I took this picture about 5 minutes before the parents came to pick up their kiddos. Here we have Kyle watching Wall-E [with the rest of the kids on the other couches] and Granger reading a book. Also Cooper looking a bit worried here; whether someone will take his spot or if someone will suddenly pounce on him, I know not.
Never fear, no dogs were harmed in the taking of this picture.
1 comment December 2nd, 2010
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
Colby has homework on Tuesdays. He usually does it at the table in the dining room but today he chose to do it on the floor. He also gets to choose if he wants to use marker or crayon or pencil or pen to complete. Usually it’s marker.
Add comment November 30th, 2010
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
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
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
Disney does it bigger and better. This tree was in the middle of The Grand Floridian hotel. We went there via Monorail on this day to have breakfast with Mary Poppins. [And you know how much Carlee loves her some Wee Poppips (it's morphed a bit.)] Also joining Mary Poppins was Alice in Wonderland, the Mad Hatter, Tigger, & Winnie the Pooh. We met them much like we met the princesses at Epcot the other day. The breakfast was a buffet – I really enjoyed the Mickey Mouse-shaped waffles, the lobster eggs benedict, and the breakfast pizza. I’m not sure what else there was because Alicia got my food so Carlee and I could stay and see more of Mary Poppins. Alicia picked perfectly, by the way.
After breakfast, we decided it would be a great time to take the kids back to the room and let them nap. The kids did not think this was a good idea. After 40 minutes of them watching Cars in the same room, we decided to get ready to go to Epcot. Then it started raining. So, we took our time, grabbed the ponchos and the jackets, and got on the bus. The kids were asleep in 5 minutes.
My parents and sisters left to get tickets for the Festival of Lights program. So Kevin and I let the kids sleep for a few minutes while we got in the park and went to eat some dinner. We ended up missing the FOL program, but the foursome said it was phenomenal. You can see now why we are planning our trip back to WDW soon.
I really love the Epcot ball. I took this pic while standing under it, waiting to get in the handicap entrance of Spaceship Earth.
And, here’s one of the pics from Spaceship Earth – as the ride is taking you back down, it asks you to put in some info about yourself and it gives you a picture of the future you. Here’s my face on a futuristic me. The first time we rode this ride, Kevin and I decided to kiss during the picture (it’s a slow-moving ride). So, the futuristic pics of us showed me + 1/2 of Kevin’s face. Awesome.
Add comment November 26th, 2010
Happy Thanksgiving! I didn’t take my iPhone into Hollywood Studios today – I wore shorts without pockets. Here’s a pic from Kevin’s iPhone4 of 4 people I’m thankful for.
Today we started big – we got to the park at 9, and Kevin ran to get Fast Passes for the Toy Story ride (best idea of the day, because our time to ride wasn’t until 4:45 pm). Then, the roller coaster crew (minus Colby) went on the Rock-n-Roller coaster while the rest of the gang went to see Beauty & the Beast. I don’t know who had the better show but I loved the roller coaster and they couldn’t stop talking about the show.
We got to meet a number of characters today – Disney is very smart in selling autograph books and making available the times that the characters will be appearing. There are also cast members who will scan a Photo Pass card and take your picture with their cameras. Then you go online after your trip and look at all the great pics you have taken as a family, and you didn’t run the risk of losing your camera to a stranger. A great selling point in this economy – everyone will buy their picture taken with Disney characters!
Back to the characters – all in the same area were Lotso (the bear from Toy Story 3), Mr. Incredible & FroZone, and Mickey Mouse in his Fantasia costume. Mr. Incredible tried to get the kids to loosen up by holding up muscle arms and forcing the kids’ mouths to smile. Mickey was also really great – the Disney cast member took a pic of the 9 of us with her camera and then took another one with Kevin’s camera. She couldn’t get Kevin’s camera to work right, so Mickey shook his head “no” – he made it clear to us that he didn’t break the camera.
We spent the longest time waiting in line to see Buzz Lightyear and Woody. Our kids were most excited to meet them, because of their love for the Toy Story movies. I kept trying to get our kids to talk to the characters, even though they couldn’t talk back. So I said something like, “To infinity, and beyond!” and then the kids would give Woody & Buzz high-fives or a hug, once they knew Mom was okay talking to these real-life strangers.
We also saw the Lights, Motors, Action! stunt show. Amazing. Also amazing and very cool was the Festival of Lights show on the Streets of America. Lights everywhere. Light choreography to the music. And, it snowed every 7 minutes. I think we decided the snow was tiny soap bubbles? We took pics & video.
The last things we saw at DHS were Lightning McQueen and Mater! I wondered if they would be real people in costume, but there were cars (in a “garage”) fashioned to look exactly like Lightning & Mater. Colby was so excited to get to see cars just like in the movie he’s loved for so long. [And, next summer Disney will release Cars 2. Can't wait.]
