Saturday, March 29, 2008
Kids With Character
Short Story #3
At Hollywood Studios we saw Chip and Dale. They saw Emma in the stroller and went over and waved at her. Ashlyn thought that was funny. They had actually closed the line for Minnie and Daisy, due to time constraints, but somehow I managed to sneak myself into the back of the line while the character "guard" was talking to someone. Some things never change with me. I guess I will always be sneaky :). Daisy Duck is a hard one to get pictures with so we were lucky that I am sly like that! Trey opted out on this one but that's okay.
Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck - these are all characters you think about when you think Disney. We went to Walt Disney World when Ashlyn was 18 months old and she ran in front of at least 20 people to give Minnie Mouse a hug. Because she was cute with a headband bow and a pink pacifier in her mouth no one gave her dirty looks. I will never forget that. She was so excited, when most at this age would be scared. This memory is one of the main reasons I wanted to go back again while Ashlyn is so young. She believed that every character she saw was real. Trey never let on that he did not think they were real either. (The only thing he questioned while we were there was the Easter Bunny, since Easter was in a few days.) So, anyway, I could not wait to see how she would react this year. And, she did not disappoint me.
The first day we were at Magic Kingdom we saw Buzz Lightyear. Nana had made Ashlyn and Trey autograph books, so Buzz used his autograph stamp to be the first in their book. We saw Minnie, Pluto and Goofy after waiting in line for an hour. As cranky as Ashlyn got, the frown gave way to a smile the minute she saw Minnie. She laughed at Goofy and kept her hands in Pluto's "mouth" to pretend he was biting her. It was funny. Trey was a trooper, he got his picture made and got the autographs. I am glad he did not think he was too big for this. As a mom, I love capturing the memories through pictures. (A lot of pictures.)
At Hollywood Studios we saw Chip and Dale. They saw Emma in the stroller and went over and waved at her. Ashlyn thought that was funny. They had actually closed the line for Minnie and Daisy, due to time constraints, but somehow I managed to sneak myself into the back of the line while the character "guard" was talking to someone. Some things never change with me. I guess I will always be sneaky :). Daisy Duck is a hard one to get pictures with so we were lucky that I am sly like that! Trey opted out on this one but that's okay.
Back at the Magic Kingdom we saw Mrs. Easter Bunny, Captain Hook and Mr. Smee. These characters were funny and would mess with the parents to make the kids laugh. At the Animal Kingdom we finally got to see Mickey Mouse. That was the main goal for that park. We had not seen the main mouse and I was determined to find him. He was dressed in his outdoor attire. I made my mom get in this picture. The last park was Epcot. Here we saw Donald in Mexico land, Dopey (Ashlyn absolutely loved Dopey, she acted so silly), Mary Poppins, Pooh, Tigger and Eeyore. I was satisfied with the character greetings. I wanted to see as many as we could and we accomplished that.
The great thing about these character greetings is that they don't rush you. Every child can interact and get autographs and the parents can take all the pictures that they want. (The flip side of this is that the lines don't move quickly.
We have autograph books and pictures to remind us of this fun experience with the characters that bring Disney World to life.
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Top Ten
Like David Letterman's top ten lists, Ashlyn had ten reasons she did not want to ride in the stroller with Trey.
10.) She wants to lay down
9.) Trey hits her and she hits him back
8.) He says bad words (stupid and shut-up)
7.)He be's mean
6) He be's pokey
5.) Because she just got comfortable
4.) Emma needs a seat
3.) She wants to be alone
2.) Trey pooted
and the # one reason that Ashlyn did not want to ride with Trey....
1.) His breath stinks
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Ouch!
