ABCs of Thanks

A - Alabama athletics which gives our family many hours of enjoyment.  Roll Tide.

B - Ben, the guy who walks beside me.

C - cars that get my family where we need to go and the comfort they provide while doing it.

D - DVR for changing my life forever.

E - elephants, our favorite animal - especially Big Al.

F - friends cause I've got some of the very best.

G - grandparents who love my child unconditionally and provide the best free babysitting ever. 

H - home for being our sanctuary.

I - iced lattes for keeping me functional.

J - Jack, the coolest kid in the world.

K -  kids that make our lives better just by being in them.

L - Lord Jesus for giving me new and abundant life.

M - McDonalds for having a rocking dollar menu.

N - Nelson DeMille for writing fantastic books that I can read over and over.

O - Operation Christmas Child for helping us give to others in a really neat way.

P - pirates, especially Captain Jack Sparrow and all the entertainment and joy they give my son.

Q - quiet times to read a really great book.

R - restaurants for feeding my family.

S - Saturdays full of football, food, friends and fun.

T - TOMS shoes for keeping my feet happy.

U - unique personality traits, especially the 1000 I see in my child every day.

V - vacations, one of my favorite things.

W - words, especially cool ones.  I love words.

X - x-rays that show us things are NOT broken.

Y - you.  I'm thankful for my blogger friends.

Z - zero chores to do tomorrow.  I love a lazy day at home with the kid.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.  Psalm 100:4

Disney Kind of People

We went back to Disney World for the second time this year last week.  Jack thrived so well there when we went in February so we decided to go again while we can go during school days.  We loved it and I mean LOVED it.  We are just a Disney kind of family.  We are the people that stayed for five days and could have easily stayed five more.  I don't understand people who go and say it's difficult and don't want to immediately go back.  I wouldn't go in the summer, but other than that, I'm in for ANY trip.  We thought we had gone the best week (and it was a really good week to go), but an employee told us that actually January 1st-5th is the best week to go as far as crowds.  I was ready to book a trip.  Ben talked me out of it, but you get it.  We love Disney.  We went with our friends, the Fore family and the Bulger family.  I would never say that they were lightweights and had to go "rest" a couple of days, but.....  :)  The only time we left during the day was the last day and we took a break to watch the Alabama basketball game.  We do love Disney, but we didn't let it get our priorities out of whack - we would never miss a Bama game:)  Anyway, here are some of the fantastically fun and wonderful things we did while we were there.

Acted the fool waiting to ride the Buzz Lightyear ride and then rode Buzz Lightyear in 3D:

It was a little sad that Jack was not really into the Toy Story and Cars stuff this year.  He still enjoyed the characters, but he has definitely moved along to Pirate Mania.  In just six short months, he's grown up so much.

We picked up this cheetah at Animal Kingdom:

 We got a very talented guy to draw a picture of our very own Captain Jack Sparrow:

 Forget a cheetah; Jack decided to be Scar from The Lion King instead.  He does love a villian. Sweet Piper still loved on him with his mean self, though.

We rode Big Thunder Mountain Railroad a GAZILLION times: 

 Took the mandatory picture in front of the castle:

Spent a LOT of time around the Pirates of the Caribbean ride and their store full of pirate goodies:

Told lots of secrets - most of which included the word "poop":

 Ate a lot of good food and took a group picture at the Tusker House restaurant: 

 Gave out lots of good sugar:

Took a safari ride: 

Looked really cute for pictures: 

Then let our true colors come out and shot people with our pirate gun when they dared to take another picture: 

Watched Piper looking like a princess: 

Acted like the couple we have insisted they become: 

Dressed as twins to Tara's mortification (she stayed far away from Ben all day - especially since Piper had an Alabama dress on too.  They totally looked like THAT family:)

Met Captain Jack Sparrow at Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party (the only line we stood in the whole trip, but Jack was adamant that he wanted to meet this guy): 

Took a few power naps after riding Space Mountain: 

Celebrated Ella's birthday with Chef Mickey and his crew: 

Took some family photos at the end of the day to commemorate how sweaty and tired we were: 

Took the mandatory family photo in front of the Tree of Life (which made Jack totally talk only about the new movie "Tree of Life" on and on and on): 

Helped out with the Festival of the Lion King show: 

Took a self-portrait: 

Ate at the Rainforest Cafe: 

Talked and talked and talked: 

Dared to ride Expedition Everest:

Took a family picture in front of a giant Christmas tree: 

Doesn't that look like FUN?  Yeah, we're Disney kind of people.

The Halloween Scare

Halloween was a big deal around our house.  We are "on the go" people in general, but I'm telling you, this Halloween almost did me in.  Thankfully, the only real scare was my sanity and my ability to hold up through all the fun.  We had spent several months getting ready for the Fall Festival at church - like we do every year.  This year, however, we were hosting Jack's preschool Halloween party at our house as well.  I had volunteered for this (because I wanted to and NOT because I wanted to get my turn over with early in the year... nope, couldn't be for that reason:)  without realizing that the party was at 9:00 a.m. on the Monday AFTER our Fall Festival at 5:00 p.m. the night before.  It was ON.  I mean, it was go and go and go some more.  The good part about it was since I'm on the Children's Committee and helped prepare all the stuff for the Fall Festival, I was able to borrow several games for the Little Friends party.  Insta-party:)  The bad part is that my feet were killing me by Sunday afternoon and I still had to load and unload all the goods that night and get my house ready.  Needless to say, a bedtime at 3:00 a.m. and wakeup at 6:00 a.m. AFTER a REALLY long day the day before did not help with the aching feet and tired brain.  By noon on Monday morning, my legs wouldn't go ANY MORE.  Jack and I took the rest of the day OFF.  I got in my chair with my computer and my DVR and I barely moved for the rest of the night.  I was T-I-R-E-D.  But it was worth it. We had lots of fun at both events and seeing my child enjoy a party with lots of other children... yeah, worth it.  I'm just going to tell the tale in pictures.

NIGHT THE LIGHT WITH JESUS

Captain Jack Sparrow

Bug Toss and Duck Pond game

I think Ben's picture cutouts have seen their last year's worth of use.  We just about did them in at the preschool party.

Alice in Wonderland (Piper) and a really pretty bird (Ella)

Bottle Toss; Go Fish; Balloon Pop

Scarlett (Caroline)

The Good Witch (Brannon) and Jack

Ski Ball; Pumpkin Bowling

LITTLE FRIENDS HALLOWEEN PARTY:

Before all the food arrived

Sack Races

Pumpkin Patch

Jack found his pumpkin

Mrs. Helen and her Little Friends

Jack and all his Little Friends

Hay Ride

Playing all the games

More picture fun:)

Cute bunch of kids

I was happy to see Halloween come.  It was fun.  I was happy to see Halloween go.  But, I'm already thinking about costumes for next year.  At the end of the day, I can't get enough of a good thing:)