Busy!!

As kids get older and more involved in activities, life just gets busier.  That seems to be one of life's certainties.  And after a few years of scaled-back activities, the return to scheduled normalcy coupled with the ever-increasing school, church, social, and extra-curricular interests has resulted in one busy start to this fall season.

Our monthly calendar on the refrigerator is full.  FULL!  I actually had to purchase a larger dry erase calendar just so I had room to write in all our activities and obligations.  Having only one or two things on a given day is a rare treat.  It's not uncommon for Zach and I to head in different directions in the evening, trying to get the kids to all the things.  Now don't get me wrong.  These are all generally good things.  These are things we signed up for.  These are things we want to do.  The complaint, if a complaint can be made, would be directed solely back at us as we are the ones that created this situation.  But as a look ahead to our full days and our full weeks, I do find myself searching for those more empty days on the calendar and viewing them as something precious.

Our weekly activities are many.  Although the end of soccer season took a few weekly games off the schedule, we still have plenty to keep us busy.  Staley is currently involved in 3 different plays with 1-2 rehearsals each week for each one of them.  She has Rising Stars and Broadway Dance, piano lessons,  singing lessons, Student Council, and library volunteering hours.  Adelie's obligations outside of the school day include Rising Stars, Stage Kids, Broadway dance, piano lessons, singing lessons, tumbling, Recycling Club, Kids Connection, and the Hornet Buzz News Team.  Now that soccer has ended, Briggs just has piano lessons and Stage Kids that fill up some of his free time, although he is also starting to attend Kids Connection on Wednesday nights at church as well.  I often feel like coordinating schedules and rides and snacks and activity obligations fills my brain with a constant check-list of to-dos...and to-don'ts.  (Like: Don't forget to pick up your kid from their activity.)

Along with our ongoing activities, the kids are also getting to the age where they are starting to want free time to be friend time.  And since free time is somewhat limited, we try to fit in that friend time when we can.  Football games, Rising Stars performances, play-dates, outings...making social time with friends a priority also contributes to our increasingly full schedule.  It's good.  It's fun.  It's needed.  But it's also all part of the busy.

Life is busy.  That is just our reality at the moment.  We are living in the midst of kids who are finding their passions, exploring their interests, establishing their friend circles, improving their skills, trying new things, making their way.  It's all good.  It's all fun.  It's all part of this phase of life for our family.  And it's all making me just a little bit crazy.

Adelie's Baptism

A few months ago, Adelie approached us about wanting to take the next step in her Christian walk by being baptized.  She determined that she wanted Grandpa to do her baptism so we set about finding a time and place where we could make that happen.

Luckily, Zach's sister just bought a house on a lake and offered that we could use her house and lake for the baptism. 

Family and friends gathered together for Adelie's special day.  Grandpa gave a short message while Grammie used her puppets to share a children's message.

Adelie shared her written testimony and recited the 23rd Psalm before confirming her desire to be baptized.

Adelie's testimony

Although it was the end of September, we lucked out with a relatively warm day, and Adelie said the water was not too cold.

It was so special having Grandpa be the one to perform Adelie's baptism.

Adelie's faith has always been so sincere, and it was such a wonderful moment watching her make this big decision in her life.

Adelie was supported by her grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends.

Her closest friend, Stella, came with her mom to be there for Adelie.

It was wonderful having all the cousins there as well.

What a great day we had celebrating Adelie's faith.

My prayer is that each of my children will make the choice to follow Jesus and will continue to grow in their faith.  Seeing Adelie express her faith through baptism was an answer to this prayer.  I love her sweet heart and her sincere faith, and I hope that her understanding and reliance on God's truths will remain foundational in her life.

Soccer

Briggs decided that he wanted to try fall soccer again this year, so he just finished up his 6 week soccer season a few weeks ago.

Briggs enjoyed the kids and coaches on his 2nd/3rd grade soccer team this season.  A few were friends he already knew from church and school, but he also made some new friends throughout the season.

Briggs improved with his soccer skills (especially compared to last year's season), but he still wasn't very aggressive about going after the ball.  He would kick it if it came to or near him, but was more hesitant about kicking it away from other people.

He never scored a goal (or even took a goal shot), but there were a few times that he kicked the ball for several consecutive kicks as he was running down the field.

He only played goalie once during the season, but alternated between playing on offense and defense.

Briggs continued to learn throughout the season and enjoyed himself with each game he played, although he did note that he wasn't sad when the season ended.

I'm not sure if soccer will continue to endure for Briggs, but he had another fun season playing with his friends, learning new skills, and enjoying after game snacks.  We'll call that success!

Parenting Milestone #801

I forgot to pick up Briggs after his Stage Kids class on Monday.  Thankfully a mom friend noticed and called me.  But really, eleven and a half years of never forgetting a kid somewhere is a pretty good run.

Question of the Day

Is bribing my kids with candy every time they practice their piano poor parenting in which I'm teaching my kids that they require external motivation to accomplish their goals...

or is it great parenting in which I'm providing consistent positive reinforcement that results in a desired outcome without strife?

Either way, they are practicing way more without my constant reminders, so I consider it a win.   

Not a Sad Good-bye

Today I got rid of all our cloth face masks.  Our abundant supply of masks saw us through the craziness of the past 2.5 years.  The pile of masks encompassed all the various styles and types we purchased or had made for us to find the most comfortable, cutest, best fitting, most stylish accessory to pair with our every outfit.  We always grabbed one as we headed out the door for school, the store, appointments, vacations, and community outings.  There were always extras stored in the car, my purse, backpacks, and coat pockets for the inevitable times that we'd forget. Of course, this pile does not include the many that were lost or left any number of different places or those that were tossed when they were past their prime.  It seems almost surreal to bag them up and remove them from the house.  

For almost two full school years, our masks were prominently stored in the mud room by the shoes and backpacks and mask lanyards, easy to grab as we left the house each morning.  Once masks were no longer required at school (in about February of this year), they were moved to a less prominent area in the laundry room, still easily accessible for those activities and places that still required them.  And although we do still keep a small supply of disposable masks in the car for doctor's appointments and for me to wear into work, our endless supply of cloth masks is no longer needed.  It was such a strange period of time as we navigated the novel world of covid.  The masks are a reminder of that time.  And as life returns to pre-covid normalcy, we still have all the memories and pictures and stories and blog posts about that time when our "new normal" was anything but.  We can never forget all that happened in our world and in our family during that time, but it's nice to finally be talking about it in the past tense...and to clear one more piece of it out of our home.

It's a pile of memories, but it's not a sad good-bye.

Truth

There are things I love to do.  Washing windows isn't one of them.