Cinderella Castle Breakfast with Grandma

This picture says it all .... I loved watching her with all the princesses!!

Julia had one fabulous fifth birthday ... My mom and I suprised her the day after her birthday with a trip to Magic Kingdom to have breakfast at the Royal Table in Cinderella Castle. She was blown away that she actually got to go inside the castle. She got to meet all the princesses, got a special magic wand, and had a yummy dinner!!!

My princess with all the Disney Princesses!

Blizzard Beach ....

Always posing for the camera ....

Having fun in the sun!!

Lauren and Julia

Just got a couple of pictures of the little ones today at Blizzard Beach ... big kids with Daddy doing all the big rides. Went with the Servines and had a great kick off to the summer of 2010!!! Sean bought us passes ... YEAH DAD!!!! Finally got a kid who loves the water ... Willie B!! He actually fell in the wave pool and scraped up his knee and had to go the First Aid tent to get band-aids ... poor william!!!

Happy Birthday To Julia

Just found the video of Julia's Happy Birthday Song. I think it is so cute how she is getting all teary. Just like Katie. If you ask her if she is crying, she gets very defensive and says ..

"NO ... I am laughing!!" Maybe my girls are more alike than I thought.

Finally ... Julia's Tea Party!

Finally the post of Julia's 5th tea party!!! What an incredible celebration for an incredible little girl!! Thank goodness Aunt Mere was here to help Mom create a wonderful day for Julia! We decorated the whole day before .... we had a formal tea party, pinata, balloon animals, tea party bingo, story time, arts and crafts and croquet on the front lawn. I think the highlight was the butler, Daddy, escorting the girls in, serving them tea (lemonade), and being there for their beck and call!! Julia had a wonderful birthday surrounded by her friends (and family!!). Enjoy the photos ... The party was as fabulous as it looks!!

Bye, Bye Co-Op

Libby, Carly, William, Ryan, Addison, Erik and Anna Cate!!

Favorite picture of the year!!! So happy to be together and playing!!

We celebrated the end of William's first year of school (co-op). We had an incredible morning at the park with all Will's friends!!! They released their butterflies and the kids loved it!! The butterfly even ended up on William's shirt!! He was a bit scared but thought it was pretty cool!!

National Junior Honor Society

Another award to add to her portfolio!!

We are so lucky to have such a motivated daughter!!! Can't wait for all the amazing things to come!

Last night Katie was inducted into Aspire, WPS' chapter of National Junior Honor Society. Andrew is a current member as well!! We are very proud of Katie and her hard work in school!!! It was a nice evening and many of her friends were also inducted!! She went out for ice cream with her peeps afterwards!! So fun to be in junior high!!

Happy Birthday to WPS

Katie and Casey .. Besties!!

Matthew and Tyson hanging out with their festive hats!!

What a nice morning at WPS today. As a school we celebrated the 10 year anniversary!! It was a great morning full or recognitions, singing, dancing and the band. Julia's class opened the morning with their performance of "One Small Voice". So adorable. You can see her in the top left corner with the white bow.

Was a fun morning (especially since Will was at his last day of school!) .. This is the end of our 5th year at WPS. Sean and I were reflecting a couple nights ago how sending the kids to WPS has been one of our very best decisions. Every day we are confidence in the place we send them ... they are so respected, safe and so loved!!!

Our Latin Scholar

Andrew was inducted into National Latin Honor Society today during lunch!! We are so proud how Andrew can balance his school work, family life and sports. We are so truly blessed by our first born. Not only is he such a great son, brother, kind friend, but an amazing example to his brothers and sisters. Couldn't be prouder than I am of my Andrew!!

