A Snow Day!!

Look what it has been doing in Michigan the last 2 days - SNOWING! The girls were so excited yesterday as snow started falling, but there wasn't really enough for snow balls and snow angels....until they woke up this morning.




The schools in our area aren't closed today, but my girls aren't sitting in a classroom dreaming of 4:00 when they would get home and finish home work and then play, they are having fun in it now. We woke up, had waffles for breakfast, did some chores, did math and then it was off for "recess". When they come in we'll start learning about birds in science and read some more in our Happy Birthday Kirsten book, do a spelling lesson and maybe another chapter in Little House in the Big Woods.

I've been struggling a bit since returning from Disney. Peanut (the 6 year old) doesn't want to do anything school related. Everything is met with resistance, everything is "to hard" except it really isn't. In reality she just doesn't want to sit and do her work. She wants to play all day. I've been very frustrated and feeling like maybe she needs to be in school next year. But then we have a morning like this and I can't imagine her being at school not sharing in this fun. I'm still praying, praying God will direct our family and show me as often as He can that we are making the right choice for each of them. I understand they are all different, maybe they aren't ALL meant to be home schooled....being a parent sure isn't easy! But, when we slow down and just stop all the noise and chaos and just look at faces like these....

it seems that parenting is doable. If with nothing more than love.

I Fibbed....

OK, OK, so I fibbed. I love these photos of Sweet Baby and Pooh, so I had to share!

When I began planning our meals I planned for us to eat breakfast with the Princesses because I knew that Peanut would love that and typically, Sweet Baby goes along with whatever her bigger sisters enjoy). After all our meals were planned, Sweet Baby announced that she wanted to eat with Pooh and Tigger (That's my girl! Mom has always loved Pooh!) At that point in time there were no more seats available at that particular dinner. However, she didn't get it. She continued to insist that she wanted to eat with them. Finally about a week or so before we left I just said, "We aren't eating with Pooh, I'm sorry. They don't have room for us."

However, on our first full night we weren't hungry till nearly 8 pm and attempted to get a table at the Crystal Palace (Pooh's restaurant of choice)...we could see Pooh milling about from outside (Sweet Baby had her face pressed against the windows staring at Pooh, I hope the people trying to eat their dinner on the other side didn't mind). Anyway, they were able to get us a table if we were willing to wait an hour. Since it was late in the day and we were just starting to get hungry, we didn't mind grabbing a bench and taking a load off. Imagine how excited Sweet Baby was when we told her that indeed, we were eating with Pooh after all!!

Last Disney Photo

I promise...unless you want more! I mean I did take 487 photos!!! But seriously, here is the only photo of our family in front of the castle. I can't believe the trip we have waited for so long is over in just over a week....almost makes me weepy. Seriously though, the last night in the parks we were at Magic Kingdom and watched the Spectro Magic Parade. We decided to skip the fireworks because the kids were tired and only I REALLY wanted to see them. So, as we were trying to get out of the park before everyone else did, I actually teared up and started crying. daddy said, "Oh my gosh! Are you kidding me?" But my sweet Sissy said, "I'm glad you are crying, I felt like crying but was afraid someone would tease me!" HMMM, you mean like your dad?!?!?

If I didn't say it, it was a fabulous trip. We were eating dinner tonight and out of no where, Peanut says, "Wow, I really miss the Buzz Lightyear ride." Hey...that's what it is all about isn't it? Simple pleasures.

Ridin' Around the Kingdom

My girls have never been to an amusement park. We took Sissy to Six Flags when she was 2 but obviously she can't remember it. Sweet Baby and Peanut weren't too excited for any ride that had any speed at all to it. (However, they rode Soarin' which made you feel like you were flying over trees and water). Here is a picture of the girls and I on the Mad Tea Cups ride. Sissy wanted to spin us like crazy but the other two weren't to fond of that!

One of the rides that Sweet Baby had talked about ever since we started planning this trip, was the Dumbo ride. She loves elephants and especially loves Dumbo. Do you know how hard it is to find Dumbo on anything? Even at Disney World! I NEVER did find a t-shirt with him on it! Anyway, daddy took her on Dumbo so mom could take a photo! She almost backed out but when mom reminded her that she enjoyed the Flying Carpet ride with Aladdin, she jumped on and loved it.

Sissy is a lot like her dad and I. She LOVED the rides. So much so, that she skipped waiting in line to see certain characters just so dad could take her on more rides! She rode the Tower of Terror 2 times, Space Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Splash Mountain, and her favorite.....Mt. Everest (at Animal Kingdom). We lost count how many times we rode that one! It doesn't go upside down but has a doosey of a drop and does go backward! Here is a picture of her and one of the boys we traveled with (you can see Mt. Everest looming in the background). We were lucky enough to travel with another home schooling family, some dear friends from church. After spending 10 days with each other, we've become much closer I think!

Disney Through a Child's Eyes

Late Tuesday night we returned from a 12 day vacation...we drove the family to Orlando for the girls first ever trip to Disney World! It was so wonderful! We had been saving for this trip for 10 years so it was much anticipated. This is my all time favorite photo from our trip:

Peanut was the PERFECT age to take to Disney. She is a 6 year old girlie-girl who loves princesses, Tinkerbell and anything magical. This photo was taken as we arrived at the Magic Kingdom. We walked down Main Street and headed toward the castle. As we got closer music started and an announcer stated that a stage show was about to begin - right on the stage in front of the castle. As we watched the show, all the girls were excited to see Mickey, Donald, Goofy, and all their "friends" come onto the stage. However, this photo shows the complete awe that Peanut felt when the princesses came out onto the stage! Isn't this what Disney vacations are made of?

Sissy wasn't as excited to see the different characters as Sweet Baby and Peanut (are you kidding me? I even get excited when I see different characters! I took about 6 photos of Mary Poppins!) However, we had heard that they did a High School Musical street show. So, imagine Sissy's excitement when we found exactly where that show would be and we were able to grab a front row seat! As the float came down the street with it's music going, she was all smiles. The different dancers sang and danced to new songs from High School Musical 3 and at one point even pulled her up to dance with them! She loved it!

Sweet Baby enjoyed seeing all the characters. I don't know that she had a favorite, but I really like this photo of her with Minnie.