Baseball Mom

fun/not fun

we just came off of our first tournament with alex's team.  coach got a couple of kids from another team because our kids couldn't all make it.  it was too bad, because our team is great...undefeated and won their division for our baseball club.  the tournament was in a small town about 30 min. away. just far enough to feel like you really went somewhere, but close enough to go home for the night!  it was a very backyard tourney.  the 8u games were played at the local middle school, which had the weirdest setup i've ever seen!  at each field, there was a dugout on ONE side, with nowhere for parents to sit but in the outfield, then on the other side, no dugout and lots of seating including bleachers.  so, if you didn't want to sit with the other team's fans, you had to sit in a weird place.  i sat in the dugout when we had that side, since i keep score and couldn't be far away in the outfield.  the fields were veerrrrrry dusty and they did not water them down so we ate dust all day long.  they used pitching machines run by generators, and they were very inconsistent.  the kids also played with hardballs for the first time!  our boys did really well.  even with a few pickup players that they didn't know.  they won their first game against a select team (at 8!) and lost the second game 17-16....they played their butts off!  losing was very hard for our boys-since they went all season without a loss.  it was actually good for them, though...they have to learn to lose gracefully!  the second day, they played the first place team from the other division (the teams were split into 2) and were sluggish and just not enthused from the get-go.  they lost 11-1.  the second game, we got them fired up by offering money and m&m's, plus they got to play and have fun between games so that woke them up.  they played sooo well against the same team that they lost to the first day.  let me stop a second and explain the umpire situation.  if parents pay for a tournament, they should get their moneys' worth-which means real, certified umps.  this one was umped by the tournament director and his kid who was about 15.  it was absolutely ridiculous.  coaches from both sides on every game were questioning the calls because the umps were not following their own rules.  they were having to make calls against their OWN players because the umps were not making any calls.  when the kid umped our game, he was on his cell phone part of the time!  he was also allowing the other coach to dial up the machine speed when his team batted, so the hits would go further.  it was a joke.  we lost our last game because there is a 'slide to avoid' rule (if the runner is coming in, and the catcher is in their way and there may be contact, the runner slides) and our runner didn't slide...even though there was NO CONTACT!!!  the ump called him safe, which would have been the tying run, then reversed his call when the other coach complained.  why not stick with your original call and let the kids just play it out?!  we got robbed.  our kids knew it, and we told them that as far as we were concerned, it was a tie and they did not lose that game.  we got 2nd place out of 11 teams, so they did great!!!  i was worried about alex being tired after two games each day but he immediately asked when we can do it again!  that boy loves to play ball.

RIP

this is a tribute post.  it's taken me a few days to write this, because we are all so wrecked.  last week, we were camping when i got a phone call from my mom.  she said she had been over to our house to check on our old dog, zip.  he wasn't doing well, and she was afraid it was 'time'.  i told her that it has probably been time for about three months now, but i just couldn't face taking that noble old boy in to meet his maker.   i broke the news to the boys--i literally could not speak for a minute because i was crying so hard.  they both immediately said that they wanted to go home and see him one more time.  i said, 'let's go' and we jumped in the car.  not much was said on the way home (about 45 min.) and we all trudged up the stairs to what we knew was going to be awful.  zip was outside, and he was sooo happy to see us.  he walked really fast across the yard, and the boys said, 'see, he is okay!  he's going to make it!'  but then he started breathing really hard, and fell down.  see, apparently labs have two windpipes, and they open and close as they swallow and breathe.  as they get older, the windpipes stop opening all the way.  there is surgery but it doesn't always work, and if it does, it's only for a short time, then they die of pneumonia.  he had been having breathing trouble for over a year, so we just tried not to get him excited because that's when it happened.  i told the boys that they would have to say what they wanted to say to him right now...that there was no hope for him to get better.  it was so hard for me.  i told them that we would take turns and each have our own time with him to say goodbye.  i had tyler go first, since zip was his third birthday present, and really, his dog.  alex and i went out back, and when i peeked at tyler, he was talking to zip and feeding him a piece of bread.  it just tore me up.  here was my boy, saying goodbye to his dog.  heartbreaking.  alex went next.  when it was my turn, i sat and hugged this great, brown dog.  this wonderful dog who had always been faithful.  who broke down the screen door to knock tyler out of the way when he raked a bees nest in the ground and bees swarmed him.  who always tolerated my kids and my daycare kids climbing all over him, riding him, and pulling his ears.  who never snapped at anyone, or growled.  who was a great footrest for me and kept my feet warm at night while i watched tv.  who put up with the addition of another dog into the family without blinking an eye.  who loved peanut butter, cheese, and people food in general.  who escaped frequently but always came back.  who loved to lay in front of the heat register when the furnace came on.  who had great golden eyes and the softest ears in the world.  who, as a big goofy puppy on tyler's birthday, fell into the hottub because he wasn't watching where he was going.  who, even as an old man who could hardly walk, would roll over onto his back when we walked by.  i loved this dog so, so much.  how could i say goodbye to him?  i told him how good he was, always.  how much we all loved him.  i petted him and sat with him for awhile.  he was really having trouble breathing, but he still looked at me with love.   i took his name tag off of his collar, and we all fed him a piece of cheese.  we had each said goodbye in our own way.  my mom and stepdad were kind enough to take him to the emergency vet for us.  the vet said what a beautiful boy he was, and how strong and handsome he was.  she petted him and gave him some valium.  my mom and stepdad held him and petted him as he had his shot, and he quietly slipped off to heaven.  it was peaceful.  it tears me up, even though i know we did him a favor in helping him to end his great life.  i can't stop thinking about him every time i turn around.  i think he will be waiting to lick the dishes in the dishwasher, or try to get out of the gate.
  i miss him so, so much.  i don't know how this is going to get better, but i know it will.  rest in peace, zippity do dog...we will all have a hole in our hearts for a long time.  good boy, zippy.

updates

>t's team took second in their division last night after a two game battle-way to go nighthawks, now on to metro league!

>getting ready to head to the middle school for t's 8th grade graduation...kinda sad, but also happy for him~he's moving on to high school and getting ready to do big things!

>alex's team is in the championship tonight...still undefeated.  go blue raiders!!!

ballin'

this past week has been baseball, baseball, and more baseball!  the kids are wrapping up their season with LBC Pony baseball, and t is starting another league right now that is overlapping for a week or so.  there were games monday, practice tuesday, games friday, and games today.  i feel so terribly guilty when both boys have a game at the same time, and it drives me crazy not to see both.  t and alex both had playoff games friday, and of course, when i was at alex's, t had a 2 out, 2 run single and i missed it!  today, alex's game was at 10-they played the only team that has given them a run for their money, and the other team was out for blood!  they apparently practiced every night this week to try to beat us...and picked up 2 'neighbor kids' because they didn't have enough players (funny, they had 11 at this game) but we still won.  alex had a great catch at pitcher-a hard line drive.  he is hitting with a .720 batting average...did 3 for 3 today.  both boys won today and are in the championships for their divisions.  next tuesday is our last day of school, and i have monday off for t's 8th grade graduation ::sniff::  we leave for camping on wednesday for 5 nights.  even though we just came back from camping, this is a different place and the weather is supposed to be better...the kids can swim!  they caught some huge kokanee on the last trip so we can't wait to go again.