Great Wolf Lodge

Since we have three birthdays in August, we decided to take a trip to Dallas to the Great Wolf Lodge. We figured this would be cheaper than taking them each to do something special on their birthdays.
It was really nice, because we just had nice quiet evenings for their birthdays, with just our family.
We headed up to the Lodge early Sunday morning. We arrived at 10:30 and got all checked in. Then we hit the water park.
We had bought disposable underwater cameras, and all the pictures inside didn't turn out. Thankfully, there's a part of the park that is outside, so we got a few pics outside.
We had such a great time. My cheeks hurt from smiling so much. The kids got along great and it was just wonderful, the whole time.

The House of Mouse

Yep, we are headed there again this year.
To Disney World that is.
If you remember, we got season passes last year when we went.
We had gone back and forth about whether we were going to go again before they expired.
In the end, we decided that after the rough start to the year, the kids deserved some fun..and us too.
So, we took the plunge and are headed to Disney next week.
It should be interesting taking a 3 month old baby, but we'll survive. And it's about being together as a family anyway.
My biggest concern is that right now, Natalie HATES the car seat...and we are driving...for two whole days. Yikes. I hope she learns to not hate it so much by the end of this! Wish us luck!

Home

We are home safe and sound. Everything was wonderful. The condo that I worried about was great. Silly me for worrying.
I have much to write about how I love Disney, but for now I just wanted to let y'all know we are home...and pooped.
As a side note, tomorrow Emily has her endoscopy..please pray for some answers!

Hi Ho, Hi Ho

Hi ho, hi ho..it's off to Disney we go..
We leave first thing in the morning.
Instead of being excited, it's been a super rough day.
Em has cried almost nonstop, and I did something to my back. It hurts so bad when I move and I'm praying it gets better before we actually get to Disney. Right now, I'm sitting here with a heating pad, but when I move it just sends shooting pains. Not good.
But alas..we are off to the happiest place on earth! What could be better than following this day with that?!?!
We're taking our laptop and I may or may not post. Our condo charges for wi-fi but maybe we can hit a McDs or something with free access. We'll see.
I'm exhausted and still have much to do. Emily is screaming. I just wanted to pop on and said adios amigos!

Very Concerned

We are going to be staying at a timeshare in Florida. Through the military. It was one of the few that had occupancy allowances great enough for our family.
The problem is, the place doesn't get great reviews.
I had read these reviews in the past, and was a bit worried, but really didn't have much choice, because of the occupancy thing.
Now, I'm reading more reviews, and I am worried.
Oh, I am so scared that our condo will be nasty, or that it will be super loud, or that our van will be broken into...all things mentioned in reviews. And they are supposedly super pushy about trying to sell you a timeshare. Which, I can deal with..it's the other stuff that really worries me.
I keep trying to tell myself that we will mostly be at the parks, but I have a pit in my stomach that just won't go away. *sigh*
I suppose I just need to think of it as an adventure!

Things to do before Disney

The time is getting near! So very excited.
Things left to do:

~get the van's oil changed and all that good stuff that they do.

~get haircut

~oh yes, pack

~and most importantly, NOT contract swine flu. Yes it is here. Right here. Schools are closed, parks are closed, we cancelled Pathfinders and adventurers tonight as a precaution. I am actually looking forward to getting out of Texas. I realize there will be lots of germs at Disney, but this all just seems RIGHT HERE.
Must focus on a wonderful vacation!!

Best gift ever

Back in 2001, my in laws bought Matthew and Dillon sit and spins for Christmas.
They used to light up and play music. To change the batteries is a huge undertaking, so we never have.
They still hold the same attraction they did way back then.

Later Gators

We're off to the condo for a few days.
I'll see ya when we get back..and then it will almost be time for Disney baby!!!
WOOHOO!!!!!

Busy busy

The feet have been pedicured. The nails manicured. The brows waxed. And the pocketbook exhausted.
Well, not really, about the pocketbook, but my mom and I have been having loads of girl time fun.
Today was spent shopping. Only not very fun shopping. But she had a good time, and really, I'm all about pleasing the madre!
Tomorrow we are headed out of town to a condo in a neighboring town. Time for some R and R, in time for our Disney adventure!
The boys are all with grandpa down at the beach today, and it occurred to me that I didn't send them with sunscreen, so my boys will likely be burnt to a crisp! Poor fellas!
Matt and my mom are currently making homemade spaghetti and Emmie is looking at pictures of babies and "talking" to them.
Good times y'all..good times.

