Baseball continues...

Baseball season continues and we had another Saturday filled with games. Teddy's Rockies played against the Sun Devils and won! Yea! Teddy played first base throughout the game and ended up with 2 great hits!

Ryan's team, the Dodgers, has been undefeated this season. Yesterday they played the second place team and unfortunately lost a tough game. Ryan played hard at first base and the pitcher position and drove in some runs while getting himself on base.

Though the season seems like it goes on forever, I still love watching the boys play ball every time. It's amazing to think how far they've come from t-ball so many years ago!

Women's Half Marathon-AZ

On Sunday, November 7th, I ran the Women's Half Marathon here in Scottsdale and Tempe. I've been training since completing my triathlon back in October, so it felt great to cross the finish and feel that I was well-prepared.
I was able to keep my training pace of 10-minute miles throughout the whole race. The shin-splints I had the week before the race, ended up being a non-issue, thank God!

I had projected my finish to be somewhere between 2:20 and 2:30, so Ted and the boys came to see me finish. Little did they know that I was heading to the finish at 2:12! They missed me at the finish (oops!) and I never could find them in the sea of 6000+ racers and their families!

When I got back to my car, which was parked about a 10 minute walk from the finish, I was able to call Ted and find out where they were:) They met me at the car and I got big congratulation hugs! Thanks, boys!

You can view the results in the attached link!

http://results.active.com/pages/page.jsp?eventLinkageID=134246

New Baseball Endeavors...

Recently, Ryan was invited to play with a new 8U team called the Sandlot. He is so excited because this team will be playing in the big tournaments that Teddy has played in before. Ryan has been wanting to play in these tournament for some time now! We're so excited that he's getting the opportunity to do so.

As there are not many 8U teams, they will play mostly 9U tournaments. This weekend was their first tournament at a park called Big League Dreams. Each field is designed after a MLB field. Ryan's team played at Yankee Stadium and at the Angels Stadium on Saturday. Unfortunately, Ryan was not feeling well this weekend and was only able to play the Saturday games.

But on Sunday, the team played really well and ended up winning the tournament! Go Sandlot!

Halloween 2010

Halloween has already come and gone...hard to believe! This year the boys chose some neat designs to carve their pumpkins. Ryan wasn't too into his pumpkin, so Daddy helped out a bit:-)
This one is his - the skull!

Teddy carved his pumpkin nearly all on his own! How did he become old enough to do that?? Here is his pumpkin...the Black Widow Spider!

Their costumes seem to be familiar...weren't they just Darth Vader and a Clone Trooper recently? Oh well. They wanted to be these again...who am I to argue?

We headed over to Kristen's house to trick or treat again this year. There seemed to not be very many kids out this year. So every house we went to was literally dumping candy into their bags for fear of having too much left over! The boys' bags were pretty heavy when the night was over!

Grand Canyon

Ted's cousin, Emily, came to visit AZ a few weeks ago. She's never been out West, so Ted's uncle Carl decided to take her up to the Grand Canyon and invited us to go! The boys were excited to see the canyon again, as was I! It was a beautiful day, too. Cool enough to warrant wearing fall clothing, which was exciting for us, since it's been in the 90's still!

The boys loved the train ride to and from the Canyon. There were entertainers who came through the cars at different times. Some were musicians, others were playing the parts of Marshall or train robber. It was really fun for the boys!

CHICAGO!

Over Labor Day weekend, we decided to take a quick trip to Chicago, both to sightsee and to visit Ted's family in Peru, IL. It was an amazing weekend and we tried to cram as much as possible into a short visit!

One highlight of the trip was certainly our visit to Wrigley Field to watch a Cubs game! They played the Mets and ended up winning a very exciting game!

