We Are Back!

We are back from Disney Fest 2008. It was all fun, but extremely exhausting on all of our parts. I have to say though that Jack was such a trooper. The first day we started off at 6 am by getting to Chef Mickeys at 7 and then closing the Magic Kingdom park by watching the fireworks that night without taking a break once. We were at it for 14 hours straight and Jack never once complained, nor took a nap in the stroller.

We timed our trip perfectly because there were no crowds at all. I think our longest wait was 20 minutes for the Jungle Cruise. I think going to the Magic Kingdom on a Wednesday at the end of January is a very good time to go. We went back to the MK on Friday night to catch the parade and there were three times as many people there than two days prior.

We stayed at The Shades of Green, which is the resort for military families and I have to say that the Iraq war touched home for us. We met a mother and her 3 year old son who lost his Daddy in the war about a year and a half ago. I really felt for her and that little boy. Of course, Jack struck up a friendship and before long, the two of them were playing with the remote-controlled boats like long-lost friends. But really the war was all over as you saw families sporting shirts about surviving deployments and getting together again at Disney.

We did a full three days in three parks. The first day we did Magic Kingdom, then Epcot, then Animal Kingdom. But I have to admit it is good to be home and not have to worry about catching monorails, buses, or fast passes!

I will post a more complete trip report and pictures later for ya'lls enjoyment. My lovely computer seems to not like me again.

And We Are Off

Well we are off to Disneyworld tomorrow morning. We are hoping to be out of here before 5 am. I doubt I will update at all while we are gone. So until probably Sunday.... See ya!

Oh and if anybody has any ideas, we have several cop friends who will be checking on the house and neighbors who watch the house like hawks. So don't even think about it.

Time Flying By

I am so not ready to leave in less than two days for Disney. Actually it is in 38 hours that we are hopefully packing the van and leaving and I have soooooooo many things to do, it is just sad. I really really need to clean my house because there is no way that I am letting my neighbors come in to take care of our animals the way it looks right now. I also need to do laundry and pack up Jack and I, or I should say repack Jack's suitcase after he made an attempt to pack it himself yesterday. He was so funny because he heard me talking about packing suitcases and he hurried to his closet to grab his suitcase and "packed" his stuff. I had to laugh when I saw what was packed. He got into the lower drawer of his dresser, which has all the old clothes that I have saved from the past four years. So among the things he "packed" was his pumpkin costume from his first Halloween, the pair of loafers that no longer fit him, a onesie from when he was a baby, and a stuffed animal. He came into my bedroom to proudly show me that he had packed for Disney and I just had to laugh at him. Yeah he's ready alright. But I am not.

However, I can't really do anything to help me get ready right now because my poor husband is sleeping from working an 18-hour shift last night because they were looking for escaped prisoners and the most sleep he will get before he has to go to work again tonight is about 4 hours. So I really don't want to do laundry or clean the house and I can't pack because it would disturb him. So Jack and I are "having quiet time" and watching Peter Pan and counting down the hours until we hit the road.

I am so stupid ... Or The Things We Do For Our Children

It is Mardi Gras season here in the south. Now when we lived in California, I had absolutely no idea what Mardi Gras really was. Ha! I was naive. It is a huge thing here. There are countless parades to see.

So there I was today. Jack and I were out in the cold today running errands and whatnot. I decided to slip into Cici's Pizza (totally ignoring the fact that I am trying to be "good" on my diet) for some lunch before going home. As I was sitting there, I noticed out the window that the cops were out there setting up for the parade today. I thought to myself, "why not" and decided to stay around for the parade. After all one of the main streets was already closed off. So the parade was supposed to start at 2 pm and Jack and I wandered outside about 5 minutes before that. It was 54 degrees and kind of spitting rain. I had no jacket (just a sweatshirt) and Jack had a little one on, nothing really warm. We stood there for 45 minutes waiting for that stupid parade to start, all the while the temp was dropping and the rain was turning more and more into sleet. I am thinking to myself that Iam absolutely stupid for doing this, but I wanted Jack to see the parade, and after all, I had all this time invested, I had to stick it out.

