Day 2 - Epcot!

On our second day, we went to Epcot. We loved it as much as the Magic Kingdom, but for different reasons. It had what was probably our favorite ride of all, Soarin', and we rode it four times! We also loved test track and the space rides and the Nemo rides. We LOVED Turtle Talk with Crush! It was hilarious! The turtle from Nemo was on the screen, and he somehow would interact with the kids in the audience and answer questions... even though he was a cartoon! Amazing stuff. And VERY, VERY funny!! In addition to all the rides, we found that Epcot was a GREAT place to meet all the Disney characters! We found the lines to be much shorter here, and in a few instances, no lines at all!!

We met Mickey...

...and Pluto...
... and Minnie (Abby's favorite!)...
... and Donald...
... and Goofy, all at the Character Spot, which was an air conditioned place to wait and meet all the "classics" in one place. Brilliant!
Then, we walked around all the countries, and met Belle in France...
...Jazmine and Aladdin in Morocco (Grace was SO EXCITED.. look at her Jazmine shirt she is wearing!!!)
... Mulan in China...
... and Marie in France.
Then, we got out Grace's Princess dress and changed her clothes, and went to a special "sit down" dinner in Norway with ALL of the princessess!! First we met Belle...

... and then Sleeping Beauty...... and then Cinderella...
... and FINALLY Snow White!
We had a VERY excited little girl on our hands!
Epcot was great. We loved it so much, we decided to go back on our "off" day, later in the week! :-)

Disney Recap - Day 1

Well... we are BACK!! Our trip to Disney World was fantastic. Get ready for "Picture Overload" as I recap our trip. I don't want to ever forget it!

Thursday we flew out and took Disney's bus, the Magical Express, from the airport to our hotel, Port Orleans Riverside. We spent the afternoon exploring the hotel and swimming in their fabulous pool.

On Friday we got up early and ate breakfast to get ready for our first day at The Magic Kingdom!
**This picture is out of order... It should be up there with the resort... These are the towels that were magically on our bed, in the shape of Mickey ears. I could take the time out to move it, but, I don't want to! :-)
As soon as we walked through Cinderella's castle, the girls got to meet Fairy Godmother. She was so sweet. Grace was enchanted!
Across the street from her was the wicked stepmother and stepsisters. They were hilarious! The stepmother said, "Hmmm... these girls look strangely familiar. Blonde hair, blue eyes. They look like another girl I know." The stepsisters asked about the feathers in the girls hair, and then when it was time to take pictures, they said, "We will NOT say CHEESE. Everyone think of another food to shout out other than cheese!" Then, when the picture was taken, they shouted things like Lasagne!!! and Asparagus!!! The girls loved them!
We rode the tea cups, and lots of other rides...
We met Winnie the Pooh and Tigger, too!
We met Peter Pan, and rode his ride, too!
We met Arial, and Prince Eric, and lots and lots of other Princesses, too.
It rained, which was fantastic, because it lowered the temperature about 20 degrees! Unfortunately, it also lightened some, which delayed the start of the parade a little bit, and we were already TIRED!! But, we were determined, and we stayed until it finally started.
Grace was SUPER excited!
The Main Street Electrical Parade was FANTASTIC!!! We love, love, loved it.
Look at the wonder and awe on this little face...
Here is Pete's dragon... I took a TON of pictures, but won't take the time to upload them all now...
After the parade, we made our way over by the Dumbo ride to watch the nightly fireworks. My pics are not great, but let me describe... The Dumbo ride was still running during the fireworks, to our right, and the castle was to our left. The fireworks were on both sides of us AND directly over our heads. Amazing!!

Here is the DUmbo ride with the fireworks in the background...
And here is the castle with the fireworks above.
It was a magical, unforgettable day!

Sweet Summertime

I know.

I have not blogged ALL. SUMMER. LONG.

And I am not even sad about it!

I have been so busy with all the usual, unimportant things that little girls require of their mommies during the summers... Camps, sleep overs, swimming, etc...

We leave in a mere 7 days for our biggest family vacation EVER. Disney World!!! I am excited, and more than a little bit overwhelmed... This vacation requires a lot of planning, and is a lot different than our usual "rent a hotel and lie on the beach" type of vacation. I have had to plan and make reservations for multiple meals a day and reserve buses for transfers and blah blah blah... Apparently relaxing at Disney is a lot of work!! I will try and let you know how it goes when we return...

This is a sweet summer - the girls are growing like weeds, and wouldn't a picture of them fit in nicely here?? Sure would be great if I had a current one. :-) Maybe sometime soon I will get organized. Hey, internets, be happy - it has taken me all summer just to post ONE TIME!! A picture would be COMPLETELY TOO MUCH TO ASK!! :-)

I'm back...

