Collected Thoughts

Basketball

2012-01-23T13:02:00.000-06:00

Kyle is playing basketball at Singleton again this year. He is the oldest and biggest kid on the team this year. We like our team and the coaches much better than last year. So far their record is 3-2. Here are some pics from the last two games.

Kyle and Jackson before the game on Saturday, they played each other (we won bragging rights!)

And my pictures are real fuzzy, I hate trying to take pictures in the gym because I can never get my settings right. I can't remember what settings I used here but I know I have my ISO on 1600 (which is the highest it goes). I need a pretty quick shutter speed and no flash but then the photo is too noisy. Suggestions from my knowledgable photography friends? Steve, Amy, Kelley, Abbie...

More photopass

2012-01-13T08:41:00.001-06:00

Here are the rest of my fav photopass photos from our last Disney trip in November:

favorite photopass

2012-01-10T09:22:00.000-06:00

I realized I did not post any of my photopass photos from our November trip. I pre-order the photopass cd which cost me $99. To me it is SO worth it because it means I have pictures of all of us and character photos so I don't have to be so worried about taking pictures and can just enjoy the moment. This trip we had 182 photopass pics and 263 after I edited them (added borders, zoomed in, etc).

In 2010 I took almost 1700 pictures and this last trip I only took about 700. I was much better about watching the parade, watching my kids interact with the characters, etc. instead of being so concerned about getting enough photos of it all. Of course another reason why I didn't get as many pictures is John waits for no one. He and the kids would take off and leave me behind if I stopped to take pictures (which John thinks is stupid). This trip was also slightly shorter than the last.

Anyway back to some of favorite photopass photos:

more to come...

Word for 2012

2012-01-06T13:38:00.000-06:00

In 2009 I picked a word for the year (as inspired by Ali Edwards). My word was realize. 2009 was the first year I started Project Life (known then as Project 365). I remembered my word lots that year as I took a picture everyday. I forgot to pick a word in 2010 and in 2011 I picked Direction but really didn't do anything with it other than post it on my blog.

So I have picked my word for 2012. I tossed around several ideas including create, invest, resolve, clarity. But I am going with Cultivate. This word was really inspired by the quote on Becky Higgins blog (the inspiration for Project Life), "Cultivate a good life and record it".

I also signed up for an online class at Big Picture Scrapbooking called One Little Word, taught by Ali Edwards. I downloaded the intro and January stuff today. I will make a trip to Archiver's sometime this weekend to gather some materials. Hopefully this will help my word inspire me all year long and I won't just forget about it like last year.

Happy New Year to us!

2012-01-02T12:53:00.001-06:00

This morning I got up because I had to be at work at 7:30. The power was out. Thank goodness I thought to set the alarm on my phone last night. I heard a knock at the door. That's odd I thought. When I went to look through the peep hole in the door I saw a police car driving off. No big deal, really didn't alarm me, there is a police officer who lives catty cornered to us. So I continued to get ready for work. I went out to warm my car before I left (it was about 32 degrees this morning) and John's car was not in the driveway. I went in, woke him up and told him his car was gone. He leaps out of bed, throws his clothes on and goes outside. I could hear him groaning. So we are just looking at each other like what should we do. He got the phone book out to look up the number for the police (we don't know it) and I went back in our bathroom to finish getting ready. A few minutes later I hear him groaning outside again. I go out and there are two police officers, a tow truck driver, our neighbor and John's car all wrecked up on the tow truck.

The dumb people who took our car had barely turned out of our neighborhood when the hit a pole (reason the power was out). We assume they gunned it to get away and lost control of the vehicle, but who knows. There was another person with them in another car and they apparently took the person from John's car and drove off. The person has to be hurt badly though, I mean you can tell their head hit the windshield.

So now we are dealing with the insurance company. Obviously the car will be totaled or so we assume, so he will have to get something else. What a way to start off the new year. I hope this is not a foreshadowing of how the rest of 2012 is going to shape up.

Let the lego building begin

2011-12-29T23:19:00.000-06:00

Kyle opened his first new lego set for Christmas on Friday, Dec. 23. He has been building ever since! Plus he got some money and a Toysrus gift card and we went to spend that today on, you guessed it, LEGOS!

Breakfast with Santa

2011-12-28T13:52:00.000-06:00

We ate breakfast with Santa at our church earlier this month

Kaitlyn said this was the last year she was going to sit on Santa's lap and have her picture made. We'll see about that!

Santa Came!

2011-12-27T13:44:00.000-06:00

As he always does, even though we threaten that he won't come if you don't behave.

Kyle's loot

Kaitlyn's loot

I told Kyle that he couldn't wake up until 8:00, of course he woke up before then

Then after he was done looking at all of his stuff for a while he went to wake up Kaitlyn

And then they could open their gifts from Mom

And stockings!

This Christmas was all about clothes, Vera Bradley and LEGOS at our house!

Christmas Eve

2011-12-26T13:39:00.001-06:00

We spent Christmas Eve at my mom's as always. There were many presents to be opened.

Kaitlyn's big gift was this necklace that has her name on it

Kyle's big gift was Kingdom Legos (of course!)

We got my mom a grill (for a really good deal) and Justin put it together for her.

And I got a new mixer! I have coveted one of these for a while, can't wait to use it!

Christmas Cards

2011-12-21T10:39:00.000-06:00

I finally mailed our Christmas cards yesterday (well most of them). I created several cards through Shutterfly then couldn't decide which one I wanted. My 3rd period helped me but I still ended up getting 2 different cards. Which was a mistake because then I couldn't decide who got which card. Here are some of my designs, you'll just have to be surprised with which one you get!

Storytime with Santa and Mrs. Claus

2011-12-15T07:07:00.000-06:00

This was our 4th year to attend Storytime with Santa and Mrs. Claus at the Jamerson's. We love this event. Every year I think my kids might be getting too old but they still want to go so we will go as long as we are invited.

measuring Kyle to see if he is on the nice or naughty list

Video from Whispering Canyon

2011-12-09T09:53:00.000-06:00

The waiter we had at Whispering Canyon was really funny. He brought Kaitlyn a cupcake and had her stand up so the whole restaurant could sing to her. Then before the song was over he and another waitress started eating her cupcake. It was HILARIOUS!

