Tag: gym

Let Thea Do It!

January 1, 2021

Let Thea Do It!

My almost 2 year old thinks she’s a gymnast and the gym is her second home. She thinks she’s a member of Civil Air Patrol like Christina and Kimberly. She thinks she can ride Lucas’ bike. She thinks she can build shelves like Mom. She also thinks she can hide from everyone in plain sight.

She thinks she can fly. (From any object straight into a big sister’s arms without warning!)

She’s been going to WGV Gymnastics attending the Parent and Tot classes (yes, we have classes for those just walking to 3 years old) for a few months and Lucas (big brother) has been doing the Preschool Program for a few months.

Kimberly is in competitive team and set up a workout area on the wall marked with degrees (set up with sticks, a protractor, and a pencil) and was like “I need to go from here to here.”

“I can do that!” Says Lucas.

Bingo.

“Let Thea do it!” Thea says.

Bingo.

Kimberly tosses her hands in the air playfully, “I give up!”

We laughed and asked, “Why?”

“My baby brother has a bigger split than I do!” Kimberly laughed, “actually,” she tries it, “maybe not.”

We all laugh because the littles are so enthusiastic about everything. They love anything and everything big siblings or friends are doing. Thea consistently tries to do everything her big brother and big sisters do. She walked into the front room last night and turned on the game computer, “play a game with Becky!” and the mouse pointer went straight to the correct icon for Becky’s game.

Thea loves to do it! Thea loves to do everything!

“Mom!” (I’m washing dishes, Thea is dragging the stool over to the sink…) “Thea can wash dishes, please?”

How do I say no? I hope she always keeps the can-do will-try attitude she currently possesses.

Type at you next time!

~Nancy Tart

Sunsets and Rainbows

What I see in sunsets and rainbows!

November 13, 2020

Sunsets and Rainbows

Sometimes when you want to feel amazed, just look up. Seriously. Up at the sunrise or for me at work – the sunset. The sunsets over the intersection of interstate 95 and International Golf Parkway are amazing. It often happens with a bold artist palette of vivid colors like deep purple, bright blue, orange, yellow, pink, and red. Because this is Florida, we often have moisture in the sky (aka raindrops) that hide clear rainbows in the opposite side of the sky.

I’ve seen more double rainbows outside the doors of my gym than everywhere else combined. God’s promise of mercy.

When sunsets come, they remind me of the awesome things God has given us that all too often we brush off. It also reminds me to slow down. I have to take the time to enjoy the blessings I’ve been given rather than race through life as if being chased. I’m not being chased by anything! I’m in an amazing point of my life where I’ve stopped chasing the pipe-dream of home ownership and realized that it really doesn’t matter. I’ve been able to slow down and enjoy. I love the job I have! (stepping outside to see sunsets and rainbows is definitely a sweet bonus) I get to work around smiling, happy faces, hopefully instill confidence, positive work ethic, determination, and excitement in the hearts of the children I am honored to coach, encourage my coworkers as they encourage me, and watch my children grow in skill and confidence (and getting to see them every break is tremendous)!

I have chosen to focus on relationships. I am trying to connect with my family and friends at every opportunity. I want my children to understand the importance of relationship with encouraging believers.

I have chosen to focus on writing again (my computer that was fixed ended up with the cable to the display being pinched by the metal bracket that supports the display because it was moved when “repaired” and now the cable is shorted… so back to borrowed computers until I can repair it myself). I felt such a surge of writing energy – going from less than 5,000 words to over 22,000 in only one story in just a few off days since it was repaired? Wow, I feel like God has opened my creativity again. Despite computer issues, I will be writing!

I sold one ebook through Amazon! First sale in over a year, so that’s positive!

My boss has graciously let me put up a display of real books at her ProShop (At least 50% of sales price gets donated to the gym program!) and I am supposed to have illustrators (*clears throat*) working on drawings for my children’s books.

At this point, I’m trying to study my children, show them how I depend on Jesus, study my husband more so I can love him better, and develop or water friendships I cherish with my sisters, brothers, and friends. We’ve been able to get Becky’s braces, get Christina’s adult dental stuff started, we discovered Kimberly needed glasses & got those, and are planning to start Jillian’s and finish Lucas’ dental needs too. God is providing as we need it. Provision will come. “Give us this day our daily bread.”