Review Monday

I hope everyone had a great weekend.
Ours was busy, filled with evangelistic meetings at church.
However, on Sunday I battled a migraine all day that knocked me out. I was so sick to my stomach and basically did nothing all day. Matt took the kids to church, and I stayed in a supine position all day.
Today is a new day though, and I'm feeling much better.
We did manage to have some fun this weekend!
Saturday night, Matt and I watched Mamma Mia!

We had both wanted to see it, and finally decided to rent it. I absolutely loved it. I know it got mixed reviews, but it was right up my alley. I'm normally not a Meryl Streep fan, but she was adorable. I can't get the songs out of my head, and am tempted to change my blog songs from Disney to Mamma Mia! songs. We'll see.
Also, on Saturday, I received a book in the mail. It's called The Miracle of Me, and it was written by Amy Pedersen.

You might think that after having five children, I'd be done with pregnancy books. But nothing could be further from the truth. I love pregnancy books. When I'm pregnant, I read them religiously, even the ones I've read before. Amy sent this book to me, and I couldn't be more thrilled. This book is great. She wrote when she was pregnant with her second (I think) to help her old child understand what was going on in Mommy's tummy.
Now, if you buy this book expecting to know all there is to know about pregnancy, you'll be disappointed. But to help an older child it is perfect. Each week consists of a 4 week poem about the baby's development, and it includes phenomenal pictures of baby in the womb. My favorite part, though, is the ruler that shows baby's size. It really helps to put things in perspective. I give this book an A+. Thank you, Amy, for sending it to me!
And that's it. Now we are on to school. And back to the library to return videos that are due. Here is a reason I don't like the library. Dillon was so excited to read his book. He read the 9 chapter book in 3 days. Figured if he read 3 chapters a day, he'd be done in 3 days. Now, he wants a new book. But guess what. He can't find the book to return. I'm sure it's tucked safely in his bed somewhere!

Fun in the Sun

It has been so beautiful here. In the upper 70s-mid 80s. Perfect weather.
Sunday, we decided it was time for Zachy to ditch his training wheels. We headed off to the bike path on base. It happens to go by a pond, so we parked there and fed the ducks and turtles for a bit.
By the end of the day, Zachy was able to go little distances. He needs to realize that he needs to keep peddling to make things easier. In due time.

Some people think I'm crazy!

OK, probably a lot of people think I'm crazy. That's ok..I probably am. At least that's what Matt tells me!
Last summer, remember when I was doing all my sewing? Did I ever tell y'all that I was making jammie pants for everyone? I ended up making fourteen pairs of pants for various family members and friends.
I made some for Matthew's best friend, Leanne (for her birthday). Well, Leanne's sister, Clarissa (Dillon's best friend coincidentally) wanted some too. So I said I'd make some for her birthday. Which was yesterday.
So as I was deciding what fabric to use, I found Disney fabrics. So of course I had the brilliant idea to make my kids jammie pants to take to Disney World.
My sister thinks I'm nuts. Matt just thinks I'm me. I don't see anything strange about it at all. Neither did the lady in the fabric department last night. In fact, she thought I was brilliant! I need to get to know that lady!
Anyway, now I need to be cleaning, but I want to be sewing. I know I have to get Clarissa's pants done today to take to her at church tomorrow, but other than that, they can wait.
I just say there can never be enough Disney!!

Oh the fun we have!

We are home safely. We had a totally uneventful drive. And a good vacation.
We spent the first half in a town just west of Dallas where we did lots of fun Christmasy stuff and spent lots of time in the pool and hot tub. Oh how I miss the hot tub! I think I may need one!
The second half was spent in Missouri with Matt's brother and sister-in-law and their kids. Good times were had by all. The adventure there happened when their heat went out. It was out nearly the entire time we were there. Gina blames me, rightfully so I suppose. Before going to visit she had told me it was very cold in Missouri. I joked about us not being able to go up there, and asked her how their heat was. She told me it was just fine, and to quit being such a wuss. We get there, the heat goes out. Clearly, my fault. Although, perhaps she was just trying to toughen me up, and perhaps the heat wasn't out at all. It was one big joke. OK, not really, I saw the heating men there with my own two eyes, so it must have been legit.
We baked lots of cookies and ate way too much, but it was fun.
We arrived home on Friday night. That's when the adventure began!
The kids had slept a lot on the way home, so of course they were all wide awake when we got home.
Because everyone went to bed so late, we were late getting to church. It was my week to work in the kitchen, and Matt was leading the song service. He had asked Matthew to watch Emmie while we did our duties. Emmie was spinning in a chair and fell off and hit her face on a metal folding chair. She knocked two of her capped teeth out of alignment. There was blood everywhere and she was screaming bloody murder. We raced home to call the dentist. After talking with her, we decided there wasn't anything more that could be done, but that we would go in for x-rays today.
She has swelled a bit and I noticed her nose was out of alignment now.
The x-rays revealed that her root was fractured and also the bone that holds the teeth has a hairline fracture in it. Nothing can be done, and it's just a waiting game to see if the teeth die. If they die they will have to pull them, so we are praying hard that they stay alive.
Today the teeth are still loose, so we know she hit pretty hard. Thankfully though, she has caps. They told me if the caps weren't there her teeth would have broken right off at the gums.
I think I have been more worried about this than I realized because tonight I am absolutely beat. Not sleepy, just physically exhausted.
Collin had an ophthalmology appointment today and they discovered he is seeing 20/30 corrected now. So that is great. The other doc had said his eyes had gotten worse, but today they said no. YIPPEE!!
Tomorrow night we are having an agape feast at church and I'm apparently in charge of it. Didn't realize that till today, so it's been last minute rushing about to get things done.
I think I need another vacation!!

