My Mother's Day (and 200th post)

I had the most wonderful Mother's Day! The day was filled with huge smile and lots of giggles from the small people that gave me the title Mom.

Our Sunday started out pretty routine with Pete and Izzy heading off to Starbucks for our weekly mochas. Once Drew and I got up we came downstairs where I got an unprompted "Happy Mother's Day" from Drew. ...I'm not certain, but he might have heard Oooh and Ahhh say it on Noggin?

Once Pete and Izzy got back, 90 minutes later, they set to work in the kitchen. I was then presented with this fruit tray.



They also brought home a cheese danish which required a trip to a second grocery store. Izzy insisted they find one because it is, as she told Pete, my favorite! ...it isn't my favorite, but it sure is Izzy's :) So young and already playing her father.

After breakfast I went for a run. Once home it was time to make lunch. Pete went to the gym and the kids and I had lunch and then Drew took a nap. That was a gift in itself as he is desperately trying to give it up. With Drew down for a nap, Izzy settled in for some quiet time and I got to relax and watch a movie. Izzy and Pete had picked me up Mama Mia while they were out.

After Drew's nap, the real fun began! Do you remember how we went to the carnival the night before, but got rained out? Well we decided to go back. The weather was gorgeous and we had a bunch of ride tickets to use so off we went. The kids had a BLAST! Pete and I had just as much fun watching them. They rode every ride together and were full of giggles and smiles. It couldn't have been more perfect, honestly. I loved amusement parks as a child and I can see that both my kids are going to take after me. The faster the better! And if it spun, awesome!









It is hard to see in this picture, but Drew just kept looking back at Izzy with a huge smile while on this ride.


Izzy got brave here and rode with no hands.


We took in a game - fishing.


And check out the prizes!


What would a carnival be without a snowcone?




The next couple are priceless...these two rides were for the fearless toddlers and both my kids LOVED them!

Waiting for the roller coaster to start.


Check out this action shot!


Getting ready for a spin.




Here are a couple video snip-its of the kids on rides. This was Drew's second roller coaster ride, but his first without an adult. There is also a shot of them on the kids "Tilt-a-Whirl".

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

My heart swelled as I watched my two beautiful kids just being kids. ...not a care in the world. I had originally thought I wanted to spend some time alone for Mother's Day, but am sure glad that we did this instead. Gosh I love those kids...and their daddy :)

Really? No, Honestly, Really?

This morning I am upstairs making the bed and the kids are downstairs watching tv. A few minutes later I hear Izzy scream, "Moooooooommmmmmm! Mooooooooooommmmmm!!!!!"

me: What Izzy?
Izzy: Mom, I can't SEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!! (seriously by the way she was shrieking you would have thought she literally could not see)
me: What can't you see?
Izzy: The TV!!!!!!! (in the most annoyed voice)
me: Why not?
Izzy: DREW.IS.IN.MY.WAY!!! Tell him to moooooovvvvvveeeeee!
me: Izzy, why don't you ask him nicely to move?
Izzy: Oh, okay. (pause) He moved.

Really? Honestly? This child who is so bright and so smart and amazes me daily with her logic and reasoning skills (as well as the skills she uses to manipulate her brother and us) can't figure out that it would have been easiest to ask him herself? Really? Think of the time it would have saved.

Gracious!

Unusual

If I don't type this now then I will certainly forget it. ...and if you could see my Mom Management Center (aka: desk) then you would know that if I write it down, I may never find it again!

So, we were driving to the bank and I look back to see Drew chewing on a toy screwdriver. I say to him, "Drew, is that a screwdriver you have in your mouth?" Of course he says yes. Izzy then says, "Well that is sure unusual."

I begin to try and think if I have ever heard her use that word before? It sounded so odd coming out of her mouth that I didn't think so. Sure enough a few second later she asks me, "Mom, what does unusual mean?"

Oh, they grow up so fast!

Outing to Lowe's

Lowe's home store was offering a workshop for children today to create a Mother's Day planter. I suggested it to Pete last night and he thought it sounded like a great idea. My thought was he could take Izzy and the two of them would have a great time together. Izzy is really into planting, and of course she loves to make gifts for people so this was right up her alley. I suggested he leave Drew home with me. At 2.5 and a new "non-napper" he is unpredictable with his moods - to say the least! I had visions of Drew grabbing at hammers, running up and down the lumber section, climbing on the ladders, etc. Against my better judgement, Pete took Drew. He took him to give me some time to clean my desk.

Shortly after they left I got this picture sent to my phone.

Poor Drew. Poor Pete!

Here is a picture from "Happier Times" as Pete titled it.

The planters were really cute though and each child got an apron and official "planter" patch.