Christmas decor at EP and hotels

2011-12-08T08:41:00.001-06:00

Here is some trees at Epcot:
This one is in America

And this is just the big park tree (that we have a pretty good photopass picture in front of)

And this one is from the Grand Floridian lobby

This is the gingerbread house in the GF lobby, so cute!

Christmas decor at AK and HS

2011-12-07T08:37:00.000-06:00

While Magic Kingdom is definitely the most decked out park the other parks have their share of Christmas decor. Here is the trees at Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios.

Christmas decor at Magic Kingdom

2011-12-06T08:32:00.000-06:00

I really really enjoyed seeing all the Christmas decorations out everywhere in Disneyworld. The hotels, the parks, everywhere! When I originally planned this trip we were going during fall break (fall break is an excellent time to go as far as weather and crowds are concerned). Then John had to do some mandatory training that week so I had to switch it.

I got really excited thinking about going when all the Christmas decorations were out and thought maybe we would go Dec. 17-23. But John said he wasn't sure he could get off work those days since there was so many people above him that might want off. So I picked the week we went. They start having the Christmas party at Magic Kingdom around November 8 so the decorations go up in time for that. Here are some of the decorations we saw at Magic Kingdom.

Mickey shaped wreath

the lights on the castle were spectacular!

Kaitlyn's cupcakes

2011-12-05T14:05:00.000-06:00

Kaitlyn got to wear a birthday pin while we were on our trip to Disney. So everywhere we went people told her Happy Birthday. It was really fun for her and she counted how many birthday wishes she got the entire trip. It was close to 100. She also got a cupcake at every restaurant we ate at.

There is also a hilarious video of the server singing happy birthday to her at Whispering Canyon that I will upload later.

shirts/bags

2011-12-04T11:45:00.000-06:00

I made several shirts for us to wear this time. They turned out a lot better than I anticipated.
Here are a few of mine and one of Kaitlyn's. I will definitely make more shirts like this next time.I even made one for John but forgot to take a picture of it. His had Mater on it and said 'she just wants me for body'. Which I thought was hilarious until Kyle walked around Epcot all day saying that.

I got my friend Paula to make me these bags for them to get signatures on. We had just gotten signatures on paper last year (even though I have yet to make their autograph books with them) so I wanted something different for them since I knew we would see a lot of the same characters. We got so many signatures we had to use the back too.

We also like to collect the pressed pennies when we go. There are hundreds of them and it is a relatively cheap souvenir. We don't typically buy souvenirs when we go places so this is a good alternative. This year I bought us a book to put the pennies in.

Disney Food

2011-12-03T09:26:00.000-06:00

I read this Disney message board called Disboards A LOT! There are a lot of complainers on there but especially when it comes to the food. I always enjoy the food at Disney. I feel like I get my money's worth (especially since the last two years we have had free dining when we go). But even if I paid for the dining plan I would still feel like I got my money's worth.

Mickey Waffles are always a hit

The next few pictures are the food from Whispering Canyon Cafe. Kaitlyn and I both had the skillet (which was huge and really good). I don't know why John did not get that too but he had some pork chop thing.

Kyle had the kid skillet and also ate most of the ribs from mine and Kaitlyn's

The nice thing about the dining plan is every meal includes dessert (even though you are so stuffed from the meal part). This is John's cheesecake, Kaitlyn had the smores, and I had some sort of bread pudding. We also had bottomless milkshakes for our drinks.

This was the meal John, Kaitlyn and I had at Studio Catering co. in Hollywood. A buffalo chicken sandwich meal.

This was my breakfast at 1900 Park Fare. This meal was a buffet. That breakfast pizza was really good.

This was our meal at Sunshine Seasons in Epcot. Kaitlyn got the chicken, John and I had the pork chop. This was probably the best quick service meal I have had in the last two trips at Disney.

And this is the bread pudding at Ohana that makes the entire trip worth it! Though I will say I was not as impressed with Ohana this time as I was last year.

Ride photos

2011-12-02T08:13:00.001-06:00

There are several rides in Disney where they take your picture at a certain time then try to sell you the photo for an obscene amount of money, so I never buy them. Though I do wish I had gotten the one of me and Kaitlyn on Splash Mountain. The test track photo can be added to your photopass cd (without purchasing it separately) so I am appreciative of that, just wish they would do that with more of the rides. I just take a picture of the screen (usually with my cell phone)

This is on Dinosaur at Animal Kingdom

Buzz Lightyear, the first MK day

The Space Mountain people tried to get smart with people like who just take a picture of the screen and put this wording on the picture

This is the one I wish I had bought

more Buzz Lightyear

And I just liked this one, I took this right as we were getting on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. Kyle is thrilled, John could not care less!

Celebrate a Dream Come True parade

2011-12-01T11:12:00.000-06:00

The last thing we did before we left was watch the afternoon parade. We were planning to not watch the parade and leave a little before 3 but then we were using our last meal credit and snack credits and got caught on main street.

right before the parade started this guy comes and stands to the side and in front of me, I was like really. But thankfully he squatted with his daughter most of the time but he did stand up just enough times to ruin several of my pictures. So thank you, Mr. rudeness where ever you may be!

Last moments at Magic Kingdom

2011-11-30T08:17:00.000-06:00

After we ate breakfast we went back to Magic Kingdom for a few hours. We arrived about 11:00.

The line for Ariel and Eric was about a 30 minute wait and so was the wait for the Fairies. I told Kaitlyn she had to pick which line she wanted to wait in and she chose the Fairies. So we met Terrance and Tinkerbell.

Here is how our last few hours went:

arrive about 11:00
get picture made
meet fairies
ride jungle cruise
I watched the Move It, Shake it, Celebrate it party
The kids and John rode Space Mountain 3 times in a row
We all ride Buzz
watch Dream along with Mickey
Watch Philharmagic
Eat ice cream and hot dogs
watch parade (which was a good way to end out trip)
take bus back to our hotel and leave

1900 Park Fare

2011-11-29T11:15:00.000-06:00

On our last day in Disney World we got up fairly early to pack the car. Then took the bus to Magic Kingdom so that we could ride the monorail over to the Grand Floridian. We had breakfast reservations at 1900 Park Fare. We had eaten dinner here last year but breakfast has different characters. Plus the food is pretty good. We met Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, Mary Poppins, Alice in Wonderland, and the Mad Hatter.

