Take Me Out to the Ballgame

Coach Gene is back.

After both of our little darlings decided to turn in their soccer cleats for breakdancing / martial arts / more free time... Coach Gene is back on a different field.  It's the baseball diamond this time, and since he played High School baseball he is a little more comfortable than back in the good old days when the kids were three and he borrowed a "How to Coach Soccer DVD" from Lindsay Paulsell.  

Ross struck out in the Spring season until we realized his batting helmet was so big it was spinning all the way around and covering up his eyeballs.  You kind of need eye balls in this game.  We were perplexed because this kid was hitting pitches and refusing to play tee ball at three years old.  Because he could hit a pitch.  Strike one.  Strike two.  Strike three.  Over & over & over while I prayed to the good Lord from behind the fence. 

These prayers included, "Please don't let this change how he feels about how he can hit.  He is GOOD at hitting, remove performance anxiety, don't let him get down on himself, don't let the other kids show disapointment in him"... etc.  Except I really only had 1.5 seconds to pray because I was chasing this kid, 

Luke giving Stella a suck of his lollipop.  

         (  Insert this song into your head )

Notice his tongue sticking out.  I wish you could hear his little voice say, "Hi Stella!"  

All I get to do at these ballgames is chase this booger around.  The lollipops help.  I have seriously considered a babysitter so I can watch Ross play.  But then I would miss him, and have more time to pray.  

Here is Ross in the "ready" position.  HA.  

One of my favorite parts of these games are when the boys change innings.  They seriously SLIDE into the dugout.  Whenever there is running, there is sliding.  When you are crossing home plate at age six, the cool thing to do is to SLIDE, even if the ball is in left field.  

Gene's Dad was his coach when Gene was this age, all the way up through sideline coaching in High School. The other night, he suggested to "Coach Gene" to have the boys use a lighter bat.  He noticed a little detail about how they were swinging and thought it might be worth a try.  You learn these things when you raise two sons and spend every summer weekend on the baseball field for 10 + years.  

After that suggestion, EVERY SINGLE PLAYER got a hit.  The entire game.  It was a miracle.  Gene has had two parents from opposing teams approach him after games to fish around about the kids being 6 and under, because surely, our boys are on steroids. 

I wouldn't know because I am too busy cleaning lollipop drool off of anything Luke has touched.  

Another cool part is that a lot of these kids are GDA students, so if they continue they might get to play together all the way through.   Three more games left in our first season with a team who let him on without making him hit off the tee.

The first time Ross scored a run he said, "Mom... when I was sliding into home plate... you should'a been me!" 

Miss MO

Miss Ellie was invited by our dear friend (a former Miss MO & producer of current productions) to WRITE and ASK two final questions to a Top 5 Finalist in this year's Miss Missouri pageant.

Although excited for her opportunity, my brain immediately went into question mode:
Will this make her want to do pageants?
Will she turn into a toddlers & tiaras diva woman?
Will this give her a warped sense of beauty & self-worth?
Will she freak out and forget her question?

Overriding the answers to any of these questions was the desire to let her tip toe a little bit outside of her comfort zone. I wanted her to taste the confidence which only comes from standing in front of thousands of people with a spot light in your face and busting through those butterflies in your gut. At age 8! Who gets to do that? So I said yes.

Never tell your 8 year old daughter that she gets to do something like this while you're putting her to bed. Duh. I had to peel her off of the ceiling. Thankfully, pillows were close to muffle the screams.

A bunch of folks were following my "live tweets" (do I sound famous? I was "live tweeting"!) so I won't repeat myself. You can scroll through my facebook page if you want to see the play-by-play. We had friends all the way up to Chicago watching her live on the webcast. But my friend Sharice has a fancy new camera and got these great shots of Elle up onstage with her fancy new zoom lens.



Here she is with Miss Branson, Sydney Friar, and Miss America 2008 who was the MC.



My little journalist!

Her first question was, "If you had an entire day to spend with your best friend, what would you do together?"
Second question, "What do you want to do to the world when you grow up?"
That's the high dollar private school tuition paying off right there.



Sydney was a delight and I was very impressed to learn that she had organized a Bible study during the evenings the week of the pageant for all of the contestants and one of the girls became a believer the night before. I think this requires much more bravery than walking the catwalk in a bikini! She is a beautiful girl on the inside and out.

The girls were freaking out when the final two contestants ended up being Miss Springfield and Miss Branson.


And I have to share this one because this is just the ultimate cliche pageant picture! Sharice, I need a fancy camera!

And Sydney won!

Ellie looked at me and said, "MOM! MY QUESTION SAVED HER!" It was too cute.

A highlight of the night was a presentation done during the production for the Children's Miracle Network. We were tremendously blessed by that organization when Ross was a baby. All of the fears I had about my daughter being exposed to this culture were replaced by a deep respect for the influence and opportunities these girls have. Let me just say, this was the MISS AMERICA organization, not the Miss USA. We watched that one the other night on accident and I wasn't sure if I should coordinate family baptisms or go ahead and order a stripper pole for the kids to play on. The Miss America girls seemed (we shall see in January when the National competition happens) a lot more wholesome.

(p.s. I am feeling the need to clarify why I keep flip-flopping between "Ellie" and "Elle". Her legal name is Elle, pronounced L, like the letter L, like the magazine, Greek for "shining light" and "God's promise". We called her Ellie as a baby and she likes it better. In a strange turn of irony, I think Elle has become the nickname, short for Ellie. Or for when I want to sound more serious. Just FYI. I do it all the time. I am not referring to two different children. We will all just have to get over it. I know it makes you detail oriented people crazy and for that I am sorry. But I will keep doing it. Ellie - Elle - same kid.)

Here is my beautiful girl, who did not forget her question, who did not fall off the stage, who got up there and ROCKED it like her Momma knew she would, who looked into the eyes of those she was speaking to, who said please and thank you, who acted genuinely sweet to the ladies she spoke to - even though her feet were shaking (she said Sydney's hands were sweaty, so they were both scared together), who smiled through her fear and gained an extra notch of inner confidence...

Congratulations, Sydney!