Orlando Vacation, Part II

Emma with her souvenir of choice.

The next day was our magical Magic Kingdom day. Thanks to smaller January crowds and fast passes we were able to do just about every attraction in the park. The weather was gorgeous. It couldn't have been a more perfect day.




Audrey was able to wow the crowd with her mad hula hooping skills.





Proof that I was actually there. This is the only picture I'm in
out of the few hundred we have of the trip.



The last thing we did was visit Mickey. With a stroke of luck, Minnie was there too.

Orlando Vacation, Part I

As a Christmas present to the girls, we took them on a trip to Orlando. They had two days off school in January and we thought that would be the perfect time to go. When we first started talking about going, we were planning on driving. But then Greg figured out that his frequesnt flier miles would cover five of the six of us (yes, he has been travelling that much lately) and it was a no-brainer.

It snowed the morning we left. It made going to Florida
in the middle of winter that much sweeter.

It was Emma's first time on a plane. She was so nervous but she ended up loving it. When we landed she was so mad and confused that the plane didn't take us to Disney World.

We had dinner at Steak 'n Shake

 then went to Downtown Disney, where the kids tried on just about every pair of ears,

got a sprinkling of pixie dust,

rocked out at a dance party,

and rode the carousel.

The next day we went to Clearwater, a beach on the Gulf coast. It was a little chilly to be swimming at the beach, but it was fun anyway.

We spent the rest of the day warming up at the heated pool and hot tub at the resort.

 

Halloween 2011

Another Halloween down and I made it out alive. This year really wasn't that bad. I actually enjoyed making what I did of the costumes. I think we've hit a relatively easy stage of life. With three in school full time, no diapers, they all sleep through the night. Not too much hormonal drama yet. It's quite nice. Here's the rundown on each of their costumes:

No, she's not throwing gang signs, she's showing off her manicure. Carolyn was a spa girl. She found the idea online. I made the eye mask out of scraps from Emma's costume.

Molly was Alice in Wonderland. My mom made her the blue dress to wear to church. One Sunday, someone commented that it was just like Alice's dress without the apron. So she decided she wanted to be Alice this year. I made the apron out of scrap drapery lining that I had.

Audrey wanted to be a mermaid so she wore the costume that I made for Molly a few years ago. Easy!

Emma wanted to be a "purple princess Emma." She wanted it to be sparkly and to have three bows becuase she's three. You can't see in the picture that the fabric has glittery specks. I added two bows to the sleeves to make three. I got the necklace at the Children's Place. We were there shopping and she kept whining because she wanted something and I kept saying, "No, no." But when I finally saw what it was she wanted, it was just. so. her.  I had to buy it.  I'm such a sucker. I guess that's what happens with the youngest child.

Emma's First Day of Preschool

Today was Emma's first day of preschool. How did she feel about it? I think this picture pretty much sums it up:

I talked up preschool all summer long. Her sisters told her how much fun she was going to have. We laid out her clothes the night before, including her new purple "first day of school shirt." I tried everything. When I woke her up this morning, she started kicking and screaming and crying becuase she didn't want to go to school. It took both Greg and me to get her dressed. He held her down while I put her clothes on her. I kept telling her that we'd go check it out--see if they had nice teachers there, see if there were fun toys and good snacks. When it was time to leave, she said through her tears, "We'll see how it is."

When we got there she wasn't crying anymore but she was still clinging to my leg. I took her around the room and we saw the tiny water fountain, the tiny toilets and sinks, and all the toys. She was starting to warm up a little...

She willingly went to the rug for circle time while I went across the hall for the parents' meeting. The parents all left from there and when I came back to pick her up she had a smile on her face...

She had a great time! And I don't think we'll have any problems when we go back on Tuesday. So to celebrate a successful first day of school we went to have some ice cream down on the farm. Nothing makes for a happy ending like Broom's Bloom.



No, I did not order her three scoops. That was a kiddie cone.
And yes, she ate the whole thing.





Emma's 3!

My baby just turned three. She's officially moving out of the toddler stage and becoming a preschooler. How did this happen so fast?

For her birthday she wanted to go to the beach. I felt a little bad that we didn't go to the real beach. Instead, we went to Hammerman, a man-made beach at a nearby state park. It turned out to be perfect. The water wasn't as cold as the ocean would have been and there weren't any scary waves for us to worry about. All of the kids had such a good time. And Greg was a good sport to play in the water with them while I relaxed in a beach chair. I had forgotten how good the warm sand feels on my feet.

Here are a few things that I want to remember about Emma when she was three:

• Her favorite color is purple. She is my only little girl whose favorite color wasn't pink.


• She loves anything and everything girly--dresses, purses, jewelry, sunglasses, etc.


• She LOVES to swim.


• Sometimes when I'm laying down, she'll give me a kiss on the forehead.


• She has a major sweet tooth.

The Rundown

I'm baaaack!

Did you miss me?

No?

Well, I didn't really miss blogging either. Does that mean it's time to call it quits?

Perhaps my three month blogging hiatus was due to my joining Facebook.

Yes, I joined Facebook.

I swore I never would. I heard about people who were addicted and would waste hours on it. But I was also feeling like I was missing out on everything. There would be conversations like this:

Me: "What?! They're moving?!"

Facebook using friend: "Yeah, she posted it on Facebook."

So, I'm in the loop now. And I now have a quicker and easier way to share the highlights of my mundane life with the world. But for those of you who are not my Facebook friends, here's some of what you've missed over the last three months.

CAROLYN

She turned 10! It seems like just a couple years ago that she was a terror of a toddler. Luckily, she outgrew that and she is such a mature and responsible girl. She's gotten straight A's since last year, when they first start getting letter grades. I joke with her about when she'll get her first B on a report card. She just had her spring concert at school. She plays the flute and sings in the chorus and in girls' ensemble, a more elite chorus that she had to try out for.

MOLLY

She turned eight and was baptized. Instead of a birthday party she chose to go to Hersheypark. We had a fun time despite the 40-something degree weather. There was a 70% chance of rain and it was cloudy all day but the most we got was a misting. She just commented the other day that she wished the water rides had been open. Ha!

AUDREY

I told her to give me a ballet pose and this is what she did. Love it!

She turned five and we were able to fulfill her dream of having a Chuck E. Cheese birthday party. Ticket blaster, medal, inflatable token crown...she got it all. She also just had her first (and maybe last) dance recital. She took jazz and ballet this year. I thought that if any of my kids would turn out to be a dancer it would be her. But when she was onstage she was more interested in picking up fallen sequins off the floor than dancing. She also just had her preschool graduation and she is all registered for kindergarten! I can't wait!

EMMA

She is almost three and is as cute as ever. I just can't get enough of her delicious cheeks. I still see her as my baby but I'm sure not to say it in front of her or she'll say, "I not a baby. I a big girl!" She'll start preschool in the fall. I am already fantasizing about all the errands I'll be able to run during those two hours, twice a week.

PROJECTS

They've been pretty non-existent lately. I did finish sewing some curtains for the kitchen. It's not the best picture but you get the idea. I've been trying to muster up the courage and energy to attack my next big idea: painting the piano. I'll write a post if/when I get that done...or maybe I'll just post it on Facebook.

The End of an Era

Nine years, nine months, and 13 days. Nearly a decade.

That's how long I changed diapers.

Continuously.

Which means every child overlapped with the next, so there were often times when I had two children in diapers.

I think I can officially say that Emma is potty trained, now that she's been wearing underwear for a week and she hasn't had an accident for three days.

I couldn't be happier.

She was saying, "Mommy, don't take my picture."

Hee, hee. I'm so mean.