I will say that I paid out of pocket for this meal (because we only had 3 dining credits each and had already used all of them). I chose to pay for this meal because it was the cheapest of the 4 I had reserved. It still cost about $75. However the Chef Mickey's breakfast would have been about $125. And note for those planning to go anytime soon and wanting to do character meals, I ate the exact same thing at 1900 Park Fare as I did at Chef Mickey's. Plus I thought the character interaction was better at 1900 Park Fare.

Epcot Characters

2011-11-28T11:19:00.000-06:00

We met several characters at Epcot. High on my list to meet were Belle and the Beast, I had to wait about 25 minutes for the Beast to come out but we did meet them. Also high on the list was Mexican Donald.

Last year we saw Chip and Dale out more than any other character. This year we only saw them out for a short while at Epcot.

Epcot

2011-11-27T08:52:00.002-06:00

We spent Monday at Epcot. We slept in a little since it was later in our trip and we were beginning to become exhausted. So we didn't arrive at Epcot until about 10:40.

Fountains

A cottage in England

Coloring a bear in Morracco

These were shown at the end of spaceship earth, so funny.

Here is how our day at Epcot went:

Arrive at 10:40
Meet Daisy
Get FP for Soarin
Ride Mission Space: Green
Kyle and John ride Mission Space: Orange
Eat at Sunshine Seasons
Meet Chip and Dale
Ride Test Track
Ride Soarin
Walk through World Showcase
Eat ice cream
Meet Marie
Meet Belle and the Beast
Color a bear in Morocco
Meet Mexico Donald
Meet Duffy
Ride Test Track with FP
Ride Spaceship Earth
Ride Soarin with FP
Ride Monorail to Polynesian
Eat at Ohana (8:40)

Fantasmic!

2011-11-26T22:48:00.002-06:00

The second thing at the top of my list of things to make sure and do in Disney this time was Fantasmic. This show was truly Fantastic! I didn't get a whole lot of good pictures (I'll need lessons before I go again on the best settings to use) and really I was more into watching than taking pictures anyway.

Osborne Lights

2011-11-26T11:44:00.002-06:00

The main thing I wanted to see on this trip were the Osborne lights at Hollywood studios. These lights made the whole trip worth it, they were wonderful. Pictures definitely do not do them justice.

It snows from time to time during the light show. You can see it pretty good in this picture.

Characters at Hollywood studios

2011-11-25T21:39:00.002-06:00

We met several characters at Hollywood. Kaitlyn was more into the characters this year than Kyle (last year it was the opposite)

Phineas and Ferb were #1 on our list of characters to meet.

Mater and Lightening McQueen got a new backdrop

We didn't meet darth vader, just saw him out doing the jedi training

Hollywood Studios

2011-11-25T10:51:00.000-06:00

On Sunday we got up early to be at Hollywood before it opened to get in line for Toy Story Mania, this ride is really fun but always has a lengthy wait time. Well this was the only morning that we had to wait a while for the bus. We waited 35 minutes and the bus was packed! So we arrived at Hollywood right at 9:00 as they were opening, walked straight to Toy Story, the line was all the way to the backlot tour entrance! We ended up waiting 40 minutes (the longest wait of our stay) then we got fastpasses when we came out to try and improve our scores later.

Lightening McQueen made an appearance in the Lights, Motors, Action show

Sorta got the big explosion at the end on camera

I thought this was the cutest popcorn bucket (R2D2) even if it was overpriced.

Here is how our Hollywood day went:

arrive @9:00
Ride Toy Story Mania
Meet Phineas and Ferb
Meet Lightening McQueen and Mater
Meet Buzz and Woody
Go on Backlot tour
eat lunch at Studio Catering co.
Watch Lights, Motors, Action
Meet Mike
Ride Star Tours
Kaitlyn and John ride Tower or Terror
Me and Kyle eat ice cream
Watch Beauty and the Beast show (4:00)
Watch Disney Channel rocks show
Ride Toy Story Mania with FP
Get picture made
Eat Popcorn
Watch American Idol show (the finale one)
Watch Osborne lights
Watch Fantasmic (8:00)
eat dinner at hotel

This was our long day as we stayed in the parks about 12 hours with no break.

Magic Kingdom night

2011-11-24T09:55:00.001-06:00

After dinner we went back to Magic Kingdom for the night time activities. The regular closing time was midnight but then they had extra magic hours until 3 am. I knew we wouldn't make it til 3 but I wanted to make it past midnight.

We got in line to meet the princesses because the line said 10 minutes, we ended up waiting about 30 minutes total so we missed Wishes. I got out of line to go to the bathroom so I watched a good bit of it but the rest of them didn't see it. I don't think they really cared though.

Then I watched the Magic, Memories, and You castle show while John and the kids went to ride space mountain with their FP's. The show was much cooler than I anticipated.

I loved seeing the castle all lit up with the Christmas lights.

We arrived back at MK at 9:30
Met the Princesses
Rode Space Mountain (while I watched the castle show)
Watch Main Street Electrical parade
Go on Haunted Mansion
Leave about 12:15

Whispering Canyon

2011-11-23T09:24:00.002-06:00

After we took a long rest at the hotel we had dinner reservations at Whispering Canyon Cafe in the Wilderness Lodge. I was really hoping they would have their Christmas tree but no luck, I think they put it up on Sunday. :(

Kyle playing lincoln logs while waiting on our table (though I am glad I took the picture quick because we only waited about a minute and a half). He went to the bathroom later in the meal and didn't come back forever because he was playing with these again.

We had the best waiter, his name was Justus. They really play around at this restaurant. Kaitlyn LOVED this place, she has already requested to eat here next time we go to Disney World. And I was shocked by that because she probably had the two most embarrassing moments of her life here. One I got on video and I will post that later. The other is a great story. The waiter is at the table behind us and screams out "hey this is Jonathan and he is 12 years old and needs a girlfriend, anybody in here want to take him up on that?". Then he looks at Kaitlyn (who is wearing a happy birthday button) and says "Kaitlyn, how old are you?". She quickly says 11, I guess she thought because she wasn't 12 she was safe. He pulls the kid's chair over to our table and says "here I got you a boyfriend for your birthday, this is Jonathan, Jonathan meet the family". They were both mortified. I was laughing so hard I couldn't even take pictures. I so wish I had it on video.

Then she dropped her knife on the floor and the waiter said "oh don't worry, I'll get you another one" and he brings back this hugs knife.

