Part 8: Disney World! : Putting the Night to Sleep at Epcot

Welcome back to my Disney Series!  In this series I recount our vacation days and everything we did.  It's part scrapbooky so I'll remember the details and part helpful hints for my friends who have asked me things about my planning.  We're on Part 8 of the series and I'm still only talking about Day 2 at Disney, ha!  I'm having a blast though remembering and recounting everything that happened.  Come on, read on... :)

I've gotten into somewhat of a pattern with our posts where one post covers the first half of the day and the next post covers the afternoon and on.  I'm doing that simply because we did so much each day that it would be hard to cover everything in one post!

And to us the day did seem like two parts.  We would go to the park in the morning, leave in the afternoon and return later on in the evening.

 When we left Epcot in the morning we were getting this from Cal...basically done with Epcot and I would have to agree.  A lot of Epcot in the front of it at least seemed to me like those exhibit buildings at  a county fair.  You know the ones, where companies set up a booth and try to give you free pencils and caps?

So after our lunch at the Coral Reef (fantastic atmosphere, pretty good food!) we left to check out Downtown Disney.

 Truth be told we hadn't really wanted to go to Downtown Disney until our reservations but we had told Cal there was a lego store and since we had left our house two days before he had been asking for the Lego store.  So we went.

 Building...

 Building...

 A thumbs up at the infamous Buzz statue (seriously I think everyone gets their picture taken at this thing!)

 And building Mr. Potato Heads.  **Which heads up we did not get but I've read that this is a good deal for your kiddos.  You can get a Mr. Potato head box which you fill with whatever you want.  I'm pretty sure it was $19.99.  The idea is that you get your Mr. Potato Head and some accessories but I've heard if you already have a Mr. Potato Head and don't get one you can get one of every accessory into the box.  You'll have to shove and finagle but I've heard it can be done.  If your planning a trip to Disney a toy idea for you might be to pack your Mr. Potato Head, buy the accessories and then have hours of playtime in your hotel with all of the pieces.

I've gotta tell ya.  We drove to Downtown Disney twice and took the shuttle once.  Nick called DD the place where time goes to die because it seriously sucked the life our every day we went.  It is free and there are lots of shops but it seemed like such a hassle for us in terms of what was there compared to how much time it took us to get in and out of the area.  If you visit Downtown Disney make sure you plan ahead and give yourself a lot of time.  Then add an hour onto that.  Just a word to the smart Mama's out there :)

We had reservations back in Epcot for dinner at this place, Tutto Italia.  We were so behind in trying to get out of Downtown Disney that we almost skipped our reservations.  But I had really, really wanted to try this place so Nick in all of his awesomeness insisted that we made our reservation.  That included him parking the car and then sprinting all of the way to the restaurant so we could make our reservation.  He is such a rock star amazing husband.  

I am so, so glad we made it for dinner because it was hands down the best meal we'd ever had.  EVER!!!  The restaurant was gorgeous, the food was to die for, and our waiter was amazing.

Emma and Daddy being silly while waiting for our food :)

Our Antipasto platter which was so, so good!  Emma was even eating it and saying things like "mmmm, this is amazing!"

We missed our normal quiet time in the hotel that afternoon so until spaghetti arrived this boy had been passed out on the booth.  Sprawled out, snoring  But as you can see, spaghetti was worth waking up for.  I think this was the only meal he actually ate the entire time we were at Disney.

Another fan :)

I had planned the reservation so that we would be getting done about the time that the fireworks started and it worked out perfectly!  All we had to do was walk out of our restaurant and this is what we could see.  The kids seemed to like it. Well Emma did, Cal was a little freaked out.  There was a lot of fire!

After the fireworks we walked around the world part.  We didn't have much time...the kids were fading fast.  Here's France...

This is totally our daughter...in the middle of Epcot reading :)  No sights for me, thanks.  Just finishing up this Magic Tree House :)

We also visited England and then headed back to the resort with two very tired kiddos.  My biggest regret during our vacation was spending half of the day at the front of Epcot and then running out of time at the back in the countries.  When we go back we will be spending more time exploring all of the lands.  I really wanted to purchase the passports for our kiddos and have them visit everywhere.   next time...

I guess that's not too bad for only having one regret, right?  Besides that I think we saw every dern thing we had wanted to.  And I'll take that :) So that concludes our day at Epcot.  As always if you have  any questions please feel free to let me know :)  Not that I'm an expert but I'll be happy to help!

