Birthday Cake Peek-a-Boo

Lauren's birthday is Tuesday, so we had some cake. Alondra decided to make sure that she'd get a clean sirt after dinner. She thought it was pretty funny.












On the sports front, Matt's soccer team won 3-1 Saturday. Matt scored the first goal. Though the baseball team didn't fare so well. It was scoreless the majority of the game. A real defensive gem. The umpire even commented as I was on my way out to coach 1st in the bottom of the 5th. He said this was "A rare JV game - A run was going to mean something." Well, he was wrong. The wheels came off in the top of the 6th. I think the final was 10-1.

No Rust on Those Bats

Final score 19-7. Need I say more? I think I agree with Lauren, the girls uniforms are nicer than the boys.

I think the photos do a pretty good job of capturing the action. Click to see a larger pic.

Hope Springs Eternal

It's that time of year again. The snow has melted and my pitching arm is sore. Actually, a lot more than my pitching arm is sore. And this after only 1 practice. Mr. Werk (gym teacher) has been awarded the head coaching gig for the boys JV baseball team. Most of the kids from last year are back and we have a few new 5th graders who look pretty good. We've put last season behind us and are eager to see how far our rookie head coach can take us.

I think the St.Stephens youth has a bit more talent for another sport however. Matt scored a goal today for the Royal Red team of the North Indoor Soccer League in a 6-2 victory over the Orange team. His classmate Troy scored both goals for Orange. Both boys also play on the baseball team.

Softball season starts a few days earlier than baseball. The JV girls first game is tomorrow at home against St. Peter Paul. Coach has big expectations after having a look at the 6th grade talent. Lauren and Amanda spent some time in the batting cages between sleepovers this weekend to knock all the rust off those bats. Lauren also thinks the girls uniforms are much nicer than the boys.

Educational Toys

Educational toys are a lot of fun. They encourage logical thinking, creativity and such. (I''m not a professional educator, but I think that's right.)

But there is a downside. Like when the creative kid finds other round holes for the balls from the educational toy fit into. This required some creativity on the Dad's part. I really didn't want to listen to that plastic ball rattle around in the subwoofer forever. I don't think Alondra wanted to do without the yellow ball either. We needed it for the yellow hole afterall.

It only took a dowel, some duct tape, and about a half hour of fishing. But the yellow hole in the new educational toy has once again been united with it's yellow ball.

The Streak Ends

The little person in the picture accomplished something this week that none of her siblings have. She caused her father's streak to come to an end. The streak was one much like the one that was ended by the black and white cookie in this Seinfeld episode. Not to brag or anything, but my streak lasted nearly 2 decades. I dare say, beat Jerry by a mile. And as all good streaks must do, mine came to an end in spectacular fashion. For you serious Seinfeldites ready to jump all over me for not knowing said streak was first mentioned in this episode, I knew that. (The second link will also work for those who don't want to read the whole synopsis of that first episode to figure out what I'm talking about. Just skip ahead to the second bullet point under trivia on the second link. I think you'll get it, though you may not thank me if you're about to sit down to dinner.) We're all better now. Deanna and Lauren seem to have escaped this round.

The picture was taken on our last 80 degree day (a week ago Monday). Today? Well, what would the start of baseball be without a little snow?