 minutes. Since this is a bit like debate--some preparation, much thinking on your feet--she did well. We'll see how it goes in the bigger competition. 

One more baseball game, two more softball games, and then we'll be off on Spring Break. Yeah!

A Blowout and A Squeaker

Elizabeth's team won 21-4 today. In 4 innings. Elizabeth had two singles, two RBIs and scored a run. She also hit two grounders straight to the first baseman! Because of the big score, she got to play 2nd base in the last two innings after starting in left field. Can I just say? It really isn't fun watching a blowout game like that.

Nathan's team, on the other hand, got down early, 4-0, but they battled back, starting with Nathan's double into center field. He then scored the first run on a passed ball. They had battled back, but were still losing 5-4 when Nathan came up again. This time he singled to left, stole 2nd, then 3rd, then home on another passed ball to tie the game 5-5! We scored one more run and won the game 6-5! I just wish I'd been there! He played 3rd base.

A big win

The softball team had a big win today over a bigger school. Our girls led the whole game, but the other team crept up, little by little, until, in the bottom of the 7th inning, we were only up 5-4. Now, at this level of softball, one run is not that much. Believe me, we were biting our nails in the stands!

But our team came through. The center fielder made a great catch of a big pop fly. Then our pitcher, who pitched the entire game, dug deep and struck out the last two batters! Great job, Lady Eagles!

Elizabeth had a pretty good game. She caught a fly ball in left field and had a nice hit to right. Her other two at bats she hit grounders to the second baseman and got thrown out at first. 

The Lawyer Gene

Elizabeth has been arguing with us since she learned how to talk. And she's been good at it! I've always said she got "the lawyer gene" from her dad. Due to a wonderful new drama/speech/debate teacher at our school, she finally got a chance to channel that talent in a productive way--Debate!

She went to her first (and only) debate tournament today. Out of a field of 16, she came in first place. She had seven debates--and won them all. We are so proud of her! 

Tournament Play

Elizabeth's team is playing in a tournament, although Elizabeth only played today's games since she has her first ever debate competition tomorrow. Don't know if she'll make it back to play in the championship game or not!

Yes, they won both their games and will play for the trophy tomorrow. Elizabeth played well--2 for 3 in the first game with 2 RBIs, including the one that broke the 0-0 tie and opened the floodgates so that we won 10-0. The second game she was 1 for 2, scoring and driving in runs as well. 

Jeff got to watch her play today. I'm hoping to get to go next week.

Baseball Begins

Nathan started at pitcher today. His cousin Chris caught. They make a pretty good team! The boys won 7-2. Nathan pitched three good innings. He finished with 6 strikeouts and 3 walks. He had one earned run and one unearned one. 

He didn't do badly on the other side of the ball, either. He had two at bats. On the first one, he hit a solid pop up to right field. The right fielder looked shocked--as did the fans--to find it in his glove. The second time he hit a choppy ground ball to the shortstop and barely outran it.

Their coach this year really knows what he is doing. I'm really excited about this season, as are they. 

I took this picture of Nathan pitching. Don't you love the tongue sticking out of his mouth?

The Season is Underway

Elizabeth got to play shortstop in the team's 18-12 victory this afternoon. I didn't get to go. She bunted and made it to 2nd. She also struck out, had a sacrifice bunt, and walked. She scored two runs. 

Playing Softball

Elizabeth decided to play softball as her swan song this year. In all her other years of high school, she has avoided this sport 1) because it isn't her favorite, and 2) because the constant throwing tends to hurt her shoulder and she didn't want to injure herself for the next basketball season. But she wanted to play with all her friends one last time, and since there are no more basketball seasons to "save" herself for, she decided to play.

The team participated in a two-day tournament this weekend against larger private schools and a few smaller public schools. They came away with 4th place, 3 wins and 3 losses. They kick off regular game days this week, so I'll keep you updated. As for her tournament stats--she told us she scored a few runs and stole several bases. She mostly plays right field and bunts or walks when she is up to bat! We haven't had a chance to see her play yet, but we are looking forward to it.

Paying for College . . .

Just got a bit easier! We found out today that Elizabeth was awarded scholarships at NSU which will cover all her tuition and spill over just a bit into her room and board! Woo-hoo! Way to go, Elizabeth!

