Jennings Family Blog

Art and Soul

2012-02-12T16:21:00.000-06:00

For Girls Night Out with our Sunday School Class we went to Art and Soul in Germantown for a painting party. This is the same place I had the girls birthday party back in November. I had a great time.

Ice Skating at The Zoo

2012-02-12T16:10:00.000-06:00

Also I January we went Ice Skating at the Zoo. The Spellings joined us and the girls skated. Raymond and I watched! Some people make it look so easy...

Cal did not skate, he hung out with me and Raymond and watch everyone else skate.

January 2012

2012-02-12T16:02:00.000-06:00

I have been MIA for a while here on the blog. Between the girls school, homework, baton practice, day school and life we have been very busy! Here is some of what we did in January...

Free Donut Day at Gibson's Donut just for saying GO TIGERS! This was for 3 days following the Tigers victory over UT.

Fantasy Football Champions Lunch at Huey's. Rachel was this years winner. My team was very bad this year so I finished near the bottom of our league.

The 100th Day of School Project for Allie. Here is Alli's 100 stickers. Abby's class did not do one this year.

Flat Stanley for our friends in the Philippines. We took Flat Stanley around with us for 2 weeks and here he is with the girls in their classrooms.

Temple Run! Debbie introduced this game to me at Christmas and now I am addicted to it. You run thru the temple ruins away from the monkeys and collect coins. Here is my highest score. Even the girls enjoy playing this game.

School picture day at school means you dont have to wear uniforms!

Art Show at school

Sweet Girls

2012-01-08T19:55:00.000-06:00

Outside Wolfchase Mall
Friday, December 30th

Peabody Ducks & Downtown Carriage Ride

2012-01-08T19:51:00.000-06:00

On Friday, December 30th we made our annual trip to the Peabody to see the Peabody Ducks march to the lobby fountain. I think this is the 3rd or 4th year we have done this with the Spellings and the Barber's. All the kids have such a great time.

Here they are waiting not so patiently :) Honestly they did pretty well waiting the 25plus minutes waited. There are always so many people waiting to see the ducks march.

The kids and Jamie with the Duck Master.

Following the duck march we head to Huey's for lunch.

After lunch the crowds have thinned and we returned to the Peabody for pictures and duck viewing.

Roof top pictures

After we came down from the roof the girls spent their Christmas money from Aunt Ella at Lansky's
in the Peabody. Abby bought a rubber duck with the hotel name on it and Allie bought at hotel key chain. On our way out of the hotel the girls (Abby, Allie and Ammie) saw a Cinderella Carriage and asked if we could we take a ride. Ainsley and I checked the price and decided we would do it. The driver took us down Main Street, Court Square and the park across from the Morgan Keegan tower where we called Raymond and went to the window to see us in the park. We had never taken a carriage ride and we loved it! We look forward to our next one. It was a little chilly but lots of fun.

Sleepover

2012-01-08T19:31:00.000-06:00

Ice Cream Sundae's before a movie

Watching a movie. Allie feel asleep before Abby and Ammie.

Grizzle Home Opener

2012-01-08T19:27:00.000-06:00

Raymond won tickets to the Grizzles home opener on Wednesday, December 27th.

After the game started the girls took turns playing on my iPhone for a while.

We walked down Beale Street on our way to the car after the game. It was quite funny explaining Beale Street and the music to the girls. Abby wanted to know how old she had to be to be able to go into one of the buildings and listen to music. I told her 21! We had a great time at the girls first Grizzles game.

Christmas at Granny & Papaw's

2012-01-08T19:15:00.000-06:00

After going to Christmas service at church we headed to Savannah for Christmas at my parents.
The kids waiting to pass out gifts

Abby was so happy to get a Duck Webkiz

Zachary and the table top Foosball game

Allie and Marissa playing Headbandz. Allie really liked this game and is now asking for the Disney themed Headbandz game.

I did a little bit of Project Life for 2011 while we were at my parents.

All the cousins together, in age and size order.

Christmas Day

2012-01-08T18:56:00.000-06:00

Santa's Tray

Santa Gifts

Abby was happy that she got lots of ducks from Santa

Allie trying out her new tennis racket

Christmas Eve

2012-01-08T18:32:00.003-06:00

Christmas Eve I made snow globe cupcakes. I took an empty orb coke bottle and cut the top off and placed it over the Rudolph cupcake picks.

The girls wanted to open one gift before we went to MeeMaw's so I picked the gift and let them open it. It was the new Llama Llama book and a set of Walt Disney World DVD's.

Then we went and put out the Reindeer food we made earlier in December.

Jingle the Dog from Meemaw. The girls were so happy they both got a Jingle Dog from Meemaw
After we opened gifts the girls ended up on Aunt Debbie's iPad and my iPhone.

Christmas Break Crafts

2012-01-02T18:24:00.000-06:00

A few crafts I tried over Christmas Break, Burlap Footballs and Mickey Head

This is now hanging on my Front Door

Lucky 13

2011-12-19T09:33:00.000-06:00

Raymond and I have been married for 13 years today. My friend Rachel blogged in back August, on her 15th anniversary, about items that her and her husband still have in their house that have made the journey with them over the past 15 years. I loved that idea. So lets what is left in our house that we have had since we got married 13 years ago.

Our kitchen table. This was the first purchase we made together as a couple. We bought it before we got married. My roommate Christi and I used it for a while before Raymond and I got married. It use to be less messy before we had kids....

Our coffee pot, although Raymond wants a new one that is smaller, this one works just fine. I still have the crock pot that we got as a wedding gift, we just replaced it since the crock will not come put and the handles are broke.

Knife block

Various serving and mixing bowls

Our China of course! Maybe when the girls are older and my dining room is not their art/craft room we will use it more.....

gravy boat from Mikasa that I have loved since I first saw it.

A couple of picture frames

TV try

This bookshelf was at my parents house growing up and I took it when I moved out of the dorm when I graduated. It was an ugly orange color but Raymond sanded it down and stained it. It is now in our bedroom.

My wedding flowers

Glass clock

My first Longerburger Basket! It is the recipe box and it came with some family recipes. My Aunt Dorothy gave it to me. I still use it and love it!

Dennis and Leslie Gifts

2011-12-18T20:33:00.000-06:00

Abby and Puddles The Oregon Duck's mascot. If you see Abby ask her what bowl game the Ducks will be playing in this year.

Allie got a Crayola Glow Dome. It is a very fun toy. The girls played on it for quite a while this afternoon.

Random December Pictures

2011-12-18T20:24:00.000-06:00

Project Life by Becky Higgins. I purchased the Cobalt edition for 2012.

Mickey Key Chains one for me and one for a gift

School Christmas Parties

2011-12-18T20:01:00.001-06:00

It is really called a Winter Party but the kids and I call it a Christmas Party. Raymond was off work on Friday so he got to come as well. The girls classes are right across the hall from each other which made it easy going back and forth between the parties.
Mrs. Tamboli opening her cards from the class

Ms. Carter opening her card. Ms. Carter was Abby's student teacher for part of the semester. The kids really liked her.

Reid, Abby and Mrs. Tamboli with her gift

Allie eating her cupcake

Allie and Mrs. Nolen. Allie loves Mrs. Nolen!

Playing on the iPad in class

1st Grade Christmas Program

2011-12-14T19:43:00.001-06:00

Tuesday was the first graders "December Around the World" Program. The school the girls attend will not allow us to have a Christmas Program or anything religious at school for their party. Although they do have a Christmas tree, Santa Clause and Menorah in the hallway, and when did Santa become religious.....Anyway, the first graders performed Christmas and holiday songs from around the world. Do you see the irony in this? We can not have anything "religious" at school but they can put up a tree in the hallway and sang Christmas songs in a program......
They girls did a great job! They were of course no where near each other on the stage. Allie was on the far left and Abby in the middle.

Not sure why she is standing so far from her class......

Germantown Christmas Parade

2011-12-11T19:31:00.001-06:00

Saturday the girls baton club, Champions Baton Club, performed in the Germantown Parade. It was very cold by the end of the parade route. At one point durning the parade Allie came to me crying because her hands were so cold. I gave her my gloves and she did great. Abby never cried but I could tell she was cold as well. After the parade was over and were walking to the car both girls were crying and saying they were so cold. But Sunday morning Allie told me that Saturday was the "Best day ever!"

Practing on the sidewalk before they lined up in the street.

Almost to the end of the parade route.

