Tuesday, January 20

I feel like I've been neglecting current events in order to recap my Disney vacation. I'll have to take a break from the Disney recaps in the next couple of days so I won't get behind on my daily photos. I've been finding it difficult to pick one photo from each day at Disney to use for my "photo of the day". I've also been finding it difficult to figure out what photos to take these past few days. Okay, back to Disney...


On Tuesday, we headed to Disney's Animal Kingdom. At first we thought we were destined not to go because we had to wait for a good 30+ minutes for a bus, but when we got there, the crowds weren't too bad. The first thing I had to do was take a photo of the family in front of the Animal Kingdom sign. I took one of all the kids when we went to Disney in 2004. Look how much bigger they are! DD was the one in the stroller instead of DS#3 who wasn't even a twinkle in DH's eye yet!





With her new autograph book in hand, DD was all excited and ready for autographs. On the ride over she insisted that her favorite character was Stitch. Guess what? Lilo and Stitch were the first characters we saw! She was beyond thrilled! The rest of the day we got something like 13 signatures without too much waiting (if you count time waited per character).

We saw a couple of shows. The whole family saw The Lion King. It was a spectacular show with live cast members and four big "floats". There was even a part of the show that had some "monkeys" doing acrobatics including flips from a trapeze. DH and I particularly enjoyed one of the male leading characters who had this wonderful deep voice that I still remember from a few years ago when we last saw the show. Right after the show was a character area--that's where we got to see Chip N'Dale, Donald Duck, Goofy, Mickey, and Minnie.

The Finding Nemo show was fun, too. Only DD and I saw that one, because the boys were off doing rides like Expedition Everest and Primevil Whirl. DS#3 would have enjoyed the music, but he fell asleep during the Kilamanjaro Safari ride and DH thought it best to just walk around with him in his stroller.

Speaking of the Kilamanjaro Safari Ride, we always enjoy that one because you get to see real animals out in the wild. There was one cheesy part, but the rest of it was pretty good. The big cats are always a family favorite, perhaps partly because they're never out during the day when we visit the zoo. That being said, I was glad to be able to get a photo of these cheetahs. The lion was asleep, of course, and too far away (probably a good thing) to get a photo of him. DS#3 must have gotten the idea and fell asleep too. Too bad--he would have enjoyed seeing the animals.

We had to stop off at The Boneyard play area, of course. DH took DS#3 there after his nap. He was too funny. There were two slides side-by-side, but he insisted on only going down the right one--even if there was someone else there and no one on the other slide. He and DD had a blast!

I couldn't resist showing this cute photo of DS#1 and DS#3. All of the kids were playing drums in this area with a whole bunch of them. They look like they're having so much fun, aren't they? I love their smiles!

After we got back to the hotel, the kids really wanted to play in the sand. It was windy and in the 50s--probably even in the 40s! Luckily, they were not interested in swimming, so they went out there in all their clothes and coats and were the only kids outside playing! DH said that he heard some people commenting on how they couldn't believe "those kids" were outside, and one kid was asking her parents to go play in the sand, too.

Monday, January 19

This morning we had reservations at 7:50AM for the Ohana breakfast at the Polynesian. They serve breakfast "family style" which means they set a huge pan of food on your table and you serve yourselves. As you can see from this picture, everyone had gotten to the scrambled eggs already. They also served Mickey waffles, Hawaiian sweet bread, and orange passionfruit guava juice. I usually love milk for breakfast, but that juice is just yummy.

While we ate, they had a "parade" for the kids where they gave them maracas to shake while parading around the restaurant. Mickey, Pluto, Lilo, and Stitch joined them. DS#3 was very interested in the maracas, but by the time DS#1 had convinced him to go with him in the parade, it was almost over. DS#3 would have enjoyed the parade anyway, but apparently, Pluto touched him and he just wanted to be far away from Pluto.

Later, all the characters visited every table for autographs and photos. Lilo then Stitch came by first, and DS#3 was okay since they were across the table from him. As you can see from this photo, Pluto again dared to come close, and DS#3 just lost it! Pluto was only trying to be good by getting behind him so we could include DS#3 in the photo, but this was too much for him! Poor baby! Luckily, Mickey stayed way on the other side of the table during his visit.

