Merry Christmas!! (Er, um - this is being posted a little late!!)

It's here and it's been fun so far! We have gone to church, fed the reindeer, skyped with family, opened some presents, seen what Santa brought, and have begun to test out all the new goodies. And, it's not over yet!! We still haven't gone to Grandpa Saint's and Mimi's yet!!


Some highlights of the Christmas fun so far:

1. Seeing Olivia as Mary in the children's church service.
2. Watching the joy on Aidan's face when he opened his Thomas Action Canyon.
3. Having Rick home, even if for only a few days.
4. Skyping with my sister and her family.
5. Being home for Christmas and spending time with my mom.
6. Phone calls with Santa and Dad.
7. Spending time with Grandpa Saint and Mimi.

I am sure I will be able to add to the list this evening!

Enjoy the photos, oh - and the video of Aidan!

Oh Yeah, She Rocks!

Olivia wrote this song. The music and the lyrics. She amazes me!

(By the way, if you go to the bottom of the page and turn off the playlist, you should be able to hear Livi just fine!)

Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer!

Last night, both the kids had their choral programs. Yes, I said BOTH. What a disaster! Rick and I had to make a choice, who will see which program? Livi decided that Daddy should come to her show and Mommy would go to Aidan's. Okay, seemed like a plan.

Aidan was so excited to go sing at the church! He was smiling his big smile and even giggling a bit. I thought it was going to go off without a hitch. Boy was I wrong!

We got there and Aidan went into overdrive. He was a wild man. Running around, roaring - I left him in the good hands of his teachers and hoped he would straighten out!

Finally, he and his classmates began to come up on to the stage. They looked adorable! White over sized sweat shirts with reindeer painted on the front, antlers and red noses - who could resist these little preschool reindeer?!

The music began and Aidan began to sing with his class. He made it through one song, before he spotted me. Once he saw me, he stopped singing and tried to yell stuff to me! Stuff about the boy standing next to him, the tail on his shirt, the string that had come loose on his shirt - why couldn't he just sing the songs!?!

Eventually, after kinda singing some of the songs, he went AWOL and left the stage to look for me! What a mama's boy.

His teacher brought him to me after his group finished. He was so happy to see me and didn't seem bothered at all that he really didn't participate. He just wanted to go home and hang out with me!

I love that kid.

Dress As Your Favorite Book Character Day!

Livi was rocking the Kaya outfit today! Kaya is an American Girl doll. If you don't know about American Girl, they have novels that tell stories about the lives of their historical dolls. Liv chose Kaya, the Native American doll/story. Doesn't she look great!? I had the dress in my stash of costumes at school and we added the underclothes and slippers - yep, those are slippers! I made some bead necklaces too. We have a friend who is Mohawk and she loaned us the more intricate bead necklace. Jackpot, right!? I braided her hair, added some feathers and some leather cord. Tie off the waist and voila! Last year, she placed third in her whole third grade class for her Hermione costume. We will have to wait to see how she does this year!

Update: Livi didn't win the contest - boooo!

Halloween!!

We have been looking forward to Halloween for about a month now. Olivia has flip flopped on what costume she wants to wear about ten times and Aidan has asked "Is it Halloween?"every morning. He has been funny about what he wants to be. When I brought home a dragon costume, he was so happy. Then, he changed his mind and wanted to be his cousin Abbie May! THEN, he changed his mind again and wanted to be a ghost. Finally, we talked him back into being a dragon.

Trick or treating started out a little rough. Aidan was really crabby - horrible mood! He was whiny, and restless, and even went out and laid on the porch. He almost didn't go. But, thankfully the Davis' showed up and off we went! Olivia, of course, was stoked for getting as much candy as possible. After a few houses, Aidan shook off his funk and was having fun.

It was fun to have the Davis' with us. Their little boy, Logan, was a cowboy - horse and all. Our new neighborhood was very busy, plenty of houses to go to and lots of other costumes to admire and judge. I also saw a bunch of people that I knew from school. Students, parents, other teachers - even my headmaster!

The evening ended with a sleepy dragon asking to go home. So, off we went into the night with our candy and tired feet!

Evans Orchard

It's officially Fall when the family makes the trek out to the pumpkin patch. We decided to make the run yesterday and it was so fun. We thought we were going to the same patch we went to last year, there are a few to choose from around here, but when we pulled up we discovered a new patch! We had heard of Evans Orchard, but never checked it out - until now. It was great. There was a hayride, a huge wonderful playground, camel rides, pony rides, a petting zoo, piles of pumpkins for picture taking, really good food - these people should pay me for good advertising! It was a really fun time. There was also a beautiful apple orchard on the property. We bought cider and apple pies and I even treated myself to a cute little Halloween decoration from their shop. Livi ran into her friends and they got to play for a bit. The weather was perfect and we enjoyed ourselves very much! Yay, us!

