Baseball Wrap-up for Atticus

Atticus finished up his baseball season mid-May. He did a great job this year and improved so much from the fall to the spring. Although there are so many fundamentals to always work on and so many things to learn, this season is when he learned so much more about how to play the game. He learned how to make plays and what you should do at different positions. He learned a lot about his swing, even though it was a tough hitting season for him. He got stronger and threw harder, which was a big improvement from the first day of spring ball. He always had a good attitude and listened well to his coaches, despite a tiring month and some hot games. It was always a fun night when he would get an out (usually he got them playing 2nd or short and one time in right field) and of course, always fun when he got a hit or made it home. His last couple of games were great because all of those things were happening! They ended their season 3-8, (there were 24 teams in the division - lots of players!) but even at 3-8, they were ranked 18th or 19th I think? They had a young team, so hopefully they just get better with time. Here's a few quick pics during this month:

 He got a hit this night and was so excited!

 Pop came for a weekend to watch the kids play. This particular game was tough - I think they finally turned the score board off after it got to 19-2 or something. They just happened to play the 2nd ranked team on the night Pop was here.

Oh these cuties! Don't grow up my little ball players!

His team, the Redwings. I don't have them in order of kids and coaches above, but on his team were Coaches Michelle Billings, Chris Hunter, Curtis Lemons and DJ Henley and kids were Atticus, Brenner Batten, Carson Lemons, Carter McCarty, Brody Halfmann, Emma Hunter, Emmett Courtright, Jaxson Billings, Jackson Pageler, Malone O'Shea, and Owen Roberts.

 Also, I can't talk about Atticus's baseball season without talking about Luc. He and Luc have played more baseball in the backyard, front yard, and street this spring (when they aren't busy with evening games) and have had the best time. Luc also played on a Twelve Futures team (another league) and Atticus wanted to go watch one of his games so much. We finally made it to his last one.

So, the night before his end-of-year party was his last baseball game. The next day, we met the team at Pebble Creek park to play and eat pizza. Atticus INSISTED we wash his jersey so he could wear it to the party. I love that he was so proud; no other kid wore theirs but Atticus had to wear his.

I have loved watching him play baseball this spring. This fall, he wants to try basketball, so we told him he could only do Fall Baseball or Winter Basketball, so he thinks he will try basketball because he can play baseball in the spring. This mama to a newborn did not think we could do 3 sports, non-stop, for the entire school year! But, I love watching the kids do anything they want to do, so I'm up for any of it!

Atticus's 7th Birthday and Party

Since we took Atticus to the Astros game, he knew we were not throwing a friend birthday party. He seemed to be completely ok with that. His birthday fell on a Monday, so he had school and a baseball game that night, so it was going to be hard to squeeze all of the family festivities into the day, but we did it! First of all, that morning, he dressed in his new Astros gear for school. He had a cinnamon roll with a candle in it so we could sing. Then, Grace and I took Atticus lunch at school (Torchy's Tacos) for his birthday. The funny thing he asked me that morning was "when are you going to setup for my birthday party?" I realized that he wanted to know when I was going to decorate. Fortunately, I'd already ordered some sports balloons from HEB and I was making a sports themed cake, but all of a sudden I realized he was expecting decorations! So, Grace and I went to the dollar store and got lucky enough to find some table/banner/cups/plates/decorations before we grabbed his lunch that morning! Whew!

We decorated a little; added some sunflower seeds and peanuts in bowls on the table; made his cake; wrapped his gifts and made a real party for him! When he got home from school, he seemed pleased. It's just funny because I wouldn't have thought that was so important to him, but I was glad it was. Birthdays are fun!

I'll show the day in photos:

 It was an early Monday morning for Atticus's birthday breakfast of Melbo's cinnamon rolls!

 On the way to school as a 7 year old!

 While Atticus was at school, Everly and Grace and I started making his birthday cake. Oh now that Everly realizes what licking spatulas is and what batter is, she wants to help with EVERY thing we bake. Reminds me of another little girl in my house...Grace!

 She's really no help at all, except she is cute. She wants to put her finger in just the dry stuff - she doesn't care what it is, she needs a lick!

 Grace and I took lunch to Atticus at school and sat on the stage with him.

When I picked Atticus up from school, he was SO excited because he got EIGHT laps on his birthday for running day in PE! This was the most he got all year!

 He had a baseball game on his birthday, which he was excited about! And this girl - she was too funny that night. This is the field behind ours and where we were sitting. Well, she took my Sonic drink (unsweet tea with ice - she loves it) and decided to plop herself in this spot. She just entertained herself for a long time. She wasn't bothering the other game or team in that dugout, so I just watched her and let her play. She was just too funny under the "foul ball hazard" sign! https://youtu.be/vXxufw2i-2o

 It was a great night because Atticus's team won their game! And here he is with Brody, his friend in his class and on his team!

 We got home to enjoy cake and presents. Here is the cake I came up with. Honestly, I was SO proud it worked. I had to Pinterest myself away to figure out how to make those sports balls on top and then of course decorating is always just trial and error. But, it turned out cute and Atticus loved it - which is always my goal!

