And Then We Had Her Actual Birthday...

Even though her birthday gift was a Disney trip, Kami still celebrated turning 7 with her family on her real birthday.  She is so creative and artsy that we all got her small gifts to support her story-writing, picture-drawing, card-making addiction.  We surprised her when she came home from ballet with her favorites: red velvet cake and a chicken nugget tray for dinner. It was a fun night and a sweet end to a great couple of weeks.

Happy Birthday Kamryn! You are so thoughtful and compassionate, you inspire all of us to think of others more often.  We love all of the special stories and cards that you make us.  We look forward every year to what special treasure you will get us for our own birthdays and for Christmas.  We hope your birthday was as fun as you always make ours.  You are a beautiful, funny, smart, precious little girl and we love you and are so proud of you.

A Birthday Fit For A Princess

Kamryn got an early birthday present this year and took an all-expenses paid (by Daddy) vacation for her and a guest (Mommy) to Disney World.  We started our mother-daughter trip in Orlando at Aunt Carla's who treated us to manicures and pedicures.  

We then started our 3-day adventure through the Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom and Epcot.  Amy, Kevin, Ella, Caroline and T-man Thomas were also there and together we rode every ride, met every character and ate every bit of food we could find. 

We finished our trip with a Very Merry Christmas Party until midnight…only to get up at 4am to catch our flight back home. We landed in Atlanta just in time to zip Kami off to school.  

Poor Girl.  Disney is not for the faint-of-heart. 

Thanksgiving from Lake Lanier Islands

It was a quiet Thanksgiving this year.  We enjoyed a lovely pre-purchased holiday feast from the Fresh Market for the first part of the day.  Then, in the evening, we followed Jackson to his part time job at "SnowWorld" where, ironically, there is no snow.  But it was cold, so we pretended and had fun anyway.  So proud of Jackson for going out and getting a job all on his own and being a super employee as well as part of their advertising campaign! 

Daddy won the wishbone pull.

Working hard or hardly working?

Well, Jackson's not quite the "face" of SnowWorld, but he's close.

Let It Go Kami, Let it Go!

I like to call this Elsa perfection.  Kamryn made her momma very happy on Halloween when she said she wanted to be the beloved "Frozen" character.  The other daughter in this house (who will remain unnamed), did not bring any such joy to her mother as she refused to be Anna, Elsa's adorable sister. She wanted to be Batman in a tutu. No matter how many times I went around singing "Do you want to build a snowman?" she wouldn't budge. You would think she was a teenager or something. 

Joshua was Mr. Invisible (obviously) and had fun trick or treating with his friends, or should I say "the squad" as they have named themselves.  Along with some other moms, we trudged through the neighborhood retrieving gallons of candy and being overexposed to horrifying creatures of all shapes and sizes. One Freddy Kruger reduced Kami to hysterics.  I tried telling her he was fake and to stop crying, to which she sobbed, "but my mascara is running!" 

Once again, happy mom.

And, as usual, Jackson is missing because he is not only too cool to dressed up like a character from Frozen, he doesn't allow himself to be photographed at all unless it is a special occasion.  I even offered to buy him the Olaf costume! Teenagers.

Defensive End #9, Joshua Voorhees

We are coming to the end of another football season.  This year found Josh usually lined up as a defensive end and he has done great playing on this side of the ball for a change.  Running backs and wide receivers had a hard time getting anything past him.  And when he hit them, they knew it!  

And a little pep talk from his big brother always helps!

Competition Cheerleading: The New Contact Sport

They look quite polished in their uniforms, but don't be fooled! These girls are strong, flexible and tough. This is the first year Kathryn has been on the competition squad, so the rigorous practices, intense competition and injuries have a taken us some time to get used to.  But Kate's inner-athlete has emerged and she is doing a great job and enjoying the girls on the squad. It has been a fun experience and we continue to be impressed with our little athlete.

Happy Birthday Kathryn!

I can already tell, fourteen is going to be fun.  Of course, with Kathryn, every age is fun.  She's upbeat, cheerful and pleasant just about all of the time.  So we celebrated all of her awesomeness by shopping, lunch, and a family dinner at the Habachi restaurant.  Everyone had a great time eating with chop sticks and after dinner, enjoying Kathryn's favorite: cake pops, which are really just smaller, more expensive cupcakes on a stick. But when Princess Kate has a birthday-she gets what she wants.  Actually, Jackson and Joshua will tell you that she pretty much gets what she wants every day as she has her daddy wrapped around that little finger pretty tightly. But she is so great, she's worth it.  We love you baby girl and are so proud of you! Happy 14th birthday!