Mirror mirror on the wall...

Mirror mirror on the wall, which is the most beautiful pumpkin of them all...

The AGGIE one...DUH!

Like seriously, did you expect me to actually have a "normal" pumpkin? Surely you saw this coming!

Pumpkin Party

We went to a pumpkin party on Sunday and carved pumpkins and bobbed for apples and such. Here are some pics from our fun day.

Pumpkin Patch

These pictures were taken on Saturday at the Pumpkin Patch in Celebration, FL.

Remember how I spoke of Lexi's creative genius traits? She picked up this goard and said, "Look Mommy, it's a nose!" I guess you can't tell from the front view, but from a side view it's hook shaped. Hillarious!

Hungry Ash?

Bubbles

Today we went to a pumpkin patch (FINALLY, YES I FOUND ONE, YEA) and then Lexi requested McDonald's for lunch and even though I thought it just may put my face in the barf bag, I caved to her request. When she got her drink, she started doing that really fun kid thing we've all done at some point in our lives...blowing bubbles with the straw. And here's the conversation that followed:

Me: "Lexi, stop, that's yucky!" (Although, I don't really care if she blows bubbles, but I had to say the mom thing, you know, cause people were watching.)

Lexi: "But Mommy, I'm playing the Aggie song (Aggie War Hymn) with my bubbles."

Me: "Well, then...carry on!"

Yup, I'm raisin' em right!

So my mom just called from Heaven, I mean The Holy Land, I mean The Promised Land, I mean AGGIELAND! She held up her cell phone so I could hear the Aggie band. WHOOP! When we hung up I said, "Yell loud and pray hard!" We need it tonight. Kansas is ranked #9! The former "walk all over us" team of the Big 12 is now ranked #9! CRAZY!

Gig'Em Ags. BTHO Kansas!

Blessings

Today, my family was the recipient of yet another great blessing. How many blessings can we possibly receive in one week? First the minivan rental to Texas, then the box of clothes and shoes for my kids (all Gymboree and Stride Rite I might add), and now this!

Just the other day, I was thinking how much my kids would enjoy computer games. We haven't really started that yet mainly b/c we have a laptop and those aren't real kid friendly. But I was wishing that we could maybe get a cheap computer for the girls to play games on. Anyways, today I went over to my friend Carrrie's house and she said, "By any chance would you want an IMac?" Turns out she had several IMacs to find homes for...long story. And she was GIVING THEM AWAY! So I got TWO, one for each of my girls. They're about 2 years old and had been used in a school. So they're in great shape and just perfect for the girls to play games on. They even have wireless internet cards and everything!

So last year, we received this fabulous leather furniture from a doctor's family I tutored for, my DREAM furniture, a few months ago we received a free wooden swing set from a girl in my MOPS group, and today I got two free computers!

Thank you Lord for yet another AWESOME blessing!!!!

And please send some blessings by College Station, TX tomorrow and help my Aggies BTHO Kansas!

AMEN!!!

Brrrr...break out the ski jackets kids! It's COLD!

Thank you Granny for the box of Fall clothes and shoes you sent for the girls yesterday! It's a good thing you sent them too because I think we're going to need the LONG SLEEVES today! Time to put those flip flops in the back of the closet. WOWsers! It's a blustery 68 today with a high only expected to reach 78! Gonna have to find our scarves and gloves! And it's raining, which makes it feel downright like....well...68 degrees!

Okay so I'm kind of kidding. Tomorrow will be back up to 85. But at least for one day we can believe that it really is FALL! And in Florida, 68 is like shivery! This morning the girls were playing dress up. In their swimsuits. Because that's what we do in Florida. Some girls dress up in princess dresses, we dress up in swimsuits! But when Lexi walked outside with Daddy to take Candice out this morning she said, "Wait a minute Daddy while I go get my jacket!"

Both girls were in desperate need of some clothes that fit. Apparently they both grew at an astronomical rate this summer. So I went shopping a few weeks ago and I was blown away at the clothing items for sale in these Florida malls! LONG SLEEVES! CORDUROY! VELOUR! TURTLE NECKS! I was like, seriously people, it's 98 outside today, why would I buy this? I was hard pressed to find skirts or capris with short sleeved shirts. Because even in January it was 85. It just doesn't get cold here. I went to Gymboree, Baby Gap, Dillards, Macy's. You name it. I came away with a small handful of items. It blows my mind that the clothing industry doesn't have separate clothing lines for different parts of the country. Because we have two seasons here...hot and hotter!

I'm not complaining about the weather. It actually suits me just fine. I like about 2 weeks of cold weather, then I'm ready for the warm sunshine. And that's about what we get. Even in Dallas, I would wear my flip flops when it was 32 outside. I'm a warm weather kind of girl! And I don't know if it's because of the climate or what, but neither of the girls or myself have had any sort of illness since March! Lexi's asthma definitely agrees with this warmer climate for sure! I think their last visit to the pediatrician was in February. So Florida definitely agrees with our biology.

Now if only they had a Wings N More or a Double Daves.

