Christmas Craft

Pinterest is the worst! It just sucks you in and next thing you know you have grand visions of all the stuff you want to do. But seriously, this was a win...except for the cost, LOL! I saw them and knew that we had to make them for the girls rooms.

We started with a planter pot, and a tomato cage. Mitch trimmed the cages down and attached them with zip ties. He's so handy. After that we wrapped lights around the cages, and then feather boa's from Hobby Lobby! The girls had fun decorating them with little twirly sprigs of glitter. We topped them off with a glittery ornament and they made the perfect Christmas Night Light! Pinterest WIN.

10 years

 It hardly seems possible that yesterday, Mitch and I celebrated our ten year anniversary. Some days it seems like we are still in those early days of romance and getting to know one another, and others it seems that he's always been a part of my life. I guess that's the thing about being with your best friend. I just couldn't imagine a more perfect person to complete my life.

I knew he had a little something planned for our anniversary, but I really had no clue what it was. I was happy to let him surprise me. But he wasn't the only one with a surprise. I found a baker to recreate one of our wedding cakes. I was thrilled with the way it turned out. I figured it would be a very special way to share our day with the girls. They loved it, and were so excited to see us recreate eating our wedding cake. Mitch was surprised too. He actually asked if it was one of the originals. It was even better!

Mitch whisked me away to St. Louis for a night. We checked into the Union Station Hotel that was decorated beautifully for the Holidays, we had a dinner at Eleven Eleven Mississippi...it was amazing. And then we headed to The Fox Theater to see the King and I. It was a Broadway quality production for sure. It was lovely to get away with my sweetheart for a night. I'm a lucky girl, indeed.

American Education

For one week in November, we celebrate American Education Week. During this week parents are invited to come and observe their children in the classroom. I started with Leah. Mrs. Gerhardt talked to us about what their day typically looks like and then we played a fun game. It's called Contig, and they actually have Contig competitions. I liked it! I think it's a great activity that we would be able to do together at home. So I grabbed an extra print out of the sheet so we can play.

Next up was Bug. Since Leah had Mrs. Hatayama two years ago, I kind of knew what was in store. But that didn't make it any less special. Kiersten and her classmates did a fantastic job,singing and then Mrs. Hatayama read a story about a turkey who wanted a disguise. So after that we got to disguise our own turkey. It was no surprise to me that she wanted to make her turkey look like Harry Potter. And she did a great job, too!

And finally I got to visit Hattie in her class. Every year the kindergarten classes host a Thanksgiving feast. So to kick off the afternoon we made feathered headbands for the kids to wear. They were given 5 feathers and had to write what they are thankful for. Hattie said she was thankful for her parents, friends, sisters, dogs and her teacher. After we were done with our craft they did an adorable Thanksgiving skit. The girls loved having me visit them, and I feel incredibly blessed that I was able to do so.

Scarecrow

This week Kiersten's class was making scarecrows. This is a fundraiser that Mrs. Hatayama does every year. Her class makes them, and sells them and the  money goes to Toys for Tots, to provide Christmas gifts to children in our community. Many weeks back I signed up as a volunteer for the day. But then I got scheduled for surgery on my shoulder After 10 months of battling my shoulder it was time to put adhesive capsulitis behind me.

I had my surgery on Tuesday Oct. 24th, and it's times like these I'm so glad that my mom is close enough to help. She stayed the night and went to school with Kiersten on Wednesday to help with the project. Kiersten's partner was Adrienne Parker, who we already knew from softball! And because Gigi can't ever say no, the scarecrow Samantha ended up coming back to our house. Anything for a good cause.

Leader's Retreat

For the second year in a row I qualified for Leader's Retreat with Plexus. That means a fantastic opportunity for Mitch and I to get away! Last year the event was in Dallas, and this year it was in Orlando. I was so excited to have two of my teammates with me this year, Alicia and Jodi. Having Jodi and Kevin along was super special and I'm so thankful that Plexus has given us an opportunity to get to know one another even better.