December Snow

2011-12-07T19:26:00.001-06:00

Snow in December is a rare occurrence around here but Wednesday morning we woke up to snow falling and sticking to the ground. We had school and it was all gone by later afternoon. It was pretty while it was falling and on the ground. I am sad I did not walk around and take a picture of the house in the pretty snow but hopefully we will get more later in the winter.

Pictures with Santa

2011-12-05T19:17:00.001-06:00

We went to the watch The Polar Express at church on Saturday. The girls saw Santa and did a cookie walk.

Then on Sunday we went to Home Depot to pick up a pipe to fix my bathroom sink and ran into another Santa helper there.

Thanksgiving 2011

2011-12-02T19:01:00.000-06:00

Thanksgiving morning started with one of my favorite things to do. Go through the Thanksgiving Day Paper and look through the ads for Black Friday. I was not able to go out late Thursday night or early on Black Friday but I do love to look through all the ads.

After reading the paper and getting dressed we walked down to Mr. Keith's house and took our annual Thanksgiving Day pictures in his front yard.

After pictures we headed to Meemaw's for lunch and then the girls along with Hannah decorated Meemaw's tree.

What I am Thankful For:

2011-12-01T21:06:00.000-06:00

I am thankful for more than I could ever list. Here are a few things I posted on Facebook over the month of November.

•My husband.

•My husband's job.

•My job.

•My girls Sunday school teachers and our church!

•That my girls go to the best school in the city and have the best teachers!

•For my friends, old ones found on Facebook and new ones I making.

•For my friend who brings home my girls 3 days a week.

•That my girls have made some good friends at their school.

That my husband is starting to like Disney, that or he is trying to make me and the girls happy. Either way, I thankful.

•As much as I complain about how small it is and how dirty it gets I am thankful for my house.

I thankful God forgives!!

•A good nights sleep.

•I am thankful for laundry. It is one of the ways that show how blessed we are. I must remember this next time I complain about having to do laundry.

•I am thankful for productive days!!

•On 11.16 I posted that I was thankful for good cold and sinus meds

I am thankful for the beauty that is this time of year

•My embroidery machine.

•for my girls, who were born on 11/18/04.

Terrific Kid Award

2011-11-21T21:49:00.000-06:00

Abby was chosen to be the Terrific Kid from her class for the 2nd nine weeks of school. Allie was really sad that she was not picked from her class but we are working on her behavior so hopefully one day she will get to be a Terrific Kid from her class.
Here is Abby waiting for more students to arrive so the program can start.

Getting her award from the Vice-Principal.

So Happy

Happy Birthday Abby & Allie

2011-11-20T21:13:00.000-06:00

The girls turned 7 in November. Here they are with the dolls they bought with money from granny and papaw.

Checking out gifts from me and Raymond

Party at Art and Soul in Germantown. I found Ary and Soul through a Facebook friend. It was a small party, which I loved, and everyone had a great time. Here is their Rapunzel cake I made.

Painting

Allie's Picture

Abby's picture

Pictures that everyone painted for the birthday girls.

I hope to go back to Art & Soul to paint a picture for my house very soon!

Highland Trunk or Treat

2011-10-31T11:41:00.000-05:00

Sunday night was Trunk or Treat at Highland. I teamed up with Jamie and Ainsley to turn Jamie's trunk into Lego City. We made a frankenstein out boxes and Jamie made a pumpkin. The trunk turned out pretty cute. We had a great time with all our friends and our church family.

Rapunzel and Luke Skywalker. Abby would not really have much to do with Reid until he took off his mask and then she was happy to play with him.

Me and my girls

The girls and Mr. Adam

Bartlett Woods Fall Festival 2011

2011-10-31T11:30:00.000-05:00

Saturday night we went to the Fall Festival at Bartlett Woods Church of Christ. The girls went straight to the cake walk. Allie played until she won and then she was off to the play the games. Abby played it off and on but did not win anything in the cake walk.

Then it was time for some trunk or treating!

What happy little girls!

Allie trying out her vampire teeth on the way home

Pumpkin Decorating and Carving

2011-10-24T11:04:00.000-05:00

Pumpkin Carving Time....this year instead of making Jackers, we made Jackers a girl friend.

I carved while the girls played in the back yard and they come in for the picture. Sounds like a great deal to me!!

We also decorated our Pie Pumpkins with potato head parts

All set up and ready for Halloween

More Fall Break Fun

2011-10-18T10:52:00.000-05:00

On Monday of Fall Break we went downtown to see the Nina and the Pinta with Ainsley, Ammie and Cal. I was really surprised at how small the 2 boats were. One of the crew stated that they will not build the Santa Maria due to its size, if built to scale it would be too big to fit on the rivers and water ways the group tours.

Shadow pictures of the cobblestones

Me and my girls

Fall Break Trip

2011-10-17T10:27:00.000-05:00

Over fall break we went to see Kevin and Susan for the weekend. On Saturday we went to a pumpkin patch some where in Alabama. We had a great time at the Pumpkin Patch and with Kevin and Susan. The girls had a great time playing with Zachary and Marissa as well.

Jumping in cotton

Hay climbing

Riding back from the pumpkin patch. Included in the price of admission was a pumpkin for each of us. We picked our pumpkin straight from the field. It took Allie a while to find the perfect pumpkin but she finally did. Here are our four pumpkins.

Happy Birthday to Me!

2011-10-02T22:10:00.001-05:00

Thursday at Day School my little "friends" brought me some "love" for my birthday. It started with a picture out front of the school that said Happy Birthday Miss Paula (the picture is on my phone and I have not uploaded it yet) followed by the picture below, candy and Dr.Pepper, a gift card, donut holes and muffins.

From Ella

From Camden

Friday night we had dinner at one of my favorite restaurants and went to Target afterwards. Saturday was a great family day at Cedar Hill Farm and Sunday we had a great time at church worshipping and a wonderful lunch with friends afterwards. Sunday afternoon the girls and I went to see The Lion King in 3D. The girls had never seem it (which is shocking to me). We have it on video and our VCR is not working and not worth replacing and I don't have it on DVD yet (I will on Tuesday). I had a GREAT birthday weekend!!

Cedar Hill Farms

2011-10-02T21:54:00.000-05:00

Saturday we made our annual fall trip with the Mother's of Multiples Club to Cedar Hill Farm in Hernando, MS.

The pony rides are always popular with the girls

Feeding the sheep

Train ride with Meemaw

Pirate Ship Fun

We found some pumpkins, I wish I had bought one more white pumpkin. They are much cheaper at Ceder Hill Farm than at the pumpkin stands around town.

Allie picking out her mini pumpkin

waiting while I stand in line to pay for our mini pumpkins

School Pictures and Missing Teeth

2011-10-02T20:55:00.000-05:00

Friday was school picture which means students can wear dress clothes to school instead of their uniforms. I am thankful for uniforms most days but they look so cute this morning all ready for school.

Allie woke up Friday morning with her front tooth laying on her pillow. She no longer looks like a little bitty girl but turning into a big girl. Makes me a little sad.....

Poor Abby still has only lost 2 teeth. But she has another one that she can wiggle.

SO CUTE!!!!

Disney in Ice 2011

2011-10-02T20:35:00.000-05:00

Friday night September 23th we went to see Disney on Ice, Mickey and Minnie's Magical Journey at the Forum. We got to take Ammie, Kingston and Jamie as well. We had dinner before the show at Huey's in Mid-town with Chris and Camden and then headed downtown to see the show.

They are so excited. As we walked out of Huey's the 3 girls were walking in front of me and as you can see they are all dressed a liked and I heard a lady say, "wow, she has her hands full."

Getting ready for it to start.

This show featured The Lion King, The Little Mermaid, Lilo and Stitch and Peter Pan and Tinker Bell. All 4 of the kids enjoyed the show.

Abby & Ammie picked out Ariel light up toys. Allie picked out an Ariel cup with a snow cone in it and was nice enough to share it with all her friends.

This year they had Peter Pan, Tinker Bell and Wendy flying thru the "sky".

2011 Football Season

2011-10-02T20:14:00.000-05:00

Football season is here, well is already in week 4, but I am just now getting around to blogging about it :) I am playing Fantasy Football again this year but I am not really that into it for some reason, maybe it has to do with all the other stuff going on in my life right now (1st grade homework, working 3 days a week, trying to sew and embroider when I can, sweep and mop the floors once week or at least every other week, etc) Anyway, I am 1 and 2 and that does not help me become more interested in it. Also college football has started. And being a Tiger fan is a lot like being a Cubs fan, there is always hope till we start playing. A few weekends ago we went to Jonesboro for the second game of the year. While Raymond and Chris headed to the game, the girls and I hung out with Debbie and her girls.

