The Holy Mother

I was at Walmart last night searching for a book to give to Lily's teachers for Teacher Appreciation Week. As I was searching the book aisle I come across this:

Yes..it's a Mary, Mother of Jesus doll. Its about the size of a Barbie doll. Seriously. It made me laugh. Out loud. In Walmart. So, I pick it up to inspect it a little closer....

And discover that she recites scripture with the press of a button! Oh my!

I guess this is a good time of year to introduce a Mary doll since Easter is coming up. I do have a few questions though: Do you think Mary's robes come off? Do they sell coordinating accessories for her? Where is the Jesus doll? Or the Joseph doll? Do they also have donkeys or a Mary Dream Home to go with the Mary doll? Sadly I couldn't find anything else in this toy line at my Walmart. I guess I would almost expect this type of toy at a Christian bookstore but at Walmart? It just cracked me up...

China Dolls

My sister in law recently went to Hong Kong..as in China...She's such a traveler! She brought the girls back these adorable Chinese dresses..I thought they were so cute I just had to share. And, I actually got a picture of all 4 kids which is so rare that it needed to be shared too!

Disney Pics!

This is my second attempt to post some pics from our trip to Disney. Don't know what happened to the first batch..oh well. I actually didn't even take my camera to Disney but luckily my mom and Erin did and were the official Disney photogs. Here are some of my moms pics chronicling our first 5 days.

Photo Friday

In efforts to curb spending one thing I decided I could do at home was take pictures of the kids. (you know since I got that fancy camera and all). When you have 4 kids someone is always needing a milestone picture taken. I think Portrait Innovations does a great job but their high pressure sales pitch gets on my nerves. I don't need 600 pictures of my kids at one particular age..even if they are good pictures. Their grandparents don't even need 200 pictures of them at one age either - there are a lot of them (my kids) and wall space is limited. One day I really do want a real photographer to take some pictures of the family but for now I'll settle for my work. Right now Julia still needs her 2 year picture, Emma needs her 6 year picture and Jacob needs a 6 month picture. Since we're having a lazy day at home I decided to try to get some pictures today. Jacob has a nasty cold so I decided to wait on his pics but here are some I took of the girls today. Lily didn't want to be left out so there's one of her too...

Open Letter to Spring

Dear Spring,
My children have been very excited about your arrival. Apparently to them you bring warm weather which means short sleeves, flip flops and skirts without tights. They knew you officially arrived last Friday. So every morning since they have been begging me to wear attire for warm weather. Emma literally burst out in tears this morning when I told her she had to wear long sleeves and pants since it's still 45 degrees at 1:41pm!! So, Spring...where are you? Where are the 70 degree days you usually bring? Where are the warm breezes and sun? Could you please make a lengthy appearance soon. I am really tired of battling my children about clothes in the morning and I am really missing warm weather. We need to be able to play outside for long periods of time. Please come and stay. Please. I'm begging.

Post Vacation Week

Whew..it's been a long post vacation week. Emma's still out of school so at least there was no carpool to deal with on her end and the little ones got good naps in the afternoon. I have learned that vacations are better planned the last week of trackout versus the first week of trackout. This is going to be the longest 2 weeks of my life with her home! I did about 72 loads of laundry, dealt with 2 insurance companies, had the downstairs heat fixed, dealt with 1 whiny and bored kindergartner, cleaned the house a million times and had to cook meals . I miss vacation.

In vacation world laundry gets thrown in a bag and forgotten..in my real world laundry needs to be dealt with every day. In vacation world other people cooked all my meals..in my real world I cook everyone else's meals. In vacation world I had 2 other adults around so we were evenly matched with the kids..in my real world I'm always outnumbered. When's my next vacation?

More Lessons from Disney

Last year after Disney I posted some Lessons from Disney. I have some to add after this trip seeing as I wasn't pregnant this time and we traveled with a baby.