After breakfast, we headed off to Disney's Hollywood Studios. We waited a good half hour for the correct bus. About three buses to Downtown Disney and two to Animal Kingdom stopped in the meantime. Of course, a good portion of the people were waiting for the same bus. We were all a little disappointed about how many people were headed to the same park as we were.

Once there, we headed straight for Toy Story Mania, a new interactive 3D arcade ride. I'll have to describe the ride later. By the time we got to the ride it was probably about 10:30ish and the wait was already 60 minutes. The Fast Passes available at that time weren't for until after 4:30PM! Not too long afterwards, they completely "sold out" of Fast Passes for the DAY. Amazing! DS#1 got us our Fast Passes and we headed to watch the new show based on Prince Caspian. The show might have meant more to me if I had seen the movie or read the book. The boys seemed to enjoy it and it passed the time a little.


After the show, the boys headed off to see the Indiana Jones stunt show and Star Tours. My sister, my niece, DD, DS#3, and I stopped off at the Little Mermaid live show. We had to wait a half hour in a crowded room, but the kids seemed to make the best of it. These are three very beautiful children if I may say so myself! :) The kids enjoyed the music and DS#3 seemed to especially enjoy the bubbles coming from the ceiling at one point during the show.

We stopped off to eat. There was another long line, of course, so M took the kids to the Honey, I Shrunk the Kids play area while I got in line to get food. In the play area, they made large models of insects, plants, even a Kodak film canister and the kids can play on them as if they were as small as an ant. M brought the kids back when the food was ready. DS#3 loves hotdogs, but the only one they had was a chili dog that was almost $8! Still, I knew he would eat it and I figured that I could eat it if I had to. He managed to eat quite a bit and then DH and the boys met up with us and ate lunch too.

M was going to take the girls to the bathroom, I had DS#1 and DS#3, and DH went off to watch the Muppet Show in 3D with DS#2. Suddenly we couldn't find DD. I thought perhaps she was in the Honey, I Shrunk the Kids play area, but when I looked, there were SO MANY people running around. DS#1 called DH and he came right back. We were giving a description to one of the Disney Cast Members when they found her in the play area. She had excitedly run there by herself when she heard that we were going back there. When I got to her, she looked so sad but not because she had been lost but because she wanted to go back and play in the "web" where she had been when DS#2 found her. She wasn't the least bit concerned that she was lost or that her parents didn't know where she was. Needless to say, we had a little talk. I know DH and I were having flashbacks to when we lost DS#2 at Legoland when he was 2 years old.

At 4:50PM we headed back to use our Fast Passes on Toy Story Mania. By now the wait was 90 minutes long. After riding it, we could see why it was so popular. As far as we know, there's no other ride like it. You ride in these little cars with your 3D glasses on. They stop the cars in front of some screens and you can shoot the targets. On one screen you were using darts to hit balloons, on another you were tossing rings on the Toy Story Aliens, and on still another you were shooting at plates. When the balloons pop, you feel a blast of air. It was totally cool. I guess DS#3 wasn't impressed, because he fell asleep DURING the ride.

Sometime before Toy Story Mania, we saw the Beauty and the Beast live show. I love musicals and the girls love seeing any of the princesses. Earlier during our visit, we saw a mini High School Musical 3 concert. I don't know why but I totally love that show and that music. DD is much more the Hannah Montana fan. She couldn't have cared less about HSM3--now why is that?

DS#1 and E went on Tower of Terror. They only realized when they had gotten in line already that the wait was going to be an hour. It had been 20 minutes just a short time before. DD and DS#2 were in line with them at first, but they both decided they didn't want to be there for that long.

We saw Fantasmic at 6:30PM after waiting an hour in the stadium where they had it. We sat behind some Brazilian teen girls who seemed to really enjoy my niece, DD and DS#. I could see DS#1 on the end probably wishing they would talk to him. For the first time we got great seats without being smooshed together. We could have been on the first row, but DH convinced us that we would have a better view a bit higher up.

We were going to try to ride Toy Story Mania again after the show because M and E were leaving the next day, but the wait was still an hour with no Fast Passes to be had. We ended up just hanging around and doing a little shopping. DD suddenly decided that she wanted an autograph book. I sort of groaned inside because I knew I would be the one waiting in line with her for all of these autographs. I guess she got excited about it when she saw E getting all of those signatures at the Ohana breakfast. Oh well, how could deny her when she had so much excitement in her eyes?