Aidan and Blind Grace

At dinner the other night, Aidan asked us all to hold hands. He then proceeded to cover his eyes with his free hand (I couldn't reach him to hold his hand) and say, "God is great, God is gibber gibber gibberish" in a sort of rhythmic, rhyming way. He was saying grace!! It was sooooo cute and funny. Oh and, please excuse the dinner plates and somewhat messy background as you watch him say grace in the video. There is an angelic side to my boy in there somewhere!

BTW, turn off the player at the bottom of my blog and you can hear Aidan a lot better! Just click stop and the song should pause or stop.

Got a new layout done, woo hoo! It's really been a looonngg while since I have been able to sit down and complete a layout. I have started a few, but not finished any - until now.

This layout is for Aidan's preschool book. And when I say preschool, I mean HIS preschool - like, the place. They have a book of all their students and they ask each family to make a page for the book. It's really cute to see all the families and all the kids doing their family and kid thing in the book. Aidan has really enjoyed looking through it when it is our turn to bring it home.

So, hope you like the layout. I think it is fun and creative without being too over the top. I didn't want to go too crazy with it since it is in a book that little fingers and hands use a lot. Just keepin' it real . . .

Skype is da bomb!!

My sister and I have gotten on the Oprah promoted bandwagon - we are skypers! And, we are loving it. Most of the time the picture is very clear and only a few time have there been glitches. And those haven't even been that big of a deal. An occasional connection lost, or pixely connection but otherwise really easy.

I am loving getting to see Abbie and my sister of course. Sometimes I even get to see the brother in law in the background heading to the grill outside or doing other manly things! Of course, my sister gets to see us too and, the kids which is the most fun.

Olivia and Aidan think it is the coolest thing ever! They both are so excited when we are waiting for a skype call. Olivia loves to tell Aunt Kate about her day and she especially likes to show her things - her webkinz, outfits, modeling poses, you name it!

Kate and I have shown each other the latest addition to our homes (rugs, shelves, etc!), new haircuts, etc. It is so nice to be so connected!

Abbie has gotten so big and has changed so much, as she should obviously! I can't wait until she talks to me on skype!

Going to See the Fishies!

We had the best time at the Newport Aquarium! Just outside of Cincy (a very sunny day as you can tell by the squinty, pained look on our faces!), on the Kentucky side of the river, is this lovely little area on the levee. There are shops and restaurants and, yes - the aquarium! We wanted to do something fun this holiday weekend and this was it.

Aidan was so excited, he jumped out of bed asking to go see the fishies and the sharks! He even uttered the famous, "are we there yet?" on the highway, too cute. It takes about an hour to get there, and it's highway all the way. Not the most interesting drive but the anticipation of a fun adventure kept everyone happy in the car.

Once we got there, we explored exhibits that modeled differents parts of the water world. We went to the Amazon, saw Deadly creatures and walked under tunnels and tunnels of fish, rays and sharks.

The aquarium had a new exhibit called the frog bog. It housed all sorts of frogs - go figure! - and it had a really cool playground/climbing contraption. The kids loved it!

Olivia really loved the tunnels of fish, rays and sharks and Aidan thought the jellyfish gallery was cool. He told us how Dory rode the jellyfish in "Finding Nemo."

At one point, we rounded a corner and saw this sign about a monster coming to the aquarium. We thought it would be really funny to take a picture of Aidan next to it - he is our little monster after all!

At the end of the visit, there was a tank of sharks that they allowed visitors to pet. Both the kids plunged their hands into the water to touch a shark - no fear!

It was a very quick 2 hours worth of wonder. We all enjoyed the animals and each other. A rare family trip, but I hope we can do it again soon!

Brunch Fun, or Was It?!

No really, we had fun until the little mister had a meltdown. Oh, umm . . . back track - what am I talking about, right? We went to a friends house on Sunday for brunch. It was actually an "Olympic" Brunch. The idea was that everyone would play games a la the Olympics. Except that we played hill billy golf and corn hole! We were excited to be invited and brought Danish and, regrettably, a tired little boy.



When we arrived, Aidan immediately saw the mini moon bounce in the backyard and he ran to it like it was his long lost mother. He was thrilled, claimed it as his own and wouldn't let anyone else in it from time to time! Olivia was happy because she had her friend to play with. All was well - for now. We chose teams and the games began. Rick and I made it through our rounds of hill billy golf without a peep from Aidan. We visited with the other guests and got to know some new folks, again without any problems from Aidan.



