Missing Connections

There's a song that Trace Adkins sings called "One of Those Nights." It's a rather hot song. I like to listen to it when I'm feeling attractive and perhaps a bit feisty.

"But baby you always leave
One of those smiles on me
After one of those nights
Just like last night
Oh my, what a beautiful thing
Just you and me
Those tangled sheets
Were wrapped around us
Baby, thanks to your love
It was one of those nights that leads
Right to one of those days that leads
Right to one of those nights"

Lately, though, it's been popping into my mind as I smirk to myself. Scott and I have been off somehow. We're good, mind you, no scary unresolved issues. It's just that sometimes we don't click as wonderfully as other times. Now is one of those times.

There's a lot on our minds...house, truck, moving, kids, life...you know how it goes. And for some reason that always translates into touchiness, misunderstandings, and hurt feelings (sometimes actual hurts too).

What I mean is, a few night ago I cuddled up behind Scott in bed and we talked for half an hour without incident. Last night I tried to do the same thing and my arm fell into that soft and uncomfortable spot between ribs and hips. Apparently he doesn't like his internal organs mushed. So, I rolled back over and the covers got tucked under me and pulled off him. That didn't go over well. In the end I settled for simply sliding my foot back to rest against his leg. However, his leg was not where I expected it to be and I dug a little skin off him with my toe talons.

I called it quits at that point. "I know you love me. You know I love you. But I'm calling it quits for tonight, hoping we'll wake up tomorrow and be able to snuggle again without drawing blood." That's when Trace's song popped into my head. My brain has a strange sense of humor.

So, tonight I'm hoping for something different from last night. I'm not necessarily looking for a Trace Adkins night (I'm not sure I have the energy for that much steam) but something that leaves me smiling instead of smirking or sulking would be lovely.

In the meantime, here's hoping you all connect with your loved ones today and in the New Year! Happy 2010!!!

Symbolic Syllables

Tyler turned two years old a few days ago. We didn't do a whole bunch for his big day...got pictures taken and he opened a few gifts and cards. We'll celebrate more for his half-birthday in June. Jace and Gracie's birthdays are in May and June and I decided it's really convenient to get new clothes and toys every six months. It's also a little easier on the check book. So, since Tyler really doesn't care yet, we'll have a cake and sing his praises this summer!

Being that Tyler is our youngest I didn't know if I'd have any issues with him turning two. I'm not one of those parents who drags my heals and doesn't want her children to go up, but there is something that pulls at my heart strings knowing that my baby really isn't a baby anymore. More than stressing over Tyler's birthday, I did comment to Scott that I might be struggling with the fact that Jace will be seven years old in five months.

"Seven?" he said. "What's the deal with that? It's not like he's going to start driving or anything."

"No...but that does remind me that the other day when I was returning that book the cashier asked for my driver's license and Gracie asked when she'd be able to take driving lessons. I said, 'Uh...when you're 16.'

She countered with, 'What about 13?'

'No, 16.' The cashier just smiled and shook her head!"

Scott reminded me that we don't negotiate with terrorists and children are terrorists. Both are true...and Gracie won't be driving at 13 years old. Silly girl.

I refocused our conversation. "Back to Jace...it's not that turning seven is any huge milestone to most, but it seems like a big deal to me because it has two syllables."

"What?!" Lots of laughter. "Are you serious? You need to blog about this...mothers are crazy."

I'm sorry that he lumped all of you other moms in with me. Maybe you're not all as crazy as I am. Or are you?

It's not even that I don't want Jace to turn seven, I just can't believe it has gone by so quickly. He was my baby once. I remember when he turned two. It wasn't that long ago, but long enough, I guess, that my little Jace is growing into a big Jace...two syllables old. In a few months, now, let's not rush things! (Wink, wink)

A Quiet Gebel Family Christmas

It's now two days after Christmas. I'm just starting to organize and rearrange to fit in all the new stuff with all the old, and maybe to get rid of some of the old!

