This was the best surprise I’ve ever pulled off.

We are not typically adept at keeping exciting news to ourselves. We are the kind of people who announced we were pregnant the second we found out.

But this time we played it cool. We DID tell the boys we were headed to Disney World. However, we did NOT tell them that I copied my friend Amy’s Disney itinerary as closely as I could, so our Disney vacation would be shared with Xavier and Zoe. (Don’t worry. Xavier and Zoe’s parents were in on it. I wasn’t completely stalking them.)

So Alan and I rode down to Florida, enjoying our secret.

Believe it or not, JD was the MOST visibly excited one. “I’m just so excited to go to Disney World. Can I ride Dusty? I wanna ride Planes.”

Road trip discovery!!! Best coffee ever, y’all!! Raceway gas station Community Coffee. I gotta find a Raceway close to my house now. I am hooked.

scenes of happiness

Art of Animation Resort

Our resort was the bee’s knees, y’all. We stayed at the Art of Animation Resort at Disney World, which is actually a VALUE level resort. The family suites sleep 6 and have 2 full bathrooms. There is a cafeteria open until midnight, several swimming pools, and all the free drink refills you want, if you have the Disney Dining Plan.

Art of Animation Cars Family Suite. This room was all themed out for Sally’s Cozy Cone Motel. That couch turns into a bed.

There was a life-size Lightning McQueen, Mater, Sheriff, Ramone, and many others. It really upped the excitement level of staying at Disney World.

He was a little disappointed that he couldn’t get in and drive Lightning McQueen. Bless.

Magic Kingdom

Day 1 was off to a rocky start. First, we were later than we had hoped to be because….well because we are us and we have four children.

That’s 6 people to apply sunscreen to. Six people to feed. Six people to dress. Six people to brush teeth. 6 people to use the bathroom. Six people to get on each other’s nerves. 6 people to make jokes. 6 people to keep up with. 6 people to wake up. You get the idea.

So we finally made it to the pearly Magic Kingdom gates, through the bag check line, and to the bracelet scan ….and…..

whomp whomp whomp

“We need you to go to guest services.”

Denied entry. Now that is sad.

There was a line at guest services. I guess we weren’t the only ones.

Turns out that we had to prove that we were military b/c we’d gotten a sweet military discount on those tickets.

Now, if our resort peeps had known, they could have validated that for us, but we didn’t think to tell them, and they didn’t ask, so this had to be done at the gate. It was a good thing Alan had his ID with him.

Phew! Finally got through that. We made our way over to the train. Poor little John David tripped as he was climbing onto the train. He cried. It was loud. After a few minutes of that, a sweet lady from behind us passed him an entire package of Starbursts to cheer him up.

We needed that. I wish I knew her name. I’d shout it from the rooftops.

We are not familiar with the parks, and pretty much everything has changed since we went 8 years ago, so it took us a while to find It’s A Small World, where we were scheduled to meet our friends at 9:30.

JD, with his consolation candy

Miraculously enough, we were only a couple minutes late when we spotted our friends!

Xavier ran over to us, and Joshua…..looked confused. It was hilarious. Joshua was silent, but his face seemed to be saying, “Um, yes, hello, who are you?” to Xavier. Of course, after a few minutes, Joshua and Caleb figured out what was going on, and they were so happy. Joshua actually turned to Caleb and said, “Caleb, pinch me. I don’t think I’m awake. I must be dreaming.”

Yes, it is indeed a small world after all.

We all rode 2 rides together, and then split up for the 3rd because not all of our Fastpasses were together.

We were nervous about JD’s ability to keep his Magic Band on his arm. See, the Magic Band is of great value at Disney. All your reservations are programmed in there. It can also identify a lost child. And as an adult, you can wire your credit card info on there so you don’t even have to carry around money. Magic bands open your hotel room, know your fast pass times, and contain your park admission ticket. They are a big deal.

So you can imagine my dismay when after ride #2 of day #1, I look down and realize that I have lost MY Magic Band. Well, of course I did, really. I’ve always had trouble with bracelets. Grooooaaaaan.