Maybe that was fatigue instead of excitement. Both DD and DS#3 fell asleep on the bus on the way home. DS#3 had slept in the daybed with DD since the first late night when his crib wasn't there yet. When the crib got to our room, he was in the daybed already and didn't want to move anymore. DH took this photo because they both looked so peaceful, as kids tend to be when they're asleep. :)

Tomorrow, we get to visit Animal Kingdom!

Sunday, January 18

As I was editing my photos from this day, I was thinking about how little we seemed to have done on this day. It was still super crowded at the parks we went to. I still had to wait in line for the bathroom all day and the ride lines were super long too.

We started out our day rather late--that is, we didn't get to the Magic Kingdom until 9:30 to 10AM. We went back to the Magic Kingdom because my niece E didn't get to ride Peter Pan on the day before because the line was an hour long, so we went back specifically so she could ride on Peter Pan. On our way to Fantasyland, we met The Fairy Godmother who noticed that the girls had been to the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique the day before. The boys went somewhere, probably Space Mountain or Big Thunder Mountain again, but DH already can't remember and I wasn't there. We then managed to ride on It's a Small World before heading off to Epcot for lunch. DS#3 was fascinated with all of the colors and the singing on It's a Small World.

Lunch took forever again because of the long lines. We got Fast Passes for Test Track later in the day because the line was so long already. In the meantime, we headed to Innoventions, which had these cool interactive exhibits. We spent a long time playing with the exhibits. DS#3 became fascinated at these red squares on the ground. When he stepped on one of the squares, a door up above would slam shut. This was supposedly the way they test the durability of the door. The other kids eventually found out about it and I thought this was a cool shot of E, DS#2 and DS#3 on the red squares.

There was also another exhibit where you could push buttons to complete a circuit. If you pushed six of the buttons at the same time, it would set off an alarm sound and cause all the lights to flash at once. Since each of the buttons were on one side of the beam, one person could really only push two buttons at once. With some teamwork in our group, we were able to push six buttons at the same time. DS#1 was the one that instigated this, but DS#3 loved all the lights and sounds. I just thought it was awesome that we could do this together.

While at Innoventions, the boys got this "coupon" for some kind of "Kim Possible" scavenger hunt. "Kim Possible" is a character on a show on the Disney channel--some sort of super spy. We headed to Norway where they were supposed to be able to pick up their handsets. It was a fun thing for the kids to do. They listened to the clue which sent them off to various parts of Germany. They would find a spot where they would get the next code to punch into their handset which would then play the next recording for the next clue and so on.

While the older kids roamed around Germany with my sister M, DH, DS#3 and I roamed around The World Showcase at Epcot. We got to this spot near Germany where they had a couple of model trains going around a miniature village. DS#3 was fascinated and didn't want to leave. We let him stay for a while then we had a little dessert before meeting up with everyone else.

It was almost time for our Test Track Fast Passes, but before we got there they had this area that was set up like a car wash. The girls especially loved the spray of water. They look excited, don't they? When it came time for Test Track, DD decided that she didn't want to go, so it ended up being only DS#2, DS#3, E, and I. I'm not much of a ride fan, but I have to admit that it was a cool ride, different from any other ride I've been on. For those that have never gone, it's set up like a track where they test a car's maneuverability during certain test conditions. The last part was like a roller coaster in that you go really fast along some turns on their "road". Like I said, I'm not much of a ride fan so I didn't care to go again, but it worked out because that left three Fast Passes for DS#1, DS#2, and E to go again.

While we were waiting on the three to ride Test Track, the rest of us were waiting in the showroom area. They showed different cars on these stages, and DS#3 was in awe when the first one opened up and it was this flashy red convertible. The next one was a flashy red truck and so on.

