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Disney World!

So, this post will be mostly pictures . . . hope you don't mind! Last November we were able to go to Disney World!! Some of Ben's family flew to Florida and we drove. The drive was actually really good, surprisingly! I was shocked at how well the kids did. We only had to stop once for a gas/potty break during the whole 8.5 hour drive. I guess that's not true. We did stop at Daytona Beach for a little while and then drove the rest of the way to Disney World. We rented a house so that we could all be in the same place and to save money. That worked out well too! Aside from being with family and just being in Disney World, my favorite things about the trip were. . .

Simon wanting to stop at every single store to look at pins to buy.

Nolan loving his Puffle pins and Puffle stuffed toys.

Bella yelling "THIS IS MY FAVWIT PAHT!!!!" on most of the rides

and spending 99% of her money on "suckahs." (NOT an exaggeration)

Malia seeing "Tidder" and "Wahder" (Tigger and water)

and loving her "Pa and Tai" (Grandpa and Kai).

Enough chit chat. Here are some pictures. Okay, maybe a lot of pictures. :)

In no particular order. . .

I want to go back! :)

An Angry Birds Birthday

My sweet Nolan turned six in November. I really do hate that my kids get bigger. (sigh)
I had been promising Nolan a birthday party when he was in kindergarten and had friends that he plays with rather than just sees at preschool. So, when the time came I asked him what kind of birthday party he wanted and without hesitation he told me "Angry Birds!"
I had NO clue what to do for an angry birds party.
However, with the help of Pinterest and my creative genius, (eh hem) this is what we did. . .

Nolan's invitation


Nolan's playable cake


Life-size Angry Birds game: (this was so so so fun!) I painted the balls and we made a makeshift slingshot. The kids loved it!



Pig Pinata


Mini Angry Birds game: I made each of the kids these little pom-pom birds and pigs. They built up the cups and then flicked the birds at the pigs. They got to take their mini game home. It's not the best picture, but will have to do. :)


I also made each of the kids a mini pinata filled with candy and toys.


Not to toot my own horn. . .but it was a pretty darn cool party! Nolan was happy and that's all that mattered. I'm glad he could finally have a "real" birthday party. I just hope he doesn't expect the same level of creativity from me next year. . .cause it's not happening! :)

Conversation on a Train

Over the next few days I'm going to attempt to get caught up on the last two months of activities. Tons of stuff happened. . .and I just haven't had time to sit and post about it!

First of all. . .I had to share what happened last week on the train. I took all the kids to meet Ben at work and go to lunch. On the way home we got on the train and it was totally full. I was standing with Malia and Bella and for the last half of the trip Simon and Nolan were sitting two rows away from where we were standing. A lady sitting across from the boys started talking to them. She asked them what they wanted for Christmas and if they had been good so Santa could come. Then out of nowhere Nolan decides to share some information with the lady. . .

Nolan: "Did you know all of my underwear is ripped?!"

Me: "Nolan!"

Nolan: "Well, it is! All my underwear is ripped."

At this point. . .everyone that could hear was chuckling

Me: "All of your underwear is not ripped."

Nolan: "Yes they are! There's a hole in the front and I can see my private parts! They are all ripped!"

And now. . .everyone is laughing out loud.

Me: (totally embarrassed) "They aren't ripped, Nolan. That is just how they're made."

Nolan: "Well, they are ripped, I guess so. I can see my private parts."

Me: "Well, I don't think everyone wants to hear about your ripped underwear."

I didn't think it was very funny at the time, but I think it's totally hilarious now. Nolan just tells whoever is around whatever is on his mind at the time. At that moment, he was thinking about his ripped underwear. And why wouldn't you tell some random woman how all your underwear are ripped?

Mud Princess

It has been raining a lot here over the last few days. In between the down pours, I thought I'd go outside and do some weeding (. . .yay.) Malia was kind enough to help out. . .only. . .she didn't pull weeds. She just grabbed handfuls of mud and relocated it. She also found a little puddle to play in. Then she thought it was fun to walk around and see all the little mud footprints that were left behind.
This is what she looked like when we were done. . .

Her poor boots!

Swingin'

Today Nolan got to bring home Cocoa the monkey from his Kindergarten class. He really really wanted to go take some pictures with him and Cocoa, so we went across our backyard and across the street to the swings. Here are a few pictures we took. I'm counting the few of Bella and Malia as part of their 4 year/18 month pictures. . .I'll be taking more. :)
I'm loving the ginormous tree for the background.


I must say. . .I do have some pretty cute kids!