Craft Day

I have started a new tradition. The Wednesday before Thanksgiving I decided that we wouldn't have regular school, but instead we had a "craft day." We did have to do a few errands in the morning (got a present for Daddy accomplished). Then home to do crafts almost all day long.

They both had quite a few messyor very involved crafts that I had been holding on to. Let's see: a Star Wars BLACK color wonder (usually gets black all over his hands--remember this SIL?); painting sun catchers (from C's grad party); a plaster-of-paris hand print for K; hand art; at home Build-A-Bear for K; and foam airplane gliders.

We started with C doing color wonder and K painting sun catchers. They both did really good and didn't make a mess at all! Then they switched. C made a little tiny mess and K did good on the color wonder. Then we moved on to hand art. After K's nap I worked on the bear. That thing took me forever! K did help stuff it but that was really all she could do. She (her name is now Peaches) is really cute!

Craft day had to continue to Friday when Daddy helped make the foam gliders. C has a wooden plane that still needs put together and painted. It will have to wait til some other time.

The kids talked about craft day for many days leading up to it (I"m counting it as a homeschool day) and really seemed to enjoy it. I know I had fun; it was fun spending time with them. But I did learn 2 things: I could not go back to a job where I stand on my feet alot and I couldn't be a teacher trying to help many kids that are working on different things/levels and try to keep everyone going/happy. That second one should prove to be a challenge when I homeschool K next year.

Potty Diaries-The End!

This post is for anyone who cares and anyone who was wondering. K girl is officially potty-trained. I declare it done and she has stated as such too. She has also said that we need to sell her potty seat. So if anyone is in need of a used potty seat, I have one. She still needs a diaper at night but can go all day in her pretty little panties. I'm so excited and so proud of her. Another "baby thing" behind us.

I know this is a short post--short and to the point--but I am in the middle of Christmas shopping online. No time to stop! Catch you later!

Back to Disney!

I wish we were actually going back, but actually I have one last post. I forgot that I was going to blog about C's favorite souvenir.

Saturday morning before we left for the airport, Daddy and C went back to Hollywood Studios specifically for C to build his very own lightsaber. He actually got to pick out all the components and the color and if he wanted one or two blades.

It was much bigger than we anticipated. It actually had to be broken down to be packed to come home. Once we got home and put it all together and extended it, IT WAS HUGE! It's actually taller than me! Oh I forgot. It actually lights up--on one side. We think it was supposed to light up on both sides but something got left out when it was built (no fault of our own).
Side note: the benefits of homeschooling--staying in your jammies until dinner time. Aaaaah yeah!

Crockpot pizza

A friend gave me this recipe, so I thought I'd give it a try. Daddy gave it 4 thumbs up! He loved it! And the kids liked it! And I liked it! And it's fairly easy! SCORE!

The recipe makes a lot. I cut it in half and still had leftovers.

1 pound ground beef (I used sausage cuz that's what we like on pizza)
1 package egg noodles
1 1/2 to 2 bags shredded mozzarella cheese
1 package pepperoni slices, cut in half (I used turkey pepeproni)
1 jar spaghetti sauce
2 jars pizza sauce
Italian seasoning to taste

Brown meat; drain. Mix meat and sauces together.
Boil noodles; drain.
In crock pot, mix all together.
Cook on low 2-4 hours.

There is some prep work, but once you put it in the crock pot--your done! I think what made it so good was the combination of spaghetti and pizza sauces. I used Prego 3 cheese sphaghetti and Wal Mart off brand pizza.

It heats up well for left overs too. YUMMO

I was told to put this "in the rotation" of our meals.

Scooby-doo! Where are you?

The Wednesday before Halloween the Cubbies were to dress up as animals. I put the word out (gotta love facebook) that I needed to borrow an animal costume. I'm thankful for friends! I was able to borrow a Scooby-Doo costume for K girl to wear. Of course she didn't wear it the entire night. It bugged her. Anyway. She was still cute.

Over here! (Can you hear Scooby saying it?)

And this pix is blurry cuz she just can't be still!

Big girl bed!

