The Beards Weekly Sports Review Update.

Here is a summary of the past week for Brooklyn and Maddux and their sporting events. After starting the year 2 - 0 in baseball the team hit a two game skid before snapping out of it Thursday night with a win. For some reason they decided that they were not going to hit for two straight games. I have never seen a whole team not hit but we managed to do it twice. Maddux struck out twice on six pitches, not even coming close to hitting one, another thing I have never seen. He actually hit in the second game but we ran up against a team that could hit the ball. Our main problem is getting the kids to focus. I don't know how you teach focus but if we could figure that out we would be really good. I stand right next to them and try to get them to watch the batter and what is going on. Wouldn't you know it, as soon as the ball is hit they are digging a tunnel in the dirt or starring straight up into the sky looking at who knows what. I guess at this age it is all about having fun and that we are. I decided to open Maddux's stance up a little bit and he has been doing a much better job at hitting. It forces him to step towards the plate instead of third base and thus he has a better chance of hitting the ball. I have also started working with him at hitting left handed and he has done surprisingly well. After two attempts he has the stance down and is making contact constantly. Doesn't have the power yet but that will come with practice. We usually go out 1/2 before the game or practice to get some extra swings. I am just thankful that I have the opportunity to coach his team and watch his talent grow on a day by day basis.


One of the few occasions where Maddux is actually paying attention and not drifting off. He has gotten better at his fielding and just needs to remember to slide his feet and get in front of the ball. His catching and throwing have also improved significantly.


On the way to the game. He doesn't wear the glasses in the game but I like the look.

Brooklyn went to her first basketball camp this past week and it was really her first organized basketball of any kind. She went with her friend, Maddie, which I think made things a little funner. The camp was Monday thru Friday and taught by an ex-player for the University of Akron. I did manage to get and see a little of the camp and I think the girls had fun. Brooklyn did struggle the last couple of days but that was due to sunburn. She went swimming outside at her friend's pool and the sunscreen Jennie put on must not have been waterproof because she burned pretty good. She has such fair skin to begin with that it doesn't take much to burn. I also think she over acted just a bit but she ended up skipping Thursday because she couldn't lift her arms up because it hurt. She has the height and now just needs to develop the coordination and the hunger to play. From what I hear about Jennie she was the same way when little. For those of you who know Jennie she is far from that now so there is hope. Here are a couple of pictures that I managed to get the one day.


Brooklyn passing the ball to her teammate. Look at that form.


Here she is getting ready to check the ball in. I had a problem with how they ran these little pick up games. If you notice in the picture there are 5 kids trying to steal the ball. The way he had it set up there were 5 older and bigger kids against 5 littler kids. The older kids would pressure the younger kids and make it near impossible for them to pass the ball. Notice that you can't see any of the kids on Brooklyn's team. They are behind the wall of taller defenders. I just think they should have split the teams up a little. The final score was 14 - 0. I don't even think Brooklyn's team got a shot off.


This is how Brooklyn played defense most of the time. Just standing there watching.


Here she is playing knock-out or lightening to some. She made it to the third round before being knocked out by a 14 year old.


Brooklyn's friend Maddie shooting the ball.

These last couple of pictures are not sports related but from the week.


Since school is out the kids have gotten to play with their cousins quite a bit.


Brooklyn reading to Great Grandma Elaine.


Brooklyn loves to read.

Where have the past 8 years gone?

Tuesday June 16th marked Jennie and I's 8 year wedding anniversary. We have known each other for a little over 11 years now and man has time has flown by. I am sure that 4 kids, 3 addresses and 2 states help with that but it seems like we were just dating not to long ago. We have been blessed during these first 8 years with a beautiful family, a good job, a nice home, good friends and no major issues, knock on wood.

What was suppose to be a big surprise filled day turned into a rather normal day. We had the carpets cleaned in the morning. Then took the kids out for lunch at McDonald's. Came back home put the little ones down for naps while we cleaned up a little. I then ran to Home Depot to pick up some mulch and stopped to pick Jennie's present up on the way home. She has been wanting a treadmill for quite some time now and I finally found a decent deal on one and picked it up for her. I think she was a little surprise but loved it at the same time.


What a geek.


Striking a pose.


The new treadmill just waiting to be used.

