The Life of a Track, Baseball, Softball, & Band Mom

I am NOT a soccer mom.  None of my children play soccer, I don't take them to any soccer practices, I haven't ever bought them any soccer equipment.

Nope.  Definitely NOT a soccer mom.

Now, track mom?  Yep.  Baseball mom?  A-ha.  Softball mom?  Yes, and coach.  Band mom?  Absolutely!

I have many faces, and yesterday I got to put on the "band mom" face.  It was the annual band trip to Pittsburg State University.  A day trip the band takes so that the band as a whole and individual performers can take part in a music contest.  This was my second year to attend.

Peanut is my band kid.  She has been playing the clarinet since 5th grade.  She's very good at it, but she has decided to pursue other activities in high school next year so this is the last year for adding "band mom" to my list of activities.

Being that I work for the school, I'm an easy target for being a chaperon.  I don't need a background check to ride the bus, so it's a lot easier for the band director if I not only agree to go but also agree to ride the bus that takes the kids.  In order to ride the bus, I had to be at the school by 5:45 yesterday morning.  Meaning I had to get up at 3:30.  Always fun.  Nothing like getting up in the middle of the night, knowing I would spending almost 2 hours on a bus with about forty riled up Jr. high kids.

And fun it was.  From the moment we pulled out of the parking lot, I started to wonder if I had gotten on to the wrong bus.  The kids broke out in to song...singing all the way until we pulled in to the university parking lot.  It would have been much better had the kids been singing the same song, or even in the right key.  But instead, it was more like this...

No wonder these kids went with band.  HA!

After the long, entertaining bus ride, we made it to Pittsburg State University.  The entire band performed at 9:30, but my group's solos didn't start until 1:30 that afternoon, which meant a lot of time to just sit and wait.

All of the kids in my group spent time playing outside or hanging out in the food court.  I parked my behind down in the coffee shop with a drink, my iPad, and a book and enjoyed the time relaxing.  The plan was to get my lesson plans done, but of course the website that I use was down.  So, instead, I did some research on taking some college courses to continue my education and read...for the fun of it.  Something I haven't done in WAY too long.

Finally it was time to start the solo performances.  Peanut did a great job.

It sounded beautiful, and if she made a mistake I didn't notice.

After Peanut finished, I walked around and listened to the solos for all of the kids in my group.  They all did a great job, too.  It's so awesome to hear such young kids with such musical talent.  It made me a little sad to think about the kids that will be giving up their musical talents after this year as they move on to high school and bigger and better things.

Peanut, for example, isn't giving up on music.  She doesn't want to be a part of band anymore, but she is very interested in joining the show choir.  She has tryouts on Monday and Tuesday.  She also wants to play sports, and join the debate team.  All activities that match her talents.  Despite that video that doesn't show the best voice talents, Peanut has a beautiful singing voice.  She is also an awesome volleyball player, discus thrower, and debater.  She is a girl of many talents.

Anywho, our day came to an end around 5PM so it was time to load back on the bus and make the trip home.  We got home around 7:30, and I pulled into my driveway around 8:30.

It was a fun, but extremely tiring day.

I wish I could say that I was going to get to spend today relaxing, but that's not the case.  I have a house that needs to be cleaned, TONS of laundry piled up (and a washer that's about to go out on me, which is not making my life any easier), and baseball/softball practice this afternoon (if the weather holds out).

Life is always on the go around here, keeping me on my toes.

Which is what I better get to right now.  I really don't have any time to waste if I'm going to get everything done on my To-Do list.

The life of a track, baseball, softball, and band mom is NOT an easy one.  But.  It IS an amazing one, that I wouldn't change for anything.

Have a great Sunday!!

The Future of Education is AMAZING!!

That is Alan November.  Education and professional development specialist, and an AMAZING person to listen to about the future (and not so future) of education.

I will admit, I'm not the biggest fan of professional development training sessions.  I mean, don't get me wrong, I love learning about new stuff when it's related to education.  But, sitting in a chair for about 6-7 hours listening a person talk can be a bit much.  I am a teacher.  I'm used to being up on my feet for about 6-7 hours a day.  However, I could have listened to Alan November speak for days.  Everything that came out of his mouth was inspiring, motivational, and just plain awesome.  He's a little quirky, but very funny. And I couldn't help relate him to some kind of mad scientist.  A pure genius, in his own right, I'm sure.