We also got to visit with all the family in Peru and Barb and Elizabeth:-)

Fall Baseball

You'd think I'd have something different to post about once in a while, but it seems our life is once again consumed by baseball. Actually, that's alright with me. I love going to the games, providing it's not over 100 degrees outside. Luckily, many families have invested in tents which we all huddle under during those long, hot games in early fall and late spring.
Anyway, Ryan is playing for the Dodgers again this season and it's most likely their last season of coach-pitch. They'll be moving up next spring to kid-pitch! For now, Ryan is playing first base and is also practicing hard at catcher so that he can become one of the few left-handed catchers in the majors:-)


Teddy has changed teams this season and joined the Rockies. He is excited to be trying out his pitching arm during some of the games this season! He didn't get much of a chance to pitch last season, so he is glad to have some time on the mound.

When he's not pitching, you can find Teddy at 2nd, short or center field. He's even played 1st base occasionally. He has made new friends on this team and is quite happy with his decision to make the switch. His old team, the Outlaws, are a little older and moved up a division.

First Day of School 2010

And it's the first day of school here in Chandler, AZ! Teddy and Ryan were excited to get started this year, mostly because they knew that many of their buddies from last year would be in their classes again this year.

Ryan is starting 2nd grade today with Mrs. Upshaw. He was ready to go this morning when we headed down the hall to his classroom!

Somehow, Teddy is starting 4th grade today. Not sure where all the time went. Anyhow, he has the same teacher from last year, Mrs. Boyd, and is thrilled.

While I was happy to have them start school today, part of me was a little sad...mostly because I realize how grown-up they are both getting. Neither one wanted to make a big deal out of the first day of school, so Mom just had to step back and wave goodbye!

Cape Cod 2010

The first two weeks of July were spent in sunny Cape Cod! We all look forward to this fun vacation and time with family we don't get to see nearly as often as we'd like. This year, our weather was near perfect...plenty of beach days, sun and fun in the water.

There are just too many pictures to post on here, so suffice it to say that we all had a great time!

Outlaws, Dodgers and Dawgs!

It was a busy weekend here in the land of Baseball! Teddy played in a tournament with his Desert Dawgs team up in Peoria on Saturday and Sunday. In addition, he also played a game with his East Valley team, the Outlaws, here in Chandler.

Here's a video of Teddy's hit in the Dawgs' tournament.


Ryan also played ball this weekend. It was his last regular season game with the Dodgers. Here's a quick video of Ryan playing his favorite position: First Base!

This week, baseball finally winds down. We'll take a break for the summer and come back in the Fall to play again! While it will be nice to have a break, especially during the heat, I'll miss being at the games cheering the boys on!

I guess I'll settle for watching the D'Backs on TV and the Cape Cod league when we're back East!

Summer Cuts!

It's definitely summer here in Chandler!  Over 100 degree days are here to stay for a while.  The boys got their "summer cuts" to help keep them cool! 

Ryan prefers to go to Sports Clips for his haircuts, but we convinced him once again that Daddy does a pretty good job, for a lot cheaper:-)  Now if the boys could just get rid of their "baseball tans"!  They have tan arms, faces and necks, but the rest is still lookin' a little pasty!  A few days in the pool should cure it, though!

Teddy's 9th Birthday!

We spent Teddy's birthday up at the Grand Canyon!  The boys had never been, so it seemed like a pretty fun birthday activity!  Above is the sign at the entrance to the park.  Of course, I had to stop and take the obligitory picture!!

Teddy was amazed by his first view of the Canyon.  He couldn't believe it when we told him that this was only a part of it that we were looking at! Truly amazing! 

I love this picture...I think it shows just how HUGE it is, compared to the people standing above it.  Ted and I were able to pick out the trails we hiked a few years ago when we did our Rim to Rim hike.  I can't wait until the boys are old enough to hike down, camp and hike out.  What a fun adventure that will be!

Not sure what we're going to do to top this next year!

Swim...Bike...Run...

