Reese (beautiful name, by the way) will be MIA more when she's of car-dating age, but I have found that the Mom-time she spends with you (few and far between) makes for some very special times. It is those times that you are reminded of the unconditional love.
We are thinking about costumes too. Your post gave me some ideas. I was wondering if the costumes at MNSSHP were Disney-specific, or anything goes. I have no idea what we will do. Chris makes a great Captain Jack Sparrow and already has the costume. He just has to grow out his beard for a couple of weeks ahead.
I sure could use him here! Too funny!!!
We normally don't get snow like that, I called it a fluke, but Kent said that was the kind of snow they got every year when he was a kid. Maybe nature is getting back to normal now?!Wow, that is some snow! And we live in Utah so we've seen snow!!!
And your creek is very gorgeous!
I vote for keeping your trip in September. I would be worried about leaving the kids home alone to deal with the issues you mentioned, although your daughter did seem to handle things quite well last time!
whatever! and then he said he knew we would argue over who got be tweedle Dee because face it nobody wants to be tweedle dum, that's like being the hind end of a horse costume.
Woody and Bo Peep sounds awesome! And I like the idea of recycling and dressing the dog as a sheep.
So funny about Dorothy and Tin Man. I'm not gonna ask where she cut her finger.
If you check out my old PTR, there are some pics of Katie's Sweet 16. Maybe you can get some ideas. We rented her a pink limo and all her friends dressed in fancy black dresses, while Katie dressed in light pink. Made for beautiful pictures.
So glad the truck and house stumbles won't hold you back from a Disney trip!
Love the Bo Peep and Woody idea!
Couldn't agree with you more!
Phew, finally all caught up. Love the Woody & Bo Peep idea. It'll be especially fitting since Toy Story 3 is coming out in June. Your hubby is the sweetest man. Definitely a keeper. The story about your ex made my heart sink. I'm so glad you ended up with Kent. It's your own fairy tale in a way. Amazing how you convinced Kent to get the park hoppers. You're a sneaky woman. I like it
I say that every year.....cause I do! Other than that, what else is there? I mean we could all go out to eat, but that wouldn't be very intimate and not near as much fun as getting rowdy here with friends. We can get pretty loud and rowdy. 
As a group of women we would go out on a Tuesday evening after women's group and were almost thrown out of a resturant for being to loud. 
I know, right! WE CAN GET PRETTY LOUD! 
It's all good clean fun though.
The weather is warming up a bit, we had nice temps for about a week, Rees even layed out, but now it's back to low 50's....it still beats snow so no complaints here.I love the idea for the costumes. Woody and Little Ty Peep and her lost sheep.
Hope all is well, is it starting to warm up around there? We've had some beautiful days here since the beginning of the month, a cold snap for a day or so, but back to beautiful again. I love Texas in the spring.
Now I need to get my plants out and make my yard all pretty before we go to Disney World! Sounds silly to plant before we go, but when we get back we'll be having people here for Ty's DS17 high school graduation, and the last thing I want to do is plant stuff when I need to plan and get the house ready for company.
Are you getting your plans together for Jim's graduation yet?
I haven't the foggiest idea other than to just have a B.B.Q, big cake with his College Logo on it, and invite everyone here that means something to my boy and just have a good time until he needs to be back up at the school for Project Graduation.
Wish you were on, I needed to chat with you for a sec. Hope you'll be on tonight.
I think we're the same. When is Jim's birthday? Katie's is April 18th. We are getting her a MacBook for college as her birthday/graduation gift, so we won't do a big party. Probably a cook-out at the house for family.I'm not sure what we are going to do with Jim's graduation yet, he said he doesn't want anything big since we are having a big birthday bash for his 18th in less then a month, then another huge party when he graduates from boot camp. So we'll probably just go to dinner at the restaurant of his choice which will more then likely be a pizza joint
Camille - sorry to jump in - I just noticed you're north of Austin. We are in Lakeway. Our daughter (a senior) goes to Lake Travis HS. She'll be going to Project Graduation too. What school is your son at? Where will he be going to college? Katie just accepted.Are you getting your plans together for Jim's graduation yet?
I haven't the foggiest idea other than to just have a B.B.Q, big cake with his College Logo on it, and invite everyone here that means something to my boy and just have a good time until he needs to be back up at the school for Project Graduation.
it then makes the treck up to the attic where it is put with all the other clothes that I am going to one day lesson learned there, I now remind Kent all the time to check the oil.
In my everyday life I am disorganized, I have a shoe box filled with receipts and important papers, I did buy a filing cabinet to better organize those things, but the filing cabinet became my Disney organizer.
I don't balance my checkbook every month, I just always round up. If something costs $5.67 I put an even $6.00 in the checkbook, it also kind of works as a savings account because at the end of the year I figure out how much is "extra" It takes about a week to figure out the extra, I can't write any checks, my account must lie dormant for a bit and then once I know for sure what the extra is I take it out and add it to disney. I could never tell you exactly what I have in my checking, it's always a guess. But my Disney account, that's my baby, I nurture her and give her all my spare change, I can tell you what's in that account right down to the half penny.
There is no order under my sinks. I open the cuboard under the bathroom sink and bottles and bottles of shampoo, conditioner and moisturizers fall out onto the floor. Some of those bottles are empty, some full, some are so old that the contents have dried up.
