Way past due for an update....

Well...I apologize for not updating sooner, but seriously folks, life at the McCullum house has been B-U-S-Y!

Jenkins' All-Star team went undefeated in the State Tournament and are back to back champs! It was so exciting to watch those boys play. Here's my favorite pic after the championship game. (At least Jenkins was smart enough to get on top of the pile!)

The team headed to the Regional World Series in Clarkton, NC at the end of July. Most of you are probably asking "Where in the world is Clarkton?" Funny thing....it's Johnny's hometown! How ironic that Jenkins' team got to play in Johnny's hometown. The boys had a great time....played well and Jenkins was super stoked that the McCullum side of the family finally got to see him play ball. There was not a single game that he didn't have a large crowd of McCullums there to cheer him on (thanks again yall!). The boys finished 4th at the World Series...and while they were disappointed, the parents were very proud. The only sad part of the whole experience was watching Jenkins burst into tears once he walked off the field from getting his medallion. When I asked why he was so upset he said "Because baseball is over!" Poor kid - he honestly loves playing baseball more than anything!

But......of course, baseball is never truly over. Jenkins was asked to play on a 9U travel ball team which consist of alot of his All-Star teammates. We've played in a few tournaments and have done really well. This is all new to us b/c this isn't coach pitch...it's kid pitch. Jenkins pitched for the first time on 9/11.....and did really well. Luckily, he hasn't been called on to pitch again (it makes this mom way too nervous)....but he continues to play right field and 2nd base....and he continues to have the best batting average on the team. We play in another tournament next weekend....and hopefully baseball season will officially end the first week of December. (meaning we get a whole two months off before regular season baseball starts back!)

And....if baseball didn't keep us busy enough......Jenkins started 2nd grade in August.....AWANAs started back on Sunday nights.....and of course, Jenkins wanted to play football again this year. Whew! (Now do you see why I haven't updated recently?!) We practice football on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday nights. Baseball practice is Wednesday and Friday nights. Needless to say, we only sleep and take showers at our house anymore...LOL! Jenkins is playing for the Bishopville Rec Department and we love it there! Honestly, we have some of the best kids, parents, and coaches that you will ever find! Jenkins is loving every minute of it.

Of course, we don't get much time to lay around the house and just do nothing....but that's okay! I love watching Jenkins play his sports....and we are always together as a family so really - Life is good!

It's all about BASEBALL!!!

I am oh so happy today b/c we do not have baseball practice tonight....tomorrow...or over the weekend! WoooHooo!! :o) Our first four days off since we started the All-Star practices. (and the 2nd day off in the past 11 days) Jenkins is LOVING every minute of it....while I find myself sweating my butt off just watching the 2 1/2 hour daily practices. But the kid loves it...so I'm happy that he is happy!

Last weekend the boys played in the "Jefferson Coach Pitch Tournament". Our first game was Friday night at 6:30pm....and we beat Cheraw 21-0. We played Florence A (Maple Park) on Saturday at 10:30am and won 12-5. We won our 3pm game against Lee County 4-0 and then got a 'bye' to the championship game at 8pm. Of course, the Championship game turned out to be Hartsville Northern vs Hartsville National. We won 4-2...but boy, was that a tough game!

The only bad part about the tournament (other than the heat...and boy, was it ever hot!) is that Jenkins had to play against his REL friends (again)! I hate when that happens! I can't not cheer for Jenkins' team....and I can't cheer against the Lee County boys either so what do you do?! The Lee County team is AMAZING this year and I'm wishing them all the best at District next week! I'm hoping they make it to the State Tournament since that is the next 'official game' that our boys will be playing in.

The Hartsville Northern League is hosting the state baseball tournament for AA Coach Pitch/Machine Pitch baseball this year so we have an automatic 'bye' until that tournament begins. We do not play in the District tournament so for now, we just sit back ....practice, practice, practice until July 9th when those games start. We got our new snazzy uniforms in this week and the boys look FABULOUS! Jenkins is most excited over the flat bill hat (which by the way, I hate!)

Okay...I'll admit it! I'm one proud Mom and he is one handsome boy!!

All-Star....

Last week the Hartsville Northern League had a program to recognize the boys that were selected to play on the All-Star teams. Jenkins was pretty stoked about getting an "All-Star" trophy!

Jenkins is so excited to have been selected for the team....and he even enjoys the daily 2 1/2 hour practices. The team is made up of some great players....and they are fabulous boys! We played in two scrimmages so far and the boys played really well together. The test will be this weekend when we head up to Jefferson to play some of the other All-Star teams. Should be very interesting!!

Coaches: Lann Waldrop, Happy Taylor, Ray Burr and Scott White

Players: (back row) Owen Taylor, Davis Batchelor, Trevor Gerard, Matthew Urbaniack, Daniel Coker, Brandon Owens (front row) Jenkins McCullum, Mitchell Vance, Jonathan Burr, Mac Waldrop, Evan White, Christian Sevilla

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So...let's go Hartsville Northern!!! :o)

Another fill in to kill some time......

1. Maybe I should be.... working! (After all, that's why they pay me!)

2. I love....... spending time with Johnny & Jenkins! I love those two crazy guys!!

3. People would say that I .....am a perpetual planner! It's a curse, not a blessing!

4. I don't understand...... the purpose of ants or mosquitoes!

5. When I wake up in the morning.....my first thought is "Do I have to go to work today?"

6. I lost.... alot of respect for some people over the past few years. It's okay though b/c I've realize that I can't change people butI can change myself....and I don't have to spend time with people that aren't honest!