He's a HUGE proponent for technology innovation, which was the topic of yesterday's conference.  He believes that most of the classroom experience should focus on technology.  He also believes that students should no longer be attending classes in the traditional sense:  Teacher lectures, models, and assigns students to do problems in the way they were shown.  Instead, teachers facilitate learning, guide learning, and allow students to do a huge chunk of investigating and coming up with their own ways of solving and completing problems and assignments.  Not just that, but allowing students to become teachers and learn about stuff that teachers DON'T know about.  And what I mean by that, is allowing students more freedom to explore areas that are outside of their teacher's "expertise" and the teacher be open and willing to learn just as much from his/her students as he/she teaches.

What I loved about yesterday's conference was the fact that it was focused on other teachers sharing how they are using technology in the classroom.

The first presenter shared how her district has gone completely ZERO textbooks.  They are now focused on eSourcing.  Which is where all content is used through the internet or a computer.  Of course, their district also has a 1:1 ratio of students to laptops.  Each student has their own Chromebook to work off of in the classroom, so it's a little easier to eSource when there is always a computer available for a student to use.  She shared a few sites that her district is using to help mainstream the process, and provided great resources for the curriculum.

Then, it was my turn...

Yep.  That's me.  Presenting on using Minecraft in the classroom, and promoting my class blog.  I have to say it was an amazing experience.  Mr. November was extremely excited when he was told what I'd be presenting.  Apparently, he's been trying to get more teachers to think about using Minecraft in the classroom, and thought it was very cool that I'd been able to do so much in such a little amount of time.  He was genuinely fascinated with my presentation, what I've been doing with my kiddos, and how I'm bridging together class work and Minecraft time.  My fifteen minute time slot ended up being closer to thirty, by the time I finished presenting and Mr. November finished asking me questions.  But, I didn't mind.  I was happy and excited to do it.

After me, there were presenters that shared websites that teach ELEMENTARY students to write code for games and presentations.  There were presenters who are using online portfolios, that the students create themselves.  We heard about websites that offer free college courses from Harvard, Stanford, and MIT.  We watched as presenters shared work that had been submitted by students electronically:  videos, writing samples, games, etc.  Websites that offer online curriculum support and resources, such as articles and research help, and online interactive textbooks.

I was completely fascinated at the amount of tools and ideas that were shared, and the living examples of how easy it really is to incorporate MORE technology in to the classroom and move away from the traditional pencil to paper classroom.

The whole time, I was busy writing notes down in my notebook and watching Twitter.  Another fun aspect of the conference.  A streaming Twitter feed.  It was very cool to watch other people in the same room share their ideas and comments while presenters were presenting.  Even MORE resources to store away.  I walked away with three pages of notes and ideas.  That's about 2 1/2 pages more than I EVER have after a professional development session.

Not just that, but by the end of the day, I had been signed up to present at ANOTHER conference in Joplin.  I will be presenting at a educational technology conference in June, and I'll be presenting about student blogging and Minecraft.  How awesome is that?

Not only was the conference amazing, but the drive to and from was great.  I rode with my principal, and it was great to pick her brain and listen to some of the ideas she has about the future.  She is just as fascinated with all of the technology components as I am, so it was great to hear how she'd like to see more of it and some of the things she'd like for the teachers to start thinking about in the future.  And, I love the fact that she completely understands and knows the teachers that work for her.  That not all of the teachers would be as excited about a technology take-over, and that there is no need for an entire overhaul of the way her teachers are currently teaching.

It was an amazingly fun day, and I'm so glad I got to be part of it.  I'm just a little bummed that I only got to go to the last session.  It was the last of three, and I now wish I could have gone to all three sessions.  But, no biggie.  It was great to hear and see what I got to see, and present.

Today, I'm up at 4AM because I have to chaperon a band trip.  Peanut is performing a solo and in the band, so I'm going along to help out and watch her play.  Which, I better get to getting to, because I have to leave in about 30 minutes.

I hope everyone has a fantastic Saturday!!

Finally Friday Update

Sorry I've been gone for a couple of days.  I haven't really been gone, I've just been busy working on my other blog.  Most of you have seen the Minecraft blog pop up on your Facebook page, and that's where I've been making sure that everything is up to date.