Hannah and Allie eating popcorn and watching TV while Abby plays on the iPad.

The week after the Jonesboro game was the Pouncer Pals walk-a-round game. Which is more fun for me and Raymond than the girls....

About to enter the Tunnel....

Walking around the field. I think I have a picture like this from every walk-a-round.

During the game we sat with the Bakers and Gearsons. There is always lots of room at Tiger games.
Here are the kids doing arts and crafts to entertain themselves.

Last Saturday's Game - Sept. 24th

Seeing Tom III in Tiger Town before the game

Family - Me in the back, Keith, Abby & Allie enjoying their snow cone and Raymond

More arts and crafts

Abby feeding her duck and M&M

Random Happenings

2011-09-29T21:24:00.000-05:00

Baton practice has started again for the year. This year Abby is taking baton as well as Allie. This is much to Allie's dismay. She wanted Abby to take tennis but I waited around too long and all the classes were either full, to late in the evening. or did not have enough kids to form a class. Maybe in the summer since she has committed to baton till May. Here are the girls with their coach Ms. April. Abby & Allie are the only 2 in the class so far.

Wonderful Wednesday's at church have come and gone for September. The first week was Mr. Nick's Magic Show, followed by bouncy house inside since it rain the second Wednesday. The third week was Happy Times Farm and the final week had the bouncy houses again. The first round of bouncy house did not go over well with the girls since one of the house fell while they were on it. The girls and 2 of their friends were happy to play in the game room until class time. Horseback riding is always a hit with the girls.

Blog update

2011-09-13T21:40:00.000-05:00

I really don't have much to update....I have been really bad about keeping up with my Project Life Picture of the Day and have been very busy with work. Back in March I started working at Highland Day School (at our church) as a 2 year old aid. I worked 2 days a week and continued to work through the summer. The girls got to go with me this summer to the day camp that was for the "graders" (K-6th grade). I became one of the lead teachers for the 2 year olds when school started last week. I have enjoyed it more than I thought I would. I am getting to plan what we teach the 2's with help from lesson plans from years past. I also started working 3 days a week as well. I am also getting busier with my embroidery machine and sewing, but mostly embroidery/monogramming. I have found lots of sites with embroidery patterns and it is very hard not to purchase everything I fall in love with :)

I have also discovered Pinterest. It is place where I can "pin" projects, sayings, design layouts, recipes, craft ideas and projects that I find online or that my friends have pinned. It is time consuming but i have found lots for great ideas for crafts, school ideas and home design.

The girls are busy with school and both started taking baton/twirling lessons tonight. It was a real struggle for Abby to decide what she wanted to do; baton or tennis. Allie did not want Abby to take baton lessons. I think she wanted something that was totally hers for a while longer. We will see how it goes, although we are committed through December. Maybe a little sibling competition will make them both better....or maybe not.....

New Emboridery Patterns

2011-08-29T17:50:00.000-05:00

Some of my new emboridery patterns

turtle and princess hat

Pumpkin Mickey

Ghost Minnie

Jedi Mickey

Rapunzel

Pouncer Pal Kick-off Party

2011-08-29T17:38:00.000-05:00

Friday night was Pouncer Pal's Kick-off party at Incredible Pizza. The girls had a great time as always.

First Week of School

2011-08-29T17:29:00.000-05:00

The first week of school is over and we all survived.

Kingston, Mackenzie, Allie, Reid, and Abby

First Day of School Tradition

2011-08-11T21:56:00.000-05:00

Getting ice cream! This year we went to Yogurt Mountain. Kingston and Camden were able to join us well. We love Yogurt Mountain!

1st Graders

2011-08-11T21:51:00.000-05:00

Sunday afternoon the girls colored their teachers each a picture.

Girls new backpacks filled with school supplies

Monday Morning bright and early ready to go to school

Welcome back to Richland

I took Abby to her class first. The girls class room are not next to each other this year. I am not sure how I feel about that but I do know Abby does not like it! She told me today that she got to take a note to Allie's classroom today. Abby's teacher is Mrs. Tamboli.

Allie is not so sure about being left in 1st grade. She has Mrs. Mitchell (who Ms. Michelle and Leslie both know and speak highly of). When we arrived in class Allie did not have a seat at one of the tables and sat at Mrs. Mitchell's desk. Come to find out another parent left their 4 year old in the class room! Allie was able to get a seat after carpet time and the lost child was taken to the office.

I did not get picture of the girls with their teachers, the first day was CRAZY! Even more so than the first day of kindergarten. We survived the first day and the first week is almost over.

I pray that both girls will have peace this year as both are slightly nervous about school, that God will comfort them when they are nervous or scared. I pray for good choices in behavior and friends. I pray they learn what they are taught and are good students.

First Week of August

2011-08-11T21:29:00.000-05:00

Our last week before school starts started with a trip to the Y Pool. Hopefully we will be able to go a few more times before our summer membership runs out.

On Tuesday while going to Highland to pick up racks for the Everything For Kids sale I got rear ended while stopped at a stop light. My car is currently being fixed and I should have it back tomorrow.

Wednesday through Saturday I was at the Agricenter for the Fall/Winter Everything for Kids sale. Here are a few pictures from the drop days. They are not the best since they were taken with my phone.

Suzie and Peter talking over the scooter that he and Amanda were selling.

Allie playing on a toy that was for sale. I almost bought these Plasma riders for the girls but thought that our drive way would not be very good riding these. So I bought the girls a Rapunzel vanity table toy.

Riding coaster I bought for the Day School- the girls are a little to big for this toy but they really enjoyed playing on it.

Weekend at Granny & Papaw's

2011-08-11T21:05:00.000-05:00

The last weekend in July the girls and I went to my parents house for the weekend so Raymond could work on a take home class for his summer class at the U of M. Abby brought all her ducks with her. She lined up all her ducks and Wolfy in their living room.

Allie and her princesses with Wolfy.

On Saturday I took my mom to Florence for a little shopping at Hobby Lobby, Target and the Mall. I think we can find a Mickey just about any where :) Here we are at Halmark.

Thanks to my best friend, Jennifer, I have been introduced to Yellow Box Flip Flops. I bought my first pair off Ebay and fell in love with them. I have worn them just about every day since May. Leslie found a blue and silver pair in Oxford and I love them as well. While in Florence we went to Belk and I found another pair there on sale. At least I've bought them all on sale.

A New Room for the Girls

2011-08-11T20:46:00.000-05:00

This summer we have been slowly redoing the girls room. They finally decided on a color and theme, Garden Fairy Room. We bought Tinker Bell Green paint at Home Depot and Raymond started painting.

After Raymond finished painting I placed Tinker Bell wall decals around the room. I bought 2 flower cork boards and hung them by their closet and bedroom door. This way they can post their drawings on their wall. I still want to come up with something for their door, just not sure what yet.

Abby's bed

The bears on the blinds are the Duffy Bears that the girls colored in Kidcot area in Epcot this past May.

Allie's bed

The finishing touch is Tinker Bell herself flying in the center of the girls room.

New Backpacks

2011-07-26T19:54:00.000-05:00

Back to School means NEW backpacks. This year I bought the girls backpacks that are suppose to take them from "grade school to grad school". Abby really wanted a Rapunzel backpack and lunch box but I could not find either at a price I was willing to pay. I debated about getting the girls more grown up backpacks verse a character one this year. I know that there will be a day when they no longer want a character backpack so why not buy them while I can. Since I could not find the Rapunzel one Abby wanted I talked the girls into a pink and a pink floral backpack from LLBean with pink lunchboxes. They look so cute.

Abby wants to donate her old backpack from last year to someone in need. So we talked with Ms. Mindy and she is going to take Abby's old Jessie and Minnie Mouse backpack to LaRose Elem for teachers to use as special give-a-ways. Allie is giving her old Minnie Mouse backpack.

July 2011

2011-07-26T19:38:00.000-05:00

July has been really busy for us. Between working 2 days a week, being up at the church building for Mission Monday and Terrific Tuesday, swimming, repainting the girls room, tagging for the clothing sale and trying to keep up with the laundry time is getting away from us.

Clothing Sale Bins right from the attic, I started with 13 bins and ended up 5 bins to tag and 2 bins of clothes we can still wear and 1 bin of toys that the girls don't want me to part with just yet.

The girls have spent lots of time fighting, I mean playing on the computer.

