Zip . . . there goes February! . . .

Well, I'll say it again if I haven't said it already . . . 

Travel volleyball is not for the weak!

Whew, on the go a lot this winter, with hockey and spring break, every weekend between now and April is spoken for, zowee (including Kentucky and Marquette!)! It's both slightly overwhelming and deliriously fun at the same time because I love being able to support Liv and William in things they love doing and because, well, I'm mildly competitive and it's fun watching all these games!

We did manage to sneak on up to our 12th annual President's weekend escape hovering over Crystal Lake, as pictured above. There was zero snow on our ol' sledding hill, Sleeping Bear Dunes, this year and not much interest from our "getting older" crowd of adults and kids. I must say though, it's super cool that "kids" from various families that are seniors in high school and in college still love coming on this trip, so awesome! Missed being able to stop by, Aunt S and Uncle D, but with the storm that blew us in Friday night and our early Monday morning departure so I could teach all my afternoon lessons, it just didn't work this time around. )-: Still hoping to see this area in the summer, so hopefully soon! This year hiking up to Pyramid Point as recommended by William and other impulsive coastal stops filled with icy lake beauty replaced our sledding for the few adults and kids motivated for a trip on Sunday.

So, on we go March!

From Yesterday . . .

 Valentine's around the house . . . 

(-:

The Lord will Fight for you . . .

Texting might be overrated . . .

Pictures sent to my sister who has an android phone...

 

A Joy . . .

This girl and our new experiences with her volleyball adventures have been such a joy. Even the first tournament with all it's loss and then the second tournament with all it's wins (this past weekend in Pittsburgh!). We've tried airbnb apartments, weaved through downtown streets of kinda big cities, figured out parking and convention centers, kept everything charged, books packed for down time, shovels in the back of the car just in case and even kept on going while counting 19 semi-trucks overturned on the side of highways and turnpikes. We drove by them in sunshine with clear roads...mostly.

With lots of times to observe lots of teams, it's unique and awesome to see Liv's team link up during every timeout and before and after every game. Having been in individual sports, and even on guys' teams (tennis) in my sporting experiences,  and then having watched boys basketball and hockey for many years now, I started this volleyball journey thinking this kind of stuff was a bit fru-fru (sp? (-:), especially when, between every point they join up in the middle and essentially give each other a pat on the back and say, "we got this," "my fault," and stuff like that. Totally a foreign world for me. But as this weekend went on, really what I saw was a team being built, a team that works together, supports each other, moves together on the court, really cool.

And, even though Liv and I have rolled our eyes a little bit about it, this volleyball club brings together a big sister/little sister relationship between the older girl teams and the younger teams. Here's one of Liv's "big sisters" cheering her on with this tournament's "assignment," make a  poster board for your "sister" and go cheer them on at one of their games. Livia did the same but I wasn't at that game.

At the end of another win!

They just so happened to win 8 out of 8 games to reach the championship for their division. A lot more fun than the previous one were they lost 5 out of 5 games, ha!

Moms have a bit of, "wander around and find things to do" time during these weekends. I find it enjoyable. This weekend I observed LOTS of steel in the Pittsburgh Steelers hometown! (-:

Right out the back door of the convention center, which was filled with 36 volleyball courts. It's a bit exhausting to do a weekend like this, but I am so grateful for it!!

💖

Snow at Dusk! . . .

Just beside the tree I planted when Lara was 2 looking down the road.

Love!

Underneath that same tree with my favorite house in the background.

Love, Love, Love!

 

It's 2/2/22! . . .

What a gorgeous way to begin my last, quiet Wednesday morning, as my full teaching schedule has been slowly ramping up and will fully commence tomorrow through mid-May. Oh, how our good and gracious God has provided for me and my children with this home and neighborhood, I just love this space. Out the front window you might be able to see the gentle falling of snow that is supposed to eventually lead to possibly up to 12ish inches of snow over today and tomorrow. We'll see!

Now let's take a moment to analyze what's going on in this video in addition to the beautiful piano music that started my day.  First, we have a 1990's boombox sitting on top of a 1957 Sears console record player, the boombox FM radio is playing, and on the corner sit both CD's and 45RPM records!  Haha, I LOVE this!  What I would love more is if the Sears console record player was able to play records at a louder volume than it does at present. One must sit quietly at the table to listen at this point, haha!  Someday I'll stumble upon someone who might be able to rectify that for me!

What am I listening to?

Glad you asked! (-:

A piece I don't recall hearing before, by Chopin, and one that I immediately purchased the sheet music off Amazon to be shipped to Lara. She loves playing Chopin.

Andante spianato et Grande polonaise brillante, Op.22

Click on and have a listen!

And finally...I've been waiting for 2/2/22 since I thought of it in early January, Yahoo! Just 'cause. (-: