Monday, August 27, 2012

4th place in Rookies !

In one way, baseball season seemed very long....and in another way, it absolutely flew by!


The boys had a wonderful season.
They finished FOURTH in the whole league--a fantastic accomplishment!

The boys after their last season game, receiving their trophies.
Colin, Mr. Calm and Collected :)

Some excited and happy boys!

As great as our "fans" were, and as nice as the trophies were, I truly think that the REAL award
should have gone to the siblings! Those sweet babies were there every single game, 
cheering their brothers on. They deserved an award too, in my book!

Grandma Jane and our crew

And, of course....can't forget the best friend.
Love these two sillies!

Thanks for a wonderful season Mud Hens--it was so much fun and we are proud of your accomplishments!

Monday, August 20, 2012

First day of school, 2012

It's that time of year again.

Today, I herded my crew through the door of Catlin Grade School to begin what promises to be another great year there.

The only difference? This year, all three of my boys went.  

Cameron headed off to first grade....

Colin became my big third grader....

....and, sweet little Ethan--headed off for his milestone year: Kindergarten.

Ethan has been counting down the days since....oh....February or so. :)
He is just over the moon to be able to GO everyday, off with his brothers, instead of 
watching them leave like all the previous years.

You can tell by the look on his face--his response when I said, "Ethan, how excited are you?"

Of course, the boys would have no part of leaving for school until Lolee girl got in a picture with them.
This may be my new favorite picture.

We walked everyone into the gym, where each boy was seated in their class' spot.
Ethan, with his friends Jameson and Cooper, both of whom played on his T-ball team
 AND are now playing on his soccer team! 

You could tell that Ethan just felt like such a big, grown up boy.

Cameron was happy because he was "the FIRST one in the FIRST GRADE SPOT!"
Silly boy.

Colin in the third grade section

Then it was time to line up and head to classrooms.

Off he goes!

First, we dropped Colin off in his class. There is no funny business in third grade--
those kids dropped their bags, sat down, and got right to work! LOL

Then, time to take Cameron in, get him situated, and say goodbye.


He did great--no nerves, and obviously VERY happy to be a first grader in Mrs. Fretueg's class!
{And at a table with his buddy Waylon--BONUS!}

Then, for the last dropoff.
{And the hardest.*sniff*}
To the Kindergarten room--
which, this year, is full of Mrs. Winkler's "sweet treats"....

....including this guy.
I'm fairly certain he'll be one of the sweetest. *grin*

Ethan found his hook and hung up his bag and lunchbox....

...then found his seat....

....and made some friends.

He was all smiles....and, amazingly, so was Mommy. 
{Well....until the hallway. But that's between us.}

The times, they are a changin'.  But no matter how big they get or where they go....

....they will all--each one of them--still be my babies.

Friday, August 17, 2012

Cameron gets his big break

Toward the end of our Mud Hens season, Cameron got the chance he had been waiting for ALL season: to be a Mud Hen himself.


We were short three players on our team, which meant we could "pull up" a player from a lower level to sub for us. Our coach had told Cameron all season that, if this should happen, he was the man for the job.  And on this particular game, he got the opportunity!

He was so excited, but very nervous. Coach Ryan gave him some advice before going on deck.

Colden, giving him a high five and telling him he was going to do great!

On deck!
*My big, grown up ball player*

Cameron had a great swing, but this was the first time he had ever been up against a real pitching machine.  As hard as he tried, he struck out! You can imagine he was pretty discouraged, but all of his teammates and coaches were very supportive and told him he would get that ball the next time!

Next up? Playing some outfield! He didn't get much action, but the couple of times the ball came to him, he got it and threw it in to the infield right away. He knew just what to do!

And then came one of my favorite pictures from the entire season. 
One Merritt batting, one Merritt on deck.

And, this time, Cameron's swing connected! He ran like the wind....

....concentrating very hard....

....and he made it to first base in plenty of time! 
Getting some congratulations from Coach Nate.

Next up was Colin, who got a great hit and sent Cameron all the way home!
There he goes, heading to second....

....Colin coming to first....

....Cameron heading around to third....

....and Cameron running right across home plate....

....followed closely by his brother, who had in fact hit an in the park home run! Woooo-hoooo!

Love this shot of two Merritts in the same huddle. :)

Cameron's third and fourth hits also resulted in getting on base. We were so excited, and so was he!



Colin did a little warm up pitching with Daddy....

....and pitched us right out of the game! A great win for the Mud Hens! 

It was such a great opportunity for Cameron to play with the big boys, and as you can see,
he was all smiles.  The coolest thing of all was that the ump knew what was going on the 
whole game, and how Cameron was obviously a younger player who had been pulled up.  
Apparently, the ump thought he did so well....

....that he gave him the game ball.
A treasure for a very special little boy who got an awesome opportunity--
and definitely rose to the occasion!