All is Well in the Universe

All is well in the universe because my AGGIES WON and Texas lost (2 weeks in a row!) Let's see, that puts us in FIRST PLACE in the Big 12 South, and Texas is DEAD LAST! Oh, I love it! If there were a camera on my laptop right now you'd see me doin' a happy dance while eating a celebratory flavor pop (grape because that's the closest color to maroon in flavor pops!) My mom went to the game tonight...I'm jealous. We've done absotootly nothin' today but watch college football and cook and eat and eat and eat. Cary made homemade salsa and guacamole today and then we grilled out some fajitas. Delicioso!

The girls have both said and done some really cute things today. This morning we were watching ESPN's College Gameday and someone on the show said, "What about it?" A common phrase meaning, you know, tell me more, or what do you mean. Lexi asked, "What does it mean when they say, 'what about it?' " So I did my best to explain and use it in an example. I could tell she was eager to use her new phrase, but was saving it for just the right moment!

So at dinner tonight she said, "Mommy, say sumfing (something)."

"Something."

"What about it?" She said and then just giggled giggled giggled.

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A few minutes later, Ashton birped at the dinner table and for the first time ever in the cutest little tiny voice she said, "Excuse me." It's so sweet to hear her talk. She's just so tiny and so darn cute, you don't expect big girl words to come out of those itty bitty lips. The sweetness of her voice saying those new words in her vocabulary made me forget about the groadiness of birping at the dinner table. Cause we live in America where it's not a compliment to the chef!

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After dinner, I was watching the Aggie game and Lexi was sitting on my shoulders combing my hair and she said, "Mommy, I want black hair like yours." Mind you, I pay BIG BUCKS to be blond, so for her to say I have black hair is like totally not comforting to me.

"What do you mean honey, I have blond hair like yours."

"No, mommy it's black. When I get big can you take me somewhere to get my hair black? I want black hair."

Now it doesn't bother me that she wants black hair. What bothers me is that she called my hair "black". I wouldn't say my roots are black, but they are that mousey brown/dirty blond color that's just blah blah blah which is why I get highlights. But they are NOT black! Oh well, she's 4! To her, hair is either black or blond.

Our Day at Universal and My Weekend Picks

If you read the post below about my day at Disney yesterday, you're probably thinking, "Huh, wha...you said you weren't going to Universal today." We decided to go ahead and do Universal for a half day (2:00-7:00) and Cary convinced me we could do it without spending a dime. Someone at church had already given us 3 tickets, and we took tons of drinks and snack foods. So we made it happen and it was fun. It rained all day! But it was fun. Universal is not so much for toddlers. But the big hits with my kids were the Barney show, with Barney, Baby Bop, and BJ and the Dr. Suess section. They were able to ride 4 rides there and Lexi was able to ride a river rapid ride with Daddy. She LOVED it! So all in all, a good day. But my dogs are barkin y'all! Two days of walkin!

Okay, and now for the PURE GENIUS, also referred to as MY WEEKEND PICS! I'm not going all out on this one, just a few...well, mainly because I'm so tired I can hardly hold my head up. So, here we go!

1. The game of the weekend (in my opinion)...The annual Red River Shootout at the Texas State Fair: Oklahoma vs. Texas...I think the okies will win this one. Last week's loss for them was a fluke. They're good. Texas stinks. And the really stinky thing is that I don't think ABC is going to show this game in FL. Can you believe it? This is a HUGE rivalry game. But I think the Florida State vs ??? game will be shown instead. Good thing we just purchased the extra sports package today on Direct TV. Maybe it will be on one of those extra channels. Can't stand either team, but this is just a good ol' fashion college football at its finest type of game. And I just want to catch a glimpse of BIG TEX at the state fair. I need a taste of home.

2. Okie State at Texas A&M: Of course I'm picking the Aggies, but I'm scared. Real scared. This could be a loss for us and it could easily be an overtime, nail biter game. I'll be watchin! And the winner of this game will be in 1st place in the Big 12 South. My mom said there is a storm off the gulf coming in tomorrow that is supposed to dump a ton of rain over the area. So weather could be a factor. The crowd tends to be less intimidating when they're all huddled under their rain gear. And the playing tends to be a little sloppy. We'll see what happens.

3. Notre Dame at UCLA: Could the Irish be 0-6 after this game for the first time in school history. Very likely. I think the Bruins win this one. What's a bruin anyways? Anyone???