Christmas day I did manage to get the doll house Santa got Gracie moved into her room and to unpackage all the dolls and accessories she unwrapped that morning. As far as packaging goes...you know the plastic pieces that hold the tags onto the clothes at the store, the ones that you try to break with your teeth even though you know you shouldn't? Well, barbies, barbie clothes, barbie shoes, barbie cell phones and water bottles...all of it is held to the card board with little mini plastic things. I think I could have made another whole doll with all those pesky little pieces! In the end, though, the jolly man did a great job! Gracie loves her dolls and their house! She's been in her room every day playing with her them. And when she's not there she's been painting and coloring with the princess art things she got from her grandmas and grandpas. She's a happy girl!

Jace got Legos. He got other things too...books he's started to read, clothes he's already set out for the first day back to school...but he got a lot of very cool Legos! He now has a bin to store all his new and old blocks in. It's big and he can sort through it and he can't wait to play with it! I just shooed him outside, though, so he'll have to wait! However, that is today's major project...getting all the Legos in one place and keeping them in the office, which is going to be where Jace plays with Legos. In the past he's moved his Legos out of the boys' bedroom so that Tyler could nap, but this way they'll already be out. Another bonus is that he can create and leave things set up and I won't step on them in the middle of the night when responding to Tyler's cries or checking on the tooth fairy. (By the way, Jace lost his 4th tooth last Tuesday...he's quite cute with his missing teeth!)

While we're discussing Legos, though, I feel I should let you all know something. In an effort to get more for less I bought Jace a set of Lego-knock offs. They were about half the price and instead off getting him just a truck and trailer I was able to get him a set with all the makings for both fire and police stations, a helicopter, a plane, and four other trucks. It seemed like such a great idea! Alas, they're not as good. Most of them stick together but some of them don't. Scott was not impressed. In the future, I'll surely stick to the real thing!

And Tyler...he got lots of things he loves. Tractors. Trains. Cars. He wasn't so interested in actually unwrapping the gifts, but once he saw what each new present was he couldn't wait for Dada wot get it out for him!

Jace summed up the gift opening well. "It was a Lego, Barbie, and wheels included Christmas!"

The kids were thrilled, and two days later still are. Scott and I enjoyed the excitement in their eyes and have eaten our share of cookies, even frosted a few! It's been a great few days! I do have one question, though, how is it that after spending a few days in pajamas I have so much laundry to do? Oh, well, I guess the World's Greatest Mom (that's me...Jace got me a magnet that says so!) better get her basket and start sorting! We might want clean clothes for New Year's!

My Christmas Presents

I was in the kitchen taking cookies off the tray when Gracie yelled, "OW!" and came running. I was all ready to scold her and Jace and tell them one more time that Santa is still watching. But...

"Mama! Tyler's feeling better. He just hit me with a tractor!" And off she ran, and tried to get him to hit her again! I guess she's glad he wants to play today.

Yesterday was a different story. To catch you up, if you didn't already know, Tyler hasn't been feeling well. He had a slight fever on Tuesday and sounded a little hoarse by that night. I figured he was getting a cold. At just about 3:30 Wednesday morning, though, he woke up crying in pain. Clearly this wasn't any old cold. Health care being what it is (and I'm not getting into a political debate) I waited to call until 6:00 am, when the appointment line opens. I not only took the earliest appointment available (3:50 pm) but also left a message for Tyler's doctor. Leaving a message via the call center is the only way to get in touch with your doctor. We can't call directly or make appointments directly...everything through the 800 number. When you leave a message the doctor, or rather the doctor's nurse, has 72 business hours to get back to you. With the holiday weekend coming quickly I didn't hold my breath. But I'd done what I could and cuddled Tyler close.

During the morning he didn't seem to be doing too badly, although he wasn't eating anything and drinking very little. Increasingly, too, he was having a harder time breathing. When it came time to go to his appointment Scott took him in and I stayed home to catch up on the cookies I'd been planning on baking.

This was my first present...Scott doesn't take the kids to appointments. He claims that he doesn't know how, but honestly, I figure it out as I go and he's pretty smart. Besides I was making the cookies for him to take to work with him. So he didn't complain and stepped up.

