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Cleats in the Trunk, 10001 Country Club Parkway, Maumelle, AR (2026)

09/14/2026

🏟️🍿 SUNDAY NIGHT TRAVEL BALL: THE AFTERSHOW

The games are over.
The uniforms are soaking.
The coolers have been emptied.

And somewhere, on a youth travel baseball page, an adult has chosen violence. 😂

You know the posts.

“Looking for 2–3 DOGS. Must be committed. No daddy ball. No drama.”

Sir, the fact that you had to specifically type no drama tells me there are currently six adults in a group text arguing about you. 👀

Then comes the vague post:

“Some people really show their true colors when things don’t go their way. That’s all I’m gonna say.”

Oh no, ma’am.
That is absolutely NOT all you’re gonna say.

Because 47 comments later, we have screenshots, accusations, a former assistant coach entering the chat, somebody’s aunt defending a 13-year-old’s batting average, and one completely uninvolved person commenting:

“Prayers. 🙏”

Then there’s my personal favorite:

“We have decided to go in a different direction and wish Coach _____ nothing but the best.”

Translation:

The group chat has been ACTIVE. 😂

And inevitably, by 9:37 p.m., somebody announces they’re starting a brand-new organization.

Listen, I’m not proud of it.

But there is something intoxicating about opening Facebook and reading that Tournament No. 6 in Somewhere, USA apparently ended like the season finale of Real Housewives.

I don’t comment.

I don’t react.

I don’t know these people.

But am I going to read all 126 comments?

Absolutely.

🍿 Pass the popcorn.

Because travel ball may end when the last out is called…

but Sunday Night Travel Ball Facebook is just getting started. 😂⚾️

09/14/2026

⚾️ And just like that… fall baseball is officially back. 🍂

We kicked off our 14U showcase season this weekend with a nearly three-hour drive from home, because that’s just how travel baseball families spend their weekends.

We loaded the car with uniforms, ice chests, chairs, snacks, and enough gear to outfit a small baseball operation. Then we paid for the hotel, gas, and meals on the road.

Of course, we’re also in the middle of a drought and breaking heat records day after day. The grass is crunchy, the ground is hard, and we’ve basically forgotten what rain looks like.

So yes, we really needed rain.

But did it have to come on the baseball weekend?

And not just a cute little sprinkle or a quick shower to knock down the dust. We’re talking about the kind of storm with thunder loud enough to wake teenage boys from a deep sleep at 4 a.m.

Enough rain to wipe out Sunday’s games.

All. Of. Them.

So here’s how the weekend ended up:

Three-hour drive: ✔️
Hotel stay: ✔️
Team bonding: ✔️
Field workout: ✔️
Snacks consumed: ✔️
Money spent: ✔️✔️✔️
Baseball games played: 0 😑

The boys still got some time on the fields Saturday, and they definitely made the most of their time together post workout Saturday night.

Welcome back, baseball families.

Fall season has officially begun. And just when you think you have everything planned out, Mother Nature reminds you that she has a pretty sick sense of humor. ⚾️😂

09/12/2026

So the game went south in the final inning, and now you’ve earned the pleasure of rising before the sun for tomorrow’s early game. ⚾️🌅

I’ve got you.

Remember how you keep saying you want to try overnight oats, but you haven’t gotten around to it? Tomorrow is your day—but you’ve got to start tonight!

Let’s not overcomplicate this:

🥣 Easy Peanut Butter Overnight Oats

• ½ cup rolled oats
• ½ cup milk
• ½ cup Greek yogurt
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 2 tablespoons peanut butter

Add all ingredients to a pint jar. Give everything a good stir, cover it, and refrigerate.

Grab it on your way out tomorrow and let the rest of the clan survive on drive-thru breakfast burritos made of mystery meat and nuclear cheese, donuts, and cereal bars. You’ll have a nice, nutritious little cup of comfort to ease you into that painfully early morning. ☕️😂

Once you’ve mastered the basics, try:

• Adding ½ tablespoon of chia seeds the night before for extra protein and fiber
• Swapping regular milk for almond milk or your milk of choice
• Replacing the peanut butter with PB2 to reduce the calories and fat
• Adding sliced bananas, granola, chocolate chips, or another favorite topping just before eating
• Searching the internet for the other 1,000 variations and trying a few until you find your favorite.

*I like mine thick and prefer it after it’s set for at least 12 hours.

What’s your go-to breakfast when first pitch comes before your body has officially agreed to be awake?

