Our Little Performer

There's no denying that Leah is the shyest of our three kids. However, she LOVES the idea of performing...as long as she isn't by herself! These past couple of months, she has had several chances to show off her cuteness. 

She started with her adorable second grade musical in March. She had been practicing and looking forward to this for many, many months. As always, the music teacher did a great job and the kids were so fun to watch. Leah still asks to wear her shirt at least once a week and can occasionally be caught singing the songs (in her room, with the door closed)!

Leah had a chance to step out of her comfort zone during the second grade wax museum. She chose to research Betsy Ross and did a great job of presenting her info to all of the people that came to see the second graders. She was quite nervous, but she rocked it!

Her final performance of the spring was her cheer competition. She joined a league through the park district back in January and has met once a week to practice. The routine was adorable and Leah LOVED everything about her time in the class and at the competition. She appears to be hooked on this new "sport" and despite Tyler saying (just to me...not to poor Leah) that he'd be fine with not sitting through one of those competitions ever again, it looks like we've got at least a couple more seasons of this!

A Boy and His Dog

It might be because there are no other kids here with him for most of the day (he gets home from kindergarten at 11:00), but this boy has quite a special bond with his dog. When he gets off the bus, he runs in and the first thing he does is give Chesney a hug...who, by the way, sleeps just about all morning and almost instinctively wakes up right before he gets home. Even though she's rather old, and often doesn't take much interest in anybody or anything, she seems very loyal to him. Maybe it's because he's the only one that takes the time to read her bedtime stories and cover her with her favorite blankie before bed?!?

Florida 2018

Another memorable Florida trip is in the books! The weeks leading up to the trip were anything but fun, so it sure was great to have a week of relaxing in the sun! The month of March was spent with nonstop sickness in our home. First, it Tyler. Then, one week later, Joel woke up sick on a Monday morning and wasn't fully better until Saturday. The final victim, who almost never succumbs to the viruses passed around the family, was ME! The timing couldn't have been any worse. I was sitting at the car dealership on the Monday before our Saturday departure getting the oil changed and the sickness hit me like a ton of bricks! I had a low fever, aches, and nothing much more (a horrendous cough came on a couple days into it). The following day, the kids had off of school, so Caleb's birthday party was already planned. Thankfully, the most wonderful dad and husband in the world has sick days and was able to take on all that was planned for that day. I felt a bit better on Wednesday, but must have done too much because I was back in bed that evening with another fever. With only a couple days left before vacation and a million things to do, Tyler took Thursday off and helped out a TON. We managed to get ourselves packed and ready for our middle of the night departure Friday into Saturday. Unfortunately, the drive down was awful. We hit a massive snow storm throughout central Illinois that was terrifying to drive through and then hit insane traffic in Alabama (because, apparently, every single person from the Midwest converges on that one interstate to head south for Spring Break)! I was also still in major recovery mode and spent most of the drive sleeping on and off.

We couldn't have been more thrilled to pull up to our condo and get out of the car to feel the sunshine, warm air, and salty breeze! From that point on, we had an absolutely amazing time. The weather was gorgeous (one chilly day kept us from the water, but allowed us the chance to visit a local Air Force museum). The kids made fast friends with a set of siblings from Indiana. They all had a blast playing in the sand, swimming, flying kites, coordinating games of kickball or baseball in the courtyard, relaxing, and catching up on some much needed family time. We are truly thankful for Grandpa and Grandma making this trip happen year after year and helping to keep this tradition going. Our whole family LOVES this trip each year and we have so many memories to hold onto for life!