Baseball Practice

I was so excited when we went to register Andrew for t-ball awhile back. It's America's favorite game, and the little boys are so much fun to watch, and look so darn cute in their uniforms. It's great fun to watch the first game and see the entire team run after every ball. I was looking forward to sitting in the stands and cheering my boy on. Unfortunately though, reality has set in. I spend most of every practice and game at the playground with Rylee and Devynn. I don't know any of the boys on the team, or their parents. The team mom even comes to the playground when she needs to pass any info on to me!



So, the other day at practice, I was sooo bored at the playground...again! I let the girls play for a bit, and then I decided that we would take a walk on the path that goes around the baseball field. The girls were excited with this new idea, and I figured I would get a little exercise in while I was at it. So we started on our little adventure. Rylee started running ahead and Devynn was doing her best bobble-head run trying to keep up. As we got to the southern end of the park (which took about a whole minute because the park is enormous), RyRy asked if we could go sit on the little hill that's there. It's a small grassy hill that overlooks a habitat conservation area. With the afternoon breeze, and the shade from the few trees there, it seemed like the perfect place to sit on a nice, summer afternoon. So we climbed to the top and took a rest. The girls sat for a minute eating their snacks, and then took off their shoes and started playing on the hill. It was such a treat for me to sit and watch them running (or for Devynn, falling) down the little hill with these HUGE smiles on their little faces. AND I discovered that I could actually sit and watch Andrew at his practice at the same time! I was so happy! Andrew noticed us watching, and gave us a big thumbs up with his big grin that can light up any room (or baseball field!). So as I sat watching Andrew and my girls at the same time, I was amazed at the joy I felt in my heart seeing their eyes light up with pure happiness as they rolled and ran and fell and laughed. There is nothing in the world that even comes close to comparing to the sound of your children's laughter. Absolutely nothing. It was in that moment that I realized that I may be just an ordinary mom, but I'm doing something extraordinary by raising my monkeys. What a great feeling. I was in such a happy place that even the man on the bike who decided to stop right behind us (which was upwind from us) and start smoking couldn't ruin my afternoon.



Of course, as soon as practice was over, Andrew and Rylee had to start fighting over who was going to climb in the car first. So I had to leave my happy place, put on my referee uniform (why I ever take it off at all, I don't know), and get back to my normal life.



All in all, not a bad day in my world.