some Disney love :)

Anyone who knows me at all knows how much I *love* Disneyworld! And I'm sure my friends can't stand to be around me a month before I take a trip there (ok, maybe 3 months before my trip!) because it's all I can think about. We make countdown calendars, read our travel book about 100 times a day, watch past Disney trip videos, plan our meals and everywhere we want to go.

My daughter's first trip 5 years ago was also my first trip. I was 7 mos pregnant with Ben, and it was a somewhat last minute trip. We had only decided just a couple months earlier to go as a fun trip for the 3 of us to do before baby #2 came. By the way, the security guard at MGM claimed to be able to look at a pregnant woman's hand and decide if she was having a boy or girl. Well, he looked at my hand and guessed I was having a girl. Guess Earl was wrong! (yes, I remember his name!) One of my favorite memories was Olivia's 2nd trip, she was almost 4 yrs old, and she literally screamed every single time she saw a character. It didn't matter if it was the 5th time she'd seen Mickey Mouse, she still screamed her head off in excitement! My favorite memory of Ben and this last trip in '07 was when Snow White kissed him on the forehead and he didn't want me to wash it off!

Our last trip was probably the best trip in many ways. Olivia was still young enough to believe in all the magic. Ben was old enough to not be freaked out by the characters like last time (that year we had lots of video of Olivia smiling with characters and Ben screaming in the background!) It was Christmastime so there was SO much for us to see. We saw tons of characters including character meals almost every day.

I love the magic of Disney. I love walking down Main Street in Magic Kingdom and seeing the castle for the first time. I love hearing the excitement and pure joy in my kids' voices at anything and everything in the parks. I can't wait to go again. As soon as I leave I want to start planning my next trip!

Fat Tuesday/Ash Wednesday

Yesterday we met with some friends from church for a Mardi Gras dinner for Fat Tuesday. BTW, my kids just love that it's called "Fat" Tuesday! The dinner was ok but the company was great as usual. There was a older gentleman from our church that was doing magic tricks for the kids. My kids were blown away since, of course, they are fascinated with magic! When it was time for the King cake Olivia found the baby....which made her excited and Ben sad. You can never win can you?? But I think he was upset not just over that but the fact that it was past his bedtime and he was so tired. Today it didn't seem to bother him too much.

And today, of course, is Ash Wednesday. Which for me means "bye bye sweets" til Easter. So my yummy Cadbury eggs will have to wait til Easter morning! Although I will say that I'm giving myself a cheat day because I'm having something going on next month. And I know we get a cheat day on St. Patrick's day, too. We have a church dinner/fundraister that night so I'm gonna try and not cheat. Other than that I'm gonna do my best to stay away in preparation for Easter (among other things). And then there's also the no meat on Fridays which isn't hard for me. The hardest part is simply remembering it's Friday so I know not to eat meat. There's usually at least one Friday during Lent when I remember after I've eaten "oh crap, it's Friday isn't it?!!" So then I just fast the next day.

I thought I'd share a quick quote from Catholic Online:

Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the Season of Lent. It is a Season of penance, reflection, and fasting which prepares us for Christ's Resurrection on Easter Sunday, through which we attain redemption.

Happy fasting everyone :)

i'm back :)

...after my weekend TO MYSELF! I won't lie... it was *so* nice and so what I needed:) Friday I drove to Birmingham, AL and took a class at Scrap Etc. So fun to see Brittney, Gretchen & Virginia again :) And I *so* wished I lived closer to that store! We made cards to go on a 7Gypsies carousel

I've only added a few pics to it so far, but here's a couple of the cute cards

























I'll share more when I get some pics on it. It already looks so cute on my coffee table :) I know my daughter will notice it immediately when she gets home from school!

Saturday I spent the entire day in my hotel room scrappin Disney photos and watching the Oxygen channel (except for running out for lunch & dinner) .

Yes, I watched chick flicks ALL day (and didn't feel one ounce of guilt!)

BTW, Bridget Jones' Diary was actually pretty good. I'd never seen it before but it was good. I think most of us 30-something women can relate to her even if we're not single.

Sunday I scrapped a little bit more in the morning, had lunch, checked out Home Goods (another store I wish we had here) then drove home. When I got home I was greeted with signs from my kids, LOTS and LOTS of hugs, dogs jumping all over me, the kids already bathed and dinner cooking on the stove.