An hour after the appointment began Scott called to let me know that Tyler was having "severe respiratory distress" and they were being transported via ambulance to the emergency room for a closer look.

Yes. I took a deep breath too.

I told Jace and Gracie that Tyler's lungs were hurting him and Dada was taking him to the hospital so the doctors could look at him there. They asked if he was going to have to stay, we didn't know. But I asked them to find something to do until Dada called back with more information.

It was time for my second present. The kids got photo albums down and started looking through them, pointing out pictures of their little brother.

"Tyler was so cute last Christmas in New York."

"There's where we went to see Tyler in the hospital when he was born."

"Tyler is so silly!"

I listened from the kitchen with proud tears in my eyes. They love Tyler and were worried about him. I love how they expressed that stress, sharing memories.

After several calls back and forth...long story, short...Tyler was admitted to the hospital and I spent the night there with him. He had croup and was having a difficult time with it. For a while he was getting breathing treatments every couple hours. However, as the night went on they were able to stretch them out and the nurses all listened to his little lungs and smiled.

That was perhaps my best gift. Tyler and I got to come home. He's still got a nasty cough every so often, and may for a while, but he's breathing more easily.

One of the nurses commented that she was worried about him last night and there was talk of transporting him to a specialty hospital. Thank God I didn't know all that at the time. My mind jumped to some scary places as soon as Scott said ambulance. I'm glad I wasn't privy to what a rough state my baby boy really was in. And I'm even more glad that he's no longer there.

Right now Scott's at work, sharing holiday spirit in the form of cookies. Jace and Gracie are happily playing outside and Tyler is taking a nap. The four of them are really all I need, all I want for Christmas. So even though Santa has a few items to drop off for the kids tonight, I've already been taken care of.

Merry Christmas!

The Whole Fam Damily

Everyone knows that we don't choose our family, right? I mean it takes some of us longer to learn that then others, but we all find out sooner or later than just because we're related to someone doesn't mean we're perfect.

I'm not sure why we put family on a pedestal to begin with. But we do. There's always that one aunt who is exceptionally stern (read scary) but we view her as the exception, not the rule. We ignore rudeness, look past improperness, and try to see the good in everyone who lives in our family tree. I don't think this is all bad, but why is it wrong to see people for who they are? Flaws and all.

This may seem like a strange thing to write about days before Christmas, but so much of the holiday season is about family. And since we're expected to deal with family maybe it's the perfect time to focus on the facts about family.

My family is good. Not perfect, but good. I've had ups and downs with various members, but overall they're decent, hardworking people. In the past, though, during some of those downs, I dreaded the holidays. I didn't want to be fake and didn't want to throw off the whole status quo. Thankfully, I'm past that...but not everyone is. I've heard a lot about the stresses of going home to visit parents, white lies being told to keep from having to see relatives, and general discontent regarding the whole fam damily.

Let me lay it out...they're human too. Moms make mistakes. Aunts can be obnoxious. Cousins cantankerous, and grandpas grumpy. Brothers can bother and sisters might make you sad. Uncles could cause ulcers and dads don't deal with anything. It might all be true in your life, or maybe just some of it. But that can all be said about me from time to time too. If a line gets crossed...deal with it. Don't let pieces of sand burrow under your skin and holiday after holiday irritate you more and more. Take the pot off the burner before it boils over in the middle of dessert.

In the end...don't feel like you have to love family just because they're family. Love them, spend time with them because you want to. Because you choose to. Choose your "family" whether they're friends you've met through the years or family in the more traditional sense.

To bring it back to the reason for the season...Jesus chose his family. Those nearest to him had no blood in common, but they were his brothers and sisters none the less.

Like I said before, my family is good. Scott and I have chosen family and friends to be with when we can. I know we don't see any of you often enough, but we do love you and think of you. So please don't read this and think I'm talking about you...none of you have caused me heart ache (at least not in some time!) but I am talking to some of you. Some of you are the reason for this post...having shared your uncertainties regarding how to deal with family members. So, take this for what it is...my thoughts on whether you should divorce your family, confront your aunt, or talk down your mother-in-law.

