Christopher, the Baseball Stud

So much of my Facebook entries and blogging seem to be about James. Since he has so many different races, it seems that I have so many pictures of him. So, here, a blog post devoted simply to incredible feats by Christopher on the baseball field.

Like his brother, he is a natural at first base. He has a great glove and a good sense of the game.

He also can swing a bat. In the last few games he really has gotten the feel for how to smack the ball and get it to the outfield. He's a strong guy.

If you look really carefully (and largely magnified) you could see the ball in his glove. He turned and headed off the runner from second. He knows the game.

Look at that stretch. Sheer athleticism.

Last defensive play of the game. Picks it up at first (with nice form with that hand over his glove).

And makes it to first for the out.

I love being the mom of boys!

Peachtree City Youth Tri

Big day today. Christopher wanted to do another triathlon so we packed up and drove to Peachtree City last night to drive/walk the course of the Peachtree City Youth Triathlon and then on to Newnan to spend the night closer to the event so we wouldn't have to get up so early.

It was still plenty early and I wonder if he had second thoughts for just a few minutes. This event is incredibly well-run so it starts on time and is very organized. Thank goodness.

Christopher was in heat 17. To show how efficient they are, he was in the pool by 8:40. That's 160 10 and unders swimming 50 yards before him. Impressive.

He was fairly quick out of the pool and he walked with purpose to the transition area. There were confusing instructions since the main announcer told them they could run once they got off the pool deck, but the guy in charge of the transition area told them they couldn't. So, of course, some got away with running and most didn't. Sports are so great for opportunities to talk about life generally.

From swimming to the bike. He had a pretty good transition, but we did pick up a few tips for next time.

He was definitely a man on a mission.

Finishing the bike to have the opportunity to run...

It was a nice scenic route, but by that point he was pretty tired. I was so proud of him because I could tell he was hurting but he really gutted it out.

Finally, the finish line was in sight.

He did it. 50 yard swim, 3 mile run and .6 mile run. I was so incredibly proud him (I know, I said that already). He was a little disappointed with his place, but 10th out of 42 was pretty good I thought, especially when he hasn't done one in two years.

Whew....something to drink.

His trademark finish. And, oh...by the way, when he realized he beat James's time on this same course when he was this age, he felt a lot better :)

More Swim Team

I admit it. I'm all about the pictures and the stories they tell. Christopher is always encouraging his teammates whether it's on the ballfield or at the pool. I love that about him. Sometimes I forget these little microcosms of what's going on until I reminded in the pictures.

Backstroke isn't exactly his favorite, but Keith wasn't there for the entire meet and that was about all he did before Keith left. Oh, yeah. Did I mention that Keith had to take all the pictures we have at the meet because I was having to time? That is worth a post of its own...timing, not Keith taking pictures. He's a pretty good photographer himself.

Sometimes I think the most fun at the meet is all the snacks you can cram in from the concession stand between events. Sometimes I wonder how we make it through a meet without some kid....well, use your imagination. I have never been to one, though, where the pool had to be closed down. They were selling the sour Skittles and I think these were racing to see how many they could cram in. Christopher may have won, but I think it was a short-lived victory. It took his mouth a few minutes to recover.

The best way to fix a sour mouth. Something sweet, of course!!

Should be a fun swim season. He has improved so much since last year and really wants to get better. He thinks it'll help doing triathlons, which he wants to give a go again this year. More on that front real soon! Y'all have a great week.

Christopher's Post

I promised more visits. Today I am sharing a link to another favorite blog. Click here to see Christopher's most recent blog post.

Christopher's Turn

He's just the cutest. I have lost count of how many baseball seasons we have had - seems like 100s. I had reach a point of saturation, but now I find myself enjoying being at the ballfield...maybe because it's so familiar. And, maybe because I think my Christopher is just an adorable baseball player. Don't tell him, though, because boys are supposed to be handsome - not cute or adorable.

