I heart Ranger baseball!

I have not always enjoyed baseball.  When I was younger, I thought it was the most boring thing on TV!  Then I met SweetHeart, who played a little college ball, and I had to learn it out of self defense!  He taught me how to score a game, and I learned the lingo.  Now I can talk baseball, especially the Rangers.  We have been fans for years, and now they are going to the World Series!  We could not be more excited!

A FB friend asked what is your favorite baseball moment.  It got me to thinking and reminiscing...

• I love to go on Opening Day!  The fan fair and the excitement in the air is so much fun!

• When Pudge played for the Rangers and he threw a runner out at second, that was great baseball! 
• I love to watch them turn a double play! 
• Home Runs at The Ballpark are always fun because they shoot off fireworks and play the music from "The Natural." 

• Seeing the players smile like they are having the time of their life. 
• I have come to appreciate the slow pace of the game.  It is great for visiting.
• The Rangers have a storytime for pre-schoolers in the morning.  We went one time and had a blast with the kids!  We even got to eat our lunch in the stands and watch all the workers preparing for the game that evening.
• We have been there in the cold, in the rain (the rain delay of 2010 is not my favorite memory, but it was definitely memorable!), in the stinking hot, and when it was absolutely gorgeous for baseball. 

• We have seen them loose and win. 
• We were at the Rangers game on my due date with SweetBoy, and SweetHeart caught a foul ball!
• We have been there when they retired the numbers for Nolan Ryan and Johnny Oats.  We were there when they honored Michael Young for being the Rangers All-time Hits Leader.  We were 5 of thousands who signed one of the giant congratulations cards.  (I'm sure he noticed!)
• We have had seats all over The Ballpark so every camera angle on TV looks familiar.
• We have gone to games with family and friends, just the two of us, and with the kids.

• And there is the food at The Ballpark--hot dogs, pretzels, lemonade, lemon chills, cotton candy. Yum!

• Our kids have grown up going to Ranger games, and those are family memories that I treasure!

• We have had access to more games on TV this year and have watched a lot of baseball! SweetHeart laughs at me when I get so into the games--gasping at close plays and doing a happy dance when they won the ALCS.

Go Rangers!  ALCS champs!  Go for the World Series!

Scripture Memory Team #16

My memory verse for this time is from Beth Moore's simulcast on kindness I told you about a few weeks ago. 

Proverbs 31:26  NKJV
She opens her mouth with wisdom,
and on her tongue is the law of kindness.

This is short and sweet, but I have a list of things to do before the weekend gets here in 4 hours and 13 minutes!

Festive October

This month is full of get togethers!  We have a birthday girl, a festival here, a hometown festival...and this year we threw in a family reunion! 

For SweetDoll's birthday, she had a cupcakes with classmates (She thought the hat was silly, but I thought it was adorable.)

Last year we rode horses, and she loved it so much that she asked to go again.  Sure!  This year Granny and Papa were able to go with us.

The ranch where we were had a great place to take pictures.  Aren't they so cute in their western wear!

Happy birthday, SweetDoll!  Love you!

Scripture Memory Team #15

Wow!  October 1st!  This year is really flying by!  I told SweetHeart I didn't even get sick of the heat to be ready for fall yet.  Today I put out some fall decorations, so I'm good with it.  And these beautiful days are certainly welcome! 

Around here it has been quite a week, but I finally got my to-do list done and we have ball games tonight, so this will have to be short and sweet but I didn't want to skip it!

This is a very familiar verse, but it came up in a book I was reading the other day and they had it in The Message.  Wow!  A little background...in Beth Moore's study Believing God, she had us memorize a 5-statment pledge of faith that for me was very profound.  It is:

God is who He says He is.
God can do what He says He can do.
I am who God says I am.
I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.
God's Word is alive and active in me.
I'm believing God!

Beth pointed out in that study that many times we struggle in these areas, and the enemy attacks these areas often.  Over the years, I have found that to be true.  When I have defeat in my life, it is usually because of unbelief.  And the area that typically gets me is believing who God says I am.  So with all that, here is my verse for the next two weeks...

Philippians 4:13
Whatever I have, wherever I am, I can make it through anything in the One who makes me who I am.

I had a converstation with another mom about how we struggle to be a "good mom."  She said that one day God said to her, "You are a good mom.  Just be who I made you to be."   That is truth!  I just need to believe it! 

The other day I was making SweetTate his usual for lunch--a hotdog wrapped in a flour tortilla.  Here is the conversation we had.

Me--You are going to turn into a hotdog.
SweetTate--No, I'm not.
Me--You know what they say, "You are what you eat." So you are going to be a hotdog.
SweetTate--People don't turn into hotdogs!
Me--That is what they say!
SweetTate--Did God say that?
Me--No, Baby, God did not say that.  I'm just teasing you.

Oh, that I would learn that lesson and when I start to feed myself lies that they say stop and ask "Did God say that?"  He is the One who makes me who I am.