Busy Weekend!

Last weekend I was packing my bags for a weekend with a full agenda. As soon as the bags came out, Ace knew. I found myself on the floor packing in the family room trying to reason with my 2 year old why I have to leave and why people have to work. Ace is all about the Whys and every statement was followed with a Why? It was a sad departure at the airport with Ace shouting, "Mommy Ace go, Ace go on the airplane!" Ugh, my heart just crumbled, and its not going to get easier. I immediately tried to reassure myself in a few minutes he is going to be all about his bubble gum or Winnie the Pooh movie. I called Casey to make for more reassurance.

I headed out to Fleming, New Jersey to announce the opening of Diamond Nation. I am so excited about the partnership with Jack Cust Jr. and his family, and the staff! He has the Jack Cust Baseball Academy that started over 10 years ago. They are expanding now and building Diamond Nation, it will be one of the top baseball and softball complexes in the US. Along with the... drum roll please! Jennie Finch Softball Academy. How incredibly neat is that! Its hard to imagine. I am so humbled and excited to be able to hopefully have an impact in the Northeast, help the game grow, and train many young women in our game! There are so many great talented softballers in the Northeast with no place to play when the weather gets bad. Now, softball will not only be a season in the Northeast, it will be a year around event! There is also a dome set up for the winters! It is in the works under construction. We have many exciting things in store, lessons, clinics, tournaments, leagues, and even a travel organization!
Check it out at DiamondNation.com

From New Jersey I headed down south to Houston, Texas. I did a public signing there at a Card/Trade Show. These are always fun because you never know who you are going to meet. I got to meet many incredible fans and many baseball greats of the past and present. To name a few, Tony Gwynn, Craig Biggio, and more! I have to pinch myself to have the opportunity to sign my name and get paid doing so. I always chat with many of the people in the business, finding out who is nice, who is a bit nuts, and so forth. Hearing that athletes come to these shows and complain the whole time they are signing is absolutely mind boggling. Its even hard for me to grasp getting paid for an autograph. I am a bit torn when young girls especially show up knowing they paid to come. I realize though that without this card show paying my way and etc to get to the city and be there, I wouldn't be able to meet the people/young girls I do. Knowing this it makes it a bit easier, along with the many many hours we softball players have stayed after games signing, usually the last to leave the ball park. Don't get me wrong we are delighted to, we are just grateful to have the fans we do come watch us!

We are getting paid to write our name, people dream of this, its crazy how people are not grinning ear to ear while they sign. I sure am, gratefully signing each signature. Usually, I am the only female or there is very few, which make it even more special. So, if you ever come to a public signing you can't miss me, I am in the corner, perhaps the one girl, thanking all that come, and sporting a Colgate smile. Thank you again, to those who came!

Sunday night from Houston I flew up to Minneapolis, Minnesota. The good ole Midwest! I love it there, the people, the food, the pace of life, the corn fields, the cow smell, and more! I have mid western roots with my whole family except for me being born there. I am the lone Californian. Some of my greatest family memories are held there, touring the farms, hiding in the corn fields, sledding, snowmobiling, even oddly at the butcher beef jerky in hand, treasured memories with my grandparents! So much fun! When I landed it was 4 degrees! Unbelievable! We headed to Rochester, for the Rochester Amateur Sports Commission's Annual Dinner. It was a great event, honoring many local star athletes! It was great hearing their stories and seeing them proudly except their awards. I was the speaker for the night which makes me quite nervous. This one was different though, the community was so laid back, welcoming, and easy going. I enjoyed the night and meeting so many very sweet people. Thank you Rochester!

I am so grateful for the many opportunities that come my way, especially in this economy. My heart goes out to the many who are being laid off... its just horrible. I send my prayers out to all of them and their families.

I couldn't get home fast enough to my Ace's. Peeking in the car seeing his grinning face, its indescribable! Motherhood by far is the greatest of all!

We are gearing up for our camp this weekend in Southern California, we are accepting registration on Saturday. Please come out and join us. Details at JennieFinch.com under camps. We look forward to a great weekend!

Casey is itching to start spring training! It is coming fast! Its been ground hog day for him most of the off season, working out every morning for a good 4, 5, 6, hours a day! We are encouraged by the opportunity of being with the Rangers, and are looking forward to a great season!

Dreaming & Believing!
#27

Potties, Binky's, & Blankie's

This is Ace's world! What a life!

We are such lucky parents, God knew we needed to start out with an easy one. This lil guy has traveled the world in his 2 little years. He has been to China, Japan, and over 30 states. Unbelievable! He is so easy going and adaptable. Its pretty much all he has ever known, airplanes and hotels.

He knows of Tucson and that as his toy land. "Tuscon," he says," Ace has that in Tucson." Everything is in Tucson! Despite the fact that he has only been there 2 weeks this entire year. He is surrounded by love where ever he ends up and that is all that matters! And toys seem to appear wherever he lands!

