Rachel's Chorus and Orchestra Concert

We had the pleasure to listen and watch Rachel perform in her orchestra and chorus concert tonight.  She was in the Chorale (the audition choir), regular 8th Grade Chorus, Orchestra and in the Chamber Strings ensemble.  In other words, she is in the elite singing and orchestra groups at the middle school.  It was a lovely evening of Christmas and holiday music.

Rachel in chamber strings

Happy 14th Birthday, Rachel!

Today we celebrated Rachel's 14th birthday. Wow, I can't believe we have a daughter who's soooooo old!

Feeding the Ducks

On Sundays, I am exhausted after going to my morning meeting and church.  Because of my pregnancy, I can't sit for more than about an hour, so I end up standing most of the time.  When I return home, I feel like I am going to collapse so Paul took the kids to feed the ducks to help give me a break.  It was such a nice gesture and the kids really enjoyed communing with nature.  As an added bonus, we didn't waste the freezer burned bread that we were about to discard.  All in all, it was a wonderful afternoon for everyone.

Just keep swimming!

Rachel has been busy swimming every available evening with her middle school swim team.  She loves it!

Snowball Dance

Rachel and her friends decided to go to the middle school Snowball.  You can imagine my dismay (being so hugely pregnant and miserable) when she told me we had to go shopping for a dress.  We searched the entire mall for something that we considered long enough for her extra-long legs.  After scouring the stores and trying on many, many dresses, we even considered buying two of the same dress and doubling the skirt. After what seemed an eternity, Rachel picked a gorgeous red  and dress with beading and sequins.  She and her girls met at Lauren W.'s house for a before-party, went to the dance and then enjoyed an after-party at Applebee's. 

Autumn Scenes by Caitlin

Caitlin borrowed my camera and captured beautiful fall scenes from our yard.  I'm very impressed with her photographer's eye at the young age of six! 

We enjoy cozy fall fires

I absolutely love this one

Self portrait

Fall Walk

Rachel and the girls took a walk around the neighborhood today.  It was cold but beautiful and they took lots of pictures!