Disney World: Here We Come!!

I took a picture of the boys before they went to bed tonight {all decked out in their Mickey shirts and SUPER excited about going to Disney World!}.

We are leaving in about an hour and a half and I am still up {at 11:30 p.m.} packing and getting together the last little nit-picky things {camera, DVDs, sunglasses, batteries}!! Around 8 tonight, I took Eli {and all of his baby stuff} over to my parent's house. I got his bed and toys set up for his 'home away from home' for the next week!! I fed him his nighttime bottle and put him down for the night. While I was gone Jason got Henry and Grant in the bed{and cleaned the kitchen for me!!}, and then he got in the bed to get a little bit of shut-eye before midnight {and the SUPER long drive to Orlando}!!

So here we are T minus 1 1/2 hours and I am too pumped up on adrenaline to even think about trying to fit in a power nap!! I'm sure I will pass out before we are an hour away from our house, but for now I am too excited {and too worried that I am forgetting something important!!}

DISNEY WORLD: HERE WE COME!!

P.S. We are taking the computer with us and {assuming we have Internet access} I am hoping to try and post each night {stuff will be much easier to remember than if I wait until we get home}!! We'll see how exhausted I am and how much I actually have to post!!

WDW

We are nearing the end of our

"COUNTDOWN TO DISNEY"!!
Today I made a few things for Henry and Grant to take {and wear}to Disney World. I didn't want to spend a small fortune buying a bunch of stuff in Disney, and I figured it would be just as cute and a lot cheaper if I just made it at home!!
I bought half a yard of some Mickey fabric {it cost a little over $2} a while back, and was planning to make the boys' some shirts to wear on the trip down {my kids have very few things with characters}. I had plenty of fabric, so I also made some cute personalized sippy cups {because my boys are camels and will want juice constantly} and some autograph books {still not sure if we will even use these, because the last time we were around big dressed up characters Henry and Grant both almost had a heart attack!!}.
We are now well stocked with Disney memorabilia....if only I could make myself start packing!!

Less than 48 hours before we leave!

Wordless Wednesday

Spaghetti in my sink.

Do you every have one of those days? Those days when all you want to do is hide in the closet and wait for the day to be over, with the hopes that tomorrow will be better?

Yesterday was one of those days for me.

It just seemed like everything was going wrong, even though nothing bad really even happened. I think I was just in a bad mood, which made everything else seem worse than it was!!

The boys were fighting and bickering.

Eli was being fussy.

Jason had to work late again.

I had a ton of laundry to do.

My knee was still bothering me.

My wrist was KILLING me!

{from what I can only guess was caused by

carrying around a SUPER sized almost 20 pound baby!}

And I still hadn't started packing for Disney World!

Then, when I was almost finished making dinner...

{Spaghetti: one of the boys favorite things to eat}

I lost half of the noodles down the sink!!

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It was one of those moments when you laugh and cry at the same time.....

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I was crying

{I was tired, the colander had hurt my wrist, and half of dinner was in the sink}

and laughing

{because technically spaghetti made me cry}

at the same time.

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I think Henry and Grant thought I was CRAZY, and I'm glad Jason wasn't here because I know he would have thought I was CRAZY!!

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We ate the spaghetti {it was extra saucy} that didn't land in the sink for dinner. After the boys were in the bed, I ate some chocolate for dessert and felt a lot better. Chocolate makes everything better!

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I'm glad yesterday is gone!

Not Me! Monday

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to http://www.mycharmingkids.net/ (her blog) to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

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This week, I did NOT leave a load of laundry in the dryer. I did not leave it in there ALL week long. Mine and Jason's clothes are all folding neatly and/or hanging in the closet, they are not STILL sitting in the dryer waiting for me to fold them!

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I did NOT eat another piece of birthday cake this weekend! I wouldn't eat cake when I am trying to lose weight. Never. I also didn't eat a brownie at the same birthday party because they didn't look really yummy!