Starting off the Right Way

I never intentionally mean to get off track.  And don't get me wrong, every day I have something to do with God.  I don't think I ever go a day without talking to him, singing his praises.

But some days I get too rushed to sit down and have a proper quiet time with Him.  And before I know it way too many days have gone by between my alone times with Him.

This morning my poor husband had the job of dragging my body out of bed before he left for work.  I groggily sat on the couch at 3:45 a.m...I think trying to figure out where I was :P  . 

But once I figured it out I was able to start my morning off with the word of God and some iced coffee.  I mean, is there anything better than that?  I've been working through the book above, Seasons of a Mother's Heart by Sally Clarkson.  It's dubbed as "Heart to Heart Encouragement for Homeschool Moms"  but I think any Mama could benefit from the suggested scripture reading and encouragement.  

Last night I found myself emailing a dear, dear friend who lives in Florida. She is one of those rare souls (Kindred Spirit as Anne Shirley would say) who I found myself asking...is it just me or do you often feel suffocated by being a mom and at home?  Ugh.  Sometimes it just seems like it's all too much to take.  

So today I'm starting my day off on the right foot.  I know that that will make a difference in my attitude and will hopefully go a long way in getting me back into the habit of daily devotions and quiet time with God.  

Hope you are starting your week off right :) 

My love to you all! 

Perfect Picnic Time :)

Today started chaoticly.  Is that even a word?

Anyway, Emma had book club and I kind of forgot, diregarded, forgot to care that I had to chop veggies and cheese for her to take with her.

So that put me way behind when I apparently decided to sleep in.  Way in!

So it was a made dash to the finish line as soon as my feet hit the floor this morning.

After we got her where we needed to go Cal and I did some running around and then back home for reading  and school time.

After we picked Emma up from book club it was off to a picnic with my Grandma, my cousin, and my Great Aunt from North Carolina.  Which was exactly what I needed.  A good old fashioned picnic (with Arby's!)  with multi generations of ladys from the family...what could be better than that?

What killed me about it was our Aunt Irene telling us about fried pies, explaining how to make them, and sharing that "the men folk seem to really like them".  Oh dear she kills me :)

And as a side note I have to say that I think Emma's book club is just about the cutest thing ever.  She goes to it with friends from Girl Scouts and it's at my friend Kristina's house who has amazingly put all of this together.  If I was speaking Anne Shirley language from Anne of Green Gables I would tell you that I think I've found a kindred spirit in her :)

Vacation Planning

Here are the kiddos this past week spending their Toys R  Us Gift cards from Christmas!  

Yesterday we were driving, just the kids and me, when they started the incessant begging that seems to have become a normal occurrence.  

Don't get me wrong...I like to eat out too.  And I like to buy new things too.  Just not all of the time! This past week we had taken them to go shopping and it seemed right after they wanted more. And the kiddos seem to want something all of the time.  Their consumerism has gotten out of hand.  

So I turned off the Fresh Beat Band we were jamming to and had a serious heart to heart.  

We talked about having a goal for trying to save money.  We decided to make our September vacation our long-term goal.  

I explained to the kids that our vacation this year will consist of going to Michigan...way out in the wilderness Michigan.  When Emma asked how much we are going to need I explained that there are different amounts  depending on what we want to do.  If we just want to go camping and explore, maybe buy a souvenir then it will cost one amount of money.  Another step up we could get ice cream and do fun things like putt-putt and get more souvenirs.  And the top price point would mean we could stay at a hotel, have lots of fun and explore lots of things.  Emma chose the last one.  

Nick and I are still putting together the numbers for each "price point" if you will and the kiddos seem pretty amped up.  They suggested a jar to keep our vacation money in as a visual reminder of what we are working towards. 

 Nick and I have some of our own hints for saving money.  At Nick's work they give out gift cards to gas stations throughout the year which we save for vacations.  We then have those we can deduct off our gas budget for the trip.  We also have a rebate program from our bank where we earn money on debit card purchases.  If we book our hotel through their travel agent they double this money towards our hotel.  So far we have about $140 to spend towards a hotel so that can be deducted from our amount  needed.  We are always looking to use things up and utilize little pockets of resources we have available.  

Anywho, I am so excited that they got into the action of saving and working towards something!  I told them whenever they want something they should  think of our goal and what we are working towards saving towards.  

I was thankful too that they were listening long enough too to talk about how God wants up to be a good steward of our money.  

Matthew 5:20-21 "  And he who had received five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying 'Master, you delivered to me five talents; here I have made five talents more.' His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant.  You have been faithful with a little; I will set you over much.  Enter into the joy of your master.''

