Great Wolf Lodge Video

The kids had a great time at Great Wolf Lodge, swimming and playing MagiQuest (thanks to Julie for taking us all). This video features the swimming only. MagiQuest adventures to come ...

Busy Times

It's been busy. The rush of school, and homework, enforced bedtimes, and the need to push everyone out the door in the morning. Exciting stuff. For the most part everyone has been pretty happy. We took the kids to Great Wolf Lodge when my mom was in town. Correction: She took us all to Great Wolf Lodge when she was in town. Rob has video he wants to edit together and post at some wonderful point. He had fun with a new case that let him take the camera underwater. So it went down slides and did all kinds of things. The kids had a great time to, and fell in love with Magiquest as much as with the water slides.

Caleb and Beth loved the bigger inner tube slides, and something has happened to me as I've gotten older. I just don't love them. I don't, but I went so it counts. Jacob had a lot of fun doing the little kid slides and the wave pool. He's so confident in the water now. My mom's visit was a lot of fun and went really smoothly. It's nice to have her visit. Sometimes it's hard being so far away from my family. The visit was a perfect way to feel reconnected.

Beth has her first male teacher. And I have to say I'm super impressed. His attitude about teaching, and the way he runs his class is impressive. I've liked all of Beth's teachers. They've been good for her, but I can see why they need more male teachers in the classroom. She's been pretty good about doing her homework this year. And she's on track to keep doing well.

Caleb's having a difficult time with his teacher and his behavior this year. I know that she's pretty strict. Beth would get a few card flips a month when she had her, and she maybe got one a year in her other classes. But it's frustrating and wearing on his self esteem. So I'm facing a dilemma. I'm about ready to schedule a conference with the teacher, and it's not going to be easy. I hate to call people out on the situation, and I don't think that Caleb is a perfect little boy that never talks out of turn or sits perfectly still, but at the same time--he is a first grade boy who wiggles, and gets excited and moves around and likes to talk to people. I don't want him to get labeled as a troubled kid. He's super smart--it doesn't take him long to do work, and I'm sure he gets bored. Actually Beth's teacher put the whole thing into perspective for me, when he talked about how he wanted his fourth graders to learn to behave, but he also realizes that they are fourth graders and aren't going to be perfect all of the time. Any advice would be appreciated.

Jacob is really progressing on his speech, and enjoying preschool. He sees his friend Miles at school most days--they are not in the same class, but I think they have recess together. He is much happier now that he has busy time each day. He misses his brother and sister when they are at school. It's nice to know that he is in a structured environment where he can have fun.

We all went to Bugfest again this year. No camera in tow, so no pictures. The boys all ate chocolate covered worms. Caleb had two. Rob came home all paranoid, and flossed his teeth and used mouthwash just in case. It made me laugh, because if you're that paranoid why eat them at all? (I'm more than that paranoid--hence no bug eating from me.) The kids got to make an antenna headband, and compete in the bug olympics and win a gold medal each. Happy times.

Overheard

This morning Rob went downstairs, and Caleb had already turned on a show. The kids have been anxiously waiting for the 3rd Ghostbuster movie, which is actually going to be made. Every day Jacob asks for me to turn it on.

Rob: What are you watching?

Caleb: Ghostbusters 3

Rob: That's not out yet. Let me see.
(he checked the show they were watching on Netflix.)

Rob: That's Stripes. It's rated R.

Caleb: But dad it has Peter Vankman in it. That's how we know it's Ghostbusters.

Rob: You do know that Peter Vankman is a character in the movie played by Bill Murray. He's in lots of movies.

Caleb: No this is Ghostbusters 3.

Family Trip to the Mountains

I love nothing more than a trip to the North Carolina mountains. Things are just so much more peaceful there. I love the winding roads, the cool breeze, and all the mountain streams.

We recently drove up to Price Park with family for a simple picnic and to let the kids play in the creek. We saw a surprising number of water snakes, which the kids thought was thrilling (me, not so much). And the kids loved trying to catch little fish (which reminded them of the fish we have in our aquarium at home).

