Fall Sports

Dearest Athletes,

As a child, I participated in numerous activities.  Your grandparents were so patient and let me try almost as many things as I suggested.  I took dance classes, piano lessons, and played sports ranging from basketball to roller-hockey.  Heck, I think I even had a short tenure in karate, now that I think of it.  But none of my activities ever seemed to overlap.  We were a one-at-a-time family and I was a normal kid back in Midlothian, Virginia. 

But now we live in Flower Mound, Texas.  And there's a new normal....or maybe there's just a "Flower Mound-Normal"?.?... So, as you read on, if you begin to think that we're the weird ones, just know that this is the way things are done around here and we haven't totally lost our marbles yet.

Colt - you chose another season of baseball as your fall sport of choice.  Actually, your choice was soccer.  But when we disappointed you by telling you that 5U teams don't have goalies (your preferred position), baseball was your fall-back.  You stayed with your same team from the spring, The Hot Rods.  The game stepped up a notch this season as it moved from t-ball (4U) to coach pitch (5U).  You transitioned nicely and usually got powerful hits off of their pitches.  You can stop the ball and have a strong throw, although we're still working on accuracy. 

 

 

While you had fun, you aren't a big fan of waiting around for the action to happen (which you have to do a lot in little kid baseball) so you keep telling us that you're moving on to soccer in the spring.  We'll see...

Jax, you also played baseball (your EIGHTH season to play!) but this time you were on the Cubs.  I know this was the 6th team you've been on but we jumped teams to follow your All-Star Coach from this summer and it was the perfect move!  He coached your team so well that y'all ended up being 2nd place in the league and you've learned so much from him. 

 

 

You were their 1st baseman all season and you did an outstanding job!  Your coach got together with the coach of the team who won 1st place in our league and they formed a tournament team called the Tornados.  You were asked to be the 1st baseman for this team so we just rolled right into that after the fall season was over.  Considering that you'd play year-round if you had it your way, this transition was perfect for you!

You stuck with soccer for another season too.  Thankfully, these games are only on Sundays so this doesn't bust our schedule too badly.  Soccer is probably my favorite sport to watch you play as there is just so much action!  But that also means that I rarely capture it in a photo because I just never know what's about to happen...

Could you look and longer or leaner?

 

Last, but certainly not least, we f.i.n.a.l.l.y. let you play football.  You've wanted to since you were about 4 years old but I was hesitant.  Some prodding from Grandma led me to compromise -- you could play IF it was flag only - NO TACKLE!  So, we signed you up with your BBB, Braxton, and y'all were placed on The Bears.  As I type this (Halloween), the season isn't over yet -- but your team has won more than they've lost thus far...so YAY!

You totally caught this pass and ran it in for a touchdown!!

With coaches scheduling multiple practices per week, we've been flying by the seat of our uniform pants for months now.  But you two love every bit of it and actually get bummed on the ONE day (Monday) each week that we don't have an athletic obligation.  

And to prove that the Rabaduex adults are the only ones exhausted by this lifestyle, here is a verbatim conversation from your pediatrician's well-check:

Dr: What do you do to stay physically fit?

You:  Not much.

Me:  Excuse me?!?  What do you do 6 out of 7 days a week?

You:  Oh, I play baseball, soccer, and football.

Dr:  Gosh - you must be busy!

You:  Not really.

 

Back-to-School

Dearest Boys,

I've dated this post for sometime in September; however, I'll be story-telling with the wisdom that comes from late October.

After we returned from that great trip to Tennessee, we had mere days before we were walking the halls of school yet again.  I met my new students on a Thursday night and then we met your new teachers the following night.  

Jax, you got Mrs. Sauer and you were thrilled to have your BBB (Best Bridlewood Buddy), Braxton, in your class!  You describe Mrs. Sauer as strict but nice and you say that she keeps you very busy!  

 

Since we've already conferenced (remember, October wisdom...), she describes you as respectful & smart (same things we heard from your teacher last year).  She says you can also be disorganized and a slow-worker (the complete opposite of what we were told last year!?!).  

You've already had school pictures and have taken your fall field trip.

Colt, we definitely saw your shy side come out when it came time to meet your teacher, Mrs. Talbert.  Your description of her was, "She's like a grandma." but you seem to like her and even told us you wanted to buy her chocolate for Valentine's day....

 

 She describes you as smart and kind.  But we've had to have an extra conference with her because she says you're also impulsive and energetic.  We're working hard on your adjustment to Kinder....and some afternoons simply require a nap afterwards:

Hmmm...I got a little ahead of myself!

Before the school year officially got underway, our neighborhood and Grandma's neighborhood tried to distract us from our sad emotions by hosting fun events.

After surviving one week of Back-2-School madness, we hosted a Labor Day soiree for our crew.

 Hang in there, kiddos!  We're 1/4 of the way through already!!