But once a month at least, I go through my supply of Disney travel doo-dads, shake the mini bottles to keep all fluids equally mixed. I might add something new and take away something old. I have designated 2 top drawers in the spare room dresser for this. I even have them labeled.
Closet organization...what's that? I haven't thrown out anything since I bought this house 12 years ago, the clothing pattern goes like this....
From the store to the trunk of my car where it sits for 2 weeks, it eventually gets brought in with the groceries and is placed on the the rocking chair in the den where it usually falls to the floor behind it, a few months later I will be needing a clean shirt for work and wow, a pink shirt would look great with these gray slacks, I will remember that shirt and look for it every where and finally declare it lost forever, I will sadly put on a black shirt and as I am leaving for work I can see Kent in my review mirror chasing me, waving the pink shirt around like he's trying to kill bees, I slow down, he catches up all out of breath, "I..pant pant...found it....behind the ....pant pant....rocking chair." Then I remember putting it there, "Oh yeah, thanks."
I bring the shirt with me and change in the bathroom at work, normally halfway through my shift somebody brings the black shirt I was wearing to customer service, "I found this in the ladies bathroom." then I have to own up that it's mine, very embarrassing. that black shirt is still in my locker at work I'm sure, or maybe it's in the trunk of my car or behind the rocking chair, I don't need it right now so I'm not that worried about it, but continuing on, the pink shirt will at some point make it's way to the laundry basket, it might sit on the floor in my closet for a week before that happens though, once it's laundered it could sit on top of the dryer for a week before making it back up stairs to my closet. The shirt will eventually get old, wear thin or end up too small, or too big depending...Just saying
A. Be able to fit into again
B. Be sold at the yard sale we always plan but never have or
C.taken to goodwill.
the pile of clothes in the attic is so high it's almost comical, good thing we have a huge attic.
However, I have a dresser (the one in the spare room) my Disney shirts are neatly folded, they never need ironing, I know where these shirts are at all times, I have even kept my Disney socks with their matches, I have been known to tear the washer or dryer apart when a Disney sock goes missing. I switch them out according to seasons, Winter will soon be placed in the closet in the spare room and summer shirts placed in the drawers.
My household tools (not Kents) such as hammer, duct tape a screwdriver, gorilla glue and a safety pin are found in one of my 3 junk drawers in the kitchen, if I can't find it in one of the junk drawers then I check on top of the fridge, not on top of the fridge, then I think back to my last project, "Ok I put a big hole in the wall when hanging a picture in my room, so I used duct tape to cover the hole and painted over it, so that means the duct tape will be under my bed and the hammer is........well I don't need the hammer right now, only the tape so I won't worry about the hammer."
My Disney tools however, Birnbaum book, Hidden Mickey book, personalized maps, highlighters, stickers etc...etc... sit comfortably on a shelf in my spare room.
My daily planner is a handful of written notes from Kent and the kids stuffed into my pockets and purse. Dr. appt reminder notes are stuffed into the visor of my car, grocery lists from years ago still hang on the refridgerator, but....
Up in my spare room (the disney room) I have maps on the wall with color coded push pins in them, a dry erase board with reminders of dates to remember and phone numbers to call. This is command central, it works like a well oiled machine.
Speaking of well oiled machines, I blew up my last car, apparently the engine requires oil.
Natural mini disasters, let's go there. If we have a power outage we can never find a flashlight even though we own 20, and when we do find one the batteries are dead because somebody left it on, or the batteries are missing because somebody needed them for their walkman ( I meant to put them back, honest) We don't have emergency candles, I do have scented candles and when we do lose power my house smells like a medley of fresh apples hot cocoa, pumpkin pie and coconut with a hint of spruce and fresh cut grass on a clean cotton sheet.
My Disney survival kit remains intact at all times, bandaids, tums, safety pins, mini sewing kit, mini flashlight with working batteries, spare tooth brush extra hair ties. anti bacterial handsoap, and a small drug store.
My disney trips and plans are based on facts, my taxes are based on hunches and a prayer.
When I go to sleep at night my daily list of things to do is even longer, and when I wake up and walk out the door the next morning I won't know where my keys are, but my Disney list of things to do is crossed out in a nice straight line using red marker, and yes I use a ruler to make that line so straight.
Do you see the pattern here? I live in chaos, a hell of my own design. My life is like an air raid drill. But I have a fantasy seeing me through all of this, it's Disney, planning a trip is the only time I don't feel like I'm chasing chickens around.
But my problem here is Kent doesn't want plans, how do I go to disney without plans, I thought I could do it but the closer the trip gets the more I am in shambles. No ADR's to make, no park planning, no ride plan, no plans, none, nada, nothing, zilch, zero. This isn't healthy, I'm jumping out of the frying pan and into the boiling vat of water. where's my escape?
Kent said "Your plan is to have no plan."
How do you plan not to plan? I asked him this ya know.
"Just say you are going to Disney and be done with it."
I think he is setting himself up for something bad here, I need to plan, it's the only way to release the Disney build up, if I don't release it now then once I am at Disney I will explode all over the place, I will be a kid on a sugar overdose. This could be painful for both of us.
I think I might make one tiny ADR, just a little smidge of a reservation, maybe at Downtown Disney, he'll never know!
