Beginning and End

Ada has officially completed her last season as a competitive gymnast. She has spent the last 4 years living it up! She's competed level 1, 2, and this year 3. She has learned so much! And not just physically, it has built her up so much emotionally and in confidence. She has learned to succeed under pressure, practice until you get it right, build others up as they work towards their goals, believe in herself to do hard things (let's face it, life is FULL of hard things), and she's learned what it really really means to work hard at something and enjoy the journey. These are things that will continue to grow in her!

There's no doubt she's enjoyed herself, and I wouldn't pretend for a moment like this wasn't a difficult call for us as parents...to draw the line, to step away, but after much prayer and considering the whole picture, it's what feels right for her and our family. We want her to have the opportunity to explore and try new things. It's difficult to be financially tied to a 7 year old's sport also and gymnastics is an extremely time consuming one also. In order to succeed, you have to put in major hours and for us, while our children are young, we are greedy with those hours. We only get them to ourselves for such a short time and there's many things we want to explore and adventures we want to go on as a family, so it's just time.

She has made us so incredibly proud! It's amazing to watch. And she should feel so good about all that she's accomplished in this sport! I mean! What other seven year old do you know can say they are a two time state champion on floor exercise and one time state champion on beam?! And she finished 6th overall in the state for level 3! So proud!  I know too, though, she is anxiously looking forward to trying some new things! Piano is in the books for summer and just chilling with our family, adventuring and running together! The boys are taking the spring off from sports as well, so Chris and I are thrilled about some unscheduled, unoccupied family time! Such a rarity, it seems.

So here's to the end of one thing and beginning of another! Here's to more family time and less over commitment. We are so excited and have been awaiting the seasons end with anticipation. So, my tiny gymnast, never doubt how incredibly proud we are of you and we can't wait to see what you do next! <3 <3

Level 1-2015

Level 2-2016

Level 3-2017

3 Months

Our sweet baby girl turned 3 months old this month. Oh, she is so pure and lovely. She is grace and patience. She is joy and modest. She is so precious. Her smile is truly that of a tiny angel. She is so loved by each and everyone of us. The kids wake up wanted to greet her and hold her and all throughout the day they take time just to sit and chat and love on her. They love her with a ridiculously big love and she does them! Her face lights up just at the sound of their voices. It is the most beautiful love I have ever seen.

In her three short months, she has learned to smile and giggle. She's developed amazing love for her tribe. She had her first cereal yesterday! She loves to kick and play on her play mat and in the swing. She can roll from her tummy to back and is soooo close to going from back to tummy as well. She sleeps through the night like a champ and was able to give up her monitor after two months! To go to sleep, she enjoys her fishy aquarium and white noise playing. She has her little fussy moments, but overall, this girl is so quiet and patient and good. She rarely cries, unless she is in her least favorite spot...the car seat! She still has great opposition to car rides. Other than that, it's more of a small little whiny warning to tell you she needs something. I'm guilty of photographing her and the others every. single. day. But seriously, I don't want to miss a thing! :)

We are looking forward to getting outdoors with her and swinging the days away. She will get to the beach for the first time in May and none of us can wait for that! We look forward to teaching her and showing her all our favorite things. Our precious rainbow is nothing short of just that, a pure beautiful reflection of grace. These past three months getting to know her have been amazing and we can't wait to see what the next three have in store.

The Easter Season

It's so hard to believe we are already entering the Easter season! This year is flying by already. I'm particularly grateful for the Easter season this year! As I ponder and consider Lent and Easter and all that it means, I'm so grateful for life right now. It's crazy! Constant chaos and noise, it's demanding and somewhat tiresome, it's the up's and down's of trudging through postpartum days, but it's beautiful. Chris and I still look at our life and shrug....we surely didn't see it coming almost 12 years ago when we said "I do"...owning a business, me staying at home, homeschooling, parents to four incredible blessings! We had no idea! But we are so grateful. Not a day goes by when I don't feel an overwhelming amount of gratitude. I'm so glad in our little home video from our honeymoon when we each took a turn to describe what we thought our life might be like in 10 years, that we missed the mark! I'm so glad we did, because I can't imagine my life without all of this. Some times, it was scary to let go and follow God's lead...still is most of the time...but, seriously...it's been a blast!
Everyday, God shows me just how much I need Him. This Easter season allows us to really step back, address areas where we need more of Him, and I love it. I love the opportunity to dig deep and examine just how much I need Him. In the middle of this messy, chaotic, loud, lovely life, I need HIM. I need Him to lead me when I attempt to teach school. I need Him when I care for my little children. I need Him when I try to keep house. I need Him when I'm tired and maybe at my wits end. I need Him to lead me, in spite of myself to help grow these little people and grow me into His image. If there's anything I know for sure, every single moment of every single day, I need Him.
So, as we ponder the upcoming season, let us not forget the amazing sacrifice that was made for each of us. Thank you, Lord, for this season to reflect, to soak up more of your forgiveness and grace, and to live as a light, for You.