Our Grand Gathering Adventure:Surprising the Boys! 9/17 WE LEAVE TOMORROW!!!

[hhockman]

Sometimes it's not much cheaper!

 

[MICKEY4EVER!]

Sometimes it's not much cheaper!

Ain't that the truth?

 

[aaaateamsgrandma]

Love the update Heather. I so miss buying all the Disney clothes. When my grandkids were smaller and we had a Disney Store in our mall I was their #1 shopper for sure. Now they don't care. All their shirts have to be Texas for Andrew, any sports or Hurley for Austin (he also likes Affliction, but at $58 each they are special) and Alex has gotten hooked on underarmour thanks to his dad. And you think Disney stuff is high!

I enjoyed looking at the pictures just to help bring back those memories. You are getting so close.

Ginny

 

[MICKEY4EVER!]

Love the update Heather. I so miss buying all the Disney clothes. When my grandkids were smaller and we had a Disney Store in our mall I was their #1 shopper for sure. Now they don't care. All their shirts have to be Texas for Andrew, any sports or Hurley for Austin (he also likes Affliction, but at $58 each they are special) and Alex has gotten hooked on underarmour thanks to his dad. And you think Disney stuff is high!

I enjoyed looking at the pictures just to help bring back those memories. You are getting so close.

Ginny

Ginny, you are not making me feel better about the cost of living with a boy! See what Connie, Heather, and me have to look forward to? Not to mention all of the rest of us that have boys! Guess we better start saving now, huh???

I don't even want to think about what a girl costs. LOL.

 

[longing2Batdisney]

See what Connie, Heather, and me have to look forward to? Guess we better start saving now, huh???

I don't even want to think about what a girl costs. LOL.

Girl, I'm already there!
Dayne only wears t-shirts from Abercrombie and Hollister (at least they have a sales rack). We finally talked him into to wearing any jeans, khakis, and he usually has those nylon basketball (Nike) shorts on.
Gwendolyn was frugal; never did have the problem of the big name brands with her.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Yeah! Pictures! I love pictures! I really am not a big Eeyore fan either but, hey, if the shirts are really cheap, I'd wear them too.

I'm really lucky so far, Hunter doesn't give a hoot about what he wears so long as it's not too short. He doesn't like his shorts too short or his shirts too short. Wait a minute, I take that back, he did ask recently if we could try to find him some shirts that made his arms look buff.

 

[aaaateamsgrandma]

Austin only shops at the Buckle. He won't do Abercrombie or Hollister cause that is where all the kids around here shop. He marches to the tune of his own drum. Always has. He also has a shoe fetish. As do his mom and I. He probably has 20 pair that he alternates. He has been in a size 12 since he was 11 so he is easy to buy for and he likes Nike thank goodness. For a while it was strictly Puma. Ouch. He normally finds them on line cause he wouldn't want what someone around here alread has.

Andrew is easy but he can only get pants at American Eagle cause he is in a 28 waist and 34 length. No one else carries that small of a waist with the length.

Who would think boys would be such an issue. When they were smaller they wore anything you threw at them. I don't envy you girls at all with boys now days.

 

[MICKEY4EVER!]

Girl, I'm already there!
Dayne only wears t-shirts from Abercrombie and Hollister (at least they have a sales rack). We finally talked him into to wearing any jeans, khakis, and he usually has those nylon basketball (Nike) shorts on.
Gwendolyn was frugal; never did have the problem of the big name brands with her.

Funny how your girl was the easy one and your boy likes the name brands!

Yeah! Pictures! I love pictures! I really am not a big Eeyore fan either but, hey, if the shirts are really cheap, I'd wear them too.

I'm really lucky so far, Hunter doesn't give a hoot about what he wears so long as it's not too short. He doesn't like his shorts too short or his shirts too short. Wait a minute, I take that back, he did ask recently if we could try to find him some shirts that made his arms look buff.

Buff! That's funny. He needs a ringer tee, then, so that the arm band will stick to those muscles!

Austin only shops at the Buckle. He won't do Abercrombie or Hollister cause that is where all the kids around here shop. He marches to the tune of his own drum. Always has. He also has a shoe fetish. As do his mom and I. He probably has 20 pair that he alternates. He has been in a size 12 since he was 11 so he is easy to buy for and he likes Nike thank goodness. For a while it was strictly Puma. Ouch. He normally finds them on line cause he wouldn't want what someone around here alread has.

Andrew is easy but he can only get pants at American Eagle cause he is in a 28 waist and 34 length. No one else carries that small of a waist with the length.

Who would think boys would be such an issue. When they were smaller they wore anything you threw at them. I don't envy you girls at all with boys now days.

