Life of a Coach's Child

If you didn't already know, I am the Head Volleyball Coach for the High School in our town. This is my second year and I am loving it. I love volleyball and have played competitively for a long time. I'm not ready to give up that part of my life yet. So my next option was to coach. It's been a great, challenging, frustrating, annoying experience. I've learned a lot about myself, the sport, and about kids and their parents.

Zoie and Charlotte are such good kids. They have to come to practice with me every other day and live without me in the evenings all the other days. They do really well. Zoie will watch a show on the computer at the school, write on the dry erase board, run with the girls when they run, helps pick up the volleyballs, and takes care of Charlotte while I coach during practice. Charlotte either sleeps, needs to eat, sits in the ball cart (and hands mommy volleyballs :) lol) or hangs out with the JV coach.

 I don't have to worry too much about them. Although every now and then I need to run and grab Zoie of the court while they are playing (although lately I've been leaving her on and if she gets hit, oh well...hopefully she'll understand and learn her lesson).

Zoie loves coming to practice and gets excited when she wakes up from her nap, cause she knows she gets to go "play" volleyball. Today I had her on the court playing with us and she loved it. She would come stand next to me in ready position to pass the ball, then she'd come up to the net and she'd have her hands up and legs bent ready to jump. The girls even taught her how to hold her hands to pass the ball. (I'll be sure to get pictures of her in all her positions). I love her and hope she continues to love this sport. She is so cute.

Here are couple pictures that I took at practice the other day with my phone. This is how they spend most of their time during practice. Sorry for the picture of Zoie and Charlotte being blurry, Zoie didn't want to stand still and was in a hurry to pick them all up.

My best ball shagger!! (starting them young... dad)

 

Falling asleep in the ball cart

 

Their own Blankets

Blankets are very important in our home. The girls have to have their own and can't share.
Phil and Donna Blackwell were serving a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints a few years ago, here at Southern Virgina University. They are the couple that hooked me and Ryan up and ever since then they have been apart of our lives. Sister Blackwell crocheted a blanket for Zoie and made another one for Charlotte.

Zoie loves, loves her blanket. She loves it so much that that is the only thing of hers she won't share with Charlotte. We use Charlotte's blanket for her to lay on when she is playing (it's too hot to use it now). She enjoys it as well.

A couple days ago, I laid Charlotte down on hers and Zoie wanted to sit next to her but on hers. I laid Zoie's down and they started to watch the Little Mermaid. It's too cute. Sometimes Zoie will share her blanket, but only when they are both laying on Charlotte's and are using hers to cover them up.

Zoie was saying "WOW" when I took this photo, when they showed

the city of Atlantis.

 



 

 

Staying STRONG in the STORMS of Life

Happy New Year!

"I know the calendar suggests that New Year's Day is on January 1--and believe me, I appreciate the extra holiday so close to Christmas. My tree would probably be up until Easter otherwise. But for me, the day that really seems to signal a new yer -- or at least a new beginning -- is September 1.

This is when we finally set aside the decadent summer chaos of midnight betimes and spontaneous weekend trips and avoidance of cooking and housekeeping. Delectable as all those things can be, they begin to wear on me, like too large a helping of chocolate cake (if, indeed, such a thing exists). I long for the plainer fare of schedules and structure.

September brings my life back into sane proportions. The kids are happily occupied in school, not yet overwhelmed with an accumulation of term projects, but productively engaged in getting the learning machine back into gear. Clean lockers, just-bought clothes, unspoiled notebooks, fresh boxes of colored pencils all the same length -- these are the symbols of a new start for them.

Encouraged by their renewed resolve, I find myself looking for ways to bring greater accomplishments into my own life as well. This year, I want to work on being truer to what I know in my heart is right for me. This is partly due to the passing of Elder Maxwell and Elder Haight, which left me pondering, Have I been as faithful a disciple in my small sphere as they were in their larger one? Have I been as true to my life's mission as I might be? Recognizing that I have many worthy alternatives to choose from, am I making the best choices for this stage of my life?

One thing I've discovered is that today's best choices does not necessarily carry over into tomorrow. Circumstances change, and if I don't change with them I find myself feeling increasingly out of kilter. I just have to start over every now and then. This takes attention, prayer, and even some experimenting. That's why I'm grateful for an 'extra' new year's day in September, a time to pull myself together and rethink some things and ask for guidance for the next leg of the journey.