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I did NOT put off starting to pack for our Disney trip. I do not have a bunch of empty suitcases with no clothes in them. We aren't leaving in less than four days and I don't have to pack for FIVE people in that short amount of time. No. Because I was smart and started packing already instead of procrastinating!

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I did NOT go to Sam's and spend $20 on breakfast junk for our trip. I didn't buy honey buns, donuts, or muffins. I would never buy a bunch of junk food. I would buy fruit and yogurt and healthy food for my family! {Hey, we are going to be on vacation....you're supposed to eat junk when you're on vacation!}

Random Picture Challenge

I am participating in another Random Picture Challenge...this time 3.0!! If you want to join in, go on over to Four Little Men and Girly Twins and link up! Today's picture is supposed to be your 30th picture in the August 2007 folder. We only had 6.....yes 6 picture in that folder!! I know SUPER sad picture taking momma!! But I have a great excuse. Henry was really sick for about two weeks, and so was I. The other 5 pictures in my August 2007 folder were Henry in the hospital! So I figured I would put in my sixth picture....it was as close to 30 as I could get!

Our neighbor grew some watermelons that summer and he brought over a few of the SUPER cute small ones for us! This may be one of the first times that the boys actually ate watermelon instead of playing with it! They had been out in the yard with Jason and were really sweaty and dirty {check out Henry's dirt-streaked face!} Don't you love summer!!

SUPER Cute Kid Questions!

Lately, I have been leaving the T.V. on the Christian music station that our satellite plays {I think it is from Sirius/XM radio}. I overheard this conversation while Jason and the boys were playing in the living room one day this week.

Grant: "Is this Big Daddy Weeb?"

{referring to the Christian group Big Daddy

Weave, the boys favorite band since we saw

them play at Atlanta Fest last summer}

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Jason: "No, it's Switchfoot."

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Grant: "Is it big?

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Jason: "No, this band's name is Switchfoot."

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Grant: "But is it big?"

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Henry: Bigfoot is a MONKEY.

I really wonder what they are thinking about in those little heads sometimes!!

Babywearing

Recently I have seen a ton of mommy-blogs praising Babywearing and talking about how much they love their slings, so I decided to give Babywearing a try too!

I didn't want to go out and spend a lot of money on a sling {these things can be SUPER expensive}, because I still am not sure how much I will use it. I figured, instead of buying one, I would just make one!

I did a search for free baby sling patterns, and found a pretty easy one at Maya Wrap. They have a pattern with instructions for how to make and use a ring sling. So I printed out the directions and got started. While doing our Black Friday shopping, I picked up some really cute blue, green, and white striped fabric for around $2.00 a yard that would make a SUPER cute sling for Eli. I did a little research on what kind of rings to buy to make a ring sling, and actually ended up buying the rings from the Farm and Feed store in our little town for ninety nine cents each!! The ring sling really wasn't very hard to make: a little cutting, a few hemmed edges {a broken sewing machine needle} and then attaching the rings {SUPER secure for my BIG man}. I think it took a total of maybe 3 hours from start to finish, and it turned out SUPER cute!

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My first attempt at Babywearing!

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Eli seemed to be pretty happy in the sling, even though I am still getting used to wearing it. I am still not very good at getting him in and getting the sling adjusted just right. I hope I learn quickly, because Eli is getting SUPER heavy and it is really hard to carry him around in his car seat {My left wrist has seriously been hurting lately and I think it is from carrying him around} ! Any advice or suggestions on using my new ring sling would be SUPER!

My! What a BIG baby you have

I took Eli for his four month well baby checkup yesterday. I have to say, before I tell you his height and weight, that he is technically four and a half months. So, keep that in mind when you see how 'big and tall' my little man is!