After this, the kids all really wanted to go back and play on the beach. The temps were in the 70s but we knew that a cold front was coming so we wanted to take advantage. We were planning on staying late at Hollywood Studios on the following day, so this was the best day to go back to the hotel "early". I took this photo of DS#2 playing in the sand. I've always thought he was very photogenic, but then I'm his mother. :)

We forgot to bring DS#3's swimsuit and M forgot to bring E's swimsuit so they just got their clothes sandy. DD even went swimming briefly in the heated pool but they mostly played in the sand until it was starting to get dark, and more chilly. We watched the Wishes Fireworks display at Magic Kingdom from the hotel again--another cool ending to another fun day at Disney. :)

Saturday, January 17

This was our first official day at Disney World. I worked Thursday night, so I didn't get much sleep. On Friday, after getting the kids all tucked in and wondering when our luggage would arrive, DH and I finally got into bed around 11:30PM. My sister M and her DD E had arrived earlier the night before and got their luggage about four hours after their arrival. E and my DD had appointments for their "makeovers" at Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique at 9:05AM on Saturday morning. I had to set the alarm for about 7:30AM so DD and I would have enough time to get dressed, eat breakfast, and make it to the bus to Downtown Disney. The girls were SO excited. DD had been talking about this ever since I told her about the appointment a few weeks ago.

We got to the World of Disney Store and the girls--I mean "princesses", were given makeovers by their "Fairy Godmothers". DD's Fairy Godmother was a little more heavy-handed with the makeup, but most of it rubbed off by the end of the day anyway. They used SO MUCH gel in their hair. They must have used half the bottle. Luckily, DD's hair is all one length, so it didn't take her Fairy Godmother long at all to get her looking very much the princess. She may have even been the first one done because then one of the store cast members asked her if she wanted to officially "open" the store at 9:30AM. There were other people shopping there already, so it was an honorary thing, but she got to "announce" the opening. I didn't get any photos because I was taking video. She was all atwitter with excitement and couldn't wait to tell DH.

They both got pink "goodie bags" with makeup and nail polish, extra bling stickers for their faces, and a comb. They also got sashes that said "Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique". It was a little chilly that morning, so they wore their coats over the sashes, but they were thrilled nonetheless. They also got these cute little Mickey shaped pins for the back of their heads. Such a cute touch!

I never thought I'd get out of that store, however. My sister had given E $20 to spend on souvenirs and E was determined to spend it all right then and there. She got a cute little Minnie mini-backpack finally. DD convinced me to get her a Minnie pen. It's one of those pens that you could probably get at a regular store for a couple of bucks, but there it cost $6. One thing I didn't think to make her ahead of time, but that I asked her if she wanted me to get her there was an autograph book. She said she didn't want one, so I left it at that.

After a prolonged bus trip home (the bus we took made extra stops that we weren't aware of), we met DH and the boys back at our hotel. After snacks, we headed to the Magic Kingdom. The boys had been there that morning and had gotten Fast Passes to Space Mountain that afternoon. The park was SO crowded that we seriously questioned our decision to be there at this time of year. I hadn't realized that MLK weekend would be so popular.

I never seem to take enough photos of the older boys so here are a couple of them. The girls were posing on this stockade and we asked DS#2 to get in there, too. He got in and put his head down. Someone told him to smile and he raised his head up and said that you weren't supposed to smile when you were in a stockade! He is too funny with his logic sometimes. Of course, the girls both got up next to him and tried to smile and he told them not to.

I love this photo of DS#1 just because it shows his sense of humor. I feel like I've been calling him DH's Jr. all week. Look at that face and look at those mixed up arms/legs!

Of course I can't forget about DS#3. During our last trip we made special trips back to the hotel so he could nap--not this time. On this day he fell asleep while we were in line for the Jungle Safari ride in Adventureland. In the next few days I'll be pointing out other unusual places where he fell asleep during our trip.

Other rides that we rode on included Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (the boys), Buzz Lightyear (all of us), and It's a Small World (M, E, DD, DS#3 and I). Again, the wait times were incredible. M compared it to how it was during Spring Break of last year, which is when she was there last. There were even long bathroom lines all day, even for the changing table. DS#3 got changed over the sink area on a pad because the wait was unacceptable. We finished out our day watching the Spectro Magic Parade at 7PM and then we rushed back to our hotel where we were able to watch the Wishes Fireworks Show at 8PM while eating dessert.