K girl finally has a real big girl bed. Her crib is no longer. It is sitting in the garage with the old TV cabinet. Anyone need a crib or a TV cabinet?

Anyway. We bought a "base" from friends (J&T). It has 3 drawers underneath (extra storage!) and is a platform base (no springs needed). She slept on her crib mattress on top of an egg crate (college anyone?) on top of the platform base for a few nights. That poor mattress was VERY decrepit. It went through both kids. So a few Saturdays ago, we went to Sam's (and bought a membership) and bought her a new twin sized mattress. And she didn't like it. Surprised? But to give her the benefit of the doubt, it is harder then her old one. I do think she didn't sleep well for a few days. I think she's is getting used to it now.

Thankfully she has only gotten out of bed (I think) twice. Funny though, she's peed through three times in the less than 2 weeks that we have had the bed. Thankfully we have a nice (expensive) mattress pad that has protected the mattress itself.

I'm excited cuz the crib was the last 'BABY' thing in my house. Most people cry when they get rid of their babies crib. Not me. I'm glad. I'm so over the baby thing. I'm very happy with the age/stage of my kids.

So here is my big girl in her big girl bed. Gotta love her!

Sorry these are kinda blurry. Our good camera died and this camera doesn't have flash.

Guess that character!

Donald Duck at Chef Mickey's

Minnie Mouse at Chef Mickey's

Mickey Mouse and Daddy (both are characters)

Pluto (K girl calls him PluDog)

Indiana Jones and Marion

Minnie Mouse (she was a little confused as to where to look)

Eeyore, Pooh, Tigger (Eeyore is such a strange name to spell)

Snow White

Jasmine (from Aladdin)

Cinderella

Aurora (Sleeping Beauty-did you know she had a name?)

Belle (Beauty and the Beast)

Goofy (now he was truly a character; in every sense of the word)

Mickey Mouse

Pocahontas (my kids had no clue who she was)

Flik (from Bug's Life)

Terk (from Tarzan) did you know she's a she?

Disney-Magic Kingdom-Friday

Our last full day of Disney was at Magic Kingdom. There were 2 things that were a MUST for K girl: Cinderella's carousel and Dumbo. I had read that both could be very long waits.

But let me start at the beginning of the day. We got to the Magic Kingdom before it opened which was a good thing. We actually got to see them "open" the Kingdom for the day. The train came into the station and delivered everyone (Mickey, Minnie, and friends). They sang and danced and then declared it officially open. I'm glad we got there when we did even though: #1 we didn't know anything about it and #2 we did have to wait a little.

Magic Kingdom was nicely decorated for fall/harvest. It wasn't scary or creepy or even Halloween-y. We found out later that there was a Halloween party there later that night (by extra ticket purchase only). As we left that night, we saw MANY people in costume.

Now on to the carousel and Dumbo. Ever since we started talking about Disney, K said she wanted to go on Dumbo with Papa. When we finally go there, she changed her mind. Crazy girl. Wishy-washy already. We had no wait for the carousel and only about 20 minutes for Dumbo. Not what I expected, but I'll take it! (I will say it was HOT while waiting for Dumbo)

After those 2 rides we went inside and watched Mickey's PhilharMagic. LOVED IT! It's a 3D movie starring Donald Duck and Mickey's "magic" hat. Once Donald puts it on, chaos begins. Throughout the movie, Donald meets many other Disney characters, disrupting their lives each time. Objects "fly" out at you, smells make the pie seem real, water drops and air make it seem like you are flying. It was so neat to watch the kids try to grab the different things that were coming at us. It was so awesome! It's definitely not to miss.

One of the funniest things we did was to let the kids drive the Indy cars int eh Tomorrowland Speedway. K girl rode with Grandma, C rode with Daddy (he taped the whole thing), and Papa and I each had our own car. I was the last car in line so I got to see it all. The adults did the gas/break and the kids got to "steer" I laughed so hard watching the kids go everywhere, bumping off the guard rail down the middle and then jerking it back. It was great!

We also rode Goofy's Barnstormer roller coaster. Both of the kids got to ride this ride. We actually rode it twice. K loved it! A roller coaster she could ride!