The boys headed off to use their Fast Pass with Alan. I headed back to the Haunted Mansion. If a cast member (Disney employee) finds a Magic Band, it’s kept at that ride for an hour. So I figured I had one hour to get that band back. I had it when I got on the Haunted Mansion ride, and it was gone afterwards, so that had to be it.

ugh. We had walked a long way. It was sunny. I was sweating. I missed turns, I turned back, but I eventually found my way back to Haunted Mansion, using my handy-dandy Disney app.

I asked each cast member I passed, “Have you seen a pink Magic Band?”

No.

I went all the way through the suddenly very long Haunted Mansion line. No band.

I was annoyed to have to ride the ride again, by myself, but I did it.

It wasn’t scary, but creepy skulls and ghosts aren’t my thing. “Why this ride, Lord?” I thought.

Call me crazy, but he answered me. I thought about my tendency to gloss over everything bad and pretend like the gross, evil, and unfortunate things in life don’t exist. That’s apathy, really. But these things do exist, and they must be faced.

I prayed for God to just please give me my band back and get me out of there.

At the very end of the ride, as I went through the exit corridor, I asked a young lady, and she said, “Hold on.”

Then she was gone all of two minutes and came back holding my magic band.

Thank you, Lord!

I’m happy to tell you that bad things come in threes, so that’s the last one. The rest of it went well:

So excited to find this!

Oh, the tea cups. What adult likes this ride? This was the only ride that made JD cry.

Happy People

By lunch, JD reached full melt-down level.

But Caleb and Dan were dying to ride these cars, so we split up here and met back at the restaurant. Lunch made all the difference too. When in doubt, feed the children!

I thought Zoe’s ears were adorable.

riding the People Mover

Country Bear Jamboree

One of the best things that happened: It rained almost every day, just enough to cool things off. The heat was not nearly as bad as I feared it would be.

Dinner at Tony’s Town Square. JD slept through almost every single evening meal in his stroller.

Alan bought these ponchos for $1 a piece at Target from the camping section. We were thankful to have these!!

Amy is the real deal New England Patriots fan. She’s even from New England.

Granted, we got off to a rough start, but by lunch I feel like we had things turned around in our favor.

It struck me during our vacation what a positive difference it made, sharing this trip with good friends. Our kids were braver about trying new things, and I think it helped Alan and me to be more relaxed and fun. People often say that Alan and I are laid back, which is a real head scratcher for me because the truth is we are tired, uptight people. We do like to have fun. It’s just that we’ve been so busy changing diapers, enforcing vegetable consumption, teaching reading skills, coaching memory work, cleaning up, and taming boys over the past 10 years that sometimes it feels like fun is a relative concept. 

Our friends, Amy and Sean, are in the parenting trenches just as we are, so they’re understanding. Plus, we have shared history. They’ve already accepted us for who we are. I’d like to put my finger on what it is that makes me like these friends so much. Because I do. I love their whole family, and Amy is one of my few closest friends. They are upbeat, and they are real at the same time. Amy is the kind of friend I can be myself with, and they are good about keeping in touch.

There is a certain quality you find in just a few friends in life, a quality that cannot be aptly described with words.

All I know is to call them “kindred spirits” as Anne of Green Gables did, but it’s more than that. There are some people who can’t help but be the main characters in your life. It is a matter of both mutual respect, shared interests, and plain old convenience and timing.

But I think God’s hand is in it too. Sometimes, once I realize a friend is definitely more than a passing acquaintance, I stop and wonder, “What is it, God? What should I learn from them? What do they need that I might offer?” It’s usually both. It’s that whole iron-sharpening iron thing.

It was a refreshing visit, especially as we enter another phase of meeting new people and being “the new kids” yet again.  My heart starts to get tired of putting my best foot forward, and that is why I drag my family out on all these vacations. I have this need to remind myself where we’ve been, where we’re going, and who we are before we plunge in to building a new community for ourselves.

And I have to take a little time. I wish that it were everyday, but sometimes it isn’t. But never forget to take a little time to read God’s Word, the Holy Bible, and get down on your face, and pray for the courage and strength to tackle the next thing. It would  be beautiful for life to be like the ENDINGS of your favorite movies, full of pot-luck dinners, and breezy sun-lit paths. But instead, it’s more like an obstacle course, where your relay team keeps changing. God is the only constant.