Height: 26 3/4 in. {in the 95%}

Weight: 19 lbs {above the 97%}

Head: 44 cm {in the 90%}

I knew that Eli was a chunky monkey, but I had no idea that he was as HUGE as he really is. On the way home {after letting the numbers sink in a little} I thought how blessed I am to have a {SUPER big} healthy baby! Really, since leaving the hospital, we have only been to the doctor three times. Twice for well baby checkups, and once because he had a little bit of a cold when he was only three weeks old. We really are very blessed to have such a big, healthy man {even if he is SUPER heavy and is constantly killing my arm and back forcing me to attempt to make a baby sling to carry him in(more about that tomorrow)}!!

Not Me! Monday

This is my first time to participate in Not Me! Monday from over at My Charming Kids!

Not Me! Monday, is a place where we can be brutally honest with each other, and live to tell about it, while we shroud the severity of our statements by pretending we so did not really do them!

I did NOT go to the walking track this week in my Christmas tree pajama pants. I did NOT wear them under my workout pants because it wasn't SUPER cold outside and they weren't the only pants that my still HUGE post baby behind would fit into!

I did NOT get SUPER mad because we missed the Girls' Night Out movie on Friday. I also did not go inside and find the manager and then argue with him about the sign being broken. I also did NOT tell him that next time I would just drive the extra 15 minutes to go to the other theatre because obviously he isn't running his business very well!! Not Me! I would never do that.

I did NOT eat two.....yes that right, I said TWO pieces of cake this weekend. I would never eat two pieces of cake when I am supposed to be on a crash diet! I did NOT eat the second piece of cake and then go walk two miles at the walking track. Not ME!

I also did NOT send my children to church last night with stickers on their faces. I did NOT use a ton of hair gel and hairspray to make their hair stick straight up and then threaten their lives if they messed it up. Never!

It was Crazy Hair Night at AWANAS and

Grant DID win with his SUPER Mohawk and CRAZY letters!!!

Girls Night Out

We {the girls} went out Friday night to celebrate Kim's 30-something birthday.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KIM!

We ate dinner and then headed over to the movie theater with the intentions of seeing Bride Wars. We waited in line for about 20 minutes {in the freezing cold} only to find out that the movie was sold out!! So instead of seeing a movie we spent some "Quality Time" at Kohl's, Target {gotta love the dollar section}, and Walmart!

We had a SUPER time{like we always do!}....maybe we can get away with another Girl's Night Out next weekend since we didn't get to see the movie!!

Random Picture Challenge

Another Random Picture Challenge from Four Little Men and Girly Twins!! This time you are supposed to post the 8th picture from your January file. I looked at 2009, 2008, and 2007....I had a picture of each one of my boys in the January folders. So I am going to post them in chronological order {but they aren't in order from oldest child to youngest child}.

January 2007 Grant at Pump It Up

He was cutting his back molars and was drooling like a crazy person. He had to wear a bib to keep from soaking his shirt!

January 2008 Henry

He had some strange allergic reaction....he had a rash and his eyes were swollen really bad. We thought it was the dog and actually had to send the dog to my mom's house for a few days until we got in to see the allergist. It wasn't the dog, and we never did figure out what caused it!

January 2009 Eli

The big boys were taking a nap, and I was trying to get a few cute shots of Eli laughing. Can't you tell what a SUPER photographer I am!! He is such a happy baby!

My New Love!

He/She {we haven't decided if it is a girl or a boy} is not the most cuddly thing in my house, but it is definitely my new love!!

Roomba was an after Christmas present.....for everyone!

I have been requesting either Merry Maids or a Roomba for a while now, and after cleaning all the concrete floors for our New Years Eve Party, Jason obviously realized that my request wasn't as crazy as he had first assumed!

After a wonderful review from Morgan and Robbie, we decided to bite the bullet and buy Roomba! We got it on sale at Sears and got a pretty good deal!

IT IS SUPER WONDERFUL!

I pushed the CLEAN button on Roomba before I left yesterday to get the boys' hair cut, and when we got home the granola bar crumbs were all cleaned up in the living room....the dust bunnies were gone from the hallway...and Roomba was back on the charger getting ready for another round of cleaning!

Now all we have to do is name him/her. Any suggestions?

SUPER Cute Kid Questions!