Our night in Little Rock. This is the only picture I took of the fun weekend we had in Little Rock. Leslie Irwin and the girls and I went over on a Friday to attend the Festival of Champions Baton competition. It was fun to watch but the girls were not as into it as I thought they would have been. We bought the over priced t-shirt and now Abby wants to take baton which Allie is upset about...Allie does not want the sibling competition.

My FREE 8x10 canvas print from the Canvas People. Of course a picture from our trip to Disney.

Terrific Tuesday Water Fun at church!!

Allie coming down...she was not sure about it at first but once she went down she really enjoyed it.

Here comes Abby, she really enjoyed it!

A Disney Addiction or Just an Extreme Fan

2011-07-13T09:00:00.000-05:00

If you have read my blog for any amount of time you know I love Disney and would go a lot more than we do if money and time would allow. I follow a variety of Disney related blogs and facebook pages as well. This blog post caught my eye last night: 10 Signs you have a Disney Addiction. According to the blog post I do not have a Disney Addiction, altough Raymond might have a different opinion on that. I am more of a Disney Extreme Fan according to this blog post on Chip & Co: "Top 10 Ways to Know If You’re an Extreme Disney Fan".

2011 July 4th Weekend

2011-07-04T21:36:00.000-05:00

This July 4th was spent with family and friends. Saturday morning we went over to Jonesboro to spend some of the weekend with Debbie, Chris and Hannah, Daniel and Rachel were both out of town. We spent Saturday afternoon in the pool and then had a great dinner grilled by Chris. Sunday after church and lunch we went swimming again.

Shirts I made for the girls

Abby playing on the iPad instead of watching us shot off fireworks....

Allie enjoying her sparkler until she had a bottle rocket land on her foot! Raymond through a bottle rocket and it landed on Allie's foot, he did not intend for the bottle rocket to go toward her but it did. Allie told Raymond Sunday that they needed to talk about what happened.

Still playing on the iPad......

Monday we went to the Baker's annual 4th of July Pool Party. We had a great time as usual. Abby and Allie enjoyed swimming and jumping off the diving board for most of the party. Allie and Analeigh Mooneyham won the egg toss game. We look forward to next years fun!

Farmers Market and the Peabody

2011-07-04T17:58:00.000-05:00

Last Saturday we took the girls to the Downtown Farmers Market. We had went last year over Labor Day weekend and lots of fun. This year we wanted to go earlier in the season this year. They had lots of vendors and fresh fruit and vegetables. We bought tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini and Meemaw bought an eggplant.
Allie found the dogs for adoption, looks like she has found a friend.
After we left the Farmers Market we drove over to the Peabody and watched the ducks come down.

A trip up to the roof

Meemaw and the girls

Inside Lansky's Abby found a toy. It is a duck on a stick that you can walk, she would have played with it all day had we let her stay there or bought it :) After the Peabody we walked down to Rio Loco for lunch and then back to Meemaw's. It was a fun day!!

Sleepover

2011-07-04T17:35:00.000-05:00

The girls first sleepover was at Ammie's house over spring break and now that summer is here it is time for us to have Ammie over. So one Thursday after school Ammie came home us. I took the girls swimming, to the eye glass place to get Abby's glasses fixed (the broken glasses were not a result of the sleep over) and then home. At our house they played, had dinner and played some more. They eventually settled into their sleeping bags in the living room and watched movies. Abby fell asleep first but Ammie and Allie made it til 10! I think they both would have stayed up longer had the movie not ended and I turned off the TV and lights!

Friday morning they were all up bright and early. When Ainsley came to get Ammie, the girls played with Cal and we all had lunch together. It was a great sleepover and we hope to do it again soon.

Father's Day 2011

2011-07-04T17:26:00.000-05:00

Raymond and Abby before their Father/Daughter Date

Happy Father's Day! A Cars card and some Diseny Imagineer's Guide books

Beauty and The Beast

2011-06-22T13:28:00.000-05:00

Saturday night was Mom/Daughter and Father/Daughter date night. Raymond took Abby bowling and to eat at Meemaw's and I took Allie to dinner and to see Beauty and the Beast at the Orpheum. We went with Ainsley and Ammie. After dinner at Chili's we headed downtown.

Silly girls

waiting so impatiently for the show to start.

This was Allie's first Broadway show at the Orpheum. She asked during the first act if we could back and see it again the next day. It was a success and I will take her back to see another show again soon.

Summre Update

2011-06-22T13:12:00.000-05:00

Hanging out at The Tacky Shack in Oxford, MS. We went and saw my brother, Keith in his new place in Oxford, MS. We went to lunch at the hole in the wall place that was interesting....it had a Volkswagen Bug inside. The front seats had been removed and a TV placed in it. The girls sat inside the car for over an hour watching the Disney Channel.

Trip to Target

Bellevue VBS Show, the girls and Nock Nock. Bellevue' VBS ends with 3 performances of their drama that the kids have seen each day. They had a man in a hang glider flying across the room this year, rain and snow (water and white confetti). After the show you get to go stand in a long line to get pictures made with the performers. Kinda sounds like Disney......

Then the next week it was VBS at Highland. Living on the Wild Side. Here is Allie, Abby & Reid with their Panda Jars.

Our swimming pool was tossed at the end of last year when it got a hole in it, so this summer we joined the YMCA. We went out to the Millington Y with Amy and Ryan one afternoon. Here is Allie coming out of the slide. They loved going down this slide over and over again. For a while the girls and Ryan had the slide all to themselves.

Making chocolate covered bananas

Another Lost Tooth

2011-06-11T23:16:00.000-05:00

Allie lost another tooth on Saturday the 4th. She has been messing with this tooth since our Disney trip. I think she really wanted to lose it while we were in Disney! I had put the girls to bed and she comes running out of her room, "momma, momma, look!" and there was her tooth. You can see how happy she is to have lost it. The tooth fairy came to visit and brought her 4 quarters!

Note to parents: Have kids stop reading now!!

Note to self: Keep dollar bills on hand from now on.....Neither Raymond or I had a signal dollar bill on us or in the house! So lesson learned, keep a dollar on hand, you never know when you might need it :)

Disney Food

2011-06-11T23:09:00.000-05:00

I have been posting about the places we ate while we were in Disney, now here are the food pictures! At Epcot we had lunch at Sunshine Seasons in The Land. I had a Chicken Caesar salad with chocolate mousse cake. The cookie on my tray was one of the girls. My plate and the dessert plates made a Mickey Head :)

Allie had a Pizza panini, surprisingly she ate it and liked it. Abby had Mac & Cheese that was not very good at all. Raymond had a turkey sandwich with some apple salsa like side and a muffin.

Dinner was amazing! La Hacienda will be on our list to eat again next time we go to Epcot.

Tri-Color Chips and 2 Salsa

We shared the "La Hacienda", it has steak, chicken and pork along with corn and mixed grilled veggies served with corn tortillas.

Dessert~ Empanada and more chocolate mousse. The girls had ice cream.

Hollywood Studios ~ Mama Melrose
Raymond's Flatbread
Allie's Pizza

my yummy dinner-can not remember the name, chicken, pasta, red pepper and spinach
girls dessert
Cannoli Cake

I don't have pictures of the 2 buffets we had breakfast (1900 Park Fare) and dinner at (Boma). Boma was good, I would recommend it if you were looking for a place to eat at Animal Kingdom Lodge. Park Fare was your typical breakfast buffet. The girls enjoyed the Characters at Park Fare.

Whispering Canyon Cafe ~ A Must Do for us again!
New York Strip

Canyon Skillet (chicken, beef, pork and ribs, corn, mashed potatoes and baked beans)
Lots of Ketchup
Bottomless Milkshakes (we all enjoyed this)

O'hana Breakfast ~ Best Breakfast ever!!!

Fresh fruit and pineapple bread (I found a recipe for the bread and hope to try it this summer)

It was served family style and they brought mickey waffles to our table as well.

Alabama Family

2011-06-11T21:31:00.002-05:00

We took a different a route home than the one we took to get to Orlando. Going home we drove through Atlanta and over to Kevin and Susan’s and spent the night. Saturday morning we got up and the girls played with Zachary and Marissa. They all get along so well, I really wish we lived closer to them. We all went and had lunch at Ron’s BBQ with Susan’s parents. After lunch we went back to Kevin and Susan's and all the kids rode Kevin’s 4-wheeler around the yard. The girls loved riding the 4-wheeler.

All good things come to an end. After a fun week in Disney and fun with some of our cousins we continued our journey home.

