Changes and sacrifices

Today we went skiing again. The conditions haven't been great this year, but it is still one activity that we can all enjoy together, no matter how old. Ben continues to amaze us with his progress. Sickly and weak a year ago, he is now fearlessly tearing up the ski hill. This spring he is also going to compete in Taekwondo. The state championship tournaments are held Feb-May, and the Junior Olympics is in June.The "big boys" competed all over the nation last year, and Ben wants to be just like his big brothers. However, this will be the last year that any of us be on the competition team, because of finances. Six boys in private school will take its toll on our budget. And I really won't be able to leave the two little guys at home in order to travel with the big boys. What I found great, is that when I mentioned to the boys (quite casually) that we wouldn't be able to afford all the travel involved in competing next year, they were completely ok with NOT competing. Connor went as far as to say that we "Do too much. Really. Just too much. We SHOULD cut back on things." In fact, both John and Connor also offered to discontinue guitar lessons, if our budget gets too tight. Here I thought they would be absolutely devastated to give up competitive martial arts, and they both said they would be just as happy to do school sports in the future (that are mostly free)! Austin competes in three school sports, and he's happy, so I don't know why I'm surprised. I am just thrilled that none of the kids even implied that if we had a smaller family we wouldn't have to worry about money. They are all looking forward to having more little guys in the house....EVEN AUSTIN. God is good.