Weekend Warriors and Hollywood Studios

We landed in Orlando on Sat, Oct. 1.  Kurtis and I made the decision to not go anywhere near a Disney Park on the weekend b/c of the Orlando locals hitting the parks with season passes.  So Saturday, we hung out in our villa, went swimming and watched movies.  By Sunday afternoon I was chomping at the bit to do SOMETHING Disney, particularly shopping.  So we loaded the kids up and went to Downtown Disney which is primarily eating and shopping.  It was a dumb decision I must say.  The place was packed and the World of Disney store is the largest Disney store ANYWHERE!  You couldn't move without bumping into people and our kids were totally overly-stimulated by the amount of things to buy!!!  We went back to our villa and basically recovered:)
On Monday morning we were up at 6:45am and headed toward Hollywood Studios.  As we were standing in line to enter the park, the family next to us was completely "star warred up".  The little boys were wearing jedi robes and holding lightsabers.  They said the first thing to hit was Jedi Training Academy!  I had read that it was seasonal and wasn't sure if it would even be open when we were there but we thought "hey, Sam will love this!"  We had also been warned to get a fastpass to ToyStory Mania ASAP.  As the gates opened, Kurtis took Kalen and ran to get fastpasses while Sam, Iz, and I went to sign up for Jedi Training.  Over 500 people lined up for fastpasses in the morning and by 10am the passes were gone for the entire day!  One man was knocked over by the masses with people trampling him until someone helped him up!  It was insane.
Isabel decided that she would be too scared to train with the Jedis so Sam was only one who signed up.  It was so neat!  They took 15 kids at a time and put them in jedi robes and gave them lightsabers (they did have to return those at the end).  Then a jedi master came out and taught them a lightsaber routine.  After the training, Darth Vader himself infiltrated the training and challenged each child to a duel!  Of course, Sammy ended up being last in line but he stepped up and fought well.  My favorite part was when the jedi master called Sam "38 lbs of unbridled fury" and had Sam laugh in Darth Vader's face!  It was so cute.  Isabel and Kalen were a little freaked out when Darth Vader appeared but they relaxed as time went on.  Then when the padawans chased Vader away, they received diplomas for their training.  We did buy Sam his own set of jedi robes though I didn't want to take a lightsaber on the plane:)  Afterwards, we rode the Star Tours ride twice!  The kids were so cute about all of it.  Oh, and most importantly, I got an AWESOME Chewbacca hat!

Sam's ticket to get into Jedi Training

the sign for the Jedi Training Academy--it filled up pretty quickly

Sam's jedi master though I forget his name

practicing our lightsaber routine

on the speeder outside the Star Tours ride

maybe Kalen is looking back to make sure that they aren't being followed

I'm not sure how to get my videos to load for the actual Jedi Training and the battle with Vader.  I may post those later:)

Here's my attempt at posting our Vader videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHenII2QDG0&feature=share

This is the video where they are learning what to do with their lightsabers.  

http://youtu.be/bedp2mg09Bc

This is video 2 where Vader comes in.  Sam really isn't in this one but to follow it in order helps:)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02_6Sg2bxJA&feature=share

This is video number 3 and actually has Sam fighting Darth Vader in a one-on-one lightsaber duel:)

First few days of Disney!

I'm trying to spend a few days blogging about our family vacation just for posterity's sake.  I'll start at the beginning.  First of all, we had a great time and saved a great deal b/c we were given a chance to use a time share from Deb and Brian Bickers.  We got 8 days and 7 nights in a two-bedroom villa for under $400! It was amazing with an eat-in kitchen, living room, two bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.  Plus Sam and Izzy loved the swimming area...it was way more than just a pool.  There was a slide, a pool that you just walk into and a wading pool area for Kalen.  Kalen only went once b/c they usually went when he was napping.  But the one time Kurtis took him he loved it!  We had a nice living room with TV/DVD player which was actually a lifesaver b/c we often went back to the villa and watched movies to "detox" from a day at Disney!  I was also able to do laundry for free in our villa which helped with packing.

Being at the Columbus airport by 6 am was daunting for us.  The kids did well with both Kalen and Izzy sleeping on the way to the airport and then they spent a lot of time walking around looking at planes out the windows.  Sammy sat next to the window with Izzy in the middle on Mommy on the aisle.  Daddy and Kalen sat in the seat in front of us which was an experience.  Kurtis and I spent the two hour flight passing Kalen back and forth until he finally crashed on my lap the last 30 minutes of the flight.  Most people were pretty polite about the whole "kid on the plane" thing.  But it was a flight to Orlando! There had to be at least 50 kids on that plane:)  It was so fun to experience it with the children. Below is a picture of Kalen on Saturday afternoon once we got to the villa.  Needless to say, he was pooped. 

