Celebrating Leah

What seems like an ongoing week of celebrating, continued on with Leah's birthday celebration. We had a bunch of girls over for an art party. Anyone who knows Leah knows that she loves arts and crafts, so this party was perfect for her! The girls painted canvases, made slime, did a color-by-number relay, and made giant paper snowflakes. We also had a separate nail salon run by none other than Aunt Denise. All of the girls had a great time and we learned that it is a thousand times easier to run a party full of girls rather than boys!

For her actual birthday, Leah kept it simple and requested pizza for dinner and cake. We enjoyed getting to celebrate our sweet eight-year-old and can hardly believe how much she's grown and changed in the last year.

Dear Leah,

You're eight. Somehow the last eight years have flown by and though we can vividly remember bringing you home from the hospital, so much of what's happened since then is a blur. We can hardly remember a time before you were part of what makes us a family and we are thankful each day that God blessed us with you as a daughter. There's so much to be amazed by with you.

To start, you are still one of the most selfless and kind girls we know. You almost always put the needs of others above your own. Even when your brothers are rotten towards you, you only let it bother you for so long before going back to being the peacemaker that you are. We often fear that you might get taken advantage of, but we've begun to recognize that might not be the case.

It turns out the strong will you exhibited as a baby and toddler never fully went away. When you know that something is wrong, you won't stand for it. One of the most memorable examples of this in the past year was when Mommy got a phone call from the school social worker saying you were involved in an issue with two other girls. Knowing that this is the age when girl drama tends to begin, Mommy worried that you got sucked into a bad situation. However, you held firm to your convictions and wouldn't allow any girls to tell you what to do or how to behave. The two other girls were fighting over who you should play with and instead of caving in, you told them they couldn't force you to do anything and you would make time for each of them. Hearing the social worker call you the "angel" of the situation made us so proud and reassured us that you have the strength to do what's right even when it isn't easy.

You've also continued to amaze us at school with more than just your social skills. It's no surprise to hear your teacher say that you're always willing to lend a hand and help her or other students. What comes as more of a shock is when we're told how well you do at school. At home, you often display a lack of confidence and complain that things are too hard. You doubt yourself often and always try to ask for help. However, at school you are far more independent and are one of the highest achievers in the class. We appreciate the humility, but sure wish you'd see just how capable you are!

When you're not at school, you still spend much of your time playing hard. Your favorite things still center around imaginative play....babies, Barbies, school, forts, and so much more. You are incredibly creative and love to do all sorts of crafts. You've also enjoyed playing soccer again and are looking forward to starting cheerleading this winter followed by softball for the first time in the spring. The name of the game with you is busy, busy, busy. You're still the same energetic kid you've always been and it doesn't take long for you to make a HUGE mess while you're wrapped up in your playing. Thankfully, with age, you've gotten just a tiny bit better about cleaning up after yourself. Just a TINY bit. It still can be a real pain to get you motivated to clean up!

With all of the aspects that make you the unique girl that you are, it's so hard to picture what the future holds. Regardless of what road you choose, we know it will be filled with so much love, laughter, and joy. The light of Jesus radiates through you and we know that no matter what the future holds, you will be used by Him to do great things! You are such a gift to this family and a treasure to all those lucky enough to know you. Happy birthday sweet girl. We love you so very much!

Love,
Daddy and Mommy

Christmas Recap

Christmas is always full of fun and festivities in the Sturm home. This year we had lots of fun carrying on yearly traditions and making new memories. December seemed to fly by faster this year than it has in the past and it's hard to believe the Christmas season is behind us.

Towards the beginning of the month, we enjoyed a very special visit from Uncle Randy, Aunt Sharon, Laura, and Meredith. They made the trip up North to spend a cold weekend in Chicagoland. Friday night we enjoyed getting to chat and catch up. Saturday morning, we spent most of the morning in our comfy clothes playing games and just hanging out. While I had to be at church setting up for our Christmas Shop event, the rest of the crew went to see a movie. The kids were quite thrilled that Uncle Randy generously bought them each their OWN GIANT BAG of Skittles! After the movie, they came over to church to attend the Christmas Shop. What they didn't realize was how slammed we'd be with people and instead of running from the crowd, they jumped right in to lend a helping hand with gift wrapping. After the exhausting few hours, we all went out for dinner and then everyone was ready for bed early that night! It was truly a wonderful visit and we were all so thankful to have time with family that we don't get to see nearly as often as we'd like!

