At last writing, our guys had won the District 2 north region/Vermont. The next step was playing the winner of District 2/south - a really tough team. The games were played in Shaftsbury VT, versus a tough Manchester VT team. Shaftsbury is 2 hours from where we live (most of the way is NOT interstate either) and in Manchester's back-yard. We were decidedly in a hole too - of the 13 players on the team, we only had 10 since two kids went to camp and one was on vacation. THEN one of our guys broke his collar bone cycling - so we were down to 9 players! I figured we were as good as gone - but what did I know?
What a thrilling tournament it was. We won the first game 5-2 on Sunday afternoon. Hugh and other parents stayed in Bennington VT, Tom and I came home because Tom had Rock Music Camp this week.
The game Monday was a tough, close game - the score was 3-2 (Manchester won). Daniel pitched a beautiful game; their pitcher was excellent.
So it came down on Tuesday's game *gulp*
My SAM pitched. There are few things more difficult than watching your child pitch. It's completely nerve wracking. After two innings, Manchester was ahead 4-0, but then our guys scored three runs to make it 4-3. Manchester came back and scored one more run, then Sam held them AND in the bottom of the 5th inning, we scored 3 more runs so WE WON!!!!
Our guys now are one of four teams playing for the championship in the whole State of Vermont. The first game was tonight. We played Barre, Vermont in Barre (which is a whole lot closer to us - and all interstate). Sam just called to tell me they won again - 9-1. We have at least two more games (the tournament is a double elimination).
And so the Cinderella team moves on...
Friday, July 27, 2007
Sturbridge
Yeah, yeah, I'm a slacker blogger! We all have been amazingly busy so I'll break things into parts. First, Sturbridge, better known as the Northeast Cochlear Implant Conference. The theme this year was Technology Rocks - it was an excellent get together all the way around. The kids' program was great - both boys met new buddies - and Hugh and I enjoyed our sessions. Sam was a panelist at a break-out session on the last day. He was one of 7 kids (with about 100 people in the audience) and did a great job. I so remember when the boys were young sitting at conferences like that hungry to hear from older kids/young adults/adults who were deaf I think for two reasons. One was reassurance -these folks were happy and doing well so surely my guys would too? I always found we learned so much as well. It's really good to be able to give back.
Here's the panel of kids - aren't they all cute? Sam really enjoyed Kathy and Catherine in particular.
And here's the tatoo that Sam got in Boston:
I was so happy to finally meet my friend, Lydia. Her son was also on the panel - such a cutie and so well spoken. Lydia is as delightful in real life. I also met Cathy and re-met Terri as well. Then of course, there's Jim, Joelle, and Jonah (the "J" family).
I was also a picture-taking slacker but here's a picture of the "J" family with Tom and Sam, minus Jim. It was mid-afternoon and it was time for a nap for Jonah - he's still such a cutie!
It was wonderful to see my buddy, Nell and to finally meet her husband and son (Mike and Mikey - and boy, are they a pair!). Tom and Mikey really hit it off. I'm a complete slacker here but here's a good resemblance of Nell:
Don't ask!
On the way back, we ran into rain that was so hard and heavy - it was unbelievable. We drove out of it fortunately and stopped in Putney, VT and found the 9th wonder of the world - a BBQ place!
It's always a good day when you get BBQ! They have BBQ kitties there - Tom snapped these pictures. The first is Katama, the second is.......... Oreo! I'm sure we thought of that name first!
Here's the panel of kids - aren't they all cute? Sam really enjoyed Kathy and Catherine in particular.
And here's the tatoo that Sam got in Boston:
I was so happy to finally meet my friend, Lydia. Her son was also on the panel - such a cutie and so well spoken. Lydia is as delightful in real life. I also met Cathy and re-met Terri as well. Then of course, there's Jim, Joelle, and Jonah (the "J" family).
I was also a picture-taking slacker but here's a picture of the "J" family with Tom and Sam, minus Jim. It was mid-afternoon and it was time for a nap for Jonah - he's still such a cutie!
It was wonderful to see my buddy, Nell and to finally meet her husband and son (Mike and Mikey - and boy, are they a pair!). Tom and Mikey really hit it off. I'm a complete slacker here but here's a good resemblance of Nell:
Don't ask!
On the way back, we ran into rain that was so hard and heavy - it was unbelievable. We drove out of it fortunately and stopped in Putney, VT and found the 9th wonder of the world - a BBQ place!
