Reflect on Reflections: Crafty - Film Video 2017

Crafty has become a pretty decent filmmaker over the years. This is one of my favorites from 2017. It is appropriate that we honor her today as she is graduating from Salt Lake Community College in a few hours.

Make it a Double!

Curly played in another baseball game on Monday. I say played, because we have had so many cancelled for rain this season! This is his 5th game and 5th loss for the team. I say for the team because even though they lost by 10 runs according to the Mercy Rule, Curly played a very successful game.

We were playing the Crushers from Copper Hills, a team with very few losses. Their pitcher was extremely fast and almost no one was able to hit off him. We were 3 up, 3 down for the first 3 innings, but by the 4th inning, he was getting a little tired. Quite frankly, these are 10-year-olds, none of them should be allowed to pitch more than 3 innings.

We were still scoreless and our first batter grounded out to 1st. The 2nd batter hit a hard ground that got him to 1st base and we were all thrilled. When the next batter walked, it put Curly up to the plate. It was his 2nd at-bat for the game and like most of the other boys, he struck out the 1st time. But this time he was determined to hit.

Make Mine a Double!

He swung at the 1st pitch and missed, adjusted his feet and waited impatiently for the 2nd. It was a beautiful pitch and right where he likes them. He pounded it into the outfield and it nearly hit the fence before one of the boys snatched it up. Both runs scored as Curly rounded 1st and safely made it to 2nd. Two RBIs and a double!! In subsequent pitches, he managed to make it home to score the 3rd run for the inning.

After the game was over, Curly convinced me he was starving and needed something from the snack shack. I don't generally buy ballpark food because of the expense, but this time I relented. As we made our way over to the ordering booth, the coach from Copper Hills stopped us and congratulated Curly on his amazing hit. "You know," he commented, "Almost nobody hits off that pitcher, and certainly not a pounding double like that." He gave Curly a fist bump. "Good job!"

Curly's grin was a mile wide. I figured his double was worth a double, but even that huge grin could barely stretch far enough to get over all that food. Great job, Curly! Love watching you play.

April Birthdays

Tonight we celebrated our one and only April birthday... Twiz. Our kitchen remodel is nearly finished, and we finally had ovens so my sweetie cooked the prime rib we had planned for Easter Sunday.

The Beast told me he was too tall to fit in the frame... I guess he was right.

The food was delicious, the birthday boy gracious, and we had a great time watching the video Drama Queen prepared full of birthday wishes for Twiz.

This was my favorite part. Just one of the many perks of being the Grandma...

Volleyball Club GSL

I couldn't possibly write a blog post last night because I had to get up so ridiculously early to get to Scout's Volleyball Tournament on time! This was the big and final one of the season, held in Kaysville, Utah. It's about a 45-minute drive for us and she had to be there at 8:30. I know, not THAT bad, but it is a Saturday...

They had to finish up the pool play they started on Friday night before they could begin their single elimination tournament. Pool play meant two games to 25 with each of the 3 other teams. I was worried that Scout would be tired and lackluster. They won their first game and then lost the second one. The coach had her sit a few times mostly for that reason.

I pulled her aside and reminded her that she was the backbone and leader of the team and she had better pull it together or we would be headed home much earlier than she wanted to go. She moped a bit longer and then plastered a smile on her face and got to work.

It's amazing to me how the attitude of just one athlete can change the course of an entire tournament. That and several pounding well-placed serves in a row! Honestly, she was amazing, and I'm not saying that just because I'm her mom. I'm pretty sure nearly every other parent with a child on her team came up to her after the next two games were won and told her the same thing.

They emerged from pool play in first place with only the single loss. I've never seen them play so well! The tournament started out with two more solid wins and then they headed for the final match. We had watch the Rush team play another team and I was not confident that we had a chance with them. Their girls were much taller and they actually knew how to block.

Surprisingly, our girls won the first game and then lost the second one. That put them in a 3rd game to 15 to decide the championship. Right before the match started, I told Scout if she would bring home the medal, I would give her $10. Since she is a little broke right now, she flippantly responded, "We got this!" and headed off to join her friends.

That final game was a see-saw until they got to 10. Then GSL pulled out and never looked back. At 13, Scout came up to serve and dropped an ace right down the line. Our girls were so excited and the other team so devastated that Game Point was not even returned although Club Rush did managed to give it a feeble attempt.

At the beginning of the season, I would never have guessed these girls would be the ones to bring home the medals. Scout, I hope you always remember this very important lesson; one voice really can make a difference. So proud of you! Here's your $10...