handsful

We’ve been blessed to be a part of Acrofitness for the last 3 years.  All 6 kids have taken classes at some point, but right now Marley, Lainey, and Dylan are enrolled.

What is Acrofitness?  From their website…

Our mission is to provide classes that inspire all children to develop a love for movement. Our state of the art programming teaches non-competitive functional skills that will last a lifetime. Our sport incorporates street tumbling, hip hop dance, cheer, parkour/free running, elements of strength and flexibility, and much more.

We’re huge fans of getting our kids MOVING and Acrofitness does all that and more.

Dylan takes the AFFR class, which teaches free running skills…you’ve seen those videos of the crazy guys flipping off park benches, jumping off steps, etc?  With D’s lack of fear and “I’ll try anything” personality, nothing stops him from running with all the guys.  We do have to protect all the gym equipment from his prosthesis (sharp edges could damage), so he wears a long soccer sock pulled up high and sweat pants.

Marley and Lainey both take 3 classes, as they’re both on Acro teams.  The teams are based on age, so Marley is on Senior and Lainey is on Freshman.  Other than their team choreography classes, they each take Fitness Plus (cardio and strength class) and Elite/Extreme tumbling.  As team members, they get to perform their routines at lots of local community events in the spring.  Performance season is just now gearing up, and they’re busy just about every weekend through May….about 12 total.  Team tryouts and camp is in June, so this is pretty much a year-round commitment.  They wouldn’t have it any other way.

A couple of weekends ago, they performed their routines in front of all the parents for the first time.  The routines are on YouTube…just search for “2015.3.21 Fit-a-thon Freshman” to see Lainey’s (she does the first tumbling pass at the beginning of the routine) and “2015.3.21 Fit-a-thon Seniors” to see Marley.  She’s at the back at the beginning, but then you’ll see her being lifted up front/left and then again at the back at the end of the routine.

Here are some pics from that day…

Marley’s Senior Team

Lainey’s Freshman Team

Lainey making the first tumbling pass

Another tumbling pass

Lainey and her friend Gracie

Our Acro girls :)

Can’t wait to watch their other routines coming up!

For those whose first question, when we mention we homeschool our kids, is “but, what about socialization?”

I have one word.

Ha.

Pics of my kids going to yet ANOTHER dance…

You know, if my kids were lacking in opportunities to socialize, maybe I’D have more TIME to socialize?!  Hmmm….

They had fun, as usual.

Last Saturday, we invited teens to our house for the day.  Not to just hang out…course, they did some of that.

But, to work.

We’re still in the process of getting the building  on our property renovated for Randy’s bi-weekly “Shop” meetings.  We want the kids to be fully involved in getting THEIR building ready.

The plan:  build acoustic panel frames and get the stage installed.  And, gather wood for a bonfire.

Done.

Next up, lots of pizza.  Nine in fact, and by the end of the night, only ONE piece was left.  At least they brought the snacks and sodas!

Fed and happy, it was time for the Shop meeting…a little worship first, and then Randy taught the lesson.

Bonfire time…

We love opening our home to teens…yes, it’s loud and crazy.  But, we feel blessed to have a place that they can hang out, have fun, worship, and grow in their Christian walk.

Abbey, Marley, Payton, and Ethan are in two youth choirs under the ministry of Testify Youth Choirs…confused yet? One choir has about 35 members (this being their first year) and the older, more established one has more than 100. They each have their own local concert series this month, and they both go on tour (one to Georgia and one to Ohio) at the end of this month. Testify season is fun, crazy, and very busy.

This past Sunday, the North Meck choir (smaller one) had their first concert.

Look hard and you can see all four of them in this shot. This concert was at a Presbyterian church in Charlotte.

Same here :)

Abbey has a solo, and she did a great job.

This has been Marley’s first year doing Testify. She’s really enjoying it, but still isn’t completely comfortable being on stage…she’s working on it.

See? She’s even in an ensemble piece…

That also includes her brothers. The guys are also in one of the hip-hop dance routines. That’s hard to catch in a photo, though.

This looks a little wild, but it’s one of the choreographed pieces that I just love.

After the concert, the kids (including the guy in black) had to take a turn on the spinny thing.

Too funny.

Now, on to tonight’s concert. The Mooresville choir performed at a Children’s Home in Barium Springs.

We only had the zoom lens for this one, so no wide shots of the whole group.

The kids don’t have singing parts in this choir, but the boys are in the same dance routine. Again, hoping to get some shots of that at a future concert.

Caught three out of four kids in this shot…

As busy as this time is, the kids are collecting so many memories and experiences that they’ll have with them forever. Not to mention the impact that they are undoubtedly having for the church. We are proud of their commitment and hard work!

Pics from last Saturday’s homeschool dance…

We only did a little bit of posing before we left. And, it had to be inside (which explains the terrible lighting), because it was FRIGID outside and the wind was blowing at near hurricane speed. Well, it felt like it.

The trips with their friends, Ethan (yes, another Ethan…) and Kylie

Getting the giggles…

Then, we brought them all together (Abbey had gotten dressed at her friend’s house) for a shot. We took about a dozen, this was the best of the bunch.

Some of their friends were running late, so we missed getting their picture. I’ve emailed the gals in charge of the dance, to see if they’ll share the pictures they got during the dance. Can’t wait to see those! Maybe I’ll share a few…

One last one..

Happy Valentine’s Day :)

The youth pastor at church asked if we’d host a middle school event at our house. We said yes.

About 20 teens ~ board games, snacks, polar bear antics, charades, and football

Here’s the day ~ in pictures

We love hanging out with these teens…

It’s Testify Youth Choir time again, and this time it’s all about Christmas.

These shots are all from the North Meck campus of Testify…our kids are technically in 2 choirs. This one has only about 30 members. The Mooresville campus has about 140. Pictures of that one will come later.

Abbey has a short dance part in the Mooresville campus, but 3 of the kids have parts in this one. Abbey is part of a trio, Ethan has a short solo, and Payton has a speaking part.

I took video of them, but I can’t for the life of me figure out how to post them to this wordpress blog…I’d welcome any help!

We were so proud of how well they did, and how they put their selves out there to spread the true meaning of this season. As much fun as it is, Christmas isn’t about Santa, presents, or Christmas lights. It’s about a baby, destined to grow up and save the lost. Jesus is born – Glory to God in the highest!

Now, I’m ready for Christmas…