So, although I'm not going to stay up until midnight to mark the occasion, may I wish you a very happy new year and another chance to make your life what you want it to be."

--Emily Watts

I have never thought of September 1st being another new year's day. We all struggle through life and sometimes we just need a break, a time to start fresh, and what better than September 1st.

With September 1st just a couple days away, I challenge you to evaluate your life so far and decide what changes need to be made and new goals you'd like to accomplish. I know I need to do some changing. Having a time to re-evaluate my life, helps me stay close to the Savior, which in turn keeps me STRONG through the STORMS in my life.

My Girlie Girls

Staying STRONG in the STORMS of Life

Sorry it's been a while on these post. It's hard for me to find some time to sit and really ponder on what I need to write about. I'm reading this book "Live, Love, and Learn." It's all the devotional messages from Time Out for Women. I want to share one with you today. It's titled "Decide Once" by Don H. Staheli.

"I have developed a practical approach to hair dryer preservation. In a household with four daughters and a wife, each of whom has thick hair, such imaginative strategies for living are important. Especially if some economic benefit can be realized in the process.

For years we went through hair dryers almost as fast as the cans of spray. I tried to fix them when they broke, but the little busted pieces, essential to the operation of the appliance, were expensive to replace and impossible to rebuild (I think they are built by robots anyway. nobody has fingers small enough and eyesight so clear as to actually put together the innards of one of these hot-air machines). So, it was off to the discount store to find another 1500 watt beauty.

Finally, one day, I figured it out. There was a common symptom in the early demise of the hair dryers. The heating element rarely seemed to run out of heat. The blower itself looked okay. But the on/off switch--yes the vulnerable switch--was the scene of manipulated mayhem. 'On' when the drying started. 'Off' to wind a curl or comb a snarl. 'On' for more drying and shaping--slow speed for styling, high speed for quicker drying, slow again, then off: a thumb-generated endurance test to which the machine just wasn't equal. No matter the cost of the unit, the switch was often the first thing to go.

The solution was simple. Just turn it on and leave it on.  Only move the switch once! Plug it in for power when you want it to blow and unplug it when you're through. Admittedly, this was somewhat impractical for certain hair-dos, but for many needs it was perfect--and with far less thumbing of the on/off button, it lasted much longer.

A lot of decisions in life can be like that. There is no need to go back and forth or up and down about many things. You just make the decision once and let it go at that. For instance, I feel sorry for those who agonize each Sunday morning over whether or no to go to church that day. Or for those who struggle to obey the Word of Wisdom. Imagine having this argument with yourself, over and over: 'Should I drink a beer of should I not? Maybe this time, but not again. Well, perhaps I will. After all, this is a special occasion. No, I really shouldn't drink at all. I guess . . .'

No! Just make up your mind that you are going to do what's best and stick with it. Your decision switch will last a lot longer that way. Of course, there are times when we choose to deviate from our usual way of behaving because circumstances require a different approach (not with drinking!). But most of the time we need to make up our minds only once, and that decision can then be applied over and over again, generally leading us to do what is right and saving ourselves needless anxiety and turmoil. 

Perhaps that is what the Lord meant us to understand when he gave us this principle: 'But in case no additional light is given, the first decision shall stand' (Doctrine and Covenants 102:22)."


I have learned that when I make a decision and stick to it, life becomes a lot easier, especially when raising children. I hope these words of advice help you make decisions and stick to them, to not only become a better individual, but to better you're life and really enjoy everything you have to offer and that has been given to you.

I know it can be hard to make decisions, especially when you're unsure, but I know when you go to the Lord and tell him what's going on and what you feel like you should do, He will help you know without a doubt that your decision is the right one or the wrong one. He is always there to help, you must allow Him  inside to help. He is knocking, but are you willing to open the door?

Beans. Ice. Color.

Yesterday, Zoie and I spent a lot of time playing with each other. We did some crafts and different activities. We first spent the morning watching the Magic School Bus on the computer. Zoie loved it and laid on the couch and laughed throughout the show. Then we did Body Attack. Zoie was so excited to finally have mom be her partner again. She missed it. We enjoyed out exercise together. :)

We spent the rest of the afternoon playing with dry beans, making rain sticks, and filling the ice cube trays up with water and put food coloring in them. Zoie really enjoyed watching the water change colors. Once they were frozen we put them in our water at dinner. Zoie kept saying "cool water, cool water." It was cute. We had a fun-filled day yesterday and I look forward to many more.