We arrived on Thursday EARLY! Got checked into our hotel and started checking everything out. We got registered, picked up our name badges and then went back to get ready for the party. Plexus certainly puts on a great party, and we all enjoyed the Havana Nights event! Friday morning we had a session, and then we spent some time at the pool. Kevin and Jodi went to Disney, and Alicia went to Epcot. That night Mitch and I went to Universal Studios but we just had dinner and walked around a bit before heading home. Saturday morning we had a session, and then we spent the afternoon at the pool. Saturday night, once again, Plexus treated us with a costume party! We had a great time and Kevin and Jodi nailed it with their costumes. The girls loved Mitch and I dressed up as Wayne and Garth! Sunday we weren't heading out until late afternoon, so thankfully we got some time in at the pool. Before heading home. I'm so grateful for the opportunity to get away with Mitch.

They'll put a spell on you

I was so excited about the girls Halloween costumes this year. They absolutely love the movie Hocus Pocus, so with three girls it was a no-brainer! And of course they were totally on board. At first there was a little bit of back and forth with who got to be which character, but it was easy. They each got to be the one with the matching hair color. And after they realized there would be wigs (for two anyway) they were even more thrilled!

This past weekend the swim team planned a Team bonding fun night! They wanted everyone to attend Boo at the Zoo together, so we of course went and loved having an opportunity to get dressed up a little early. Boo at the Zoo is one of our favorite family holiday traditions. Actually its pretty much the only one. This year, we went later in the day. After 6PM the train ride becomes a spooky train ride. But the girls still said they wanted to do it. This was a train ride I'll never forget. And I don't think they will either. They insisted on sitting at the very back of the train. So of course as we got going scary things started to happen. A man in a "Friday the 13th" mask jumped out at one point and really scared him. But then he continued to run after the train and grabbed the girls from behind. There was a lot of screaming and Kiersten threw her jack-o-lantern. Then "Jason" had to run and catch us again to give it back to her. Of course she had lost most of her treats so we had to back track back through the zoo to see if they would give us a refill. I laughed so hard. I don't think they'll want to do the spooky train ride next year. And if they do, they certainly won't sit in the back!

Rader Farms

We figured since we were already in Bloomington/Normal for the swim meet, we may as well stick around the rest of the day and get in a trip to the Pumpkin Patch! The girls love Rader Family Farm, and I thought for sure it would be crazy buys. But I think with temps in the 80's people decided to wait for a cooler day. We hardly had to wait in line at all.

The girls had a great time with the rat rollers, and the duck races. They enjoyed running around in the kid maze and then we took a quick ride on the tram. They enjoyed going down the slide a few times and then we headed over to see the animals. They always love petting the goats. The baby piglets were adorable and there was even a 4 month old calf that they loved on a little bit. We picked out some pumpkins and while I paid and picked up some pumpkin donuts they hit the real corn maze with Mitch. It took them about 30 minutes to get through it and then they were DONE! I think all three girls slept on the way home. Talk about a Sunday Funday!

Kicking Off Swim 2017-2018

It's been a bit of a roller coaster to say the least. This summer we found out that our swim club was in trouble. We didn't have a coach, and the Millikin pool was crumbling...literally. The DSC decided that it was in their best interest to merge with the YMCA team. There were lots of questions, lots of reservations, but ultimately we decided that we needed to give it a shot.

The girls started practice right after Labor Day. It's been a struggle. The girls practice at different times, so we never see each other for dinner, but we're making it work. And to be honest, they love it. This weekend was their first meet in Normal. And I was a little worried. I knew Leah was ready, but I wasn't sure if Kiersten was up for the challenge! This kid totally proved me wrong. She swam two events, the 25 back and the 50 free. We were really worried that she would roll onto her stomach and Disqualify from the back stroke but she did fantastic. And I think she swam it in 28 seconds. She totally killed it in the 50 free. She doesn't quite have the endurance yet, and to be fair, she has only swam twice a week for the last month. But she did amazing. She missed first in her heat by a second and swam the race in 1:01. She was tired but she didn't quit!

Leah did amazing! Mitch signed her up for two-100's. She swam the 100 backstroke first and timed at 1:42.45, just a half a second off of the B time. She opted to swim the 50 breast instead of the 50 fly and timed at 53.39. Breast is not her strong stroke so we were thrilled with her time. But she really excelled at the 100 Free. She took first in her heat and knocked 9 seconds off her best with a time of 1:30.9. She was proud of herself and we were very proud too. Looking forward to a great year with the Y-DSC Gators!