5 moments at Disney -

More details to come but right now I am so tired I can't even blink...

#5 - Spa day at the Grand Floridian - massages, facials, soaking in a Japanese bath - words cannot describe...

#4 - Eating breakfast with Belle, Sleeping Beauty, Jasmine, Mulan and SnowWhite. I am pretty sure Jamey has the hots for every single one of them - and thats ok I think :)

#3 - Watching Stephen with Mickey Mouse and Goofy! We thought they would be his favorites, but on our last day, he shared a bond with Princess Belle, and I am pretty sure he was smitten. He took her hand and waved bye-bye to the rest of us!

#2 - Watching Ansley FINALLY meet Cinderella. Or maybe it was when she met Minnie Mouse. She whispered to us after the Minnie Mouse encounter that she thought Minnie wanted her to stay longer. She was absolutely happy at that moment. And truly convinced that Minnie Mouse was already missing her.

#1 - Being with my family. My brother is not in Iraq. He is the best uncle the kids could hope for. Being with Jamey's family who love my kids so much. And Aunt Deej (elizabeth) who called around specifically to find out the location of one very sought after princess in a blue dress.


Disney World was great. But there is no place like home.
More details and pictures to come.

Orlando here we come!

We are leaving for Orlando as soon as Jamey gets home from work today. I am so excited to take the kids. I love Disney World (Jamey and I went to Disneyland for a day on our honeymoon) but the thought of showing it all to them is just so exciting. I know Stephen wont remember much, but Ansley is at the age where I am hoping some of it will stick.

I am shooting for a great family picture in front of the castle to use for our Christmas cards.

Ansley is ready to load her suitcase - I guess I will post again from Disney!

Thoughts on Texas, birthdays, football and pajamas

Well, tonight I am a happy girl. Jamey has been gone since last Thursday on a trip to Austin, Texas. He went to a geek convention. Actually, the real name was the supermicrocomputing somethingorother, but he said it was pretty much a dork convention. They invited certain high school teachers from around the nation to attend the conference to see how to better integrate micro computing into education. He had a good time but I am pretty sure he is glad to be home. And i know the kids and I are certainly glad to have him back. He also brought back a suitcase full of SWAG - or stuff we all get. The kids loved it. It was pretty much a bunch of little light up gadgets and stuff but the kids had a lot of fun with it.

I did have a great birthday weekend though, even with him being gone. Saturday night my mom arranged a little surprise get together for me and some friends a this local place where you go and they walk you through painting a picture. Here we are hard at work painting and drinking wine, and then painting some moreIt was a lot of fun and I totally recommend it! It was only about $30 a person I think and you bring your own food and drinks.

Let's see, what have I done to get ready to leave for Disney in less than 48 hours? Um, NOTHING. Well, I did find Stephen's mickey ears, but I have no clue where Ansley's are. About 6 months ago, Jamey said something like, "We should really put these up so we will know where they are for Disney." Yeah - well, that was a great plan and all....

We do have a great concern though about the return from Disney. There is a game (you may have heard of it) called the Iron Bowl that will be played at 2:30 on the day we are to return from Disney. So we have 3 options really:
1. Leave Disney at midnight Friday night and drive straight back here (I am voting for this one but Jamey says I am being unrealistic)
2. Add another day to our trip and just stay in Orlanda - that is fine and all, but I would really like to have my Sunday to recover from the trip and prepare for the week.
3. Leave orlando Sat morning and drive until 2:30 and stop somewhere - not so appealing b/c what would the rest of us do while Jamey and his dad are watching the game?

I am not sure what we are going to do...

On a side note - I just want to send a shout out to my dear friend Morgan. One of the best Mommies I know and an inspiration to me. Ansley says for me to add, "and she lets me do projects and doesn't tell me to clean up all day."

Here are Ansley and Stephen modeling their new Christmas pajamas courtesy of Nanny - who was my life saver the past 5 days while Jamey was gone. Think - Live in Nanny and Housekeeper.

A sad, sad world

Ansley: When you were little, did you have popcorn?

Me: Yes - we had popcorn when I was little.

Ansley: Did you buy popcorn at Target?

Me: No, there was no Target when I was little.