7. Life is full of...... little moments that take your breath away. You just have to realize that sometimes it's the little things that matter most!

8. My past taught me....that you can't change people!

9. I get annoyed when..... things don't go my way! (Come on, admit it - so do you!!)

10. At a party I...... tend to hang with people that I know well. I can actually be a little shy!

11. I wish...... that I didn't have to work this summer so I could spend all my time with Jenkins!

12. Dogs...... bark at night and I still don't understand why!!

13. Cats...... annoy me!!

14. Tomorrow..... is one day closer to the weekend!! And another day of baseball practice!

15. I have a low tolerance for..... people who hurt the people I love.

16. If I had a million dollars..... I would quit my job TODAY!!

17. I'm totally terrified of...... losing a loved one!

18. I want.....be stress-free!! And sleep like a normal person!

Just a little update . . .

Does life ever slow down when you have kids?? Seriously, some days I wonder what in the world Johnny & I did with our spare time before Jenkins came along. I bet we were really bored! :o)





Regular season baseball is now over....and 60 Minutes did okay. Not the best season but at least we won more games than we lost. Jenkins was asked to play on a 8U travel ball team so for the past two weekend, we've done that - and I mean ALL weekend. The first tournament didn't go too well, as the boys were forced to hit off a machine but they still did fabulous in my opinion. The tournament last weekend was AMAZING! The boys played four games on Saturday and walked away as tournament champions! Tournament score was 53-6 : Hartsville Foxes are AWESOME!!






We also found out this week that Jenkins made the All-Star team for his age group. :o) We were pleasantly surprised and are so excited that he gets a chance to play more baseball. Hartsville Northern has a great team and some fabulous boys playing! I can't wait to see how far the team will go!! I'm hoping that a trip to LA to play in the World Series is in their future!!



We also celebrated Jenkins' birthday a week early. His birthday is actually May 30th but that also happens to be Memorial Day weekend. We had Jenkins' party at the skating rink in Hville. He loved his cake - which looked like a Clemson baseball jersey. We had a great time!!!

So now my little man turns 7 years old this Sunday and I guess I need to come up with something 'grand' for us to do. I'm thinking a quiet day at home just laying around won't really work for him. Sure would be great for mom & dad though!!

Clemson

Our weekend to Clemson was great....a little wet, but still a fabulous weekend!! Jenkins was so excited about heading up there with Uncle Mark, Aunt Shannon, Coyt & Kirsten that he could hardly wait to leave Saturday morning. He rode with Aunt Shannon in her new car....which gave Johnny, Worth & I a pleasant, QUIET ride! (Woohoo!!)

We got a couple innings in on Saturday before the game out cancelled and rescheduled for noon on Sunday so that left the rest of the day to shop, eat and just take it easy (my favorite things). Jenkins was all about getting Clemson gear and came home with a new hat, shirt, ball, pen....and I'm sure something else that I'm forgetting about.

On Sunday, we headed out early and explored the campus.....and got to the field early enough to see batting practice. Well, guess who we got to meet??? Kyle Parker!!! Jenkins' hero!! He is the QB for the football team.....right fielder for the baseball team....and the ACC leader in home runs. He was a REALLY nice guy and talked to the kids.....took pics with them and even autographed balls and hats for our kids. We had him all to ourselves! Then during the game, he saw us in right field...walked over and tossed a game ball up into the stands at our boys. :o) Of course, Jenkins wasn't thrilled that Coyt caught the ball instead of him but hey, you can't win them all! I can truly say that the weekend was so much fun...even if the Tarheels won the series of games!

Tickets for three to 2 Clemson vs UNC baseball games $90....gas, hotel accommodations $130.... Clemson loot $78....seeing your child meet his favorite college baseball player - PRICELESS!!!

Life is CRAZY busy when you're a McCullum . . .

Life at the McCullum house continues to be hectic as ever! Between church, school, baseball....and life in general, it seems like we are only at home to sleep and take showers! It seems like we've been at the ball field every night for the past month.....I wonder just how many hot dogs Jenkins has consumed in the past few weeks!?!

This past weekend, we had a particularly busy Sunday. It started off with church.....lunch with the family and then we headed to a birthday party for Bridges. Boy, is that Bridges a cutie pie!! They had a great party with inflatable jumpy things....and a mechanical bull! Oh yes....Jenkins just HAD to ride it and had a blast!! I wish you could have seen Bridges and Bayler riding that thing!! Those boys are just a hoot!

After the party, we headed straight back to church for AWANA's until 7:30pm. Jenkins only has one more bible verse to memorize and then he'll be finished with his book. It's the one that says "Do everything without arguing or complaining"! Let's see if he takes that one to heart! :o)

This weekend....well, it's another weekend filled with fun & excitement!! We are off to have dinner with Uncle Alan, Aunt Teresa & Lachelle for Johnny's & Teresa's birthdays!! (Happy Birthday to the World's Best Husband....and the Best Sister-In-Law a girl could ask for!!!) And then tomorrow morning (very, very early) we are headed off to Clemson with Aunt Shannon, Uncle Mark, Worth, Kirsten and Coyt to watch the Clemson Tigers take on the UNC Tarheels in a couple of baseball games. Should be super fun since Johnny pulls for the 'Heels and my little Jenkins is a Tiger fan!! Oh, do I sense that one of my boys is going to be unhappy with the final score of the game??! Oh yes, I do!!