When you need ketchup you have to yell to the whole restaurant 'we need ketchup' and everyone who has ketchup brings you all the bottles of ketchup. Kyle loved this.

I'll do a food post later but the food here was really good. And a great value for our dining credits!

Port Orleans Riverside

2011-11-22T13:03:00.001-06:00

After eating our breakfast we headed back to our resort to rest. The middle of the day was pretty crowded at Magic Kingdom and we were already tired this trip. I didn't bring the kids swimsuits because I didn't think we would have time to swim and they were not very happy with me.

The pathway from the West bus depot

the building where our room was

This resort is very pretty. We liked it as well if not better than Caribbean Beach (where we stayed last year).

Chef Mickey's

2011-11-22T07:49:00.002-06:00

Our Chef Mickey breakfast was a lot of fun! We met the fab 5 characters and had a good breakfast (that included Mickey waffles which are always a hit).

Magic Kingdom morning

2011-11-21T08:35:00.001-06:00

Magic Kingdom opened at 8:00 am on Saturday morning. The crowd level was expected to be a 10 that day so I knew we needed to get here early. Plus the opening show is really good. So we arrived about 7:40. We had a reservation at Chef Mickey's at 10:45 so I thought we could ride a couple of things before heading over there. We got so much done in this two hours. The park felt practically empty. We walked on all the rides we rode this morning.

This is a picture of some of the progress on the new fantasyland expansion. This is the top of what will be the Beast's Castle and have the new Be Our Guest restaurant. I cannot wait to eat there!

Look how empty our walk to Frontierland was. This would be vastly different in just a few hours.

Here is how our morning at Magic Kingdom went:

Arrive at 7:40
Watch opening show
Ride Space Mountain (get FP for later)
Ride Buzz Lightyear
Ride Tomorrowland Speedway
Meet White Rabbit and Alice
Try to pull the sword from the stone
Ride Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
Ride Splash Mountain
Me and Kaitlyn ride Splash Mountain a 2nd time (without even having to get off the ride)
John and Kyle ride Big Thunder Mountain Railroad two more times
Ride Pirates of the Caribbean
Take care of ticket issue (they weren't working in the FP machines)
Ride monorail over to Contemporary for Chef Mickey's Breakfast

Downtown Disney

2011-11-20T13:36:00.000-06:00

After leaving Animal Kingdom we rode the bus over to Downtown Disney. We were going to try and eat down here and there were several shops to go in, including the lego store that I knew Kyle would love.

Wall full of legos!

We ended up eating at Rainforest cafe, which was good.

Next time we visit Disney we must make time to come to Downtown Disney during the day so that we can explore more of what they have here.

Animal Kingdom

2011-11-19T11:11:00.001-06:00

After checking in the hotel and unpacking the car we took the bus over to Animal Kingdom, we were the only people on the bus. We arrived at Animal Kingdom about 1:00.

The Tree of Life, which John said was from Avatar and the worker behind him quickly corrected him and said "no that's from the Lion King, but Avatar is coming".

The Lion King show (such a great show!)

Here is how our Animal Kingdom day went:

Arrive at 1:00
Ride Dinosaur
John and Kyle ride Primeval Whirl while me and Kaitlyn go get fastpasses for Expedition Everest
Watch It's Tough to be a Bug
Meet Ms. Bunny
Meet Santa Goofy
Eat a funnel cake
Watch Festival of the Lion King show
Meet Minnie Mouse
Meet Lilo and Stitch
Kaitlyn and John ride Expedition Everest (Kyle changed his mind)
Watch the Nemo show
Ride bus back to hotel at 6:45

Surprise! We are going to Disneyworld

2011-11-18T10:04:00.000-06:00

We picked the kids up early from school on Thursday and surprised them with a trip to Disneyworld. I had been planning this for about 4 months but they didn't know anything about it. We picked up Kyle first and I had made them shirts that said 'we are on way to Disney World' on them. When I went in to get Kaitlyn, Kyle climbed in the front seat and John didn't stop him so he found his shirt. Then he yelled to Kaitlyn when we came out of the school that we were going to Disney World. So my plan to get a video of the whole thing failed (thanks to John) but they were excited anyway.

Here's a better picture that I took when we stopped at a Whattaburger to eat.

We drove part of the way on Thursday then got up early Friday morning and drove the rest of the way. We checked into our hotel (Port Orleans Riverside) and this was our room.

We were so excited to finally be here!

Ashley's party

2011-11-07T09:07:00.002-06:00

Ashley turned 3 yesterday and her party was on Saturday. She had a farm theme party complete with a cowgirl outfit, cute pink boots and a pink tractor cake.

There was a tractor ride, lots of playing on the 'playground', knock-out, basketball, and 4-wheeler rides.

Halloween

2011-10-31T22:41:00.000-05:00

This year for Halloween Kyle was a storm trooper and Kaitlyn was a vampire. It is getting more and more difficult to find Kaitlyn a suitable costume. I told her this was her last year to trick or treat anyway.

On Saturday night we went to the fall festival at church and tonight went trick or treating in my mom's neighborhood.

I actually made something I pinned

2011-10-24T20:32:00.002-05:00

I have recently found a new website called Pinterest. It has tons and tons of ideas and will allow you to pin things on a virtual bulletin board. I have pinned lots and lots of ideas thinking 'oh someday I will make that'. Well over fall break I made several of the food items I had pinned.

These are jolly rancher suckers. You just put 3 jolly ranchers of any flavors together on parchment paper and bake them about 6-8 minutes. Then put a stick in them and let them cool. My kids loved these!

Then we tried homemade caramel apples. They were good but the caramel was too runny and didn't hold on the apple very well. If I let it cool a little so that it would conform to the apple then it hardened and tasted bad.

This was chicken lasagne roll-ups. They were good but needed more sauce and cheese. Fairly easy too, well after I figured out how to cook the noodles in a big enough pan.

This was some sort of baked frito pie. It also has chips on the bottom layer in the pan. Those chips were soggy and the ones on top were too crunchy. The meat part was good but we probably won't make this again because of the soggy chips.

hands in the air

2011-09-27T10:03:00.000-05:00

A couple of Saturdays ago we had soccer pictures made. Here is the team minus 3 of our players.

Then in looking back at my pictures from the game I noticed something funny about Kyle's arms. They are always flailing around when he kicks the ball. I think it is so funny.

