Priorities

They are what life is about, right? Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. We have all heard that before, well, a lot of us anyway.

It seems that the bigger our family gets, and the older we get, the more this priority thing creeps in.

God will always be my number one priority in all that I do. That is something I have decided and will never go back on. The other stuff though, can be much harder.

Family is also a priority I have chosen to take presidence over most anything.

God and family are where I have found my true happiness, so keeping them front and center keeps me deeply happy.

There is other stuff though, every day, that requires all sorts of juggling, and I have a feeling that it will only get more bonkers from here.

Right now we are deciding some things. Sam is signed up for fall and spring soccer. Mary and Sam must do swimming lessons. That is not an option for them. My parents have a boat, we love water, they must swim. It is a safety issue for us.



Sam likes T-ball, Mary loves gymnastics, Mary wants to do baseball and soccer. We want our children to learn a musical instrument (so far I am teaching Mary paino, and it is a lot of fun), and William isn't even in the picture yet with all of this stuff. With two kids in sports and school, and Ben and I both training for races (Ben is training for a mini triathalon!), we are really having to plan our time.

WOW.

We decided early on, that we want to be an active family. We seem to just naturally want to be that way...all of us. So why not embrace it. We feel that education is extremely important as well, but right now, the decisions are with sports. We also don't want to be so busy that we can't just sit back and have fun together. This is TRICKY!


I think we have found a way to spread out the sports through the year, and just have each kid in one sport at a time. The true trick however, has been trying to make sure we don't double book things. So far, it has been interesting.

Mary's first gymnastics meet was the same day as the 1/2 marathon I did with my mom. With that one, I had to choose the thing that was a one time thing. The 1/2 marathon with my mom was not something that will happen often, if ever again. There will be many gymnastics meets.

Sam's T-Ball games have been at good times, but they conflict with me and Ben's time at the gym, and next spring they may conflict with soccer.

Swimming may end up conflicting with soccer or gymnastics, and possibly even school, depending on what track Mary will be on and when Sam's preschool starts. We have a very small two week window that is empty this summer, with some luck, I can get swimming in at that point.


Now we have discovered that the 188 mile Ragnar Relay I am signed up for and have been training for, is the same day as the State gymnastics meet. There are 11 other team members depending on me, and it sounds like an absolute blast. I have been pretty excited for it. It is said to be very hard, but a lot of fun. However, my little girl is competing in a State meet. This is no small thing either. She has worked so hard to be able to do this, and it means a lot to her. She needs her mother there, smiling at her, giving her the thumbs up, doing her hair the way she likes it, helping her work through the nerves, and giving her lots of hugs when it is over. This, to me, is what really matters. Being there for Mary.

A replacement was found, and the Ragnar team is all set once more. I am sure I will think of them once or twice that weekend, but the feeling I get watching my girl do something she loves, will be well worth it. When all is said and done, it will be much more important than running up a mountain. There is always next year, and the next....

And hey, now I can do another 1/2 marathon in July or August instead! I am already on the hunt and I think I found one.

Even though it is a lot to juggle, and can get crazy sometimes, I actually don't mind that much. I just feel really grateful that we can be active and that we can do these fun sports and activities. I also know that there are things in life that are much more important and may one day have to be choosen over these activities. When and if it comes to that, I will do it.

For now though, we will plan the best we can, enjoy the fun, and embrace the craziness of it all.