House Decision #1

The Farmer and I finally decided on a contractor. We actually decided before we left for Disney World, but we just got around to signing the contract tonight. I tell you what, if every decision during this process is like the contractor decision, then I'm just not going to have any hair by the time the darn house is finished.

This is stressful.

Luckily The Farmer took care of telling the other guy that we had not decided to go with him. I couldn't have done that.

So, now we have a contractor, and The Farmer has had some guys out on our property knocking down trees where the house is going to go. They have also been clearing the road and digging out a pond in a low spot on the property (it was either dig a pond or have a swamp when it rains, so we went with the pond option), and we will use the dirt from the pond to fill in where we need it.

I had hoped that we would be a lot further along in this process by October 27th, but I sure am glad that we are getting started. It is exciting to see work going on out there! I have some pictures on my camera that I need to upload and post, but I'm not sure you can tell much at this point!

Magic Kingdom

I had a nice, long post with words and pictures all about our day at the Magic Kingdom. However, when I hit publish, Blogger came back to me with a "bad request" error. So, now you just get pictures. You're welcome...

We took the three kids on Splash Mountain. This is how Bubba felt about it:

I wouldn't suggest taking a three year old on Splash Mountain whether he is tall enough or not! I knew as soon as we hit the first little drop and Bubba started crying that we were in for it...Daddy was saying "I told you so the entire time!"

Favorites from the day:

Miss Priss: Splash Mountain

Sassy: meeting the Disney Princesses

Bubba: Aladdin's Magic Carpet Ride

MGM/Hollywood Studios

I am starting off my Disney picture posts with Day 2. I had planned on putting all of my pictures in one blog post, but I have way too many, so I am doing this backwards...

We went to Hollywood Studios (which I grew up knowing as MGM) on Sunday. The first day the kids and I rode the shuttle from our hotel over to Disney. We stayed at a hotel near the PMA, and the website for the hotel said that it is 4 miles from Disney World.

Yeah right.

The shuttle only drops off at Epcot, and then we had to buy our tickets, get on a monorail to the ticket and transportation center, get on another monorail, and then finally arrive at the Magic Kingdom a little over an hour after we set out. That was Day 1, and I realized there is definitely something to be said for staying on Disney property.

On Day 2 we realized that we could drive and park at The Grand Floridian where my parents were staying and just hop on the bus with them. Much, much easier...

But on to pictures...

Bubba was really excited to get to "meet" Lightning McQueen. So excited, in fact, that he climbed right on top of Lightning. All of the Disney Cast Members immediately freaked out and asked me to get my son off the car. So, for the rest of our turn at getting our picture taken/getting to meet Lightning, I followed Bubba around the car, asking him to please just stand still and smile for a durn picture! He finally did.

Bubba also loved the big dinosaur in the pond in the middle of MGM. He wanted to get his picture taken with it while he roared. So, if you live anywhere in the southeastern US and you heard some very loud R-O-A-R-I-N-G on October 17, don't worry, it was just Bubba. He did it for a good five minutes or so! (Notice Bubba's Lightning and Mater shirt in the pictures. Grandmama and Granddaddy got it for him, and he wanted to wear it immediately!)

I have to say my favorite meal while we were there was our lunch at Hollywood Studios. We went to the 50's Prime Time Cafe, a kitchenette themed restaurant complete with black and white tvs and waiters who tell you how to mind your manners. The food is all home-cookin', and my dad and I both had the best. fried. chicken. ever. While we waited for our reservation, they had some hula-hoops outside for the kids to play with...and it was all fun and games until someone lost an eye...or at least, until Miss Priss whacked Sassy in the eye with her hula-hoop. Then both girls started crying, and we decided to wait inside. (And Sassy still bears that battle scar a week later.)

Hands down, the highlight of the day was getting to meet Mickey Mouse. Bubba told me that morning that he wanted to meet Mickey, so that was our mission for the day. I was a bit worried that we wouldn't see him, but thankfully we did! Disney World is one of those working vacations for adults -- there is a lot of carrying of children, dealing with whiney kids and meltdowns, etc. There are plenty of moments when you wonder why in the world you thought it would be a good idea to even come to Disney in the first place when you could have gone on an adults-only vacation to someplace tropical. But meeting Mickey was one of those moments (and there were plenty more of them, I promise!) that make a Disney trip totally worth it. To see the look on my little three-year-old's face was just priceless. The girls loved getting to meet Mickey, too (I know they don't seem to be getting much mention in this post), but Bubba is just at that age where he just believes and it is just so magical for him. It really made the day.

Favorites from the day:

Miss Priss: The Great Movie ride (I think because it was the only ride we went on...)

Sassy: Beauty and the Beast (a show)

Bubba: either meeting Mickey or Lightning

Next up...Magic Kingdom!

Surprise!!!

The Farmer and I took the kids on a surprise trip to Disney World this past weekend!

A couple of months ago, The Farmer came home and told me that he had to go to a big trade show in Orlando called the PMA. His idea was to take the whole family along and for me to get my parents to meet us down there to help me take the kids to Disney while he was at the trade show all day. I love Disney World, so I was immediately on board, and I knew that my parents would be, too!

A couple of days before the trip, I started telling the kids that we had a big weekend planned, but that was all that I was going to tell them about it. The day before the trip, my mom gave me a bunch of cute little signs that said stuff like I know where you are going tomorrow! and I am going too, and we will have a great time! and I am very excited! and I put those out at the breakfast table before school on Friday. We sent some very excited kids off to school, ready to be picked up at 11:45 with more clues as to where we were heading.

When we got the kids in the car, I started playing some Disney songs on my iPod, and it didn't take long before the guessed where our weekend destination was, and, boy, were they excited! I was never so ready to get out of the car as I was by the time that we finally made it to Orlando. Three very excited kids and a six hour car trip don't mix very well -- especially when you add in five o'clock Orlando traffic!

But, we had a great trip. Two days at Disney World is definitely fast and furious -- and very tiring with three little ones -- but I am very happy that we went. Disney really is a magical place for kids, and I love to see it through the eyes of my kids. I have a lot of pictures to post tomorrow, so stay tuned, but for now, I need to go rest and recover!

St. Simons, Part Dos

For part two I am just doing a photo montage because it took me forty forevers to get these uploaded on here last night, and then I was too tired to add any words. I was really hoping to have 3 posts in 3 days for the first time in who knows how long, but that was just too ambitious of me...So here you go this morning!

I just love these three of Bubba and Sassy because they are so ridiculous with Bubba in his purple, sparkly sunglasses!



Okay, I will add some words...We did go to the beach a little bit at St. Simons. For kids who live at the beach, it was hard to get them to want to go to the beach on vacation. Having a pool in our courtyard was much more appealing to them than having to take a short drive to the beach, but we did force them, against their will (just kidding), to the beach at least once...




Miss Priss kind of looks like a teenager in this one and the next one of her, and it depresses me...



Sassy got a kite for her birthday from her Aunt L and Uncle A, and the kids loved taking turns flying the kite. The kite was shaped like a butterfly, and Sassy's dumb mommy (although I will say that I was not the only one -- many other beach goers did, too!) mistook it for a stingray as it flew over the water! So that is the random string that the kids are all holding onto in the following pics...






The Mud Monster:

A cute baby bottom:


Miss Sassypants on a mission:


Joni and her chillens:






Pouty McPouterson:

Future husband and wife:


The little nut, EC:

The gang's all here!:

Stay tuned for Part 3 (yes, there will be a Part 3!), in which I will show you the adorable t-shirts I got for all of the chillens from Smitten & Company!