I like individuality! That's awesome! And expensive!

 

[nu2wdisneyw]

Hey there!
I am loving all of your Disney finds!!! I am thinking the same about the autograph books...we will see. I would like to turn them into a photo book (saw it on someone else TR)!! We will see. I am soo behind in planning, but I have to get on the ball now. Hopefully I will be able to make another trip out to the Disney store again this week. Thanks for reminding me of the Crocs again...I SOOOO forgot to order them...gotta do that now!!! Can't wait to read more.

 

[PracPerfPatricia]

Ok-caught up...

I love all the dis stuff you bought...(our dis store in the closest mall closed...-which in some ways is probably better for our budget...)

We LOVE Phineas and Ferb here-DS is crazy for them...(and I can probably go through all the songs more than I'd care to admit...)

It's funny when you were talking about your boys liking different kinds of rides-my DD just caught up with her brother this year...and she is 7 years older than him-he'd always go on whatever he was tall enough-and she's just gotten into the more adventurous stuff in the past year...

Its going to be so nice to be going with extra family-I'd like to do that maybe next year for DD's BD...

 

[hhockman]

Would you believe I started to respond to everyone yesterday (or the day before, I forget) and got called away from the computer for some reason? Seriously I haven't exercised in the last two days either (well, I walked-with my mom and Christian-half way down the street yesterday, and then we had to hussle back to the house because the skies were about to open up!).

I'm REALLY REALLY hoping to get back into DISWorld here in the next couple of days. For now:

Love the update Heather. I so miss buying all the Disney clothes. When my grandkids were smaller and we had a Disney Store in our mall I was their #1 shopper for sure. Now they don't care. All their shirts have to be Texas for Andrew, any sports or Hurley for Austin (he also likes Affliction, but at $58 each they are special) and Alex has gotten hooked on underarmour thanks to his dad. And you think Disney stuff is high!

I enjoyed looking at the pictures just to help bring back those memories. You are getting so close.

Ginny

I've gotten really good deals on all of the Disney stuff (or I wouldn't have bought it), but GOOD DEAL+GOOD DEAL+GOOD DEAL still = MORE MONEY THAN I SHOULD BE SPENDING. So I'm trying to cut back. I was going to make the boys a couple of shirts, but it's at the point where I'm not sure they need them. My mom's bought my boys a couple of shirts too. If Cole doesn't match a couple of the days, it's no big. I'll just alternate my boys shirts so they're always wearing Disney even if they don't match.

You're in Missouri, right? I guess that's not TOO far from Texas. We're trying to brainwash my children into Gator fans, but Will alternates with who he wants to please at the moment (Matt is a 'Bama fan).

I am not looking forward to the day when they outgrow all this (I have no illusions that it will be any cheaper at that time). I'm glad I could bring back a few memories.

Ginny, you are not making me feel better about the cost of living with a boy! See what Connie, Heather, and me have to look forward to? Not to mention all of the rest of us that have boys! Guess we better start saving now, huh???

I don't even want to think about what a girl costs. LOL.

I don't want to think about what a girl costs either. I love my boys and I'll happily get whatever they want when they are teenagers (nobody save this okay-I don't want them to have any proof) because it still MUST be cheaper than what a girl would be! Though, who knows, the boys have gotten as fashion conscious as the girls.

Girl, I'm already there!
Dayne only wears t-shirts from Abercrombie and Hollister (at least they have a sales rack). We finally talked him into to wearing any jeans, khakis, and he usually has those nylon basketball (Nike) shorts on.
Gwendolyn was frugal; never did have the problem of the big name brands with her.

It's interesting that your boys is more worried about brands than your girl. I guess it's good that you didn't have to go through it with BOTH of them. Ashton seems to me like he's going to march to his own beat. Maybe you'll miss this mess with him too!

Yeah! Pictures! I love pictures! I really am not a big Eeyore fan either but, hey, if the shirts are really cheap, I'd wear them too.

I'm really lucky so far, Hunter doesn't give a hoot about what he wears so long as it's not too short. He doesn't like his shorts too short or his shirts too short. Wait a minute, I take that back, he did ask recently if we could try to find him some shirts that made his arms look buff.

It's the muscle shirts that make their arms look buff. They're the sleeveless ones that aren't tanks. I LOVE muscle shirts on my boys ('cause I think they're cute on little guys), but Will used to hate them. Thankfully, he's outgrown that. And Will actually does have some muscles on him, surprisingly. One day he was showing me-and they're really there (he didn't realize it, he was just being a superhero or something). Apparently swinging a bat and throwing 9 months out of the year will do that-who knew? ).

