A little practice never hurts!

This afternoon, after church, Scott got out the "Zip 'n Pro" for Gage to practice batting. That little thing is amazing and I wish I had invented it. It is a ball that has 2 long nylon ropes running through the center of it. One end connects to something stationary like a pole or something similar. The other end has 2 handles that someone holds onto. When the person holds the 2 handles and spreads their arms out to their side, the ball goes zipping down the ropes for a batter to hit. If they hit the ball, it just zips down the line back to the "pitcher". It's really pretty handy when you are surrounded by houses and people who don't want their windows broken out by a baseball and you don't have enough people to field the ball. Anyway, Gage was doing a little batting practice in the backyard this afternoon and I believe it paid off! Tonight at his baseball game he hit the ball and got on first and actually batted in a run! He was so thrilled you could see his smile all the way across the field. I almost started crying I was so happy for him! He's been a little frustrated as he has struck out every single time he's been up to bat. I'm hoping that this hit has given him the confidence he needs to continue hitting the ball. Unfortunately, Scott had to work this afternoon and into the evening and missed Gage's first hit. Hopefully there will be plenty more of them for Scott to witness.

This is our last week of school. This year has gone by so quickly. I can't believe Gage is going to be a 3rd grader and Emma a 1st grader! It seems unreal. I wish they would just stop growing and would stay little awhile longer. They just grow up too fast. There are a lot of fun things going on at school this week. Tomorrow the 2nd graders are going to Ft. Lincoln and Gage's class is going to "Camp Skeeter". They had to take in plain white t-shirts for this week, so I'm guessing they'll be tye-dyeing them. There was a permission slip sent home with the kids last week and a warning about how thick the woodticks are out at Ft. Lincoln. Apparently if you put Vick's Vapor Rub around your ankles, then put your socks on, it makes the ticks stay away. (There's another use for Vick's Vapor Rub for you Mom! It's the "cure-all" medicine!) On Wednesday the PTO will be setting up inflatables at Northridge and at Corpus Christi for a fun day. The entire 2nd grade class will be going on a field trip on Friday to the baseball diamonds to play a bunch of fun games. We have a few extra things going on as well, like baseball practice, a baseball game, I will be working in the lunchroom again on Thursday, and will be volunteering to help do inventory and start rearranging the library, so it's looking like another busy week!