Not Wanting to See the Weekend End!

This was the first weekend that we've been home in a few weeks.  It was nice to have a productive weekend!  With Jay's help and motivation, we got the family room de-cluttered and organized.  We also went through parts of Peter's room and our room and threw out/donated several bags.

It felt so nice to accomplish something!  With the crazy schedule and having a baby and a toddler, it is sooo hard to get things done around here.  Just keeping up with the laundry and the dishes is a herculean task!  I've been feeling like I'm drowning in housework and clutter all.the.time!

After the weekend, it feels a little better!  I still have quite the to-do list, but , in reality, I always will!

Kate's still hanging onto a cold and is cutting her last eye tooth(Oh, please come quickly!), so she is still super grumpy and clingy!  Taking care of her is a lot less stressful, though, since we accomplished so much over the weekend and, at least a couple parts of the house, look neat and tidy.

So, special thanks to my husband for all the help and encouragement!

Hope your Monday is going as good as a Monday can go!

Thank God It's Friday!

This week has felt like it lasted for-ev-er!  It has certainly had its challenges!  Today is another very busy day...Andrew is going to Courtney's Senior Prom tonight and Jon is going with Courtney's best friend.(as friends:)  We have tickets to go to the girls' fundraising gala tonight, too!  I have been looking forward to getting dressed up and having some alone time with Jay!  But it isn't looking too good right now:(  Peter is still running a fever and Kate has a terrible cold and is clingy and miserable so I don't know if I will be able to leave her.  I'm holding out a little hope to at least get out for a couple of hours....but I'm thinking that my boogie-smeared black sweater is as dressy as I'm going to get tonight!

Sigh...the sacrifices of motherhood!

#1:  Disney Magic

It's hard to believe that last week at this time we were in Disney enjoying another much needed pool day!
Time in the pool, dinner in Downtown Disney at the Rainforest, a little shopping, and ice cream at Ghiradelli's....a full and magical day, indeed!

Silly pic!

Kate enjoying her free Ghiradelli square!

Sarah feeding her cookie dough obsession!

#2:  Our Last Vacation Day
We spent the majority of our last vacation day in the Magic Kingdom.  We did the rides in Tomorrow Land, a few in Fantasy Land that we hadn't gotten to earlier in the week, and did a couple of favorites over again.....
Splash Mountain and Thunder Mountain for Jay and the older kids and the Bear Country Jamboree for Luke and Kate!  Luke and Kate loved that little show...it was super cute to watch their faces:)

Luke and Mom on Dumbo...we were "low buddies" bc neither of us likes to go high!

Kate ran out of gas and it was only 11am!

Jon and Peter were not 'low buddies!"

Sarah on the Racetrack ride...
(Jon was behind her and annoyed her for most of the course!)

Kate and Luke in the Country Bear Jamboree...Luke is glued to the stage!

Racetrack ride buddies!(I need a chiropractor after Peter's driving!)

#3  Perry the Platypus

Jon was obsessed with Perry the Platypus..he got a towel, a shirt and a Christmas tree ornament!

Perry is a secret agent from the tv show Phineas and Ferb..it's cute!

Sarah and Jon begged us to let them play an interactive game in Epcot where they get a phone that gives them clues to help Perry defeat evil Dr. Doofenshmirtz!  

Jay gave in(after all, it is vacation!) and Jon, Sarah and Ellie spent the next hour and a half solving mysteries.

Their favorite was stopping Doofenshmirtz from making 'misfortune cookies' in China!

Jay followed them around to keep an eye on them...

...and snacked his way around the World Showcase at the same time!

#4:  Home Again

It was so hard getting home again and having to face the real world!

Peter cried:(...he loves Disney!

#5:  National Junior Honor Society 

Sarah received a $200 from the NJHS!  She was so happy and we are very proud of her!

#6:  More Motrin Please

Luke, Kate, and Peter have all had turns being sick this week with a virus that starts out as a fever for 2 to 3 days and then ends with a doozy of a sinus cold with cough!

So.much.fun! (insert eye roll here!)

#7:  A College Decision!(finally)

With the May 1st deadline looming, Mike was finally able(with much angst) to get all of his questions answered!  So last night he made his decision and....drumroll please!...next year he will be going to....

Assumption College!

We are happy for him...but he has sucked the emotional energy out of me this week!  

I have been praying that he ends up where he is supposed to be...and I think this is God's answer!

Thank God it's over!

...at least for a couple of months until we have to start the process all over again with Jon!!!!!

God give me strength...and a drink...and chocolate!

 Hope you all have a great (and healthy!) weekend!

Random Mishmosh!....Swimming, Dinos, Games, Tea, Swearing and Pukey Lukie

Tuesday of our vacation week was a much needed pool/rest day.  It started with a character breakfast at Chef Mickey.  We got some great pics...click here to see yesterday's post!

After hanging out at the hotel room for a while just 'chilling' and letting the little ones play, we all "divided and conquered"!  Jay took Mike, Luke, and Peter to the T-Rex restaurant since Luke and Peter are in a 'dino phase' right now!  Luke especially loved it!

My dad took Sarah, Ellie, and Jon to Quest...a huge place with all kinds of interactive video games.  They had a lot of fun!

My mother, my sister, Kate and I went to the Tea Room at The Grand Floridian.  It was a fun time.  Thankfully, Kate slept(although I did have to nurse her once and it felt a little awkward in the more formal setting...and we had a male waiter!  Awk-ward!)

