1 year ago
As I started this blog, I realized how overwhelming it was going to be. Therefore, I decided to recap our Disney trip one day at a time. We left EARLY in the morning on June 3, 2011. This was the kiddos first time to fly and they did great! Brenna was dressed in her Belle shirt with matching yellow ribbon.
Braeden was very excited to fly! He loves watching planes in the sky, so I know it was such an experience for him to actually be on the plane.
We rode the Magical Express to our resort hotel. We stayed at the All Star Sports Resort. We went with quite a large group. My parents, my sister and her family, my Aunt Terry, my cousin Kim and her family, and all four of us shared this experience together. We all had a really good time! This next picture is entering the Disney area.
Brenna went into the gift shop at our hotel and immediately started grabbing all of the Minnie Mouse dolls she could hold in her arms. We knew this would happen, so we decided to give each kid a spending limit on toys before we went. This is the Minnie she decided on and her new "mouse ears" courtesy of her Papa George. She even continues to wear them here in KC!
We had really nice pools at the resort and spent most of our free time around them. This is my Mom, sister, and her son Carson.
Brenna also LOVED the pool and she spent most of her time swimming with Aunt T. Aunt T loves playing with the kids and is so patient with them. We were lucky to have her there with us!
My favorite area of the pool was Team Spirits. Guess what they served there!?! Believe me, after a long day at Disney, everyone needs a little Team Spirit!
This was pretty much our first day. We arrived in Orlando in the afternoon, had lunch, and then headed straight for the pool. We had a pretty mellow day because we knew what was ahead of us the next morning. Disney is a wonderful, magical place, but also EXHAUSTING! There were times when Ed and I had to keep reminding ourselves that this IS the "happiest place on earth". The next morning we headed to Hollywood Studios...
BRENNA:
We spent Father's Day at Wyandotte County Lake with my family and planned on doing some boating. I got out Brenna's swimsuit and she told me, "Thanks for getting my swimsuit Mama. We need to cover up my nipples!" Oh my!!
BRAEDEN:
I started assigning the kids some chores for the summertime and then they will get paid an allowance for completing them...they were getting pretty spoiled and Ed and I are tired of it. Not that we don't take full responsibility for their behavior, of course. Anyways, after I explained how things would be working now, as far as, if you want to buy something, save your money, Braeden told me that he is glad that when it comes to Santa there are no money issues. You can ask for whatever you want and it doesn't matter how much it cost! UGH!!
It has been awhile since the kiddos have done anything I can poke fun at, I mean, document for their future amusement.
Brenna first: When I got home from work last night I could tell that neither of the kids had brushed their teeth. One of the things that I told them they HAD to do everyday was brush their teeth. Come on, I'm a dental hygienist. As soon as I asked Braeden to do it, he was in his bathroom brushing them. Of course it is NEVER that easy with Brenna. I asked her 3 times and 3 times she told me "No!" That behavior does not fly in this house, so I carried her screaming all the way to her bedroom. She hates being sent to her bedroom, so I use that a lot for her punishment. The kids have no toys in their rooms, so it is a good place for them to be isolated and think about what they've done. When Ed got home we had a talk with her and then she went to brush her teeth.
Later on last night she got a splinter in her foot and it was BIG DRAMA!! You would have thought she needed her foot amputated by the way she was acting. I couldn't even see a mark once I took out the splinter(which I did while Ed held her down because she was flipping out). She went to get a band aid and I told her not to unwrap it until I could get the Neosporin ready because I knew she would just get the sticky ends stuck together and we would just end up wasting the band aid. Again, she did not listen and had it all stuck to her fingers. I, very loudly, told her to put the band aid on the sink and go sit on her bed. She looked at me, walked out of the bathroom and I heard her mumble to herself, "Man, I am in trouble again!" It was all I could do not to laugh!
Braeden's story: This also happened last night. It was one of those nights that just seemed to never end! Last Sunday Ed found two boxes of band aids in the kids' toy room and brought them back to the drawer where they belong in our bathroom, so when I couldn't find the Neosporin last night I went to look in the toy room. I couldn't find it and asked Braeden if he knew where it was. He admitted to taking the band aids in the toy room, but said that he had not touched the Neosporin. Braeden has been a little tricky lately with telling the truth. Ed and I have caught him in a couple of lies, so I didn't know if I should believe him. I decided not to "grill" him any further and went to find another ointment to put on Brenna's "wound".
By this time, Brenna was in Braeden's bed and I went into his room with a one dose sample pack of Neosporin. Braeden thought I had found the Neosporin and looked up at the sky and whispered, "Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you." Who exactly was he talking to?? God?? I am pretty sure he was. I looked at him and said that I had not found the Neosporin, but this was just a sample. He turned over and put his blanket over his face. I'm sure he doesn't remember if he took it or not. I just let it go. I remember those days of saying little prayers so that I wouldn't get in trouble for something!!
Coming Soon!! Disney World 2011 Blog! I still don't know how to get pictures from my camera to the computer, so I have to wait for Ed to do it. Pretty pathetic, I know!
Today was officially our first "Summer Day". Yep, school is out! I can hardly believe that Braeden has completed Kindergarten. It went by sooo fast. All I want is the time to slow down. My babies are getting so big.
