The next 24-hours will be unbearable

I finally told the kids we are going on vacation. I told them we are going on vacation tomorrow. They asked where? I asked them where they wanted to go and they both said "Disney World" at the same time. So I said "OK".

It took 10 minutes to scrape them down off the ceiling.

I'm not sure they're gonna make it through the next 24-hour without having an excited nervous breakdown!!

Weather still looks great - even the small chance of rain appears to have passed!

My neighbors are heading South too!!

I went down the street this afternoon to a neighbors house to ask if their 11-year-old girls would be willing to take care of the cat while we are on our trip. When I told the mother when we were leaving, she informed me that their next door neighbor is also going at the same time. Samantha and Michael both play with their kids.

This will be their first trip - so of course I knocked on the door and gave her a few quick tips! And my phone number and she wanted to try and meet up if we are in the same park at the same time.

Its a surprise for their kids too!!

Guess a few other people have good taste regarding the best time to travel to Disney!

Weather's still looking good!

I've been going to weather.com for the past few days, checking out the 10-day forecast for Orlando for our trip.

I've seen some forecasts of rain that are then gone!

But, right now, we are looking at:
- A 30% chance of light showers on the day we arrive
- No more than a 10% chance of rain for all the other days. And we will make sure that rain doesn't come by carting all of our ponchos and covers for the stroller with us every day!!
- Highs in the upper 70s, lows in the mid-50s

I don't think the weather can get more perfect. We'll have light jackets and sweatshirts, but no need for the heavy winter coats and sweaters! And hopefully our ponchos won't see much use!!

It's Christmas Time!

At least that's what Emma thinks.

It started about 5 minutes after she got up from the Thanksgiving table yesterday. She has started talking about Santa Claus, supported by my other two instigators. So, we finally had to tell her that she wouldn't be getting "stuff" from Santa Claus until after we had Thanksgiving (this was about a week before Thanksgiving that we told her that).

So, immediately after Thanksgiving, she was SURE that it was Christmas time and she was gonna get her "Dora Stuff". That's what she says. Santa Claus is gonna come and bring her "Dora Stuff". She has asked no fewer than 3 times today if its "Christmas Time" yet.

Doesn't help that the Christmas decorations started going up in our house today
(since we are heading out of town on Tuesday).

We still have 30 days of this to go!

World Diabetes Day

Today is the first annual World Diabetes Day!

Observed during Diabetes Awareness Month, its designed to bring focus to this chronic disease.

Other important diabetes related web sites:

Children With Diabetes
Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation
American Diabetes Association

It's true, you only truly appreciate your parents once you have children yourself

I just spent the day on the soccer field. Starting at 8am and leaving at 4pm.

It was 45 degrees for a HIGH today.
The wind was blowing and there was LOTS of moisture in the air.

I've been home for a couple of hours and I still don't think my toes are thawed out. My fingers are still stiff and tingly as they are warming up.

You know its cold when the 8-year-olds are saying its too cold to be outside!!

But, I was out there because I volunteer my time with the soccer league that the kids play in - everyone needs to pitch in to help.

Gives me a new appreciation for the numerous cold games my parents attended during my childhood.

And, P.S., Michael had the best two games of his season today!! He played great!

I've done some Christmas shopping and didn't even realize it

I have had boxes showing up at my house almost every day for the past week. They were piled in the hallway for a while. I have finally gotten around to unpacking and sorting and putting away everything in them.

I had 2 boxes of Tastefully Simple food. Yay! They have some new items that I got for us to try and I'm excited about giving them a try.

I got a new backpack to take on our trip to Disney. We have worn out our old ones and I need a good sturdy zipper one to be carrying around Emma's supplies on our upcoming trip to Disney.

I had 2 boxes of Candles and candleholders for the recent Partylite catalog party I had. I was burning a variety of candles all over the house tonight after unpacking that box.

I have a box of games. There is a relatively new direct sales company that sells games. Most of them have a little educational aspect to them, but they are all pretty cool looking. My nephews and kids will be seeing these at Christmas.

I also had a box of American Girl dolls and clothes. I had a friend who lives in Minnesota go shopping for me at the American Girl outlet sale in Wisconsin this summer. I finally got my items. Emma will be getting a bitty baby and Samantha a new historical doll. There are also new outfits for the babies!

So, I've actually started. That's good since I feel a little rushed when I take a trip at the beginning of December, so this will get me going ahead of time!!

And there are also 5 bags and boxes of stuff that will be given away to Vietnam Vets when they come for a pickup next week - right by the door and ready to go!

19 days!

We leave for Disney in 19 days. Well, actually 18 days if you count the fact that I'm getting ready to go to bed.

I feel woefully unprepared for this trip. I ordered a new backpack that we need the other day and its coming. I need to purchase a bag to carry all of Emma's supplies but I haven't yet. I haven't taken "inventory" to see if the kids have the right amount of the right season's clothes.

I also need to read the menus again of the places where we plan to eat so I can research some carb counts for Emma. We can actually load them into her pump to have them ready to choose from a list when we go to dose her. But I need to do the work.

I think the reason I haven't been doing any preparing recently is because of how Disney changed their reservation system. It used to be that you could only make dining reservations 90 days in advance - now you can make them 180 days. And you MUST make them 180 days in advance in order to get what you want. So, my reservations were made in May. You lose a little momentum in that time.

And, I feel a little behind on the schoolwork so I feel the need to get a good bit more done before we leave. And just when I think we have a weekend off to "organize my thoughts", something else is scheduled. This weekend Michael has a soccer "end of season" tournament, the following weekend Samantha has a "dance festival", then its Thanksgiving and then we go!! Whew - I'm tired just thinking about it.

But nothing will stop us from getting on that plane early in the morning on November 27th to our favorite vacation destination!!

All I can say is...

2-year old girls and red permanent markers do NOT mix well!

No photos to share! Sorry!

Hello November!!

It has gotten COLD here. I swear these days we don't have 4 seasons - just summer and winter. We spent most of the fall with temperatures in the 80s (and even some still in the 90s in October). Now its November and its really cold. In the 40s and 50s cold.

As Emma says, "Its BRRRRRRing me"

At least she still likes wearing jackets!

A couple of cute photos

When we are reading our history reading in the front room each day, Emma often comes running in. I often have to take her back to the family room, because she's distracting. She'll bring in blankets and stuffed animals and run in and out.

Today she "snuck" in on tip toes, quietly. But she still didn't sit still. She sat with Samantha and then got down. Then she laid on the floor to "listen". She often does this and lays on the floor with her head in her hands - like this:


The other kids of course wanted to join in, so we took a quick break and I took a few pictures of all of them. This is one of the best pictures I've had of the kids in a while!

Halloween Photos

Thought I'd share a couple of Halloween photos.

Here are the three kids and then one with Emma, the only one I could get a photo of alone:

Happy Birthday Granny!