What???

Don't get me wrong, it's not like my hubby doesn't help around the house but....man!!! It was nice to not have to do all that after driving 2 1/2 hrs home (and lack of sleep from trying to sleep in a hotel room that was bugging my allergies).

The only bummer? My friend Elizabeth was sick all weekend so I didn't get a chance to see her :( Next time!!

I have some layouts to share but I need to finish them up first. I didn't take a lot of "extras" with me like buttons, ribbon, etc, just the basics. So I need to add the finishing touches to my layouts before sharing :)

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend!

taking a break...

I'm taking a couple days for myself. I need some time to just sit and veg and not have to worry about anyone else's needs but my own. I'm sure all you mommy's out there can relate!! I'll be back on Monday {hopefully} refreshed and maybe with some completed scrappy stuff!!

Have a great weekend everyone :)

Twilight

So I finally got the see the movie (more than once) over the weekend. I had to wait for it to hit the dollar flick since I didn't see it when it first came out. When it came out in November it was the week after my son broke his leg so I was otherwise preoccupied. Plus, I hadn't read the book yet and from what I'd heard it was better that way. I totally agree. Because without reading the book first, you don't realize stuff (like Edward's ability) til almost halfway in. It's better if you know this stuff from the get-go!

I liked Charlie more than I thought I would. From the previews I didn't think I'd like him but then he turned out to be perfect for the role. Billy Black cracked me up. Emmett, well, what can you say about Emmett?? All of the Cullin's I thought were perfect for their roles. Especially Edward ;)

Loved the baseball scene

Loved the scene at the Cullin's house

Loved the Port Angeles scene

Loved the fight scene at the end

The only thing I didn't really like was how the scene unfolded in the forest between Edward and Bella. It seemed good at first, then a little disjointed.

Other than that, I loved it. Yes, I will be getting the DVD. Yes, I will be buying the tickets for New Moon as soon as they go on sale! I'm super excited to see how they will bring Jacob's character (and his tribe) to life on the big screen. Should be interesting. And the Volturi?? Hmmm... Don't know what I'm talking about?? Read the books!!!! They're all great.

I was bummed to hear that Stephenie Meyer (the author) was writing a book from the perspective of Edward, but someone distributed a rough draft on the internet and now the project has been put on hold "indefinitely". How great would that book be??!! I read it on her website and I really hope she changes her mind!

What????

Molly didn't go home?? (from The Bachelor for those of you that aren't obsessed!) Totally didn't see that one coming, especially after the overnight dates. I thought Jillian was for sure going to the last step. I bet she thought so, too. Man, that was just cruel!! I just don't see it with Molly. Do you?? Nope, I'm betting on Melissa.

Oh, and as if I didn't need any more shows to be addicted to, the new season of Survivor started last week. Boy that Sandi is a hoot, isn't she?? Can't believe they didn't send her home. But I've stopped trying to figure out why people do what they do on that show. I just love watching the challenges more than anything on that show.

Aside from tv, I've finished reading all 4 books from the Twilight series. I'm *totally* addicted. My husband doesn't get it. I think I'd get less crap from him if I started drinking!! lol

Nothing scrappy to share in this post. In a funk. Can't get out. Maybe cause the kids were a bit sick over the weekend and they've been home yesterday and today for winter break. I've just felt so tired the last few days. Tomorrow is back to "normal" for the most part. Plus, my scrap room is a mess so that just adds to the "non-inspired" feeling. Gotta fix that...soon!

Valentine's Day fun...{ugh}

We had an early start to Valentine's day on Friday night. Olivia took her daddy to a father daughter dance. She didn't know til that night that she was going. And from what I hear from both of them they had a *really* good time!

While they were out, Ben & I went to the movies for a "date" of our own :)

Then....around 2:30 am Ben woke up not feeling well. He was a bit incoherent so I didn't put 2 and 2 together that he was going to be sick til it was too late. So, needless to say, he got sick everywhere...all over the bathroom, all over me, in his bed, on the floor....ugh. It took forever to get everything cleaned up. Then he needed a bath and I needed a shower. That's just what I wanted to do at 3am!