MAY 16th, 2010

Yup...that's me in the pool, finishing up my 300 yd swim in my first ever Triathlon!  What I thought would be the hardest part of the Tri ended up being the easiest!  I guess my days of Laurel Pond and John Jay came back to help me out! The swim was the least tiring of the three events for me.

So...here's me after a 15.4 mile bike...and yes, you are seeing correctly...I'm on a mountain bike.  I'm sure all the seasoned triathletes were secretly laughing as they swept past me, some lapping me twice!  But that's okay.  Lesson learned.  Next time, I'll be fixing up the racing bike that's been hanging in our garage for the past 7 or so years, untouched!  Ted bought it when he was thinking about triathlons, but those thoughts were apparently lost for a while.  Anyhow, I finished the bike...not an impressive time or anything, but I finished. 

Ahhh...the finish line! It was a great feeling to cross that line, knowing I'd done the whole thing!  The run wasn't hard, but it was tough after the bike.  I'll do more brick training next time around!

My disappointment from not being able to compete in the April Tri has been washed away.  It was so worth the wait!

Not sure when I'll be doing another one...it's a bit hot to do these here in Phoenix in the summer.  But come fall, maybe I'll do the Seville Tri again!

300 yd Swim: 6:20

15.4 m Bike: 1:02:01

2 m      Run: 16:08

Desert Dawgs

Teddy was recently invited to play for a new baseball team called the Desert Dawgs.  It's made up of players from different teams in his regular East Valley league, as well as some others.  Last night was their first "game"...a scrimmage, actually.  They played against possibly the best 9U team in Arizona, the Sandlot.  It was a tough game, but the team held it's own against stiff competition. 

I love the uniforms!!  I was a little anxious about the white pants...they might never be this white again.  But the blue against the white just looks outstanding!  He had a great time playing last night.  He played center field for most of the game.

Notice the red cleats...well, he wanted the red ones this spring because they match his Outlaw uniform...his uniform for this team is blue...so I see some new cleats in his future!!

Baseball continues...

It seems that we are forever playing baseball!  I might gripe about it sometimes, but secretly (or not so!) I love being able to go to the field and cheer on my boys!  Teddy's team, the Outlaws, are having a great season.  There have been a lot of close games and nailbiters!  Teddy can usually be found either in center field (where he made a great catch the other night!) or at 2nd base. 

Ryan's team, the Dodgers, moved up a division this season, and they have found some stiffer competition than last season!  But they are pulling through and winning some games, too.  Ryan loves to play first base and catcher, but dreams of someday being a star left-handed pitcher:-)

Okay...so I'm a proud baseball mom!  The games are getting harder and harder to watch as they get more competitive.  I'm the mom jumping out of her seat as her son makes a great play or scores a run.  I know, I know...don't embarrass them!  But both boys claim that they can't hear me yelling when they're on the field.  Guess that's a good thing!

First Communion and Confirmation!

I can't believe that Teddy is almost 9!  On April 17th, he received his First Holy Commnunion AND Confirmation, all in the same day!  It seems strange to most of us, I know, as we didn't receive Confirmation until we were in 8th grade or above!  But Teddy took the whole thing very seriously and made Mom and Dad proud!  He looked all grown up in his suit and tie, though he couldn't wait to get it off afterwards and trade it in for his baseball uniform!

Uncle Mike, his godfather, was Teddy's Confirmation sponsor.  We were so thankful that the family could be together for this speical day! Mike brought TJ and Maria with him...we missed Yvette and Trevor!  Kevin, Kerrie and Kyle flew in for the festivities, as well! 

Barb and Elizabeth were able to get away for a long weekend, too!  And my mom, dad, Nanny and Aunt Mary were all able to come out to celebrate with us!  Luckily, my mom found a large house to rent for the week, so we had plenty of space for everyone. 

We couldn't have asked for better weather, either.  It was sunny and not too hot the whole weekend! 

Now we're looking forward to seeing all the cousins again for our annual trek to Cape Cod!