Picnic Night 137/365

Wednesday nights have turned a little crazy for us.  LeeLee has moved up the ranks in gymnastics, so she has to spend five hours a week at the gym.  We also have church on Wednesdays, and I teach on Wednesday nights, so with all the running around, dinner is on the go.  I love it when the weather is good though, and we can eat outside of the church.

This picture of Hope is funny to me.  It is hard to break some old habits, and one of those for her is squatting instead of sitting.  She will squat over her food and eat.  I had to coax her into sitting on the grass.  Once she was sitting, she had to figure out what to do with those long legs of hers.

Tonight her class had a recognition ceremony, and she had to read a little passage about something that they had done.  I was so proud of her as she worked really hard to read.  She missed a few words, but she got most of them on her own.  She has come so far, and I am one proud momma!!

Our Disney Goodbyes 136/365

I got interrupted by Mother's Day and our little find from LeeLee, so now I will get back to the end of our Disney trip.

Noelle had stayed up so late, that waking up in the morning for our Disney Magical Express ride was difficult for her (and me.)  We had to go to a few resorts and pick up guests, so she fell asleep in this position.  Honestly, I was jealous!  I wish I could sleep sitting up in a car or on a plane.  We got a quick breakfast at the airport then headed home.  She and I speculated all the way home about what the other kids were going to say.  Were they going to be mad?  Would they be more willing to help out?  Or, would we only be hearing "not fair"?

Now that we are home, I can tell you how proud I am of not only Noelle, but the three that got left behind too.  They were actually excited for Noelle that she got to go.  They wanted to hear all about it, and they listened to her with such intensity.  Of course we had brought back gifts for everyone, but I was so blessed to see the genuine excitement that they had for her.  They all understood completely why she was rewarded, and they all fessed up to their failures.  Now it will be interesting to see in the months to come if they continue to work a little harder when I ask them to help me out.  I think Hunter will be one of my new helpers.  He is thinking he would love a trip to Disney with just mom.  So, now we shall wait and see!

Guess Who 135/365

I love it when we find these treasures around the house.  LeeLee makes me smile with her stories.

Mother's Day 134/365

I got the pleasure of spending my mother's day in a car going to South Carolina to participate in one of our college student's weddings.  We love Emily, so driving 8 hours in one day plus a wedding was worth it.  She is such a beautiful young lady, and her wedding radiated the love that she has for Christ.  We were blessed to be able to spend our Sunday with them.  Unfortunately it was cold and raining, so I have no pictures to share.

I did get this special surprise from Hunter.  He is such a momma's boy.  He knows I love vintage jewelry, so he picked out these beautiful pieces for me and bought them with his own money.  He makes my heart smile.

We are exhausted from our day, but for now, would you please be in prayer for my friend Kim. Her blog can be found here.  Her husband is now unresponsive and not expected to make it through the night.  I have been desperately praying for this family since his relapse, and I am devastated for them.

Magic Kingdom Day Two 133/365

 

We woke up to fun waffles....I just smile at all the little touches that makes Disney so magical.

We watched the shows from a distance as we have seen them  before.

 We headed down to Downtown Disney in the middle of the day to check out Pin Traders.  Noelle was in search of one certain pin.  We didn't find it, but we did find lots of other treasures.

 We went back to the park and rode Space Mountain a few more times....it is hard to believe she was scared to ride the first time.  My neck is still a little sore from this ride.

We again closed down the park.  I looked down at Noelle as we were relishing our final moments at Disney, and I saw a tear fall down her cheek.  She is definitely my child.  I always get a little teary eyed when I walk down Main Street for the first time each trip, and I mist up in the way out.  

When we got back to our resort.  Noelle wanted to swim.  So we stayed up until 1 a.m. so she could have some time to do that.  It sure did make the 6 a.m. wake up difficult so we could head to the airport.  It was all worth it though!  I am very proud of Noelle, this was a wonderful way to reward her and all of her hard work.  Now if I can just figure out another excuse to come back!

Magic Kingdom Here We Come 132/365

Since we were at Disney, we got to eat things like giant chocolate cupcakes for breakfast.  I know it may not be healthy, but she thought they were good!

We got to dance in the streets with the characters during the street party.

 Noelle was also finally big enough to drive a car by herself....she was a little slow, and her driving skills scare me knowing she will be driving in 4 years.

Noelle shopped and pin traded all along Main Street.

We squeezed in some time to go see Mickey and Minnie.  I still miss their houses and feel like they are in the wrong place.....after all Mickey should have been the last person to lose his house.

Thumper came out to visit while we were there too....he has multiplied and had a rather large family.

Yes, I am the crazy person that takes a picture of the picture.  Noelle wanted to be able to prove to her brother that she rode Space Mountain....this is NOT the face she was making in the first picture.  She ended up falling in love with Space Mountain and rode it eighteen times.

We ended our night with the classics like Disney's PhilharMagic.  We closed the park down, and boy were we tired.

Noelle's Big Trip 131/365

First of all, I want to thank those of you that knew about the trip for keeping it a secret.  I also want to apologize to all of you who thought I was going to the beach with Pippa.  That has been my cover story so the kids wouldn't think anything was up.  They talked about how I loved Pippa more than them because I was taking her to the beach for a month, so I know lots of friends thought that was the truth.  Sorry!  We are back now, I am exhausted, so I will only blog the day I kidnapped her.

After school when I was supposed to be leaving for the beach, I asked Noelle to run one last errand with me.  She happily jumped in the car while I stayed back to tell the other kids that she was headed out on a special trip with me because she is the one who helps when I ask for it. This didn't come without warning to the remaining trio, they had been warned that their sister would receive a great perk because she is the only one that cleans when I ask them to.  I had also always told Noelle when she complained that they weren't cleaning, that she would be rewarded for all her hard work.  When we headed out on our "errand" I headed towards the Atlanta airport.  I told her then, that I was surprising her with a trip, but didn't tell her where.  She ended up falling asleep, so she woke up when I parked the car at the airport.  She was hilarious when she realized where we were.  Once inside, she was full of questions, she even made hand motions like she was going to strangle me because I wouldn't tell her.  I even sat at the gate for a plane that was departing for Baltimore, just to throw her off.  We finally boarded the plane for Orlando, and she was full of questions, but really hoping it was Disney.  She didn't know for sure until after we landed and we boarded the Disney Magical Express.  Once we settled into the resort we fell asleep fast knowing we would have a full day ahead of us.  To be continued.....