So finally the parade gets to us and we get more bead necklaces than we can hold or wear. We also get a sports cup, stuffed animal, candy, moon pies, and various other crap thrown at us. I admit it was fun. Jack was dancing to the music and entertaining everybody around us (all the other stupid fools standing out there). And the big highlight of the parade was the fire truck at the end, to which I cheered along with Jack not because it was a fire truck, but because the parade was over. By that time, our hands were so cold, we could not even move our fingers and it was definitely sleeting and we could see our breaths. I was never so glad to get in the nice warm car.

Oh and I had just been to Walmart and bought milk and the milk was still cold by the time we got home! We stood out there for a total of two hours and I learned one thing, the shoes I had on that I bought from a Christmas gift card were the perfect Disney shoes. My feet didn't hurt in the least.

Now just watch Jack and I will get sick from this, just in time for Disney.

Ugh

It is pouring down rain outside and it is COLD, like if it were just a few degrees colder, we would have an ice storm right now. And all I really want to do is stay home in my jammies and do nothing. However, that is just not possible. I have soooooo much to do to get ready for our trip next week. Seriously a trip to Walmart right now is making me quite ill.

Also, our church has a tradition that every other week the ladies meet at Cracker Barrel for breakfast. It is called The Girly Girls breakfast and it is fun. The Manly Men meet on the weeks that the Girly Girls don't. But ugh today I just want to be lazy. But sigh, I know I will have fun once I get there. I just need to get my lazy butt up and get ready. But ya'll Walmart on a Saturday? I just might cry.

Every Little Penny

For the past year and a half, we have been saving our spare change in a big jug for our next vacation. I should say that mostly Jim has been doing this as he is about the only one who carries any kind of cash and I mainly use the debit card for everything. He also would throw in dollar bills every now and then and even a $20 bill went in there.

Today was the day to cash it all into real money for our Disney trip. And the total that it came up to was over $275!!! That will be our mad money to be spent ... well madly. I even told Jack that he could have $5 each day we were in the parks to spend on whatever he wanted, which made him go get his little play wallet he has to put the money in. Of course I had to tell him he couldn't actually get the money until we got to Disney and of course, that prompted the "Buuuuttttt Mmmmmooooommmmm" complaint.

I also bought a book all about Disneyworld with all kinds of pictures. We have been studying this book like it is something sacred in this house. He will go and get the book and crawl up into my lap and we have to again go through the whole book talking about all the different rides, shows, and things to do. And I am just savoring every minute of this because I really believe that Disney at the age of four is just about the most magical thing in the world. I can not wait to see it all through his eyes.

Girls Night Out!

I got to go out last night with the girls from our church group to the movie 27 Dresses. It was cute, but unrealistic and predictable. But just the fact that the four of us got to get out and leave the husbands behind to watch all 6 kids was the best part.

Our small group from church has expanded into a not-so-small group and we have made life-long friends with these people. Within the small group, we all have a total of 13 kids and one on the way. But within the core of the group there are us four couples who are really bonded and I know I could count on them for anything. We are always passing the kid's clothes down to the youngers in the group. In fact, last night Jack got another bag of clothes from the 5-year-old twin boys. Of course, there literally is two of everything hehe.

But it is fun. And we are even selling our 2nd car to one of the couples. Jim's commuter car, the Chevy Cobalt, that he used in California to drive almost 1000 miles a week, is no longer being used here in Mississippi. He is able to drive his police car home and since we have lived here, we have put less than 5000 miles on the car in a year and a half. I figure there is no use in paying for tags and insurance on a car that just sits there. So our friends are buying it today. And technically we will be a one car family. Now just watch as soon as it is out of the driveway, we will totally need the thing.

A Future Tiger

This afternoon after Jim went to bed to get a nap before he has to go to work tonight, I decided to take Jack out for a little bit to run some errands and just waste some time while Daddy was sleeping. So after a stop to get gas, we went to Petsmart to pick up some doggie food and to go to the free petting zoo. (oh as a side note, can I just complain about how utterly fast $100 can disappear between filling the van up and buying a bag of dog food?!? absolutely ridiculous!) We of course were in there with every other parent in the area trying to entertain their kids on this school holiday day. But Jack had fun looking at the fishies and the hamsters.