The reason I needed to get that done is because I'm going to Joplin, today, to make a presentation over that blog.  I told you all about it in my last blog post.  Well, today is the day.  I'm ready.  Kinda.  A little nervous, not sure what to expect, but I know my Minecraft blog and I know what I need to talk about.

I'm not concerned about doing the presentation, I'm more worried about getting the opportunity to say everything I want or need to say.  I only have about 10-15 minutes for my presentation, and that's NOT much time.  Anyone that knows me knows that I can talk.  I talk a lot.  And, being constrained by a time limit is not usually good for me.  But, I am going to do everything in my power to stay on topic and keep it brief but informative.

I also don't like being away from my students.  I mean, I'm getting to take part in a great opportunity and I'm excited and honored that I was asked to do it.  But, it doesn't make it any easier to leave my students.  It's a very vital time of the year, and any time I'm gone makes me nervous.  Although, if I had to pick a day in which I had to be gone, it would be Friday.  The kids are super charged for the weekend and ready for the week to be over.  Fridays are also a big assessment day in my classroom, so the kids will be busy taking their weekly formative and summative assessments today.

This is such a stressful time of the year, and I am trying so hard to keep my classroom's mood calm and collected.  I'm trying to not change our routines and schedules too much, and trying extremely hard to constantly remind the students that there's still 7 weeks of school left so they need to stop acting like summer break is a day away.  It's tough, but not impossible.  Most of the kids are staying on track and doing what they need to do.  There's one or two that have started getting a little lazy and unmotivated.  They have stopped making an effort, and don't really act that bothered about it.  Those are the kids I really hone in on and constantly remind them that 7 weeks can make a DRASTIC and DEVASTATING effect on their grades, and that they don't want to end the year off with F's when they've been making A's, B's, and C's all year.

Another thing I've really picked up on is the fact that my kids have started to mimic my sarcasm.  The same thing happened this time last year.  The kids finally start testing the waters of using some of my common sarcasms.  This year, however, they're having just the tiniest bit of trouble knowing when it's appropriate to use it.  They have tried it out on other teachers, and some of the those teachers think it's a little disrespectful.  And it is.  My kids know when and how they can use the sarcasm with me, and they understand how I use my sarcasm, but it's just a little confusing for them that other teachers don't respond the same way I do.

That's one of the downfalls of using sarcasm with my students.  They know that it's my "Language of Love" and that I'm only ever sarcastic with them when I'm playing around.  I never use sarcasm to belittle or make fun of my students, and it's our class language.  But, trying to get them to understand how and when they can use it with others is still a work in progress.

Anywho, I really need to wrap this up.  I have to get ready because I have to be at work early this morning so that I can get to the conference.  I'm hoping I can get up early enough to share more tomorrow, but I have to be back at the school by 5:45AM for a band trip... so no promises.  More about that when I DO get back on.

Have a great Friday, everyone!!

I'm Going to Present at a Conference

Well, yesterday was a FANTASTIC day.  I received TONS of compliments on my hair, and I won't lie... I'd liked them.  I liked the attention.  It felt good.  I'm certain that women just want to hear that they look good every now and then, and I got my fill of that yesterday.

I'm not sure if it was the hair, or the compliments, or neither but I was in a good mood yesterday.  I felt cheerful, optimistic, and had some pep in my step.  One of my co-workers playfully joked around and told me that I felt like "hot stuff" how.  Sad thing was, I kinda did.  Not "hot stuff" as in sexy or good looking, but in the sense that I felt more empowered, like it took me out of my shell a little.

And to go hand-in-hand with that more confident feeling came a surprising piece of information.  My principal told me that she wants me to go with her to a conference on Friday and PRESENT on using Minecraft in the classroom.

At first, I was completely dumbfounded.  Scared. Unsure.  I mean, I have only been using it a couple of weeks, and didn't really feel like I could offer much of a presentation being that my kids and I are basically creating the lesson plans each week as we go along.  But, when she told me it would be a 10-15 minute presentation and could totally be about the fact THAT the kids and I were making up our lessons as we went along... I felt a little more excited.

