Disneyland #1: Birthdays

I'll just warn you now that this whole week is going to be filled with Disneyland posts! I'm going to talk to death about it this week, and then next week move on! Each day I plan on...

1. Posting several pictures-for the benefit of Dan and grandparents
2. Posting Disneyland tips for your benefit
   

TIP: In case you don't know, Disney is offering free admission to either theme park on your birthday! We were going for 3 days, so we purchased 3-day hopper tickets which were extremely cost effective, especially for military. The great news is that if you have an annual pass or a muti-day ticket (i.e. 3-day hopper) on your birthday, you get to choose 1 of these 3 other exciting birthday gifts:

• A birthday FASTPASS® exchange card+ for a certain number attractions at both Disneyland® Park and Disney's California Adventure® Park; or
• A birthday fun card (gift card) in an amount equal to the price of a 1-Day/1-Park ticket
• A 1-Day/1-Park ticket for you to use any time until your next birthday.

The third day we were at Disneyland was my birthday, so I picked option #2, This meant that I got a $69 gift card which I used this to buy our souvenirs. When I registered, I got a birthday pin, and the rest of my party got the "I'm celebrating" pin. I was told Happy Birthday all day long by every Disneyland "cast member" (employee) and total strangers visiting the park. Very festive. Timothy gave me the postcard pictured (paid for by me, of course).

The bag below was my present to myself! Of course these types of bags are everywhere these days to encourage a "greener" world, and for $3 this was cute, practical, and will always be a fun reminder of our trip.

Since this was the first time my kids had been to D-land, I knew I wanted to buy Mickey Mouse ears for them. So here are some tips about those...

If you buy mouse ears, I recommend going to The Mad Hatter shop on Main Street in Disneyland. This store has the full selection of mouse ears and build-your-own mouse ears. Here's how it works:

• Pick a hat (15-20 options)
• Pick a set of snappable ears (15-20 options)
  
• Place appliqued stickers anywhere on your hat you wish (every character you can imagine)

Yes, you pay for each item, so if you let your child pick a ton of stickers then it could really add up. However, Timothy's custom hat with 3 stickers was only $4 more than Samantha's pre-made hat, and I think much cuter and personal. Samantha had to have the color red, and none of the red build-your-own mouse ears looked very feminine.

You can get their names stitched on the back for free, and while they do that they also heat the stickers so they stay on the hat for good! You can pay $7 for a nicer stitching, but we like "free"! I don't know if you can tell, but Timothy's ears are holographic:

Here are some Mad Hatters:












My 2 little Mouseketeers:

Birthday Thank you!!!

I can't tell you all enough how much you warmed my heart by leaving comments for my birthday!!! In case you don't know, I ended up receiving 44 comments! Ask and ye shall receive, right? I highly recommend doing this! Several fun things combined to make those 44 comments:

1. Friends and family who follow but rarely (or never) leave comments, left me me wonderful notes! Thank you Andrea, Sheila, Priscilla, and Luther!
2. Pam at country mouse, city mouse, left me multiple comments to make sure I would reach my goal. Thank you, Pam!
3. Katrina at Callapidder Days, TWEETED my birthday. I totally got b-day wishes from that AND it brought new people to my blog. Always what we want, right? Thank you, Katrina!
4. Faithful CF friends and real life friends left me happy b-day wishes!
5. Dan followed the comments closely and left me a birthday surprise by being THE 36th comment. That was fun!
6. And I'm so happy people kept commenting after the 36th comment. I wanted as many as possible! The most I've ever gotten before my b-day post was 21 comments-just a couple of weeks ago about vacuum cleaners!

Thank you all so much! My birthday was great (more on that in the next post), and I'm so glad you all celebrated it with me!

Easter & National Poetry Month

Last week a fellow AWANA worker and friend emailed a poem her 16 yr old daughter wrote when she was 11. Alyssa (her daughter) lovingly watches Samantha on Wed nights so that I get to be a part of AWANA. I have asked Vicky for permission to post this, and I am honored to get to showcase Alyssa's talent on my blog:

EASTER

Green is the hill so far away.

Red is the blood He shed that day.

Purple for the robe He wore.

Black for the sins our Savior bore.

Orange is for the setting sun.

Yellow, a new day has begun!

Pink is the joy that Easter brings.

White as snow, WE ARE REDEEMED!!!

April is National Poetry Month. Scholastic has a wonderful resource called the Poetry Idea Engine that walks you through how to make poems of different types. Alyssa wrote this poem at age 11, so it is definitely never too early to start introducing our kids to poetry!

Magic Marker Monday: Easter

My children each have a big Doodle Pro & a small Doodle Pro. And yet, Timothy picked another mini-doodle pro when given the chance at our church's egg hunt yesterday. He typically uses his Doodle Pro to write words/sentences/stats. He rarely draws, so I was excited to see him try this yesterday. We were beside the playground, and he said he wanted to draw it!!!

Here is Timothy drawing the playground:


Finished product...


On the way home, Timothy wrote this:

Jesus
died
on
the
cross

But He's not dead anymore. He is alive!

For more Magic Marker Monday, go to 5 Minutes for Special Needs.

