Merry Christmas!

 

Winter Break Part I

For the first time in a long time, it actually feels like winter on Christmas in Dallas! It feels like we've already been celebrating for a long time, and there's more to come. I love it!

Before the end of the semester, we celebrated Sara's birthday, which was on a Sunday this year. By request: Starbucks, mall, sushi.

I had teased her at the mall that I was going to make her visit Santa and she was so opposed. However, after shopping and eating, we swung into the big HPB and there he was ... sitting right by the entrance with an opportunity for free photos! Everyone except Sara thought it was perfect, but she (sort of) played along). 

I think she had a great 14th birthday, and her friends continued to celebrate her the following day at school. She added to her AE, Lulu, and Sephora collections ... so all her favorite things!

We finished up the fast and furious last week of school and have been on break since. I'm still catching up on sleep! Emma has been busy playing basketball and her team did a soccer camp this week as well.

Her basketball team has improved significantly this year and it's been fun to watch. They are playing on regulation hoops with regulation balls for the first time, and they are killing it! This shot went in, by the way. I love watching this little athlete!

In between sports, Emma went to two days of camp at Paint n Party and came home with cute canvases and ornaments. She loves to stay busy, but it's caught up with her a little bit. Yesterday she was coughing and sniffling. Seems to have gotten better with lots of sleep, though.

Jim is loving having everyone home and it's total sweater weather for him. We even had a few snow flurries the other day ... nothing stuck but it felt festive!

Sara and I started reading through the high school course catalog. She'll have her four-year plan outlined by the end of January. Can't believe we are about to have a high schooler!

Of course winter break isn't ever winter break without a little "self care". One night while Emma was a soccer camp, I ran some holiday errands then treated myself a bit.

I snuck away for a HH with some teachers from my former school, and Steve and I have gotten a couple dates in, too (one was to the grocery store, but still). It's been nice to have some time to just enjoy being together.

Sara had a belated birthday celebration with her girlfriends. Another trip to the mall (because of course) followed by lunch at Taverna. Such a great group of kids!

And of course we've gotten in our cookie time! I don't care how old they get, I'm going to always make them decorate some cookies for Santa.

Now we're preparing for our Christmas celebrations. We'll celebrate at home tonight and tomorrow, then Monday we'll do some packing and on Tuesday it's off to MN for the second part of break. Here's hoping that Santa is good to everyone in the meantime!

Fabulous Fourteen

 Today Sara is 14, and it's clear that time is flying faster than ever. High school is on the horizon ... she is 100% her own confident, amazing person ... my raspy-voiced little girl has become the most wonderful young woman.

At 14, Sara loves cheering at school. She is missing competitive cheer, but is looking forward to high school tryouts later this spring and is hopeful she'll be able to continue cheering for several more years. Sara is *obsessed* with Taylor Swift and was thrilled that we were able to get our hands on tickets for her upcoming tour. Our concert date is April 1st and I cannot wait to be there with her. Second only to her love of all things TS is her love of all things Starbucks.

Sara spends a significant amount of time on her hair, make-up, and wardrobe choices, often asking us to "peep the fit" she plans to wear the following day. But she's is so much more than what's on the outside: she's smart and confident, and she doesn't hesitate to advocate for herself with teachers and coaches. She recently won the science fair with a project she completed entirely on her own, and she earned herself a spot on the mock trial team, too. Sara makes me proud every single day, and while I'm not in a hurry for it to be over, I truly cannot wait to see where the next few years take her.

Happy 14th birthday, Sara Noel. You're everything I could ever hope for you to be.❤

Thankful

We are home from a few relaxing, rejuvenating days in Broken Bow, OK. It was hard to leave today, knowing we'd be heading back to the crazy of our normal lives. But it was a great getaway and we have so much for which to be thankful.

As always, our car was packed to the brim. You just never know what you'll need!

Of course we brought all the fixings for our full Thanksgiving meal. We decided we made our best turkey ever!

The girls enjoyed some hot tub time each night. We all laughed because the swimsuit Emma brought had clearly lost its elastic thanks to all the use this summer. Needless to say, we didn't bring it back with us when she was finished soaking.

Our cabin was situated on a quiet dirt road and I enjoyed several walks with Jim, just soaking up the great outdoors.

The weather was cool and mostly rainy, but Emma got out as often as she could. Juggling ...

... ladder ball. 

Sara did venture out to play with her a bit here and there, but mostly just enjoyed being cozy!

They did work together (briefly) on a gingerbread house, but did more snacking than decorating.

Jim loved the freedom and roam and sniff!

On Friday we ventured out to the Mountain Fork Brewery - one of our annual stops - to watch the USA vs. England World Cup game. We got lucky with a spot in front of the only TV showing it, and also simultaneously enjoyed the Yule log channel, which made us laugh.

Even with all the rain, we enjoyed several camp fires late into the nights.

Jim really wanted in on the s'more action.

Fresh popcorn on the stove, terrible wifi, and gravel and leaves underfoot ... I just love all the simple cabin pleasures. 

When Steve started looking for reservations a couple months ago, I wasn't sure we needed to make the trip again this year, but everyone else was fighting for it ... I'm so glad they persuaded me. It was just the time I needed in a beautiful place with the people I love most.

