Sweet Shoppe Designs – The Sweetest Digital Scrapbooking Site on the Web

Hi everyone – it is me Darla. We had a little hiccup with our beloved blog and were not able to post anything until today. But no worries – we will do our best to catch up up on the days we missed! 🙂

I will admit I am not a fan of sports and am blessed to have a husband who will watch his games in another room while my girls and I watch our favorite “chick flicks” all day long! However, when Amy was in 3rd grade and they had signups for track – I was very insistent that she try and learn the sport. In 5th grade, the school offered volleyball, basketball and track and again we encouraged Amy to participate in each of the activities. I learned to love little things about each sport and I became the “sometimes very loud but proud fan” of many of the activities my girls participated in! Every year it was like clockwork in our home – in fall, we had volleyball, in winter, we participated in basketball and then in spring, track was in full force! Everything worked out so well as the girls’ game schedules did not conflict with one another and we could all go as a family to see whoever was playing at that moment.

However, I was not prepared for the change in that perfect “Seasons of Sports” schedule we lived by when Amy entered high school and decided to join colorguard. Practices seemed to be all the time and often games and competitions were in areas that required a 2 to 3 hour drive. Suddenly I found our family just could not be together like we used to in the past and I would have to fight back the tears when I would have to tell one of my daughters that I could not be with her. The girls would hide their disappointment but I always felt like they were crushed that I somehow “picked one kid over the other” and there was a sense of sadness as we all parted in different directions.

The challenge became even harder when Hayley’s soccer team was in the finals and Amy had a competition 4 hours away, of course on the same day! I remember thinking if Amy gets done early – just maybe we could make Hayley’s last game. Luck was on our side as another team did not show up at the competition and Amy’s team was able to perform earlier! After she was done, we rushed to get to the game and I had alerted my husband that we were coming but cautioned him not to say a word to Hayley. I am not entirely sure I even parked the car properly when I jumped out to run across the soccer field to get to the game that was starting in a few minutes. I just remember the people around me seemed to all blur and from the other side of the field I could hear my daughter running and screaming “MOM!” I have to laugh now because there was my family in the middle of the field all crying and hugging one another while everyone must have thought we were just plain nuts! Hayley’s team won the championship that day but something more important happened for us. Our family learned that while our “Seasons of Sports” schedule from now on may not exactly allow us to be at every event at the same time – we are still together in our hearts. Below is what our new “Seasons of Sports” looks like for our family now and I couldn’t be more prouder to be the mom of both of my athletes – even when sometimes I can’t be there to cheer them on!

Speaking of being inspired by new things – we also have a new Layout of the Week that I just loved when I saw it in the gallery. I think it was the journaling that made this even more special as I have been reflecting on how much my own girls have grown this year. Congratulations to Kara for her gorgeous layout titled “Don’t Blink”:

I will send you a little “thank you” Kara and to all the moms and dad – take a little time today to give your children a special hug or kiss – they grow so fast and sometimes we forget to treasure these little moments when we can. Happy scrapping!