O'hana Breakfast

2011-06-10T17:25:00.000-05:00

Friday morning we headed out early again for breakfast at O’hana with Lilo, Stitch, Pluto and Mickey. Best Breakfast we have ever had at Disney! It was family style and everything was so yummy (Disney Food post coming).

After breakfast Raymond went back to Hollywood Studios to ride ToT and RRC and the girls and I rode the monorail around through Epcot. We got off the monorail at Epcot and caught the bus back to Pop Century.

my bag is to heavy!!

Back at the hotel the girls and I loaded the car, shopped a little in the gift shop and I fed them lunch while we waited for Raymond to get back.

Raymond got back around 1, got a snack and we left Disney L Abby even cried when we left.

Bye-Bye Pop Century

Main Street Electric Parade

2011-06-10T16:51:00.000-05:00

Riding the boat back to Magic Kingdom

When we arrived back at MK I was amazed at how many people were going into the park. We got in and found a spot for the Main Street Electric Parade. We found a spot behind this nice man who was sitting down and I asked him if he would be watching the parade sitting or standing. He said he would be sitting so we stood behind him. We waited about 35 minutes and finally the parade started.

The parade was longer than I thought it would be but we really enjoyed it. When the parade was over we headed back to the hotel to pack up to leave the next day. While I packed the girls watch Must to Disney one more time. They love that channel!

Dinner at Whispering Canyon Cafe at Wilderness Lodge

2011-06-08T17:19:00.000-05:00

Thursday night had dinner reservations at Whispering Canyon Café in The Wilderness Lodge. The Wilderness Lodge is another beautiful resort. Allie wants to stay here the next time we go to Disney. It would be very nice to stay there!!

Lobby Fireplace

Pool

Lobby view from our table

Raymond's birthday cake, we had originally planned on being here over Raymond's birthday, but plans changed and we were in Disney one week before but the girls were excited to celebrate it anyway.

Whispering Canyon Café is probably our second favorite place to eat at Disney World. It was even a hit with the girls so we will go back! They loved getting ketchup and taking ketchup to other tables (Look for the Disney food post to come). Our waitress was really good as well. After dinner we walked down to the boat dock and rode the boat over to Magic Kingdom.

More Magice Kingdom Characters

2011-06-08T16:26:00.004-05:00

Magic Kingdom Day 2

2011-06-08T16:22:00.001-05:00

Today got up early so we could take advantage of the park being open for Extra Magic Hours from 8-9am. Also, I knew if we were going to see Repunzel this was our chance. We got to the park by 7:40 and the girls and I watched the opening show.

Once the ropes were dropped Raymond headed to get in line for Repunzel. He was about 10th in line and he waited in line while the girls and I rode Dumbo, It’s a Small World and Peter Pan.

Waiting for Peter Pan

We were heading back to met Raymond in line when he called and told me they were letting us in the meet and greet area and where was I. I was at the top of the incline and was literally running down the hill in front of the girls and encouraging them to hurry up. We made it and they let us in the area. The girls colored and took some pictures before Repunzel and Flynn came out.

If you look at the roof there are 2 lizards, they look like 2 black lines on the roof. These 2 lizards were fighting and chasing each other all over the roof.

This is one of the best meet and greets I have been part of. They were very interactive with the girls and Flynn even let the girls look in his satchel to see the princess’s crown. But we are not suppose to tell anyone. (pictures of the meet and greets will be in another post)

After meeting Repunzel Raymond went to ride Space Mountain again and the girls and I went to ride the Magic Carpets and fine Ariel and Eric. We walked through the Swiss Family Robinson Tree House, something we passed over on our first trip in 2009. When we got in line for Ariel and Eric we were told we would be in line for the 11 showing, it was about 10:30 so we were ok to wait. I pulled out the crayons and the girls starting coloring. The Cast Member in charge of the line came over and asked me how many people were in our party and if they were all present (we were the 3rd family in line for the 11 showing). It was just the 3 of us and of course we were all there, the CM said he may be able to get us in during this showing. A minute or so later he came over and said we could go in and see them right now, so we packed up and went on in. We were the next to the last family to see them during the 10 showing.

After we left Ariel and Eric we caught the Move it, Shake It, Celebrate It, Street Party. I like this about a much as the Celebrate Today Parade and it is a lot more interactive than the parade.

Guess it got a little to hot for the girls :) But they perked up when a guy on stilts gave them a bunch of streamers!

When the Street Party was over we met back up with Raymond and walked to Frontierland and got FP’s for BTMR. We headed to Columbia Harbor House for lunch. It was a hit with the girls mainly because it was chicken and fish. Raymond had been told it was a good place to eat at MK by a co-worker so we tried it. We both liked it as well. After lunch Raymond and Abby went to ride BTMR while Allie and I rode the carousel and looked into riding Snow White but the wait was 30 minutes and needed to meet back up Raymond and Abby, which we did at the Dream Along with Mickey Castle show.

When we met back up with Raymond and Abby I noticed Abby did not have her glasses. At first I thought they may have left them on BTMR but Raymond had them and they were broke. He said when we gave the glasses back to Abby after they got off the ride she put them on and the lens popped out. This time we did not lose a screw the metal on the eye piece broke. (we now have her new Ariel glasses on order)

At this time we left the park for the afternoon and headed back to Pop Century. At the hotel we swam until time to get ready for dinner.

Dinner at Boma

2011-06-07T20:08:00.000-05:00

We arrived at Animal Kingdom Lodge early enough that we could explored the hotel for a while. What a beautiful resort!! We were able to go out and watch animals grazing on the Savannah. Dinner at Boma was great! It was a buffet with African flare foods. The girls did not eat very much but I was not surprised. My favorite dessert was the Zebra Domes. I kept taking bites trying to figure out what flavor I kept tasting; was it coffee, Carmel, hazelnut, I just could not pin point it. Raymond comes back to the table and tells me, you know there is a sign there that says the Zebra Domes contain alcohol. That must be why they were so good! I can not wait to try and make those at home.

In the lobby

stairs coming off the lobby coming down to the doors where you can go outside and watch the animals. Ride outside the doors behind where I am standing is a huge fire pit with rocking chairs and an Africa guide to answer questions about the animals.

see the gariff in the distance?

The bridge that spanned the lobby

View of the lobby from the bridge

Waiting for dinner

Part of the Buffet

After dinner there was an African Parade about to start in the lobby for the kids. Kids got to play drums or had shakers and they walked around the lobby saying some African phrase. Raymond and I were taking turns reading Facebook on my phone and texting our friends trying to see updates on the storms that were coming thru Memphis. Thankfully everyone at home were fine.

Raymond texting on my phone!

After dinner we headed back to our hotel so we could get up early for Extra Magic Hours tomorrow at Magic Kingdom. Did we get lucky and see Repunzel?? Stay tuned....

Free Day at Disney....Afternoon at Epcot

2011-06-07T19:47:00.000-05:00

Wednesday we had nothing planed but dinner at 6:50 at Boma at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. We slept late, Abby till 9! After a light breakfast we went swimming until lunch and then had pizza in our room.

We had not planned on going to park today but had park tickets so we decided to head back to Epcot for a few hours. We met Duffy the Disney Bear and read about how he came to be.

We then walked over to Mexico to ride Gran Fiesta featuring Donald Duck...

After this found the long for Tinker Bell. It was so hot waiting for her. We finally got to see Tink. Abby told her that we watched the Fireworks at MK the night before and she asked the girls if they knew how those fireworks were made. The girls told her no and Tink explained how the Fairies make the different color fireworks. It was very entertaining.

After our meeting with Tinkerbell we walked over to The Land to wait and ride Soarin’. We waited for 90 minutes to ride. Keeping it real moment of the day: Abby had to go the bathroom while we were waiting, I was willing to take her but Raymond did not want us to leave. Abby did not want to ride again but I was pretty sure once we go into the ride she would be fine. I was pretty certain she had to go potty this time and Raymond was very ugly about us leaving the line queue. After I took Abby potty I told her it was time to go back in line and she starting telling me she did not want to ride again. I told her that she had 2 choices; 1-ride Soarin’ or 2-give up the computer, iPhone and Wii for 4 days after we get home. She choose to give up the computer, iPhone, and Wii. She must have been tired to be so close to falling asleep while we were waiting for Raymond and Allie to come out.

After Soarin' it was time to head to the Animal Kingdom Lodge for dinner at Boma.