I have been trying to get pictures of all the kids - my reputation from phototaking during All Stars preceded me and the expectations have been high. That said, I have mostly only been to night games. Good lighting for about 30 minutes and then you have to get pretty creative. Maybe my reputation won't be so good for next season.

One of the nights, the coaches invited me to come onto the field. The ump came over to advise me that he usually wouldn't let a parent sit there, but....well, I was the exception (sweet Southern smiles work wonders). Little did he know that since one of the coaches is the commissioner of that league, he would have gotten outranked regardless.

I love the pictures under the lights, but only when they aren't moving. It gets a little tricky with motion. I have learned that's when you do creative things to make it look like you meant for them to be blurry. I think making the photo look like an antique is a really, quick easy way to do that and I do like the effect. Seriously, how could you not use a photo that shows this kind of focus even if it is significantly flawed?

But then, color is really the best when they aren't moving. Sorry, Christopher, you're just too adorable.

CBT's Birthday

It seems that once a week is working for me right now I'll go with it. After this post I will have you caught up to just before Thanksgiving. Well, you sort have part of Thanksgiving already, so maybe this gets you to the middle of Thanksgiving. But, as usual I digress.

Christopher was a Thanksgiving baby. He was supposed to be a Christmas baby with a due date of December 23rd. Thankfully (at least I think so), he was born the Tuesday after Thanksgiving in 2000. (I'm sure it had nothing to do with the fact that everyone was at our house for Thanksgiving that year since I couldn't travel.) I went into labor early (for the second time) and announced to anyone that would listen at the hospital that I was not going home until I had Christopher. (I wonder where his strong will comes from.)

All that to say that often his birthday gets all mixed up with the Thanksgiving festivities or traveling. This year, we made a plan to have his party before Thanksgiving so it absolutely would be separate. You must understand that his parties are in the planning phase for a good six months before they occur. We agonize over all the details. He handles picking the theme and planning all activities. Unlike his older brother who has had most of his parties at a venue, Christopher always wants his at home so he can control events.

After several close calls with Stars Wars, Indiana Jones and Batman, the Army theme won the day. He carefully picked the decorations and the plan for the cake. Yep, he even decorates his own cake. Has for years. He threw me a curve ball this year, though. Usually, I just have to get icing of his choice on the cake and then he decorates. This year? Camouflage, of course. Have you ever tried making icing that is black, brown, gray and various shades of green? A challenge to say the least.

The red stuff on the lower right corner? It's a rocket from a rocket launcher on the left hand side. It's all the flame/fire that comes from the hit. He really doesn't leave out any details. The men were carefully positioned to look like a real battle. (Just ignore the turkey candle holders in the middle of the table. We got them off before it was time to blow out the candles.)

I love Luke's face in the background of this photo. Have no idea what they were saying or why he was reacting this way.

Did I mention it was a spend-the-night party? Did I mention that at 3am, I had to get up and make them turn off the light? Did you know that when you have an army theme, you have to play war for hours on end?

I think they had a really good time and they seemed to be in pretty good spirits when they left. I cannot be held responsible for what they were like after they got home (exhausted) and the sugar from the doughnuts kicked in. I had to reward them for protecting the homefront.

Cammo Man

So, while were gone to Nationals, Christopher certainly didn't let moss grow under his feet. He was in camp and working on a mask in his free time.

I thought he did a great job in painting his own camouflage mask. He just has the most gorgeous eyes.

Simply Phenomenal

Christopher was in his first play this weekend.  We have always thought he was a little entertainer - loves to be in front of an audience.  (Isn't he the cutest little ant?  The play's name?  Antsylvania.)

I mean, who else do you know whose favorite thing in school is public speaking.  (For those of you wondering how we pull that off in our homeschooling endeavors....each week at Classical Conversations, they have to do a presentation.)

He was cast as a weed.  A bad weed.  A bad weed with an attitude.

And let me tell you, he pulled it off totally.  He had the attitude.  He had the tone of voice.  He had fingers pointing.  He didn't look like an 8-year-old playing a weed.  He was the weed.  With an attitude.  