I can't stand when my boys' shirts are too short. To the point where I usually end up getting them a size bigger. Christian is tall for his age so I'm having to get him 6s and 6/7 in shirts so that his belly doesn't show when he raises his arms (I HATE THAT). My mom says their clothes are too big, but I'd rather too big than too small (and doesn't she know big is IN for boys?). Right now a lot of Will's shorts are a little short (I only buy cargo or carpenter, so they won't look like that guy in the picture on your TR or anything) and some of Christian's are (today I think Will was wearing a size 5-or maybe that was yesterday-and Christian a size 3T-Will wears an 8 or 10 in a shirt depending on how small it runs and like I said Christian usually wears a 6) because they are so stinking skinny. Buying pants is a nightmare. Seriously. Will is usually not quite slim enough for slim but too skinny for regular with the adjustable waist (the greatest invention EVER) for the length he needs, and Christian could do slim, but half the companies don't MAKE a slim until size 6.

Wow. I got sidetracked. You guys really wanted to know everything there is to know about what size my kids wear, right?

ANYWAY...I think Hunter dressed just fine!

Austin only shops at the Buckle. He won't do Abercrombie or Hollister cause that is where all the kids around here shop. He marches to the tune of his own drum. Always has. He also has a shoe fetish. As do his mom and I. He probably has 20 pair that he alternates. He has been in a size 12 since he was 11 so he is easy to buy for and he likes Nike thank goodness. For a while it was strictly Puma. Ouch. He normally finds them on line cause he wouldn't want what someone around here alread has.

I have been somewhat introduced to Abercrombie and Hollister by my soon-to-be 12 year old niece (she'll be 12 {gasp-it's AUGUST-this month}. Not that I ever set foot in those stores. Thankfully I have a few years before I have to worry about it.

I hope!

Size 12 since age ELEVEN!!! Super WOW!

Andrew is easy but he can only get pants at American Eagle cause he is in a 28 waist and 34 length. No one else carries that small of a waist with the length.

See, I'm not the only one talking about pant sizes.

Who would think boys would be such an issue. When they were smaller they wore anything you threw at them. I don't envy you girls at all with boys now days.

Hey there!
I am loving all of your Disney finds!!! I am thinking the same about the autograph books...we will see. I would like to turn them into a photo book (saw it on someone else TR)!! We will see. I am soo behind in planning, but I have to get on the ball now. Hopefully I will be able to make another trip out to the Disney store again this week. Thanks for reminding me of the Crocs again...I SOOOO forgot to order them...gotta do that now!!! Can't wait to read more.

Yeah, I was going to make the autograph books, but decided to make something else.... I've always liked theirs anyway. I'm going to try to make up the ribbon-thingy (that IS a word) that I've seen on other TRs so that the autographs are only on one side and I can add pictures.

We'll see if I get to it.

Thanks for reading and (I didn't already welcome you did I?)

Ok-caught up...

I love all the dis stuff you bought...(our dis store in the closest mall closed...-which in some ways is probably better for our budget...)

We LOVE Phineas and Ferb here-DS is crazy for them...(and I can probably go through all the songs more than I'd care to admit...)

It's funny when you were talking about your boys liking different kinds of rides-my DD just caught up with her brother this year...and she is 7 years older than him-he'd always go on whatever he was tall enough-and she's just gotten into the more adventurous stuff in the past year...

Its going to be so nice to be going with extra family-I'd like to do that maybe next year for DD's BD...

Unfortunately the online store is hurting my budget lately as much as the local one. I don't get up to the mall much because it's a whole 8 miles away.

I love Phineas and Ferb. Who doesn't? My Disney-very-much-disliking-Dad likes Phineas and Ferb. He wants a t-shirt but we haven't been able to find one in adult sizes. I almost didn't buy those shirts for Cole and Will because they were sized "tween" and were the ONLY piece of clothing on the whole site that was sized "tween" and looked like it was for boys. So I was afraid it was really a girl's shirt. And it really might be...but who would know, right? shhh

I'm looking forward to spending time at Disney with my family...but I don't plan to stay with them all ALL the time. We'll break off. For my sanity. And Matt's. And because we'll want to do more than everyone else. But it will be fun to be a big group. I don't think I've gone with both my parents and my brother since the kids were born...well, maybe once. But they were very little. I don't think Christian was actually born. I know we went to MVMCP when Christian was a baby, but my brother wasn't there. Or my grandparents. I know my grandmother has been with Will once or twice....

ANYWAY! I am definitely tired because this has been total rambing. I have more stuff to take pictures of, and I'm working on a few projects, but I'll try to post more often.

