You know, we agreed many years ago not to give gifts to the adults!!

Thankfully, my brother and sister and I have agreed not to buy Christmas gifts for each other - just for the kids. We have gotten lucky there as we only have 3 nephews to buy for while my brother has FIVE nieces and nephews to buy for.

But, really, my sister-in-law didn't need to give me the gift she gave me. Really. She should take it back. That is, that cold that she was suffering from for two weeks when she visited for Christmas. I think she shared it with me! Really, I appreciate the generosity, but that's really alright.

Back to School, Back to Life

Today we are back in business. Kids are back onto their schoolwork and practicing their piano (which they have had a TWO WEEK break from). Mike is back at work.

School is going pretty well today - that usually happens when I take the time to do the lesson plan in advance. We are still struggling with getting Samantha to "move along" - she dawdles at everything, from getting up in the morning, the actual ACT of eating, and dawdles at her schoolwork. The problem is that the dawdling affects more than just her because I have to be involved in some of her schoolwork and I actually do have other things to do - SHOCK

But, we're back into the routine and now just need to start packing up Christmas and geting the tree down!!

Oh, and since so many people are mentioning their New Years Resolutions, I will too.

I only have two and they are related: Get more organized and simplify. We have too much stuff. The stuff is getting in the way of my getting organized. So, I want to get rid of lots of stuff and then organize what is left. Some of the "stuff" is because my parents are working to put their house (my childhood house) on the market, so their "decluttering" becomes my "clutter" (Hi Mom!) But its stuff that I'm not ready to get rid of yet, so I need to get rid of the stuff in my house that I AM ready to get rid of - and I'm going to be getting 2 bookshelves from her eventually so that will HELP organize the stuff!!

Magic Kingdom (Day 4)

Nov 30th


We headed back to the Magic Kingdom after a day at Epcot. The days at Magic Kingdom are usually about the same - start in Fantasyland, which has universal appeal to everyone. Head over to Tomorrowland for possibly our favorite ride - Buzz Lighyear. The kids and Mike head off to hit the roller coasters from time to time and we meet back up. Emma has a grand old time and takes a nap in the afternoon. Throughout the day, we visited with a variety of characters that we found throughout the park - that is one of my more favorite parts of a trip to Disney.



The two highlights of this day were our dinner at Crystal Palace and the Very Merry Christmas Party. Crystal Palace is probably our favorite character meal - and not just because its the Pooh characters. Pooh has been a favorite for all of our kids - and Emma is no exception.


After dinner at Crystal Palace, it was time for the Christmas party. They were shuffling out the other guests - we had our wristbands to show we were there for the party. We walked over to the castle mainstage so that we could see the Christmas party show. We took that time to TRY and get a family photo. Between random eye-blinking of one or more members of the family, and Emma refusing to look at the camera or wearing a hat or anything else of that nature, we finally got a decent photo of the 5 of us with the Christmas castle in the background - and I got a good one of Mom and Dad.

After the show, Mom and Dad and Emma and I headed down Main Street to get our places for the parade. The Christmas party parade is really different than the regular daytime parade. They have lots more floats and characters and everything is decorated for Christmas. AND, they have the marching "precision" toy soldiers. They march and play right on the beat - which has GOT to be difficult with those big soldier heads on.




After the parade, Mom and Dad and Emma and I headed back to the hotel. It was already 9pm and Emma would do better if she got some sleep. Mike, Samantha and Michael stayed and rode the rides some more, while the lines were especially short. They caught some of the parade on their way out.

I realize that I hadn't shared any of the fireworks that we saw our first day at the Magic Kingdom. I got some great ones during the show and thought I'd share a couple of my favorite.

Epcot (Day 3)

Nov 29th - Epcot

Today was our day at Epcot. We have always spent just a half day there and done "most" but never everything we wanted. So, we decided to spend the entire day there and take our time and see all that we wanted.


