Jenna. Dec 23. At the car wash!
Sing it with me!
Add comment December 23rd, 2010
Posts filed under 'Carlee'
Jenna. Dec 21. Cookie Decorating.
A friend from church was so kind to invite us over for some Christmas cookie decorating. I know the kids enjoyed playing in the icing, eating the icing, and then dousing the cookies with sprinkles. And I enjoyed eating.
Add comment December 21st, 2010
Jenna. Dec 20. Fun with friends.
Today we got to keep Henry & Ollie while their mommy & daddy welcomed baby sister Lucy into the world. Henry & Colby are a few months apart, and Ollie & Carlee are a few months apart. I love getting to hang out with their mommy, and my kids love getting to hang out with these boys.
[Notice their Big Brother shirts.] :)
1 comment December 20th, 2010
Jenna. Dec 19. Gingerbread Man.
Colby’s Kindergarten teacher gave him a copy of The Gingerbread Man on Thursday. He brought it home, read it, and then began asking when we could make gingerbread cookies. So, today was the day. [I'm always happy to oblige when it comes to baking, especially cookies and also especially at Christmastime.]
Here’s Colby reading the story while the cookies are in the oven.
Here’s Kennedy’s finished product – she made a few mini-houses (with the help of a cookie cutter but Carlee tried to rip them apart anyway) and a Gingerbread Girl, complete with bow, that took up 1/2 of the cookie sheet! [We watched the Girl to make sure she didn't run away!]
And, Kennedy is on a picture-taking streak… here’s a great one she took of her funny Daddy.
Add comment December 19th, 2010
Jenna. Dec 16. Colby’s Christmas party.
Today Colby’s Kindergarten had a party. His teacher gave each of them a small milk carton or a butter box and some icing and graham crackers; it was instant “gingerbread house” – worthy. The girls got to help a little but mostly they wanted to eat all the decorations.
Then, his class had a book swap, which to Kindergarteners means you pick a number and then take the book with the coordinating number on it. I was impressed that all the kids did so well – they were so focused in getting those houses decorated!
Add comment December 16th, 2010
Jenna. Dec 15. Kennedy’s Christmas dance.
Today at dance, Kennedy’s class did their Christmas show-and-tell. The parents were invited inside the studio so we could watch and video them. I had to stand by the door and keep Carlee from running into camera shots, so I got a lot of video clips and pictures of the back side of Kennedy’s class.
They’re still cute, nonetheless.
Carlee wants to dance too!
Kennedy reminds me of ME when I was 3 and in dance class. It’s a little strange [and yet wonderful!] to ‘look into the mirror’.
Add comment December 15th, 2010
Jenna. Dec 14. Silly Carlee.
Today I ended up taking 2 pics of Carlee. The first shows off her eyelashes [while she shows off her belly button]. The second shows off her personality. [I found her there when everyone else was buckled in the van, ready to go. She decided she needed a more swanky ride.]
Add comment December 14th, 2010
Jenna. Dec 11. Tree!
This year is the first year we have been able to set up our artificial tree, put on the lights, and decorate it with ornaments all in one afternoon. Why? We had help! The kids loved to help with all parts of the Christmas tree making. I loved watching them.
[Kevin had the hard job of lifting the kids up to put the ornaments on.]
I love our tree. Kevin’s parents gave us this tree when we got married, and they used it for some years prior. So, I really have no idea how old it is, but I’d consider it an antique. It’s so pretty.
Add comment December 11th, 2010
Jenna. Dec 9. Kennedy singing.
Today the CBS kids sang songs for the Moms. I was holding Carlee and taking this picture of Kennedy with my iPhone. Kennedy did great and sang very well. If I ever learn how to put videos on the blog, I’ll show you one.
1 comment December 9th, 2010
Jenna. Dec 7. Daddy’s little helpers.
Kevin made a dessert for his company’s yearly dessert bake-off. He had 3 sous chefs this year.
Add comment December 7th, 2010
Jenna. Dec 1. Mail time.
Colby can reach the mailbox now, so his sisters fight over who gets to carry the mail back to the house. Kennedy’s already in the house. I’m not really sure what happened to Colby in this picture, but Carlee is wearing Kennedy’s shoes, so everyone’s coming back inside all crazy-like.
Add comment December 1st, 2010
Jenna. Nov 29. Bible reading.
I took a picture of Kevin reading The Jesus Storybook Bible. I very much enjoy this version of the Bible – the subtitle is “every story whispers His Name”, and I love love LOVE that on so many different levels.
This pic was taken during dinner, but I’ve been trying to read them a Bible story during lunch. I have had a hard time with lunch lately – we come home after picking up Colby from school [he's done at 12:30], and no matter how many snacks we eat in the morning, everyone is tired and starving (including me). It also seemed like once I got everyone’s lunches ready, the kids were ready to get down from the table and I hadn’t eaten a bite of food. And that left me frustrated and even more hungry, so here’s my solution:
- kids decide what they want to eat – I will give them 2 options but they cannot change their minds once they’ve picked.
- kids get out the accessible ingredients (ex. PBJ, fruit, chips).
- Mom gets out ingredients/food that needs to be heated in the microwave; kids punch in the numbers.
- Mom finishes assembly and plates food.
- kids wash hands (or go to the sink so I can wash their hands).
- kids set the table (plates, cups + water, napkins and silverware if necessary).
- kids get out the Bible and decide which story to read. One kid gets the Bible, one kid picks the story, and one kid gets to turn the pages or see the pics first (didn’t think we’d need this rule, but everyone wanted to do the same job, so I had to split it all up.)
We sit down, we pray, the kids talk to each other while I eat, and then I read from the Bible after the first 5-7 minutes of eating. It has helped us be more on the same page, so to speak, and eat lunch together, not in shifts.
