So here it is, our fourth full day at WDW and finally I’ve got a moment to fill you all in on what’s been going on.  

So far we’ve toured three of the four major theme parks; Hollywood Studios is on our yet to do list.  Today we visited a water park (Blizzard Beach) for the first time.  We don’t really frequent water parks because with the ages of our kids it’s just not all that feasible but Blizzard Beach was fun, as far as water parks go.  I even learned a tip to pass along: if your self esteem needs a boost, throw on a suit and head to the closest water park.  I don’t want to be too graphic so I’ll just say that you’ll likely be amazed (and not in a good way) at what the majority of the population looks like in swimwear.  ’Nuff said right?

We’re off to the Hoop De Doo dinner show tonight.  I really should be showering the remnants of the water park stuff off before I go.  I’ll leave you with some photos though.

Wish ya were here!

We’ve done it again.  We’ve braved three airports and two flights with four children in tow.  You might be wondering how we do it.  I have but one word for you: carefully.

We take up an entire row on an airplane – from one window, across the aisle and all the way over to the window on the other side of the plane.  We’ve discovered that the best seating arrangement is to have all three girls sit together on one side of the aisle, with Torri in the middle, while Jeff, Jayce and I sit just across the aisle.  That way the girls can share use of the portable DVD player.  Torri has been relegated to act as referee to her two younger siblings; without her to cushion them, those two tend to fight like Tyson and Holyfield.

Wouldn’t you know that our flights to Orlando just couldn’t go off without a hitch.

One of our neighboring flyers was definitely not a HQP.  In fact, I’m fairly certain she smelled bad.

About 3/4 way through the flight from Albuquerque to Orlando I ventured across the aisle to assist Cassidy in the tightening of her seatbelt.  While I was struggling with the latches, the woman (whom I’ll refer to as mean brunette) in the seat directly in front of Cassidy, ahem, addressed me.

Mean Brunette: Excuse me, I think I can propose a remedy to this situation.
Me: Situation?
Mean Brunette: Your child is kicking my seat.
Me: Oh, I’m sorry.
Mean Brunette:  Well you see, this middle seat is empty.  Perhaps she could move to the middle seat and kick away.
Me: Yeah, um, the problem is that her and her sister tend to rip each other’s hair out at the roots whenever they come within three inches of one another.  Unless you are a paramedic, that proposal isn’t such a great idea.  I apologize about the seat kicking though.  I’ll talk to her.

Meanwhile, Jeff pipes up from across the aisle.

Jeff: (addressing mean brunette) You know, you could move to the middle seat.
Mean Brunette: (completely taken aback) Well!  Are you proposing I move to accommodate your child?
Me: (butting back in) I do apologize for the kicking.  She is a special needs child and behavior is something we really struggle with.  I can’t put her next to the redhead because they’d both end up beaten and bloody and that would put a serious damper on our family vacation.
Mean Brunette: Well then.  Maybe the redhead should be more well behaved.

This is where I had to take a deep breath ya’ll.  My tendency would be to show her that I , in fact, could be more well behaved.  I’ve been working hard though on not speaking out of anger and you should all be proud because I totally held my tongue.

The mean brunette first moved to the middle seat.  By the time I had finished with the seat belt she had moved to the aisle seat of the empty row behind the girls.  As she went she told me, in no uncertain terms, that she was none too happy about moving to accommodate my child.

My response to which was to smile sweetly and thank her kindly for her consideration.

You know what they say, after all, you catch more mean brunettes flies with honey.

More updates to come!

Jeff and I wrote our own vows.  It was his idea.  One that I was opposed to at first.  But after giving it some thought I realized he was right.  Nothing about our relationship was standard, so why should our vows be?

Having already been divorced I felt like I had a slight advantage when it came to the vow writing.  Not because I was an expert at keeping them obviously, but because I was very aware of what I wanted to do differently.  Of the things I needed to work harder at.  Of the sacrifices I was willing to make.

I remember sitting up in my bed, pen and paper in hand, and searching my soul for the right words.  Of course I wanted to convey everything I felt for this amazing man who was about to become my husband.  But I also thought it important to assure him that I understood the commitment.   That I had carefully considered every aspect of this new beginning and what it meant to be in it for the long haul.

I try to read over those vows every year about this time.

And every time I realize that I’m not exactly living up to what I said I’d do.

I promised patience and understanding.  Yet, of all the people under this roof, the patience I offer to my husband is far less than that I offer everyone else.

I promised to share the load.  But you’ve all been witness to me complaining about the garbage bag that goes un-replaced after the trash gets taken out for the night.

I promised encouragement.  I have no excuse then as to why it seems so much easier to point out faults than to give praise and appreciation.

I’ve fallen short in so many ways. 

And yet he still treats me like gold.  Like I can do no wrong.

