Band Concert

Last night, Chelsea had her very first band concert! It was really good. All of the children were much better than we had expected. They have only been playing their instruments for 8 weeks...so to be able to pull off a concert is pretty incredible. Chelsea is second chair flute! Her best friend is first chair. Chelsea seemed really excited to play in her first concert. She did an amazing job, too! So, congrats Chelsea. I'm proud of you! Oh, when I spoke with her band teacher, Mrs. Waters, after the performance, Mrs. Waters informed me that Chelsea was very talented!! That is quite a compliment!

Kayla's party

Ok, so as you will see, this was one PACKED weekend! On Friday night, Chelsea went to a slumber party at the Embassy Suites in Franklin! There were 20+ girls there!! Then, on Saturday morning, we headed to Chattanoog, TN for our cousin Kayla's 10th birthday party. Of course, this isn't the cousin Kayla we have mentioned before!! We have ANOTHER cousin Kayla! As you can imagine, it gets really confusing because we all are really close to both Kayla's! Anyhow, little Kayla's party was at a park. It was a little chilly, but still a good time. Her parents had set up a volleyball net, so we had a good time playing with that. Chelsea played Kayla a special "Happy Birthday" song on her flute! She practiced the song for a couple of weeks. Her band class isn't even to the part of their book yet...so it was more advanced for her. She did an amazing job playing the song and I think Kayla really appreciated all of Chelsea's hard work! It was a really fun party and it was good to see all of our Chattanooga family!

DC Halloween Party

The second we walked in the door from Chattanooga, Chelsea had to get dressed for the Halloween Party at DC (her dance studio). I was even painting her nails green in the car on the way home...and mind you, I was car sick!!! Not fun! Anyhow, we had just the right amount of time to get dressed. Chelsea was a Leprechaun this year! Her costume was just adorable...if I say so myself. Of course, we couldn't have it just plain like we bought it....I had to add rhinestones to it too! It turned out perfect. Chelsea had a really fun time at the party, as usual. She painted a pumpkin, got a tattoo, and danced around with all of her friends. At the end of the night, they announced the costume contest winners. There were several great costumes. In Chelsea's category (age 10 and under) there were quite a few runner ups....but there was only one BEST COSTUME OVERALL WINNER.....and that honor went to CHELSEA!!!! This is her 3rd year to win best costume! However, in previous years, they name several winners....but this year, they only named one overall winner...so that was a real treat! Chelsea won a basket of candy and a webkinz!

Gentry's Farm

After church on Sunday, Chelsea & I headed out to Gentry's Farm in Franklin, TN. We had never been there before, but I had heard it was a fun place....and it was. Chelsea & I had a really good time wondering around the farm together. The weather was just perfect for it, too! We got lost in a 4 acre corn maze....we went on a nature trail...we went on a hay-ride (though there was no hay in the wagon!!) & got to see a field of cows and 3 homes that have been lived in by the Gentry's for hundreds of years. Chelsea even got to meet Mr. Jimmy Gentry himself!! There was also a pumpkin patch were you could pick your own pumpkin. It was a little picked over, but it was still really cool. The pumpkin I carved came from that patch! Chelsea opted to buy 2 larger pumpkins that had already been picked. All in all, it was a really fun day!!

Pumpkin Carving

After Gentry's Farm we headed home and carved our pumpkins. Chelsea has done this before when she was younger, but she doesn't remember ever carving a pumpkin before. Plus, she really never actually carved any of the pumpkins when she was younger....she would lose interest WAY before the carving began. So, this is really Chelsea's very first pumpkin! I think that she did an amazing job. I didn't help with the carving at all...she did it all by herself!

Awards

Congratulations to Chelsea for her recent academic awards! The first nine-weeks award assembly was today and I was so glad I was able to attend. She was awarded Honor Role & Most Improved! Chelsea seemed really proud of herself...as she should be. This report card was her best one to date! She had 6 A's & 2 B's....with 4 of those A's being perfect 100!!! Chelsea has to work extremely hard to balance her school work & her dance team. All of her hard work is definitely showing. I'm SOOO proud of her!!!

The Cheetah Girls

Chelsea and I went to the Cheetah Girls concert last night at the Sommet Center. Wow, was it a good show!!! We had seen them perform before, but this time was even better. We had amazing seats, so we had a really good view of the girls. They sang all of Chelsea's favorite songs. They even sang up in the air on 3 gorgeous chandelier swings!! At one point, they went backstage for a costume change, and came back in the middle of the floor seats! That was just more than Chelsea could stand! When they ran back up to the stage, they came beside our seats and Chelsea was able to touch all 3 of the girls hands! Of course, that was the highlight of her evening!!

Zoo

Chelsea and I went to the zoo on Sunday. It was just the two of us and we had a really great time! The animals were pretty active, which made it lots of fun to watch. Chelsea took TONS of pictures of all of the animals. Below are just a few of the best pictures.

Ravenwood

Chelsea got to perform during half-time at the Ravenwood High School football game on Friday night!! It was so much fun watching all of the kids dance in the middle of the field! I think there were over 100 kids in all. It was a really great experience for her. She got to do it with a lot of her friends from dance, too. After they danced, they all got to go to a slumber party!! They had an absolute BLAST!! Unfortunately, I couldn't get any good pictures of her on the field, but here are some from before and after.

New Big Sister

This is my new big sister at dance!! However she is not my sister in the related kind of way. At dance we have a new big sister every year, and she buys me presents at competitions and I do the same for her. If you scroll down a little, you will see that DC (the dance studio I dance at) had a picnic. Well that's where we meet our new big sister. DC always tries to make the sisters alike. Well this year I have Chelsie, and my name is Chelsea. Ya, it is spelled different but it is pronounced the same way! She is so far really nice, (she even decorated my locker!) and I can't wait to have her as my new big sister this year!!!!!

Chelsea