Disney on Ice

2011-09-26T08:18:00.006-05:00

Friday night we went to Disney on Ice. This show was Mickey and Minnie's Magical Journey. It was good, I mean it is Disney, but not half as good as last year's show Let's Celebrate! The stories featured were the Lion King, the Little Mermaid, Lilo and Stitch and Peter Pan.

We were a few minutes late because Kaitlyn had her first middle school dance. They do the dances from 4-6 in the gym. I was not prepared for the pick up line. Anyway we missed the Lion King part (which apparently was not very long)

The Little Mermaid

discussing what's next

Lilo and Stitch

discussing where to go next

flying to the 2nd star to the right

Captain Hook's ship

We won't even discuss how long it took me and how many pictures I had to take to get this shot!

Airshow

2011-09-18T20:11:00.000-05:00

We went to the airshow yesterday out in Millington. Kyle had a game at 11:00 so we were a little late getting there. John had gotten the VIP tickets so we could sit under the tent and have lunch with unlimited drinks. The traffic was horrible but luckily John knew a back way to get there so we made a Uey on 385 and went a different route.

helicopter that flies upside down

some big loud plane that did a fly by

My camera batteries started to blink red so I knew I had to save the little bit of juice I had left for the Blue Angels (stars of the show). I was very upset that I didn't have back up batteries on me. I didn't get a lot of pictures, even of the Blue Angels. Here are a few:

1st soccer game

2011-09-11T21:50:00.000-05:00

Fall soccer has started. We are playing on the same team in Arlington. This year we have refs and do a coin toss at the beginning to see who goes first. We won 6-3, Kyle scored 2 goals. The whole team played really well. This year they have finally gotten the hang of staying spread apart and passing the ball.

Downtown fireworks

2011-09-10T22:00:00.000-05:00

My cousin has a condo downtown that over looks the river. My aunt was spending some time there so my stepmom, her mom, me and the kids went down there. They were having some shindig on mud island for the 25th anniversary of lights being put on the bridge so they shot fireworks off about 9:00. We ordered pizza and sat out on the patio watching the sunset (which was really nice until the mosquitoes came out). I was really sad that I forgot to bring my big camera and tripod so I took all these with my phone.

Delta fair

2011-09-06T09:11:00.002-05:00

We made our annual trip to the delta fair. We went on labor day which was a mistake because it was significantly more crowded than it is when we usually go. We usually go on the first Saturday morning right when it opens but John had to work this year.

We even met Jason Earles from the Disney channel

Kyle's birthday

2011-09-03T20:45:00.000-05:00

Kyle's birthday was Thursday. He wanted some friends to eat pizza and go see the Smurfs with him. So he really wasn't going to have a party but it kinda turned into that. He had 3 friends join us at Stevie B's for pizza. Then my mom of course wanted to come, then I invited my brother and his wife. Then Kyle said "I need you to invite Aaliyah so Kaitlyn will have a friend and won't bother us", smart kid. So I called Lora and invited them. The kids ate pizza then played for a while then we went to see the Smurfs (non-3d). The movie was not as cute as I wanted it to be but Kyle liked it. After the movie we went to TCBY for ice cream.

I only had the camera on my phone in the theater and every time I tried to take Kyle's picture he ended up looking like a zombie. The flash is pretty bright on that thing.

Family pics

2011-08-31T08:38:00.000-05:00

Since we were all dressed so nice and coordinating well I wanted a couple of shots of the 4 of us. My friend Steve took these first couple of photos, then I took the last three. I need to find Kyle something to wear now that coordinates with the rest of us so we can have a new church photo made. The one on the wall now is from when Kyle was 8 months old, now he is 8 years old, I think it is time.

John made a face in this one and would not cooperate for another one so I told him I was going to be sure and post this one on my blog!

During the wedding pics

2011-08-30T14:24:00.000-05:00

Here are some pics I took during the wedding. Some with my camera and some with my phone (so I could upload those to facebook immediately). And no I did not feel ashamed holding my pink phone in the air to take these pics!

Since Kyle was the ringbearer, Kaitlyn stood at the door and passed out the programs.

Justin walking Mom in

Kyle and Miranda

during the ceremony

presenting Mr. and Mrs. Justin Hannah

the cake

sparklers in a line sending them on their merry way

Before Wedding pics

2011-08-29T14:15:00.000-05:00

Mandy and Justin decided to take all the pictures before the wedding. Here are a few of the ones I snapped right after the photographer did.

Rehearsal dinner

2011-08-27T12:43:00.001-05:00

Now that I have fixed my blog I can finally upload the wedding pics. We had the rehearsal dinner on Thursday night at the church building. It was just casual, we gathered in the auditorium to 'rehearse' and then met in one of the rooms for dinner.

I took pictures of all the wedding party walking in but these two were definitely the most comical

I wish I had taken a picture of my plate at the dinner. Karen Sills catered the food and it was SO good! We had spinach dip and stuffed mushrooms for appetizers, swiss chicken or stuffed pork chop for the meat with smashed potatoes, corn pudding, sweet potato casserole, baked apples and green beans along with rolls. Then there was peanut butter pie or chocolate cheesecake for dessert.

Well Crud!

2011-08-25T11:48:00.000-05:00

I was about to upload pictures from my brother's wedding and I get this message on my screen:

I have exceeded my photo storage limit with Picassa (the host for blogger pictures). Now it took me 4 years and 4 blogs to reach the limit so it really isn't that bad. I just had to pay $5 for more storage. So I have taken care of that now so we can get back to blogging as usual.

Mobile uploads (beach edition)

2011-08-17T09:34:00.000-05:00

These are some random pics I took with my phone. I take some pictures with my phone because it is really easy to upload those to facebook. But then they usually get lost in other things (like my blog or when I back up my pictures to Shutterfly or a cd).

The first day we had really pretty water and bright blue skies.

8th floor balcony

Kyle was all Perry the Platypus, even his flip flops.

trying on hats with Kaitlyn in Alvin's Island

having a dance contest one day when it was raining

You should not call yourself a flip flop shop and then not carry yellowbox flip flops, so disappointing!

We had a girls night out and went to see Monte Carlo

waiting for our table at Pineapple Willy's

the only picture I have of the whole group and it is terrible (and this is minus Momma)

Back at Race City, you can't really tell in this picture but on this track several in our party rode side by side so no one else could pass them, you should have seen the kids face behind them, hilarious! Yes we are THAT family that everyone talks about on vacation!

