Alamo Bowl

Steve and I made a quick 48-hour trip to San Antonio to cheer on our Cyclones in the Alamo Bowl. This was my first time to visit San Antonio!  It's a neat place and I can't wait to take the girls back at some point to see the sites.

 Traffic on the way there was horrendous, but we finally made it after about six hours in the car. We checked into our hotel and immediately hit the streets. First stop: The Alamo!

Then we headed to the River Walk that was PACKED with Cyclones. No exaggeration when I say that it was just a sea of Cardinal and Gold. Every bar and restaurant was full of fans, and chants of "Cyclone Power" went on all night across the river.  We easily outnumbered Washington State fans 30:1.

 

 We stayed at the Menger Hotel, which was just steps from the Alamo and all of the downtown attractions. It's the oldest hotel in San Antonio, and supposedly super haunted, but we didn't have any supernatural encounters. 

 Our game was Friday night, so we had all day Friday to enjoy San Antonio. 

 Ready for the game at the Alamo Dome.

 The dome was full of Cyclone spirit, and although we lost a heart-breaker (28-26) in the end, everything about this game made it feel like home-field in Ames. We truly lived up to the popular Cyclone athletic hashtags: #cycloneseverywhere and #CyclONEnation.  From the Cyclone crowds on the River Walk to the spirit and support for our team in the dome, it was pretty awesome to be part of it all.

There's nothing like feeling at home when you're 1,000+ miles away. There was even camaraderie on I-35 with all the Cyclone cars headed north yesterday. Love our school, love our team, and love that we have a top-tier coach and lots of great guys coming back next year!

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Vacation

Our first weekend of Christmas Vacation has been great! Yesterday morning, Sara's cheer team didn't have official practice because many girls were out of town, but there was an optional conditioning session. Her coach sent me this picture of Sara from the practice. She has improved so much!

 While she was at practice, I ran to the gym, and then we went to Emma's soccer game. It was a W, and even though Emma coughed through most of it, she played hard and had a goal. Yesterday afternoon, we baked cookies. We had made the gingerbread dough on Friday evening and then chilled it overnight. 

 This year we decorated then baked, but also baked then iced a handful of cookies. That was a first for us. The girls enjoyed icing the cookies; I still prefer just adding sprinkles before baking. The process is the best part, apparently ... not a single cookie has been eaten!

 Last night we stopped for milkshakes and then drove around looking at lights and listening to Christmas music on the radio.

 This morning I made what I thought was a final grocery trip for Christmas food items. Of course Steve had to run out later for a couple items I forgot. I found the girls like this when I got home ... if this isn't the definition of a restful break, I don't know what is.

 Today for treat-making round two, we did almond bark pretzels. We used the big rods, which everyone knows are the best! They turned out really cute with a variety of sprinkles on each one.

 I did a bunch of laundry today and just generally cleaned up around the house. With the exception of the Cowboys game, the TV has been off most of this weekend and we've been enjoying Christmas music on the record player. It truly has been the biggest hit around here! Steve is teaching the girls to play poker, and it's gotten pretty serious at times. There's nothing like the restfulness of a Sunday that's followed by a no-work/school Monday.

We're wrapping up tonight with a double feature of "A Charlie Brown Christmas" and "Home Alone". This crew is ready for Santa!

Best of December

Sara's birthday set the stage for a celebratory December around here! She was thrilled with her presents - earrings, a cheer backpack, a tumbling mat, new boots, and a family trip to Great Wolf Lodge. We had the best time! Photo overload below...

The cheer backpack she'd been waiting for!

 The mat actually fits well in our living room and has already gotten tons of use!

 Emma wanted to make sure that she was also invited to GWL! I sent this pic to my mom, and she pointed out that in it, I also captured the canvas in the back, taken when Emma was a week old. She texted, "look at the girls on the right compared to the girls on the left." Wow.

 After presents on her birthday, we had to hit Buffalo Wild Wings.

 And even though the server there brought her chocolate cake and ice cream, we still had round two of dessert once we got home.

 So many candles to blow out!

 On Saturday we headed to GWL. The girls were thrilled. It was decorated beautifully for the holidays, and although there were a lot of people there, the crowds were super manageable and water slide lines were short!

