Holiday Disneyland For Real

In the interest of getting the most out of our annual passes this year, we have decided to celebrate everyone’s birthday at Disneyland.  With Hannah we weren’t able to go until a couple weeks later, but we went for an evening and she got to pick the rides we went on and then we had dinner.  Here are some pictures:

Our first stop was California Adventure to try out Toy Story Mania for the first time… and take some pictures by the giant Christmas tree.

We waited in line for a half hour to get this picture with Tinkerbell. Cute, but Pixie Hollow was a bit of a let down.

It’s a Small World reopened Christmas style and was worth the trip to Disneyland on it’s own!  This ride has been closed for a while so the boats could be reworked.  Apparently they were bottoming out with the growing size of Americans.

A birthday bucket can be purchased at a few of the restaraunts and inside are the mickey toy, stickers, and a little pin.

Everyone wanted to get some of the little cake that also came with the birthday bucket!

We also toured Sleeping Beauty’s castle for the first time, rode the tea cups (except for me – this is the one ride I can’t handle) and Snow White’s Scary Adventure (For some reason Hannah loves this scary kiddie ride). Fun stuff!

Rob Pulled Some Strings at Disneyland

I’m not sure how he pulled this off but I sure feel special. It must have cost him a fortune! A local news crew even came out to do a story about what he did. Take a look at the video to see what I’m talking about.

The Nativity with Mr. Groban

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_ypUnnqr8Y

My Dad sent me link to this video he heard about through one of his friends.  It tells the story of Christ’s birth beautifully without one word of dialogue from the characters, just the music of O Holy Night by Josh Groban.

An ugly attack on Mormons – Los Angeles Times

An ugly attack on Mormons – Los Angeles Times

I thought I’d try out this quick post feature I’ve never used before. This is great! The article says what I have been thinking all this time, so thought I’d put it out there.

Thirteen Things

1. Thanksgiving at my parents’ was great. Lots of food, lots of play with cousins, lots of fun.
2. Four of us shot a gun in Grandpa’s back yard over the break.
3. On the drive home Sabrina soaked through her diaper and pants.
4. On the drive home Hannah spilled a whole bottle of water in her lap and later threw up.
5. After the trip I had a terrible migraine like I’ve never had before. I thought my head might explode.
6. Hannah is playing Wii Disney Princess right now. The girls’ obsession with princesses is still going strong.
7. I’m starting up pixies again this week.
8. Rob finished his self evaluation yesterday. So weird, it’s like giving yourself a job interview.
9. Today I’m planning to pull out the Christmas decorations.
10. Emma has had her braces off for one month.
11. Only 10 more posts until I reach 400.
12. Hunter finally has a music stand for his violin practice time.
13. I’m buried in laundry; some dirty, some clean. As always.

I Am Thankful For My Keychain Hooks

Having run several errands today, I was reminded again how much I love these keychain hook thingies. To fully appreciate how much these things have changed my daily routine you need to know that my keys were always lost before I started using them.  I would come in the house and set them down with the grocery bags, or on a table, or counter, who knows where.  Then when I needed to use them again I had to retrace my steps from the last time I went out.  One year Rob even got me one of those keychains that beeps when you press a button on a remote because I was losing them so often.

When I was out shopping I would usually just throw them in the diaper bag, only to be standing next to my car with a cart full of groceries, cranky kids, or my patient husband (he was just pretending though, I know he was thinking, “Why can’t you keep track of those things?”) digging and taking out a dozen things before finding the keys at the bottom of the bag.

I tried one of these keychain things, and now before I walk into the house or into the store I attach the keys directly to the front zipper on my diaper bag or purse (I have one on both of the bags I use most).   And now I can always find them and even unlock the van door while I’m still walking towards it. Wow: No scavenger hunts or digging. What a simple time saver and sanity saver it has turned out to be!

I Am Thankful For A Husband Doing Laundry

Rob just started a load of laundry without making any comment about it. No “where are all my pants?” or “Whoa, that’s a big pile of clothes!” He just went in, turned on the machine, put what he needs for the week in the washing machine, and whistled as he walked away. Yes, he really was whistling.  I’m so lucky to have such an awesome guy.