Surprise - We're Going to Disney World!

Since I'm always planning our next Disney vacation, I always have our options plotted out.  We decided that the cheapest way to do our next trip would be to go before Luke turns 3 (when he will have to pay admission) and before Michael turns 10 (when he will have to pay adult admission), both of which will be in April.  We decided to go in December so we could take advantage of all the Christmas activities, and the best part was that we didn't tell the boys about it until 3 days before we left!  We stayed off property in a 3-bedroom condo.  We loved having all the space and we were very close to all the parks.  It was a fabulous trip.  We had been so busy at home with the boys performing in Seussical it was really nice just to have family time.

Something I had been wanting to do was to get some photos of the kids to compare to our previous trips.  I totally borrowed this idea from a friend.  I put this photo book together, and I can't believe how they have all grown!
Disney World Trips 2005-2012

Buzz Lightyear 2010 and 2012

Mickey Mouse 2008 and 2012

Luke's Kitchen

I wanted to get Luke a kitchen for Christmas, but I didn't really see any that I liked in my price range.  I found lots of play kitchen online that people had made, either from scratch or out of used furniture, like an entertainment center or a nightstand.  I thought that sounded like fun, so I set out to make my own play kitchen.

 
I found an entertainment center at the Rooms To Go Outlet store.  The drawers were broken, and it had some other damage, so it was marked down a lot.  I knew the damage was fixable and I was going to remove the drawers anyway.  I found a matching piece that I think was half of a captains bed base that was also heavily marked down.  I planned on using the doors and drawers from it for the kitchen and maybe make a refrigerator out of it.

After removing the broken drawers, hardware, and hinges I used brackets to repair the loose shelf and the broken beam on the bottom.  I used one of the doors from the captains bed base for the oven door.  I cut a rectangle shaped hole out of the center with a jigsaw, painted it white, and used a piece of plastic from a light cover for the window.  I put a black handle on the front and used the hinges to attach it.  I decided to leave the small vertical drawer in place and just paint it.  It can be the dish washer.

I found a shiny silver dog bowl with a lip around it for the sink.  I cut a hole with the jigsaw just smaller than the lip of the bowl.  After I sanded around the hole I painted the counter top white.  For the faucet I used a p-trap plumbing pipe and spray painted it silver.  To make sure it stayed attached we drilled a hole into a small piece of scrap wood that it fit tightly into, and glued it in.  That made it easy to attach it to the counter with screws.  I wanted the faucet knobs to really turn, so I found some knobs at the hardware store (I think they were for a sprinkler system), disassembled them, and spray painted the parts I needed silver.  We drilled a hole for each of them halfway through the counter so they sat inside, then used caulk to glue them in.

Next was the stove.  I used blank CDs, spray painted them black, and hot glued them on.  I used the knobs I had taken off the drawers and doors for the stove knobs and painted them black.  I used the same screws that they came with to attach them from the bottom.  There was a gap between the oven door and the dishwasher, so I used a side from one do the drawers that we had taken apart.  I cut it to fit, sanded and painted it, attached a couple of the black knobs, and screwed it into place.

Finally for the backsplash we used some leftover ceiling tin that we had used for our real kitchen backsplash a few years ago.  I attached it with liquid nails than caulked around the edges.  I also put a tap light hanging from the top.  I was really happy with how it turned out.  It took about a week to complete since I only had time to work on it a little each day.  Now I have some serious house work to catch up on!

Luke will be asking for kitchen supplies for Christmas.  He is loving it already, and taking food out of our pantry to put in it.  I also find matchbox cars in the sink.  It will be really cute with some play utensils and food.

My cost breakdown is:
Entertainment center and bed base - $16 total (after $35 from a gift card)
Black spray paint - $4
Silver spray paint - $8
Bowl for sink - $7
P-trap - $2
Sink knobs - $6
Black handles - $4
Light - $6
Items we had on hand - white paint, CDs, ceiling tin
Total cost - $53

We just returned a few days ago from our first Disney cruise!  It was the best vacation ever.  We spent 7 nights on the Disney Magic in the Western Caribbean.  The boys even said that they liked it better than Disney World and Disneyland.  Everything was fabulous - the food, the entertainment, the service.  And there was something for everyone.  I'll write more about other parts of our trip, but for now I'll start at the beginning.

