February Fun

 It's been another whirlwind month! Steve is in week two of a new job. After nine years at his last job, this was a big, but necessary, change. There's a learning curve, of course, but so far it's going well. 

To start the month, I lucked out with a Saturday birthday, and we spent the day checking out Tupp's Brewery, which I'd wanted to try for a while. It's a family-friendly brewery with live music and food trucks on Saturdays, along with lots of indoor/outdoor space. They even had the Cyclones on TV and a variety of other vendors set up on the day we went, so everyone had a good time relaxing, playing bags, and checking out the various booths. It was a great birthday (even if one of my kids looks a little crazy in this picture)!

 We miraculously ended up with a free Saturday afternoon, so we joined the DFW Cyclones at a game watch. We hadn't been to one since football season. Always a good time. This Saturday, we are *skipping sports* and heading to Fort Worth to see our favorite team play at TCU. Can't wait!

Sara's cheer team took 1st place in their competition. She was so excited, and I was so proud of her! Many of the girls on the team are older and more experienced; she still has a lot of learning to do, but she's throwing herself into learning and improving. It was so fun to see her perform.

"Spring" soccer has started. Last weekend was freezing - 30 degrees, windy, and misty during this game. Didn't seem to bother Emma. She has been practicing four times a week the past few weeks, and is loving it!

I'm at soccer practice right now. The bad news is that our February weather, overall, has been crummy. The silver lining is that practice has primarily been inside as a result of the weather ... and inside has wifi ... so all the work (and blogging) I haven't had time to do can get done while I watch practice. Sometimes I think we are too busy and need to slow down. It's hard to know how I'll look back on this time years from now. Maybe I'll wish we had not been so overbooked, working so hard (or so long) - it's hard to say. Right now I'm just trying to enjoy what we are doing. I tell myself that I minimize other things (no netflix addictions for me, very few social events, etc.) so the time I have is spent on worthwhile endeavors. I'm having a harder time with a work/home balance this year, but I'm aware of it and trying to be present in both places. Always a work in progress ... and really looking forward to our spring break Florida get-away in just a couple of weeks!

Sports

I look back and think about when my kids were in diapers and using formula, and I remember thinking how much less money we'd spend when those things were finished. I had similar thoughts about daycare. The reality is that now the payments just go into different pots.

Emma just finished her final season with her beloved #sassy coach and friends, some of whom had been on her same team since they were three years old. They had a great run, and the team is going to continue playing together. However, Emma is moving on to an academy team. This spring, she'll play in an academy league with both the 2012 and 2011 girls. She has the potential to practice up to four times per week, with games on the weekends. It sounds crazy, but she is so excited. She's been practicing and playing with both teams for a few weeks (while also finishing with her rec team), and she has loved the higher caliber of play. When I pick her up from school and it's not a practice evening, she is so disappointed. This kid is so highly motivated by soccer, and even when she's not listening to anyone else, she'll listen to her coaches.

 Sara has fallen in love with her cheer team. It's been just over a year since she started tumbling at the gym, and about six months with the cheer team. Their first competition is tomorrow, and I know she's nervous. Many girls on the team are older than she is and have competed before, so this is new territory for her. She has been spending 6+ hours per week at the gym, and then comes home and practices some more. The mat she got for her birthday has taken up permanent residency in our living room, and she never stops tumbling on it. It's hard to know what this will turn into for her, but she loves it and she's connected, and she's getting better all the time. I love seeing Sara work hard at something she enjoys, and I appreciate that on this team, she has lots of older girls to look up to and learn from.

Right now, sports are taking up most of our time, lots of gas, and even more money. I can't predict where these sports will take my girls in the future, but for now, it's all worth it.  I was given the same foundation and opportunity growing up, and I feel like it was so critical in shaping the adult I became. During my skating years, I was never headed to the Olympics or anything like that, but I worked hard and learned lots of lessons ... and down the road I even turned it into a coaching opportunity for a number of years. I love this sentiment (below) that has floated around social media for a while. It so perfectly sums up my feelings about the stage of life we're in: 

One of my friends asked "Why do you pay so much money for your kids to do all their sports”? Well I have a confession to make; I don't pay for my kids to to do sports. Personally, I couldn't care less about what sport they do.

 So, if I am not paying for sports what am I paying for?

 - I pay for those moments when my kids become so tired they want to quit but don't.

 - I pay for those days when my kids come home from school and are "too tired" to go to their training but they go anyway.

 - I pay for my kids to learn to be disciplined, focused and dedicated.

 - I pay for my kids to learn to take care of their body and equipment.

 - I pay for my kids to learn to work with others and to be good team mates, gracious in defeat and humble in success.

 - I pay for my kids to learn to deal with disappointment, when they don't get that placing or title they'd hoped for, but still they go back week after week giving it their best shot.

 - I pay for my kids to learn to make and accomplish goals.

 - I pay for my kids to respect, not only themselves, but other athletes, officials and coaches.

 - I pay for my kids to learn that it takes hours and hours, years and years of hard work and practice to create a champion and that success does not happen overnight.

 - I pay for my kids to be proud of small achievements, and to work towards long term goals.

 - I pay for the opportunity my kids have and will have to make life-long friendships, create lifelong memories, to be as proud of their achievements as I am.

 - I pay so that my kids can be out on the field or in the gym instead of in front of a screen...

 ...I could go on but, to be short, I don't pay for sports; I pay for the opportunities that sports provides my kids with to develop attributes that will serve them well throughout their lives and give them the opportunity to bless the lives of others. From what I have seen so far I think it is a great investment!

 ~Unknown