The beginning of August I started volleyball tryouts and practices. I would have practice twice a day until school started up (yesterday). Because of that our schedules and routines weren't on a 100%, which messed with all of us, but mostly Zoie. Zoie use to go down for a nap at 11:00am with no fussing, or argument. It was nice, but since my practice time ended up being during her nap, and she was with me a practice, and couldn't take a nap with everything going on, she never had her naps. She would nap the 15-30 minutes picking dad up from work. Her normal nap is anywhere between 2-3 hours long.

Now that school has started she won't go down at 11:00am because she hasn't for the past couple weeks. So we've pushed her nap time back a couple hours to 1:00pm. Today she didn't want to nap because she was having fun playing with "melting ice cubes" outside. But she was getting tired and needed one. She fussed a bit, and after about 10 minutes of calling my name, she finally stopped and was asleep. I go in to check on her and this is how I found her.

Just gotta love her!

Living Room III

My third wall in the living room is completed!! I'm so excited and happy. Take a look and tell me what you think.

I framed a piece of subway are that I love and I guess says what principles or rules I would like to be followed in our house by our family. It says

 " Be Honest. Count Your Blessings. Bear each others Burdens. Forgive and Forget. Be Kind and Tender Hearted. Comfort One Another. Keep Your Promises. Be Proud of Each Other. Be True to Each Other. Look After Each Other. Love One Another."

Then hanging next to it is a canvas that I traced a floral pattern to and hot glued over the pattern and spray painted it navy blue. I love how it turned out, but I wish the navy blue was a little darker.

This is on the same wall just on the other side of the window. It's my family shelf. I made the family blocks and have two of our wedding pictures place on the shelf. I LOVE LOVE this shelf and how everything turned out.

Here is a close up of my "Family Blocks."

What do you all think? My mirror is stained and hopefully by mid next week I'll have another wall finished to show you. Have a great day.





The Girlie Girls

How the girls spend most of their time.

Giving Kisses. Reading. Singing.

They love each other!

Miss Charlotte

Charlotte is starting to be more awake and active. I love it. Her fussiness stage has come and gone. Thank Goodness!!! Those simple five techniques have helped a lot.

She is sleeping a lot more. She takes like 3-4 naps a day and they are 3-4 hours long. She will only sleep that long if she is swaddled, has one of my t-shirts placed on top of her (so she can smell me) and is laying on our bed in between our pillows. It's cute and awesome.

She is very kind and easy going, especially with Zoie loving her all the time and wanting to play. Zoie has taught her the "peanut song" and "popcorn popping." She loves her big sister and calms down whenever she is sitting close by.

Charlotte is making noises and wiggling like crazy. I love this stage, the part where they begin discovering what they can do and have. We've decided that she looks a lot like me and has a lot more of the Thompson genes in her.

We love Miss Charlotte and are excited for the next couple of months.

Zoie Bug

Zoie has been loving the Big Sister life. She is so willing to help out whenever we ask her too. She is enjoying sleeping in her big girl bed, but I think she enjoys how she can get in and out of bed when she wants. We have found her sleeping by the door a couple of times.


Zoie is becoming quite the talker now. She repeats just about every word we say. She tries really hard to talk in complete sentences and it is so cute. Her favorite show to watch right now is Strawberry Shortcake. I can't tell you how many times we have watched the same two shows over and over again. We are borrowing 10 different episodes of this show from a friend and Zoie will only watch two of them.


She loves to write in her "journal", well I guess it is more of a scribble. She tries to be like me a lot, I guess I need to watch what I do, say, and act more often now. :) She absolutely LOVES to be outside and we do our best to get out there every day. She enjoys to play dress up in mommy's shoes, clothes, and jewelry. She likes when I "pretend" to put my make-up on her (only she thinks it is real).

Zoie is very particular with things and how they are to be placed. She hates being messy and sticky. When she eats any snack or candy that has different colors, she will separate them all by color and then eat them one color at a time. Just like mommy. She LOVES LOVES to eat popcorn and watch shows.

She is growing up a lot and is for sure developing her little personality. We love our Zoie Bug.