The last picture is actually from the plane ride home b/c I was too tired to get pictures in the airport on our way to DisneyWorld but to continue with the plane theme, I'll show it here!

the Blessings of a Sunday morning

By nature I tend to be a frantic person.  I get really wound up about something very quickly and it takes me awhile to cool down.  I tend to be defensive immediately if someone I love is hurt or in need of protection.  I have a very hard time seeing the good in myself and like to compare myself to people who are very different personalities from my own.  But this past week and particularly today at church, I was reminded that the Lord has a plan for me and often, people perceive me in an entirely different manner than I perceive myself.
I've been in the new nursery calling for four weeks and the first week was SO hard.  I was determined to walk to the Bishop's office and let them know that they got the WRONG GIRL for this calling.  But last Wednesday, Henry (one of my three year olds) stopped by my house with a homemade card and cinnamon rolls.  Henry cried for 20 minutes straight that first Sunday and I was scared to death that I would not be able to help this child.  And here, 3 1/2 weeks later, he's making me a card and thanking me for being his teacher.  The hallelujah chorus was ringing in my ears that day and my heart overflowed with genuine love for this little boy.  I know that I have a Father in Heaven who loves me.  He gets that I'm a frantic person; He understands that I am "blustery" and get all worked up over everything but He also sees me in a way that says "I made you that way and you make me laugh when you try to bull-head your way through things".  I had an opportunity to meet with Bro. Neel today and he talked about how he perceives me and he sees me as a different person than I see myself.  He believes in me and I have to say it made me feel special.  I want to be the person he sees and I want to continue to be worthy of his high opinion.  I am blessed in so many ways.  My God knows me, He loves me, He believes in me, and hey, He thinks I'm worth it!  So I'd better be worth it!

Preschoolers, ERs, and doctors....oh my!

This week has been crazy to say the very least.  On Sunday I taught nursery and it actually went pretty well.  Monday meant my toddler music class and we had 11 kids! It was a hit and I was really happy with when it was said and done.  Tuesday was my day to teach Isabel's preschool class.  As I was preparing for her class to arrive, I stood up underneath a counter and bashed my forehead on the corner.  I immediately put an ice pack on my head and went back to work.  I felt fine all day Tuesday.  Wednesday, however, found me waking up to nausea and dizziness and I was exhausted.  I spent most of the day in bed and by the time Sam got off the school bus, we decided to take me to the ER in case of a concussion.  Long story short: we spent 2.5 hours in the ER without being seen b/c my "condition" was not serious enough to warrant attention in a timely manner.  I was so discouraged.  Thursday was a slow start but I got up and had a great time teaching Isabel's preschool class.  Thursday afternoon I went to a gastroenterologist to see about treating my Irritable Bowel Syndrome.  After an hour with her, I am now scheduled for a 24 hr. urine sample today and a colonoscopy on Tuesday of next week.  I feel a little overwhelmed but am hoping that all this work will put aside stress in two weeks when we leave for vacation.  here's hoping!

Missionarie have too much fun!

This is actually a pretty late post from when we had the missionaries over for dinner a few weeks ago.  They asked us if they could share a spiritual thought and Sam wanted to play army men soooo.......
The missionaries begin to tell the story of Abinadi and how he was brought before the king.  We used army men to represent all the people in the story. Then as Abinadi is about to be burned alive for preaching, the missionaries ask me if they can set fire to the army man "Abinadi"!  Spoil-sport mommy would not allow them to melt down the green army man but I did let them throw all the army men into a glass of water when it came to "baptize all the people".  It was a little zany but Sam loved it so much and remembered the story.  I suppose I should be more adventurous when it comes to acting out the scriptures!

Isabel's first day of preschool

Last Tuesday was Izzy's first day of preschool.  I was way nervous for her.  She got up early, wore her new shirt that Mamaw bought her and put her Smurfette backpack on her back.  She was so excited.  We drove to Sis. Gustafson's house (it's a parent coop preschool) and took a picture right outside.  We went inside and started to get acquainted with everyone and five minutes later, she wet her pants.  I tried not to be upset with her because I knew she was nervous but it was hard for me to leave her.  When I came back two hours later, she was fine.  She had a lot of fun.  When I took on Thursday, she was so excited because they made puppets that day.  Coming up this week, I'll be the teacher so we'll see how well she does when it's just me.  I'm excited for her to learn new things.  I want her to become a smart, independent little girl but it is hard for the mom to let go sometimes.

Isabel on the first day of preschool

Glimpses of Heaven

Today I turned 32 years old!  And though it is not what would be considered a "milestone birthday", it was very profound to me.  I didn't spend it surrounded by my extended family but I did get calls from all the sibs and my mom and dad stopped by in the evening.  Instead I spent the day with some friends and their families. It was a lot of people!  But it was so nice to have people give me hugs and wish me a happy birthday.  People who care for me b/c they want to (not because they have to).  My kids had fun playing at home, on the swingset and in their rooms.  Kurtis had a good time and cooked on the grill.  For a moment I felt a little like a postcard:)  That may seem strange to some people but those are the moments that I stop and remember that my life is good.  We all go through struggles but the moments where you are reminded that life is basically good.....those moments are the glimpses of heaven!
The funny parts of today were provided by Sam (of course!).  Last night he asked me how old I would be and when I told him, he said to me "Mom, no matter how old you get, you will always be my mom!"  The classic thing about this is the fact that I always tell him "no matter how old you get, you will always be my baby!"  I guess he's picking something up from me:)  He also sang Happy Birthday to me as soon as he woke up and later he put on "a show" for me.  He was a hypnotist and kept putting Daddy to sleep and then having him wake up and attack Isabel!  It was very cute.  He has already promised me an extended show next year for my birthday!  And to top it off, he made me a Birthday booklet (not just a card).  My kid has tremendous imagination!
Below are some pictures of the day. 


my smurf cake was made by Natalie Day!  the girl has crazy talent:)



I thought she just might make a cake with a picture on it but no, she went all out!

my t-shirt was a present from Amanda Napier. I've been talking about "running for president" for awhile now.  Amanda helped make it official with my campaign t-shirt!