Well and of course his binky and blankie! To him, that is his world. My stomach starts to cramp when ever I think of getting rid of one, the Binky. I don't even consider both, heaven forbid. We do know its time, we just aren't ready yet. We, notice, all three of us. We know we are digging the hole deeper and deeper as each day passes. My stomach is now to a complete cramp just talking about it. I know many moms are out there thinking get a grip and a back bone! The time will come, when? Not sure, but it will! Every one already thinks he's that 5 year old kid with a binky because he is so tall. I need a shirt for him that says, "My daddy is 6'5" I'm only 2! Leave me, my mom, and my binky alone"! As you can tell I have a complex. We are getting there trying to limit it to naps and night time... for the most part. The day will come, just not sure when.

The Lord knew exactly what we needed like I said. Our little guy one morning says, "Mommy, no diapers, diapers are for babies!" Well that was it, at 2 1/2 he is potty trained! That was all it took. I think the Lord is blessing us with all other aspects because he knows what is in store with the Binky! He is chuckling up there!

On to the potty!

Potty's, so I have come to the conclusion I have a huge issue.

Germs. I am so not, a germ freak, in fact very far from it! We build up our antibodies daily! But with toilets, yes, I am! Ace is so good on his little potty at home. I disinfect it and clean it. It even plays music to celebrate each use! Its perfect!

My first experience out using a public rest room with Ace was frightening. I kind of flipped out! I'd almost rather him use his clean, fresh diaper! It even crossed my mind to slip one on him, more than once. What to do? I even bought a little fold up seat, then realized I have to carry this sponge bob plastic seat in my purse, first of all. Second, cleaning it every time both sides in public. Well that didn't last too long either. I'm still trying to figure out a solution.

These are my options for now

1. Using an entire roll of toilet paper to cover every porcelain thing Ace could possibly touch. It takes me back to 6th grade toilet papering the mean girls house. And Carry Clorox wipes in my purse and wiping down the whole stall. Not fun!
2. I am thinking of buying little potties for each car to have! This will only work when we have a car. Most of the time we aren't even where we have a car. Can u imagine us going through security at the airport with a music playing potty?
3. Diapers for a little while longer, they are looking good, especially compared to the nasty public bathrooms.

Mom's any advice out there? I know there is always soap and water. Handy travel disinfected wipes. I know we all had to use public bathrooms when we were little too. Shoot, I grew up at the ball park for goodness sake. Still. And to make things worse, we are on the road about 300 if not more days a year. Yuck! As soon as he says, "Mommy, Ace have to go Ti-Ti," my heart drops! Even worse for number 2! This was supposed to be the easy part when he was out of them!

I was excited to get rid of the diaper bag but now my purse looks like a cleaning bucket! So much for my beautiful Chanel purse Casey got me for my birthday. It looks like we will be sprinting to the nearest Neiman's or Gold Star Club at the airport begging for a bathroom when at all possible, with Clorox in hand! I hope the Texas Rangers have clean toilets! :)

I better stop, I'm getting way too carried away! Back to Cheese Puffs & Dora!

Dreaming of clean toilets and no Binky's!
#27

A fun weekend!

We had a great relaxing weekend! I attended the Professional Baseball Scouts Foundation dinner in LA on Saturday. Here is a picture with my dear friends Toni and Meaghan! We had a fun night, supporting a great cause! The highlight seeing my buddy Tommy Lasorda, Go Dodger Blue! After we met up with Natasha Watley, we had a fun night of vegging and visiting! It was a fun girls night out! Casey had a fun filled weekend of hunting in Southern Arizona with a good friend.

Here are a few shots of Ace at the park this weekend. He loves the park, we played, had an otter pop, fed the ducks, and played in the sand. So much fun!

Tomorrow we will be tuned in watching the Inauguration. History! I am encouraged by the hope and pride that Obama has brought to our great nation. My prayers are with him in his new position of President.

We are excited to announce another camp in Ardmore, Oklahoma on May 9 & 10. Registration has begun. We are gearing up for the California camp coming up. Exciting stuff! I hope you have a great week!

Dreaming & Believing!
#27

4 Incredible, Amazing Years!

January 15, 2005 The Daigle's were established! Its crazy to think 4 years have past! What a magical journey it has been! I am so beyond blessed and grateful for my beloved husband and our greatest gift, our Ace! I could not of dreamed it any better! I thank God for him and these 4 great years! An amazing husband full of love and a fabulous daddy! He is by far the most romantic man I have ever met. How I ended up Ms. Daigle, only the Lord knows. He is the planner, and did he plan. We escaped for a beautiful, peaceful, romantic night at the Montage Hotel. Amazing, it is! We had a lovely dinner, ocean side, which was opened up by the most precious prayer led by him. It was my favorite part and most treasured memory of January 15, 2009!
Here is a quick picture from our dinner celebrating 4 years.


