Upward

Whew!  We survived our first weekend of Upward.  We were crazy busy but we survived and the kids had a ton of fun.  They passed out every night this weekend.  Bobby & I just managed to spend a little time together before collapsing ourselves.

Sammy's game was at 8:30am Saturday morning.  Because it's a pre-school team there are no refs and the coaches stay on the court with the kids the whole time.  It's also broken up into six 6 minute segments since the littles aren't going to hold out too long.
There is one kid on Sammy's team that cracks me up.  Sweet little Carlos, during the game he wondered off to get some water from his mommy.  Then we were constantly telling him to run to the other side of the court, find the person you're guarding, run back, get off the goal post...  He was a hoot.
Sammy, on the other hand, is loving basketball.  He can dribble pretty well and most of the time he can catch the ball when it's passed to him.  After each game the kids receive stars based on their performance during the game.  Sammy got the Red star for Defense.  He was getting agressive out on the court and attempted to take the ball from the opposing team several times.

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Hannah is seriously enjoying cheer leading.  She knew all of her cheers and was ready.  As I was getting her dressed she told me she was a little bit nervous.  Sweet girl.  She did just fine though.  She got the Blue star for being Christ-like.  From the moment she heard that was one of the stars she could earn she was determined to get it.  It's been all she's talked about.  What a wonderful goal for my sweet baby.  She definitely earned it too - she knew all of her cheers, encouraged the other girls and continued cheering w/o complaint when she knocked her megaphone into her mouth (she's so full of grace!)

Only 7 more weeks to go! 

:: seven ::

My sweet little girl turned SEVEN yesterday!  How is this possible?  Wasn't she just a little 6 lb 12 oz baby that I snuggled in my arms?  Strains of 'Sunrise, Sunset' are running through my mind.

Sweet Hannah wanted a Pinkalicious party.  This was my favorite party to plan by far.  I scoured the internet for ideas as well as free printables and I was pretty successful in this regard.  Unfortunately Party City only sells Pinkalicious supplies online which was nice to know when I arrived at the store one week before the party.  So we improvised.  And it turned out beautifully in my personal opinion.  Hannah loved it & her little guests had fun so I guess that's all that matters!

Thankfully there were two other boys so Sammy wasn't completely overwhelmed by pink.  And girls.

New Years Eve we decided to let the kids stay up and watch the ball drop.  Sammy was so close but didn't make it.  Hannah on the other hand was clued to to tv while clutching her glass of Sparkling Grape Juice.  She was very confused as to what kind of ball was "dropping" and why so many people were going to be watching it!

 

 --Food-- 

strawberry wafers, maraschino cherries and strawberry marshmallows dipped in vanilla almond bark then in pink sprinkles.  This picture does not to them justice b/c they were beautiful.  (If I might toot my own horn.)

--Gifts included--

 a Bible, a unicorn Cuddle-Up-It, a Rapunzel game for the Wii, lots of Disney Princess make-up and bath sets, two Pinkalicious books and plenty of money to go on a shopping spree...

{best friends}

Summer & Hannah

This & That

---fun at a birthday party---

 ---school projects:  maps of Israel & volcanoes---

 Hannah's finished map.

Samuel & I made a map together.

There's so much more.  We've been doing a lot and I've got a ton of pictures.  I'll get to them someday....hopefully.

little broadway star

Hannah did such a great job in 'Annie.'  She was too cute.

My favorite part was the servant scene.  In every practice she stayed toward the back of the stage and pretended to clean with all of the other servants.  I have no idea what got into her during the play.  She walked onto the stage with the other servants, did a ballet-like leap towards the front of the stage and then started "cleaning."  It was hilarious.  She is such a ham.

She wasn't even nervous.  I was more nervous for her.  The only thing she said was that the lights were too bright on the stage.

I think her favorite part was all of the flowers she received afterwards.  My sister bought her some and then Bobby & I gave her some as well.  

She is a little diva for sure.

b.u.s.y.

This is going to be a busy season for the Clark Clan.  We started this past week and won't stop until spring ... the first week of March to be exact.

Hannah is going to be in a junior production of Annie (tomorrow!) and has been attending weekly play practices since the first week of November.  She began practices right as her Music Makers class was wrapping up.  

Hannah & Samuel will both be participating in Upward sports this year - basketball for Sammy and cheerleading for Hannah.  This program is through our church which is nice and it offers us some wonderful opportunities to reach out to our community.  Bobby & I were asked to be on the committee for Upward and we agreed.  This means that we are responsible for opening and locking the gym for practices one night a week.  Thankfully Hannah & Sam's practices fall on our night to open/close so we won't be running up and down the mountain every day.  Bobby is also coaching two b-ball teams as well (one of them is Sammy's team, the Cheetahs). 

This week was unbelievably busy (and it's not over yet!)  Monday was our first night of Upward, Tuesday Hannah had play practice, Wednesday was Awana at church and tonight was the full dress rehearsal for Hannah.  Sweet little Amos just goes with the flow, sleeps wherever he lands and lets the ladies at church hold him & snuggle him while I work. 

We're going to be busy but it's going to be so much fun.  Sam has been wanting to play basketball and we're thankful that we're not only able to be there to support him but be a part of the program as well.  And we're also thankful that Ms. Dory (the pastor's wife) has provided many outlets for Hannah's creative/musical interests.  We have so much fun with our brothers and sisters at Bountyland so I know that it's going to be a pleasure serving with them over the next several weeks.

Here are just a few pics from the past few weeks...

--Sammy's version of planking--

 --Amos thoroughly enjoys his sweet potatoes (from my Dad's garden)--

 --Sammy's first night of Upward practice.  Here he's working on dribbling--

 --And here he's just goofing off--

--Dress Rehearsal for Annie.  "Make her drink a mickey finn!" --

 --"You're never fully dressed without a smile!"--

 --End scene--

Thankful?

Today we were not thankful for...

Poor Sammy started throwing up at 8am and didn't stop until after 5pm.  He couldn't even keep water down.  He did start feeling better towards the evening and was able to eat some "mashed tatoes" and cranberry sauce before bedtime. 

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Amos' first Thanksgiving was spent snuggling with Hannah while watching the Macy's parade and taking naps.

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I saved some turkey and stuffing but sent the rest of the food to my parents (since they were expecting to eat Thanksgiving dinner at our house and had only planned to bring sides.)  There are no pictures of food or decorations since I spent the majority of my day tending to Sammy & Amos.  Poor Hannah was left to entertain herself.  She & I were both so disappointed that no one would be joining us for dinner...we were super excited about Thanksgiving and the crafts we had made for decorations.

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Now Hannah & Bobby are at the Black Friday sale at Walmart (why oh why do we ever bother with Walmart Black Friday sales?!)  Both of my boys are asleep and I'm trying to catch up on photo editing.