Dixie Stampede

On Saturday, we ventured out to Dolly Parton's Dixie Stampede with everyone. We had a ball at the show, singing, laughing, and eating (with our hands no less!) The show included Santa Claus, a live Nativity, pig races, beautiful horses, snow, ice skaters and tons more. It was so fun to see all the little ones enjoying themselves so much.

Grandma Wilkie

This morning we did pictures together and each grandkid had their picture taken with my mom. They all turned out great except for Will who was sleeping by the time it was his turn. He was actually sleeping and got startled and started crying!! I hope my mom loves these pictures.

We Love Our Cousins

We have had such an amazing time this week with Grandma, Aunt Meredith and John, and Aunt Melinda and Emma Kate and Charlotte. Just a few pictures to highlight some of our week. Today after Mass, we did a cousin photo shoot. As you can imagine, 5 kids 2 and under in a picture is pretty difficult. We did get a few ok ones so we were pleased!!

Snow Time

We took everyone down to the snow on Thursday night to enjoy downtown Celebration at the holidays. We always appreciate Celebration so much at Christmastime. Charlotte and Julia loved the snowfall. Check out Julia making a snow angel -- I know what some of you are thinking. Caroline actually let one of her children lay in the street in a bunch of snow soap!! Yes it is true. I have come a long way. I guess it only took 5 kids to get me to relax. We are having such an awesome time being with our cousins!!

Santa Found Us!!!

Christmas morning was fabulous. The kids actually slept in until 7:30 (we were prepared for 6:00 am!). The Kane kids must have been on Santa's nice list, because Santa showered them with gifts. Each child had a section of the living room (and growing out into the foyer). We took turns opening gifts and that worked well for a while. Julia wanted to play with each toy as she opened them. William did not have a clue about the gifts. He sat with Oma and just watched the big kids!! After we got through all the gifts, they got to their stockings. Then you know what the rest of the day was ..... Daddy putting together so many toys, Mommy picking up boxes, paper and searching for parts of toys!!

Christmas Eve

We had a great Christmas Eve!! We went to the 4:30 Mass. After Mass, we came home and ate a quick bite and then started our Christmas Eve traditions. Sean gave each of the kids one special gift from him. When we were getting ready for the gifts, an important visitor stopped by. Santa surprised the kids by showing up at the front door. Each of the kids sat on his lap (or at least next to him) except for Miss Jules. She was still scared of Santa. Sean gave the kids a lifesize batter that the kids pitch to, Andrew a cell phone, Katie a Disney snowglobe, Matthew a Lego Star Wars, Julia 4 Princess Barbies and William a little toy. Pawpie Kane read Twas the Night Before Christmas before bed. The kids couldn't wait until Christmas morning ....
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Too Busy to Blog

Sorry I haven't posted in the past 2 days. We have a houseful of family - my mom, my sisters, Meredith and Melinda, Meredith's husband Jeff and his sister Nicole, Meredith's new little one, John, Melinda's daughters Charlotte and Emma Kate and of course our whole clan!! We have had so much fun so far together. Sean took them to ICE last night at Gaylord Palms and I stayed home with 2 - 2 year olds and 3 newborns. I kind of felt like Kate from John and Kate plus 8. Today we spent a couple hours at the park. My mom impressed us by climbing to the top of the big spider web. We will post pictures tomorrow. Tonight after dinner we went downtown Celebration to see the Snowfall and have ice cream. Tomorrow my aunt, uncle, cousin and his son are coming to for a visit. 21 total people in my house ... better turn in to rest up for the remainder of their trip!!

Merry Christmas

It is too late to post right now but wanted to share a couple of fun photos from tonight. We spent the day together having fun. More pics to follow.

Claus-trophobic

Ok - so a picture paints a 1000 words, so you can imagine what is going through Julia's head when she was sitting with Santa. She was very reluctant to get on his lap at her school Christmas party. She did talk to him but in a whisper. She asked for a Barbie and a baby doll. Can't William work for the baby? Don't we have 150 Barbies from Katie? Julia really was trying to be a brave girl, but still wasn't sold on the whole Santa thing. There is always next year!