I've never done any form of public speaking like that.  I mean, I've spoke in front of large crowds.  That doesn't bother me a bit.  I've presented to college classes and at meetings.  But, at a conference? With lots of people I don't know... one of them being Alan November?  Yeah, that makes me a little nervous.

Alan November is basically an educational guru.  He's an author and creator of various professional development courses for teachers.  He has a website that you can check out, if you're interested:  www.novemberlearning.com  

It's all very exciting.  I've been hearing about Alan November for a long time from my principal and others who have attended his workshops and conferences.  To know that I'll be standing up in front of him and telling him a little about what I'm doing in my classroom is a huge honor and privilege.

Of course, now I have to get a presentation ready.  And with only a couple of days to do to it, I'm nervous.  I have SOOOO much going on this week with track meets, ball practices, etc. I'm not able to stay very long after school each night... so I really have to buckle down during my planning time to see what I can put together.  

Thankfully, I started the blog for my classroom.  That will help.  I've been trying to write a new post about our latest endeavors, and I guess I really need to buckle down and get that done.  The kids have been applying our latest learning about area and perimeter to create architectural plans of the house they want to build in the game.  They had to figure out dimensions, total area and perimeter, and the area and perimeter of each room.  This week, we have moved in to learning about 3D shapes, so they will now create a 3D representation (on paper) of their building, adding in the dimension of height.  They than take their plans to the computers and build their house in Minecraft.  

I've actually been pretty good about taking pictures and documenting the learning that's taking place, so as long as I get on the ball and put it all in to a nice presentation, the concern will be more about whether I can fit it all in to a 10-15 minute presentation, rather than wondering how I will fill that amount of time.

And I'll do that while typing up my softball practice schedule, and grading papers, and entering in grades, and after driving an hour to a track meet and an hour home again, and after my own softball practice, and even after Butter's practice on Thursday if I have to.

If I don't become the queen of multitasking by the end of this school year, I don't know if I'll ever be.  Holding down so many different ventures and personal activities is tough, but I can't ever complain that I'm bored or lead a boring life.  

Jelly had her first T-ball practice last night, but unfortunately I didn't get to be there.  I had to attend "Art Night" at school.  Thankfully, Jelly has a coach that didn't mind keeping Jelly for me during the practice, and Jelly wasn't upset that I wouldn't be there.  She even told me that there would be LOTS of practices for me to watch.  Apparently, I'm raising that girl to understand how busy I can be sometimes.  But, I will DEFINITELY be at her practice on Wednesday... well, for half of it.  My own team will be practicing at the same time.  

Art Night was lots of fun.  I was so happy to see so many families come out and enjoy the art activities and see the artwork that the students have made all year.  Our school cafeteria really did resemble a fancy art gallery.  There were artist impersonators, kids dressed up as art work, cupcakes that were made to look like an artist's palette, and all kinds of fun activities for the kids to try such as drip painting, dot paining, and even graffiti art.

Peanut and Butter had a blast and tried out all the activities.  I felt a little sad, because I know that Jelly would have really enjoyed taking part, but given the choice between Art Night and T-Ball practice, she went with practice.  That girl has been on my case for MONTHS about playing a sport, so she was all kinds of excited when it was FINALLY time yesterday.

It was no surprise that by the time we pulled in to the driveway around 8PM last night, I was more than ready for bed.  I spent a little time chatting with Hubby, got the kids fed and ready for bed, and then it was straight to bed for me.  And now I'm ready for another VERY full and exciting day today.

Which I better start getting ready for RIGHT NOW.

Have a great Tuesday, everyone!!   

Extreme Makeover: Me Edition

Have you ever woken up one morning thinking "I wish I was someone different"?  Not in the sense of being a completely different person, like your boss or your friend or a famous celebrity, but different in the sense of changing certain aspects of you.

Maybe change your shy personality, or that you worry too much, or you're not happy with your style, or maybe you feel like you've let yourself go and want to do something about it.

This happened to me a few weeks ago.  I woke up with a craving to make a whole new persona for myself.  Break out of my comfort zone, do something different, go a little crazy.

I'm sure that the feelings came from the few months leading up to that morning.  Family problems, work issues, me continuously feeling sorry for myself, and every time I looked in the mirror thinking, "Ugh...do I really look like that?"