It was fun spending time with family. I was really glad my aunt Kay and Grandma could come with us.

My camera's battery ran out right as we pulled up to the Moses Cone Manor, near Boone, NC, so sadly, I missed videotaping lot of really pretty scenery. Hopefully, you'll enjoy what I was able to capture.

Beth's Acting Debut

Beth participated in a Kinetic Theater Camp last week. She loved it. She designed and made costumes, created puppets, and put on a fabulous show. The group worked together for less than twenty hours before their first performance, and then they also performed at the grand opening of the new arts center here. I was impressed with the entire group, and I loved how excited Beth was to participate each day. Even better she called people and invited them to come on her own. Thanks to all of you that supported her by coming out. She really appreciated it! I think we may have found the thing that makes Beth shine!

Long Time No See

So it's been a super long time since I've posted. Yes it has. Now I'm supposed to give some excuse about why but I don't really have one. I've wanted to do other things that update. Silly I know, but we've been doing our same old routine. The kids are out of school for the summer and driving me batty. I never thought I'd be one of those moms that dread summer and look forward to sending my kids back to school, and in some ways I'm not. I love having them home with me, when they aren't fighting, whining or vandalizing the house. It's been super hot the last week (as it has been lots of different places across the country), but it's even too hot to go swimming. And the park is definitely out of the question.

Beth is doing great. She had a two week stay in Hickory with Grandma and her cousin Chloe. They had lots of fun. Beth came back super tan, since I think she went swimming just about every day. She's learning that it's easier to just do what is asked rather than pitching a fit about it this summer. This is a good thing, although it can very grating when she is in the middle of learning this truth. This summer she "moved out." She sent me a letter telling me she was running away. And then pasted a sign on her door with our house number and the letter B after it. She happily posted one on the boys room with the letter C on it. Conveniently she doesn't have to follow our rules when she is living in her own place. She's had lots of play dates with friends, and has started to become a big help around the house when she wants to.

Caleb and Jacob stayed home with me, while Beth was at Grandma's. They went to a day camp here. And were the rabble rousers of the entire thing. Lots of crafts. Their favorite day was bug day. Caleb has shown a determination to get things done. He is doing his summer workbook faithfully in the hopes of either earning a double Bey Blade pack or a kid guitar. I think he'll decide once he gets there. He doesn't like the workbook, but he understands the reward at the end of it. He has built several elaborate roller coasters this summer. And he battles with his Bey Blades. He likes the show (which he discovered on the Roku). He has such a soft heart, and he tries to protects his brother and sister whenever he sees them getting into trouble.

Jacob has been busy acting as an artist this month. Unfortunately he has decorated our stairs with green crayon (it comes out with WD-40 and dish soap) and today our carpet with purple marker (so far the rubbing alcohol has not done the trick as recommended by Crayola's helpful website). Jacob has acquired a new skill set which includes reading your mind and using the spell "Wingardium Leviosa". He likes to wake me up in the morning by standing two inches from my face and whispering "Mom, it's Jacob. It's morning. I'm awake, come downstairs with me." He is our early riser this summer. (Beth will sleep as late as I'll let her.) He loves doing his workbook pages and is flying through with very little help from me. This means that he'll be very ready for kindergarten next year. My baby is growing up so fast. If he wants something he will say "I command you to . . ." Rob adores this, which means that it is happening much more frequently. Jacob is obsessed with the game Plants vs Zombies" and even convinced his aunt to download it to her iPad. He can tell what each plant or zombie does and which ones to match up, but I still have to play it for him. His speech is coming along.

We finally managed to go to the beach this last weekend. We've had car issues one right after the other this summer, and it resulted in me not having a car for a week and a half. But all is better, so we headed to the beach. We went to Fort Macon, the aquarium, the beach and the fort. The kids loved looking for ghosts at the fort. They also had fun at the beach since it was a yellow flag day the waves were rougher, and good for boogie boarding. It was a good trip.