I'll close this rather lengthy post with my photo of the day for today. The kids were all huddled on the sofa watching America's Funniest Videos, one of their favorite shows. You can see folded laundry on top of the sofa. DH spent all day doing laundry, and DS#1 for the most part did a lot of the folding. DS#2 always found something else to do. ;) Actually, he and DD played with their good friends across the street for most of the afternoon. I spent a lot of time with her practicing the piano lesson that she was assigned before we left. We also spent some time with homework. DS#3 finally got that regular nap at about 1:30PM or so. I got a frustrating phone call from a very unprepared resident. We're all just trying to get back into our routines. Ugh! I'd rather be back at Disney!

We're Back!

We got back this evening. I have over 500 pictures to wade through and delete or edit. That's not even counting the ones I might get on my Disney Photopass, so I'll show just a few today. After dropping off our stuff at the house and starting a load of laundry, we went out to DH's (and the kids') favorite restaurant. This is my photo of the day for today. DH wanted me to give a shout out to G because he would probably be jealous to see DH having the Chicken Enchiladas Mole and drinking his second margarita here! ;-)

I'm going to back track here a bit. I didn't get a chance to post about having lunch with DD on Friday, January 16th, the day we left for Disney. She was chosen for something called "Kid's Cafe" at school. What that means is that she got to eat lunch up on the stage in their cafeteria. She could choose one person to eat with. When DS#2 got this a couple of months ago, he chose one of his school friends. DD chose me. To be honest, I think she chose me just so I would bring her McDonald's, but there's a slight chance she just wanted to eat with me. :) She ate her cheeseburger in less than 5 minutes and chatted nonstop the rest of the time about our Disney trip and how excited she was to be spending time with her cousin who was going to be there, too.

DH and spent the rest of that afternoon packing. As soon as the younger kids got home from the bus, we picked up DS#1 from his school and then we were off to the airport. This is just a silly photo of DS#3 on one of the chairs at our airport gate as we waited to board. We got to our hotel very late. We were using the Disney Magical Express that brings your luggage to you at your Disney Resort. It's convenient because you don't have to stop off at Baggage Claim, but then you have to wait for them to deliver your luggage to your room. We didn't get our luggage until the next morning. We were prepared for that, however, and we packed some nightclothes and clean underwear for the kids in our carry-on baggage.

This is one of my favorite photos of the whole trip. DS#3 is having so much fun. He was shoveling sand onto DS#1's leg and he thought that was so cool! DS#1 is SO good with him and I love how they are having so much fun together in this photo. As you can see, we also forgot swim diapers/swimsuit for DS#3, which meant sandy clothes. This was taken on Sunday, January 18th and the temps were in the 70s. DD swam in the hotel pool, but the boys did not. They all played in the sand and they all enjoyed themselves doing it. This was a recurring theme despite a drop in the temperatures.

I took some a closeup of DS#3's face just after he had shoveled some more sand onto his brother's leg. This photo shows perfectly how much fun we had at Disney this past week. It was a nice, long, relaxing vacation. Disney really is the "happiest place on earth", and this was a well-timed trip for us. :)

More details on the trip tomorrow (as well as more photos) and in the following days.

We're Off!

We're all packed. Everything is charged. We're about to pack the van. We even packed a bag with nightclothes and such since our luggage might take up to three hours to make it into our room at Disney. We're doing the "Magic Express" and it's nice not to have to worry about carting all the kids and all the luggage everywhere, though. DS#2 and DD get off the bus in about another half hour and then we're planning to go pick up DS#1 from school because otherwise he doesn't get home on the bus until around 4PM. Our plane is supposed to leave at 5:30PM so hopefully we'll be able to get something to eat at the airport. We're all excited! This is going to be such a great vacation!!! I love Disney!!!

Heavy Heart

This is my photo of the day for yesterday, again taken by DH. DH is really starting to take awesome photos, isn't he? I'm "supposed" to be taking these photos myself, but how can I pass up such a great photo? DD and DS#3 had been playing in the little house in the backyard. DH was trying to get photos from different windows, the front door, etc. His persistence paid off. I guess I haven't felt like taking a lot of photos lately...