A visit to P-Momma's helped put a new change in to motion.  A new wardrobe.  I needed some color in my life.  I needed to update my closet that offered me more color instead of the various shades of brown, gray, and black that hung inside.  I am a firm believer that our clothes can speak volumes about our personalities.  If I wore nothing but brown, black, and gray, it was no wonder that I always felt a little down and melancholy.  All I was missing was the black make-up and combat boots and I'd be a thirty-something Emo Chick.

So, I took to the internet and ordered myself some new kicks.  Bright colors, spring colors, colors that would reflect my personality to be fun-loving and upbeat.  But, hopefully, not turning myself in to a thirty-something going on sixty-something.

When my first order arrived in the mail, I was very happy.  Pink and yellow and green and red and purple burst out of the package and completely spruced up my closet, transforming it from a dark and dingy place to a rainbow of options.

I spent a week wearing my new clothes, and have to admit that I felt a lot better when I was wearing something bright and cheery.  But, it didn't take long to realize that I wanted...no needed more.  The clothes were a good start, but I still looked in the mirror wondering what I could do that would really compliment the new wardrobe, and the progressing new me.

Yesterday morning, I woke up with the next phase jumping in my head:  My hair.  It had, quite a while ago, gotten to the length that was easy to put up in to a pony tail.  Any time that happens, there's only one thing I ever do with my hair:  Put it up in a pony tail.  If you look at any picture of me in the last six months, you'd think they were all taken on the same day because nothing changes about the way my hair looks.  The same, dull, pony tail.  

So, I drove to my local hair salon and decided that  I was going to tell them that I needed a new me.  Something totally different.  Totally out of my comfort zone.  Something that screams "I'M A FUN PERSON".  Before I walked in, I decided to take a picture of what I looked like.  A "before pic", if you will.  And here it is...

Don't you love the boring, flat, frizzy mess that was my hair?  No wonder I wore it up all of the time.  It has this life of it's own that leaves the top half completely straight, and the bottom half curly.

When I walked in and told my hairstylist what I wanted, I'm pretty sure my she thought I was going through some kind of mid-life crisis.  There was a solid look of confusion, maybe thrown in with a little side of worry when I told her I wanted it all chopped off and made to look totally FUNKY.

She told me that there were a number of options she could do, and I then said the words that I think all hairstylists either dream of or dread:  "Have at it, and do what you think will work...keeping my original ideas in your brain as you go".

Her eyes lit up like the 4th of July.  She asked me a couple of times if I was really serious, and told me that she could really get "funky" if it's what I really wanted.  I told her to have at it, and off she went.

She cut, she colored, she cut some more, she styled, and then it was time to see the new look.  Say hello to the NEW ME!!

I ended up with a short cut in the back and a longer, face shaping cut in the front.  I got blonde highlights with a little "rocker red" thrown in there.  It is COMPLETELY different than what I've ever done, and I absolutely LOVE it.

I walked out of that hair salon feeling like a completely different person.  I felt younger, a little crazy, a lot more fun.  On the drive home, I thought about all the troubles I've been dealing with lately, and they all seemed a lot less important.  It was a start to a completely new me.  I was getting rid of the sad, boring, and bland me and inventing a happy, fun, funky me.

Last night,  I decided my nails also needed a little color and then this happened...

They're not perfect, but they'll work for now.  I need to get them done...manicure and professional polish, but my version isn't terrible.

It's amazing how some new clothes, a new hair cut, and a little color on the nails can do to someone's whole outlook.  I mean, sure, they are all "outside" changes and don't really change the person on the inside, but I don't think there's any reason why it can't help.  I was a person that wore the same dark colors every day and put my hair in the same boring pony tail.  That person whined and complained a lot, spent a lot of time feeling sorry for herself, and often felt like a rain cloud was permanently fixed over my head.

Since changing up my wardrobe, and since getting my hair cut and my nails "did", I feel upbeat, fun, and HAPPY.  It's crazy to explain, but I really do feel SOOOOO much better.  Like I really AM a different person.  The people that bothered me before yesterday just don't seem that important today.  The issues that were dwelling on my mind have started to fade.

I feel better.  So much better.  And I'm excited about it.

Right now, I need to go and get ready for work.  Start out a new week with a new me.  I'm curious to see what my kiddos think when they walk in to the classroom... I'm sure they'll be shocked.

Shocking can be OK...sometimes, it can even be GREAT! 