Here's hoping the light of Christmas helps each of us appreciate those we choose to spend it with and illuminates how we should treat all those we love and tolerate.

Merry Christmas.

Christmas Countdown

For a week or two the kids have been letting us now how far away Christmas is. Maybe that's why we were done shopping early...

"Ten days until Santa comes."

"One week from tonight Santa comes."

"Mama, there are only four days until Christmas!"

See, there's no way Christmas was sneaking up on us this year.

We've talked about lots of other things regarding Christmas too. We've gone out to see Christmas lights...found out the kids do not count traffic on Interstate 95 or lights on inside the house as Christmas lights.

We've made cookies, most of which we've eaten, and will continue to make more until well after New Year's, I suppose. There are so many kinds I want to taste this holiday season.

We've sung and listened to Christmas carols. I watched Gracie sing at the top of her lungs at her school and listened to Tyler "pum, pum, pum" from the back seat.

We've even talked about how Santa makes his list, how to get on it and who might be on the naughty list. After scolding Gracie about something and threatening her with, "Santa's still watching, you know," she wondered why Santa doesn't have more lists.

"What if Santa had three lists...one for kids who are good and bad? Or what if he had four lists. The fourth one could be called Silly!"

If Santa has four lists...our kids are most certainly on the Silly list! They've not only kept us aware of how far away Christmas is, but Jace has written his own list...a schedule of the order we'll open our gifts. And don't worry, he checked it twice...knowing him, three times.

Christmas Is In The Air...

This is our third Christmas here, in Georgia, and although we enjoy our holidays, they don't always feel quite right. Part of that is the lack of family get togethers. The other part is the weather.

Scott and I are accustomed to two sorts of family gatherings. One is big, one bigger. What I mean by bigger is "so many people that the family function can no longer be held in someone's living room." On two sides of our family local fire halls are reserved for a day and aunts, uncles, and cousins file in to sit in folding chairs and enjoy feasts of dish-to-pass favorites. Gifts are exchanged and stories shared. Young couples introduce new babies. Younger family members bashfully introduce new girlfriends or boyfriends. It's how we host a family get together!

The other sides of our family still crowd into an Aunt's or Grandma's living room. The same traditions take place...food, fun, family. Cards are pulled out and serious games of Euchre or Shoot the Moon ensue. Football, along with cheers and disappointment, provides background noise on the television. That's a family get together too!

And whichever I'm part of, it feels like home, like the holidays. And this year, we're not part of either...big or small. We're sticking close to our home, in Georgia, and enjoying our little branch of the family tree. The kids are excited. Scott and I are too, and we're hoping Santa brings a buyer for our house. Aside from that nagging concern in the back of our brains, we're happy to have three beautiful, happy, and healthy kids who can't wait to scatter reindeer food on the lawn and chose the perfect cookies for Santa himself.

And there's some good news regarding the reindeer food...they won't have to dig in the snow for it! Last week I wore shorts. Today I pulled weeds. Tomorrow we're going on a family bike ride. It feels nothing like Christmas to a couple of Yankees who keep hearing stories about all the snow that's fallen back home in New York! But we'll manage. I try to enjoy the holidays sans snow because I know there will come a time when I'll be longing for shorts in December.

For now, though, extended family and snow are in our hearts and our thoughts...and Christmas is in the air.

He Likes Me...He Really Likes Me

I've heard that the best indication of how your spouse feels about you is not in how he talks to you, but in how he talks to others about you.

Scott tells me he loves me daily, more than once. I learned in college in some relationship class that well connected couples share at least ten non-sexual touches a day. Scott makes it a point to give me that attention. Even though I feel like the most special girl in the world with him I was still a little speechless and slightly teary after bumping into a co-worker of his at the store today.

Apparently he likes me. We were talking about all the shenanigans with Scott's orders, whether the kids and I are tagging along or not...it's really almost all I talk about these days! She said several things that touched me but perhaps the most direct and simple was, "He wants you to go."