So then we went next door to the sports store where I wanted to check out athletic capris which were 50% off to take with me to Disney. And while in the store, Jack just HAD to go play in the golfing section. They have a little putting green there and to say that the boy loves all things that is golf would be a huge huge underestimate. Seriously, he could look at golf clubs for 30 minutes with total concentration. So I let him pick up the little putter that was there just his size and I have to say the kid is a total natural in the game of golf. He holds the club like he is a pro and can putt like pro. This kid put all five balls into the hole, one right after another. And then he wanted me to try it, Ha! I picked up a putter and of course missed the hole. And what did my loving son say at the top of his voice for half the store to hear? "I am better than you Mama!" Yep Yep my almost-four-year-old son is better at golf than I could ever hope to be.

And yes, you better believe I was looking at the kids golf clubs. I tell ya'll, I need to get in touch with Tiger.

Snow Ya'll Snow!

It snowed today in Mississippi!!! Not where we are, but I wouldn't be surprised if it did because it is sooo cold. It has been in the 30's all day today. But it snowed less than an hour north of us! And not just a trace, but like three inches!! In Mississippi!! Grammy C. had two inches at her house today. I would say that the Siberian Express has reached all the way south to here.

It is kind of funny also because the Mardi Gras parades were beginning today. There were actually two scheduled today in Gulfport that we were kinda thinking about going to, but um yeah no don't think so now. I am not going to stand out in 30 degree weather just to get some stupid purple beads. Nope.

I know that it is colder in other places in the country, but snow? in Mississippi? That is just cool.

Disney Planning

So I woke up this morning feeling better than yesterday's coma that I was in, which is a good thing because of all that I have to do. Since today is payday, I get to go get groceries to last us the 12 days until we go to Disney. The trip will probably take almost the entire time Jack is at school between the shopping, filling the van, driving home, and the putting away of said food to sustain us 12 days. I hate grocery shopping! Ugh.

I have been researching our trip to Disneyworld. Seriously ya'll, I had no idea there were so many sites dedicated to people talking about their Disney trips. Geesh. All the advice out there is overwhelming. And even though we went to Disneyland lots and lots of times when we were in California, Disneyworld is a whole nother animal in itself. We got reservations at Chef Mickeys. Hopefully Jack will be more accepting of the characters and NOT try to ignore them and pretend they don't exist when they come by like he did last time. I really think he is going to get the whole magical experience that is Disney this time. When we were there before, he was 2 1/2 and he was just a bit young to soak it all up. He also is 40" tall, which means he can ride a lot of the bigger type rides. Of course, we will have to start out small and work our way up. But I think he will do fine on the Big Thunder ride because it is a choo choo.

All the planning that is involved, even for a short 3-day visit, is mounumental. We are staying in the Shades of Green resort, which is the resort on-site for military families. It is about 1/3 the price of the regular resort prices and no taxes. No way we could afford the other on-site resorts. We are not taking the famous Disney stroller that we bought just for Disneyland in California, but renting the strollers there. The main reason is that Jack has totally outgrown that stroller and barely can fit his behind in it. So because we won't have the luxurious huge basket of storage, I am now trying to figure out what people take to the park without all the storage. Even though I hate the look of them, I did end up ordering a fanny pack for myself and I may just order one for Jack if I knew he would wear one. Yeah right. At least mine is in a cute pink.

Jack is getting so incredibly excited about Disneyworld. We have begun the countdown of days until we leave. Of course, I really don't think he has a clue that it involves a 10-hour drive to get there. We have been online looking at all the rides in the different parks and he sits on my lap telling me that he wants to see this one and that again. It is so much fun to experience these things through their eyes. Of course, I am hoping that we are picked for their year of million dreams. I was looking at their giveaways and it all looks good. Shoot, I would be happy for a free pair of ears.