As it got closer to 1pm, we started to see the signs - red, puffy eyes, bad attitude and sluggish movement. We knew we were about to hit a wall but, we hadn't eaten yet!! Sure enough, the minute brunch was announced, Aidan started screaming and yelling. It was fun. Not at all embarrassing!! So, alas, we didn't eat. We dragged him to the car and straight home for a nap. Enjoy the pictures - pre melt down!

Something New!

I have found something new to consume all of my free time, FaceBook! Woa (yeah, just like Joey on "Blossom"). I know this isn't new to everyone else but it is new to me and I AM ADDICTED!! It is soooo much easier than MySpace. And, frankly I want easy. So, if you are reading this and want to check out my FaceBook - go for it! If you don't have a FaceBook - get one! Well, back to FaceBook!

My First Day Back!

(This post is from Olivia. I thought it would be fun for her to tell you all about her first day of 4th grade!)

Hi people! I would like to think of this as a well, Interview, well here it goes!

Well to get the day started I walked to school with me very stylish in my new Jonas brother bag. Me and my mom talk about what we dreamt of last night and they were kinda weird I have to admit. Well back to school as we walked I remembered that I have this thing called STLP(student television legal production) So I start to ponder, when do I start this thing because I want to do it this year? And I get to school and I catch up with my friend Keeley. And then I go to STLP and then I start the day with my morning work and learning all my procedures and then i go to library and check out the books The House of Dies Drear and The Diary of a Wimpy Kid, both battle of the books books which I will be doing and then more procedures wheww procedures procedures procedures all day! And that's pretty much it. Well thanks for reading bye! Your host Olivia

School Days: Let it Begin!

I just got back from walking Olivia to school. It's a beautiful morning and not too far to hoof it, so we set out at about 7:30am. Livi loves to walk to school and while we are close enough and I have the time in the morning, I really try to make it happen.

Of course, she was up at about 5:30 this morning - so excited about getting back to school! We planned her outfit last night. She chose it, I approved it. It was not what I picked out, but I guess we are coming up on that phase sooner than I'd like.

Livi informed me that she doesn't want to take a backpack to school this year. She wants to use her Jonas Brothers tote bag. It is an adorable bag, but I am worried that it won't be practical. "Oh, Mommy!" was Liv's response to that!

Once we got to school, we found out that Olivia could go straight to the library to participate in the morning news program. This was something that she participated in last year and really enjoyed. She was excited to get to start off the first day on camera. Is she my kid or what!?

We ran into a friend and classmate right away - Keeley. She and Livi have been great friends since first grade. They have lots of fun together and this year, they will be in class together.

We had to get a picture with her teacher, Ms. Patrick. She seems so nice and so full of energy. I know Olivia is really going to like her.


















I will be thinking about my baby all day long, and sending her good vibes to start the year off right!

Beijing Baby!

We, along with most of the rest of the world, watched the opening ceremonies for the 2008 Olympics last night. What an amazing evening!

The performances were stunning. I was blown away, really. Rick will tell you - I was talking to the tv like crazy!

"Look at that!", "how did they do that?!", and "that is BEAUTIFUL!" plus many more comments were flying out of my mouth every 10 minutes or so. Rick got a good giggle out of me enjoying the show.

While it is hard to narrow down my favorite performance, I think it has to be the LED screen and the dancers who painted a traditional Chinese painting on a canvas in the center of the LED screen. It was incredible.

The dancers were so graceful and flexible as they contorted their bodies in order to create not only the painting, but also a visually captivating physical performance. Wow! I LOVED it.

I also really enjoyed the build of the whole show as it took you through most of Chinese history. It just kept getting more and more impressive as the show went on!

One of the reasons I have been excited about these games, was to see and experience (through the television) the culture of China. I think the opening ceremonies definitely delivered.

Okay, one sour note - the "you & me" song at the end. Come on, they don't really believe that garbage. Yeah, you and me - unless you are from Tibet, right?!

Little Did He Know . . .

Oh, doesn't he look so happy here? So carefree. Frolicking on the path at the zoo. He had no idea what was in store for him just two days later! Poor baby.

I mean how do you explain surgery - tonsillectomy, to a three year old? I know! Impossible, right? I tried, I really did. On Sunday, I told him that we would be going to the doctor, or docker as he likes to say, and that when he got home his throat would hurt for a few days. He didn't get it, why should he?

So, Monday morning came and I think both myself and Rick were ready to back out of the whole thing. We were just so nervous and of course, I just couldn't stop thinking about all the worse case scenarios. I won't share any of the gory details of those scenarios, don't worry!

Cut to after the surgery and I just can't believe how well it went. It was super fast and really, other than seeing my baby so out of it in that sweet little hospital gown, I kept it together pretty well. Once I saw him in recovery though, I did shed some happy tears!