He is the greatest man I’ve ever known.  A loving father, even to children with whom he shares no DNA.  A giving husband.  A hard worker, eager to provide for our family. 

I love him for his quirky ways.  For his sensitivity.  For his generosity.  For his contemplative side.  I love him for his eagerness to make me laugh.  For his insecurities.  For his gorgeous brown eyes. 

I once told him that he was brilliant and that he had a joie de vivre unlike anyone I’d ever known. 

It still holds true.

Happy Anniversary baby.  I love you.  All the time in the world.

Hi there.

Betcha came around hoping for a witty post.

Sorry to disappoint.

I have very little time.

You see, I’m undergoing last minute preparations for a certain trip that’s been in the works for quite some time now.

I’ve got bags to pack, nails to paint, a house-sitter to train, floors to scrub and lists to be whittled.

So if you’ll excuse me, I really should get busy.

Don’t worry though; I’ll be posting updates as often as I can.

As a close and personal friend of mine often says, “See you real soon!”

I got my new Pottery Barn catalog in the mail today.

Normally I’m hard-pressed to come across even a single item in it that I wouldn’t happily find a place for in my home.

This time, not so much.

Here are a few of the items I came across while perusing.

I’m especially fond of that witch wall mural.  And it’s a real steal at only $99, don’t ya think?  In fact, all of these fine items could be yours for just over $160 before tax and shipping.

Or…

You could probably find items that are eerily similar at the Dollar store for a buck a pop.  Tell me you haven’t seen that glitter skull there yourself and passed it up because you thought it was too over the top.

It’s not that I’m against pulling out the fake cobwebs and pumpkins.  But seriously, who orders this stuff?

Can I just tell you what a fabulous Saturday we had?  My brother, Aaron, and his girlfriend, Maya, and her parents were passing through our little desert city on their way to Houston.  (Yes, they are driving to Houston in spite of the mess Ike left behind).  Anyway, they were passing through and they were able to take a few hours to hang out with us for a bit.  Since it was only a few hours in the afternoon I didn’t do any cooking.  In fact I didn’t do much of anything and it was fabulous.  We pulled up the chairs in the backyard, poured a couple glasses of wine (don’t worry, the driver didn’t partake) and just enjoyed the company.  Aaron and Maya don’t have any children so you can imagine how a few hours with our crazy four wore them out.  It truly was a great afternoon though that flew by too fast.   

Aren’t they cute?

Before they pulled into town though, guess what I’d spent the morning doing.  C’mon, guess. 

Give up?

I did a mini makeover.  On Jeff.  It included cutting his overgrown hair.  And then I talked him into letting me use one of my Biore pore strip thingys on his shnoz.  But the kicker?  He let me wax his unibrow.  It totally took some convincing, but he let me do it.

And he looks so much less Mr. Brawny like for letting me have my way with the sugar wax.

I would post a picture but I’m not certain he’d be too happy about me showing off his freshly waxed brows.

Okay, last but not least, I wanted to show off something I am SO excited about.

You all remember that I’m running participating in a 5K in a few short weeks right?  Well, a couple of weeks ago I entered into a giveaway that Nicole at Apron Strings Aflutter was hosting.  The prize?  A running skirt.  Yep, you read right.  A skirt.  Well, a skort really, but you get my drift.  And I wanted to win SO badly.  You can imagine then how thrilled I was when Nicole let me know I was the lucky winner.

How cute is this?  I’m totally banking on the fact that my spiffy new skirt will distract everybody from the fact that I’m not so much a runner. 

Yeah, so how was your weekend?

I’m the proud recipient of a fabulous blog award and I just have to share.  It’s the I love your blog award and it was given to me by Michelle at Life With Three and Kalisha and Reneca at Mommy Lounge. 

I love to be loved.  Especially by these groovy gals.  And, you know what they say right?  What the world needs now is love, sweet love.  So I’m doing my part by passing it on!

Here are some blogs I’m loving lately…

Because I Said So (I’m not even holding the fact that she wants to put Obama in office against her. Isn’t that big of me?)

A Lucky Girl because she’s one creative chickadee and I just love her finds.

Total Mom Haircut because when Beth dishes, she gets down to the nitty gritty.  That’s my kind of girl.

Stinky John Jones Really honest and really funny.  Two things I love.

And Nicole at Apron Strings Aflutter tagged me for a meme in which I must tell confess to seven five weird things about me.  So here goes.

5.  I do not enjoy eating peaches because the fuzz gives me the heebie jeebies.
4.  I keep a calculator in my purse, in my bedroom and in the kitchen next to my laptop.  I tend to be sort of OCD about things involving numbers in spite of being really bad at math.
3.  I have a ton of virtual friends but in the town I live in I can’t even think of a single person who I can ask to drive us to the airport.
2.  I feel uncomfortable in situations where I am required to interact with adults.  I fear that my years of child-rearing have left me incapable of intelligent conversation.
1.  I think playgroups are for yuppies (oops, did i just say type that out loud?).