We need to take care of what God has provided us with and trust that  He will provide.  We need to be content with what we have rather than always expecting more.  

Hebrews 13:5 "Keep your life free from money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you." "

I'd love to know how you all are teaching your kiddos to live frugally and to be content with what they have. Ideas please! :)  

Our First Sewing Project

This past week Emma and I made our first project ever on our sewing machine!!!  Excuse all of the exclamation points but I am excited!!!

I followed the tutorial here  on this sweet lady's blog.  So thankful people take the time to explain things in real people terms to those of us who don't sew well...yet.

Poor Emma had to watch most of the time as I figured out what in the world I was doing.  Shamefully TWO years ago I was given a sewing machine from Nick's amazing Aunt.  In those two years we had to research what it was missing, special order those parts, wait for those parts, figure out how to install those parts, figure out it still wasn't working, ask a bajillion people what was wrong with it (I assumed in all actuality that there was nothing wrong with it but rather I just didn't know what I was doing), figure out it really did have something wrong with it, take it in, have it repaired, pick it up, figure out again there was something wrong with it, reask the same bajillion people what was wrong with it, take it in again to be looked at, and have it repaired by some specialist.  Whew!

But alas we have it back and it works...praise be to God!

So we made this dress which I love. I have quite a bit of the fabric left so the next step is to try to make Emma a dress out of the same fabric.

Wish me luck!!!

Museum Time

As we speak (type, well me, not you, lol) Nick is making dinner and the children are upstairs playing quietly.

Something is going on around here.  Weird, wild stuff I tell ya!

So I thought I would take the time to write in the quiet moments about the craziness in our lives.  Which in and of itself is just called, the everyday.

 This week was our first week back into school after a week break.  I think we did pretty good.  Two weeks ago we snagged a two-kid sized tent at a garage sale for $5.  This thing has been in the blue room for play, outside for dreaming, and in Cal's room for a reading den.  Emma read to Calvin Monday afternoon after school..

 The kids playing outside on Monday consisted of them finding their lawn chairs and pretend fishing with sticks.  So cute!

 Tuesday we went with Emma's Girl Scout troop to the Indianapolis Children's museum.  It was so much fun.  All of the girls in the troop are homeschooled so we all are around during the year.  So families were invited to tag along.

 It was also a really nice fieldtrip for school as there were lots of exhibits about school topics.  Here's Cal putting together an ancient statue.

 Here are Girl Scouts digging for artifacts.

 Scuba Steve with his dive pack on.  We were learning about shipwrecks :)

 This time at the museum the children weren't scared of the dino exhibit, thank goodness!

 I love their different expressions with the t-rex.  Cal growling, Emma smiling sweetly.  Totally their personalities.

 Our little dino moving Eggs out of his nest

 And out little artist sketching a  fossil

 Cal loved this!!!  He would have spent all day with this thing if he could have!

Cal and his girl scout friend Kat and Nick using the pulleys for moving water.

At the very end of our day we all went into the Planetarium for a star show which is exactly what we are studying in Science right now. So happy with that as it got the kids really excited about space and star gazing!

After the museum we went to Trader Joe's and then went to two educational stores, Lakeshore Learning and United Art and Education. I got a lot of the supplies I need for next year so that helped me feel prepared for getting underway in September.  It's going to be here before we know it!

Back to School After Graduation

Cal graduated last week.  I know, I know I am late in getting the pictures on here.

Check out Mr. Graduation...

Isn't he adorable?  This little man has grown so much in the past two years.  I mean he had JUST started talking when he started preschool.  He's come so far in such a little amount of time!!!  

And I gotta be honest, it was really hard to watch him graduate.  I literally had a really hard time leaving the church he went to preschool at because I kept thinking, I leave here and I no longer am a mom of a preschooler.  All of my kids will be in grade school.  Sad, sad stuff for a Mom.  Baby steps out the door :(  

During the graduation our leading lady was busy taking care of Baby Grace.  Emma is so beautiful.  Love this girl so much!!! 

 Here I am with my little babies.  Who had to be tickled because we couldn't get smiles out of them!

And then I get these faces.

I think in this picture he's saying "what do you mean I have to start Kindergarten next week?"

That's right folks, this kid started homeschool Kindergarten on Monday.  He did great.  We are basically just working on writing and getting improving his reading skills.  Not too hard.  He did pretty great.  I'm hopeful at this point for the rest of the schoolyear.

