Downtown Disney

I ♥ Disney World. Seriously. Mark asked me if we could move there at the end of this trip and I was right there with him. It's just so magical, for lack of a better word.

This trip was the brainchild of one of my closest friends, Katie. She and I have been friends for 8 years now, but it seems like much longer. (I think it was that first year of teaching together that simultaneously bonded us for life and aged us 5 years!) We met sitting through the endless torture called New Teacher Orientation and Inservice. Nothing like sitting on backless benches in freezing school cafeterias for hours to help you make friends! And what started at school all those years ago as first year teachers has evolved into discussing pregnancy, babies, diapers, discipline and all those other riveting topics so near and dear to every stay-at-home mother's heart. Between us we have 5 kids 5 and under - hers are all girls and mine are boys. So we when get to see each other back in Dallas, it's not exactly easy to spend time together.

Katie had the idea though to take a trip with just our oldest kids for their birthdays. Hailey turned 5 a few weeks ago and Mark turns 4 in a couple weeks. (Plus, Katie and I both have birthdays in September!) We thought would be a fun trip to celebrate and some great quality time together with our kids and each other. Let me tell you. We had no idea how great it would be.

Mark and I drove down to Orlando in time to pick them up from the airport. We decided to head over to Downtown Disney to have an early dinner. Hailey's favorite restaurant is "Rainforest Cafe" so we headed there first. After a bit of shopping in the Disney store they each picked out one toy for themselves and one for their younger siblings. Hailey chose a Cinderella princess pillow and Mark chose a WDW bus, that he later drove on 85% of the surfaces in Magic Kingdom. (Reese and Luke got stuffed animals.)

And of course, we couldn't walk past the Ghiradelli shop without ice cream. Hailey, Katie and I shared a huge brownie sundae and Mark got his own cone with sprinkles. Then we headed out to "Shades of Green" to go to bed early and get ready for two full days at the parks.

Hailey did not understand why Mark was so concerned with driving his new bus on the princess dress instead of posing for a picture!

Six Blessed Years

Then

I can hardly believe it's been six years since Tim and I married. I still remember so many details of that day. It was such a beautiful wedding and we had an amazing time dancing, laughing and celebrating with our friends at our reception. We had a beautiful honeymoon in San Antonio and headed to Virginia to buy our first dog (Lonestar), buy our first house and weather our first hurricane (Isabelle) - all in a week! Tim left for his first 6 month deployment and "real" life had begun for us. The honeymoon was definitely over!

I had no idea what I was getting into when I married Tim six years ago. I don't think anyone does when they get married. I had no idea how tough life could be in the Navy or simply how hard it is to love someone unselfishly day-in and day-out. But I also had no idea how much fun it would be to be married to my best friend. I couldn't have imagined the simple pleasure from a laugh exchanged over a glance because you know exactly what the other person is thinking. I didn't dream we could become so close over the bond of creating 2 little boys. And I can't even begin to comprehend all the plans the Lord has for us in the coming years of our marriage!

Thank you Tim for 6 beautiful years together and I pray for many more with you!

Now

I've been busy...

It's no excuse, but life has been crazy around here. And there's so much that I can't write about with Tim's job that I haven't been in much of a blogging mood. Forgive me.

But Mark and I did just get back from a great Disney trip with our friends Katie and Hailey. Look for posts on that trip in the next couple of days. And if you've really been missing me (as if!) you can always read my writing on Tuesdays at Today's Housewife. This week I blogged about how quickly the boys are growing up.

Future Magician?

Tim and I love Arrested Development. It has got to be one of the funniest and under-appreciated shows ever on television. One of our favorite characters is Gob, played by Will Arnett, the magician brother. His tricks often don't work and one of our favorite scenes he wakes up in the hospital injured and whispers, "Ta-da!" (If you are a fan of the show, you should find his appearance on Sesame Street as a magician on You Tube. It's hilarious!)

So when Luke started saying, "Ta-da!" we could couldn't resist getting it on tape. It's even funnier when he uses it somewhat appropriately. This morning he dropped his spoon on the floor at breakfast, looked at me and said, "Ta-da!"

What we eat when Tim is gone

Yes. That IS a box with 10 sleeves of Oreo cookies. Because who doesn't need 135 Oreos. I wish I could tell you that this will last us a good while, but at 3 cookies a piece per day...

Brothers and Friends

Having two boys two years apart can be exhausting. Sometimes I wonder, "What were we thinking!?" They are so noisy and messy and dirty and rough. (And we won't even mention the laundry!) It's enough to drive any mother crazy some days. But lately I've noticed that they are really enjoying each other too. I catch them playing together all the time. There's still plenty of train-snatching and tower-crashing accompanied by tears around here, it just seems to be mixed up with quite a few hugs and lessons on how to make car sounds. It makes those endless piles of stained t-shirts and referee calls seem a little easier when I hear them laughing together. And I look forward to watching them become friends as well as brothers over the years, especially since I'm now convinced they might not kill each other in the process.

First Day of School...

It's a bit early in August, but I'm thinking the first day of school can never come too early for a mother. (At least a mother of young children. I'm sure all the mothers of college freshmen would disagree with me!) Mark has been attending a wonderful school her for the last 10 months. And today was Luke's first day. I wasn't sure I'd know what to do with myself for 5 whole hours alone, but you know? I managed just fine! And the boys loved it, of course. Here are the pictures I took this morning on our way out the door.

And if you aren't doing anything on Mondays, Wednesday or Fridays, call me! We'll do lunch!