Swinging into Spring

You know Spring is here and the end of school is near when it's Portfolio Night. In the old days, back when we were kids, they were just called Spring Parent-Teacher Conferences. Now they jazz it up with a new name so parents can't wait to go!

It actually is pretty nice. Each student basically gives their parents a tour of their "portfolio" -- samples of their school work to date. We also saw his recent science project and participated in some brain-buster activities. You know those "obvious" puzzles that are only obvious once you hear the answer. Parents were allowed to help their children but even I was stumped on one of them. (Trust me, I will lose sleep on that one but I am determined to figure it out myself!)

On a side note, this is our last grade-school teacher conference. I just can't believe it. The end is near...

After the Portfolio Extravaganza (now that sounds even more exciting yet!), we stopped home for a quick bite to eat and some homework, then headed to the first baseball practice of the year.

There is no way we are going to call this team the Bad News Bears. Remember how every year they are aligned with some MLB team? Carter's been the Tigers twice and I think the Phillies. This year, though, Coach Buttermaker, er Austin, a lifelong Cincy fan, gets his dream team. He's got the Reds! That's a sure sign this is going to be a great year, right? I hope so.

He will be aided by his trusty assistant Coach Buttermaker II, aka Mike, and lovely wife Christine (the other half of the esteemed Coaches' Wives Club). Carter now has moved up to the next age bracket. I recognized a few of the kids on the team.

In all fairness, it is unfair to judge the potential of a team by the first practice. If they are like Carter, they haven't swung a bat since last summer or played much catch. He was definitely rusty. Even Coach had to work out some rust, throwing pitches. I think both of them will be feeling it a bit tomorrow.

Eventually, we'll get into the swing of our spring schedule, too!