Short story #2
The day before we left to go to Walt Disney World, the right side of Ashlyn's right foot became swollen and very infected. She has gotten bad about going barefoot in the shop and ended up cutting it on something a couple of days before. But, of course, it did not infect until the weekend. So, after church my mom has a nurse look at it and she says that it is infected and that the best thing to do for it would be to soak it in hot water but if it streaks, we should definitley take her to a doctor as soon as possible. Mom soaked the foot and wouldn't you know it streaked. I am at Wal-Mart with Trey taking care of some last minute necessities for the trip when my mom calls and says that I need to either get Ashlyn to a medical facility or call her pediatrician. I choose to call the pediatrician. The doctor is not overly concerned since Ashlyn is not running any fever or acting like it hurts. So, she says that unless either of those occur, it will be okay to bring her into the office the next morning.
Monday morning I look at Ashlyn's foot and it looks better but my mom still wants to take her to the doctor for safe measure before we go on our walking vacation. She goes to the pediatrician, I go get a pedicure. Bad mom, I know. Turns out that her foot is infected, she needs an antibiotic and needs the wound to be soaked in epsom salt at each bath. I go to get her prescription and they tell me it will be $43, with insurance. They also tell me that this Augmentin will probably cause nauseousness, needs to be kept refrigerated and must be taken with a meal. I decline the medication. Bad mom, I know. I just could not see spending so much money on medicine when her foot looked good and I did not want her to be sick on the trip and where could I keep this refrigerated throughout the day. My mom and I decided that if worse came to worse, we could always have the doctor's office call in the prescription where we were and we could go from there. Plus, we had the epsom salt and an antibiotic ointment.
By the time we left Monday afternoon, the foot was great. Great enough to wear the cute flip flops that I had bought her to go with her Hannah Montana shirt that she planned to ride on the airplane. It looked like we had overcome the foot obstacle UNTIL the cute little flip flops rubbed blisters on the other side of her foot! She cried and carried on. The handicap cart stopped and gave us a ride to the T.G.I.Fridays that we were trying to find. I had to pack her flip flops in my carry on and thank goodness Emma was wearing socks that stretched out enough to cover Ashlyn's foot as she walked around DFW. That is, when she decided she was okay enough to walk. And thank goodness that an hour later we found a pair of white "crocs" to purchase for the rest of the trip. It wasn't until the blister incident that I realized that the only shoes I had packed were cute flip flops and I had left her tennis shoes at home, of all things to forget. The crocs were a blessing all week.
The foot was not a problem the rest of the trip. Ashlyn was even able to wear a different pair of flip flops all day one day. So, all wasn't lost. There were a few other random "ouches" that happened throughout the week. The minute we got into the Magic Kingdom I whipped my camera out of the bag and smacked Ashlyn right in the nose with it. She cried because it hurt. Dadgum. Trey wanted to beat us to the bus terminal by running in the dark. He didn't see the chain that was ahead of him so he ran right into it and it flattened him on his back. My mom, Ashlyn and I were a ways back so a friendly, non-English speaking woman helped him up and comforted him until we got there. He had a chain imprint on his stomach. Then, I was pushing him in the stroller and went down two stairs and it hurt his back enough that he cried. I thought it would be a fun ride. He was so mad at me.
Despite the ouch issues, we had a great time and all injuries have healed nicely :0)
The day before we left to go to Walt Disney World, the right side of Ashlyn's right foot became swollen and very infected. She has gotten bad about going barefoot in the shop and ended up cutting it on something a couple of days before. But, of course, it did not infect until the weekend. So, after church my mom has a nurse look at it and she says that it is infected and that the best thing to do for it would be to soak it in hot water but if it streaks, we should definitley take her to a doctor as soon as possible. Mom soaked the foot and wouldn't you know it streaked. I am at Wal-Mart with Trey taking care of some last minute necessities for the trip when my mom calls and says that I need to either get Ashlyn to a medical facility or call her pediatrician. I choose to call the pediatrician. The doctor is not overly concerned since Ashlyn is not running any fever or acting like it hurts. So, she says that unless either of those occur, it will be okay to bring her into the office the next morning.