Saturday was no big deal, we didn't do anything. I wanted to get out of the house so I took Olivia out to the movies. Guess what happened that night? Yep, around 1 am she woke up and got sick. Thankfully she made it to the bathroom. I'm starting to wonder if something in the popcorn made them both sick. Although I didn't get sick so who knows.

Oh, and back to Friday, I made some pretzel hugs for Olivia's class party. Super yum!!

I've been in a creative funk the last week so I didn't end up making anything special for Valentine's day gifts. Hopefully this week that will change.

happy birthday my sweet old man!

Today my Schuby is 14 years old!

When he was just 3 years old I adopted him from the Golden Retriever Rescue. He was so sweet. I loved him the second I saw him! I still remember when I went to the foster home to see him for the first time. He came running out with the happiest look on his face, tail wagging like crazy. He would periodically run back into one of the bedrooms and grab something like a baseball hat, toy, whatever. Little did I know that even 11 years later he still has to grab a toy before greeting you at the door! You wouldn't have known that just 2 days earlier he had been given up by his owners because ~ thankfully ~ they realized they couldn't take care of him. He had been kept in a cage in his own filth. He was overweight, his ears were infected, his teeth were dull (the vet said probably from chewing on the cage out of boredom) and half his fur had to be shaved off because the skin on his tummy had a rash from being in filth.

Olivia thinks it's hilarious that I've had Schuby longer than daddy! This dog has been with me through a divorce, marriage, 6 moves, 2 children, and a new puppy (among other things).

This sweet dog, my little old man as I call him, has been the greatest dog ever. He's always been so great with my kids, so tolerant of them crawling on him, pulling his fur, tripping over him, taking his toys, you name it. He's put up with it all. And we love him!!

i {heart} you

We're getting ready for Valentine's Day here. Ben had his party at school yesterday. He diligently filled out all of his Valentines himself and he was so proud!

Notice he's using my stepper for his desk! Yes, I've been using it this week. Hopefully I can get some of this fat off of my midsection. Probably just in time to get pregnant. Yea, that'd be my luck! (don't get me wrong, I'd take it!!)

Anyway, I'm embarrassed to report that we used store bought --eek!-- Valentines

We're making ones for my daughter's class and hopefully I'll have pics to share this afternoon. I also need to work on pretzel hugs for her class party. She was so proud of her Valentine's box we worked on yesterday

She's very confident she's going to win...which scares me cause she'll be really disappointed if she doesn't win. But I guess that just shows that she's proud of her work :)

I'll leave you with a layout I did of the day my hubby and I got engaged. Nearly 9 years later I'm finally scrappin' this stuff. I didn't put any journaling on the LO because I plan on dedicating a whole separate page to how we met and our engagement.

Excuse how I look in the photo...I was *not* feeling well that day and really didn't want to go out. (and I was still recovering from a bad perm!) He pressed me on going. Little did I realize he had other plans for that day ;)

Goodbye Jon & Kate

Ok, several of you asked for this! Who knew you were all sitting on pins and needles waiting for me to post my rant!! (well, all 2 of you! lol)

So here goes...

I used to be a huge fan of the show Jon & Kate plus 8. I mean, who wouldn't love those adorable kiddos?? I know everyone judges Kate for how she is to husband. And yes, she goes overboard at times. But haven't we all been a bad parent or spouse from time to time? I know I have. The big difference (one of many) between Kate and I is that I recognize my mistakes. When I've acted out or said something I shouldn't have to my kids, I've always apologized. Kate justifies her behavior which is ten times worse. The whole "gum episode" had me in tears. Why would you threaten to take away a child's security toy/stuffed animal and act like you don't care? "Too bad!" you said as your child is crying for his beloved toy.

What else bothers me? The whole potty training episodes. That is so NOT for public view. I'm sure the kids will enjoy their friends being able to download them pooping on the potty when they're 16 years old. Won't that be fun! Then they alienated their family. You know, this same family who watched all 8 of your children so you could have a date night or to New York to get hair transplant surgery. Oh, and did I mention that your kids were sick at the time as well as their own 4 kids. Not too many people, even family, would do that. But yet we don't see them anymore. Hmmm....

