December is off to a BUSY month!

It's hard to believe Christmas is only 2 weeks away!!! YIKES! The last few weeks have been swamped with fun activities. Of course, the most important being LTD's 10th Birthday! Time has flown by WAY too fast and it is truly hard to believe that the trio that graced us with their angellic presence (what seems like yesterday) are now double digits in age. I can honestly say, December 1 this year was a bit tough on me as I reflected back on all the precious moments we have shared together and all the wonderful memories we have made over these last 10 years. BUT, we have so much to look forward to and we truly believe the best is yet to come!

LTD had Friday, December 5, off from school this year and decided to invite their closest friends to share a day at the Waterpark of America. We had the entire waterpark pretty much to ourselves and it was a blast! Our fun group consisted of 22 kids (and Dave and me) who are a pretty special, close-knit group of kids that are very well behaved and fun to be around. The kids opted (with a little arm twisting involved) to forgo birthday gifts this year. In lieau of gifts, we asked for our friends to donate a non-perishable food item to dontate to the local food shelf. Together, all the kids donated 5 full bags of groceries that weighed 50 lbs!!! Pretty impressive and a great lesson to give to those less fortunate. We have way more than we need and there are so many people who need help just putting food on the table. 

After a full day at the park, LTD each invited two friends for a sleepover. The girls produced and performed their own Christmas play for Dave, me and the boys who were VERY patient and gracious during the 10 minute performance. Check out our Shutterfly Link on the right hand side of this blog to see all the birthday party photos and the cute video production. 

Taylor's Petite Nutcracker Performance

We have just posted the video of Taylor's Nutcracker Peformace on the Shutterfly Link. Check it out. Very sweet!

Christmas Dance Event

Friday night, Lindsey and Taylor performed in their dance Christmas event. We absolutely LOVE Prairie School of Dance in Eden Prairie! It is a faith-based dance studio whose mission is to provide quality dance instruction in a wholesome environment while celebrating the beauty of each dancer and the joy of dance. It's a refreshing change from the typical dance studios. The girls are in Hip Hop/Jazz and did a super job performing and had SO much fun. Afterwards, we got to share in some holiday cheer with other dancers and their families, including a good friend of theirs from their school. We were very proud of our tiny dancers. 

Hosanna Christmas Concert

Last night, we loaded up the kids for a nice dinner out and a spectacular evening at Hosanna in Lakeville to take in their Christmas Concert. WOW, WOW, WOW!!! This is a sellout every year and I understand why. AMAZING!!! A good friend is in the choir and not only got us half-price tickets, but she scored some great seats! We all loved it immensely. They had a full-blown orchestra, massive adult choir, a talented children's choir, ballerinas, acrobats, ice skaters and amazing singers. It was outstanding and definitely an annual family event moving forward. 

Now if we can only survive the next two weeks. We have a piano recital today, the girls and I are attending The Nutcracker after the recital, I start work on Monday, we have several Christmas parties, basketball, dance, gymnastics, snowboarding, Christmas cards to get out, Christmas shopping to finish and Christmas baking to start. WHEW! I hope I survive the frenzy. However, no matter how overwhelming it can get, we all need to remember the reason for the season and just slow down and take it all in. Enjoy the "present". 

Late Fall Update

So here we are again......summarizing the last few months in a blog post. Why do I do that? Bad mom!!! With school activities and life in full gear, it gets kind of hectic to keep up. BUT, I realize it's important to make time to do a weekly or bi-weekly updates on this blog and our Shutterfly share site to keep our family and friends updated. Now that I am going back to work full-time in 2015, no better time than the present to kick it in gear. 

4th Grade Portraits:
The kids are growing, FAST! Lindsey has become a young lady, Dylan is perfecting his fake smile and Taylor didn't take mom's advice to avoid tucking her hair behind her ears. Oh well - they are all cute as ever :)

Halloween 2014:
We all had a great time at Halloween this year carving pumpkins, hosting a slumber party for LTD's friends and hanging out with the Levie's and our neighbors. Lindsey was Sacajawea, Taylor was a Renaissance Queen and Dylan was Lovelace from Happy Feet. Dave and I chose to dress up this year as well since our neighbors had a small party and we were hippies from the 70's. Lots of fun!

Tootsie's 2nd Birthday:
The Tootsi-nator turned 2 in early November and the kids made sure she was treated with a grilled steak. We had a big celebration complete with chocolate brownies that LTD made (for them), a tutu for Toots (she hated it), loud singing and oodles of kisses and hugs. Tootsie is so much fun and we are so happy to have her in our lives!

Garth Brooks Concert:

In November, Dave treated me to a night out to dinner and a concert to Garth Brooks, one of my all-time favorite country singers. We had such a GREAT time! Dinner was outstanding and the concert was fantastic! We had really amazing seats, one row off the stage! Still not sure how Dave scored seats like that but it was a highlight of my year. Dave even admitted that Garth was pretty good, even though he is not much of a country music fan like I am. Garth still has it and Trisha Yearwood (his wife) still has some impressive pipes as well. They wowed Minneapolis for 6 shows, two weekends straight and set new attendance records at the Target Center. So glad we got to be a part of it!!!

Thanksgiving 2014:

With my dad released from the hospital on Thanksgiving Day, we had so much to be thankful for this year!  In addition, we were blessed with a multi-day visit from Papa and Grandma Clark (on their way to Texas for the winter) and Uncle Ken and his 4 cutie pie daughters. Aunt Lisa and her 3 kiddos (4 if you count Wendy, their Chihuahua) popped over for some dessert after the big meal. We had a full house for a few days and it was a blast! The kids loved hanging out with their cousins, playing outside, writing stories, coloring, dressing up and watching movies. Papa Clark and I dominated at the game, Jokers, and are now the reigning champions :)  I also took the 7 kids to a matinee, Dolphin's Tale 2, and there wasn't a dry eye in the crowd. Even little Sarah said she had tears in her eyes :) That weekend, we were also blessed wtih a visit from my nephew/Godchild, Dexter and his beautiful wife, Samantha (and their puppy, Kuma) all the way from Oklahoma! We had such a nice dinner but I FAILED in getting photos with them. SO mad at myself for that one! All in all, we had a wonderful Thanksgiving and are so grateful for our family. It was very sad to say goodbye :(

Taylor's Nutcracker Peformance:

This past Tuesday, Taylor got to perform in the Petite Nutcracker at the Ames Perforning Arts Center in Burnsville. She was ecstatic and absolutely loved it! Dylan was at basketball but Lindsey was there to cheer her on. She partook in a 5-week mini camp for the event which was geared towards dancers 5-12 years old who were unable to commit to the formal Nutcracker Ballet but still wanted to perform in a mini production. Taylor was proud to be the Lead Soldier. I will make sure to post the video on our Shutterfly share site (see link on right side of this blog) since these pictures were taken after the dance event. The video is so darn cute!