 The kids had to eat dinner and take baths before cake. We decided instead of party hats, we would all wear Atticus's baseball caps!

 

 And then we sang happy birthday! Everly was REALLY wanting cake, but I still think we sang to him twice! https://youtu.be/YuhmlqipMuE

 

 And then we opened presents: Atticus got clothes, legos, football and baseball cards, and more!

 He was pretty excited about this binder of football cards I scored at his school's auction carnival! https://youtu.be/MGFdf_behHU

Happy Birthday to our great son Atticus!

Astros Game with Atticus

For Atticus's 7th birthday this year, we decided instead of a friend birthday party, we would take him to a Houston Astros baseball game. GG was in town for his birthday weekend, so she kept the girls and we went on Sunday, the 29th to a 1pm game. It is always fun to have one-on-one kid time, but it is not often that it is both parents with one kid. So, we were excited to take Atticus because he loves baseball and we really thought he'd love going to a game.

 Our almost 7 year old!

 It was air conditioned inside which was so nice and they didn't even open the top for the game. I'm always hot at this point in pregnancy, so I loved the a/c!

 Family pic!

 We had to take pictures everywhere...and including the baby in this one!

 Atticus liked finding the players names around the top of the field and on the ground that were some of Astros best - including Nolan Ryan!

 After the game, we walked back to the truck and then headed to Pappadeaux's Seafood for dinner. I had just recently talked about how good this restaurant was and since Atticus liked seafood, he thought we needed to go here for dinner! It was great timing around 5pm, so nobody was there and we enjoyed a great meal of lots of fried seafood.

After dinner, because it was his birthday, the waitress brought out a FREE dessert. I was so surprised. He could pick anything he wanted from their selection and this was huge! It was probably a $10 dessert, but they just gave it to him. He loves sweets, so he loved this!

It was a really fun day having Atticus only time. The game was great and the Astros won! Plus, it was exciting - lots of action and a couple of home runs. The funniest part was that our seats were on the very top row of the highest tier. When I bought them, I went back and forth deciding which price range to buy because tickets are not cheap. I wanted a good view of the field for us and didn't mind being up high, but thought I'd splurge. Well, the original tickets that would have put us one tier lower went into my cart and then I saw that there were all kinds of fees added on that almost equaled the price of another ticket! So, I went back and bought the 4th tier tickets since I had to pay all of those fees. And we decided that was ok. We get to the game and realize we are on the VERY TOP ROW! How did that happen? It was just funny. Also, Atticus is a shopper even though he never has any money. Well, the gift shop was on my list because I wanted to buy him an Astros tshirt, since I hadn't found one before the game. So, we did and he really wanted baseball cards but we couldn't find the team baseball cards, only a pack of historic cards, which we decided he could have. Then, after the game, he really wanted a baseball, and I decided to give in because it was his birthday event. And then we found the regular team cards. He went home with lots of loot! But, sometimes, when it's your birthday, that's just what happens!

Happy early 7th Birthday Atticus!

Baseball this Month

Atticus also had his first baseball game this month, with it being his second season for machine pitch! His first game was so much fun and he got two hits and it was a great game. After that one, he went on a stretch of no hits for awhile and was discouraged. It's hard to put all of those skills together to hit the ball and some nights, he was so hard on himself. But, he still wanted to play and have fun!

 This was his first game - looking so big with his new gear and ready for the season! Here's a video of a hit: https://youtu.be/gZk_7SpU68o

 They just barely lost this first game, but it was fun to play Luc, our next door neighbor!

 His coach was really good about letting the boys play a different position every inning. During the season, he played lots of catcher, 2nd base, shortstop and outfield. He played first base and pitcher a few times as well.

 And it's always fun to see friends at games! Here is Greer on the Lugnuts team.

And here is Lane from the Raptors; poor Lane - he broke his arm the weekend before games started! But he is such a great kid and from such a great family, that he came to every game and sat on the bench to cheer his team on!

Baseball Cards, Football Cards, Basketball Cards

So, Atticus and some of our neighborhood boys are really into sports cards of all kinds. Well, this one particular day was just one of my favorite days to watch them! They were trading and then decided they wanted to setup a table for people to buy or trade their cards in our neighborhood. Atticus took a card table and a made a sign and they traded and sold and it was so fun! They were out there all afternoon. I went out and they tried to sell me all kinds of things for lots of money! They definitely didn't know the value of their own cards - which was pretty low. They had one neighbor actually buy some and then mostly, they traded with each other or sold to each other. Atticus was an easy sell, I'm afraid, but he had so much fun. In this world where all you hear is how terrible kids are these days because they are addicted to screen time, it is nice to know that our kids are not and that they know how to play and know how to get along with kids and have fun. Technology and screen time are just going to be part of things in their lifetimes, but watching them just be kids too is so satisfying.

 Atticus, Weston, Luc, Will & another kid not from our neighborhood