We spent the morning at the Land and the Sea pavilion. I personally hadn't ridden "Soarin" before. I loved it and we rode it a couple of times. In between, we rode the Living with the Land train and that was really neat. We saw a lot of different plants - and my favorite was seeing the mold that they put around the pumpkins to make them grow in the shape of Mickey Mouse. And I LOVED how they grew all of their "vine" plants on racks up above your head - a lot better results that way!! (and surprisingly I don't have any photos). We also popped over to the Sea pavilion to ride the Nemo ride and check out the aquarium. We love that they project the animation right on the aquarium - pretty neat.

After lunch at the Land pavilion, we worked our way back to the World Showcase. Mike took Samantha and Michael to ride Test Track while Mom, Dad, Emma (asleep of course) and I rode the boats on the lagoon - both of them. Mike and the kids made it back by time we were getting on the 2nd boat so they rode with us - and Samantha even got to be a guest pilot.










Once on World Showcase, we started at Germany and worked our way around back towards the front, as our dinner plans were at Le Cellier. We wanted to see some of the Christmas presentations at the different countries. We started with Germany. A lovely German woman came out and told of some of the Christmas traditions in Germany and she spoke of a Nutcracker, who then came out to greet her and have some photos taken!







As we worked our way around World Showcase, we enjoyed the Dickens carolers in the American Pavilion and then the Fife and Drum Corps performance just outside. Emma finally woke up from our nap and we worked our way around towards England and one of our objectives for the day - seeing Winnie the Pooh. He was greeting guests with Eeyone in the back of the toy store in England. We waited in line and were able to see and play with them - Emma showed them her stuffed Pooh and Pooh loved on it. And, as we were exiting the toy store, Father Christmas was coming out to tell his story of Christmas in England - so we were able to sit right down and hear that.

After England, we continued our way around to Canada where we saw Papa Noel tell his story of Christmas in Canada and then we went and checked in for dinner at Le Cellier. We enjoyed it a lot the last time we went, but the service was pretty slow - VERY SLOW. And, we went prior to the Candlelight Processional last time, so we were extremely rushed to get to the concert. From what I understand, we weren't the only ones to complain about the speed of the service. So, while we were 20 minutes late getting seated, the service was much more efficient and we had a good meal and were done in plenty of time to walk calmly to the American Pavilion, arriving just in time to sit down for the Candlelight Processional. It was, as expected, wonderful - and the deaf interpreter that was there two years ago, was again. She is quite animated in her interpretation and really enjoys the concert herself!

Disney Summary

I haven't had a chance to post about Disney. Probably because a) one of the main readers was on the trip with us (Mom) and she KNOWS already; and b) we've been trying to get schoolwork done and ready for Christmas.

But, I thought I'd post a little summary.

Tuesday, Nov 27
We got up early and took an early flight to Orlando. Luckily, Mom and Dad's flight was only 20 minutes later, so we waited for them and took the Magical Express bus to the Pop Century. It was nice because we were the first stop, so I think it was only a 20-25 minute drive!

Check-in was pretty quick; and they had the box of diapers and other items that I had shipped down. We ate some lunch and then threw our carryons in the room, our luggage arrived and the kids changed to shorts, and we headed to Magic Kingdom.

We managed to walk in right as the parade was starting, and we had a good view, so we saw the parade. The kids ran off with Mike to Space Mountain, of course!! We were able to ride a few rides with the kids before heading over to 1900 Park Faire for dinner. We took the boat over to the Grand Floridian. The dock master gave "trading cards" to the kids and told them about the 18 trading cards that they different transporations have (bus, boat, and monorail), so they spent the rest of the trip collecting them!



We were also excited to see the great Christmas decorations and the life-sized gingerbread house!

Dinner was nice. I was afraid that we wouldn't like the evil stepsisters but I think a better description is "the sarcastic, comedic step sisters" because they were great. They were very engaging and funny - we almost liked them better than Cinderella. This one asked Samantha while she was at the buffet if her brother was married!! :) Loved the food.










Wednesday, Nov 28th

We headed off to Magic Kingdom today. Two objectives I had on this trip were to a) see the opening show on the train platform; and b) be at the opening of Toontown at 10am. We accomplished both of these today. The opening show is cute - the Main Street singers come out and sing and then Mickey and his friends come around on the train to open the park. Its a great way to really get into the Disney spirit.

