Weekend Report

We had a good weekend despite the ongoing sickness around here. Friday night Mark got home and we were supposed to go reverse trick-or-treating. We did that last year and went out to the neighborhood near our church to give out info and invite people to come visit. Three of the boys had runny noses and were coughing. Mark and I still weren't over the gunk either so we thought it was better to just stay home.

Saturday morning the older boys had a baseball clinic to attend. I probably should have stayed home with the younger two since they were still sniffling, but I really wanted to watch Seth and Joel. It was good seeing them play ball again.

Joel had a great time. He was larger than life, as usual. We had a little talk ahead of time about listening to the coaches. It's a conversation we have each week before gymnastics. Joel just loves to hear his own voice. No idea where he gets that from. After the first round of drills the coach gathered the kids together and asked if anyone had any questions or comments about what they had learned so far. Joel's hand shot up in the air and when the coach called on him he said, "I learned that it's easy to catch pop-ups if you just try." That's our Joely Bug. He tries his best at everything he does.

It was really neat seeing Seth play ball again. He is a confident player, that's for sure. We had to remind him that he was there to learn and not show how good he is. He's had the same strut when it comes to baseball since he was four years old. It was really cute back then, but as he's gotten older it can sometimes come across as being full of himself. He knows any talent his has comes from the Lord and we try to remind him to keep that in perspective.

The clinic was hosted by a homeschool high school team. The teenaged players taught the kids. Seth was really in awe of the older boys. At one point the kids were praticing batting and one of the teenagers called Seth to go out behind him and catch the balls being hit. Seth beamed! I know he's excited about getting to play again in the Spring. And we're excited to watch!

Speaking of watching...I snapped some pictures of the "spectators":

Proud Papa looks on as his boys played ball. Mark loved playing baseball when he was growing up and he loves to watch it now. It's icing on the cake that his sons enjoy playing, too. He recently took Seth and Joel to see the Astros play for a little "male bonding time". They had a great time even though the Astros lost.

Nathan was so excited to be out at the ball field, too. He brought his glove along and a little souvenir bat that we got from the Louisville Slugger Museum. Mark and he played ball together.

Benjamin hung out in the stroller for a little while just taking in his surroundings. I happened to get this cutie shot of him peeking out.

Despite the coughs and sniffles, we had a fun time out at the ballpark.