Under the Sea

Abby and Noah were pretty excited to see these smileboxes I made so Abby wanted to make one of some Disney pictures...So here we go! Just click on the bubbles to see larger pictures. :)

Make a postcard - it's easy!

This smilebox thing is awesome!

I just couldn't help myself, and I had to make another one with some of my favorite beach pictures from last summer! We had such a blast!

Make a scrapbook - it's easy!

My first Smilebox!

Make a postcard - it's easy!

Sneaky Chef...

Does anybody out there have any good "sneaky" recipes ideas that are healthy for the kiddos & Pat too! My kids are better about eating veggies than their daddy! :) But I know it would be good to get some more servings of fruits and veggies each day. I've also been looking into whole wheat pastas and things. And I've heard flax seed is good too...do you guys hve any tips for me?

Scrapbooking intervention!

I've decided that there is no way in the world that I will never be able to scrapbook the hundreds (maybe thousands) of pictures that I have in elaborate, embellished albums with all the bells & whistles & flashing lights...without sacrificing sleep, time with my family, and quite possibly, my sanity! :) I have gone to Creative Memories & Close to My Heart parties & workshops. I have all kinds of stuff - which is so cute! I have the best intentions use all of it, but then I came to a realization...I can try to do these embellished album (you should see the Close to my Heart ones)& never catch up, or I can KISS it! (Keep it Simple, Sister!) I'm almost done with a themed album I bought at Animal Kingdom. (Acid free and everything!) I just started on it the night before last.(Wendy - you would be so proud of me!) I've maybe spent 2 or 3 hours on it so far and have put in about 60 pictures(vs spending an hour on a 2 page spread page with 4 or 5 pictures). It's looking so cute and the kids love it. So I have set some new, more realistic goals for myself...

1) Finish Abby and Noah's baby books with 3 or 4 simple layouts, cute paper, & journaling.
2) Make Birthday albums for each of the kids with a few embellishments & simple layouts. (I'll add on to it each year and then they'll have all their b'day parties in one book!)
3) Make themed albums for special vacations (like this Animal Kingdom one) and a Christmas album with a few special holiday pictures and add on each year.
4) All the cute extras, I'll put in those pocket albums that have memo lines. (I also want to look into digital scrapbooking and photo books)

Any tips that you guys have for keeping it simple & staying caught up, I would LOVE to hear them too! Here a few of my favorite pictures from my Animal Kingdom album...




That rhino was only about 10 feet away from us! I was a little nervous!

Happy Easter!

Abby and Noah sure looked cute all dressed up for Easter. I just couldn't get them to stand still long enough for a picture! haha :)

Beware of the Maymont Easter Egg Hunt!

Yikes! You have never seen an Easter egg hunt like this one...at least I hope not! There's an area fenced off, probably about 20 yards, and eggs are scattered all over the ground (literally walking on eggshells, but they're plastic, of course!). There's a "holding area" for the next group of Easter egg hunters. We are jammed in this roped off area waiting for the person in charge to open the flood gate and let everyone run in. there were at least 150 people. It was reminiscent of the running of the bulls or maybe even "Black Friday" when the store doors open and everyone goes rushing in.

Seriously, Pat and I had to barracade (sp?) the kids so they could bend down and pick up an egg without being trampled. It was crazy! The whole egg hunt lasted about 2 or 3 minutes in contrast to the 15 minutes of waiting in the "holding area". The kids could only pick up 10 EMPTY plastic eggs each to turn in for a prize bag on the other side (more waiting in line) and the "prizes" were a couple tiny, little choking hazard items...a plastic ring, a plastic compass, etc... And to think, we paid $4 per child to do this!!! I still can't believe how crazy it was... never again! Easter egg hunts are much more fun (and safe) in our own backyard!

Popcorn Popping!

Abby and Noah LOVE all the "popcorn trees" that are blooming all over the place. There are at least 20 in our neighborhood that we drive by every day. They get so excited and Abby starts singing "I looked out the window and what did I see? Popcorn popping on the apricot tree..." I just can't help but sing along and Noah starts doing the little actions, making his hands open and shut (pop!). They are just too cute. These little things that get them so excited really remind me to appreciate the simple things in life.

Green Eggs (but no ham!)

In the spirit of St. Patrick's Day, I asked Abby if she would like to have some green eggs for breakfast. She thought that was pretty funny, and she actually did eat some of it. Noah on the other hand wasn't buying it...he ate maybe 3 bites. My kids usually devour eggs and ask for more, but the green food coloring kinda threw them for a loop. I don't blame 'em. It didn't look too appetizing to me either. :)

To preschool or not to preschool? That is the question...

I've been going back and forth about the preschool thing for Abby. Ideally, I would like a 2 mornings/wk program, but I can't find anything like that around here for less than $350 a month! Crazy! She already knows all her colors, she can count to 20 no problem, she knows all her letters, she can write her name...so preschool would just be for the socialization and art projects, crafts,and to reinforce what she already knows. But $350 a month??? It's not really an option for us right now. So we go to story time, the children's museum a couple times a month, a gym class I just enrolled both Abby and Noah in, & Abby has dance class on Mondays (that I teach). I think it's good for her to have teachers other than me and have some time away from me to gain more independence (even though she seems pretty independent to me!), but I'm just not ready to put her in a class 3 or 4 days a week! She only has a year and a half before she starts school. I can't believe that...then she'll see her teacher more than she sees me! I think I'm going to have separation issues...haha :)

My Friends Tigger and Pooh...and Piglet and Eeyore too!

Noah was pretty much climbing the fence to get to these guys and then once we got up there, he wouldn't go near them unless I was holding him! But he still LOVED it!

You are cordially invited to a royal feast with Cinderella...

Disney World Rocks!

So we just got back from an awesome trip to Disney World! I still can't believe we actually went and were there for over a week! We just have never done that...we went for 5 days for our one year anniversary/late honeymoon, but since then just overnight trips to VA Beach here and there and a couple days in Myrtle Beach before Abby was born. We have been missing out!!! It was just so awesome to get away and have some time as a family to play and laugh and soak in some sunshine!!! I have tons of pictures, but I'll have to put them on here in stages because I am not too savvy with this blog yet.
We had so much fun and the kids LOVED it. Our favorite things were probably Animal Kingdom ( we went there 3 days and went on the safari 3 times!)and having dinner with Cinderella at the beautiful Grand Floridian hotel! Abby loved meeting Ariel too and Noah was really excited to meet Pooh, Tigger, Piglet, and Eeyore. Abby wasn't too keen on the characters (pretty much petrified of them) for most of the trip...then finally on the last day at Animal Kingdom, she decided to be brave and meet Mickey Mouse & friends. She was just grinning from ear to ear...and she told us " Oh, I am so happy that I met those characters. They were so nice." She was pretty proud of herself.
I would have never thought that the trip would have gone as smoothly as it did with being gone so long with little kids in one hotel room and doing so much stuff...but they loved it! I actually cried when we left Animal Kingdom on our last day. Silly, huh? I can see why people go back year after year. It really was awesome!