Anyway, that's what happening in the Jackaroo World. Now I am off to grocery shop. Ugh.

Not Fair

I swear that this happens every time I start a health kick. I was doing so good. I was walking 10 miles a week and eating all the right stuff that you are supposed to eat, taking my vitamins. Pretty much everything that Dr. Oz tells me to do in this book to stay young, which is something you think about once you hit the big 4 oh. But then some bug found its way to me and wham knocked me out flat. I woke up on Saturday with a scratchy throat and started to take dozens of Vitamin C pills and eating oranges and taking Zicam. Basically trying everything to not get sick. Yeah right. I've been laid out for the last two days with this horrendous cough that everybody who hears it makes the comment "that sounds like that hurts." Gee really? Yeah its only my lungs coming up, no biggie.

But I am feeling better and hopefully tomorrow I can continue with my regularly scheduled program of getting younger. Well that is after a massive grocery shopping trip in the morning. You know that you need to go shopping when two of the three bathrooms in the house have no toilet paper. Just saying.

Bye Bye Sissy

Well we had to say goodbye to Laura again yesterday as she went back to California. It was really sad and Jack did not take it too well. He loves her soooo much, he practically worships the ground she walks on. It is really neat that they are so close and she is really good with him. They will play together for hours building forts and pretend play. I think it is really great that she, as a 12-year-old girl, will sit and play with her little 3-year-old brother.

I can't say that everything between her and I was perfect. That step-mother/step-daughter relationship is very hard at times. I admit when I see her acting like her mother, I do get angry. Or the things she says that her mother says, angers me to no end. And I do show it. But by the end of her stay, I feel we were back on track. I really do want us to be close friends and I just have to remember what it is like to be 12 again. Yuck. It is such a hard age, especially for a girl, and especially for a girl whose life is split between two completely different households.

I am very grateful that Jack is a boy and I really don't have to worry about (hopefully) all the things that you have to worry about with a girl. She is at that age where she wants to wear the sexy clothes and her father and I are constantly telling her to change her clothes. I don't understand how her mother can let her wear these clothes. Literally there was one day when she was wearing such a low cut top that half her bra was showing. Literally half the bra cup was exposed and she didn't think anything of it!

So hopefully she will be back out in a couple months for her spring break and just mentioning that fact to Jack seemed to perk him up a little bit. I told him that we would color Easter eggs with Sissy and now he is all excited about that.

In other news, Jack's school is having their Spirit Week this week where they get to wear crazy things all week long, instead of their usual uniforms. Of course, this effects the high school grades more than the K3 classes. I completely forgot that today was Crazy Hair Day until I got there and saw all the blue hair everywhere. But not to be left out, Jack did have crazy hair today because I was too lazy to try to get his stubborn thick hair to lay flat. So he went to school with his hair sticking straight up and hey it's all good!!!

Not Feeling It

This is for Amy, who emailed me asking if I ever just did not feel like blogging and my big answer to her is a big yes. (By the way, you will be getting a reply email from me hehe).

There are a bunch of reasons for it. One big reason is computer issues. Our computer is currently having some major issues and I am on the old old computer that is 8 years old right now. I have been looking at those nice new snazzy looking laptops, however money right now is just not there to get it so here I am on my old machine.

I have also had my carpal tunnel come back pretty good in my left hand. Every now and then it will flare up and right now it is flaring pretty good making typing not feel so good.

Then I feel like I am in a state of flux. I have been saying goodbye to Jack's baby years and knowing that I am never going to have another baby, which is fine with me, but just saying good bye to my baby and seeing him grow into a big kid has been kind of hard for me. I love the big kid that he has grown into and he is so much fun at this age, but a small part of me has been mourning his baby stage. I guess I have been melancholy about that and knowing that I have to move on to the next stage in his life. I can already see how much school influences him just by his vocabulary (both good and bad). He is learning so much there and I am so proud of him. He is a very sweet child and I hope to keep him that way.