Rainbows remind me of mercy.

Remember before the flood there was no rain? All the world was watered from the ground. Mists, fog, who knows, but the Bible says “the water rose up from the ground” to water the Earth. So imagine Noah and his family – they had never seen a rainbow! NEVER. This was a first for them. It was recorded as God setting His rainbow in the sky as a promise to every living thing on Earth that He would never again destroy the whole Earth by water.

That is mercy. Mercy is showing undeserved favor. Parenting teaches mercy on a whole new level.

Consider when someone is saying and doing things to cut you down constantly, hurting others you love, cutting deep into the hearts of you and those you love with their words, irritated with life but taking it out on you as if it is your fault, doing things and saying things that hurts them, etc. This irritates and saddens you. You love them still. You can’t stop loving them. You carried them and prayed for them and watched them be birthed and loved and cared for them and slowly watch them grow. You know you have to slowly release them and you hate yourself because you feel they aren’t ready but this is where you have to let go and trust God.

This is where you understand mercy. Love when you are undeserving.

You then see that is how Jesus sees you. You hurt His heart with some choices and actions or words. You hurt yourself. You hurt those He loves. You pull away when He is trying to patiently guide you yet it feels wrong or you decide to follow another. You do not deserve His love. You deserve judgement for those you have hurt. Yet Jesus showers us with mercy; new mercies each morning.

This is what rainbows show me.

My heart still hurts for the pains I feel my teens are feeling. I wish I could get them to talk openly and listen as openly. I wish I could once again kiss the hurt and it go away – but that doesn’t work anymore. They now need to allow Jesus to wrap His arms around them and comfort them. They need to allow Jesus to lead them and guide them.

I have to love them.

I also have to protect the hearts of my younger ones. Yes, sometimes from the words or actions of an older sibling. That really hurts.

I’m not going to kick them out of my house and never out of my heart; just as Jesus has not kicked me away and has loved me through all of my mistakes. I need Jesus’ mercy every day.

Rainbows remind me of this.

Thank you, Jesus, for sunsets and rainbows. Thank you that we get to see them almost daily. Thank you for love, mercy, and forgiveness. Thank you that you teach me daily in this task called parenting.

Thank you for reading!

~Nancy Tart

Books in Person

Where to find my printed books in person! #ImSoExcited #WGVGymnastics

October 5, 2020

Books in Person

Ebooks are a thing of today, but I love having real “in person” books. I love the smell, feel, and none-glare of reading from paper.

I also like to see what I’m buying before I buy it. For this reason, I love bookstores! (Honestly, I’m not much for online shopping period.)

For those of you like me, you can see some of my print books “in person” at the Pro Shop inside the WGV Gymnastics facility – and if you decide to buy one of my printed books, DVDBooks, or Audio CDs, please buy from the Pro Shop as that purchase helps support our gym!

I’m super excited about my partnership with WGV Gymnastics! Walk inside the fantastic facility, check it out, it is amazing! If you decide to turn left, dive into the Pro Shop, and just buy a book or CD, thank you so much for your support! If you want to inquire about youth events and gymnastics instruction; see the front desk and sign up for a free trial class!

  • Window Wall
  • Front Desk & Just Inside
  • Look at all those Colors!
  • Entryway! – Portal into a Glittery World

When your gymnast decides this is awesome fun and you sign up, make sure you mention that “Nancy Tart” sent you – you get a discount off of your annual registration by mentioning my name!

Thank you for reading!

You can get ebooks from this link or browse printed books at the Pro Shop!

~Type at you later!

~Nancy Tart

Itty Bitty Fun!

Fun for preschool kiddos on Fridays! (bring big siblings and baby siblings too)

September 25, 2020

Itty Bitty Fun!

Theadora loves gymnastics. Actually, she loves running, jumping, climbing, rolling, flipping, balancing, and being crazy. What little one doesn’t? Who am I kidding? What energetic adult doesn’t want to be out doing crazy stuff with the energy of an 18-month-old who is a half-hour before bedtime loaded up on red dye and sugar?

Thea loves Fridays at WGV Gymnastics because we get to have Preschool Open Gym from noon to 1pm. You only have to be able to toddle around to join in! Many friends from our Gym-N-Learn program come for more gymnastics fun.