Monday morning I look at Ashlyn's foot and it looks better but my mom still wants to take her to the doctor for safe measure before we go on our walking vacation. She goes to the pediatrician, I go get a pedicure. Bad mom, I know. Turns out that her foot is infected, she needs an antibiotic and needs the wound to be soaked in epsom salt at each bath. I go to get her prescription and they tell me it will be $43, with insurance. They also tell me that this Augmentin will probably cause nauseousness, needs to be kept refrigerated and must be taken with a meal. I decline the medication. Bad mom, I know. I just could not see spending so much money on medicine when her foot looked good and I did not want her to be sick on the trip and where could I keep this refrigerated throughout the day. My mom and I decided that if worse came to worse, we could always have the doctor's office call in the prescription where we were and we could go from there. Plus, we had the epsom salt and an antibiotic ointment.
By the time we left Monday afternoon, the foot was great. Great enough to wear the cute flip flops that I had bought her to go with her Hannah Montana shirt that she planned to ride on the airplane. It looked like we had overcome the foot obstacle UNTIL the cute little flip flops rubbed blisters on the other side of her foot! She cried and carried on. The handicap cart stopped and gave us a ride to the T.G.I.Fridays that we were trying to find. I had to pack her flip flops in my carry on and thank goodness Emma was wearing socks that stretched out enough to cover Ashlyn's foot as she walked around DFW. That is, when she decided she was okay enough to walk. And thank goodness that an hour later we found a pair of white "crocs" to purchase for the rest of the trip. It wasn't until the blister incident that I realized that the only shoes I had packed were cute flip flops and I had left her tennis shoes at home, of all things to forget. The crocs were a blessing all week.
The foot was not a problem the rest of the trip. Ashlyn was even able to wear a different pair of flip flops all day one day. So, all wasn't lost. There were a few other random "ouches" that happened throughout the week. The minute we got into the Magic Kingdom I whipped my camera out of the bag and smacked Ashlyn right in the nose with it. She cried because it hurt. Dadgum. Trey wanted to beat us to the bus terminal by running in the dark. He didn't see the chain that was ahead of him so he ran right into it and it flattened him on his back. My mom, Ashlyn and I were a ways back so a friendly, non-English speaking woman helped him up and comforted him until we got there. He had a chain imprint on his stomach. Then, I was pushing him in the stroller and went down two stairs and it hurt his back enough that he cried. I thought it would be a fun ride. He was so mad at me.
Despite the ouch issues, we had a great time and all injuries have healed nicely :0)
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Up, Up and Away
We are on our way to Walt Disney World, finally boarding the plane on Monday night. Ashlyn has been so excited about flying. I think she was just as excited about this part of the trip as she was going to Disney. We stopped at the cockpit and Ashlyn and Trey got their pictures made with the pilots. Obviously, things have loosened up a bit since 9/11. I sat with Ashlyn two rows ahead of my mom and Trey. She could not understand why Emma could not have her own seat. We sat with a lady who reminded me so much of my dad's step-mom. She was friendly with a smokers cough. It did not take long to taxi onto the runway and as we sped up for takeoff Ashlyn says, "I don't know about this..."
On any flight to Disney be prepared to be on a plane with a bunch of kids. There was a puppet show going on in the seats in front of us as they tried to keep 18 month old Stephen entertained. There was constant movement in the aisle as kids and parents headed to the bathroom. (Of course Ashlyn did not decide she needed to go until the seat belt light came back on to prepare for landing.) You could hear excitement in everyone's voices as we were on this journey to a magical place. But even two and a half hours gets long for young kids and the parents trying to keep them satisfied.
*
Ashlyn and Trey both looked forward to finding the barf bags. Ashlyn thought that chewing gum would keep you from getting sick so she wanted me to make sure the lady on my left had some, too. As the flight attendants walked up to the front with their cart, Ashlyn wanted to know if they were offering stuff. She wanted her Hannah Montana journal but I had put it in the overhead bin. Her reaction was, "mighty me". As our altitude got higher we could see clouds all around us. Ashlyn must have been convinced that we were in Heaven or at least pretty close because she wanted to know if we would see Granny up here. Trey and mom were pretty quiet, they were playing a blackjack game. As we landed, Ashlyn told the lady on my left that she almost needed her sack. She laughed. Mom and Trey enjoyed me telling them all the things that Ashlyn said.
