THE BLACK FAMILY: T-Ball is like . . . Baseball!

At the beginning of April my sister Candice and I signed our boys up for T-Ball. They were so excited, and started getting ready right away. We found them working out with Uncle Jens, doing push-ups and sit-ups, and all that other "manly" stuff. When we asked them what they were doing, J.D. said, "we are getting ready for T-Ball." I must have had a confused look on my face because Stetson tried to explain further, "we have to work hard because, mom, T-Ball is like . . . BASEBALL!" "No Way!" I said with a little chuckle. J.D. took me seriously because he came back with, "it is, Jens even said." Too funny! These boys IDOLIZE their uncle Jens, so whatever he says is the gospel truth. The excitement had worn off a little by the time the T-Ball season FINALLY started the beginning of May.

Stetson's team wore Royal Blue shirts, and called themselves the Kokopellis. His coach, Tony Done, did a great job with the kids, and we all had fun making new friends.

My little T-Ball star

The best thing about T-Ball is that everyone is just learning, and there is really no pressure. The kids just learn the basics:

Catching,

Throwing,

Batting,

Which direction to run,

and most important . . .

. . . sliding into home!

Some of the members of Stetson's team, along with their coach, playing in the outfield

Stetson didn't get to be on the same team as his cousin J.D., but they did get to play each other. The other good thing about T-Ball is that everyone wins, so we didn't have any sad boys after the game! It was kind of funny that they both ended up on a "blue" team though.

Serious business . . .

. . . but lots of fun too!

Lucy is not one to get left out, especially when it comes to playing sports. She knew exactly what she needed to do to be able to play . . .

She got herself a helmet,

then headed out to the bases.

The thing I enjoyed the most about this T-Ball season was watching the kids improve. At the first game they were all kind of standing there in a daze, but by the last game they knew exactly where to run, and that if the ball came close to them they should catch it and then throw it to first - it's simple, right? I think Stetson's biggest hang up was that he was determined to say right where his coach put him in the outfield, it looked like his feet were glued to the ground. If the ball did happen to come close to him, he would reach down and pick it up then try to throw it without moving his feet, it was hilarious! By the last game he was running after the ball and actually throwing it instead of launching it with his feet right together. We also convinced him that he didn't need to visit with each kid that came by on the bases (he still took the opportunity to give high fives to his friends when they came around).