What I learned being a sports mom for 18 months straight

 It all started like a normal spring. But what started as a normal quickly grew into a whirlwind of sports craziness.

In March of 2015, all three boys played baseball. Timothy played tee ball and the big boys played kid pitch. Curtis was the assistant coach for both teams. Overall, it was a great season! But with three players on two different teams, it was for sure crazy!

During baseball season, in mid April, all four kids started summer league swimming. We were blessed in that there was a homeschool practice, allowing us to have less conflicts with our busy baseball schedule.

In June, during the height of busyness with swimming, Elizabeth started playing volleyball for a homeschool team.

The three big kids had an amazing swim season and went on to swim in the State Games of Texas, which was held in early August.

By the time swim season wrapped up, volleyball season was full steam ahead. Through the organization that did volleyball, we found out about basketball. Micah and Benjamin started going to skills clinics, decided to join the team, and began twice a week practices in October.

In September, Timothy began playing flag football.

Volleyball season came to an end and Elizabeth decided to also play basketball. Two weeks after her last volleyball game, she played in her first basketball game.

Never before had we played a winter sport like basketball. But we were loving the organization, the teams, the families and the coaches. The homeschool state tournament was at the end of February, and baseball started again the next week.

Then, we basically had a repeat, where swimming started during baseball season, and swimming went so well that we swim even after the regular season.

By July I was in full on meltdown mode. While the three big kids were at camp, I cancelled a trip to see my family in Oklahoma and took a much needed mental break.

Since mid July, we haven't done any sports, aside from the occasional basketball skills clinic. As I'm gearing up for Micah and Benjamin starting basketball and Elizabeth joining a club swim team, here's what I've learned.

• Just because there are 24 hours in a day doesn't mean I need to fill every waking hour.
• Saying no to something good is hard.
• Sometimes when you say no to a good thing it opens up the opportunity for a GREAT thing.
• Just because you CAN doesn't mean you SHOULD.
• It's okay if Timothy doesn't play a sport this fall. He's okay with it, why am I struggling?!
• When you are doing sports non stop, something else in life suffers. It might be homeschooling. It might be the house. It might be your marriage. All the above were effected by the amount of sports we participated in.
• I need to take time for me. Time to exercise, to eat well, to rest. 
• It's easy to gain weight when your main focus is getting the kids from one event to another, homeschooling and church.
• Kids will watch and see where your priorities are. Make sure your priorities are the good things.
• I do my best when I'm busy. But I also need an occasional recharge. 
• Homeschooling CAN be done in the car! But it does take a lot of planning.
• Audibles, through Amazon, is a life saver, as are books on CD from the library.

I'm very, very thankful for the opportunities that my kids have had over the past 18 months. They have learned more than just sports. I am thankful for the coaches that poured into their lives, motivating and encouraging them. I truly believe my kids have stronger character because of sports. Our family will continue to participate in various sporting activities. I'm very excited to see them continue to grow as athletes and individuals. And I'm hopeful that I can take the lessons the I've learned and become an better sports mom.

Month of LOVE Day 7

I love these friends.

I love the memories that we have with them for the past 17 years.

I love that they've shared some of the best moments in life with us.

I love the way they've walked through fire with us.

I love that our kids have friendships with each other.

I love that we're all missing watching the Superbowl or chick flicks with each other right now.

I love that we get to see them next month!!!

Dear Daughters-in-law...

 Dear Daughters-in-law,

Tonight, three very sweet, very handsome little boys took me on a date.  Someday, a day that will probably come a lot sooner than I'm ready for, one of these handsome, sweet boys will take you on a date.  Tonight on my date, I thought about you.  As I watched the way my boys treated me, I saw glimmers of the young men they are becoming.  Even though my boys will change a lot in the next decade before they get to go on a date with you, I hope there are some things that don't change.

I hope that they open your car door, just like they opened my car door.

I hope that they open every possible door for you, tripping over themselves to be gentlemen.

I hope that they pay for your dinner, just like they "paid for" my dinner. (I'll let you in on a little secret.  They used my debit card, but truly thought they were buying my dinner.)