The boys start school on Monday (We got a spot for Christian!), so I'll have plenty of time while they're at school and I'm sitting at home missing them until I finally start getting called to sub (though I'm hoping that is SOONER this year than last year).

Just 48 days to go (by Lisa's way of counting! ). 7 weeks.

Okay, I'm off to catch up on all of YOUR TRs. Have a great weekend everyone!

 

[MICKEY4EVER!]

I love that you said you put your little boys in clothes that are a little big for them. I can't stand too small shirts or ones that are too short. I'll always buy Mitchell's a little big, too and I like his shorts to go past the knee. I'll allow it if it's right at the knee, but they're still not my favorite. They look more boyish when the shorts go past the knee, but that's just me!

I love the sleeveless shirts on the boys, too. I bet that was surprising to see that your little boy actually had muscles! They grow up so fast that we don't even see it happening!

 

[hhockman]

Will and Christian start school tomorrow. I can hardly believe it, but somehow Will is starting 2nd grade and Christian is starting PreK. We moved here from Florida 3 years and about 1 week ago. When we moved here I was frantically trying to find Will a school for PreK.

Now all of a sudden it's Christian going into PreK.

Somebody tell me how it is taking FOREVER for my September vacation to get here, but the last THREE YEARS have gone by so fast?

(Okay, I know our trip is coming fast too...46 DAYS!!!...but it still feels like forever).

A couple of months ago Matt and my brother were both whining that the trip wasn't coming soon enough. I kept saying that the trip could take it's sweet time because by the time of the trip my babies would be in 2nd grade and PreK and I wasn't in any hurry for that to happen...

...well, it's happened...so my trip can now get here as fast as it pleases!

To celebrate the last day (really, weekday) of summer we went bowling last Friday. There are a lot of downsides to the fact that Matt works nights, but one of the upsides is that he's home during the day in the summer (doesn't help during school because he has to leave for work just about as soon as the boys get home), so the four of us were able to go bowling last Friday and we had a GREAT time!

Matt and the boys:

Me and the boys:

The boys:

Christian:

Will (he lost a tooth the night before and was showing me his teeth-it might be hard to tell, but it's the one just to his right-our left-of his top middle teeth):

Our shoes when we were done:

I can't believe how great a time we had and it makes me all the more excited about how fun Disney is going to be with the boys at this age!

It also tells me that we really need to do more things together as a family (outside of baseball...though we all love baseball).

Well, it's late, and I have to get up EARLY tomorrow, and I'm sure there will be some crying on my part, if not on the part of either of the boys. I will be back tomorrow I'm sure, because I have to figure out something to do for the 6.5 hours they are at school. Pray that I will get called to sub soon. And that I will actually HAVE a teaching job this time next year!

And while you're praying, my doggy could use some prayers too. She's barely eaten the last two weeks and we're not sure what's wrong with her. We took her to the vet last Wednesday and he ran a bunch of tests and only found a bunch of 'fecal matter' (sorry tmi) in her colon. He cleaned that out, but she still isn't really eating and she vomitted again last night (after FINALLY eating some dog food). She's kept down a couple milkbones, a little applesauce, and a few noodles tonight. She is looking so skinny and we are worried, so prayers would be appreciated.

I'll be back tomorrow. Only 2 MORE DAYS LISA!!!

 

[longing2Batdisney]

I hope you have a good day, while they are away it gives you time to plan your disney trip!

I'm trying to decide if I want to sign up to sub again this year or just wait until next year when Ashton goes to pre K.

Hope your doggie feels better soon!! I know how hard it is when you don't know what is wrong.

Have a great day!

 

[aaaateamsgrandma]

Good morning Heather. Looks like you had lots of fun bowling. We like to do that when the nine of us get together. I have several pictures on my facebook page from New Years. Your boys are just cute as buttons. It is really hard when your little guy starts PreK. They grow so fast. Don always worked nights when our girls were small. It was hard. But luckily he was home in the day with them so we didn't need a sitter. I worked 7-4 and he left at 4:30. We pretty much met in the drive. Seems like years ago now. I know it was tough at the time.

I hope your doggie is doing better today. Our Princess got sick right before we went to Disney. We always keep the dogs at Sheri's and our friend comes and takes care of them. So she ended up having to come to both places. Princess is better and ornery as ever.

Have a good day. At least with both the boys gone you will have a moment to breathe.

Ginny

 

[longing2Batdisney]

Heather
Dana just shared this site it this the type of bag you are looking for (the 2009 one is the one I had told you about--the prices at the resorts are cheaper than this site)
http://www.treasurekingdom.com/CTGY/Backpacks.html
Connie

 

[mickeystoontown]

Well Heather, I guess you are at school with your new precious boys. Hope you have your tissues handy 'cause it sounds like you are going to need them.