CT Scan

Ashton had an appointment today for a CT scan of her skull. The reason for the scan is that at her last appointment with the neurologist, the doctor couldn't find her soft spot on her head. So in order to make sure the skull hadn't fused together too soon, she wanted us to have this done. And if you want more background info on why Ashton sees a neurologist, you can read about it here and here. So she had to fast for 6 hours, therefore this particular facility only schedules children in the morning hours because it's too hard for them to fast during the day. That makes sense but they also wanted her to be sleep deprived. THAT, does NOT make sense. Sleep deprived first thing in the morning? Now, I am sleep deprived in the mornings, but the children are not! So she went to bed a little late last night and got up early this morning, and hasn't had a nap in like a week! I don't know how much more sleep deprived I could have made her to be, but apparently it wasn't enough. Because after 2 hours and a maximum dose of sedatives, we were sent home WITHOUT a CT scan!

And that was 2 hours of hell. For me and for her. She was SO drunk on drugs. Poor thing, she couldn't hold her head up, she was running into everything, her eyes were rolling back in her head, and yet she wouldn't GIVE UP! Have you ever seen a chicken after their head is cut off? That's what she reminded me of. She was SO delirious and incoherent and had no muscle control at all, but she was still ALL OVER the room! Finally after like an hour of torture for both of us, the doctor let me take her for a car ride. And she was out in like 2 seconds. So I took her back in and laid her back on the table which woke her up and then she screamed for the next 10 minutes until they finally said to go ahead and leave and reschedule. I don't know why they think next week will be any different.

I'm not sure I'm going back to this clinic. It was a Healthsouth clinic and I've had more luck with procedures like this at an actual hospital. They can use the gas, which is quick and easy and a sure thing. There's no chance of her waking up during the procedure and seeing the scary looking machine.

So I reckon we'll try again next week. I have to trust that either there was a reason God was protecting her from this today, maybe a technician who didn't know what they were doing or a quirk in the machine, or something, OR He's just really trying to teach me patience. And today certainly tested me! A two year old who wants to be independent and can't understand why she can't just get down and walk to the elevator or the car on her own but can't go one step without falling down...NOT FUN! She was screaming and squirming to get out of my arms the whole time but I was trying to protect her from getting hurt because she couldn't even walk! UGH! Glad that's over.

Next week, Daddy's going too!

Decision Made

Well, we made our decision yesterday evening. Thank you for all of your input!

Drumroll please.....





We decided to....





FLY! However, the Lord had other plans apparently because in the one hour's time of getting my mom's credit card number and my internet going haywire and not letting me log back on, the fares went up over $100/person. So it was going to cost around $1600 for the four of us. And my mom was totally willing to pay it, and happy to do so, mainly because who would want their babies on the road for over 20 hours on a holiday week??? But I just couldn't let her spend that much money on plane tickets. Not to mention probably another $200 for kenneling the dog! I know she didn't mind, but I just couldn't do it.



SO...



She offered to rent us a car, actually a minivan! Never thought I'd be so excited to drive a minivan! We're just not sure it's safe to take my car. It's a nice car, don't get me wrong. A 2002 Eddie Bauer Explorer. Still in great shape appearance wise. I LOVE my car. Except that it has 122,000 miles on it now (I thought it was 140k but I looked this morning and it's 122k) it's not a spring chicken if you know what I mean. It's well seasoned! But I don't think it's meant for long trips these days. Even this morning on the highway it was acting funny and I couldn't drive over 60 mph without it vibrating us crazy! Fabulous! Another repair.



And as for the DVD player, mom said she'd buy us a new one for the trip. We've already gone through 2 or 3 I think. They just don't last long, or maybe we're just really hard on them.

So there, I guess it's settled.



We're driving! In a minivan!


AND MY DOG CAN COME WITH ME!!!!!! (That gives me warm fuzzies...tee ith toe booteeeful! That's our little language I speak to her while she licks my face!!!)



Can someone send me some earplugs and a sedative (or a dozen) for the trip? Did I mention it's over 1000 miles, over 20 hours, with two toddlers, in holiday traffic???

To Fly Or Not To Fly

That is the question...

Thanksgiving is just a month away and I'm headed to the Lone Star State for some FIGHTIN TEXAS AGGIE FOOTBALL! WHOOP! The Ags host the horns the day after Thanksgiving and of course, I'm there!

But there is a big looming question and decision we must make, like TODAY. To fly or not to fly! I am very blessed to have a mother who offers to pay for these things, otherwise who are we kidding, flying would NOT be an option seeing as how it's going to be about $300/person. So while I want to save her as much money as I can (so she can spend it on me at Christmas instead...heeheeeheee), finances aren't the primary issue here. The primary issues...my car, my dog, and my kids!

My car is 5 years old, has over 140,000 miles on it and we seem to encounter a new repair about every month. So making a trek halfway across the country doesn't really seem like the most logical choice. However, my mom even offered to rent us a car if we really wanted to drive. Here are the pros and cons of driving vs flying.

Pros of driving:
1. We could stop in Mobile, AL to see Cary's family on the way there and back.
2. My dog can come with us which means we won't have to pay, I mean mom won't have to pay for her to be kenneled. She's about to be 10 and I don't think she would do well in a kennel at her age. Plus she's SPOILED! And a member of the family!
3. MUCH cheaper than flying. I've calculated it would save my mom about $500.
4. Airports/children/holiday=INSANITY!!!!
5. Ashton and airplanes don't really mix all that well. She's TWO! Need I say more? (Then again, Ashton in a carseat on a 1000 mile journey probably is not much better!)