09/11/2026

As promised in Thursday’s post, today I’m sharing the world’s best and easiest fajita seasoning. 🌮

Is that an official title? No.

Have I personally awarded it that title? Absolutely. 😂

This is the seasoning behind the one meal everyone in our house currently agrees on: fajitas. Even if certain members of the family require their chicken and vegetables to maintain separate living quarters. 🙄

I usually mix up two or three batches at a time and keep it in the pantry. It makes an already easy dinner even easier.

And it’s not just for chicken! We use it on:

🌮 Chicken
🌮 Steak
🌮 Shrimp
🌮 Bell peppers and onions
🌮 Pretty much any meat or vegetable headed for the grill or Blackstone

🌮 EASY HOMEMADE FAJITA SEASONING

• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• ½ teaspoon black pepper

That’s it. I told you it was easy.

One batch is about right for one pound of very thinly sliced chicken, along with sliced yellow onion and bell peppers. I season everything liberally, toss it on the Blackstone, and dinner can be on the table in 20 minutes or less.

Even better: Slice and season everything the night before, cover it, and put it in the refrigerator. The next evening, all you have to do is cook it.

Because weeknight me is always extremely grateful when the night-before me actually planned ahead.

🌮😂⚾️

Save this one. Once you start making your own fajita seasoning, those little packets at the grocery store may become a thing of the past.

What’s your favorite fajita: chicken, steak, shrimp, veggie—or a little bit of everything? 👇

09/10/2026

When I first started this page, I told y’all I’d be sharing recipes that anyone would eat.

I quit posting recipes pretty quickly because, well… that was a lie. 😂

Almost anyone would eat them.

Except my son.

He’s picky. Always has been. The reasons have just changed over the years.

My kids are ten years apart, which means I had an entire DECADE to become confident in my parenting abilities before Child #2 arrived to humble me. 😏

When my daughter was little, she ate what we ate. Because of that, she grew up eating just about anything.

Naturally, we assumed this was because we were excellent parents.

We may have even looked down our noses a tiny bit at parents who made separate dinners of pizza, mac and cheese, and chicken nuggets.

Our child eats what we eat.

Bless our hearts. 😂

Then along came our son.

We didn’t intend to raise a kid-menu connoisseur. It just sort of happened. We were older. We were busier. We were constantly on the go. Somewhere along the way, he discovered that restaurants had an entire laminated section devoted to beige food, and he never looked back.

Before we knew it, his diet consisted of about six things, none of them particularly nutritious.

Except fruit.

Thank goodness for fruit. 🍎🍓🍌

Fast-forward to the teenage years, and the pendulum has swung completely in the other direction.

Now “training” has taken over his brain. ⚾️💪

Food gets weighed in grams. Portions matter. Timing matters. There is a small, carefully selected rotation of acceptable foods.

And I sigh.

I give.

I remind myself that at least we’ve graduated from the kids’ menu and he’s making healthier choices.

And I pray this phase eventually loosens its grip too. 🙏😂

In the meantime, finding ONE dinner everyone in this house will happily eat is practically an Olympic event.

We currently have exactly one:

Chicken fajitas. 🌮

That’s it. That’s the Switzerland of our dinner table.

Of course, all vegetables must be cooked separately.

God help us if a pepper or onion should actually touch the chicken. That would make it completely inedible. 🙄

Then again, there are nights when I skip the chicken altogether and just eat vegetable fajitas.

So perhaps he isn’t the only picky one in this house.

Maybe he comes by it honestly. 😂

Anyway, stay tuned because I’ll share my ridiculously easy homemade fajita seasoning next. It takes about two minutes to make, you probably already have everything in your cabinet, and you’ll never need to buy a packet of fajita seasoning again.

🌮⚾️❤️

Baseball parents: what’s the ONE dinner everyone in your house will eat without negotiation, modification, or a separate pan? I need ideas. 😂👇

09/09/2026

⚾️ **GAMECHANGER: WHEN YOUR LIVESTREAM COMES WITH SPOILERS**

This weekend, I’ll be watching baseball from home on GameChanger.

For those unfamiliar with this particular form of emotional torture, let me explain.

GameChanger livestreams the game.

My husband also likes to keep me updated by text.

These two services do not work well together. 😂

You see, GameChanger sometimes pauses whenever a call or text comes through.

GameChanger is also usually running just enough behind real life that my husband is living approximately 30 seconds in my future.