Phillies Wrap Up

Matthew had an AMAZING baseball season this Spring. We could have moved him up to minors (kid pitch), but chose to keep him with his age group. He had an incredible year hitting ... he NEVER STRUCK OUT all season, and was only retired twice. He had so many great hits and plays in the field. It is a joy to watch Sean and Matthew together on the field. They get it ... they work well together and Matthew really focuses!! I was not able to go to the year end party because we had a Willy Wonka performance, but the kids had a blast swimming and hanging out and of course, their trophies!! Way to go Matthew ... looking forward to many more years on the diamond with you! You are becoming quite a ballplayer as well as a leader!

Skills Challenge

Julia wrapped up her spring gymnastics class with a Skills Challenge and trophy ceremony 2 weeks ago!!! Aunt Mere and the boys go to go ... she was in Julia form, very nervous and shy, but focused and did great!! Love the pic of her on the podium!!

6th Grade Science Fair

Boy what a difference a boy makes over a girl when it comes to school projects. The extent to which I helped with Katie's 6th grade science fair was to purchase the tri-fold board. She and Claudia did a great job ... so proud!!!

Shorter Hair

Katie got FIVE inches cut off her hair. Looks so healthy and thicker!!! I bet she will go shorter next time!!!

Fun time with Cousins

This was the first trip with the Meredith's boys where we saw a preview of what is to come with these rugrats!! Will and John got along great and got into TROUBLE!!!! Dumping toys, climbing all over the place, but mostly in the bathroom. They climbed in sicks (naked!), poured bubbles all over, eeks!!! They were really naughty. We have to watch these two!!!

Julia was a little momma to Pete. She watched out for him all the time, was so patient and even carried him part of the trip!! Looking forward the summer family reunion in TN to watch all 10 of the cousins interact!!!! I might have to start having a nightly glass of wine with a week of these 10 together!!

More First Communion Pictures

We received the official pictures from church of Matthew's First Holy Communion. I love the look of awe in his eyes when he received the Blessed Host for the first time. He was very proud and excited to finally make his First Communion. He informed us yesterday at Mass that is was his 4th Holy Communion. Wonder how long he will keep track? Knowing him, most likely a long time!!

Matthew's WPS Play

Now it is Matthew's turn ... he was a ghost in the play the Kiss that Missed!!! He is always very focused and knows all his lines (as well as everyone elses!!). He won the award "Future Star". I think that title suits him great!! Way to go Moo-Moo Man!!

Somebunny Special

With the end of the school year comes CRAZINESS!!! Every day and night is jammed packed with activities. Last week Julia performed in her end of the year play about animals. She chose to be a bunny and boy was she cute!!! She had to introduce herself, do a few songs and dances, etc. Meredith and her boys were able to go with us. It was pretty funny because I added a fake carrot into her costume bag that she really didn't want to hold. Mere drove the kids to school that morning and Julia was really upset about the carrot. Mere told her to ignore it or leave it in the car. She was probably to nervous that her type A mom wanted her to hold that damn carrot. So during the whole performance she held onto it and as soon as the play was over .. bam, she handed me that thing!!! Such a good girl!!

Aunt Mere, John and our actress

Doing the animal action Dance

Our Sweet Bunny!!

The Pictures Say it All ....

My friend Ashley just sent me these pictures of her daughter, Anna Cate and William. They look soooo happy!!

Mother's Day 2010

I had a fantastic Mother's Day. I started early on Saturday with a marvelous Ladies Tea the Ritz with wonderful friends. We went to 8:30 Mass this morning and then Sean surprised me with tickets to the Gospel Brunch at the House of Blues. We had a GREAT time ... kids stayed home and picked up the house and decorated the dining room (loved the letters they cut out like I do for their birthday). They baked brownies, made cards, and Julia even brushed my hair for 20 minutes. Went to the pool to help a friend celebrate his birthday and then just hung out at home. Didn't do any chores, didn't cook and certainly wasn't efficient or effective!!! But loved MY DAY!!

FIVE Reasons I love being a Mom!!!

Andrew - Sweet, kind, forgetful

Katie - Smart, confident, competitive

Matthew - Focused, hilarious, short fused

Julia - Imaginative, quiet, stubborn

William - Snuggly, adorable, wild