Cons of driving:
1. car/long drive/children=INSANITY!!!!
2. DVD player in car is broken=INSANITY!!!!
3. Did I mention it's over 1000 miles??? With kids???
4. My car is not in the bestest of shape mechanically.
5. We would spend 4 days out of 8 on the road...with kids...did I mention how far it is???

Okay so you see my dilema? I prayed last night for God to give me a clear word on what would be best for our family and a few minutes later I got an awesome devotional on email from Lisa Welchel, Blair from Facts of Life, remember her? It said that when you must make an important decision, take fear out of the equation. Because many times we make decisions based on our fears. And fear is NOT of God, it's of the devil. Am I more afraid my car won't make it to Texas, or am I more afraid my dog will die in a kennel if I leave her? I don't know!

The non-stop flights are filling up quickly and I really must decide something NOW! So if you have any input, I'd love to hear it.

Why My Kids Go To Preschool

The girls went to school today and I did what has become my Monday ritual...HOUSEWORK! I have three and a half hours on Mondays to work my magic. That's the only day they both go to school. When Cary brought the girls home at 12:30ish, the house was clean, I was clean, make up on, all dressed, my menu and grocery list for the week was all planned out, and a hot cooked meal was on the table! It felt so good to feel "on top of things" rather than drowning and defeated under a pile of laundry and dirty dishes, which is what I feel like the other 6 days of the week. And that, my friends, is why I send my kids to school! Glory hallelujah! Thank God for preschool! Today is when I realized because of the euphoric feeling I got from my clean house and being on the ball with the household caretakings, that sending my kids to school is just as much for me as it is for them. I'm a happier wife and mom because I have that one day a week, just 3 and a half hours, to accomplish what I can't accomplish in a whole week! And the result...a whole afternoon of bliss...lovin on my girls and taking care of my husband. I have more to give because the time spent this morning fed my soul and satisfied my needs! It sounds so cheesy but YES a clean house and being on the ball and organized is as good to me as a full belly or a restful vacation! It makes me plum giddy! And here's the best part of it all...my kids...they LOVE school! It was a rough start the first few weeks, but both girls are so excited about school now. Lexi asks me every night, "Can I go to school tomorrow? I love school Mommy." She LOVES her teacher. Her teacher has noticed how she has just blossomed so quickly since the first week of school. And so have we. She has become so much more independent and social even at other places. And Ashton, sweet Ashton. She's been perfect 3 weeks in a row and she just so happily walks into her classroom now and never looks back. They both do! This morning I told them it was time to get in the tub and get ready for school and they both squealed for joy and ran to the tub! I was like, "Who are you and what have you done with my children?" But happy nonetheless!

I have so many friends here who homeschool and I honestly don't know how they do it. Maybe they're just all superheros who can "do it all" or maybe my priorities are not their priorities or vice versa. Whatever the case, I know they feel called by God to educate their chilren at home and to each his own, but I'm pretty sure God's saying to me, "HEATHER, SEND YOUR KIDS TO SCHOOL!" I'm happy that they're happy in school, and I'm really happy that organization and cleanliness returns to my house each Monday morning (if only for a few hours!)

Funny Commercial

Whether you love Aggies or love to hate them, this commercial is SO right on! We Aggies never graduate, that's for sure. Thanks "tales from the crib" for the link. It's only 29 seconds. Surely you have 29 seconds to spare! I can't stop watching it!!! And thank you ESPN for putting QUALITY commercials back on TV!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqUpIWn9AN4

Cause I'm Bored...

And because I have NOTHING more exciting to write about tonight...

Describe each member of your family in one word:
Cary: HILLARIOUS!
Me: Perceptive
Lexi: Creative
Ashton: Cuddly
Candice (my dog): Beautiful
Mr. Baloo (my cat): Selfish

Now it's your turn! Either in the "comment" section below or on your own blog describe your family members in one word. Have fun!!! (And be nice!)

What are YOU doing?

I don't know what YOU'RE doing, but I'm celebrating! My Ags won, 36-14 over Nebraska. And even though Nebraska stinks, they're still Nebraska. I saw some reverse smack talk on Texags yesterday. It was so funny. People were saying things like, "The only way you can beat us is if your offense can manage to drive the ball through the GIANT holes in our defense." And "Oh yeah, well our defense is worse than your defense." This morning on College Gameday, the guys were trying to figure out which would be the upset...if A&M won or if Nebraska won. Pretty sad. But funny. During the game, I found myself saying out loud, "Come on huskers, it's not rocket science. It's either going to be McGee or Lane with the ball!" Because we seem to lack creativity on offense lately. At least I have a sense of humor about this season. That's more than I could have said in years past. Hey, we're 6-2. Not terrible. We're bowl eligible now!

Has anyone else seen the ESPN commercial with the Aggie playing pictionary and the girl is drawing "hook em horns" in picture form and once he finally figures out what it is, he's like, "I don't know, paper? An insane dear? Taco meat?" He refuses to say "hook em horns". HILLARIOUS! At the end of the commercial, it says something like some people never graduate. I love that commercial.

Anyways, that's all we're doing this evening. Celebrating another Aggie victory. (Cause it may be the last one of the season!!!)

