New Year's Eve 2011

New Year's Eve for us was a lazy day...just the way I like 'em!  We stayed in our pajamas all day, well except for Brent who doesn't understand how anyone can sit around all day and do nothing but relax.  The man needs himself a project!  And Jack finally changed into play clothes late in the afternoon to go outside for target shooting with Brent.  But Will and I definitely declared NYE to be Pajama Day.

Jack told us all day that he was staying up until midnight to ring in the new year.  Will was planning on staying up too, but if last year was any indication, we were doubtful that he would make it.  After dinner, I suggested that Brent take us to Dairy Queen for ice cream sundaes.  I had no idea where the nearest DQ was, but Brent had it all under control.  We decided that we would go during halftime of the Chick-fil-A bowl to help break up the evening and rev up our energy to make it to midnight.  So around 9:30, Will and I threw on clothes (I actually debated about whether or not to get fully dressed since we were only going through the drive thru) and off we went to DQ.  It ends up the nearest Dairy Queen is about 15 minutes away and when we got there it was closed!  Oh no!  Our second choice was McDonald's because they have sundaes and they are always open.  We drive back to the McDonald's closest to our neighborhood and they are closed!  Now we were starting to panic.  Will was in the backseat threatening to cry because "he was so hungry for an ice cream sundae!"  By this time the fuel light was indicating we have no gas so Brent headed to the gas station for a quick fill up.  From the gas station, we could see that the open light for the Yogli Mogli down the street was on.  Yay!  No better way to ring in the New Year than with overpriced yogurt sundaes requiring us to take out a second mortgage.  But there would be no tears on New Year's Eve!

Thankfully, Brent hurried down the street pulling into the parking lot on 2 wheels while yelling at the children to "Get out of the car!  Quick!  QUICK!  Run into the store before they close!"  I have never seen Will move so fast!  In fact, I didn't know little legs could move with such speed!  Will was the first one through the door as the workers were trying to lock up.  They looked at us with the you've-got-to-be-kidding-me look and said "last customers."  Thank you!  In between fits of laughter, I was patting myself on the back for the decision to change clothes.  Could you imagine if I had run into Yogli Mogli like a crazy woman in PAJAMAS?!?!  We promised we would take our order to go and as I was scraping out the last of the strawberries for my yogurt, the guy asked if I wanted him to get more from the back.  No, I wouldn't do that to you, these last 3 strawberry slices will be just fine.

After the sundae adventure, we went outside for our annual fireworks extravaganza.

It was pretty impressive!



Will made it to 11:35 and Jack stayed up with Carson Daly to watch the ball drop in Times Square.  Jack jumped around and cheered at the strike of midnight, excited and proud that he made it to midnight for the second straight year.   Brent tried to wake up Will to join in the celebration but he was still asleep in the vertical position.  Oh well.  There is always next year little guy.

We were all asleep by 12:15.  HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Christmas 2011

It was a great Christmas...joyous, relaxing, restful and fun!  Our Christmas celebration lasted for a full week because this year we got to spend time with both sides of the family.  It was wonderful!


My parents and Grandmother came up on the 23rd and 24th to celebrate Christmas with us a little early.  We went to California Pizza Kitchen for lunch and then hung out at home until Brent got home from work.  For dinner, I made Shrimp & Grits, a spring salad with craisins, feta and a white balsamic dressing, and the Pioneer Woman's garlic cheese bread.  After dinner, Jack and Will finally, finally got to open up their presents from Gramma, Granddaddy and Mimi.

First books:

And then Wii games:

 Mario and Sonic at the 2012 London Olympic Games.  Jack has been looking for this game since Thanksgiving.  Every time we would go in a store, he would look and it would always be gone.  There was alot of celebrating when he opened up this gift!

 Super Mario Galaxy 2.  Will has wanted Super Mario Galaxy 2 since this summer.  Every few weeks, he would ask me when he could get this game and I would always reply, "soon."  Soon was finally here!

Mimi and the boys.

They love her so much; they ran to greet her and hugged her so hard that I was afraid they might knock her down.

Christmas day was spent with our little family of four.  Brent and I woke up to squeals of "he came!  He came!  Santa came!"

 A few days before Christmas, Jack told me that these mini NFL helmets were the number 1 item on his wish list, which was a little concerning to me since we had already visited Santa and told him the 3 things that we would like for Christmas.  Thankfully, Santa must have known and left them as one of Jack's surprises!  Good ole Santa!

Another surprise from Santa.  These lazer stunt chasers are crazy...they can flip, jump and spin!

 Still on our Disney kick!

 Will had asked Santa for a pink Stitch "Stitcherella" to go with his blue Stitch, but Santa's elves just couldn't make one or find one anywhere.  Sonic the Hedgehog was a really nice substitute.

 As you can see, books are really big around here!

And look what Santa left in Brent's stocking...

Reinbeer!  I feel like we might be a Jeff Foxworthy joke now.  If Santa ever left you beer in your stocking...

