Party, Party, Party!

I have officially survived another Annual Holiday Open House!  Whew, what an event!

Five years of this event, and somehow it came off without a hitch once again.  Well, if you don't count my dismount from the kitchen counter.  And the fact that I had to run the air with the windows open on November 30th.

Hubs gave me the best present ever:  he took off on Friday to help me prepare.  I'm honestly not sure how I did it in year's past without his help.  Aside from all the decorating, shopping and cleaning,  the preparation of food and cocktails is a serious feat.  I'm never quite sure how many people will drop by to share holiday cheer but I'm always pleasantly surprised to see new faces each year.

This year was no different!

I had a great opportunity to visit with previous co-workers, friends, neighbors and family... all in one night.  And a great night it was!

I swore at the beginning of the night that I would take pictures since I typically don't.  I was lucky to get in just a couple of shots before the night went underway.  Thank god - in true fashion I was far to busy hosting and visiting than documenting the fun!

So here a few shots for the memory book.

Dining Room.  Thanks Pinterest for the chandelier!

My friend Sarah's beautiful clothes!

Some of Sarah's beautiful fabrics!

Queen Seamstress Sarah!

Michelle and her beautiful jewelry

And an event isn't the same without fun and cocktails with the Gallagher Girls!

The rest of the weekend was spent putting the house back together, moving furniture and washing stemware and serving trays.  Woo hoo!

In the midst of all this fun, we somehow managed to slide in 3 basketball games.  I'm so proud of Coop and his team.  We are constantly challenging ourselves with some of the best Division 1 teams in the city and each week I'm watching the boys improve both on and off the court.  It's always an amazing thing for me to witness growth in an individual and this coaching staff certainly isn't letting me down!

We are quickly moving into the full swing of December, bringing this week Coop's Christmas Program, a holiday party with the Book Club girls and another weekend of family and friends.

'Tis the season!  Have a fantastic week, friends!
Jen

Baseball Momma's Pride

Our little guy's baseball team won the first round of their tournament last night!  Woo hoo!  I cannot wait until baseball season is over... so we can start football season!  Actually, this is the only time of year we are dying as both sports overlap.  Not in a nice way, either.  Football conditioning during baseball tournaments is TOUGH.  But somehow, this adorable little thing living in my house doesn't seem to be bothered by it at all.

Coop took on a new position this year:  pitching.  He absolutely loves it.  There were some games early in the season that he started and was timid, a bit nervous and overall stressful.  As the season progressed, Coach worked diligently with Coop to find his perfect pitch.  He asked him a lot of questions about how he FELT during the game.  He totally gets my kid!  After awhile, they both discovered he gets to nervous starting the game.  He is much happier coming in towards the end of the game.  Ah... a closer is born.

The team we played last night is notorious for holding their bats.  When they fall down in runs, the coaches actually instruct their kids to hold their bats on their shoulders.  Don't swing.  It's pretty distracting to a pitcher!  When Coop came in to close, they held their bats.  The boys started walking, filling the bases and walking in runs.  He should have completely freaked out.

But he didn't.

Nope, my sweet boy pushed through.  Coach talked to him from the dugout, providing snip its of encouragement.  Doing great, Coop.  Do what you do.  You've got this.

And he did.

We were able to keep our win by the 5th inning when time expired.  And my little guy delivered the last strike.

I'm one proud baseball momma.  Without a minivan.

Coop loves leaving the ballpark in our convertible, top down, yelling bye to his friends.  Back to his little 10 year old self.  Not so serious.  Just fun.

Onward to Wednesday's game!

Happy Tuesday, friends!

Jen

For the Love of the Game

I love baseball.  My kid's baseball, to be exact.  I have a pretty fantastic reason.

Bubba played baseball every summer from t-ball to lettering in high school.  He had at least 5 different coaches as a little guy and a group of them as a middle school/high school kid.  There were some nice dad's with some baseball knowledge.  Truthfully though, none of them truly motivated Jer very much.  He played baseball because he loved it.  He loved the camaraderie of his team.  He played catcher and felt great responsibility for executing integral plays correctly.  He had a love for the game.

Coop, however, is having the luckiest streak a boy could have.  My only true explanation is that the stars aligned and placed a very special individual in our path to lead our son.  He is in his sixth year of baseball (including t-ball) and has been lucky enough to play for one coach.  Yep, ONE coach.  In rec league.  

The very best thing about this consistency is that he knows my son. REALLY knows him.  He knows exactly what he is capable of doing and he expects it from him every at bat, every moment on the mound and every step on a base.  He tells him to be calm when he needs him to relax, gently pushes when Coop needs to focus and delegates responsibility in the dugout of rallying his teammates.  The more he expects of Coop the more he delivers.  He has tremendous respect for my son, and my son of him. 

We are so blessed.  I never take for granted when special people surround my kids and care about them as much as I do.

Our team finished in second place in the regular season.  My son has perfected his swing and pitch this year.  And he didn't just do it for himself and his team... he did it for his coach.

So big shout out to Mr. Greg Carr for all his countless hours of work with these boys, consistent and motivating communication with us parents and a never ending love for the game.  As we move into tournament, just know we've got your back as much as you've got ours and our boys!  The boys will give you all they have and show you their heart.  Because you always do it for them.

Happy Sunday, friends!

Jen

Red Bull, Anyone?

Well, the waves have come crashing down.  We are in that wonderful convergence of two sports overlapping, which happens roughly 4 times a year.  It typically only lasts a week, maybe two and then we are in the clear.  We have always set parameters for the boys that they can only participate in one sport at a time and must keep their grades up in order to play.  No struggles on that front.  But sometimes, in these weird convergence moments, enough is enough.

We have an AWESOME soccer team this Spring, going undefeated 8-0 in the regular season.  Rock on!  So without being a bragger, we have to sort of plan that we may go pretty far in the post season tournament this weekend... possibly to the championship game.  You know, just to plan.

What we didn't necessarily plan on is the beginning of the baseball season, which scheduled not one but two baseball games this weekend.

So who cares, right?  Well... hubs and I signed up for the fantastic adventure / obstacle Warrior Dash run this Saturday, which causes the P's to step in and help our lame parental arses.  Oops.

7 games.  This weekend.  7 games.  1 Friday, 3 Saturday, 3 Sunday.  UGH.

It's one thing for hubs and I to sit out at fields all weekend but not really super nice to have the P's do it.  They are such amazing troopers, schlepping to all this stuff!

Now...the man child?  I have no idea how he will hold up to this.  He gives all of his effort every single time his feet hit a field.  And of course, Friday night's game won't end until 8 and then he will be up first thing for his Saturday morning soccer game.  Wanting milk (which he can't have... time has shown it does not bode well on a hot day).  Oh, and it's raining all week and 88* on Saturday.  Which usually I'm SUPER excited about, but now my P's will have to crinkle in the sunshine... ugh.

It's going to take a LOT of energy to get through this weekend.  Maybe I should introduce the P's to 5 Hour Energy.  I know in their retirement they haven't needed extra energy, but this may put them over the top.

Again - they are SUPERSTARS!  Love the P's!

Dad ALWAYS brings Coop treats for after his games! :)

Happy Hump Day, friends!

Jen