His Field Of Dreams . . .

Inherent in the heart of this mother is a desire for each of my children to find something they love and are good at that will help them build confidence and bring them joy. For my oldest, it just happens to be baseball {sport of his father}.

Here is my Big C standing in front of his field of dreams this week right before the season ending championship game. Look at that perfectly groomed field! The grass! The scoreboard with zeroes across it! {okay, maybe you aren't into baseball, but this is as All American as it gets people} And there is my boy, on the verge of tweenhood, on the verge of becoming a member of the only undefeated team this season, on the verge of his big game.

I'd love to tell you this shot was posed, but it wasn't. He was actually out there, alone, thinking hard about what he needed to do for his team that night.

And here's his team of big hearted ten, eleven and twelve year olds: The Nationals - the worst team in Major League Baseball, but the best team in the Central Loudoun Little League. The team to beat. The team with a huge X on their backs.

After it was all said and done, this was not to be a season with a perfect record. And though the Nationals didn't win, they didn't cry either, which is a good thing for this pregnant lady, because c'mon, have you ever seen crying Little Leaguers? It is true torture and devastation! The last inning of the game was even exciting enough to get the Queen up out of her foldable camp chair screaming and shouting like a truly crazed baseball fan! And Big C had a great game. It made me feel really happy to see him out there, even after losing in the championship game, with his head held high because he has found the thing he loves and is good at that gives him confidence and brings him joy.

{Big C being announced as a member of the All Star Team after the game.}