 Our present to Jack was a pellet gun.  After Cub Scout camp this fall, he has really become interested in shooting and archery.  Right now, all he is going to be shooting are targets but Jack has high hopes on going on a big game hunt someday.

Our skilled gamer got the new Skylander game for Wii from us.  It didn't take him long to figure out how to play it. 

The day after Christmas, we woke up and headed straight to the airport to fly to New Orleans to see Honey and Happy!  And all of the cousins!  We got to Happy and Honey's house around noon, and I don't think we saw Jack and Will again until Wednesday afternoon around 3 pm.  So please excuse the lack of pictures, but that is the wonderful thing about the cousins.  They play for hours and hours and HOURS and stop only to eat and then play some more.

Here is the biggest Saints fan who lives outside the state of Louisiana.
 

Hank and Brent went to the New Orleans vs Atlanta game at the Superdome Monday night, while the rest of us watched it at home.  Jack was the loudest, most spirited fan in the den.  I told Honey that I had a glimpse of what Brent must have been like at 8 years old.  He was so excited to see Drew Brees break Dan Marino's single season passing yards record.  Jack wore the Drew Brees shirt and Saints Santa hat all week.

Thursday afternoon we went to the French Quarter, which was high on Jack's list of things to do in New Orleans.  

First, we had lunch at Drago's.  Brent and I each had a dozen of the charbroiled oysters...they are out-of-this-world good!

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Then we walked down to the Quarter to watch the street performers.

 Jack and Will with the Silver Man.

The break dance guys were our favorite "show."  Not only were their stunts incredible but they were so funny.  Jack would bust out laughing all afternoon remembering some of the hilarious things they had said.

And eventually found ourselves at Cafe du Monde for some beignets and cafe au lait!

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It was the perfect afternoon in New Orleans! 

Later that night, Happy and Honey took us to Celebration in the Oaks at City Park.  It was absolutely amazing!  The entire park was a light display and the pathway was lined with Christmas trees adopted and decorated by area schools.  One side of the park was a carnival complete with a carousel, a ferris wheel, a train and all the other rides you would expect at a fair.  The other side was a storybook playground featuring Captain Hook's pirate ship while Captain Hook and Peter Pan dueling on board,  the Three Little Pigs' houses with the Big Bad Wolf lurking around, and a really fun Puff the Magic Dragon slide just to name a few.  Of course the boys were not ready to leave, in fact we had to drag Will out of there in tears, so next time we are in New Orleans we are headed back to City Park for more play time!

Friday morning came too quickly (doesn't it always?) and we had to get back on the plane to come home.  Jack wanted to stay and live in New Orleans.  He had found a home among his Who Dat people.  They are his peeps.

Christmas 2011 will be remembered as one of my favorite Christmases.  It was joyful, it was restful and it was spent with family.  Perfect!

5 years old...

My baby is five years old!  Which is so hard to believe since it seems like just yesterday we were bringing him home from the hospital.

 

Five years old is a milestone year in my book...the year one crosses from preschooler to big kid.  Will has so enjoyed being "4 and 3/4" for awhile now, that this morning he asked if he was now "4 and 5 quarters."  No baby, you are just a big, whopping 5!

The morning started off as usual with the opening of presents.  He got a cool cash register from Honey and Happy, which is so appropriate because with Will's love of money we are sure he is going to be a banker.  Gramma and Granddaddy gave Will his very own tub of Legos, which he was excited about because now he doesn't have to play with Jack's, he has his own!  Mommy, Daddy, and Jack gave him a Green Machine. 

Will ran over to Jack and gave him a big hug for such an awesome present!  Brent had a Green Machine when he was a little boy and rode it until the wheels literally fell off, so we are hoping that Will's Green Machine enjoys just as much use.

Will requested doughnuts for breakfast so that is just what we had.

 

For our special birthday activity, the boys wanted to go back to Disney World for the day.  Me too, guys, me too.  But unfortunately, our money tree in the back yard died in the drought, so we had to come up with Plan B.  Jack suggested we go to the Disney Store to pick out a few Disney treasures and Will thought that sounded like a great idea.  So off we went.

 

While at Disney World, Will fell in love with Stitch so he had to have Stitch in his pajamas.  Jack chose Oswald the Lucky Rabbit.  I had no idea who this stuffed animal was, but since Jack had just finished reading a biography about Walt Disney, he immediately recognized this rare character as Walt Disney's first cartoon character ever created.  Cool!  They also got a couple of character cups and were happy with their selections.

While we were paying, Jack told the Disney girl that it was Will's birthday so he got a special button.

Nice smile, huh?

For a few weeks, Will has been telling us that he wanted to have lobster for his birthday dinner.  I didn't really give the lobster dinner much credence thinking that by the time his birthday rolled around that Will would select his favorite spaghetti and meatballs.  But Will never changed his mind.  He held strong to a lobster birthday dinner.  We left the Disney Store and went to get our lobsters.