4. Florida at LSU: golly gee. I just don't know what to say Jess. I totally have no emotional tie to either team. But I know SO many gator fans. And I want my friends to be happy, which they weren't last weekend. But this is a TOUGH PICK. Both teams are excellent, national championship caliber teams. Well coached. But I think LSU could win this one for one reason only...home field advantage. Who knows!

And that's it. That's all I got this week! I'm going to bed!!! I have a long hard day of college football watchin' ahead of me tomorrow. And some good food on the grill. Mmmmm. Can't wait!

Our Disney Day-Part 2

We're home from Disney World and this will be a quickie because I'm BEAT and can't wait to crawl in my bed. I already took my bath and have on my jammies, the girls are OUT, and that pillow is calling my name! But what an incredible day of family fun! There's nothing like watching your children as they are captivated by the magic of Disney.

We got to the Animal Kingdom when they opened this morning at 9 and went straight to the new Nemo musical that has been heavily advertised around here this year. It was AMAZING, like Broadway on steroids! The actors were not only singing, dancing, acting, and in their costumes, but they each held these amazing "ocean life on a stick"??? I don't even know how to descibe it! But the animals on a stick were ALSO controlled by the actors so they were making the ocean life's mouths open and close as they talked, controlling their eye movements, and giving the animal a sort of body language of their own all while singing, dancing, acting, and wearing their great costumes. We're talking like MAJOR multitasking! It was so good. WHEELS OFF man! And I'm sure my description is not doing it justice.

But that's kind of where the goodness ended at the Animal Kingdom. We tried to do the safari ride, but the wait was over an hour and the fastpass machine wasn't working. So we didn't do that. And walking to the safari ride caused us to miss the next Lion King show and the next show wasn't going to be till like 2, which we had already planned to be a the Magic Kingdom by then. So we rode the train over to the petting zoo area and my girls kind of liked it, but there were only goats! So not like an abundance of excitement there because I mean, what do goats do...really. And the whole time we were at the Animal Kingdom, Lexi kept asking, "Where's Mickey and the Princesses and the castle?" Okay, so we got the hint and headed to the Magic Kingdom around 1ish. And then I had me some HAPPY girls!

They came to life when we got there! We were able to do a lot in about 4 hours time there. I think we rode 7 rides and went to 2 shows. That's a lot for Disney, you know? Cause 3/4 of your time in the park is usually spent in line. My husband calls it Disney Wait instead of Disney World. And it was still like Africa hot, so I now have a massive headache despite the 10 thousand bottles of water I drank today!

I don't think we're going to Universal tomorrow after all. Mainly because I think that just might put me over the edge! Not sure my family we can take that much excitement in one week, you know? I don't know how you vacationin' people do it, going into the park like day after day for a whole week. It's way more exhausting with kids I think. Pushin' that big ol' honkin double stroller up hills and over curbs and maneuvering through people traffic, and carrying babies around on my hip because the stroller got wet in the rain and they didn't want to walk, GRACIOUS! It was a work out! AND THE HEAT! But another reason we're not going to Universal is that we ended up spending a whoppin $56 bucks today! And that's a lot for us. We're not spending kind of people! I mean, do you know how much children's pastors make? That's like our entertainment fund for a month! We took a ton of bottled water and juice, and we packed a lunch and some snacks. But we ran out of drinks by 2 p.m. and Lexi wanted a Mickey Mouse shaped ice cream, which meant the rest of us had to have one too. Then we were too exhausted when we left the park to come home and cook, so we ate out. Thus the $56! I know if we did Universal tomorrow, we'd spend that much again. So we'll save that one for another pay period. But man, what a blessing to be able to take a family of 4 to Disney World for $56, you know? Most people pay more than that for 1 ticket! So not bad for a day's worth of fun and family memories.

I will try to get my pictures posted soon so you can all see what you missed out on, I mean, so you can all see how much fun we had while you were stuck at home, I mean, oh forget it. I went to DISNEYWORLD y'all (for $56 bucks!)

