Summer's on it's way!

Doesn't it seem like summer already? The days are long, it's getting pretty warm outside, and the Watermelon Fairy (AKA Uncle Heath) has come in the night and left us our first melons of the season. (Not too sure he'll take kindly to being called the "Watermelon Fairy"...) Anyway. We had one the other night and not surprisingly, Wyatt ate and loved it, and Waylon was less than enthused. Here are some pictures of the occasion (Waylon was not available during the eating of the melon for photos):

Daddy's big helper

Going in for a bite...

Ummm....that's good!

The aftermath

Despite this summer-y weather, we have had about a week & a half of sick kiddos. Wyatt had it last weekend and now this weekend it's Waylon. He feels so bad, in fact has slept most of the day today, which is not Waylon-like at all. Pray that this leaves us soon and that they don't continue to pass it back and forth.

An update on Waylon: "Mrs. Nancy" from TES (AKA Nana) called to let us know that we have an IEP meeting this Friday the 5th to get a plan together for the coming school year. I'm past the point of worrying, I'm just ready to have a plan & be done! Anyway, any and all prayers for my little family will be greatly appreciated!!

Speech screening update

Here's the update on Waylon's speech screening. I'm pretty sure he's gonna qualify for speech therapy. He was totally distracted in the room we were in, which had pretty much nothing in it, so I'm sure he's probably a tad ADD too. No, seriously, anytime we're in a new place, no matter how sparse the furnishing, he's gotta check it out. And that he did. Which means he didn't do so well on the testing Mrs. Angela was trying to do, which in turn (I'm pretty sure) means he's got a spot on the speech schedule. I guess I'm not giving him as much credit as he deserves, because he did name a few pictures and did a couple of the tasks Mrs. Angela asked him to, but for the most part he wasn't interested and didn't want to participate. Oh, kindergarten is going to be ROUGH!! Thank goodness we have a couple more years to work on attention span and following directions!! We won't find out for sure what the next step is until everything gets processed and we'll go for yet another meeting. This all has to be done before he turns 3, so it'll have to be soon since that is NEXT MONTH!!!!! Holy cow, I can't believe he's going to be 3!! Where has the time gone. Last time I checked, I had an infant and a barely toddler! Now I have 2 half grown young men!! (OK, so maybe I might be exaggerating again.) Point being, I can't believe they're getting so big. Wow, I feel a little old. Sorry for no pictures, but I'm LAZY today and I don't want to wait on my S....L....O....W.... computer to load them!! Maybe I'll be up to it next time!!

Prayer requests

I have a couple of things that I'd like anyone who may come across this to pray for. One small thing is that Waylon is having his speech screening at the elementary school this Friday to see what amount of speech therapy he qualifies for. Please pray for him (and Jesse and I) as we go through this. I'm not sure what to expect and I'm a little nervous.

Another big request is for a family member of mine. I don't want to put too many details on here, just to protect her privacy. There are some of you who may know who and what I'm talking about. This family member is facing a big health problem that could be pretty complicated. I ask you all to pray for healing and safety for her. I also ask you to pray for the peace and comfort that only God can bring for her and her family.

Thank you all in advance! I know I can count on you all to pray with me about these things. Through God, all things are possible!! What a mighty God we serve!

1st trip to Disney World

This past weekend marked a momentous milestone in the boys' lives...their first trip to Walt Disney World. I had sworn that I would not take them to Disney until they were at least 5 years old, but the opportunity and a good deal presented itself and Jesse and I decided to just go for it. We figured, they're both under 3 years old, so even if they hated it, we hadn't wasted our money on buying kid tickets!

We left on Thursday afternoon, a little excited and a lot nervous. I had very low expectations from the boys, mainly so I wouldn't be too disappointed through the meltdowns that I knew were inevitable. When we got to Orlando, we stopped off at Bass Pro Shops (a must for Jesse any time we're in the area). We then checked into our hotel and spent a little time at the pool, which, no big surprise, neither of the boys liked.

Friday morning we got up and caught the bus to Magic Kingdom. We had a really good time there, the boys rode on quite a few rides, which really surprised me. We did "It's a Small World," "The Magic Carpets of Aladdin," "The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh," "Walt Disney World Railroad," "Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress" (a great place to cool off and rest, Wyatt fell asleep), and "Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin." We did meet Donald Duck in Frontierland, Wyatt was very excited to see him until we got up close, Waylon wouldn't even get out of the stroller!! (I'll post all the pictures at the end.)

We left and went back to the hotel for lunch and a little rest time, then it was off to Hollywood Studios for the rest of the afternoon. Hollywood Studios was pretty neat. We met Lightning McQueen and Mater (which surprisingly neither of the boys' were scared of...weird). The boys really enjoyed "Playhouse Disney - Live on Stage," where they got to be part of an interactive show. We also did "Muppet Vision 3-D" which was cool. I myself rode on "Rock 'n' Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith" and that was one of the best roller coasters I've been on. It's completely in the dark so you have no idea what's coming next. The seats have speakers right next to your ears so you're rocking out to Aerosmith during the entire ride. I loved it!

This summed up Friday, we ended up going out to dinner and crashing that night!

Saturday morning we got up and headed off to Animal Kingdom. The boys enjoyed the "Kilimanjaro Safari." Wyatt finally got to see his giraffes that he'd been talking about all morning! We did about half of "Finding Nemo the Musical" until the boys got restless and we had to leave. We watched the 3D show "It's Tough to be a Bug." Wyatt got a little freaked out, but all in all they both did well. We rode "TriceraTop Spin" and I rode "Expedition Everest - Legend of the Forbidden Mountain," which is another roller coaster that was really fun. By this time we were getting tired and hungry so we left the park and headed for Chick-fil-A for lunch.

