So, as always, I have to start by talking about my kids, right? After all, they are my world.
Emberlynn has a mere twenty-nine days of school left (not counting weekends, of course), and then we get to take a little break for Summer before starting back up in July. She is already halfway through first grade curriculum, so sometime during the next school year, she will start on second grade material. This is one of the perks of homeschooling: the kids can get exactly what they need. If she was in kindergarten at school, she would be SO BORED, and I can only imagine how she'd be filling her time (getting up and down, socializing...in other words, getting into trouble). Despite the ups and downs and the emotional war I've had with homeschooling at times, I am extremely glad we chose this path. Being able to experience when my child learns something new and is intrigued by new information, not to mention learn how to read and read fluently, has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. Being the one to teach her all these new things is pretty awesome. My little gymnast will also be taking a break from gymnastics this Summer. She has expressed interest in soccer, and I believe they offer in locally in the Fall, so we may go that route for a little while.
Speaking of soccer, we have ourselves a little soccer superstar in the house by the name of Cohen. He started playing in March for the Spring season, and I'll admit, it didn't look promising at first. At his first couple of practices, he didn't want to do much of anything besides stand on the field or stand with me. His first game was awful; he cried pretty much the entire time, so getting on the field even just to run around with his other teammates was out of the question. (Two other kids were crying that day, so that made me feel a little better about the situation). I mean, after all, these are three and four-year-old kids we are talking about, most of which have never played any kind of organized sport.
A few days after his first game was his next practice, during which Matt was able to get on the field with Cohen for encouragement. This practice went extremely well, so we were hopeful that he would at least get on the field and not cry at his next game. We explained that during the game, Daddy wouldn't be allowed on the field, and Cohen understood. So at the second game a few days later, not only did Cohen cooperate and play, he scored FOUR goals! The first of the season for his team! We were BEYOND proud and thrilled. And it gave him just the confidence he needed because ever since, he has been Mr. Soccer Extraordinaire! At yesterday's game, even though he was tired and has been fighting a pretty nasty cold, he played almost the whole time and scored the first goal.
Mainly, I am just glad to have Cohen involved in something that is a good form of exercise (and good for his lungs) and gives him a chance to be social with other kids and learn cooperation and teamwork. Scoring goals is a great bonus, of course, and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't super proud of him.
And last, I certainly would not go without talking about my sweet Ky-Ky, who turned ten months old on April 9. I can not believe his first birthday is right around the corner. He has grown way too fast. For the last few weeks, he has been standing up from the floor all on his own and standing for long periods of time and also taking steps. And over the last few days alone, he has been trying to walk a lot more. I don't think it will be very long before he is officially walking; I am guessing it will be by the end of the month, if that long. He just looks so cute and little standing there because he is on the smaller side and just looks too little to be walking! But there's definitely no slowing that boy down! (*And in the midst of typing this blog, Kyden walked halfway across the room.)
Now that I am (temporarily) done talking about my kiddos, I wanted to talk about my new adventure on which I currently embarked. I became a Thirty-One consultant. Not familiar with Thirty-One? You can go here to learn more about it. It is a direct sales company (like Avon, Mary Kay, Pampered Chef, etc...you get the idea), and it is Christian-based, which was a big selling factor for me. (The name of the company comes from Proverbs 31.) I have never been the biggest fan of direct sales; I like to attend the parties, but a lot of times, I feel pressured to buy products I know I won't use. Then I fell in love with Thirty-One's stuff because it's all about storage and organization, which is right up my alley, but their stuff is also super cute and functional. Once I realized I pretty much wanted to buy everything in the catalog, I thought to myself, "As excited as I am about this stuff, I could probably sell it." I didn't become a consultant to make money, however. Sure, that part is a nice bonus, but my reason for becoming a consultant is to have a hobby for myself and an outlet that will give me a break from the everyday craziness. I get to hang out with other women and have adult conversation and just be me for a little while. So while my excitement and literal joy over this endeavor may seem silly or pointless and even annoying to others, the fact that I have a new found confidence and purpose makes it worth it to me.
That said, I have to add a request: If any of my readers (all, what is it, 11 of you? lol) would like to host a party, please let me know, and I would really, genuinely enjoy doing a party for you. I started out just hosting because it earned me free and discounted products, so it's an easy way to get some of their awesome stuff!
