Back in the swing of things...

Wow! It's been a long time since I posted. Life has gotten in the way of so many things lately it seems! Let's see - we've been to Florida, had an..no, two..ear infections, a bout of bronchitis, various colds, a visit from Judy and Becca, a cheer competition, and Halloween. And I just today downloaded all 400 pictures from my camera from Florida. Can't wait to post the pictures from Halloween, but I have to wait for them to arrive via Judy's camera since mine was dead as a doornail on the big day. (Hint: Joey won a contest and free Zaxby's kids' meals for a year with his costume!) Florida was a blast! Fred had to work during the day, but was usually "home" by about 4 so we got to hang out and have fun. The kids LOVED the pirate pool and the hotel was absolutely wonderful! I definitely recommend it for anyone going to Orlando. The rooms were clean, the location excellent, and it had TONS of space! Our two bedroom, two bath unit could have easily slept all of us, but our kids routinely decided to stay in the "fun" room with Judy and Alan..even though they would fall asleep 10 minutes in! :) Fine with me - I got to sleep in a just a little bit later, too! DisneyWorld was fun, but I have to say the highlight of the trip was Hollywood Studios (formerly MGM). Owen absolutely flipped when he saw his Einsteins and Lightning McQueen. We got to have a character lunch with June, Leo, Jojo, and Goliath. It was well worth the price..even though I don't think he ate one bite of food!

Fred is definitely deploying with the 30th in 2009. He's starting his training this week in Winston-Salem on Sunday, then will be home this weekend, and back to Charlotte on Monday for 3 more days. He won't actually be with the unit until January or so, but he'll travel off and on with them to get them up to speed on retention issues, etc. Things are still piling up on the to-do list, but I'm learning to let go. The house will be clean after he leaves, things will get done after he leaves, but the time with him won't be here so I'm trying to remember that...although I will say I have my moments of pouting. Who wouldn't, I guess? It sucks..he's leaving for a whole year and will miss so much of the kids. Things change so much in a year.. I guess I just worry about keeping track of it all for him so he can "see" it when he comes home. And I worry about taking care of them all by myself (even though I have a lot of support...thank goodness!)..I worry about forgetting one of them somewhere...I actually have this concern when he's here, so I'm just hoping my brain doesn't get even more scattered! :) I'm trying to come up with routines and schedules so that it will be somewhat automated when he leaves so we can ease into the change. I worry about Owen and the "scaries" in his room - I HATE scaries..Fred usually chases them away and now it's up to me. I worry about Emma..she's Daddy's girl (even though she LOVES to give him a hard time). I worry about Joey - he's talking like crazy now and really coming into his own. Will he understand what's going on? How will I explain it to him? And little Abby is getting so big, but she's still so little. She'll only be about 9 months when he leaves and 20 months when he gets back...so much changes in that timeframe. Walking, talking, eating real food..and I have to do it alone. Not to mention potty training boys..umm, hello, how the heck do you do that? Kaitlin is older, but she still has issues with trust and I worry what this will do to her..plus having to help me with the little ones. I'm hoping her cheerleading (another worry..traveling with the crazy crew to competitions by myself!) and girl scouts will keep her busy and her mind off of it all. Thank goodness for preschool and Screamin' Mimi's - I have a feeling I'll need a few breaks here and there! :) So enough depressing news! Here's some pics from Disney World and the hotel! Halloween to follow shortly!

Love

Katie

Judy, Alan and the Crew..do they know what they're in for? :)

Emma "surfing" on Uncle Alan in the pirate pool

Joey was pretty amazed by all the princesses

The Pirate Ship in the center of the hotel pool

Owen and Emma in the pool Wall - E and the Crew

It's a little hard to get a family picture with everyone..Owen was ready to go, Joey kept hitting Mickey's ear, Abby was way more interested in something off to the side, and Emma wouldn't take off her glasses...oh, well, we're all there! :)

I think Joey was a little afraid of Annie...and not sure exactly what Em is doing.

The castle at night

Cinderella was the favorite of everyone..

Joey, again in amazement, really liked her dress the best..

and Owen tried to look underneath it. The Incredibles

Emma - part of the Incredible Crew with her sunglasses

Ca-chow! Lightning McQueen..I have to admit he was pretty cool!

Owen's very concerned over Rocket's location. Leo explained that they parked him in the parking lot for the day.

June was a very gracious lunch host - the kids loved dancing with her
Mickey Mouse Ice Cream is the best!

