UPDATE on Princess Post

After sooooo many weeks of waiting and getting the mail out of the mailbox every day, Audrey finally received a response back from Princess Sophia the First.  She was beyond thrilled!  Look at this excited face...

The best part is, her interest in collecting 

the mail has not waned now that her special

letter has arrived.  She still collects the mail every 

day she remembers.  Christmas card season

 is going to be thrilling for her!

Soccer Stars

We had a very busy and very exciting soccer season this year. Natalie's team was an awesome collection of girls, families and coaches and she had the most fun playing as she's ever had.  This season's coaches were all seniors at our neighborhood high school and we could not have asked for better role models for our girls.

The Hurricanes had a nice mix of wins and losses throughout the 12 week season but, in the last game, our Natalie was the one to save the day!  There were only seconds left and our goalie took a ball to the belly and fell to her knees, leaving the goal vulnerable with a capital "V".  The opposing team took advantage of this goalie-down scenario and shot the ball right toward the unguarded net.  BUT Natalie, on defense that day, positioned herself in just the right spot and kicked the ball out of the goal.  That game ended in a tie instead of a loss and allowed the Hurricanes to have a better point total going into the following tournament weekend.

 Natalie's teammates rushed the field to thank her

for her great positioning and save-the-day kick!

That tournament weekend was a busy one, to say the least!  Two games on Saturday and two games on Sunday, three of which they won, including the fourth and final championship game. This meant the Hurricanes won first place in their division and left with huge smiles and even bigger trophies. So fun.  And we all finished the weekend off with a team party to celebrate.  Super fun, emotional and exciting weekend of soccer!

Natalie with her three coaches

and her biggest little fan!

Who knew it was this much fun to be a soccer mom?

Thankful

We had another delicious Thanksgiving around here.  Thank goodness it's delicious because I'm amazed at how much planning and shopping and prepping and cooking is involved in this holiday.  It's just a dinner...why does it take all day to put it on the table?

We had our friend, Kenny, join us again this year and loved having him.  He brings his guitar each year and this year he taught Natalie a few chords and how to tune her (Corey's old) guitar.  It was great to listen and watch them strum away.

Thankful for all these turkeys at my table, that's for sure!

And I'm thankful I was able to be a part of 

Audrey's Kindergarten I'm Thankful Feast

last week in her classroom.

What a super sweet day.   

 And I'm thankful for this beautiful maple tree in 

in our backyard.  Corey planted it a few years ago

and it turns a brilliant orange/red in the fall.  

This picture doesn't do it justice but it just glows

all day long.  I want to tape the leaves on so 

they don't fall off for winter!

 So many reasons to be thankful.

Peace Maker

Natalie was selected as one of four kids in her 3rd grade class to be a Peace Maker.  A Peace Maker helps other students by helping them peacefully resolve conflicts on the playground. It's quite an honor to be chosen as only the most mature and responsible students are considered. 

Love this picture with our official Peace Maker in front and

our unofficial Peace Living Peace Lover in back!

 She'll receive six hours of conflict resolution training (hoping it comes in handy with her relationship with her little sister, but I know better) and during a few recesses each week she'll wear a blue vest that will let other children and the yard duty teacher know that she is the Peace Maker on duty.  When a verbal argument breaks out, the yard duty teacher will summon Natalie to walk the arguing kids down a "peace path" that is painted on the sidewalk near the playground.  Painted on this path are footsteps and peace-making prompts that Natalie (and her fellow Peace Makers) will use to open a dialogue between the disagreeing parties.  The idea is that by the time the kids reach the end of the path, with Natalie's help, they will have heard and acknowledged the other's feelings and agree to move forward peacefully.  Pretty cool.

  She decided to wear her favorite peace sign shirt for her first day of Peace Maker training.  Love it.

Princess Post

Audrey saw on TV that she could write to Sophia the First, a Disney character she absolutely loves. This was her sweet letter to Sophia and she's been checking the mailbox EVERY DAY since she mailed it, hoping for a response.  We're going on 6 weeks now...I'm really hoping Sophia writes back very soon.

This is a picture of our little princess pen pal ballerina at her 

Kindergarten Halloween costume parade.  So delicious, this one.