I Can't Keep a (Disney) Secret!

So I totally caved yesterday!  I didn't think surprising my kids with our arrival to Disney with our arrival to Disney World would go over well....We were going to just let them know we were going by them seeing the sign when we got there.  I am so glad I told them yesterday because my oldest as we found out (yesterday) HATES surprises!  He was not thrilled with our after dinner announcement of our upcoming vacation.  He was mad.  My daughter on the other hand was so happy she couldn't speak but just smile.  She knows how to make mama happy with out knowing it,  She always has the best reactions.  My youngest in his true form could care less and was more worried about going out to play, but hey he's too young to understand what a Disney vacation means yet.  He will LOVE it, I'm sure because when he looks at pictures of when I was prego with him and went he asks why he wasn't there.  He also says he wants to go to Mickey's home, as he calls it.

 Hopefully, I can get my oldest excited about it somehow before hand.  He is going through this phase where he is driving me nuts with his attitude.  He is otherwise a happy and good kid, that just needs to be more POSITIVE instead of negative.  We are working on it.  I am so happy to have revealed the trip to the kids.  Next time it will have to be some kind of gift for me not to spill the beans!  I also found out a cousin of mine works at a car rental place and can get us a much better price than a non family member.  I think we may go with an SUV, but we may get a minivan instead if the price is right ;) .  Does anyone have any ideas of getting a child excited about a trip or is he just at that age where boys are just blah to everything. All well at least I have one Disney enthusiast, and maybe another in the making.

Disney Planning

Planning a Disney World vacation can be overwhelming, stressful, and exciting.  I  have been to Disney in June the end of August, and now we are going at the end of October from the 28th to November 3rd.  This is a surprise trip for my 3 kiddos.  They will not know where we are going til we get there.  We will be driving down from a chilly Indiana to a warm Florida.  16 hours with stops for gas a the bathroom.  We will pack a cooler with drinks and sandwiches.  We will have snacks and things to munch on.  I am NOT stopping for food when I can bring some with us and save money on the way down.  We are leaving the night before and driving straight through.  I may stop for coffee at Starbucks, but that's not food.  I am a night person so for me it makes since to get going at night and not have to deal with as many drivers on the road. 

Here is how I plan out my trips, keep in mind my children are home schooled so we are not limited to when we can vacation.

1.  Go when its cooler.  We chose October because it isn't as hot as the other summer months in Florida.  Next time we will probably go in Jan or Feb.  This also means its not as busy as in the summer due to children being in school.

2.  We always go when there is a deal.  Some people say free dining is not worth it but even with us getting free quick service this time it is saving us $400.  That is an extra car payment for us, so this was a win.  

3.  If your wanting to experience a particular event plan for that time of year even before the dates for it are announced so you can be prepared.  

4.  Pick a hotel that fits your family.  We are staying at a Value resort.  This will probably be our last time doing this because our kids are getting older and we will need more room for them the older they get.  We don't spend much time in our hotel room anyway so right now the smaller room won't bug us.  Port Orleans is our next choice.  The Deluxe are too expensive  for us.  We would have to plan a couple years in advance for that option. 

5. Save, Save, Save.  The more money you save up the more choices or longer stay you can have.  Plus You can have extra money to play with or have it to put back for emergencies when you get home.  We are trying to save as much money as possible so when we get back we still have a cushion and money for new bedroom furniture.  

6.   DON'T STRESS!  Planning fast passes, dining options, tickets, which parks to visit on which days, and transportation can be overwhelming.  Just relax, but not too much.  You don't want to forget to make ADRs (180 days before your trip) , fast pass selections (60 days before), and online check in (60 days before)!  

7.  Have FUN!  If things don't go smoothly it is O.K.!  Things happen.  You can only control what is in your power.  You can't see or do every thing at Disney World in one trip.  Who would want to anyway.  I want us to come back and be able to experience new things each time we go.

We budget a certain amount weekly to pay for our trip.  I go to Kroger and buy gift cards to pay for our trip.  This helps us save money on gas.  It saved us $60 this month. This month we didn't put much into our savings but we paid a big portion of our trip off.    

When planning out our trip I use a notebook to keep all of the info.  I keep a tab on the whole cost of the trip( rental car, gas, trip insurance, hotel, food, tickets, and spending money).  Right now have half  left to pay for our trip without the rental car and spending money.  It should be paid off at the end of this month as long a no surprises come up.   The rest of the money we need we will slowly save until the day we leave.   Find out which hotel building you prefer and right it down in your notebook.  When online check in rolls around you want to remember so you don't have to research it again.  Write down any questions you may want to ask a cast member before you go.  

