Surprise! It's a baby! (Not long now!)

[oopsiDAISY]

Your are so gifted and talented artistically! The Mulan costume is GORGEOUS! Cannot wait to see pictures of everyone in costumes!

 

[-Hope-]

I love the costume and Toby's painting is beautiful!

Those shirts are so cute! Looks like you had a great Canada Day with lots of friends, food and fun!

 

[PracPerfPatricia]

Hey Alysa,

Gorgeous Mulan Costume! As always so many great ideas...

Fingers crossed for Harold... It only takes one perfect opportunity...

Does Canada Day celebrate a specific event? (Americans -in general- are sadly ignorant of Canadian History)

 

[emmysmommy]

Hi Alysa! Toby's Northern Lights painting was really fabulous. What a beautiful photo of Evie in the Mulan costume! I know the rest of the costumes will be just as awesome!

 

[Alysa]

Hope you had a lovely Canada day! and WOOOHOOO for hitting double digits!

I did have a lovely day! How was your holiday? The trip seems so much closer now!

Double digits!! That's so exciting.
I hope you had a good holiday.

87 days!! I had a great weekend. Hope you did too!

Yay!!! How exciting that you are in double digits!
So do you do anything special for Canada Day? I hope you enjoyed your day!

Is it too soon to start packing? Our holiday was lots of fun - how was yours?

Your are so gifted and talented artistically! The Mulan costume is GORGEOUS! Cannot wait to see pictures of everyone in costumes!

Thank you! I just love seeing everyone dressed up for the party! It's going to be so fun! I'm waiting a bit on Robbie's costume because he is growing sooo fast!

I love the costume and Toby's painting is beautiful!
Those shirts are so cute! Looks like you had a great Canada Day with lots of friends, food and fun!

Thanks! Eveie loves the outfit so I'm happy about it. And Toby loves his painting too. I can't wait to show you the art wall it is a part of when it is all done. We did have a practically perfect day. How was yours?

Hey Alysa,
Gorgeous Mulan Costume! As always so many great ideas...
Fingers crossed for Harold... It only takes one perfect opportunity...
Does Canada Day celebrate a specific event? (Americans -in general- are sadly ignorant of Canadian History)

Thank you! And please keep your fingers crossed for Harold. It has been a frustrating year for him, to say the least. I am trying to make the rest of his time as fun and stress-free as possible to make up for it.
Hmmm - history test! Okay lets see what I can remember (it's harder because we are not celebrating a big battle or anything, just some politics). Okay, so Canada Day celebrates the union of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Upper and Lower Canada which became Ontario and Quebec, into one Dominion of Canada. We didn't become fully independent of the crown until the '80's and Elizabeth is still our queen (she can dissolve parliament or force an election, the governor general formally acts for her)... Hey! I got it right! Woohoo! Thanks Mr. Bahr, grade 7 teacher!

Hi Alysa! Toby's Northern Lights painting was really fabulous. What a beautiful photo of Evie in the Mulan costume! I know the rest of the costumes will be just as awesome!

Thank you! Toby was very proud of that painting, especially the stars. In that photo Eveie was saying that she was worried that the costume was too hot for Florida! We agreed that at night it might be okay. I hope I do a good job with the others. Sewing is hard!
____

Hope you all had a great week after a wonderful holiday!
I've updated another movie night. The kids went to see Monsters University for the last day of school with their grandfather. When they arrived home from school I had sushi from Harryhausen's and monster coffee (chocolate pudding) in cups as a treat for lunch. I just got the idea for the sushi from the kids dessert at the California Grill. They really liked the movie but they preferred Despicable Me 2 which they saw again with their grandfather this past Tuesday.

For the craft we did little rock monsters. I did magnets on the back but they are a bit heavy and Robbie likes to climb up and grab them off the fridge and chew the (happily non-toxic) paint off them. He stood for 23 seconds yesterday by the way! (Genius baby).

As a little added bonus, Eveie did a Princes and the Frog painting and Robbie added glow bugs with his baby finger dipped in (more non-toxic) paint.
The paintings are for a wall of art I have done up in the playroom. One more piece (Tarzan) and I will be able to show it to you. It is quite cute!

No further updates on the trip. This week I am going to send in the passports to be updated. Can't order the Halloween party tickets until my sister is ready. If you heard about the Toronto flooding this week, they had a basement full of brand new hardwood to install and it flooded.
Have a great week! Chat soon!

 

[-Hope-]

We had a great holiday weekend as well, thanks for asking!

