Disney Countdown

We've been planning on a trip to Disney World for awhile now.  We told Dylan about it a long time ago and then received the constant question of "Are we going today?".  It became apparent to him that Disney was just one of those things that would be forever far away.  So when the time started drawing near I wanted to do something for him that would help him with the realization that its getting closer & closer for us to go.  Something to rev up his excitement about the trip.  I looked all over online for ideas for a countdown.  I didn't really see anything that was just quite what I was looking for.  A friend of mine suggested doing some sort of a large paper garland (think of the paper ring christmas garland you made as a kid) and taking one down per day, so the child is able to see it get smaller and smaller.  I took that idea along with some others that I saw and this is what I came up with.

(This is not the best representation of just how large it was...it actually wrapped around to the foot of the bed as well)

I saw an idea to use the Disney paint chips from Home Depot and immediately loved the idea.  I must have went to about SIX different Home Depot's in the area and was not able to find one Disney paint chip!! And of course, once I get an idea in my mind to do, I must do it.  So I decided to give up looking for the Disney paint chips and just grab regular paint chips (frugal!) and cut out the Disney logo myself. 

(My assembly and  you can see a better example of just how long it was)

I grabbed a bunch of black, white, yellow & red paint chips.  You should have seen me walking out of the store, afraid someone would stop me for taking so many!  Then I downloaded a copy of the Mickey Mouse ears and printed it out and traced it onto the paint chips.  Next cut the ears out and glue them to another paint chip.  I chose to go with contrasting colors to make the Mickey ears "pop" a little more.

I started the countdown at 40 days.  The entire thing wrapped around the front side & foot of the bed.  It made for a good milestone when Dylan finally was able to turn the corner & start taking days off from the front of the bed.  The days are dwindling down and we are almost there!

(This morning a very sleepy Dylan showing me there's only THREE more days!)

Game Face

Last night marked the end of Dylan's first ever T-ball season.  The team had a party at Main Event and the kids were all bouncing off the walls with excitement. 

(Use those hips!)

They ate pizza & cake, got to go bowling and play video games.  I think they all were most proud of the trophies they received. 

Thumbs up!

This was Dylan's first year playing t-ball.  He has so much fun playing.  He loves diving for the ball.

(...sometimes a little too much!)

It was a little bitter sweet - we absolutely loved meeting all the kids & parents on the team this season.  We are hoping to try and get most, if not all, of the team back together for the spring season. 

(the crew)

Baby Its Cold Outside

Today was the coldest morning of the season so far!  We have been trying to hold out on turning on the heater just yet, so we had the fireplace going last night to add a little extra heat to the house.  Yay for fireplace times! With temps in the low 30's outside we managed to still stay at 70 inside.  Dylan was excited to wear his hat to school today to "scare" everyone. 

You'll have to excuse the terrible picture.  But I'd like to see you try to snap a pic early in the morning of two little boys who refuse to sit still, while you are trying to gather everyone up and run out of the house because you're running 15 minutes late! :)

As it turns out, the boys ended up with almost identical hats!  Hooray for fall weather finally arriving in Texas!

Guilty

I hate to say it...I am guilty of creating some chaos myself.  As much as I like to blame most of the chaos in my life on my crazy boys and their shenanigans...I have to admit that some of it is actually my fault as well! Case in point....my current project.

This week has been chocked full of karate nights, t-ball practice & games and getting ready for our upcoming trip to Disney World.  I've been looking online for all the "great mom" tips to pack for two small boys in Disney, and there's so much to do & I'm so overwhelmed!  So I'm trying to get everything together, be supermom and have dinner ready for everyone as we all shuffle around going to Dylan's karate & t-ball functions all week long.

(disregard the large glass of wine....it is Friday night!)

Then to top it off I decided for some reason that THIS would be the week that I finally catch up on printing all of my pictures and getting them organized into albums!  I'm a picture taking freak...I take them all the time.  But I'm so terrible about actually printing them out.  When I looked back at my last album I realized that it's been over a year since I last printed any pictures!  Dylan loves looking through all my albums and remembering everything we've done, so I felt I just had to get them caught up.  Why I chose this week of all weeks to do so is beyond me.  But I did it.  I had almost 1700 pictures printed and ready to organize and put in albums.  (I do not have the patience for scrapbooking so I feel good about just getting them into photo albums.)  Then my OCD kicked in and I could not allow myself to let the box of pictures just sit in the office until after we get back from the trip.  So here I sit on a Friday night with all 1700 pictures and multiple photo albums ready to go.  I know it will be worth it as soon as Dylan gets to see it in the morning.  Like I said before, he absolutely loves looking through pictures.  I'm sure I'll be up until all hours of the night and we have another t-ball game early in the morning!  Bring on the coffee!! :)

Documenting the Crazy

I've always thought of starting a blog and have just never had the guts to do it.  Every day goes by and something silly/crazy/chaotic will go on and I think to myself, "I should really start recording all of this...no one would ever believe it!" Well, I've decided to finally learn how to do this "blogging" thing and start sharing my experiences and activities.  I love my family, but we are a crazy bunch. 

I have two amazing little boys, Dylan, 4 and Blake, 8 months.  They are the best thing that has ever happened to me.  They are almost identical in looks but we can already tell the complete differences in personality.  Dylan is our lover.  He's the sweetest little boy and would do anything for anyone.  Blake is a lover, but definitely has his "basher" moments.  He likes to scream and hit, whether its joyous screaming/hitting or mad screaming/hitting...he's always do it! 

My husband, Russell, and I have been together going on 8 years.  We met in Dallas right after I graduated from Kansas State (GO WILDCATS!) and moved to Texas.  He's just as crazy as my boys but I love him and he can always make me laugh.  We just built our first house together last Christmas and love living in the new neighborhood with all the extra space we now have.  I love playing with the boys but I have to have my girl time.  I recently started crafting and have kinda become addicted to it.  (Thanks Pinterest!) I love cooking but I rarely have the time for it....when I do whip something up, I love trying out new recipes.  

We also have an eight year old dog (pug) named Rosco.  Rosco is a little jealous of just about everything...he used to be our baby that we dressed up and took everywhere.  That was...until we had kids.  Now Rosco is not the center of attention, so he gets a little upset.  But we all still love him! 

Well that's it for now....I'm hoping to keep up this blog! Wish me luck!