Then we start hearing about "love offerings" at churches. And did you hear about their new house? Their million dollar house. Oh, and don't let me forget to mention the new condo in Utah. Yeah, they're struggling. Well, that's what they'd lead you to believe. It bums me out. I really liked them in the beginning. If you watch the early episodes, you see how they used to be. You know, before all the money and "fame". I liked getting a chance to see into a house of 8 kids, all age 6 and under. How do they do it? How can they afford it? How do they shop? Well, now they do it with a nanny, housekeeper, landscaper, personal chef etc. You get the idea (this was all in the Good Housekeeping article). And don't get me started on the whole privacy issue with the kids and having the cameras in their house 4-5 times a week. Yes, they've said the cameras are in their house that often. Where's the "down" time for the kids? Do they ever just get to enjoy being a kid in their own home without cameras watching their every move...including your sister kicking you repeatedly while a cameraman keeps the tape rolling, and does nothing. What is that teaching these children? It would teach me that I'm alone and there's no one to stick up for me.

And after watching the latest episode with the new house I am just thoroughly disgusted with Kate. Kate, is it possible for you to NOT be a witch when talking to your kids? I mean, to tell your children that they are *never* allowed in your bedroom? I understand telling them they need to "knock before entering". We all have those issues with our kids. I have long forgotten the days of privacy while in the bathroom, in the shower, etc. But to say they they are not to *ever* come in there is just ridiculous, as if they're already being scolded for something they haven't done yet. What if they have a nightmare? What if they're scared (as they probably will be in that GI-normous house? What if they just want mommy or daddy? Well, daddy anyway. Great mothering there Kate. You're all soft and cuddly, aren't ya?

And how many "love offerings" paid for this house? You know, the ones you accepted from thousands upon thousands of guests at your speaking engagements that thought you guys were pinching pennies?

What you fail to realize is that your show was successful because of your kids, not you, not your husband. And it's those children that paid for your lovely house. And now that you have all the money you could possibly want, they just seem like a nuisance to you.

You don't seem grateful for all the people that helped you SO much in those first few years. You don't seem thankful at all. In fact, the 2 of you act as if you deserve everything you have. Remember Kate, when one of your daughters asked if the new house was expensive you said "yes, that's why mommy and daddy work". Wow, really? I didn't realize that neglecting and exploiting your kids was considered "work". Hmmm, I'll have to look that one up. The guidance counselors in high school never told me about that one.

And you're supposed to be a role model for the rest of us moms? No thanks. Nope, not what I signed up to watch. Jon & Kate, you disappoint me. You've taken a lovely snapshot into your lives and turned it into a circus at the expense of your children.

So you just lost a loyal viewer.
____________________________________________________________________
As a side note, there was a comment on a blog I read about the Gosselins that stated exactly what I was thinking:

Last night's episode was the last straw for me. What started out as a show about the day to day lives of a large and adorable family has turned into a pathetic and sickening weekly display of greed, excess, and distorted sense of entitlement.

Kate's rant about the master bedroom was cruel and beyond bizarre. I can only imagine those children on the first night in that enormous new house, frightened by the unfamiliar, but even more frightened to knock on their parents' bedroom door for some reassurance.

Kate harped on about how their bedroom in the old house had turned into a TV room, playroom, etc. where the kids frequently gathered. It makes sick sense now that she plopped poor sick little Joel on the laundry room floor - she didn't want him invading her private space and surely resented Jon when he scooped the little guy up and took him to the master bedroom to watch TV when he was sick.

I'm certain the former owner of the new Gosselin house created a beautiful home when they lived there. Last night, however, with Kate's shrill voice echoing from one empty room to another, it seemed like something out of The Shining.

I've had it with Kate's whining when she should be full of gratitude. I'm sick of seeing sweet little Cara and poor little Mady treated like outsiders in their own family. I've had enough of seeing innocent and trusting four year-olds divided into categories - 'Icky Boys', 'Girls who are 'Disturbers'', and 'Girls who are Mommy's Helper' and must be favored over others. I'm fed up with Jon's simmering quiet desperation when Kate scolds him like her ninth child. In fact, I'm sick of the whole thing and am pleased to inform TLC, Figure Eight, and the Jon and Kate gravy train that my Monday nights will now be devoted to something more spiritually uplifting than watching the self-esteem of eight beautiful children crumble before my eyes.