 We were in the water park within minutes after checking in.

 Lazy River floating...

 The girls loved this rope challenge.

 The inventors of GWL knew what they were doing when they planned this place. Fun for kids and adults.

 Happy kid! 

We were up the stairs to the water slides countless times.

 

The girls loved that our room had a Wolf Den especially for them!

 We were thrilled to see Santa and Mrs. Claus at GWL! Personally, I was super relieved because I had no idea when we were going to fit this visit in this year. So ... no matching outfits or Christmas gear, but we had wolf ears and big smiles!

 We got home from GWL and Sara immediately went to a friend's birthday party at Pinstack. She and her BFF Jaxon had the best time, and Sara somehow managed to win the 1,000 ticket jackpot (which bought prizes we totally needed at our house, as you can imagine).

 Sara ended her weekend by completing her application for the Engineering Girls Club at school. Part of the application required that she take a selfie that shows her interests and commitment to hard work. I was proud of her product!

I'd say TEN has been pretty good so far for this cool kid!

Last night, Steve had his work holiday party so the girls and I did some Christmas shopping and went out to eat. Oh, Emma ... having a little low blood sugar in this pic before our food arrived.

This letter she wrote at school made me laugh. She has been talking about getting a cleaning set for a long time, and it's what she talked to Santa about at GWL, too. I think my favorite part of this letter is her acknowledgement of her behavior. Gotta love honesty.

We have 1 1/2 more days of school before our winter break. This is always a fun and festive week of caroling, assemblies, gift giving, and parties. Emma has come down with a cold, and I'm just willing her to make it through Friday. We're all looking forward to celebrating Christmas and lots of R&R!

Double Digits

It is almost impossible for me to believe that our sweet Sara Noel is ten years old today. Double digits feel like such a big deal - a rite of passage into all that comes next. It's also overwhelming to think about everything that has led to TEN: from the chubby baby to the raspy-voiced toddler to the laser-focused little girl to the tween she is now.  

Sara is still a mix of funny and reserved, depending on the company. She has started "borrowing" my clothes, which end up permanently in her closet.  I'm so proud that most of her borrowing has been ISU gear! 

 Sara still loves art, like she always has. She spends hours upon hours drawing, and has acquired quite the collection of drawing pens and pencils. She continues to excel at school, this year participating in both the Word Masters and Math Olympiad extension groups. Sometimes when I listen to her talk, I have to remind myself that she's a kid. I'm so thankful that academic work comes easily to her (for now), and that she works hard at school.

Cheer has become a big part of Sara's life this year. She spends two weekday evenings and Saturday mornings at the gym, and loves it. For all the things she doesn't want to do (and rolls her eyes about what I ask), she never complains about going to cheer. This is a new team and they have a lot of building to do, but their first competition is in February and I can't wait to watch Sara perform. I love seeing her connected and working hard on something that takes mental and physical focus.

 What an incredibly rewarding journey the last decade has been. When I think about having had Sara for ten years, part of me goes straight to thinking about what she'll be like ten years from now ... but that's too much to swallow. I so want to just enjoy this time for what it is. We absolutely hit the jackpot with this amazing kid, and right now, I just love looking forward to each new day with her. 

Happy 10th, Sara Noel!

Movie Time

If there's one thing this family loves, it's holiday movies. Last weekend, after a day of our regular Sunday to-do list around the house, we hit Studio Movie Grill for the new "Grinch" movie. It was so good. Even Steve laughed out loud multiple times, and of course the girls loved it. 

 Last night, we headed to old downtown Garland for their annual free showing of "White Christmas". Even though we own the movie, it's more fun to go watch it and sing along in an old theater with a bunch of strangers! 

It was super cold and rainy so we didn't take a lot of pictures outside, which was unfortunate because the square was decorated so nicely. 

 I think teeth were chattering in this pic! I always love going to see "White Christmas" in this type of setting because it's this great combo of older people who were young when Bing and Danny were, and then people like us - parents building traditions with our kids.  I hope the girls will look back someday on these simple activities and smile.

 "To kindness and love, the things we need most." 

-The Grinch