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The first thing I bought when we got to Disney the first day was an autograph book. It is a must have. Hubby thought I was being weird (which I am), but it has brought much joy to us. Even hubby!

Hubby had taken the big girl and the boy on a ride that the baby wasn't big enough for. So we went and got autographs. They were the first ones in the book. I love the way Pooh is fluffing the baby's hair.

How can you not love this pic? The hug, the smile on the baby's face. Just makes me smile looking at it!

Eeyore may always look glum, but not this day. And the baby smiled the whole time.

 T-I-Double Guh-Rrrrrrrr. His head is made of rubber, and his tail is made of spring!

 Our first family photo at Disney. I never understood how a dog could have a dog as a pet, but they make a great team.

Rafiki!!



Briar Rose, aka Sleeping Beauty!

 



The king of the House of Mouse!

 



The Mrs.

 



Green Army Man! We kind of stumbled across him. Actually, I almost ran right into him!

We were able to go in to meet the Princesses! It was a long line, but they showed cartoons, so at least we were entertained.

 

Cinderella is my FAVORITE princess. I can't remember what was said, but I loved that I could make her laugh, too!

 



 

Mary Poppins! When we got home, I sat down at the computer and requested the movie from the library since the kids hadn't seen it yet. Loved it, even Dick Van Dyke's awful accent.

 

While the 2 big kids were at camp and hubby was at work, the baby and I headed to see the fairies. I was hoping they would all be there, but at least we got to see Vidia...

 

and Tinker Bell. It was a great day to spend with my baby.

 

 

Gaston, showing off as usual!

 

 

Arielle!!

 

 

There are still some autographs we want. We would like to get Peter Pan and Aladdin and Jasmine. The boy wants Chip and Dale. We're working on it. And we only have a month and a half left of our passes. We're thinking about renewing them, but time and the fiscal cliff will determine that. Hopefully, we can renew them even if we have to scale them down. It's worth every penny to see my kids laughing and smiles all around!

 

Have a great day.



Life Is Just a Fantasy

I tell people all the time that one of the best things we have done for our family is get Disney passes. We splurged when we got our taxes last year, and it has been well worth every penny!! I knew we would have a good time. I didn't know we would have a great time!!

As passholders, we were lucky enough to get to go into the new Fantasyland before it was opened to the general public. The process was a pain in the butt!! The Disney servers crashed, they didn't come back up when they were supposed to, there were so many issues, but we got in.

When we signed up for the preview, we had to decide if we wanted to do story time with Belle or autographs with Arielle. We wanted story time, but the only place left was with Arielle. Before we went, we stopped at Hollywood Studios and watched the Little Mermaid show. This is one thing the baby had been wanting to see, and what better time.

This is on the way to the Little Mermaid ride in Fantasyland. The walk to the ride is set up like a cave, with lots of flotsom and jetsom laying around. We thought it was pretty cool. You can even play a game with a crab that is gathering more things. You let the crab know when he's adding something to a group that doesn't belong. We had a great time with that.
 

I like rides that are continual. They move alot faster! This is just part of the ride, and some really cute kids!

Look at these 2 troublemakers! Aren't they beautiful? I love the one on the left so very much!

 This is one of the lights that was on the way to see Arielle to get her autograph. The picture just does not do it justice. They had some in different colors and they are way cool. I want one!

This is a statue of Gaston that was in Belle's village. It really looked like Gaston. I like the little guy filling his cup while the keg leaks.

  I loved the way this castle looks. I want one!! And I want ot to be in the mountains!! On a deserted tropical island!! With lots of the lamps from above!! I know, I don't want much.

Beautiful waterfall! It looks huge, but it really isn't. Along with the castle above, it made me feel like I was in the mountains.

We had a great time. We went to three parks that day, missing only Animal Kingdom. It was a great day and we were grateful for the opportunity. And the food. You should try the chocolate croissant. Mercy! That thing was good!!

Have a great day.

Old Pics

These are three pics (of pics) that we came across at my mom's. We were freakin' adorable!!

Have a great day.

Summer Reading

Every summer, my kids participate in the summer reading program. If your local library has a program, please participate. It is one of those things that will make a world of difference come budget time. There are 2 seperate programs. One is for elementary and the other for middle/high school. I have kids in both. They read so many pages/books/minutes/hours, whatever you decide, and then they get prizes. Their checkout receipts are entered for a drawing, there are performances and movies, and crafts!

This was the last craft day. I enjoyed the poster and matching the characters. I'm weird, I know. It's also a great list of books. Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is one of my favorites!

This is Ms. Suzanne with my kids. She is wonderful, and we love her. She takes the time to actually listen to what the parents and the kids want and then does her best to implement it. To go along with a Frommer's giveaway, she organized a Harry Potter tea party for the England guide. That was fun!

There were these little beauties. You decorate them and then make them a pin or a magnet. The magnet is better. These were too heavy for the pins. After they were decorated, Ms. Suzanne had glow in the dark paint to coat them with. The first thing we did when we got home was run to the big girl's closet and shut the door. They really glowed.

Then there were masks. Can you tell the big girl takes her art very seriously?

The boy, not so much. His mask was just plain fun.

And the baby hiding behind her mask. Crazy thing. She gets crazy from her father.

The big girl won a prize! There were only a handful of kids in the upper grade program this year. This was the prize for the last week. Gotta love prizes!!

We are reading fools. Most of us will read anything we can get our hands on. Please utilize your local library. It's about more than just books. They have foreign language programs, computer access, internet capabilities, and most of them have friendly, knowledgable people that can help you with just about any information you need. If they don't have it, they know where to find it. The kids also participate in a book club that meets once a month and a Pokemon Club that meets twice a month. They also have Lego clubs, chess clubs, movie days, cooking classes, homesteading classes, farming classes, and so much more. Most of the programs are free. You would be amazed at how much your local library has to offer. Our library staff knows us by name and we get priority service because of it. That never hurts, either. 

Have a great day.

Family Pics, 2012

I love the fact that I have the following pics, but I am not happy about the reason. At. All. They were taken at my mother's funeral. It was good to see my family. Some I had never met. Some had never met my children. But we were able to come together to mourn and grieve the loss of a mother, wife, sister, aunt, cousin, and friend. We were also together to celebrate her and her life.

 This is Big Sis. Isn't she beautiful? I love her like no other. She is my friend and my soul. She is an amazing woman and I don't think she knows it. Now it's in print for everyone to see.

 These are four of the reasons my sister is amazing. These are my gorgeous nieces. I love and miss them dearly. How can you not smile when you see them? They just make my heart sing.

 My mother had three brothers, one of which died a few years ago, and two sisters. These are my aunts and uncles. While I was growing up, we saw them as often as we could. We went for Thanksgiving and Christmas and, when we were lucky, a week or two in the summer. And football and basketball season we saw them ALOT. They are huge Arkansas Razorback fans. And loud!! I love it!! Those visits are some of my best memories.  

These are my cousins. Sweet summers. Laughing and running. All of us listening to Van Halen in GP's room, cranked as loud as it would go. That was the first time I had ever heard rock music. It was like the heavens opened up and David Lee Roth started singing. Magical moment for a kid who was forced to listen to Country and Western. I don't mean that stuff we hear today. Think ooooolllllddddd C&W. Dancing in my cousin C's room. That woman was quite the dancer, let me tell you what. R is the tall one in the ball cap. He is my cousin D's son. I had not met him before this day. That stinks. The other man is my cousin, G. And Big Sis. :)

My heart yearns...

Have a great day.