What Will the Weekend Hold

Of course I'm talking about the Aggies you know. It is very likely that we could lose the rest of our games this season. It's one of those years in Aggie football. I know we're 5-2, which isn't that awful, but we still have to play Nebraska, Kansas (who is 6-0 and ranked in the top 20), Missouri (who is also ranked in the top 20), Oklahoma (need I say more), and Texas! UGH! Tomorrow, we travel to Nebraska. It's being called the "Distraction Bowl" with Nebraska firing their Athletic Director this past week after being creamed by Okie State, and A&M who is basically being coached by a "Lame Duck" coach. He knows he's gone at the end of the season, and so does everyone else. I'm not one to quickly point the blame and demand a coach be fired after a few bad seasons. But in this case, Fran did some kind of shady things that have gotten us in trouble with the NCAA, not to mention his performance on the field has been nothing more than mediocre and this is year #5. So I guess it's warranted. I don't really care. I JUST WANT TO WIN!!!!!!!! I don't really care who they hire...JUST WIN!

Will the Ags win tomorrow? I don't expect it. But we have a saying in Aggieland..."I've seen'em lose, and I've seen'em win, but I've NEVER seen'em quit! So Gig'em Ags. BTHO Nebraska!

I'm trying to stay positive. Aggie basketball starts in less than a month. See, I'm thinking positive!

And a few other picks: I pick Ohio State over Michigan State, Florida over Kentucky, LSU over Auburn, Missouri over Texas Tech, and USC over Notre Dame.

Headed to Gator Country...HISS...

So I'm headed up to Gainsville tomorrow, home of the University of Florida. Hiss. (Aggies don't boo, we hiss-which is actually Biblical I just learned last week while preparing my Sunday School lesson...teehee!) I'm SUCH a college football fan, that even though I have no emotional ties to the school, it's still sort of exciting to me. I just love college towns! Although need I say I will NOT be purchasing a blue and organge anything, nor will I let my children see my excitement b/c I would never want them to think it's okay to have affections for any other school other than my beloved Texas A&M!

We're going to Gainsville to see Destiny, the little girl in my Sunday School class that had a liver transplant last week. She's doing great by the way! I'm not sure she's out of ICU yet, so we may only get to see the family. But still, it's the thought. And we're delivering a box of goodies from church members to the family.

Anyone doing anything exciting this weekend? I wish I could say I'll be watching my Ags on Saturday, but it's not televised and I won't even be able to listen online. I'm the wedding coordinator at our church and I have a wedding on Saturday that starts at, you guessed it, game time! TRAGIC!

Got Milk Part 2

Just a quick follow up...I went milk shopping last night. Borden is a Texas company, they don't sell it here. I checked their website. We normally pay around $4.00/gallon for our hormone filled milk at CVS, Walmart, or Sav a lot. That's definitely the cheapest. But at some stores, normal milk is as much as $6.00/gallon. Last night, I bought the organic Winn Dixie brand for $6.00/gallon but got a $1.00 off coupon at the register so that brought it down to $5.00/gallon which almost the price of non-organic milk anyways. We go through milk pretty fast at our house. We usually drink about 2 gallons a week.

BUT, technically even buying organic meats, cheeses, eggs, butter, and milk, while I know it's better for us, it will not eliminate the problem. Not that we go to Fourbucks, I mean Starbucks, like ever, but they do NOT use hormone free milk unless you request the organic version. There are lots of restaurants, in fact most, that don't use the hormone free stuff because it's usually more expensive. McDonald's and Starbucks were mentioned specifically in the article I read. This hormone problem doesn't stop at the milk. It's in just about every animal product. And get this, there have been NO LONG TERM STUDIES DONE at all on the effects it has on humans. NONE! It's completely banned in Canada and Europe. And even if you think you're drinking something safe like Borden, there's the whole antibiotic issue and the pesticides on the grass they eat to worry about. I just saw a news story today about how many people are dying each year from this "super bug" which is resistant to antibiotics and the reason it's even on the face of the earth is because of the overuse of antibiotics. And that starts with the antibiotics used to treat the animals that we're eating!!! SCARY!

I'm really not a health freak or anything. Honestly, it rarely crosses my mind. We're all gonna die evenutually and cancer or heart disease just seems inevitable no matter how good your genes are or what you eat! But for some reason, this whole issue really gets my panties in a wad!

OPRAH? Where are you???

Got Milk?

I'm doin' a happy dance y'all. My computer is fixed...can I get a GLORY? My internet is working again and all is well in my universe, at least until the Aggies play again on Saturday.

But now I'd like to tackle a more serious topic. Have any of you ever done any research on the hormones in some types of cow milk? Now before you call me a "tree hugger" or a "hippy chick" let me just explain I'm anything BUT a health nut. Obviously! You can look at me and tell that! And I've always made fun of people who buy organic products and thought, "What a waste of money!" But because of a series of events with my own hormone issues and some conversations with other women having severe hormonal complications, it's raised the question in my mind of what we're putting into our bodies and how it could very well be the cause of our hormone issues. I drink a lot of milk, as do my kids. And we eat a lot of cheese. I do know for a fact that most non-organic milk came from cows injected with hormones that make them produce more milk. These cows, if not injected with hormones can live about 17 years. But if treated with the hormones, usually only live about 2 years. Many of them get severe mastitis (sp?) and are then injected with, you guessed it, antibiotics. And I'm sure you know the danger in that. Too many antibiotics leads to stronger strands of bacteria, more resistant strands. It's a crazy cycle! These type s of hormones have been used for about the last 10-15 years. But I have heard that the cause of children, especially girls, going through puberty much earlier than 20 years ago is due to the increase of hormones used in animal products. And with my own hormone issues in the past year, it really makes me wonder if it's being caused by these same hormones. Of course the doctor just says, "Go on the pill, it will regulate everything." But that's not a cure to me. I want to know WHY it's happening and I want a healthier fix than putting that toxic pill in my body every day.