It's true. He does. I knew that but hearing it from her touched me. Even writing this now I'm tearing up. Sometimes it's easy to feel like nothing special when day in and out my role is to cook, clean, pay bills, and run errands. It's easy to feel like a bedraggled, tired mom. It's easy to forget that first came love. Even though we say it all the time and try to show it all the time, hearing it from an outside source is elating.

Nine and a half hears after "I do" we're going strong, stronger than I knew possible. No matter where we end up because of practicalities, that simple fact that we want to be together will remain our goal. And it's good to have goals.

And for the record, I want to go with him too.

Life Immitating Art

Have you ever read a "Choose Your Own Adventure" book? I used to love them when I was younger. Basically, you'd begin reading and after a few pages you'd be faced with a decision - go to page 14 to ask the shopkeeper for help or go to page 43 if you want to keep wandering through the market. I loved skipping between stories and finding new adventures and going back to the beginning if I didn't like the outcome of my first adventure. I didn't realize that my life is a choose your own adventure story all it's own.

A week ago Scott and I had made the decision that he would be moving to Washington on his own and the kids and I would stay here for another year. We were confident that this was the mature and financially responsible thing to do. I wrote about it and sent it out in the Christmas letter. We had accepted it.

But then we turned a page and found out that we could go to some other page if we wanted to try a different adventure. We've spent the last few days looking at other possibilities, some that we've thought of before and some that are new ideas. I feel like I'm wired and exhausted at the same time. I don't know what the best decision is...I'm not even sure what trumps what in the decision making process. There's finances, being together as a family, schools, who knows whatever else.

So, even though the decision had been made...it's back up in the air. What I'd like is for God to clearly point out His plan for us. I have prayed on this and don't know if my desire to be with my husband is clouding my judgment or not. I don't want to miss His guidance or misunderstand it. I was thinking maybe He could put up a bill board with neon arrows pointing at it. Or I could look out the window and see an angel fulfilling duties as a messenger of God, bringing me a personal note saying "stay" or "go." I mean, I'm not asking for a burning bush or anything...just clarity.

So, if you're the praying kind...say a little prayer for us. If you're not, keep us in your thoughts. None of it can hurt and we can certainly use all the help we can. A year ago we started with Plan A for this whole relocating thing. I think we've gone through the alphabet and are back at the beginning, with subheadings and bullets.

By this time next year we should know what's going on. I'll keep you posted!

Cookies for Santa

The kids and I had a little conversation about leaving things for Santa. We saw something on TV where a little boy said he'd left a sandwich for Santa last year...and he must have liked it because he ate it up.

Jace: "Maybe we can leave Santa a pizza. I bet he'd like that even more than a sandwich."

Gracie: "Or we could just leave him a bag of chocolate chips."

Mama: "Hmmm...a whole bag?"

Gracie: "Yeah. Then he could just have Mrs. Claus make him cookies."

Always thinking...

"Them"

I come from small town, rural USA. (Honestly, most of you reading this know exactly where I come from!) Pike, New York is in a county that, at one time, boasted more cows than people. I'm not sure if that still holds up...but you get the idea. I lived in the country.

Most, if not all, of my neighbors were white...probably still would be if I lived there now. In high school we joked about having token families as our exposure to diversity. Scott grew up a mile down the road...same Caucasian experience as me. Yet, somehow, we're not racist or prejudiced. Well, Scott is a bit prejudiced against stupid people, but that's across every nationality, religion, and sexual preference.

What's my point?

Here, in the South, the wars still on! The ratio of black to white here is a heck of a lot closer to 50/50 than back North. I guess having neighbors of a different skin color, and being pleasant to their faces, doesn't actually mean anything about how you feel and act behind their backs.

And there aren't just issues between African Americans and those with Eastern European ancestry. A few days ago I was part of a conversation that started something like this:

"Look at them...all stuffed in that truck. How many of 'em do you think are in there?"

I was taken aback. I saw no reason to refer to the people in the other vehicle with such disdain. After getting over my shock I was offended, for the people in the truck and because this woman, who was riding in my car, assumed I would play right along with her nastiness. I didn't.

