Kristen's 4th grade program

The final song from Kristen's program last night. Only one more elementary Christmas program to attend.

NorthpoleNewsletter

http://www.mdmgames.net/npnWalgreens/?v=KDcPbLMlfsciTr98iSjNZA%3d%3d

Check out the newsletter we received from the Northpole.

CHS sophomore cheer squad

Another video of Sarah's squad

CHS sophomore cheerleaders half time of Assumption game

Sarah's squad cheering for the girl/boy double header at Clinton High School

Clinton's Acappella Choir-The Lord Bless and Keep You

Kristen and school song

Kristen at the Clinton High school playoff game. My little cheerleader. She loves the fact that her big sister has taught her all of the cheers.

Meet Your Neighbors

Every Saturday the Clinton Herald publishes an article about someone in the area, that is doing something special, but hasn't received any recognition. Check out this weeks post.

There she goes

I just entered a new stage in my life. Instead of rushing to run Sarah anywhere or go to pick her up I just have to tell her to drive safely and call when she gets there. She turned 16 yesterday and of course her 16th birthday would fall on a Monday. The driver's license station is closed on Mondays, however they would have been closed anyway yesterday as her birthday falls on a federal holiday, Columbus Day. So I hurried home from school today so that I could drop Kristen off at piano lesson and then we went to get her license. It was so easy, no written test, she already passed that two years ago and since they didn't stamp her driver's ed certificate she didn't have to drive, just show the certificate, pay money and smile for the camera. Of course Sarah wanted to get home as soon as possible so that she could then driver herself to dance. It was such a strange feeling to watch her take off in that car all by herself. Part of me is proud of her for growing up, part of me is excited that I won't have to spend every night running here, there, and everywhere, and part of me was a little nervous as she took off in that car.

Drive Safely Sarah.

Sisters

My girls are so different it is hard to tell that they are sisters somedays. Taylor Swift sings a song called You belong to Me. Now this song is about a boy and a girl but the chorus also describes my girls. Kristen wears short skirts and loves to dress up. She is really concerned about how she looks and the image she portrays. Sarah on the other had is most comfortable in jeans and a t-shirt with sneakers. She really doesn't care how she looks. Sarah is the cheerleader and Kristen plans on playing sports. Right now she has been attending Volleyball camp. She really seems to enjoy playing and wants to be the best. She also wants to play softball and tennis, even though I am not sure about her motive for playing tennis. Tennis players get to wear skirts and she will do what ever she can to wear a skirt. Sarah doesn't care about being the best, she is satisfied with whatever happens.
But she wears short skirts. No matter what happens however They belong to each Other. With all of their differences, they are as close as possible. Sarah watches out for her little sister all of the time, almost to the point of not allowing Kristen to experience her own problems. Kristen loves spending time away with Sarah and has a hard time whenever Sarah is gone. Yes, as the song says You Belong To Me.

I wear T-shirts
She's cheer captain
And I'm in the bleachers
She wears high heels
I wear sneakers
She's cheer captain and I'm on the bleachers

Clinton Football 9-11

Clinton High Schools School Loyalty

Sarah with the Clinton High School Marching Band playing the school loyalty song. Sarah is wearing the red shirt and shorts instead of the uniform.

Football 9-4-09

Pictures from Friday Night's Football game against Davenport West. This year Kristen has moved to the sidelines for the sophomore game.

Take a chance on me

Tonight was the 16th annual Carousel of Dance's Summer bandshell concert. Both girls danced in the show. Sarah was in quite a few numbers since she is a member of Design. Kristen was in only one number, but we are all very proud of her tonight. Many of the kids in her class took the summer off and then the other kids chose not to dance for the recital. Kristen basically ended up with a solo performance. This was a different dance then the one in June, so she only had 3 weeks to learn this dance. Tonight's performance is just another sign that my baby girl is also growing up.

