What I realize

What a wonderful, exciting and eventful year. It is coming to an end and I must say I am ready for whatever 2009 has in store for me. I look back at what I have accomplished in 2008 and what I hope to accomplish in 2009. Was I a good enough mother, a good enough wife, a good enough friend? Did I volunteer enough, did I give enough back, did I read my bible enough? Asking myself these questions I realize alot of things. In life we have so many choices and so many different paths we can take. Life is not simple or exact. It is what we make of it. Without God in our life we make choices based on "OUR" feelings and desires. I have been down so many rocky roads in my 32 years and when I look back at those days I see that I lacked faith and discipline. With God in my heart each and everyday, I am challenged to be a better person. To walk a path that will make God proud. I feel like I could go on and on about how I could have made it a better year, but what I realize first and foremost is that I need to focus more on my God and the Peace ONLY he gives me. I can worry about how much money I make or what kind of car I drive, but at the end that does not matter. All that matters is my final home--- that is Heaven. The day I meet my Lord will be more important than anything else I can ever do. And for those of you who aren't sure if God is REAL - I challenge you in 2009 to pick-up your bible and read it. It will answer your questions. I know that I would not risk the chance of spending my eternity in HELL when I could be spending eternity in HEAVEN. God gives you the choice to make and I hope you will choose him!!!

Happenings.....

We went to Sesame Street last week. Jill, Beth, and I took the kids to see Sesame Street Live. Here is a group picture of all the kiddo's.



This is the face I get for spending money to take her to the show. She was mad, because she only got cotton candy, snow cone and doughnuts. She wanted a pretzel too. What was I thinking- I should have given her my wallet and let her go wild. LOL






Yes you are seeing this correct. Aidan is wearing Taylor's night gown. I think think is so funny. He will be so mad at me one day.



















Opryland Hotel 2008
We went to the hotel tonight to see the holiday lights. We had a good time and took some cute pic's. Taylor decided to take the family picture to the left. I think she did a great job.

BTW- The parking has gone up to $18.00 and they moved the nativity scene to the front of the magnolia building. Hope this helps.

This is my sassy 4 year old. I can see her 10 years from now getting mad because I won't get her the latest cell. phone. Or will I? Times are so advanced and our kids seem to be advancing faster than ever.

Daddy and his sweet babies. If they would only stay this young forever.

The latest and greatest on us....

Have you ever woke and wondered where did the time go? Well I have been doing this a lot lately. I am trying so hard to enjoy each day and cherish the little things. This year has been such a whirl wind and that saddens me. I am looking at the calender and saying "What, Thanksgiving is a week away, NO WAY". I am so not ready for the holidays. I am usually anticipating the holidays all year, but not this year. Why? Have you ever had one of these years? I can't get a handle on the holiday excitement.

So it has been a while since I wrote so I will go back in time a few weeks.

Brian and I took the kids to to a trunk or treat the Wednesday before Halloween. Taylor dressed up as a care bear and Aidan was a Hunny Pot. We met our friends for some family fun.

The kids had a Halloween parade at school which was so cute. Taylor was Ariel and Aidan was Tigger. These are all the kids in Taylor's class. Five girls and Luke. Can you tell which one he is?

On Halloween night we went to a local church for their fall festival. The kids really enjoyed the bounce house and slides. Taylor dressed up like Tinker Bell. We went with our friends Jill and Scott. Taylor likes to hang out with her boyfriend Luke, so we do a lot with them. Aidan enjoys his buddy Jake too.

Every year three of my friends and I take our kids to Honeysuckle Hill Pumpkin Patch. We get pic's of all of the kids together. Aren't they cute?

We attended Luke's 4th b-day party and the had a blast. Luke let Taylor help him open his presents which I thought was so sweet. He always shares with his girlfriend. I think it is so funny how much taller Taylor looks in this picture.

I worked at a local consignment sale a few days over the last week. Boy was that tiring. I sold almost everything and realized how out of shape I really am. Taylor is having her first sleepover away from home tonight. She is going to Anna's house to celebrate her 5th b-day with her. I am getting nervous. I guess Aidan is also having his first sleepover. He is also staying the night with Anna's brother Gavin. Brian and I are going with his brother and three sisters to Zanie's to see Bill Burr. I have no idea who he is, but his sister Renee just got home from Iraq and we are going to celebrate. Should be fun, but I am nervous about leaving my babies. I am sure my friend Beth is just as nervous having my two there all night.

Disney World Tips

So I decided to come up with a list of Disney World Tips. If you have questions, please let me know.