It's always a good day when you get BBQ! They have BBQ kitties there - Tom snapped these pictures. The first is Katama, the second is.......... Oreo! I'm sure we thought of that name first!
Sunday, July 1, 2007
Baseball, baseball, baseball
My goodness, we've been breathing, drinking, and eating baseball this weekend! On Friday night, we made the pilgramage down to Manchester NH to see the NH Fisher Cats play baseball. They are the AA affiliate of the Toronto Bluejays (interesting since we're in the Redsox backyard). Hugh made arrangements to have our Little League team recognized and a few of the kids went to the game with their parents. The kids got to go down on the field before the game began and were there when they played the National Anthem. Our guys got to hang with the Fisher Cats' first baseman, Chip Cannon who is VERY tall (6'5"). The Fisher Cats won and we all got our David Ortiz bobbleheads - a good time was had by all!
Here's the team photo that they took:
I got a lot of work done on my Betsy sock, the first sock is finished and I'm well on my way into the second. Great design as usual and very easy to memorize.
On Saturday our guys played the first game of the Allstar tournament. This tournament consists of five teams, all from central Vermont with the exception of our team which is the Connecticut Valley Little League South team. Players on the team are from seven of the eight teams - it promises to be a fun season! We won our first game in five innings 16-6 (we only played five innings because of the 10 run "mercy" rule). Sam's playing third base for the most part but will pitch and catch as well. He did a great job at-bat. He got on base by hitting the first ball pitched to them - that sends a nice message! Sam's batting second in the line-up.
Looky what bloomed at home this week - my peonies!
Our daylilies should be out any time - they're our fourth of July flower.
And - tah dah! - I got my new dining room table and chairs. I love them! Our old table and chairs predated by several years both boys - Tom is 15 next week so you do the math. Here's my favorite baseball coach putting it together.
Today's my last day of vacation - it was a fun week of being with the guys, getting some chores done, playing mini-golf and going to the pool. Back at it tomorrow.
Here's the team photo that they took:
I got a lot of work done on my Betsy sock, the first sock is finished and I'm well on my way into the second. Great design as usual and very easy to memorize.On Saturday our guys played the first game of the Allstar tournament. This tournament consists of five teams, all from central Vermont with the exception of our team which is the Connecticut Valley Little League South team. Players on the team are from seven of the eight teams - it promises to be a fun season! We won our first game in five innings 16-6 (we only played five innings because of the 10 run "mercy" rule). Sam's playing third base for the most part but will pitch and catch as well. He did a great job at-bat. He got on base by hitting the first ball pitched to them - that sends a nice message! Sam's batting second in the line-up.
Looky what bloomed at home this week - my peonies!
Our daylilies should be out any time - they're our fourth of July flower.And - tah dah! - I got my new dining room table and chairs. I love them! Our old table and chairs predated by several years both boys - Tom is 15 next week so you do the math. Here's my favorite baseball coach putting it together.
Today's my last day of vacation - it was a fun week of being with the guys, getting some chores done, playing mini-golf and going to the pool. Back at it tomorrow.
Friday, June 29, 2007
Seawolves win!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
According to Wikipedia, a Sea Wolf (Anarhichas lupus), also known as the Atlantic wolffish, Atlantic catfish, wolf eel, or sea cat, is a marine fish, the largest of the family Anarhichadidae.
It's also the name of our Little League team - the Hanover Seawolves. We took the name from the minor league team, the Erie Seawolves. I say "our" Little League team since DH Hugh coaches it and DS Sam is a key player. What a season!!! We finished the season with a record of 21-2 and won two tournaments. We're the newly crowned winner of the Connecticut Valley Little League and we also won the Lebanon Three Pitch tournament in May.
What a championship game it was - a come behind victory in the next to last inning!
I love this picture! It was taken by a fellow Seawolves parent - Jim. It's at the start of the game with Hugh giving "high fives" to the team after introductions.
This is the team - note all the trophies! Each kid and coach on the team got their own trophies, we received a larger trophy for winning the Connecticut Valley Little League South championship, the large trophy is for winning the Connecticut Valley Little League championship.
We played the very tall Newberry Knights who were undefeated going into this game. As a reference, note two of their players standing next to Sam - amazing, no?!
And here's Hugh with his three "clutch" hitters - Ryan, Jamison, and David.
Coach Joe (anesthesiologist extraordinaire) gave out "awards" to all the kids after the game. Sam got the coveted "head hunter" award - as the pitcher who hit the most batters during the season! Joe said that Sam was the most feared pitcher in the CVLLS.
