Month of LOVE 13

I love the start of baseball season.

How handsome are these two?!?! 

Day of LOVE 12

 I love being part of the AHA (Aggieland Homeschool Athletics) family. Elizabeth played volleyball for this organization this past fall. Deciding to have the big boys and Elizabeth play basketball for them was an easy decision.

While Elizabeth and I were in Atlanta, Micah and Benjamin had a Regional basketball tournament in the Dallas area. I was SO disappointed to be missing their games! But I had moms, Curtis, and Twitter keeping me updated on scores and big plays my boys made. I'm thankful that there were so many people willing to keep me updated, love on my family, congratulate my kids and make m time away not feel so hard.

Month of LOVE Day 6

I love watching my kids play sports.

Sure, there are days when I wonder what the heck we've gotten ourselves into. Between the practices, the games, the traveling for away games, the washing of jerseys, the coordinating of carpools, the texting.... whew!!! It's enough to wear a girl out.

But it's worth it.

I love seeing how sports help my kids grow and mature. I love seeing how they learn life lessons through sports. I love seeing the friendships they form. I love seeing them succeed. I love being the one to give them pep talks and hugs when they fail. I love to show them how they are winners even when the score board doesn't say they are.

I recently read an article about "why I don't pay for dance". Basically, it was about how as parents, we don't pay for dance lessons (or sports) but for the opportunity that dance (or sports) provides. That is EXACTLY how I look at it. I don't just pay for sports for the sake of watching my kids play. As a family we do sports because of the life long lessons that the kids learn when playing. 

Sports is more than just a game and a score. And I love seeing my kids have the opportunities that sports provide. 

Summer Lovin' : Swim Team

This summer, the one thing that consumed more hours than anything else was swim team.  Elizabeth, Micah and Benjamin swam on the Bryan Barracuda swim team for the second summer.  We loved every minute of it!

Elizabeth aged up into the 9 and 10 division.  We knew this would be a big jump for her.  Last summer, she had been at the top of her division, bringing home ribbons and medals after every meet.  This year, though her times improved quite impressively from last year, she wasn't bringing home the ribbons and the medals.  She wasn't put on the "A" relay.  It was hard for her!  She is, by nature, very competitive.  This summer, she was able to learn the value of competing with herself and for the team, not necessarily for the awards.  We watcher her set her eyes on a goal and work her hind end off till she achieved her goal.  She also learned that she and Micah can push each other to be each others biggest competition.  But then they also have to be each others biggest supporters.  We were do proud of her when she qualified to swim at Invitationals, in every stroke.  She had to work hard to make it, but she did it!  She also learned how to swim the 100 IM, and swam it beautifully at Regionals.  

 Last year wasn't Micah's year in the pool.  He brought home a handful of ribbons through the year, never won a medal, didn't qualify for Invitationals, and was never but on "A" relay.  He, like his sister, is by nature competitive, but we really didn't see his intense competitive nature till this spring in baseball.  Suddenly, something clicked for Micah and he turned into quite the swimmer!  We were all shocked when in the first meet of the season, he won 1st place in the breast stroke.  The little boy who rarely placed last year was placing in everything he swam!  It was exciting and encouraging, but also a challenging life lesson.  This summer, Micah learned how to be a gracious winner, how to encourage those who aren't as successful and how to not be an annoying competitor, but rather a motivating one.  At Invitationals, he DQed in his best race.  It was a huge disappointment, since he would have placed.  But again, he learned a valuable lesson, how to press on from that kind of discouraging swim, and not let it effect his attitude.  I'm pretty sure all these life lessons aren't fully in effect and we'll have to continue encouraging him.  But I look forward to seeing how he continues to mature as a young man.

 

Benjamin also aged up this year, swimming with 7 and 8 year olds.  He has a terrible swim birthday, and was the youngest 7/8 year old on the team.  Luckily for Benjamin, he has enough confidence to make up for his bad swim birthday.  He hit the pool this summer with determination and with a competitive drive.  We were pleasantly surprised when he qualified to swim every stroke at Invitationals.  Though he didn't always have a sweet, trainable attitude, he did exactly what his coaches asked of him.  And when he saw improvements in his time, he learned that pushing yourself hard is worth it.  At the end of the regular season, Benjamin was given the  Most Dedicated Barracuda award.  Benjamin finished the swim season knowing that not only is he a good swimmer, but that he can become and awesome swimmer when he listens to those around him.  By the end of the season, Benjamin, the youngest in his age division, was swimming on the "A" relay. 

