An elf, a suprise and a Christmas Do-over....Our Dec. 2010 PTR

[disneydreamer1970]

Hi! Followed you over from my PTR. Max is crazy about Toy Story, too...how did you do the cupcake cake? I have to know... his birthday party is Sunday and now I'm thinking of making some changes to his cake! Yours looked so good!

to my PTR!! I have to admit that I bought the cupcake cake at Wal-mart. They put the cupcakes as close together and then put lots of frosting on top to make it look like a regular cake. Good luck and post pictures of what you decide to do!!

Trish

 

[disneydreamer1970]

Just came across you PTR. I love your big reveal! I so wish I could have kept my mouth shut. LOL. The funny thing is we never really told the kids we were going. The figured it out...and surprised us. My kiddos are (DD)4 and (DS)3..really is 2 now but will be 3 for the trip. My son was having a procedure done at the Children's Hospital when he looked up at the nurse and said "We go see Mickey". I knew then that he had to have picked up on DH and I talking when we thought he wasn't listening. Since then we are asked everyday if its time to go yet. Too cute!

to my PTR!! Kids are so smart and they pick up on more than we realize. I am so excited for the upcoming trip but the reveal is going to be so much fun!!

Trish

 

[BippityBoo]

Oh my goodness!!!! You ARE a shopper!!! I just love all of your purchases We have some of the Disney ON Christmas shirts too. They are so soft! YAY for 30% off!!

My daughter and son need a new hard suitcase too. They have some pottery barn kids duffles, but they are soft. I will need to check out Target!

I can't wait to see pictures of your daughter's room! I love decorating my DD's!!!

 

[disneydreamer1970]

Oh my goodness!!!! You ARE a shopper!!! I just love all of your purchases We have some of the Disney ON Christmas shirts too. They are so soft! YAY for 30% off!!

My daughter and son need a new hard suitcase too. They have some pottery barn kids duffles, but they are soft. I will need to check out Target!

I can't wait to see pictures of your daughter's room! I love decorating my DD's!!!

Katie...I LOVE a great bargain! Did you know Disneystore.com has free shipping this weekend? I have placed 3 orders!!! They are all small orders, but my co-workers are going to think that I have lost my mind when all those packages start arriving. Don't tell anyone but I ordered myself and watch and a personalized tote for Christmas. Mama needs some gifts too.....

Trish

 

[disneydreamer1970]

My husband had to work today, so the kids and I spent the day poolside at my parents house, and we had lobster for dinner. YUMMY!!

Here is a picture of the kids this morning with their new 4th of July sunglasses on:

Don't they look like rock stars?

This is the first year that Caleb would go in the pool without having to have someone hold him. He cried when I first put him in the pool and when he realized that he could swim around without anyone holding him he loved it and did NOT want anyone touching him. Here he is swimming around:

And Payton is a fish and loves the water so here she is relaxing on "the snake":

Oh to be 9 again.....There is no way I would even attempt to float around on that thing. I would fall right through.

I hope that everyone had a great day....tomorrow, Ken is working...again...so the kids and I are heading to the ocean for the day with my sister-in-law.

Trish

 

[taymacsmom]

Trish,

I just came across your TR and I am loving it! We have alot in common. As you can see in my siggie I have an 18 year old DD (well, she will be 18 on Wed.) and a just-turned 5 yr old DS! Makes me appreciate each age and its challenges a little more. We also have a chocolate lab. I was literally in tears reading about your beloved Blaze! I will be heartbroken when we don't have our Tess anymore. Your plans look awesome! I am so jealous of all you people who get to go in Dec. My DH works for a large packaging company and their busiest time of the year is Christmas so noone is allowed to have anytime off. Disney at Christmas will have to wait for retirement. Maybe with some future grandchildren. Looking forward to more planning with you! Oh, and thank your oldest DS for his service. It's the Home of the Free because of the Brave!

Kelly

 

[BippityBoo]

Happy 4th!! What adorable pics of the kids!

 

[DevonsDisneyMom]

Looks like you all had an enjoyable 4th!!! All I know it was hot at Hades here in Philly! Geese girl you are going to be finished your Christmas shopping before tge summer is over!!!

 

[disneydreamer1970]

Trish,

I just came across your TR and I am loving it! We have alot in common. As you can see in my siggie I have an 18 year old DD (well, she will be 18 on Wed.) and a just-turned 5 yr old DS! Makes me appreciate each age and its challenges a little more. We also have a chocolate lab. I was literally in tears reading about your beloved Blaze! I will be heartbroken when we don't have our Tess anymore. Your plans look awesome! I am so jealous of all you people who get to go in Dec. My DH works for a large packaging company and their busiest time of the year is Christmas so noone is allowed to have anytime off. Disney at Christmas will have to wait for retirement. Maybe with some future grandchildren. Looking forward to more planning with you! Oh, and thank your oldest DS for his service. It's the Home of the Free because of the Brave!

Kelly

Hi Kelly!! to my PTR!! We do have alot in common!! LOL I love the age spread of our children....their needs are all so different and I don't feel like I'm taking away from one for the other.