Four days later we are back at the airport, only this time we are exhausted and glad to be heading home. It is very early in the morning but the Cinnabon place was a welcome breakfast. As Ashlyn said, "this is a good smell in my nose". We ate and waited for boarding.
I sat with Trey and my mom and Ashlyn sat right in front of us. She slept almost the entire trip back. Trey and my mom played blackjack and deuces wild, which they had no idea what they were doing. I dozed on and off. It was easier to doze when the biggo loudmouth lady behind me wasn't talking or kicking my seat. She said something profound as we were nearing the ground, "of course we're in Texas, I see big trucks" and her husband said something back that ended with the word yeehaw.
Back in Dallas, ready for home. Tired, sore legs, nothing but rest...
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Just the beginning
Hey friends. We are back from Walt Disney World and while we were having a magical time, I had blogging on my mind. I took notes, took pictures ( a ton of pictures), became very observant and was always thinking of ways to record this memory-making trip. I thought maybe this could be my first novel in my wannabe writing career but then I realized that maybe I should start with short stories. So, here is how I have decided to set this up. I am going to list the chapters of my short stories. Hopefully they will capture your attention and make you anxious to read each one.
Chapter 1: Up, Up and Away
Chapter 2: Ouch!
Chapter 3: Top 10 Reasons Ashlyn Does Not Want to Ride in the Stroller With Trey
Chapter 4: Kids With Character
Chapter 5: Adventures in Walt Disney World
Chapter 6: Quirks of My Four Year Old
Chapter 7: Simply Trey
These are the chapters I have notes for. I plan to start writing my chapters next week. Stay tuned :0)
Chapter 1: Up, Up and Away
Chapter 2: Ouch!
Chapter 3: Top 10 Reasons Ashlyn Does Not Want to Ride in the Stroller With Trey
Chapter 4: Kids With Character
Chapter 5: Adventures in Walt Disney World
Chapter 6: Quirks of My Four Year Old
Chapter 7: Simply Trey
These are the chapters I have notes for. I plan to start writing my chapters next week. Stay tuned :0)
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Truly blessed
Truly blessed is what we are. Here are some of our most recent blessings.
* Trey was saved at a christian wrestling match a couple of weeks ago. As a parent, it is so joyous to see your kids come to know the Lord and know who holds their future. We met with our pastor this morning before church and Trey walked down the aisle as his profession of faith and was then presented to the congregation. He will be baptized in April. Blessed be the name of the Lord.
* On Friday, we closed on our interim home loan. This means that we are good to go and can start building our house! It has been exactly two years since we moved out of our house in Combine. We were blessed to have Jared's parents share their home with us and I am blessed to have a talented husband with talented friends who built the "love shack" for us to live in on our land. Construction on the house is scheduled to begin tomorrow morning. We are very excited and hope the scattered showers are scattered around, but not in, Combine. This week we hope to get the pad built up and the plumbing rough in started. Sounds like I'll have a lot of blogging to do for house news.
* Clayson had a friend over Friday night and all day Saturday. It is really hard for me to let the kids have friends over for selfish reasons. One, I am around kids all the time and two, I tend to be gripy. Always in teacher mode. I wanted to be nice so I let Collin come over. His dad brought his dirt bike for him so that they both had one to ride. We got home after the closing and those boys stayed outside until around 10:00. Jared, Ashlyn and Trey were also out there. I had a relaxing night inside and even went to bed early. Jared had things under control. They all slept in their dirty clothes, except Ashlyn, and were worn out. Saturday morning, Clayson and Collin got up and went right back outside. They couldn't ride dirt bikes because Jared was at work so they built jump hills and trailers and rode the bad boy buggy. When Trey and Ashlyn got up, they went right back outside to join in on the fun. I cleaned the entire house. They got along, (the siblings), for the most part. There were only a few squabbles. Collin left at about 5:00 and Clayson was satisfied with the weekend. He was blessed by a friend who shares so much in common with him and I was blessed to be able to rest and have a clean house.
