First Days

Yesterday was our first day of school. Since we are homeschooling this year, things were a little different from previous first days of school. Last year the kids’ “First Day” picture looked like this.

This year it looked like this.

We still had to wake them up for school. And they still looked incredibly tired during breakfast.

Instead of desks they each have boxes for their books, notebooks, folders and pencil cases.

But they still had lots of work to do.

Things went relatively smoothly. Even the little ones kept themselves busy.

I thought it was a great first day. I am hoping for a whole year full of great days!!

And speaking of first days, Banana had her first day at a new preschool today. She will be at school two afternoons a week, when the big kids and I can work on more involved projects (and Mr. H naps.) Banana was so excited this morning and couldn’t wait until after lunch when it was finally time to go.

It may be a few weeks or more until we are actually in the swing of things, but I feel like we have had a great start!!

What A Season!!

Miss M’s softball season is finally over. But the climactic ending was worth the extra length. Her team won their division and made it into the City-County playoffs. They won their first game in a close and exciting match-up. It was so much fun to watch!

The second game was also a nail-biter. And it didn’t help that the first half of it was played in the rain. Our team was down by 2 in the bottom of the seventh (the last inning), there were two outs and Miss M came up to bat. I have to admit that my heart was in the pit of my stomach. Nobody likes to make the last out of the game. Not to mention the out that would cost the team the playoffs! But she whacked a ball past third and was able to get on base just in time for the next batter to hit a home run and tie the score. Two batters later the game-winning run came in. And I thought the first game was exciting!!

The last game was not quite as exciting, but it was awesome just to be in the City-County Finals. The team was short three players, one of whom was a pitcher and a power-hitter. Miss M played first base for the duration of the game, and she did an excellent job, visibly impressing even the other team’s coaches. It was hard for the girls to get many hits off of the other team's pitcher. Even the top of the lineup was struggling. The other team was up 7-0 by the second inning. Our girls brought it up to 7-5 by the bottom of the fifth, when the other team was up to bat. They were able to pull off eight more runs, whereupon the umpires automatically called the game over because of a 10-run “Mercy” Rule. Our girls were upset by the loss, but even more upset by the fact that they weren’t given a chance to catch up. There were some tears, but at the same time there was a GIANT trophy – much bigger than you would expect the Runners-up. Each girl on the team also received a nice plaque. Coach (Dad) expressed his great pride for his team and made sure the girls knew how cool it was to be the second best team in St. Louis in their division. It really was an unbelievable experience.

I am such a proud Softball Mom/Coach’s Wife.