A Season Of Baseball

My youngest son has been playing baseball since he was just a wee little boy. He played with all of his little friends from school. Aside from one year, when we lived in Virginia, baseball has been a big love for our spring.

He's definitely improved year after year. This year has been a really good growth year for him even though his team hasn't won a single game. lol So, in this county they mix ages. My son is finishing 8th grade and he's playing with kids who are two years younger than him. There's even one boy on the team who's in 9th grade, but turned 15 after the age cutoff.

Unfortunately, he's on the B team this year. That's because of two things: there aren't any tryouts and the coach who's doing both A & B teams doesn't know my son's abilities. Thankfully he was able to see my son's skill with the game and has brought him up to the A (Gold) team several times the past few weeks. My boy seems to be the first kid he asks now. Gotta love that as a mom!

This post is basically a brag about my kid. lol I don't have crazy aspirations of him becoming a pro baseball player. I just like him keeping active outside. He's willing to play, so Fred & I are will to drive him to practices and games! Besides, I love cheering my kid on.

He's only got one game left for this season and then he's on to high school ball next year. That means things are going to get dicier. There's going to be real competition for positions and being off the bench. Up till now every player got equal time on the field and at bat. Not sure what next year will look like.

For the first time, this year he's gotten to play first base every single game. He wasn't looking to play that position, but they realized he's very reliable there. The other position he played was center outfield, which is what he's played for the last few years. He's got a strong arm and can throw far.

What he needs to work on is hitting. It's probably his biggest weakness. This weekend's game he kept connecting with the ball and it was amazing! Actually, the past couple weeks he's increased his contact with the ball.

Once he gets on base though, it's no holds bar. That boy can steal a base! It's one of the things I tried teaching him at an early age even though he wasn't able to do it until he was in middle school. HA! It's come in handy the past few years though, and he's just gotten better at it. He knows how to watch the pitcher. Now, that being said, several games ago he was getting pretty cocky, and almost ended up being called out trying to steal home.

When he got back to the bench, he looked at me and knew. lol We have this great connection when he's playing the game. If he gets a good hit, makes a good steal, has a good play out in the field, he automatically looks at me and we either pump fists, give a thumbs up, or something that says we know what just happened with the play. It's really something I cherish. Well, when he got back after this at bat, we talked about his cockiness and that it wouldn't serve him well every time. I don't ever want him getting too big for his britches and he really saw how badly that could go even though he made it home to get the run. Don't get me wrong. I love him challenging the pitcher to try and make a steal, but how he did it this one time nearly cost him an out.

I'm sad that the season is almost over since I love watching him play, but I'm looking forward to what's to come with his enjoyment of the game!

Minnesota Here We Come - The Home T

Three weeks and counting! We're heading back to Minnesota and we're excited to be home. To usher in July, I asked The Home T if I could do a review of one of their t-shirts showing my love of Minnesota. Thankfully, I must've conveyed my love of home, and they agreed! Now, I thought I was going to be getting a t-shirt showing Minnesota with the word Home across it. I was giddy, giddy I tell ya, when they surprised me with the "My Happy Place" design. Clearly they get me!

Have you switched out all of your clothing for the season? Here in Maryland all of my summer clothing is out and ready to be worn! The weather has made the full change to hot, t-shirt weather. I was looking on Facebook today and you won't believe the weather there. June is such a turbulent month at home. One second you're wearing a t-shirt because it's crazy hot out. The next, clouds are rolling in, the hail starts, and straight line winds hit!

Truly, you have to believe Minnesota is your happy place to call it home. How could you handle the weather there any time of the year if it wasn't? lol

The boys and I are excited to head home in just a few weeks, and I've already prepared the first picture I'm going to take once we get there. I'll be wearing my "My Happy Place" in front of the Welcome to Minnesota line right after we leave Wisconsin! To say I'm looking forward to getting there is quite the understatement!

Now, about The Home T specifically. It's an incredibly comfy t-shirt. I went with a Medium, but easily could've fit a Small. It's made in the USA which is so terrific! I'll probably live in it all summer. Yes, I'm one of those people. The fabric is incredibly soft. They also give back a portion of their profits to multiple sclerosis research. Pretty amazing, isn't it?

So get this. I was wearing my t-shirt right after I received it a couple of weeks ago. I wore it a week & a half ago to my son's baseball game. Well, I wore it again to my son's last baseball game on Saturday forgetting that the last time everyone there saw me I was wearing the same shirt. HA! I won't see them again until next spring for baseball season again so I should be good. =) (and yes I'm terrible at selfies)

I've already worked it out for my daughter to get my son the Home T for his 18th birthday in a couple weeks. She of course loved it. I suppose I should get my hubby the Maryland one for Father's Day. lol Poor guy is kind of outnumbered being surrounded by so many Minnesotans!

These would be perfect for birthday gifts, holiday gifts, and if you love to travel to a specific state, it could be fun for a trip...maybe even to Disney!

CARS 3 Activity Sheets

About a month ago I was able to check out the CARS 3 Tour that was going through our area. My son had the day off so he went with me. It was a great place to take the littles (not that I have any, but it was so cute to see the little kids). I think our favorite part was watching the extended trailer. The movie looks like it will be amazing!

