Jerrica is early morning Kindergarten so we still get to enjoy our afternoons together. I found this cute swimsuit on clearance at Kohls one morning. I couldn’t resist laying it on her bed with an invite for an afternoon swim. She was ecstatic!
Love my little bathing suit beauty!
We have had a couple of family Denver days. Part of me is like ‘why did we make the entire family come?’ and the other part of me is so grateful for days like these. Memories are made. Laughter is in abundance. Cheerleaders are in full force on the sidelines to cheer on family members. They really ARE awesome days!
Both of the big girls had soccer games. One of which was just an exit away from the Swetsville Zoo. Jerrica and Ash acted like they had never seen the place before. The older ones ran around finding their old favorites.
We then stopped by Krispy Kreme. Jacob likes his doughnuts without glaze, so we have to get them hot off the roller.
The boys had a dance, and Stephen and I had a date with some other couples, SO we headed back down to the Springs. We weren’t able to do everything that I had planned so this last Saturday we did another Denver Day as a family to finish up. :)
The boys have been discussing with us what they want to accomplish in their various sports this season. Nathan wants to be more explosive when he has the ball in his soccer games. He has tremendous footwork and can get past defenders, but then needs to completely explode to the goal. Jacob wants to get his butterfly under a minute. He is only a couple of seconds away, but “seconds away” can be huge sometimes.
After talking and encouraging Nathan last night, I had an idea. In the book, “As a Man Thinketh So is He” it talks about visualizing your goals and dreams. The author shares how “your thoughts become your actions”.
I decided to print up a bunch of signs to hang all over each of their bedrooms and in their bathroom. I even made an extra to put in their locker.
I decided to put Jacob’s sign on their toilet instead of Nathan’s. I don’t need a sign up on the toilet saying, “Explode”. :)
I’m hoping the reminders everywhere will help them to make their goals realities.
I’m thinking that I need to head back to the printer and print ME off some goal reminder signs.
We took Kaylee to her yearly check up last month. She had only grown 1 inch and gained 2 pounds in the last year. (I can gain 2 pounds in a WEEK!) She was in the 3rd percentile on the chart for her age group. The doctor was concerned about this and ordered a bone age x-ray. She even told Kaylee that “athletics would probably be hard due to her size”. (Who says stuff like this!) Well, the concern was apparent and Kaylee left feeling “small”.
The tears flowed and a pep talk from me ensued. I reassured her that she was just fine! She immediately started talking about sports, and how this would affect her. Kaylee LOVES sports. I told her that she can be just as big as she wants to be on the court or field.
Well she listened to me, but I didn’t listen to myself. The next week was try-outs for volleyball. 44 girls tried out for the 7th grade team. There were only 12 spots. Kaylee begged to do it. She had a lot of friends trying out and of course wanted to play middle school sports.
However, there were girls trying out that had been playing club volleyball for a few years. There were girls that were REALLY good players. SO all week I let her know that she probably wasn’t going to make it. I know, I’m bad and should have been encouraging her. Yet, I felt I needed to prepare her for the blow.
WELL, she made the team, and is even a starter on the team! I guess she really CAN be just as big as she wants to be! Let me reiterate that she IS small, especially around volleyball girls….
It has been tricky making all of the volleyball games and practices, and still making it to all the club soccer. Her 6am volleyball practices and games right after school sure have helped the schedule.
Kaylee adores her team. This is the first time she has played a sport with school friends. The coaches have the girls doing secret teammates, where they give each other special notes and treats. They have a couple really fun team parties planned. It has been perfect for Kaylee, especially after finding out that she is “little”.
Sure have a big place in my heart for my little red head!
Labor day weekend in Colorado Springs always has a big balloon festival Saturday thru Monday. We always have a hard time deciding if we are going to wake up early to go to it OR enjoy the holiday weekend to catch up on sleep. We sacrificed our sleep one morning and trekked over to the festival. The sun was bright, the balloons were colorful, and the breakfast afterwards was divine!
Ashley standing on Stephen’s shoulders… 
This balloon was my favorite…………
Ash is always quick to pose and switch poses instantly. She went from yoga master to scary monster….
Stephen switches poses quickly as well, eyes open to eyes closed. :)