We ended up back at the hotel with plans for a short nap then Epcot for the evening and back to Magic Kingdom for the "Spectromagic" parade and fireworks. We didn't wake up from our nap until 5:00pm so we hurried over to Epcot and did "The Seas with Nemo & Friends" and "Turtle Talk with Crush." That Turtle Talk was pretty cool. I think that even if you don't have kids, if you have the opportunity, you should go see it. It's interactive and Crush "talks" to the kids, calls them by name and answers questions. It's actually really funny and they put a lot of personality into him. In this same area there is a building that is mostly composed of fish tanks everywhere you look and the boys loved watching the fish. By the time we were done, Epcot was closing, so we hopped on the monorail back to Disney. We did a little shopping and strolled around for a bit, then it was time for the parade and fireworks. The fireworks were so pretty and where we were watching from was right below where Tinkerbell flew over. Wyatt loved the fireworks and said "Pirewoks, boom, boom, pow, pow!"

We caught the bus back to our hotel. It was a late night and we were all exhausted. All in all, despite a few meltdowns and the boys acting their ages, we all had a good time. We're already planning our next trip to Disney.....in about 4 years!

Here are some pics, I did find out that it's hard to take pictures when your kids are pretty much attached to you...and also if you forget to charge the camera battery and it dies on you.

Waylon and Jesse on the Aladdin ride

Wyatt & Waylon on "It's a Small World"

Wyatt really liked watching the characters....


...as long as they stayed on stage!

Wyatt meeting Donald Duck...

...and Handy Manny...

...and Lightning McQueen & Mater. Waylon actually got out of the stroller for them!

Stopping for a break...

...because all the excitement made us tired

On the ferryboat over to spend the evening at Magic Kingdom

Cinderella's castle at dusk...I thought it was really pretty

Disney is such hard work!!!

Mother's Day Outing with My Girls

For the past few years, starting with my very first Mother's Day, my sister and I have spent a day together around Mother's Day to enjoy time spent with just us and our mom. No hubbies, no kids (well, except that first year when Wyatt went along in-utero, so I guess that counts...but since then, no kids). Today marked our "girl's day" for this year.

We met up this morning and went to get pedicures. Here's a picture of Mom and Tania "relaxing"...

A pic of my toes, waiting to dry...

And here's the three of us and our finished products. (Can you guess who is who? I guess I gave mine away...darn.)

After we finished with the pedicures it was off to the Ivy House for some yummy lunch, complete with dessert. We all ate so much and were so full we swore we wouldn't be able to eat supper tonight. I think it was definitely worth it, even if I do have to skip supper!

Because of our large lunch, we decided to stop off at an antique store to walk around and burn off some calories. I got a really cool vintage-y mixing bowl (which my Momma bought for me...thanks!) and a wooden truck and trailer for the boys. Mom picked up a step stool and Tania found a cute necklace and earring set. Sorry I don't have pictures, the boys won't let go of the truck and I used my mixing bowl to make Jesse's supper. (After giving it a good washing, I promise!)

We had so much fun and laughed alot. I forget how nice it is to go out, just the 3 of us. I always say we should do it more often, but I'm sure you all know how hard it is to let go and get away from your kiddos. At least we will always have that one day that is special that we can look forward to all year.

On another note, here are some of the boys' latest favorite things.

Wyatt likes stickers...

They're both into books....

And they've combined their love of books with their love of being naked on the potty. (Now if they'd only figure out what to do on the potty, we'd be in business!!)

To all my Mommy friends and family, I hope you all have a wonderful and blessed Mother's Day!

Are we nuts???

So we're taking the big plunge. OK, don't get all excited....no, we are not going for #3! We are, however going to be taking the boys on their first trip to Disney World in a couple of weeks. To be perfectly honest, when I think about going, I am super excited but I also get just a bit of nausea at the same time. 2 toddlers at Disney? Are we insane?!? Especially with my Waylon who balks at the idea of anything unfamiliar?!? I'm so nervous! I wonder about the big things...how will they react to the characters, will they want to ride on the rides, are they just going to be hot and grumpy, and even the little things....how much juice should I take, should I take my own stroller, how are we going to get Waylon to wear shorts?!?!? So, if any of you have been in my shoes, PLEASE feel free to give me any advice! I know it will be greatly appreciated!

I just don't know what to do with myself...

The boys are at Nana & Poppa's. It is so quiet here. I'm not sure what to do now. I've cleaned up all the toys & the dishes are done. I'm showered, clothes and makeup on to go to a wedding that doesn't start until 4pm (and it's only 2:30). I have halved packages of beef and chicken, re-sealed and freezed them. I have eaten a bowl of un-interrupted Cap'n Crunch all by myself...no sharing. I have read a couple of chapters of a book with no pictures. I would vacuum and mop again, but I just did that yesterday and I'm not that much of an over-achiever. Wow. I didn't realize exactly how much time those boys took up!!! I am by no means complaining about having a break, but I have to admit I do miss them a little.

We didn't do a whole lot this week, so not much to tell there....we did take them to Jesse's work and let them check out the newly re-furbished train that his company just purchased. They LOVE trains, well, the idea of them anyway. They really liked this one from far away, but up close and personal I think was a bit intimidating. Maybe I'm wrong. I think what they didn't like was the fact that Jesse had to hold them the whole time they were up there...those railings are not intended to keep kiddos in and it was a long way to the ground. I think they just wanted to be let down to run free...

Here are a couple of new pics from around the house and playing outside that I thought were cute!