I wasn't rude to her, but was confident in my status as no better than the people getting gas next to us. I'm pretty sure that she didn't learn anything from my stance. She kept laughing and making comments. I was even direct and asked her not to talk negatively about the passengers in the truck. She laughed and got in one last comment. Arg.

Obviously I'm still a bit riled by this. Every culture has stereotypes about it and sometimes talking about them can be funny and light hearted. Other times, when comments are mean spirited and said with a smirk...it's prejudice. There's no need for it. There's no reason for it. Don't we all know enough to know that no whole grouping of people is worthy of outright badmouthing just for being who they are?

Not all bald men are scary, even though I know there is a community of white men with skin heads that hate on a grand scale. Apply this to everyone...and stop your freakin' judging and obnoxious rudeness simply based on skin color, ethnicity, religion...any of it. Seriously, people!

OK, even though my letting off steam tends to be a quiet little tea kettle whistle, I do feel a little better. Maybe, somehow saying my piece will ripple out into the greater world and make a difference.

Twinkle, Twinkle

A few days ago Jace told me that a girl in his reading group, Meredith, was working on a story about the two of them. Instantly I was intrigued. Meredith was in Jace's kindergarten class and he was quite smitten with her then. He talks about her daily. Until now I didn't know if his admiration was returned or not. He went on to tell me more.

"It's going to be a chapter book. She hasn't finished it yet, but she told me the chapters. Chapter one is called Love Birds. Chapter two is Broken Up...Maybe. Chapter three is Together Again."

The smile on his face was so big! I told him I'd like to hear more about the story as she got a chance to work on it. He couldn't wait to read her story either...anticipation was in the air. So yesterday, in the van on the way to get our Christmas tree, Jace announced that Meredith had written a little more...would we like to hear it? I hadn't had a chance to tell Scott about this love story in progress so Jace recounted what he'd earlier told me. Scott took his eyes off the road long enough to roll them at me and cautiously said, "Go ahead...tell us what she wrote."

"Well, Meredith and I had dinner and then we went up a mountain where I named a star after her."

"Aren't you the little romantic?" I commented.

"Meredith came up with that. She's getting used to it."

"Used to what?" Scott questioned.

"Used to me loving her. I loved her in kindergarten too, but now she'd used to it. She even let me help her with her book. I gave her the choice of going up the mountain in a 4-wheeler or an F-150. She chose the F-150 so that's how we got up the mountain where I named a star after her."

I think both Scott and I were speechless, or afraid that we'd laugh if we said too much, because we both just said, "Oh..."

Then, last night, at Scott's work Christmas party, he and I were dancing. The room was dimly lit by chandeliers of eight or nine light bulbs each. As we held each other close and sang the words of a country love song, turning around the dance floor, Scott giggled. Summoning all the intoxicated romantic energy he could find he said, "Hey...there's a light out on that one. And that's the one I was going to name after you." More giggling.

I fear that Meredith might be disappointed if Jace turns out like his dad, but only when it comes to silly, romantic notions. Jace couldn't have anyone better to look up to to learn how to be a caring, strong, nurturing, loyal, committed, amazing, and entertaining husband. There's no doubt Scott loves me, or that Jaces adores Meredith. With a few deep breaths and a sense of humor we should all enjoy the amorous adventures yet to come!

Lessons Learned: The Gebel Way

I will tell anyone who wants to listen that I am not a teacher. What I mean is that I don't sit down with workbooks and lessons and try to get a point across. However, I do take frequent opportunities to ask questions and get their little minds thinking or answer questions they have for me. I have no problem using the radio, passing trucks, or even the television as a tool to challenge them or instill some pertinent information in them.

Depending on our surroundings for intellectual stimulation can make things interesting...like the time I had to explain that Toby Keith can sing "slap your Grandma" in a song and that's OK but that in any other context it's not nice to say that or act on it. See? Interesting.

