Happy New Year (a bit early here)

but in Australia it's the new year already! LOL

Dh and I are home tonight. Same as last year and the year before that and the year before that.....you get the drift. I don't mind though. I've never really been into the whole NYE party scene. We did go to a party today however. Our playgroup had a NYA (that's New Year's Afternoon) party and Andie hosted for us. The kids had a blast! They played with the train table, played outside and then once it got dark enough, Andie's dh turned on the music and his old dj lights and had a dance party. It was so funny to watch! Logan and Olivia danced and danced together. By the end of the night, Olivia was calling him, her "Prince". Awww. There was also some wrestling/falling to the ground dancing going on between the boys. LOL Even Ian got out there and danced/spun for a bit. He was a bit overwhelmed sometimes I think though. The parents were able to relax for the most part in between refereeing and chasing the little ones (mainly Ian).

Now we're home, the boys are bathed and in bed and hopefully they are tired enough that all the fireworks later won't wake them. The FW have already been popping off for a few hours. I know I have at least 2 more hours to listen to them. My dog hates them. I'm not a Grinch, but I'll be glad when they are over.

On a weight loss journey note- tomorrow is D-day. It will be my one year anniversary on Weight Watchers. I know I've lost 60lbs this year. If that goes up tomorrow, I'll be thrilled. If I maintain, I'll be thrilled. If I gain, I'll know why! I'm already at least 10pts over for the week including all my flex pts. Oops! I have been drinking lots of water so hopefully that will help curb any gain. My "resolution" (I hate that word) is to exercise in the new year so I can finish losing the weight and tone up. I love that I've lost so much weight but now I'm flabby. I refuse to wear a bathing suit. My thighs are gross. At least when they were fat, they were firm. My arms need toning and so does my belly and butt. I know it won't all go away- I'd need surgery for that I think, but I know I can improve it. I think I need to go slow though. Maybe start out at once a week and move to twice a week and so on. I think I may need another video of some sort too. I keep hearing great things about The Firm. I already own Walking Away the Pounds and The Biggest Loser. Any suggestions?
ETA: I lost 62.2lbs total!! That's an additional 1.8lbs this past week. Yea!

On a totally different subject, if you had the chance, would you:

• get braces for your (my) teeth?
• get new floors in your home(my living room/hall to be exact)?
• save the money?

I won't go into it, but we have the chance to do something and I'm not sure what to do. Comments welcome!

AFRICAM- if you haven't seen it yet, this is so neat. It's a webcam facing a watering hole at a lodge on a reserve in Africa. I've seen an elephant, lions, baboons, gazelles and wildebeest (I think). I've heard zebras have been spotted too. Check it out!

It's a conspiracy!

That's the only rhyme or reason for it. Out of the blue, my Microsoft Digital Image program that I use for digital scrapbooking is refusing to save my layouts. We thought I needed extra memory so we bought some and dh installed it but that apparently wasn't the problem. He even installed the software on his PC and it did the same thing. Argh! I think it's a conspiracy MS does to make people upgrade to the newer version of software. Two years ago, I upgraded to this software because my MS Picture It program had slowed so far down I couldn't do anything with it. I guess I'm going to have to get out the wallet (not really, I know my CC# by heart LOL) and buy the new program. Grrr.

Waiting

I'm trying to be patient. My PC needs new memory and it came in yesterday. It's simple to put in or so I'm told but dh didn't do it last night. He KNOWS I'm waiting on it. I can't do any scrapbooking without it. I can't even finish the layouts I've been working on because they won't save. Argh! He's out tonight working on his business, he'll be gone tomorrow night for the same thing, Saturday we're going to a train show and Sunday we have a New Year's party. Monday he's meeting his buddy. Man, I hope he gets home early enough tonight to do it. I'm itching to scrap!!

On a totally different subject, I've found a new way to clean my diamonds. None of the store bought cleaners ever seem to work like a good steam cleaning from the jewelry store and my rings are looking so dingy- especially compared to my new one, sooo I boiled some water in a coffee cup and dropped my rings in it for a minute or 2. I pulled them out with an old toothbrush and held them with a kitchen towel (they were hot!) and brushed them with the toothbrush. Voila! So much better looking even if not steam cleaned perfect.

So Spoiled

Yes, I am spoiled and so are my boys. I freely admit it. Dh not only bought me an iPod but a beautful diamond ring like this one and a matching pair of Mickey mouse earrings and necklace that he also bought at Bond plus a box of Godiva SF chocolates-mmm. I received mucho compliments yesterday on them and him. ;)

My boys were also spoiled rotten. Logan got the entire Cars playsets plus Mack, the FP digital camera which he LOVES, and tons of other stuff. Ian now has the entire VTech Smartville playset. Where am I going to put it all?! Logan loves Ian's TMX Elmo too although Ian isn't real sure of it yet.

As for other gifts, I think people just don't think sometimes or they just don't care. Dh and I received a giftcard to Longhorn STEAK house. Hello? Dh doesn't eat meat- of any kind! I've checked out their menu before and there's nothing he can eat there. Don't me get me wrong, we're grateful, but come on! The comment I got was oh, there's plenty of side dishes he can eat. Ugh. Oh well, which of my friends wants to come with me and eat there? LOL Dh said to invite someone! I still have Outback and Red Lobster GCs too but at least they can be used at other more veggie-friendly restaurants. We just don't eat out as often as we used to. Then at dinner, I heard this more then once- I didn't add such and such since I didn't know if he ate it or not. Ok, I've been married to him for nearly 8 years and you can't remember from year to year that the only thing he doesn't eat is meat? I guess at least they think of him and try to accomodate him. The biggest gift of the night was the Roboraptor we gave my nephew. EVERYONE wanted to play with it. That was the COOLEST. toy. ever.

My house once again looks unclean. It WAS clean thanks to DH on Sunday. I cooked Sat./Sun./Mon. so he cleaned for me. I don't know how anyone can make an entire dinner in one day. Phew! Now I have a ton of laundry to do not only of dirty clothes but all the gifts from smokers we received. Ugh. Logan can't use his new comforter/blanket until I wash them. Each of them got clothes from my grandparents and they stink like smoke too.

Except for some family drama, it was a wonderful Christmas and I feel very blessed. I did notice that my dad did not say the blessing before dinner this year. Every year he says it and every year he tears up. I guess this year would have been too hard for him and he wouldn't have made it thru (his dad/my grandpa died last week). Hope everyone else had a Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve

Aahhhh. Christmas Eve dinner(with the IL's) is over. Everyone has gone home and the house is quiet again. Both boys are in bed although Logan just went to bed (10:30). I had to go get him out of bed a second ago because we forgot to leave cookies and milk out for Santa. He was so excited. He picked out 3 gingerbread cookies we baked yesterday and he told me Santa likes chocolate milk so that's what we gave him. LOL Dh told him Santa would be so happy that Logan gave him chocolate milk and Logan's eyes just lit up. He practically ran back to bed so Santa could come see him. What a wonderful age he's at.
Dinner went very well. My HBH cajun fried turkey came out wonderful as usual. They just do such a good job- the flavor must be injected into it because you can taste it all the way thru the meat. I made fresh sweet potato casserole, fresh green bean casserole (98%FF and noone could tell!), turkey gravy and a vegetarian meat/mushroom gravy mix, pumpkin pie, pumpkin praline cake, oreo truffles and christmas crack candy. We also had rice & beans, mashed potatoes, eggplant parmesan (don't ask), arroz con dulce which is a sweet rice like a dessert, and bread rolls (1pt!). Everyone left stuffed I think. Logan didn't eat at all so he had a banana and milk before bed. He was just too busy playing.
Everyone opened gifts and the boys got a bunch of toys of course! Logan got a wood train he can put together with dh, one of those plug/play video games, a water gun(yay-not), and a Cars blanket, pillow and comforter. Ian got 3 of the V-Tech Smartville sets which means after tomorrow he'll have the entire set, a set of puzzles, a ride on Mater and a see & say toy. I got a pair of earrings (silver unfortunately but very pretty), a Disney Tinkerbell snowglobe, a set of glass votives and a vase to match and a GC to Bed, Bath & Beyond. Dh got a GC to JCP (which I'm sure I'll use LOL), Sean John cologne and I'm not sure what else. It was a good night though all around. I can't wait to see Logan's face in the morning!

I did get my iPod early. Dh said "Here, you already know you're getting it." LOL He also got me some new headphones with a bunch of different size ear thingys so I can find the perfect ones. The ones that came with it hurt my ears after a while. He did get me some other stuff too- some kind of jewelry I know. He left the bags out- duh! He's so funny. I keep telling him, Just hide the stuff! It's not like I was poking around looking either, they were in the dining room. Ugh. LOL

Labels from Heaven?

ETA: He hadn't died when this happened last night. He died at 5:55pm tonight peacefully with family surrounding him.

I'm not positive yet, but I believe my Grandpa died today. They were taking him off of life support. His kidneys had shut down and I was told he was brain dead. I haven't heard anything official though. That leads me to my story. Tonight I was getting ready to wrap gifts. I'm just starting so I have a bunch to do. I've been searching for Christmas labels and I know I have some but they are nowhere to be found. I went into my room to get a pen and I figured I'd look in my armoire to see if I had stashed some labels in there. As I'm looking, a bag of Christmas ribbon falls from the top of my closet- seemingly out of nowhere. Inside are labels- maybe enough to get me thru my gifts. It was like someone said, here some are. I looked up towards the ceiling and gave a thank you to whoever helped me out. Maybe it was my Grandpa. I told dh and he said his hair was sticking up after hearing the story. So thank you to my friend above for sending my labels! Now I gotta get wrapping. I had to share this first though.