Now we just need to figure out where to put it. We then dropped the kids off at the grandparents and headed off to our surprise. I had the whole thing planned out and it would have been perfect if not for some high winds. Jennie had no idea what we were going to do and wouldn't have until we pulled up if I had it my way. I was going to surprise her with a hot air balloon ride over the Ohio countryside. But instead of floating over the trees we ended up spending 3 hours driving around. The launch site was an hour and a half away and five minutes before we get there they call me up and tell me we have to reschedule because it was going to be too windy where we were going. The weather was perfect on the ground but the higher up you go the windier it got. I was so pissed that they spoiled my perfect plan. I ended up telling Jennie what we were going to do and now we have to reschedule for a different day.


This is as close as we got to going up.

It will still be fun but not as good as I had planned. It would have been fun to see the look on her face as we pulled up to a huge balloon sitting in a field ready for take off. We ended up going shopping at the Super Wal Mart so it wasn't a total waste of time but not what I had planned at all. While it was nice to shop without any of the kids I would have much rather been sailing around in a balloon. We finished off the night with a trip to DQ and then went back and picked up the kids.

Now I will have to come up with something even better next year to make up for this debacle. It was still nice to spend a couple hours without the kids, as those are extremely rare, and here is to many, many, many more years together. I love you honey:)

Brooklyn : The Artist (A Year in Review)

I just thought that I would share a little of what Jennie and I got to see everyday. Brooklyn is quite the little artist and seems to love drawing and coloring. Every day when she came home from school there was at least one picture in her folder from the day. She is always drawing and coloring when around the house and not playing. It is amazing to see some of the stuff that she brings home. I know she didn't get that from me. Who knows, maybe instead of a superstar athlete she will be an artist. We hope you enjoy them as much as we have. These are from various times during her first grade year.


This is how Brooklyn sees mom......


and dad (looks just like me)........


and Maddux (notice the Wii in parenthesis; all Maddux thinks about)........


and Nolan..........


and Payton (Patin).

It is funny because she gave everyone green eyes except Payton who has blue. Payton is the only one who doesn't have green yet but it is amazing that she picked that up and colored our eyes the way they really are. It is amazing how smart these kids are and the things they pick up on.


Here is a family portrait (I must have been on vacation because I don't think I am in this picture).


This is one of my favorites. it is a Valentine's poem and says, "My dad is my favorite Valentine. He takes us out to dinner. He is going to take me to a dance. My dad loves me too."


A Valentine heart that says she loves mom and dad.


A picture of a lighthouse.


Some flowers in a pot.


Her very own Easter egg.


The circus that she went to.


An apple with a worm in it.

I hope to get some of these framed and hung up one day. There are so many others that I would like to post but some are just too big to scan. I may try to take a picture and post them that way but until then we hope that you enjoyed these. Maybe one day when she is a famous artist these first edition originals will be worth millions (we can always hope).

Play Ball!!

The season has finally started and we got to play our first two games this week. After having the first two games get rained out we finally played a couple of games and are unofficially 2 - 0. They don't keep score during Maddux's game but we have definitely scored more runs than the other team and our kids know it. They are very quick to tell me that they won. It has been a lot of fun so far and I have seen a lot of improvement over the last 2 months. We have actually played very well the first two games. We have made some great plays in the field and have been hitting very well. There are a couple of lapses where the kids are drifting off into their own world but for the most part they are done a very good job. I am looking forward to seeing how we play the rest of the season and continuing to watch the kids develop and grow their game. Maddux is having a lot of fun and has made some new friends in the process. We don't have many pictures from the game, as Jennie was struggling with the camera, but I did manage to get some good still shots of Maddux. Hopefully by the end of the season Jennie will have learned how to use the camera and we will get some good shots.


Maddux taking off right after connecting on a pitch. I believe this is the picture when he hit me with the line drive. We are not allowed to go after the ball with our glove and are left to try and get out of the way. Well my reactions aren't what they use to be and I couldn't get out of the way in time. I felt bad for Maddux because what would have been a double for sure turned into a single because the ball didn't go anywhere. He has the meanest swing, by far, of anyone on our time and of anyone that we have played against so far. He is one of the only kids that I throw overhand to because he hits that better than underhand. It seems the harder I throw it the better and further he hits it.


Yours truly pitching to the kids. The first inning of our first game I threw overhand and ended up striking out 3 of the first 4 batters. The next inning I went underhand and we hit through the order. It is kind of funny because I have always thrown overhand in practice and they hit fine but couldn't in the game. There are still two kids who can hit overhand but everyone else gets the underhand stuff.



I worked with Maddux on switching up and batting left handed today and he actually did quite well. He doesn't seem to have any problem with the stance or swinging just doesn't have the power or timing down quite yet. He had a couple decent hits today and we will keep working on it and hopefully turn him into a power hitting switch-hitter.


