Heartland Hawks Baseball 2011

The Heartland Hawks Baseball team started the 2011 season ranked #1 in the nation for Division 2 Junior Colleges.  When I board the bus in March for the spring break trip to FL, I really don't  know what to expect.  I don't see a lot of the games on the fall schedule due to weather conditions and keeping up with the girls' schedules.  Also, they play most of those games on the road.  I remember the picture on the cover of the packet Nate hands out at the start of the trip.  It had a big pile of bodies with 2 letters in the corner:  D.P.  Dog Pile.  And that was the season goal.  To have a reason to dog pile.  They started the season #1 and finished the regular season ranked #1.  Their regular season record was 53-9.  (Even without doing the math, that's A LOT of baseball games!).  The sophomore class won 99 games in their 2 years at HCC.  Their overall record was 99-22.  In all of college baseball (all divisions), Heartland won the 2nd most games.  Following the regular season, they play a region tournament to determine who goes to the College World Series.  This tournament is in Springfield but I've never made it to any of those games.  I usually have the girls' birthday party during this time and this year was no different.  In 2010, they came oh so close to winning, but unfortunately fell short.  But in 2011, the Hawks won their 1st regional title in their 4th year of existence.  They got to Dog Pile (D.P.)!!

I was one lucky coach's wife when Nate's mom offered to stay with the girls yet again.  She comes to stay for 8-10 days in March when I go to FL.  So I was blessed that her schedule was open and she was willing again to hold down the crazy fort.  We loaded the charter bus again but this time the stop was beautiful Enid, OK.  The only beautiful thing in Enid is the baseball field and it was good to be there.

They had a professional like opening ceremony with a meal.

 Each team was introduced.

Nate received his coach of the year award that night.  It's not a great picture since I took it with my phone.

They even had a home run derby with 1 batter from each team.  Dom D'Agata hit for Heartland and Nate threw to him.

Heartland's first game was the following night and they played UConn Avery Point.  The people of Enid came out and really filled up the stadium.  They love hosting the world series.

starting line ups

Heartland won the opener against UConn AP 9-6.

Parents volunteer for uniform laundry duty on the spring trip and they were lucky to get another chance to do that.  Too bad they don't all feel that way.  

2 very willing mothers

will miss them in 2012!

Second game was against Jones out of Mississippi.  Our starting pitcher was able to get the first 2 outs of the game but could not get the 3rd and didn't make it out of the 1st inning.  The Hawks ran out of innings to catch up.  They ended up losing 10-5.  First loss, double elimination.

 that kind of dirt makes the moms on laundry duty cringe!

the group of Hawk fans that were still there on the last day

 1 thing you can say about Enid, OK - It Is HOT!!

The final game was against Cecil from Maryland.  They were the obnoxious team we shared a hotel with  so it hurt a little extra to lose the final game to them.  The Hawks amazing season came to a sudden and final end when they lost to Cecil, 5-3.

Nate didn't want me to post this entry but I told him it was my blog and I'll post what I want to. :)  Besides, as I've said before, this blog is for the girls and a way to record their lives.  I thought it would be nice for them to have a record of their dad's success and see that he is being productive during all that  time he is away from home.  Since I am posting this on 1/2/12 and spring practice starts next week, here's to hoping all the drama of the fall turns itself into another successful season.  GO HAWKS!  I'll see you in Florida!

Taking the Animals to the Zoo

I volunteered to assist with Shelby's field trip to the local zoo & park. It wasn't too painful and I successfully brought out the same 4 girls I took in! The field trip was for the 4 1st grade classes at her school. There were probably 4 or 5 other schools there too! That's a lot of kids considering it is not a very big zoo. And I believe every one obeyed and stayed out of the water at the sprinkler park that sits right next to the other playground equipment. Which is impressive if you ask me with some of the crazies that go to her school.

Here are a few pics of my group of 4.

