Awards Season

I very seldom received academic or sports awards when I was in school. I was always in the upper end of the pack but never the stand-out when it came to achievements. The only thing that kept me from completely fading into the woodwork was my singing ability. I was always the go-to girl for special songs and talent shows. But oh, how I coveted recognition for being smart!

Well - my oldest son is smart, very smart. But he really doesn't want anyone to know
and, up until this year, never really worked too hard to be! So it was with GREAT pleasure that I watched him receive one of the highest overall academic awards at his middle school - The President's Award (signed by Bush himself!)

It is given to student's who maintain a 3.5 or higher GPA AND 85% or above in state achievement testing - for four consecutive years...
Cameron's the one in the striped shirt - oh darn - they all have striped shirts!!!

There are over 200 kids in the graduating 8th grade class - only 27 received this honor - so I guess this ranks him in the top 10%.

But getting back to Cameron really not coveting attention (unlike his mother)...the awards ceremony ended with a 24 minute slide show tribute to the graduating class.

Cameron wasn't in a single picture...

The Ugly Side of Baseball

We saw the ugly side of teenage boys playing baseball tonight. Especially a team of boys who have been preordained as "THE" team to beat in our division.

These boys expect to be perfect, especially Cameron, and when they aren't, it is nothing short of embarrassing.

It's not because they play badly - we, as parents, know they are not perfect. It's because the ATTITUDE is awful.

For instance - Cameron missed two DIVING catches at center field tonight and you'd think he lost the entire game for the team. He came in hanging his head, throwing his glove and wallowing in his self-pity.

He wasn't the only one - tonight's pitcher kicked the dugout walls and actually "quit" the team after the visitors had several good hits and poor defense from us.

My "I've had enough moment" came when Cameron hit a solid grounder to the short stop, advancing our runner from second to third. Unfortunately, he was thrown out at 1st. He turned to go back to the dugout and our first base coach stuck out his hand to high five him on a good hit. Cameron ignored the gesture and ran past.

I promptly ran over to meet him as he came off the field, led him away from the team, and told him if I EVER saw him disrespect his coach again, I would pull him out of the game. He knew I was serious and didn't dare cop an attitude with me.

Initially, I felt I had been out of line in addressing him during the game. But then I realized something - he is 14, he is MY son, and John and I have taught him that, no matter what, he will ALWAYS respect his teachers and coaches.

I may have no control over what he does on the field in his performance...but I will do everything I can to make sure to teach him the qualities of CHARACTER and RESPECT in every other area of his life.

I'm pretty sure he got the message...

The Tale of the Bat...

I have to get more imaginative in taking pictures of the boys during games.

However, I have become the master of capturing them in mid-swing.

May I present the tale of the bat...featuring Caeden, Jackson and Cameron...

The Mile In Pictures...

Cameron competed in an invitational track meet last Saturday. He didn't do very well - losing about 7 seconds off his best time in the mile.

I captured the race in pictures. I think his face tells the story of what the outcome will be...

The Week In Pictures (Cause That's All I Have Time To Do...)

While I always look forward to baseball season, the lunacy of our schedule makes my head swim. For example - we had games every night last week. On two nights we had three games at the same time!

John and I are masters of dividing ourselves, but with three children, one is always left out. As he is Caeden's coach, that's where he has to be. I go with Jackson. The short straw - Cameron. The worst part of missing his games is that it is the closest to real baseball we get to see! But - I have him in pictures for the brief moments I'm there...

So in the midst of the craziness, I also organized our baseball league opening day celebration last Friday - and you can't take pictures when you're running the show! I did include my hand-drawn layout of the field's and the organization!

I also managed to get some shots from our league trip to the Cleveland Indians on Sunday - beautiful day!



Finally - these last pics are from Cam's game last night. He struck out 7 and hit a line drive straight to the pitcher. We won 13 - 1.