Happy Birthday To Me!

Yes, today is my birthday. I turn 36 today, and I'm just too old to beat around the bush! For my birthday this year, I want 36+ comments! You can say Happy Birthday, you can type in your blog address (for others to see it!), you can do whatever! But when I get back to San Diego Sat night, I would love to see the most comments I've ever gotten! Thank you!

Disneyland Here We Come!

Uncle Andy & Aunt Danni (my brother-in-law and sister-in-law) arrived safely tonight, and the kids were SO excited to see them! For someone who doesn't live near any family, it is very special to see my kids with relatives. We leave Wed morning, and I'll be back in bloggy land next week!

Have a wonderful Easter!

Blogging Events

I have subscribed to 24/7 MOMS for quite a while now. I can't even remember how I found this blog, but it is fantastic. Great ideas! Helpful tips! Daily giveaways! What more could you want? Trisha Novotny’s passion is to "inspire, equip and connect MOMS in all stages of mothering". Join me tomorrow LIVE at the 24/7 MOMS Easter Egg-stravaganza giveaway on Monday, April 6th from 1-3 PST! It will be a blast!

Also on Monday I begin 31 Days to Build a Better Blog, hosted by Darren of ProBlogger! I am really looking forward to this, as I know my blog needs a lot of help, and I really do want to take it to the next level! It's not too late to join the 9000+ people who are also participating!

Posts will be designed to each have two aspects to them:

1. A teaching component (theory)
2. A practical component (a task/homework)

The idea is that often teaching remains in the realm of theory and doesn’t actually prompt those digesting it to DO something. This project is more about DOING than learning. I hope you will learn, but to be honest if you’ve been blogging for a while some of what we’ll cover many will have heard before - but this project will give you a framework and hopefully some inspiration to put what you know into action.

So there we go! If I can implement even 1 or 2 things he says, I will still have a better blog by May. I can't wait to get my first assignment.

Weekend Wrapup #11: Catchup

I have been going full speed for quite a while now, but I have spent the entire day today doing nothing structured at all. I've read a novel (in the middle of the day!), snuggled with Samantha on the couch, played Uno & Candyland with Timothy, cleaned house a little, washed some clothes....you get the idea! I had one flyer to create, but other than that I haven't HAD to do anything. It's been so fun! And of course the kids have felt how relaxed I've been, and they've been completely enjoyable all day. So nice!

And then I had a big shock of the day! A couple of hours ago I checked my email, and I had emails from my husband! We haven't had communication for almost a week, and I didn't expect any for several more days. I actually wouldn't be surprised if they shut communication down again! Thankfully, I've had a great coping mechanism this week that has worked, so I will continue to use it if I stop hearing from him again! I've had a much better (calmer) attitude this week than the 8-day silence at the beginning of the deployment.

What a great, relaxing day! Tomorrow I hope to repeat the relaxation AND emails with my husband!

My Life. In Pictures: Something Old

This week I've been participating in a photo challenge hosted by Amber of Everything Except the Grill. Today is the last day, but if you missed the first four days, here's a recap...

Monday- Something new
Tuesday- Something on your table
Wednesday- The view from your front door
Thursday- Something you do each day
Friday- Something old

And for today's photo! I'm sure this is not what Amber had in mind, but let me just show you what gets REALLY OLD!

I'll bet you can see some more pleasant "something old" photos at Everything Except the Grill! This has been a wonderful photo challenge! I look forward to the next one!

Aloha Friday: Vacuum Cleaners

Kailani of An Island Life writes...In Hawaii, Aloha Friday is the day that we take it easy and look forward to the weekend. So I thought that on Fridays I would take it easy on posting, too. Therefore, I’ll ask a simple question for you to answer. Nothing that requires a lengthy response. If you’d like to participate, just post your own question on your blog and leave your link below. Don’t forget to visit the other participants! It’s a great way to make new bloggy friends!

If you follow me on Twitter or are my friend on Facebook, you know that my vacuum cleaner basically caught on fire this week! So my question is...

What is the most you've spent on a vacuum cleaner, what brand was it, and was it worth it?

If you would like to read some more Aloha Friday questions or participate yourself, just visit An Island Life!

My Life. In Pictures: Every Day

For those of you new to my blog through "My Life. In Pictures." you may not know that my daughter Samantha has a chronic, hereditary illness called Cystic Fibrosis. You can read a brief synopsis about the disease here. Even though CF is not curable, there are many drugs and treatments that are lengthening and improving the life of my precious little girl. Even if she "doesn't look sick", we use the following meds every day (and some multiple times):

To find out what others do "every day", go to Everything Except The Grill.

My Life. In Pictures: View from Front Door

It's time for day 3 of the My Life. In Pictures. photo challenge! When I give directions to my home, I say "if you keep on driving through the stop sign you would end up in my living room!" I live in military housing, which is why all the homes are so close together!

To see the view from other people's front doors, go to Everything Except The Grill.

WW & SEW: The kids!

For more Wordless Wednesday, go to 5 Minutes for Moms.
For more Special Exposure Wednesday, go to 5 Minutes for Special Needs.