We headed to Fantasyland, our typical first stop. Emma loves to ride rides as much as her brother and sister, so there was no keeping her off rides. And, she wants to be in control - you don't get to drive when you ride with her.



After spending a day riding rides with Emma taking a nap after lunch (which she did EVERY DAY on this trip - thankfully), we went to Liberty Tree Tavern for dinner. We have been there for lunch before, but never for dinner. They serve dinner family style, and you get visited by Minnie Mouse, Pluto, Goofy, Chip and Dale. Emma was doing great with the characters, was loving hugging them and kissing them. But, she was dawdling and NOT eating her dinner. So, after one of the characters left the table, I (innocently) said that she needed to eat quickly so she could be done before Pluto got there or Pluto would eat her food! Boy, what a backfire!




After dinner, we headed out to get our places for SpectroMagic and the Fireworks. Mike and the kids headed off to get in a couple of roller-coaster rides before then, planning to take the train around the main street in time for the parade. I think my favorite "Christmas" decoration Disney did this year was the castle. They have lit the castle with a bunch of "icicle" type lights. They have a little ceremony to light the castle and then it stays lit until the fireworks. It is truely breathtaking - photos just don't do it justice, but here are a couple anyway.







Next post: Epcot and a return to Magic Kingdom

Tooth Crisis finally over

Michael has had a loose tooth for a while. The past few days it has really gotten loose. The gums were turning red and the tooth was just really hanging loose. He was having trouble eating. We finally told him last night that it needed to go. He had a meltdown. He really didn't want it to come out. Mike tried to help, he wiggled it a lot, I bribed him with McDonalds McFlurry, but he just didn't want it to come out.

Finally Mike put him to bed last night saying it wasn't going to come out - that it was hanging on strong. I was waiting until the dentist opened this morning to call and schedule a time to take him in for them to pull it out - he was really looking quite snaggletoothed!

But, he finally came running in this morning to tell us it fell out while he was biting something for breakfast. Thankfully.

The two previous teeth that came out had to be pulled, so this is the first one that fell out on its own. I hope the rest aren't this traumatic.

Guess the tooth fairy will be visiting tonight!

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!

The best laid plans

So, I have been doing a little work this week getting some soccer fields ready for a festival this weekend. I had to go yesterday to one field and repair 12 sets (24 total) of goals and nets. I then had to pack 5 goals into my car to take to another field.

It was hard work and it took me the better part of 90 minutes to get done.

I wanted to just take the goals to the other field and drop them off last night (they were "somewhat disassembled") and then go back today and put them together and get them placed.

But I didn't. I knew that I would need help getting them out of the car because the nets gets all tangled up in the poles (thus the "somewhat disassembled" statement above) and it was getting dark.

So, we got a little bit of schoolwork done this morning and then I threw the kids in the van to take the goals out to the other field. I knew that Samantha could help me get them out of the van and reassembled. It really is a pain to put them back together because the nets are all twisted and wrapped around the poles and we have to figure out how to get them untangled and twisted, get the poles back together, and then reattach the net where it is falling off. Then we had to drag each goal a good distance across the field to where they needed to be.

We had 5 goals. We were able to get 4 back together and 1 is ready to retire.

It took longer than I thought.

While Samantha and I (and Michael at the end) were working on the goals, I had the radio playing in the van (with the key turned backwards) and the back door of the van open. For about 75 minutes.

So perhaps that would explain why the car wouldn't start when I went back to turn it back on. Or not - it doesn't seem that those two things would drain the battery in that short period of time, but you just never know.

So, my trip that I thought would take an hour ended up taking 2 hours, as I had to find someone to jump start the van before I could leave (because the guidance says that it isn't smart to jump start a car with a hybrid, so Mike couldn't really help)

All I can say is that its a good thing I didn't drive the van all the way out on the grass into the middle of the field, like I did when I picked up the goals in August. The only reason I didn't is because it rained last week and I didn't know how soft the ground was and there's a hill I didn't want to have trouble getting up.