Last Saturday was a fun, successful day!
The girls’ school varsity basketball team got third place at the state tournament. (Our daughters are the fourth and fifth players from the right, number 1 and number 2.)
Since our older daughter’s a senior, it was her final game, so it was nice for her to finish with a win!
Then our younger daughter competed with the school cheerleading squad in their state competition, and they got
Here she is in the middle of the other two sophomores on the squad.
If you want to watch the performance, I uploaded it here. In the first stunt, my daughter’s the flyer in the back. She’s in several of the stunts; I don’t know how she does the one where she falls straight back and the other girls catch her. Don’t think I’d ever reach the point where I was confident enough that they’d catch me!!
And now both daughters have started practicing with the girls’ soccer team at school, so we’re off and running to the next season.
On to some good posts from the past week…
Elizabeth shares the meaning of God’s name as Our Dwelling Place.
I love the list of phrases Kari shares as she encourages us to Impact Teenagers by Speaking Life.
Ashley lists Top 10 Things Kids Want from Their Parents.
I got a doughnut pan for Christmas, so when Nikki shared a link to these Triple Chocolate Donuts, I knew I wanted to try them!
I finished six books this month!! I was pretty excited about that!
Here are three non-fiction books I read.
Give Them Wings: Preparing for the Time Your Kids Leave Home by Carol Kuykendall is probably the best book I’ve read on preparing yourself for the empty nest. She included lots of practical examples, and assured readers that ultimately you will make it through the transition, and things can be great on the other side! Part of the book emphasized balancing expectations, which I really need help with (as evidenced by this week’s post). I’d recommend this book for any parent with a child in their last two years of high school or later.
Crazy Little Thing Called Marriage: 12 Secrets for a Lifelong Romance by Greg and Erin Smalley is one of the best marriage books I’ve read in awhile. It’s full of practical ways to keep your marriage on track.
Abide in Christ by Andrew Murray was thought-provoking and encouraging! I marked and underlined a number of passages. Know that it was originally published in 1895, so it’s definitely written in more of an old English style. I like that it was arranged in 31 short chapters, so I tried to read one each day of the month. He digs deep into what it means to abide in Christ by studying John 15 from many different angles.
I also read three fiction books.
Fatal Trust by Todd M. Johnson was a very entertaining legal mystery, one of my favorite genres at the moment.
The Domino Effect by Davis Bunn was about the investment banking industry and a world financial collapse, but I’m afraid that much of it was over my head!
I liked Elixir by the same author much better. It dealt with the pharmaceutical industry, but there
Hope you have a wonderful weekend!!
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for sharing!!!!! What an extra special gift to have them play basketball together!!! (I hadn’t realized – I assumed one was Varsity & the other JV.)
Of course, LOOOOOOOOOOVE the cheer win! The video made me so happy!!! I am *SUCH* a cheer dork 😛 I love their cheers & spirit!!! So strong & powerful, too!
Top 10 Things Kids Want from Their Parents = yes!!!
I’m scared of “Give Them Wings” …like I know I can’t slow this train down, but I want to live in our bubble just a tiny bit longer… :-/
Our younger daughter was able to play both JV and Varsity as a sophomore this year (she started for JV, but was mostly on the bench for Varsity). And yes, it was so much fun to have them on the same team – and there were a few times they actually did play in a game at the same time!
I thought you would appreciate the video 🙂 My daughter is a perfectionist about cheer in some ways, and knew they weren’t as “crisp” as they should have been in their routine, but they did all seem to enjoy it, and were thrilled with the win!
I sooo understand her – I’m a psycho perfectionist re: cheer, too! 😜 All the parents come to me after our girls perform to ask how *I* think it went, b/c I’m so much harder on every little detail. My BFF always says, “They did AMAZING!” while I always break it apart: “That stunt had a bent knee, our tumbling timing was off, she touched down, there was a stunt bobble here, etc.” It’s funny, b/c in every other facet of my life, I’m the positivity & sunshine!!! But cheer critiques? I’m brutal. 🤣
Yep – their cheer coach read them the judging sheets after the competition, and my daughter agreed with all the comments about where they lost points 🙂 She was very impressed with the team that got third place, because while their routine wasn’t as difficult, they were so clean through all of it.
It sounds like a busy day for your girls! Congratulations to them on how well they did!
I enjoyed the metaphor about how our children are like wet cement. What a neat way to look at how we’re training them!
How did you like the doughnuts? It won’t hurt my feelings if you didn’t, but we love them!
I had to put off making the donuts, but hope to do it this coming Saturday! This past Saturday ended up being busier than I thought it was going to be…not that I can only make them on Saturday, but that’s when my girls have more time to eat breakfast, and can enjoy them with me! 🙂