Jay and I spent an hour at the pool with the 3 girls and Peter and Luke.  Luke and Kate had their first Mickey pops...I wish I had my camera!  Luke did a great job but Kate had chocolate EVERYWHERE!  One of the Disney workers said it best..."Did she eat the pop or did the pop eat her?"  LOL:)

We had a fantastic dinner at the Captain's Grille Restaurant in the Yacht Club Hotel.  The little ones all behaved....(minor miracle)!  After dinner we all walked along the Boardwalk hotel next door and saw some street performers.  Luke asked for cotton candy, the girls got frozen lemonade, Jon got buffalo wings, and Kate had a cookie.

Then, on the walk back we stopped at the Beach Club hotel at a little ice-cream soda shop.  While we were there, Peter was getting antsy and starting to misbehave.  So, Jay threatened him by telling him that if he wasn't good, we would fly home tomorrow and we would use Jet Blue instead of Southwest.(We always fly Southwest so Peter is obsessed with Southwest and this gets his attention!  Hey...whatever works!)

So, Peter waved both his hands up in the air and yelled, "Holy Shit!" 
Umm...not the reaction we were looking for!  (But we couldn't stop laughing about it!)

Then, as we were finishing our ice cream, Luke had a little coughing fit and gagged himself and he threw up all.over.the.ground!  We ruined a few families' Disney magic that night! 

Before our walk to the Boardwalk

Carnival Games!

Mike is a carnival game addict...he won the 'banana monkey' and the shirt he was wearing!

Daddy and Kate:)

Andrew being silly!

My sister putting up with all my photo shots!

My dad being silly for the camera:)

On the way home, Luke got a new nickname thanks to his brothers...."Pukey Lukie"!  I think this will be one of those Disney memories that becomes 'family lore'...right up there with the Mickey Cow Incident and Excrement Day! 

Five Favorites...Disney Magic!

Wow!  It is tough getting back into a groove after a vacation!  Add in two little ones with bad colds and getting even less sleep than usual and it isn't so pretty around here!  There is something going on every night this week as well which is adding to our chaos....Women of Grace meeting, Honor Society, Youth Group and a double duo on Friday with Andrew and Jon both invited to Andrew's girlfriend's prom(Courtney's best friend invited Jon) and a Spring Gala Fundraiser for the girls' school!  (I'm hoping Kate and Luke are better by then since I was really looking forward to having some grown-up time with Jay!)  Add in knee surgery for Jay's dad today and trying to figure out Mike's college plans for next year with the looming May 1st deadline and this week is full to the brim and starting to run over!

I'm linking up with five favorites today over at Moxie Wife!  I would love to start sharing some of the highlights of our family Disney vacation, made possible by the generosity of my parents sharing their love for Disney magic!  Many thanks, Mom and Dad!

#1 Pool Time!

My kids love to swim!  After months of winter weather, being in a pool every day for an hour or two each time is such a treat.  After landing around 430 and getting to our hotel a little after 5 and going out for dinner, the first place we headed was the pool!  With temps still near 80 degrees even after 8pm, the water felt great!

Two pretty girls ready to swim!

Peter especially loves the water!  I think he is part fish!

Jon and Luke:)

Mike and Luke:)

Kate liked wearing her bathing suit, but the pool was not her thing!

Andrew and Courtney deep in conversation....but always within view;)

#2  Meeting up with Friends!
Is there anything better than getting to hang out with friends on vacation?   Ummm...no!
Our close friends, Tony and Karen and their kids were going on a Disney Cruise, but we had a few hours that overlapped on Friday evening for a quick visit!
Sitting by the pool watching the kids, enjoying the warm weather, conversation with friends, a drink in our hands(thx, Tony!).....priceless!

Kate with Emma:)

Ahhh..grown-ups on vacation!(photo bomb courtesy of Mike)

Pretty girls!(Good thing they all have older brothers to keep the boys away!)

Group pic!

Silly group pic!

#3  Family Time!
The best part of being on vacation is being together and making family memories!  I love that there are no work or school or schedule interruptions!  Everything revolves around togetherness!
(Thankfully, there were very few moment of people feeling "too much togetherness!")

#4  Fun Photo Ops!
(These pics were at the Chef Mickey character breakfast at the Comtemporary Hotel)

#5  Great Food!
(and not cooking!)

If it seems like we have quite a few pictures revolving around food, well....we do!  There are so many incredible restaurants in Disney!
(Thankfully you do a lot of walking to help offset all the calories...at least a little!)
Some of my favorite meals were breakfast at Boma's Restaurant in the Animal Kingdom Lodge, our girls' night out dinner at Be Our Guest Restaurant in the Beast's Castle, dinner at the Captain's Grille at the Yacht Club Hotel, and lunch at Le Celier in Epcot's Canada.

Andrew and Courtney at Boma's where she tried so hard to get Andrew to try the juice!

Be Our Guest Restaurant...it's beautiful and looks like the ballroom from Beauty and the Beast.
They even have a West Wing room with a glass enclosed magical rose!

Kate really enjoyed the chocolate cupcake!

I'm so thankful that Ellie was still excited to have her pic with the Beast!

Rainforest nachos and wings!  Yum!

Breakfast at Olivia's Cafe at our resort Old Key West before heading to the airport.

O' Canada!

More Boma's

and more Boma's

and more Boma's!

I have quite a few more funny memories to share...and more pictures if you can put up with me!  I will  share more soon!  One post I pre-wrote the day it happened because it was "one of those days" and best written with fresh sentiment!
Coming soon...stay tuned!