In anticipation of the movie opening on June 16th, print out these activity sheets for the kids! They'll love them, and get them revved up for the movie.

There's also the CARS 3 Miss Fritter's Corn Fritters Recipe, Make Your Own Race Course, Memory Race, and a Race to the Finish Board Game that can be downloaded & printed as well! What a great way to get the summer started, right?

Like CARS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PixarCars/

Follow CARS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/pixarcars

Follow CARS on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pixarcars/

Subscribe to the Disney/Pixar YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/user/DisneyPixar

Visit the official CARS 3 website here: http://movies.disney.com/cars-3

CARS 3 races into theatres everywhere on June 16th!

Folks, We Have A High School Graduate

As a parent, aren't you constantly amazed at how quickly your children grow up? I specifically remember when my son was almost 4 yrs old, I was sitting in the doorway of his bedroom, pregnant, holding him, and afraid that his little baby brother or sister would feel utterly neglected because I wasn't sure I could ever love the next child as much as I loved my son. Of course, this was after having two girls before him and managing to fall in love with him as well. HA! Oh pregnancy hormones.

My oldest son, almost 18 yrs old has finally donned his cap and gown, and walked across the stage to receive his diploma. Where did the years go? They continually seem to pick up speed. I remember him being in elementary school wondering if I should keep him back in 2nd grade. Then I wondered the same thing in 4th grade. He was struggling academically, but they were more worried about him socially. I think they were actually more worried about how it would reflect on them as a school.

Middle school saw him succeeding, and he started taking meds for ADD. Two of my children have Attention Deficit Disorder, and I and my brother both have it. I'm sensing a theme here. As I said, middle school really ramped up for him and everything was going rather well. He was playing baseball and basketball, but in 7th grade decided baseball was more fun just in our yard with friends.

We moved from Minnesota to Virginia halfway through his 8th grade year. I thought it would be a smooth transition, but it was hard on all of us. High school went ok for him, but he never quite recovered from the move, which is understandable since he'd lived in MN all of his life and grew up with all of the kids. Here he mostly stayed the new kid.

He actually really enjoyed the culinary club he joined after taking the culinary class. Sadly the teacher who ran the club and class moved and the club dissolved. From there he wasn't interested in any of the other clubs he looked into.

Senior year he got to totally take it easy since he'd met most of his requirements. He only had to go to school every other day for a half day. Pretty crazy, eh? Only downside to that was having to go get him from school every afternoon. Let's just say I'm glad that's over with.

His plans are now to go to the local community college to get his basics done inexpensively and then to hopefully go back to Minnesota to finish whatever degree he chooses at one of the Universities. I know he'd love to go to Northwestern in St. Paul like his sisters did, but we'll have to see how successful he is at community college and to see if they have whatever degree program he comes up with.

I'm excited to see what the future has for my favorite oldest son!

KOR Water Bottles Grillin' & Chillin' Giveaway

Summer time is nearly here! Of course we're completely enjoying the spring weather already. My hubster has already been outside grilling more often than inside cooking. He loves it (and the rest of the family does, too!) One of the ways we're making sure to keep chillin' is by keeping hydrated! That's where my partnership with KOR comes in.

Being outside on hot days either grilling, being in the garden, going for a walk, or just enjoying the patio, we've always got a bottle of water on hand. I'm also at the gym several times a week so either the KOR ONE or KOR Nava tags along with me.

The KOR ONE has a sleek look and at the top has the KOR Stone that will give you a little inspiration when you go to take a drink. One of my favorite features of KOR bottles is the rounded lip-surface which they refer to as "Perfect Spout." It's a soft, gentle edge that makes drinking from the bottle a delight! It has an easy, flip top cap that stays connected to the ONE body. This comes in a variety of colors, but I'm digging this onyx! I like having this one out in the garden with me.

The KOR Nava is perfect for the gym (well not just the gym, but I love it there). It's got a flip cap with that opens with the push of the button. The reason I like this for the gym is because if I knock it over the spout is one you sip from so it won't spill! Now, this is where this bottle starts to show off. It comes with a coconut filter that you insert into the straw. The filter is meant to last for two months. So, sticking with the color theme, I chose the Red Ribbon because it's black & red.

Both of these sweet water bottles hold a LOT of water. I need them to with how much I drink out of them. The KOR Nava is 700ml and the ONE is 750ml. I really think I should have a variety of these to match my workout gear! Not sure if my hubby would get on board with that though. Ha!

School is almost out... Nights have gotten longer ...And it is time to bring out the Good ‘Ol Grill! To celebrate the upcoming summer Anderson's Angels, This Mamas Life, The More The Merrier and Woven by Words, are very excited to bring you the Grillin & Chillin Giveaway Event! We've teamed up with over 15 other wonderful bloggers, to bring you another great giveaway event! Each blog has gathered a prize package worth $25 or more so be sure to visit each blog and enter!

Hosts & participating hop bloggers of the Grillin & Chillin Event are not responsible for sponsors or self-sponsoring bloggers that do not fulfill prize obligations.

Now you have the chance to win a KOR Nava to help keep you cool during the summer months! a Rafflecopter giveaway