One day the Gosselin children will be adults and they will ask their parents why they let this happen to them. They may also ask the viewing public, who were once so enamoured with this family, how they could continue to watch this happen to them. Out of respect for Cara, Mady, Hannah, Alexis, Leah, Aeden, Collin, and Joel I for one will not continue to support this sad mess by tuning in. Good bye Jon and Kate.

may the force be with you

The birthday party was a success. The kids seemed to have so much fun! When they turned out all the lights and the black lights came on...along with louder music...I was actually a bit jealous that I wasn't bowling, too! One of the moms (who was Olivia's preschool teacher 2 yrs ago) told me that we've created a monster cause her daughter had so much fun!!

It was really hard to get any good pics because it was so dark, but you can kinda get the idea here

This is a quick little video I took of Ben


Cool, huh?? (excuse my "yelling"...it was loud in there!) My kids thought it was so cool that their clothes were glowing!!

And the cake was a hit. Ben *loved* it which is all that I cared about. And what's funny is that 2 of the dads immediately knew what it was. I lifted the top off and they said "Star Wars Episode 3?" Yep!!! Here's a couple pictures. Keep in mind, I am SO the amateur when it comes to cakes!! (one of these days I'm gonna take a class so I can *actually* know what I'm doing!)

And the kids got to sign a bowling pin that Ben got to take home :)

That's it for now. Oh, and Virginia, I promise to post my rant about J&K+8 this week :)

And as for The Bachelor, is it me or was the episode last night a bit deflating?? Or maybe it's cause I've been totally enthralled with the Twilight series that "reality" doesn't seem as exciting anymore! It just seemed like there wasn't a whole lot exciting about the show. We all knew most of what was coming. And I could see that Naomi was going home. I just didn't see them together. My guess is that it'll be down to Jillian and Melissa. Things seem a little fizzled with Molly. I mean, she walked up to him so casually the first time she saw him in her hometown. C'mon girl, aren't you excited??!!!

getting ready for the party

Tomorrow is Ben's birthday party. He decided he wanted it at the bowling alley so we picked the "extreme bowling" time which means they'll be bowling with the black lights. Should be a lot of fun! He's really excited. This is his first birthday party, all for himself. Of course, he had a 1st birthday party. But that doesn't really count cause that's more for us parents, right? Then he had a shared birthday party with Olivia when he turned 3 and she turned 5. So now this is his very own party.

I made these cookies party favors

I got the idea from here. I had seen her do this a while back and thought it was a great idea. I didn't want to give out treat bags cause, quite honestly, everyone does that and we're kind of "candied out" at our house. Between Halloween, Christmas, 2 birthdays and Valentines' day coming up in amounts to a lot of treats. I wanted to keep the party favors pretty simple since we're paying a bit for this party and the kids get to bowl and have pizza, drinks and cake. Plus, I don't want to spend a bunch of money on candy and toys that will be thrown away.

I put a cute little note on the front that says "Thanks for celebrating with me! Benjamin" The holders are actually CD sleeves that I bought at Target (you can get them other places, too).

While I worked on these (and the cake) the kids were outside playing with daddy. It was so nice to see Ben doing his usual stuff again like riding his bike.

Riding your bike with the bubble machine going...what could be more fun??!

Last night we had stamp club and we made these cute little shaker card

You can find the directions for these on splitcoaststampers under the resources. Super easy. We used the smallest heart from the heart punch for the inside of the shaker part.

I bought the plastic for the front of the card on www.scrapbook.com and stamped the image with black StazOn.

Well, I'm off to finish Ben's Star Wars cake. Hopefully it looks ok. It surely doesn't look like I bought it at a bakery but he's already liking how it's turning out and that's all that matters :) I'll share pics tomorrow if it looks even remotely presentable!!

Oh, and I finished reading Twilight. It's official...I'm TOTALLY hooked!!! You know I'll be running to the store tomorrow to get New Moon. Can't wait to start reading that one. I read the intro at the end of Twilight and I'm dying to know what happens next!!

this and that

Not much to "report" here.

We've been busy with dr appts and stuff. Ben's 5 yr check yesterday was stressful to say the least.

I'm still trying to figure out what to make for the kids' Valentines for next week.