This is my photo of the day for today. Yesterday was the the first episode of American Idol Season 8, and I had DH take some photos of us watching it, but none of them were very good photos. It wasn't because of DH, but the fact that our living room has horrible lighting and that I didn't like the way I looked in the photos. We're watching American Idol in this photo here, too, but DS#3 saw DH taking the photo and out came that cheesy grin, of course. Notice that I'm not in the photo either. *WINK* DD is looking annoyed because she feels like she's being squished by DS#2. As a result, she was sent to bed soon after this photo was taken.

DD had her dance class this afternoon. Last week, in the middle of class she came out to the parents' waiting area and said she had a stomachache. She had just been playing and laughing so I just had her sit with me for a while. After a few minutes she said she would go back into the class and just sit and watch. After class, her teacher told me that she thought that DD had become frustrated that she wasn't keeping up with the routine they were doing. On the drive home, DD said that she didn't want to go to her next dance class (today). I asked her why, because she has always been so enthusiastic about dance class. She said it was because her feet get sweaty. Can you believe that?!! I told her that her feet get sweaty too when she plays outside and that perhaps I shouldn't let her play outside either because her feet would get sweaty. She of course replied that her feet don't get sweaty when she plays outside. Sigh--the logic of a 6-year-old!

Anyway, today I gave her a little pep talk about making an effort to participate and enjoy her dance class. It must have worked because her teacher approached me after class and said that DD had a complete attitude change today and did great in class. I told her teacher that we had had a pep talk and that maybe DD had more sleep today than last week. Well, the above photo probably tells that she still needs more sleep. Oh well!

I know I keep mentioning the stress at work lately, but unfortunately, that's not the only stress I have in my life right now. My mother called tonight. I wasn't home and apparently, DS#1 answered the phone. My uncle died today. :( My mom and dad were supposed to take a big three-week trip to the Philippines this week. My dad really wanted to go "while he can still walk". My mom told me yesterday that she had cancelled the trip because of her brother's condition. She had already made plans to fly up to visit him tomorrow. I guess it's too late. :(

Parking

This is my picture of the day for yesterday. DH took this one. He's been taking lots of photos lately and I think it's great. He gets to see a part of our family life that I'm not always there for because of work or whatever. I think I was either at work during this photo or upstairs bathing the kids. He tried to get into the laundry room but found it difficult. The reason was that DS#3 had parked his vehicles inside the laundry room! There's also a doll stroller in there behind the laundry room door. I say laundry room door because there are also two closet doors there. They used to belong to DS#1's closet, but were removed a while back because one of them was damaged. Besides the multiple doors, there is the laundry stuff and then that blue bag in the back is filled with gift bags, gift wrap, etc. I guess DS#3 figured it wouldn't hurt to add a few extra things in there. Maybe Mama and Papa won't notice if I put this in here...

This is my photo for today. The youngest two were watching Dora. For whatever reason, DS#3 was getting in this crouching position on the sofa and DD must have thought it was a good idea and got in the same position. I wish I could have gotten a photo of the front view, but as usual, the moment had passed. Both of them love watching Dora and Diego. They both really love dancing to the intro music. DS#3 was even "clapping" by using hitting his trains together. He's been getting very interactive with these shows. He'll try to repeat all the words and he does so at a large volume sometimes. He's even learning some Spanish. Too cute!

This was a "just because" photo tonight. It wasn't a "bath night" for the youngest two. Because of our dry skin problems, we try to only give them baths every other day, unless they've been playing hard outside and getting filthy, of course. Well, DS#3 insisted on getting a bath tonight. He tried to climb into the bathtub with all of his clothes on! He was very happy when I did give him a bath and especially when I put these Thomas the Tank Engine PJs on. According to DH, DS#3 fussed this morning when DH was changing him out of these PJs into day clothes. He really loves the trains on these PJs.

After his bath, DS#3 smelled so good that I told him that he smelled good enough to eat. Unfortunately, I think this made him realize that he wanted a little snack, so he kept saying "ee foo" which roughly probably translates to "eat food". Mama needs to be careful what she says. He had a cheese stick, so obviously that made him happy. :)

It's really difficult coming up with titles for these blog entries! Parking fits the overall theme, so there you go. DS#3 parked his toys, he parked himself in front of the TV, and he parked himself at the dining table. :)

Year In Review 2005

Yes, you're reading the most recent post. I happened to have just finished my "Year In Review" pages from 2005. It's a little late, I know, but I finally finished them. I started the first one in 2006 when I went to CKU (Creating Keepsakes University) in Houston with my dear sis. The design and materials were all provided in class by Donna Downey, so this didn't take too long to complete. I just had to sit down and do it. Enjoy the old photos! (Note that certain kids faces are blurred out since I haven't gotten permission from their parents to post this.)