The Final Games

Our three senior girls did themselves proud tonight. No, they didn't win. In fact, they lost a heartbreaker, 30-34. We might have had a chance, but with Audrey fouled out and Elizabeth with 4 fouls and none of the other girls on the court understanding the concept of fouling to get the ball back, it didn't happen. But they played with heart and hustle and were proud of themselves in the end. Elizabeth had 8 points, including the last basket at the buzzer. There were lots of tears on the bench, including myself and Audrey's mother. I will miss watching her play basketball. It was always so amazing to watch her intensity, her athleticism, and her love of the game. 

The boys lost by nearly 50, which is so much less stressful than losing by 4! But those boys played hard. They never gave up, all season long. The sophomores stepped up and did a great job tonight on both sides of the ball. Aaron had 8 points, including 2 3-pointers. Next year should be fun with both Aaron and Nathan on the team. Wow. One team to watch! That will be a shock to our systems!

So where do we go from here? Nathan starts baseball practice on Wednesday. Aaron will run the 1600 and 3200 again in track. Elizabeth is going to play softball, kind of. She really just wants to be on the team because they are pretty good and its the last sport. She might play some, but since she doesn't care if she plays or not, it makes things much less stressful from the stands! 

And as much as I will miss basketball, I'm glad its over for now.

The Latest Creations

I still can't believe that my child can make things like this. After all, the only real training she has had is trial and error, cooking shows, and the internet. The first was our victory cookie cake for the Super Bowl. We worried for a little while that we wouldn't want to eat it, but the Steelers pulled out the victory, so it was okay. The second is the cake she made for her basketball team's party. Both are amazing!!

Close to the End

The Middle School season ended today in their tournament. They played a GREAT game, we were either up or down by only 1 or 2 points the whole game--until the end. We lost 22-18. Nathan had 6 points, several steals and rebounds, and some nice passes. He can't wait until varsity next year!

The Varsity teams had a rough go of it last night. Both teams lost by 50 points, but at least the coach of the boys' opponent didn't try to humiliate them like the girls' coach did. Even knowing they would probably beat us by that score (we'd already played them once this season), the girls came out with a full court press that they didn't call off until it was around 27-0. They continued to play their starters, take three pointers and go for steals until the end of the game. Our girls were just mad. They played their hardest and deserved to lose with dignity instead of humiliation. Elizabeth only had 4 points.

The boys kept trying, too, but with one of our key players out with a broken collarbone, it just wasn't happening. Aaron scored 4 and was a dismal 1 for 10 from the free throw line. He played hard, though, scrapping for the ball as usual.

One more game and we are done. I'm so ready for some rest!

Senior Night

Senior night. The last home game of her "career." It wasn't sad, though. It was quite a joyous occasion, actually. She and her friend Audrey have played basketball together since 6th grade. Tonight, it showed. Elizabeth was obviously back in sync after the broken hand. We lost, but they played great. Elizabeth and Audrey each had 18 points. And that was it. We scored 36 points, less than 20 shy of the win. We were so proud.

The boys both lost their games. Aaron had no points, Nathan had 2. They both played hard, it just wasn't their night.

Hanging Up Her Character Shoes

Elizabeth's career on the stage came to a close this weekend. She apparently even made a retirement speech before the last performance, telling the other kids that she was hanging up her character shoes in favor of her chef's knives and that unlike Bret Favre, she would not be coming out of retirement or joining any other team in the league. 

But what a way to go! The kids did an AMAZING production of Little Women: the Broadway Musical. Elizabeth was Aunt March and she was a hoot! She definitely milked the role for all it was worth. I hated to see it end, not only because it was a great show (I cried both nights!), but also because I don't think I can talk my boys into participating in drama and there is something quite wonderful about watching your children perform like that--in a venue where no one wins or loses!

This is Elizabeth and her friend Jordan, who played Jo March superbly!

This is Ethan, who played Mr. Laurence, and Elizabeth. They had fun being "the old people" in the play.

Here's the whole cast. It was such a fun play and done so well.

Rescheduling

We ended up not having basketball games last night. The other school apparently forgot we'd rescheduled the original games (which were to be on the night of our school play), so now we have to reschedule the rescheduled games!