The planter


On the way home from Lowe's both kids fell asleep. This never happens, and certainly not at 11:30 am! Rather than try and bring them into the house and hope they'd stay asleep, we decided to drive around. Pete dropped me at Dillards where I got a new bathing suit.

Around 4 we headed to a carnival. We were meeting up with some friends for riding fun! Unfortunately about 20 minutes into our fun it started to rain.

Drew got as far as to get on this ride (between the girls) but then decided he didn't want to ride.




Drew jumped in the Elmo bounce house while Izzy took in a couple more rides.




Due to the rain, we quickly left and headed to dinner with our friends. For as long as we had to wait for both a table, and then our meal, the kids did incredibly well!

While we waited the kids posed for some pictures.








Pete and I decided that we would take the kids back to the carnival tomorrow so we could use up the rest of our tickets. I can think of nothing better than a funnel cake to celebrate my special day!

Muffins for Moms

Today was Muffins for Moms at Izzy's school. Pete was able to stay home with Drew which was nice. Drew gets so much attention, cause he's cute and all, when I take him into the school with me, that it was nice to be "just us girls" for a change.

Us girls even wore matching dresses for this extra special day ;)



When I came downstairs wearing my dress, Izzy noticed her dress in my hand and shuttered. She told me, "I'm not cold Momma. I am just super excited!" The girl woke up telling me she was super excited cause it was "Muffins for Moms" day at school. She even came out of her room one minute earlier then I typically allow. She didn't even wake up this early for Christmas.



Izzy and I typcially don't wear matching ensembles. I have no problem matching the kids, but I find it kind of silly for me to match a 4 year old. However, when Izzy spotted these dresses next to one another in Old Navy, I knew by the look in her eyes these were a must have ;)

Much like Doughnuts for Dads, there was a question and answer session the kids had done prior to today. Each child also colored a picture of their mom and then based on the picture and answers we were to guess which mom it was.

Here are Izzy's answers:
1. My mom's name is: Momma (she clearly knows my name so I don't know why she said this?)

2. My mom has "blue" eyes and "blonde" hair.

3. My mom is "10" years old. (again, she knows my actual age).

4. My mom likes to: go to the gym (she really only sees me go like once every two weeks since I typically go at 5:30 am)

5. My mom is prettiest when: she wears her hair in a ponytail (guess that is how she mostly sees me)

6. My mom is funniest when: she wakes me in the morning (maybe I just look funny)

7. I like it best when she cooks: eggs

8. I don't like it when she cooks: nothing

9. My mom likes me to help her: with baking

10: My mom is very smart and she knows all about: everything :)

The program concluded with the kids singing us a song. I will see if I can get Izzy to sing it for me so I can share it with you.

Happy Mother's Day to all my mommy friends! I hope you have a wonderful wonderful weekend.

One Month Ago ...Magic Kingdom

*note: it will not let me spell check right now and I am too tired/lazy to do it myself. Here is the post...unedited.

After rescheduling our Florida vacation due to Izzy's broken leg we finally made it. Magic Kingdom was certainly the highlight for Izzy and Drew.

Entering Magic Kingdom

I would like it noted that I NEVER let my children wear character apparel. However, for our day at Disney I made an exception.


So, ...OMG! The kids had a blast! Okay, truth be told, so did Pete and I :)

Izzy loved EVERY.SINGLE.MINUTE of the entire day. Drew either loved it or hated it. Izzy loved it so much that she is already planning our next trip back and has her next round of souveniers picked out.

We did not stay at the park so we left Omi and Papa's (my parents rent a house outside of Orlando for the winter) house at 6:45 am to allow enough time to get to the park, park the car, take the monorail over, get our tickets, and find our breakfast location. We had reservations at The Crystal Palace which hosts breakfast with Winnie the Pooh and friends.

Before locating The Crystal Palace we stopped for some ever popular pictures in front of Cinderella's Castle.




Here are the kids peaking in the window and realizing they are about to come up close to some characters.


It was a buffet and it was actually really good. I was able to order a custom omlet from the omlet maker and the kids got waffles shaped liked Mickey. Izzy embraced every character that came to our table, and Drew snuggled into my armpit a bit further each time one showed up. With breakfast we got a fastpass to Mickey's Philharmagic which was awesome because it was one of the shows I was looking most forward to.




This was the first character that came to our table. After Tigger left, Drew quickly asked to sit next to me.



I felt that I had planned our our "route" pretty well based on the wishes of the kids. Our first stop was Aladdin's Carpet Ride because of its proximity to breakfast. We walked right on and the kids loved it. Drew loved it so much that as we were getting off he threw a big 'ole tantrum and yelled that he wanted to ride again, stay on, blah blah blah. Pete and I looked at one another and thought what a wonderful day we had ahead of us if Drew did this every single time. We did what any good parents would do and got right back on the ride. Thankfully after the second time he didn't protest us getting off.