Kaitlyn went in the haunted house but Kyle chickened out

We also saw Captain America one afternoon while it was raining

We ate at Tacky Jack's one night and the kids could swim while we ate.

on the pirate cruise

beach misc

2011-08-14T14:03:00.001-05:00

Here are some of my favorite pictures from the beach that didn't make it into an earlier post.

'

BFF's at the beach

2011-08-11T13:46:00.000-05:00

Kaitlyn and Aaliyah at the beach

First day of school

2011-08-09T22:30:00.000-05:00

I transferred the kids out of our district to Arlington schools. Kyle started 2nd grade at Arlington Elementary and Kaitlyn started 6th grade at Arlington Middle. Kaitlyn decided she wanted to be in the band (which is going to end up costing me a fortune). She is going to play the trumpet (for now at least). She was terrified of going to middle school, not only is it middle school but since I transferred her she would not have the kids from Bartlett that she has been in school with all this time. So far though she loves it.

I took this first one on registration day.

The first day of school is rough because I have to leave so early but I still want to take their picture (and I can't rely on John to do it). So I get them up early, get them dressed, take their picture, then they go back to bed.

Pirate Cruise

2011-08-07T14:19:00.000-05:00

On Friday morning before we left we went on the Sea Dragon Pirate Cruise. We were scheduled to do this Thursday afternoon but because of heavy rain that one was canceled.

This was really good, Kyle loved every minute of it. Kaitlyn was a little too old but still enjoyed some of the things they did.

First, water fights

Then they made the boys 'sweep the deck' or mop up the water while the girls got their faces painted.

Two happy pirates

We saw a few dolphins on the excursion, this was the best picture I could get.

sword fighting

They even pulled a treasure chest out of the water.

With the captian

We would definitely do this again if we go back to Panama City!

Last day playing on the beach

2011-08-06T13:00:00.000-05:00

Playing on the beach later in the day before cleaning up to head back to pier park.

Kaitlyn wrote our name in the sand

then Ashley tried

digging deep to find water

found it

this is about as wet as I got in the ocean water

Kaitlyn being buried

trying to bury an uncooperative daddy

getting yelled at because he threw sand in John's face, and that was the end of trying to bury daddy

Catching the big waves

2011-08-05T11:07:00.000-05:00

Wednesday was our last day all together at the beach, Luke, Susan, Ashley and Momma were leaving Thursday morning. It was raining that morning but didn't last long. It was also cloudy and windy. That makes for an empty beach and big waves, we had a red flag that day.

Luke, Kyle and Ashley went down to play in the waves for a few minutes. I had bought Kaitlyn and Kyle these boogie boards once we got down there.

I took all these from the 8th floor balcony of our condo, looking down at the them.

Kyle was determined to float on this board.

Then the rest of us joined them and we went back to the beach to play.

Pier Park

2011-08-04T23:42:00.000-05:00

We went to Pier Park several times during our stay in Panama City. It is a neat outdoor shopping mall with several cute shops, restaurants, movie theater, rides and games for the kids, and other things.

Banana boat ride

2011-08-04T13:21:00.001-05:00

Luke took the kids on this banana boat ride while we were all at the beach on Tuesday.

Fun day at the beach

2011-08-04T12:56:00.000-05:00

Tuesday we spent most of the day at the beach. Susan, Shane, Jade, Peyton and Aaliyah were staying at a condo about 4 miles down the road so we were able to spend a lot of time with them as well. This day we set up the tent on the beach and were all down there playing.

A pretty day weather wise in July also means a crowded beach. This is the view directly in front of the condo. The bad thing about staying in a high rise condo building is all these chairs and umbrellas they rent. Great if you want to pay the $30 a day to rent them, not so great if you have your own chairs and tent and there is now no space to set up.

to the right

You can tell how bad the seaweed was in this picture. There were parts that were clear but then there were huge patches of it in the water.

Peyton throwing a fit on the beach, I think all the kids did this at least once.

shipwreck island

2011-08-03T10:55:00.000-05:00

On Monday of our beach vacation we went over to Shipwreck Island, the water park in PCB. We love water parks and usually go to one on every vacation we take. This one was pretty good though the water park at Six Flags in St. Louis is still our favorite. I didn't take very many pictures of things at the water park because I was in the water and wondering around most of the time. It was just too hot to not be in the water somewhere (usually the lazy river was where you would find me). Plus I like to go down the water slides too. Every year I tell myself I need to get a waterproof camera for this purpose but always forget. So I just took a few shots of all of us in the wave pool.

And then for some reason we cannot figure out, Peyton loves John!

Kaitlyn and the waves

2011-08-02T13:01:00.000-05:00

My kids love the water. Lake, ocean, pool, sprinkler, they don't care as long as they can get wet. Kaitlyn enjoyed the waves practically knocking her over.

buried in the sand

2011-08-01T12:55:00.000-05:00

The kids (big and little) loved to bury people in the sand. This day they buried Luke and then Kyle.

1st day on the beach

2011-07-31T20:40:00.000-05:00

Our first day on the beach was a lovely one. The weather was great! We kept commenting how it is sad we had to travel south to get to cooler temperatures than in Memphis.

The seaweed was bad in some places. At the beginning of the week there was spots that were pretty clean. Thankfully there was a clean spot right in front of the condo. But if you look on the left of the picture you can see a ton of it.

Go-karts

2011-07-30T20:34:00.000-05:00

We stopped on the way to Panama City in Dothan, AL to stretch for a while and found a place called Adventureland (thanks to a handy app on my phone, how did we make it before smartphones).

Then after arriving in Panama city, unloading and making a trip to the grocery store we went on a mission to find more go-karts (this is all Kyle talked about the whole trip). We found a place called Race City and if you know Kyle, John and Luke you know they loved it!

Paulo Pool

2011-07-19T22:59:00.000-05:00

We went for a pool party at the Paulo Pool today.

3 amigos

Taylor Kate enjoying a peach

Mandy's shower

2011-07-17T22:26:00.000-05:00

This afternoon was the church shower for Mandy and Justin. They got so many nice things.

A gift from her favorite sister-in-law

wonder what is in there?!