So I've decided to do a little experiment of my own and buy "hormone free" milk, which may end up being organic or actually some regular milks say "hormone free" on their packaging. You just have to investigate a little. And I'm going to buy organic cheese as well. And I know it could take a few months to see a difference in my hormone issues, but I'm going to give it a 3 month trial period. I don't understand why there's not more government regulation of this problem since it seems as though so many are being affected.

Anyone else have any thoughts on this issue?

10 Favorite Things

I saw this in a magazine today and I thought it would make a good blog post. And if you're reading this, consider yourself TAGGED and do the same on your blog. (Well, I mean, if you want to!)

List the 10 favorite things in your house:
1. The people in it!
2. God (He lives here, I live in God's house, I really do!)
3. My fur babies, Candice and Mr. Baloo
4. My computer
5. TV
6. Pictures/scrapbooks
7. My free leather furniture (It's quite lovely!)
8. FOOD, glorious food! (I can't believe food didn't cross my mind till #8)
9. The Dishwasher, and I'm not talking about Cary.
10. AIR CONDITIONING!

Costumes

I'm on the hunt for some cute costume ideas for my girls. Oct 31 will be here before we know it! I've never been one to be really excited over store bought costumes. Because who wants to have on the same costume that everyone else has? HOWEVER...I'm also not a seamstress nor do I even own a needle and thread. So making my own creation is a bit overwhelming too. But there's this great invention called FABRIC GLUE....no sewing required. So I need ideas. Bring em on people! Send me some websites to look at or costume ideas or something...anything. I have one child that always wants to be a dog and another child that always wants to be a kitty cat. If that helps any. But they were both dogs last year. They love princess stuff. But the Disney costumes are very expensive, especially to buy all the accessories. It would be about $150 for two. No thank you! I feel like this is my last year to choose their costumes. Because next year they'll have way too many opinions. Ya know? I need CHEAP but cute and fun and creative! MUST WIN costume contest. (I'm a wee bit competitive as you can see.) The costume contest categories are: animal, movie character, Bible hero, or abstract (meaning like a flower or a bowl of spaghetti or a bubble bath or something like that).

HELP!!!!

Growing Pains

Disclaimer warning: If you are not a mom or a grandmother, you will find nothing remotely interesting about this post. And you may even be a teeny bit grossed out.

Four years ago, my struggles involved spit up, like 20 times a day, projectile spit up, like 20 times a day, breast pumps, not getting an uninterrupted night's sleep, worrying about whether or not my baby would walk by her first birthday, and how to soothe teething pain. Four years later, the struggles have not gotten any easier. In fact, just when we thought things were getting a wee bit easier, these girls go off and start growing up on me. And the struggles are different, but anything but easy. With each passing day, we face a new set of "growing pains".

Lexi's growing pains go a little something like this. Friday night, she threw a monster fit because she wanted to sleep in panties rather than in a diaper. Well, listen, I'm all about that! It would suit my fancy just fine to buy one less pack of diapers each week, so no need to throw a fit, right? Sleep in those panties girl! Except that her diapers are like mega full by morning, every morning. Even though we've cut off her liquids after 7. And many nights, the diaper leaks which means I wash sheets like every day. And her baths are always in the morning or else she would just smell like pee all the time! So on Friday night, we let her fall asleep without a diaper and then I went in a few hours later and put one on her. When she woke up the next morning (with a full diaper I might add) she marched into our room, swung the door open, and yelled with her hands on her hips, "WHO PUT THIS DIAPER ON ME?" Cary and I were a bit startled, but we both cracked up! I told her it was me and that I did it so she wouldn't wet her bed. She said, "Mommy, I only teeteeed because I had a diaper on." Well, that sounded reasonable enough. So the next night, NO DIAPER! I woke her up at 1 a.m. and took her potty and Cary woke her up at 4 a.m. and took her potty, but she did it! The sheets were dry this morning when she got up. YIPPEEE! So maybe we're reaching a new milestone.

And then there's Ashton and her growing pains. She's out of her crib officially, still sleeping in Lexi's room on the fold out couch. She sleeps great at night, but now refuses to take naps. Which would be okay except that by 4 p.m. she is thrashing around on the floor in fit after fit because she's so tired she can't see straight. UGH! So naps are officially a thing of the past in this house. We do have "downtime" where the girls lay on their beds and watch a movie. But they never fall asleep.

But growing pains aren't all bad. Sometimes they bring with them a new found independence that we do enjoy as parents.

Last night, Cary and I were sitting on the couch together watching college football, and both girls came in the room in their jammies all ready for bed. I looked over at him and said, "Do you realize our kids are ready for bed and we didn't even leave the couch?" Lexi had changed Ashton's diaper and put her pajamas on her, then dressed herself, and they were coming to kiss us goodnight. WOWSERS! The day I've dreamed of!!!! They were so tired. They played outside for about 7 hours straight yesterday and then put themselves to bed.

