The Hawk

Aaron's 3rd grade class was involved in a pilot program called Art for Learning (or something like that...I forget exactly.) There were classes from our school in each grade level but they each had a different art emphasis and Aaron's class was about dance and poetry.

They learned to write free-verse poetry. Aaron had a couple poems I really loved but I don't have those handy so unfortunately, I can't share right now. His teacher told me too that during the classes, students were invited to come up with their own dances for some poems they read and more than once, Aaron was the only one to volunteer and danced alone in front of the whole class. (Aaron is full of surprises this year...remember his singing at the program?)

Last month, his class put on a performance for the parents to demonstrate what they learned from the program. The kids were divided into groups of 5. Within the groups the kids voted whose poem they should perform and then they came up with a dance. Aaron's group chose his poem, "The Hawk". He said he had wanted to dance but he got roped into reciting it instead. He messed up on the last word but otherwise did great!

The hawk

Tears the air apart

With its beating wings

Eyes seek a target

While flying on its own

Swoops and catches

Without ever missing

Devours its meal

Without ever chewing

Returns to its nest

With delight and might

T-Ball it is.

I signed Christopher up for T-Ball but I'm so annoyed at this season of T-Ball. And don't get me wrong--I LOVE baseball, and I think T-Ball is really cute. And I'm actually a bit sad that my boys aren't really into baseball that much...except I thought I might have a shot with Christopher since he does enjoy it, has a decent arm & hits pretty well too.

But this season has really stunk.

Anthony & Aaron each played 2 seasons of T-Ball, so I thought I knew what I was getting into. In the past, the season began with about 3 practices right after Spring Break and then we'd play 2 games a week, ending it all up before Memorial Day.

But before this season even began, they couldn't find a coach for our team so we got barraged with emails begging for someone to step up. I wish I was in a position to do it myself but without knowing a schedule ahead of time, there was no way I could commit. Finally someone did step up. And I thank them wholeheartedly for doing this amidst the ineptness of the league. Our team and coaches really are a great group.

Then we began practices...and the weather was miserably chilly and wet...and the practices continued and continued. We practice every week but we hardly ever play games! I'm really bothered that we're now into June (we began end of March/early April) and we've played all of THREE games! And there have not been any rain-outs...we've only had 3 games scheduled! And we're past Memorial Day now too--I finally looked up the league calendar and noticed they've pushed the season out to the end of this month. They (the league) are so disorganized and don't communicate well at all. (The manager of our team is awesome--the complete opposite with regular practice & game reminders and a website with our schedule too.)

Ok, so despite all my griping...isn't this a cute little ballplayer? : )

He does really great and is one of the better players on his team (if you ask him though, he'll tell you he's the BEST on the team...Christopher has a rather inflated self-esteem, I'm afraid.)

Can you spot him in this photo though? He hasn't figured out that you run straight across from one base to the next--he routinely runs AROUND and behind all the players (following the grass line!)

He does pretty well on the field too...he sometimes catches balls & sometimes throws the ball where it's supposed to go. : )

At our last game, I was noticing that the woman coaching 3rd base looked surprisingly similar to this lady who coached 3rd base at our 2nd game--same goofy hat and same awkward fanny pack--and I looked at this photo afterward and realized, we played the SAME TEAM! Add that to my list of annoyances this season...how is it that 2 of our 3 measly games were against the same team? (And for all I know, the 1st game was probably against the same team too--George had to take Christopher to that game.)

Seriously, who's in charge this year?!?

Do you think I'm overreacting or would you be annoyed too?

I know that ultimately the thing that matters most is that Christopher is having a great time & learning to love a new sport (which I happen to love too!)

Happy Birthday George!

We celebrated George's birthday...

...with a humongous chocolate cake.

(He's a LOT older than 3.) 

Zac approved of the cake, saying "Mmmm, mmmm, MMMMM!!!"