Rob and I celebrated our 12th anniversary a few weeks ago. It doesn't feel like we've been married that long. But I guess we better have with a kid that's almost ten. Yikes. He's busy working with the 11 year old scouts. It's got its ups and downs, but I think he likes it overall. I'm in the primary and I like it. So simple and fun. That's about it for now. I hope you all have a good week!

2 Agent Contests

If you are interested in pitching to agents you have to check out these two contests!

1- YATopia is hosting an elevator pitch contest with Bree Ogden. Awesome right? The contest is open until midnight on July 13th. Genres are Middle Grade and YA and the manuscript must be completed!

2 - LoveYA is holding a Twitter Pitch contest with Kristin Miller from D4EO Literary agency. She is looking for young adult and middle grade books. And the books need to be completed.

Enter both or one. Either way you are looking at two great agents reading your ideas! Good Luck!

Happy Mothers' Day

I created a short little slideshow for Julie and my mom and thought I'd share it. Enjoy.

Carowinds!

This weekend, we pulled the kids out of school and went to Carowinds. It was an exciting day, and not too hot or crowded. Beth went on her first "loop de loop" roller coaster with her cousin Chloe, plus she rode her first wooden roller coaster (it was big), and inverted coaster. Honestly it was a big day for her. Plus she learned that she loves spin rides.

Caleb rode on the wooden roller coaster (it was small, but bigger than all the other ones he's been able to ride) five times. He also hit many other fun and scary rides and had a lot of fun. He's ready for the big coasters, but unfortunately not quite tall enough. It's frustrating as a parent, because we see kids lots younger than he is, but tall, and they are riding all the rides Caleb wants to go on.

Jacob rode the smallest roller coaster once, and a few other rides. He started out on a ride that was a bit more intense than Rob and I thought it would be. So he was overly cautious most of the day. Still he had fun and was happy.

Rob rode the three big roller coasters with Beth and then Afterburn and The INTIMIDATOR twice. And he hung out with the kids and had a good time overall. I know he had fun hanging out with Karen and the cousins too.

Then we had a nice relaxing day in Hickory. Jacob got to pick strawberries, which he has been asking to do for weeks. The boys got to go crazy in the backyard and have fun in general. Beth hung out with Chloe and her friends and swam in the lake (yuck!) but she loved it of course. All in all it was a good week.

Rob is finally getting over his round of strep. He ended up being home with us for most of Spring Break because he was sick and contagious, and then he had Friday off. He enjoyed playing Portal 2 and sleeping a lot. He slept during the day and played at night.

I've been thinking a lot about the severe weather and all the people who are affected by the tornados in Alabama. In some ways it makes me feel so helpless, and at the same time it makes me grateful for the gospel and the hope it brings. Our stake is getting together a group of people to head down there this weekend to actually help clean up the debris and help. Things like this make me want to hold my kids closer and cherish every moment that we have together. Family is what really matters, because in the end it's the only think you can take with you, no matter what.

Have a great week!

Conversation on Math

Beth has decided she wants to be meteorologist. This conversation happened after she told me.

Beth: I hate it when teachers call on you when you aren't raising your hand.

Mim: You should raise your hand more, so they'll stop calling on you.

Beth: They only do it when I don't know the answer or I'm not paying attention.

Mim: Well you should be paying attention in class.

Beth: But math is boring.

Mim: You'll need math to be a meteorologist.

Beth: But math is boring.

Mim: You still need to pay attention.

Beth: Math was more fun when you could eat it. I got to eat my math in kindergarten.

Spring Break!

This week is Spring Break--and I have been worried about keeping the kids happy. I've also looked at it as a trail run for the upcoming summer. We need lots of activities fast, and a clean house to keep us all happy. So far I don't know if that's going to happen.

Our week started off with a bang on Saturday with some rough weather that moved through the area. We are all fine, but we went to visit the kids' school, and their playground is covered in downed trees, and a power line or two. If school wasn't already out, I'm sure our kids would have missed school yesterday.