Both kids rated The Magic Carpets of Aladdin as one of the favorites of the day. They are already planning who will get to sit in the front seat to steer and who will sit in the backseat (Drew) to make the camels spit water on our next visit.


From there we went into The Tiki Room which I will say we found very lame and both kids hated. It was dark, creepy and loud. Our last stop in Adventureland was the boat cruise which was cute.

Then the fun really began. The park was getting more and more crowded and the rain clouds were quickly approaching. I will say that we did a really great job and packing a ton into our day. You name it, we probably did it - both age appropriate and not age appropriate ;)

Izzy's "must ride" choice was Mad Tea Party (aka: spinning teacups). She was super excited and this ride did not disappoint. Pete gets ill just watching the ride so he and Drew sat this one out.

Pete snapped that picture mid-spin...not bad.

We decided to head to Mickey's Toontown Fair next, but I am not sure why? I think because Drew was insisting we see Mickey and Tootles. Of course we never did find Tootles, but the kids LOVED touring all the houses of their favorite Disney characters. While in Toontown it started to rain as we waited in line for The Barnstormer. I was so afraid we were not going to be able to ride the rollercoaster. I LOVE rollercoasters and was so excited to see what the kids thought. I didn't think Drew would actually get on the ride, but he did. He and I sat in the last car and I think the boy was SO SCARED that he wanted to cry, but just couldn't. I was very surprised with all the twists, turns, and speed that this coaster travelled.

Next ride was Drew's "must ride"...Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin. We had grabbed a fastpass for this ride so we got on right away. You can only imagine Drew's excitement when we spotted this statue while we were in line.


Unfortunately Drew did not have the same enthusiasm when we got to meet Buzz in person.

Do you see him back there :)

He finally agreed to a high five with his hero.


Pete and I had a favorite attraction: Mickey's PhilharMagic. If you ever go to Disney, you MUST check this out. It is a 3D movie that is incredible! When corks from bottles in the movie "pop" off...you feel a burst of air. When water in the movie splashes, you get sprayed. When Ariel is singing and jewels are floating around her, they appear to be right in front of you. Izzy actually tried to reach out and grab them. Drew, and another child behind us, screamed through the entire performance. Sometimes I forget he is only 2 :( Still...if we went back tomorrow I would drag him in again just so I could watch it.

Another high light for Pete and me was watching the expressions on Izzy and Drew faces during the parade. We actually got to see two parades and both were fantastic! With each character that appeared the kids seemed to get more and more excited. It seemed every character was the new favorite. ...until the next float showed up ;)


We also took in a show at Cinderella's Castle. Drew needed to get a better view of his favorite friend Mickey.


Izzy requested me to take pictures of this show because it had her favorites...the princesses.


While walking to ride some more rides Drew took a little snooze.


Waiting in line for Dumbo.





Can you see Drew in the Dumbo behind Pete and Izzy. Yes, I just left him there so I could snap a quick picture of these guys :)

Our last ride of the day was the Cinderella's Golden Carrousel. I can't remember what Izzy named her horse, but Drew named his "Poo-Poo". Great. He thought this was so funny and just kept saying "Giddy up Poo-poo." I told him that was not such a nice name, so he asked "Is Stinky a nice name?" Good times.


Whenever we discussed our trip to Disney, Izzy always asked if she could get cotton candy. Finally as we were heading out we got the kids cotton candy. The bites they are eating here are probably all they ate. We buy it...they take 2-3 bites...and then decide they don't really like it.


Both kids also picked out a souvenier. Izzy made a princess charm bracelet and Drew chose a "spinny Buzz".




Someday in another year or two, we will do an all out Disney trip. Although neither Pete nor myself consider ourselves Disney fanatics, I think we would like to do the entire Disney experience at least once while the kids are young. What I am certain of is that when we do go back it will be during the off season and not over Easter!

I Know, I Know...

Shame on me for not updating the blog in SO LONG. Truth be told, I keep putting off blogging about our Florida trip and the more time that passes the less appealing it seems. Why is it that I can blog about the daily tasks, but can't seem to blog about the really exciting stuff? I think it just seems so overwhelming.

Well, although my kids were both in bed before 7, tonight won't be the night that I finally do an update. I HAVE finally labeled the Magic Kingdom pictures and am in the process of uploading a few. However, my super sweet and wonderful husband picked me up a movie with the free Redbox code today. I don't know what is in the air, perhaps just a bunch of pollen, but he has been the greatest husband recently! I am totally digging him these days :)

Life is good.

I promise. I promise that Magic Kingdom is coming soon ;)