This morning, we were running late as usual and I asked Lexi to help me out as we were getting ready for church. So she gave herself and Ashton a bath, washed hair, used conditioner, the whole bit. And while I got Ashton dressed, she dried herself off and dressed herself. Then she brushed her own hair and dried it all by herself. GLORY HALLELUJAH! And the Angels were singing!

I can honestly say, NO, I don't miss the newborn stage. I love havin' me some big girls. Even though we've always thought we would have three kids, with each passing day I think there's NO WAY I'd want to start over! Don't get me wrong, If God chooses to bless us with a third, I know He will give me the added strength and perseverance to take on the challenge. But for now, I'm just taking things day by day, growing pains and all.

There's POOH In My Tub

And when I say "Pooh" I'm not talking about the friendly, yellow, round Disney character. I'm talking brown, stinky, what we ate yesterday sewage! One of the many joys of living in a very old house that has been added onto (several times) is that the plumbing does not exactly meet today's standards. It doesn't help that the additions to the house appear to be home handyman specials at best. Cary says it's almost as if a guy like him said, "I think I'll build a new bathroom this weekend!" We've had "issues" the entire time we've lived here, such as not being able to do #2 in one of our toilets...like...ever! And keeping the plunger within quick reach outside our back door because it gets used about every other day. But today, we noticed that the water would not go down in the shower. The toilets would not go down when we flushed. And then all the sudden there was bubbly sewer gas making popping noises in the bathrooms and then the sewer line backed up IN MY TUB! Cary said, "Don't use the bathroom until Monday when I can get someone out here." Yes, he really did say that. And I'll pause while you absorb that statement. It's Saturday. Don't use the bathroom till Monday. Gee, okay honey. I'll just pee in the backyard with the dog! ???? HE WAS SERIOUS Y'ALL! Serious as a heart attack.

So I was trying not to sound like a smarty pants but I said, "Um...you know...plumbers do work on the weekend. Don't you think you could call one?" Anyways, so here we are. 2 hours of roto rootering later. And the shower is still not going down. I think the toilets are usable. But my tub is still full of pooh. And toys. Can you comprehend the disgusting complexity of all that entails? Can anyone say "BLEACH?" And then bleach again? And then more bleach? I am so yucked out right now I can't even think about football. Which by the way my Aggies play in just a few minutes.

Speaking of pooh...I hope the Ags beat the ever livin' POOH outta Texas Tech!

Gig'Em!

My Weekend Picks

Purdue at Michigan: Cary and I both pick Michigan

Georgia Tech at Miami, FL: Cary picks Georgia Tech, I pickin' the thugly group of Miami.

Alabama at Ole Miss: We both pick Bama

Okie State at Nebraska: As the Ags saw last week, the okies are NOT threatened by enemy territory. Nebraska is looking mediocre lately. We're both picking the Cowboys of OSU.

#25 Tennessee at Miss State: Ya ready for this? We're both pickin the DAWGS of Miss State. Who, who who who who let the dawgs out..

Texas A&M at Texas Tech: I'm picking Tech on this one. I'M KIDDING!!!! Of course I've gotta go with my Ags, but I have no idea how long it's been since the Aggies have won a game AT tech. I think it's a mental thing because tech is never really all that great, but for some reason they always beat us. I think it might have something to do with their style of offense vs our very weak defense, especially our lack of speed and toughness in the secondary. We can't seem to defend the high power passing game. But the J Train has guaranteed the aggie nation a victory tomorrow, and I believe in my boys. You've heard of "Remember the Alamo" well Ags, "Remember the Tortillas"...that should be our battle cry. Only Aggie fans will get that.

Washington State at #9 Oregon: We both agree that Oregon is overrated. We're going with Washington State.

#11 Missouri at #6 Oklahoma: #11??? Are you kidding me? Mizzou is #11. That has to be a misprint. The Okies will win big. And the tigers will go home with their #11 tails tucked between their legs.

SMU at USM: Sorry I couldn't resist those abbreviations. Teeheee. We're goin with USM...Univ of Southern Miss. Go Golden Eagles.

#22 Auburn at Arkansas: We both pick Auburn. They're pretty good at stopping the running game, which is about all Arkansas has.

Texas A&M vs. Texas Tech

I can't express how much I HATE Texas Tech. This is the first game of our season where I have had strong, adverse feelings for the opponent and second only to longhorn fans. So I thought it would be fun to poke some fun at Texas Tech Red Raider fans...their colors are red and black in case you don't know. Although I have 2 friends who went to Tech and they're totally normal, I happen to believe that most Tech fans are a few fries short of a happy meal if you know what I mean. There's somethin' in the water out in West Texas I think!

Destinee Update

I don't know much, information has been scarce. This is all I know as of 9:30 p.m. yesterday. The surgery was a success. The new liver is functioning...Thank you Jesus!!!! She had just come out of surgery. I don't know how she's doing today. I'm hoping no news is good news. The family was able to leave the hospital last night and get some rest. Her mom said it was going to be a busy night in ICU for Destinee as there would be people in her room all night "working on her". The first thing Destinee said to her mom when she came out of surgery was, "I want a big glass of ice water and a Wendy's Frosty and I want it RIGHT NOW!" Her mom assured her that as soon as the doctors gave her the okay, she could have whatever she wanted. She will be in ICU for at least 3 days and in the hospital for at least 2 weeks. The family has asked for assistance from the church because they will have to have a hotel for that period of time as the Ronald McDonald House doesn't allow that many children (they have 9 kids, 5 of which are with them in Gainsville.) She did have 2 tumors on her liver and they have sent off for a lymph node biopsy to see if the cancer has spread. The next few days are the most critical for her, so please continue to pray and continue to pray for the family of the donor that has lost their child. Another praise though...they have awesome health insurance because both parents are Air Force and EVERYTHING is paid for!!!! Isn't that awesome???

