MARK AND NATHAN RODE IN A 1929 BIPLANE!!!!

Happiest Place on Earth!!

We're here in Orlando and LOVING it. I promise I'll post pics soon, but I thought I'd post a few highights so far:

• Nathan LOVED splash mountain and thunder mountain. For being such a scaredy cat about everything else...it totally shocks me that he'll ride almost anything. He can't wait to go back on Wednesday.
• Becca LOVES the characters...today we got to eat with Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Pluto, and Minnie. The dinner wasn't as neat as the Sesame Street one...but she loved it just the same.
• We spent today playing around in the resorts...we started with our dinner at Chef Mickey's in the Contemporary hotel, then we rode the monorail around to some of the different hotels. We got off at the Grand Floridian, because we could see that they were showing a movie outside. We got to see most of the movie, and Nathan played in the sand on their beach. It was wonderful, and I think we're going to go back.
• On the way back to the van, we had to ride the monorail again, so we asked the guy if we could ride up front with the driver.....and he said YES!!!! Only 4 people can ride up there at a time, so it's a really special privilege, because if someone else is up there already, you can't go. The view was amazing!!

I wish I could live here...I'm not looking forward to the cold of Central IL.

Mommy, is I'm 4 yet?

We had Nathan's birthday party early because we'll be at Disney World for his actual birthday. (I'm so excited!!!!), so now every morning, I have to explain to him that although he had a party and cake and presents, he's still not 4 yet. I think he has mixed emotions...I know he wants to be bigger, but we also told him that 4 year olds have to sleep in big boy beds, and not in mommy's bed anymore. I like cuddling with him at night, but we have to get him out of our bed before Becca realizes what's going on...I don't want both kids in the bed.

Speaking of Disney, our bags are almost packed! I'm so excited to be warm. Last week's temps were SOOOOOOOOOO cold...one day my van said -18 degrees! I'll blog about our trip soon...and post a pic of Nathan's "super sonic fighter jet" cake.

Isn't EVERYONE interested in Airplanes??

We took the kids to Barnes and Noble last night...it's a fun activity for our family. The kids can play on the train set in the children's department, and Mark and I take turns walking around the store. There's always other kids there, and this time most of them were girls. One little girl, about Nathan's age, was looking at a Disney book with all the princesses in it. At first, Nathan asked that little girl if she could give the book to his sister because she likes Cinderella. She didn't like that idea, so I distracted him and brought him back to the trains. Later, Mark found him an airplane book (from the adult area..not a kid's book) and that kept him busy for awhile. The little girl from before started showing Becca her book...it was really sweet, and then Nathan wanted to join in, so he kept following the girl with the airplane book and tried to show her the airplanes. He said, "Do you like this one?" showing her a pic, and she said, "no I don't like airplanes, I like princesses." He couldn't understand it at all, but he kept trying over and over to get her to look at the airplane book, and it was funny because the book was about as big as a dictionary, so he could barely hold it.

Here's Becca playing tea party with her doll.

What's for Dinner?

I spent yesterday cooking. All day. I put over 30 meals in the freezer for later. It was easier than I thought it would be, but my feet ache a lot today! My goal was to load the freezer, and then on days that are too busy, just defrost and cook what's there....I want to avoid eating fast food and spend more time with the family, as well as get more organized. I love to cook, I just hate answering the question..what's for dinner??

My wonderful husband took the kids all day, until he had to work. He even took them to Chuck E. Cheese by himself.

I thought the mess would be overwhelming too...but I don't think it was. Thank God for dishwashers!!

Resolutions and Thank Yous

We finally finished our Christmases. The kids love their presents. Becca loves playing with her kitchen and all the food and dishes that everyone got her. I think she's adopted her sleeping bag as her new blankie. She wouldn't go to bed without it. She loves her Elmo towel too...we can barely keep it away from her.

Nathan loves his GeoTrax of course. He sleeps with his planes and takes them everywhere. He likes his new rocket and his shake n'go plane too. He's having fun watching all the Disney movies. I can't wait for our Disney trip at the end of the month.

I'm learning how to use the cricut. My next project is Nathan's birthday invitations. I can't wait til I can play with vinyl, I think I'm going to border my kitchen with something that I make.

Thanks everybody.

I have a few New Year's resolutions. Mostly I want to continue Mission Organization. I've been doing good keeping up with the laundry, and I want to continue by organizing my closets and drawers. This week I plan to have a massive cooking day and assemble a freezer full of meals. I really want to work on getting Nathan out of our bed at night. We'll see how that goes after his birthday.

Happy New Year.