It wouldn't be Christmas without baking and a lot of that was done this year! On this particular day, Joel and my favorite little two year old that I babysit anxiously awaited each batch of sugar cookies to finish. They were in charge of sprinkles and did a great job of adding to the giant mess that was made that day!

Each year, Grandpa Rob and Grandma Leslie are kind enough to take us to breakfast with Santa. Nana Pam and Ed often join us and we all enjoy getting to eat well and spend time together. The kids all made sure to tell Santa what they wanted and I think he listened pretty well!

We spent plenty of time making memories with friends this season as well. One night, we had a house full of kids and parents to make gingerbread houses. The kids had a great time and ate just about as much sugar as they put onto their houses! We also had a fun evening with our neighbors when we did a Christmas scavenger hunt. We teamed up and drove around town looking for all sorts of fun and funny outdoor decorations. Who knew it could be so hard to find a house with a "Seasons Greetings" sign?!?

Another day we all look forward to is our annual Lamont cookie decorating day. It was especially fun this year because we put all the "old guys" in charge of judging the decorating skills of the youngest generation. The judging process and thought that went into their selections was quite fun to watch!

I hosted baking day with friends and it was a blast. It's just a bunch of moms getting together to bake while (most of) the kiddos are at school. We all left with mounds of different yummy treats!

This year we finally made it to the Morton Arboretum to see Illuminations. We've been members there for several years and have heard great things about it, so this year we finally made it a point to go. We lucked out and had wonderful weather that night. We walked for about a mile along a path with tons of different lighted trees and light shows. It was a really cool experience!

Perhaps a new tradition that started this year was to enjoy taking a night off from cooking by going out to dinner on Christmas Eve. We usually spend the evening going to church and then having dinner with Grandpa, Grandma, and TiTi. This year, we went to church and then all went out to dinner and it was such a relaxing and enjoyable way to spend the evening!

Christmas morning was full of smiles and fun. The kids loved their presents from Santa and Dad/Mom. They also got tons of great gifts from Grandpa, Grandma, and TiTi. The best part about gifts these days is that they take up MUCH less room than they used to, so it didn't take weeks to find space for all of their new stuff!

The day after Christmas, we got a visit from one of favorite out of town guests -Aunt Denise! She came and stayed with us for several days and we made the most of her time here with us. One of the highlights of our time with her was our trip into the city to have lunch at the Walnut Room. The food was delicious and the memories were priceless! Fairy Jade made sure to have everyone make wishes before she left our table :)

We truly hope that your Christmas season was filled with blessings and treasured memories. It is absolutely the MOST wonderful time of the year!

Geography Bee

One of my favorite things about Caleb is the fact that he's a smart kid and does well in school, but he never gets prideful about it. One day, his teacher emailed me to let us know that he'd be representing his class in the 4th grade geography bee and that we were welcome to come watch it. I was shocked because he hadn't mentioned anything about it. When I had the chance to ask him, he totally brushed it off like it wasn't a big deal. It turns out, he beat out his entire class for this spot and we were super proud of him...perhaps all those hours spent in front of the TV watching "educational shows" and documentaries (like he knows we prefer, as he often gains himself extra couch potato time by requesting such programs) have paid off. And, though he didn't win, we really enjoyed watching him compete and were super pleased that one of his best buds was the overall 4th grade champ! I told the boys the day before that as long as one of them took home the gold, I'd be happy!

Girls Night Away

For Grandma's 60th birthday this year, we decided to give her an extra special gift...and overnight girls trip to the city. As kids, she used to take us to see the Nutcracker and we thought it would be fun to relive that memory. After the ballet, we walked around the city for a bit since the weather was actually quite nice for December. We ate dinner and then headed back for a fun, relaxing night at the hotel. In the morning, we ate a delicious breakfast and then did some more meandering around the city. Leah decided to finish off the special weekend by getting her ears pierced. It was definitely a special and memorable weekend for all of us!