We have been home and on the mend for a few days now. Aidan has really been on a roller coaster ride. At times, it's as if he didn't have surgery at all. He is talking, wanting to eat foods that he shouldn't, roaring like a dragon - all that boy stuff, ya know? Then, at other times he is a big bag of miserable unhappy! He is whiny and CRANKY and weepy and, let's face it, almost unbearable. The kid knows how to work the mommy. He plays me like a fiddle!

I hope that he will only feel better and better as the days progress. I know that's what is supposed to happen, I just hope it all goes according to plan!

The little daredevil deserves a quick recovery, bless his "I just had surgery, but I am going to scream at the top of my lungs" self!

I want it!

'Nuff said. Okay, not really! I LOVE making little scrapbooks. This will be the perfect book to add to my collection. I must make time to run right out and buy it!! Alright, now - 'nuff said.

EDITED: Hee, hee - I got it!!

Visiting Little Miss Abbie

I just got home from visiting my niece! Oh, and my sister and brother-in-law. It was SUCH a good time. A short but very sweet visit!

I did lots of Abbie holding and playing and diaper changing and just general Auntie stuff. All of it wonderful and fabulous - even the crying parts. Yes, as all babies tend to do, Abbie shed some tears. But, even in those moments, I was so happy to be there to comfort her and to help Kate.

My sister and I had a great time too. We went to dinner, and went shopping - Abbie in tow, of course and she was such a good girl. We even got to go to the movies to see Dark Knight. Matt, the awesome brother-in-law, watched the baby so we could go out. So nice! The movie was frickin amazing, even on my second viewing. But that is a discussion for another time.

Kate and I also spent some good old fashioned time at home. We caught up on our reality tv viewing. We both like Flipping Out, Tori and Dean, Project Runway, and Kathy Griffin. Thank god for my sisters DVR!

I also got to see the Dallas family, which is always nice. We went to my cousins house and visited with she and my uncle for the afternoon. Didn't get to see all of my cousins, but that's okay. Everyone is out living their lives and sometimes it's hard to get together.

Don't know when I can make it back to TX. I hate to think of Abbie growing so much and me missing it. It's also become so important to see my sister more. I just love all of them to pieces!

Vacation Trip Report #3

Back to Magic Kingdom! This was our longest day by far, so there is a lot to report.

Okay, so after the parade we headed to the ancient Hall of Presidents for the kids and the grandparents. Rick and Aidan and I hung out in the air conditioning in the lobby of the "Hall." We were not really interested in seeing the crusty old show! I know, shame on us!

We were quick to get over to Frontier Land so we could ride Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. Oh, and Mom, Grandpa Saint and Mimi wanted to see the
Country Bear Jamboree. So, they took Aidan to see the bears and Rick & I took Liv to the thrill rides!

It was a pretty cool area - log cabin buildings, a river with log raft for riding over to Tom Sawyer island, pretty neat.

Okay, so we practically RUN to Splash Mountain, and of course, the damn thing has shut down. Ugh! That was the only ride that Rick really wanted to ride. Poo! So we were a bit flustered and didn't think to get fast passes for later, instead we just headed back to where Mom and the rest of the gang were.

One of the highlights of the trip was what happened next. While hanging out, deciding what to do about Splash Mountain, these banjo pickers showed up and noticed Olivia's birthday pin. They started chatting her up and pretty soon, they were asking her what her favorite song was so they could play it for her. Well, she didn't have an answer so they played Zippity Doo Dah. Low and behold - Olivia starts dancing in the middle of Frontier Land!!! She was getting down, it was so great. And that song was LONG, I swear it was never ending. But, she just kept going! At the end she jumped up and went down into the splits!! She is so amazing. Just love that kid.

I don't know how we could top that performance, so we decided to bypass Adventure Land and head straight for Tomorrow Land. I wanted to ride Space Mountain and everyone wanted to ride the Indy Speedway cars.

Mission Completed! Rick rode Space Mountain with me which was so generous because he NEVER rides roller coasters. He and I had SO much fun! It was a great ride. All in the dark with flashes of light and sounds, twisty turny - SO FUN!

We found out that while we were riding in space, that the rest of the crew was meeting Buzz Lightyear and riding the people mover. Apparently it was real hit because it takes you all over Tomorrow Land. And, you know Aidan, he loves ANY kind of car ride!

Olivia got to drive her own car on the Indy Speedway, Saint drove on his own, and Aidan and I picked up the rear. He kept trying to push me out of the way so he could drive - what a goofball! It was so funny to watch Olivia drive out ahead of me. She would stop and start, figuring out how to steer. Too cute!

We were all just about pooped but wanted to squeeze in Pirates of the Caribbean. Oh, and it was about to rain on us! The sky was getting very dark, but at least it cooled down a bit.

Pirates of the Caribbean was a hoot! Aidan loved the boat and all the scenes to look at. He had fun! We all did. It was great that there were so many rides that we could all ride together.