Mater...like Tow-Mater

Kaitlin, Belle, and Emma

Soldiers in a Row

We traveled the country..all in one day!
And now it's time for bed...

Recap

Since I'm still feeling like complete yuck, I'll just give some quick bits -

*Kaitlin had a great birthday - money, nintendo's, and shopping at the mall. What more could a 11 year old girl want? It'll be a busy week this week for her - she started her sewing class today. She loved it and envisions herself at Fashion Week in few years. Heck, if they can get her to put her clothes in the laundry, they have a believer. She's got a sleepover on Friday with a group of girls from her Scout troop and then a birthday party for a fellow cheerleader on Saturday night. It's a dance party at the VFW in Smithfield. I'm sure there will be boys there...and so it starts.

*Emma is fighting the cold that Fred and I have had for weeks. So she is, in general, a miserable pain in the butt. But you have to feel sorry for her..when she gets sick her eyes get this droopy hound dog look to them and you can't help but feel her misery. Until she starts the whining...then the sympathy runs out quickly. She did tell us a story about a bear the other day and I asked her if it was a big bear. Nope, you'll be happy to know it was a "size small" bear. What a goof!

*Owen is doing wonderfully at speech. So wonderfully in fact that his new favorite phrase is "I don't wanna insert particular thing he's been asked to do here". I've asked his speech therapist, Ms. Kate, to work on him saying "Yes, mother, I'd love to do what you've asked of me." I'm not holding my breath.

*Joey has come into his own this week as he is also fighting the before mentioned cold. He is a big ball of boogers. Lovely image, huh? And to match his sister's surly attitude, he has taken to picking fights with Owen. If you've ever seen the two of them go at it, you'd know that it's not a smart idea for Joey. He is exciting about seeing Mickey Mouse in two weeks..however, since Joey is not very fond of life-size characters I'm feeling this excitement will fade when he realizes that Mickey is not going to be on a nice tv screen. Stay tuned for what will be very interesting pictures I'm sure!

*Abby is growing up before my eyes. I don't know if it's because I'm aware that this is my last baby, but she seems to be growing so much faster than her siblings did. Every day she is doing something new and becoming more and more an infant instead of a baby. :( She's sitting up on the couch now with a little help and Fred said she rolled the other day on the bed..I don't know if I believe him because I've yet to have her duplicate this feat, but we'll chalk it up in the maybe column. She's laughing at things and follows me with her beautiful blue eyes whenever I'm in her sights. She LOVES the song "Wheels on the Bus"..but mainly the part where the "money goes clink,clink,clink." (We have another Emma with her love of money!) And today she really enjoyed the dog at Kaitlin's sewing class..he started barking and Abby cracked up with the giggles. So cute! Pretty soon she'll be crawling and my baby days will be done..tonight she'll get an extra little snuggle to make me feel better. :)

*I did a lot of things new and exciting this week..laundry, dishes..no wait, new and exciting....umm, I joined a Mother's Group. They had their monthly meeting tonight and I actually mingled. Me, mingling. Good times. :) It was fun and I won one of the raffle drawings! 10 free hours at Screamin' Mimi's..for anyone that has children, you understand why I felt like hugging the woman that handed it to me. 10 hours of someone else playing with my kids while I walk aimlessly around the mall, pretending I have money to spend on the clothes in the window. Or for Fred and I to fall asleep in a movie somewhere. Again, more good times! I also offered to host a Halloween Party and told Kaitlin to invite her friends..we're up to 16 kids with my 5. I'm actually excited up it though! And something else....I can't remember what it is right now, but it was big for me....

*Fred had to work an SRP this week..for you civilians (:) that means he did a bunch of paperwork for Soldiers getting ready to deploy. He's scheduled to do his for his deployment in December. Tommorrow he is going to a meeting with the Sgt. Major in Winston-Salem and they are all going to sit down and iron out the details for the deployment. Who will be doing what, when they are joining the unit, when they are leaving country...all those little details. Thursday he has his first visit with the physical therapist to straighten out his neck/spine and hopefully make his arm feel better. His knee is starting to feel a lot better and he was actually running on it last week!

We are busy planning for our trip to Florida. Judy and Alan are joining us and we can't wait to see them..although Owen still thinks Alan is bringing the Jonas Brothers with him. :) I found a great hotel with a full-size pirate ship in the pool...it'll be hard to drag the kids from that!

Hopefully tommorrow we will all feel better because my list of errands is growing faster than I can keep up with it!