And, notice how many of those things are the responsibility of the kids? And I haven’t had many arguments about who got more food or got to pray first or whatever else they might choose to complain about; plus, I get to actually eat food with my kids before they need to sleep! Now, I need to figure out how to get them to make their own PBJ…
Add comment November 29th, 2010
Jenna. Nov 28. Calendar of Thanks.
I can’t believe I made it almost all the way through November without posting about our daily thanks calendar. I ordered this from Pottery Barn Kids last year.
The kids have written some pretty hilarious things, but mostly this year they’ve been thankful for Disney World, for Mom & Dad (and siblings!), and for things like food and their trampoline. It’s so neat to hear how they are thankful, and I think that comes from asking them to say “thank you” and to really mean it. The sweetest child is a thankful child, I say.
And, here’s a close-up on the cute details of the calendar. This is just an idea for giving thanks – you don’t have to buy this calendar in order to be thankful! Make your own felt calendar or make a thankful tree or keep your notes of thanks in a jar. You’re also not limited to the month of November to give thanks either. Be thankful continually!
Add comment November 28th, 2010
Jenna. Nov 27. Last day – Magic Kingdom.
It has been said that the busiest time of the year at Walt Disney World is the week of Thanksgiving. We can personally vouch for that statement. Crowd levels on my iPhone app (touringplans.com) were 10 out of a possible 10, and it was strongly encouraged that we avoid Magic Kingdom on this day because all Saturdays at the Magic Kingdom are absolutely crazy. However, it was our last day at Disney and dad & Alicia’s only full day to go to MK, so we bit the bullet. It was very nice that I was in a scooter, because I got to bypass most of the lines and bring 8 people with me on the ride. Otherwise we would have spent all day in lines.
I still love the lights on Cinderella’s castle. It was worth all the lines to see that again. Took this pic while waiting for the parades to start. I also love the Main Street Electrical Parade. An oldie but a goodie. And, the fireworks show with Tinkerbell flying through the air down Main Street.
We managed to ride every ride we wanted to hit (we hit all the kids’ rides the first day), and we even got to take Colby on a few more roller coasters – Splash Mountain (twice!), Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, and Space Mountain, to name a few. He did great and it was a lot of fun to get to share that with him. Kennedy, on the other hand, was ONE INCH too short to ride all the rides. (The minimum is 40 inches and she rests at 39.) However, other Disney pluses are their rider swap program and the availability of kiddie playgrounds close to the ride’s entrance. It made things a lot less stressful.
Kevin also got to see one of his friends from high school who now lives in Orlando. Ryan and Kristan were really nice and hung out with us, even though the crowds were crazy. They tell us they live about 15 minutes away from Disney World, they have season passes and they visit about once a week. I think I would too. And, I think another trip is soon in order so we can stay with them the next time we visit – but NOT during Thanksgiving week.
The last ride we rode was Aladdin’s Magic Carpet ride (during the fireworks show, Adventureland & Frontierland is empty, so we took advantage). Here’s Kevin & Kennedy waiting for our turn to ride.
While waiting, we also met a cast member [employee] who was from Texas A&M. It really is a small world after all.
Here’s Colby, wearing the glow necklaces I brought from home. Also a good idea I had – the kids liked wearing them and I could find them easily in the big crowds we experienced. (Sorry these are so dark – it was like 11:30 pm.)
The very last thing we did, before waving goodbye to Main Street and the train station at the Magic Kingdom, was to redeem all of our snack credits on our meal plan. We chose a Disney Dining Plan so we could do some of the character experiences without having to pay an arm and a leg for each one. We pre-paid for all our meals, park tickets, and our room, and we showed our room key to the wait staff and they’d take credits off our meal plan. So, we paid for one sit-down type meal, one fast-food type meal, and one snack per day. But we hadn’t used all the snacks every day – we just got a few as we needed them and then packed our own snacks. And there’s no redemption back – you use them or you lose them. So, we had to find room in our suitcases for about 9 bottles of water, 5 bags of chips, and 5 bottles of orange & apple juice.
We left the park close to midnight to catch a bus back to our resort. Then-
12:30 am – back to resort
1:30 am – pack up everything for flight back home in the morning (er, a few hours…)
2 am – sleep
3:45 am – wake up!
4 am – have suitcases ready and “wake up the kids” (they actually slept on our shoulders until the airport)
4:15 am – bell services comes to take our luggage back to the main lobby
4:45 am – Disney’s Magical Express comes to take us to the Orlando airport
5:15 am – check in with skycap
6 am – go through security (in a wheelchair for the last time)
6:45 am – Airport McDonald’s breakfast
7:15 am – check in at the gate, Belle change Carlee’s diaper while we save them a seat on the plane
8 am – flight home!
We got to Houston at 10:30 am, even after a quick stop in Panama City, FL. Even though the flight was super early, I was glad to be back home before the craziness of Thanskgiving weekend travel hit. We didn’t have much traffic going back home from Houston, even after stopping for some Mexican food for lunch (well, Tex-Mex, but what else is there?). I was also glad we checked in early with skycap, because everyone who checked in later didn’t get their luggage when we arrived in Houston. There was an entire cart of luggage missing.
All in all, I can’t complain about our trip; I mean, we went to DISNEY WORLD!!! The happiest place on earth! :) There are definitely things I would change, such as not being in a walking boot (although it had some definite advantages). I had an incredible time. I’m blessed that we were able to go with my parents and my sisters. It was a great family experience that truly engaged every single one of us. I don’t care if it is “mainstream”, Disney does it big and does it right. I loved loved the trip and had a lot of fun planning it. All that time was well worth the effort. The kids also can’t stop talking about it and I can’t wait til we can do it again.
1 comment November 27th, 2010