Today I found this verse:

In your distress you called and I rescued you, I answered you out of a thundercloud; I tested you at the waters of Meribah.  Psalm 81:7

In your distress, you called and I rescued you.

Yes!!  That was exactly it. This year and many times before!

It rang so strong and true with me that I wrote it down in 4 different places, one of which was where I copied the verse on my wrist in red ink pen. Alan said it looked disturbing. Sigh. I just wanted a place I could see it that wouldn’t wash off when I washed my hands. Being disturbing was not my intention.

But y’all!!! Sometimes life IS disturbing!!!

That is why we NEED friends! And vacations! And PRAYER!! And a little silence and rest. And upbeat people.

The post Deep Thoughts from Magic Kingdom 2016 appeared first on Stories of Our Boys.

Joshua burst my bubble the other day. After a whole winter of people telling me I look like a Disney Princess (Anna from Frozen), and walking around feeling pretty good about myself……la-te-da…..

Joshua says, “You don’t really look like Anna to me.  You gotta take us to go see How to Train Your Dragons 2!  Hiccup’s mom is who you really look like!  I mean, you might look a little like Anna, but really you look like Hiccup’s Mom!!  Can we go??  Will you take us??  Will you? Will you?”

Eh. I guess she’s not such a terrible person to be compared to ……child abandonment aside…. Still, I’d rather be compared to a Disney Princess.  Let’s go back to that.

Delusions are so much nicer than reality. : )  Let’s move on…

By the way, How to Train Your Dragon 2 comes to theaters in June.  Joshua is an EXPERT on when all movies and video games marketed towards little boys are released.  We don’t even have cable, but somehow he always knows these things.

Speaking of cable, we cut our cable a month ago, and we don’t even miss it at all!  Guess how much money it’s saving us…..NONE!  Disappointing, isn’t it? Our media services were all bundled up so well, that cutting cable would save us a whopping $10 a month, and since we’re moving in June, that makes it not worth the trouble of having to hunt down the cable store and return the box.  You know?  So we just unplugged it from the wall.

Actually, Alan plugs it in once a week and watches some Revolutionary War tv show he’s into.  Ha!  So I guess we just sort of don’t have cable…..

Guess what else happened last week that I was so excited about?  The boys did so well on their report cards that I took them to Chuck E Cheese to celebrate.  Caleb had his best report card ever, all good grades, and he is now on grade level for his reading.  WAhoo!!!  Go boys, go!  Yeah, Joshua wasn’t so keen on having his picture taken while eating.  In my defense, he moves too fast for me to take his picture when he’s not eating.

They had a great time. Daniel is a Chuck E Cheese Mastermind.  

You can’t make this stuff up:  Daniel walked around to all the machines, collecting the tickets that other kids had left behind.  Before kids realize the power of tickets, they often flitter from one machine to another, without stopping to collect their tickets.  Daniel is our #1 Easter egg finder and our #1 ticket earner.  The older boys earned about 15 each.  Dan earned and collected 50.  Haaaa!

He still isn’t quite crawling yet….Instead, he scoots backwards great distances, but isn’t he adorable?

He’ll figure it out soon. I keep forgetting to mention that he is down to only two breast feedings per day.  He now eats plenty of solid food and drinks whole milk instead.  He would have no part of formula, so regular ol’ milk is working just fine.

Busy, busy week ahead, as usual!  Oh yeah!  Our EFMP paperwork was approved, and we have ‘Request for Orders’ in hand.  One step at a time.  We almost have everything we need to book a moving truck!!  Hurray!!

What’s everyone else up to this week? Hope you are all having a good one.  At least it’s raining and not snowing! April showers bring May flowers!  ; )

Best quote I saw on the internet this week:  “When you have a bad day, a really bad day, try and treat the world better than it treated you.”  –Patrick Slump

The post Daniel, the Chuck E Cheese Mastermind appeared first on Stories of Our Boys.

best thing that happened this week!!!! Thanks, Mom and Dad!

