London and Maddie's Softball Rampage!

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Softball Rampage. All opinions are 100% mine.

Softball season in the Roxiticus Valley is almost over for London's third and fourth grade Yankee team and Maddie's first and second grade Mets team.... Maddie's team has a round robin end to their season this Saturday, and London's team has playoffs next week and a potential battle for the championship the following weekend. Rex and I agree that we're the parents who seem to be having the most fun at our daughters' softball games... since our girls just started softball this year, we don't have a three-year history of tee ball and coach pitch instructional league, so everything about softball is all new and exciting to us, while our friends all have a bit of the "been there, done that" look.

Once the season is over, we'll have to find ways of keeping softball in our lives during the off-season. London and Maddie's teenage babysitters for this summer are three softball-playing teenage sisters, so my girls may get some backyard training in the art of fast pitch. Meanwhile, Softball Rampage is looking for the funniest, most clever softball team names to win their contest. The Yankees and the Mets are hardly original, so Rex, London, Maddie and I will have to come up with some doozies... London's coach, who was born to be a softball coach, has both a great coaching style and a fun writing style in his game recaps... I'm still laughing to myself over "sleep well little Dodgers" (maybe you had to be there). So winning the Softball Rampage contest may be easy for our coach, and for you: go to the blog post for the contest and list your best offbeat softball team names in the comments section for a chance to win $200 in RampageBucks Rewards which can be spent on the Softball Rampage web site to buy softball bats, gloves, and other gear for your real-life team. I'm going with a long one: Butchers, Bakers, and Candlestickmakers... the girls on London's team can explain it to you.

Music Monday: Dancing in the Street by Martha Reeves and the Vandellas

Many of Maddie and London's activities in the Roxiticus Valley are winding down for the school year, and the weather is heating up this week as we head into the long Memorial Day weekend. We're looking forward to a summer of fun with Peanut Butter, our new cockapoo puppy, at our beach house in Bay Head, New Jersey and thought we'd kick off our summer celebration with Martha Reeves and the Vandellas' classic tribute to summer, "Dancing in the Street."



Calling out around the world
Are you ready for a brand new beat
Summer's here and the time is right
For dancing in the street
They're dancing in Chicago
Down in New Orleans
Up in New York City
All we need is music, sweet music
There'll be music everywhere
There'll be swinging swaying records playing
Dancing in the street

Oh it doesn't matter what you wear
Just as long as you are there
So come on ev'ry guy grab a girl
Ev'rywhere around the world
They'll be dancing
They're dancing in the street

It's just an invitation across the nation
A chance for folks to meet
There'll be laughing, singing, music swinging
Dancing in the street
Philadelphia, PA
Baltimore and D.C. now
Can't forget the Motor City
All we need is music, sweet music
There'll be music everywhere
There'll be swinging, swaying, records playing
Dancing in the street

Oh it doesn't matter what you wear
Just as long as you are there
So come on ev'ry guy grab a girl
Ev'rywhere around the world

Dancing
They're dancing in the street
Way down in L.A.
Every day
Dancing in the street

Music Monday: "You Belong With Me" by Taylor Swift

This week, Rex and I are taking London and Maddie to see Taylor Swift at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, so I'm featuring our Taylor Swift faves here and over on Roxiticus Desperate Housewives. The girls love to sing along with "You Belong With Me," and I love the tune but I'm not so sure I like the message. In fact, I frequently remind my daughters about a very well written blog post I read back in November on "Awkward Things My Mother Never Taught Me" all about how "He Doesn't Belong With You.":

"He doesn't belong with you. He's not romantically interested in you, and probably never will be, otherwise he'd be asking you out on dates, not kissing those other girls. He probably respects you and likes you as a person, but even if you put on a cheerleader outfit or high heels and cute skirt and lots of makeup, he still won't see what you want him to see. He knows you want him and that feeds his ego. That's why he makes sure to keep you in the 'friend zone.'"

"You belong with someone whose heart and butterflies flutter when he sees you. You belong with someone who only has eyes for you. You belong with someone you choose who chooses you back. You belong with someone who wouldn't string you along just to feed his ego. You belong with someone who makes you a better person and is a better person by virtue of being with you. You belong with someone who you sweep off of their feet rather than the other way around."

"He belongs with someone else not because he's a bad person or an egomaniac, but because he doesn't belong with you. He is too immature for you or anyone right now, but hopefully he'll find someone someday that sweeps him off his feet and makes him become a man. He belongs with someone who will make him a better person by virtue of being with her. He deserves the same thing you do, he's just not choosing it with you. So don't waste your time pining when you could be missing out on spending time with lots of other great guys that do meet those conditions."





You're on the phone with your girlfriend, she's upset
She's going off about something that you said
She doesnt get your humour like I do

I'm in the room, its a typical Tuesday night
I'm listening to the kind of music she doesnt like
And she'll never know your story like I do

But she wears short skirts, I wear t-shirts
She's cheer captain and I'm on the bleachers
Dreaming bout the day when you wake up and find
That what you're lookin for has been here the whole time

If you could see that I'm the one who understands you
Been here all along so why can't you see?
You belong with me
You belong with me

Walkin the streets with you in your worn out jeans
I cant help thinking this is how it ought to be
Laughing on the park bench thinkin to myself
Hey isnt this easy?

And you've got a smile that could light up this whole town
I havent seen it in awhile, since she brought you down
You say you find I know you better than that
Hey, Whatcha doing with a girl like that?

She wears high heels, I wear sneakers
She's cheer captain and I'm on the bleachers
Dreaming bout the day when you wake up and find
That what you're looking for has been here the whole time

If you could see that I'm the one who understands you
Been here all along so why can't you see?
You belong with me

Standin by, waiting at your back door
All this time how could you not know that?
You belong with me
You belong with me

Oh I remember you driving to my house in the middle of the night
I'm the one who makes you laugh when you know you're about to cry
I know your favorite songs and you tell me about your dreams
I think I know where you belong. I think I know it's with me.

Can't you see that I'm the one who understands you?
Been here all along so why can't you see?
You belong with me

Standing by or waiting at your back door
All this time how could you not know that
You belong with me
You belong with me

Have you ever thought just maybe
You belong with me
You belong with me

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