Disney Cruise Day 1

Disney cruise line was running a Florida residents special and we couldn't resist! My parents joined us on a 4 night cruise to the Bahamas and Castaway Cay (pronounced Key and it's Disney's personal island). The ship was the Disney Wonder with Ariel has the main dining room/entry theme. Disney does a wonderful job at cruises! We had a blast!

My parents in the entry way with the beautiful glass sculpture behind them.

This is the Mickey Pool. It was only 3 feet deep at the deepest part. They had Mickey ear pools and the Mickey Glove slide. This was their favorite of the 3 pools.

In the entrance lobby of the ship. Ariel's statue. Morgan loved that she got to be on Ariel's ship. Everything on the boat was beautiful and clean.

Disney does a rotation dinner. You have the same servers each night, but you eat at 3 different restaurants. Each has a special theme and dinner menu. And for the fourth night they do a Pirates IN the Caribbean dinner menu for everyone on the boat. Animator's Palate was our first meal. A black and white themed dinner that changed colors as the meal went on. Neal said his steak was the best steak he has ever had. Disney has an Oceaneers Club which allows for kids to play and have fun while the parents get to play and have fun. It's almost an entire floor of the boat. They have a play ground, dance parties, crafts, food making, computers, movies, character meet and greets, and tons more. The kids really liked it. (And so did Neal and I!)

Neal and I played Match your Mate on the first night. We were selected because we did a robot dance together. It was a lot harder to play than I thought! We only got 2 points out of 6 points. But we had a fun time playing and won a trip to the ship spa and a bracelet.

New House

We are moving! We'll be in our new home by the end of August (just in time for school). It's on 2.5 acres and has 5 bedrooms and 3.5 baths. Now if we can just get our house sold!

The New Big Girl Hair Cut & Updates

When did my baby turn into a big girl! I'm not ready for this! She got a haircut like a REAL BIG GIRL haircut...not just trimming of the baby hair. She loves visiting my cousin Lindsey who cuts our hair. After her cut, I got mine cut - matching of course. Although I haven't been that blond since college. She walked around singing "You're beautiful, it's true!" and saying "Do you like my new hair?"

We got our house projects done. (I can't find my camera cord that uploads to the computer.) The house looks great and then we promptly decided to put it on the market. Neal is ready to move out of an HOA community and onto land - anything bigger than 1 acre and smaller than 10. We have our eyes on something...let's pray this house sells! I mean it looks fabulous so it should sell pretty quick!

Summer has been great so far. Swimming, swim lessons, movies, spend the nights, farmers market, helping grandma and grandpa, whatever comes up that day is fine with us. It's great to have lazy summer days.

Vacation time is coming soon. We are going on a Disney cruise at the end of July. We will be on the boat for Eli and Morgan's birthday. Everyone is excited about it!

The picture tells the story

This pictures sums up the weekend. But I have to tell you the whole story which started in January!

We decided (you know when I say we - I mean I told Neal what I decided and he went along with it)...so WE decided it was time to update our flooring. Our house is 12 years old and we've lived in it for 6 years. $$$$ Income Tax Money getting spent $$$$

Needless to say the carpet has seen better days. But in order to get new carpet we have to remove the current boring brown tile and put in some fabulous green/gray tile (that we bought 5 years ago). So at the end of February we rented a hammer drill and ripped out the tile from the kitchen and entry way. Then we waited. We are busy people you know! My feet got so dry from the concrete I had to wear slippers. Two Saturdays into March Neal starts laying tile. Of course you have to move the stove and refrigerator out to tile....note big hole in kitchen. The fridge is currently sitting in my dining room.

This weekend we were determined to finish cutting and laying tile so we could grout during the week. (Did I tell you that I went ahead and ordered the carpet so that I could gently push my husband along?) So mid-afternoon he finished cutting all the tile. BUT I wanted to kids bathroom done also and I persuade Neal to get started on that area as well. He and Eli head in there to start tearing out baseboard and the toilet. Next thing I see is Eli running like mad and Neal screaming for me. The baseboard jerked up and hit the pipe which broke off in the wall and was spewing everywhere. Neal tells me to go turn off the water at the road. Apparently I spun around in circles. I have no clue what to do and I'm trying to decide....do I pretend and go away for a minute or do I tell him I have not idea what he is talking about.

The water was pouring out for well over 3 minutes! It was EVERYWHERE. Down the hall and into all the rooms that share a wall with the bathroom. AMAZING! I have never seen a pipe break or water get everywhere. So our attention went from tiling to cutting out carpet, soaking up water, and moving stuff so it wouldn't get wet or ruined. My house is a crazy, CRAZY mess! Bare floors, unglued tile, dirty carpet, and stuff everywhere from rooms and closets that got soaked.

And we broke several things in the process including the lamp at the beginning of the post.

Oh the JOYS of owning a home!

Happy 5th Birthday, Dylan!

Today - cupcakes during lunch at school; pick dinner; open presents; eat a yummy dessert

Saturday - Monster Jam! This is our 3rd year going. The boys absolutely love it and look forward to it every year.

Sunday - dinner at Grandma Pam and Grandpa Rick's house; more presents; more cake & ice cream

We love Dylan! He's happy, fun, and super smart. He loves Lego's, video games, and Monster Jam. Happy Birthday!

OH NO SHE DIDN'T!!!!!

I'm not sure if this is suppose to be the joys of motherhood or the pains of motherhood!

Morgan is, by far, my most mischievous child. Yesterday she was in rare form with her non-stop craziness.

But the piece DE resistance - she decided to drop her paints and do #2 on the back porch. I have no idea why! And to top it off it was right when I had to leave to get Dylan from Pre-K so I had to leave the mess for later. I quickly wiped her down and ran out the door.

I asked her why and she said "boys" - I promise the boys have never done this AND she know to blame them (but both were at school.)

Are you sad that there are no pictures?

Arnold Sandwich Thins PARTY

My couponing and crazy blog hopping is paying off. Not only do I get GREAT deals on groceries and household items, but I get to find out about great offers online.

I signed up for a online party group at www.houseparty.com which invites you to participate in sampling food products or household items for free by hosting a party. There's always something good to sign up for! And I was accepted for the Arnold Sandwich Thins Party. So this coming weekend for Dylan's birthday we will be enjoying these yummy sandwich thins.

I've had them before because they are only 1 weight watchers point. They are delicious!

So if you get to come to the party - your tummy's will be happy and full! If you don't get to come sign up for other parties at house party and go try some Arnold Sandwich Thins -they really are yummy!