1) There are cast members that are giving dreams away. This is the year of a million dreams. Taylor was lucky enough to get a spacial meet and greet with Aladdin and Jasmine. They actually had Jasmine come over from Epcot, just to see her. She was blown away when they new her name. These cast members are usually in blue striped shirts or light blue shorts. They have badges on.


2) As soon as you enter the park, see when and where the characters are and when they leave. You can also have your hotel call the CHIPS line that morning and see where the characters are. See the characters that are really important as soon as you get to the park.


3) Do at least one character meal. We did the Crystal Palace for lunch. This is the only place to see Piglet. Taylor has slept with a Piglet since she was born, so seeing Piglet was a must. The princess lunch is great at Epcot.

4) You can bring anything you want to eat to any of the parks. We made sandwiches and brought water, snacks, etc. most days.

5) Fast pass is when you go to a ride and put your tickets in and it shoots out a ticket for you to come back later. There is very little line when you return. You cannot get a fast pass again until the next ride time starts. There is an hour time frame to get back to the ride. There is no cost for this.

6) If you have a stroller then use the switch ride pass- Tell the person taking tickets you have a stroller and they will give you another pass for the other rider to get right back on. You get on in the fast pass line. It is wonderful. This is great if you are riding a big ride and your older child wants to do it with both parents. That way the little one can stay behind, but both parents get to ride.

7) I would recommend staying in a condo. That way you can make meals and have milk, juice, etc. on hand for the little ones. I know a lot of people get the meal plan and stay on property, but I would not trade having a washer and dryer and fridge for that option. If you are staying less than 5 days not as big of an issue.

MGM Must sees: Could spend 6 hours there to do what I mentioned, but if you have older kids I would spend entire day there.

Toy Story ride - Get fast passes very early.

Block Party Parade- Get good seats-They shoot balls out to the kids at the end. Best parade in all the parks

Playhouse Disney-Fun for the little ones

Little Mermaid show- Great show

Rockin Roller Coaster ride- Must be 48 inches. Great ride

Tower of Terror- Taylor did this ride, but it was not a great idea.

Muppet 3 D show


There are other things there that are good, but these were our fav's. This would take half a day to do.


Magic Kingdom- To much to list. The entire park is great and will take about two full days to do every ride and the shows. The Once Upon a Dream show is great. Magic Kingdom is where all the rides are. Most are 42' and below.


Epcot- This is the one we will skip next time- great food - Not much for little kids

Imagination- Fireworks show over the lake

Soarin

Mission Space- okay

There are boat rides and shows in half the countries. They are boring, but little kids like them.

Test Track-Fun

Turtle Talk with Crush- My favorite thing there

Disney Princess meal here is great- I think it is in Norway

Aquarium

Great place to see a lot of characters at one time- In Innovations building


Animal Kingdom- Plan to spend entire day here.

Lion King Show is awesome

Finding Nemo Musical is awesome

There are a few rides in the dinosaur section that are cool

Bugs Life 3-d show

Safari Jeep Tour- Fun, but for go this and do the Lion King and Nemo show 1st.

Do not do the train ride unless you want to go to a petting zoo and see a few exhibits that you could see here.

Everest - Roller Coaster that is fun

Bird show is OK

River Rapids was Taylor's favorite, but you get soaked. We rode over and over again.

I am sure there is more, but I will post anyway. If you have questions let me know.

Boy is it good to be home!!

So we finally got back from Flordia Saturday night around 11pm. What a fun 12 hour drive - NOT!! I guess it could have been worse. I should look at the bright side of things - We could have stopped six times instead of five, or Taylor and Aidan could have whinned for 2 hours instead of 1, you know what I mean.

This vacation was better that I could have imagined. We had no major problems and Brian did not get called back to TN, because of work. Yeah God!! Both of the kids enjoyed it so much. They smiled and laughed so much that it makes your heart feel good. I really enjoyed 2 weeks of just MY family and no other interuptions. My Mom left a few days before we did, so we had the kids all to ourselves. It rained 1 1/2 days the entire two weeks and the rains their are sprinkles compared to TN rains. Every morning Taylor was left a small gift from Tinker Bell. This is such a cute idea. It was magical to her.

We went to Magic Kingdowm 4 1/2days, MGM 1 day, Animal Kingdom 1 1/2 days, Epocot 1 day. We never got to a park before 10:30 and usually stayed until 7pm. We were never in a rush and saw almost everything in the park. We went to Magic Kingdom's Halloween party. Aidan stayed at the condo with Mom, so we were able to just have time with Taylor. I dressed up as Snow White and Taylor want as Tinker Bell. Brian dressed up like a Greenbay Packer fan. I was stopped at least a dozen times to sign autographes and take pictures. After the first few times and when the lines started forming I began to panic. I was like--- Are these parents for real, I am here with my little girl. I tried to smile and talk like Snow White, but it was a little frustrating. I fiannly decided at 11pm to get my face painted so they would realize it wasn't me. I know I sound like a grouch, but I really did secreattly enjoy it. BTW- You can not sign autographes. I got in trouble for being nice.

