I truly intend to post more updates but then I get busy and the days, weeks and months pass by.
Like almost 8 months since my last update. Oops
We now have a 14 and just a little over a day until we have a 16 year old in the house. Yikes
She’s close to getting her license but still has maybe 10 hours of driving practice left. She’s doing well. Only a few white knuckle moments but she’s coming along.
He joined a club volleyball team in the fall and has been doing amazing. While his team is not all that good he for sure leads the team in every aspect and would no doubt do well on a more competitive team. Still he goes out there and competes and does as best he can. Grandpa Cook is at every game too. Well except for DET but he did come to Milwaukee for a game. He really enjoys seeing both the kids in their activities 🙂 I absolutely love that he loves Volleyball. Probably my favorite sport to play along with Golf. Seeing him out there, being able to help him improve … it’s awesome!
She joined another travel softball team herself. It’s been a bumpy road though. The team was brand new, young, and a coaching staff with little experience. Still, she thought it would be a good fit but inevitably we decide to part ways near the end of last year. Ironically the organization has a 2nd team at the same level. She actually tried out for the team but they didn’t pick her in the summer. However, a few weeks after tryouts they did call and ask if we were still interested. She had already committed to this other team so we said no. Yet, along the way we continued to speak with the other team as we both remained interested. Unfortunately we had to quit one team just to join the other. Kind of a unnecessary step for something that was going to happen anyways. She’s still relatively new to this team having only been with them for a month but she has some double headers this month before HS tryouts in a few weeks. I think the team is a much much better fit for her. In addition to that though she has been putting in a ton of extra effort with a hitting coach and is crushing the ball, crushing it! Plus her pitching is really coming along as well. I hope she’s looking forward to this upcoming HS season as much as I am (and I assume Grandpa is as well).
My life pretty much revolves around those activities. Driving back and forth to practices of some sort nearly every day then trying to juggle tournaments and other things on the weekends. Not to mention I took on a full time job in the fall. More on that in a bit.
He’s also super involved in Taekwondo and doing awesome there too. The instructor Master Vinson is simply amazing. He’s such a positive person. We’re lucky to have found him and fortunate he chose our community for his business. Besides recently receiving his blue belt he’s also involved in their sparring classes. It’s been awesome to see him grow in this sport.
Did I mention soccer & scouts too? Oh, and school and hanging out with friends … what else? He’s so busy it’s hard to keep up with the schedule. This summer he’s planning to go to Loras Sports Camp, his final year as a camper. And possibly either a Taekwondo National Tournament or Owasippe Summer Camp plus Scuba Diving at Sea Base. Oh and there’s also preseason football which takes place basically all summer long… Will he have time for anything else? Volleyball…
And that’s just him. She’s got Softball, Softball and more Softball. Plus she works, is super busy with her school work, has two really nice friend groups, tries to fit in a number of concerts, and also babysits a ton! She’s beyond busy too.
Will we ever get out to the Lake??? I hope but it’s going to be tough
Me? I took on a full time job after years as a consultant. No joke I’d rather be consulting most days but my team is nice and the guaranteed paycheck was a necessity. Still after 5 months I’m not yet caught up on bills. Teenage kids are expensive! Life is expensive! We stretched what I was making as far as we could. Probably a year too far. So it’s taken a while to catch up but I can start to see the light, I hope.
Consulting was nice for a whole lot of reasons. Chasing down pay checks, however, not so nice. The flexibility and no requirement to work set hours is something I will probably always miss. Odds are I may go back to it at some point but for now this is where I’m planning to stay. It gives us stability and benefits that I was paying for on my own. Once I’m all caught up I’m sure I’ll feel better about the whole situation.
What else???
We only skied a little so far. One day trip to Cascade with the Hancock’s (plus their friends) and the Duarte’s, along with a day at the water park. It was a nice trip but we need a multi day ski trip soon. If not this winter for sure next season. And then we did a one day with the scouts at Chestnut. This midwest hills are okay but nothing close to going out west.
I don’t know I guess that’s about it … kids activities rule my life but I enjoy being a part of what these kids do and wouldn’t trade it in for anything 🙂