Yes, it was supposed to be seven.  So sue me.  If you’re weirder than me and can come up with seven things about yourself, then by all means, play along!

One of my children is afraid. 

She’s afraid all the time.

She sleeps with a blanket over her head.  She won’t stay in a room by herself, even in broad daylight.  She prefers to stay in her bathroom with the door shut at all times because, apparently ghosts don’t use toilets.

Yes, it is ghosts she is afraid of.  A  ghost in particular actually.  I sat down and had a long talk with her about this problem the other day.  It really has become a problem.  This fear of hers prevents her from functioning.  She won’t do her chores because she can’t be in a room by herself.  She showers right after school because she wouldn’t dare set foot in her bathroom after dusk.  Before she’ll flush the toilet she opens the bathroom door and then quickly flushes and dashes out of the room.  I can’t say what the bathroom dashing is all about but I’d venture to guess that the sound of the toilet agrivates the spirits.  

You can see how this poses a problem.  

Anyway, the ghost in question resembles a skeleton.  But he’s part ghost too.  He looks something like this: 

At least that’s what I’m picturing.

I’m not sure what to do.  This problem is ongoing.  It started over two years ago.  And rather than having improved with age, the irrational fear seems to have worsened.

Please help me.  I’m about bathroom-dashed out. 

Any suggestions?

My favorite month of the year is just around the corner. 

October.

My favorite because with it comes crisp air, pumpkin bread, gorgeous fall leaves and the birthday of yours truly.

Until a few years ago I wouldn’t have been able to think of a single bad thing about the month of October. 

My how things change.

I can think of something now.  Something really menacing.  Something that annoys me more than losing socks to the washing machine.  Something that, try as I might, I just can’t accept.

Football.

More specifically the sound of the football on the television. This is how it happens: I’ll be hanging out in the kitchen, slicing vegetables for a yummy minestrone.  I hear a commotion from the other room and I drop my knife and go to see what the matter might be.  In the playroom I find that Cassidy is torturing Jayce again.  I threaten them both with a beating and calmly return to the sanctity of my kitchen only to find that all is not well.  The soothing XM radio channel on the TV has quite abruptly been changed to something far more obnoxious.  Whistles screech loudly from the TV speakers.  Large gatherings of people (predominantly men) can be heard simultaneously cheering and hissing and making deep guttural noises that their mothers clearly did not tell them are rather unbecoming.  Booming voices of sportscasters ring out overly animated calls of fouls and touchdowns.  Their roller coaster voices echo off of my granite counter tops and leave me wanting nothing more than to throw my KitchenAid through the screen, thereby sufficiently silencing the game. 

Football makes me momentarily wish we didn’t own a DVR.  Or a HDTV.  Or at least that I could turn it off until the final whistle of the Super Bowl blows.

I used to be a cheerleader.  The sound of a football game being broadcast to the masses filled me with adrenaline.  Now it makes my blood boil.  Seriously.  Downright boil.

I’m going to bed now.

Wake me when it’s February.

Remember those Disney shirts we were working on?  Well, it took me awhile to get this post ready because, well, because I’m lazy.  When I finally finished ironing on all those transfers and neatly folding the shirts so as not to crease the transfers the last thing I wanted to do was unfold all of them to take pictures.

I had a few spare seconds today though so I snapped a couple of quick photos.  You’ll notice that I made every effort not to disturb that aforementioned folding.

I think you’ll agree that these babies are totally cute.

We have five shirts each.  Three of our shirts are personalized so that while it’s clearly recognizable that we’re a group, each person’s shirt is a bit different.

Here are those:

That last group is our Animal Kingdom shirt.  The logos we came up with may not make a lot of sense to you unless you’re a Disney World fan.  Each one sort of corresponds with an attraction at Disney’s Animal Kingdom theme park.  The “advertisement” is meant to be tongue in cheek on a few of them.  For instance, inside the Tree of Life is an attraction called “It’s Tough to Be a Bug.”  So, the exterminator bit kind of pokes fun at that.  The Mt. Everest Track Inspector (tough to read in this picture) refers to the infamous mangled tracks on the Expedition Everest ride.

Fun aren’t they?

And then we have two shirts that are not personalized.  Well, they are personalized in that we made them, but unlike those first three, these are identical.

Here are those:

And last but not least are the books we made.  We came up with this idea last year and it was such a handy tool that we brought them back.  They contain a daily itinerary, fun facts and trivia, and a “While You Wait” section that has all sorts of Disney-inspired games to help keep the kiddos (and adults actually) entertained while we are waiting in line for attractions.

See there?  Told you we put a lot of effort into our trips.

So, whatdya think?  Which is your favorite?