Sanna, Shelby, Alyssa & Kylee

when Shelby saw this picture she laughed and said,

"I stuck my booty out!"

taking a picture with the tiger

it is probably the most exciting animal at our zoo

drama pose

All the kids got to ride on 2 school buses from their school to the zoo. It was the first time riding a bus for most of them so they were pretty excited. The weather was beautiful and overall we had a great field trip!

Mother's Day

On Mother's Day I found myself as I usually do, mothering my 2 girls, went to church & as I type this a few weeks later, I don't even remember what we did for lunch that day. Maybe Taco Bell Drive Thru. I don't know. Nate's game on Saturday was at home so we did go out to eat at Olive Garden after the game. They were out of town on Sunday so it was the 3 of us girlies. Nothing too exciting, but that's ok. As long as I don't have to cook a meal, that is satisfactory. An afternoon nap makes it all good too, and I probably had one of those. I wanted to record the homemade gifts the girls made for me either at school or at church. At their ages, it is this type of thing that makes Mother's Day fun.

I assume Shelby made this in library at school

Shelby's card she made in Sunday School

front of card

inside of card

back of card

What I loved about this card is the "you prepare good meals for me" line. This from my picky pants eater!

1 of Morgan's school creations

"If I had million dollars I would buy my mom a necklace."

the answers Morgan gave to questions about me at preschool

In case you can't read it this is what it said: My mommy's name is Sarah. She is 37 years old. She's really pretty with blackish/brownish hair and brown eyes. I think she is kinda short. She works on the computer and takes off wallpaper. My mommy really likes to eat pizza. Dancing with the Stars is her favorite thing to watch on TV. My mommy likes to hug me and take me to Target. My favorite thing about my mommy is that she is nice. I love my mommy because she cuddles with me!

Coloring Contest Winner

Coloring perfectionism is one of Shelby's talents. I've heard many coloring pages get torn out of books and seen many in the garbage. She can't stand going out of the lines. This paid off when Papa Murphy's sponsored a coloring contest around Easter time. She won out of all 1st graders who entered the contest. All 4 1st grade classes from Oakdale did and her teacher told me other schools may have participated as well. She won a free pizza that we already enjoyed. Great coloring Shelby!

Celebration Time!!!

We finally got a date in Mid May to celebrate the girls' birthday with our families. At this point we have only had family gatherings, which is fine with me & the girls too as they don't get to see their cousins very much. We were blessed with beautiful weather. The rain held off until all guests had gone home. It wasn't deathly hot. My only complaint was the mosquitos. They were out in full force and got in the house with the rotating door. I was selective on pics as not to overload.

simple decorations for simple parties

(just the way I like it!)

Morgan's Cake

her own creation

I asked her if she had seen this cake design somewhere before. She likes to look through the cake book at Jewel while I am getting stuff at the deli. I thought maybe she had seen a picture there. She said, "No, I made it up myself in my head"! She wanted flowers going around the edge with big flowers in the middle.

forced to stop playing to get a picture

results in forced smiles!

gift card for the momma to buy for her babies!

porcelain doll

always happy to get "stinky" crackers

it's the simple pleasures you know!

she loves her oranges too!

crazy monkey

dog for her doll

stuffed - the only kind we will have in our house!

another happy cracker eater!

also holding another favorite - pistachios

Shelby decided on a bunny cake

count 'em - 7 candles! :(

sharing some swing time with Reese

Shelby & her Aunt Ashley

2 peas in a pod some days!

Uncle Al and Nonny Martha took the kids on a neighborhood walk. Unfortunately, they stopped at a garage sale. Even more unfortunate, it was to the point in the sale of $1 for all the JUNK you can fit in the bag. And to add to that, I had just said the day before that people needed to stop buying my kids stuffed animals. We have enough to open our own zoo! They bought not cute but ugly stuffed critters among a bunch of other disgusting things. Shelby's prize was this hat. She may look cute in it, but my head itches every time she wears it!

They have so much fun playing and before they know it the party is over and the tears start. They hate to see their cousins go hours away both north and south. Thanks to everyone who came and for the gifts. I couldn't post all the pictures but they got some fun stuff. Happy #7 & #5!