Probably my least favorite part of the whole trip was packing. I found it very stressful to oversee packing for six, including a toddler. Instead of just telling everyone how many days of clothes they needed to throw in their bags, we had to make sure everyone had casual clothes for daytime, clothes for dinner at night, casual and dress shoes, swim suits, candy for the cast members, and all of our FE stuff. (I'll blog more about what FE's, or fish extenders, are in a later post.) Then we weren't sure it would all fit in the car. It would have been close to impossible to fly with all that we had packed. But once we were on our way I was really excited!

We drove down to Houston the day before the cruise and stayed at my parents' house. My mom drove us to Galveston Saturday morning and dropped us off at Terminal 2. It worked out great since it was raining, and we didn't have to worry about parking. We arrived about 11:00 and check in was very easy. Our boarding group was 6, and our boarding time was 11:30. I took Luke to see Minnie Mouse in the terminal, and I was happy to see that he liked her and wasn't going to be scared of the characters on board.  Before we knew it they had called group 6 and we walked on board. It was so exciting as we walked in with our matching t-shirts on and they announced our name and clapped for us.

Next we went to the Topsiders buffet for lunch. After we ate I took Luke to see the nursery, which he loved, and Michael to the Oceaneer Lab (for ages 3-10) to get his wristband for the week.  My husband took Zack to the Edge (for tweens) and Nick to the Vibe (teens).  Our rooms were ready by 1:30, so we started to unpack, decorate our doors and settle in. We were in rooms 2012 and 2013, across the hall from each other.

We had just enough time for Luke to get a nap in before the mandatory boat drill, and then we went straight up to deck 10 to get a spot for the sail away party. The rain had stopped, and the party was really fun - lots of dancing and singing. We even saw some dolphins as we were leaving.  By about 4:30 we were on our way out of Galveston Bay and toward the Western Caribbean!

School is Back in Session

We have just begun our third week of school.  I like to start at the beginning of August so we can finish at the end of April or beginning of May.  It is a little more relaxing to have a month or so of school before all of our other activities pick up.  That way we are not feeling rushed to get our school work done before heading out the door to dance lessons or soccer practice.  Besides, it is normally too hot to do much outside in August in Texas.  This also gives us a chance to take a fall vacation (like a Disney Cruise!) when everyone else is back in school, crowds are lighter, prices are cheaper, and the weather is nicer.
One of my goals for this year is to be a little more flexible.  I normally have every subject planned out for the entire year, including readers, read alouds, science projects, writing lessons and projects, and history lessons.  I like to be able to check off these things as they get done, and I feel like if I planned it we must do it.  So instead of having every day of every week planned out, I have a general plan of things we want to cover, and I will just plan it out week by week.  That way if a subject or project comes up that we want to spend more time on we can do it.  I know that my kids will never remember every date and event that we cover in history, but I want them to have fond memories of learning.  I want to focus more on instilling a love of learning and not on stressing out about not covering every page in every book.  Besides, having a 2-year old in the house while school is going on demands a little more flexibility on my part.
Another big goal for this year is to go to weekday Mass regularly.  When I went to Catholic school growing up we went to Mass every Friday.  I know many homeschoolers who make it to daily Mass with several more kids than I have.  And I discovered this summer that I can take Luke to morning Mass, and he does pretty well.  Our plan is to go every Wednesday at 8:00AM.  So far, so good.
The boys have had great attitudes, have been at their desks to start on time, and have done a good job getting their work done.  I know we will have our rough days, but it is nice to start out on the right foot.