We all miss Blaze so much, but it is getting easier every day. The hardest part is when Caleb, asks where he is almost every day when we get home. He just doesn't understand.

I thanked Tyler for you. We are so proud of him!!

Trish

 

[disneydreamer1970]

Looks like you all had an enjoyable 4th!!! All I know it was hot at Hades here in Philly! Geese girl you are going to be finished your Christmas shopping before tge summer is over!!!

I told mom that I could not shop anymore because I needed to pay the trip down (and actually made a payment today) and she looked at me and said...."Yeah, right". I told her that I learnt from the best!!!

Trish

 

[disneydreamer1970]

So...I mentioned that we had an all girls shopping trip last week to The Burlington Mall in MA. Of course they had a Disney Store there and mom and I went in twice. Once with Payton and then once without.

Here are the items that we purchased for Caleb:

I love these flip-flops because they have straps on the back to keep them on his feet.

Here is what we got Payton:

Do you see that cute Tink shirt? Mom and I also got matching ones. Payton will just love the three of us wearing the same shirts. Mom and I also got the same striped Tink shirt but promised each other that we would not wear them on the same day.

I also found these for Payton at Kohl's that day:

I got the tops for $2.40 each and the shorts were $4.99!! What a deal!! She is just about done for Christmas...I just need to get Caleb a couple more things.

I bid on a lot of 20 pins on E-bay and won it and they came today!! We had so much fun at work looking at them! I showed them to mom this afternoon and she picked one out for herself and there is one that I am not letting anyone have but me. I want to get one more lot of them before we go so that the kids will have plenty to trade. At under $1.00 per pin it is such a bargain!!

Payton and our oldest, Tyler, both have collections of Disney pins. They each have some very special ones that they keep in special pin books. With Caleb being 4 this trip, I think that he will have lots of fun trading too. For that price, they make great souvies!!

 

[magickingdom]

I love the flip flops with the straps too! And what a great idea getting the pins on ebay, I love it!!

Kammie

 

[2kids2luv]

What great bargains you found again. My 2.5 yr nephew has flip flop with the strap and the same cars cup; he loves both. Congrats on scoring the pins. Pin trading is something I need to look into more. I think it would be fun but DS isn't sure.

 

[DevonsDisneyMom]

You my friend Trish are a Shop-a-holic!!!

 

[pigletforever]

I thought I had a huge spread in my kids. the oldest is 21 and the other is 8. We are working on our surprise trip for AFTER Christmas. We leave Dec29. The oldest and his GF know about it but the youngest doesn't. I am having fun planning and shopping as well. I just started my PTR. Need to get it linked to my signature. CAn't wait to follow along and maybe steal an idea or 2

 

[disneydreamer1970]

You my friend Trish are a Shop-a-holic!!!

You think so? Seriously...I am a Bargain-a-holic!!

Trish

 

[disneydreamer1970]

I thought I had a huge spread in my kids. the oldest is 21 and the other is 8. We are working on our surprise trip for AFTER Christmas. We leave Dec29. The oldest and his GF know about it but the youngest doesn't. I am having fun planning and shopping as well. I just started my PTR. Need to get it linked to my signature. CAn't wait to follow along and maybe steal an idea or 2

to my PTR!! Please chime in at anytime and I'm going to find your PTR!!

I just love suprises!!

Trish

 

[disneydreamer1970]

Yesterday I had heard that there was a Free Dining PIN that had been released so I called first thing in the morning to see if one was attached to our name and was told that it was not, but the CM told me to try back later as they sometimes stagger sending them out.

I called back last night and spoke to a wonderful CM named India, and she found a the PIN under my name at an old address that we had years ago!!! This saved us over $1619, since Payton is now considered an adult, so 4 adults and one child for 9 nights!!!

Mom and I tweaked our dining plans a bit so here is the final list:

Dec. 4 - arrival day
Dec. 5 - breakfast at Askerhus in Epcot
Dec. 6 - breakfast at Crystal Palace in MK
Dec. 6 - dinner at 1900 Park Faire at Grand Floridian
Dec. 7 - lunch at 50's PT Cafe in DHS
Dec. 8 - breakfast at Rainforest Cafe at AK - (we are using GC's for this
through mypoints)
Dec. 8 - dinner at Yak and Yeti at AK
Dec. 9 - dinner at Chef Mickey's before MVMCP
Dec. 10 - dinner at Le Cellier at Epcot
Dec. 11 - dinner at Mama Melrose (Fantasmic package)
Dec. 12 - dinner at Crystal Palace in MK

I totally went to bed with perma grin last night!!

On another note....Payton has opening night for the play that she is in tomorrow night! It is a play called Bigger Than Life. I will be sure to post pictures from the 5 shows through Sunday. We have been so busy with rehearsals....but it sure makes the time go by faster!!

Trish

 

[taymacsmom]

A pin for free dining! Woot woot!! I bet you can find some great things to do with that 1600 bucks! I know I could!

 

[pooksma]

Congrats on the Free Dining!!!!

I have now started filling my official WDW/Cruise bin for our trip. Bargains here I come! Heading to your state on July 31 to hopefully pick up some more