This is our best Bo Jackson impression. I couldn't get the stare out of him but a good picture none the less.


No problem with the stare here. Now I just need to get him to look like this when he comes to the plate. Try to intimidate the picture.


Tried to get him to do his best pitcher impression. Eyes just peeking above the glove.


Just hanging out happy to be playing ball.

We had picture day today so hopefully we will be getting Maddux's rookie cards hot of the press. They will be an extremely limited edition item and hopefully worth some money one day. I also hope to get some better action shots in the coming weeks, stay tuned.

A Weekend of Food, Fun, & Family

This past weekend was a blast as we had a lot of Jennie's family in town visiting her Grandmother. We had all her aunts and uncles from her dad's side and a couple cousins (Ken & Helen, Chuck & Suzie, Dan & Karolyn, Harvey & Kathy, and Michael & David). It is always a lot of fun when everyone gets together and can spend some time together. I know our kids, and I am sure all of them, love to hang out and play with those they don't get to see quite as often. Maddux still calls Harvey "Bee-trap" which is a name Harvey came up with 2 years ago on a visit to California. Everyone came in Friday and stayed until Monday making it a long but quick weekend. I know that the kids played extremely hard, as did some of the adults, and there was lots of good food all weekend long. The weather was perfect and we couldn't have asked for a better weekend. I am sure that Grandma Elaine also enjoyed seeing all her kids and having them all together. It is just a shame that we can't get together more often. We are glad that everyone could make it and that everyone returned home safely. Here are some pictures from the weekend.


There was a lot of backyard baseball this weekend and was mostly the Uncles throwing to the kids. Here is Harvey pitching to Brooklyn.


Harvey again pitching. The best shot of the day was Chuck throwing to Maddux and Maddux hitting a line drive right back into Chuck's chest. I believe it left a mark as the reaction time isn't what it use to be.


Nolan drinking some bottle water. I just love the way he wraps his whole mouth around the drink and then turns it upside down. A word to the wise : don't ever let Nolan drink out of your drink unless you are done with it. Jennie learned that the hard way a long time ago. He tends to backwash and you will end up with floaties in your drink after he is done.


Nolan just hanging out watching the other kids play. These kids were so worn out at the end of the night. It was kind of nice because there was no fight when it came to bedtime.


There was a lot of corn hole with the adults and as much as I hate to admit it, Dan and Chuck cleaned up. I am not sure if they even were beat. The fact that Greg wasn't there gave everyone a chance.


We did celebrate Chuck's 60th birthday on Sunday with a little cake. He turned 60 a few weeks back but figured we would celebrate it since everyone was in town. Of course the kids had to help him blow out the candles.


There was also a talent show for the kids on Sunday and Nolan did somersaults. He really hasn't developed a talent yet, outside of eating, but has picked the somersault thing up. Like his brother Maddux he does the headstand during the somersault. He almost looks like one of those streets dancers who contorts their body all around.


He hasn't quite figured out how to stick the landing yet but we will work on that.


The swing is another favorite attraction at Grandma and Grandpa's. It does lead to an occasional fight but for the most part they are pretty good about taking turns. Nolan loves to climb all over it any way that he can. Payton has also become a very big fan of the swing in the last couple of months. One of these days I will have to get her on video in it.


Here is everyone watching the kids during the talent show. There will be a video of that later on.


Here is one of the cutest pictures of the weekend. Karolyn holding Cambrie who is sucking on Karolyn's arm.


Brooklyn smashing Harvey's pitch. I don't know how far the ball went but the trajectory looks good.


Not sure what Brooklyn is doing here but it looks like she is massaging her mouth.


Brooklyn and Kenzie watching Dan get Brynnley.


The adults also played hard as apparent by Dan taking a little nap. Not sure how he slept with all the noise from the kids but he does look comfortable.

As promised here is a little video from the talent show. I am not sure what happened but I missed the first verse of David's song. He sang the song from the Wedding Singer and did a very good job. Maddux then does some of his kata and a routine that Michael helped him with. Thank you again Michael for taking time to work with him a little bit. I know that he loved it and will be talking about that for some time. Brooklyn then does a hula-hoop routine followed by some jump rope. She is very good at the hula-hoop and as you will see in the video would probably still be going if Jennie wouldn't have told her to stop. She was crowned as the hula hooper of the month for her class a couple times during the year. I know she didn't get that from me. Then Maddux demonstrates a little of his self-defense with me as the victim and finally Nolan does his somersaults. I hope that the quality is ok and that you enjoy the video.