Giving Me a Little Break

Today we went to Mission San Jose (see photo) because they were having some sort of "Get Outdoors, It's Yours!" event to promote getting kids outside. It wasn't what we expected, with little booths instead of things going on in the wide open so you could see everything. There were also lots of people and we generally like to avoid the big crowds. Still the family enjoyed walking around the grounds and it was a nice visit.

The Mission San Jose is actually an active Catholic parish, so there is a small church there. We went in there and lit a few candles for my uncle. The kids felt better about "doing something" for him, and so did I. They also learned that when you blow out flame on the stick that you used to light the candle, you need to face away from the candle.

I feel like DH has already beaten me to the punch. He already posted this photo and the next one on his blog tonight. We were near the River Walk so we went ahead and had lunch at the Food Court at Rivercenter Mall. The boys killed time while DD and I were in Bath and Body Works. That girl LOVES Bath and Body Works. Anyway, DS#3 had fun looking at the water and all the birds that always seem to hang out at the River Walk.

After lunch where DS#3 ate lots of my pepper steak (mostly rice), we had dessert. I love the soft cinnamon sugar pretzels at Auntie Anne's. DS#2 and DD helped me with mine so I was able to have enough to satisfy my craving but not enough that I felt too guilty. DH took the other two boys to Great American Cookie Company. DS#3 looked too cute sitting on the floor of the mall so DH snapped a few photos. This one is just too adorable, so I'm planning to use it for my photo of the day today.

After this, we went home. DS#2 and DD played outside with their friends. DS#1 went to a friend's house. DS#3 and I napped. DH got some work done. We went out to dinner at Chili's tonight. It was a nice relaxing day with a little bit of everything. I even took a short trip to a nearby scrapbook store. I really needed this day!

I didn't post my photo of the day for yesterday. I chose this one of my two youngest children. They were both playing on these wiggle racers and having so much fun being with each other. Suddenly they both stopped right in front of me, so I quickly snapped this photo. I wished that I had set the flash to go off, because I had to lighten their faces considerably, but I just love the look of joy on their faces!

Having a Bad Week

I know I keep saying it, but I have had such a bad week at work. Today, I spoke with one of my colleagues and he made me feel a lot better about this. We're presenting this case next Tuesday, so I'm still a bit stressed out but a little less so. I am SO glad that today is Friday!

So, I've been having this horrible week, and it got even worse tonight. My maternal uncle has been sick for a while, but in much more serious condition since last July. His first grandchild was born in October and he has barely been able to see him. My mom has called me whenever there is anything new with his condition. Well, last night she called and said that they had removed his dialysis catheter. Tonight she called and said that they had removed his feeding tube and had placed him on a morphine infusion. *SIGH*

I just remember my uncle being so full of life and being such a cool uncle. A few years back we were visiting his house. As we were leaving, he slipped a fifty dollar bill into DS#1's pocket. That was his way of giving me money indirectly. Here I was with a good-paying job and my own family, and he was giving me money just like he did when I was much younger. He made me feel like a kid again. He was always sending my mom care packages which included ten pound bags of pistachios because he knew DH loved them. I just can't believe that the end might be near! I keep hoping that I'm wrong. :( My poor mom! I just want to be able to give her a big hug! She lost one of her older brothers last year and now this is a younger brother. :(

I need to end this post with a positive note. This is a page I just completed tonight for an ad challenge on Playground of Memories. It's a bit out of my comfort zone like I've been all week, because of the "randomness" of the photo placement. After looking at this for a while, I'm starting to like the design more and more. It's more interesting and less boring than my usual straight alignment of photos and elements. I hope being uncomfortable this past week will make me a better person in the end.

It's Here!

