Magical!

One of my favorite moments at Disneyland came after Mylie and I stood in line for a long time to meet the princesses. She was excited, but getting restless. Its a long time for a little one to wait. But then, we turned the corner and saw the princesses ... first Jasmine, then Sleeping Beauty {and her prince} and then at the end, her most favorite princess in the whole world ... Snow White. She was so excited! When we got to Snow White, she went up to her and told her that she is her favorite princess. I happened to catch just that moment. I can't wait to blow this up big and hang it in her room.

As we were driving away from Disneyland on Thursday afternoon, Jeff asked me if it was what I remembered. This was my third trip to Disney, the first when I was 7 and the second a few weeks before my 17th birthday. I told him it was different. When I went last it was about the rides and the roller coasters. This time, it was about the magic, about watching my children's eyes light up. This was Jeff's first trip to Disneyland and I asked him if it was what he thought it would be. He told me {as I had guessed} that he liked it much more than he thought he would. We talked about how it is so happy and magical without being hokey or cheesy.

It was, without a doubt, a perfect vacation. Thank you Mom and Dad, for helping to make it possible! Thanks to my sibs and their families for being so much fun! We have been planning this trip for what feels like forever. We started planning in July of 2008, while sitting in a hotel room in Jackson. We have planned and saved and looked forward to this so much!

When we were walking out of the park on Thursday afternoon Mylie started crying. Not bratty, tantrum crying, but broken hearted tears rolling down her face because she didn't ever want to leave Disneyland. That made me start crying too. We will definitely be going back!

Reasons I can't wait for vacation...

We are getting closer and closer to our big Disneyland vacation and I cannot wait. I was thinking about some of the reasons why ...

• Road trips. I simply love road trips. Put me in a car, with a big ol' diet coke and some good music and I am good to go. I'm pretty sure this is a genetic trait passed on to me by my mom.
• No rushing to go our separate ways. It seems like mornings aren't a lot of fun some (most) days. We are all rushing to go our separate ways. We are rushed, which often means we are grumpy. Although I don't anticipate any sleeping in on our trip, I love the fact that we will all be rushing off together.
• Long talks with Jeff. Honestly a long road trip is the best time to just talk and talk and talk. I'm so looking forward to that.
• Reunited and it feels so good. Although it has only been since October since our whole family was together, I miss them! I miss all of us being together and laughing. I haven't seen either of my sisters since then, way, way, way too long!
• Kiddos. I *love* being an aunt. It is one of my favorite jobs. I haven't seen Darcy, Max & Eliza since December and I haven't seen Lila baby since October. Oh little Lila, who was a two month old little baby and is now a babbling, giggling 6 month old. I can't wait to kiss her little cheeks and smell her baby goodness.
• Cousins. I miss the kids, but oh how Mylie misses all 4 of her cousins. She talks to them on the phone and talks about them all time. For as much as I miss the kids, I think Mylie misses them more. Her cousins are her very best friends.
• Her face. I can't wait to see the look on Mylie's face the first time she sees a princess. I hope my camera is ready at that moment.
• Their faces. I can't wait to watch the look on my parent's face as they watch their grandchildren have a magical trip. So reminiscent of the Disneyland trip my grandparents took us on 17 years ago.
• The pictures. Yes, I'll admit that the first items on my packing list aren't clothes or things for the kids. It is my camera, lenses, extra battery, battery charger. I cannot wait to capture this trip.
• Sun. Oh how I hope there is sunshine on our trip. We haven't had sun in weeks, blasted inversion. The fog outside has made its way to my emotions and I feel like I am in a fog. I need sunshine outside and sunshine in my soul.

The countdown is ON and we CAN'T WAIT!! Dear world, please note that I will be unavailable for a week. I won't be grading your papers or tests. I won't be dealing with your children who broke the law. I won't be chairing meetings. I most certainly will not be doing paperwork. I will be in the happiest place on earth with my most favorite people. It is much anticipated and much needed.