1. Two single strollers was much better than one double stroller. Much better.
2. Get proficient at folding said strollers BEFORE the first bus ride. That includes every adult in your party. They make you take down your strollers on every bus or boat (but not the monorail...fyi).
3. If you are celebrating a birthday wear the birthday badge proudly...you will get lots and lots of freebies throughout the week.
4. The Disney Dining Plan is totally worth it if you want to do a lot of character meals and you plan to eat at the parks. Even though it costs a small fortune to do the dining plan if we were to feed my entire family at the parks for 7 days and do all the character meals we did we'd have to take out a second mortgage. It was easy, convenient and plenty of food.
5. The 2nd week of March is not as busy as Spring Break. But...still busy.
6. Use your fastpasses wisely. Know which attractions are super popular and get those early in the morning so you won't get a time that is too late for you to use it. Especially Toy Story in Hollywood Studios and Soarin at Epcot.
7. If you do have to wait and you have kids that have to sit the ride out because they are too small ask about the Rider Switch. It's like a Fastpass but good for the whole day and good for up to 3 people. We used one on the Rapid ride at Animal Kingdom and saved ourselves a 25 min wait. The Rider Switch basically lets one parent take 2 kids on a ride while the other parent waits with the too small kids then the parent who waited gets to go do the ride with the kids.
8. If you want to see the Fairies at the Magic Kingdom - go early! There was at least an hour wait for them every time we went to Toontown (and remember it wasn't that busy). Sadly my girls did not get to meet them.
9. By doing a lot of character dining meals we avoided a lot of time waiting to see them in the parks. That was nice.
10. The lines for characters were less in Epcot than anywhere - in fact, we saw Sleeping Beauty in France with no line at all. They aren't always easy to spot though so be on the lookout.
11. Remember..everything at Disney is overpriced but you are also paying for great memories.
12. There were a surprising number of sales on Disney merchandise at the parks and shops..apparently even Disney isn't immune to the economic downturn..
13. Again..the same merchandise is available at every theme park, hotel and Downtown Disney store. Though I must admit the merchandise has been updated since last year.
14. Seven days in a row at theme parks was probably too much. Five days would have been plenty.
15. Disney is way more fun when you aren't pregnant and it's not 90 degrees outside.
16. Disney claims to have Baby Care Stations around the parks..truth is they have 1 per park. Though they are nice - air conditioned, nursing room, changing table, high chairs - they just aren't always convenient. Thankfully I threw a receiving blanket in my diaper bag and I was able to feed and change Jacob wherever I needed to. Also they do have all kinds of baby supplies at the stations - you'll just pay triple what you do at any other store.
17. I still love, love Disney and I love seeing how much fun my kids have there. I love they are at the ages where it's still magical and wonderful. I am very thankful we got to go and have such a great time as a family!

You Say It's Your Birthday

So Emma turned 6 while we were at Disney. We didn't necessarily plan to celebrate her birthday there - it just so happened that the best week for us to go coincided with her birthday. (We kept reiterating that fact all week as to not let my other 3 kids think they too got to go to Disney for their birthdays.) The fact that Disney has the birthday/celebration promotion going was a bonus. I had told them when we made the reservation that Emma would be turning 6 during our stay. Upon check-in they gave Emma an "It's My Birthday" badge. I didn't think would care too much about it but, I could not have been more wrong. She LOVED that badge. She put it on that instant and didn't take it off the rest of the trip. In fact, I am surprised it's still not on. Everywhere we went Disney Cast Members were wishing her happy birthday. She got tons of free stuff because of it - stickers, pins and cupcakes at every table service meal we had. I think we sung to her about 5 times during the week. She also made a point to show every character her badge so they too would make a fuss at her. I don't think there was a person at Disney that we encountered whom Emma didn't let know it was her birthday. My little drama princess...milking the birthday goodness as much as she could...

A Very Magical Vacation

We had a wonderful vacation to Disney last week. It was really a vacation for me - no cooking and no laundry! Heaven. We decided to fly down about a month ago and it was the best decision we could have made. Though it was a little tricky getting 5 suitcases, 4 kids and 2 strollers checked in it was well worth it. The kids all did great on the plane. Thank goodness. My mom and bff, Erin, met us at the airport in Orlando. I'd like to say the start to the trip was exceptional but it wasn't. We had to wait a while to catch the Magical Express to get to the resort. Then, upon arrival at the resort, we had to wait forever to complete the check in process. I guess their key card machine was broken. Whatever..all I know is that we were starving and wanting to get settled. Luckily, these were among the worst parts of the trip. Finally we got checked in and headed to our cabin. Our luxurious accommodations were the Cabins at Fort Wilderness. It was a bit rustic and secluded and kind of a pain to get around - there were lots of buses, trains and boats (and approximately 750 stroller take downs and set ups). But, all in all it worked well for our family. We got all our luggage into the cabin and headed out to find the bus to take us to the boat to get to Magic Kingdom..the first stop of our magical vacation. I won't bore you with a complete play by play of the entire week but I will highlight some of our favorite things.