Is it weird that I'm excited about a kit? Actually, I'm excited about two kits. I received both my Project 365 Kit and my Studio Calico kit today. Awesome mail day! This photo of my Project 365 kit is my photo for today. I know there are better photos of the whole kit, but this is probably the most exciting thing that happened to me today, and after my depressing, stressful week, I needed this! :)

I even told a colleague about my photo a day goal for 2009. His wife is a scrapbooker that I really must meet some day. He himself was intrigued by the whole idea of taking a photo a day. He said he was going to do it, too!

I must finish out my blog entry tonight with a couple of cute stories about DS#3. Today I got home early , and as I was walking to the bus stop with DS#3, he started waving to the other moms at the bus stop and saying "Hi, Mom! At first I wondered if he was trying to say someone's name, but none of their names started with an "M". Later I realized that he probably said that because he'd heard the other kids call them "Mom". How adorable can he get?!!

Tonight, he actually said "Hi, Lala" to my mom on the phone. When he heard her voice, he automatically said "Lolo" too, but of course, by the time my dad got on the line, he really was only saying "Hi, Lala" over and over again.

DH the Cook

My Project 365 album will be here tomorrow! Yay! I can then start putting all of these pictures and journaling somewhere permanently. Some people have used this project of taking a daily photo as a way to practice in taking better pictures. I really need to read my camera manual and soon!

DH prepared some grilled chicken for dinner tonight. He got a recipe for this rub from one of my Cooking Light magazines. He used a mixture of cilantro, mint leaves, cumin, garlic, and red pepper, rubbed it on the chicken breasts, and left it to marinate for a few hours, then he grilled it this evening. I'm embarrassed to admit that he might read Cooking Light magazine more than I do. He's come a long way from the time he first "cooked" for me by popping a frozen pizza in the oven. Love ya, Dear! :)

Had a Bad Day

I had a bad day today. Actually, yesterday wasn't great either. Both involved a certain case that I can't provide the details of here, but this has really made my stress level go way up. Of course, tensions at work have made my stress level go up already, plus the fact that they will soon make us park elsewhere and get bused into the hospital. I just keep hoping I can win the lottery so I can retire very early. Of course, I would need to actually buy a lottery ticket so that might actually happen...

I've already goofed on the photo a day challenge. I was so down yesterday that I just couldn't get up enough energy to think of something to take a picture of, so I'm going to use this photo from today instead. Yesterday, when I met DH and the kids at DD's gymnastics class, this little boy really brightened my dismal day by giving me a "hut" which means "hug". It's so cute to hear him say in a high-pitched sing-song type of voice, "Huhhhh-t" as he puts his head on your shoulder or leg or whatever he can grab. Here he is actually saying "Doe-wa" very excitedly because he just heard the theme song to his favorite show. Thanks so much for lifting my mood, Sweetie!

This is the photo I chose for today. The kids are back in school, but all of the afterschool activities have not resumed yet. We don't usually have any Tuesday activities anyway, but it was really nice to see them all playing a game together. Even DS#3 was "playing" with the little pewter figures in the Monopoly game. Of course, he was "playing" with them by scraping them back and forth on the antique wood dining table, but he was playing with them. DH and I say over and over again. It's a good thing he's cute! *WINK*

Putting Away the Ornaments

Isn't this a sad sight to see? The kids took the ornaments down and put them away. I'm so proud of them because they did it mostly by themselves. DH put away the standing Santas. I guess he'll put away the tree tomorrow when it's supposed to be cloudy and icky outside. Back to school and work tomorrow. I think that's sad, too.

This is my first page for 2009. With the Project 365 album, there is some room for "regular" scrapbook pages and I felt like I needed to do this again to compare it with last year's title page. I was hoping to see how tall the kids were against the tree, but I just realized that I cut off the top of the tree in last year's photo. Just in case you can't see the vital stats on the page, here they are:

--DS#1 - 124.5 lbs, 68 3/4 in
--DS#2 - 89.5 lbs, 58 1/4 in
--DD - 45 lbs, 45 in
--DS#3 - 23 lbs, 32 in

To some of you, DS#1's stats may not seem noteworthy, but considering that he is already one of the taller members of my extended family and he's only 13, it's very noteworthy. DS#3's stats are approximate because he wasn't too cooperative. I'm still hoping he'll start growing a bit faster. It's not as socially acceptable for boys to be short and I don't want that for him.