Sprinting out of the gate…or under the net…or something.

So much for “new & improved” and “more frequent blogging!”

Pssstthh. Also so much for “easing back into” the school/work/chaos routine.

Last week was a lost cause. But tomorrow is a brand-spanking new Monday and a new week. And tomorrow…tomorrow, it is all going to get done.

I did finally get the NEW YEAR’S EVE photos off of my camera, onto my computer and into a usable format. Now if I just had some place to put them and document it all.

Oh, right. Here. That would be a good start.

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Our lovely New Year’s Eve crew who we love spending the evening with.

This year we made it til midnight…Chicago’s midnight that is.  I just told the girls – it really is “your midnight since you were born in Chicago!”

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I also made them do a little homework. They wrote about their favorite parts of 2012, and what they’d like to accomplish in 2013. And then they read them aloud to all of the grown-ups. (That part I didn’t make them do, but they were all very keen on sharing!)

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Fast forward a few days, we decided to take the Girl Scout troop ice skating. We took the metro downtown to the Pershing Square outdoor ice skating rink. The train ride alone was quite the experience for our little sheltered girls – but we had a blast! Are they the cutest bunch or what?

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The weather has been awesome here. VERY wintery and excellent because we’ve been rocking our hats, sweaters and “jackets,” and it was perfect for skating.

And believe it or not, most of the girls even ventured “off the rail” after a little while.

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Then…fast forward to last week. Which was supposed to be a nice, simple, easy week. Em has been asking me if she could try out for the club volleyball team for a few months. Her PE teacher, who also happens to be the 7th/8th grade volleyball coach at the middle school, has made it clear that she has “promise” and should look into the club.

So she wore me down and I took her to try-out and ‘lo and behold – we are now a lucky member of the Starlings volleyball team. Which entails Wednesday and Friday practices from 6-8pm (remember my girls hit bed at 7:30-45!) and tournaments like their first one today. Where the whole family trekked to Anaheim before the sun came up and sat in the Sports Complex for 7 hours. The Sports Complex that has no heat and it was 34-40 degrees for most of the morning.

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But was it worth it? Yes, I think it will be. I just keep telling myself – “this might be her thing.” And what if it is that one thing that she is really good at? I can’t deny her that. And…well, she loves it. So we are trying very hard to remind her gently that it is a sacrifice for the whole family and she needs to appreciate it.

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But…it was kinda fun to see the very few minutes she got to play today. And the whole team aspect and watching her with her new teammates – it is a good thing.

Go #7! (We might have our work cut out for us!)

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