Celebrations!

 Our weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas have been filled with a variety of celebrations! Emma performed with her choir on the big stage at our district's fine arts center. She is loving choir and plans to continue next year.

Steve and I spent a Saturday at the Big XII title game! We weren't planning to go because the girls had a lot going on that day, and we were assuming the Cyclones would end up at one of the bowl games in Texas. At the last minute the night before, we decided we HAD to go. Found great tickets, worked out a plan for the girls (thanks, Big Steve!!), and prepared to head out early for the 7:30 a.m. Cyclones tailgate at AT&T Stadium. The weather was terrible ... and honestly so was the game ... but we had the best time and were so happy to be there!

We seriously had amazing seats! The atmosphere was so much fun, and we loved being a little part of Ames in Dallas.

Pretty sure they didn't score (again) on this drive (in fact, this might have been the missed PI call ...). Oh, well. They ended up with a great Bowl game, but not one in TX so we were all the more glad to have gone to the championship game.

My APs had just purchased these overalls for me! I wore them to school the day before and broke them back out for the game. I'm not sure when their next appearance will be, but when the opportunity presents, I'll be ready!

Sara and Zach had a fun evening decorating cookies. Apparently it was a contest and Sara won.

December at school was SO much fun! I brought back my usual variety of celebrations for the the staff. This year, I added in a life-size cutout of Elf, which brought so much laughter, excitement, and *fright* as we wrapped up the semester. Possibly the best $50 I've ever spent.

The biggest celebration of all was Sara's driving test!! It was on the afternoon of her birthday and she was so nervous (I was too!).

She scored a 96! Woo-hoo! After the test at the driving school, we headed to our appointment at the DMV. Getting those appointments to line up took lots of planning many months ago, and I'm so glad it all worked out!

Also glad she passed since the bulk of her gifts were car-related!

Sara has been asking for years to eat at Bob's, and we finally indulged her for her Sweet Sixteen. We had a cozy booth among the dark wood paneling, and it was everything she had hoped it would be. She was so impressed that they had a birthday card waiting for her, and the GM even came over to wish her a Happy Birthday.

Sara's main birthday gift was a trip to Tulsa to see Zack Bryan. We bought tickets several months ago, and last weekend made the trip to Tulsa for Sara and Ally to attend the show.

I went to the plaza with them to buy merch, then we grabbed something to eat across the street before they headed into the venue. Don't let their outfits fool you ... it was cold. But they sure looked good!

We hit a super cute Starbucks on the way out of town. I'm so glad these BFFs had the best weekend! We made it home in time for them to do their last minute studying for finals.

It was a crazy week at school, but super celebratory and lots of fun. We had a successful staff party, and everyone left on Friday tired but happy. Of course I immediately met Steve at one of our favorite spots to toast the winter break!

Emma has started playing volleyball - a new sport for her! She was introduced to it in pre-athletics this fall, and wants to try to make the team next year. She and a friend from school are on this beginner team, and they're doing pretty well. After years of doing the same sports, it's fun to see Emma try something new!

Last night, Steve got last minute tickets to the Mavs game so he and Emma headed downtown. They had a blast! Sara and I went out to eat and then she sucked me into a new Netflix show that I didn't necessarily enjoy, but was glad she asked me to watch with her.

Today we made cookies! Emma has been a big help this season - she's done a bunch of our wrapping and made our gingerbread dough. She has plans to make some peppermint macarons, too.

Tomorrow we have a full day of doctor's appointments before Christmas. The next few days will be busy and festive ... and then our restful break will really start. I have big plans for the closets and visions of lots of donation bags, so hopefully I can get everyone on board with that plan. First, we're just going to continue the celebrations!

Sweet Sixteen

The birthday that has always felt so elusive - so far away - is here. My Sara Noel is Sweet Sixteen and I can hardly believe it. I'm starting to find myself measuring her time left under our roof with every event and milestone that transpires. It almost takes my breath away sometimes. 

She works at Handel's. She is a PAL and cheer captain. She balances a heavy course load and has her sights on college. She is funny and moody and opinionated ... and usually avoids us, but once in a while cozies up on the couch and I just try to soak it in. I live for the moments when she says, "oh my gosh, mom, guess what..." and proceeds to tell me something that's important in her life. It's fleeting but wonderful.

Her room is a mess - she has clothes and beauty products everywhere. She spends a lot of time doing her hair, watching "Gilmore Girls", and talking to friends. Sometimes she'll take a break from those activities to read or make a friendship bracelet and I'm reminded of the little girl in there. At 16, Sara is doing and being all of the things I could dare to dream for her.

Happiest Sweet Sixteen, Sara Noel.
...
"If I should smile with sweet surprise
It's just that you've grown up before my very eyes
You've turned into the prettiest girl I've ever seen
Happy birthday sweet sixteen"
-Neil Sedaka 

Thanksgiving Break

Thanksgiving Break started with a soccer tournament, which Emma's team dominated! It was a long couple of days way across town, but the girls were thrilled to leave with gold medals.