And they were some BIG lobsters.  Brent asked what we were having to go with the lobsters and I replied, "Butter.  We blew the birthday dinner budget on the lobsters, so there will be no sides!"  But on the bright side, there was plenty of lobster for everyone!

We wrapped up the birthday with cupcakes.  

Looking back at the pictures, I realized that Will's cupcake only had 1 candle instead of five.  At that time, it didn't even register.  I was having such a hard time finding cupcakes without any Christmas decorations, that really beggars can't be choosers.  I'll pay more attention next year and add another dollar to Will's therapy jar!

Happy Birthday to our beloved Will!  You bring us more joy, laughter and love than our hearts can hold!
  We love you!

Our Trip to Disney World (Part 2)

How do you even begin to describe a week at Disney World?  Other than to say that it truly is one of the most magical, happiest places and was one of the best weeks ever for our family.

We left Nickelodeon Resorts early Monday morning, checked into Wilderness Lodge at Disney World, stowed our luggage and headed straight to Magic Kingdom to meet up with Matt and his family and Mom & Dad.

  The whole crew!  The sun was bright, y'all.  The photographer had a little trick to deal with sun in the eyes.  He had everyone close their eyes, and on the count of 3 we opened our eyes and he snapped the picture.  Some were a little slower at opening their eyes.  =)

Monday and Tuesday, we rode all of the rides at Magic Kingdom.  Some of our favorites were

  It's a Small World was one of Jack's favorite rides

Will and Granddaddy on Dumbo the Flying Elephant

I love the teacups at the Mad Tea Party...the faster the better for me!

 The Astro Orbiter at Tomorrow Land.

Will was a bit put out about the race cars, mainly because they wouldn't race.  He was expecting them to be like go-carts and have the ability to pass other drivers.  Oh well.

 Splash Mountain

Jack wasn't thrilled with Splash Mountain because he DIDN'T get wet.  I wouldn't ride Splash Mountain because I didn't want to GET wet.  Funny how your Splash Mountain goals change as you age!!

Will loved Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin and being captured by Zurg at the end of the ride was always fun.

The most surprising discovery is that we have a group of boys with a need for speed...they LOVED, LOVED, LOVED the roller coasters.  The faster the coaster, the higher the drops, the better the ride! 

Hands up every one!  Big Thunder Mountain Railroad was fun, but we all agreed that the best roller coaster in Magic Kingdom was Space Mountain.  Jack and Will loved it!  Will got off of Space Mountain jumping up & down screaming, "Oh yeah!  That was awesome!  I loved it!  Let's ride it again!"  One of my proudest parenting moments because I'm a roller coaster girl myself! 

Wednesday morning, we had a character breakfast at the Tusker House in Animal Kingdom.  It was fun to get to meet all of the characters and have them sign our autograph books.

 

 Pocahontas was BEA-U-TI-FUL...the boys may have been a little bit smitten!

A couple of my favorite pictures!  Chip was goosing Jack in the ribs causing him to laugh hysterically, and the look on Will's face just captures his personality.

Our original plan had been to spend the morning at Animal Kingdom and the afternoon at Epcot, but we found so much to do at Animal Kingdom that we ended up staying the whole day.

Digging up dinosaur bones

Expedition Everest was one of our favorite rides at Disney World.  We would get off Everest with the boys chanting "One More Time, One More Time!" and immediately get back in line to do it again.  I think we rode Everest four times in a row...with our hands up every time!

Thursday was spent at Hollywood Studios.  Jack and Will loved the Tower of Terror!  In fact, the Tower of Terror was one of Will's favorite rides.  Can you believe it?!?!  Jack and Cal rode the Rock and Roll Roller Coaster, but Will and Brady were just a tad too short.  Will was heartbroken that he couldn't ride it and was crying because he just knew the measurement was wrong.  But those tears quickly dried up when Gramma said that she and Granddaddy were taking the little boys souvenir shopping...roller coaster?  What roller coaster?  See ya later.

 Look at those sweet things holding hands!

The photographer asked Will and Brady to hug...

Well, maybe not so tightly...

Thursday night, we went to Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween party at the Magic Kingdom.  This was the only time that we stopped to watch the parade.

It was alot of fun to get to ride our favorite rides again in the dark, and we closed down the park at midnight with one last ride on Space Mountain.


Friday morning, we slept in and then headed to Epcot.

Jack, our history buff, loved Spaceship Earth's depiction of the development of language and communication.  Will declared the ride BOR-ING because the ride moved too slow for his liking.

Will's favorite ride at Epcot was Mission: SPACE, a spaceship simulator ride.  He loved that we each had a special job to do on our mission to Mars.  Maybe we have a future astronaut?!?!  During our time at Disney, Epcot was hosting the International Food and Wine Festival.  Brent and I pooled all of our remaining Disney Dining snack credits and sampled all of the native cuisine as we went from country to country.  We felt like we had dined our way around the world in a single afternoon!

We had the best time at Disney World!  The week went by way too fast and we were all so sad to have to come home.  We are already talking about when we can go back again!  One of the most magical weeks of my life and one that we all will remember for a lifetime!