Anyways, back to our first summer day. The weather was BEAUTIFUL today!! The kids are still playing outside and it is after 8pm. I am so thankful that our neighborhood is full of children their age. They are all such good friends and have so much fun together. Braeden even told me that one of the neighbor boys had kissed Brenna. When I asked her about it she said, " yes Mom, he kissed me on the lips." It was like she thought it was no big deal. She's 3!! I, of course, had to go talk to his Mom about it and we just laughed and laughed.
I already feel much more relaxed now that school is out. I haven't had to think about Braeden's reading log or packing lunches or any homework. I think I need a summer break as much as the kids do! I even sat out on the deck today in my swimsuit...no need for the skin cancer lectures, I know it's bad! But...sooooo relaxing!
Here's to long summer days!!
Wow, it has been a long time since I have updated our blog. I was looking back through old posts and realized how much I love looking at all of the cute pictures and reading the funny stories. Frequently I thought about the fact that I hadn't updated the blog and I just dreaded taking time to sit down and write a new post. I don't want this blog to be something that I feel like I have to do, so I just kind of took a break.
What have we been up to? It seems like a lot! Summer is upon us and I am so excited for some warm weather and outdoor activities! Braeden's Kindergarten year is winding down and T-ball is gearing up. My office is sponsoring the team this year! Braeden is enjoying playing outside with the neighbor kids and is ready to be finished with homework and spelling words (although, he has not missed one word this entire year on his spelling tests-proud Mama!).
Right now Brenna's world is revolving around our upcoming trip to Disney World. She is INCREDIBLY excited!! I can see now why there are those commercials where the family doesn't tell the children that they are going to Disney World until the morning they leave! We talk about Disney World almost everyday! We discuss which Princesses will be there, how we get into Cinderella's Castle, will the The Beast be there (from Beauty and the Beast), are we going for her Birthday, will she be 4 years old yet when we go to Disney, will we see Mickey, how far away is it, are Grammy and Papa going, can we wear flip flops there, on and on and on...!!! I am glad that she is so excited, because it kind of makes me more excited. She seems like the perfect age to take this trip.
Just a quick little update post, but I've got chores to finish! Tonight Brenna has dance class and then we will get started dying Easter Eggs and getting the house ready for our big family dinner on Sunday.
Sorry for the blurry picture!
Last Sunday was Braeden's second and final wrestling tournament for the season. During this tournament he wrestled all four rounds no matter how many matches he won or lost, so we were there ALL DAY! Braeden won his first match...due to forfeit. The other wrestler did not show up.
His first match was the 7th overall match on his mat. HE DIDN'T WRESTLE AGAIN UNTIL MATCH 56!!! It seemed like forever and with all of that time on our hands, I think Braeden got uninterested and bored really fast. He was pinned on his second match in a matter of a few seconds!
Match 3 went a little better...still pinned, but he fought a little longer this time.
Finally, time for match 4(the last match). Ed was fed up with how the day was going and he really wanted to see him put forth some REAL effort and I know he would have loved to see a win. He promised Braeden he would buy him whatever he wanted if he won. I looked at Ed and said, "Are you really already to this point with wrestling?" Just a little note: Ed promised Braeden the same thing during football season and Braeden did so well after that. Ed doesn't care why he is doing well, as long as he is.
We sat in the same seats in the bleachers all day and the same family sat in front of us all day. Their son was actually the last person Braeden was to wrestle. The match went great! Braeden did great! Braeden did not win, but he also did not get pinned. It was decided by points and we were SO PROUD of him! He really tried his hardest.
After the tournament was over, we packed up all of our gear and were headed out to leave when I heard Ed and Braeden talking about the last child Braeden wrestled and how we never let anyone hit our Mommy. I looked at Ed like both of them were crazy and asked what in the world they were talking about. Nobody had hit me! Ed explained that before the last match, he had told Braeden that the boy that he was wrestling had been hitting his Mommy all day with a balloon and that when he gets out on that mat to hit him good, because nobody hits our Mommy! The child did have a balloon he was playing with, but it certainly never bothered me. ED LIED TO BRAEDEN TO GET HIM TO WIN!! He used Braeden's love and protective nature over me to do it! I was so absolutely appalled that all I could do was laugh. Dads, sports, winning, and their sons-a combination that I will never understand!! What can you do?!
This year for Valentine's Day I decided to make us a family dinner at home...a special family dinner! We ate in the dining room and I don't recall anytime when the children have been allowed to eat in the dining room. We broke out the china dinnerware, champagne glasses, and linen napkins. We went all out! Our menu included Caesar salad, chicken parmigiana with pasta, and dessert. We had two types of champagne-kid's champagne, as Braeden likes to call it, and Mommy and Daddy champagne. Ed even sprung for the $8 bottle this time!
I spent the morning making our Valentine's Day dessert. We had chocolate dipped strawberries and brownie pops. Very yummy!!
And after dinner, we opened presents! The kids LOVE presents! We have so much candy now that I have no idea what we are going to do with it all. Why do I buy it?...oh, because the stores package it so beautifully and it always appeals to my eyes! Who could pass up chocolates wrapped in pink foil, tied with a pink ribbon, who has a daughter who LOVES PINK!! I had to buy it all!
I know that I say this each year on my Valentine's Day blog, but I am gonna say it again this year and probably next year too-Valentine's Day is so SPECIAL to us because that is the day that we were able to bring Braeden home from the hospital after spending 5 weeks in the NICU. We felt so blessed that day. Love you, Braeden!
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