christmas season has begun

 The day after Thanksgiving we got the house ready for Christmas!  One of my very favorite days!  The girls made the tree look great and the rest of the house looks festive as well! I love seeing lights all over the house.  We cannot wait to start all of our Christmas activities! 

thanksgiving 2017

 This Thanksgiving we were going to Detroit to spend the holiday with two of my brothers and my parents.  We were all so excited.  Unfortunately when we were about 3 hours from Detroit, my brother called to tell me they had the stomach flu.  We had a bunch of Christmas presents in the back of the car that could not be shipped.  We didn't want to bring the girls home throwing up in the car so we decided to stop and see Michael and drop off the gifts and then head home.  It was a crazy, unplanned adventure, but sometimes life doesn't go as planned!!  We made the most of it and the girls were troopers! 

The girls were excited that we would be home for Thanksgiving afterall because one of our very favorite things is the Give 'n Gobble 5k!  Even though we got home at 2:30 am, the girls were up ready to chase a turkey at 7!  We hurried and got ready and headed to downtown! Love, love, love our town!  We quickly signed all 3 up to chase the turkey and Heidi wanted to run the mile.  Heidi helped Savanna and Caimbree chase the turkey when it was there turn because they were nervous to do it alone.  Have I mentioned that she is the best big sister ever??  She ran the mile in just over 10 minutes!  She was the first in her age group and we were so proud of her!

After the race we went to Kroger and grabbed everything we would need to make a Thanksgiving feast.  It turned out great and we had a wonderful and relaxing day....even if it wasn't the one we had planned! 

dress up, cars, and sisterly love

 Caimbree is the queen of dress up. She is constantly pulling out all of the dress up clothes and changing multiple times a day from the time we drop Heidi off at school to the time we pick her up.  If Savanna is home, she will join the fun.  Savanna has been really into matchbox cars lately.  She will line them up and move them around for hours!  I thought it was so funny when they were in their princess dresses playing matchbox cars. 

Savanna was invited to her very first birthday party at the skating rink.  She was so excited.  Jeff took her, and Caimbree was sad to be left behind.  Heidi offered to snuggle her to make her feel better.  It wasn't long before Caimbree was sound asleep on Heidi.  So sweet.  Heidi is the best big sister and she is very, very loved by her two little sisters!

family pictures

 Due to weather, photographers being completely booked for fall photo shoots, and Savanna's foot injury, we were unable to get our fall pictures.  My friend offered to let us use her backyard and said she would take some pictures for us.  I am grateful we were able to get enough pictures to at least have pictures for Christmas cards!  We have a spring session set up in April and we will probably start doing spring pictures from now on because it is just so hard to get a session in the fall with the time change that results in shorter days!  I love the phase we are currently in and I am glad to have a few pictures to help us remember this time. 

a big, huge cut

 The first picture has nothing to do with the post, but aren't those two the cutest little shopping buddies ever??  We have a birthday party Saturday and we needed Santa hats for a dance performance coming up, and those two wore those hats the entire time and I thought it was the cutest thing ever. 

Sunday was a terrible day. It really was.  Some days are like that.  I was rushing and felt rushed the whole day.  I hate that feeling.  We were trying to get family pictures taken.  The weather just has not cooperated on the weekends!  Well, I was walking out of church and Savanna

was in front of me and stopped.  Or maybe she was just slow and I was rushing.  It's all a blur.  All I know is that the bottom of the door caught the back of her ankle and sliced it open.  I wasn't paying enough attention because my mindset was to get in the car and get everyone ready to go.  I wasn't as compassionate as I should have been because I was frustrated at myself and because I had no idea how bad it was until we got home.  The guilt on this one has been all consuming.  I have apologized a billion times to Savanna since.  The pictures were cancelled and Jeff and Savanna sat in urgent care for over two hours waiting to be glued and bandaged.  She didn't walk for two days,but is now limping. The wound is healing really well and she should be back to herself soon.  I know accidents happen, but this experience has really helped me try and slow down and not get in the "rush rush" mentality.  I don't want to rush through a single day with these precious girls of mine so I just need to stop worrying about trying to make everything so perfect all of the time.  If one of the girls hair wasn't curled, who cares??  If we were two minutes late, who cares???  I have spent this week really trying to simplify our schedule.  I haven't been rushing bedtime as much as I usually do knowing and worrying that school is the next day.  Instead, we have read an extra book, snuggled a little longer, sang one more song, we even skipped a bath tonight...and you know what?  Even if they went to bed at 8:05 instead of 7:45, they went to bed happier, I was less stressed,  and it didn't make that much difference the next day.   

heidi

 Heidi is an amazing girl and I am so lucky I get to be her mom.  She absolutely loves school.  Loves isn't a strong enough word.  She has the best teacher this year and I am so grateful she was placed in her class.  She makes learning fun, hands on, and exciting and she is so positive and notices the good things in her students.  It is the best learning environment.  Each week Mrs. Mandie chooses a handwriting king or queen and last week Heidi was chosen!  She was beyond thrilled.  She has been working extra hard on her handwriting and she was excited to be recognized.