Here's Hugh's write-up of the game that appeared in the local newspaper:
It's also the name of our Little League team - the Hanover Seawolves. We took the name from the minor league team, the Erie Seawolves. I say "our" Little League team since DH Hugh coaches it and DS Sam is a key player. What a season!!! We finished the season with a record of 21-2 and won two tournaments. We're the newly crowned winner of the Connecticut Valley Little League and we also won the Lebanon Three Pitch tournament in May.
What a championship game it was - a come behind victory in the next to last inning!
I love this picture! It was taken by a fellow Seawolves parent - Jim. It's at the start of the game with Hugh giving "high fives" to the team after introductions.
This is the team - note all the trophies! Each kid and coach on the team got their own trophies, we received a larger trophy for winning the Connecticut Valley Little League South championship, the large trophy is for winning the Connecticut Valley Little League championship.
We played the very tall Newberry Knights who were undefeated going into this game. As a reference, note two of their players standing next to Sam - amazing, no?!
And here's Hugh with his three "clutch" hitters - Ryan, Jamison, and David.
Coach Joe (anesthesiologist extraordinaire) gave out "awards" to all the kids after the game. Sam got the coveted "head hunter" award - as the pitcher who hit the most batters during the season! Joe said that Sam was the most feared pitcher in the CVLLS.
Here's Hugh's write-up of the game that appeared in the local newspaper:
In the peptalk before the game, Coach Hugh Mellert quoted the infamous Yogi Berra...."It ain't over til it's over" Yogi-ism.....telling the team that the season was not over until the Championship game was over.
Six Innings later.....The Hanover Seawolves won the Conn. Valley Little League Championship with a come from behind 7-5 victory over the undefeated Newbury (Vt.) Knights. The Knights jumped to an early lead with one run in the first inning, one run in the second inning, and a 2 run homer in the 3rd inning. It felt like it would be a Newbury runaway at that point in the game. But solid pitching by Hanover's ace, Joe Crevero (11 K's in the game) and flawless infield play (6 infield outs in the game), Hanover got the side in order in the 4th and 5th innings.
With the pressure on and the top of the Hanover order coming to bat in the 5th inning and the Newbury starting pitcher off the mound having used up his 85 pitchcount, the Seawolves mounted a 2 out comeback with patient at bats (6 walks in the game) and clutch hits (7 singles in the game - no extra base hits). All 9 batters came to the plate. With the bases loaded after a walk by Nate Choukas and Joe Cravero and a hard hit ground ball by the shortstop from Sam Mellert.....Ryan O'Rourke (#5 hitter) hit a rocket-shot down the line past the third baseman scoring 2 runs. Seawolves down now 4-3. The bases were loaded again with a walk by Chris Washington and the Knights got the second out of the inning on a force play at home off of a slow grounder back to the pitcher by Chris Mueller. Down to the final out of the inning and with the bases loaded and two strikes on the count, Jamison Jodoin (#8 batter) hit a fly that cleared the infield and dropped scoring 2 runs. Seawolves up 5-4. The Seawolves ninth batter, David White, came to the plate and with two outs and two strikes hit the ball over the second baseman's head to drive in 2 runs and ended the inning trying to stretch the single into a double. Seawolves up 7-4. Nine batters....six runs....4 of them with 2 outs!!! Clutch hits and smart base running!!!
In the sixth inning, Newbury scored one run on errors by the Seawolves but the first out came on a groundout to the pitcher,a popup hit high in the air over the head of shortstop Sam Mellert, who ran back and leaped into the air only to have the ball be 2 inches past his glove....out of leftfield came a charging Jamison Jodoin who snagged the ball for the second out as Sam Mellert rolled to the ground.....a Top Ten Play in anyone's book. Joe Cravero struck out the last batter on 6 pitches ending the game with 84 of his 85 pitchcount used up.
Coach Hugh Mellert got a Gatorade Bath and the celebration began as the Seawolves finished the season 21-2. (12-2 in League Play....6-0 in Lebanon 3-Pitch Tournament....3-0 in Conn. Valley Championship Run.)
Like Yogi said....."It ain't over til it's over"
Middle School graduation
Soooooooooo much has been going on this month! Tom had his graduation ceremony from middle school and prior to that, his 8th grade trip; we've had tons of baseball (which is another post all to itself), it's the start of a new term at the college - busy, busy.
