Disney Scrapping!

I'm still plugging away with my Disney Album and since I haven't shared a page on my blog in awhile, I'm going to post one today. I'm up to day #5 when we went to the Ohana restaurant for a character breakfast, walked around the Polynesian Hotel looking for Hidden Mickeys, the boys & Jim went to the Main Street Barbershop, Matthew was a "member" of the Jack Sparrow Show, the boys got to light saber fight in the streets over at MGM, etc... It was probably our most jam packed, full of Disney moments kind of day!

Undercover Spies!

My boys went to a birthday party on Saturday and it was a "Top Secret/Spy" theme. In their "briefcases", they got a bunch of stuff to make disguises. All of my "boys" put on their disguises once we were back from the party and I just had to share this picture (to embarrass all of them, of course). It was just tooooo funny of a pic not to show off. Clue the James Bond music........

Take Your Child to Work Day

The boys went to work with their Dad yesterday. They had such a great time and were able to do a bunch of really fun things. They came home so excited and bubbling over with stories about all the things they did & saw. They also really love all of the "loot" they get. LOL.

Flowering Trees!

I love our flowering trees. We have a Thundercloud Plum tree that gets the pink flowers. Then we have two Bradford Pear trees that get white flowers. They look so awesome when they all pop with flowers. Last Thursday, when the weather turned a lot warmer, the flowers just popped right out.

Driving Range

We took the boys to the driving range yesterday. We all had a good time and it felt good to hit some golf balls for the first time in a long time. I spent most of the time taking pictures, but I hit a few & Jim snapped a few pictures of me. The boys really had fun and I hope that with more practice, they'll become good little golfers. They're going to go to golf camp again this summer and maybe they'll impress their instructors this year since they'll have practiced in between summers. :)

PageMaps Book, Sketches & a Layout

I have always loved Becky Fleck's sketches (http://pagemaps.com/). She came out with a Sketch Book recently, so I treated myself and bought it last week. It came yesterday and I can't put it down! I love all of the sketches, the way the book is put together and the examples are fantastic. Kudos to Becky for making a book that is fun to read, too. For a recent challenge on a Disney Scrapper's Group, I used a PageMaps sketch and did a Jammin' Jungle Parade Layout.

Oh Happy Day!

Today has just been a great day so far (and I hope it stays that way after those fighting little boys get home from school). Anyway, here's what has been great so far...

~~ The temps are great - high 60s right now. I loved driving around with a few CDs blasting in the car - Keith Urban, a few Bruce Springsteen tunes, then some Daughtry.

~~ I bowled like a champ! I really am surprising myself this year. I had a 191, then a 192 and then I had a 202! Woo Hoo!

~~ I went to Odd Lots and scored big on some scrapping stuff. Everything you see in the picture only cost $21. Some of those rub ons are like $8 - $10 in other stores! I love a bargain.

~~ The postman brought some fun stuff. First, he brought my Rocky Mountain Hobbies order with a lot of goodies that I've been wanting for quite some time. This is scrapbooking stuff for those who have no clue. LOL.
~~ The postman also brought the coconut. It's a coconut post card that my parents sent from Florida (they're on vacation down there). I couldn't believe that the post man had a coconut. What a hoot!

Coffee Anyone?

Would you believe that I haven't always been a coffee drinker? So many of you hear me say how I *have* to have my coffee every morning (and my 2nd cup in the afternoon after the boys get home from school). I only started drinking coffee in 2003 at one of my nephew's High School graduation parties. Everyone in my family had always liked coffee, but not me. Now, I can't live without it. I'm kind of a coffee snob, though. I prefer just a plain cup that I brew at home - light and sweet please! I also would never turn down a cup of coffee with Baileys Irish Cream in it. M'mm M'mm good!

I had to take a picture of my cup of coffee from this morning to share. I love the tall mugs the best and Jim got me a set of these Pfaltzgraff cups for Christmas a few years ago. I even have Christmas ones and I have my tall mugs in the Myrtle Beach house, too. One of these days, I'm going to do a layout with pictures of this mug and my Myrtle Beach mug. I might title it "A Tale of Two Mugs". LOL

So who else is a Java drinker? How do you like your coffee fixed?

Movies You Haven't Seen?