I hope that they tell you look pretty, like they told me I looked pretty after they asked me to dress up for our date.

I hope they dress up for your dates, just like they picked out "handsome" clothes for our date.

I will confess something to you, daughter-in-law.  I'm very nervous about the relationship that you and I will have.  As you will find out, my mother-in-law passed away after Curtis and I had been married for only 15 months.  So though I know a bit about navigating the waters of a mother-in-law/daughter-in-law relationship, I don't know much.  Our relationship will be a lot of trial and error.  Please know that if I mess up, if I'm over bearing, if I over step in areas, that I'm trying.  Know that I love my son more than you can understand, at least till you have a son of your own.  Know that I've been praying for you since I found out I was going to have a son.

The Lord has blessed me with many woman who've had sons and are successfully navigating great relationships with their daughter-in-laws.  One piece of advice that I've repeatedly received is that I have to become the second most important woman in my sons' life.  I want your marriage to my son to be successful!  And for that to happen, I am fully aware that even though I've been the number one woman in their lives, that will change.  I want it to change.  But it's truly hard for me to imagine at this point.  The deep love that I have for my sons (as well as for Elizabeth!) is a very precious, special, but kinda mysterious thing.  Feel free to gently remind me of the position I meed to take if you see me struggling to hold on to that number one spot.

Also, though I think my boys are pretty awesome, and though I'm doing everything I can do raise them to be godly men, remember that they aren't perfect.  They're sinners and will need your grace and forgiveness.  Grace and forgiveness is an invaluable part of marriage.  If you both keep that in mind, you will be well on your way to a successful marriage.

Love,

Your hopefully not wicked, Mother-in-Law

Bluebonnets through the years

 2005

 2006

2007 

2008 

2009

2010 

2011 

2012 

 2013

2014

A couple Questions

I believe this to be totally true!!  

In the past minute, Timothy has asked me.....

"Why don't you buy softer toilet paper?" "Why do you press so hard when you wipe me?" "Did you hear that noise?" "Why do my feet make that noise?" "Did you hear my feet make that tingly noise?" "Is there something wrong with my feet?" "Can you measure me on the scale?" "Have I grown?" "Is that why my legs hurt?"

My first half marathon: Race weekend

I can't just blog about race day.  I really need to back up and recap the entire weekend.

Thanks to my amazing parents, Curtis and I were able to spend several days in Kansas City.  It was the first time we've been able to get away, just the two of us, since we became parents.  It was incredible!  We drove back to Wichita Thursday evening.  Friday morning we headed back home, knowing we were heading straight into bad weather in Oklahoma City all the way till south of Ft Worth.  However, we knew that if we didn't leave on Friday, we wouldn't be able to get home till Monday, meaning the kids would miss their Kids Marathon (a 1.2 mile run for kids put on by the same awesome people hosting the half Curtis and I ran) and we would miss our half marathon.

(Curtis and I, heading to Kansas City! Can you tell we were a little excited?!)

(Early anniversary celebration at Melting Pot)

We drove back to Wichita Thursday evening.  Friday morning we headed back home, knowing we were heading straight into bad weather in Oklahoma City all the way till south of Ft Worth.  However, we knew that if we didn't leave on Friday, we wouldn't be able to get home till Monday, meaning the kids would miss their Kids Marathon (a 1.2 mile run for kids put on by the same awesome people hosting the half Curtis and I ran) and we would miss our half marathon.

The drive was SO long! We were in the car for 18 hours.  The kids were incredibly well behaved and God was very gracious.  We narrowly avoided having to spend the night in our on I-35.  We knew we had dozens of friends and family praying for us and the protection of our Heavenly Father.  We made it home without incident at about 3am.  Curtis and I got about 3 hours of sleep before getting up to get the kids ready to run.

 Though the weather in College Station was dry, it was still VERY chilly.  We bundled up our kiddos, loaded them back into the van, and headed to the starting line!