One of the neatest things we watched was the theater presentation at the Hall of Presidents. Each President was introduced. I think C was really intrigued too.
Here are some misc. pictures from Magic Kingdom.

This was at Minnie Mouse's house. She wasn't home but the kids liked looking at all her stuff, especially her kitchen.

We have a picture just like this from our honeymoon, just without a K girl in the background.

C had such fun the entire week trying on hats! Here he is the little green guys from Toy Story.

And here is a pirate! At the Peter Pan store.

The kids being silly at Chef Mickey's which is technically not in Magic Kingdom. But we did go there on Friday.

And here is the man that started it all: Walt Disney and his creation Mickey Mouse (did you know that Mickey's original name was Steamboat Willie?)

And here is our happy little family at the Happiest Place on Earth. I am so ready to go back!

The parade and Wishes fireworks were actually Wednesday but I thought I'd show you a picture of the castle all light up at night. It actually kept changing colors. The parade and fireworks were awesome but pictures didn't turn out so well. We did get some good video though.

For those of you familiar with Magic Kingdom, you know it is divided into 5 sections. We didn't even go into one section: Adventurland. I don't even remember seeing the entrance. In Frontierland we did take C on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. It's another roller coaster. He seemed to like it. He did say he was kinda squished; he was between Daddy and I. In Liberty Square we did the Hall of Presidents and took the Liberty Riverboat ride. It was a nice slow, take a break ride. In Fantasyland was Dumbo, the carousel, PhilharMagic, and a Winnie the Pooh ride. In Mickey's Toontown Fair we rode the Barnstormer and walked through Minnie's house (but not Mickey's). In Tomorrowland we drove the Indy cars and did Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin (not as cool as the Toy Story ride at Hollywood Studios). At the end of the day, the last thing we did was eat hot dogs at Casey's Corner.

There. My Magic Kingdom post is finally done! I have one more post I want to do: all the characters we saw. Then I AM DONE! I know. You are saying finally too. Almost guys. Almost.

Judgement call

I'll let you decide: Do you think I need a new teapot?

Wanna know the story? I boiled water to make coffee so I could use my new Pumpkin Pie Spice creamer-while I was on the phone and supervising school and appeasing the other child and thought I had turned the burner off. Apparently not. (Yes, grammar cousin, I know that was a run-on. I did it on purpose so you wouldn't catch the fact that it was my fault. I was hoping that part got lost in the very long sentence)

Oh and I need a new burner coil too. There's paint on it from the bottom of the tea pot.

And Disney blogging will be finished over the weekend. I'm sure you don't care, but I want to do it so that I have record for my memory.

I would like a new fridge please

Check out this blog
http://www.angiesgiveawaysandreviews.blogspot.com/

My SIL had it on her website and I thought I'd try. I could win a $200 gift card to Best Buy! And if I win it, my husband will help me spend it ON A FRIDGE! (Sorry honey!)

I get another entry into the contest for blogging about it. I do want to say one thing: NO ONE ELSE ENTER PLEASE. I want to win. :)

Here's why I said I need a new fridge:
First: IT IS LOUD! There are many nights while watching TV, I swear it is going to walk out to the living room and say something to us (maybe it is and I just can't understand it)
Second: It doesn't seal properly. That dollar bill trick?--yeah, I can pull it out no problem.
Third: It is too small. I don't think they make a smaller one except for a studio apartment or a college dorm. Thanksgiving--I use our garage for an additional "fridge." Thank goodness it gets cold where I live.
Fourth: There are dings on it from the nearby pantry door (which has no door stop--another long story)
Fifth: I never win anything! How cool would it be to say I won!!!!!!!!!!!! (no pun intended)

So go check out her website, but don't register.

Honestly

I have been trying to finish my Disney blogging. Blogger will NOT let me upload pix. So frustrating! I have been trying for days to get it done! My husband is even frustrated that I haven't blogged in awhile. Loves you, honey!

So let's make this a test post and see if I can get this one - with a pix-- to post.

Craziness.