Grant: "Momma, Is it gonna snow? I want to make a snowball and throw it at Henry!"

**It is NOT going to snow here! My boys would love to play in the snow {they have never seen or touch real snow before}! It has been SUPER cold this week (for us in the south anyway) which is probably what prompted the SCKQ from Grant.

Wordless Wednesday

Countdown to Disney!

We have officially started our Countdown to Disney! I actually made this about two weeks ago, but with the holidays and going out of town it has kind of been forgotten. Not anymore though! We are at 18 days and counting as of today.

I made this SUPER cute Mickey countdown {That I totally copied from Andria at Our Three Wild Ones! Thanks for the SUPER idea, Andria!}

I am getting SUPER excited, but I think "We leave for Disney in three weeks" is just a little too hard for Henry and Grant to understand right now. They still operate on a day by day schedule....what are we doing after we take Henry to school, after lunch, after nap? I think when we start packing and getting stuff ready, it will be a little more exciting for them....until then we will just keep removing a Mickey every night!

Random Picture Challenge

Random picture challenge from Four Little Men and Girly Twins!

I have more than one May folder so I did the one from 2008.

This is the 21st picture in my May 2008 folder.

The boys were helping Jason pick up sticks in the yard and load them into the trailer{and sometimes they ride just for FUN!}. The lawnmower isn't cutting grass.....we aren't that crazy!

Houston.....Part Two

Sorry....I was going to post yesterday, but when your kitchen is completely empty of food the trip to Walmart {and Sams, Sears, Lowes, and Red Lobster} seems to take all day!!

So on Tuesday, Jason had to go to some plant and check out a piece of equipment that his company was buying {the whole reason for the trip to Houston}. While he was working, I took all three of the boys to the Children's Museum of Houston.

We waiting until around 9:45 to leave the hotel, because the hush hour traffic from where we were staying into downtown Houston was HORRIBLE! By the time we left, it had pretty much cleared up though and it only took us about 15 minutes to get there {thanks in large part to the GPS again}.

We paid {a reduced price because part of the museum was closed for construction} and got a map and started exploring. I have to say that my boys have the attention span of a gnat. They would look at an exhibit for all of three seconds {just long enough for me to read half the sign to them and think "This is SUPER cool"} and then jet off to the next thing that caught their eye!! Needless to say, it was like pulling teeth to get them to stay in one place for more than a minute or two.

One of my favorite parts of the museum was the Farm to Market Investigation Gallery. It started with a farm scene with real eggs {in incubators} and real chicks. There was also a {fake} cow that you could sit down and try to milk {SUPER CUTE}. The market part of the gallery was really cute too. There were grocery baskets and shopping list that the kids used to shop around the market and then proceed to the checkout to ring up and pay for the items they had gotten. I think there was fake money too......but the boys didn't have the patience to deal with that. We shopped around at the market for probalby 20 minutes {which is a record attention time for my kids} and then moved on to the next part of the museum.

We explored Moneyville, the Inventor's Workshop, and the Think Tank. All of them were SUPER cool learning exhibits {some were over the boys' head a little, but they still had fun}. We also did face painting, paper bag inventions, built a clubhouse, and watched a short movie about bugs {twice so Eli could finish his lunchtime bottle!} We went outside {which wasn't the best idea ever since it had been raining for two days and everything was soaking wet} to look at the Flowworks exhibit. After the boys were suffciently wet, we went to the Kids' Cafe to share a PB&J, some fruit, and chips for lunch. After a long {and might I add expensive} look around the gift shop, we were all ready to head back to the hotel and get ready for dinner with daddy! I have a few pictures of our adventures to post, but I have to say that it is SUPER hard to take pictures while dealing with all three boys in a huge museum with a ton of other people!!

Henry working on getting everything on his shopping list at the Market.

Grant ringing up all the things he was "buying"at the Market.

Straw engineering

Grant "milking" the fake cow.

My attempt at getting all three boys in a picture together!

Houston, We have a problem....