Those rock monsters are SO cute, I love them! Too funny that Robbie is chewing on them. And it seems impossible that he's big enough to be standing already! Definitely a genius baby.

I love the art work and can hardly wait to see the wall!

 

[Alysa]

Whew! It's been a crazy week! We've had my niece over for the week so we've been doing movie nights like mad. I can't believe I only have 5 more movies to go! I'm going to try and get them all done by the end of the summer so that I can just concentrate on packing and being ready in September. Plus I still have those two last costumes to make.

I don't know if you remember the mickey sketch I did up for our birthday party extravaganza in February but I saw a painting that inspired me here so I had the kids help me colour in the background and ta-da! He looks perfect in our family room which I have redecorated in red and blue with a very subtle mickey theme.

I also finished our house rules painting to go down there. Liquitex came out with a cool new tool, paint pens with a very nice chiseled edge and when I saw them in the art shop (while I was picking up some movie night craft supplies) I knew they would be perfect for the rules painting.

We recently did a double feature of the Rescuers and the Rescuers Down Under and, Oh my Lord, the Down Under movie is probably the worst Disney feature film I've seem out of all 52 of them. Anyway, we were searching on our walks for maple keys for the craft which I found the idea for here and we finally found some so we could make this little guy:

For the movie snack I had trouble thinking of something so I just did these guys which I found the idea for here. They are Brie with sausage ears and noses, peppercorn eyes and a celery tail which is rather hard to see.

We also finally finished off The Incredibles. The dinner and movie were easy, we had leftover night - meatloaf! I've actually never made it before and it was a huge hit. Who knew? The recipe is here.

For the craft, I figured since I had my very own Violet, Dash and Jack-Jack that I would make them their own super suits. We looked everywhere for a red shirt for Eveie but no luck for her or the baby so I sewed a tank for her and a bib for Robbie. They cut out and sewed on their own insignias. Eveie asked if hers could be really small. Guess she is getting a bit old for this stuff. Sniff.

On the back of the bib, Eveie embroidered this cuteness.

My niece is here for the week and when given the choice of movie nights remaining she selected Cinderella. I had bought the supplies a long time ago so we had everything ready: a Halloween pumpkin which we painted white and some ivy from the dollar store, with some roses for the table. Then we did pumpkin soup with pumpkin shaped croutons from here, and pumpkin shaped cookies (which sounded like a better idea when it wasn't 36˚C in my kitchen with the air conditioning broken. The milk with magic wand straws was a hit.
The cookies are my favourite shortbread recipe here with icing (the blue looks dark and weird here, sorry).

For the craft we did bookmarks and journals. I gave the girls a drawing lesson and they wrote their favourite quote on a piece of cardstock. Then we added silver sparkly foam to the back and tied with blue embroidery thread and beads. For the journal, I gave them ones I had found at the dollar section at Michael's and a silhouette of a shoe which they outlined in gems and filled in with glitter glue.

Toby was a good sport about Cinderella so today when it was still too hot for going to the zoo as I had originally planned, I suggested Bolt which he loves. He had wanted to do a journal like the girls but I had only bought two at the time so we went to Wal-mart and picked up another one, along with some stickers to decorate it. We added a foam bolt and voila, instant craft.

I had originally thought to talk to the kids about using the craft money and donating it to the Toronto Humane Society, which we did here.
For the food, I made hot doc cupcakes. Not hot dog flavoured, just with fondant, I got the idea from here. Curse hers for being so gorgeous. Remember when I did Sleeping Beauty and I swore I wouldn't ever use fondant again because I hate it? I forgot. I still do.

Tomorrow promises to be an insane day with 5 kids at my house. Wish me luck and have a great weekend!

 

[-Hope-]

Wow! I just love all of those! A pumpkin theme for Cinderella is SUCH a good idea!

The bib is so cute! My kids have started to slightly outgrow the crafts for movie nights but I've found that the never outgrow themed food.

Oh, and when I was little I was in one of those Disney book of the month clubs. One month I got a Rescuer's Down Under book and I LOVED it. Of course there weren't vcrs at the time so it was years before I saw the movie. When I finally did I was SO disappointed!

 

[oopsiDAISY]

I can not wait to see your family room art gallery!!!!

 

[lsenquiz]

I got a little behind but I am caught up now . I really want to live in your house !!! I just love your attitude even with the ups and downs you experience.

Your house rules sign is awesome. My mom always said that the most important thing about our home was not if it was big, or clean, or quite just that it was happy. Your kids will look back when they are grown and have such amazing memories.