Which means I’ll be completely invested in an at-bat.

Three balls. Two strikes. Two outs.

Here comes the pitch…

**PAUSE.**

Text from Husband:

“He smashed it to the fence! Man, I wish we would’ve had someone on base to run in.”

😐

Thank you, ESPN.

I restart GameChanger.

Shoot. I missed a little.

New batter. No balls. Two strikes.

Pitcher gets the sign…

**PAUSE.**

Text from Husband:

“Whew. That was close.”

CLOSE TO WHAT?

WHAT WAS CLOSE?

I restart.

Apparently we survived whatever happened.

Now there’s a runner on first.

I have absolutely no idea how he got there, but good for him.

Next pitch…

**PAUSE.**

“He’s stealing!”

Well, not anymore he isn’t. 😂

Restart.

Runner is on second.

Next batter steps in.

I’m watching.

I’m focused.

I am practically THERE.

**PAUSE.**

Text:

“Terrible call.”

Oh good.

Now I get to spend the next 30 seconds wondering which call I’m about to disagree with.

Restart.

Pitch.

Ball.

Another pitch.

Ball.

**PAUSE.**

“Coach is HOT.”

PLEASE LET ME FIND OUT WHY. 🤦‍♀️

Restart.

Now someone is talking to the umpire.

I assume this is the aforementioned hot coach.

I’ve missed the crime, but I’m here for the trial.

Eventually, I know exactly what will happen.

Bottom of the last inning.

Tie game.

Runner in scoring position.

Two outs.

My kid comes to the plate.

I will be staring at that tiny screen with my face approximately four inches from my phone.

First pitch.

Strike.

Second pitch.

Ball.

Third pitch…

My phone will vibrate.

GameChanger will freeze.

And across the top of my screen will appear:

**Husband:**

“OH MY GOD!!!!”

And I will just sit there…

waiting to find out what I apparently already know. 😂⚾️

But in the end, I appreciate the play-by-play.

Because GameChanger might disappear mid-game due to a weak signal at the ballpark.

The streaming phone/ipad might overheat in the 96-degree sun.

The battery might die in the second inning.

The camera might suddenly be pointed at the ground for reasons no one can explain.

But the baseball dad?

**The baseball dad will ALWAYS report.** 😂⚾️

Sometimes 30 seconds too early.

Sometimes with nothing more than “WOW.”

But he’ll report.

And when I can’t be there, I’m pretty grateful for my slightly-ahead-of-the-broadcast, spoiler-filled, completely dependable correspondent at the ballpark. ❤️

Even if I occasionally want to text back:

**PLEASE STOP TELLING ME WHAT HAPPENS. I HAVEN’T SEEN IT YET.**😂

⚾️

09/08/2026

⚾️ THE HARDEST SEAT AT THE BALLPARK MIGHT BE THE ONE YOU’RE NOT SITTING IN.

We have a tournament this weekend, and I won’t be there.

I worry. It is what I do.

Dad will be there . My son will be too. The cooler will be packed. The equipment will make it. And thanks to some wonderful soul who plans to livestream the games on GameChanger, I’ll get to watch from home, Wi-Fi willing.

So technically, I won’t miss the game.

Except I’ll miss all the things that happen around the game.

Because GameChanger can show me the pitch.

It cannot tell me whether my kid is overheating.

It cannot reach through the screen and say, “USE YOUR COOLING TOWEL.”

It cannot tell him to get out of the blazing Arkansas sun when he has five perfectly good feet of shade available three steps to his left. ☀️🥵

It cannot make sure there’s enough water in the dugout or remind him that hydration is something you do before you feel like a raisin.

And yes, before anyone says it…

He is old enough to know all of this.

He does know all of this.

His dad is perfectly capable of watching out for him. In fact, there is absolutely no logical reason to believe the entire operation will not function beautifully without me.

Logic, however, has never met a baseball mom watching GameChanger from her couch. 😂

I already know what I’ll be doing.

Watching the game.

Watching the temperature.

Watching the little live video, trying to determine whether that tiny figure outside the dugout is my child and, if so, WHY IS HE STANDING IN THE SUN?

Probably texting my husband something helpful like:

“Make sure he’s drinking.”

Followed 7 minutes later by: “Did he use his cooling towel?”

Followed by: “IT’S 96 DEGREES WITH A HEAT INDEX OF 110!”

