Becoming a tradition for the Kennedys.  Get up early on Thanksgiving morning and go for a run.  There were over 1000 runners this year!

Liz and Dad coming to the finish line

There were 5 runners from the Kennedy family this year – me, Liz, Eden, Bobby and Erin. I ran with Elizabeth and Mackenzie Bell, and Erin, Bobby and Eden ran together.  Somehow, Mackenzie was separated from Liz and I (we thought she was way ahead of us, but turns out she was behind).  The other three stuck together beginning to end.

Eden coming into the finish

It was a tough course, toughest we’ve run as a family.  But we all finished!  What a group of little runners we are!  There were lots of families in on the tradition this year – Bells, Wrisks, Millers, Hipszers and Liggetts.  Lots of fun on Thanksgiving morning.

High five Eden! Slap hands!

Liz ended up finishing tops of the 10 and under and Eden finished 4th 8 year old female – Race Results

It has been a tradition since Elizabeth was born that I read to all of the kids on the night before Christmas.  I always read the same version of Twas the Night Before Christmas, by Clement C Moore.  And then we put them to bed.

Well, this year, they have been in anticipation for days leading up to it, and they have found the book and had it out so we don’t have to go hunting for it on Christmas Eve.  But I realized this year that we have 3 little readers in the house now.  And they have been asking for a few years if they can read the book.  I’ve been stubborn and said no.  But this year, I’ve had a change of heart.  And so we took turns …

When I was a kid, I used to read lots of books.  I liked science fiction and fantasy, and read a lot of Piers Anthony, and I liked all of JRR Tolkien’s books.  As I was in GT, I had some friends on the nerdy side, like me.  And they liked these books too.  I remember someone’s birthday party in middle school where we watched a marathon of the animated movies of the Lord of the Rings.

Well, in the last decade, Peter Jackson has released movies of all of the Lord of the Rings’ books.  They are awesome.  Marcia and I bought all of the special edition DVDs and we watch them occasionally, most recently on a late Christmas Eve night.

Two weeks ago, Peter Jackson also released The Hobbit in theatres.  Wow!  We haven’t seen it yet, but I had an idea.  A few weeks ago, I went to my parents house and found my old book on the bookshelf in my old room and we started reading it aloud with the kids at night.  I want to read it with them and then go see it in the theater.

Great idea, right?!  Well, clearly some are interested and some are not.  Jack, Luke and Maggie are too young to be interested, but Noah, Eden and Liz are definitely hooked.  When we read in bed, they curl up next to me and hang on every word.  Noah will close his eyes and for ten minutes I’ll think he’s asleep; then I ask him something and he answers and I realize he is intently listening to every word.  Elizabeth and Eden are taking turns with Marcia and me reading aloud to the rest of the family.  And Liz has even taken the book to bed at night and read ahead a few chapters.

A few years ago, I remember a friend telling me that he and his wife read a Harry Potter book to each other, taking turns reading aloud.  I thought it kind of silly at the time, because I had always thought reading a solitary thing, and so many other things Marcia and I liked to do together than read.  But I am really enjoying this.  Not only is it something the whole family is doing together, in the same room and the same focus.  But, we are using oratory skills and listening skills, which once commonplace, are not used as often in today’s society.

I hope we finish before the movie is no longer in theaters.  I am writing this post early in the morning and I hope everyone wants to read when they wake up!

The Kennedy Six on Christmas morning

Christmas has come and gone.  Not a lot of drama this year.  Papa Kennedy was released from the hospital a few days earlier from his kidney stone operation.  He learned in the hospital that he is diabetic and had an atrial fibrillation, which was corrected before he was discharged.  And his diet was the only real topic of conversation of any possible drama at the elder Kennedy household.  The siblings have all decided that mom is an enabler, as she keeps bringing him food with sugar in it.  I hear that a diabetic diet is difficult to understand, and clearly mom and dad are struggling with it.  I can see that dad has no idea what he should eat, and I feel his pain on this.  Bob and marcia seem to understand what he should be eating and want to be helpful, but we will all go away in a few days, and mom and dad will need to be able to fend for themselves.

Coach K on Christmas

Still, despite dad being tired and just released from the hospital, they put on a great holiday for their children and grandchildren.  We all had a great time with each other.  And then the eight of us went to Marcia’s mom’s house and Marcia’s aunt’s house.  I fell asleep on the couch at Marcia’s mom’s house.  I didn’t mean to, and it was awfully rude to do so.  I woke up shortly before we were leaving, and started talking football with Rick.  I really enjoyed talking with Rick and it was just a short visit for me.  I wish I had not been so tired or at least not given into it.  I felt bad, they were expecting lots of guests from his family and from hers, but it was just us, and Bonnie stopped by.  There was lots of leftover food.  Anna Rose left him there to wait to see if his family would post, and came with us to Joan’s.

Jack’s First Christmas

We had a good old time at Joan’s house.  Pop was very interested in Jack and even held him for a while.  The kids are getting older, almost old enough for the bar games in the basement.  Liz and Noah played foosball and pool!

The kids were very well behaved throughout the day.  And they were helpful.  I am so proud of the way they are acting lately.  I love my job as their father.  Such a wonderful time, Christmas is.  And I intend to use my time off from work to dedicate it just to the family.

Helter skelter week.  Spent two days without power.  Had a flooded basement.  Halloween without Marcia, and without the oldest girls.  Okay, I need to stop right there.

This was the most disappointing Halloween I’ve had.  Made me realize that we probably will not have another Halloween when all of our kids trick or treat together.  Marcia had class.  Since we were out of power and the kids hadn’t showered in a few days, Marcia sent Eden and Liz over to the Baecks to trick or treat with them and spend the night.  They had a great time, but I missed them dearly.

I did have my own fun.  I took Noah, Maggie, Luke and Jack trick or treating around the neighborhood.  They were a lumberjack, kitty cat, choo choo (Thomas) and lion, respectively.  It was very cute to see Luke excitedly run up to each door.  He grabbed candy out of the boxes and he said, “Thank you.”  Noah and Maggie had the most fun.  After hitting our neighborhood, we went over to Joan and Greg’s.

When we got home, the younger ones fell asleep, and Noah wanted to wait up for Liz and Eden.  Our power had come back on, and we had them come home instead of spend the night out.  He waited by the front door for nearly an hour.  He wanted to spend Halloween with his sisters.  He said that he had done that every Halloween.  And he wanted to trade candy with them before he went to bed (gluten free and non-peanut candy).

When the girls got home, Eden traded candy with Noah, and we put them all to bed.  It turned out to be a good Halloween, but nothing like previous ones.

So, okay, enough with my Halloween digression.  We go to Walt Disney World tomorrow.  The crazy week has definitely put a damper on our planning.  One day to go, still lots of laundry to do and lots of packing.  It will be a whirlwind.  Since we’re driving, I will need a good night’s sleep tonight.  We count on Marcia to do most of this, and she has an exam tomorrow morning before we leave.  I hope we get everything done in time.  Because we’ve been looking forward to this vacation for many months.