... but, in all honesty, probably not for long!

I have lost my "bloggy-rhythm", and I have no idea when I'd have time to look for it, even if I knew where to look! ha!

"Life" is getting in my way in a most serious way right now.

There are only 8 1/2 more school days with students, and I am having a lot of mixed feelings about that... Sad in some ways, because I do love teaching, but happy in some ways too, because I will have more time next year. I know my family will likely be better taken care of with me at home again, but I will SO miss seeing my children every day at school! I love seeing them in the hall and at the lunch table. I love being next door to the nurse's office, because I am the FIRST to know if one of them is feeling a bit puny... I love being friends with their teachers, because I know all the good things AND the bad things that happen every day. Those are the things that I know I will miss. I know I will NOT miss the testing and the stress. I will NOT miss the "day in and day out" grind. So, I know this season in my life will be sad and challenging, but I am trying to be calm about it. Breathe, and just BE. For the first time in my life, I will have time for me. How will that feel? I'm really not at all sure, but I guess I had better get ready to find out!

Easter 2011

Easter came and went at a fast and furious pace. Here are the lovely sisters on Easter morning, on our way to church to celebrate the risen Lord!

Here's Grace...
... and Abby...
...and Kate.
We also enjoyed a fun weekend with our cousins from Houston (and their dog, Seamus). Seamus even enjoyed playing Twister with the girls! :-)
We had a fun, fabulous Easter egg hunt with all the Cousins out here in our little country paradise. It was just great, and the kids all had a great time!

Don't let the door hit ya' on the way out!

Finally, TODAY, Mr. Migraine is gone. Today is the first day since SUNDAY that my head has not hurt.

Hallalujah!!

Now that "the worst headache of my life" is over, I am so thankful, and so hopeful that I NEVER have another one like this EVER!

My new "Friend"...

I have, in my older years now, developed a new "friend".

His name is "Migraine", and he REALLY is not so friendly.

This time, he has been around for 2 days, and today he even made me stay at home from work. Sometimes he makes me feel sick to my stomach, and occasionally he makes my vision blurry.

I have some new medicine that is supposed to make him stay away, and it has been working well, until yesterday... Yesterday he LAUGHED out loud at the medicine and stayed around anyway.

Today (after another round of a different medicine), he is kinda hanging around in the background, but he's still not completely out the door.

I wish he would just LEAVE. He's really not so friendly!!!

Motivation

I am having a slight "motivation" problem.

Something along the lines of "They have already taken my job away, so why exactly should I show up for the rest of the year if they don't even WANT me?!?!?!?!?" (with a slight amount of eye-rolling and head-nodding thrown in there, along with just a smidge of attitude...)

And then one of my students says something funny, or smiles at me, and I remember why I have to show up every day.

True story.

The Birthday Girl!

Yesterday was a very special day... My little Abby turned 9!

It was also a CRAZY BUSY kind of day... After school, we rushed home and opened gifts for Abby. Then, we hopped in the car and rushed off to Goldthwaite for a basketball game for Katie's 6th grade team. Yesterday was ALSO the birthday of one of Kate's BFF's, Miss Emma! Here is a pic of both the birthday girls.
When we got home (finally), we got to eat Abby's DELICIOUS cake. She loves Science and the Solar System, so she wanted a cake with the Solar System on it. One call to Mrs. LeeAnn at Cake and Cookie Creations (our fabulous new bakery here in H-town), and WHA-LA!!! Solar System cake!
Here is a pic of the big 9 year old birthday girl, with the candles lit on her cake.
Happy Birthday to my sweet angel, Abby. I love you SO much, and I hope your day was as special as you are!!

Changes....

Just in case you didn't know this about me, I'm NOT so big on CHANGES.

I'm a "wee bit" of a planner. I like things the way I like them, thank you very much, and usually, I am able to make my handy little life work out the way I want it to work out. And I like it that way. It's like my own personal little Burger King.

But sometimes, life throws me a curve ball of sorts.

Like this week, for instance.

You see, last year I made the MONUMENTAL, LIFE-CHANGING decision to go back to work. It wasn't a decision I made lightly, but it's where I felt I needed to be. My children would all be in school this year, and I want to be where they are. (That was sort of the whole reason I was a stay-at-home mom in the first place.)

But, now the state of Texas is having money issues, and our schools are having budget issues. So this week I was informed that my services would no longer be needed next year. As in, "You no longer have a job here."

*SIGH*

I know I am so blessed, because I don't have to work. My not working won't change my family's life financially. I wasn't doing it for the money, though... I was doing it because I love it, and because I love being near my children. And my children love me being there. I know that won't always be true, and I hate to miss the few years when it IS true.

I'm not sure where I am supposed to go from here, but I'm trying to just be still and BE. God will show me, if I just allow him.