"Lasting" On

I truly thought I was in the busy stages of life when I had little kids.  There was always something to do, make, fix, clean up, wash, change, disinfect, repeat.  Time was frozen certain days, and life was simple.  It didn't seem that way at the time, but it's very clear to me now (especially when the kids want to pop in old home movies) that those were actually the easy days.

I was with my extended family over the weekend, and many of my cousins have younger children while mine are the oldest in the bunch.  One of my cousin's asked me if I felt like my kids were easier at this stage??  Good question.  Yes, they are easier in some capacity because they are independent and can do things for themselves.  But, this stage is harder in the sense that we are literally on-the-go at all times.  Maybe it's because I'm working full-time and no longer stay at home?  Maybe it's because the load is much heavier with commitments and school work?  Maybe it's both and a lot of other things?  It feels like life is moving faster than ever right now, and there's not much I can do to slow it down. Matt used to tell a story in his sermons about Mobert the Fish.  Mobert was a fish that belonged to a little boy who just loved him.  Mobert couldn't do much but swim around in his fishbowl and entertain the little boy.  Like all fish, one day Mobert died.  The little boy wanted to give Mobert a funeral, and his mom asked him to write the obituary.  He said, "I want it to say: Here lies Mobert the Fish, he was good while he lasted."  That story has stuck with me and probably will forever--the point of the story - be good while you're "lasting."  Right now, I am in the "lasting" phase of life - trying to capture and enjoy every single moment with the kids - who are growing up quicker than I can document (notice the lack of blog posts recently).  I'm running all over the place and crashing into bed at night totally exhausted.

Basketball consumes most of our time these days.  Three kids on three different teams, playing in different places at different times, and Matt coaching one team and assistant coaching the other team, makes for a long, run-on sentence.  Karson had a game last night at 5:30 PM and Isaac at 6:30 PM.  All I have to say is thank goodness for grandparents!  We couldn't manage without them.  I was able to watch most of K's game but left in the 3rd quarter (my Dad stayed at the game with her) so I could rush over to Plano to see Isaac play.  I don't get to watch many of his games because Miles is usually playing at the same time.  Since Matt is the coach of Isaac's team, we don't get to divide the games up (like last year).  We plan to make things easier on ourselves next year and put the boys on the same team.

I can't think of one week night that I've had free in the last two weeks.  Fast food and concessions have become our diet unfortunately.  Juggling practices, games and other school events makes for a busy holiday season.  AND, we are adding an additional sport into the mix this year.

Karson made the 13U BRAVO nationals volleyball team. Practices this month aren't mandatory but encouraged.  K' will have basketball after school tomorrow until 4:30 and then have BRAVO practice from 5:30-7:30.  BRAVO officially starts in January though - her basketball season ends January 16.  Hopefully, there won't be much overlap with the two - if nothing else, she'll be in excellent physical shape.

Did I mention that we had BETA inductions last week?  We did.  Karson was invited to be part of the Junior BETA club at South Middle because of her academic and leadership at school.  Part of that commitment requires students to acquire 20 service hours, 10 of which we've already done through SKyPAC events and working volleyball concessions.  I'm proud of her ability to juggle two sports and maintain such a high GPA (without a batting an eye).

Completely unrelated, I LOVE Amazon and Prime - not sure how I'd get any Christmas shopping done without that website.  Cheers to "lasting" and Happy Holidays!!!