A wreath made of money (lots of money at that!)

all the loot

we let Justin open the wreath when he got there, he was so surprised he couldn't stop staring at the money

unpacking all the stuff at my mom's and letting Justin look through all of it

Chickasaw

2011-07-15T12:03:00.001-05:00

We watched the talent show put on by the campers. We get in the car and Kyle says "that talent show sucked". I think someone has been watching a little too much America's Got Talent.

We had about 30 minutes of daylight left so we stopped at Chickasaw park (which is about a 10 minute drive from Freed).

Re-visiting college

2011-07-14T23:48:00.001-05:00

Kyle and I drove up to Henderson last night to see Kaitlyn. On Wednesday they go over to Freed-Hardeman to eat in the cafeteria, have church service and a talent show. Before we went in for the talent show Kyle and I walked around.

Kyle sitting at the top of the commons.

There used to not be grass on these 'steps' and we would have class out here sometimes, people sat out and did work, we had late night devos, etc. I was so sad to see it all grassy.

my old dorm

me and Kyle sitting on the swing outside my old dorm

Church camp

2011-07-10T23:43:00.000-05:00

Kaitlyn was off to camp at Mid South Youth Camp today. This is her 3rd year to go. She would stay all summer if I would let her. Well really if I could afford it because I would totally let her.

July 4th

2011-07-05T00:55:00.000-05:00

We went to my mom's for the fourth of July and my brother grilled out. Then he shot some pretty cool fireworks.

Kyle and Sam

St. Jude Dream home

2011-06-23T00:39:00.000-05:00

Last year we went to tour the St. Jude dream home. We decided to make this a new tradition and go every year. It is fun and free after all.

All the kids in the huge shower

Closet the size of my kids room

this is on the garage floor

playroom

media room, not sure why they put a window in this room

marvelous kitchen

dining room

I thought last year's house was much better. Not that this house wasn't nice, but if we are gonna be picky about houses we will never own...

One last post about the lake

2011-06-22T20:44:00.000-05:00

We have VBS this week so we had to leave early afternoon on Sunday. We were able to get about an hour and a half more on the lake.

Kneeboarding

2011-06-20T20:32:00.001-05:00

Kyle tried to kneeboard. He did a pretty good job trying but didn't ever hold on for more than about two feet. Of course Kaitlyn could not be outdone and had to try and kneeboard too. She didn't get more than about two feet either though.

Lake

2011-06-19T20:12:00.000-05:00

The Garrett's from church invited us to go to their condo on the lake with them this past weekend. John and I loved the lake growing up so we jumped at the opportunity.

It was raining on Saturday morning when we got there and the radar was completely yellow and red. We saw this cloud when we got close to the condo. We decided to go into town to the movies and saw Mr. Popper's Penguins. When we came out of the theater it was bright and sunny so we ran to car and headed out to get on the boat.

Kaitlyn was the first to try the tube. She liked it but wanted someone to ride with her. So John rode with her then Kyle. Then they all 3 rode together. I even rode with Kaitlyn but will refrain from putting those pictures here.

John skied

Then Kaitlyn was going to try to learn and ski. It took her a while to get the skis on and keep them straight out of the water. She let the boat try to pull her up once and decided that was it for her.

This is the view from the condo balcony. You can see the boat dock down below.

Instant friends

2011-06-03T12:26:00.000-05:00

Taylor and Kaitlyn are 6 months apart in age. They have only seen each other a few times in their life but instantly click when they get together. This week Aaliyah also spent a lot of time with us and they were like 3 peas in a pod.

Exporing downtown part 2

2011-06-02T12:14:00.001-05:00

We left Mud Island and headed to Kooky Canuck for skillet cookies. I guess I was too thirty and exhausted to take a picture of that.

Then we walked across the street to the Peabody. We were just going to go up on the rooftop to look out (also something fun and free to do) but it was almost time for the ducks to go back to their place on the roof so we waited to watch that.

the ducks live in this little area on the rooftop

A fun and exhausting day!

Exploring downtown

2011-06-01T23:01:00.000-05:00

Today we spent the day downtown. We started with a trolley ride from the start of main st. to the end.

Then we ate at the Arcade restaurant, which is the oldest restaurant in Memphis

Who says you have to go all the way to Orlando for Mickey pancakes?!

Then we headed over to Mud Island and played for a long while. Then end part where the river dumps into the gulf was still messy from the flood and the fountain wasn't running so we just went back to the beginning and let the kids play there for a while. This is one of the best (and totally free!) things to do in Memphis in my opinion.

More in the next post!

Pink Palace

2011-05-31T23:48:00.001-05:00

Today didn't quite go as planned. We were going to go to the Pink Palace, eat some lunch then head to the zoo. Holly took her grandma to the doctor and clearly he had no regard for the fact that people don't want to be in a dr. office for 5 hours of their day! Oh well, we're flexible so we just went to the pink palace later that afternoon. Then we topped it off with Yogurt Mountain!

Wouldn't it be nice to pay that price for gas today

My favorite gem

Wooly Mammoth with tusks from his "nostrils"

Holly and I remember going here on field trips back in elementary school, it was fun to reminisce.

Boys being silly

2011-05-30T23:41:00.000-05:00

Caleb and Kyle act like old friends even though they have only been around each other a few times. I was trying to get them to pose for me and Kyle was not cooperating, Caleb was trying to help. HA!

Memorial day fun

2011-05-30T22:21:00.000-05:00

Our friends from Knoxville, the Aytes, are here for a few days. Yesterday we went to church then Incredible Pizza then hung out at Luke's. For Memorial day of course we are hanging out at Luke's.

What the adults did most of the day

Peyton

Ashley

what the kids did most of the day

moron

Signature hat

We grilled, swam, went on tractor ride, played basketball, played kinect and just enjoyed the day!

Tornadic Weather

2011-05-26T10:53:00.000-05:00

This year has been really bad for tornadoes all across the US. We have gone in the hallway 3 times at school and I think we have only been in the hallway one other time during the 12 years I have been teaching. Sirens and stormy weather don't really freak me out, I am not one of those people who spend the whole time in the bathroom while the sirens are going off. However last night I put myself and Kyle (John and Kaitlyn were at the skating rink for the 5th grade party) in the bathroom after I went outside and took this picture:

and here is Kyle reading while waiting it out in the bathroom

5th grade graduation

2011-05-25T22:27:00.000-05:00

Kaitlyn graduated from the 5th grade and elementary school today. Next year she will go to 6th grade and officially be a middle schooler.