Nothing too exciting to report in the way of funny comments from my husband with regard to The Bachelor the other night. Although, during one of the commercials I went in the kitchen to get something to eat and I hear him yell "Oh my gosh, I can't believe he did that!!!" Of course, I come running out "WHAT??" and he says to me "just kidding!". I tell ya, I wonder sometimes if he should be watching with me! lol It was another good show. I wasn't surprised to see Stephanie go home. She's so sweet but just doesn't seem like his type. I'm rooting for Melissa, although all the girls that are left seem nice. Molly and Naomi just seem too young emotionally. The other girl, who's name is escaping me at the moment (the one from Canada, eh!) seems more his type than those 2. So I'm thinking her or Melissa. Like he's taking my advice!!

The last 2 days I've been totally obsessed with this:
I know, I'm probably the last person on the planet to start reading this but hey, better late than never! I started reading it 2 days ago and I'm halfway through already. I just can't seem to put it down! I now see what all the hype is about.

I just got an email about a great program called Chemo Angels. How neat! Click on the name to read about it. Such a great program!

And have you been reading blogs about CHA?? Holy cow, lots of neat new stuff coming out!!!

Tonight is Smallville and Supernatural. Yep, the kids will be in bed by 7:45pm!

my baby is 5!

Five years ago today, at 8:51am my sweet Benjamin came into this world. Up until that point we didn't know if he was a boy or a girl (had he been a girl his name would've been Emma Claire). It was a pretty calm morning. We dropped Olivia off (who had just turned 2) at my neighbor's house around 6:30am and headed over to the hospital. I remember sitting in my room thinking "I can't believe I'm about to have a baby!" It was so unlike my experience with Olivia. Even though I had been scheduled for a c-section with her too, my water broke and I was dilated to 5 within less than 2 hours. Anyway, I remember chatting with my dr and the anesthesiologist and we were joking about the whole Janet Jackson/superbowl mishap that had just happened the weekend before. I remember walking into the OR and wanting to turn around and run out because I was scared. But most of all I remember waiting for the doctor to deliver my baby and hearing those sweet words "It's a Boy!" And actually, right before he was delivered, the nurse said "it looks like a boy face" and the doctor said "we don't know if it's a boy or a girl yet!" But I guess she was right!

It's amazing that I can still remember that day so vividly in my head. It was a much more relaxed birth than with my daughter. It was just us at the hospital. We didn't have any family in town. A few friends visited us. Ben was the only baby born at the hospital that day so we felt very spoiled by the nurses. I recovered much quicker with my second c-section. People told me it would be easier and I didn't believe them til I went through it but they were right.

It's hard to believe that it's been 5 years since this little guy was born!

Around lunch time he said to me "Am I 5 yet?"
Me: "Yep, you've been 5 years old since 8:51 this morning"
Ben: "But I don't feel taller. I feel like I'm still 4!"

I guess he figured he'd wake up bigger or something. When I said to him "I can't believe you're 5 years old already!" he told me "I'll always be your little boy momma!" Yep, that's a momma's boy for ya :)

favorite commercials from the Superbowl

In case you missed them (or want to laugh again), I thought I'd share some of my favorite commercials from yesterday

I always find these commercials funny



You gotta love a good animal commercial :)





This had me cracking up!



And, of course, my kids' favorite. Yes, shameless butt scanning will get my kids laughing each and every time!



Although, I think if we go see that movie I might have to cough really loud during the "code brown" part. Yeah....don't want my kids saying that!

There were, of course, other funny commercials like the Pedigree & Mr. Potatohead ads along with others.

Superbowl Sunday...I'm tired

I think yesterday was the first Superbowl Sunday that I actually watched the game. Ok, not all of it. But I did see about 1/2 of it in between chatting with friends from church and telling my kids to get out from in front of the projector. I said in my last post friends from church had a party and had a big projector outside with the game playing. Of course, during the halftime show my kids (along with others) were dancing in front of it watching their shadows on the screen!!

The best part for the kids was roasting marshmallows...many, many marshmallows!!
Ok, let's find a good place to sit. This looks like a good spot to watch the game!

It was really nice getting together with friends from church.

Earlier that day we went to Red Robin for an early birthday lunch for Ben. It has become a tradition for us. Hey, free lunch and ice cream sundae? I'm there!!

It was a fun day, especially considering just a few days ago we had planned to just hang out at home! I'll leave you with a few more layouts from last weekend.

BTW, Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow this morning so you know what that means...6 more weeks of winter :)