So, that was it for the family outing. We said goodbye to Grandpa Saint, Mimi, Rick and Aidan, and then us girls stayed for more!! We really wanted to see the park at night. It seemed like it would be so magical and just didn't want to miss it.

The first thing we did was head to the "make your own Mouse ears" store. It was right up near the entrance on Main Street USA. Very cute shop with a very cute idea, custom ears. How can you go wrong? Livi chose the beanie she liked and then picked out ears and patches that they sew on for you. She also decided to get her name on the back of the ears. She did a really good job and her ears turned out super cute!

After the ear making, we went to Casey's Corner - it's a hot dog place. REALLY yummy, but no place to sit. Kinda weird.

Almost 90% of the people in the park were lining the streets to watch the parade that was about to start. We had fast passes to see Mickey's Philharmagic (4D Movie) back in Fantasy Land. We made our way to the theatre, enjoying the park again on our way back. We were happy to see that we were just a few of only about 45 people who were also there to see the show. It was adorable. We had the best time and we were so glad that we made time to go back and use the fast passes.

When we stepped out of the theatre, the Fireworks had started. It was BEAUTIFUL!! And it went on forever! Olivia was especially excited. Since we were behind the castle, the fireworks were right over our heads. It was up close and personal!


When the fireworks were over we, and everyone else, made our way out of the park. It was such a great ending to a really magical day. Ah, awesome.

Vacation Trip Report #2

Day number two and it was off to the Magic Kingdom. We were very excited about this day for a number of reasons. Number one, the magic of this particular theme park seemed to be off the charts. Number two, it was the first full day we would spend with Grandpa Saint and Mimi. And number three, we were having breakfast with Pooh and the Gang!! So exciting!

As soon as we arrived inside the gate, we ooed and awed over the sweet little Main Street environment, and then PINOCCHIO appeared out of the blue! I told Livi to go get a hug and an autograph but she was a little slow. I was worried that she would miss her chance so I gave her a little shove! She got a hug, an autograph AND a picture. Our day was starting off with a bang! As soon as we took some other must have pics, we made for Fantasy Land. This is where the Dumbo ride is, as well as other rides like the Tea Cups, Pooh Bear, Small World, etc. My research had strongly suggested that we get to this area of the park early to beat the crowds that didn't know better.

What great advice! We practically walked onto Dumbo and only waited 25 minutes to meet Ariel - yes, the real Ariel! She was so sweet and beautiful. Aidan was coy and decided after sitting next to her for 20 seconds, that he couldn't handle the pressure of her beauty! Olivia, however, got hugs and some conversation before we had to give up Ariel to the other guests in line. What fun!

Once we met Ariel, we had to haul our butts back to the front of the park for our breakfast ressy at Crystal Palace. I had made the ressy for 10:30 so that we could experience some of the park for an hour or so, eat without it being too crowded in the restaurant, and eat late enough that we wouldn't need lunch. I have to say, that my plan worked like a charm!

The breakfast was really great. We got to have some one on one time with Pooh, Piglet, Tigger and Eeyore. This included autographs and pictures. Olivia was about to bust she was so excited! The breakfast food was good too. Lots of variety and very fresh. Yum!

After we ate, we made our way back to Fantasy Land. We rode the Tea Cups (only waited 5 minutes!), got fast passes for the Pooh Bear ride and headed over to Toon Town Fair. I was looking forward to this part because of Mickey and Minnie's house tours and, this was a part of the park where you could meet the characters and get more autographs.

Toon Town Fair was adorable! Minnie and Mickey's houses were darling. Rick wanted to know why after all these years, these two still weren't living together! Geez. We didn't have time to go on Goofy's Barnstormer ride, but Aidan got to go on Donald Duck's boat while Mom, Liv and I went to meet some characters. We waited for about 35 minutes before we got up to the front of the line. When it was our turn, Pluto came out and collected Olivia. The two of them skipped all the way to the meet and greet room - too cute! We got some great pics of Donald, Pluto and Goofy.

Small World and Pooh Bear were waiting for us when we got back to Fantasy Land. Since we had fast passes for Pooh Bear, we just walked right on. Small World didn't have a long wait either, maybe 5 minutes at the most. Both rides were very cute and something that we could all enjoy together.

The Haunted Mansion was next - yes, we were making great time but not at all rushing which was so nice! The wait for HM was only 15 minutes - amazing for the first week of July - and was fun because of the theming while in line. There was a hearse carriage pulled by a ghost horse, tombstones with funny epitaphs and a really cool look of the house. The ride itself was fun and not too scary. Even Aidan liked it!

It was almost 2:30 by this point and we knew we needed to get a spot for the parade. So we ended up in Liberty Square right next to the parade rope. Prime spot! When the parade started, the kids were up in front and saw everything. They even got some interaction with some of the characters. Grumpy and Aladdin interacted with Livi and Captain Hook came over to Aidan. It was very magical! Oh, except for the part where I almost decked some woman for nearly injuring my babies. She was trying to weasel her way up to the front and she nearly pushed over our stroller with the kids inside. I said something to her about backing up and Rick did too. She finally got the message and backed off. It got a little dicey there for a minute!

Okay, my fingers are cramping - more to come later!

Vacation Trip Report #1

We are back! Let me tell ya, I don't think we expected to have nearly as much fun as we did. All that magic that Disney boasts - it's the real deal. Oh yeah, I said "Disney!" Didn't I mention that's where we went? Well, we did! We packed up the kids, and went to visit Mickey Mouse.

Okay, so the report. I will try to break it into manageable chunks, but I might get caught up in the memories so you will have to forgive me.

With my mom in tow, we headed out to Disney on July 1st. It was about a 12 hour drive, so we knew we would have to stop along the way to rest for the night. For the most part, the drive went well. The kids really did a great job of minding their P's and Q's. Once we past Savannah, we started to scope out a place to stay. No, we didn't plan ahead on were to stay, okay! That was one part of my planning (for three months!) that slipped through the cracks. But, it all worked out because we found a lovely Comfort Inn right across the FLA border. If we could get our butts in gear the next day, it would only be about 3 hours to Disney. Yay!

We slept, we ate, we drove - Disney World was in sight. Oh yeah, FLA does a great job getting you there, lots of signs saying "you're almost there!"

Our destination is Coronado Springs Resort. We find it no problem (again, great signage) and, it turns out that our rooms are ready right then and there. At 9:30am! Yippee! No leaving our bags and coming back after a stint in the park - just waltz right in, thank you very much! Another "yay!" for the books.

The resort is LOVELY. Very "Hispanic Paradise." Our rooms, also lovely. Nice theming. So, we dump our stuff and head to the bus stop and Disney Hollywood Studios. By the way, our bus stop is a hop, skip and a jump from our room. Off we go!

We get to Hollywood Studios and immediately purchase a stroller. Double stroller, multi day rental - poof! $80 has just gone bye bye. It was TOTALLY worth it! My son and my nine year old daughter would not have survived without it.






Hollywood Studios was a blur. It was our first day, and even though I had planned it all out, it was still kinda chaotic. I just didn't know where anything was, even with the map in hand. The layout of the place seemed really confusing. Anyway, it was still WAY fun. We didn't have time to do all the things we wanted to - Playhouse Disney, Ariel, Toy Story Mania, Rock N Roller Coaster and Tower of Terror BUT we did get to see the Indy show, go on the Great Movie Ride, see Fantasmic, play on the Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground and, the best of all, watch Olivia fight the Dark Side of the Force as she trained to be a padawon (Rick will kill me when he sees I don't know how to spell that!!). She was awesome and she even got to use the Force against some storm troopers! So cool!






At about 3pm or so, Rick and Olivia headed to Typhoon Lagoon and Mom, Aidan and I went back to the hotel. We were wiped out! It was nice to just relax, put Aidan down for a nap and reflect on the day so far. I am sitting there reflecting, when I get a phone call. It's Rick, they were there for 15 minutes when the sky opened up and starting pouring on them! Ugh! But, they got a rain check for another day. Yay!







We finished up the day with some good food at the hotel, and a trip back to Hollywood Studios for "Fantasmic." It was a very cool show with lots of lighting and water effects.

So, that was our first day really. LOTS of fun and so much packed in. I definitely had my mind fixed on how to slow it down for the rest of the trip. See the next trip report for more . . .

Livi Turned Nine!

That's it! No more growing up at this house. Olivia is getting much too tall and Aidan looks like such a little boy. What happened to my babies?! Truthfully, I want them to grow. I do. Really! I do love to see them make discoveries, have experiences, make decisions, all that good stuff. I just don't look forward to the day when they don't want to snuggle with me anymore. Or, when they choose their friends over family time. You know, all the stuff I did to my mom!! But enough of my sob story - how was Olivia's party, I know you want to hear all about it . . .

We woke up to rain, so we quickly shifted gears from a swimming/sleepover party to a regular sleepover party. Liv was disappointed but was a good sport about it. All the girls arrived on time and began to play. Thank goodness they know how to entertain themselves!

Soon, we were in full party mode: playing Twister Dance, eating cookie cake, opening presents and the most important part of all - watching the Jonas Brothers movie, "Camp Rock!"

By 1am, all little voices had quieted and soon the girls were sound asleep. No middle of the night phone calls to mom, no "I wanna go home," the night went off without a hitch.