Disney Day

I'm not sure who's more excited about our day at Disney tomorrow, the adults or the kids. We're starting out at the Animal Kingdom, which none of us have ever been to. Then we will work our way to the Magic Kingdom. It's funny, living here you'd think the novelty would wear off. I mean, we drive through the Disney property like once a week it seems. We've been to Downtown Disney a countless number of times. The souvenir shops are EVERYWHERE. We've ridden the monorail without going into the park like at least a dozen times because to a toddler, that's JUST as exciting! And it's FREE! But it's still truly a magical place to me. I'm not sure it will ever wear off. At least I hope it never does. I'm plum giddy from my head to my toes! Now some of the natives would beg to differ. My friend, Kristi, HATES Disney. We went to the movies one night at Pleasure Island in Downtown Disney and pulling into the parking lot, she sighed and said, "Oh, I HATE DisneyWorld!" She then had to pick me up off the ground as I collapsed in total disbelief that anyone would utter such an absurdity. Is that a word?

Anyways, oh did I mention I'm going to DisneyWorld tomorrow?

Did I mention it's FREE?

Did I mention I'm slightly giddy and may just be too excited to sleep tonight?

Do I even have to say "Many pictures to follow?" Like DUH!

Make New Friends...But Keep the Old

Do you remember that song, "Make new friends, but keep the old, one is silver and the other's gold." I learned that song when I was 9 years old in girl scouts, or I guess I should say Brownies, not girl scouts. This move has been much harder on me than on Cary because I am very dependent on friends. I love having friends, lots of them, and I especially love having that one special friend that I hang out with the most. I knew when I came here that it would take time to develop those types of friendships. But what has broken my heart the most is to watch Lexi long for the type of friends she had back in Texas. She had so many wonderful little girl friends that we saw almost daily. And ever since we've been here, I've prayed, "Lord please send Lexi a friend, a good friend, a sweet little girlfriend, her age." And FINALLY...can you hear the Hallelujah chorus playing in the background? Finally, Lexi has made a sweet friend that she adores. Her name is Caroline. She's also four years old and she goes to our church, but she's also in Lexi's class at school, so they see each other often. Last Wedneday Lexi went home from school with her, and today she came home with Lexi. Her mommy and I have decided to make it a Wednesday tradition and take turns being the host. Her parents, Mike and Jenny, are homebased missionaries through Wycliffe Bible Translator School. They are a sweet family. And I'm singing the Lord's praises right now because He has provided Lexi with such a wonderful new friend. Of course no one will ever replace her friends back home. We miss you guys!!!! "Make new friends, but keep the old, one is silver and the other's gold."

Waskilly Wabbit

Lexi has been amazing me with her witty comments lately. Out of nowhere, she suddenly seems in a league of her own with her humor, creativity, and intellectual reasoning. Now these pictures may not scream out "genius" to you, but I thought her creativity was brilliant. She went and got a pair of tights out of her drawer then instead of putting them on her legs, like a normal child would do, she decided to see how many different uses she could come up with for them. Here are a few...

"The anti-slip grip stroller handling armbands"

"Waskilly Wabbit Bunny Ears"

Now those who know me really well may argue, this is not creative genius, this is a child who has never worn tights because her mother is in total rebellion to any form of panty hose! So she didn't really know what to do with them in the first place because she's never really seen them worn the proper way. And I do confess, that's probably true. But she is a creative genius nonetheless, I do believe.

Presidential Candidates

I'm not one to discuss politics, but this was kind of interesting. Take this quiz to see which Presidential candidates you most closely align with. Apparently I'm without a doubt Republican. As if I questioned that. My top 7 were all Republicans. Surprisingly, Hillary and I agreed on like 3 things. Very interesting. Have fun!

http://www.wqad.com/Global/link.asp?L=259460

Orlando Vacation At Home

One of the perks of living in the entertainment capital of the universe is that you can stay at home, sleep in your own bed, bathe in your own tub, and yet still enjoy what others travel thousands of miles to enjoy...the theme parks and beaches! Daddy is off work this week. We had planned to go on vacation with his family for a few days, but that didn't work out and since he had already arranged his days off for the rest of the year, including this week, he decided to go ahead and use the vacation time. We have been blessed by some members of our church who have so generously given us some Disney passes and Universal passes. So Thursday, we're going to DisneyWorld, Friday we're going to Universal Studios, and Saturday (weather permitting) we're going to my favorite Florida beach, St. Petersburg. We can pack our lunches and even take in our own drinks and do the theme parks for just about FREE...what a blessing!!!! We've even learned the parking secrets to park at Disney for free. So that's what our week looks like. Today I decorated my house for Fall. The girls were so excited when they came home and saw it looking all festive. So at least it kind of looks like Fall inside, even though the weather and foliage suggest otherwise.