A few things have happened recently for me to ask myself this question. When Charlton Heston died, a girl on my TV board said she'd never seen The Ten Commandments, which is a movie I've seen 25+ times probably in my lifetime. I am a huge Disney maniac, but I've never seen the movie Mulan. If you read my previous post, you'll know that I've only recently seen all 6 of the Star Wars movies and all 3 of the Godfather movies. A couple of years ago I finally watched Citizen Kane because I needed to know for myself what all the buzz was!

Soooooooo what movies haven't you all seen that you want to see? How about a movie you haven't seen that everyone else talks about, but you don't have the inkling to see it? Or you just haven't seen a movie for a random reason. Please respond and tell me what you haven't seen - I'm very curious as to what the answers will be!

Let me think.... I know of some old movies that I've always wanted to see.... From Here to Eternity, On The Waterfront and The King & I. More current movies... I've always wanted to see the Julia Robert's movie "Mona Lisa Smile" and Meryl Streep in "The Bridges of Madison County". I have never seen any of the Lord of the Rings movies or any of the Harry Potter movies. I have never seen the Monty Python movie and it's quoted all the time so it makes me want to see it. Same goes for Spinal Tap.

As I think of more movies, I'll add them!

Star Wars Mania

The boys have been big fans of Star Wars for some time now. Last weekend, Spike TV was showing episodes 1-3 (the newer made movies) and we watched them. I was hooked right away because of the storyline that flows strongly through the movies and because it was helping to fill in the blanks of what I knew about the original Star Wars movie (which is technically Episode 4 to confuse some of you even more. LOL). Then, this weekend, Spike TV was showing Episodes 4-6 (original Star Wars movie, The Empire Strikes Back and The Return of the Jedi). I just finished watching Return of the Jedi. The following will probably contain spoilers for those of you who've never seen the movie, so be warned before reading on! Wink!

I really became interested in who was Darth Vader and how did he become that way. How was Darth Vader Luke's dad? Then, holy cow, I found out that Luke and Leia were actually twins. How did I not know this stuff just because I pay enough attention to entertainment stuff not because I'd seen any of the Star Wars movies. I am not really that interested in the Sci Fi stuff and the battle scenes, but the storyline is so prevalent and I needed to know. Heck, I was so involved with the movies that I got weepy when Darth Vader died and when Luke paid homage to him (funeral pyre for fallen Jedis). I totally appreciate what George Lucas did with this story and I'm glad I can finally say that I've seen all 6 episodes.

I highly recommend these movies (watch them in order, not by when they were made, but by episode) if you've never seen them. Just like the Godfather, I saw these movies later in life and have a great appreication for them now. May the Force Be With You! ;-)

Look How Much They've Grown

I took pictures about a week ago (4/2) of these plants and wanted to show how much they've grown in just one week. I'm adding in a few other pictures, too. :)

My New Disney Bag!

The Disney Store online had a special for this bag... free embroidering of a character and the name. I wasn't fond of the bag I got for last year's trip, so I jumped at the opportunity to get another bag. This one has more zippers, more compartments and is bigger than I thought. I am such a Dork and I think it's an adorable bag. I need to put stuff in it and walk around with it on my shoulder to "try it out". LOL.

I've got Disney Brain!

For the past couple of days, We've really been trying to nail down our Disney plans for next year. We thought we'd go back in December '08, but the week was turning out to be 12/13 - 12/20 and I just can't see us going so close to Christmas for numerous reasons. Too many issues arose, so Jim & I decided we needed to find another week.

We bought the Unofficial Guide to Disney World on Saturday, got the crowd calendar info, printed off the times the parks were going to be open and went to work. After much deliberation and some stalling, we've decided that we're going back from 9/27 - 10/4. We'll even be in Disney over Jim's birthday (10/3) and I'm getting him a birthday button to wear that day, for sure! LOL.

We also did an itinerary for the week, which we both are pretty happy with. We wanted to plan in some "down time" so that we weren't bypassing some of the "Stop and Smell the Roses Stuff" and so that we didn't burn out. The boys threw in their input on where they wanted to go the 1st day and we always talk about "must do's" on the trip, so we can be sure of what we don't want to miss. We'll need to get Sara's input on what she really wants to do, but I think she'll have a better idea of this after she gets back from a Disney/Florida trip with her mom next month. We usually end up changing around the itinerary a few times before we go (it becomes an obsession. ha!).

