Because I have been so far behind in blogging, I have not done anything on here about Hayden making the All Star team for his baseball league.
He was SO excited to have done so. He loved that he would be playing with kids who really, really wanted to play baseball. The best part was that he got to keep playing baseball for a few more weeks.
He did not get as much playing time as he would like to have gotten. He also did not get to play the position he would have chosen. But in true Hayden fashion, wherever he got put on the field, he gave it his all. He might not be an outfielder by nature or talent, but he sure tried hard and made some good plays when he was out there.
He even got a few force outs from right field to 1st base (which made his Mommie do the happy dance with no real sense of embarrassment - ha).
This past weekend the kids played in State Tournament in Sheridan. Now, if you have told me when they first started playing that they had a chance to win the tournament, I would have told you that you were just plumb goofy!!! They started Saturday off terribly and got it handed to them. However, after that sloppy start, these boys played some incredible baseball.
(This picture just cracks me up. Hayden is just looking at that little boy like "what are you doing? I'm on the bag!")
In the Championship game, they played the Sheridan team. It was just what a championship game should be -- close and well played. Maumelle came up in the bottom of the last inning tied with Sheridan. Hayden was the 4th kid in line to bat. (I was looking for a bathroom to hide in - shame on me). My kiddo, however, was ecstatic. "If I hit the ball Mom and someone scores, it will be a walk-off win") He WANTED to be that kid. It was not in God's plans for it to be Hayden this time though. The first two batters got on and then the head coach's kid came up to bat. With two strikes, Justin hit a ball toward the right side of the field which scored the little boy on second. I worried that Hayden would be down about that but what did I see? I saw Hayden get to Blake first, throw off his helmet and start giving hugs. He then ran to Justin to give him hugs. It did not matter at that point who hit the ball, they won and he was thrilled to be part of a team that did so. (Now, later on the way home he wanted to know why it could not have been him and openly admitted he was jealous that he was not the one. However, he has the best Poppaw in the world and when they talked Poppaw assured him that had Justin not hit in the winning run, Poppaw was absolutely certain Hayden would have hit in the winning run. In Hayden's world, what Poppaw says it true no matter what!!)
I would not be telling the whole story or the truth if I did not say that this was a rough All Star season. It is hard to watch your kiddo lose some confidence by not playing as often as maybe he should have and definitely as much as he would have liked. It was a learning experience all the way around. Hayden handled it far better than his parents. (Not surprised, huh?) He is such a good kid with such a big heart. There were tears but for the most part he was the biggest cheerleader and encourager for his teammates even when not playing. I truly believe he has learned that from his "heroes" whom he has seen not always get the playing time they deserve and for each one of you that helped him learn that at such a young age, this Momma says Thanks a Million Times over!!
This is what you have to do when you don't swing the bat as hard as you can everytime. Poor kid, he just does not do push ups very well. 
Then when you finish getting hot and sweaty playing baseball, you go for a swim. It is so nice that the neighborhood pool is adjacent to the ball fields.
Do you have any idea how much we LOVE this kid?
I really don't know if there is anyone in this world that Hayden loves any more than this Poppaw!
My sweetie with two other sweeties at his birthday party at the Travs game. (Mrs. Susan was so kind to offer us a suite she had access to in order for us to have a get together and still enjoy baseball on Hay's special day. Mrs. Susan, we love you!! Thank you!) Ms. Deborah and Ms. Ashley came to see Hayden and I bet you can tell by the picture that he just could not stand having his photo taken with them.....look at that grin!
Oh my...how much did Hayden love having Ryan with him on his birthday?
Is it okay to have arranged marriages nowadays? If so, I believe Harold and I have found Hay's future bride. We just love Miss Scarlett. 
Now you know our buddy was thrilled to have a baseball cake. The cake itself was YUMMY. I do have to wonder though when I spend several minutes making sure when I order the cake (in person) that we can have the Angels' A with the Halo on it, we end up with an Atlanta Braves' A. Really now? Mommaw was proud and surprised that although I was mad as an old wet hen, I did not go across the counter at the girl. I tried to make a halo on the cake which Hayden promptly told me looked like an egg. He is just so darn honest but kinda lacking in the tact department. So we took the candles and put them around the A. 
Blowing out his candles
Checking out his presents with his best bud
He was so excited about his rock star hat
The whole gang....not sure what is going on with that hair....
Daddy gets a real smile
I get the fake one!
My favorite...he had just told me that this was the best birthday ever!!!
He left it all out there on the field tonight which was too fun to watch. He had a couple of lapses in concentration baserunning but hey he is just 7!!! He made the first fielding out of the game playing second base, 
scored the first and last runs of the game. (Okay technically the last run did not count but he looked so good sliding into home, this Momma is counting in the memory book). He even got a line drive (which his Momma did not get a photo of ...well...because he so often drops those ....oops not supposed to tell that, huh?) and had a big fit when he had to go play right field. 
Hmmm, gotta work on that. In fact, recognizing that his Momma might not have been too proud of that little tantrum, he said on the way home, "Mommie (this is what we say when we know we are REALLY in trouble), I should never think I am too good to play right field and I should be more a team player, right?" Ya think? 
As God was watching them grow and become adults, He realized what a great couple they would be. 
The youngest girl blessed them with their first grandchild. 
Oh my, how much happiness this brought to both of them. They thought life was totally complete. 
Wow, did life get wonderful. Blessings flowed from God in more ways than anyone could imagine. 