As it was Beth had a skate party to go, and so I took the boys to the roller rink for the first time ever. Of course it brought back memories of middle school, and the few times I went roller skating in college to pull on the heavy skates. I put on my skates so I could take the boys out on the rink, but neither of them ventured up to that. Instead they played games in the arcade. Caleb's really good at skee ball. And cashed in tickets to get prizes. Always a rip off.

Also Caleb colored Jacob's hair with magic markers yesterday, so Jacob was sporting punk rocker red and green striped hair. It washed out last night. I'm grateful for that since Jacob has his well visit today, and I don't want to give a bad impression to the pediatrician.

Beth's already complaining of boredom. Every suggestion is a no. We even went to the library to her her favorite books to read, and she won't be bothered to pick them up.

So far today we've been on a long walk (2 miles--Jacob did really well, only had to be carried the last half block home). And we've dyed the Easter eggs. They've rescued a caterpillar and managed to make a big mess downstairs. The boys are having fun together though.

Have a great Easter!

Streppin' It

So Beth has strep, and I'm pretty sure the boys do as well. I'm taking them in tomorrow to find out. And Rob will likely go in and get checked, and I need to as well. So that in and of itself sums up my week. Actually it hasn't been a bad week. Caleb's overtired and over wrought and he only gets that way when he has strep throat, but overall the kids have been pretty chipper.

We didn't have a grand exciting adventure to share since we were home sick, but I did visit Beth's orchestra class at school this week. I listened to a mini concert and then they made me play the violin. I could read the music, and attempt the fingering, but drawing the bow across the strings was not pleasant. Later that day Beth told Rob "Mom was awful" though she had been quite encouraging at school.

Beth is participating in a lemonade War at school. Each third grade class is operating a lemonade stand during lunch to raise money for cancer. The unit is based on a book about a girl named Alex who had cancer and had a lemonade stand to fight cancer. Beth's class has raised over $300 in a week, and it goes on for another week. The unit is great because it teaches about economics, price point, advertising/marketing as well as giving them the chance to help out a good cause. I'm very impressed with the teachers on this unit.

Rob wants to know what I'm writing about. He's on his iPad and very happy to be looking at it. he's tired and feels streppy, so the peace and quiet is a good thing.

Jacob and Caleb both had uneventful weeks, and sometimes those are just the type of weeks that you need to have.

Arf! Weddings

Most of you don't know my brother Bob. He's pretty awesome, and since high school, Arf has been his catch phrase. This weekend he got married, and I got to be there. It was a really tiring trip to be honest. I flew out to Utah and took Beth with me. Then the next day we drove up to Idaho for the wedding. I got to visit with my friend Katrina briefly before we did wedding stuff, and then on Saturday was the wedding, Sunday we drove back to Utah so we could catch our flight home at 6:30 am. Needless to say I was exhausted when I got home.

But I came home to a wonderfully clean house thanks to my mother-in-law, Gail, who took over my duties so I could go out to Utah. And then my kids threw me a wonderful birthday party. The decorations were books and chocolate bars (for Rob's they did all things Mac (iPods, iPads, and laptops) they got my interests down pat. Then we played search for the book and pin the chocolate bar on the mouth. We ate some birthday cake, which Gail made before she went home, and had a great day.

It's so nice to be with my kids and Rob again. I loved seeing my family back in Utah, but I missed my own family so much. I don't have any pictures, because I don't bother with cameras, which is sad in a way I guess, but it lets me focus on the moment that's going on right now.

This week we are getting back in to the swing of things. Beth is getting over a cold, and having a hard time adjusting to the time change. Caleb is doing great, and Jacob is sweet as usual. Tomorrow is St. Patrick's day, and so we must all wear some form of green. It's also Parent Teacher conferences for Beth. We'll see how she's doing this year.

Hope you all have a great day!

Geocaching

Rob gets on kicks, and then we spend a lot of time doing the thing that he is currently enamored with. This year he has loved board games namely Ticket to Ride, Dominion and Carcassonne. Unfortunately these are not kid games, which means lots of late nights spent around the kitchen table, muttering at each other. I like Dominion the best, because I can figure out my strategy early on, and win. However, things can turn ugly, but that is only on my side. I learned at a young age (I think I was around 8--I learned that I can't play certain games without losing my cool. Unfortunately so did my babysitter, who was sitting on the porch locked out of the house when my parents got home --I still don't play Monopoly and I don't like Risk either for similar reasons and lapses in temper.) So these games kind of walk that line--but so far no major moments of no longer speaking to my husband.