8am rolled around and everyone but Livi was awake! I got up and made them chocolate chip pancakes - that woke Olivia up - and had them out the door by 10am.

It was a lot of fun, another one for the books!

Perfect Weather

What a perfect weather evening. We went to Ecton Park to hear some jazz and pass out flyers for Equus Run. The temp couldn't have been more than 68 degress, the sun was still out at 7pm and it was packed. I think Olivia passed out 100 flyers. We had people coming up to us saying how articulate she is, we are so dang proud! It was so relaxing and after the crazy day we had, we needed some down time.

Fun with Photo Booth?

It's Father's Day, I know. How can we be so insensitive and not include Daddy in all of this fun? Well, I'll tell ya - he says he is not feeling well. Hmpf! Is he faking so he can spend alone time in front of the US Open? Is he really a sick ole Daddy? I guess we will never know! So, we are bored and have decided to get silly with photo booth. Here are the HI-larious results.



Aren't those the craziest shots?! There were about 50 more that we took while killin' some time, but not all of them made the blog cut. Hope we made you belly laugh! And, too bad for you Mister Daddy, you missed a good gigglin' time . . .

And the Summer Begins!

What a summer it has been so far. SO busy! The minute the school year ended, I hit the ground running. I took on the props position for AGL and their summer show, The Merry Wives of Windsor. It was a bit over my head I have to admit. Some items, I just couldn't find and they have to be built, eek! I am no carpenter and certainly not an electrician, so I did the best I could and begged for help elsewhere! With a little stress and a lot of luck, everything was finished in time for opening night. Whew!

The big news in the family was the birth of my niece, as seen in the post below. We traveled to Dallas, Texas - yes, we drove - on June 4th. My sister was induced that day and we made it just in time for her c-section. What an awesome trip! A new little life to celebrate and I got to see family that I don't get to see that often.

The next event on our minds is Olivia's birthday party. She is going to be NINE YEARS OLD!! Woa. She is amazing, what a great girl if I do say so myself. Her party is going to be a swimming/sleepover party with a dash of the Jonas Brothers thrown in. "Camp Rock" is premiering on the Disney Channel so the girls are going to watch it at the party. For those of you who don't know - "Camp Rock" is a Disney Channel movie that the Jonas Brothers rock band will be starring in. It is the much anticipated tween event of the summer!

Our big trip of the summer will be next on the calendar - DISNEY WORLD! We are counting down (Yes, I am a total nerd and I made this countdown on photoshop! The Mickey heads are paint chips from the paint section at Home Depot - they have Disney paint) to a trip that will include a long drive, some quality time, and some awesome rides. We can't wait!

Let Me Introduce You to My Niece!

She is here! My perfect little niece. She was born on June 4th in the evening at Baylor Hospital in downtown Dallas, Texas. She was 6lbs 3 oz and 18 inches long. Oh! I forgot to tell you her name! She is - drumroll please - Abbie May. Isn't that the sweetest name? You can just tell by her picture that it is a perfect match.
My sister and brother in law are over the moon in love with her, of course. It was so great to see them so happy. They deserve it more than anyone can know.
Holding my niece was wonderful. She is so tiny and SO pink! She was so quiet too. Just a little squeak every now and then. What a sweetheart.
My sister loves this picture of Abbie because it looks like she is going to make a petite size raspberry! Too cute!

Walking for a Friend

Last weekend we went on the "Great Strides for Cystic Fibrosis" walk. One of Olivia's best friends has cystic fibrosis and so her Girl Scout troop decided that they wanted to pledge $200 of the money they earned selling cookies to the foundation. It was a great opportunity to teach the girls about giving back to both a friend and the community.

The walk was fun and a nice little workout! I certainly didn't have to get on the elliptical that day, whew.

We all went, the family I mean. We decided to make a morning of it together. It was really chilly, though. For a late spring day it was almost cold! But, the sun came out and warmed us for the walk.

After we walked, we headed back to the main area in the park for our reward - sub sandwiches and pizza! There was also a really great playground there and it turned out to be the hit of the morning. All of the kids, big and small, loved playing on it.

Overall, it was nice to contribute to a good cause, spend some family time together and teach Olivia how to give to others.

Another Amazing Performance!

The Cassidy Elementary Variety Show. This is a BIG deal. Seriously, you have to have just the right act, just the right partner, just the right - well, you get the idea. It's very competitive.

Last school year, Olivia started planning her "talent" at least 10 months before the variety show was even mentioned at school. Her ideas changed probably 50 times. She was going to cheer, then it was a dance, then she thought she would exercise - the kid was in search of "just the right" - yeah, you guessed it.

