Planning and Planning....and more planning

I have managed to squeeze quite a bit of planning into this trip, in spite of the fact that I found out I was going only 4 days before leaving!

Bethany's babysitter (her mom) will be driving down with me (hopefully that will still be the plan!) to stay with her kids at their house while she is gone. I hope to leave Adairsville by 6am. This is just a necessity since we have to go through Atlanta you must leave super early or late. I don't want to leave late because it takes 4-5 hours to get to Valdosta and we need to be leaving there by lunch time in order to get to Orlando in time for our evening plans.

Bethany and I have decided for sure to go to Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party the night we arrive. It is only shown certain nights of the week and Tuesday night is the only night it is showing while we are there and you can get into the park at 4pm!

I am very excited about this! Bethany has NEVER BEEN to Disney World before!!!! This is an after hours event that you buy a special ticket for. They will serve hot chocolate and cookies for free (well the price of the ticket, $52...you know), have a special Christmas themed parade....have a special Christmas fireworks show, SNOW falling at the beginning, special meet and greets with the characters dressed for Christmas, and most of the major rides will still be open. The park will be open until midnight for the party, so this will be a perfect way to experience the park without paying the full price for a ticket. The crowds should be non-existent as well....I am really really excited about that and I hope I can talk Bethany into wearing a "first visit" button while we are there! :)

My "online friend" Marcy, is going to be in Disney World next week too, so we will finally get to meet in person while we are both far from home! She actually lives in GA and is a college friend of Bethany's so we plan on meeting maybe Thursday in Downtown Disney. Isn't that wild?! I was so jealous when she started planning her trip that she was going so soon, and CRAZY that I get to go the same time! They are celebrating their anniversary, so Happy Anniversary Marcy and Scott! See you in FLA!

I also have been challenged by Corey with my food budget. He thinks it would be unthinkable for someone to be able to eat on $30 for 4 days. This is not my budget by the way, but when we were deciding how to afford it I suggested that I COULD do this if I had to. He thinks its impossible. I plan on proving him wrong. Bethany already has her BOGO coupon for Sweet Tomatoes ready! ha ha! Anyway, who knows if I will actually make the budget, but I do plan on being as cheap as possible with food just to see.....

I have a long list on my fridge. Katie has been busy herself, making lists of things....she is so cute! She has a list of toys to take to Nana's house (babys, dolls, frog Lily, etc), a list of foods to tell Nana to have (oreo dessert, soda pops, strawberry pop tarts) and just general lists...remember to tell Nana that we love you mom...just adorable! Don't worry Nana, they aren't bringing all that stuff! I think they still don't understand exactly what is going on...Noah mentioned spending the night at Nana's earlier and I explained to him that he would be coming home to sleep. It is so odd for them to think about being HOME when I am not there...staying with Daddy. It is the other way around when Corey has to travel as he does regularly, so this will definitely be different for them. I hope and pray they will not miss me too very much that they cry at night or something.

My list includes every single thing in the world I want to remember to take....believe it or not "clothes" is on my list. ha ha. And, before you think that is a little nuts, let me explain. It will remind me to check my clothes again just to be sure I have what I needed and didn't forget to add something I was washing to get ready to go. Also, computer,camera and memory sticks, vitamins, snacks, swim suit, etc...the usual stuff.

The funniest thing has been the things that Corey has requested I get ready for him while I am gone. He wanted me to get all the clothes laid out and ready for the kids for the week...yeah, Katie's clothes can be a challenge sometimes as far as what still fits, what shoes go best with which pair of jeans (some are long and require boots for example).
He also said to be sure that if their nails need clipping to do that before I go! ha ha!
Another request: be sure there is a brush and at least one pony tail holder where he can find it!

This will not be the longest I have ever been away from my kids...I am pretty sure Corey and I were gone on our solo Orlando trip this long too...but this is definitely the longest amount of time that Corey has had the kids on his own! I know he will do fine...I just hope he remembers the vitamins and medicine every day!

Anyway, better get back to getting things ready....laying out clothes...packing up stuff...cleaning..calling Bethany 100 times to discuss stuff...

What's cuter than a 6 year old with a missing tooth?!

A six year old who has TWO missing teeth, of course! Second one out tonight. That's all for now, no more loose at this time. