This post has a plethora (nice, large word) of pictures. I had originally flagged even more but I decided I better narrow it down. Andy, spends a great deal of time this season crouched in this position. He picks at the dirt, finds the tiniest of rocks and chucks them out of the playing area. He may be building up his endurance in case he is recruited as a catcher or maybe adding to his list of nervous habits. I keep telling him he owes me back rubs when he bites his nails and I guess I won't have to pay up for the gazillion rubs I owe him until he makes good on his debt or breaks the habit.
Keanna asked me to play catch with her during the one of the breaks between games. I purchased myself a new glove this week -- not as awesome as my old one but something to train my bum hand to operate. Do you think the sleeves on my blouse are long enough? Sometimes I roll them up, I keep threatening to have them tailored but have to be grateful and realize they save me from a larger sunburn at the end of the day -- lets not think about the tan line.
Taylei -- She is having a hard season. She pitches great, fields fine and has no problem with her bats but she has to learn how to handle her dad. She wants to be perfect, especially in his eyes. He will occasionally suggest something she can improve on and she takes it too personal. The tears start seeping from the corner of her eyes. When we left the field on Friday night I lectured her a little. We play this game for many reasons but the basis for all of it is to have fun. If she isn't having fun, we aren't going to play. When I yell out to her asking for a smile she better deliver or I'm pulling her from the game. She did much better on Saturday! Emily and I did intervene on behalf of our daughters, their fathers need to STOP coaching them and step in for each other. O.D. had the same tears as Taylei. As the cheer goes, "Win the battle. Win, Win the battle." By the end of the season I'm sure they will have it figured out, the game and how to handle their dads.
In a tournament last year, Taylei lost a fly in the sun. She purchased herself a pair of yellow, top-of-the-style charts sunglasses this year to make sure the incident doesn't occur twice. The girls aren't allowed to wear earrings or any form of metal hair clips but sunglasses are o.k. Doesn't it make you wonder which is the larger safety risk?
Taylei got to catch for a game. She wants to catch. She wants to pitch. Not really an easy feet to do both. They are the two most energy consuming places on the field. O.D. played catcher 8 of our 9 total games. She is also one of our pitchers and does an awesome job in both places. I'm grateful I'm not the coach . . .
Keanna -- still too little to play but her heart is big enough to make it through. I was so proud of her this tourney. Her ability to catch, field and hit improves with every practice but she still isn't where we need her. She played in the pool play games on Friday but didn't get to play on Saturday. After I finished my lecture to Taylei I directed my attention towards Keanna. I reminded her she is the littlest girl on the team and even if she doesn't get a lot game time she still gets to wear a Steeler uniform, practice with the team, and cheer in the dug out. Her time will come. She will be a top player for her age division . . . She spent all of Saturday smiling and cheering and smiling. Did I mention smiling?
When she is in the batters box she always goes down swinging. When we played the Pirates she fouled off two of the pitches. This gave her so much confidence. When we played the Pirates again on Saturday and the same pitcher was on the mound, she asked to be put in the game, she knew she could hit off of her. Attitude is half of the battle and Keanna has the making of an all-star.
Did I mention yet that Keanna was all smiles? Her team nickname is Sunnie. This was given to her because of her optimistic, lips curled up attitude. We play this game to have a good time, if not we could spend the time in my garden pulling weeds. Why is it weeding only seems to make the mom smile?
It happened to be Paul's birthday on Friday night. The team was told Paul would go through the "spanking machine" if they won both of their games. The team moms decided one win and a tie were close enough. Paul was a good sport and played along -- the bribe for his favorite chocolate chip cookies may have been enticement enough.
The bigger news: the hair scrunchie was given away. Welcome to the world of Steeler ball Abby. We're glad to have you around.
Kyler's home away from home is the ball park. He is totally comfortable in this element. Maybe a little too comfortable? His tongue really isn't black, his mouth happens to be full of chocolate donut.
He fell asleep in my mom's arms while watching game 6 or 7 or maybe even 8. They all blended together after a while. Money's little brother, Brent, was willing to share his bed (he slept for a game or two earlier in the day) and Kyler didn't wake up until after it was all over. The blue blankie happens to be Brent's favorite, a major sacrifice for anyone who has a favorite blankie condition.
Aysen -- He had a rough tournament but did remarkably well at the same time. I had contact with some potential germ infested fingers while I was holding him. I remembered I had sanitizer in his diaper bag and could apply some. When I opened the bottle it squirted and one of the drops landed on his eye lid. Ughhhhh! I tried to wipe it away but when he started crying I knew I had failed. The bottle said to flush with water. I headed to the bathroom and with help from a few Steeler fans he was taken care of. This poor guy is tough and absolutely adorable.
Our team battled back from the loser's bracket and finished in second place. They were exhausted. I was exhausted and I didn't play. The games finished after nine p.m. and we arrived at the ball park before 8 a.m. The funny thing: Taylei and Keanna still had enough left in them to meet O.D. at her hotel pool for a swim.
Keanna asked me to play catch with her during the one of the breaks between games. I purchased myself a new glove this week -- not as awesome as my old one but something to train my bum hand to operate. Do you think the sleeves on my blouse are long enough? Sometimes I roll them up, I keep threatening to have them tailored but have to be grateful and realize they save me from a larger sunburn at the end of the day -- lets not think about the tan line.
Taylei -- She is having a hard season. She pitches great, fields fine and has no problem with her bats but she has to learn how to handle her dad. She wants to be perfect, especially in his eyes. He will occasionally suggest something she can improve on and she takes it too personal. The tears start seeping from the corner of her eyes. When we left the field on Friday night I lectured her a little. We play this game for many reasons but the basis for all of it is to have fun. If she isn't having fun, we aren't going to play. When I yell out to her asking for a smile she better deliver or I'm pulling her from the game. She did much better on Saturday! Emily and I did intervene on behalf of our daughters, their fathers need to STOP coaching them and step in for each other. O.D. had the same tears as Taylei. As the cheer goes, "Win the battle. Win, Win the battle." By the end of the season I'm sure they will have it figured out, the game and how to handle their dads.
In a tournament last year, Taylei lost a fly in the sun. She purchased herself a pair of yellow, top-of-the-style charts sunglasses this year to make sure the incident doesn't occur twice. The girls aren't allowed to wear earrings or any form of metal hair clips but sunglasses are o.k. Doesn't it make you wonder which is the larger safety risk?
Taylei got to catch for a game. She wants to catch. She wants to pitch. Not really an easy feet to do both. They are the two most energy consuming places on the field. O.D. played catcher 8 of our 9 total games. She is also one of our pitchers and does an awesome job in both places. I'm grateful I'm not the coach . . . 
Keanna -- still too little to play but her heart is big enough to make it through. I was so proud of her this tourney. Her ability to catch, field and hit improves with every practice but she still isn't where we need her. She played in the pool play games on Friday but didn't get to play on Saturday. After I finished my lecture to Taylei I directed my attention towards Keanna. I reminded her she is the littlest girl on the team and even if she doesn't get a lot game time she still gets to wear a Steeler uniform, practice with the team, and cheer in the dug out. Her time will come. She will be a top player for her age division . . . She spent all of Saturday smiling and cheering and smiling. Did I mention smiling?
When she is in the batters box she always goes down swinging. When we played the Pirates she fouled off two of the pitches. This gave her so much confidence. When we played the Pirates again on Saturday and the same pitcher was on the mound, she asked to be put in the game, she knew she could hit off of her. Attitude is half of the battle and Keanna has the making of an all-star.
Did I mention yet that Keanna was all smiles? Her team nickname is Sunnie. This was given to her because of her optimistic, lips curled up attitude. We play this game to have a good time, if not we could spend the time in my garden pulling weeds. Why is it weeding only seems to make the mom smile?
It happened to be Paul's birthday on Friday night. The team was told Paul would go through the "spanking machine" if they won both of their games. The team moms decided one win and a tie were close enough. Paul was a good sport and played along -- the bribe for his favorite chocolate chip cookies may have been enticement enough. 
The bigger news: the hair scrunchie was given away. Welcome to the world of Steeler ball Abby. We're glad to have you around. 
Kyler's home away from home is the ball park. He is totally comfortable in this element. Maybe a little too comfortable? His tongue really isn't black, his mouth happens to be full of chocolate donut.
He fell asleep in my mom's arms while watching game 6 or 7 or maybe even 8. They all blended together after a while. Money's little brother, Brent, was willing to share his bed (he slept for a game or two earlier in the day) and Kyler didn't wake up until after it was all over. The blue blankie happens to be Brent's favorite, a major sacrifice for anyone who has a favorite blankie condition.
Aysen -- He had a rough tournament but did remarkably well at the same time. I had contact with some potential germ infested fingers while I was holding him. I remembered I had sanitizer in his diaper bag and could apply some. When I opened the bottle it squirted and one of the drops landed on his eye lid. Ughhhhh! I tried to wipe it away but when he started crying I knew I had failed. The bottle said to flush with water. I headed to the bathroom and with help from a few Steeler fans he was taken care of. This poor guy is tough and absolutely adorable.
Our team battled back from the loser's bracket and finished in second place. They were exhausted. I was exhausted and I didn't play. The games finished after nine p.m. and we arrived at the ball park before 8 a.m. The funny thing: Taylei and Keanna still had enough left in them to meet O.D. at her hotel pool for a swim. After this tourney our season record: 9 wins, 4 losses (3 to the same team) and 2 ties. They are off to a great start with first place and second place trophies!
The best moment of the night -- Andy's celebration leap when we beat the Pirates. Paul murmored, "I play basketball with him and he has never jumped that high."
The best moment of the night -- Andy's celebration leap when we beat the Pirates. Paul murmored, "I play basketball with him and he has never jumped that high."
As Kyler so frequently states, "It was awesome!" Also a special shout out to all the fans who came and watched. I'm quite certain the Steeler's had the largest fan base and a high percentage were in support of the Williams' team members. I need to make it a goal to take a pictures of our fan club!
Special thanks to Emily for most of these photos -- I need to get on my game and take some of my own but . . . (there's always an excuse for everything).
1 comment:
This tournament was so much fun. The girls played so tough the whole time. We sure played a lot of games, and I feel like the girls went out and did there best every time. These photos are fun reminders of the good time we had in St. George. Thanks for the support Tina!
Post a Comment