It is exciting that your trip is getting so close. You guys really deserve it! Sending prayers and that everything works out for Harold on the job front!

 

[Alysa]

Made you something for your fridge Lisa. You know how I love Mom wisdom.

 

[lsenquiz]

Made you something for your fridge Lisa. You know how I love Mom wisdom.

Awe this made me tear up! I love it and will be printing it immediately and having it framed to hang on my wall .

 

[emmysmommy]

Hi Alysa! I'm caught up with your latest updates. You only have 5 movies left?? That is a lot of work to go through - how many?? I'm so impressed!! Great job with each and every one of them. Honestly, you have such a talent!

I love the Incredibles theme and how cute that you have your own Violet, Jack Jack and Dash.

Oh my gosh I agree with you about the Rescuers Down Under. It is so dark (I suppose the first one is to when I think about it) but that poor eagle! My boys watched that often when they were little so I think of them the few times that I have seen it in the last 18 years.

I'm hoping your survived the 5 kids in the house!

 

[abbybeth]

Snagged a minute to pop over here and get caught back up! Evie's Mulan costume is just gorgeous - and dead-on perfect. Well done! I can't wait to see Robbie's Mushu

Evie's Princess & the Frog painting is beautiful too - she is certainly gifted

Time is just marching right along, isn't it? Your trip will be here before you know it!

 

[PracPerfPatricia]

Hey Alysa,

Sounds like you are continuing to have amazing movie nights...

You are really starting to get close now- it will be here before you know it...

How cute that you have your own Incredibles- have you seen the short Jack Jack attack... it came out on a Pixars shorts collection after the Incredibles...too funny...

(We are going to begin reading Harry Potter tonight with David... his 11th birthday is tomorrow... and I thought it would be fun to start right before his 11th birthday since that's where the books begin... HP Love...)

 

[Millie12591]

Alysa, it would be wonderful to have you close to go shopping with , but I'm afraid running isn't something I can do.
I'm sure if I had to in an emergency I could, but otherwise my poor hips won't allow for it, something strange passed onto me from my dad's side of the family.

Great costume ideas!! the Mulan costume is gorgeous!! Can't wait to see the rest of them!

Loving your theme's for Cinderella and The Incredibles!! Soo stinkin cute!! Meet the Robinson's in one of my favorite movies, I love the message to be who you are and to celebrate it, the bowler hats were adorable! What were they made out of?

So glad you are in double digits!!! It's so exciting when it gets down to the double digits. Are you all set for everyone's outfits? I'm curious as to what all you've planned for that.

I'm so sorry to hear about hubby's jobs falling through, try to remember when something falls through it means God has bigger and better things in store for the future. I'll keep praying. Thank goodness he's still able to work.

 

[Alysa]

Such a lot had been happening. This summer, instead of one child, I had three to entertain! I am so ready for school to start back tomorrow but at the same time, these days are always bittersweet for me. Time goes by so fast. Our oldest nephew is backing out of the trip and it makes me wonder how may more trips I have with my own little ones before they are too old to want to go. I look at the photos of Patricia's beautiful daughter starting University at Johns Hopkins and I realize that I only have a few more years until that will be my Eveie girl. It actually makes me want to hyperventilate.

I was fretting about the house and the fact that we are not able to move into a home of our own yet. I realized I was not making things as homey as they could, because I was trying not to get too comfortable. So, I decided to finish off the basement which was full of storage, and I set up a subtle Mickey-themed playroom.

My aunt is renovating her home and she gave me some old chairs and furniture she didn't want. I painted the furniture all white (supplies: $40). My sister gave me an old TV she didn't want and I brought down the Wii and all the kids movies.

The wardrobe had doors that we removed and made into a bookshelf. I added old baskets and went to Value Village and picked up some toddler toys for Robbie ($12).
At the Salvation Army I got a vase, a basket, and some flower pots ($6) and painted them red and blue to match the room. I filled the basket with blocks, and the flower pots with markers and crayons (Walmart, $10). I got a kids table and chair from Ikea ($45) for Robbie to create his masterpieces at.

Toby and I painted the Mickey sketch I did for that party ages ago. We got some frames and daisies from the dollar store. ($28) Eveie and I sketched the three fairy grandmothers, and we framed it, and the kids movie night art, and a picture of us with Mickey (I can't wait to get a new photo of us with Robbie and Mickey - 38 days!

Total spent $238.43

As for movie nights, we are done! For Bambi we did pillows for the basement and pita sandwiches for dinner.