* We are always blessed by miss Ashlyn. She is cute, smart, funny and helpful. Yesterday she decided to spray paint some wood while the boys came in long enough to eat lunch. She ended up with black freckles but thankfully her clothes remained paint-free.
* Tomorrow afternoon we are leaving for Walt Disney World. Clayson and Jared did not want to go. My mom, Ashlyn, Trey and I are looking forward to the trip. I know that it is hard to believe that Clayson does not want to go but if you knew his daddy, you would understand why. They don't like crowds, lines or people. If Clayson had not been I would have made him go for the experience but we went four years ago and does not want to go back. He looks forward to being an only child next week and all the things he'll get to do. I still need to pack, get a pedicure and get all the cameras charged and ready. Outfits have been sorted, there are bows and flip flops to match, bathroom stuff ready and waiting ... now I just need to get the rolling suitcases from my mom and add a few things here and there. I'm not sure if Ashlyn is more excited about Disney World or the plane ride.
Blessed is what we are and we are thankful to all those who are a part of our many blessings. Happy spring break 2008!
* Trey was saved at a christian wrestling match a couple of weeks ago. As a parent, it is so joyous to see your kids come to know the Lord and know who holds their future. We met with our pastor this morning before church and Trey walked down the aisle as his profession of faith and was then presented to the congregation. He will be baptized in April. Blessed be the name of the Lord.
* On Friday, we closed on our interim home loan. This means that we are good to go and can start building our house! It has been exactly two years since we moved out of our house in Combine. We were blessed to have Jared's parents share their home with us and I am blessed to have a talented husband with talented friends who built the "love shack" for us to live in on our land. Construction on the house is scheduled to begin tomorrow morning. We are very excited and hope the scattered showers are scattered around, but not in, Combine. This week we hope to get the pad built up and the plumbing rough in started. Sounds like I'll have a lot of blogging to do for house news.
* Clayson had a friend over Friday night and all day Saturday. It is really hard for me to let the kids have friends over for selfish reasons. One, I am around kids all the time and two, I tend to be gripy. Always in teacher mode. I wanted to be nice so I let Collin come over. His dad brought his dirt bike for him so that they both had one to ride. We got home after the closing and those boys stayed outside until around 10:00. Jared, Ashlyn and Trey were also out there. I had a relaxing night inside and even went to bed early. Jared had things under control. They all slept in their dirty clothes, except Ashlyn, and were worn out. Saturday morning, Clayson and Collin got up and went right back outside. They couldn't ride dirt bikes because Jared was at work so they built jump hills and trailers and rode the bad boy buggy. When Trey and Ashlyn got up, they went right back outside to join in on the fun. I cleaned the entire house. They got along, (the siblings), for the most part. There were only a few squabbles. Collin left at about 5:00 and Clayson was satisfied with the weekend. He was blessed by a friend who shares so much in common with him and I was blessed to be able to rest and have a clean house.
* We are always blessed by miss Ashlyn. She is cute, smart, funny and helpful. Yesterday she decided to spray paint some wood while the boys came in long enough to eat lunch. She ended up with black freckles but thankfully her clothes remained paint-free.
* Tomorrow afternoon we are leaving for Walt Disney World. Clayson and Jared did not want to go. My mom, Ashlyn, Trey and I are looking forward to the trip. I know that it is hard to believe that Clayson does not want to go but if you knew his daddy, you would understand why. They don't like crowds, lines or people. If Clayson had not been I would have made him go for the experience but we went four years ago and does not want to go back. He looks forward to being an only child next week and all the things he'll get to do. I still need to pack, get a pedicure and get all the cameras charged and ready. Outfits have been sorted, there are bows and flip flops to match, bathroom stuff ready and waiting ... now I just need to get the rolling suitcases from my mom and add a few things here and there. I'm not sure if Ashlyn is more excited about Disney World or the plane ride.
Blessed is what we are and we are thankful to all those who are a part of our many blessings. Happy spring break 2008!
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