That was a long tangent to say Rob is currently in love with geocaching. We tried it a bit last year when Rob first got his iPad. And while I still look back at that day as extremely frustrating, when we couldn't find three cache's and two of our three kids ended up with ticks (something I live in mortal fear of--it's not rational, I know), I kind of hoped then his interest would die quietly. But no it didn't.

Rob is a geocaching king right now. For family home evening we went geocaching at a nearby park, found two caches in the dark and let the kids run around on the playground. Last weekend in Hickory Rob went out two separate times hunting for geocaches, because that is what he does when he's on a kick. So no surprise when we ended up geocaching yesterday.

It started out simple enough, we hit three geocaches in less than three hours, easy to find track, and the kids were happy. Then we had just two left. I personally was ready to go home. But I agreed to do the last two and then go home. We parked at a local school, and then went around the grounds trying to figure out where it was. Not on the grounds, which meant walking out of the parking lot, along a road to the forest surrounding it.

At first I didn't think it was that big of a deal. We could traipse a few feet into the woods and not be in any danger. But then we kept going, and going and going. The further in we got the more brambles were growing--I'd hate to be hiking in there in the summer. It'd be a mess. There were no trespassing signs, but we kept going. It was eerily still in the woods, though a busy road was just about 100 feet away. I kept seeing old liquor bottles and smashed up beer cans, and other evidence that people sometimes visited these woods. In fact I've never been somewhere where I was so sure I'd turn and suddenly see a dead body on the ground--Rob even agreed with me. And then came the point where we had to jump a fence.

I turned to Rob and told him I didn't think I was up for that. He agreed with me, but then was just going to leave me there. So Rob helped the kids jump the fence, and then he did, and then I did, but not without getting some serious bruises. We did find the cache, but I'm not going back in those woods again. It's so not my thing.

Caleb, Beth and Jacob are doing really well. I'm wracking my brain trying to come up with the funny things they've said the last few weeks, and drawing a total blank. They've been fun, and funny the whole time.

Beth went with me to a book signing on Friday night. It was awesome five amazing authors spoke about writing, and I took Beth since one of the writer's had her name, and so I wasn't a total geek all by myself. I think next time I'll go by myself because Beth was bored. But she did really well sitting quietly and begging to play with my phone. Then she talked to the writer's and everyone thought she was cute. It was a nice time to spend one on one with her.

Jacob's sweet tooth is getting worse every day. He'll climb up the cupboards to get at the sugar, and begs me to buy him sweets like fruit roll ups or brownies. But he is drinking more milk, which is a good thing. He had a teddy bear picnic on Friday, and had a hard time deciding which one of his favorite animals to choose. He also took a bath with his friend on a play date here without asking. I was mortified, but fortunately, his friend's mom was here too and very understanding.

Caleb seems to be quite happy. He's doing well in school, and is my early riser. Up and at 'em before anyone else in the family. His energy is boundless.And his enthusiasm very loud. Today he spotted two ghosts in the house before church started, while Beth slept as late as possible, and Jacob followed his game screaming at unearthly hours.

Have a good week!

Science Fair Projects and Egg Drops

This week was the science fair at school. Both Beth and Caleb had decided to enter early this year. And we had gone to the library over a month ago to get books, and do the reports. Neither of them wanted to do an experiment. They both wanted to do a model. Beth on hurricanes and flooding, and Caleb on Volcanoes. The fact that we had gone to the library early didn't mean that everything was done when this week rolled around. So we had two late nights on Monday and Tuesday as the kids wrote reports, typed them up and created display boards. Beth interviewed people and so did Caleb. (Thanks if you helped---Gail, Bob, and Renee). Beth got a red ribbon (2nd place) and Caleb got a blue ribbon (first place). We were super proud of both of them.