Pray for Destinee

Real quick before Cary takes his computer back to work and I'm staring at the wall with bulging eyes mourning the loss of my beloved laptop...a quick but very urgent prayer request.


I teach 5th/6th grade girls in Sunday School and I have a little girl named Destinee in my class that was just diagnosed with liver cancer a few weeks ago. The doctors determined that a liver transplant was a must and she was put on the donor list recently while going through chemo in the meantime. I just saw her at church last night and she was so excited about our girl night at my house on Friday night. But it looks like she won't be here for girl night as they got a call early this morning that a liver match was available and she is in Gainsville right now for the transplant operation at 10 a.m. PLEASE pray for Destinee and her family. We are praying and believing for a perfect healing, that her body would accept the new liver, and that her body would be strong enough to handle this surgery. She just finished another round of chemo last week, so her body is a little weak. Please pray for peace and comfort for the family that has obviously lost a loved one, and that God would bless them for sacrificially giving up an organ for Destinee. And pray for Destinee's family. She has LOTS of siblings, 7 or 8, I don't even know exactly. This is a tough time for her family. Destinee is the sweetest little things. She's very small for her age, but such a cutie! Always smiling, and has such a sweet heart. She loves the Lord so much and has total faith that He will heal her. So pray for her ALL DAY without ceasing!!!!! I'll post an update as I get info (and as I have a computer in my possession!!!)

The Gospel According to Lexi

The Aggie Gospel first...

Tonight for some random reason and I don't know how exactly we got on this subject, but we were explaining to Lexi what it means to be in God's house. You probably already know where I'm going with this one. We told her that we live in God's house (b/c the church owns our house) and that the church is also God's house. And she said, "God has lots of houses cause where the Aggies play, mommy, that's God's house too." And all God's people said, "Amen"!

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Yesterday, Lexi caught a glimpse of my rear end as I was headed to the shower. She said, "Mommy, you have a big bottom." And I explained to her that yes, Mommy eats too many foods that are bad for my body and I drink too much coke and that's how my bottom got to be so big. And I used the opportunity to explain that this is the reason mommy doesn't let her have junk food and coke. This morning as I was pouring my ritualistic glass of breakfast coke, she said, "STOP MOMMY, YOU'RE BUTT'S GROWING!!!!!"

And that, my friends, is the gospel according to my 4 yr old!

Computer = Caput

My computer is caput, down, zilcho, nada, kabaam, not working. Well, actually that's not true. Everything works except the most important part...the internet! This really is blogworthy information....hang with me for a sec. It was running funny yesterday so I ran spybot to get rid of all the adware and such, which I do about monthly. And after running spybot, I could no longer access the internet. I have a connection, but my browser ain't browsin'! Which made me think running spybot may have messed up some of my internet explorer drivers. So I downloaded all the updates that were waiting patiently on my desktop. And then restarted everything and still NOTHIN'! If I could just get online, I could download the latest version of Internet Explorer and perhaps that would work. But I can't get online. So I've got to get my hands on a copy of an Internet Explorer CD and re-load it on my computer so that maybe just maybe my life can continue on as normal.

And the reason this is all blogworthy, well because I know you care about my happiness. But also because this means I'm at the mercy of my husband's memory when it comes to email and blogging. I will only have a computer when he remembers to bring his home from work. Can you hear me crying all the way in Texas? Because I am! I'm so used to having my computer on the kitchen countertop where I can just glance at my email every time I pass through the room. Spoilage! Dear Santa: I need a new toy! A speedy, silver, lightweight, shiny, speedy (did I mention that already) toy. I've been a really good girl!

On the bright side of this whole technology disaster in my home, I get to use my husband's computer, which I'm not usually allowed to touch, because it's like HIS BABY. It's a hunk a hunk of burnin' machinery y'all! It's a Mac and I LOVE IT...the light up keypad, and it's so thin an lightweight, it's FAST, and it's REAL purty! He has the mega machine because he uses it for video editing for our church. This is like what the real professionals use. I feel so honored! But I am required to remove all jewelry before using it (so it won't get scratched) and I have to wash my hands, you know, so my germy hand oil doesn't...I don't really know why I have to wash my hands. But I do. Because he said so!

So it may take me longer to reply to emails and such until I get my computer fixed. If I get it fixed. How many days till Christmas????