Sunday: Magic Kingdom - Ate dinner at the Liberty Tree Tavern..yum! Rode Thunder Mountain Railroad and Splash Mountain.

Monday: Hollywood Studios - Toy Story 2 ride is so much fun - a definite highlight for the girls but you have to get Fastpasses super early for it. Apparently they run out by 11am. Paul and I rode Tower of Terror and the Aerosmith Roller Coaster - So much fun. The Aerosmith one was probably my favorite ride there. We also loved the HSM3 show and the Playhouse Disney show. Dinner was at Chef Mickey's. Turns out Julia doesn't love the characters.

Tuesday: Animal Kingdom - the best, best thing is the Lion King show. Everyone love, loved it. We also loved the safari ride and Paul & I rode the Everest Expedition where he made me sit in the front row. We also all did the Rapids ride where we almost all got completely soaked. Especially poor Emma - she was soaked to the bone. This was not a highlight though the ride was fun. Dinner was at the Hoop De Doo Musical Revue. Loads of fun - the kids loved it and the food was great.

Wednesday: Epcot - Paul, Mom and Lily loved Soarin, We rode the Nemo ride which everyone liked and the Imagination ride which seemed to be more fun when I was 12...At lunch in Japan then headed back for an afternoon at the pool.

Thursday: Emma's 6th Birthday: Magic Kingdom - We had a wonderful day at MK. We started with the big girls getting their hair done at the Bippity Boppity Bootique. I'm sad to say Emma didn't love, love (however, her hair is still somewhat in the style) but Lily totally loved it. We had lunch at Cinderella's Royal Table which was great. We rode a ton of rides - our favorites were Small World and the Peter Pan ride. When we got back to the cabin we went to the Campfire at our resort. They have one every night and we got to roast S'mores and watch a Disney movie.

Friday: Magic Kingdom in the afternoon - We had dinner at the Crystal Palace with Pooh and friends. By Friday Julia had warmed up to the characters and was willing to have her picture taken with the characters. We also stayed for the Spectromagic parade and the Fireworks. The big girls got to help turn the lights out in Frontierland where we were sitting. It was cute! We also loved, loved the fireworks! The best part was seeing Tinkerbell zipline from the castle. Really cool and amazing that Disney does that 7 days a week/365 days a year. Better than any 4th of July show I've ever seen.

Saturday: Back to Epcot. I got to ride Soarin..really fun and Paul and I rode Test Track..other that we mostly walked the countries and ate. The girls to into having their passports stamped so they liked visiting each "kidcot" station. We also had lunch in Norway with the Princesses. The food was different but all the my girls loved seeing the Princesses!

Overall it was a wonderful trip. I highly recommend the Disney Dining Plan especially if you want to do a lot of character meals (which we did). It was easy and plenty of food. In fact, by Saturday we were buying all kinds of random things to use up our snack credits. I can't believe how good the kids were and how cooperative the older girls were. They didn't hardly complain about the walking - they were such troopers. All in all a very magical trip! We all can not wait to go back!

Home Again Jiggity Jig

After a 3:30am (yes I'll say that again 3:30am) wake up call and 7am flight back..we are home. Boy that 7am flight seemed like a much better idea when I was booking it last month. And it sucked to leave the warm, perfect Florida weather to come to rain and cold. Overall our vacation was AWESOME..very magical and special and wonderful. Emma had a great birthday and all the kids did amazingly well. I have tons of thoughts and stories but that must wait until the laundry is caught up. At least I am all unpacked and I've done 2 loads so far with 2 more in process. Lots more on Disney to come!

Blogcation

We're leaving for Disney in the morning. Wish us luck - 4 kids on the airplane! We'll be those people..the ones you see in the airport with all the kids and you just roll your eyes and think "dear Lord" please let them NOT be on my plane. I am hoping and praying that my children will be well behaved and quiet and that baby will not scream the entire flight. Hopefully I've packed enough snacks and candy to at least keep the girls quiet. And I hope my 2 year old will stay in her seat.