More Magic Kingdom

2011-06-07T19:22:00.000-05:00

Parade Pictures

At the hotel we rested and had dinner in the food court. After dinner we returned to MK to take some pictures. We also rode Aladin’s Magic Carpets, BTMR (Abby and I rode it twice) and then headed to Tomorrowland. Raymond rode Space Mountain while the girls and I rode Buzz Lightyear.

We then found a spot for Wishes. I did not find a good spot since there was a tree blocking part of our view. Keeping it Real: Abby melted down and pitched a HUGE fit to leave right before the fireworks started. She kept saying she had to go to the bathroom but from experience I knew this was just a ploy to leave and not to have to do what we were doing. Bad Mom Moment: I told her she could pee on herself we were not leaving, this was the one thing I really wanted to do. I also told her if she did not calm down I was going to spank her. She finally calmed down when I sat her down in the stroller and gave her my iPhone to play with. Go figure!

Before Wishes started I had heard that Tinkerbell flys over head from the Castle toward Tomorowland, I guess I just always thought it was an illusion not a real person but Tink was real.

Abby ended up liking Wishes and even said she would watch it again the next time we were at Disney. I asked her if she would watch it on Thursday night when were back at MK and she said "No, I meant on our next trip." Wishes was amazing and I look forward to seeing it again one day. One the way out the girls keeping saying “best day ever” from Tangled.

The line for the bus was crazy long, it filled up the queue area and flowed out beyond the Pop Century area. We only waited about 15 minutes, they had 2 buses there and when they left 3 more showed up. The girls fell asleep as soon as the bus lights went off and woke up once we were back at the hotel. We all went to bed and I was looking forward to sleeping late on Wednesday.

Magic Kingdom Characters

2011-06-04T21:46:00.000-05:00

Magic Kingdom

2011-06-04T21:42:00.000-05:00

After we finished breakfast we headed over to Magic Kingdom and walked toward Dumbo. On our way to Dumbo we stopped to watch the Main Street Trolley performers.

Main Street Window displays

While waiting for Dumbo Abby saw Pinocchio (see the next post for character pictures) and went to get his autograph for her and Allie. After we all rode Dumbo and then rode Prince Charming's Carousal, It’s a Small World, and Peter Pan.

Raymond & Allie

New Fantasyland expansion

On our last trip we did not take a picture with the sword and stone so this time around we took advantage of the photo opt. The girls tried to remove it and then asked Raymond for help.

We then headed to Frontierland. In Frontierland we rode Splash Mountain first.

Abby and I rode up front and got WET! After the 50 foot plunge Allie started crying saying she did not like this ride. The way she said it was funny and the people behind Raymond and Allie started laughing. Abby and Raymond went to ride Big Thunder Mountain while Allie and I found Woody and Jessie. Raymond and Abby meet back up with us just in time to get autographs and pictures Woody and Jessie. After we left Woody and Jessie we grabbed a snack, ice cream of course!

If you don't want all your ice cream, your sister can help you with that!

Raymond had gotten us FP’s for BTMR after his first ride, so we all walked over and rode it. Abby now has a favorite ride! Allie rode BTMR twice today but still not sure if she likes or not. Afterward, we headed back to use our Peter Pan FP’s from earlier that morning. We then found where Repunzel’s meet and greet was located so we would know where to go on Thursday. Allie meet the White Rabbit from Alice in Wonderland and we made our way toward Main Street to find a spot for the parade. We had popcorn to entertain the girls and finally the parade started. After the parade we left for the afternoon.

1900 Park Fare Breakfast

2011-06-04T21:00:00.000-05:00

Tuesday morning we had breakfast at 1900 Park Fare in the Grand Floridian. We had dinner there with Cinderella on our last trip and wanted to try the breakfast this time around. This breakfast was with Pooh, Tigger, Alice, the Mad Hatter and Mary Poppins.

waiting for the bus

Pooh

Tigger

Mary Poppins ~ she asked the girls is they planned to match her today and did the penguins make their outfits.

Alice

Mad Hatter

Pooh came around again

Characters and Family Pics

2011-06-04T20:18:00.003-05:00

Sorcerer Mickey

Tigger walking down the street

Eeyore

Donald & Daisy

Green Army Man

Storm Troppers

Hollywood Studios

2011-06-04T19:57:00.000-05:00

We arrived at Hollywood Studios at 8:40am along with everyone else!

After the morning movie shoot we headed straight to Toy Story Mania. Instead of getting a FP right off the bat we opted to ride. We waited about 35 minutes to ride and once we got off the ride we got a FP for later that day, 2:25 to be exact.

After TSM Raymond went to ride Tower of Terror and the girls and I went to see Sorcerer Mickey. After we saw Mickey we played in the Art of Animation area. Keeping it Real: when it was time to leave and share the computer she was playing on Allie went crazy with her behavior, pitching a fit and yelling. I finally got her out of the room and into a corner where we had a “come to Jesus” meeting.

We saw Donald and Daisy and found their line to be closed but was told when they would be back out. We meet back up with Raymond and walked over to the ABC Commissary for lunch.

The Friend Allie made while waiting for the ABC Commissary to open

It was a little before 11 and they did not open till 11 so we decided to wait since we were really hungry. While we were waiting outside the Commissary a Cast Member came over and asked us where we were from and if we wanted some Disney Magic by being their first family of the day. We said yes of course. We got to walk the red carpet into the Commissary and were lead to a table. Our lunch was served to us in real plates and with real silverware and glassware. The girls were given Toy Story Cups with their meal.

During lunch Abby and I went and got in line for Donald and Daisy. After we finished with Donald and Daisy we went and finished our lunch. After Lunch we got our FP for Star Tours for 3:15. Raymond went to ride ToT and Rockin’ Roller Coaster.

The girls and headed back to Pixar Place and ran into a Green Army Man (see pictures in next post). We made our way on around to the Streets of America. While we were on the Streets of American Abby got a little over heated so we found a shade tree and sat down for a little while. We found the Singing in the Rain Umbrella and Allie enjoyed playing in the rain. We meet back up with Raymond and went and used our FP for TSM. After TSM we walked over to ride Star Tours. Abby was still not feeling well and did not want to ride so we caught the parade while Raymond and Allie rode Star Tours. Allie came off Star Tours so excited, she loved it. We still had 2 FP so I rode again with her. It was a really cool ride.

It was getting close to our dinner reservation so we headed over to Mama Melrose in the Streets of America area. On our way we found a Christmas store and a snow man in the middle of Florida! Mama Melrose was right next door and was fairly busy. We checked in and waited for our table for about 20 minutes. The food was good but I am not sure I would eat there again.

Outside

Some of the dining room

Allie has a brain freeze after eating her ice cream :)

I've thought about doing a food post of all the food we ate while we were at Disney bur I had to do this one now, it was so good!

After dinner Raymond went to ride ToT and RRC again and the girls and I started to walk back to the bus stop. Abby stopped and bought herself a Daisy to go with her Donald she had bought at DTD. We also caught some of the Disney Channel Rocks show.

Once back at the hotel the girls and I went swimming and got ready for an early morning. Tomorrow is Magic Kingdom ~ day 1!

Pick a Pearl at the Japanese Pavilion

2011-06-04T19:16:00.000-05:00

While we visited the Japanese Pavilion we picked a pearl. You purchase an oyster, which you pick out of one of the 2 water tanks and the lady shucks it right in front of you. Once she takes it out of the oyster she cleans it, measures it and places it in a baggy for you take with you. Of course they sell jewelry that you can have it set in but I bought the girls a carriage necklace off Ebay for their pearls. It was a neat experience and one that would be fun to do again.

Pearl #1

Pearl #2

Allie's necklace

Abby's necklace

Disney Hats

2011-06-03T13:55:00.000-05:00

While I was waiting for Raymond and one of the girls to ride something or trying to entertain one of the girls we tried on hats! I know probably not the best idea but it kept the girls from whining and the hats were indoors which meant air conditioning!

Even Raymond got in on the hat fun...

this one matches their dresses...

These were the hats the girls wanted to buy, but we left the hats in the store.