The Things I'll Do For a Good Cause

For the past several days, I've been logging in to my Facebook and watching people from all over being "challenged" to jump in to freezing water for the sake of raising money for various charities.  It's called the "24 hour cold water challenge".

Basically, it boils down to being called out on Facebook by a friend and once they've completed their challenge, you have 24 hours to complete your own.  If you do it, you pay $10 to a charity of your choice.  If you don't do it, you have to pay $50 to the charity.  

When I first started seeing the videos circulating, I thought those people were NUTS!  Grown adults, jumping in to rivers.  But, watching the videos was extremely entertaining.  I had a good laugh at every video I watched.  Then, I started noticing that people I actually KNEW were doing the challenges, and I started getting a little nervous.

And, wouldn't you know, yesterday I was challenged by none other than E.  

I will admit, when I got challenged I was actually OK with it.  I'm all about joining in for a little fun for the sake of a good cause.  The only problem was, at that point, I wasn't around a river and had no intentions of being around a river before my 24 hours expired.  

So, I decided to improvise...and came up with this....

I tell you.  That water was FREEZING!!!  That first burst of water that hit me completely caught me off guard.  The weather wasn't exactly warm, but I didn't think it would be that bad.  Then, when I turned around for the other blast, it was like jumping in to an ice bath.  And, of course, the kids thought it was HILARIOUS!! 

Once I was done, my legs started to feel numb.  I was tingling all over, and shivering.  It's amazing how quickly cold water can freeze you from the inside out.  But, I quickly went inside, changed my clothes, and was all nice and warm again.  I posted my video on Facebook and went about my business.

It was a lot of fun, and I'm glad I got to take part.  I just wished I'd gone to the river to do it...I'm sure that would have been a lot more dramatic.  And, you know I'm all about being as dramatic as possible.  HA!

Today, the kids and I are going over to P-Momma's house...again!!  Twice in two weeks.  That's some kind of record, I'm sure.  And I couldn't be more excited about it.  I love going over there and so do the kids, so anytime we can make it we are all very happy about it.

Before we go, though, I'm going to get a hair cut.  It's time.  I'm not going to elaborate any more than that, because that's what tomorrow's blog will be about...

So, today.  We're going to P-Momma's.  We're going to have some fun, she's going to make dinner for us, and we're going to enjoy her company.  I get to tell her all about the new clothes I've bought, thanks to her referral.  I get to tell her about what's been going on in my life since last week.  And, I'll get to hear all about what's going on with her. 

In between all of that, I need to go and buy Peanut a ball glove for softball that starts this week.  Yesterday, at our meeting, we coordinated practice schedules.  My team, which is also Peanut's team, will be practicing on Mondays and Wednesday from 6-7PM.  Jelly's team will be practicing on Monday and Wednesdays from 6:30-7:30PM.  Butter will be practicing on Tuesday and Thursdays from 6-7PM.  And, my and Butter's team will also be practicing on Saturdays.  So, from now to the end of ball season, I won't get home until about 8PM four nights a week!

CRAZY!

It doesn't last forever, though, and the fun we'll have will be worth it.  I just hope poor little Jelly won't get too tired from practicing so late.  I know that she falls asleep around 7:30PM on school nights, so it will be tough to keep her awake and practicing two nights a week.  

Anywho, I better get to getting right now.  I have to go and get my hair cut and do some other stuff before we head to P-Momma's.  SO much to do, and SO little time!!

Have a great Sunday, everyone!!

Play Ball!!

                                    

There aren't many things that will get me out of bed before 7AM on a Saturday.  Even if I fell asleep at 8PM the night before.  If I didn't have to get up, I probably wouldn't have.. but I did.  And that's because, this morning, I have a summer ball meeting at 9AM.

It's a meeting where all of the coaches, players, and parents come together to find out what's going on with the Summer Ball program:  Practices, games, uniforms, etc.  My little family fall under all categories of coaches, players, and parents.  Being that I'm coaching, all the kids are playing, and I'm the parent of my children.  

It's been a long time since I coached softball, but I'm so excited to be doing it once again.  I coached Peanut's team when she played in 3rd-5th grades.  I'll be a little out of my comfort zone with the coaching I'll be doing this time around, being that I'm going to be coaching the 13 and under team.. but I'm ready and excited for the challenge.