We left the Montage and headed out to a local dive for some down home good ole' eggs, potatoes, and toast. This is definitely more us, for sure. Its fun to do the uppity thing every once in a while (like really once in a while) but we are more just laid back people. We both looked at eachother and grinned at how excited we were just to relax and grub, in our sweats I might add! Here is a photo of us, the real us! :)


We came home in a hurry to get home to Ace! We had a great day of just laying low enjoying each other together as a family. Ace is unbelievable, turning more into Casey by the minute. He was taking his socks off tonight and did it quite easily. He looked up at me and says, "And Ace didn't get frustrated." He is something else. Ace, my dad, and I were taking our usual walk tonight and he says, "Ace, can't keep up, Ace just can't"! Daily he is growing and his little innocent precious mind is a little sponge. There are tons of Whys over and over! He is trying to figure out and explore this world. He is so loving, today when my mom walked in the door he ran up with his arms spread wide rushing to wrap his arms around her. He has given my grandma's, his great-grandmas so much love! He is trying to figure out our names... hilarious. He asked me the other day why does grandpa call grandma, Bev? I said that is her name, and off we went with all our names. It is so fun! He put his foot in his shoe tonight and said, "mommy this is my left foot!" He is blowing us away! Oh, and completely potty trained too! Another big big moment for our little big boy Ace. He reminds us constantly, he is a Big Big Boy! Everyday is a new enjoyable experience!

Four years... Incredible, Amazing!
Dreaming & Always Believing!
#27

Enjoying!

We've been enjoying! We've been having fun, enjoying our last month before spring training! It's coming fast! Really fast! We went to the LA Zoo with my best friend Toni and her son Easton! Fun stuff! We went to the swap meet! We went to Santa Monica Pier and enjoyed watching a seal a float a boat! It was beautiful! Ace loved the rides & cotton candy!
Here is photo of Casey and Ace at the Swap Meet! We had a blast! Yes, those are iguana's on the loose, hanging out on twigs! Ace was in Awe! Good Times!

I went out to meet my parents in Connecticut at the Mohegan Sun Casino, for a Coach's Convention. Mizuno had me out to sign, I spoke at the clinic, and hung out at the Finch Windmill booth during the baseball show. It was so interesting to see and meet many baseball coach's, most ex-players. The Finch Windmill being a shoulder exerciser, many coach's talked how bad their shoulders are. I think at least 75% of these Coach's spoke of shoulder/arm/elbow problems. Hello, this is why you, your son, your players need the Windmill!!! Its been tough for my dad to break in to the baseball world. The Windmill is mostly sold from word of mouth in baseball, which comes from boys improving and others seeing their improvements.

Yes, my dad invented it, I do have personal interest, but It works! If we could only get it out there. Kids are improving 2-8 mph in 8 weeks on the Windmill! I truly feel kids Need this, baseball Needs this! After hearing and seeing all of this former players talk of arm problems, surgeries, or many even unable lift their arm! It will help, not only for speed & accuracy, more importantly injury prevention and it helps promote equal muscle balance. The only catch is you have to use it to see results! 5 days a week, 3 1/2 minutes a day. It might sound like a commercial, but after this weekend it made me realize dramatically how badly baseball players Need this! I don't want these young guys to grow up having to play catch with only their mom because their dad can't!

I can see the difference in 2 weeks in myself of not being on the Windmill. I carry one with me all over the world, why? Not because I have to but because I know I need it! I know I am 2-4 mph faster when I am on the Windmill! My hope is that baseball players will open up to it and try it! My dad sold a Windmill to 2 roommates in Minor League ball. 7 months later sold another to one of the guys. My dad was wondering what happened to the one he sold them, he said his roommate was traded and he has lost 5 mph since he took the Windmill with him. He was buying one for himself to have. But yet, they didn't want to tell anyone else. And the stories go on and on!

The next day was softball at the convention! Fun, fun! We had an amazing turn out! Over 800 people for the softball show! Mostly softballers themselves! What a blast we had! Thank you for all your support and a wonderful turn out! Lots of fresh faces, excited about our great game! Thank you!

Meanwhile we were out east experiencing the snow, Ace and Casey were on the west enjoying the sunshine! Casey and my Cousin took Ace to a boys night out at the Monster Truck Rally! Front row, they had a blast! Ace came home with 2 Gravedigger's! Good times!!!

We are enjoying our January as we hope you are too!

Our California Softball Camp is growing daily, it will be here before we know it. We are looking forward to it at the end of the month!

Enjoy!
Dream & Believe!
#27

With Your Candle, Go Light Your World!

This was a song sang at church last Sunday. It totally spoke to me. Everywhere we turn we hear bad stuff. The Economy, Crime, and you know you hear it everyday! No need to continue. I'm sure it helped a little too, that it was sang so beautifully! I walked around yesterday hearing her voice coming out of my mouth.

We can be a positive light! We all have our own candle, take that candle and go light your world! I love it! More and more our world needs light, we are living in a dark world. Yesterday, I heard on the news that yesterday was the Most Stressful Day of the Year! Well good news that day is over now. Let's try to surround ourselves with people and things that make our light brighter! Let's add lighter fluid to our light, more and more!

With Your Candle, Go Light Your World!

Dream & Believe!
#27