I actually never had problems with the kids starting school. I think part of it had to do with the fact that the daycare they had attended since being bed babies was also the school that they would attend. It goes all the way from bed babies up to 12th grade. Everybody knew everybody. It was really nice.

Hunter starts middle school this year and is really excited. He will miss the first half day of school since we'll be in Disney. I really don't think it'll hurt anything for him to miss. We are lucky in that we know the school office manager. She's like a second Mama to Lacey. She told Lacey and Hunter to come to the school today and they could walk around the school and check it out ahead of time. Hunter's stoked about that.

Really cute bowling pictures. I couldn't tell you the last time we went bowling. Long long time ago. We may just have to go again 'cause it looksl like ya'll had a lot of fun.

Hope you'll fill us in on how today's activities went.

 

[hhockman]

Lisa, the boys actually started school yesterday but I've been so bad about getting on here, I'm not surprised you thought it was today. I spend so much time reading everyone else's TR I never seem to update mine.

I'm hoping to rectify that since we're getting so close.

Here's a couple pictures of the first day of school:

This is NOT the best picture ever of me...by far

These last two are at the end of the day:

I'm still just a little upset (especially looking at the 20 kids in this class) that Christian isn't going back to his old school. Will went there for PreK and Christian had been there since he was 2. There are only 12 kids per class and I love the teachers and the director. Christian would have had the same teacher Will had. But we just couldn't afford it. It's really hard to justify over $2k in one year for PreK when it could be free (or rather $800 for meals). He has had a good time the last couple of days, but he is still asking about his teacher from last year (who he wouldn't have had this year anyway, but he would have at least seen her). When Will started PreK a place called about a week after he'd started at this school and said they had a spot for him in the free PreK, but I REALLY wanted to leave him there and my mom said she'd help if she had to (we weren't living with them at the time). She would have done it this time too if we couldn't find him a spot, but since he got one...I hope it turns out to be the best thing for him. It's so hard to make these kinds of decisions.


Oh, and here's a picture of what I bought yesterday:

I started reading it right away and I'm loving the readability. I also went and looked up the crowd levels for when we're going to be there. Right now we have 4s, 5s, and 6s, so not too bad. I'm still trying to wrap my head around the idea of a "touring plan" (which we've never had before in all of my trips) and how I'm going to "herd" somewhere between 10-15 people on each of these days through the Touring Plans (although sometimes it will just be the 5 of us ).

I feel like I still have so much planning to do. It seems like I've barely started. And we're running out of time (though that's a good thing!). I can't figure out what I should work on next (I'm also working on making things, which I'll reveal when they're done). Guess it's a good thing I have all day when the kids are gone (but it still makes me I MISS them!)

Anyway, it's getting hard to get up in the morning so I'm going to head to bed. Here's a couple of final pictures from today. Will has gotten into Pokemon on his Nintendo DS. He doesn't READ anything it says (like he should!), so he often runs into trouble, but he's pretty close to the end of the game (if you're interested he's playing the Diamond version). He's frustrated right now because he's stuck so he decided to "help" Christian, who just started a really old version today (so old it's for the Game Boy Advance-and he doesn't get why he can't use his stylus because he doesn't know what a Game Boy Advance is). He hasn't a clue what he's supposed to do, but he likes the fighting, so he's good. I am playing the newest version (Platinum) myself and Will brings me my Nintendo all the time wanting me to play so he can watch (I don't play it that often-I've got other things to do! We're going to DISNEY in 44 days...of course he doesn't know this).

So, without further ado:

I made them look up and smile:

Tomorrow I'll add some more purchase pictures...or perhaps a project I've been working on. Haven't decided yet. Hope you all have a good night!

 

[longing2Batdisney]

great first day shots!!! I think I may make Dayne take first day shots this year (Sr. year)-LOL! we have not done that since they were really little...and will have to remember to have Gwendolyn next year when she starts her 'last" semester

sounds like you need a list --of a list to get you started--I'm a list person; I make a list of the list I need to get accompished

Have a great day!!
so happy you found me on FB!!

 

[MICKEY4EVER!]

Oh my goodness, your boys are so cute! My son would just die for that Lightning McQueen BP your Christian had on. Though our love for the the red race car is waning a bit, he still points at everything Lightning McQueen that he sees! And he pulled out ALL of his cars when the movie was on the Disney Channel on Sunday!

Loved the bowling pictures. I think we need to take Mitchell bowling soon. You made me realize that he is FINALLY old enough!