The Cruise Is Close

According the ticker on my signature at Disboards.com, our very first Disney Cruise on the Magic out of Galveston to the Western Caribbean is in 2 months, 2 weeks, and 1 day!  I am getting more excited every day.  In just 2 days we can book port excursions, make reservations for the nursery, and register the boys for the kids' clubs.  I have been reading lots of reviews for port excursions and trying to decide what to do.  Having never cruised or traveled to the Caribbean, we are not sure what activities we will like or if we will prefer to stay on the ship.  The plan is to try snuba (like SCUBA but the air tanks float on top of the water instead of being attached to your back) in Grand Cayman and either a day at the beach or a chocolate factory tour in Cozumel.  My mouth is watering as I have been reading over the menus.  Mostly I just can't wait to spend a week on a Disney vacation relaxing with my family.
Right now there are 2 projects I'm working on in preparation for 7 days of luxury.  The first is potty training Luke.  He is not old enough to go to the Oceaneer Club, so there will be limited activities for him.  Children who are not potty trained can not swim in the pools on board, so we are working on it.  We've been working on it for a few days now, and for him just being 2 years old I think it is going really well.

My other project is making magnets to decorate our stateroom doors.  This is something I only recently learned about, but apparently this is something that lots of people do.  There are some kind and generous people who will personalize Disney themed designs (called Disigners) for free.  You can print them out to make magnets to hang on the metal doors on the ship or to make t-shirt iron on transfers.  I'm waiting for the Disigners to finish some of my designs, but in the meantime I made a Disney Cruise alphapet.  I printed one out that I found on 4shared.com, cut them out, and laminated them.  I'm going to glue magnets on the back.   I figured that Luke can use them to play with before and after the cruise.

Down and Dirty

Last Sunday morning we ran in the Merrill Down and Dirty Mud Run at Cedar Hill State Park.  It was so much fun!  Nick and I ran the 5K and Zack and Michael ran the kids' 1 mile.  The course was in the grass, woods, and water and included 12 obstacles (2 of them were mud pits). 
The 5K started at 7:45AM.  It was cool and cloudy, which really helped since the first part of the race was uphill.  I knew Nick would do well, but I was hoping to keep up with him enough to watch him do at least the first couple of obstacles.  He broke away so fast that I didn't see him after the first 1/4 mile!  There were walls to climb over, a tunnel to crawl through, a 20-foot high inflatable with a cargo net to climb and then slide down, and a push-up station.  The only one I had trouble with was the slippery wall just before the last giant mud pit at the end.  The wall was at an angle, and you had to pull yourself up using a rope.  I really didn't think I was going to make it, but somehow I managed.  I'm sure this was strategically placed near the finish line where all of the spectators could get a few laughs watching everyone try to get over the wall.  It was really exciting to cross the finish line!  Nick finished in 41:21 and my time was 51:12.
The 1 mile race was at 10:00AM.  It was definitely warming up by this point, but they only had to go a mile.  Luke loved watching the kids take off at the start and cheering them on as they had their turn to crawl through the mud at the end.
We camped for the weekend at the state park, so when the race was finished we went back to the camper.  We grilled hot dogs and visited with friends who had raced with us.  We had gone to Mass the night before, so we had the rest of the day to clean off, rest, and relax.  We also celebrated with homemade ice cream and s'mores around the camp fire in the evening.  It was such a great weekend, that we plan on camping out and running again next year.

Paleo Power

For Lent this year I decided to give up creamer and sweetener in my coffee.  I thought about giving up coffee, but then everyone around me would suffer as well, and it turns out that drinking black coffee for 40 days was definitely a sacrifice.  I had also been reading about the Paleo diet everywhere I turned.  It wasn't something I thought was for me, but it kept calling my name, so I figured that maybe I should bite the bullet and try it during Lent. 
The Paleo diet, also known as the Caveman or Hunter/Gatherer diet, consists of meat and vegetables, eggs, healthy fats, nuts, and some fruit.  There are some different versions you can find online, but basically if you can hunt it, catch it, or gather it, you can eat it.  There are no processed foods or grains or dairy on this eating program.
I really didn't think I would be able to give up pasta and bread and potatoes.  Not to mention my favorite food group - ice cream.  That's why I figured if I was going to do it Lent would be a good time.  It took a couple of weeks to get used to it, but I was surprised to find that I no longer craved those things.  I did still miss my coffee mate and cheese once in a while.  I was hardly ever hungry, and I was able to lose those last few stubborn pounds of baby weight plus some with less exercise.  And it is pretty easy to adjust to family meals.  For the most part I just leave out the starch and eat everything else that the family eats.