Fetch!

Little Bosco is growing up so fast! He is almost 6 months old. Although is he a crazy puppy, overall he is really good. He is hyper, but that is to be expected. As long as he has toys or bones, he is pretty content (usually). He is discovering a love for fetch. I came home at lunch today to let him out and took him in the back to play fetch and he was a super happy puppy. When I got home (at 9 tonight) he ran to me toy in mouth ready to play again.


An extreme closeup. "C'mon Mom! Get off Facebook and play fetch with me!"

Soon Bosco won't love us as much. He is staying at the vet's while we are in California. He will be losing his manhood while he is there. Hopefully he will forgive us.

Happy Valentine's Day!

It has been a great Valentine's weekend ... and the best part ... it isn't over yet! Jeff and I both have tomorrow off of work, yippee! We swapped babysitting with my friend Melanie this weekend, so we watched their kids on Friday night (Mylie was in heaven, she LOVES them) and they watched Mylie and Blake on Saturday afternoon. Jeff and I went to Sherlock Holmes (I really liked it) and then to dinner.

Jeff made breakfast this morning and we opened some Valentine's presents. Mylie had been shopping for both mommy and daddy, so that was fun to see what she had picked out. She made cards for everyone too. Jeff and I surprised the kids this morning with a pink bean bag chair for Mylie's room (that she drools over everytime we go to Target) and a little table and chair set for Blake's new big boy room. They were super excited!

Jeff had told me earlier in the week that he and Mylie were going to be in charge of Valentine's Day lunch, so they go to work when we got home from church. It was delish! Steaks, garlic mashed potatoes, vegetable shish-kabobs, texas toast and peanut butter brownies. Yum!

After all that eating, we decided we better go on a walk. Here is the gang right before Mylie rode her bike through a patch a stickers, deflating both of her tires.



Jeff then walked the bike and Mylie decided she would walk Bosco.

She later decided she would try running with him and pulled her right to the ground. Thankfully it was on the grass and she wasn't hurt and was laughing, because Jeff and I were laughing so hard!

And now we are just hanging out. The kids are in Blake's room playing cars, Jeff is riding the exercise bike and watching the Olympics, and I'm just relaxing. I have papers to grade later tonight ... but for now I am just going to enjoy the rest of the afternoon.

Valentine's Day is fun, but it doesn't take a holiday to remind me of how much I love this little family of mine.

Reason #4917 why I love Mylie ...

This afternoon we were at Target. We walked past the luggage aisle. One the end cap was a brown suitcase with big flowers on it. She said, and I quote, "Helloooooooooo gorgeous!"

Did you get the memo?

Blake has declared today no shirt Wednesday. He gave me this look everytime I tried to put a shirt on him. There is never a dull moment at this house.

8!

Today is Jeff and I's 8th anniversary! It's hard to believe that 8 years ago we were just two kids (well 25 and 26 year old kids), we had just bought our house and moved to Star. I was still a juvenile probation officer and Jeff worked for felony probation & parole. We had Jeep and a Geo Metro (both red). We went to the movies often. The walls in our house were all still painted white and our carpet had less wear and tear. We thought our hearts were as full of love as they could ever be.

8 years later ... We still live in our house in Star and we love it here. Our jobs have both changed and our cars have changed (only one is red). We rarely make it to the movies, but sure watch a lot of Netflix movies. Our kitchen is yellow, the family room is green, Mylie's room is purple and Blakey's is green. Our carpet has seen better days ... and we now know that our hearts were nowhere near as full of love as they would be.

Our lives are much busier, our nights are much shorter, but our house has the laughter of two little kids ... the best gifts we have received in our marriage. They have taught us so much about love, about sacrifice, about laughter and about ourselves. Being parents has strengthened our marriage. I'm excited to see what the next 8 years will bring to our lives.

Life is good when you are married to your best friend!