As the kids grow older they are becoming more interested in extracurricular activities, so Barry and I are learning to cope with having only a free weekend. And we sure do miss those times just to be lazy and do absolutely nothing. Since the beginning of summer we've been running back and forth to the ballpark playing baseball, and after the regular season was over Nikolas and Alex advanced to All-Stars, meaning more ball games farther away.

I miss the sport during the winter, but when it comes close to the season ending, I'm ready for it to be over.

I love for the kids to be involved in different organizations but when you have four kids and each of them wants to do something different, it gets difficult to juggle.

They were used to just playing baseball and softball in the summer, but now they want to try something new in the fall. And I know there must be something extracurricular out there that will take up most of the winter and spring. It's hard to keep up!

Shelby wants to practice gymnastics, Clay and Alex want to try football, and Nikolas wants to try karate. I shouldn't complain about them always wanting to try something new, but I do, because Barry and I are the ones who have to fork out the money, gas, and time for this fun.

I tend to get into a frenzy and panic when the calendar gets full. I feel I have things under control when I sign them up for the types of things they've gotten interested in so far, but it doesn't take much for me to begin to fuss about the busy schedule.

It just seems that everybody in the world is making a schedule for their corner of the world, and I never seem to be in that corner!

I should be thankful, though. My kids hardly watch TV at all, although sometimes I wish they would just for quiet time, but they always like to be doing something. And if they want to go to college, they need to find something they're good at; we need all the scholarship money we can get!