Happy weekend everyone.

School has started. We decided to homeschool one more year. Our two oldest kids are the only ones doing it  for right now so we took two extra weeks before starting our school year. Even then we couldn’t dodge for long all the activities and responsibilities that had all started back up again.

We got soccer, gymnastics, and dance going on.

Zara has officially started sports as well, and I will give her the cutest little toddler award for that.

She is doing a dance class and gymnastics.

I knew she wanted to do sports when I dropped off Dorian, Siena, and Davide for a try out at gymnastics and she kept asking to go because she had to do her gymnastics, too.

On the day of her first class she woke up requesting her leotard and she has asked for it every day ever since.

It takes a lot of effort to juggle everything. I find myself on my toes making sure I am efficient with my time and I stay on task so we have dinner at the right time, the house clean, kids well educated, time for prayers, and all the daily things that are important to live a well balanced life.

In a way I haven’t minded having places to be. Yes, it’s stressful to get ready to be places.

I’d have to say the hardest part is to make sure we don’t live the stove on while on our way out, put all the kids in the car and make sure everyone is fed prior, dressed properly, little ones  s get their naps and are all ready to go.

Once we are out and about doing sports and in the midst of all the action, life feels good. I feel alive and our kids grow and learn.

We have had so many opportunities to confront ourselves with moments of triumph and defeat while doing sports, and so many teaching moments have come out from these opportunities.

I like that our kids get to also see themselves grow at what right now may seem a very slow pace, but over the years, one class after the other, I know that they can start to look back and see their progress. They are learning how by not quitting, they are improving their skills. They can start seeing the rewards of their hard work.

Slowly they are growing in their confidence that they do have talents, and they can bring joy to others with what they do.

I am really glad they also have chosen sports we naturally enjoy to watch.

I know that not all talents come from sports, but it’s one aspect that helps our bodies stay fit, healthy and there is lots of joy in movement.

As humans beings we were made to constantly be moving. We are people of action and weren’t born to just sit and be still. At least not all the time.

Because I don’t like juggling and packing the car all the time, we always prep our bags in advance.

I tell my kids all the time they need to have their sports bag stocked with water, snacks, essentials, a brush, pins, and sports and dance gear.

I also always keep my car ready with our essentials for when we watch outdoor games or competitions. Because I don’t like to have a full trunk I was so happy when we found some bottle sized small portable chairs and a super light portable blanket for both the park and the beach. I can hide them in the hidden compartment of my trunk or easily tuck them away on the sides. They are also light enough that I can walk and carry kids all in one trip especially if we need to walk across giant fields.

I enjoy storing them in our trunk as well because that way they are also ready for when we want to have an impromptu picnic. Sometimes we like to even order a quick take out meal and take it to the park where we can stretch out our blanket and lay on the grass.

My favorite part about our beach blanket sandproof, is that it’s so small we can even take it on our suitcases when we fly or drive to the beach. If we don’t happen to have all of our big towels at least we can have a large cover to lay at the beach. It’s so thin it allows the sand to easily seep through and it dries instantly so it doesn’t become stinky once it’s put away. 

We have brought them with us on vacation. Both the blankets and these rocking portable chairs can easily be taken as a free personal item. 

I have linked them below the photo. You can easily find them by clicking on the products and it will redirect you to the product page. 

 

We have used the blanket and these campaign portable chairs when we went to Yellowstone this summer, on day trips to Park City, or even when going on impromptu hikes in nature by a lake.

Happy days and I hope you will enjoy these as much as we have.