Claire Liz ~10 years

Well this is a tiny bit later than I would have liked it, but hey better late than never right?!  Claire is still 10 (and a half with 11 fast approaching), but these pictures have been taken over the year of her being ten.  Claire is in 5th grade this year and doing really well in school.  She likes drawing and art the best. But also enjoys reading a good book now and then. Her least favorite subjects well are all the school subjects. Claire is in that unique stage of what they call "tween". She is between her younger years, but not yet a teenager.  The hormones are changing which is causing a bit more of the roller coaster emotions, but overall Claire is still our sweet, loving, kind 10 year old the moodiness and attitude just come out a lot more.  She is smart and funny, has a beautiful voice, great imagination, and loves to play, draw, and create.  Her giggle is infectious and her smile contagious!  We sure love having our Claire Liz as part of our family!

Here are a few pictures from the daddy daughter ball, in the beginning of June.

Pictures in July in Kalispell.

Pictures at home in late September and October.

Claire's current activities are dance and Homebase.  She loves dance!  She is dancing 4 days a week with 2 ballet classes, company class, and jazz class. 

Claire has worn braces for the last year and half about.  She is missing two of her permanent bottom teeth so we needed to move some teeth around to make room for her lower canines to come up. She now has her first phase of braces off and is wearing a retainer on the top and has a permanent retainer on the bottom.  When her mouth and head is full grown and all her permanent teeth are in, she will have braces again and then get implants. It will be a long process, but for now she is getting used to having a retainer and enjoying being out of braces.

What is your favorite outfit or style? well...that is hard...I think jeans and a cute shirt

What is your favorite color(s)? light blue

What is your favorite book? The Andie Books

What are you excited about?  my next birthday

What is your favorite drink? peach lemonade

What is your favorite dinner? crepes with berries and whipped cream

What is your favorite dessert? cream puffs

What is your favorite kind of ice cream?  cookies and  cream

What is your favorite snack? apples with peanut butter and chocolate chips

What is your favorite vegetable? peppers, peas, carrots or corn and green beans

What is your favorite fruit? watermelon or apples

What is your favorite toy? my stuffed animal koala

Sing your favorite song?  You Say by Lauren Daigle

Who is your favorite pet? Stella

What is your favorite thing to do outside? jump on the trampoline and playing Ghost in the Graveyard 

What is your favorite thing to bake, make or do with Mom? carrot cake

What is your favorite thing to do with Dad? jump on the trampoline

What is your favorite thing to do with your family? play sardines

What is your favorite thing to draw? animals

Who is your favorite Princess or character in a movie, show or book? Andie

What is your favorite animal? dogs, cats, and horses

What is your favorite sport? ballet

What is your favorite holiday? Christmas

What do you want to be when you grow up? I went to work with pets or be a baker
What is your favorite TV show? The Masked Singer, AFV, and America's Got Talent

What is your favorite movie? Hotel For Dogs

What it is your favorite activity? drawing or coloring
What is your favorite game to play? Life the board game and Sleeping Queens

Who is your best friend(s)? Kelsey and Amelia and Ada and Elizabeth

What is your favorite chore? nothing...I hate chores!

What is your favorite subject in school? reading and art  

Where do you like to go? dance class and church

What makes you Happy? dance and friends and family

What makes you sad? When your dance studio closes down.

What is your greatest fear? snakes

How would you describe yourself? Fun! I like playing games and dancing with friends.

Our sweet 10 year old is pretty fun to have around! We love you Claire Liz!

Nutty November

This post under construction...

November went by so fast. And now with the holidays over I am trying to remember back to our month. Fortunately I have some pictures to jog my memory otherwise I think I would have a tough time remembering I think.  I must be getting old...haha!

We started November off with a trip to the local KCMT presentation of Peter Pan which two of our friends were performing in.  It was really well done with amazing sets and costumes, great acting, and beautiful singing.  Raelyn declared it "The BEST show ever!" She loved it is an understatement and really we all did!  

Next up was a trip to the fancy movie theater in Silverdale (we hadn't ever been there since it was redone) to watch The Nutcracker and The Four Realms with some friends from dance.  It was a fun outing for me and the girls and we really enjoyed the comfy seats and a good movie. It could have used a bit more ballet though!

And here are a few random pictures from my phone...

Pictures of our beloved Miss Lynn

A picture of Olivia in Aladdin

Silly Sammy

Playdough art!

November 9th we had a bowling night with our church's youth group.  What a fun family night out! The older kids bowled together and then the younger kids had a few lanes with a few parents bowling on the end.  It was a really fun time of hanging out with our church family.  Olivia tells me she had high score and bowled really well that night.  I had one of my lowest nights ever, I could not get the pins to drop.  I always left just one standing.  Oh well, still a fun night!

Stella!

More silly phone pictures...we just can't help ourselves!  They are fun to do together!

Before Thanksgiving, Mary had come over to watch the boys while Kevin and Anna were gone and she brought the boys over one Friday night to hang out and spend the next day with us.  The kids had a blast playing together and it was fun to be able to have some extra cousin time,

That Sunday was the first full cast dress rehersal at the studio for the Nutcracker.  I hung out most of the time and got a few pictures of the girls in their costumes. I didn't get any of Claire in either of her costumes and the little angel costumes had not come in yet.

Olivia's Chinese Costume

Kayla and Olivia in their doll costumes.

Ada, Claire, and Amelia

Thanksgiving was celebrated this year with the Tolf side of the family.  We had so much yummy food and had a great time spending time together. It was relaxed and really fun! Mary and Eric came over Wednesday evening and Anna, Kevin and the boys came over Thursday morning.  I was so busy I didn't get any pictures!!  Here are a few that Mary took on her phone.

Friday morning we took a family picture before the Chadwicks had to head home.  The younger 2 (Brecken and Raelyn) were being a bit difficult and would not smile for the camera. I was setting the camera and then coming to get in the picture.  Hans lifted Raelyn onto my lap and smacked her head right into my lip seconds before the last picture that all the kids smiled in.  I had a big purple lip for a few days from that one.

Our tradition on the Friday after Thanksgiving is to go get our Christmas tree.  This year the weather was great and we found a great tree in a relatively short period of time.  I love the Noble fir trees for their strong branches and having a bit more room to show off the ornaments, but boy those trees are spendy!  We didn't even get a very tall one this year.

Then it was time for some watered down hot cider and to warm up in the hut.

We went for a little walk one day to see a clearing that happened down a walking path near our house. I think it is funny that our cats love to go on walks with us.  They follow along at a distance but keep up with us and it is super cute!  Can you spot the cats in the pictures?

I have a tradition of taking "Thanksgiving" pictures with the stuffed turkey decorations we have.  The older girls were not too excited about it, but I use the pictures for the calendar I make each year so I like to keep doing it.

On November 27th we had the fun opportunity to tag along on a birthday party for a friend.  Lucy had her birthday party at Boomshaka in Olympia and invited and Olivia and Claire to come to it.  I was invited to bring Aubrey and Raelyn along if I wanted to so we decided to make the trek down.  I drove the younger two down and met up with Gina and Ashia for lunch at Chick-fil-A.  We had never eaten there and it was super good.  We enjoyed getting to have a fun treat. Then we went to the jump place.  I was a little worried I wouldn't be able to do it.  But it was a really fun place!  We had an hour and half to play and it was perfect.  The girls really loved it and we hope we get to go back sometime in the near future.

Olivia and the birthday girl Lucy.