Disney World

American Idol Experience

Caroline dressed as her favorite princess - Sleeping Beauty - and Fairy Godmother

The Family

It's a Bug's Life

Starting the day at Animal Kingdom

The past two weeks have been a total whirlwind!  I spent the first week of June at the Mayo Clinic trying to discover the cause of all of the mysterious symptoms I've been having.  Thankfully, all of that turned out okay, and I'm not dying of some weird neurological illness.  I just have to adjust to living with a "new normal" of numbness, difficulty swallowing, and neck pain.  Oh well, I guess it could be worse.

Last week, Shawn and I took the kids to Disney World.  We met up with Shawn's family, and spent some time with them at the parks as well.  They treated us to a day at Sea World, and the kids had a blast all week long.  Caroline was very brave and wanted to ride every roller coaster, however immediately after each ride, she'd say that she never wanted to ride it again!  :) Her favorite ride was Peter Pan, and JM seemed to be enthralled by everything.  (He wasn't too fond of the Pirates of the Caribbean though!)

 

Upon leaving, Caroline talked about how she wanted to live at Disney World, but she'll be lucky if we'll get to go back anytime soon!  Disney LOVES its magic, and I suppose it's worth the price after seeing our kids' faces.

Tiny Dancer

Always posing....

Ready to perform!

On our way to the recital

Caroline danced in her third recital on Sunday.  I can't believe she's been dancing for three years!  She and I had a lot of fun this year getting her ready for the stage.  We pretended she was at a beauty parlor.  I put her hair in rollers and even let her choose the colors of her makeup.  It was a blast!  But she looked like she was about sixteen...it was nice to take the makeup back off and to see my little girl again.  There will be enough of that in the years to come!

This year, she tap danced to a song entitled "Personality."  She did great, of course!  We were happy to be joined by all of the grandparents and even happier that she got to dance at the beginning of the recital this year, so we didn't have to hang around for two and a half hours!  John Michael was enjoying watching all the pretty girls so much that he was highly upset when we left early.  He didn't want to take his eyes off the stage!  :)  

Two Peas

This was the first time I dressed the kids alike.  I must admit, I thought they looked pretty cute.  JM wasn't too fond of getting a kiss from his Sissy though....

Dirt and Strings

   "What are girls made of, Mommy?" Caroline asked.

   I'd heard this before, so I replied with the standard, "Sugar and spice and everything nice, of course!"

   "No, no, no!" she reprimanded.  "God made boys from the dirt, and He made girls from strings."

   HUH??  I couldn't help but laugh in response, and so did she.

   "Where in the world did you learn that, Caroline?"

   "Daddy taught me," she said.

   Later on that day, I asked Shawn about his Biblical teachings, and apparently Caroline got her story a little mixed up. . . she understood God making Adam from the dirt, but I guess she didn't quite comprehend Eve being made from Adam's rib - ribs. . .strings. . . no difference, right?  

   Out of the mouths of babes. . .

Easter

We had a wonderful time celebrating Easter this year at home.  My mom, grandmother, sister, brother-in-law, and nieces came over to share in the celebration by going to church with us and coming to our house for lunch afterward.

The children hunted Easter eggs filled with coins, and probably collected enough money to completely fill up their entire piggy banks!

It was definitely a memorable day, and such a special time to be thankful for the life we've been given by Christ our Savior.

My Little Helper

John Michael loves to help me clean.  Whenever I pull out the Swiffer, he insists on using it himself to sweep the entire house, including all the hard-to-reach places, like under the couch and tables.  He'll bring me even the tiniest pieces of trash that he finds on the floor and says, "Bye bye," which is his cue for me to throw it in the garbage.  There was a huge mess of his toys on the floor the other night and I asked him if he was going to clean it all up, and he walked over to the pile of toys and nodded his head...okay, so he didn't really clean it up, but at least he had good intentions.

So yesterday, while I was conducting a little Arbonne business on the phone, JM decided he was going to take it upon himself to do some cleaning in the bathroom...of the toilets...with his bottle brush.  I first discovered him in the half bath before he actually touched the water.  He was highly upset with me for putting a halt to his effort.  So, I returned to my conversation on the telephone, and he sought out another vulnerable toilet.  This time, he was successful...and thorough.  I think that half of the toilet water ended up on my bathroom floor.  But JM seem satisfied that he'd completed the job.

I suppose it's time to childproof the toilet lids.

Too Pooped to Play

This was Caroline's definition of "playing outside" the other day... and it's coming from a little girl who virtually never takes a nap!  I guess the daylight savings time change is affecting all of us.  Plus, check out how long and grown up she looks!  She's not my little baby anymore... :(