Next I make a rough schedule.  I say rough because we like to do spur of the moment things too and it is more fun to just go.  Here is ours so far:

Tues, 10/27

 leave at 10 pm

Wed, 10/28

 arrive at the hotel between 3 to 6 pm.

Thurs, 10/29

 Disney Springs from 10am to 2pm.  Go back to the hotel and get ready for MNSSHP from 4pm until 12am.  The party doesn't start until 7pm, but they do let guests that are attending in starting at 4pm, Imagine the commotion if they didn't. 

Fri, 10/30

 7;30 am Kona cafe @ the Poly (breakfast reservations)

Magic Kingdom 9 am - 10 pm

FP+:

Festival of Fantasy Parade: 3 pm

Electrical Parade: 9 pm

Wishes: 10 pm

Sat 10/31

Epcot 9 am - 10 pm

FP+:

Illuminations: 10 pm

Sun 11/1

Animal Kingdom 9 pm - 6 pm

FP+:

Hollywood Studios:6:30 pm - 9pm

FP+:

Fantasmic: 7 pm

Mon 11/2

Magic Kingdom 8 am-10 pm

Chrystal Palace Breakfast 8 am

FP+:

Tues 11/3

Leave for home

If you have any questions let me know.  I'll fill in the blanks and update this post as I get things done.  While at The World I will be taking pictures of our hotel and I will give more info on our trip when we get back.  

Summer

My oldest has asked"Is summer here yet?" a lot over this past week.  He knows we will have 4 months of no school.  He finishes his school year about 2 weeks early and his school calendar doesn't start til the VERY end of August!  I love it.  We love his online charter school!  B my dd will be starting Kinder with the same school this year!  I am soooo nervous.  A didn't start online charter til 2nd grade.  We knew the P.S system was failing him.  He was being punish for finishing his work first, even if the answers were all right he would get points taken off.  Not fair.  He was also being bullied with no help from the school.  Since we made the switch I have a much happier child with out crying over home work and waking up early.  No he still doesn't LOVE school and we still have hard days but it is much easier to manage than before.  Right now we are knee deep in writing book reports and short stories so he's not too happy because he HATES writing.

We are taking it easy this summer because I have a surprise planned for my kids at the end of Oct!  We have to save so we can have an extra special trip.  We are going to drive down to Disney and let them do MNSSHP and have a nice family vacation with my hubby which have have yet to do! My very loving and hardworking husband has yet to go on a family trip and this will be his first trip to Disney.  I hope he loves it as much as I do.  I will post all about how I planned it the price and break everything down.  I haven't posted much in a while but I am trying to figure out how I want this blog to be.

Life Right Now

    We are ready for Spring...We had fun playing in the snow the other day!  I haven't went out to play in the cold in FOREVER! It was fun to get to watch my children play in the snow.  We turned our deck stairs into a mini snow sledding hill...It was perfect for them!  They slept really good that night.                                   

This is why we are thinking ahead to the summer.  We want to make new memories and do thisngs we have never done before.  The kids decided that we should give tent camping a try so...Right now I am in the middle of trying to come up with a summer vacation idea...We are going to go camping or the 1st time this summer...I know what basics I need.  We are going to a campground with flushing toilets and showers.  No primitive stuff for us at this point, maybe later on.  We are going to Missouri.  We have never been here before so it will be another state off of list of ones we have NEVER been to!  I am excited.   There are a few things I want to do while we are there.  The City Museum and arch and we may travel down to Branson and hang out there.  We are still trying to get our camping gear together...We have a tent and one tarp....I need sleeping bags, chairs, another tarp, grill, stove, air mattress for the hubby and I and some more lanterns for sure...I can't forget the cooler!  Does anyone else have camping tips?

     Adrian has a sleep study and MRI coming up!  We are nervous and hope everything is OK.  He has been having sleep issues and migraines lately so we want to make sure there are no underlying causes.  We have been on a roller coaster ride since he was born.  Prematurity isn't a joke!  We are so blessed that he is normal.  He should be mentally and physically disabled.  He was on the brink of death more than once.  He had a PDA that went undetected for more than 4 yrs.  He had that fixed, his adenoids and tonsils removed, asthma, and now this!  Praying he is fine!  We won't know the results until May unless it is something serious I suppose...

Loving Who you Are Now

As you all can see from the photos I post of my self I am "plus size."  I have never really been skinny.  Even as a child I was chunky.  I was a very active child and was outside playing all summer til it was time to come in for dinner.  I still kept gaining weight.  I played sports in middle school and high school and was being considered by colleges my freshman year for basketball.  No one believed my weight when I would tell them what it was.  You don't look that fat, they would say.  I was so unhappy with myself over my size.  I would beat myself up by talking down to myself. I put on a facade of self confidence when deep down I had zero.  Even though boys liked me and told me I was beautiful I didn't believe them, to be honest with you until recently I had a hard time believing my husband when he told me I was sexy.