This is an hour of supervised fun where young monkeys get to try out all of the cool gymnastics equipment (Thea’s favorites are bars and bouncy floor!), roll around on mats, bounce on tumble track, jump in and climb out of pit, and try their hand at anything that their adult doesn’t think is too scary. Yes, children, an adult like your parent or grandparent is required during this gym visit as they have to supervise. (Actually, Thea can tell you, Preschool Open Gym is a great place to have a grandma date!)

There are coaches on hand to help said adult spot (help out with gym skill), give out solicited advice, talk about gym safety, observe (watch everything like a spy!), and enjoy the fun! You can ask said coaches about learning new things, fun games to try, how to use mats, what drills or skills help lead to what new skill, and other educational things. Coaches can also help spot skills and show fun new tricks!

Come join Thea doing crazy fun stuff every Friday (check the website at www.wgvgymnastics.com/preschool-open-gym or call for more information!) at WGV Gymnastics! An adult has to come with you, wear tight fitting clothes that don’t fall off when you flip around or make big jumps, and make sure you have lots of energy!

Oh, that’s right, big sisters and brothers over 5 can come, (even though they are not in preschool anymore) just call our office as the prices for older kids may not be on the website!

~Thank you and Thea will see you soon!

~Nancy Tart

Support Me!

Please help me (Kimberly) with my gymnastics fund-raiser!

August 1, 2020

Support Me!

Hello, I’m Kimberly Tart. My mom runs this blog site but I get to write about this (with a little, okay, maybe a lot of grammar and editing help). I’ve never done a fund-raising thing – volunteered at a lot of stuff, but not tried to fund raise myself. 

Here goes…

I have been learning the sport of gymnastics at WGV Gymnastics and recently made the Xcel team! (My name is on the official roster here!)  My goal is to go all out – I love gymnastics! I plan on competing as high as I can possibly go and when I get to college to study veterinary medicine, I hope to be on a college gymnastics team!

Right now I’m doing some fundraising to help offset my costs and provide businesses with an outstanding advertising and charitable donation opportunity!  (Regular people still get the donation benefits!)

Our gym has a 501c3 Booster Club for our athletes to raise funds to help offset our competition costs.  This is WGVABC (WGV Athletic Booster Club).  Information on their sponsorship packages can be found at https://www.wgvabc.com/become-team-sponsor.  A portion of your sponsorship funds go directly into my booster club account (if there is no name attached, it goes to the general team fund).  Plus your business receives a powerful advertisement package that begins the day your banner is hung (click <- link to see an example of displayed banners) – so you get 365 full days of advertisement!  We have thousands of athletes and family members coming through our gym weekly and all see our sponsors’ bright banners. 

I totally appreciate your time reading this and any sponsorship level you choose! 

  • (Pictures added by mom)

Please choose a sponsorship level or donate and mention my name, Kimberly Tart, when you do! 

Thank you!!

🙂 Kimmy Tart

Making the Team!

June 11, 2020

Making the Team!

(I know, picture is Kimberly w/Baby Thea, but it’s one of my favorites and this loaner computer wouldn’t load the gymnastics one…)

Kimberly has been working so hard for the past almost two years in the hopes of making the gymnastics team at our gym. 

Well, our gym is recruiting talent for the 2020-2021 season and on Monday night, Kimberly got an invite! 

Talk about excited!

She giggle cried and asked Coach Heather if I was kidding (Heather let me tell her, but wanted to see her reaction) – kidding?  I’m not a practical joker like some of my children may be…

She giggle cried almost the whole way home.

When Kimberly gets excited, she cries with happiness but tries to hide it with giggling.  I call this giggle crying.

We get home and her siblings are all there, Louis comes in right behind us and says, “so what’s the big news?”

Kimberly couldn’t even tell them!  She hid behind the wall in the kitchen and said, “Mom, you tell them!  Hurry up!”

What followed were lots of congratulations, lots of high-fives, and a few teases about how her height is just perfect for gymnastics.  Kimberly is on team!

(And yes, Mom is super excited for her!)

Since I like to use real life to teach, Jillian and I talked the next day about how hard work pays off and used Kimberly’s advance to team as an example.  There are many others to pull from in our family, but that is the freshest achievement. 

With all the things that have been canceled this year, making team has made Kimberly’s year – and as Christina mentioned, “it’s your turning-teenager year too!”