All in all, I'm very excited and I love this sort of stuff. Planning a trip like this is half the fun for me and I've gotten my family into it as well. I want us all to be part of the planning! Matthew has even already asked me if we'll make another countdown calendar, so of course we'll make one (for the month prior to leaving). The boys were thrilled to hear that we were going back 3 months prior to when they thought we were going, too. I love to hear how happy it makes them to go to Disney World. If you need me, I'll probably be hanging out on the Disboards or Passporter boards! LOL

New Washer & Dryer!

New Appliances. Ahhhh. Our old dryer croaked and our old washing machine was getting junk all over the clothes, so we bought a new set over the weekend. Yes, I know they aren't even, but the dryer can't be moved back any further and the cat box has to sit in front of the washer (yuck). Look how clean they are. Look how uncluttered the area is! Trust me, that'll be all fixed soon. LOL. The picture is from a funny angle, too, but my laundry area is very small (the door to the garage is right behind where I took this picture), so I didn't have much room to work with. And since I know you're all wondering, yes, I'm currently doing laundry. I had about 4-5 loads back up since the dryer broke the other day. Fun Fun Fun!

Dream FastPasses

This layout took me so long to do, so I figured I'd share it on my blog. We were so lucky to get Dream Fastpasses in Animal Kingdom last April. They had instant fastpasses on them for 6 attractions in AK that usually have long lines. Because we got these fastpasses, I was able to take both of the boys on Expedition Everest and Jim took them both on Kali River Rapids (within a very short period of time). It was very exciting for us. I'm so glad that the "Year of a Million Dreams" will still be going on next December when we go back & I'll be hoping we all get Dream Fastpasses again!

Showing off my Fridge

Well Linda has posted a picture of her pristine white new fridge on her blog and then she challenged me to show off mine. Why? Because as you can see, mine is not pristine, it's covered. It didn't used to be *this* covered, but the boys have taken over the bottom 50% and have done their own thing (just following in their mom's footsteps). I have tons of pictures on the front of the fridge and on the one side. I love to buy magnets and I try to buy them wherever we go on vacation (there are tons of Myrtle Beach ones and Disney ones, of course). People even buy me magnets because they know how much I love them. On our honeymoon, I can remember going to all the gift shops in the Polynesian Hotel looking for Disney magnets (I was pretty tipsy, barefoot and on a mission - yes, I remember it that vividly. LOL). So what do you all think? I bet you think I'm even crazier than you used to think I was! ;)

Signs of Spring

So last week I was all down about spring not coming fast enough. Then, I was walking around our gardens and I saw lots of plants coming up! Lots of new green things (yay). I found the Chives really popping up (but I need to clean out the dry gunk from last year). The Bleeding Heart is raring to go! The Daffodils are starting, but they aren't going to bloom for a few more weeks. There are buds on the Bradford Pear tree. I also found a really cute, little, lonely Crocus that was sitting pretty.

It was fun to focus on the positive and see the little bit of color that is coming out instead of just seeing the "grey" out there. It helped that it was a nice, sunny day, too.

Disappointment.....

Well, DH came home from work last night, handed me a pack of batteries and simply said "I didn't get the NC job". Boom. Ugh. He said he didn't know how to tell me, so he just blurted it out.

So now, we're not moving. We're going to dig our feet back in here in PA and try to stay positive about how we'll get to NC some day. Dh wants the opportunity to really be the right one and maybe the job he didn't get wasn't meant to be. Going back to the old saying... If you wanna hear God laugh, tell him your plans.

In a weird way, I'm relieved. I can now just focus on living for today, not the future. We now know we're definitely coaching soccer all season (until early June), the boys are finishing up school here, we will plan vacations from PA as the start point, I can get back out in the gardens and know I'm cleaning them up for myself not just to sell the house, we're going to put wood flooring in the main floor of the house (Something we've wanted to do for years now), etc... Part of me likes knowing we'll "just be here" for awhile.

I'm not looking forward to having to tell a few people & I know DH feels the same way. My parents, DH's mom and my stepdaughter, Sara, will all be very disappointed since the move would have put us so much closer to them. It'll happen, when it's the right time. We just have to be patient for now.