Overdue blog post is finally here

*chirp chirp chirp* 

Is that crickets I hear?

Well, I wasn't meaning to go missing here on the blog.  Sure we've been busy with the usual suspects- school, dance, tennis, life.  But I guess my real reason for not posting is that I hadn't picked up my camera in a few weeks. So I had no photos to share.  So... the other day, I rectified the problem.

No, I didn't get all crazy and do some fancy photo shoot.  You know me better than that.  I simply snapped a few photos of the girls during one of Caleb's tennis practices.

 I was trying to take a photo of Madeline in the shot above...but I got a shot of a photo bomber instead.

As you can see the girls kept busy by eating and coloring.  Usually, they also have racquets in hand or are on their bike (Havi) or scooter (Madeline).  Havi has taken to using a chair in Madeline's bedroom to access Madeline's dance clothes in her closet.  I finally relented and let her wear an old leotard that doesn't fit Madeline anymore.  Yes, she wore it for two days straight, took it off to bathe and slept in it too.  I think she needs her own dance clothes. She is an absolute riot hitting tennis balls in a leotard.

Well, this past weekend Caleb played in a very competitive tennis tournament and did well.  He won one match and lost another, both going to third set tiebreakers.  Patrick and I are so, so proud of him.  He had lost the first match, and boy, was it tough.  But he handled himself like a champ and kept his composure.  Then he came back and won in a third set tiebreaker in his second match.  He played so tough and so well.  It's exciting to watch him develop as a player, but it's also equally exciting to see him grow as a person.  Tennis requires so much mental toughness, and he definitely showed that this past weekend.  As his parents, we are really trying our best to focus on these two things more so than outcomes, which is far easier said than done.  But having the right perspective really does have its benefits.

Caleb's tennis coach has asked him to play in the middle school league that takes place in the spring.  So he will be playing on a team from the courts where he trains against middle school teams from other courts and the private schools in the area.  When he plays in his tournaments, he plays using a green dot ball, which has less compression than a regular ball and, therefore, moves a little slower.  For the middle school league, however, they will be using a regular yellow ball because the kids are older.  It's what he trains with and uses in one of his clinics.  However, this will be his first time playing with a yellow ball in a competitive environment.  To say that he's excited to have Friday night matches back would be an understatement.  He also has another green dot ball tournament this Saturday that he's looking forward to as well.  Let's just hope this weekend's weather cooperate.  I'm not so sure.

Anyway, I promise to snap more photos these next few weeks and not be such a stranger.  

Hope you all have a great weekend, and thanks for continuing to pop over and say hello.