I want to squeal with excitement for her too (okay, maybe I did!) I love it when I get to share in someone’s celebration of reaching a goal! 

Rejoice with those who rejoice! 

Thank you for reading!

Type at you next time,

~Nancy Tart

Being Lifted Up

April 4, 2020

Being Lifted Up

See Lucas? See Louis? Yes. Louis is lifting Lucas up to get ice cream out of the freezer so they can use that milk on the counter because Lucas wanted to make cookies and cream milkshakes.

Sometimes you can’t reach what you want without being lifted up.

This made me think of how everyone where I live is helping each other. It’s like when a hurricane comes and everyone seems to band together and help each other. Those who cut trees up so people can get out of their driveways, those who give water or make lemonade for linemen, someone who shares their firepit or grilled food with the neighbors.

The same thing is happening now. Only instead of being shut down for a couple of days max, we are currently on the third week of shutdown. The end doesn’t seem to be in sight; especially for the young as my daughter’s senior friends are afraid they won’t get to walk for high school graduation.

Look for the helpers.

Look for the need and fill it.

This is how we pull together and make our world better.

This is how we will rise again stronger than before.

Help won’t be a pork barrel stimulus package passed because it included raises for those who passed it.

Help will be from the local community – friends, neighbors, family, churches, local businesses. We will stand up together and help each other as we haven’t before. I see it already in bits.

So instead of feeling helpless alone in your home wasting time worrying about what you can’t control (like the stimulus bill, a virus with long incubation, or the fact that your household just lost 3 of 4 jobs) do something!

  • Call your friends and give them an encouraging voice.
  • Call a church or community organization and offer to help in whatever capacity exists.
  • If you are one of the few with extra, support your local businesses right now by utilizing their services or buying gift certificates for later so they can pay their bills and open up when this is all over.
  • Brighten someone’s day (yes, especially if they live in your own home!).
  • Pray for wisdom in leadership.
  • Text and say “hi! hope you are having a lovely day!” just to do it… and expect a call or text conversation because they realize you care.

We can do these things to keep our sanity and help encourage others. Remember what a great man said after beating polio firsthand, living through the Spanish flu epidemic, and leading our country through the Great Depression… “We have nothing to fear but fear itself.” (Franklin Roosevelt)

Instead of just looking for the helpers… BE a helper! BE an encourager!

Thank you for Reading!

Type at you next time,

~Nancy Tart

My Little Learner

March 29, 2020

My Little Learner

Our gym has an after-school program where our comfy vans pick up from several area schools and bring little athletes back to gym. They do gymnastics, crafts, eat snacks, and do homework. Thea and her other gym baby friend sometimes hang out there. Thea loves it and thinks she’s a big kid! Just like at home, she tries to do school with them!

Especially when someone wants to play teacher! Ellie loves to play teacher and Thea loves to “learn” and she likes the chalkboard.

At home, Thea knows not to eat coloring tools like pencils, crayons, markers, and even paints! At Aunt Becca’s she got introduced to big sidewalk chalk and tasted it. Sister-cousin Anastasia laughed and said, “eww, gross Baby Thea, you color with it like me!”

Once Thea saw that, it was like “aha! this is an outside coloring tool!”

Sitting with Becky one day, she pulls up a pencil and paper and says “yeah!” and starts babbling in her own way, giving us serious glances as she explains what her work is. Jillian said, “Thea thinks she’s doing school!”

Thea and Becky are quite alike. Becky understood before her first year that coloring tools were not to be eaten too. Baby Becky never ate Legos (except for the black squishy tires, she called them gum and we had to remove them temporarily – I think she still secretly stashes them somewhere and chews them). Baby Becky was my earliest potty trainer (at 14 months telling us when she had to go & by 18 months in regular underwear – I have no clue how!) and Thea is already potty training herself. She got super excited when I bought a baby potty for her tiny self – and knows exactly what it’s for (showed us by pulling at her diaper so we took it off & she used the potty, I teased Becky that she may lose the designation of youngest potty trained).

I love watching my little love get more independent. Each one of them unique and special. Each has different strengths and weaknesses. Each helps the other in various tasks to make us a cohesive team – we build on each others’ strengths.

This is how we all should be. Learning, assisting, encouraging; each doing what we do best and helping when and where we can. It isn’t just for siblings or families. This understanding of the learning and growing and maturing process is an important life skill.