Prayers

I got some sad news today. My grandpa (paternal) has been given 24-36 hours to live. He has dementia but the last time I saw him (late October) he was still very spry and he always had a smile. He loves to dance and danced with all the ladies at his anniversary party. He's around 87 yrs old I believe. He had to go into the hospital where they found out he has uremic? poisoning and he's contracted pneumonia. I feel terrible for my dad. He's tried to stay close to his family even though we live so far away (FL/PA). He always tears up during the Thanksgiving and Christmas blessing. I'm really glad we were able to visit one last time in October. The flight was a PITA but I know I would have felt horrible if I hadn't gone and this happened. I'm glad my boys got to meet him again. It was only their 2nd time. He was so good with them too. He loves kids. I can't believe it's happening right at Christmas time. My dad is planning on driving up after he gets the call that his dad is gone. I'm not sure why he's waiting. I hope that Grandpa is strong and can make it thru the holidays though. Doctors don't know everything! Only God knows when he wants my grandpa to come home. I can only pray it's peaceful and he's surrounded by family and love.

Busch Gardens, Burlington and Christmas is coming!

So we were given tickets to BG and we went yesterday. My BIL and his GF has passes but I'm not sure what they do all day there as BIL does not ride anything. Logan enjoyed it but dh and I agreed, Disney is worlds better. I'm seriously tempted to write BG about their policies.
1. It's a NO SMOKING park! There are designated areas to smoke yet everywhere we walked, there were people near us smoking. NOONE enforced the policy. One guy was smoking next to our stroller as we were getting off the carousel and could have easily burned someone as he wasn't paying a bit of attention.
2. Not a BG policy per se but maybe unwritten- Don't cuss in front of kids. Give me a break. I don't want my children hearing the F-bomb or any other swear words at a theme park. Seriously, if you can't find another word to use, then you are not that intelligent.
3. The carousel- I never would have taken Ian on had I known we would have to sit on a bench. What fun is that?! I guess he's considered an "infant" and I was told we had to sit on the bench for the ride. Even Disney and Lowry Park allow him to sit on a horse. It's not like I'm going to let go of him.

Rides- there's not much for the little ones to do with the parents. Ian had to sit in his stroller most of the day. There are rides for kids, but most are 56" or under which means parents are out. Logan went on them by himself but Ian couldn't do anything. I certainly don't trust him by himself on one. The train ride was rather boring. Logan was just happy to ride the train though. One good thing- Dragon land was fun! Logan and I went up and around and across the rope bridge (way up high!). We went down the bouncy rope bridge area. I swear I felt like I was still bouncy on land. LOL I'm glad I'm able to do stuff like this with him now and not get all out of breath or something. He didn't like the bounce house thing for kids- he couldn't keep his balance well. Oh and the baby white tigers were the absolute cutest!!! They were rolling around, biting and wrestling. each other. When the trainers came it, one was still very rambunctious and she kept having to grab him by the scruff of the neck- just like a mama tiger would do. Of course, there's always someone who thinks they are just being cruel- gimme a break.

People watching- Julie, I wanted to take a pic for you, but dh had the camera and was in line with Logan. If you have to squeeze/jump/pour yourself into a pair of pants- they don't fit! Noone wants to see your belly (muffin top)hanging out of your pants under your too short shirt. I saw too many women like this. Repeat after me- just because you can, doesn't mean you should!

Don't get me wrong, we did have a good time, but maybe it will be better when everyone is old/tall enough to actually ride the rides.

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Now onto Burlington- the boys and I went this morning to get something for Christmas. The store is so messy- it's ridiculous. It's not like we went on a weekend, it's a Monday and personally, I think they should have the store cleaned up after closing. When I worked at TRU (that's Toys R Us), we had to straighten up all the aisles and make sure we put toys back in the right places before we left for the night. Anyway, Logan had to go potty so we raced back to the restrooms and they are locked. You have to push a doorbell and they remotely unlock them. I had to push it twice and was looking to ask someone when I heard the buzzer unlocking it. Not very child friendly people! I understand it's for loss prevention, but is there a better way? No other store does this that I've been in. I did find what I was looking for at least. I'd love to shop there more if they could organize the place. Even Goodwill is organized better!
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Christmas is almost here! I can't believe it. I still have no tree up but dh says he'll get it tonight. I have GOT to start wrapping stuff. I can't do it while Ian is awake so I have limited time. I'm excited to see his reaction to the tree- keeping his little hands off of it will be another story.

I'm getting.....

an iPod for Christmas! Dh is no good at talking on the phone with me there. Why he didn't ask to call his buddy back since I was in the car is beyond me. Anyway, I know it's an iPod and I believe video was mentioned. It's also compatible with my radio so I'll never be without something to listen to (hate when all station play commercials at the same time!). He says this is the first gift so at least I don't know the 2nd.
ETA: He confirmed it's a video iPod 80GB. Woohoo!

Now, I'm still stumped as to what to get him. Nothing seems meaningful even though everything I buy him is something he wants or likes. Is it just me or is it hard to buy for your spouse?

Colds, MNI and more

I have a cold. Blah!!!! I hate being sick. My head is stuffy, my ears are stuffy, my nose alternates between running and stuffy, my voice is dying and I feel so tired. But I'm a mom and moms don't get sick days.

Despite that, we went to dh's office Christmas party yesterday. His boss closed early and we all went to the Rockhouse Grill. It's a bar/grill that's part of a hotel near the office. It wasn't condusive to kids but we managed. Most of the tables are the tall tables with tall chairs like bar stools. We did have a portable booster with us so at least Ian was somewhat safe buckled in. It was pretty good food and company. I got to see a few employees I used to work with and it's always nice to catch up. Everyone got a grab bag and we even won a tv. I have no idea what kind or size and I have no clue what I'm going to do with it. We certainly don't need one and I don't plan on allowing one in the boys' rooms anytime soon.

I had a Mom's Night In (MNI) last night at Jen's. Omg! I haven't laughed that hard in ages. I had tears in my eyes and had a hard time catching my breath. We did a "I never" game which is a drinking game (some of us were drinking, others only soda/water). It got rather R rated sometimes. LOL What is said to the girlfriends, stays with the girlfriends though so I won't post anything. I learned a lot of new stuff though about my girls! We also played Taboo and Heather's team kicked my team's butt! Everyone brought good food and we had good conversations. It's just so nice to get out with my friends.

Christmas is only 13 days away! I think we've bought everything but we still haven't decorated or even started wrapping. I have packages to mail and stuff to pick up. I feel more overwhelmed this year. I guess it's because I have a toddler and preschooler with me at all times. Getting both in and out of the car and keeping them content while shopping or waiting in lines can be tough. I need to start thinking of our Christmas Eve dinner menu and start buying food. On top of it all, dh has to finish painting a small section of the house and we have to make time to use tickets to Busch Gardens we were given. (I know poor me LOL)

I haven't done a single layout for my retrodiva scrapbooking team although I have tried. I've tried a few times and I'm not liking anything I do. It's like I've lost all inspiration. Ugh...

More Loganisms

"That's GISGUSTING"
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Today I told him we needed to go run errands. I guess he thought I said ERINS because he asked if we needed to run Olivia's too. LMBO!!!!

Should I be insulted?

While leaving Publix tonight, I had a discussion with the bagger who was taking my groceries out to the van. I had noticed the Toys For Tots box near the exit so I asked if I could just bring my new toys in.
Him: No, that's for people who buy toys in the store to donate.
Me: What does it matter, it's all going to the same organization. I have new toys at home I'd like to bring in.
Him: Ummm it's an organization for really poor kids. They don't want people's used, beat up toys.
Me: I have new toys.
Him: Are they still in their box, unopened?
Me: Yes, they are NEW.
Him: (very low voice- I think he said it was okay or something)

At this point, he was done with the groceries and I just walked to my door without a thanks or have a good night. Should I feel insulted? I really feel this guy was just an idiot. Ugh!

Lots of stuff!

Thanksgiving
We had 2 dinners, one Thursday and one Saturday. Food was yummy all around. I tried a new cake recipe that was WW friendly and everyone loved it! Noone knew it was light. I may have to make it for Christmas too or try something new.

Disney
Sunday after, we left for vacation. Yippee!! One full week at DisneyWorld. We stayed at the Coronado Springs Resort (on Disney property). It was a beautiful resort with a large lake in the middle. It's split into the Casitas, Ranchos and Cabanas all with their own bus stops. It doesn't share buses either so it's not a long wait or ride to the parks. We took advantage of the buses all week. The main pool is huge with a giant waterfall. There's an explorer's playground and some smaller pools around the resort too. It has 2 different lounges, a table service restaurant (Maya Grill) and a counter service type restaurant (Pepper Market). We ate a buffet breakfast at Maya one morning and it was only okay. Pepper Market was bad the 1st time and okay the 2nd time. They have different stations where you can order a meal such as pizza, mexican, chinese, etc. The resort is huge and never seemed crowded even though there were 2 conventions going on as well.

Monday we had breakfast ressies at Hollywood & Vine at MGM. It was a really yummy buffet. The characters were Leo and June from Little Einsteins and JoJo and Goliath from JoJo's Circus. They danced around the room and came to each table for pics. Logan wanted nothing to do with them. We did a few shows like Playhouse Disney which the boys both loved. Logan even got up and danced. For dinner, we had ressies at the SciFi dinner drive-in. You get to sit in convertible cars to eat dinner. They show funky monster movie clips (think 50's movies) on the big screen. The dinner was very good and our waitress was great! After dinner, we went over to see the Osbourne Family Lights which were set to music(TransSiberian orchestra) this year. Very cool!

Tuesday we went to Chef Mickey's at the Contemporary for breakfast. Logan said he wanted to give Goofy a hug before we left the hotel that morning and he did just that as soon as he saw him! We also saw Mickey, Minnie, Donald, and Pluto. Good breakfast but not as good as HW&V. We ventured into the Contemporary's shops while we were there and dh found a Car he wanted. There was a guy buying stuff in front of us and he paid for our car as well. Spreading the Disney magic! We made our way to the Magic Kingdom for the day. We were having dinner at the Crystal Palace that night and Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party(MVMCP) was that night as well. CP's buffet was Yum-o! They had this Pasta with wild mushroom/chicken sauce that was soooo good! It was raining on and off all day though. :( At the MVMCP, it continued to rain which sucked! They cancelled the 1st parade and show. Logan did get to ride his first Big Boy roller coaster though- Thunder Mt Railroad. He loved it so much he went twice in a row! We tried taking him on the little kid rc but he wasn't having it. We did get to see the fireworks before leaving for the night and got some great pics. The boys were exhausted. Logan and Ian both fell asleep on the bus.
ETA: How could I forget?! Ian had his 1st haircut at the Barbershop on Main St at the Magic Kingdom today as well! We waited for like an hour since people were lined up. Everyone was getting their hair cut or painted and glittered. Ian sat down very nicely though and the lady gave him like 15 stickers to play with. It kept him still for a short time. I had to hold him there though eventually so she could finish. She did end up with his bangs a bit too short but he was wiggly so I forgive her. LOL We got his hair clippings wrapped up with Disney confetti, a certificate and his first haircut (embroidered) Mouse ears. He didn't cry thru the whole haircut, only when I put those Ears on him. Silly boy! He's too cute though now with his haircut.

Wed we headed over to Epcot. We ate lunch at the Coral Reef. I was so not impressed. It was one of those "gourmet" restaurants and the portions were teeny tiny. Logan's pizza was bigger than dh's and my meal put together I think. My fish was underseasoned although the sauce was really good. The soup (lobster) was REALLY yummy though. Dh ordered a veggie layered dish and it was so little. Oh well. Live and learn. It was raining on and off all day Wed too. Wonders of Life was open though so the boys got to run around a bit and work off some energy. It was empty inside. They should really update it and add to it. We did get to hear a bit of the choir show they have at Christmas time and it sounded lovely.

Thursday we headed to Animal Kingdom. Dh found the jackpot in Cars here. We not only found Blue Mater (New Mator), but Hamm (Toy Story car), Cruisin' McQueen and Radiator Springs McQueen. We went on the Safari ride which Logan enjoyed. It was HOT out. No rain for the rest of our vacation thankfully though although we kept our ponchos and stroller cover handy. We left that park early so we could refresh before MY dinner at Cinderella's Royal Table. Yea!! I got to meet Cinderella! Getting to the castle was a feat in itself as the bus seemed to be running slower than usual and there was a show going on which made it hard to get into the castle. We had to go ALL the way around the park to get to the back of the castle. Ugh! We got inside and Ian and I took a pic with Cinderella in front of the Christmas tree. When we were called, we went up this long spiral staircase to get into the restaurant. The decor of the place made it so magical. The boys each got a sword which were promptly taken away by mom and dad. LOL The food was very good! Dh had a spring roll for his appetizer which I swear was bigger than his entire dinner at Coral Reef! I had the corn/crab soup which was very creamy and slightly spicy. Yum! Dh had the cheese tortollini and I had the pork tenderloin. He loved his pasta and mine was good as well. I think I'll try the chicken next time (yes I will be back!). Dh had the blueberry buckle and I had the Chocolate Mousse cake for dessert and both were delish. Ian got buttered noodles on the house as he's a little guy and Logan got the 3 course dinner as well- fruit/veg/chs plate, mini hotdogs with mash pot. and green beans and a sundae with a choco. crown for dessert. The waiter even brought Ian a sundae. Very nice of him! The 1st fireworks of the evening (before our 2nd MVMCP) went on while we were seated at the table and they dimmed the lights in the restaurant. It was awesome seeing the fireworks thru the windows. We got to see the mice and the Fairy godmother as well. It was just very fun! Since we were rained out on Tuesday's MVMCP, we bought tickets for that night and while busier than Tuesday, we still had fun. Logan rode his roller coaster again and we got our free cookies, apples, apple juice and hot chocolate. We did get to film the parade as well. There were 2 floats that actually had scents to them- both smelling like different cookies. Yum!

Friday was our free day so we went to Downtown Disney which was packed! We took pics of the huge Lego creations and did some shopping at World of Disney. We actually drove so Ian fell asleep in the car on the way back. I let dh take him inside the room while Logan and I went for a walk. They ended up napping together. Awww. Logan and I had an impromptu photo shoot on the beach and grassy areas of the resort. I got some good shots of him I think. We ended up doing takeout from Pepper Market for dinner. Much better than the 1st time we went.

Saturday we were supposed to go to Crystal Palace for lunch but I remembered the Disney Christmas Parade was being filmed all weekend and the park was going to be slammed! We decided to hit Epcot instead which was pretty darn busy as well. Logan did get to ride Test Track for the 1st time (and again) thanks to FastPasses. We walked around the World, ate lunch and I got to meet one of my GF from my Sept 2002/2002 Moms groups and her family. It's always so nice to meet someone you've talked to online. They couldn't be nicer! Logan took right to her and wanted to ride rides with her. LOL So we went on Nemo, saw the Crush show and went on Spaceship Earth with them. We talked for a bit too. It was time to go home though and I was so sad to leave. I know I can go back anytime I want but I really didn't want to leave. I could live there. Even Logan kept saying he wanted to go back to the hotel. I think he's happy to be home though where all his toys are. He's even gotten better at using the potty since we've been gone (Knock on wood). I'm happy to be sleeping in my big king size bed for sure. LOL I can't wait to go back!

Misc- Ian is obsessed with 2 things now- water and blowing raspberries at everyone. If he saw water anywhere- he was yelling waaaaerrrr. Every. Time. And there was water everywhere! Fountains, lakes, bottles...
He won't say Hi to anyone, he'll just blow raspberries at them. Ugh. Everyone thinks it's so cute too which just eggs him on. I'm trying to break him of it, but it isn't working. Mousekeeping was awesome. We had the same girl all week- Mary Ann- who always did something fun with the boys' toys. She also had towel animals, baskets made of towels, etc set up. She'd pose their trains in the window with Logan's GO pillow or on the bed in some cute way. We did get to meet her which was nice. She also left us chocolate kisses and Reese cups(mini).

What we bought- because people always ask. Not sure if this is all of it.
Dh- 3 shirts, lots of Cars

me- 2 shirts, a backpack (seam broke on straps 3 days later and was able to exchange w/out receipt- thumbs up CS), blanket (w/purchase), pin set (w/purchase), Minnie stuffed animal magnet, Tinkerbell ornament, Disney ornament storybook set

the boys- each a shirt, several Cars, Goofy doll, Figment doll, toy train

Have I said I want to go back yet??? Maybe next year or dh says the year after...we'll see.

Hmmm

Not exactly sure why I'm writing anything tonight. I'll have to make something up here......Thanksgiving is getting closer and I told my mom I'd make pies. I love making desserts. She wants me to make this pumpkin/cool whip pie thing from Kraft. I hate cool whip. Blech! It always leaves me with a tummy ache. She only wants "real" (aka fattening) pies too. She's gonna have to compromise if she wants that cool whip crap. LOL I'll make it, but I'm going to make something yummy and healthy for me. Dh suggested the spice/pumpkin cake I made a few weeks ago. Yum! I also saw a recipe for a praline pumpkin pie on WW website I think. I'll make an apple pie for my dad too. I'm lucky- dh always peels the apples for me. Isn't he sweet?

I can't believe Christmas is so close already. It's unreal. I think I've got the boys' shopping done. I have no clue what to buy some of my family. I'm at a complete loss. I don't want to do the same food baskets I've done in the past. I made my grandmother a towel "cake" 2(or 3) years ago bc I knew she wanted towels and this was a unique way to "wrap" them. As of last year, they were still in cake form bc it was "too pretty" to take apart. She uses them as a Christmas decoration in the bathroom. I take it as a compliment. I do think I'm going to make some photo calendars using my digital scrapbooking kit and have those printed for gifts. I guess gift cards will be in store for a lot of people. I just don't see them very often or they don't need anything.

Keela, I know you like to read what everyone's buying the kids so here's our list (LOL) There may be more I'm forgetting.

Logan- Mack (Cars) playset, FP digital camera, 2 wooden Thomas trains (if they get here in time), Ramone and Luigi (Cars) playsets, Cars carrying case/racetrack, hooded towel and we make fix up a bike he has in the shed.

Ian- Vtech Smartville train and ice cream shoppe, TMX Elmo, Thomas stuffed train, Playful Puppy thingy (moves and makes noises), hooded towel

Ok, I can't think of anything else to write right now. I know there were some very cute Loganisms recently but my brain is tired and doesn't remember them. I hate that I can't remember them. It's like a piece of childhood gone.

Accident prone or clumsy?

Poor Logan, he always has some kind of bruise on him- mainly on his shins. This past week, he's been smacked in the face with a heavy handicap swing, he "rolled" off his bed (his words) sometime Saturday night and has these ugly scratches on his face (I'm guessing from the storage tote next to the bed), he was spinning, fell and scraped his ear on a toy, he's always tripping over something or I'm hearing Owww from somewhere in the house. I was talking to my mom about him and she said my sister was the same way. What's funny is that Logan is the less daring of my boys and of his friends. He doesn't jump off of walls/beds/swings/etc. The joys of boys...


Christmas is coming!! Oh my it got here fast. I went thru my bedroom aka storage area on Saturday to see just what kind of stuff I've collected. I have so many toys it's ridiculous. I tend to buy things when they are on clearance and then I have stuff for Christmas, birthdays, etc when I need it but I still have stuff in there from 2 years or more ago. LOL I'm Ebaying a FP Powertouch system and books that I bought. I've got games that will be gifts this year. I've got some unopened stuff that was a gift to me that I need to re-gift or sell or something. (no more candles/candelabras please !) There's still more in huge plastic totes in my closet too that I haven't gone thru. I think Toys for Tots will be getting some stuff. Maybe one of the local hospitals would like some stuff too. I need to check into that. Anyone else want to donate? That may be a good idea to present to our playgroup. If everyone bought just one small toy ($10 or so) we could have a great donation to either TFT or the hospital. There are so many children stuck in the hospital all year long and I'm sure the holidays can be tough. Check out this BLOG I found on BBC yesterday. It's a good read.

As for my WL, I'm up 0.6 this week. My hands are a bit swollen feeling though this morning so I'm going with water weight as the culprit.

I'm sad

I recently found a friend on MySpace again. She was my best friend for years and then we drifted apart. I'd stop by to see her once in a while and drop her an email but very rarely did she make the effort to see/talk to me. The last time I spoke to her, she was getting married this fall and I was so looking forward to seeing her marry this guy. He's super nice and treats her well. I was told we were invited but when no invitation came, I figured the wedding was postponed or something. Like I said, we had been friends for years. I sent her a long email a while back but never heard from her. When I found her on MySpace tonight, she's already gotten married. I'm not sure why it makes me so sad, but it does hurt. I still love her and I still think of her all the time. I was there when she was pregnant and scared. I was there when she left her 1st dh. I was supposed to be there when her 3rd dd was born (she came quick!) and now this. Sigh.... Maybe we're just too different now.

On to happier thoughts- I'm finally redecorating my guest/hall bath. I got a cute monkey curtain from Target and we bought paint today. We're also looking for a new door for the front of the house. The one I like has to be custom ordered which adds like $300 to the price. Ouch! It's a medium oak fiberglass door with an oval window with zinc etching. I'm not a big fan of the brass etching I saw. My BIL will be here painting the outside of the house while we're on vacation. I can't wait to see it when we get back!

I can't believe our vacation is coming up so quickly either. I'm so excited though!! I just can't get tired of Disney. I'm telling you, I'd live at Cinderella's castle if they let me! (don't worry Julie, you can come visit! LOL)

Scary news- Friday night Logan, Ian and I were eating at the table. Dh had a computer case in the middle so I couldn't see Ian but I heard him fussing. I ignored him for a minute or 2 and then CRASH- he was on the floor. He was in his booster seat and had somehow pushed his chair and it fell backwards. The dogs' bowls were right behind him and it has a metal pole that goes up in between them. The pole went thru the slats of the chair and was no more than 1/2inch from his head. If Ian had fallen to the side a bit more, it could have been tragic. He was shocked but fine. It freaked me out though!

What else...Let's see...hmm...Julie has lost her artsy phartsy mojo so if anyone sees it, please contact me so I can get it back to the rightful owner. Thanks! LOL

Down on the farm and meltdowns

You'd think I'd know by now what my day will look like when Logan gets up at 5:30am. Thankfully, he doesn't mind playing in his room quietly while I sleep. At 5:45 I got up for some reason- the alarm usually goes off at that time but I don't remember hearing it. I open my eyes and I can tell that Logan's light is on. I went to his room and he's laying on the floor with his "go" pillow (I guess you'd call it his lovey- it's got Go/Stop in green/red on each side, he loves that thing and must have it to sleep) on his head. I tell him to get back in bed, the sun isn't up yet and I turn off his light. Not that it matters, in 10min it's on again. Whatever, I'm going back to sleep! LOL I have no clue whether he went back to sleep or not. Anyway, we were up and dressed to go to Granma's Hug N Farm this morning with our playgroup. Went to get on the interstate and some idiot on his cell phone neither speeds up or slows down knowing I'm about to merge and I have to floor it just to get in front of him. Grrr. Everything was fine all morning at the farm. We got to see a cute baby pig who acted just like a toddler. He/she just wanted attention and to be scratched/petted. We saw goats, horses, sheep, chickens, rabbits and a very preggo donkey. Poor thing looked ready to pop! We went on a hayride, ate lunch and came home. On our way home, we end up behind a pickup carrying a huge load of produce boxes. While on the On-ramp to the interstate, one of his boxes falls off, something green goes everywhere and something green and juicy hits my windshield. Now I have a juicy windshield. I had to manuever out of the way of the box though and I still clipped it but at least it didn't end up under my van.

We also had a playdate scheduled for the afternoon. Usually I wouldn't do 2 playdates in one day but I knew there were some new members coming and I wanted to be there to meet them. This is where Logan comes in. I know he's tired poor baby. He was playing with Hayden and Hayden walked away. Logan starts just crying "I want my Hayden back". LOL! It was so cute. Then, he and Alex were playing on the handicap swings and I guess Logan was pushing Alex and the swing came back and smacked him in the face. I'm across the park where I can see him but of course I wasn't looking at the time. I heard his wail though and knew immediately it was him. Amazing how you know your child's cries. He's now the proud owner of big swollen under eye. I bet it will be a shiner tomorrow but we'll see. On the way out, he wanted to push the stroller "all by myself!". I insisted on helping him bc it was turning all wonky (thanks for the word Julie) and that led to another meltdown. Sigh...I was so glad when dh got home and I was able to take a small break. Dh even gave both boys a bath for me. Yea!!! Now I'm busy blogging when I really should be working. I typeset the promotions for dh's company which gives me some play money every few months (yeah, like I don't play with the everyday money too! LOL). Here are some pics from today!

Donald Duck! (and poison control)

Logan has been asking dh to do the Donald Duck voice. He cracks up when he hears it. Ian loves it too but tonight he started trying to imitate dh. It was too cute! I went to put him to bed and was nursing him and he'd pull off, "quack" at me and nurse some more. I was dying!

My 1st (I think) call to poison control was today. Yippee. NOT! Logan started having what seemed to be diarrhea but it was only a little bit. I was sitting in the bathroom with him and he said his tummy hurt and "that" tasted yucky. I was like, What tasted yucky? He pointed to the TILEX bottle! OMG! I asked him if he sprayed it in his mouth and he said no but how would he know it tasted bad? The bottle said to give him water and call the DR. I called PC and they took the info and said if his lips aren't swelled (it's a corrosive) and he's acting fine, then he's fine. It wouldn't have caused diarrhea she said. Thank goodness for PC!

Silly girls!

I had the best time yesterday. It was one of those face-aching smiling, laughing til you cry, snorting good times. Amy, Jen, Julie and I went park hopping at Disney. What a hoot they are! I'm so inhibited compared to them. It was just us girls, we left all the kiddos home. Mission Space was an awesome ride! We did the more intense side and it was so much fun. We wanted it to last longer (well, maybe Amy didn't LOL). We ate at a few countries. Noone would try my escargot and it was yummy! We had sushi, cold noodle salad, baklava, greek salad, goat cheese tartlet, and more. Mmm.
Hopped over to MGM and did the Rockin Roller Coaster and Tower of Terror (so fun!). As we were walking into the park, everyone was lined up for the parade to start. Not even thinking about it, but trying to avoid the crowds on the sidewalk, we walked down the middle of the road. Several people started clapping for us. We were the parade! Hehehe.
Hopped on the bus to MK where we went to drive the cars first. Okay, I'm a good driver IRL but I SUCKED at driving this car. The steering was on the right side and I had to use my left foot. No matter how little I touched the wheel, we'd go all the way over to one side or another. Thank goodness for the mini barrier under the car so you couldn't plow into someone else! LOL OMG I'm cracking up just thinking about Julie and I in the car! She was dying laughing and Jen and Amy were laughing at us. Poor people next to us thought we were going to hit them a few times! ROFLMAO! I was so glad when it was over. The teacups were hilarious as well. Julie and Jen wanted to spin fast so they rode together and Amy and I rode together. They were a riot! They were squealing and throwing their heads back so they were practically upside down. Too funny! This pic is probably too small for you to see Julie's smile. Jen's got her head thrown back. It was hard to take a pic while spinning!

On to the Haunted Mansion. Jen had been on it years ago and tried to do the sinister laugh along with the recording, only it ended up being SO loud! I think everyone outside heard her! LMBO! We also went on the Thunder Mountain RR and I'm not sure what got them going but Amy started laughing and the sound of it got Julie laughing and then we were all laughing. Quite contagious(that's where the snorting comes in too)! We did get to see the fireworks before leaving the park. I get chills everytime I see them. It is magical. If it's that magical for me, I can't imagine for someone who is seeing them for the 1st time. It was a wonderful day and one I'll never forget. I hope we can do it again one day!! Thank you to my wonderful girlfriends for going!! Not sure what I'd do without you guys!

Oh I almost forgot. Julie loves to people watch so she noticed this guy while we were watching the flag lowering. Amy was trying to take a picture on the fly but being the Amy she is, she walked up to him and asked to take a pic of his hair. You have to be pretty secure to put purple paint, mickey confetti and a Mickey mouse head in your hair(on the back)!

Halloween

It's over! Phew! All day Logan kept telling me he didn't want to wear his costume. By golly, I went thru enough trouble putting it together, he was going to wear it! LOL Ian did not want to put his on either but once it was on, he was fine and even wore his hat all night! Wow! We went ToT to a few homes- most people had their lights off. :( There seem to be fewer and fewer ToT'ers every year. Here are some pics! On the first parrot pic- he was pulling at the feathers and it came undone. I had to reglue those.

A few pics from our trip

My family at Valley Forge park




Amish countryside

Boys watching a movie in the hotel room

Beautiful church

View from above the clouds

Amish buggy

Another beautiful church

View from above

Short vacation- loonngg plane trip- tiring weekend

We're back from Philly. We.will.NEVER. fly with a toddler again. What a nightmare!

Friday- 3am
Dh and I got up and got the last minute stuff packed up. Woke the boys around 3:30am and were out the door around 4am. We had 2 suitcases, 2 carry-on and 2 car seats to lug between the 2 of us. Logan did help with the smallest wheeled carry on. We met my parents, sister, BIL and nephew at the airport so we did have some help once we got everything inside. If you don't know, Ian is an on-the-go toddler. He doesn't like to sit still for any length of time. Our first flight left at 6:24am to Memphis and he cried. Philly to Memphis- he cried before taking a short nap (I think- Friday I was so tired, it's kind of a blur). We make it to Philly, get on the shuttle to the rental car place and it takes a freakin half hour just to get our vans. Had to install 2 carseats and fix the straps on both since I forgot to set them beforehand. Britax seats do not fit well in a Dodge Caravan- FYI. Ian ended up FF for the trip bc it just didn't fit right RF. He cried everytime we put him in his seat too. Not sure if it was because he was tired or FF or uncomfortable. Anyway, we were tired so we just went to the hotel, settled in, ordered in and crashed. Yeah, did you think it would be that easy? Ian screamed bc he was tired and not in his bed. We all ended up crashing around 8pm after dinner and after we turned off all lights. Thank goodness for thick walls bc my sis was in the next room and didn't hear him. (Philly weather- overcast, drizzling, 48*)

Saturday we got up, went downstairs and ate at the breakfast buffet. Yum! I had eggs, bacon, hashbrowns and more bacon. LOL I love bacon and don't eat it often. I had like 6 pieces. Mmm. I did eat some fruit, milk and juice too so it wasn't a horrible breakfast. Our party was at 12- it was my grandparent's 65th anniversary. Wow! We went upstairs to start getting ready thinking we have about an hour and I get a call from my dad saying we have to be ready in 20min. Argh! Finally got ready and to the party where I got to see so many relatives- some I'd never met. Found out my grandfather had a sister! I guess he hasn't had much to do with her in many, many years. There were a lot of tributes to them and it was a really nice party. We had some family photos and I danced with my grandpa. He's 87 years old and has dementia. He LOVES to dance though and would dance all night. I don't think he had a clue who I was though unfortunately. It's very sad, he just had this blank smile on his face. It was like there was noone home. He had a lucid moment later that evening before we left which was nice. I found out some very neat history about him. I knew he had been in WWII and was a POW, but I didn't know a lot because he never talked about it. My uncle made a scrapbook of him and brought it to the party. It was letters he wrote while a POW, transcripts of him talking about it, newspaper clips, etc. He was in the Battle of the Bulge as part of a very green troop. They were getting hammered and decided to retreat so they blew up all their artillery and retreated only to be caught in an ambush. He was a POW for 3 months. There were war brochures in the scrapbook, pictures of the troops and even a bill to my grandmother for an overpayment for his pay (I guess). It was for $40 which was a lot of money back then. I'm hoping my uncle will make a copy of everything for me. He really needs to archive everything because those newspaper clippings won't last forever. Anyway, the party was nice, the boys both had a good time playing. Logan loved playing with all his cousins. I got many compliments on my weight loss. My grandmother (bless her) kept telling me how good I look and what a pretty face I had now (that I lost weight). LOL! After the party, we went back to the hotel to change and then over to my grandparent's house to visit for a short time. Then back to the hotel where Ian didn't want to sleep again. This time we didn't get to bed until closer to 11. (weather- 60 around noon, growing colder and very windy. 40s at night)

Sunday, we got up and went down to breakfast. We had that extra hour due to daylight savings time. Dh really wanted to see some of Philly before we left (and so did Ed my BIL) so we went out to Amish country and took a tour of an Amish home. The boys were bored of course until we got outside and saw animals and they could run around. Did you know there were Amish millionaires? Yep! Sounds crazy, but there are. They are always becoming more modern. They all have indoor plumbing, they don't use electricity but they do use air compressed appliances, propane appliances and even a gasoline powered iron. They do no work on Sundays- not even cooking. They go to church for 4 hours every other Sunday at someone's home and everyone is required to volunteer their home at least once a year. The only pictures in their homes are on calendars and you'll find many calendars. They don't believe in engraven images. We saw the dresses/clothes they wear. I couldn't believe that they wear straight pins in their clothes! Ouch! All their "aprons" they wear over their dresses are straight-pinned on, not sewn. We bought some real maple syrup but it never made it home- I'll get to that. After the Amish tour, we over to Valley Forge for a quick drive thru the park and a short walk thru of the main area. We had like 30min before we had to leave for the airport. VF is a beautiful area especially at this time of year. They leaves were changing and falling, the grass was still green and the little creeks were so pretty.We left there, dropped off our rental car (much quicker than getting one), and went over to the airport. Checked our baggage and went thru security. Ugh. I hate security. I know it's there for a reason, but it sucks. When you have 2 sets of hands, 2 kids, 2 carseats and 2 carry-ons plus you have to open bags, take off everyone's shoes, put everything on the conveyor, etc. -it SUCKS. Dh accidentally put our maple syrup in one of the carry-on bags and they noticed it on the x-ray. At least they are doing their job, right? We had 2 choices- take the bag downstairs and check it (was carrying our cameras and laptop- not something we wanted tossed in baggage), then go back thru the security or let them confiscate it, so we just let them have it. It was a $12 bottle! Dh was pissed. I think it was party just the hassle plus being tired and hungry. We had plenty of time until our flight so we ate lunch. After boarding, we sat at the jetway and on the tarmac for an hour! Thankfully Ian slept thru most of that leg. We were waiting for someone's bag that was taken off accidentally and then something called "saturation" (any idea Julie?- ask David). Our connecting flight was at 9:15central and we didn't arrive until 9pm. There was no way to catch that flight as Detroit's airport is HUGE. Luckily for us, our 2nd plane was delayed so we walked so fast thru the airport. We met an angel flight attendant who told us to grab the monorail to get to our gate faster. That's how big the airport is. We were going from A1 to A24 and needed a monorail! As soon as we got there, they were starting to board. I installed Ian's carseat RF hoping it would be more normal for him (it was RF in the Philly-Detroit flight too). He fussed, I played, he fussed, I bribed. We finally take off and the lady in front of him reclines her seat all the way back pushing him so far forward that he was more than upright and very uncomfy. I wanted to kick her seat so bad! I've never been so Mama Bearish. There's no reason she couldn't have moved over one seat- there was an empty seat next to her. I even asked her if she'd move over but all she did was sigh at me and move her seat. The FA asked me to switch him FF but once he was out of that seat, he wasn't going back in. It didn't matter who was holding him, he was done. It was meltdown city. I should have installed it FF in the first place and let him kick her seat. LOL We got home around 2am and everyone went to bed. Dh had to go to work this morning but he got a few hours sleep first (I had to make him). The boys woke me around 8am and we all took a nap this afternoon. We are all still tired though. I'll def be in bed early tonight. (Philly weather- 54* and WINDY, Tampa at 1am 64* and clear)

The architecture in the Philly area was beautiful. The churches and homes all melded together. It's not like here where everything is mismatched. Nearly everyone decorates for fall/Halloween with pumpkins everywhere (huge pumpkins!). Memphis- all we saw was the airport but there were Elvis sitings everywhere. LOL Not real people, but in all the shops. Detroit- I barely got a glimpse of it. The only thing I really remember is that there's this long walkway tunnel with this strange mood music and funky lighting that changes. All in all, it was a good trip but next time we go, we'll be driving!

Oh and even with all the eating I did (fried chicken, pizza, cheesecake, bacon LOL) I still lost nearly 2 lbs. Yay me!! :-D

I'm uploading pics but there over 275 of them so I'll link to them tomorrow or later tonight.

Logan-isms

"Mama, my tummy is going cha-cha-cha." (Where in the world would he come up with something like that?)
"Jagyoulantern" (Jack O Lantern)

I'm sure there are more that I'm not remembering at the moment. My brain is fried.

And speaking of Logan, the child will still not poop on the potty. I'm at my wit's end! Rewards don't work, punishments don't work. I've taken trains away, taken tv away(no tv for 2 days now- WOW), put him in timeout and sent him to bed(nap). I won't put him in underwear bc he poops in them. Pullups are the same. He will pee on the potty, but #2 is a complete struggle. He knows what he needs to do, he promises he'll do it and then he doesn't. I'm going to try the naked thing again tomorrow and see what happens. Argh! I swear Ian will be PT before Logan is.

Ian has decided taking his diaper off is great fun! LOL I have to keep shorts or a one piece on him or he's pulling it off. Silly boy will then complain to us while holding his diaper and lay down without struggle to put it back on.

Our Fall Festival with the playgroup is Wed. and I hope we can go. Both boys and I seem to be getting colds although so far mine is holding off. I've been drinking Airborne and taking Cold Eeze. Logan's been drinking the airborne Jr too. Poor Ian is just suffering thru. Hopefully it will pass quickly. I don't want him miserable this weekend in PA.

New neighbors

There are a few homes for sale in my neighborhood. One couple just moved in down the street a few weeks ago and have started fixing up the place. I can see them from my house and I drive by everytime I leave the house. Starting yesterday, they started painting it. OMG. It's got to be the FUGLIEST color! It's orange!! WHY for the love of ___ would you paint your house orange?????!!!!! Are you colorblind? DH joked they were painting it for Halloween. Ugh! Sometimes I think a HOA wouldn't be such a bad thing. I mean, really, if I bought paint and started painting with it and it was the wrong color, I'm totally taking it back to the store and getting a new color. I'm not going to keep painting. Now to be fair, my house needs a lot of work(mostly new door and paint) and it will get done but it's not bad looking if you're driving or even walking by. There's just no way to miss the ORANGE house. I'm ready to move....

I went by my parent's house tonight and ended up with a costume for myself (authentic Mexican skirt and peasant blouse), 2 leather belts for Logan's costume and leather laces for his shirt. My dad offered me this old non-working gun too but I declined that. It would have fit well with the costume though. He also offered me an old cup that would have looked great. I just don't think Logan's going to carry all that and I'm not into guns.

My sinuses are driving me crazy. The past 2-3 months, I smell cigarette smoke out of the blue. I'm getting a cold and it's getting worse. Ugh, why can't I smell something good like chocolate or strawberries. I really need to make an appt with a Dr. I just keep putting it off or forgetting. I loathe cigarettes!!!

I know there was more I wanted to blog, but I'm so forgettful nowadays.

Memorial

The boys and I were driving thru the mall parking lot and saw the Vietnam Moving Wall memorial. I decided to stop and take the boys to see it. I've seen the real one in DC and this was as beautiful. Logan had no concept of what it was though. He has no idea of death or war. All he saw were words and lots of flags. How do you explain such a monument to a 4yr old? I wish I never had to...

Friday morning stuff

Someone posted THIS website as a joke on one of my WW boards. Ugh! Search around the site and there's some gross stuff (or gross sounding). Probably great for Halloween.

Yea Logan!! He brought me one of his Dr Suess books this morning and he read most of it by himself! Then we struggled over pooping on the potty. The ups and downs of motherhood...LOL

Nothing new

I haven't blogged in a few days. Just not much new to say. I've been trying to finish Halloween costumes and start packing for our upcoming trip. I've actually finished Ian's costume (yea!) and it came out sooo cute! He's going to be a parrot if you didn't know. Getting this costume on him may be a feat and getting him to keep the hat on will be a miracle. I even sewed (yes I sewed!!) some elastic on the hat and he still pulls it off. Argh. I'm still not sure what to do about Logan's shoes for his costume. He's going to be a pirate but I don't have boots or even black shoes. I may have some leftover vinyl after making his scabbard, maybe I can make some shoe covers or something. I'm running out of time though quickly! My house is a disaster area and I feel so overwhelmed just looking at it. The minute I pick up the toys, one of them is pulling more out. What's the point? Oh yeah, my BIL and possibly my future SIL will be staying here and I can't have him live in this mess. Guess what dh will be helping me do this coming week? LOL

On the plus side, I'm going to Disney with some GF soon. Yippee!! I am so excited!! We're going to check out the Food & Wine festival(I want some more escargot and baklava!) and maybe park hop to ride those rides we don't get usually get to do since we have young kids. I'm bringing my camera and money and little else. What a load off. It seems whenever we go, we have our big camera, backpack, double stroller and sometimes a cooler. Phew.

It's Nemo!!

We went over to Epcot today to see the new Nemo ride over at the Living Seas. It was a passholder weekend preview only and it was really good! It feels kinda special to see everyone else turned away. LOL I know, that's mean. We actually did it twice and I would have gone again if Ian had cooperated. I LOVE the ending song "Big Blue World". It's part of the upcoming Nemo musical at AK too. I wish it was on a CD somewhere! I won't ruin it for those who haven't gone yet so I won't say what happens. There are videos on the web of it though. We did take some pics of the outside- it's the "mine, mine" birds! They are animatronic too- cool! These other pics are from the que (line you wait in).


It was also the Food & Wine festival- or just food in our case. I think this would make a great Girls Day (Julie? Amy?- since you both have passes!). Anyone up for it?? It runs thru Nov 12th! Anyway, we started out in Greece and Canada- we had Cheddar cheese soup and a Maple custard thingy at Canada and Spanokopita (spinach pie), Greek salad and baklava(walnut) in Greece. Then we walked over to France and I had escargot which was sooo yummy!!! When you think of snails, You don't think yum, but it's something you just have to try. It was in this butter garlic sauce with crusty bread. Mmmm. We also had chocolate creme brulee and a goat cheese tart which were both good. I had shrimp on the barbie in Australia. Dh bought pistachio baklava from Morocco and coconut rice pudding from India(didn't care for it). We also had Conga juice from Mexico which was good and refreshing. We ended up eating dinner in the Land instead of waiting in more lines. It was BUSY today. When Epcot is busy, you really can't tell a lot of times bc the park is so spread out. You could def. tell today. I got plenty of walking in so hopefully I burned off the calories. I found out a walk around the World Showcase is 1.2miles and we did that twice plus some. It was a gorgeous day and while my legs are tired, we had fun!!

Argh!

What is with my son?? I had to drag him screaming out of the park today because he wasn't listening. He was even telling other adults NO. Yea, I'm NOT having that. We talked in the car a little bit (I was steamed) and he said "I'm a bad kid". OMG! I've never called him bad and neither has dh. I don't know where he got it from but it broke my heart (not enough not to punish him though). I told him he wasn't a bad kid but he was being naughty and not listening. He sat in his room for a few minutes once we got home. We talked and he said he was sorry though by that point, I don't think he knew what to be sorry for anymore. He mentioned being sorry for lying (huh?). LOL Oh well...he's 4, right?

Ian is my escape artist. Someone at the park didn't close the gate correctly (it's not rocket science people!) and Ian was over there. I thought it was closed and when I saw him, he was just opening it and I was probably 25 feet away. I ran! LOL I can really tell how much weight I've lost now! I felt much lighter running. Can I say- 25 feet feels like a much longer distance when it's your child you are running after. He did slip out of the gate but he stopped outside and I was able to grab him. He wasn't happy about it either. He checked the gate out thoroughly after I closed it to see if he could get out again.

DOOL=Days of our Lives
Anyone else watch this? I love the Belle scenes right now. She's doing a great acting job. I seriously don't get why Mimi would give up her child though! Didn't she learn the 1st time? And Bonnie raising it? Oh no! Shawn and Willow= bleh!
EJ and Kate= gross!!!!!!!
Lucas and Sami= belong together

Ghost Hunters started again last night. I love this show. I'm a believer in ghosts and dh is a skeptic and possibly total non-believer. I like that TAPS tries to disprove hauntings. Last night's show was in the BirdCage theater in Tombstone, AZ. Very cool! Lots of unexplained noises and shadows and even a full body apparition. I'd love to visit one day.

It's late and I'm off to bed.

Fave time of year!

It was sooo beautiful out yesterday. I love this time of year. It actually seems like it came earlier this year too. I hope it isn't a super cold/rainy winter. We went to the park yesterday morning to meet some friends and it was just so cool and comfortable outside. The skies were a beautiful clear blue. Ahhh. It's supposed to warm up again today and tomorrow before another front moves thru. I'm hoping for another gorgeous Disney weekend.

This morning my house is so cold! I looked at the thermostat and it was 72 in here this morning. Brrr. LOL I know that doesn't seem cold, but my house is usually 74 at night and even that's cold! I was seriously thinking of turning on the heater for a few minutes just to get the chill out of the air. I haven't done it though. I left Ian in his warm pj's though this morning.

{Prayers please}
My GF Julie's dh Scott is having some medical issues and needs some prayers. He goes in for more testing tomorrow. His blood counts are low and he's feeling very bad. Please keep him and his family (they have a 4yr old too) in your prayers.

{Weight Loss}
I lost another 1.2lbs this week for a total of 57.4 so far. I have 28 to go for my goal. I chose a goal at the top of my range for age/height so I could lose more, but we'll see how I feel when I get there.

Magical Moments

We went to Disney's Magic Kingdom today. Can I say once again, I LOVE Disney! The park was much more crowded than I expected but we had a great time as usual. At one point during the day, I decided to do the Teacups(Madhatter). Logan didn't want to go so I told dh, let's just stand over here so he can see what they do and then if he still doesn't want to go, we'll do something else. Of course, Logan wanted to go on after that. So we walk back over to the line and we are the last ones. A CM (cast member) comes over and asks us if any of us were having an "unbirthday" today. I said of course! She had us get out of line and walk to another side entrance. We got to go choose our teacup and then she and the crowd sang us "Happy Unbirthday". She gave us an 8x10 photo of Alice and the Madhatter before letting everyone else on the ride. It was so cool and we (I) felt so special! If you don't know, Disney is doing The Year of a Million Dreams this year. There are a ton of prizes to be won just by being there or entering via mail. I don't know if what we experienced was part of that or not, but I loved it!

We also got to see something else we'd never seen. The ceremony of lowering of the flag just before sunset. They had a band and color guard(security). They played a few USA songs while lowering it and then gave it to the "veteran" of the day to keep. I was honored to watch.

We're going to the Passholders only opening of the new Nemo ride next weekend at Epcot. Epcot also has their Food & Wine Festival going on. Mmmm Have I said I love Disney yet? LOL The countdown is on to our Disney vacation. Yea!!

Ferry Boat at sunset

Dh thinks I'm nuts!

While driving thru our neighborhood tonight, I saw a Little Tikes climb & slide on the side of the road someone put out for trash. I was in dh's car and it wouldn't fit, so I called him and told him to stick the kids in the car and come help me. He thought I was nuts! LOL I guarded it while waiting for him. :-p I'm glad the people weren't home or they might think I'm nuts too! I told dh, this is worth good money. He said, yeah, but you aren't going to sell it. Nooo but I don't have to buy one either. And I could sell it eventually. I found a pic on Ebay of it and their's sold for over $50. It's just Ian's size.

I was a bit stressed today(the boys were just loud and Logan's attitude is driving me crazy!) so dh told me to go out and I went shopping. I went over to Burlington and found a nice coat for this winter. I don't think I'll be shopping for me again there anytime soon though. The racks are a disaster area in the women's section. Anyway, the coat I got is an off white "vanilla" corduroy with a faux fur lining. It's very cute IMO. The one I got is an exact replica aka knock off of the JLo coat. I saw both of them and noticed they had different tags and different prices. Ya, I went with the cheaper!

I also shopped with the boys today. We went over to BRU and while I thought about going over to Kohl's for the grand opening, I thought better of it when I saw how packed it was. We went over to JCP instead and I finally bought some luggage for our trip. The boys had fun playing inside of it when we got home. They fit in their respective suitcases rather well. Hmmmm LOL!

My GF started WW this week. I'm ready to support her in any way I can. I won't post her name in case she doesn't want anyone to know, but you go girl! You can do this!!

Speaking of WW, I hopped on the scale this morning and was up a couple of ounces. Boooo. I've been OP all week and within pts so I think I need to up my pts a bit. It seems when I eat more, I lose. I hate having to force feed myself though (what a problem to have!).

Okay- off to watch Grey's! I'll have to post about LOST later. Love that show!!

Invisible?

Do you ever feel invisible online? There's a conversation going on online about weight loss and while some people are just posting about their losses, some (including me) posted some before and after pictures. Some people are "visual" and like to see the results rather than read about them. So far, I'm the only one NOONE has commented on. I think my pics show a pretty good change in me but maybe noone else does?
It's not the first time I've felt invisible....oh well...I know I've done an awesome job! :D

I went thru the boys' clothes today to see what if anything I needed to buy for fall/winter. I think we're set! Oh my- I had no idea just how many clothes Logan had a few years ago. Ian is set with hand me downs for winter. There are even a few NWT things. Logan still fits into most of his stuff from last year too so I don't think I'll have to buy anything. Yea! Now I just need to buy myself some winter stuff, including a coat. Mine is huge!

Robert Passed!

Forgot to mention that! Yay!! One license to go!

Woman Math

Got this from Racheal Ray too- love it!

You buy an expensive dress at 40% off, with the money you saved on the dress, you buy cute shoes which happen to be 20% off and with the money you saved on shoes, you go buy a cute necklace to round out your new outfit!

Also, a $400 dress can be much less expensive if you think of it this way. If you only wear it twice, it's a $200 dress but if you wear it 10x, it's only a $40 dress! LOL

Yum-O

(Stole that from Racheal Ray LOL)

Some GFs and I went to Bern's dessert room last night. It was soooo cool!! When you walk in, it's dimly lit by these lanterns that give off a orange/red hue and there's a bunch of portraits on the wall, a huge mirror and a marble staircase. You go to the back and upstairs and the rooms in the dessert room are made from these huge (HUGE) old wine vats(barrels). We had a semi private room with a door. On the wall is a phone to call the live musician and a buttons to listen to different types of music. We each picked something chocolate and tasted a bit of everything and they were oh so sinful! I got a chocolate cheese pie which was like a choc. cream cheese mousse with homemade whipped cream and choc shavings. Mmmm I also got the most sinful tasting iced coffee- I barely tasted coffee it was so sweet and creamy. So much for the flex points! I bet I used enough for 2 weeks. LOL I brought a banana cheese pie home for dh and it was YUM-O!! (To the girls who went- it didn't fall apart in the car like I thought- it was half a banana I saw that I thought was cake in the dark). After dinner, we took a tour of the kitchens and wine cellar. That was really neat! I could watch the kitchen staff forever. The grill holds over 200 steaks at once and uses only charcoal (no gas/propane). They have 2 huge circular aquariums for their fresh fish(they only had a small window but we watched this huge fish swim by). The wine cellar was cold inside! Everything is labeled by the Dewey Decimal system just like the library. There's a "rare" room with bottles of wine that go back to the 1800's and range from $300 to $10,000/bottle. It's the pic with all the bottles in plastic. The plastic is there to protect the labels in the high humidity of the room since they are so old.
It was just a very fun night!
Range of sizes

Me before leaving Saturday morning (in my new size!)

Boredom
I went to the seminar with dh yesterday. Yawn! I guess it wasn't all bad bc I do have snippets of info in my head but it was def. more for Primerica people than it was for me or other spouses. Not something I want to do again. I was told it was at a golf club so I'm thinking a country club- something nice. Yeah, it wasn't. It's in the boonies of Odessa at basically a trailer park (or modular homes- some of which were nice looking) where they have a golf course. It was the Silver Dollar Golf Club and we were in the "rec" room. I was a bit more dressed up than needed for sure! Oh well, I got cute new clothes for it! LOL The boys did fine with my mom. I still hate leaving them. Ian got his first shiner while I was gone though. :( Logan was tumbling and hit him accidentally. He was happy to see me when we got home and clung to me for a while. Too cute! I am blessed to have 2 beautiful boys.
First shiner:

At.Ti.Tude.

Argh! I thought the even years were better! Logan has become this child I don't know anymore. Everything is NO. He's been getting up really early in the morning so the door knob cover went back on so he'll stay in his room and hopefully sleep later. Maybe the lack of sleep is doing it. Tonight dh got fed up with the backtalk and after being told to put a chair back and he slammed it away, he was put to bed about an hour earlier than usual- crying all the way and still being Mr Attitude. He promptly fell asleep though. Let's hope for a better day tomorrow.

Dh took his mortgage exam Wed and thinks he did okay. We won't get the results back for a few days I believe. He's been so much calmer though now that it's over. We talked about it and thankfully, when it comes to the securities license, he'll have much more than 2 days to study and he'll have a study partner. Phew!

After his test yesterday, he stayed home the rest of the day while I went shopping! I went to Beall's in PC and fit into every size 14 pants I tried!! Hooray!! I've finally dropped another size! I haven't been a 14 since 1994 or earlier! I went over to Beall's in Brandon too bc they were supposed to be holding a pair of capris for me, but they held the wrong ones. Grrr- oh well! I found even cuter clothes and even found an outfit for the conference Saturday. I also got new shoes at Peltz- woo woo. LOL Now I'm having a hard time finding a purse- everything is suitcase size or the wrong color. Can you wear dark, dark brown shoes with a lighter brown purse or even a black purse?

Our ressies are made for our flight to PA. I'm so not looking forward to the flight. The only flight we could get all 9 of us on, leaves at 6:30am with a layover in TN and we don't get to PA until noonish. THEN our return flight leaves at 6 with a layover in Michigan of all places and doesn't get back here until midnight! Ugh... I'm going to have to wake 2 little boys at 4am to drive to the airport to go thru security to wait another hour for the plane to leave. Poor dh- we won't get home til close to 1am I'm betting and he has to be up at 5:30 to go to work. We are renting a seperate car so hopefully while we look around PA, the boys can sleep until we can get to our hotel. I'm hoping they won't be too cranky. Ian will miss his nap for the anniv party so it should be a fun weekend. I think we'll stick close to home when we get back so we can back on schedule.

At.Ti.Tude.

Argh! I thought the even years were better! Logan has become this child I don't know anymore. Everything is NO. He's been getting up really early in the morning so the door knob cover went back on so he'll stay in his room and hopefully sleep later. Maybe the lack of sleep is doing it. Tonight dh got fed up with the backtalk and after being told to put a chair back and he slammed it away, he was put to bed about an hour earlier than usual- crying all the way and still being Mr Attitude. He promptly fell asleep though. Let's hope for a better day tomorrow.

Dh took his mortgage exam Wed and thinks he did okay. We won't get the results back for a few days I believe. He's been so much calmer though now that it's over. We talked about it and thankfully, when it comes to the securities license, he'll have much more than 2 days to study and he'll have a study partner. Phew!

After his test yesterday, he stayed home the rest of the day while I went shopping! I went to Beall's in PC and fit into every size 14 pants I tried!! Hooray!! I've finally dropped another size! I haven't been a 14 since 1994 or earlier! I went over to Beall's in Brandon too bc they were supposed to be holding a pair of capris for me, but they held the wrong ones. Grrr- oh well! I found even cuter clothes and even found an outfit for the conference Saturday. I also got new shoes at Peltz- woo woo. LOL Now I'm having a hard time finding a purse- everything is suitcase size or the wrong color. Can you wear dark, dark brown shoes with a lighter brown purse or even a black purse?

Our ressies are made for our flight to PA. I'm so not looking forward to the flight. The only flight we could get all 9 of us on, leaves at 6:30am with a layover in TN and we don't get to PA until noonish. THEN our return flight leaves at 6 with a layover in Michigan of all places and doesn't get back here until midnight! Ugh... I'm going to have to wake 2 little boys at 4am to drive to the airport to go thru security to wait another hour for the plane to leave. Poor dh- we won't get home til close to 1am I'm betting and he has to be up at 5:30 to go to work. We are renting a seperate car so hopefully while we look around PA, the boys can sleep until we can get to our hotel. I'm hoping they won't be too cranky. Ian will miss his nap for the anniv party so it should be a fun weekend. I think we'll stick close to home when we get back so we can back on schedule.

Klepto Ian

Yep, my 1yr old son is a klepto. LOL Yesterday at the mall, we went into the Disney store. As we were leaving, he knocked over some stuffed animals(or so I thought!). Logan picked them up and we left. We went half way down one side of the mall and 2/3 of the way back when I looked down to see Ian holding a stuffed cat from Aristocats. OMG- how did I not notice that? So we had to trek back down to the Disney store and give it back. The lady was super nice and said it happens all the time- mainly with those little antenna toppers though. Guess I better watch lil sticky fingers better. :-D

Anyone who reads this- please pray Robert passes his exam on Wed. He's so completely stressed right now, it's not even funny. Little things set him off and then he stresses me out. Today it was a knob Ian swiped (klepto again!) from dh's receiver. Now we can't find it. As he's looking for it, he decides out of the complete blue that he's not recycling anything anymore and throws away all the plastic bags and cans I had in the kitchen waiting to go into the recycling box. Argh! See, stupid things! I said he can do what he wants, but I still plan on recycling and he says, well I take out the trash, I'll just throw them away. OMG...if he's this bad right now with the mortgage exam, I may divorce him when he goes for his securities license! Pray for him, and pray for me(LOL).

Another weekend gone, another lb(s) lost and more random thoughts

Robert was gone all weekend taking his mortgage broker classes. He takes his exam on Wed. Let's pray he passes! While he was gone, I went to a mod meeting on Saturday and then Sunday the boys and I went shopping. I found a dress to wear to the upcoming anniv party in a size 14!! Yay!!

Last night I went over to Jen's after Robert got home and we watched Grey Gardens. It's a documentary. It was really hard to understand half of the stuff they said. It wasn't my cup of tea but I didn't hate it. It's not something I would have watched had I not been with friends. Doing some research on the net today, I found someone has made it into a Broadway musical and there's a film coming out. More popular than I thought!

I weighed in this morning- 2.8lbs lost this week. Yahoo! That's a total of 56.2lbs lost so far. Less than 30 to go! I also dropped in pts/day. Ugh...not looking forward to that!

Logan is still having poop issues and I'm at my wits end. I don't know how he can hold it with all the prune juice and fiber I've been putting in him. LOL

Here's my newest LO from retrodiva's Inspired kit. I really like this one!

Check up time!

The boys each had their well visits yesterday. I would have posted last night but I was too caught up in all the season premiers on tv. LOL

Logan's 4yr- he's 42.5in(90%) and 44lbs(90%). He's healthy except for the poop issues we're having. Ugh

Ian's 15mo- He's 32-1/8in (think they may have measured slightly short) and 22lbs 8.5oz. He went up on the weight charts. Yay! He did get 2 shots, but cried for only a moment and was fine the rest of the day.

On another weight note- I WI this morning still in my pj's and I was down to 175. YAY! By Monday, AF will be gone or lighter and hopefully I'll be down more. That's 2lbs from this past Monday lost. I'll be glad to get past this slump. Looking forward to fitting into the next size DOWN and getting into the 160s.

Season Premiers!!
Last night was Greys Anatomy. I got into this show last season when they did their big bomb show after Superbowl. After that, I was hooked and watched every show including all the reruns they did this summer so I'm all caught up.

ER was on too but I TIVOd it and I've seen a few minutes so far. Thank goodness for TIVO!!

Scrapbooking
Here's the new blinkie Keela made for our CT. I still can't figure out how to add it to my sidebar. Grrr Every time I try, I erase everything from the sidebar somehow.

I did make a new LO from retrodiva's Spice Latte kit but I'm not sure I'm in love with it. I need to get to work and get some more new LOs done!

Crikey!

I just watched the Steve Irwin "Croc Hunter" memorial service and I was fine most of the way thru. It was a beautiful tribute to him. I lost it when Bindi (his dd) came out to speak about her Daddy though. She was just so sweet and she vowed to carry on in her Dad's footsteps. I was fine again until his best mate drove Steve's truck off for the final time and they started showing pics of Steve with his children and wife. He is missed by the entire world.
Here is a poem written for him:
THE CROCODILES ARE CRYING
Endless visions fill my head – this man – as large as life
And instantly my heart mourns for his angels and his wife
Because the way I see Steve Irwin – just put everything aside
It comes back to his family – it comes back to his pride
His animals inclusive – Crikey – light the place with love!
Shine his star with everything he fought to rise above
The crazy-man of Khaki from the day he left the pouch
Living out his dream and in that classic ‘Stevo’ crouch
Exploding forth with character and redefining cheek
It’s one thing to be honoured as a champion unique
It’s one thing to have microphones and spotlight cameras shoved
It’s another to be taken in and genuinely loved
But that was where he had it right – I guess he always knew
From his fathers’ modest reptile park and then Australia Zoo
We cringed at times and shook our heads – but true to natures call
There was something very Irwin in the make up of us all
Yes the more I care to think of it – the more he had it right
If you’re going to make a difference – make it big and make it bright!
Yes - he was a lunatic! Yes - he went head first!
But he made the world feel happy with his energetic burst
A world so large and loyal that it’s hard to comprehend
I doubt we truly count the warmth until life meets an end
To count it now I say a prayer with words of inspiration
May the spotlight shine forever on his dream for conservation
…My daughter broke the news to me – my six year old in tears
It was like she’d just turned old enough to show her honest fears
I tried to make some sense of it but whilst her Dad was trying
His little girl explained it best…she said “The crocodiles are crying”
Their best mate’s up in heaven now – the crocs up there are smiling!
And as sure as flowers, poems and cards and memories are piling
As sure as we’ll continue with the trademarks of his spiel
Of all the tributes worthy – he was rough…but he was real
As sure as ‘Crikey!’ fills the sky
I think we’ll miss ya Steve…goodbye

On another note: it's the TMX Elmo craze!!
I went out to Target this afternoon to pick up the new Elmo for Ian for Christmas if I could find it. It wasn't something I HAD to have. They did have them though and I went ahead and bought an extra for a gift or to possibly Ebay. While I'm standing there, this guy comes up and pulls every last Elmo off the shelf. I was shocked! I actually told the guy to leave some for someone else. LOL If you know me, I'm not one to speak out like that. All he could do was smile and say "why?". Grrr. When I got home there were 2000+ on Ebay and by tonight there were over 14,000 (yes thousand!) on Ebay. People are paying outrageous amts of money for these and some people in other parts of the countrey say their stores are still fully stocked. I'm betting from this guy's reaction, that there are no more in my area to be found!

Update:
My van wasn't as bad as I thought. It just needed rear brakes and the front brake was warped or something hence the noise. Thank goodness! Dh took care of the bill so I have no idea what it actually cost though. Still wondering how we're going to pay for this trip. All his side jobs will be slow right now as his buddy who gives him out as a reference is in Lebanon for who knows how long. Hmm Maybe I should sell Elmo now! LOL Oh and dh has decided he needs a laptop eventually for his Primerica gig. I understand but I hope he can wait until after Christmas!

Logan's Day

Today is Logan's 4th birthday. Yippee!! I can't believe it's been 4 years since I had my big guy. We had a small celebration at the park this morning with some friends (thanks Jen, Julie, Holly, Kandee, Gineen and kids!!). We had cookie pops and rice krispy treats. I ended up giving away the remaining cookie pops to some kids not with us(with parental permission) just so I didn't have to bring them home. Logan had 2-$3 off coupons for TRU, plus I had a $5/$25 so we went to TRU to pick out yet another toy. LOL He picked a new train and got a birthday crown and balloon from the front desk. He also got to pick out dinner and we ended up with Pizza Haven pizza (YUM!). Right now he's playing on his Leapster. This is the best gift ever! He is LOVING this toy and it's educational too which is a huge plus.
Here's the Birthday Boy!


Ugh...my weight is up .2 again this week. Man, I know it's my own fault. I need to exercise and I've been so lazy. I'm trying the "wendie" plan this week I think to see if I can kickstart this again. I think AF may be about to make an appearance too so maybe that's why. I've been playing with the same pound of weight for 3 weeks now. Grrr. I "only" ate 1-1/2 pieces of pizza tonight and that's good for me. I ate some broccoli afterwards too and I'm still full. I used quite a bit of pts on that pizza tonight though. If you're in the area, they have the BEST pizza. All those chain places and Trio's have nothing on PH.