We made our now-traditional annual trek to Broken Bow on Tuesday, staying again in a new-to-us cabin. We really liked this one! The huge indoor and outdoor living spaces offered plenty of entertainment.

We shot many games of pool ...

... roasted countless s'mores ...

... played cards ...

... tossed bags ...

... watched football ...

... cozied up by the fire ...

Steve got me a "Christmas Vacation" mule mug to use. No eggnog, but I still felt festive drinking out of it!

Thanksgiving morning consisted of cinnamon roles and the Macy's parade. I'm glad the girls will still slow down and tune in (and actually enjoy it).

We had to hit up Girls Gone Wine, as well as the Mountain Fork Brewery a couple of times for pizza and brews. We had great weather - a little chilly (cold at night for fires) - and enjoyed sitting outside with the heaters.

Sara had to get in an insta photoshoot.

Emma made herself at home in the woods, exploring and finding a couple good walking sticks.

And Jim absolutely lived his best life. He needed a good bath and a long nap when we got home.

The final activity before we said goodbye for this year was to break the wishbone.

It was a quick snap in Emma's favor!

We made it home yesterday in time for me to do a bunch of laundry, for Sara to dive back into her social life, and for us to watch the Cyclones win their 10th regular season game for the first time in history! We are thrilled that they are headed to Arlington next weekend for the Big XII Championship. Tickets are pricey and our schedule next weekend is full ... but we may try to see if we can get there anyway. Time will tell, but either way we'll be cheering loudly!

Now I'm back at the airport with a repacked suitcase to head to Grand Rapids for a couple of days with a group of people from my school district. We are going to explore a furniture company, that's really all I know. I don't like not being at school, especially coming off of a break, but it was nice to be asked to attend this trip. Should be interesting ... and a little chilly! Steve is holding down the fort, and when I get back Tuesday evening it'll be right back into the busy schedule. We have something every weeknight and weekend for the next few weeks, including Sara's final driving practice and her test. Steve and I also need to manage to find time to Christmas shop. Another whirlwind ahead of us!

Ready to Rest!

 We have made it to Thanksgiving break! It has been a busy few weeks since Halloween ... here's what we've been up to ...

Emma's softball season ended. After primarily playing 2nd base and outfield this season, she took one more turn behind the plate, which was fun to see. I'm not sure if she'll play softball in the spring as her team is likely going to be primarily a tournament team, and there's just no way to juggle that with soccer. I love watching Emma play softball, so I'm hoping she'll want to continue with a league team, but we'll see.

Emma also brought home several awards from school, including a recognition from her pre-athletics coach. I'm so proud of Emma's transition to middle school!

She really got into attending volleyball games this fall. She was there so much that the coach often asked her to be a line judge, which she loved! This winter she's going to play on a volleyball team at PSA in hopes of making the school team next year. We'll see how she does with a new sport!

I got a new car! It's a VW Taos and I LOVE it. Since we're about to have three drivers in the house (hoping Sara passes her test in a few weeks - fingers crossed), we needed another vehicle. I knew I wanted something smaller than what I'd had, and this smaller SUV was perfect for our needs at this point. Steve and I have both enjoyed driving it ... Sara hasn't had a turn yet.

Sara's competition squad competed at UCA Regionals. Here they are before loading the bus.

Super fans ... we were among a huge Plano West section! Since we could only handle so much cheer comp, we snuck out between West's performance and the awards for a bite and a bev.

This team has had several obstacles this fall, primarily with some coaching issues and athletes quitting. We really had no expectation going into this competition, and we're just glad when they weren't called first during awards (meaning they would have come in last). As the teams were called and the rankings got higher, we got so excited that they might even place. They did better than that, though ... they WON! Parents and athletes were all shocked and thrilled!

After so much work and some heartache, they got their bid to nationals in Orlando. I'm proud of Sara's hard work and her leadership as captain this year.

Now that the team is heading to Orlando in February, they have increased their fundraising efforts ... which included a car wash that the girls were less than thrilled about. They were good sports, though, and made several hundred dollars.

I made a quick weekend visit to MN to surprise Melissa for her birthday! It was so fun!

We watched movies, went to brunch, went to a craft fair, and squeezed in a Triggerfish gig (complete with a sloppy joe at the Hopkins Legion in true MN fashion).

Cal was so excited to tell me that he's FIVE now! He read me a book and showed off all his new toys. He really looked great in his backwards jersey.

Group pic! I was there less than 48 hours, but it was a bucket-filler!

Emma has a soccer tournament this weekend and Sara has to work. We have a couple of appointments on Monday, and then Tuesday we are headed back to Broken Bow for our 5th Thanksgiving in the woods. We are all looking forward to some time away to rest and reconnect. Things will be busy again after Thanksgiving, but the slow-down next week will be just what we need!