In any event I likely won't be blogging this week. I'm sure I'll have lots to say upon our return! So until then..have a great week!

Pancake Pajama Party

We celebrated Emma's 6th (!) birthday last night with a Pancake Pajama Party. Her birthday is not until the 12th but we'll be at Disney so we decided to have a small(ish) party at home for her before we left. The snow but a little kink in the plan as we had to reschedule from the original day...we ended up with 3 less girls but that was fine..there were 10 girls total including my 3. We decorated chefs hat, ate pancakes and bacon (with chocolate chips and whipped cream), made fruit loop necklaces, freeze danced and opened gifts. A highlight for some of the girls was going upstairs to Emma's room and seeing her bunk beds. One little girl remarked "I love houses with upstairs"...so cute! Emma got some fun gifts for her birthday and I think all the girls had a good time. One little girl even hid under the table when her mom came and was adamant that she wasn't going home (thankfully she did). For party favors we made some bags of pancake mix and gave each girl an apron with her name on it. Overall it was a nice party and it really wasn't too much work (always a bonus). Now it's off to Disney and more birthday celebrating!
Here are just a few pics from the party:

Thursday Thoughts

Just some random Thursday thoughts:

1. My interest in American Idol is waning..I am not very impressed with this years contestants..perhaps we've found all the talent?

2. The next installment of America's Next Top Model started last night. I love that show. Mock me if you want..it's good TV. Tyra declared herself the "Goddess of Fierce" last night. Me? I'm Goddess of Laundry. Thank you very much.

3. Since we had the freaking snow day on Monday (you can see my bitteries in a previous post) we have a snow make up day on Saturday. Yes..really..school on Saturday. It's the year round thing..there are no holidays or workdays built into the schedule so they have to have school on Saturday. The make up day threw a wrench into Emma's birthday party plans. The Pancake Pajama Party was to be held on Saturday morning at 10am. I didn't check with her teacher but I am thinking that Emma's Birthday Party would not be an excused absence for the 6 girls in her class that are coming. So, we had to reschedule the party. Now it's tomorrow evening. Lots to do...

4. For some reason I thought it would be a good idea to do her birthday party the day before we left for Disney. What was I thinking? These next 2 days are going to be crazy! But, at least the weather is warming up. And this makes me happy. And, we'll be in Disney World in approximately 75 hours.

5. How come all of a sudden it's so light so early? This part about Spring I do not enjoy.

6. Jacob Sleep Update: He's doing great! Only waking once per night - usually between 2:30 - 3:30 then back to sleep until 6 or 7. Now we'll go on vacation for a week and screw him up again. Oh, and add to that Daylight Savings. Lovely.

7. I wonder how many suitcases it will take for all of our things for Disney - 6 people for 7 nights...hmm...guess I should start packing!

Blogiversary

I totally forgot to post about this last month but Feb. marked my 1 year "blogiversary". Meaning, I've been blogging for a year now. Which seems remarkably hard to believe. But anyway, thanks to those who read and comment on my blog. It makes my day =)!! I have really enjoyed keeping the blog and happy that I've actually kept it up. So thanks again! Here's to another year....

Seriously?

Last time I checked my address it said we lived in NC. However I got up this morning and this is the view from my front door:

It's MARCH...and we have 3" of SNOW on the ground. We are out of school for ANOTHER snow day. In MARCH. In NC. Are you freaking kidding me????

I seriously think this has been the longest winter! We've had so few nice days..very un-NC like and very New England-like. Thought we left the Northeast. Bah humbug.

It's Like They Just Know Me...

So I wake up way earlier than I would have liked on this gray, rainy, cold Sunday morning. For some reason my kids think mornings when we don't have to go anywhere are the perfect mornings to wake up early. Thanks. So I get my cup of coffee and grab the Target ad, one of my fav Sunday morning things. I open up the Target ad and on page 4 I see this:
It's toddler size bedding that matches the bedding I have for the big girls!! Seriously! It's like the people at Target just know me and know my needs (ok wants) and delivered. Julia will be moving to a toddler bed in the very near future and now I don't have to use the tacky princess bedding that's leftover from Emma and Lily. Julia's bed can now match the big girls. This excites me . A lot! I'm about to have to run to Target in the cold, cold, rain to get this bedding!! Have I mentioned lately how much I love Target.