Hats at Magic Kingdom

Epcot Characters

2011-06-03T12:37:00.000-05:00

Epcot

2011-06-03T12:20:00.000-05:00

We left our hotel at 8:20 and headed for Epcot. When we arrived at Epcot we headed straight to Test Track. On our way Allie asked for her water bottle, she took one drink and dropped it. She told us it was leaking, yes it was leaking because it was cracked all the way around, Raymond tossed it and we were on our way to Test Track. We rode Test Track twice and both girls loved it! We started walking toward The Land and stopped at The Character Spot since the wait was only 20 minutes and send Raymond on to get our Fastpasses for Soarin’. After meeting Mickey and the rest of the gang we went over and found Nemo (Finding Nemo ride) and took some pictures before having lunch at Sunshine Seasonings. After lunch we walked over to Mission Space and discovered Allie was too short to ride it.
Waiting for the bus to go to Epcot

The girls got to wear these time counting cards a lot during this trip. A Cast Member would scan it and give it to you as you walked into the and when you bored the ride you would give it to another CM and it would track how long you waited in line for the ride. They loved doing this and helped keep them entertained a little while waiting.

Nemo....

See Raymond in the background :)

Keeping it real moment: When Allie was told she was too short to ride Mission Space she sat right down in front of the height pole and cried and yelled I want to ride Mission Space! I finally got her calmed down and while Raymond and Abby rode Mission Space, I took Allie to MouseGears and she tried on lots for hats and bought an Ariel purse. After Raymond and Abby finished riding Mission Space it was time for our FP for Soarin’. On our way back to The Land Abby found some ducks so we had to stop and look at them. Once in line for Soarin’ Abby said she was a little nervous about riding but once we finished the ride she loved it as well. I have to say it is one of my favorite rides at Disney World.

Now it is off to The World Showcase. While the girls and I go off into the World Showcase, Raymond goes to get FP for Test Track for later that night. We started in Canada and finished in Mexico. I had made the girls “passport” books where they could get a Cast Member in each country to stamp and sign their book in their native language. They girls also got to color a Duffy Bear at each stop. They ended up with 2 or 3 bears on a stick from their little journey. Some Cast Members were more interactive than others. In Japan we picked an oyster for the pearl inside. I had bought the carriage holders off of Ebay. The girls seem to be happy with the new necklaces and the experience of picking their very first pearl (see next post for pictures of this).

Dinner...Favorite place to eat in Ecpot!

Hidden Mickey....

When we returned on Wednesday these were gone....

We watched a street performer in Italy and each of the girls got to toss him a soccer ball. We finished our world tour with dinner at La Hacienda in Mexico. It was so good and now one of our favorite places to eat now. Keeping it real: Abby would not sit still during dinner and had a hard time obeying as well. After dinner Raymond and Allie went and rode Test Track while Abby and I walked around. We headed for “home” around 8:30pm.

Traveling To Disney & Downtown Disney

2011-06-03T11:50:00.000-05:00

We left at 3:15pm after I picked the girls up from school. I had picked the rental car up earlier in the day. We drove to Tupelo, MS and had dinner at McDonalds. We were doing great until 9:15 when we came to a dead stop in I-65 between Birmingham and Montgomery. We would move every 5 minutes or so. They girls finished their movie and I had them go to sleep around 10. We continued to sit on the interstate until almost 12!! Once we started moving we stopped to get gas and go to the bathroom. While we were waiting on the interstate we decided to cancel our hotel reservation on the other side of Montgomery and drive on through to Orlando. While we were waiting and not knowing what was causing this horrid traffic I was texting Kevin to see if he knew of anything or could find out anything for us. He was working and did not know what was going on. The next morning we found out via the Montgomery newspaper that a tanker truck had over turned that afternoon and we just ended up in the left over congestion.

We drove all night and stopped for breakfast in Gainsville, FL. The drive itself was not pleasant, the roads from Montgomery, AL to Albany, GA were 2 lane country roads where we did not go more than 20 miles on any one highway, many times I did not have cell service and we saw lots of deer on the side of the road, crossing the road and hanging out by the side of the road. We made it to Pop Century by 11am and were able to get right into our room.

Once we unloaded the car and started to get settled into our room the girls wanted to go swimming. So we went swimming for a little while. After we finished in the pool we went back to our room to get ready for dinner at Downtown Disney with my cousin Becca who had moved to Orlando earlier this year. While I was getting ready the girls curled up in the bed and went to sleep. They were tired little girls, Abby was up talking for a while after we finally starting moving the night before.

We went to Downtown Disney before we were to meet Becca for dinner so we could do a little shopping. After dinner at Pollo Campero we walked back through DTD and girls played with Stitch was spitting water out from his perch on top of The World of Disney. They had the best time playing in the water that Stitch was spraying at them. Once back in the hotel it was off to bed to get ready for our first park day! Tomorrow Epcot!

Legos- it is amazing what these guys can do with lego's

Getting some pixie dust...

Playing in the water Stitch is squirting out.... They had so much fun here.

Couponing to Disney

2011-05-31T22:12:00.000-05:00

I read the blog http://www.couponingtodisney.com/. It is a great way to find deals to save you money.

Back in March I submitted the autograph clipboards I made for the girls for our 1st Disney trip to the website when she asked for autograph book ideas. I made her blog!!! Here is the link to the post where my clipboards are listed http://www.couponingtodisney.com/2011/05/28/disney-training-more-autograph-books-from-the-readers/

I am currently working on getting our Disney pictures uploaded and my daily trip notes together so I can begin posting about our trip. I hope to start posting about our trip tomorrow.

My Terrific Kid

2011-05-19T21:41:00.000-05:00

Each class at school picks one kid from their class 5 times a year to a Terrific Kid. She was so excited to be picked. We had been telling her that even if she was not picked she could work very hard in first grade and maybe she would get chosen next year. We did not know how you get picked for this so I had Abby ask her teacher how do you become terrific kid. Her teacher said you have to work hard in class and follow the rules. During the ceremony today the Kwania's representative said that every teacher has a different way of picking their terrific kid. Allie was excited for her sister and is currently talking about how hard she will work next year to become a terrific kid. (although I think Allie is terrific anyway)

Durning the ceramony the kids get a certificate, a T-shirt and bumper sticker. Abby is very excited about her t-shirt and the bumper sticker.

Waiting for the ceramony to start...

Ms. McNary helping Abby put her T-shirt

Checking out her certificate

Kitty

2011-05-18T21:36:00.000-05:00

Monday our cat, Kitty, starting showing signs of being sick, by early Monday evening she was really sick. She was very lethargic, had not eaten or had water all day, got sick and gotten stuck in the bathtub. She would walk a little and stop and lay down and would cry all the time. She had been crying a lot more lately but we just thought she was getting old and fussy. At one point I put my hand under her head and body and pulled her out from under our bed and she did not fight me or move when I did so. I picked her up and put her on her pillow at the foot of our bed and she just cried when I picked her up. She was a very sick kitty. She did not move much during the night and only got up once and I had to help her back up on the bed.

Tuesday morning I called the Vet and took her in. She had an infection, dehadyated, the beginning of kidney failure and something was causing her kidneys to press down on her colon and make it have a different shape than what it was suppose to have. We had to decide if we wanted to treat her and hope the treatments worked or put her down. I cried all afternoon and went back and forth about what to do, I am still second guessing what we decide to do. I did not want her to be in pain while we tried to figure out what was causing her issues, and if the treatments did not work we would be back in this same position within a few days. We decided to end her pain and not have her suffer anymore. Kitty was between 15 and 16 years old. Tuesday ranks up there as one of the worst days ever! I have had Kitty with me when I was trying to have a baby and did not know if I would be able to.....I had Kitty with me when I cried when Raymond had cancer.....I had Kitty love on me when times were good and bad. Kitty was mine and the girls first pet. We will miss her very much!

June Bugs and Butterflies

2011-05-15T21:08:00.000-05:00

I love the shirts we got for the girls for field day! First they are purple and not orange like one of the other grades. The back of the shirts were different for each class.

Ms. Johns June Bugs

Abby's name is to the left of Reid's name and a little small

Ms. Beckwith's Butterflies ~ Allie's name is the second from the bottom in the first column

Allie said field day was Awesome! and she Loves her shirt.

Field Day

2011-05-15T20:59:00.000-05:00

Friday was Field Day at the girls school. It rained over night and early Friday morning so they moved some events inside and had to cancel others. I was kinda relived about that but once I saw how much fun the kids were having I wished we could have been outside. It was too muddy outside even thou it had quit raining. I did not take my camera but I had my phone. Some of the pictures did not come out very well.

Here is Abby waiting for the games to start

Abby doing the crab walk

Allie is in the center with her class. I helped with Abby's class since I am the main room mom for her class. Plus Allie's class had lots of helpers. There was only 1 race that the girls ended up "competing" against.

Allie in the rolling cart race

Back in the classroom doing quite center. look at how grown up she looks.