When both Mommy and Daddy are training for a half marathon, the kids are keenly aware of it.  Long runs cut into family time. Mommy and Daddy (mostly mommy in this case!) might be tired, sore and kinda cranky some days.  The entire family schedule is different so that runs can be worked in.  And though Curtis and I tried to include the kids as much as possible, it was still taxing on the kids at times.  Having a race that all four kids could participate in was such a treat for them!  It was all about them, their accomplishments, them having fun!  What a great idea by the directors of the marathon and a great way to celebrate them when so much focus had been on our training.

I was highly impressed by the kids and how they ran!  All four of them ran the entire race with no walking breaks.  They got out there and ran hard, even though they were all quite cold.

Don't they look cute in their running gear?!  My awesome mom made the experience about the kids by taking them all to Target and letting them pick out new running clothes!  They had so much fun and it really built the excitement of race day. Also, notice their warm, blue gloves?  While stuck in traffic on our drive home, I realized that none of the kids had little inexpensive gloves they could wear.  Hayley to the rescue!  She went out and bought gloves for all the kids and put them in our mailbox so they were ready for us!

After the kids ran, they were each given a medal!

I think this race gave my kids the running bug!  Since then, we've gone on several family runs.  All three big kids have races on the calendar for this spring and are excited for their next running adventure!

After the race, we dashed to the studio for Nutcracker rehersal.  Curtis and I also went to the race expo.  I had lunch with my running group.  Then that evening, we watched Elizabeth perform at Christmas at the Creek.  

The two days leading up to my first half marathon were not even close to what I was anticipating.  It was a long, cold, exhausting couple of days.  But they were also days filled with God's goodness, protection, mercy and fun family memories were made.  

Spooky Story: by Timothy

"Want to hear a spooky story?" my snuggly three year old sweetly asked.  When I confirmed that I did indeed want to hear a spooky story, he put his little flashlight under his chin and began, "Once upon a time there were three brother.  Their names were Micah, Benjamin and Timothy.  Their names were Batman.  And they traveled to sand castles.  In the sand castle was an evil witch with a blue diamond."

The end

Not really.... here's another

"Once upon a time there were two boy names mommy and Timothy.  And their names were Spiderman and Bathman.  And they traveled to an evil dessert where there were green guys.  And they fought the green guys and the green guys died.  Then there was an evil queen with a diamond.  And they killed the queen."

The end

He's still going around, telling various spooky stories to anyone who will listen.  

I'm thankful for this sweet new smile that Micah got today.  Could he be any cuter?!  I had always thought the answer was no.  Apparently, I was wrong.

He sure does look grown up.....

Rainy Evening Fun

Watching a new movie, under a "tent", anticipating popcorn a orange julius.

Rainy Day Fun

Yesterday was a humid, drizzly day. By the evening, the rain had arrived. So today, we're having some rainy day fun, sock puppet style!

Micah and Benjamin asked for dragons.

Timothy got a cute froggie.

Elizabeth made her little pig all by herself.

I hope they enjoyed our fun little activity. Despite the fact that next week is spring break, we're going to be getting back into our school routine. Let me tell you folks, it's not going to be easy.

Bloopers

Carissa had lots of fun ideas for poses. I had a couple ideas too. Some worked out really well, some, not so much. Here are a few of the shots that aren't my favorite, but make my laugh.

In the picture above, we were trying to recreate a picture that we had taken while we were dating. None of them looked right. And my crazy laughing face doesn't help much.
Poor Curtis. He's not the most flexible guy in the world. He was trying to get into the right position, and had a little trouble at first. This picture makes me laugh because I'm smiling like nothing is wrong and Curtis looks miserable.

Cute idea. Poor execution on our part. Fail.

Curtis falling, and taking me with him.

One idea Carissa had was to have us all six of us lay in on the ground and she would shoot from above us. The kids didn't cooperate, and I ended up looking like this.....
This was one of the first pictures Carissa took. She told us to kiss. We did. She looked at her picture and said, "That looks fake," and walked off. I didn't know what she meant till I saw this picture. She was right. Looks fake.

Timothy just wanted in on the action too!