I got the idea for the dinner here. For the pillows I got some old fabric from the stash of my mums. I bought fabric pens from Walmart ($11) and lettered everything on. I ironed them to set the ink and then helped Eveie sew and stuff them. We also did some more Disney movie quotes - how many can you get?

1. I you can't say something nice, don't say nothing at all
2. Remember you're the one who can fill the world with sunshine.
3. She jus' likes me for my body.
4. And they lived happily ever after.
5. Never look back darling, it detracts from the now.
6. I wouldn't have nothing if I didn't have you.
7. Go. Live your dreams.
8. A true hero isn't measured by the size of his strength, but by the strength of his heart.
I am also needle pointing (my first time) a Canadian flag on the back of the one with this quote on it for our guest room which has a Canadiana theme: "Well, gee, eh, you're one big beaver." Bonus points for that one!

For Ratatouille, the kids sewed aprons and made crepes, and I made ratatouille for dinner.

I got the recipes for the crepes here and the Ratatouille here. It was delicious!

For Tarzan we went to see the Gorillas at the zoo.

We had some sketching lessons and here is Toby's baby baboon in watercolour.

Then for dinner we had Animal Kingdom Lodge Frunch (I got the idea from looking at Brenda's photos of her trip and remembering our wonderful stay there) Here is the recipe.

For Aladdin we did kebobs (here is the recipe) at my dad's and we got some baklava (which I can't seem to find the photo for (I'll update soon). I didn't want to make it because the recipe calls for a pound of nuts and I don't remember if I mentioned it but Robbie is allergic to nuts now too.

For the craft, Toby made a wipes box for Robbies room.

For the Hunchback of Notre Dame, we were going to do just baguettes and cheese but I decided to go a bit fancy and made croque monsieur - possibly the best grilled cheese sandwich I've ever had.

The recipe is here. For the craft, Toby made a tambourine while his sister was away at Vet camp.

For Finding Nemo I made squirt cupcakes (the recipe is here) and Toby and Eveie both helped sew a swim bag.

 

[Alysa]

A few random crafts and recipes:

Toby asked to watch Jungle book again so we did Indian food for dinner. The Samosas were so delicious, I got the recipe from a friend, let me know if you'd like it. And the Chicken Tikka Masala was from here (we skipped the garlic and jalapeno - I'm not a fan) and the kids liked it and Harold loved it!

Toby watched the Hobbit while Eveie was at camp and he wanted to do a movie night for it too so he decorated his new pencil case for school and I made my world famous scones again.

Today, Eveie was feeling left out of the crafts after being away all week so she did these ones. I got the idea for the snow globe from Martha Stewart here.

For Tangled we did some lanterns to I had ordered from China since my originals didn't work out too well (if you recall, they burned to a crisp). We lit them on the lake last night to say goodbye to summer.

Robbie did this painting with Eveie to go with them(sorry if I already posted this one). I had been putting off letting the lanterns go because it feels like they are kind of like saying goodbye to mum too.

For Up we did a gingerbread house (the recipe is here)

The kids completed their Up summer reading sheets (let me know if you would like a pdf for your kids) and Eveie and I made Ellie badges for everyone for the trip, I'm going to give them out before we all get on the plane as Judi badges in memory of my mum and hope it does not make anyone burst into tears.

On the trip preparation front, the passports were a nightmare but they are finally in. I had to get three different sets of photos of Robbie and drive back and forth to our friend in Toronto three times to get him to guarantor them. I tried to do it all in one day and by the end I was ready to go insane. I started at 9am and by 4:30pm it was Canadian Passport offices 1, Alysa 0. We finally received the notice Friday that they are at the post office so I'll go get them on Tuesday.
I made up a packing list. It seems like so long ago since we last went and doing it with a baby again means there is so much I know I am forgetting. Harold thought it seemed like such a long list but I know there is stuff I am not remembering to add. If you'd like an "Ultimate Disney Packing List" let me know!
My niece came over two weeks ago and I updated all the kids autograph albums and added some new characters we might have a chance to meet, thanks to the Limited Time Magic, like Jack Skellington and Sally at the Halloween party. I still have to get those tickets! We also made autograph pens.

Eveie did a Rose for meeting Beauty and the Beast and Toby made a fireworks one. Again, let me know if you would like an updated set of the pages.

I still have to get our new camera (hopefully) and make Robbie's costume. We are going to order Toby's and have it sent to Vero to save shipping costs. I'll do that 30 days out. I picked up the treats for the advent calendar I made years ago with the kids which will start in 12 days. It's all filled and ready to go!