Ms. Johns June Bugs

Final School Projects

2011-05-15T20:42:00.000-05:00

Our last project of the year was to create an ocean animal. It was to be a 3D ocean animal at least 18 by 24 inches in size and stuffed. I let the girls pick there animals; Abby picked a seahorse and Allie picked a leather back sea turtle.

Abby painting her Sea Horse

Allie painting her turtle

Finished Ocean Animals

This project was a little stressful for me for some reason. It could have been the fact that the paint for Abby's sea horse did not cover the brown paper. It all worked out in the end and the color turned out fine for her sea horse.

Disney Crafts

2011-05-09T09:48:00.000-05:00

I have been quite busy getting items together for April in Arlington that I did a week ago but not to busy to make my girls some new items for our upcoming Disney vacation.

Repunzel Pillowcase Dress Tops (I have fabric and will be happy to make a dress for you for $20, just post a comment with your email address and I will contact you)

I sewed on a Mickey Band on my camera strap

Shirt I made for a friends little girl

Travel journal for the girls

Another pillowcase dress tops for breakfast at O'hana

Dress for Ecpot (or Apricot as silly Allie miss called it the other day)

Happy Mother's Day

2011-05-08T21:25:00.000-05:00

Friday the girls came home from school with gifts for me for Mother's Day. Allie had a flower in a pot with her hand print on it and a little hands saying. Abby had a portrait of me and her hand print. They are so cute. My camera battery is dead and recharging so I will have to post those later, although I did get them posted in Facebook Friday afternoon while waiting for Abby to finish tennis practice.

My Mother's Day traditation is getting a picture with my girls. We tried before church but Allie could not find her Repunzel sunglasses and needed help finding them and Raymond was....well see the last picture in the post, he was texting instead of helping find the sunglasses :) So we took the picture after church and inside for some reason....

Abby waiting so patiently....

Finally a good picture

texting dad....

Baton Recital

2011-05-08T19:44:00.000-05:00

Tuesday night was Allie's Baton Recital. The group she is in preformed along with some solo girls and another group from New Hope Christian School.

Champions Baton Club

Father Daughter Baton Catch

They did not win but Allie loved it anyway!

The girls watching someone else preform

Allie & Ms. April our coach (a former UofM golden girl)

The Big Reveal....

2011-05-04T22:29:00.000-05:00

We have been telling the girls that we are going on vacation but have not told them where. We told them that we would tell them on May 1st. I do believe Abby knew where we were going before we told them. She would ask questions about where we were going or would say I really want to go to Disney World on vacation. She is smart little girl but I kept telling her she would have to wait and see on May 1st.

Here are the clues I placed on the dining room table Saturday night

Post card from Mickey & Minnie sent by a very nice lady from the DisBoards

When I asked Abby to read the card she told me she could not read...the one time I want her to read out loud and she would not.... Oh well....

Countdown Calender, Epcot Passport Books (made from designs from the DisBoards), Framed pictures I got for FREE from Disney (if you want the address of where to send for your free picture leave your email address in the comment section or email me), and Mickey, Minnie, Donald and Goofy tumblers from Tupperware.

We will have someone from each county in the World Showace write a greeting in their country's language as well as answer a few questions regarding each county. (I making our trip educational as well)

After confirming Abby's guess of where we are going they are such happy girls....

Stormy Nights

2011-04-27T21:53:00.000-05:00

This is where the girls have been sleeping for the past few nights...in our floor due to the stormy weather.

Egg Hunting

2011-04-26T21:45:00.001-05:00

Hunting Eggs after church

Easter 2011

2011-04-26T21:30:00.002-05:00

Easter 2011

The Grils Easter Baskets ~ filled with lots of Disney items....wonder if that could mean something....

Allie is happy with her new Barbie movie from Leslie

Dying Eggs and Icing Cookies

2011-04-23T22:04:00.000-05:00

After the Egg Hunt we came home and dyed eggs and iced cookies that I made this morning. Helping the girls dye eggs is one of my favorite Easter traditions that we have.

Allie's finished eggs

Abby's finished eggs

Highland Egg Hunt

2011-04-23T21:53:00.000-05:00

Today was Highland's annual Easter Egg Hunt. This was our first egg hunt at our new building and we had a great turn out. It was a wonderful day for an egg hunt.

Waiting so patiently for the egg hunt to begin

Wonder what Allie and Kingston are talking about..... Maybe they are discussing egg hunting strategy

Abby waiting to get more eggs

Bunny Pictures

Abby's bucket of eggs....only yellow and orange eggs because those are duck colors...

My New Embroidery Machine

2011-04-23T21:37:00.000-05:00

Earlier this week I bought a Brother 780D embroidery machine from a friend who lives in Nashville. She is a great seamstress and makes some beautiful items. She was selling one of her embroidery machines and contacted me to see if I wanted to buy her machine. After a week of lobbying Raymond and giving some convincing arguments he agreed to let me buy it. So Friday she brought the machine to me and gave me a 2 hour lesson on how to use the machine and the software. I am so excited to have this machine. I have wanted one for a long time.

I made the basket on my sewing machine and added the girls names under the basket with my new machine.

Baton

2011-04-17T21:44:00.000-05:00

Allie is still taking baton/twirling lessons. She really enjoys the social part of it. Now that she have her Champions Baton Jacket and T-shirt she is really into it.

MOMC Spring Fling

2011-04-17T21:25:00.001-05:00

Saturday was the Mothers of Multiples Club's annual Spring Fling. The girls always enjoy the balloon guy.

Playing on the playground. That is Raymond in the bottom right corner :)

Mickey

2011-04-12T21:34:00.002-05:00

Look what I found at Target? I also picked up a Minnie Mouse one at another Target this past week as well!

Kindergarten Program

2011-04-06T22:14:00.000-05:00

Tuesday morning the girls had their kindergarten program. It was so cute, I was suggest a proud mom!

Allie's class did the ABC Blues and Abby's class did the Rules Rap.

Abby alone with a few others leading the pledge

Allie got to be 2 letters in the ABC Blues

Mickey Shirt

2011-04-04T21:57:00.000-05:00

Another shirt for our trip

Front Door

2011-04-03T21:46:00.001-05:00

Saturday late afternoon while I was picking up my unsold items from the Highland Clothing Sale and Raymond was weeding.....this is what happened...

...a rock thru the front door class.

Here is Raymond and Mr. Keith looking at the glass. It took Raymond over 4 hours to get the broken glass out and cut the plexiglass (with Mr. Keith's help) and get the plexiglass in place. We are thankful that Mr. Keith is very helpful and has all the right tools to cut what we need. We are also thankful that it was not to hot outside and there were very few bugs flying around.

Church Pictures

2011-04-03T21:38:00.000-05:00

Saturday we had our pictures made for the new church directory. They did not go very well. The girls had a hard time standing still and poor Abby had a hard time smiling.

Here are two pictures I took before we went in to have our pictures made.

Easter Shirts

2011-03-30T21:31:00.001-05:00

I made these shirts for the girls for Easter. The pattern is from my one of my Slice cartridges.

Abby's new favorite outfit

2011-03-27T21:23:00.001-05:00

I picked this up from Suzie at the sale for Abby and her new found love of Ducks.

New phone

2011-03-21T21:11:00.000-05:00

I got a new phone (Raymond calls it a toy)

Shirts for Vacation

2011-03-19T22:03:00.000-05:00

After school is out we are taking the girls back to Disney. As of today we have not told them for sure we are going. I think Abby knows we are going but she has yet to ask flat out if we are going. When she said something about going to Disney I told her that her daddy and I would let them know when it was time to tell them where we were going on vacation. I think we will tell them around May 1st. We had originally planned on going May 28-June 3rd but because of a work issue with Raymond we moved it up a week. I know we may have to make up 1, 2 or 3 of the snow days we had but the Memphis City School Board is so busy fighting over this whole consolation thing we may not know if we will have to make them up till late April or May. I went back and forth over changing our week....Raymond was going to be able to do most of his report before we left but I did not want him to worry and be checking in with work the entire time we were gone. Also, I have fretted over taking the girls out of school, even thou it will be the last 1, 2 or 3 days of school and I am sure all they will be doing is watching movies and playing games. I've worried about us being transfer students into our school, even thou they have only missed 1 day each and they have only been late once and we have the days to miss but I don't want to be looked down upon for taking the girls out of school.

ANYWAY...... Here is the first thing I made for our trip....shirts. I bought the shirts are Joann's along with the iron one Mickey Head letters. Abby & Allie

Even made one for dad and mom (Raymond & I) to wear.