After the regular season was over, we swam at Invitationals.  Each of the kids placed in at least one race (Benjamin placed in two of his races!).  With how well they were continuing to swim, we decided to not end our season, and started training for TAAF (TX Amateur Athletic Federation).  Because of their ages, and the large number of swimmers, they had to swim in a Regional Meet and the top three swimmers from each race would advance to state.  Micah and Benjamin each swam in three races and qualified for state in all three races!!  Elizabeth was amazing at Regionals.  I've never seen her swim so well!  Unfortunatly, though she swam to Personal Bests, she didn't place in the top three.  Despite that, we couldn't be more proud of any of our swimmers!!  They all worked very hard and had a great season!

Micah and Benjamin swam very well at state!  Neither of them placed, but both swam well and we were thrilled that they made it as far as they did.

I am definitely becoming a sports mom, who sees a high value and life lessons in having your children compete in sports.  I love that they win and can learn how to do that in a gracious way.  I love when they lose and learn how to move past that.  I love when the have good practices and see how strong God's made them.  I love when the have bad practices and need me to encourage them.  I love seeing their eyes light up when they achieve a personal goal.  I love when they still need me to hug them after a bad swim.  I genuinely look forward to seeing how God uses sports in my children's lives.  

We can't wait till next year when all four of the kiddos will be swimming for the Barracudas!

Swim, little fish.

This summer, Elizabeth, Micah and Benjamin joined swim team.  From the end of April till the end of June, the kids had practice every day (sometimes twice a day!) and meets on the weekends.  Though at first the schedule was overwhelming, since we were still doing baseball, I am so thankful that we had this experience! 

 

While we've always known our children are athletic, it was fun to watch them excel at another spot.  Elizabeth in particular was a natural!!  She raked in ribbons and medals through the season!  She even medaled at invitationals, a meet swimmers must qualify for based on their times!

 

Benjamin also had a great season, brought home many ribbons and a medal.  He qualified for invitationals and placed in his two events.  We were also very impressed by his competitive, yet encouraging spirit.

 

Micah had a good season, though not as great as his siblings.  Curtis and I had several conversations, worried that Micah would become discouraged by the lack of ribbons.  He didn't qualify for invitiationals, but went and cheered on his brother and sister with a kind and gentle spirit.  It was hard for me as a parent to see him try so hard, yet not get the prizes that his siblings were bringing home.  More than anything, we wanted Micah to know that we wanted him to do his best!  Not only did we see that he was doing his best, but so did his coaches!  At the end of the year, he received the award for Most Improved Barracuda!!!  It lifted his spirits and encouraged my mommy heart.

Timothy, not one to miss out on the action, took swim lessons for two weeks.  He now tells people when he grows up, he wants to be a Barracuda!

 

I'm very proud of every one of my little fish!!  We're already looking forward to next summer when we join the Bryan Barracudas again!

 

Opening Ceremonies

This spring, one of Curtis' dreams as a parent has come true. He has two sons playing tee ball and he's the coach for their team. We had several practices, and then it was time for Opening Ceremonies! The teams paraded around Olsen Field (where the Aggies play), waving their hats, we sang the National Anthem, and the teams were introduced. It was a really fun evening!

Pee Wee Baseball

As a family, we are BIG fans of the Pee Wee Sports program the city of Bryan offers. Elizabeth and Micah both played soccer. This fall, Benjamin tried his hand at baseball. It was a huge success!

Tonight, they scrimmaged for the entire "practice". Benjamin had a blast, and actually did a really good job.

When he went up to bat, Benjamin hit the ball the first time! That was an improvment over last week. :-)
My favorite part of the night was when Benjamin went for a catch in the "out-field".....
... and the ball bounced off his face. He quickly recovered, and threw the ball to first.

Towards the end of the scrimmage, the coach let all the kids "hit a home-run". It was so cute! Here's Benjamin, heading home.

With a slide, he's SAFE!!!

One of Benjamin's favorite things was that one of his best buddies, Will, was also there. Will is three days older than Benjamin. These two are so cute together.
And really, they love each other. :-)

Benjamin loved playing baseball and he was such a joy to watch. I have a feeling this might become a big part of life at the Krajca house.

Micah's first football game

This past Saturday, Micah had his first football game! After several practices, his team, the Penguins, were excited and the parents were a little nervous. Curtis, who is one of the assistant coaches, predicted crying and maybe blood.

Thankfully, our son didn't cry, and there was no blood at all!

We're doing flag football with Upwards. The fact that it's a Christian organization is wonderful! Rather than promoting winning, being the best, and doing whatever it takes to win, the attitude is one of having fun, helping your team, and doing your best. And for 4 and 5 year olds, that's perfect!

Micah did really, really well for his first game. He made a touchdown!
Another thing that I like about Upwards is that they let every kid play every position, every game. It's a wonderful learning experience!
At the end of each practice, each child gets a green start for participating. At the end of each game, and Offensive Star and Defensive Star are handed out. Micah received the Offensive Star this week!
We are very proud of our little football player!