Keith said the camp director said he was a natural - I just didn't know how much of a natural.  He loved it and looked like he had found his thing.

On the way home, he said he had found his new sport....only it's not a sport, he said.  We reassured him that was ok - that dancing using a lot of energy, especially when you really get into it.  (Although there was some mention of baseball.)

Molly has always said she can hardly wait to see where these guys take us.  

This is a definitely a new direction and a fun one at that.  Stay tuned.  We have video and as soon as I re-figure out how to get a short clip up, I will.  You will have to see the weed with 'tude.

Forgot How Cute He Was

You all know I have many, many ongoing projects.  (By the way, I am making good progress on the scrapbooking.  2007 is almost completely done and 2009 is almost caught up.)  My latest project is getting my roughly 20,000 photos off my lapbook because I just filled it up.  It literally won't let me save anything else to it.

You should see my desk.  I have three, yes 3, external hard drives.  Call me anal, but these are our family's memories.  To reinforce that, I came across a couple of videos that I had totally forgotten I had taken.  Christopher was just too cute in these.  

This cutie is in his first theatrical performance tomorrow night.  Bet I'm entering a whole new world.

Swim Team

Tonight was Christopher's one and only swim meet.  We have missed so much because of baseball, general schedule and swimmer's ear.  He hadn't even been to practice in a couple of weeks and decided he was just too tired to go to practice this morning.

Yep.  That's green hair.  River Rat green.  I remember kids having green hair from the chlorine, but this is hair spray to show team spirit.  (We actually converted from a chlorine-based system to a salt-based system - lot of ear infections, swimmer's ear and other sicknesses to the jury is still out.)  You should see some of these kids.  

I was so proud of him tonight.  He has a very distinct approach.  He "streamlines" or stays underwater as far as he can before he starts his stroke.  For the 25 free he went almost the entire length of the pool.  Unfortunately, he was so into his swimming he didn't realize he was drifting out of his lane.

Such great form.  I was able to watch him in one event (missed the others because I was timing) - there was a group of guys James's age standing around me.  They thought it was so cool that he was able go half the length of the pool underwater.  They went on and on.  It was a cool moment for a mom.  He was about even with the two other leaders at the turn.  

He really turned it on the second half of the second 25 and won by a decent margin in his heat.  We didn't stay to find out exactly how he did, but I was so proud of him.  He really gave it his all.  

Boys Will Be Boys

I have so many things to update you on....baseball, cycling, family visits.  I have so many pictures to go through, but in the meantime...

I was working at my desk the other day and the boys were very quiet.  Too quiet.  The next thing I know, Christopher shows up with James following closely, but not too closely behind.  With a Sharpie in his hand.

Yep.  This amazing work was done with a Sharpie.  Keep in mind we had a baseball game that night.  I tried to calmly respond that this was a very creative work, but they needed to figure out how to get Sharpie off Christopher's face in the next 30 minutes.  Somehow they did it.  Well enough that James showed up with black markings.  They got if off too fast for me to get a picture.  I just thought quiet was a good thing.

Out of the Mouths....

Whoa!  Too much going on for sure.  I have thought about sitting down to share almost every night this week, but we just have so much going on.  The two additions to the current schedule are swim and All Stars for Christopher.  We have a long history with All Stars, albeit with a very short reprieve last year.

Christopher has grown up so much since last year and has actually asked us if his attitude has  been better.  Tonight he absolutely amazed me.

I have been taking pictures of all the kids at practices and our scrimmages.  Yesterday I took a bucket to stand on so I could get above the fence so get better shots.  It was one the hubby had that had a nice, cushiony seat on it.  Well, tonight when we headed back to the park I realized I had left it.  I got in a really bad mood really fast.

In the car Christopher asked me why "[I] was so negative about the bucket" and then that I should "be more optimistic."  We both prayed for my attitude (and that the very nice bucket that any baseball coach would envy would still be there).  How did he get to be so wise?

By the way, check out the buzz that his dad gave him today.  Isn't he precious with that haircut in his catcher's gear?