Now that Easter has come, I have gone back to my beloved creamer in my coffee, but I have decided to stick with a mostly Paleo diet.  I mean this is a world in which I can have avacado every day, I don't get grouchy from hunger, and I can fit into a lot of clothes I haven't been able to wear since I was pregnant with Luke.  There is no calorie counting and no portion control.  I have read that even eating Paleo 80% of the time is great.  So I figure that if I can do this 80% then I will have the health benefits and still get to splurge once in a while.  I have given up Fiber 1 bars and yogurt but I've found that I love cashews and dates, beef jerky and roasted sweet potatoes.  I don't know if I will follow this eating plan forever, but I will definitely be doing this for a while.  I am amazed at the results!

AW 365 Is Complete!

Since March 8, 2011 I've been working on a photography project.  I named it "AW 365" because my goal was to take a photo every day for a year. (It actually turned into 367 photos due to leap year and I wanted my last picture to show some closure, so it ran from 3/8/11 to 3/8/12, a total of 367 days.)  I loved it.  It gave me a chance to take pictures of everyday things that I would never photograph - my favorite coffee cup, our house during each of the seasons, piles of laundry, soccer practice.  Also to keep it from getting boring I tried some techniques that I don't normally use, like different angles and trying different modes on my camera.  Now that it's over I'm both relieved and sad.  It's nice not to have to come up with a photo for every day, but I'm so glad I did it.  I find myself thinking "That would be a great photo of the day." even though it is done.  I will probably do another similar project in the future, maybe a 365 project in black and white, or maybe a week in my life.  For now I'm taking a little break from the scheduled and structured and just photographing when I want to.

My first photo from 3-8-11

Time to Get Back in Shape

I've been looking for some motivation for several months now to get back in shape. Before I got pregnant with Luke I was working out 5 days a week doing cardio and some weight training. He is coming up on his second birthday, and I haven't been able to get back in the routine. I've been hanging on to the last few pounds of pregnancy weight and gained a few more between my trip to Argentina (totally worth it!) and the Christmas holidays. Now that the boys' play and the holidays are over, and my 40th birthday is this year, I am finally ready. Even though our schedule is still busy, we have a little more free time while we wait for soccer season to start again in March. When am I able to fit in time for a workout? I know the answer, but I just don't want to face it - wake up early and get on the treadmill before school!

I hate waking up early. It's one of the things I like best about homeschooling. I don't know how I would manage if I had to get all of the kids up, dressed, and out of the house early in the morning 5 days a week. But my need to get back in shape has won out, and I am on my fourth week of dragging myself out of bed to get on the treadmill.

My program includes getting in shape spiritually too. While I am walking the first mile I say the rosary. I got the Rosary Army rosary podcast on my ipod. It is the scriptural rosary, so in addition to meditating on the mysteries of the gospels, there is a scripture verse before each Hail Mary. This helps me to focus a little better. A friend shared another good web site for praying the rosary that I have been using - http://www.comepraytherosary.org/ . I also bought a prayer journal. I'm hoping it will help me focus on all the things I need to pray for and help me add more prayer throughout the day.

So here is the plan. I get up early before school (Mon-Fri) and get on the treadmill for at least 30 minutes of cardio. My goal is 45 minutes to 1 hour of cardio a day, so if I can get it all in early then I'm done. If not I finish up later in the afternoon. I'm also doing weight training Mon-Wed-Fri. I use a combination of hand weights, my new kettle bell (a new treat to keep me motivated), and the Wii Fit. As far as eating I'm watching portion size, cutting out junk food, and adding in more fruits and vegetables. I've gotten some great deals on Lean Cuisine and Smart Ones frozen meals lately with sales and coupons, so the freezer is stocked. They are great for a quick lunch. I'm also juicing (carrot-apple juice) every morning and drinking lots of water.

So far it is going well. I have even lost a few pounds. I will probably never enjoy waking up early, but I have to admit it is the key right now, and I'm always happy when it is over.