So that's how we are doing this week back to school.  I am really pushing Emma in 2nd grade.  I want to get done and go to the beach, yo!

Graudation, break, and breakdown, oh my!

You will all have to forgive me for ducking out of the blogging world this past week.  I've been a busy Mama!

This year we are doing school year round which sounded like the best idea ever...no summer brain drain to contend with and taking longer breaks throughout the year.  What's not to love?  But now that all of our homeschooling friends (and non homeschooling friends!) are breaking for the summer we are having a hard time staying on task and I find myself wondering why on earth I thought this was a good idea!

So this past week I was just done. So I declared a week's vacation o the children could run and play and just have fun, and so I could get things in order, reorganize, re prioritize and get things planned for the last leg of this year's homeschooling journey.

In other fun news, our little guy graduated from Preschool this week!  So proud of him and all that he has accomplished in the past two years.  Nick and I were reminiscing that when we sent him to Preschool he had JUST started talking.  And now here we are.  It's just amazing how far he's come.  He had amazing teachers who have been in our lives for the past four years, first as Emma's teachers and then as Cal's.  I had a really hard time this week just trying to wrap my head around the fact that we no longer have "preschool" aged kids in the house.  They are growing so quickly which is just so sad sometimes.  

But in other news we are officially homeschooling Cal...I keep telling Nick I'm going to need a box of wine on hand at all times to get me through this, lol!  I joke but really I am quite nervous about this venture.  Hoping I haven't bit off more than I can chew with this decision!

Cal is reading and seems pretty ready.  In our state Kindergarten is just basically getting them reading and knowing everything there is to do.  Plus he keeps asking me to study things that our First Grade Curriculum studies...things like animals, and Egypt.  I am so excited for his desire to learn and study things!

So here's our plan... I am starting homeschooling back up next week and this time around I will have a Kindergartner joining our class!  I plan on having him in Kindergarten while Emma finishes up the second grade and then hopefully when we start back up in the fall Cal will be ready for first and Emma will be in third grade...so both kiddos will be a year ahead.  That's my goal right now.  If it doesn't happen it doesn't happen but that is what we are shooting for.

In other news, after 6 long and harrowing months of dealing with my sewing machine, it has finally been fixed!!  I am so happy and Emma is over the moon thrilled! I think we are going to try to tackle a dress for her baby grace today.

Hopefully  when we get back into the swing of things next week I will have a little more time to blog (that sure does sound backwards, doesn't it?) hope you all are doing well out there!

Rainbow Birthday Party

This blog could also be titled "Decorating with Rainbow for $6.00"  

Say what???  That's right folks.  I made the following decorations.  See?  

This backdrop for our present opening area...

This table cloth...

This buffet table decor...

And these ceiling decorations...

How did I do it you ask?  Well all  you need is plastic tablecloths from Walmart!  They are only 97 cents apiece!  Wowzers you say!!!!

It really all stemmed from the buffet table.  I had seen that done with fabric on Pinterest.  But seeing as a) my sewing machine is in the shop and b) I was trying to do this the NIGHT before the party, I knew sewing layers and layers of fabric could not be an option.  Plus it seemed like it would be really expensive.

So here's what I did...I cut each tablecloth into 4 equal portions longwise (1 piece for each project), which was super easy because the plastic was folded in half long ways and then in half again...so basically I just followed the fold lines and cut away.  Once I did that I made the rainbow buffet table surround by draping a bed sheet over and taping it all on.  I'm telling you, it's fancy doin's around here ;)  But I was really happy with the end result and everyone oohed and aahed over it.  Plus it was all so dirt cheap I didn't feel bad throwing it all away at the end of the night.

For treats I went with candy, candy, candy...jawbreakers, gumballs, and M&M's.

Rainbowy twizzlers and colorful forks.

Party favors for guests to take home.  Thanks for coming to my RainbLow party.  And yes I know, I am dork!

As we always do, after we eat, then we open gifts.  I was so proud of this girl that she took the time to read the cards.

Then we decided to have some cake!  I made it with a lot of love :)  It might not be the fanciest thing but Emma loved it and to me, that is all that matters.  I decorated it with "happy Birthday" candles from the dollar store.  The candies along the bottom are gumballs

Look at how excited she is :)

I should have taken a picture of it right when it was cut in but I was serving cake so didn't quite have  time.  Here's what it looked like about half way through.

A very happy girl being very silly for the camera with her rainbow cake.

So there you go, that was my rainbow party.  Very casual and relaxed.  It was fun.  And it was all when Emma wanted.  Game point.