Team Smith

Mr. Smith has done miraculous things with the choir at Church of Our Saviour! Inviting Elizabeth Gray of the Chicago Symphony to solo in Advent was amazing! I was told we'd be in for a treat and was not disappointed. Thanks Liz!! And thanks Matt for being friends with Liz since high school :-)

In an effort to get these fun pics up sooner, I will limit my rambling and observations so as to provide brief overviews of holiday cheer :-) Free sleigh rides on Spring Road! Santa visits, hot chocolate and treats and ice sculptures were also advertised. Santa eventually gained her trust and Cass rewarded us with one smile sitting next to Santa. Wonderful holiday party at Adriana's house! I met her and her twins over the summer and persuaded them to come over to our daycare center :-) Hostess extraordinaire provided the most amazing eggplant cheese and olive dip! So yummy.

I love seeking out as many free activities as possible! This event was called Breakfast with Santa and was hosted by the Elmhurst Neighbors and Newcomers Club (ENNC). I'm glad I joined because I have met some very nice, friendly people. However, I still don't feel as though I quite fit in and I'm ok with that! So I don't end up attending many events. Often the people who show up are already friends and stick to their own groups. So it's awkward. I usually have a grand time hanging out with the kids though! This event was a breakfast potluck. Instead of cooking we bought bananas. Did those superfruit fly off the table? Yes indeed they did! As the only fruit selection lost between the donuts, cakes, breads, and other sugary delights, our bananas were a welcome addition! Score one for Team Smith! The band that played was fantastic. Their name escapes me at the moment, but they turned popular songs into kid friendly remixes and it was hilarious! George Michael's ...

Have you ever participated in a Lessons & Carols at a Catholic, Episcopal or other church? I have attended my fair share. Long story short, it is a celebration that tells the story of the birth of Jesus (the Lesson) and interspersed between each reading is a song (the Carol). It is beautiful when done right. Elmhurst College did it right! The chapel on our campus is directly opposite the student union with a nice sized expanse of lawn and trees between the two. Our campus Chaplain is a very charismatic and charming lad named Scott- see pic below! And his secretary is David. I love me some David. I like to get out of our office and go to the Chaplain's office and kick it with David every once in a while. Sidebar: Yes, you read that right. We still have secretaries here. I know what you are thinking because I thought the same thing! How could a college that is so progressive and ultra liberal still have position titles that have not advanced to administrative ranks? That is a blo...

"Aunt Emily is coming!!!" Cassidy was way excited about the arrival of Matt's sister Emily. The world traveler was back in town fresh from Europe with a new degree from the school she attended. The last time they had seen each other was during Cass' first Christmas in 2009 so this visit was long overdue :-) Aunt Emily joined us as we went in search of our Christmas tree. Usually we would have a plastic green tree, but we did not move it across the country. After learning that Christmas trees grow on farms and no forests are cut down, they put lots of good oxygen back into the air while growing and are then recycled after use for more soil to be put back into the earth and that the place we were picking up from grew their trees next door in Wisconsin, we were sold on the idea of a live tree. The 60% off groupon special didn't hurt either! We drove about 30 minutes away, and found a perfect parking spot in the trendy town of Oak Brook that wasn't altogether a r...

How I love some Christmastime! Technically we are in Advent and Christmas starts in a couple of weeks on Christmas Day and lasts 4-6 weeks till Epiphany. We have never really paid that much attention to the Episcopal schedule the way we are this year because Matt has been planning the music for church. Learning so much! Here is Day 1 in my 12 part series of holiday cheer and activities. Elmhurst does this tree lighting event in Wilder Park, the park across the street from us. We sure did enjoy walking to the trees and were grateful to not have to fight for parking! This was a couple of weeks ago. Anyone can purchase a tree and decorate. Most proceeds go to charity. They had real reindeer and Cassidy just about lost her mind; her little body wriggling with anticipation as we flew through a short line to get up close and personal. We learned these reindeer are very well taken care of on a huge piece of land/reserve northwest of here. Did you know they are excellent swimmer...