Week 24: Looking Back on This Past Week + What I’m Reading, Watching, and Listening to

Someone asked me how in the world I love travel football so much. Here is the “secret” I live by…

First, let me be honest about what a walking ball looks like.

Car-load of stuff to pack. Long hot days. Rain and storms. Three small children in the fields for hours, 3-5 days a week. He came home tired.

I can definitely focus on all of that.

How challenging it is to have three young children – one with special needs – on the football field for hours every week.

Carrying a lot of things because the weather is always unpredictable and we often don’t know how long we will be in the fields.

In making sure we have everything we need in every variable.

OR…

I would prefer to see it as a fun adventure.

We get to go to new cities. We get to cheer on Silas and his teammates. We get to build relationships with other families. Young children find creative ways to entertain themselves for hours outside. We get a lot of fresh air and exercise. We make so many memories as a family.

With almost anything in life, we can choose to focus on the challenges or we can choose to see the blessings.

It is our decision.

The biggest thing we do is prepare for the unexpected.

We pack plenty of snacks and drinks, a change of clothes, expecting it to be very hot AND raining. If it doesn’t, it feels like such a gift!!

We also keep Thursday through Sunday completely open in our calendar as games may change or be delayed.

This past weekend, two of Silas’ performances were in Murfreesboro – where Kathrynne lives. He was married so I didn’t tell him. She checked our place, saw that we were there, and she and her boyfriend came up and surprised us at the game after the wedding!! We got to join them at Chick-fil-A after that. It was very special.

We also had a lot of good conversations and laughs with the families on our team this past weekend, despite the rain and the boys losing the championship game.

An unexpected and fun bonus: Chick-fil-A accidentally doubled our order and gave us all extra food… so we had Sunday dinner, too!! It was like the icing on the cake for a really special weekend!

It is not always easy to choose the right attitude.

It’s something I’ve worked to study and practice for years and continue to do. Some days are hard and the kids cry and I’m tired, but if I choose to look at the positive…

I see beauty and gifts and beauty all around me. We get to choose what we focus on.

We can’t always choose our circumstances, but we can always choose our attitude.

We also found the most amazing coffee shop and bakery in Smyrna while Silas had two shows there this past weekend, too. They had the best croissants!! Viva La Fresa — a must try if you’re in the area!!

David is currently obsessed with his Dad, his Dad’s beard, plastic bags, swings, and being on the porch screen. When he has all of those things at once, he lives his best life!

(We laugh at him every time we look for the sacks and are so excited to find them and walk around with them for hours!!)

These are the days I will keep forever in my heart. Many precious moments are happening around me.

We were watching a baby girl earlier this week and I was going to take the three younger kids to gym classes (we get two hours of classes every day for them with our membership.) Kaitlynn wanted to join us.

I was pushing David in the stroller when I looked back to see this…

Kaitlynn holding the baby girl, Micah holding Kaitlynn’s hand, and holding the baby girl’s diapers and wipes. ❤️ Many people write that they are afraid of the age gap. Let this picture inspire you that you have nothing to worry about!

When you change your perspective, it often changes your attitude!

I read this quote a few years ago and it has haunted me over and over again ever since. And I’m sharing it again this morning because I need a reminder — and maybe you do too!

Gratitude reframes our perspective.

Who am I? I don’t even know… Not only am I training for a half marathon in October (and planning to do a Spartan then), but Jesse and I decided yesterday to sign up for Double Hyrox in December and I’m thinking of doing another half marathon in December.

This morning, I had to do 400m sprints for training and it was HOT – I went out there and killed them! Hitting 9 miles on some of them!

I realize that I’m not much stronger mentally than I realized, but I’m also much stronger physically, too!

You never know what you can do unless you just get out there and try. Then keep showing up!

Go do something that scares you. Start really small. But don’t let the belief that you can’t stop you anymore!

I have a funny story for you today…

Technology and I are not just friends these days. I went to do a live IG with @sarahsundinauthor earlier this week that was rescheduled from last month because IG wouldn’t work for us last time.

Well, after three tries, we got it working, but then when he joined in via video, I was speechless. So we tried again. Same thing. So we tried on his account. Same thing. However, it showed up and said it was connected to my headphones. At that moment I remembered…

I was so tired after my run that morning and I wasn’t thinking straight and I didn’t put my headphones back in the holder (which I disconnected from my phone) so I left them in my shorts and threw them in the washing machine. 😱

Thankfully, I hadn’t started the laundry yet! But I ran upstairs while Sarah was still alive and pulled my headphones out of my pants and, sure enough, the sound of communism was playing through them. No wonder I was silenced!!

Big thanks to Sarah for being so kind and patient while we sorted it all out! Watch our IG live here.

Since working on resetting my nervous system, my taste in movies and shows has completely changed – and it’s shocked me!

I used to love fast-paced, intense, high-adrenaline types of movies and games. Now, they feel more stimulating to me for the most part and I find myself liking slower movies and shows.

What I would have thought was boring last year (remember how you all put up a bunch of shows last summer and they felt lonely to me??) is now something I enjoy.

This has been very surprising! Has this happened to anyone else??

In Case You Missed It – This Week’s Links

• French Toast Casserole and Scrambled Eggs ($10 Dinner Idea) – This French Toast Casserole has a crunchy cinnamon topping that totally takes it over the top – and you’ll love how quick and easy it is to put together. Baked eggs are cooked next to them at the same temperature and balance the sweetness of the casserole.
• Interview with Sarah Sundin – If you like healthy, clean historical fiction, you don’t want to miss this interview and you should check out @sarahsundinauthor – she has written 18 novels based on World War II!! In this interview, he shares his inspiration for some of his characters, we talk about how wartime medical professionals struggle with limited supplies and medicine, and we discuss what it looks like to trust God when you feel like your world is falling apart.
• Free Summer Bucket List for Kids — Looking for fun things to do this summer with your kids? (Also, all on a budget?!) Download our FREE Summer Bucket List with 100 ideas for frugal fun!
• I Had To Share This Big Win! — David walked all the way to the car last Sunday! We have been working hard with him on walking independently and not always wanting to be carried when we go long distances and this was a huge win for him!! Check out this video to see how fast he goes and how proud he is! (Also, that little case laughs and giggles 😍!)
• Amazon Prime Day is coming soon – June 23 – 26 will be Amazon Prime Days! If this is anything like last year’s Prime Days sales, we’ll see deals as good or better than Black Friday deals!