But at the same time, I am also celebrating the fact that I no longer have to deal with formula, spit ups, diapers, 3 am feedings, no sleep, and all that other stuff that comes with babies. I don't know what it was, but turning 40 pretty much cured me of the want for any more babies. For the first time in over 10 years, I am not yearning to become pregnant. Also, the show Jon and Kate plus 8 has cured me of ever having sex again. How do they do it? All that whining and screaming - geesh. I know I maybe cursing myself here for saying this, but Jack has truly moved on from the whining stage for the most part, unless he is just too tired. I remember when he turned three and it seemed like for 6 months there, the whining did not stop ever, and I wanted to tear my hair out, or his. But he is just a happy little boy who does what I ask him to do (for the most part) and I don't think I could ask for a better little boy. Thank God I don't have 8 of them!

So that pretty much sums up what has been going on. I have also been contemplating going back to work part-time to help with the non-existant money situation, which is another whole post altogether. Until then, hope ya'll have a great day. Now I have to go walk my butt off, literally.

Back to Normal

I call today the "Back to Normal" day every year. The first Monday after the New Year. All the Christmas stuff is torn down and packed up. I don't know about ya'll but Christmas and New Years is very exhausting, even if it is a great time spent with family.

So today was the first day back to school for Jack. I thought it was quite amusing that about half of his class were outside in the hall crying because they did not want to go back to school. Yeah that was so not Jack. He walked in as usual, gave Mrs. Nix a huge hug and promptly forgot that I was there. The usual routine. I know there are kids out there who are not ready for school everyday, but I think Jack was born ready to go to school. He absolutely loves it. And the amount that he is learning flabbergasts me everyday. He now knows all his letters, numbers, colors and he can sound out some words. I think he will be reading by this time next year. Truly amazing how much they can learn in three or four short years.

Anyway, it is great to be back to normal. Laura is with us for one more week as she has a modified year-round school in California. She gets four weeks off at Christmas time. She will be back in March for spring break and then will be back in July for about a month. She is one lucky little girl because her grandmother and step grandfather are taking her to Israel for two weeks when she gets out of school. I am sure that is a place I will never be able to go to, so it is a pretty special opportunity for her.

And as I always do in January, I am back on the health kick again. I went and walked two miles this morning and will be up to three to four miles very soon. I am also trying to get in shape for those long walking days at Disney. Yay! We leave in 22 days! Can't wait.

Did somebody get the name of that Party that Hit Me?

Oh my did we ring in the new year last night. Wow. At one point we had a total of 14 adults at our house and what seemed like about 220 kids at the other house, even though I think it was only 6 kids with 2 pre-teen girls and one teenager girl as babysitters. And the party lasted until about 2:30!!! Yeah we have not rung in the new year like that ever. It was fun, but we did have one friend that we had to take the keys away and he slept here for the night. We also did in 6 bottle of champagne, untold amounts of beer, cosmos (very yummy), margaritas and cranberry/vodka combinations were going on. After midnight, somebody thought it would be fun to play group Taboo, which turned hilarious. Seriously, if we had been taping the goings on last night, it would have won the funny videos.

Anyway, we are moving very slowly this morning, err afternoon. I think the taking down of the Christmas stuff will commence tomorrow.

Happy New Year! Yay first post of the year! Now excuse me, while I go lay down.

And One More Party

I am going to say it. I am very happy that the holiday season is almost over. Don't get me wrong, I love Christmas and being with family and seeing Jack's face on Christmas morning, the making of cookies, and even all the cooking involved with all the parties. However, I am officially partied out ya'll. And I say this with one more to go tomorrow night. We are having a New Years bash at our house, or I should say it is being split with our neighbors. The adults are going to be at our house and the kids are going to be at their house, with babysitters of course. Laura and a couple of friends are going to be making some cash.

But I am just not that into it. Maybe it is because I have hosted one too many parties in the past month(s)? I was just talking to our neighbors and trying to plan it out and right now I am ho hum at best about the whole thing. Seriously, the best New Years gift right now would be a nice quiet night at home in my sweat pants with a good movie and a book. A night I didn't have to get up every five seconds to attend to a child or an animal. Speaking of animals, one of our cats decided that throwing up all over (and I mean all over) my kitchen this morning, minutes before we left for church, would be a good thing to do. I was seriously holding back the gag reflex ya'll.