Hugs
Katie

Happy Birthday Kaitlin!

Today is Kaitlin's 11th Birthday - as she has reminded us for the 100th time! :) Everyday it seems like she gets a little wiser, a little more independent..sometimes too independent! But she is always my "little helper" - even when I don't ask. She is quick to help with her sisters and brothers - even if they are driving her crazy at the moment. We don't know what we would do without her!! We love you, doodlebug! Happy Birthday!

Love

Mom and Dad Jonas Brothers Concert with Uncle Alan
Kaitlin and Owen
One Year Ago - 10th BirthdayParty Sleepover
Horseback riding inTexas
Goofing around on the Farm
Kaitlin and Joey in Georgia

Kaitlin Pop Warner Cleveland Wildcats
Kaitlin and Joey Stegasaurus

Daddy's Girl
Big Sis, Little Sis
Oh, the talent!

Horse Rides and Baby Smiles

It's been a busy week so far - cheerleading, preschool,riding, speech, flute, piano, more cheerleading, girl scouts..and that's just the kids(with 2 more to go...poor Joey and Abby get dragged everywhere!)! Seems like every morning starts with a to do list much earlier than I would like..especially now that Owen has started to wake up around 5 and insist we "open da gate". Umm, no. So now we have to say "Good night moon" and "Good morning sun" and if the sun isn't awake, we stay in our rooms quietly...it worked this morning. I'm not holding my breath for tommorrow. :)

I've been busy working on the Family Day planning, downloading the rest of the pictures and organizing them so I can make albums and print them, and decluttering the house. We've also started making our "pre-deployment" to do list...don't even want to talk about that one! Fred has drill on Saturday and then it's Kaitlin's birthday on Sunday - can't believe I have an 11 year old. Wow, I'm old.... Busy planning our Disney trip and some other must do things before February, so the days never seem long enough. I'm sure everyone knows that feeling!

I managed to get some good shots of Emma with Lulu, "her" horse and some new pics of Abigail. She's turning into quite the camera hog. :) It's still hard to catch her funny faces and smiles, but I'm getting better at it!

Love

Katie

Abby at 3 months

Loving Lulu
Emma, age 4
Getting Ready to Ride
Emma's 2nd favorite thing - spraying the bug spray
Lulu, Cici, and Walker
Walker - Big sweet guy
Cici - Loves to pull tricks, has met his match with Emma

Another Monday

I've been slack on posting, but I have good reason..well, 5 good reasons actually! :) Busy,busy! We dropped off all our outgrown clothing at the consignment sale on Sunday - hopefully it will all sell for some spending money for Disney, but if not, we said to donate the remaining..that's one thing out of the house! Now to bring the pile of things to Goodwill that have been sitting in the dining room for a month....ah, the do list keeps growing!

In other news, Fred was confirmed today for deployment. They are scheduled to be leaving in February, BUT he won't have to do the train-up with the unit so no desert training in Cali or pre-mob stuff in Mississippi, so he should be home for Christmas and New Years(The brigade is doing training starting in December). We are making the above mentioned to do list so we are sure to get as much accomplished as possible before he leaves..seems like everytime I turn around there is something else to add to the list. Anyone know how to tile a shower? :)

Abby got the cutest hats made for her by a darling woman who has a shop on http://www.etsy.com/ She remade them to fit her tiny head, so I can't wait until the cold weather..of course, I had to snap some pictures of her in them. I'm picking them up at Target tomm. so I will add them to packages that I am sending out. (Eileen, Grandma, Mom, Judy..and anyone else I'm forgetting at the moment!) Kaitlin is gearing up with her cheer practices and competitions start Nov 2, so we should be super busy soon! Emma is still riding "her" horse and doing awesome! I'll try to put some pics of that on the next post..which I promise will be sooner! The boys are total boys - best friends one minute, mortal enemies the next..I'm assuming it will be like that for quite a while, but I love it when they are best buds. Hopefully Fred being gone won't throw them too much and we will all get through it! We have been trying to explain it to them, but given that they have ABSOLUTELY no concept of time or distance, it's been a hard thing to find the words for. Luckily, going with a huge brigade like the 30th, he'll have access to a lot of communication resources - computers, webcams, phones, etc. Much easier than some units have it, so I am so thankful for that!

Ok, enough talk - here's some pics!

Love,

Katie

Good Times at the Lewis House :)

Chillin' with her apple hat

I'm a Nut (well, an acorn really!)

Pumpkin Head