Quick Hometown Trip

The first part of this week my husband was out of town, so the kids and I made a quick trip to my hometown. My mom was busy with a music camp at her church, so we had the mornings to ourselves and hung out with her in the afternoons. Monday we spent some time with my grandparents.

We ate lunch at a little soda shop downtown yesterday called Across the Street. It's on Beaton Street and that location has been a mainstay in Corsicana for much longer than I've been alive. If you're ever road tripping through the area, a snack there and some antiquing along Beaton are worth a short stop.


Yesterday afternoon we took a quick trip to NorthPark to see in person some of the Anniversary sale items I've been on the fence about. It was a short 48 hours, but very good nonetheless!

Pure Barre 250 Club

Last week I made the 250 Club at Pure Barre Fort Worth!


Pic courtesy of the lovely Alexandra @ PBFW
Crops: Splits59 Nova in Monaco || Top: Beyond Yoga drape (similar)

The 250 Club is when you've attended 250 classes. 13,750 minutes of Pure Barre. That's a lot of Pure Barre!

I'm often asked what it is I love about Pure Barre. Let me tell you that I'm not an athlete. I'm not flexible. I've never been able to do the splits in my life. I do good just to be somewhat coordinated.

I love Pure Barre because the community of girls/women there are encouraging and kind and hard-working! The workout never gets easier since there is always another way to challenge yourself in each position. My core post-childbearing is stronger than it's ever been in my life. The health benefits have been amazing, and that short 55 minutes a day caring for myself, I think, has helped make me a better wife and mother. It's worth it to me to get up before daylight to make it happen.

If you've been thinking about trying it, you should just do it. You'll be glad you did!

{Read about my beginnings with Pure Barre here and my 100 Club post here.}

We ARE Playing Soccer!

So we are playing soccer. I'm hoping it'll be great fun for everyone, especially the three year old, and really my only expectation is that he will respect and obey the coach. If this happens, then that is a successful season to me. And, I should also say, I have no reason not to expect a successful season. Obviously as he gets older the expectations will grow. Thank you for your comments on the subject yesterday.

On the advice of a neighbor, we shopped for his gear last weekend. She mentioned that by the time she started searching for her son's shoes and shin guards last spring, everything was picked over. So off to Academy we went!


We found a great pair of inexpensive Adidas cleats in his size, and big enough to fit his soccer socks in with the shin guard stirrup or whatever that piece is called around the ankle. If necessary, we'll just swap out the laces, although I doubt the fact that they are blue will be that big of a deal.

I also ordered some great Under Armor shorts (found here) from the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale for practice since we mostly have khaki-type shorts. Time for the bigger kid stuff! Also, our favorite tennis shoes are only $29.90 right now during the sale. That's a bargain.

Time to get a jump on back to school shopping!

Should 3 Year Olds Play Sports?

I'm not sure if this is still a popular site or not for new and expecting moms, but I get weekly e-mail updates on the development of my kids through Babycenter. And I usually delete it when I'm cleaning up my inbox en masse each week because I don't take the time to read them. However, last week a headline on the supposed development of my oldest caught my attention. It said something to the affect of "Should Your 3 Year Old Play Team Sports"?


Image courtesy of hin255/FreeDigitalPhotos.net
I clicked on it because we're lately interested and crazy excited about signing up our little guy for soccer. The idea of him in his soccer uniform makes me a little giddy, to be honest. The article surprised me. I was expecting it to say how great it was to start them early with exercise, learning to identify with a team, etc. This quote basically summarizes the article: "Most 3-year-olds aren't up for the complexities of team sports or classes just yet." And the tone discourages signing them up.

I understand what they're trying to say. If we are talking about technical ability, then yes, my 3 year old is probably not ready to focus solely on the game through 4 quarters, stay in his position, and the like. However, I think the article would have been better if it focused more on how parents should manage their expectations of 3 year olds when they inevitably sign them up for the game. It should be a fun, learning experience. When it's not, evaluate why and take corrective action, right?

Without a doubt, all children are different in a situation like this. How old were you when you started team sports? What do you think is a good age?

Tap, Tap, Tap...is this thing on?

When I last checked in from a long pause, I mentioned that we were busy with all kinds of stuff over the next few weeks. The very first thing on that agenda--youth camp--knocked me off my game. I've been digging myself out of laundry, toys, dust, floors that needed to be vacuumed and the like since we got home. Only this week am I beginning to feel like I'm catching up.

The kids are having a great summer! After youth camp, we had Vacation Bible School at our church. Mid-week, our children's and young adult ministry areas flooded due to heavy rains in our city, which was intense. We are trusting God to provide for the repairs needed. We're talking lots of new carpet and sheetrock. No one will soon forget VBS 2014 around there.


The following week was the first of two in swim lessons for our boy, plus we all had a post-VBS summer cold. It's amazing how quickly one can progress in a skill when focused on it for two weeks. He's gone from not wanting to get in straight to loving the water. Tomorrow is his last day, and Monday we have no commitments.


Other than those items, we're squeezing in as much summer fun as we can. Snowcones some evenings, popsicles on the back porch, and thankfully, some naps for all too. Noses are finally drying up, and now that the 100 degree days are hitting here, we're glad to have lazy days at hand.