So, one thing that we do pretty much weekly as a family is watch America's Funniest Home Videos. Something I say several times during this show is some variation of, "Why do boys do such stupid things?" I wasn't intentionally trying to teach the kids anything about foolishness, but they learned anyway...at least Gracie did.

Friday morning it was a cool 44 degrees when we left for school. Gracie, Tyler and I had sweatshirts on and I asked Jace if he was going to wear his and he said, "No, I won't be cold. I'm a boy."

To which Gracie commented, "And boys do stupid things, like not wear jackets when it's cold outside."

That same morning we saw a boy getting on a bus with only shorts and a t-shirt on (at least my son had pants and long sleeves!) and Jace said, "See! He's not wearing a jacket."

And Gracie added, "Because boys do stupid things, like wear shorts and t-shirts without jackets when it's cold outside!"

Jace just laughs at her. Scott and I laugh at all of them, constantly picking up on things we don't know they're even noticing. Little sponges.

So, we'll continue to be entertained by them...and I'll hope and pray that none of our kids end up on America's Funniest Home Videos as a lesson for someone else!

Dat-da-dah! Disney!

It hasn't even been a week since getting back from our family vacation to Disney World, yet it feels so long ago. Incredible is the word I've been using to describe our trip. We had so much fun, but were relaxed most of the week. Can you ask for more in a vacation?

Disney World, as a place, wonderful. The sights were worth seeing and the people were simply lovely. Every employee smiled and many handed out stickers! How can you not be happy there? I had lots of questions and concerns and a few unforeseen obstacles. I never felt like a nuisance when posing my questions and concerns and got prompt and helpful answers.

Our kids were simply lovely too. They all got

tired, but even then were on their best behavior.

Jace even got sick to his tummy once and still acted like a big boy about it! We took naps and went to bed at normal times and still saw everything we wanted, although not everything that there was to see!

We had several character greetings, at meals and at some of the many meet and greet spots around the parks. We saw Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Pluto, Donald, Daisy, Chip, Dale, Lilo, Stitch, Winnie the Pooh, Eeyore, Piglet, Tigger, Buzz Lightyear, Woody, Belle, Ariel, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella and her Fairy Godmother, The White Rabbit, Alice, Snow White and her Stepmother and Stepsisters, and I'm sure some others I'm forgetting to list! It was all quite exciting.

As a family, we enjoyed five days at the parks! For our first time, that was a great amount of time. Now that I've been there, I could do it in less, but having so much time made naps and switching parks to get in everything we wanted to do much easier than trying to jam everything into a shorter amount of time.

We did one late night (our last night there) and saw a parade in lights and the fireworks at Magic Kingdom. For those who are curious, the fireworks aren't really "over" Cinderella's castle like I'd always heard. They're off to the right of her castle. It's, of course, the busiest right in front of the castle, but there are plenty of viewing spots all over the park. For the parade, there's also no reason to cram into the circle in front of the castle. We watched from near the end of the parade route and really enjoyed all the lights music!

In case you're not convinced, let me say one more time, we had a GREAT time. All five of us laughed and smiled all week long and even came home feeling refreshed. Here's the bottom line too...the whole trip (including tickets for five days, lodging for six nights, meals, snacks, and souveniers) cost $2200. Not bad, huh?

Hopefully we'll do this again...if not Disney, then some other great family vacation...but hopefully Disney! But for now, it was wonderful to have that time for just us. I think everyone should look into it...and the commercials are right. It might be more affordable than you think. Why not look into it? You know you want to...

Better Things To Do?

I know you're all sitting on the edge of your seats to hear about the rest of our Disney World Vacation. I'm quite excited to go on and on about it, too. I'm waiting, though, until I have the pictures on the computer and can add a few to my comments about our incredible vacation. Hopefully in the next day or two...

In the meantime, I heard something on the radio that baffled me just a bit, and thought I'd share. Apparently someone is trying to get a bill through Congress that will regulate the volume of commercials so they don't come blasting in when you're watching your favorite shows. I appreciate the sentiment, but really? I mean, seriously? There isn't something more important they could be regulating, debating on, discussing?

I just thought I'd put that out there for you to think about today. Have a good one!