We spent Two nights in Daytona Beach. The first Day felt like a Hurricane was coming through. It was so fun to watch the kids play in the ocean. The waves were crazy big, so I was a nervous mom. Taylor loved it from the beginning, but Aidan was more cautious. Finally, he decided to put those feet in and enjoy the waves. We ate at Bubba Gump's for my Mom's b-day. I love me some Bubba Gumps.

Life has been non-stop since we have got home and I would not have expected anything else. I am working on getting an advice list together about Disney. Hopefully I will get it completed in the next few days. Back to reality and my my own Magic Kingdom---- HOME!!

Leaving Disney Soon

So we have spent 2 magical weeks in Florida. On our way home tomorrow. Not looking forward to the long drive home. I will type a long blog about the trip when I get home. Here are some pic's.

Brian went to Disney Halloween Party dressed as Packer Fan. What a Daddy's girl!!

My little man at the beach for the first time....

At the water pad at the condo. Aidan had a blast. He is all boy.

Taylor's first water slide. Both kids loved it. Yes, Aidan went down it with us.

This was taken and Finding Nemo the Musical. I am a Mermaid. She loved dressing up.

Sweet princesses

Enjoying Disney World!!

Hello from Orlando, Florida!!!

We are 5 days into our vacation and getting sad that it is almost half way over. We are blessed to be able to spend two weeks at the most wonderful place on earth. We have visited Magic Kingdom twice, EPCOT and MGM. We even stayed at the resort one day and relaxed. The pools are warm and the kids are loving them. Taylor had her singing debut at the pool karaoke party last night. She sang as loud as she could --- Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. I was so proud of my baby girl. My husband and I are enjoying the spa's--ALONE. Having my Mom here to help out with the kids is priceless. She has been very gracious and watched our kids so we can go out to dinner and enjoy some alone time. We went to City Walk one night and ate at Pat O'Breins. YUMMY!

We are going to the parks for around 6 hours a day, so no one gets to exhausted. We are still tired, but it is so worth it. Every morning when Taylor wake's up she goes around the condo and looks to see what Tinker Bell brought her. She loves it and could care less what it is, but loves the idea. The Pixie Dust is always there -- and it is SUGAR.. but, she has no clue. Innocence is so precious.

We are off to Animal Kingdom tomorrow. We spend Sunday and Monday in Datona Beach. Can't wait to see my babies play in the sand and enjoy the ocean. Aidan and Taylor are just the best kids and are mu super troopers. Did I mention that Taylor rode the Tower of Terror. Yes, my four year old is a brave little girl.

Look for more pictures to come throughout the week!! Miss you all and can't wait to share our vacation with you.

BUSY BEE.....

I have been so busy, I almost forgot I had a blog. Is that not so sad. The past few week s have been full of fun yet exausting outings. My Mom came in on the 1st from Arizona and she is staying until we go to FL. We went to the circus with The Wilder's on Thursday. My friend Saundra and I took the kids to Chuckee Cheese, Monday. Spent all day Saturday at a scapbooking camp, where I made 20 pages, that are super cool, met some friends downtown and we hung out at Rippy's on the patio. I am such a patio girl. My cousin Kim came in from Portland, OR and we went to Macorroni Grill for Dinner. She is currently visiting family in KY, but will be back on Thursday. Cleaned, worked, cleaned, planned a trip and so on.

I have MOPS tomorrow and hopefully a pedicure and manicure. I have a yard sale planned with my friend Beth for Thursday and Friday. I am so dreading it. Although, it will be fun to visit with Beth and not have kid's.

I must say that I am so super excited that we leave for Orlando on Saturday. I will admit I am totally dreading the drive. My mom will be driving with us, so it will be a very full car. We will be gone for 2 weeks. We will be staying in a 2 bedroom condo very close to Disney. The resort is super nice and I can't wait to go down the water slide with Taylor. We are planning to go to the Halloween Party at Disney, visit all four parks and go to Datona Beach for two nights. Brian and I are going to Universal Studio's for their fright night and to ride scary rides. I will share pic's with everyone when we get back.

I WILL FINALLY AGREE WITH ALL OF YOU THAT SAY I AM WAY TO BUSY!!!

Hope everyone has a great few weeks and enjoy this fall weather.

