A Busy Past Few Weeks....

...My past few days/weeks have been consumed with karate, celebrating my birthday, and the start of soccer for the twins....

...we'll start with soccer for the twins. I'm excited for them to start soccer because THEY'RE excited. In a moment where I felt a little bad that I didn't do things the same for Collin as I did for the twins, Aaron reminded me that Collin didn't WANT to join soccer. Which then reminded me of a long-ago conversation in our kitchen, telling Collin that he really needed to do something active. What did he want to do? And then I remembered his tearful answer. "I don't want to do anything but stay and hang out with you guys." So we signed his grudging butt up for a season of soccer. He didn't really like it much, but put up with it. Fast forward seven years, and I ask the twins if they want to play soccer. They wholeheartedly and excitedly say yes, and proceed to ask me every day afterward if I've signed them up yet. Then, they ask constantly when their practices and games will be. OK, so now I don't feel as guilty that I've kitted them out with balls and shoes and shin guards. The shoes were like five bucks extra if I bought the ball and shin guards, too, which makes me not feel so badly about kitting them out when we didn't get shoes for Collin and borrowed shin guards. Erin has had her first practice, and LOVED it. She got in the fray and didn't act like she'd never played before. And she told EVERYONE she met what she'd just done and how excited she was to be playing. Griffin's first practice in on Thursday. They practice at the same time, but it turns out that their schedules are polar opposite. So, aside from one weekend that we're going to miss the games for a family reunion, we're going to be stuck in Westfield until the end of October.

...My birthday weekend (I'm 32 now... when the heck did I get this old?? Oh, yeah.. I've been busy being a karate-chopping momma. Time flies....) was largely spent at the big tournament in Indy. I didn't compete, though it turns out that I should have. It would have been fun. But I went to the awards banquet and snagged my awards. Sunday was spent with a fellow karate-ka from my dojo watching the tournament. She wants to compete and it was nice to show her the tournament and what it was all about. Instead of freaking her out, it made her want to sign up and compete. Which makes me excited for the tournaments again. We'll see how that goes.

....Anyway, life is plowing ahead full steam. It's not passing me by, by any means. But boy, am I struggling to keep up sometimes. With the kids involved in as many things as they are (which will calm down after soccer season), I've had to give up some of the things I want to do. The plight of being a momma. *grins* Mostly the thing I have to give up is my karate slot. It keeps happening. But I'm making quite a few classes, and have even been teaching some as the need arises. It's fun, and it gives me a chance to get a brush-up on some of the things that I've forgotten or am not strong in.

....good times. Busy times!