Wednesday, April 24, 2013

riding in, not like, the wind



This is a beautiful, warm, breezy day. After lunch, and before I have to go to work, the girls and I went to the church down the street so they could practice their new bike riding skills.  Meanwhile I got to work on my crochet project and catch some rays.  A little vitamin D is just what I need to combat this springtime cold.

Sunday, April 21, 2013

i love shutterfly

Shutterfly is so great! Every time I order something from them they send me great deals to order more things. Photobooks are by far my favorite. It's like scrapbooking without having to invest in all of the to-die-for stuff. I have ordered photo coffee mugs and prints from them. It's all great quality and it all comes in the mail so quickly you hardly have time to let the excited anticipation build up as the mailman comes each day. This here is a cute magnet that I just ordered. I do love me some Minnie Mouse!
Photo Gallery Magnet
Create personalized greeting cards and invitations at Shutterfly.
View the entire collection of cards.

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Disney World part 3::Epcot and Magic Kingdom

This post was a long time coming.  It got lost in the busy-ness.

Finally I am getting to part three. First up is Epcot. It's so cool to see the Epcot ball. And at night when it's all lit up it is really amazing. There is a ride inside th ball called Spaceship Earth. It's a slow, informational type ride that goes through human communications from the beginning of time, to writing on papyrus, the Guttenburg Press, to the computer age. Other rides there were pretty amazing. Soarin' for example...wow! it really was like being in a hang glider. We also road Mission:SPACE. It was pretty neat to feel like we were in a spaceship taking off and as a team we had to land on without crashing. But the favorite ride at this park, without a doubt, was Test Track. It's a ride that is like testing out cars on a crash course...and we were the crash test dummies! Then at the end of the ride we got to see how fast our car would go on the track. Oh yes, we rode that several times. As far as shows go, well we went to Turtle Talk with Crush. I don't know how they do it, but it was really cool to have Crush on the screen, as if in a tank, and actually interact with the kids at the show...answering and asking questions. Super fun! We aslo went to see Captain EO, which for all you people my age, is a 3-D space adventure featuring Michael Jackson. It was 1986 at it's very best. I thought it was great...the kids, well, they couldn't figure out why he looked so much like a girl. But, man, he sure

can dance!
Then there is the World Showcase. We really enjoyed going to see every country. Okay, I did, Tim did too, and I'm pretty sure the girls liked it. But I really enjoyed it. Japan was my favorite. That's another post though. And one thing that my girls didn't quite appreciate was the fact that I put on a hat at almost every country. Also, another post, but it was the classic embarrasing mom episode at each country. Hmmm, maybe that was why the girls lacked enthusiasm about visiting the countries. At night there was a pretty cool fireworks/laser show.

Last, but certainly not least, is the Magic Kingdom. Days upon days could be spent there. The girls absolutely loved loved loved Thunder Mountain Railroad. And riding that in the dark...awesome! We loved Space Mountain, too. A true classic ride, but not the favorite. We met many princesses at the Magic Kingdom, along with Mickey and his friends.   The new sections of Fantasyland were not quite finished, but a lot of it was and in true Disney style, it was amazing. The fireworks over the castle are like none I have ever seen.  We saw and rode just about everthing there was at the Magic Kingdom.  And it wouldn't be a proper Disney experience without a Mickey Mouse shaped icecream treat, so yeah, we had those, too.  The Swiss Family Robinson tree house was pretty amazing, and when we got home we watched the movie.  The Disney house was just like the one in the movie, which was very cool.  We also went to Tom Sawyer's island and that was fun.  We could have spend hours over there exploring, but Thunder Mountain awaited us.  The Laugh Floor from Monsters, Inc. was a funny interactive show that we all really enjoyed.  The only thing not open, other than water rides, was Stitch's Great Escape.  That was a bummer because Stitch is a favorite. 
It seems like years ago that we were in Disney World, yet it's only been 2 1/2 months.  It was so fun and we really enjoyed our time there.  Let the savings begin...so we can go again in a few years!

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

april 9th - by the hour

8a.m. - kids have showered and are working on the new spelling list and Latin while I throw in the first load of laundry and get my workout done.

9a.m. - workout done, Bible lesson finished, kids working in math...goodbye winter clothes!

10a.m. - laundry hung, chickens fed, garden watered, girls enjoyed snack time and now school outside. A pileated woodpecker is jackhammering away and the cardinals sing as they fly from one side of the yard to the other.

11a.m. - morning dishes done, school still in progresss - although the sun is trying to lure us away from our work,  more winter clothes being removed from closets and drawers to make room for shorts!

12p.m. - weekly trip to the library for fresh books and a movie or two, and a new workout video for me...the A/C wasn't working in the library and it was HOT!

1p.m. - lunch with Tim, laundry already dry since it is so warm is taken down and folded, chickens given more fresh water since it's heating up so fast

2p.m. - picking up an extra kid and heading over to skateland for the monthly homeschool skate day

3p.m. - still at skateland, girls enjoying some fun skating and playing in the arcade with their sweet friend before she leaves for the mission field, I am working on some crochet projects while the music plays loudly...loud enough where I can sing along and no one can hear me:)

4p.m. - girls still skating, I finished one project and continue working on the other

5p.m.- back home, fixing dinner while chatting with my Mom on the phone, clean, folded laundry taken upstairs to be put away...can't quite be done because winter clothes aren't filtered out completely yet
6p.m. - dinner, windows still open, relaxing

7p.m. - listen to radio, plant seeds in starter pots so we can continue to add to the garden, water new seeds, go to garden to check on plants after first hot day...plants look good, asparagus - known for growing super fast - grew about 5 inches since I watered the garden this morning! No kidding! I will measure in the morning tomorrow then again at night to see if it happens again.  I really am serious!  Throw the frisbee for a while with Tim while the girls play before the sun goes down

8p.m. - wash evening dishes, look at pile of folded laundry and decide to wait till tomorrow to put it all away, do evening push-ups with the family - a new routine of push-ups and stretches at night to help firm up my arms

9p.m. - kids in bed, walk on treadmill on highest incline for an hour while watching netflix

10p.m. - cool down, clean up, drink lots of water, in bed before 11p.m.