As though my husband is somehow unaware that summer is clinging tightly to Arkansas, because he’ll be sitting in it too… but in the shade, with a fan, and a cooling towel. 🤦‍♀️

The funny thing is, I know this isn’t really about water bottles or cooling towels.

It’s about not being there.

For years, so much of motherhood happens from a few feet away. We pack the bag. We find the missing belt. We fill the cooler. We remember the sunscreen. We watch from a seat as close to the fence as humanly possible.

Then they get older.

And little by little, we have to trust that they’ve been paying attention.

Maybe he’ll find the shade without me pointing to it.

Maybe he’ll grab that cooling towel because somewhere in the back of his teenage brain lives the sound of his mother saying it approximately 4,782 times.

I’ll still be watching every play I can.

I’ll still worry.

I’ll still probably send the texts.

He may be old enough to take care of himself.

Dad may have everything completely under control.

But I’m Mom.

Worrying is practically part of my uniform. ⚾️❤️

Baseball moms, tell me I’m not alone: What’s the one thing you obsess about when you aren't at the game?

⚾️

☀️

09/05/2026

🔥⚾️ THINGS CURRENTLY HOTTER THAN PETE CROW-ARMSTRONG’S BAT ⚾️🔥

Pete Crow-Armstrong has been absolutely on FIRE lately. 🔥

Arkansas apparently took that personally. 🥵

Thankfully, we don’t play this holiday weekend, because right now there are a few things giving PCA’s bat some serious competition:

🔥 Aluminum bleachers at 2:00 p.m.

🔥 Leather seats on the backs of bare legs. If you know, you know. 🥵

🔥 Turf. Good grief, THE TURF.

🔥 The steering wheel after an afternoon in the sun.

🔥 The parent after strike three was “THIS FAR OUTSIDE!” 🤏😂

🔥 The umpire heading to the parking lot after that call.

🔥 The team group text when someone asks what time we play tomorrow…again. 📱🔥

And somehow, every single one of us will complain about the heat now and be wrapped in three blankets at a fall tournament before we know it. 😂⚾️

The cleats can stay in the trunk this holiday weekend. I’m planning to enjoy the air conditioning and appreciate baseball from a safe, climate-controlled distance.

Your turn: What’s hotter than Pete Crow-Armstrong’s bat at your ballpark? 🔥⚾️👇

⚾️

09/01/2026

Dolly Parton once said, “The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain.”

She wasn’t talking about baseball.

But she might as well have been.

Because if you want the big hit, you have to put up with the strikeouts.

If you want the tournament win, you have to put up with the 6 a.m. games.

If you want the great memories, you have to put up with the heat, the rain delays, the traffic, the dirty uniforms and the inevitable moment when someone says, “Mom, where’s my glove?”

That’s baseball.

That’s parenting.

And somewhere along the way, we realize the rain was never really the part we were trying to avoid.

We were just waiting for the rainbow. 🌈⚾️

09/01/2026

🚨 SCORE ONE FOR THE BOOKWORM MAMAS! 📚⚾️🥎

Y’all… Judy Blume books are at Dollar Tree for $1.25 each! 😳🙌

This one may be especially for my softball mamas, but honestly, I knew plenty of boys who secretly read them too. Judy Blume’s books have a way of meeting kids right where they are… like maybe they aren’t the only ones who feel ALL THE THINGS. 💕📖

I realize we haven’t even brought out the pumpkin spice yet, but can we talk about what a great stocking stuffer this would be?! 🎄🎁 🎃

For $1.25, you can tuck a book into a stocking, a birthday gift, a “just because” package or a travel bag headed to the next tournament.

There’s something pretty special about giving a young girl a book that might become her book, the one she remembers reading when she was 10, 11 or 12 and maybe even passes along to her own daughter someday. ❤️

Although I have to admit… seeing Judy Blume books sitting at Dollar Tree for $1.25 feels like finding a baseball signed by your favorite player in the bargain bin. 😂⚾️

And right beside them? Nancy Drew! 🔎📚

So if you’ve got a daughter, granddaughter, niece, babysitter, teammate or little bookworm on your Christmas list… GO. GET. THE. BOOKS. 📚🎄💕

Cleats may get her to the field, but a good book can take her just about anywhere. ❤️⚾️📖

⚾️🥎📚💕

Cleats in the Trunk

09/14/2026

09/14/2026

09/12/2026

09/11/2026

09/10/2026

09/09/2026

09/08/2026

09/05/2026

09/01/2026

09/01/2026

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