My Little Violinist

Last night Leah had her second Intermediate Orchestra concert. She has been practicing so hard. I actually ran into Mr. Wunderlich last month at Teacher's Institute and he was telling me how impressed he is with Leah. He lets her mentor 4th graders and said she's very talented. She's a first violin and comes to the band room at the end of every day for extra practice.

She was so excited for the concert she called Papa and asked him to come to the concert too. They really did a fantastic job. They played three different pieces but my favorite was Holly Jolly Christmas. When the show was done and we were leaving Leah ran into her close friend Luke. He apologized because he didn't get there in time to hear her play, and he had basketball in the field house. But we snapped a picture anyway. It was a great night and we were so proud of our girl.

Santa Claus is Coming to Town

Hard to believe but it's been 7 years now that we've been doing Christmas pictures with Laura Kruger up in Bloomington. As Leah gets older I wanted to be sure to capture this stage...where she is at, and I think these pictures nailed it. I know that I'm going to cherish these pictures for years to come and I hope that the girls will too.

Suzy Snowflake

Kiersten and Emma Ulis

Kiersten and Cayde White

Kiersten and Ella Spaide

Kiersten and Gabe Smith

front and center with her buddy Gabe Smith

Kiersten...I just don't even know where to begin with this girl. She was just born to shine. She always lights up the stage. She told me a few weeks ago that she was going to be playing a Suzy Snowflake during the show. What she didn't tell me was that she had a hand in choreographing her part. She did such a wonderful job. The whole third grade class did. I'm going to be so sad when this stage is done and past. I enjoy these shows so much. And in true Kiersten fashion, we had to find our friends for pictures after. I hope she is always as confident and sure of herself as she is at 8. She's going places for sure.

Reindeer Classic

We had the Reindeer Classic up in Clinton this weekend. It was such a fun day! A long day but certainly a fun one. We were there early for 7:20 warm ups. With only 4 lanes the meet went quite slow. Leah didn't swim her fist event until at least 10:30, Hattie didn't swim until well after 11. But that's beside the point. These girls swam so good. Leah's IM relay qualified for state, and won by over 20 seconds. She swam the fly leg and looked amazing. She went on to drop time in her 50 fly and her 50 back and is less than a half second away from qualifying for state in both events. She took second place for the high points leader in the meet and got her first trophy. Kiersten crushed it in her 25 breast. She swam it in 25.17 and qualified for state in her first event. Coach Erin was so excited...it was awesome. Hattie made progress too! She got the district time in the 25 back, but dropped time in both her races. Can't wait to see what the next few months bring for these little Gators.

Hattie the Elf

Oh My Hattie! She's been so excited about her Christmas concert. Tonight she took the stage with 175 other 1st graders. They are just so cute and Mrs. Sill always puts together such a fantastic show. She was super excited to have a part this year. She got to play the part of an Elf! She had a little hat and collar. When her song started she got to go hang a candy cane on the tree. And then she got to dance. She nailed it. I was so proud of her. She did fantastic!

Getting outdoors with Dad

I hope these girls know how good they've got it. Some guys say they wouldn't know what to do with a daughter. But from the start Mitch has made it pretty clear that he will do anything with these girls that he would do with a boy...and more. They fish, they play ball, they swim, and they love to go for a run. It's been quite a while since Leah was able to run with Mitch. Thanks to a new inhaler due to a diagnosis of asthma she's back in business. She doesn't hesitate to go for a run with dad. Last week she got to go hunting too. It wasn't the first time, but it was the first time in a while. They never got to take a shot, but she's already ready for the next time.

Baby Clapp

On Saturday we went to Casey Illinois. Home of the World's biggest things. But also the childhood home of my cousins Jordan and Tori. Those cousins are all grown up and my sweet cousin Jordan is expecting her first baby. A boy, little Bennett, is set to join the family in February.

We were happy to join the celebration in Casey. It was wonderful to see Jackie, Jordan and Tori. Leah skipped the fun and went deer hunting with dad. Jordan made all the desserts. The girls had more than their fair share and really enjoyed the games. But the highlight was probably making cute little onesies and a bib for Baby Bennett. So fortunate to have family close by to celebrate life's special occasions.

We Give Thanks

Thanksgiving is my absolute favorite. A time to reflect on all that we are thankful for in the year past. The food is always outstanding. But it's the company that we keep that I enjoy the most. Thanksgiving was spent here in our home in Mt. Zion. Gigi and Papa came over to join us. After dinner was done and the dishes were all cleaned and put away we started our holiday decorating. The girls just love putting up the Christmas tree.

On Friday we did a little shopping. I took Hattie and Kiersten to the mall. We grabbed a few things at Claire's and then the girls had a ball picking out clothes at Von Maur. They knew they had to be gifts from Gigi and they were totally okay with that. Next we went on to Target. We were walking in when Kiersten said "Hattie you are wearing different shoes!" Nothing surprises me with this kid. I thought it was adorable. She was worried that someone was going to laugh at her. I told her it's cute when you're 6, but not when you're 60!

On Sunday we celebrated with the Schaumburgs. We only seem to get together once a year so we certainly enjoy our time together. Barry was in the hospital this year. We are praying for healing as he heads into a third surgery for his heart. We played Bingo and the kids all had a great time. Now we move forward, preparing for Christmas and all the joy that it brings.