The ceremony was very nice - each kid was introduced by homeroom. They had a lovely slide show that captured the entire school year. Tom was the first picture! Then the power went out - it was very hot in the gym, let me tell you. Instead of diplomas, the kids got t-shirts. My camera wasn't behaving that night but hopefully this captures the shirts (this was taken at the reception after the ceremony).
As always, it was a bittersweet evening. The long-time principal of the middle school is retiring - she's such a wonderful person and has done so much for the school. In keeping with the way she is, she wanted to ceremony to be about the kids and not about her. I wish she'd have waited two years and retired with Sam!
There is always a post-graduation party at the local bowling alley. I helped chaperone - I think my hearing and voice is nearly back to normal now. It was a fun evening. Lots of prizes - and of course bowling is never a bad thing!
During the course of middle school, Tom's become very active in Playback theater. Playback theater was what Tom chose as his volunteer project - it's interactive theater. They visited day care centers, a couple of retirement community and their old elementary school. He's also been involved in drama and an improv group he formed with some friends. Their improv group is called "Not Gum" (don't ask me!) and they're amazingly funny. The most wonderful thing is the group of kids he's gotten to know and become friends with.
Here are a few pictures from Playback Theater:
this is Ethan, who is funny, nice, brilliant AND amazingly talented:
And a couple of group shots:
There were several going away parties for Mike, who's moving to L.A. by way of Russia:
Here's to high school!
The ceremony was very nice - each kid was introduced by homeroom. They had a lovely slide show that captured the entire school year. Tom was the first picture! Then the power went out - it was very hot in the gym, let me tell you. Instead of diplomas, the kids got t-shirts. My camera wasn't behaving that night but hopefully this captures the shirts (this was taken at the reception after the ceremony).
As always, it was a bittersweet evening. The long-time principal of the middle school is retiring - she's such a wonderful person and has done so much for the school. In keeping with the way she is, she wanted to ceremony to be about the kids and not about her. I wish she'd have waited two years and retired with Sam!
There is always a post-graduation party at the local bowling alley. I helped chaperone - I think my hearing and voice is nearly back to normal now. It was a fun evening. Lots of prizes - and of course bowling is never a bad thing!
During the course of middle school, Tom's become very active in Playback theater. Playback theater was what Tom chose as his volunteer project - it's interactive theater. They visited day care centers, a couple of retirement community and their old elementary school. He's also been involved in drama and an improv group he formed with some friends. Their improv group is called "Not Gum" (don't ask me!) and they're amazingly funny. The most wonderful thing is the group of kids he's gotten to know and become friends with.
Here are a few pictures from Playback Theater:
this is Ethan, who is funny, nice, brilliant AND amazingly talented:
And a couple of group shots:
There were several going away parties for Mike, who's moving to L.A. by way of Russia:
Here's to high school!
June Projects
It's been awhile since I posted - what a busy month it's been! I'll write more on that in another post. But I wanted to bring you up to date on knitting projects. I knitted a couple of pairs of socks for Tom and Sam's learning specialists. They're the folks who pull together all the nuts and bolts of their accomodations - technology, captions, acoustics. We truly couldn't do it without them. Tom's learning specialist this year was Patti, Sam's was Pat. For Patti, I made these socks:
This is the May SOTM (Sock of the Month Club) offering from The Knitter. The yarn is Tofutsies and the pattern was VERY complicated! I frogged it a couple of times.
I made yet another pair of Monkey socks for Pat. I LOVE this pattern! It's so pretty and knits up fast. It looks complicated but isn't but the pattern is complicated enough to keep it interesting. The yarn is a cotton Sockotta yarn - one I've not knitted with before but liked a bunch.
I finished my Lilac socks! I think these are the best pair of socks I've knitted to date. I knitted these on size 0 needles (2.0 mm) using the Panda Wool yarn I won in a contest on Adrienne's blog. Panda Wool is a lovely yarn but the skeins are shorter yardage-wise than some I've knitted with. I had about 3 feet left over when I finished each sock - that's a little close for comfort! Luckily I have small feet.
I have a couple of works in progress. First is Judy's luxury Sock of the Month kit (also from the Knitter). Isn't this gorgeous? The pattern was designed by Judy, herself, and is so pretty but easy to memorize. There's a little cable every fourth row. The yarn is Lorna's Laces Chocolate Raspberry Swirl - I hope my camera catches it!