All of us donned our Aggie shirts today, as it was the day of beating the hell outta tu (and we did!!). We had lots of Aggies stop us and say Gig ‘em, and lots of Longhorns stop us and say, “We hope you don’t play as well as you have been the rest of the year.” (but we did anyway!)
Our Thanksgiving dinner, while watching the game, was hamburgers and chicken caesar salad. and CAKE! (which is a joke, because there was dessert at EVERY meal. But Carlee did get her fill of cake.)
1 comment November 25th, 2010
Carlee was so ready to go see Mickey Mouse that she wheeled her stroller into the bathroom and started buckling herself in. She knew that was the only way she could get out the door and no one would leave her. Smart girl.
You’ll notice that Carlee is in short sleeves and a skirt. The weather all week was really nice – mid-70s or 80s during the day and 50s at night. One night it got to be in the low 50s but we all had jackets. I don’t think there is ever a bad time to be in Central Florida.
Today we had reservations to eat lunch with the princesses. This restaurant was in the Norway part of the World Showcase, but all the waiting room was outside. So, Kennedy and Carlee decided to build a bonfire with the Norwegian pine needles. [sorry the pic is a little dark; Kevin took the better pics but I have the better stories.]
We took lovely family pictures with Belle the princess; I introduced Belle [my mom] to the princess in the yellow dress. Then Belle kissed Colby on the cheek and told him to be a very good prince and take care of his princess sisters. Colby looks so thrilled.
I asked Colby about Belle the princess kissing him, and he said, “Um. I didn’t like that.”
At lunch we also met Snow White, Cinderella, Aurora (Sleeping Beauty for you princess novices), and Ariel. All week I was impressed with how well the characters interact with children. I told Ariel that Carlee was redheaded just like her, and she said, “Oh, well I hope she doesn’t get into as much trouble as I did.” Also, as Carlee is want to do, she took off one of her shoes at lunch. Cinderella came over and said, “I see you’ve lost one of your glass slippers like me.” Then Carlee crouched down to look at Cinderella’s shoes, and Cinderella was wearing black heels.
After lunch, Alicia, Kevin & I took Colby to go on the roller coasters. He was thrilled. We rode Mission: Space, Spaceship Earth, & Soarin’.
Katrina, Belle & Doc took the girls to take a nap. Apparently there were parades, which the girls slept through. Then we all met up to ride the Finding Nemo ride a few times, and we ended the night with the IllumiNations fireworks show. Carlee loved Nemo but did not love the loud fireworks (being in the scooter, we got to sit up close).
1 comment November 24th, 2010
Pictures.
Words.
1. I loved how beautiful Disney World looked during this time of year. We’ve never been able to see the Christmas decorations in previous trips. I was blown away by the Christmas lights, wreaths, and strategically placed ornaments in every square inch of the parks. (You’ll see more pics in the next few days of some beautiful trees.)
2. The very first ride we rode was the carousel. I took this pic right before we took off. Carlee thought she was on top of the world.
3. Colby and Kennedy’s Mickey Mouse ears. A Disney parks classic. Colby donned Lightning McQueen (from the movie Cars). Kennedy picked out these princess ears and then declared she needed an outfit to match. [She has plenty at home.]
4. Katrina’s ears, fashioned after a Pirate Princess. I took this inside of the Small World ride. Another Disney classic.
1 comment November 23rd, 2010
This is the kids’ suitcase. Three kids in one suitcase. [one in diapers!] For one whole week. Pretty good, I’d say.
The temps are also supposed to be in the 80s during the day and 60s at night. Plus, we will have a washing machine there. We leave tomorrow. Can’t wait.
2 comments November 21st, 2010
We visited Kevin’s sister + family this weekend for Thanksgiving celebrations. Tonight we went out to eat and the boys surrounded the video game as an unsuspecting patron actually put money in.
Our boys (and girls) saved their quarters for the gumball machine. It only works when you put money in… the gumball machine doesn’t have an automatic run cycle that makes the kids think they are playing like the video game does.
Add comment November 19th, 2010
Kennedy got her first haircut today. Just an inch or two, to cut off the dead ends.
She’s three-and-a-half years old, after all.
But I wanted every part of her to scream “little girl”.
I think this is a good compromise.
Add comment November 17th, 2010
I helped hostess a baby shower this past weekend and one of the other hostesses made cake balls. I could not get them out of my head – they were so yummy and perfectly made. So, I talked about them with the kids and we agreed we needed to make them together today.
They were a bit of work – the basic recipe isn’t difficult, but it is a little labor-intensive. It took all of us baking, mixing, rolling, and cooling to get them done. But they are suuuuper yummy!
1 comment November 16th, 2010
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