Quick

It was back to school and work today. But for me, I had to do a lot. I leave tonight to go to Mom and Dad's so that I can fly out tomorrow morning to spend 4 nights in NYC!

So, I stocked up on groceries and made sure all my ducks were in a row. Of course, I worked my butt off at the gym and after Chris got home, around 8:30, I drove over to Mom and Dad's.

Whew!

Last Disney Day

We had a great time at Fort Wilderness! The only negative is that it was really to small for our family. We need at least 2 bathrooms, that is for sure! However, it certainly didn't stop us from having a great time.

After leaving the cabin, we headed to the Downtown Disney area and ate breakfast at a Perkins. We needed to tank up for the big day ahead.

After breakfast, we headed to Downtown Disney and the boys did some shopping at the LEGO store while the girls and I went to the Disney store and did some shopping for ourselves. Each of us got a new t-shirt to remember our trip by and we were all happy.

Since Brennan went to Disney Quest for the first time a few days earlier with the 8th graders at his school and he loved it so much, we all got passes to go there and we all played games for hours. Literally, hours. It was a lot of fun and we look forward to going back. I'm going to continue to work on my Dance, Dance Revolution skills...

The shot below was after we went to the 'best movie theater ever' according to the kids. We watched Kung Fu Panda 2 at a theater where they serve you food and drinks. The kids absolutely loved it!

Fort Wilderness, Day 2

We spent all day today with Kenney, Alyssa and their family to celebrate Alyssa's birthday. We ate breakfast as a family, then some of us went our separate ways for a while. Chris, the boys, Aislinn and I went to Hollywood Studios for a little while but it was REALLY HOT, so we headed bacy to swim at the Wilderness Lodge pool with some of Kenney's family. We had a lot of fun. Following a nice afternoon, we ate dinner at Kenney's family's cabin and went back to the lake and watched the fireworks. It was a long day, but it was a lot of fun.

Don't we look like we are having fun?

Fort Wilderness, Day 1

We arrived at Fort Wilderness around noon today. We got our cabin and rented our golf cart and then spent some time at the pool before going to the Hoop-Dee-Doo for the dinner show.

We all absolutely loved the show and the dinner.

Time to have a great weekend!

Date at Magic Kindgom

Chris and I headed to the Magic Kingdom tonight for dinner with Holly, her kids and Mom. We ate dinner at the Crystal Palace, one of our favorites and then did some rides with them. We all watched the fireworks together too and then Chris and I stayed a little longer and did the Jungle Cruise and Pirates.

Tomorrow begins family weekend at Disney! We can't wait to escape for a little.

Kindergarten Dual Language Performance

The Dual Language program for Kindergarten was tonight they treated us with wonderful music and dancing!

Below she is talking to her friend while they wait to get handed their reading recognition certificate and their Kindergarted completion certificate.
The students had been practicing for a while and it looked like they really had a good time.

It is hard to believe that my baby will be in first grade. (At least I hope she'll be in first grade. It all depends on if she felt like telling the teacher what she knows...)

I love

Chris got home from work today before dark and jumped in the pool with the 3 youngest kids.

It made me smile to stand and watch.

I shall have joy in my posterity.

I'm planning

I have a surprise getting worked up for all the kids and Chris for this upcoming weekend. We need to have a nice time and forget about all the stresses at home. I hope it will all fall in to place...

No better, but no worse

Unfortunately, Aislinn had to have some more Motrin today during church. Her teacher and Primary President brought her to me during Sunday School and said that she felt hot. I gave her the Motrin and like I thought, she perked up and was happy after it kicked in.

I am still concerned that she is not right. I can't wait for this to pass.

Kerstyn's First Piano Recital

She played beautifully and I know I was the proudest Mama in the room!

Kerstyn has really taken to playing the piano and I know she has a lot of potential.

Her teacher's name is Terry Sullivan and she has quite a crew of students. We all enjoyed listening to each student play.

The whole family!

Pirates

Since we have a job as parents to preview entertainment, Chris and I went to see the new Pirates movie tonight. ;)

We had a nice nap in the beginning. Luckily the movie picked up towards the middle. We enjoyed it and are glad that we went, but I didn't think it was the best one.

However, it was nice to have a date with my best friend.

Baby shower turned GNO

We were going to have a surprise baby shower for our friend Kristen at Chili's tonight. But she went off and had the baby the day before, so we changed the shower to a GNO.

We had a great group and a wonderful time. It is wonderful to have such great friends. I feel really blessed.

Off

We took up a whole middle row today during sacrament meeting. It was really nice. However, Aislinn was sitting next to me and she was just 'off'. I ended up having to give her Motrin during the meeting and when that kicked in, she perked up, like always. However, it's not looking good. :(

After church, I crawled in the bed myself, since I woke up not feeling too well. I'm going to keep an eye on Aislinn and keep trying to get myself to not get sick. No time for that...

Surprise Party!