Ansley: (said with wide eyes and a gasp) What a sad, sad world with no Target.

----This post is lovingly dedicated to my sister-in-law Sara, who is the most dedicated Target fan I have ever met! :-)

Pictures from the weekend

BIrthdays

This past Saturday we celebrated Ansley's 5th birtday and Stephen's 2nd birthday. It was actually a little early for Ansley as she is not 5 until next month. But December tends to be so crazy it seemed to work out better to have the party for both kids in November. I think they both had a good time. Stephen did really well considering the number of people there. And I was not going to make him open presents - I thought it might stress him out - but Jamey sat with him and together they made it through the presents! Melia took pictures for me in the party room so I will post those as soon as I get the disc from her.
Luke and Sara were there for the party and we are so glad they came. After the morning party, our plan was to eat at the new Bass Pro Shop restaurant - we got there about 1 on Sat. afternoon and there was over and hour wait AND they wanted our group to split up! Not happening. So we drove to Wintzells only to get there and discover the power was out. So becuase everyone was starving and the kickoff of the Alabama/LSU game was quickly approaching, we ate Mexican - not my favorite AT ALL. But the fellowship and company was good and everyone had a good time. Until, as we were leaving, my mom saw the health raiting of 85 and was not pleased to say the least. My mom is an AVID health ratings watcher - probably moreso than most people. But at that point, what could we do?

Today we are home becuase schools are closed for Veterans Day. The kids are eating waffles and watching the Disney channel. Jamey is still sleeping. I am trying to decide whether to tackle the disaster that is Ansley's room or, perhaps even more exciting, mop the kitchen. Decisions, Decisions.

Thanks to everyone who made the kids' party so special. To have so many people who love my 2 kids is really an awesome thing.

Voting Day and other thoughts

Well, I did something today I have never done before: I stood in line to vote. No, it was not my first time to vote - I have been voting since I turned 18. But this was the first time I stood in line for a significant amount of time. And to me, an hour is significant! I can't really get into the 24 hour coverage of the election. It is what it is and watching it slowly unfold is just not appealing to me.
I do hope whoever wins, and at this point it looks as if Obama will, that he doesn't screw things up! I will be watching for the change he has promised for so many months. And I am glad that the elections are almost over! And does anyone else get sick over the amount of money on campaigning spent by BOTH parties? Anyway - that is my tangent for today.

Both of the kiddos are asleep. Stephen has been going to bed about 7:30 and this means he is getting almost 11 hours of sleep at night. He needs it - he plays so hard at school. Ansley is usually asleep by 8:30 if not before. My kids have always been good sleepers once I got them off their night nursing addictions. When you work, it is much easier to give in and nurse them (which is what they want) than to try to get them to self soothe back to sleep 4, 5, or 6 times a night. Sometimes I felt like an all night buffet! But I wouldn't change anything. I loved nursing those babies. What a special thing.

Lets see - in this post I have discussed politics and nursing - and neither were planned topics! Those of you who know me well wont mind, I am sure :-)

Halloween Fun

We had a great Halloween. We started out by trick or treating in the neighborhood. Stephen really got into it, but his legs move a lot slower than his almost 5 year old sister so she left with the neighbors and hit about 15 more houses than Stephen and I. But it was so much fun. I am almost sure that watching your own kids trick or treat is more fun that it ever was actually doing it yourself. He would ring the doorbell and say twickertweet and hold his little Elmo bucket out for candy - it was so precious!
We then went back to our house for a party - neighbors, friends and family came over and we all ate mummy dogs and spider cupcakes and jack-o-lantern cake (made by Elizabeth!). It was really a good night. Ansley fell asleep about 10 on the couch while people were still here, but Stephen was apparently running off sugar and was still lapping the house as the last guests were leaving.

Jen and Elizabeth (senorita and um, well, maybe Hannah Montana? I am not sure)
Babu and Stephen hanging out
Jamey and Ansley bobbing for apples -


My parents - AKA Nanny and Poppy - AKA Cruella Deville and Jasper from 101 Dalmations: Ready for trick or treating with our neighbor Shannon ( a sparkly cat)

Our Halloween party table
My cute little pirate: Checking out the available candy: