ICK!!

If you don't know, it's lovebug season here in FL. What are lovebugs? They are these dumb little bugs who love to fly while doing the deed and they are highly atracted to car exhaust so they just swarm on the highways. Of course, when you are doing 70mph, you end up with a nasty mess all over your car and windshield that does not come off easily. It can hurt your paint if left on too.

So we are driving to Epcot this morning and of course, we didn't get out of the house when I wanted to and we hit the beginning of peak time for them to start flying. You can see them coming at you despite them being pretty small and then you hear the splat each time you hit one. Ugh. Windshield fluid does nothing for cleaning them. I tried cruising behind people today which worked for a while but everytime I'd get behind someone, they'd start driving all slow. Don't get behind a semi though, they just deflect the bugs right onto you. So we're driving along and Logan has to pee. Luckily we're only 2 miles from a rest area and we pull in. Lovebugs EVERYWHERE! You had to walk thru a swarm of them. Dh was able to somewhat clean my ws off even though the minute you pull back on I-4, you're hearing splat, splat, splat again. So we're pulling out and I look at the ground on the ramp to get back on the interstate and there's these brown spots everywhere. I jokingly said something about all the lovebugs killed and then we spot them. Grasshoppers. Not little crickets, huge freakin' grasshoppers. I. HATE. GRASSHOPPERS. That's what all the brown spots were. Gross!! Ick!!! As many spots as there were, there were more live ones and they were everywhere near that rest area ramp. Lovebugs I can deal with as I'm walking around. They are just a nuisance, but grasshoppers just give me the creeps.

We made it to Epcot in one piece though and many thousand lovebug pieces came with us. We rode the newly refurbished Mexico ride that now features the Three Caballeros. Ian got to go see his fave characters- Chip and Dale. He's so funny, all he wants to do is give them huge hugs. We took pics of the topiaries since it's the last week of the Flower & Garden Festival. ETA: If you ever get to go to Epcot, go over to Norway and try the School Bread (Skolebrod). It is so yummy! It's this bread with vanilla custard (tons) inside and on top and the outside top is covered in coconut. We split one between the 4 of us and it will def. be a snack next time!

We are thinking about having going on vacation there again in Sept. Just gotta start planning and come up with the cash. I think it turned out to be a good day! I still can't believe my little man is 2. I just don't know how time moves so fast. Here are just a few pics from today.

Capt'n Hook and Peter Pan

Rafiki and Simba

Pirate Mickey and Minnie

Mary Poppins, Ian and I

Bambi, Flower, Logan and I

Ian's fave buddies- Chip and Dale!

Ian's Parties & a Date

We had Ian's birthday party today. My little boy will be 2 tomorrow! It was a good party though. Very low key, just family. We had pizza and I made him the cutest cake. My black icing messed up but noone seemed to care or notice. I ate way too much pizza but it was so good. Ian got some trains and cardboard building blocks from us. He mostly got clothes from everyone else. I really don't understand why people buy him clothes. Not only that, but my mom gave out the wrong sizes so he got stuff he wouldn't be able to wear until a year from now if we are lucky. Ugh. It's stuff that would have fit Logan 6mo ago! I can barely get 2T shorts that fit him and he got 3T and 4T stuff. It's also Walmart stuff. I don't like Walmart clothes. They don't wear well and unfortunately, everything that was bought is so NOT my style. I guess I'll be making a trip to Walmart. Oh and I got no gift receipts either.... insert rolling eyes... (for what it's worth, the giver knows it's the wrong size and told me to go exchange it but gave no receipt) I'm not ungrateful at all just a bit disappointed. Ian doesn't care though. He had a good day despite taking no nap (it never fails, when I want him to take one, he won't and when we need to be somewhere he'll sleep late!).

He also had a party with his friends from playgroup on Friday at the park. He did get some toys there so at least he got something fun. LOL He was worn out!

Logan keeps asking when his birthday is. Ian had 2 parties and now Monday we are going to Epcot on his actual birthday and all poor Logan keeps saying is "It's his bday again?!" Poor baby. His Abuela (grandma) did buy him a toy so he wouldn't feel so left out today. He loves playing with the building blocks as well. He'll be just fine.

Pictures!! Sorry they are so small. My blog gets all messed up if they aren't. :(
My big boy on the big slide.

Birthday Boy





On a seperate subject, dh and I got our first "date" day in over 4 years on Saturday. Woohoo! We dropped the boys off at my BIL's and went to the theater to see the new Pirates movie. The last movie I saw in the theater was Cars way back when (last summer?) and that was just Logan and I. It was nice. We were even able to hold hands. Awww. No strollers, no holding the kids' hands, no holding kids at all! It was a long movie and my butt started to hurt but it was good. Don't drink a lot during this movie. LOL It's like 3 hours long. I liked the movie but Jack wasn't the same "drunken", funny pirate from the 1st 2 movies it seemed. I love his mannerisms and I didn't see as many. I'll just have to watch again I guess. :) For anyone who hasn't seen it, I won't spoil anything but you have to stay and watch the scene AFTER all the credits run. There are a lot of credits too but wait for it. That was the end of date day as we had to get the boys (can't leave them too long, BIL may never watch them again LOL) and clean the house for today's party. I'm hoping to do it again though. It was nice to get out with my hubby!

Just venting

I really dislike my sister sometimes. She has problems. Marriage problems, money problems, boyfriend problems. Yes, I said boyfriend. She's shacking up and divorcing her dh. That's not so much my business except she's (or the bf is!) keeping my nephew from his family. He hasn't seen his dad, us or his grandparents. Today he was supposed to come to Ian's bday party. My mom was picking him up and bringing him over. Logan was glad to hear he was coming and now I have to tell him he's not. My sis called and told mom she couldn't get T out of bed this morning (mind you the party isn't til 3pm). Mom asked if she could go by and pick him up at home. Oh no, K (the bf) might not LET you have him. HELLO??!!! Whose child is he?? My mom called me to tell me and sounded like she had been crying. I really hate what my sister is doing to our family. It really sounds like K is very controlling and is destroying my sister's relationship with all her family. This isn't the first incident. My parents have bent over backward for her. Everything they do is for her and T. Do you think my sis gives a hoot? Doesn't seem like it. The only time my sis calls mom is if she wants something. If mom calls her, she has to leave message after message and finally get mean to get a phone call back. I just don't get it. I feel really bad for T. He LOVES his grandparents. They are the stability in his life and he doesn't have that now. There are no grandparent laws in FL but man I wish there were. I wish my parents could take her to court to see him or even get custody. She isn't a bad or unfit mom, just stupid and immature.

I vowed to dh today that if anything were to happen to us I'd never do that to him or his mom. I'm blessed to have dh.

It's our 8th Anniversary!

Has it really been that long? It doesn't really feel like it. We're not doing anything really special, maybe going out tonight for dinner with the boys. We wanted dh to get off work today but it was a no go. Oh well. Maybe on our 10th anniversary we'll get to do something really cool.

What he got me...wow....everyone knows he spoils me. I don't ask for these things (ok, I did drool over the Coach purses) but he knows I like pretty things and he always comes thru for me. When he came home for lunch today, he had Ian bring me a bag. Inside was a GC for a portrait session at Studio One to One which includes a framed 8x24 and 5 sheets, unlimited enhancements and touchups to use however I want. Funny thing is I was thinking about booking the Studio for Ian's 2yr photos and some pics of the boys together. Now I think we'll do some family portraits. He also got me a gorgeous diamond bracelet (tennis?). Wow. I don't think a picture can even do it justice.
He's harder to buy for. But I got him what he wanted which was speakers for his PC. Not just cheapo speakers, but speakers with a subwoofer and bass control. LOL Nothing says love than a booming sound system for his computer.

Scary moment!

We had swim lessons yesterday afternoon. Logan is doing awesome. He's swimming like a fish and loves getting thrown into the pool. After his lesson, it was Ian's turn. Ian was ready to go so I was standing with him but not really paying attention and I hear 1,2,3 and Logan pushed him into the pool! OMG! Thom wasn't in there as he was setting the timer again.I seem to remember yelling NOOO and then I was on the ground grabbing his arm and pulling him to the surface. Thom had jumped back in as well. My heart was pounding, my hands were shaking and of course I had nightmares last night. Ian was scared but okay. Thom told me next time I should count 1-1000, 2-1000 but Mommy instincts just clicked and I reacted. LOL We had to explain to Logan that while he was a good swimmer now, some kids (and especially his brother!) are not and he can't push anyone into the pool. Ian is doing very well in lessons though. He now turns automatically back to the wall and is kicking his legs more. He did it several times by himself yesterday including "choo choo-ing"(using his hands and the wall) over to the stairs by himself. I'm so proud of both of them.

I can't believe Ian will be 2 in less than a week! I have 2 parties to plan and still haven't called everyone to come. Oops. I'm keeping it simple this year though with just a cupcake party for our friends and pizza and cake for the family. It still means a lot to do though, cleaning the house, baking and decorating the cupcakes and cake, shopping.... Glad the boys are a few months apart!

What is wrong with some parents?

Why do they allow their children to bounce around in the back of a moving vehicle? Why are they not concerned about their safety? Who's the parent? It drives me crazy and all I can do is shake my head. In an 30mph accident, a 6yr old child becomes the equivalent of a full grown elephant. Would you want that flying at you from behind? Why would you ever put your child at risk like that?

On another note.... I really don't like this time of year. It's time for season & series finales and cancellations. So far, several of my fave shows have been cancelled or the series is over. Gilmore girls is done after 7 years of laughter and tears. 7th Heaven is over. I watched those kids grow up. Jericho, The Class and What about Brian have been cancelled. That's 5 shows on my Tivo! What's next?

Wow!

I just checked my MySpace page and had a message from a girl I was friends with in 5th grade!!! That's over 20 years ago. She even remembered I lived on Clay. Her mom still lives in the same house which is the neighborhood across from mine. The internet is an amazing tool.

What else is happening... I was told today that Logan really only needed one more swim lesson. He has all the safety stuff down. I'm going to keep him in though as I really want it ingrained in him plus he needs to learn to use his arms more. Ian has now had his 2nd lesson where he didn't cry a single time and actually loved being in the water. Thom (instructor) is calling him a wild man now though as he has no fear of the water. Despite the fact he can not swim, he's ready to jump in before Thom says go and readily sticks his head in the water even when Thom is holding him tight. It's an amazing transformation. He was screaming his head off or whimpering for me just a week and a half ago. I couldn't be in his sight at all so I had to hide out in the house and watch from the window. Now he's not always ready to get out. Next step is getting some practice time in. Problem is none of my family has a pool! Think we can sneak into a hotel pool? LOL

Our permit on the new room is finally ready! Yippee! We had more red tape though.Ugh. Our contractor came by today and I had to sign a Letter of Commencement, basically a letter saying they are starting. How dumb is that? I had to go get it notarized too. Thank goodness Mom is a notary. So once he has the paper back in hand, they should start by Friday or Monday. Im so ready for it! We already have decorating plans and even bought a Mickey Mouse area rug. Hahaha! I saw the cutest 3D artwork at BB&B tonight too- it was film reels and the Clapboard for movie sets. Perfect!

Busy weekend ahead- I have a Mom's Night In on Friday and a movie night with some friends on Saturday. We're doing a Forrest Gump theme. How fun! Anyone for some shrimp and Dr Pepper?

Happy Mother's Day!

Ok, so it's nearly Monday and Mother's Day is almost over but I thought I'd throw it out there anyway. Today was a pretty good day. Dh let me sleep in a bit. Not that it really mattered, my body just won't let me sleep "in" anymore so I was tossing and turning at 8am. When I finally got up though, Ian jumped off dh's lap and ran to me. He was so happy to see me which has to be the best feeling in the world. Logan ran over to me and struggled to remember what he had to say. LOL After 30sec or so though, he got it and said Happy Mother's Day. He ran to get my gift which he and dh went to buy yesterday. I saw the bag in the car so I had a feeling of what it was. Here it is! I got another Coach bag. Yea! Logan actually picked out a blue one but dh didn't think I'd use it as much with nothing to wear with it. LOL

After cooking breakfast for myself and taking a shower, we went to "steal" my mom's truck. She wanted a system in her truck like I have with subwoofers and amps. She teaches line dancing and now loves the music I listen to that she used to hate when I was a kid. Go figure. So dh arranged it, Daddy took mom out all day and we took her truck. She drives a huge Nissan Titan. OMG it's a beast! I swear it has more/bigger blind spots than anything I've ever driven. There's no way I'd be able to park that truck in a busy parking lot. LOL After we dropped it off, it was past Ian's naptime and boy was he cranky today so he went down, dh napped, Logan played and I watched tv. Nothing special. We went back to get her truck and take it to her and spent a little while with my parents, came home and now everyone is in bed except me. My mom really liked her gift. So that was my Mother's Day in a nutshell. Next up, our anniversary!

Old Flame

I happened upon a MySpace page last night that was a blast from the past. It was the girl who slept with my then boyfriend and got pregnant. I left him shortly after, ended up dating dh and am happily married but it was kinda strange seeing the both of them after so many years. She looks the same as she did then, only older (aren't we all!) and so does he. He still looks as scrubby as he did then too. Ugh. He actually married her which he swore he'd never do (get married in general) and they have 3 kids together. He's still best friends with the same guy too which is nice. I'll admit, I've been curious as to what happened with them over the years. I'd love to see his mom again, she was a nice lady. I do wish them well though. If not for their cheating, I never would have dated dh, gotten married and had 2 beautiful boys. So thanks to them both!

Speaking of flames, I do hope we get some rain soon. The fires up in Georgia are wreaking havoc on my sinuses. The smoke just fills the air here in Central FL. Anytime I'm around smoke, whether it's wood smoke or cigarettes, it sticks in my nose. I have a hard time breathing thru my nose and it stinks and gives me headaches. Even if I'm in the house with the AC running, the smell lingers in my nose forever. It stinks! Literally!

WTH??????

If this isn't illegal, it darn well should be (just looked it up and it is illegal!). While leaving the rec center and turning onto Bell Shoals (and then Bloomingdale) which both are busy roads, the guy in front of me was driving his motorcycle. He wasn't wearing a helmet- dumb but he's an adult and has that choice. That's not my problem, my problem is he has an 8-9 yr old CHILD on the back with NO helmet!!! That child doesn't get to make that choice. He doesn't have the maturity or common sense to make that choice. All I kept thinking was What If? What if he had to swerve and the boy wasn't hanging on tight enough? What if a car hit them? Ugh. I couldn't get the license plate but even if I had, who do you call? 911? I was always taught to only call them in a dire emergency. Grrrr

Is it just my dh?

Or all men? Why is it he can take the garbage out but can NEVER remember to put a new bag in? It's not even the excuse of having no time in the morning to do it, he took the bags out last night! Argh.

ETA: He actually put a bag in one day this week. Wow. LOL

What?!

I was getting ready to head out to Lowes yesterday so dh was watching the boys. It was around 11:30ish I guess. I came out and noticed that dh had eaten lunch (left the dish on the stove) so I asked if he had fed the boys yet. He said No. When I asked why, he said because they had raisins. What?! You didn't feed them lunch bc they each had a box of raisins and you think that's lunch? I was dumbfounded. LOL

one other- the other day someone actually said to me, you only need to see Disney once. Huh? I've been more than 30x I'm guessing in the last year and a half and I still haven't seen or done everything there is to do. I see/do something new every time I go. She actually preferred Busch Gardens to Disney. Whatever! In her defense, she has older kids that can do BG and all the rides. There's nothing for little ones at BG IMO, except Dragon Land which I heard is closed a lot of times. Thanks, but no thanks. We'll stick to Disney until the boys are old enough to head to BG and ride everything there.

My apologies

to Julie and my loyal readers (jen) for not having my small camera on me at Disney today. I love to people watch and Disney is such a great place to do it. Julie turned me on to taking pics of people with a lack of fashion sense (I'm no fashionista but I don't make these faux pas!). Let's see, today I saw a Nascar fan with a mullet (seriously!?), a late 30ish-early 40ish woman wearing black socks with white sneakers (isn't this an old man thing?), man capris- not shorts (he was obviously not from the US), old woman with no bra- obvious by the way her nips were poking out, a guy wearing everything color coordinated in bright colors down to the multicolored shoes! (not browns, we're talking red, yellow, orange, etc) and let's not forget the women who can wear certain shorts/pants but should NOT wear them! Muffin tops, see thru shorts (white undies under white shorts is a no-no people), too short shorts.... ugh.

Let's go Lightning!!!

I got to go to my 1st playoff(NHL) game Wed. night with some friends and it was so much fun. I've missed going to games and didn't realize how much until last night. Back before kids, we had season tickets and had such a blast going. The crowds cheering, screaming, clapping, the intensity of the game, the players feeding off the crowd's energy- it's so ____ at times. I can't even describe it. What a game it was too- came back from a 2 goal deficit to tie the game and went into a sudden death OT. We did lose in OT eventually though. :( Now the series is tied 2-2 and we play in NJ again tonight.

What else is going on? Hmm. Not too much that I can think of. I always think of things to write about until I actually get online and then nothing comes to mind. I need to start planning a 2nd birthday party for Ian. I think Mickey Mouse will be our theme. I saw some cute I Spy pillows on one of my boards that would make great favors if I can get my act together and get the supplies. I'd like to do a no sew option if I can find the stuff. I'm still hoping our new room will be ready but I have a feeling it won't. The walls may be up but I'm doubting the inside will be finished. We haven't heard about our permits coming thru yet so it's not looking good for an inside party. Booo. His birthday falls on a holiday weekend so I can't rent a pavilion at a park either. I'd hate to plan a party, get to a park and have no pavilion available. So once again, I'm at a loss as to what to do. If it wasn't a holiday weekend, I'd say screw it and take him to Disney for the day. LOL

Speaking of Disney, we're going on Sunday and everytime I ask Logan what he wants to do, he always answers Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. That's my boy! He loves all things roller coaster. I can't wait til he's big enough to go on some of the other coasters and rides. The other night, I was trying to keep him awake in the car on our way home. I passed a Disney On Ice billboard so I started talking Disney. I asked what his fave thing about Disney was and the answer.... the hotel! LOL We've only stayed in 2 Disney hotels and I don't know why he enjoyed it so much except that it was someplace new and not home. If I could bring my own bed, I think I'd enjoy the hotels a bit more. Hehe.

Carseat destruction!

I got to kill 2 old carseats today. While cleaning out the shed, we found 2 infant seats. Both were expired so I got to try and destroy them. Man, I couldn't do it! I took a hammer to them and it didn't even dent them. I ended up pulling the covers off, cutting the straps, pulling off the foam and writing all over the shells "Expired, Damaged, Do Not Use". Dh will be taking them to work and throwing them in the dumpster (behind a locked gate) so I don't have to stick them on the curb. It was a rather bittersweet experience.

My "Fly" Boy

Logan got these sunglasses at our Easter Party with our playgroup earlier this week. He put both pair on and this is what we got.
I think he looks like a fly or insect of some sort. LOL

Speaking of the Easter party, Ian loved searching for Easter eggs. He did so much better than Logan ever did at his age. Logan otoh cried when someone got to an egg before he did. Poor thing. His best friend Trey stuck with him though and helped him out. Trey would find an egg and either point one out for Logan or give him one. Awwww. Logan did find the egg with the dollar bill inside though and got the special prize of the day which was a set of craft books. Very cool! Here are a few pics.
Trey and Logan


Ian showing Zane his loot


Egg Hunting

Renovations have begun!

A friend of dh has been working on our house this week. He tiled our main bath and installed a new toilet and he tiled (but hasn't grouted) our master bath and will install a new toilet in there tomorrow. I'm very happy with the results! He does tiling for a living and I now wish we'd known him before bc the bathroom tiling now looks better than the kitchen and it's the same stuff! Here's the hall bath. It was vinyl stick on tiles before.


Now that the tiling is done, the next step is painting. We've only had the paint sitting here for, oh I don't know, 3-4 months I guess! By the time it's finished, I'll want to change the bathroom again. LOL Here's the shower curtain going in there. The room will be painted the gold-ish color of the faces of the monkey (I think- I can't remember!!).


We also closed on our loan for the new addition to our house and today we signed the contract to build the new room! So exciting! Once we have the permits, the contractor said it will only take 3 weeks or so to finish the room. He's only doing part of the job though, we'll be doing the drywall, flooring and trim. Dh will hire his buddy again and I'm sure dh and my dad will do some work in there.

And since I'm talking about renovations on the house, I don't think I ever posted what my new door looks like. It probably won't be easy to see as this pic was taken at night, but there is a privacy film over the window that is watercolor. The picture is slightly darker than what the door actually is.


I think that's it for now.

Too quiet

I knew it was too quiet.....



Ian thought he'd rummage the drawers of the kitchen while I was getting ready to go out. Nothing like chocolate chips before dinner!

Reminder to Self

Dh is never to start a home improvement project again by himself or with his brother no matter how much it will save us!!!!

We bought our door a few months ago. Had dh and BIL "install" it but it was never finished (shimming wasn't done). Dh made it sound relatively simple so he tried it last night. 4 hours later and me taking the iniative to call my dad, it still isn't done so they NAIL the frame up. It was stuffed with newspaper around the edges to keep the bugs out overnight. OMG. This morning I frantically call a bunch of handymen who a) don't do that kind of job or b) don't answer the phone. Thankfully dh knows someone who was able to come over and almost finish the job. His wife finally went into labor so he's 3/4 of the way done. He's a neighbor though so I know where he lives! LOL He did come back after checking her into the hospital so he could at least put up the casing out front and foam between the wall and frame. No bugs tonight! I'm going to have him do some other stuff like tiling (his everyday job) the bathrooms, caulking our siding (another project half done!), and maybe finish painting the back area dh never finished (see?!).

Fave blogs

Taken a cue from a few friends, I thought I'd pass along my fave blogs to read.
Julie- witty, funny friend of mine
Fug- Makes fun of the clothes of celebrities 99% of the time- sometimes there's a compliment thrown in!
Grey Matter- all about Grey's Anatomy.
Amy- when she updates it that is!
Celebrity babies/moms and breastfeeding
Here's the home link to the Celebrity babies page
Hot Momma Gossip- more celebrities
Perez Hilton- sometimes! He can be mean!

Previous post

Boy I was rambling- must have been tired (and bored).

Son of a biscuit!!!

I just typed out a HUGE, LONG post and Maxthon ate it! ARGH!!!!!!!!!!!!! Well, I was saying I was very bored but since I have to retype this whole post all over again, guess I won't be bored anymore. Grrr. Now I have to remember what I was talking about. Not that any of it is super funny or interesting. LOL

Dh is sick- not a kickin your ass sick, but a stuffy nose sick. He was fine all day long, he worked his normal job, took a side job at lunch, came home and ate dinner, got grumpy and was sick all of a sudden. So he puts on a movie for Ian (after I already told Logan no and I was trying to spend some one on one time with Logan) and falls asleep on the couch. When he wakes up, he says he has no energy and does Benedryl make you sleepy? Uh YES! Men.

Logan is too smart! He has this 48pc dinosaur puzzle that is super long- like 4ft. Once we get going, he can finish it pretty quick. As I was putting it away earlier, I noticed a new puzzle in the top of his closet. When I pulled it down, it fell so I had to put it together. It wasn’t easy! When Logan saw it though, he got really excited and did better than me at putting it together. He’d never even played with it before. He amazes me.(side note: Anytime Ian sees a dinosaur, be it puzzle or toy, he lets out this really cute roar/growl sound. I love it! )

Cute conversation-
I made Logan a fruit shake tonight since he was “still hungry”. Afterwards, he wasn’t hungry anymore according to him. Until that is, dh decided to make popcorn. Logan ran into the room and said dh was making popcorn. I said “but you aren’t hungry anymore” and he replied, “I am now!” LOL

Ian has started saying uh-uh (no) and uh-huh (yes) instead of uh-uh for everything. The way he says his uh-huh(yes) is too cute though- his voice goes into this soprano at the end. It’s hard to imagine, I guess you just have to be there or be me. :D

I’ve been trying to curb his screaming, I stick him in his room each time he starts or at least threaten to. So far, so good. He knows I’m not playing. When I ask is he’s done, he’ll tell me uh-huh. I also make him say he’s “sorry (orry)”. Little booger has figured out how to take off the foot pedal on the baby gate to get out though.

We went to the zoo yesterday with some playgroup friends. We had fun. I think I need to take them more often though. I feel like I could make it more educational if I took the time to read the signs on the cages/pens to Logan. I just don’t usually like going by myself and I don’t want to hold back anyone else. I did get to see a mommy meerkat nursing her pups- while standing up! So cute! Ian still isn’t a big fan of the water fountains, he liked splashing his feet in it but if I splashed some cold water on him, he’d yell “oooucchh”. ROFL. I guess he only likes warm water- he always runs to the tub when I say bathtime.

Dh will be gone all day tomorrow and on Sunday my MIL and the contractor will be coming by. I really need some down time. I thought about going shopping and using my NY&Co coupon ($75 worth of clothes for $45) but I don’t think I can spend the money right now and I don’t really *need* clothes. I haven’t gone down another size yet. I did lose another half pound though which brings me to just over 70lbs lost. What to do, what to do?

FOUND!

The missing sandal has been located. Yippee! And thank goodness, I was planning on buying more today and decided not to. Dh was cleaning up Logan's room and found it. I don't know where, I looked in there twice!

New room!

Dh and I made the decision to add a room onto our home. Our loan has already been approved and we have someone lined up to do the room. It really won't cost us much more a month than what we're paying already since the van will be paid off. Plus, the loan is from Primerica and it will be paid off in 15-18 yrs even though it's a 30yr loan(depending on how we work it). They want to start within the next week! Wow. It should only take 4-5 weeks too since we'll be their main project (dh knows them). I'm excited about it. I know this won't be the answer to all our home dilemnas but it's a start. It's basically going to be another family room where we can entertain and keep at least one PC and some toys. If we want another baby, we'll need a new house or we'll be bunking kids together which I'm not thrilled with (I hated sharing a room). That's our big news!

Other not so good news- still can't find that missing sandal and it makes me so mad!! I can't believe I'm going to have to buy him another pair. Argh! They were never even worn. Maybe it'll turn up by the time Ian is 4yrs and a size 1. LOL

Screaming!

These kids have NOTHING on my son. I found this video online of a screaming contest. Ian could outdo them easily. LOL Check it out! He was mad that I wouldn't give him more to snack on. He'd already had a piece of toast and a banana. He just has a temper! Click the pic to see the video.


I swear CPS will be called on my one day bc people will think I'm killing him. He can scream NON-STOP for 20min- I swear. He did it in the car just yesterday for absolutely no reason other than he was mad that we had dropped dh off to pick up the van. I'd sell him if he wasn't so cute. (Just kidding!) Do you know how distracting that screaming is in the car?! Ugh. He's Jeckyl & Hyde wrapped in a 21mo old child. Lord help me when he's a teenager! Once again, I have a headache. Calgon, take me away!!! Dh already said he's coming home to spend time with the boys tonight so I plan on curling up in bed and catching up on some Tivo'd shows!

So much/nothing to say

I haven't blogged in a week. Wow. So much has happened and yet nothing much has happened.

Last weekend we left for Disney for my birthday weekend. We arrived at the Polynesian resort on Saturday and checked in. The hotel is beautiful. It took us a few minutes to get our bearings since the resort is so big. There are beautiful gardens and waterfalls, a beach overlooking the other hotels and the Magic Kingdom/Castle and fun pools. It's within walking distance to the Ticket/Transportation Center (faster than taking the monorail to the T&TC) and there's a walking path to the Grand Floridian as well. The rooms are large and spacious- much more so than the mod hotel we stayed at in the fall- Coronado Springs(which was a great hotel).


Sunday we got up and went to the Ohana breakfast where we got to meet Lilo, Stitch, Mickey and Pluto. It's a family style breakfast and they bring out SO much food! I ate so much bacon that morning. LOL They give out maracas to the kids for a parade around the restaurant with the characters. Logan got in front of Lilo instead of behind so he was either leading the parade or really, really far behind Pluto. LOL

We went to the Magic Kingdom afterward and rode a few things. I also got to meet my gf from Michigan whom I've "known" for like 3-4 years and her boys. Logan and her son Adam got along great. They even happened to be wearing the same shirts when they met. We didn't get much time together though as Ian was cranky so we decided to meet the next day (Monday). Alas, it wasn't meant to be this time.
Monday, Ian woke me up at 5:30am throwing up. Ugh. It lasted until 11am when we checked out of the hotel, cancelled my bday dinner ressie and went home. He ended up sleeping the entire way home. I sat in the 3rd row to make sure he was okay and napped myself! Since we did come home early, I got to go to my MNI and enjoy myself with friends for a little while.

Tuesday was uneventful until Tuesday night when he got sick again. Wed at 3am I woke up with it and it lasted 5 hours. It was horrible. I had to call dh home from work bc I was in no condition to care for the boys. I got some sleep and I'm glad I was better bc Ian was up sick again that night. I had to miss my bday dinner with my gf that night too. That's 2 bday dinners in one week! Thursday night Logan was sick a couple of times and dh had a fever Thursday and Friday. I was so ready for it to be over by then. We actually got some sleep Friday/Sat/Sunday though so besides having colds, I am praying the stomach flu part is over with.

I did get a new(er) car on Monday night though. Ian was feeling better so we made a trip out to Tarpon Springs to see a car and ended up bringing it home. It's a 2003 Honda Pilot EX with Leather/dvd. It's Evergreen Pearl and really nice. I thought it would be a lot roomier than it is for an 8 passenger car. You'd be hard pressed to put adults in the 3rd row. I'm just used to the van I guess which has a lot more room. We are keeping my van though so we have an alternate. Dh is now in audio mode- switching speakers in the 3 cars, getting a new dvd system (new car one doesn't work) for my truck, new stereo in my truck, etc. Now I can rock(bass) out in my new truck too. Hehehe.

I need a psychic!

Logan has lost one of his brand new, never worn, $40 sandals. Argh!! I've torn his room apart, searched Ian's room and the living room and looked in the toy bins. It is nowhere to be found. Anyone have an idea?

Too smart!

Ian has heard me start counting to three way too many times apparently. I told him to get down off of something. I started counting- 1...and he chimes in with 2 and something that sounded like 3. Not only that, but he's figured out how to get the baby gate to the kitchen open by getting down on the floor and pushing until it pops open. I know adults who can't get it open! He's figured out the weakest spot though.

He's talking so much, repeating everything like a parrot. Whenever the phone rings, he runs to the gate, pops it open and runs to the phone all the while saying "hello?, Hello?" Can this boy only be 21months? I don't remember Logan doing all this. Of couse my brain isn't the same anymore. Today I was singing the ABC's to him and when I was done, he started pointed at the letters on his Buc's jersey. He totally gets that that is what we were singing about. Wow.

Gum pain!

Argh for the past few days the gum over one of my wisdom teeth has been very swollen and painful. It's finally settled down somewhat but I went to the dentist today anyway dreading it all the way. I was so afraid they were gonna say I needed them pulled or something or I'd have to get those awful xrays that always gag me. I got good news instead though, not only did I not get that xray (I got this cool one where the xray machine goes around your head) but my wisdom teeth are in great shape, not bothering any other teeth and don't need to be removed. The gum is inflamed though so I'm on an antibiotic and taking Motrin as needed.

I took my last bellydance class last night. I'm thinking about going again the week after next for another 4 weeks(missing one class on my bday) but I really want someone to go with me. I like looking next to me and laughing with someone when we're learning a new move. It's just not the same without a friend there.

New windows?

Can't afford them! I can't believe how much money new windows run. I'm talking about good windows, not single or even double pane glass. We had someone come out for an estimate. His company sounds really good, They have a good rating with the BBB and a much better warranty than other companies. They claim a 40% decrease guarantee in your energy bill too or they will refund you the difference. This patented glass they use is really nice. He held one of those red heat lamps(like from a fast food place) up to their patented glass and then single, double and triple pane glass and you could tell the difference immediately. He also had a thermometer you could point and tell the temp anywhere in the house. The bulb was 502 degrees and the glass held directly on top of the bulb was 78 degrees. Anyway, our cost is over $10K just for windows! It's another $3.5K for the sliding glass door. Ouch! They are hurricane proof though and their warranty covers any and all glass breakage as long as it wasn't from structural damage (ie a tree falls on the roof) for the lifetime we own the house and the next owner (it's transferable one time!). We can't afford them now, that's for sure! The price is good for a year though so maybe sometime soon. Heaven knows, we need new windows!

It's Saturday and dh is gone for the day. Ugh. He'll be in Orlando for a few hours and then once he gets home, he has an appt soon after. Hopefully we'll get to do something/go somewhere tomorrow. At least I know I get him for a 3 day weekend next week!

Monkey Man- the video!

I'm always talking about Ian being a monkey. Now I have the proof. LOL I took this video today of him climbing up his brother's bunkbeds. No ladder involved except one he made himself. Forgive Logan's room, it's a mess!
Click here to watch "Little-Monkey-Ian"

I need a mental health day

or maybe a week. My boys are driving me insane with the whining, fussing, crying and fighting. Dh is great and gives me an hour or so to myself when he gets home and then after bedtime I get plenty of downtime but it's never enough. I know I'll be dealing with it all again tomorrow and the next day. I love my boys and I love being home with them but I'm losing my patience so much easier lately. Logan and his PT issues doesn't help matters. At this rate there's no way I could homeschool them.
I think I'm just having one of those days. I got an email today from a friend who's upset with me. I said something stupid the other day and I guess it hurt her feelings. I didn't mean anything by it and I wasn't trying to judge her or her parenting. I emailed her back with an apology but I've done nothing but think about it all night. I haven't heard back from her so I don't know what she's thinking or if she's forgiven my comment. I really didn't like how she compared our entire group of friends with past groups she's been in because I made one dumb comment though. That just isn't fair.
Ugh I'm tired, sad, and just feel like crying. Tears are a way of healing though right? I'll just add, I love blogging. I can get it all out without having to physically talk about it. Sometime, you just don't want to talk about things to anyone but you need a place to vent. This is def. mine.

Eeeekkk!

That's me squealing with delight! Dh bought me a Coach purse for Valentine's Day!!!! Ok so I kinda had a clue when he told me he not only went to the mall, but down to the Outlet mall as well. It's so pretty! He wants to get me a matching wallet now for it. We may be headed down to Ellenton on Sunday. I told him I needed an everyday purse now. I'd be afraid to set this down at the park for fear someone would walk off with it. Maybe a Fossil purse?

I being the procrastinator bought his gift this morning. LOL I kept forgetting! I went by Peltz and got him some new sneakers(Logan's idea) he was desperately in need of but I didn't give those as a gift. I did go by Target however and buy him another Xbox controller, recharger and game so he and Logan can play together (family friendly game of course!). He's tough to buy for. He liked everything though.

While at Peltz today, I found out they carried Crocs! They even have the cute Mary Jane type. I tried a pair of pink ones on and they were comfy. I've heard they aren't as comfy as the others though bc the footbed is made different. I'm waiting for the new styles. They also carry the Disney crocs and Jibbitz including the Disney Jibbitz. I had Logan try some on and they were so cute on him. I think if I get him some though it will be for summer time and I'll get the regular ones so he can add Jibbitz to them. Yeah, I know, I'm buying them more for me than him. LOL Maybe I'll find Ian a pair too so if they want to run in the water at the zoo or Disney they can do so without fear of getting their shoes soaked. Hmm now that I'm thinking about it, the Payless brand may be better for both of them. At least they are cheap enough to outgrow and buy more. Hehe.

What did I get??

Robert went out with his friend today. He lives out in St Pete. They went to the mall of all places and he bought my bday gift. The only hint he would give me is that it's "something I said I didn't need but he felt I should have". Hmmm...my purse perhaps?? That's the one thing I kept telling him I didn't need. I guess we'll see!
ETA: He just told me he also went down to the Ellenton outlet mall which just so happens to have a Coach store. Hmmm. I teased him about going to 2 malls today. He hates shopping and after 2 malls in one day, he can no longer complain about going with me. LOL I may also get this gift for V-Day Wed. Not so long of suspense for me and my readers!

I got my hair cut and colored today. I stuck with the same color but told Sally (my hairdresser) that I'd like to go darker at some point. She advised me to wait until fall because going dark over my blonde wouldn't "take" easily at first and add the sun and chlorine from swimming, etc during summer and it would fade quickly. I trust her. She did a really great job on my cut today. I love it. Of course, I haven't tried doing it myself yet. It never looks the same as when the hairdresser does it.

Last night I had a movie night with some girlfriends. We watched Sunset Boulevard with William Holden and Gloria Swanson. It was a good movie. Not something I would have watched on TV by myself. Talk about a crazy lady. So very dramatic in her poses and her eyes were always either half closed or so wide eyed she looked nuts. LOL "No-one ever leaves a star. That's what makes one a star."

Venting

So I typed out this whole blog the other day and then my browser crashed and I lost it. Vent #1

#2- Why can't Blogger remember me? Why do I have to go thru so many darn steps everytime I want to log in. I check the darn box every time!

#3- I took the pullups away from Logan. He's been doing so well and I thought it was time. I don't know if he's rebelling or what but he's had 3 accidents in 3 days now. Grrr. All his trains, bridges, L-Max and now a day of tv are gone. He's fine all day, uses the potty and then for some unknown reason, in the late afternoon, he pees or poops in his underwear. I just don't get it. Ask him why and he'll just say "because I did." Argh! I asked him all day long today, do you need to go potty? I don't know what to do with him!

On a different note, my little monkey man has learned how to climb out of the crib! Nooo! So I went out yesterday and bought a crib tent. He is so not ready for a bed. He'd never go to sleep! After wrangling with this tent for an hour, it's now on the crib. He didn't like it so much yesterday or today but tonight he only cried for a minute when I zipped him up in there. I feel better knowing he's safe inside and won't be climbing out while I'm asleep or something. He climbed out 3x during naptime the other day. I caught him at it once. I think he's destined to be an athlete! LOL

Logan used his first "bad" word yesterday. He called dh and I "stupids" when we wouldn't let him do something. OMG where did he hear it? I'm guessing it had to be on a movie. He has watched Shrek a couple of times in the past few weeks. On there maybe?

Speaking of Logan, I've been looking online at a couple of private schools in the area. I'm not sure I like the curriculum though. OOH, I like that the school would be small, it has athletics, it's Christian based and scores high in testing plus he'd go to school with the same kids every year. OTOH, it uses A Beka for it's curriculum and I'm not sure I like that. It's all about teaching science, math, etc. thru the bible. I want him to learn about all aspects of science- evolution, dinosaurs, etc. I want him to be tolerant & accepting of all walks of life too- including homosexuality. Since this is a bible teaching school (Grace Christian), I don't know how that works into it. I'm so torn. Public school is great too but I don't know that he'd get the one on one that he would in a smaller class environment. He's so bright and I just want the best for him. There's always homeschooling but then I have to think about Ian and what to do with him while I work with Logan. I'd have to keep the distractions to a minimum. I think I could do it but do I have the patience? It's all so overwhelming!

I'm so excited...

And I just can't hide it, I'm about to lose control and I think I like it... ok enough with the music. LOL I don't know why that was in my head.

I made my ressies this morning for my bday weekend. Yea!!! We're staying at the Poly and doing a princess dinner at the Grand Floridian and the Ohana (means family) breakfast with Lilo, Stitch, Mickey and Pluto. Fun, fun!! I can't wait! An internet friend from Michigan who I've "known" for 4 years or so will be there that weekend too. I can't wait to meet her and her 2 boys!

Not much else to say right now.

I have the best hubby!

Earlier this year (or was it Dec) we were discussing our Disney passes and checking out our calendar. I looked at everyone's birthdays and they all fall on a weekday or holiday. Looked like none of us would get to go to Disney on our birthdays. Dh came home and told me he asked off for my bday so we can spend it at Disney! Yea!!! He's even talking about spending the weekend there. Isn't he the best?! LOL Unfortunately, it falls during peak season so most of the hotels are sold out (at least online) so we'll see!

While out shopping for my MIL's bday gift last night (which took 2.5hours!) I got to drool over all the Coach purses. Sigh... We ended up getting her a Fossil purse which I happen to really like. It was more than I've paid for 2 purses though! I keep telling dh I do NOT want him to buy me a Coach bag though- way too expensive although a bargain compared to some of the purses celebrities carry around ($5K). LOL

Random stuff

I saw this today and was laughing out loud! Check it out. Thriller

Weird Foods Ewww

I want a Coach!

No, not of a team, a bag. I want a Coach purse. I don't really know why other than I really like how they look. I keep looking at purses at JCP and Target and none stand out to me. Maybe I should branch out, huh? I really need a new purse. Dh wouldn't agree with me, but I really need a new one. I can't justify spending $300 on a purse. I barely justify $50 on one! sigh... It has to be big enough to put a diaper and some wipes in as well as my wallet, WW calc. and some makeup (lipstick, sanitizer, gloss, powder), my cell phone and keys. It has to be a go-with-all kind of purse too. Maybe one day I'll find my perfect purse.

You know, I'm realizing something about myself lately and I don't know how or why it has come about except that I've lost all this weight and I think I look pretty darn good. I've always tried to look good when I go out. I do my hair, put on some makeup and don't try to wear holey, stained clothes. I like to make a good impression. But the more weight I lose, the more I want to look good. I don't want to be vain but I don't think there's anything wrong with looking good right? Maybe that's why the whole Coach bag issue has come up. I find myself wanting to try new things. A new brand, new size or style, new hair-do, etc. I don't want people to think I'm changing on the inside though and I don't think I am. I'm still me, just with a new outside. Make sense?

On to stuff that doesn't really involve me. We finally got our new door installed! Yea! It still needs some work but it took dh and BIL all.day.long. to install it. We need a new frame on the inside, quarter round on the outside and the frame needs to be painted. We added some privacy film to the inside which greatly helped and I think it will look really nice. I think it looks good though and everytime I walk by, I do a double take bc I'm not used to it. It could be partly that there's a huge window now or the fact that there's no more kid's magnets on the door. ;)

A few Ian words:
Wawa- water
Agua- water
Wah-ra- Dora
Apple- apple or orange depending on what toy fruit he's holding
Juice- juice (sounds exactly the same or like Jewwss but very cute how he says it with lips all puckered up)
Nana- banana
fu bah- fruit bar

Dinner with the GFs

So we had a Mom's Night Out last night at JoTo's restaurant. It was so good! It's a hibachi place where they cook your food in front of you. I must say, I know rice is cheap, but do you really need 2-3 cups of it on your plate alone? I'd much rather have more veggies. Boy have I changed! LOL I tried sushi for like the 3rd time. Julie and I split California rolls which are crab, avocado, and rice. It was good. Stacy ordered cucumber rolls which is rice and cucumber wrapped in seaweed. It was okay. Pretty boring actually but I didn't dislike it. Much better dipped in the soy sauce though. My dinner was shrimp and scallops. Mmmm. Makes me want more! I love seafood!!! After dinner, we all went out to Coldstone Creamery despite the fact that it was cold outside! I tried a smoothie made with their "sinless" icecream (made with Splenda). It was really sweet. Too sweet. It was a great night though and I had a ton of fun. I love getting out like this and hanging with my friends. I'm looking forward to Saturday's Book club meeting now. :D

Poor Logan- his fave pillow tore tonight. I bought it at Walmart like 2-3 years ago. It's his Stop/Go pillow with a sign on either side. I walked into his room tonight and there was "snow" everywhere! He had been playing in it with his trains. Oh my. I can't blame him, it looked like fun. :) I vacuumed it up, emptied the pillow the rest of the way and it now is sitting in the kitchen looking very deflated and pathetic. I offered to fix it or buy him a new pillow and he opted to fix it so we'll be headed to Joann's tomorrow to buy some fiber fill I guess. It didn't rip on the seam either so it should be great fun fixing it- it won't be pretty!

Bellydancing!

Wow! Who knew belly dancing was so tough?! My legs are already feeling it and it's only been an hour since class ended. Me and 4 of my GF from playgroup are doing a class at the local rec. center. It seems to be more hip dancing than belly dancing though. We learned a routine tonight and I still can't remember if I start with my left or right hip first. Oh well. I never took dance classes! It was fun though and we did a lot of laughing at ourselves.

Disney-
We went to AK and MK yesterday. My BIL and his GF (future SIL) came along and bought passes too. Yea! We were able to actually get on a few things we haven't been able to do with kids. BIL doesn't like thrill rides so he watched the boys for us. :) The one ride we wanted to do was out of Fast Passes though and we didn't want to wait in the stand by line. Eventually we will get on Expedition Everest! Overall it was a fun day. BIL was worn out! LOL He's got to get in better shape since he's got passes now! He'll be doing LOTS of walking. On our way out, dh bought me my new snowglobe. He wanted to get it for me for Christmas but you can only buy it in the park and we didn't go back that month. I love it. It's Cinderella's Carriage all done in silver with the globe in the middle. It's even got the mice on it. Isn't it purty? :)
Here's a pic of it I found online.
Eventually I need to find a place to show these off. I just haven't figured that part out yet. I have a bunch of snowglobes and nowhere to put them!

It's all Daddy's fault (Loganisms)

Logan was running around being goofy and acting like the guys from the Upside Down show. He asks you to push buttons on the imaginary remote and he'll do them (spin, freeze, unstick, etc). Dh had the "remote" in Fast Forward mode and Logan was running around and fell. As he's crying, he told Dh "You didn't push the stop button!!" ROFL!

This afternoon, he was playing with his Mack(from Cars) truck and was telling me all about the "butt flaps". He meant the "mud flaps". LOL

Woohoo for resort wear season!

LOL! I'm so tired of manufacturers sending all us Florida girls winter stuff in Aug/Sept. Come on people! It's freakin' 80 in December here. We don't need tons of furry wool coats, heavy sweaters and long sleeve shirts. We do still need capris, short sleeves and shorts. So thank goodness for resort wear time. It usually falls in January and I just got an email from JCP that it's time! It's time for shorts and capris to come back to the stores. Since losing weight, the only shorts I have are all way too big. I have one pair of capris that are my size and fit me in the waist perfectly but the rest of them wrinkles and stretches so much thru out the day, I look like I lost weight by day's end or wore pants too big. Looks like I'll be shopping soon.
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My boys are driving me insane. Omg, the fighting and whining and crying are enough to drive anyone insane. It starts out like this. Ian touches Logan's toys. Logan's yells "no that's mine!" Ian screams and runs away. Logan yells "give that back/to me". Ian screeches more. Logan starts crying "He won't give it back". Mommy intervenes depending on what toy it is and who had it first whether Ian has to give it back or Logan needs to share. It's only going to get worse isn't it?

View thru the eyes of a 4yr old

Logan received a Fisher Price Digital camera for Christmas from Santa. He loves this thing. I love looking at his pics. About half of them I end up deleting since they are just all white or all black- usually the result of getting too close to his subject but some have come out nice. He turns the camera upside down or tilts to get different angles. I especially love the pics of shoes and half a face. LOL The half a face isn't his fault though- even dh and I have problems with that. When you look thru the viewfinder, you see the whole face but when it takes the picture, only part of it is there. He hasn't learned to just look at the screen. It's too much fun the way Mom and Dad do it.

Ok I wanted to show the pics, but Blogger is cutting off half of the pics no matter how I size them. Grr

Just a couple of pics

My Lil' Monkey Man, this is the ladder he climbed up

Awww..... the little monkey!

I believe Ian said I Love You for the 1st time tonight. I kept saying it to him and he came out with a gibberish phrase that sounded like it so that's what I'm going with. LOL He's also quite the monkey. Dh had the ladder out so we could put our Christmas stuff up in the attic and Ian climbed right on up. Dh was standing with him the whole time btw. While we were taking the stuff down, we banished the boys to Logan's room for a few minutes. Logan came out a few minutes later and said Ian had climbed on his bed. Ok, I'm thinking he's on the bottom bunk, there's no ladder to the top. Wrong! He had climbed on the toy box back (it looks like a bench) and somehow climbed up to the next bed and was just standing there on the outside of it. He wasn't in the bed, but standing on the wood frame. OMG! I'm in so much trouble with this one. LOL I still have no clue how he climbed that far. There's a pretty wide space between the bench toybox and the frame.

Logan-ism

Tonight dh and Logan were putting together a wood train Logan got for Christmas. Dh told Logan he had to screw it into the wood. Logan asked dh "so, are you going to screw it up?". LOL

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.