Blast from the past....

I had to share these pictures with you. I was cleaning out a picture box tonight and found some old pic's. I know not everyone thinks they were a cute baby/kid, but I was so cute. Not that I have a big head or anything, but look at that face. Do you think my kid's look like me? I see Aidan in the eyes. I had a lot darker hair than they do. Can you say hideous? That tub is so nasty. I have no idea where I was, but I feel sorry for the 70's. So here we are in High School. Can anyone say too skinny? I was 5'10 and 125 lbs. Yes, you read it right. I was really working it in this photo. I will say that at this point in my life I never thought I was fat. Now, 10 lbs later, yes, I was mortified. What I would't do to weigh 135 agian? Well maybe not. So hear I am with my sweet hubby. We were married 5 years ago in Montego Bay, Jamacia. I love this picture. The water makes me miss the ocean so much. We plan to renew our vows there on our 10 year anniversary. Really it is just a chance to go back to Jamacia. LOL

Me Now...... You say I don't see a picture of you now? That's right, I am always taking the pictures, so there are not many of me. Not worth sharing anyway. Let's just look at the before children "Me" and say Wow life sure has made me HAPPY!!!!!!!

Orlando Advice PLEASE

We are off to Orlando in a few short weeks and I am running out of time to research the area. I am hoping all of my travel savvy friends can help me out. I have been to Orlando and Disney World once before, but we only visited the park. I want to try and venture out into the city this time. So here are a few questions I have:

1) Any good short cuts when driving there?
2) Any good places to stop on the way? We will need many breaks I am sure. I thought Chattanooga or Atlanta, but don't remember seeing much after Atlanta.
3) We will have kids in the car for 10 hours, so any suggestions there. We do have DVD player, thank goodness.
4) Places to see in or around Orlando. My mom will be there, so we can shop and hubby and I can get some alone time as well.
5) Suggestions about parks or parking, discounts, etc.
6) Any advice at all!!


You all ROCK and I really appreciate your help!!!

Can anyone say - Crudy?

So that is how I feel. CRUDY!!! I feel as though my son has stuck peas up my nose and I can no longer breath. It is no fun. I HAVE to get better before next Wednesday. My mommy comes in to town and she will get sick just looking at a sick person. LOL We leave for Orlando on the 12th, so I really have to be better by then.

Feeling bad is not helping with getting the house ready to sell. So overwhelming.

Just wanted to tell everyone how bad I feel, so you could feel better than I do. HAHA

My weekend

So I am still wondering WHERE DID THE WEEK GO? I ask myself that all of the time. DO YOU? I remember being in 10th grade and sitting there thinking that 1st period was never going to end and would I ever be able to wait for my date that weekend. Now I close my eyes and the end of the week is here. Now--- I must say on those days when the kids are on my last nerve and everything is going wrong , the days feel more like 1st period. All the days just seem to blend together.

So, the sad thing is, it took me 5 minutes to remember what I did this weekend. I am so bad at remembering yesterday. So this weekend was not to eventful. Took Taylor to gymnastics on Saturday and the we came home and worried about how to get gas for church on Sunday. No gas to be found, so no church on Sunday. Found out there was gas in Kentucky, so we headed there to see my family. In all my spare time I packed and worked on the house. I do not feel like I am making much progress. It is never ending. That is about it for the weekend.

Today I met some girls from MOPS at Cornerstone and we let the kids play. I cam home for an hour and then it was off to take Taylor to dance for two hours. Stopped at Kroger's, cleaned out my car and ran into Dillard's where I found there are no good sales. This week is super busy and of coarse there is no gas and I have to drive a TON this week. Wish me luck on all my weekly adventures.

Today we jumped

Today we decided to go to the Jump Factory in Pleasant View with my friend Beth and my Sister-n-Law, Amy. We had a good morning and everyone got ready with no problems. Yeah God!

I must say that the Jump Factory is closing down in a few weeks and I am so bummed. I was looking forward to going there this winter.

When we arrive, I was shocked when my 18 month old decided to run off and immediattly go down the biggest slide in there. All by himself I might add. I watched him do everything all the other kids did without thinking twice. So here I am the proud mama watching her baby and feeling like he is so advanced. Then I stop and think for a minute and realize that he is my baby and what is he thinking, growing up so fast. Boo Hoo....

The pic's are super blury, because I got this new small camera and have yet to read the direction on how to use it. I am so like a man in that area. I need to hire someone to read all my manuals for me. It would make my life so much easier.

After Aidan's nap we went outside and enjoyed the perfect weather. It ended up being a great day and I just pray tomorrow is a good one.