New Do

Katie got her haircut today in a stacked bob. Boy does it look cute and healthy!! We are so lucky that Christie, our stylist, comes into Celebration to Brenda's house to do our hair. Nothing like walking to your appointment, no babysitter (and no fancy salon overhead!!). Katie and Mom are hopeful that we will do a good job blowing her hair out with the round brush. Katie is all beautiful and ready for Christmas.

Christmas Cards

Thought it would be fun to share some of the photos from our Christmas Card shoot. Boy, how hard is it to get all 5 kids looking at the camera, smiling and more importantly, looking like they want to be there. We got some great shots and I love finally having a family picture with all 7 of us. Enjoy!!

CEREAL

Well I tried to hold off as long as possible, but broke down today and gave Will cereal. He is the size of a 6 month old, so I guess he is ready. He gobbled it all up and none spilled on his shirt. The kids got a kick out of seeing him FINALLY eat some food.

Julia's First Haircut

So Julia is over 2 1/2 years old and never has had a haircut. We took her today to our favorite stylist, Pedro, to get a trim. She was a great girl - just hopped up in the chair and sat there like a champ!!! We are so lucky that our kids just go to the doctor, dentist, hair cutter, etc without fussing. We only took 1 inch off of her hair, but it really made a difference. Check out the fish face she made!!

Swing Time

Can you believe that Will is already big enough for the swing at the park? He went in the swing both yesterday and today and semi-liked it. He has been sticking his tongue out for 2 days so we couldn't get a great read, but we think he was having fun. Julia took him down the slide for the first time today. That was a sight!!

Our Fashion Diva

Katie was never one to dress up and accessorize, so we are in a whole new world with Julia's obsession with princesses, dress up, hats, sunglasses, layers of clothes, etc. We attached a few pictures for you to check out her style. The kids were excited to be able to take her to school this past Tuesday. WPS is already out for Christmas, so Julia had a 6 person escort to school. WOW!!!

Bravo

We enjoyed Andrew's 1st semester band concert on Monday. This is his 3rd year in the band playing French Horn. We are convinced that he was picked to play this instrument because he could lift and carry the case. We are very proud of his accomplishments and really love watching him play. Maybe he and Katie can team up and give us a Christmas concert this year.

Party Time

Tuesday we went to Matthew's classroom for his Holidays Around the World Celebration. Each family brought a typical food from their heritage. Yummy!!!! The kids each brought in a book and they played a gift giving game from Mexico. Matthew got The Night Before Christmas and impressed alot of people as he read the whole thing perfectly!! Julia and Willl had to go but luckily they both took their naps during the party.

Epcot Field Trip

Matthew got to go on a really cool field trip to Epcot this past Thursday. Mom and Will went with him and Julia met us after her preschool day!! We spent the morning in The Land. We got to ride soarin, did the boat ride and do crafts and have lunch. Then we went to the country part of the park. We listened to the story of Christ Child, the 3 Wiseman, Father Christmas, Hannukah and Kwanza. There is a cute picture of Jules and Matthew with Father Christmas and one of Matthew and his friend Martin with their masks. My kids can't appreciate how cool it is to take a day trip to Epcot with their school!!

Santa Claus

Yesterday at our Church party the kids got to see Santa. Julia was not sure about him again this year - she did the typical wave from afar and talk all about him but did not want to get too close. Will sat on his lap and pulled his beard. Andrew and Katie were good sports posing with Santa!!

More New York

Our last two days in New York were great. We spent one whole day at the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island and then had dinner at The View, a revolving restaurant on top of the Marriott in Times Square. On Saturday, we walked alot and went to the Empire State Building. The skies were clear and we had a great view of the city. A few more pictures ...... Mom and Will in front of the original torch of the Statue of Liberty

Will posing in Santa's boots