So if I don't post before the New Years because of yet another party, I hope ya'll have a really good New Years and be safe!

Ponderings

Why are Christmas decorations on Christmas Eve "beautiful" but three days later, all you can see is work? Just wondering.

Not that I am complaining or anything, but it seems a bit abnormal to this former Michigan girl (even though it has been 20 years) to be walking outside on December 28th in shorts and actually sweating. Just saying.

"He Really Came"!

So I need to update on the last few days in the Jackaroo house. We had a very Merry Christmas. On Christmas Eve, we went to the candlelight service at church which was beyond beautiful. It made us think of the real reason that is behind all the craziness at this time of year.

All day on Christmas Eve, we were keeping up with Santa's progress on Norad.org, which I have to say was really cool and wow what a great geography lesson for this geography-challenged person. I really thought that I was going to have a hard time getting the boy to sleep on Christmas Eve, but alas right after church, he went to bed excited, but less than 10 minutes later he was out cold.

Santa was very good to both Jack and Laura. Jack received a silver bell just like the one from his favorite movie of all time - The Polar Express. Everytime anybody would ask him what he wanted Santa to bring him, he would say "a silver bell" and so I guess Santa found one on ebay that came in the same box as the one in the movie. And there even was a note inside that said "I heard you wanted a silver bell. This is for all who truly believe. Signed Mr. C." Oh and Santa also got him some "tools" and Laura got a purse with some cash inside.

They also made out from Mom and Dad and Grammy and Papa also. Laura got some clothes, some more cash, a Hannah Montana game, and some other crafty things. For the boy, he got a Hot Wheels race track, some radio-control cars, batman helicopter, puzzles, etc. etc. etc.

Here is a 3-minute video of Christmas morning. Sorry it is so dark and the camera kept losing focus, no idea why. But you get the idea. It is really cute when the boy exclaims "He really came!". So much fun.

Grammy and Papa left yesterday morning to head back to Michigan. We hope they arrive home safe and sound.

We went to see the movie Alvin and Chipmunks and both kids were totally engrossed in the movie. And I have to say that it was really cute. However, I was a bit nostalgic about it because I remember playing the Chipmunks record over and over again when I was a kid (yes I know I am dating myself just by saying the word "record").

On other news, I am thiiiiiisssss close to buying a new laptop. My computer is having issues and when I fix one issue, others pop up. For two hours, I was trying to download songs onto my new mp3 player (yes I joined the new century by owning a mp3 player) and for some reason my stupid computer just went nuts. I tried to download the media player again because it would not play nor recognize any songs and then it told me that my copy of windows was not a valid copy. Excuse me? But unfortunately the new laptop purchase is going to be put on hold for now because well there are bills to be paid like our property taxes (yikes)!

And we just made up our mind today to go to Disneyworld at the end of January. We were going to wait until summer so Laura could go with us, but it turns out, she isn't going to be able to be with us for the whole summer and we decided we would go in January when the crowds were not as bad and the weather was not excruciating. And boy oh boy is the boy excited. In fact, he started to cry when he found out we were not going Today!

So I think that is about it for the updates. Hopefully with the state of my computer, I can update again soon. I hate when computers don't work like they should!

Christmas Pictures

The Making of Christmas Eve Cookies

The cookies. Yes, we did make train cookies for the train-obsessed boy.

The Santa Only Cookies.

The boy and The girl checking out their Santa loot.

Tool-Man Jack with Daddy

Jack with his new vacuum cleaner. Sorry this is sideways. I thought I flipped the pic.

Laura getting into the spirit.

The Aftermath

Christmas Before Christmas

Daddy and Jack making breakfast together.

On Saturday, we hosted the big C clan at our house, where we had 18 people for dinner. It was the Christmas before Christmas party because of Jim's work schedule, it was the only time we could get together. So of course, the boy was spoiled and here is just a little smattering of the festivities that day.

Oh Boy, more big vehicles that make noise!