Six Flags Sunday Night

This is the only decent shot we got with Santa. Em, of course, would have nothing to do with him, but the boys..even Matthew...all sat on his lap!



The hot cocoa was a bit too hot, so Matt just gave Emmie the lid with the whipped cream on it. That's the best part anyway!



Dillon was impossible to get shots of that night.



This is a horribly fuzzy picture, but it is Zachy going down the sledding hill. You should have seen how thrilled the kids were. It's the only snow any southern Texan kids see, and they thought it was the greatest thing ever!



Matthew wanted to take Emmie on all the rides with him. This is them on the giant ferris wheel. Of course, Matt was with them, and I was in another bucket with the other three kids.



I have a bunch of pictures of Emmie and Matt that look just like this. For some reason, she thought it was great fun to look at him like that!



Self portrait of me and Collin.



This is my favorite picture of the night. It is the perfect visual for how Emily has been lately. So very, very happy.

We had a FANTABULOUS time!

Would you believe that for the first time in three years, we were blessed with extended family here for Thanksgiving? Well, believe it, it's true!
This is big to us.
You see, Thanksgiving has always been a big time to be with family. Especially with Matt's family. I love Thanksgiving with Matt's family. It's the one time of the year that we could see everyone, and it was always fun! Not to mention the most excellent food!
But, no one wants to come to Texas for Thanksgiving, so ever since we've been here, it's just been our little family. Which is all fine and good, just not the same. Every year, I've had a feeling of loneliness, and longing to be with our families.
This year however...oh this sweet year...Matt's brother and his family came to be with us!
Gina and I spent Wednesday baking pies. Four all together, and I just don't think it was enough! Matt made our turkey and Gina and I made the various side dishes. She even made our mother in law's dressing! YUM!
They got to experience a Texas Thanksgiving and thought it was quite different to let the kids play outside because it was so warm.
The kids all had such a good time playing together, and it was just so nice to be with family!
Thank you Tim and Gina for making the drive and coming to be with us. It was the best Thanksgiving since we've been here!

Just stuff

Last week, one by one, my kids battled illness. From ear infections to bronchitis. Loads of fun, and doctor visits. Now, thankfully, everyone is on the mend.
To celebrate, we went to six flags yesterday. Well, not really to celebrate. We simply went because it was the last day the water park was open, and we hadn't been yet. It was hot. And crowded. Lest you be concerned that we can't keep track of all our kids amongst throngs of people, let me assure you that they are easy to spot. You see, my kids are TWKEs. The Whitest Kids Ever. They stand out among the crowd. It is impossible to see that we live in south Texas and that we wear shorts year round. We have no tans to speak of. All I kept noticing were the darkly tanned bodies around me, and how conspicuous our family was!
As we were leaving, a crowd of young people (early 20s? dang, I'm old) was in front of us. In short time, there was a fight. Two guys against one. Right in front of us. The sound of fists hitting bodies is still fresh in my ears. What point does fighting serve? Seriously. I guess it's human nature though. Thankfully, security was there in no time flat. Then the girls were trying to convince the security guards that no one was actually fighting. Here's the sad thing, during the fight, a little girl went and grabbed her dad's arm, "PLEASE STOP DADDY!!" While he was hitting the other guy. She was not hit at all, but can you imagine??? Horrible.
Today was our first day of school. It was a smashing success, and tonight I'm tired. No rest for the weary though. It's now time to get kiddies ready for bed to start again tomorrow. It's looking like it's going to be a great school year. I officially have a 7Th, 4Th, 1st, and K this year. And little Emmie tagging along. Fun times indeed!!