Good Fall Times

Time to blog mid-day ... what is this?!? 

It's Thanksgiving break!! Before we head to the woods of Broken Bow, I'm going to recap the last couple of weeks.

Another softball season ended. This was a tough one for the girls, playing up in a top bracket. They learned a lot and persevered. During one of the last games of the season, all of the lights in the park went out (we found out there was an electrical fire), so the teams took an in-the-dark picture together before heading out for the night. They had already played a couple of tough innings, so it was fun to see the girls just all have silly fun together.

Sara's football season ended. The football team lost in play-offs, but Sara LOVED football cheering. She got to do lots of tumbling and calling cheers. One of the football moms told me, "Wow - Sara was made for this!" Such a nice compliment after lots of hard work. She'll cheer for basketball this winter and then get ready to tryout for high school.

These girls love a Starbucks run.

A couple weeks ago we started a Christmas puzzle while listening to Christmas records. We still love Thanksgiving, too, so I couldn't completely get rid of the decor quite yet!

This past weekend was the best! Adam surprised Melissa with a birthday trip to Plano, and the girls had the best cousin time with Cal. He just turned three and is SO MUCH FUN! He loved watching Charlie Brown Thanksgiving with them.

On Saturday we went birthday bowling. I promise he loved it more than it looked like in this picture.

We never did get a group picture, but at least I got one with my sister on her birthday. It was so fun to celebrate together. We basically hopped from establishment to establishment (between the bowling, of course, and soccer tournament games). We managed to get to the mall and find a fun spot to watch the first US World Cup game, too.

In between it all, Emma had a very COLD soccer tournament. They went 5-0 and beat a really tough team to bring home gold!

And of course we had birthday cake: Cal - 3, Melissa - 38. So, so glad we got to celebrate with them.

Now we're packing up and will be headed to OK in the morning. Our Broken Bow tradition has become a family favorite and I know we'll enjoy every minute.

Halloween

We had a fun and festive Halloween (even if it was on a Monday, which is the worst). It did mean that we got to spend a Saturday night carving pumpkins and listening to the Halloween record, so that was a bonus! 

Hard at work on digging and designing!

Our finished products ... Emma made the ghost, Sara's was the Taylor Swift tribute, and Steve's was the hand coming out of the ground (running inside joke around here). So I got stuck with pumpkin face.

I was just planning to wear a Halloween shirt to school, but Sara insisted a costume would be better so she crafted me an outfit ala Taylor Swift's "You Belong With Me" video. It turned out to be a huge hit at school (as she knew it would) and I had a super fun day. Played some games with my staff and students to keep the festive feelings going!

Taylor and Taylor (the next day her new tour dates were announced and we're hoping to snag some tickets this week!)

Taylor and Hermione 

The Daffron Dad's Club wore costumes to open car doors at carpool the morning of Halloween. Emma was sure that Steve would humiliate her and tried to talk him out of going. I'm glad he went anyway!

Sara went trick-or-treating with friends; Steve and Emma went through our neighborhood together; Jim and I stayed home handing out candy (and ringing doorbell made for an exhausting night for Jim).

Now here we are nearly to Thanksgiving. My favorite time of year!

Busy Fall

The Cyclones have dug themselves into a terrible hole this season, but at least middle school football has been fun to watch with Sara cheering each Tuesday night! She has loved the move to school cheer and she's good at it, too. It's been so fun to watch her in this new endeavor.

Coming up next week, Robinson plays Frankford at the big stadium, and I can't wait to watch!

A few weeks ago after a game, Emma and I spent a little time at Scheel's spending her birthday gift cards. She chose new softball cleats, crocs, and one of her "signature" under armor shirts.

Later that evening, Sara and I got a Target and sushi date at Kona. So good!

I spend the first weekend of October on a quick trip to MN to visit my mom after her knee replacement surgery. Lots of recovery yet to occur, but she's doing great! I loved getting to spend a little time with Cal.

My parents and I had a little patio afternoon at the horse and hunt club. Fun place!

And I spent some quality time with Expo. ❤

I got home on Sunday in time for a soccer game and family dinner at LaHa. I had to fight for this picture, but I got it!

Last weekend was a much-needed long weekend, and we spent Monday at the fair. We hadn't been in a few years, and it was as good as we'd remembered!

The girls rode a few fun/sketchy rides...

...and took a trip down the giant slide.

We used to have a running joke that when I took the kids in the petting/feeding barn, Steve finally got to sit down and have a beer by himself. Well, this year we sent them in on their own and we got to enjoy a beer together!

Also sat in a couple cars at the car show.

It was such a fun day, even if it didn't feel like fall quite yet. Cold front is coming in tomorrow and fall temps are headed our way!

On a school-related note, I was invited to the high school volleyball game for their teacher appreciation night. I was these girls' principal in elementary, and they've come to visit a few middle school games this season. It's such an honor to be able to watch them grow - and a great reminder of why I do the work I do. The move back to middle school has been HARD, but this night spent at the high school game was the perfect way to end the first quarter of the year!