All the 5th graders sang a song at the beginning

Kaitlyn got to walk across the stage twice, once to receive her certificate for 'graduating' and again to receive a trophy like thing for being at Bartlett from Kindergarten through 5th grade.

Gran and Kaitlyn

Ms. Vitale

Ms. Worley

Soccer party

2011-05-24T22:07:00.000-05:00

Kyle had his last soccer game and end of year party tonight. The field was super wet.

Before game huddle

no telling what these two are scheming

I posted this to show how wet the field was

Then on to the after party at Rizzi's pizza

Kyle and coach Todd

Go team!

We are staying with this team for the fall

Kaitlyn's field day

2011-05-18T21:45:00.000-05:00

Kaitlyn had her field day today. Don't know why they can't have all the grades on the same day so I don't have to take 2 days off work but I digress.

the sponge race

obstacle course

and at the end was the mud slide, she waited all year for this. That is the assistant principal waiting to throw them all down in the mud, I'm sure he has been waiting all year for this too!

and then they did the obstacle course again

all muddy and nasty, no I don't think I will be checking you out to go home early and ride in my new car

then inside for some volleyball

and last the much anticipated tug of war

they won in the first round but lost in the second round

Kyle's field day

2011-05-16T22:26:00.000-05:00

Kyle had field day today. He looks forward to field day all year. But this year it was about 53 degrees outside so they moved it in the gym. Last year he had to have it in the gym too because it rained which means both years he has missed out on the tug of war. Poor kid!

knocking down the cones

scooter races

trash your yard

and the chicken dance

CM party

2011-05-07T14:21:00.000-05:00

Kyle went to Eli's party at the Children's Museum today. This place is pretty cool and a good place to visit in the summer when it is super hot outside but it is fairly expensive so we usually only go if it is for a birthday party.

Easter Baskets

2011-05-06T09:25:00.000-05:00

I forgot to post about my kids Easter baskets. It is kinda a pain to lug this stuff to Nashville since we are there Easter morning. I know several people who leave their kids baskets out at their house so it is there when they return. I may try that next year.

We finally get to watch Tangled again and Kaitlyn has been begging for a Hollister shirt. Lime green is her current favorite color. Gum, a chocolate bunny and a few other candies finished out her basket.

Pluto is Kyle's favorite character and he has been wanting a stuffed Pluto. That movie was a good price at Target and candy including a chocolate bunny finished out his basket.

On my mind

2011-05-03T20:04:00.002-05:00

My prayer list has been awfully long it seems lately. I would really love for several of these things to move to the "Thanksgiving" side of the list as opposed to the "please help" side of the list.

--My father-in-law recently had quadruple bypass surgery, he came through the surgery fine but has been having some difficulty with the recovery. He is back in the hospital for the third time in the last month.

--There is a chance we might put our house up for sale this summer and I know that will be very stressful.

--A friend having marriage trouble and it breaks my heart because I know it will get worse before it gets better for them.

--A friend making decisions about what steps to take in trying to have a baby (that is not worded right but God and the friend know what I mean)

--Making decisions about my kids and where they will go to school next year. Kaitlyn is starting middle school next year and I don't want her going to the school we are zoned for. I did get her a transfer but will have to provide transportation. And if I transfer Kaitlyn I might as well transfer Kyle.

--Thinking about my job and what to do next. The way it is going I cannot do this for the next 20 years.

--The flood waters coming. Our house is not in the possible flood areas but I have several friends who are. This has potential to be very bad for the city.

Knockout

2011-05-02T19:56:00.001-05:00

Luke recently bought a new backboard to replace the old one so after dinner we all went back outside and the boys along with Kaitlyn played Knockout. This is a basketball game where you are in a line and the first person shoots. If they make it they are good and get back in line. If they miss then the second person shoots and tries to make it before the first person makes a basket. If the second person makes a basket before the first then the first person is out, and so on and so forth. So funny to watch!

(and this finally concludes all the Easter weekend festivities posts)

tractor ride

2011-05-01T19:52:00.000-05:00

After the egg hunt the kids went on a tractor ride, they LOVE riding the tractor with Uncle Luke. I know this will be a fond memory for them when they get older.

redneck egg hunt

2011-04-30T23:28:00.000-05:00

All the kids didn't have Easter baskets for the egg hunt so we had to use plastic sacks. I said well this is such a redneck egg hunt. Then we hid the eggs twice. Kaitlyn and Aaliyah thought they were too good for the egg hunt the first time but played along the second time.

Easter at Luke's

2011-04-30T21:54:00.001-05:00

We left Nashville a little after 10 am and drove to Luke's house. We did lots of activities this day so it will take several posts to get it all on the blog. It was such a pretty day so we stayed outside most of the day. These are just some random shots of the day.

everybody say popscicle!

Family picture

2011-04-29T21:46:00.000-05:00

After worship service on Sunday, Penny takes family photos. I am sure the one she took with her camera is better but here is the one taken with my camera.

herding cats

2011-04-29T21:20:00.000-05:00

Trying to get a decent picture of my two kids together is like herding cats!

And this is the best I got!

More snapshots

2011-04-28T14:11:00.000-05:00

These are from Saturday when they were dressed nice, though not cooperative.

Snapshots

2011-04-27T14:03:00.000-05:00

Here are some random snapshots around the Opryland hotel on Friday of my kids.

We were lucky enough to get a room with a balcony this year. They are so nice!

L2L- Kaitlyn

2011-04-26T13:39:00.000-05:00

This is Kaitlyn's 4th year to participate in lads to leaders, she really enjoys doing all the events she does.

Her and one of her puppets

The 5th grade girls puppet team, there were only 4 of them so they each had to read 2 parts. They did a good job under these circumstances.

On Friday night, she got called to the stage for being a finalist in photography.

Songs of Praises

She was a finalist in song leading

Her scrapbook won 3rd place for 5-6th grade division.

L2L- Kyle

2011-04-25T12:10:00.000-05:00

We spent the weekend in Nashville at the Opryland hotel for the annual Lads to Leaders convention. This is our 4th year to be involved with this program.

Here are the things Kyle did over the weekend:

boys being silly in the hospitality room

Bible reading

Kyle and his drawing

K-2 participants from Bartlett Woods

Kyle also participated in song leading but John went with him and I went with Kaitlyn because they were at the same time. I gave him my camera but the guy said not to use flash photography so John didn't take a picture. ARRRRRGGHH!