Great Wolf Lodge

On our way back from Missouri, we stopped at the Great Wolf Lodge. The kids had such a good time that we would like to make it at least a yearly trip.
There is a game there where you buy a wand that is programmed by a computer. On all eight floors of the lodge are pictures and statues and different things. There are 13 different games and 3 adventures. It is like a big scavenger hunt. You read the clue, then find the object it is talking about, wave your wand and move on to the next item. At the end you battle a dragon. Matthew and Dillon did all of it, and Collin and Zachy did parts of it.
They also all got airbrushed tattoos. For some reason, I don't have a picture of Dillon's in the slideshow, but it was a wolf head.
There was also an animatronic show in the lobby that the kids thought was cute.
We wanted to stay in the area and finish the scavenger hunt game, so we actually stayed in a campground the second nigh..that's where the s'mores picture is from!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Vacation!!

I don't know what's wrong with me. I just haven't had it in me to post. Since returning from our trip I've been busy cleaning out rooms. Just going through kid clothes and getting ready for the upcoming school year. Speaking of which, we'll be starting sometime in September. My dad is coming to visit on the 10Th, so I think we'll wait till the following week. That way we don't do three days and then stop. Or maybe not, we'll see how things go.
Some of you asked about our trip. Here are some details.
We left Friday after Matt got off work and camped in West, Texas. Which is actually in east Texas. It was hot and miserable. We had to roll over every once in awhile because we were sweating so much. Just to air off the side that had been down.
The next day we drove to Missouri, where we were able to camp out in my brother and sister-in-law's house. THANKS GUYS!!
When we got there, all of Matt's family was already there. They had come along to help drive the moving truck.
We stayed with them until Wednesday. We had a great time, and got to meet our niece for the first time. Now we just have one other niece that we have yet to meet.
While there, we celebrated Zachy's birthday. He's such a big boy. Although yesterday he said to me, "mommy, why do you love me so much? Oh, I think I know why." Me, "oh? Why?" "Because I'm so little!" HA!! I'll love him just as much when he's big.
So Wednesday afternoon we headed out. We made it into Wagoner, Oklahoma, where we got a motel and stayed the night. They only had suites left, so we took a suite. I tell ya though, it was the size of a regular hotel room, I'm sure of it. Two kids still had to sleep on the floor.
We loved the vegetation in Oklahoma and Missouri. Who knew they were such beautiful states?? I wouldn't mind living there.
Thursday, we went to Grapevine, Texas. To the Great Wolf Lodge. My oh my, that was so fun. If you're not familiar with the Great Wolf Lodges, they are hotels with indoor water parks. Only guests of the hotel can use the water park, so it isn't overly crowded. Although, it was packed when we were there, so there were still lines for water slides. We used the water park on Thursday and Friday. We had read about Grapevine, and decided to camp there Friday night and just look around the town. We hung out till early afternoon on Saturday, then headed home.
Sunday was Collin's birthday. He's the big 7. How is this happening? We took him to chuck e cheese's for dinner.
It was such a great vacation, but we were glad to get home. Lots of driving involved. And Emily didn't really enjoy that part, so it was a bit stressful.
I don't know why I didn't put pictures of Matt and his brother in the last set. I know they don't like their kids on the net, but I put his sister and sister in law on, so here's a picture of Matt and his siblings. And his whole family. In case you're new to my blog, my beloved is on the left.


Please know that we don't always dress alike. The pictures had been thoroughly planned, and yet we still forgot to do one of Matt's parents with all of us. They wanted it for their Christmas card. Silly us! By the time we remembered, his sister had already left. But I tell ya, there were probably hundreds of pictures shot that day, scrolling through them is quite dizzying! All those stripes!
There w as also a ton of laughter going on, and honestly, it's a miracle there are any decent shots!
So all in all, a great trip!

Home again, Home again

We're home.
What a great vacation we had.
I have so much to write about, a pictures to share, but I just don't have the umph.
I have tons of laundry to do, and now a very messy house to clean up.
How does that happen? It was clean when we walked in!
We did learn that camping in Texas in August is something we will never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, EVER do again. The two nights we spent in the tent were pure misery. The other nights were spent inside though, so all was well.
I'm off to put away some clothes. Then it's off to the post office!

Getting ready!!

We are headed out for vacation next weekend. I'm getting really excited.
We'll be camping and visiting with all my in laws. All of Matt's immediate family, and his grandma and aunt. Also, some family friends will be there. So very exciting!
We haven't been camping since Zachy was a baby. And he managed to get pneumonia on that trip. How fun to go from the campsite to the ER.
We are also going to The Great Wolf Lodge on our way home. This is a huge birthday surprise for all the kids. I am super duper excited about that. They are going to have a blast. Last Sunday, we went to a pool with water slides. Zachy and Collin were too little to go on the slides and they were so sad about it. I'm excited to be able to go somewhere where they can slide.
We have lots to do to get ready, but it's all so fun!