Heidi is so incredibly smart and has always loved reading.  I remember getting stacks of books from the library when she was tiny and she would want to read all 15 at once and then she would "read" them to herself.  It's no surprise that she is reading well above grade level and is rarely found without a book.  I love this about her!

Heidi is just an all around beautiful person and

I love that she wants to do and try and everything.  We have always said she seems so much older than she is because she has an ability to see things from a more adult perspective.  Everyone loves Heidi...it doesn't matter who is coming over, they want Heidi.  Little kids and big kids adore her.  She is just so fun to play with and she is so, so sweet to others.  I have watched her diffuse situations with friends in ways that amaze me.  Yesterday she came home with a "good friend" sticker on her.  I asked her what it was for but she acted embarrassed and didn't want me to know.  I saw another teacher from her school at dance and she asked me if Heidi had told me what happened, but again, Heidi didn't want anyone talking about it.  After the other teacher alluded to me probably wanting to know, I messaged her teacher to get the scoop.  As proud as I am of Heidi for all of her academic and extracurricular successes, it is the beautiful and kind heart that she has that I admire the most.  I often tell her that kindness and getting along with others is her super power.  I wasn't surprised with what her teacher told me she had done....treating others in that manner is very typical for her, but to
have someone else notice that quality in her reminded me just how special she is.

"If every person made it a rule that wherever you are, whenever you can, you will try to act a little kinder than is necessary-the world really would be a better place."  (From the book, "Wonder" that we just finished reading together)

Thank you for choosing to be kinder than is necessary, Heidi.  I love that about you.

soccer season comes to a close

 We had a terrific soccer season and we are so glad we signed both Heidi and Savanna to play!  Jeff likes to coach and the girls love to have dad coaching so it's perfect!  This year we also had friends on each of the girls teams so it made it really fun for both of them. 

We spent the fall doing practices and games and enjoying the weather most of the time!  We did have a few rained out practices and make up games due to practices.  Heidi also

 had a double header on the hottest day of the season and it was pretty miserable!  But other than that, man alive did that girl do awesome!  She really got into the game this season.  She is such a fast runner and she was awesome at getting the ball down the field.  She was so much fun to watch and we are so proud of her for giving it her all!  She was sad when it was her last game and said she wants to play in the spring.  We didn't do spring season last year, and I am not sure we will do it this year either, but I am so glad she had a great season.

Savanna is a natural athlete.  She has endless energy and she picks up on

 athletics pretty easily.  She did awesome her first games and had a little bump in the middle of the season where she acted like she didn't really want to play, but at the last game she got back into her groove.  Sometimes she has to do things a few times before she really participates and decides if she likes it, so we will see what she thinks next season!  But she loved having time with daddy and she loved having one of best friends, Cooper on her team!

 I am so grateful Jeff is willing to coach and share this experience with the girls.  I cannot imagine a better father.  He loves his girls so much and is involved in every aspect of their lives.  They are so, so lucky.

I am also grateful for all of the wonderful friends our kids have and all of the wonderful friends we have made here.  We are so happy to be in such a phenomenal community and the gorgeous scenery, especially this time of year, makes us even more grateful to be here! 

savanna at five

 I still cannot believe that this beauty is five years old!  I am overcome with gratitude that this happy soul is in our family. 

*Savanna wakes up with a huge grin on her face almost every morning.  She is genuinely happy to see everyone and often has a funny dream or thought she wants to share.

*She has the most contagious laugh and we hear that laugh a lot.

*Savanna is my most helpful child.  She will help without question most of the time and is always the one getting whatever her sisters ask he for.

*She is very concerned about rules and about others following the rules. 

*Savanna tends to be uncomfortable in big crowds, adults, and around new faces.  It is hard to get her to answer or speak in public situations and if I am there, she

 will cling to me and hide behind me. 

*Savanna will share anything and everything.  She will give the last of anything she has to anyone if she knows it will make them happy.

*Savanna is shy, but she gets attached to people very easily.  When they have to leave, she gets really sad.  She loves to show her love by giving great big hugs.

 *When it gets humid we still see some pretty little curls around her face.

*She still has blue eyes, but we think they will turn green in the future. 

*Savanna has a lot of energy and is very athletic.  She has incredible endurance.  She enjoyed soccer and she really loves dance. 

*She is left handed for writing, but it seems like she might use her right for everything else.

*Loves to play games.  She especially loves the match game, Zingo, and Froggy Boogie.

*Often mixes up words and phrases and it's usually a funny switch.  The other day she was asking to watch "Ponk-a-hotus".  We figured out she was talking about Pocahontas.

*Savanna really enjoys school, but what she loves the most about school is seeing her friends and playing at recess.

*Savanna absolutely loves to tease.  If I ask her to go get something, she will always tell me she can't find it with a huge grin on her face and twinkle in her eye. 

*Savanna is my least picky when it comes to what to wear, how she wants her hair done, and what to eat. 

*She loves the color pink and yellow is her second favorite color.

*Savanna gets so excited over the smallest things.  When she gets excited her whole face lights up.

*Savanna doesn't let anything bother her for too long and it is one of the qualities I admire about her the most. She is kind and loving with a big, giant heart of gold!

We love you, Savanna!!

You are truly one in a million and we are oh so happy 

you were born and that you freely share your love and joyful spirit with our family!