And Thea is playing in the grass without eating it – amazing! She is totally a little Becky… until Uncle Buddy came along and taught 2-year-old Becky she could eat dollar weed (and then she wouldn’t quit eating them!).

Thank you for Reading!

Type at you later,

~Nancy Tart

Open Gym Party

Open Gym Party for Decade Kick-Off – building memories in everything!

Open Gym Party

February 17, 2020

WGV Gymnastics, our gym, had a Decade Kick Off which my children have decided to refer to as the “Open Gym Party” because it was basically just open gym with food and bounce houses. They loved it!

Thea, my gym baby, LOVES the gym!

Theadora wanted down from first step into the gym. But then, she has been coming here since before she was born…

The girls got to leave their mark on the wall! Jaquline & Anastasia let us get pictures.

We bounced around, danced, played, and had snacks… oh, and worked! When you are doing something you love, it never seems like a job.

I never would have picked “gymnastics coach” as a job, but God knew what I love – teaching, fitness, children. He knew that this would never be a job. I’m so grateful for all the doors God has opened for our family this past two years. Christina gets to work here too – Becky and Kimberly volunteer, and Becky, Kimberly, Jaquline, Jillian, and Lucas get to do gymnastics.

Thea says “Me too!” – yes, she’s already trying her tiny feet at gymnastics!

We went from struggling and one of the deepest “valleys” in our family to rising up by God’s power into a job I’m good at, another I love, a home we may actually get to build(!!), provision, grace, and safety. The girls have an opportunity to go to summer camp together (Christina calls this year the “last chance” because Christina enrolls in Embry-Riddle soon).

When I think about fun, memory-building days I get to have with my girls, things like our open gym with handprints on the wall will likely be one they remember.

Like this weekend past… we spent the morning gardening, went to work Parents’ Night Out (at WGV Gymnastics again!), visited with my best friend after work (and Christina fell in love with their new Jack Russell puppy!), went to church, made lasagna, canned marinara, watched one of my favorite movies (Air Force One), and got to play dominoes with Jaquline, Kimberly, and Jillian, and snuggle with Thea!

Thank you, Jesus, for love and family!

Type at you later!

~Nancy Tart

Choosing to Rest

Ever feel overwhelemed by the busyness of life… especially around Christmas?

December 14, 2019

Choosing to Rest

The busyness of life can overwhelm us if we allow it.

Especially when your heart is troubled.

Anybody relate? 

This is the first Christmas season where all the kids have been shopping and I haven’t gone with any of them.  My Daddy passed away one year ago the tenth.  My little tradition of carefully penning the newest addition’s name in glitter glue on a silly felt stocking and adding it to our collection to hang was done by one the of girls this year.  I almost found myself feeling unimportant and stressing out because I wanted to be there…

I’m standing on the floor beam and use my standard line when my gym girls are racing.  On beam that means they end up wobbling and the exercise doesn’t look pretty when you are bouncing and wobbling. “…don’t race.  If you feel wobbly…” I demonstrate so they will laugh and pay attention, doing one passé step and wobbling as I come down “…pause…” I stop with both feet firmly planted “…take a breath to steady you…” I take a deep breath “…and now go on.” I start doing the steps again without the wobble.

This works great for my excited littles at gym.  Sometimes they race because they want to do more and more and more, but really they just need to focus on the task at hand.  They need to control the landing of their foot on the beam so the direction is perfect and they land with confidence.

—BAM—

Life.

It’s the same as walking the beam. 

Don’t race.  That one hit me; don’t we all race when we feel wobbly (overwhelmed)?

Pause.  REST IN JESUS! 

Both feet firmly planted. In the Word – while I’m pausing, I’m resetting by “planting my feet firmly” in the Word.

Take a deep breath.  Worship and pray.

Then you can go on without the wobble. (Worry, feeling of drowning, feeling of uselessness, etc)

Now we take our life and everything whirling around us one step at a time, focusing on each day as it exists, allowing God to control our steps, and we will walk with confidence!

Oversimplified?  Maybe, but that mental picture that God gave me as I was coaching certainly is helping me rest and enjoy this season instead of feel “wobbly” with worry and feeling useless! 

Thank you, Jesus for planting cool visions in my head from sometimes the simplest of things… God uses the simple to confound the wise!

Type at you next time,

~Nancy Tart

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