Day with Aunt Lisa

Thanks Aunt Lisa for sending the following pictures my way!

The Young Farmers had a day filled of farm tours and baseball today, so Aunt Lisa took Dallas and Reba out for a fun-filled afternoon.  They met up with the group at Kelsay's Dairy.

I think they loved visiting the baby calves!

After their tour of the dairy, they headed to Indy to watch the Indians!

Thanks Aunt Lisa for the special day!  Hopefully, everyone can get up in time for the sheep show tomorrow...

Until next time...

Tourney Day 2

Today was second day of Dallas' baseball tourney.  We played at 2 against the number 3 seed, West Terrace Black.  We faced them earlier in the season, where we lost.  This time around our boys were hitting much better, and kept the score close the entire game.  Dallas started out in right field, but after not paying attention in the 2nd (or 3rd) inning (and missing a hit that came his way), the coach moved him to the catcher position for the next inning.

What might have been done as a "punishment move," turned out to be a great fit for Dallas!  He loved it, and he was great at it.  The coach has rotated 2-3 other boys through the catcher position all season, and I am proud to say, Dallas caught more pitches during the first batter than those other boys did combined.

Dallas caught the rest of the game.  He even got up and in position for plays at the plate a few times.

In the end, our boys played hard and smart and WON!

The boys play again next Sunday against the winner of the Loser's Bracket.

Unfortunately, we won't be there.  We will still be in Iowa (or making our way home from Iowa) celebrating Aunt Katie's marriage.

We did decide to make a stop by Dairy Queen for some celebratory ice cream!

Until next time...

Tourney, Swimming and Remodeling

This morning, Dallas' baseball team started their tourney.  They were seeded 4th in the 'B' Bracket.  We have learned that the league divides the Pinto teams into 4 brackets (A, B, C, and D).  The 'A' Bracket has the top 6 finishing teams of the league.  The 'B' Bracket contains the teams that finished 7-12 and so forth.  It is a double elimination tournament, so there is a winners bracket and loser's bracket.  If you win, you stay in the winners bracket, if you lose, you move to the losers bracket and face another team that has lost.  If you win there, you continue in the bracket, with a chance to make it back to play the final winner of the winners bracket.  If you lose in the losers bracket, you are eliminated from the tourney.  Clear as mud?

So...Dallas' team played the first game of the tourney at 9 a.m. against the 5 seeded Corpus Christi Gold team.  We played them in our last game of the regular season and lost.  Needless to say, our boys were on a mission, and they were able to get the victory!  With the win, we were scheduled to play again at 1 p.m. against the number 1 seed, St. Joe White.  We did not play them in the regular season, but our boys played hard, and they defeated St. Joe 8-4!  With the second win of the day, we were finished until tomorrow afternoon.  

It was such a hot day, so the kids were begging to get in the pool once we got home.

In other news, the new pews were delivered to the church today!

Until next time...

Final TBall Game

Tonight was Reba's final game of TBall 2015!  She even got a hit off the machine!

Dallas was kind enough to spend his own money and buy his sisters (and himself) push pops.  Needless to say, Sugar LOVES them!

Gram and Pa even came down to watch one last game

Running into home for the last time...

She also passed him (again)!

Until next time...

Tball Game 7

This morning was Reba's second to last game.

She had no hits off the machine today, but she did do an excellent job at first base!

Until next time...

Baseball

Back to back nights of baseball games does not seem to bother these girls (too much)...

 It was another great game for our boys, they won 15-3!

One more game before the tourney begins.

Until next time...

Hit x2!

Dallas had a great game tonight!  Not only did he hit the ball, but he did it twice!!!

The first time, he was thrown out at first base, but he moved over two runners

The second time, he was the first batter of the inning and was thrown out at 1st base.

In the end, we are super proud of his improvement in batting, and our boys won 9-4.

Until next time...

Pinto Game and Outside Work

Dallas' team is cruising right along through their season - they only have 3 more regular season games before the tourney starts.  They currently have 6 wins-3 losses-2 ties.

