October Fun

We have had an awesome October. It has been very busy, but most of the time it has been a "fun" kind of busy. Of course, we started with an awesome trip to Disney....Don't really need to elaborate, but I will say it was one of the best vacations we have ever had. I am convinced that nothing beats a trip to Disneyworld.

We also had the fall festival at our church - -which is a highlight of the year for our kiddos. They have at least 10 huge blow-up play thingies for the kids and there are tons of carnival type games to play. It was freezing cold this year, which is highly unusual for this neck of the woods, but it was still awesome and the kids had an absolute blast!!

Then, it was time for Kenzie's 7th birthday party. She wanted to do a luau at her grandparent's heated swimming pool, which normally would be a great idea, but as I mentioned before, it was freezing this year. So, we still had a luau. They jumped in the pool for about 15 minutes (which was impressive), but then decided to enjoy the rest of the party on the patio!!

Finally, we did our annual trick or treating on the big golfcart (it holds like 12 people). We always hook up with some friends and ride around the neighboorhood and let the kids rack up the candy. I am still waiting on my friend to send me some pics from our Freaky Friday Halloween Night...maybe I can post a few later.....But, we had a lot of fun. October is always a great month...and, once again, this one proved to be filled with fun and lots of great memories!!

He said what????

Brody just had one of his "classic" moments and I had to share it with you guys. I am trying to teach him his verses for Cubbies (Awana) and he was having a little trouble understanding the words. The verse was "and Jesus grew in wisdom..." But, Brody was repeating..."And Jesus was dumb." At first, I was upset and getting ready to correct him for saying that, but Micah said, "You know, mom, wisdom really does sound like "was dumb"....and, he was right. Poor Brody - I hope he gets it right tonight at class. I don't think his teacher will think it is very cute if he keeps saying the Jesus was dumb!

Sleeping Beauty

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the chance to get to go back to bed in the morning...it is one of my favorite things to do. In high school, I would actually get up a little bit earlier so that I would be able to get back in the bed after I took my shower. It is the best when it is nice & chilly and I can climb back under the blankets and doze off. This morning was absolutely the perfect morning for this. I had to get up at 6:30am because Kassidy was crying...well, after like 5 or 10 minutes, she went back to sleep. I did not really have much luck trying to get back to sleep. I got up & made the kids lunches, got them all dressed, and Matt took them to school (he let Brody ride along, too). As soon as he left, I ran to my room, snuggled up under my favorite, brown, fuzzy blanket and went back to sleep for a whole extra hour. It was the best!!!

So, this has been an awesome start to what will hopefully be an awesome day....Isn't it funny how the little things in life can make us so happy sometimes!!!

Customer Service, yeah right.....

Ok, so I went to the store Tuesday Mornings today with Brody & Kassidy. I decided to take the stroller in since Kassidy loves to stand up in the shopping cart (and most of you know my history with kids & shopping carts!) Anyway, I saw a few things that I wanted to pick up for the kids for Christmas, so I had like 5 or 6 items in my hands and I was trying to push a cheap umbrella stroller that was just not cooperating. One worker saw me struggling big time to even get my stroller to move, but no offer to help...not a big deal, just pushed my way passed her. I went to the front register to ask the lady if I could sit my items up front until I finished shopping. Her response, "No, you will have to get a cart and push it." I proceeded to tell her that I was trying to push a baby stroller, so I would not be able to push a cart too. Sorry Charlie! She said, "Well, this is where people check out, so you can't leave your stuff here." This is where my blood began boiling...I mean, come on, really - you are not even going to let me sit my stuff up here for a couple minutes...because the store was just soooo busy (2 other customers in the whole place!). And, if you are familiar with Tuesday Mornings at all, you know it is like a flea market/discount store - it is by no means clean & organized - no one would have even noticed that I had set anything up front.

I decided to just walk away - mad as fire, but what are you going to do - probably not shop there again anytime soon...but, I really think they could care less! Seriously, I have had some bad experiences with customer service...but this one just really bugged me - a struggling mom, 2 kids, bum stroller, hand full of your products, but sorry we can't help you out at all?!?! Oh well, in the end, I kept my cool & did not say things that I regret now (might have thought them, but did not say them) - which to me was a huge accomplishment!!

Kassidy The Climber

So, I went to my bedroom for like 2 seconds and I walked back into the living room to find Kassidy standing on our computer desk. I think my heart stopped for a minute ...but this is an all too familiar scene. Brody used to do the same thing - except he was only like 10 months....Kassidy gave me a few more months of peace. Matt found her standing in the middle of the kitchen table a few days ago. So, I guess she is officially in her "explorer" stage. This should be a fun few months, don't ya think??

My Accomplishments List

Ok, so I am tired of always focusing on what I did not get done during the day and all the stuff I have to get done the next day....so, I thought I would take a minute and make a list of all the things that I did get done today (no matter how trivial they may be....they were "accomplishments" - things that probably would not have gotten done if I did not do them!!)

1. Packed kid's lunches this morning - making a turkey sandwich at 7:30am is just not fun

2. Went to the bank - gotta have money to pay those bills

3. Got a friend's b-day card all ready to mail - only a month late!!

4. Changed two dirty diapers - fun, fun

5. Cleaned out the Yukon - wonder how old those fries really were??

6. Pulled weeds in the yard - so Matt would not feel like he had to mow the lawn tonight

7. Fed my kiddos - mini frozen pancakes do count as a meal, right?

8. Went running - gotta look good for my man

9. Did my Bible Study - and it was just what I needed..."Be still, and know that I am God!"

10. Updated my blog - and aren't you so glad I did :) :) :)

So, these things may not seem like huge accomplishments, but sometimes I think that we as wives/mothers forget that even the trivial, annoying, time-consuming things we do are very important to our families...just stop and think what would happen if you did not do some of the things on your list ...it would make a big difference in how smooth your day went for both you and those you take care of. In fact, if you have time, why don't you share your list of "accomplishments" for today....I think it would be encouraging to us all to see how great we are as moms and wives - time for a little pat on the back, don't ya think??

You NEED a vacation, right?

Since my last post was kind of a bummer and it talked about how money is so tight these days, I thought I would post about a great way for you to go and spend some of that hard earned cash....Well, I have come upon some useful information for any of you guys that might be planning a Disney trip anytime in the next year. I just found out yesterday that the Magic Kingdom is offering everyone a great birthday present this coming year - free admission to the park on your actual birthday! I think that is a pretty sweet offer, considering that the ticket price is around $70. Of course, you still have to foot the bill for the rest of your family.

But, I have another great deal to share with you that can help you save even more money. The Nickeoldeon Suites in Orlando (www.nickhotel.com) will let you stay there free for the night on any one of your children's birthdays (you do have to agree to stay at least 3 nights - basically buy two get one free)...But that hotel is awesome. I have friends that have stayed there and they said there kids never wanted to leave the hotel because of the water park, pools, arcades.... And most likely, you would be in Orlando for at least three nights anyway, so it is a great deal to only pay for two!!

So, if you plan it just right, you can get one of your kids a free ticket and get one night free at the Nick Hotel. Seriously, you will be saving somewhere around $300....That is a pretty good chunk of change. So, go now and beg your hubby for a Disney vacation and tell him ALL the money you will be saving - hopefully, he won't want to discuss all the money you will be spending on a Disney vacation no matter how many great deals I can find you !!