Angels Singing

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May you be blessed with peace and love this holiday season and in the year to come :-)

UK Game!!!

For the first time in what seems like a million years, I went to a UK game today!  We had a wonderful time, and it was fun to view it through Madeline's eyes.  We told her stories of going to Rupp with Dad back in the day, cheered our bottoms off, and overall had a great time!

LOVED EVERY MINUTE OF IT!

Night Out With Friends

We had a great night out with close friends last week - a trip to Hometown Pizza, to view the local Christmas lights, and the Living Nativity has become a tradition.  It was a great time!

Christmas Play

This isn't the greatest photo, but as you can see, Madeline was in the School Christmas play this year, it had a lot of fun music and the kids had a great time :-)

Knights Basketball

The Lady Knights had a great season - they were undefeated in the Pre Season Tournaments and the regular season, then finished second in the Final Tournament.  We were proud of our girls!  Madeline was quite proud to hold the team Second Place Trophy at Dairy Queen (brilliant move on the part of the Coaches)!

Thanksgiving

Getting ready for Christmas, the tree is up, exterior lights are on the house, and many gifts are wrapped, but before I undertook all of that fun, we had a great family Thanksgiving ..... lots of good food and good company - here are a few pictures you might enjoy:

An Interview with Madeline - Ten Years Old

Me:  Now you are ten years old and in Fourth Grade - what do you think about that?

Mad:  Why? 

Me:  So we can record your thoughts....

Mad:  Well, I think week-ends are the best part about it, but I like school.

Me:  What do you like to do on the week-ends?

Mad:  Play sports - do random stuff - be home - relax - play with friends

Me:  What do you like at school?

Mad:  Reading, art, play the recorder

Me:  What sport do you like best?

Mad:  Basketball and soccer, it's hard to choose

Me:  What is your favorite food right now?

Mad:  Are you kidding?  Macaroni and cheese

Me:  What do you want to do when you grow up?

Mad:  Write stories, illustrate books

Me:  Do you want to be a Mom when you grow up?

Mad:  I'll have to be...

Me:  How many kids do you want?

Mad:  Two, or probably just one

Me: What do you like about me?

Mad:  That you are you!

Me:  What about Dad?

Mad:  That he is Dad of course.


Not sure she's in the mood for the interview since she just walked off.....

Halloween

Fun times, Halloween with the cousins.....

Tenth Birthday

As amazing as it may be (to us at least) our girl is TEN years old!  Yes, that is right, she has reached the advanced age of one decade.  She is at a sweet in-between age right now.  She thinks she is big, and was quite concerned about looking good in her outfit that day, but still ran around like crazy at the zoo on her her actual Birthday.

According to this sign at the Zoo, she is the perfect size for a 10 year old Kid...

They may be big, but they still ran to play in the playground :-)

They loved the animals, who were quite active that day thanks to the cooler weather.

Such sweet, beautiful besties they are!

Fall Basketball

Fall Basketball has begun, and our little Miss is loving it... a nice change from soccer :-) She's having a great fall, participating in lots of activities and doing well with her school work. Life is busy, but it is good!

Remembering

Not Lives lost, Lives Given Freely

He Led His Flock to Heaven

Just taking a moment to remember.....

Just a few short weeks later life went on for me, as it did for all of us. 

Our Nation still stands and we are not defeated!

First Day of School

Ah, the First Day of School.... I remember being sick with nerves when school started each year.  Our girlie has been relatively immune to that until this year.  She's heard 4th Grade is much harder, and she was placed into a different classroom than her Besties.... so when this pic was snapped she was a bit squirmy.  By the time I picked her up at 4:00 she had returned to her normal smiley, confident self.  We have high hopes for 4th Grade!

For those of you sentimental types, here is the pic from the first day of 3rd Grade :-)

Sweet Summertime

What have we been doing this summer?  Swimming with Pals...

Acting silly at the Cabin

Chillaxing at home

Laughing our guts out

Camping

and Loving!

The Biltmore

I don't have a ton of time tonight to write the best post ever, but I have finally had a chance to get some of my pictures from this Spring onto the computer.  We took a trip to the Biltmore - it was an AMAZING place.  We were completely enthralled with it, and with the Vanderbilt family.  You cannot imagine the magnitude of this place if you haven't seen it.  Madeline even said she was glad that we chose a "historical" vacation instead of going to the beach this time.... you need to go there and check it out.

Father's Day

Being a Dad, it has to be a hard thing. The pressure of knowing you have to support your girl through college, you have to be her example of what a man should be, worrying about her future boyfriends, worrying about her schooling, honestly, you could go on forever with the worries. But, there is such beauty in being a Dad. This picture I think captures it in a split second... the smile on her face... Daddy covered in water when he should be getting ready for a business trip. This is true love. What is this girl learning from her Dad in this minute? She is learning that she is important, that hanging out with her is more important than work, more important than all of the things that our society puts out there to distract you. That Dad loves her most of all. This is why she writes the multitudes of love notes to tell Daddy why he is THE GREATEST DADDY IN THE WORLD! This is why she decorated our entire bedroom with love notes to show Daddy that he would be missed while he was away. My Steven doesn't know what a great Dad he is. Sometimes he doubts himself. But he is A GREAT DAD!

Fun in the Dirt and Sun

This family loves the dirt, the sun, and the fun.  Cousins of all ages will join in to dig a very deep hole if you ask them to....

After you dig the deep hole, you have a hug and pose for a photo...

After you dig the hole, you wait for it to get dark, put on your glow necklaces, and run with wild abandon in the dark.  Of course Mom can't take a good photo of that....

Last Game

Madeline had a great year with the Mustange this year.. she learned a lot about soccer, teamwork and new friends.  Love it! 

This is what these girls are really like!

Grandma & Claire

Grandma and Claire had a big time at the game too.... our Littlest Claire has brought so curiosity and love to our family, we had a great time hanging out together playing and loving each other :-)