win some, lose some

emma's team had a great, great season but ran into a hot, fast pitcher in the championship and lost. 9-1 overall, second place in the city for a team of mostly 5th graders in a sixth grade league. Not bad. 

Pretty good, for Ben, is that today was his last day of grade school ever--not sure if he needed tissues or not...

And speaking of good, very, very good: Terri got huge news yesterday: she is the recipient of the Red Motley Alumni teaching award for the College of Liberal Arts. It is the only teaching award in the college (hundreds of profs, thousands of students), and the timing couldn't be better with tenure files soon to go out. 

just like summer

with no school today, the kids slept late. doug and terri found a coffee shop and did a few hours of work. around noon, we all got a bite to eat and then headed over to the theater for an early afternoon matinee (emma to 'night at the museum' with her friends; doug, terri and ben to 'star trek'). such a nice day out afterwards, we decided to go play a round of golf at the Roseville 9-hole. that was fun--we found a few balls, and emma got a par--except for when terri got bonked in the head on the fringe of the 7th hole. anyway, she survived and we went to Schroeder's for dinner--we all got our 'usual', except for emma who ordered ribs. she not only ate to her heart's content, she won the meat raffle! we ended up the day, with a wiffle ball game (5th grade girls versus 5th grade boys) and then movie night in the park at North Dale. 

another big day

too tired to write much, but highlights include: 

--Terri finished her grading;

--Doug got advance copies of spring issue of Contexts (and all is looking good);

--Emma's team won their playoff game 11-1. They are now in the championship next week! (They won a much tighter, first round game on monday 5-2.  Emma has suddenly emerged as our top catcher too--she caught every inning but two in the last two games, and then a whole game for her traveling team monday night, to boot). 

--MMSA Band Concert. Both kids were good--emma showed off a drum roll at one point, and ben got a clarinet pin (for playing four years) and a certificate (for participating in the solo festival). Ben was also in charge of presenting the 8th grade gift to their conductor Mr. Starr, thanking him at the end of the concert for "fun and stuff."

--and we made it home to see the guy from Conway win American Idol. He wasn't our favorite but he was okay and it was an entertaining season.

last night and tomorrow

Random Elements was a hit! They played four songs, including Sunshine of My Love, Knocking on Heaven's Door, and an instrumental they wrote themselves. Though the weather was chilly, the crowd was large and enthusiastic. Some autographs were signed and we even heard a few say they were better than the Elvis "tribute artist" they opened for. Who knows how many more shows Ben will play or bands he will be in but what a great way to start.

As for tomorrow: Emma's school softball has their first round playoff game at 3:30 at North Dale. Transfiguration's 6th grade team is the opponent. We don't know much about them, but if Emma and the girls pitch, catch and hit like they have been doing all season we like our changes. 

today's big gig

its finally here. the debut of ben's rock band, Random Elements!

The group has been working hard all week, ending last night around 10 and back at it again this morning at 9. There is talk of "epic awesomeness" but also some nerves and lots of herbal tea to calm themselves down. An email went out to all the families at MMSA, and 8th graders all over St. Paul are talking about stopping by.  They go on at 5:45 for a half an hour set opening for the Elvis impersonator. 

After the show, Doug will be tending bar over at the (in)famous "Ted's" tonite from 8-10 in a fundraiser for the school for parents and others. 

On the sports front: Ben's school team had its last game yesterday, losing 2-1 against a great pitcher. Rec ball starts next week for him. Emma's school team, on the other hand, wrapped up a perfect 7-0 regular season in Hastings and will be in the first round of the playoffs Monday at North Dale (our home field!). 

busy week ahead

how busy?

emma has six softball games, 3 on weds alone

ben has a baseball game, a practice or two, and with the big 'random elements' gig saturday band rehearsals at every free moment

doug and terri have final papers and exams coming in all week, and weds is the reception for Doug's promotion

tomorrow, btw, is the annual safety patrol picnic at Como Park; the mmsa crew defends its city championship for marching

may days

hey haven't posted in a while. things are busy and the weather is warming up, so it's all good. where to start? how about Ben's crazy baseball game today: they got behind 18-3 in the first two innings but came back to win 28-24 in extra innings. emma's school team puts their undefeated record on the line tomorrow. other emma news: emma finally getting over a bad cold, and learned today she got named a safety patrol captain for next year! last hockey game of the year friday night. big news on the ben front is that his band "random elements" has their first gig! they play at the St. Andrews spring festival on the 15th, the opening act for the Elvis impersonator. This has been the talk of the school and parents the past few days.