Although, with three children playing ball, me coaching one of the teams, and Peanut and Butter also being in track, our weeks are going to be crammed full of activities.  Softball, baseball, or T-ball practices almost every night, thrown in between track meets, on top of every day of track practice.  And, because there are so many other activities taking place during the week, it will mean scheduling some practices on Saturdays.

It feels just like the good ol' days of Hubby complaining that I'm never home, and that I'm putting too much on my plate.  Back when I was going to college, holding down a job, and coaching softball.  If he thinks that was bad, he has no idea what it's going to be like now.  We just had one kid that played back then, what on earth does he think it's going to be like with all three kids playing, and two of them playing two different sports?

But, I think he's finally gotten used to my crazy, busy schedule.  Now that we both have calendars on our phones that sync and he knows when I will and won't be home, it makes life a little easier.  Plus, he knew full well that once I did get a teaching job, life would be constantly in the fast lane.

I have to be busy, though.  I'm always wanting something to do, something that keeps my mind off of stresses and being so busy helps calm the stress.  Some would probably disagree with that statement.. and think that adding more stuff to my plate would only increase my stress level.  But, it doesn't.  Not for me.  I don't have time to dwell or overthink when I'm running here, there, and everywhere caught up in tons of extra-curricular activities.  

Even figuring out how I'm going to get it all in doesn't stress me out.  It's just apart of the challenge.  It requires me planning and scheduling and coordinating what's going on, and that makes me feel more in control.  If I'm able to make juggling all that's on my plate work, then I'm able to somehow convince myself that I can take on whatever is thrown my way.

There has been quite a bit of tension in my house, lately.  Not between the people that live in it, but between us and stuff outside the house.  I'm dealing with some issues, Peanut is dealing with some issues, and Butter is dealing with some issues.  All separate issues with the same result:  Stress and worry.  And, we've all been depending on each other to help with the stress and worry.  None of us have solutions for each other, but just the support we give each other helps...somewhat.

By having stuff that keeps us busy, it helps keep our minds off of our issues.  Even if it's just for a little while.  It's not running away from the problems, but allowing our minds to take a break.  And that's what we all need, right now. Breaks away to think about other things and do other things.

What I've discovered these past few months is that being a parent to teenagers is TOUGH!  I have sat here in this very seat and preached about how I want my kids to make their own mistakes and learn from them.  Be a listening ear, but staying out of the issues as much as possible and letting them try and figure them out on their own.

Yet, I've discovered, that's a lot easier said than done.  When my babies are hurting, I want to take care of the issues and take the hurt away.  I'm forgetting one very important piece to that, though: They're not babies anymore.  They are young adults.  And, if I don't allow them to spread their wings more, take control of their issues, and face them head on, I'm doing them a major disservice.

As much as I know that I will always be there for them to talk to, and for me to advise them, I can't solve the problems for them.  They MUST stand up on their own and take charge of their own situations, and figure out the best way to resolve them.

Which is hard.  Too hard.  

I also have to realize that I CAN'T use my own personal situations as a way of explaining my thoughts and feelings about their problems.  I can't share what's going on with me with them.  I'm an adult, and I have to deal with my problems and let them see me doing that... rather than telling them my problems  and us all pow-wowing how to solve them.

They are children.  And even though they are growing up so fast, I MUST remember that they are not the people I should be talking to.

Thankfully there are three people I can talk to:  E, P-Momma, and Hubby.  The three people that will listen, offer advise, and just allow me to vent when I need to.  Plus, they won't sugar coat what I need to hear.  Each of them offer their own suggestions, and never just feed me what I want to hear.  And, sometimes, brutal honesty can be SOOOOOO refreshing.

Getting back to the original topic, I honestly feel like the summer ball program will give us an outlet to deal with stresses without having to talk about them.  Hit a few balls, throw a few balls, build some friendships, work as a team, and just HAVING FUN!!! Something that I've been wanting a lot more of around here.

I'm excited and ready for this new challenge, and optimistic for the good it's going to do for my little family.  We're going to be busy.  We're going to be exhausted.  But, we're going to have fun.  And that will make it all worth it.

So, I better get to getting if we're going to make it to that meeting on time.

Have a great Saturday, everyone!!