Holly and I started planning about 6 months ago for this special day. Mom turned 70 on Friday, May 13 and we knew that we needed to celebrate. Today, we did. She was blessed to have all 4 of her children here today and her only brother.

I believe that she was surprised and I hope that everyone had a good time. We ate and swam and visited all day long!

Family, it is what it's all about!

Getting ready to celebrate!

Holly and her family left Ft. Benning this morning around 9:30 and arrived at our house around 4:30. I was over at a birthday party with the 3 youngest children when they got here, but I met them in the driveway and I was so glad to see them. Holly is not only my sister in law, but a great friend, and I was glad to have the opportunity to spend some time with her.

Around 6, Janie arrived and I got back from picking up Lauklan from his party. We gave Janie the instructions and left her with 7 kids... If anyone can handle it, she can.

Holly, Dane, Ammon and I went up to the office to pick up Chris then we all headed down to The Cheesecake Factory for dinner. We had a wait, like always, and the boys headed to Brookstone. When I got there, for checking out some other stores, this is how I found them...

We had a very nice dinner and got home around 9:30. We needed a good night sleep because some serious partying is planned for tomorrow.

Girls are fun

You can't really tell, because I didn't get a good picture, but we had a great time at Chili's tonight. It was a really nice group of us consisting of Frances, Maria, Donna, Jennifer, Delia and me. We laughed and ate and laughed some more. It was just what we needed!

We're excited

President and Sister Carter and heading out in about a month and a half. Their name was on the missionary plaque in the building yesterday and I snapped a picture for them, and me. Man, I'm going to miss them more than you can imagine!

If our boys get a mission president and mission president's wife like Doug and Debbie, they will surely be blessed! I cry about every time I think about them being gone. But, now I focus on the visit that we will make to Argentina while they are there.

I kind of made them my second set of parents. They are people who have forever imprinted our lives. So many lives will be blessed and have been blessed by their service. Their testimonies and faith are an example to many.

Mother's Day 2011

Chris woke up bright and early this morning and he and the kids made me a wonderful breakfast. It was way more than I could eat, especially because I don't usually even eat breakfast. But, what I did eat was delicious and the thought was super sweet.

Chris had also bought me a beautiful bouquet of flowers and had them in a vase. Mom (Grandma) had delivered a sweet bouquet of flowers to me on Friday. I'm feeling pretty loved...

Church was very nice and the afternoon and evening weren't full of too much bickering. ;)

Happy Mother's Day 2011!

Thor Date

Chris and I went to see Thor tonight. We didn't get to have dinner before because I was running around like crazy getting Greyson to a birthday party and then Brennan to the Garrett's for a sleepover.

I sent Lauklan and Aislinn to EDEP and I picked up Greyson when school was over and took him to the party. I wasn't thinking clearly, because the party was until 6 in Tavares and I obviously couldn't get back to Round Lake to get Lauklan and Aislinn by 6. So, Grandma came to the rescue and picked them up for us and took them home.

Janie arrived about 6 and Grandma left. I got home with Greyson about 6:20 and dropped him off and then ran Brennan to Eustis for the sleepover.

I think I finally arrived at the office about 6:50 and Chris and I hustled to Apopka to get the movie. We had buttered popcorn for dinner. Tasty! ;)

Uncomfortable

Chris and I attended a Customer Appreciation Dinner for USB bank tonight. We get invited every year to this even which the banks hosts to give appreciation to the attorneys and CPA's and a few realtors that refer business to them.

They always have a comedian and this year was no different. However, what was different was that he got a group of 5 attorneys and 5 CPA's and they played a game like Family Feud. Chris was picked to be on the attorney team and I think that he was bright red from the moment they called his name to the moment he sat back down next to me at the table.

I knew how uncomfortable he was up there and I thought he did great. I do know though, that the whole time, he was counting down to the second he could sit back down outside of the spotlight. How cute!

Chris is great in his element. He can talk and talk and talk. But, put him in a different situation, and he is shy. I think it's cute. I love that man.

I can't even express...

How upset, disappointed, overwhelmed, frustrated and sad I am right now.

I called the surgery coordinator this afternoon around 1:30 and she told me that Monday, May 9 would not happen for Aislinn. Apparently sufficient time was not available.

She scheduled Aislinn for, are you ready? .................................. J U L Y 21!

Yes, you read it right, July 21. That would be over 11 weeks away. She did put us on the cancel list, but said that something 'big' would have to cancel, given that Aislinn has a 'big' surgery.

I cried. I don't have anything else to say.

Surprise visit

Dad sent me a text this morning to see what we were doing today after church. I told him nothing except hanging out at home. So, they came over and we hung out together! It was absolutely wonderful to have them with us, the only bad thing was that Chris wasn't there until about an hour before they had to leave. But, we'll take what we can get. Family time is certainly precious.

These parents of mine are absolutely amazing! I'm so thankful for them. The kids thing they're pretty darn great too! Happy Sabbath, for sure!