Did I miss something....

So on Friday Emma dropped a bomb on me and I am pretty sure I would have wrecked the car if I hadn't been in the driveway.  No, she wasn't in trouble or anything like that, but I did not expect the words to come out of her mouth AT ALL! 

To fully appreciate my shock let me share a timeline...

In May Emma switched to AIM Gymnastics.  Her choice.

In June Emma went to and loved LSU gymanstics camp.

In June Emma spent 16 hours at New Bern Gymnastics while were in in NC.  That meant 2 hours driving to the gym four days of our trip.  It is a big deal to work out with strange girls and coaches.

In July she broke her finger.  It went something like this.  "You should have brought her in sooner.  It might need surgery."  "That is a very interesting break."  "The chip has moved into her joint space so it still might need surgery."  That was just all great....NOT!

In July she decided to miss two weeks of our second summer trip because she wanted to work on her skills and prove to her coaches that she would be ready for her season.

On August 19th she was finally cleared for full practice.  Her finger did not need surgery which we did learn on 8/5.  Yay!  She seemed really happy about this news.

On August 27th she finally, finally, finally did her flyaway dismount on the uneven bars.

On August 28th she said she was quitting.

Knock me over with a feather!  She was crying so hard so could hardly explain to me why.  Drew's eye's have almost never been so wide when I told him what was happening.  There were several reasons for her decision which she had apparently been thinking about for weeks.  What????  I really felt like it was just the stress of returning to school and adjusting to a really busy, full schedule.  She absolutely refused to listen to anything I said or Drew said.  Totally frustrating.

Finally Drew said she had to go and talk with her coaches.  That was all my fault....okay why?  She went, they all talked, and she felt better.

When all this happened on Friday I was just floored.  Never did I expect this so what did I miss?  I mean really!  We spend lots of time together in the car talking.  She talks some to me at bedtime.  We texted or talked everyday lots when I was gone and she was here.  I was so confused and really worried about what I missed.  If I missed something this big in her life I was really concerned for the future.  That may be a crazy leap, but that is where my mom brain went.  I asked on FB for prayers for us and I received 34 wonderful comments.  I also received many texts throughout the weekend.  I appreciated everything so much.  For me I just needed encouraging words to give me emotional strength to get through this mess with Emma.

I was worried about what I missed and I was really concerned about Emma feeling it was okay to quit when life/something becomes challenging.  That for me is not an acceptable habit to create.  She made a commitment and I wanted her to see it to the end. I know that Emma won't compete much longer, but doing level 5 was her own personal goal.  I didn't want her to regret quitting two weeks before the first meet.  I was also worried I pushed her too hard.  Did she miss too much this summer despite making those choices on her own?  Did I push too hard for her to get her flyaway?  Doubts, doubts, and more doubts. So all those comments and texts were really encouraging for me and Drew.  Thank you!!!!

Emma has decided to stick it out this season.  I couldn't be happier for her. I really feel like she will be happy come November knowing she met her goal.  Emma told Drew she knew I wasn't proud of her decision to quit.  She was right because I wasn't, but I am seriously hardcore praying she is competing for her and not for anyone else!  This will probably be the end for her and I want it to be great. 

And, just to make this post a little lighter some fun pictures from our weekend which were a great distraction among the mess of Emma's bomb!

Elena and Drew went to a Sock Hop dance on Friday night with her friend Carmendy and her dad.  They had a blast.  It was so much fun getting her dressed!

 We all went out to dinner Saturday night to a food truck park.  So fun and everyone could eat a crazy variety of food! 

Finally, this stud tore up the football field this weekend.  He played three games and had a great time.  I love that he runs onto the field shouting "let's do this!"  So fun!  He is on a well rounded team and it is fun to watch the games.  Samuel has improved so much.  Can't wait to watch the rest of summer and then winter ball!

His second game ball in 4 games!