Hula Man

My boys are pretty sports-minded and have excelled in many athletic endeavors.  One I didn't know about was....

I looked up at the reunion and there he was...CBT hula-hooping away.

I always knew he had his daddy's rhythm.  I could never get the knack of the hula hoop - he definitely had some moves!

Mommyhood

There are some moments that I really love being a mom more than others.  There are those moments of being impressed at races/baseball games, moments of pride when they do the right thing, sweet moments when CBT just comes up and gives me a hug....and then those moments when they just make me laugh.  The other night, CBT got in the bed and waited for me to tuck him in.  It took longer than it should have.  When I walked in, I almost laughed out loud.

He was dead asleep with a Santa cap on.  He loves to dress up even for bed.

Video

I did it!  I posted a video, but I have to confess I did it as a ghost writer on CBT's blog.  It seemed only fair since he is the star of it and, well, just in case it was some kind of disaster.  

Check it out if you have 32 seconds.

Shout Out to CBT!!

Yesterday was the Athens Twilight Criterium.  It is a really big deal every year in Athens.  There are bouncy things, food, running races, bike races....all kinds of things.  They also had an "underage" race.  I am sure there's an official name for these races, but I call them underage because they're for kids who aren't old enough to hold a bike license.  (You can get a bike license on January 1st of the year you turn 10.)

Last year CBT signed up for one in Roswell, but it turns out that it really wasn't a race.  They just opened the course and let kids ride on it.  After waiting for hours and going through some pre-skills "testing" that was quite a disappointment.  (Especially for certain grandparents who had come from days and days away - not really, just a few hours.  They had come to see CBT and James, but James broke his arm the weekend before.  Sorry, I'm digressing again.)

We decided to risk it with the Athens race because CBT really wanted to do a race.  Thank goodness it turned out to be a real race.  They divided the kids by girls and boys by age and then by whether they had training wheels or not.

Let me just say for the record that the girls definitely race with more style.  This little girl who ended up winning the 5-year-old with training wheels race, rode with her baby doll riding with her.  Priceless.

The boys - 5-year-old with training wheels - well, they were boys.  There were adults at the turn on the course telling them to slow down.  It was just like the pros...the guy in the front took the turn too sharp and fast and took out this entire field.  But just like the pros, they jumped right up.  Or course, the pros don't have to deal with sharp turns on training wheels.  I would love to see how they would do with training wheels.

Then came the 8-year-olds with no training wheels.  (Well, not right then.  We had go through all the 6- and 7-year olds.)  While the emcee was burning time, he walked up to a kid and asked him his name.  I was way down the course and all of a sudden I heard "Christopher."  Oh, boy, I thought.  "Christopher, are you going to win this race?"  I heard a very loud yes over the very loud sound system that covered all downtown Athens.  He goes over to the child next to him and asked him if Christopher were going to win, the boy confidently said, "No."  The emcee, of course, loved that and went on and on about how the gauntlet had been thrown down by Christopher and this child had answered the call.  "Now," he said, "it is time to find out if Christopher can deliver."

It was quite an exciting race (on the pro course).  It was two laps that went down a hill, turned and then came back up a hill.  The other boy had a heavier bike and got ahead of CBT on the downhills.  Both times, Christopher caught him on the uphill and would have a decent lead.  The uphill was a long, tough one, but CBT had an amazing race and left it all on the course.  He won.  The emcee was quick to declare that Christopher threw down the gauntlet and then delivered.  It was so exciting (and, honking hot....and probably dangerous given the loose murderer, but who cares?  CBT won his first real race).  He was very happy and very tired.

By the time James raced, it was ridiculously hot.  When I went to check on him just before the start, he told me he had thrown up.  Did he want to sit out?  What kind of question is that?!  Of course not.

He racing kids 10-14.  As of yesterday he is 11 so it was a tough race.  We don't know the results, but I am really proud of him.  The big kids didn't lap him and he stayed up with them until about middle of the race.  He is getting so strong.  He did another a race this morning, but you'll just have to be teased until I get the pictures.