And So Christmas Begins ...

We went to Epcot tonight for dinner at Mexico and then the Candlelight Processional. It was AMAZING ... full orchestra, a millions singers, the Christmas Story read by Isabella Rosallini, a beautiful night and five incredible kids. Snapped this picture above while the kids were waiting to ride Test Track. Julia is a daredevil just like Katie was .... Perfect night with the family!

Soccer Season Over ...

Julia's first sports season is over. She had fun with her friends and learned some skills. She was tentative in the games ... kicked the ball a few times each game. Next year she will move to t-ball, more our type of sport. She loved being with her BFF Lauren and of course her FIRST TROPHY .... now a little rest!

Hanging with Christopher on the sideline

The Blue Wave Team

Loving the soccer tunnel!!

Indian Princess

Another Thanksgiving feast and program today ... Julia style. She was sooooo adorable singing all her Thanksgiving songs with her PK4 classmates. Julia loves to sing and is so into it!! Her feast was fun and I was William free so I got to focus on just her. So thankful when I get some one on one. Their costumes were so amazing .. this group of PK4 teachers are outstanding. Lucky Julia to be so loved at school.

My Little Indian ....

How cute to see William at his first Thanksgiving feast at school. He was a bit naughty at school today ... so I hope his teacher is still thankful for him!! He loved his feast ... especially the chocolate covered sugar cookie. Most adorable was watching all the children pray ... "Thank you Fawder ... for our many bwessings"!! What a wonderful way to begin the holiday season.

80%

Katie says she is 80% better. She went to school yesterday .. her back hurt a bit. She went to softball last night and took it easy ... didn't pitch. Still waiting for her lab results ... waiting, waiting, waiting .... Hopefully those are normal and we chalk this up to something muscular on top of the kidney infection and just watch her. Thanks to all for thoughts, call, emails and prayers .... we feel so loved!

Katie Update

So we started this week with a visit to the ER with abdomen and back pain .. and we ended the week at the orthopedic doctor, pediatrician and another blood draw. Poor Katie ... constant back pain, tons of appointments, xrays, CT Scans, and nothing. We are waiting on this last set of labs ... she is getting frustrated, her back hurts and she has missed a full week of school and all her activities!! Hopefully she will get all rested up this weekend and will get some relief!!

ER Visit

Spent the morning in the ER with Miss Kate. Awful pain in her abdomen and lower back ... after blood tests, CT Scan and other tests ... ended up with a bad Kidney infection. Poor Katie ... still not feeling great .. will be off of school again tomorrow!!

Volleyball Banquet

Katie had her volleyball banquet at the Samba Room last night ... very nice!!! What an amazing group of young women ... we are so happy that she was a part of this team . Katie won the best server award for her team!! Their team had the most wins of any WPS team (10 - 4). Unfortunately halfway through the dinner, Katie started to really feel bad (sharp pain in her side) so we had to leave. Still isn't feeling well this morning .. off to the doctor we go!!

Running

No pictures with this post. Just thoughts ... so in April I asked my sisters and mom if they would like to train & run a 1/2 marathon with me in January of this year. All of us needed a workout goal so we decided it would be a great thing to do. I registered myself online and then went out the front door, fell on some phonebooks and you know the rest of the story.

Fast forward to September ... finally able to walk and exercise. Training starts. 2 miles seems so long. Foot is hurting. No cardio. Feel like the biggest slug on the planet. But I keep trucking along.

October ... we have started our official training schedule. Running 4 days a week. Mileage is increasing about 20% per week. Some runs feel great, others foot really hurts. Sometimes I HATE RUNNING ... other times I feel EMPOWERED and STRONG.

Each morning before my run I am hopeful that my foot feels good .. and that I can complete my run within my pace. But I am still trying to find that "I LOVE RUNNING" feeling that it seems like everyone has. Sean is excited to get to his runs .. Buddy knocks off 18 miles before a 7am meeting, Celebration friends run 1/2 marathons and marathons, and extreme runs and just rave.

So .... when will I feel like that about running. I am still at the "Oh my ... I have only run .4 miles .... I want to stop. I haven't been able to let my mind wander, to pray or sing aloud. I just keep looking at my watch!! OK ... so enough of my thoughts ... time to just get motivated.

School Spirit

To end Spirit Week, WPS had a big, old fashioned pep rally!! They announced the Fall sports teams and gave the football team a big send off. Katie got to be on the floor with the volleyball team. It was fun ... WPS has so much school spirit!! Sean and I are so happy here ... the kids are doing great in school, sports and all have a bunch of friends. Love it!!!

Heartbreaker

Last Thursday was Andrew's football championship game. They were 8 - 0 going into this game and we knew it was going to be a hard fought battle!! We lost 7 - 6 in a nail biter. The boys were incredibly disappointed and it is so hard to see your son so sad. They had a great year ... we did not win a game last year. So proud of this team and of Andrew. No rest for the kids .... basketball tryouts were last night. And baseball workouts begin as well.

Boy of Many Costumes

Well, he started as a giraffe and then decided the costume was too tight. Moved to a Zebra and then decided the costume was too hot. Finally ended up as an Indian (because that is the only costume in our costume box that fit him). Regardless, he was very cute and had tons of fun!

"Thanks for Coming"

We spent Halloween in Keene's Point with friends in Windermere. I was ready to get out of the Celebration gridlock of so many tourists and teenagers trick or treating!! We had an absolute blast and their neighborhood was so festive!! We let Andrew and Katie go our by themselves and felt very safe (the neighborhood is gated!). Matthew, William and Julia has so much fun. One house had the coolest fog bubbles ... you can see from the picture in the collage. When you popped them, fog came out!!

Definitely the line of the night was William saying "Thanks for Coming" to each house he went to. He was so funny!!! Now we have to hide the candy and try to figure out our candy disbursement plan!

Gangster Matthew ... "Give me your candy or your life!"

Jules, Emily and William ready to tackle the Keene's Pointe trick or treat scene!

Andrew, Jack, Katie, Emily and Amina .... I let the older ones go out for the first time by themselves.