Finally a non-photography post!

Sometimes I feel guilty about not posting so much about the kids, but when I think about it, there's really nothing new to post. They do their activities, homework, school, etc, but it's the same old day in and day out. But I thought I'd highlight a few things.

Bailey made and performed in both the all-district band and all-state band last month. I'll have to post pictures later because they haven't been edited (the only bad thing about shooting everything in RAW is that I have to have the time to process them before they're usable). Of course we're so enormously proud of her and her growing talent. She really is a budding musician and it's so much fun to watch her perform. It's also really great for her because she has become incredibly self-conscious, so much so that she does not like to draw any attention to herself whatsoever, so I love seeing her in the spotlight in a way that she feels okay about.

Cole struggles every day. Every day is a new set of challenges for my boy and sometimes he deals with them well and sometimes he doesn't. He is such a happy kid at home, it's so hard for me to hear how hard school is for him, but it's definitely a work in progress. His school still hasn't put an IEP in place for him, so I'm still battling them on that front, but I'm hoping for a resolution soon (at the meeting next week we'll either have a resolution I like or I'll be getting an advocate to help me get him what he needs). In good news, he has been doing really well with the piano. For as much as he fought me to begin taking lessons, he tells me all the time now how much he loves it, so I'm glad I stuck to my guns.

Lindsay is doing well. She's sick at the moment, so we've spent a couple days together (even helping her mom miss school today). She loves activity days at church and just went to a daddy-daughter dance on Friday and had a blast. She is also doing well at piano and she loves choir at school. They're getting ready for their final performance of the year and they're doing a sort-of play and she has a pretty big part, so she's very excited.

My mom has had two rounds of chemo now and has been really struggling. Her body is just having such a hard time with these harsh drugs. I know she was really hoping for an easy time, bu the side effects have just been awful for her. She's been in the hospital the last couple days, every day they say she can go home the next day if x, y, and z, but x, y, and z are never under control, so we're praying for her that she can get through this. Every time a new round of chemo comes up too, they're having to delay it because of other factors in her body, so I know that's really frustrating too for her. She feels like she's missing out on so much, but we all really hope she just takes care of herself first. I guess as a mom, it must be really difficult to put yourself and your needs first, and my mom has never done that, so she's really out of practice, but my brothers and I all hope she'll learn to take care of herself and stop worrying about all of us.

Jason finally got his employer to allow him to work from home a couple days a week, so he has been so much happier with his commute lately, even though the other three days really bite. But he's getting to work on things and learn things that he wasn't getting to do before. He's also been doing a really good job at trying to be healthier with me. He and I take a walk every night that we're not playing a sport, so it's been really nice to exercise with him and spend time with him several nights a week. I think we both really look forward to our walks together.

I have been having a blast playing sports. This last weekend was the ultimate when I played something three out of four days (tonight was supposed to be four out of five days, but practice got cancelled). A slow pitch team asked me to fill in for them one Friday night a couple weeks ago and they liked me so much that they practically begged me to join their team. This last weekend was a little nuts when I filled in for someone else with their double-header and then played my own double-header, but it was so much fun. I love that my instincts on the field are beginning to come back, I even dove for a ball this weekend without thinking about it, it just happened (and even better, it didn't hurt!). Fastpitch on Monday nights is still my favorite, and I pick up a game whenever I can (if we have the late game, I go early and see if I can fill in for a team or I'll stay late when we have the early game to see if I can fill in). Yesterday was fun because I played for the team of younger girls that plays in our league (they have girls from 13 all the way to 23), and they were all in awe of my skills (so funny because I'm about half the player I used to be), but it was fun to try to teach them a little of what I know. If I had more time, I'd definitely try to coach a team because it's great teaching this next generation of softball players. Finally, this last weekend I played soccer again for the first time in probably about 15 years. I was pleased to see it's a little like riding a bike, my instincts are still there when it comes to tracking the ball on the field and defending my goal so I wasn't totally embarrassed. The only bad part is that we lost 1-0 and the one that scored on me was a 'tweener (a ball that goes through the keeper's legs), but in my defense, it was a ricochet off one of my players from a corner kick and those are the hardest to defend against, the play just happens too fast (or my reactions are so much slower now!). But we play on a really small field, so it's more like indoor soccer that gets played outdoors. The good thing is that means less diving for me, so I'm sure my body will thank me for that. The bad thing is that it is a really different game, so it will take me time to get used to it. My team seemed happy with how I played though, they were all anxious that I was going to keep playing for them, so I hope I didn't embarrass myself too badly. The best part about playing sports three nights a week is that I get all this activity, but it doesn't feel like exercise because I love every minute of it. I'm almost at the end of my weight-loss journey as well, so the activity helps with that, but the weight-loss has most decidedly helped with me playing sports because I'm not lugging around as much weight as I used to.

Sorry this is so long! Maybe if I do this a couple times a year I can get by with not writing a Christmas letter again this year. :D