Letters From Santa!!

The kids got a wonderful surprise today!! They received birthday greetings from Grandy and Pa, who are currently in Alaska. Unfortunately, those were easily overshadowed by the birthday letters they got from Santa Claus!!!!!!! They have been informed they are on the "good list"...I'm thinkin' Santa and I need to have a talk! He obviously isn't watching closely this time of year! LOL!On the tournament home front...

Liam won his game last night 17-15...he got 2 homeruns!!! He plays again on Wednesday...
Mag's won her game tonight 29-26...she plays again tomorrow.
I'll keep you posted! Love you!!

It's A Celebre-Liam-ation!!!!

Today, we celebrate Liam Murphy! It is his 8th birthday!!

First, here's a picture of a picture of his actual birth day! Wasn't he a cutie?He's totally pumped up about this being his day. For breakfast, he had pancakes and then begged until we let him open his gifts. He got a tiny terrain titan r/c car and ...
This!!

So, I figure that's what he'll be doing today, at least until his game at 6pm!

We love you Liam Murphy!!! You're the greatest 8 yr old boy on the PLANET!!!

A Bittersweet Ending

When I say that we were ready to go all the way today, I do mean...We were READY!! We were as decked out and pumped up as any team has ever been! And we needed to be! Because who do you think we had to play??? You guessed it... the dreaded Marengo Blue!!!!!!!!!!!!

Long story short...we lost, in a good way...not a 24-1 in 4 innings way! Our boys fought hard...and lost by 1 run. They were SO DISAPPOINTED!!

Look at that face, Does he not just look THRILLED!?

Look at them...all hangin' their heads. I'm telling you people, I saw mostly grown boys cry today, quite a few of them!

Whether they have the sense to be proud of themselves or not I sure am PROUD of them!!! This team won 1 GAME all year last year!!! This year they busted their buttocks and worked SO HARD and came in first place in the league and 3rd in their tournaments!!

So , I say GO HIGHLAND BLUE!!! You boys ROCK!!!

Sam did play well today, if you're interested in knowing. He struck out once, hit out once and had base hits twice and he had a great defensive game. I kept having to turn my back on the game so I could have missed something...but I saw him catch or throw 4 outs. He has improved dramatically this year and I'm very proud of him. He was bummed on the way home and told me he's not ready for baseball season to be over.

Liam starts his tournaments tomorrow...on his birthday, but if there was ever a kid who would NOT be put out by that, you know it's Liam!

Maggie starts her tournaments on Monday...I will be shocked if her team doesn't go all the way, they've only lost one game all year and they have played a LOT of games!!

I love you all!!

And She's Off!

Today, Maggie decided it was TIME!!

After a couple rough starts (as you can see, she took her falls like a champ)...She had it!! I guess the advantage to waiting until you're almost 7 is that it comes easier! I seem to recall that I was a late bike rider too...so she's right on schedule to follow in her mothers footsteps (uh-oh)!!
It took her like 15 minutes, literally!
Sam's team won their game this evening, 9-3!! Which means they are guaranteed at LEAST 3rd place in the league...but we're in it for 1st!!! We play tomorrow at noon, then after we win at 3pm...when we win that one we have to come back Sunday and beat that team again...because they are still in the winners bracket and it's double elimination...so...
WISH US LUCK!!!!!!!
I love you all!!!

Lazy Summer Days

If for no other reason you have to love July for the flowers!! The funny hats are cool too!!

Maggie update: She has finished all of her "assigned" reading for the summer as well, so she is free to play for the rest of her break ( which is only another month!). She wants desperately to learn to ride her bike without training wheels, which is great in theory, but not so easy in practice when your choices are grass and gravel. Both of the boys learned on Mom's blacktopped driveway.
Sam, fresh home from a bike ride.

Sam update: Still in tournaments...play again tomorrow night at 6:30pm. They won their game Tuesday 12-2...Sam had a really up and down game. He had at least one error (if not 2) defensively, but he also batted 1000...and got a homerun, who cares if it was because the other teams right fielder was S-L-O-W!! We'll take it anyway!! From here on out, wins are iffy...the rest of the teams they will play are in the top 4 and at least one of them has beaten them before this season, so we'll let you know! He starts football on the 3rd.

Liam fresh back from a bike ride...

Liam update: Liam has a game tonight and one Saturday, then he starts tournaments on Sunday. He also is very close to his birthday and in extremely high spirits about it!! Plus, he's in love!! Please see : Best Friends (in sidebar), lol

Last night we went to the drive in to see the new Harry Potter, I was quite impressed with it, but I think it really helped that it's been years since I read the book. They tend to change things which always irks me...but if they changed stuff this time, I don't remember!! I kinda like it better that way! For the first time I can remember, Maggie stayed awake for the entire movie!

Jon still hasn't passed his stone...he sleeps a lot. I'll keep you posted on that too ~ maybe I'll post a pic of it when it passes (LOL)...then again, maybe I won't (eeew) !

So, from our house to yours,

have a glass of mint tea...

...and some chips and dip. summer style!

And always remember WE LOVE YOU!!!!