The car is booked. I've also got to decide on the music for the video I make every trip - "You're the best thing I never knew I needed" from Princess and the Frog or "Married Life" from Up. Any votes? I've still got to buy the MNSSHP tickets.

Oh! I made a little paper advent calendar for my niece and she loved it. Let me know if you'd like a copy!

I'm going to make these little guys for the plane too: http://family.go.com/crafts/craft-924045-mickeys-pumpkin-patch-t/ And that's it!

This pretrip is winding to a close and looking back, I see how much writing down my experiences and these crafts and recipes has helped me maintain my sanity. Thank you to everyone for reading along, and for all the lovely, kind comments.

 

[Alysa]

Awe this made me tear up! I love it and will be printing it immediately and having it framed to hang on my wall .

Hi Alysa! I'm caught up with your latest updates. You only have 5 movies left?? That is a lot of work to go through - how many?? I'm so impressed!! Great job with each and every one of them. Honestly, you have such a talent!
I love the Incredibles theme and how cute that you have your own Violet, Jack Jack and Dash.
Oh my gosh I agree with you about the Rescuers Down Under. It is so dark (I suppose the first one is to when I think about it) but that poor eagle! My boys watched that often when they were little so I think of them the few times that I have seen it in the last 18 years.
I'm hoping your survived the 5 kids in the house!

I've loved seeing a glimpse into your latest trip - can't wait to hear more about it! Hope your poor ankle is better soon!

Snagged a minute to pop over here and get caught back up! Evie's Mulan costume is just gorgeous - and dead-on perfect. Well done! I can't wait to see Robbie's Mushu
Evie's Princess & the Frog painting is beautiful too - she is certainly gifted
Time is just marching right along, isn't it? Your trip will be here before you know it!

Your trip is coming soon too - and I'm dying to know your costume! Still feel like such a dolt that I have not guessed!

Hey Alysa,
Sounds like you are continuing to have amazing movie nights...
You are really starting to get close now- it will be here before you know it...
How cute that you have your own Incredibles- have you seen the short Jack Jack attack... it came out on a Pixars shorts collection after the Incredibles...too funny...
(We are going to begin reading Harry Potter tonight with David... his 11th birthday is tomorrow... and I thought it would be fun to start right before his 11th birthday since that's where the books begin... HP Love...)

Belated birthday to David - hope he loves the books! And more hugs for you missing Em. I'm so glad we are friends on facebook too!

Alysa, it would be wonderful to have you close to go shopping with , but I'm afraid running isn't something I can do.
I'm sure if I had to in an emergency I could, but otherwise my poor hips won't allow for it, something strange passed onto me from my dad's side of the family.
Great costume ideas!! the Mulan costume is gorgeous!! Can't wait to see the rest of them!
Loving your theme's for Cinderella and The Incredibles!! Soo stinkin cute!! Meet the Robinson's in one of my favorite movies, I love the message to be who you are and to celebrate it, the bowler hats were adorable! What were they made out of?
So glad you are in double digits!!! It's so exciting when it gets down to the double digits. Are you all set for everyone's outfits? I'm curious as to what all you've planned for that.
I'm so sorry to hear about hubby's jobs falling through, try to remember when something falls through it means God has bigger and better things in store for the future. I'll keep praying. Thank goodness he's still able to work.

I'm doing Robbie's costume this month - can't wait to show you a photo! He's going to be so cute! Those bowler hats were so easy, just a Timbit on half an oreo. Please do keep us in your prayers. You're a good friend!

You guys all are great friends! I feel so lucky and loved! Thank you all!

 

[-Hope-]

Oh my! You've done so much and it's all so fantastic! LOVE the basement! It looks like a great place to make some memories.

I definitely know what you mean about the kids growing up- my youngest turned 13 this year and it's all just moving so fast.

Love all of the crafts, food and fun! We do wish lanterns on winter solstice every year and each say a goal/wish for the new year as we release them. They really are beautiful and it quickly became a favorite family tradition. I like the idea of an end of summer tradition as well.

Those badges for your mom are so wonderful. The made me tear up a little so probably will bring a few tears but that's not necessarily a bad thing.

We are both so close now! I hope we both have a magical time and I can't wait to read all about Robbie's first trip to WDW!!

(Oh, and how exciting that Jack and Sally will be at MNSSHP; they weren't at the one we went to so that's a cool addition.)