There was also an egg drop at Math and Science night, and everyone competed. Beth put her egg in jello and basically just dropped it down. And it worked. Caleb had a balloon contraption with a parachute and it worked. And jacob dropped it with a parachute in a Halloween pumpkin. It didn't work. But they all had fun, and then we went and explored the many hands on interactive science experiments throughout the school. It's our favorite event that Washington puts on each year. It's awesome!

We celebrated Valentines a bit early this year with a trip to Chipotle's. Yum. And today is twelve year's from the day that Rob officially proposed. So wow! I'm so glad that we got married and and have been able to spend this time together. he gets me in a way that no one else does. I've been teasing him the last few days to see if he remembers the day he proposed, and he can't. So I laugh at him. But he does remember the important parts of the day itself. So that's what's really important.

Have a great week!

Beach and Back to School

Last weekend we took the kids to the beach to celebrate the boys birthdays. it was a lot of fun. Although the chlorine in the pool was a bit strong for my taste. The cousins and Gail came down and I think almost everyone had a great time. Poor Chloe got hit with a stomach bug while we were there. Rob took beautiful photos and he may inset a link in a bit, but I'm feeling too lazy to do it.

Beth had a stressful week this week. She was stressed about taking a standardized test at school. On top of that the science fair is coming up in the next week and a half and she has been working on the project. She wants to do it on hurricanes and flooding. She built a city out of paper and then put it completely underwater. While her effort was great, the accuracy and information wasn't quite right, so we will be working on a another model this week. However she can spout random facts about how much each category of hurricane will typically flood, and things about storm surge. She has been doing the research on the project.

Caleb turned six this week. He's doing well in school, and is overall happy. He came down with a little bug on Tuesday and missed school on Wednesday. It was just a little bug, but he slept a lot on Wednesday. His big gift for his birthday was a Flying Turtle. This video convinced him that the Flying Turtle was the right choice for him. There are some awesome videos of teenagers flying down hills in California that Rob showed to me too. We warned Caleb he might get hurt, and Rob said one of the biggest drawbacks was that he might get bloody knuckles. Caleb would randomly talk about it during the week, and be very excited about his opportunity to get bloody knuckles.

Well yesterday we took the kids out to the park to play on their toys--Jacob got something similar which I will describe in a minute-- and Caleb was riding on his Flying Turtle. To be honest Rob was just as keen to sit on the Flying Turtle, and he went down this hill on the walk to one park, and laughed the whole time. He got going pretty fast on it. There is a ramp that Rob wanted to ride down on the way back. The ramp leads up to a bridget that goes over the interstate and cuts back and forth several times with really sharp turns and huge drop offs over the side, with a fence that the Flying Turtle would just slide under. To be honest I wasn't too crazy about Rob riding it down that ramp because I just saw an emergency room trip with broken limbs, and trying to figure out how to get Rob to the car all busted up and broken. So when we got back to the ramp Rob decided not to ride it, and the next thing I know Caleb is going down it. He almost made it but flipped the Flying Turtle on the last turn and scraped up one arm pretty badly. But that's all he did thank goodness. Helmets are mandatory.

So Jacob got his present this week too. He got a plasma car. This is a video of the thing. Rob has been wanting to get one of these for the kids for years. Instead of the typical wheels featured on the fairly tame video--Rob upgraded to skateboard wheels. I took Jacob to the bus stop and let him ride it and I couldn't keep up with him running as fast as I could. There is a slight (very slight) hill and it took off super fast. If you ask Jacob how old he is he will hold up his fingers and say four and then he will count his fingers for you. I think it is quite cute. He also refers to himself in third person, but as Jacob Caldwell, not just Jacob. So he may come to me and say Mom, Jacob Caldwell wants some ice cream or Mom Jacob Caldwell is sleepy. Also if you ask him his name he will tell you Jacob Caldwell Joshua. Very fun.

Rob is having fun, and loved riding the Flying Turtle. I think he would have ridden the plasma car, but the thing won't hold his weight right now.

