Fulton Family Civil War!

Some of the Great Match-ups in history include . . .

North vs. South

Good vs. Bad

Rocky vs. Balboa

and now . . .

Fulton vs. Fulton

I am actually surprised that it hasn't happened more before now, but for the first time ever on Tuesday, Max's team played Sam's team in baseball.  When I got both boys schedules about a month ago, and I was putting all of their games on my calendar, I was a little shocked to see that they both had a game on the same night, same time, same field.  This has been a "much talked about" game in our family and it was finally here!

I think that I was more nervous about it than anyone.  You see, my boys are only 17 months apart and they are VERY competitive, especially with each other.  To me, this game was a "no-win" situation.  One of my boys was going to be heartbroken when the game was over (and I had a good idea which one it would be).

Luckily, we started the game with a little teamwork.

We were in charge of snacks for Sam's team, so Pancho made them carry the cooler in together.

 . . .believe it or not, even that gets competitive.

This picture is a good indication of how I predicted the game would go down.  Sam's team (red) is made up of mostly 3rd graders who are playing baseball for the first time.  Max's team (green)  is made up of all 4th graders who have played together since kindergarten.  Look at the intensity in Max's face . . . now look at Sam out in the outfield and his buddy playing first base.  Ha ha!  Can you predict which team is going to win?

Max trying to steal second while Sam "intently" waits for the ball in the outfield.

I was a little disappointed in my pictures, because the sun was going down in the outfield, so it was shining right into my lens.  You can see Sam is at bat and if you look closely, Max is playing third.  I am not sure what the catcher is doing :)  Must have been a ball.

Once the score got up to 16 to 3, Max's coach really started moving players around and letting people play positions they hardly ever play (in an effort to let Sam's team score a few more).  So, Max got to pitch!

 . . .and here is the money shot (I just wish it would have turned out better).  Max is pitching to Sam in this picture.  Both sides were cheering because everyone knew it was brother against brother.  The first pitch Max threw was right at Sam's head!  Sam had to duck so it wouldn't hit him!  Max swears that he didn't do it on purpose, but it sure got a laugh from the crowd.  Max ended up pitching 2 strikes and 4 balls, so Sam got to walk to first.

My proudest moment was when we all left together happy.  I know that sounds like a simple thing, but it took a lot of talking this week.  We really worked hard with the boys about how important it was to come away from this game with a positive attitude Win OR Lose!  We also talked about being proud and happy for your brother no matter what the outcome.  As you can see, they were still working together when they left the game (and waiting for Lucy too)!

*Side note - before the game we went to visit my Dad at Riverbend Hospital.  He had hip replacement surgery on Monday.  He is doing so great!  He is already up and taking a few steps 3 or 4 times a day.  He even gets to come home from the hospital tomorrow (Thursday).  Please keep my dad in your prayers, as he still has quite a bit of work ahead of him during his recovery.  I am just so thankful that it has all gone so well so far.