Last year I started working out to try and lose weight. I lost 40lbs and still was not happy.  I kept trying to lose more and more weight but my body stalled.  I'm still the same weight I was when I quit killing my self with working out.  I prayed for answers from God and He answered by letting me hear my beautiful little girl say she was ugly, when she is GORGEOUS!  She had heard me talk down about myself so often she was now doing it!  She has opened my eyes and you know what I AM BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!!!!!!!



  I don't care if the size 2 girl sitting next to me thinks I'm fat because yes I may be fat but I love myself so much I don't care what you think.  This body of mine carried 1 baby that came 13 weeks early and 2 others to term.  I can walk on my 2 feet and sing and dance with my kids.  I eat veggies and fruits and yes I do indulge in junk food( brownies and macarons are my weakness and chocolate eclairs.)  But at least I am enjoying life. I don;t care if you like me in my swimming suit.  I like me in it and I look good.  My butt is to die for and always has been.  My green eyes have a sparkle that I love!  I also have dimples when I smile.  I see me in my beautiful children every day and I want them to love themselves and not be scared to do something.  This year is my year I am going to love myself and some things I feared doing because of my size because my weight doesn't define me or how healthy I am.

Love who you are now. Not who you may become.  Tomorrow is never given.  Your beauty lies within and if you let it out your whole world will change.  I know mine is piece by piece and I can't wait to see what the future holds!

 

Lately...

Life has been a blur lately...We celebrated my son's 3rd birthday last month and my wonderful husband's 30th birthday all in the same week!  I made a video of C over the past 3 yrs... I can't believe how much he has grown and changed...He is definitely a handful!  He tries to get cute when he is in trouble to get out of it...He also gives this look when he wants something...I love him so much...He was such a HUGE surprise when I found out I was pregnant with him...I had had a mirena in when I got pregnant and somehow my body kept the pregnancy and got rid of the mirena! God knew what my little family was missing and gave it to us.

My grandmother also passed away.  She was such a kind woman who loved little ones!  I will miss her tons.  Even though we aren't super close I still remember time I was with her when I would stay over occasionally or she would pick me up from school.  I remember her singing in the car and grocery shopping in her little red hatch back,,,I remember the peanuts jelly jars that she would keep as drinking glasses for the kids...I remember the smell of  the fireplace at her house and I almost always fell asleep on her couch when it was burning...I still have all the bunnies and bears and dolls she made for me...My daughter even loves on one of the rabbits she gave me for Easter one year!  I wish I would have gotten the chance for her to teach me to sew...

My sister's baby is doing exceptionally well and should be home from  the NICU soon...She is now in an open bed and off of oxygen support completely...now she just needs to quit having Bradys and take all her feeds from breast or bottle...right now she is only doing every other feeding.  I don't thing she has had any Bradys in a few days but it has to be so many days before its checked off...she over 4lbs now too...

I have decided to do traditional homeschooling next year with my daughter for sure...I'm not sure if I'm sticking with the online charter for my son or not.  I'm leaning to traditional home school him as well.  The testing is too harsh for kids in the elementary years.  Its longer than college entrance exams and they have so many of them...maybe we will go back to online charter once they are in middle school...

Going to try to do one to three posts a week if possible but idk maybe a recipe day, a home school post day, and just random thoughts and life in general...

Christmas 2014 and the New Year

This year I wanted to keep things simple and laid back for Christmas....The kids may not have gotten much but they loved what they got and are still enjoying their gifts...I didn't want them overwhelmed with a mountain of toys...The few they got are the ones they said they REALLY wanted...Christmas morning was easy and had a light feeling to it...there was no pressure to go here and there and we got to relax and enjoy watching our kids play with their new toys...

Now we are heading into the new year not very stressed and not in MAJOR debt over toys...We do have a goal of paying off the small debts we have this year and making big dents in our larger debts especially our car payment...the more ahead we are on it the less interest we get charged and the sooner we can plan our trip to Disney....The one thing my hubby and I said is the car has be paid off before we go....we were going to go this year but we sat down and discussed whats more important and how we want the kids to really remember our trip....we have a few birthdays this month my youngest is turning 3!  My hubby is also turning 30! Hopefully this year will be positive and a lot of goodness and blessing will happen for our family...we have had a rough couple years and need a big shift for the better...