And this is THIS month's sock of the month club offering. It's called Betsy and is designed by Adrienne Fong - my favorite sock designer! The yarn is Regia - I need to hurry and finish these socks by Wednesday for the fourth of July.
Sam made the allstar team and we're going to a Fisher Cats game this evening so I should get lots of good knitting time -oops, I mean, baseball time - in this weekend!
This is the May SOTM (Sock of the Month Club) offering from The Knitter. The yarn is Tofutsies and the pattern was VERY complicated! I frogged it a couple of times.
I made yet another pair of Monkey socks for Pat. I LOVE this pattern! It's so pretty and knits up fast. It looks complicated but isn't but the pattern is complicated enough to keep it interesting. The yarn is a cotton Sockotta yarn - one I've not knitted with before but liked a bunch.
I finished my Lilac socks! I think these are the best pair of socks I've knitted to date. I knitted these on size 0 needles (2.0 mm) using the Panda Wool yarn I won in a contest on Adrienne's blog. Panda Wool is a lovely yarn but the skeins are shorter yardage-wise than some I've knitted with. I had about 3 feet left over when I finished each sock - that's a little close for comfort! Luckily I have small feet.
I have a couple of works in progress. First is Judy's luxury Sock of the Month kit (also from the Knitter). Isn't this gorgeous? The pattern was designed by Judy, herself, and is so pretty but easy to memorize. There's a little cable every fourth row. The yarn is Lorna's Laces Chocolate Raspberry Swirl - I hope my camera catches it!
And this is THIS month's sock of the month club offering. It's called Betsy and is designed by Adrienne Fong - my favorite sock designer! The yarn is Regia - I need to hurry and finish these socks by Wednesday for the fourth of July.
Sam made the allstar team and we're going to a Fisher Cats game this evening so I should get lots of good knitting time -oops, I mean, baseball time - in this weekend!
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
Knitting Projects
I've had a productive few weeks knitting. I haven't made any more progress on the Very Boring Vest but I have three pairs of socks OTN (on the needle) and I finished a pair as well.
Tah dah! The pair I finished are the Rainbow socks pattern by Adrienne Fong using Fortissima Colori 1776 colorway. Isn't it fun the way the yarn makes the stars and stripes pattern? Just in time for July 4.
I have two SOTM club offerings from theknitter.com going at the same time. This pattern is called Dayflowers. The lacework is more complicated than many I've done - you sure can't watch the Redsox AND knit this pattern! It's very pretty - knitted using Tofutsies yarn. I'm really liking Tofutsies. It's very soft and easy to knit with.
This sock of the month offering is theknitter.com's "luxury" SOTM club. How could I resist? This is knit using Lorna's Laces shepherd sock yarn Chocolate Raspberry Truffle which is a custom color for this sock club. The pattern is called Chocolate Raspberry Truffle Shadow Socks and it's designed by Judy Alexander, who owns theknitter.com. It's a cable pattern and very easy but very elegant. It's a bit hard to see the pattern in this picture - as I get closer to finishing, I'll snap a shot outside so you can see the pattern.
I'm also continuing the Lilac socks on two needles.
I had to laugh - when I open my knitting bag everything is pink/maroon/purple colors which is actually unusual for me. I've always leaned towards blue/green/aquas. Change is good!
Tah dah! The pair I finished are the Rainbow socks pattern by Adrienne Fong using Fortissima Colori 1776 colorway. Isn't it fun the way the yarn makes the stars and stripes pattern? Just in time for July 4.
I have two SOTM club offerings from theknitter.com going at the same time. This pattern is called Dayflowers. The lacework is more complicated than many I've done - you sure can't watch the Redsox AND knit this pattern! It's very pretty - knitted using Tofutsies yarn. I'm really liking Tofutsies. It's very soft and easy to knit with.
This sock of the month offering is theknitter.com's "luxury" SOTM club. How could I resist? This is knit using Lorna's Laces shepherd sock yarn Chocolate Raspberry Truffle which is a custom color for this sock club. The pattern is called Chocolate Raspberry Truffle Shadow Socks and it's designed by Judy Alexander, who owns theknitter.com. It's a cable pattern and very easy but very elegant. It's a bit hard to see the pattern in this picture - as I get closer to finishing, I'll snap a shot outside so you can see the pattern.
I'm also continuing the Lilac socks on two needles.
I had to laugh - when I open my knitting bag everything is pink/maroon/purple colors which is actually unusual for me. I've always leaned towards blue/green/aquas. Change is good!
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