Today they played the other St. Wendel Pinto team.  Our boys played hard, and had an awesome comeback inning, but they still ended up loosing.

The most exciting part was that Dallas hit the ball off the machine!  It has been a few games since he has done that.  Unfortunately, he was thrown out at first base, but let's hope this ends the drought he has been in.

After the game, we came home and unloaded the 2 yards of mulch we picked up that morning.  I then took Reba and headed to get another 1 and 1/3 yards of mulch and a new phone.  (Julianne had dropped mine in water a few days ago, and I fried it when I plugged it in without it being completely dried).  Once I got home, we finished laying the mulch, and then we got to work finishing the garden planting.  Thankfully, we had good helpers!

Until next time...

TBall Game 3

Reba had her third game this morning against a St. Joe team.  She was able to play 1st base this time!

Little Miss even got hits off the pitching machine each time she was up to bat!

Until next time...

TBall Continues

Reba had her second TBall game last night, and Daddy was able to attend this one (they got all of their fields planted in a span of 7 days - amazing)!

In TBall, they play 2 innings.  When a team is batting, they bat through the entire order - there are no outs.  Each batter gets up to 4 balls off the pitching machine, and if they don't get a hit, then they hit off the tee.  The runners only move one base at a time, until the last batter, then they all run in and "score".

Tonight, Reba got to be the last batter of the inning for her team...but she wasn't the last one to cross the plate.

Until next time...

Baseball vs German Township

I was so incredibly proud of Dallas tonight!  He had a base hit AND drove in 2 runs!

Unfortunately, the German team had a LOT of power hitters, and we lost.

Until next time...

Reba's 1st Game and Hit

Reba had her first TBall game tonight, Dallas had a game, and Doug was busy planting!  Luckily, I have a good friend who has a son on Reba's team, and a son on Dallas' team, and her husband farms too.  We were able to share rides, and get all the kiddos were they needed to be on time.

Reba had a lot of fun, and she even got a little dribbler of a hit off the machine.

Until next time...

Baseball Game 2

Dallas' Pinto team had their second game this evening.  They played their first game last Saturday against a Mt. Vernon team, which they won.  Tonight was against the St. Ben team.

Dallas had a great hit!  After the game, we had to have a little chat about the basics of base running.  He over-ran 2nd base, but was able to get back in time.  Then, he didn't tag home plate as he ran in to score because the catcher "was in his way".  Thankfully, he came from the dugout and was able to tag and get the run before the other team was able to get the ball to the catcher!  In the end, we won! And it was a great night of baseball.

Until next time...

Baseball and Easter

Dallas is playing in the Pinto league at St. Wendel Athletic Club this spring.  We are learning all the ins and outs of the league as we go, including fundraising.  The first fundraiser we did was Smoked Ribs and Pork Butts.  The league smoked the meat today during the scrimmage games.  Let me tell you, it smelled absolutely amazing!

In the Pinto league, there is no pitcher, but a pitching machine.  The boys get 4 strikes or 6 pitches off the machine before they are out.  An inning is over when they defense gets 3 outs, or the batting team scores 5 runs.  We play 6 innings or for an hour and a half.

Reba had Tball practice this morning at the same time as Dallas' game, so Doug took pictures for me.  Dallas was able to get 2 hits off the machine, but he was thrown out at first base each time.

There are two Pinto teams at St. Wendel, and unfortunately, the other team won today.

After the game, we came back to the house.  Pa, Gram and Aunt Josie brought some Easter goodies for the kiddos, and they were excited to see what was in their baskets!

You might remember, Julianne latched onto the Daniel Tiger Reba received for her birthday.  Gram thought Julianne would enjoy Katerina, but Reba has now taken a liking to it!

Aunt Josie and Gram then hid Easter eggs in the back yard.

The best part of hunting eggs? Checking out all the goodies that were hidden inside!

Until next time...