July 25th 2009

Today started off very relaxing, slept in for a while and then Kurt and I went to pick up the meat from the steer we purchased off of a friend of ours. So exciting to have a freezer full of beef. Can't wait to eat some of those roasts and steaks. yummy. In the afternoon Sarah had a dance recital at westwing. I had told Grandpa that I was coming to pick him and take him somewhere but never told him where we were going. At first he thought that I was going to have them talk to him about moving in to the nursing home. (sorry that is not my responsiblity, his kids can handle that). Then he saw Sarah in her costume and the activities director came over to ask if he had a grandchild dancing. Well now he knew what was up. This is the first time he has seen Sarah dance and she has been dancing since she was 3. After the show Sarah and I ran back home and changed clothes so that we could attend a wedding reception with Kurt and Kristen. The two of them went to the wedding and got home about 5 minutes after we did. Great timing I would say. Both the bride and groom are coaches at the high school (the bride also had Sarah in homeroom this year). Because of their love of sports they had the entire wedding party introduced like the starting lineup of a basketball game. They even used the same music that Clinton uses for their games. How very fun. Below is a short video of one of Design's songs. Enjoy

Clinton County Fair 09

Just a few highlights of the Clinton County Club Show

Champion Cat 2009

Introducing the Clinton County Club show champion cat Sox. Sarah was so surprised to hear the announcer saying that the Champion Cat belonged to Sarah Flathers. She has come so far from the junior 4-H club member who was devasted when she received a red ribbon for her cat. Since then Sarah has learned more about how to care for a cat and this year was able to answer all of the judges questions. Sox on the other hand could have cared less about her champion status and was just overjoyed to get back home.

County Fair Day 1

Today was the first full day of the Clinton County Fair. We were there by 7:30 to help with Creative Arts judging today. My friend Penny came to judge the scrapbooking division (Thanks a million Penny). I did better than expected with only 2 reds. Found out that Penny likes horses, so I had Sarah grab a couple of pictures of the horses from the horse show. (These are for you Penny). Kristen did really well this year with her entries. This is the last year for her to exhibit in the open class division for 9 years. Next year she will be in 4-H and will have to put all of her entries into the 4-H show. She did enter 2 items in 4-H for Clover Kids and was judged without ribbons for this year. She did an excellent job on her conference judging. I entered several cards and scrapbooking items as I am always worried that there won't be enough entries. Guess I can stop doing that this year. Also entered 3 of Sarah's photo's as she had hit the limit for 4-H but couldn't enter them herself. She received 2 reds and 1 blue. In 4-H Sarah so far has 1 state fair entry, 1 state fair consideration, 4 blue and 2 red. 3 more items to be judged on yet this year. Came home around 3:00 as Sarah had to dance in East Moline tonight. Had a very quiet ride home, both girls fell asleep. Went back out to work in the lunch stand for Sarah's club. Was finally allowed to leave at 9:00 tonight. Back tomorrow for pedal tractor pull, share the fun, and fashion revue.

Conference judging day

Yesterday was conference judging day for 4-H. Can't believe we actually had projects done and ready. A month ago Sarah hadn't even started on her projects. She ended up with 8 projects. She still has 3 to go.
Kristen was able to be judged for Clover Kids this year. The 3rd grade Clover kids didn't get a ribbon, but did get practice with conference judging so she is ready for next year. Both judges really liked Kristen's projects and said she didn't an excellent job. Sarah actually ended up with one project advancing to the state fair. Her leadership project which was about Clover Kids.

Soggy 4th

Today was a soggy but still fun 4th. We went ahead and went to the Bettendorf parade. Usually the parade takes over an hour, but this year it was done in 30 minutes. It did seem a little strange not to have the bands and other floats be we survived. After the parade we went back to my mom's for a cookout. Sarah was thrilled to be moved to the adult table and Kristen was thrilled to be the oldest at the kid's table. Didn't have to worry about being bossed around. After lunch Kurt was chasing my niece Grace around. She is 2 years old. Finally he sat down and allowed her to "get" him. She then decided that "I like him".

Even with the all day rain, we were able to have fun and enjoy being together as a family.

Riverboat Days

Both Kristen and Sarah were in tonight's Riverboat Day's Parade. Sarah knew that she needed to march with the band, but she was able to get Kristen in as a future River Queen Cheerleader. Kristen was thrilled to be in the parade and not over shadowed by Sarah. Look at the way she is waving her hand. Do you see future homecoming queen with that wave? Both girls had a good time with their respective units and are looking forward to their next chance to be in a parade.