So, we don't really have a problem.

Except that I wanted to blog while we were in Houston....and I couldn't because our hotel charged $12.95 {per 24 hour period!} for wireless internet access. Call me crazy, but I am used to getting internet services for free when we stay in hotels.....especially a nice hotel like the Marriott! I just couldn't see paying that much just so I could blog about our trip.

The boys and I tagged along on Jason's work trip to Houston this week. He actually only had to work on Tuesday, but because of the long drive he was going to be off work on Monday and Wednesday. So we decided to leave early on Sunday and spend Monday together at NASA. Then Tuesday while Jason was at work, I would take the boys to a children's museum and we would head home on Wednesday.

Sounds like an okay plan, huh?

Three kids in one car for eight hours times two is NO FUN!

Actually, the ride to Houston wasn't that bad. Henry and Grant played their Vsmile game or watched a movie for the first two hours, and Eli slept until we got all the way to the Texas/Louisiana state line. They all slept for a least a little while, which made for happier kids when we finally got to the hotel in Houston.

The hotel we stayed at {a very nice Marriott} was not in the best part of town. Kind of in the industrial part of South Houston.....which means lots of factories and buildings, but not many nice neighborhoods, shopping spots, or restaurants. We made our way Walmart that night to pick up some water for Eli and were a little concerned about the area that we were in! It is kind of scary to be driving around in a town you don't know....especially when it is dark and rainy outside. And I have to say that, while probably very effective at minimizing traffic, the roads in Houston are SUPER confusing!!! We made it back safely to our hotel {with the help of the GPS} and settled in for the night {after fighting with the boys to go to sleep for about two hours}!

We got up the next morning and headed across the street {which entailed going down the service road to an underpass, going under the interstate, and going back in the direction that we had just come from.....see, I told you SUPER confusing} to get some donuts at Shipley's for breakfast. Then we headed to Space Center Houston, the visitors center for NASA's Johnson Space Center. It was a really neat place for the kids, though a lot of the stuff was over the boys' heads....they still had a great time looking at all of the space themed stuff. {Jason did point out how coincidental it was that they had gotten "Planet Hero" toys for Christmas!!}

There were some fun age appropriate things for the boys to do, like the Kids Space Place and Martian Matrix, which is basically a huge indoor playground with rockets and planet stuff to climb on and play with. We also watched a few short films about astronauts and went on a Tram Tour of the Johnson Space Center facilities where the real astronauts train! I don't know if Henry and Grant really learned anything, but we had a good time anyway {and Eli got a good nap during the films and the Tram Tour}!

Tomorrow.....The Children's Museum of Houston.

Waiting for the Ball to drop...

We had a few friends {I think there were 17 adults and 17 kids!!} over for a New Years Eve Party last Wednesday. This is the first time that Jason and I have had a party of our own.....we usually go over to my parent's for New Years Eve. Once you have kids it is kind of hard to hang out that long at a party where there aren't any other kids!! So we had our own BYOKs {Bring Your Own Kids} New Years Eve Party instead!!

{Karen will be mad if she sees this picture, because I didn't give her time to pose! LOL}

FOOD, FOOD, and more FOOD!! Everybody hung out in the kitchen!

Watching the football game {though I'm not sure which one!}.

Our party went pretty well....and I think most everyone had a good time. We did have few mishaps {severe accidents} with that many people {and wild kids} running around. Grant got a major black eye from none other than his big brother Henry. Who seemed to hit more than one kid with his plastic golf club that night {I think he got two other kids too, but their injuries weren't nearly as bad as Grant's}. And the big event of the night was not the fireworks {which were very pretty! Thank you, Jason!} unfortunately. No, it was Kim's little girl jumping off the trampoline {it's only 22 inches off the ground} and breaking her arm in two places. They spent the rest of the night in the emergency room getting x-rays and talking to {completely drunk and/or high} ER doctors. Sorry Kim and Ken!!! We ended the night with a BANG that is for sure! Maybe someone else should host the next party!!