Take care!

Catch the Biggest Films This Year

As soon as I showed the kids the new movie trailer feature in iMovie 11, they just had to make a few. So save up your pocket change for tickets and popcorn, cause these films are Academy Award material. Well, maybe just a Golden Globe or two .....

The Pizza Sandwich

Jacob just came to me complaining of hunger.

Me: Do you want a peanut butter sandwich or a meat sandwich?

Jacob: A peanut butter and JAM sandwich

Me just realizing we have leftover pizza: Do you want a peanut butter JAM sandwich or a piece of pizza?

Jacob: A peanut butter jam PIZZA sandwich

Me: Peanut butter and pizza wouldn't be very good together

Jacob: A Pizza Sandwich

Me: No

Jacob: You just take two pieces of bread and put a pizza in between

Me: I'm not making it

Jacob: I will

He went and got the bread, and the pizza and made it himself--and ate most of it.

Christmas and Disney World

A busy Christmas vacation. We drove to Florida on Christmas day. The roads were pretty empty most of the day--still not my favorite thing to do on Christmas. We had the kids open presents the day before complete with a visit from Santa. So they still got Christmas, and a Christmas Eve celebration the night before where we acted out the nativity.

The big present for everyone were Razer scooters. The kids are doing great on them. Although they've only ridden them three times. It's been too cold and icky. Even Jacob has mastered balancing and going. They have a lot of fun on them.

Rob got Caleb a marble roller coaster, which is actually pretty awesome. There have been many coasters built with short tempers and rising frustration. I think this happens when someone gets a toy he really wants to play with himself, but gives it to his kid instead. Happily today was the first built roller coaster with no yelling, snapping or frustration. It was an out and back coaster and a lot of fun. Rob is already talking expansion kits (notice the plural) and a goal of filling the entire house with a huge roller coaster.

Beth got mostly crafts and a circuit set. In her letter to Santa with the cookies she requested some photos of Santa and the elves. Well Santa delivered and it cemented her faith in him. She showed those pictures off as often as she could the next few days.

Jacob got a Batman castle since he is so fascinated by Batman currently. He is in a Batman suit complete with cape and mask more than he is in normal clothes. He's enjoyed playing with it. Rob got Jacob dressed for church today by convincing him that he needed to be Bruce Wayne for awhile and disguise himself in a suit and tie. He gave him the entire spiel and had Jacob repeat back his name and profession. "Bruce Wayne --millionaire playboy" in the hopes that Jacob would introduce himself that way at church. When I picked him up from Sunbeams he was talking about Batman with his teachers, so it may have worked.

So my baby started Sunbeams today. It's hard to believe. I look at him and he's not a baby anymore. He looks grown up, and has a fun personality all his own. Sometimes it makes me so proud other times I'm sad since I won't have another little one at home. Still I'm so proud of him--his transition was smooth and he can be mature when he wants to be.

Disney World was fun, but crowded and cold. We went early, and got there when it had just opened. And managed to squeeze in five rides in less than three hours. That was good time considering walking. It got crowded around lunch time and the lines got long. Rob was looking at an article talking about crowd control in Disney World during the busiest times and how they've managed to get the average number of rides ridden up to 10 for the day. Well we put that number to shame we counted everything we did and we got up over fifteen. That's not shabby considering we went on one of the most crowded days of the year.

Also consensus on best rides were roller coasters. Jacob rode the Barnstormer twice in a row and whoo hooed the whole way! Chloe loved Space Mountain. Caleb's and Beth's favorite was Big Thunder Mountain hands down. Beth only rode it because Kim agreed to ride with her, and they were both nervous about the ride. Now Beth wants to go back to Busch Gardens to ride Loch Ness.

It was nice to see family in Florida. They had fun playing with the kids down there. They are close to our kids age. We call them cousins, though I don't know what they are technically. Rob's cousin's son's kids.

Now we are ready - okay I'm ready - to send the kids back to school. It's been a nice week and half off, but the troops are getting restless and the weather hasn't let us get the kids out to play as much as I like.

Have a great 2011!