She decided that she would sing the Star Spangled Banner. One of the most difficult songs to sing, my kid insists despite my gently trying to steer her in another direction. We had a cute all-american outfit, she had practiced - she went for it. No dice. They didn't accept her into the program. We, she, was devastated. It was heartbreaking to see her have such a strong reaction. It was really, everything to her.

My little cookie didn't give up. She was back at it again this year. Again, well ahead of the variety show audition date, again looking for "just the . . . you get it.

Olivia worked a different strategy this time. She planned on auditioning for TWO acts. If she didn't make it for one, how could they turn her down for two?! She was bound to get in.

She roped me in (oh, like that was hard!) to helping she and a friend choreograph a dance to "Witch Doctor." Thank goodness this friends mom had the brilliant idea of using that song and using costumes that looked like primitive warrior witch doctor men!

They worked for about a month and, it paid off. They got in the show!! Olivia also made it playing the guitar. THAT was a happy day, I tell ya!

A bunch of her good friends made the show too. This is Olivia and her good friend. Aren't they sweet?!

As always I tried to make some videos of the occasion. I hope you can figure out what is going on in them!

The first video is "Witch Doctor." Olivia is the one that starts out on the right. She is so darn cute!



This second video is pretty poor. Liv plays her guitar, but the quality of light is shabby so the video just didn't turn out so hot. What is funny is hearing Aidan cheer for his sissy in the background and then hearing him say that "it's not funny!" Hah!

York High School Class of '88

This year marks the 20th anniversary of my high school graduation. My god that happened fast! Of course, recently, a few old classmates have tried to get the word out about a 20th year reunion. It has been kinda fun to see the names of people I haven't thought about in a long time in the address line or database file via email. It has really made me stop and think about their faces and how I knew them back in the day.

Rene Baltrus, has taken on the filing and re-connecting job with all of us. She has asked that each of us send her a paragraph about our lives and what we have been up to. I totally chickened out and just sent her the link to this blog. I guess I just figured, "Who the heck really wants to know all that about me?!" Well, my wonderful husband has told me to stop being a dork and "own" my successes and share them with everyone!

So, for those of you who may stumble upon this blog, where I can be completely self indulgent, right? Here goes:

After my parents split at the end of senior year, I ended up at Christopher Newport instead of VCU. I studied vocal music and dabbled in the theatre department a bit. A couple of years before graduating, the school started a new major - Musical Theatre. I decided to stay in school for an extra year and a half so that I could get the most out of both of my loves, music and theatre. (Oh, and I met my future husband here too!)

Came time to make some decisions about what I was going to do after undergrad and that was scary! I decided to apply to VCU's theatre grad program and was accepted. I studied Voice for the Actor and Theatre Education.

When I was done with that three year stint, it was time to get a job! I was very lucky and started right away with the theatre dept at Longwood University. I taught voice classes for their actors and some non-major courses as well. A year went by, and suddenly and without notice a public school teaching job fell in my lap. Better money, better benefits - why not?

And that began the career I didn't know I wanted. I have been teaching Drama for almost ten years. I love it. The students are wonderful and showing a new generation of students how to appreciate and maybe even love the arts, that's a beautiful thing. I direct three shows a year in addition to my daily teaching schedule.

You may be wondering about my own acting endeavors? I have acted along the way. Sung some too. It's who I am and I could never dismiss that part of my life. I have worked professionally in local companies every two or three years. Since having children, it makes it much more difficult to go to rehearsal for weeks and then run the show for even more weeks. I need to see my babies and they need me too!

Anyway, the last year has seen more of me as an actor than in recent years. I played Casey in "Anton in Show Business" and Gertrude, yes the Queen, in "Hamlet." Both of these roles I did with a local professional theatre company, Actors Guild of Lexington, and it looks like I will be in another show with them at the end of the year. It's been great, I have really loved being back on stage. When I am not on stage, I am near it listening to actors and coaching them vocally. This means dialects, articulating, over all vocal production. I really love to hear the actors speak the playwright's words and help them make the most of their instrument.

I mentioned my children before and if you look at this blog they are ALL over it. They are my joy. I am so lucky to have them.

Olivia is going to be nine in June. She plays basketball and guitar. She is also a junior girl scout and a great student. I sometimes wonder how it is possible that she is mine - except for the musical part!!

Aidan is three and he is my daredevil baby. He is opinionated and strong and brave and mouthy and ever the mama's boy. I love him to absolute pieces!!

My husband is an Artistic Director. I (this is HIS story!) lured him away from the baseball team and his history major at CNU. He fell in love with me and the theatre, pursued a directing master's degree and now runs a theatre company. Kooky, huh?

So, that's about it. We live in Lexington, KY horse capital of the world. It is beautiful here and they love their UK WildCats. It's a bit obsessive if you ask me!

Drop me a comment if you'd like. I would love to hear from you . . .