Proud Mom

I don't have any new pics to post but I do have some good news.  Both of my boys are going to the championship game this weekend!  Emerson's team will be playing the Red Sox (7-8 coach pitch league) in the morning and Hayden's team will be playing the Red Sox (9-10 kid pitch league) just before noon.  I think it is weird that both boys are playing teams with the same name but what's even weirder is that there is a kid who plays on both Red Sox teams (you can play up an age bracket if you are good enough).  Heck, now that I think about it, we have a kid on both of my boys' teams that does the same thing so he will be in both games also.  Crazy.  I hope we have a fun day of baseball on Saturday.  I am kind of bummed that the season is almost over.  My kids plan to play Fall ball so I guess we will return to the fields sometime after school starts.  I look forward to it!

Hayden sliding into home (unfortunately, he got tagged just before his feet touched the plate)

Hayden just before hitting the ball (that pitcher was striking out our best players and Hayden managed to hit it)

Big E at the bat

Emerson throwing the bat down to run (and yes, they were playing the Marlins but that isn't Hayden's team)

My Marlin Man

Hayden's team is currently undefeated in the 9/10 kid-pitch league.  He is one of their least experienced players.  The other kids have been doing this forever and they are really good.  He has learned a lot over the past couple of the months and is finally getting over his fear of the ball.  I am thankful that he is on a team with several wonderful coaches.  Without them, I think he would have gave up after the first couple of practices.  We have had to keep telling him that it takes time to learn how to play.  When he would get frustrated, it was hard to build his confidence.  He is now getting better and loves the game.  I am going to be as sad as the kids are when baseball season ends in early June.

Hayden has hit a couple of balls over the past few games and scored some runs.  Due to his recent improvement, he has earned 2 game balls.  We couldn't be prouder!!    

Listening to one of his coaches

BTW, I didn't get good pics of Hayden on this day but I will try again.

My "Little" Giant

Emerson earned the game ball 5/12/12

Baseball season is in full swing here and I love being a baseball mama.  Emerson plays for the Giants in the 7-8 division (coach pitch) and Hayden plays for the Marlins in the 9-10 division (kid pitch).  Both teams are doing fabulous.  E's team is 7-1 and H's is 8-0.  This post is for Emerson but I will post one about Hayden next. 

E started off rather slow thanks to never having played real baseball.  He played tee ball 2 years ago in a joke of a league back in Colorado but he gained nothing from that experience.  Clayton has never thrown a ball at him so he was clueless when the practices started back in March.  It took him a while, but now he can hit the ball and catch it.  He made doubles in the past two games and helped bring in several runners.  He's scored a couple of runs himself too.  I am so proud!  Last weekend, he earned the game ball by helping lead his team to victory.  I fortunately had my camera with me (it was the first time I took it with me to the ball fields) so I was able to capture his sweet moment.

If you look closely, you can see his surprised face when he was presented with the game ball.  How cute is that?!

Emerson-Baseball (Rattlers)

This was Emerson's first year getting to play and he did great! He played mostly t-ball but they started pitching towards the end of the program. He did well batting and rarely missed. His strength is definitely pitching though. I am amazed at his accuracy.

Hayden-Baseball (Dragons)

Hayden did really well this year with baseball. I was disappointed in the TRPR program though. It wasn't very instructional and I feel like he got nothing out of it. He was also disappointed in it so next year we will try to go back to LBL which is a much better program. It costs a lot more but the experience he got from it last year was remarkable.

My Soccer Boy

Emerson lolligagging on the field

Big E started soccer last month and he is having a wonderful time being on his team. We love watching his games. The funny thing about him is that he doesn't always pay attention. The above photo shows him during an actual game. He is just standing there with his hands in his pockets, lol. It was really chilly that morning but he should have at least had his hands and feet ready for action. :P

I love my little soccer guy!!

A Fun Day at Coors Field-Rockies vs. Mariners (from 6/14)

Hayden and me sitting in the stands

My gal pal Melissa and her son Braeden (who refused to partake in the picture taking, lol)

The boys got to walk around the baseball field before the game started. It was a special day for little league teams. I believe that the boys enjoyed seeing the field from that perspective. Hayden is #6 and Braeden is #13.

The As team with their coaches

This was Hayden's first professional sporting event and he seemed to enjoy it somewhat. He didn't really care to keep up with the game but he loved getting junk food in the stands. Who can go to a baseball game and not get a hot dog? We ended up leaving halfway through the game and boy was it a good thing that we did. After our long walk back to the car it started to rain. Once we hit 25 to go home we we got pounded by a hail storm. Melissa's husband called and told us there was a tornado running along 25. Ugh!! We detoured and parked under an awning at Sonic. It was insane. We couldn't see hardly at all. Thank the Lord that the storm passed and we were able to make it home safely. The tornado supposedly was near the baseball stadium. Everyone there had to cram into the stairwells for safety. Boy am I glad that we didn't have to go through that.

Playing Catcher

Last weekend, Hayden got to play the position of catcher. He didn't really like the position but he sure looked cute in all the catcher garb. Look closely in the first pic and you can see him smiling as we were cheering him on, lol.

Setting the ball on the tee (Why won't he tuck his shirt in???)