Sometimes I get stressed out.  Like now.  I’m kind of on the verge of that right this second.

Here’s why my face is all broken out like a teenager this week!

It’s Friday at 2pm.  The whole weekend is about to smack us in the face, and it’s not one of those nice, breezy weekends.  It’s one of those crazy-insanely busy-hallmark weekends  that make me want to stick my head in the sand.

For starters, we promised a friend we’d go somewhere tonight that’s an hour away that starts at 7pm.  We have four small children, and our babysitters don’t do Friday nights.  I’m scrambling around trying to fix this.  I’m thinking I should take a friend and leave Alan at home with all of our children.  I never get out, and Alan is out at least a little more than I am, so he’ll probably enjoy time at home.  I know he wants to go to this thing, though.

Do you want to know what the ‘thing’ I’m anxious about going to with sleepy children is???  It’s a buffet of DELICIOUS food, cooked by chefs who are graduating culinary school.  We have a friend that’s one of the graduates.  You can see why both Alan and I wanted to go!

If you want to go with me, I do need a ‘date’…..FEMALE, a female one.  Thanks!

Okay….before I go any further, I should mention that this has actually been a fun week.  How lucky am I that Daniel passes out in the floor?  Thank you, sweetie, Mommy loves you.  Don’t worry.  I didn’t give him Benadryl or anything.  No, I really didn’t.

All right.  Back to my stress.

They say it’s going to snow Tuesday, which I KNEW this wasn’t finished yet, but what can you do?

Saturday.  Oh, Saturday.  Guess what Saturday is.  It’s when we celebrate Daniel’s birthday, since Saturday is a weekend and all.  Guess what I have planned for his glorious 3rd birthday!?

Nothing.

Not even a cake.  Not even a friend.  I got nothin’.

I’ve just been too busy and tired to deal with it.  Alan was gone for a couple of days this week (business trip), so I’ve been doing the 1:4 ratio thing.

Did you read that last sentence? 1:4 ratio.  Are any words really necessary?

Our tentative plan is to take Daniel into the city to the Smithsonians Saturday.  Which is GREAT, and he will love it, only that will leave me no time to prepare for……..

GUESTS ARRIVING ON SUNDAY MORNING!!!!!  We LOVE hosting, so we regularly invite our friends and family to come stay with us and take advantage of the local touring opportunities.  Next week begins tourist season, and I believe our little bed and breakfast here at the House of Many Little Men is booked almost solid for the rest of March and April.

Now don’t worry TOO much for me.  I’ve done this a TON, and these guests are all related to us:  Donna, Ellen, and Matthew.  This will be Ellen and Matthew’s first visit.  Wahooo!!!  The boys are so excited about Matthew coming–who is 17.  Apparently, “he’s the one that drives them on the golf cart at their great-grandparents’ house.” They trust his driving, but they don’t trust Laura Ellen’s.  HA!!

Classic men, judging women drivers.

I’m no fool, ya’ll.  I had a maid come and clean yesterday.  That’s right.  My pride is more important than money.

I’m just concerned about getting everything else nice and ready for my guests in time.  The mirror in the guest room broke a couple weeks ago, and rule #1 of hosting–Always provide a mirror in the guest room.

What?  You don’t think that should be rule #1?  Perhaps not everyone has to stare at every mirror they walk by like I do, rotten, vain thing that I am, but I still say it’s important.

Can you feel my blood pressure rising?  At least we did buy Dan a gift!!

Oh!  And thank you so much, everyone who sent him a gift already:  both sets of uncles and aunts and my parents!!  He LOVED it all!!!  I wanted to have photos of him playing with all of his gifts all uploaded and labeled on the blog today, but I’m having some iPhoto issues.  Drat.

Check back with me soon.  I have BEAUTIFUL photos of snow covered trees and darling pictures of Joshua’s art work, but alas, I Photo issues.

Now I’m officially running late to pick the boys up from school, so I’m out of here!  TGIF…..actually I could use one more Friday to prepare for this one!

The post Aaaaaaaaughhhhh!!!!! appeared first on Stories of Our Boys.