Ashton's Good Day

Many of you have been following the Ashton school saga. And I am happy to report that she had a GREAT day at school today. I watched in the window for the first hour and a half this morning because I wanted to see who or what was causing her aggressive behavior. She does not get reports about that type of behavior anywhere but school. I knew there had to be a reason for it and I know her personality. She's not a bully by nature. So I observed her doing finger painting. She was very neat and delicate about it. Then she played with the other kids very nicely, even sharing toys and purposefully taking toys out of the bin and carrying them over to other children in different parts of the room. And if you've ever had a 2 yr old, you know sharing is NOT characteristic of that age, but she was doing it beautifully. She was talking up a storm (half gibberish/half English) to anyone that would listen. She was being a mommy to every baby doll in the room. She was the primary cleaner upper when it was time to clean up. She went to town on that! And she was wherever the "party" was. Because she's my social one. If the party was in the play house, she was right in the middle of it serving plastic food to all the "party guests". There was one boy in the class that was OUT OF CONTROL aggressive. He was hitting, stealing toys, pretending to stab everyone with a plastic knife, etc. He stole toys from Ashton several times and some times she just walked away and some times she yelled at him, but never did she hit or pull hair or use any physical aggression. But he was the cause of every "issue" in the class today. After watching for an hour and a half, I saw all I needed to see. I saw a totally well adjusted two year old who was very sweet and social, who totally got along well with everyone in the room. And I saw a two year old boy who was the real bully of the class causing all the problems. She seemed to be enjoying herself and was happy to be there. And that's all I needed to know!

Lexi, on the other hand, has been in trouble lately for not following directions. And today her teacher pulled me aside and said, "PLEASE teach her how to use scissors." And then she proceeded to show me the other children's cutting projects compared to Lexi's. I admit, that's not something we've ever worked on. Mainly because I just thought, oh well, she'll learn that at school right? Apparently she's supposed to already be a master cutter. We don't even OWN a pair of child scissors. So I guess that's my next project! UGH. This whole school thing is just the beginning. I feel so defeated as a mom when I pick them up from school because it's always something negative. I just want to hear some good comments every now and then.

Disney/Universal Pictures

Here are the pictures from last Thursday and Friday...our free vacation at home! Thank you to the Jones family and Mr. Matt for getting us into Disney and Universal for FREE! YIPPEE!

Weekend Ramblings

I wish I had something really exciting to write about tonight, but I don't. So here are all the tidbits of info about our weekend.

I can't stop hugging and kissing on my 9 yr old dalmatian, Candice. She's extra squeezable lately. I don't know why. I think it was spurred by a conversation I had the other day with a girl about her dog that died recently and was cremated and she had his box of ashes in her kitchen. I thought that to be a bit bizarre. But it made me think about what I will do on the dreadful day that I have to part with my beloved Candice. She will be 10 years old in a few weeks. She's in excellent health and I think (and hope) she still has at least 4 more good years on her. I pray!!!! Actually I do have faith that she will live to be the world's oldest dog. I'm sure of it.

Speaking of squeezable, Ashton brought me her sippy cup of milk tonight and crawled up in my lap and said, "BABY". I got the hint. She wanted to lay in my lap and pretend to be a baby while I held her sippy at her mouth for her to drink. Oh, that girl is cutielicious!

And do you know what the children's pastor and his wife did today??? (That would be US...me and Cary) We went to CiCi's for lunch after church and you know how they say, "No doggie bags"? Well, they don't say anything about wrapping up pizza in napkins and hiding it in the mama jama diaper bag do they??? Oh yes I did! Listen, CiCi's in Florida is NOT $3.99 like it is in Texas. It's more expensive here. It cost us $18 bucks for PIZZA! For pizza! So I wanted to make sure and get my $18 worth. We had about 5 pieces left on our plates and we were full. Long story. So I wrapped them up in my napkin and brought them home for dinner. I felt all sneaky and everything. Like a ciminal. Just call me the pizza bandit.

Cary and I had a fight this weekend. We never fight. I guess I shouldn't call it a fight. That sounds too physical. We had "words". We're funny. We haven't had "words" in like, I don't know, a year? We really never argue. But this weekend, I was especially on edge, because you know, the Aggies were playing. Football does that to me. And we even won! (Imagine what it's like when the Aggies get outscored!) But I had just mopped the floors and I've asked him a gazillion times to PLEASE take off his shoes when he comes in the house. I would never ask a guest to do so, but for those of us who live here, it's just a must. We don't have carpet so there is nowhere for the dirt to hide. And the tile is WHITE! (I didn't pick it.) So it shows EVERYTHING. Anyways, I had just mopped and he kept walking around in his shoes. Like ALL DAY. I thought my head was going to explode with anger. And then the volcano blew y'all. It did! I knew it was going to happen. I can only hold it in so long. So we had "words" about wearing shoes in the house. Again. For the umpteenth time. And today...the house is shoe-free. For now!

Oh and the most exciting part of our weekend (besides the Aggie victory) was this evening when a police officer rang our doorbell, AFTER DARK. That's not what you want to see outside of your peephole. Anyways, turns out the wicked, evil woman down the street (oops did I say that?) had her bike stolen last night. Now I am truly a person who likes EVERYONE, but this lady is MEAN. Cruel-does not do her justice. She rides her bike everywhere and when we see her on the town we sing that witch on the bike song from the Wizard of Oz. Do you know the one I'm talking about? So the police came to question us! Us!!!! The children's pastor and his sweet innocent wife. I thought that was peculiar. Is that a common practice for bike theft? Questioning the neighbors? Anyways, Cary wants to get the lady a new bike. Isn't he nice? It's her only form of transportation. So he's going to ask around at church tomorrow and see if he can get her a bike. What a guy! (Confession-I was like "Serves her right!")

And that's our weekend in a nutshell.

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.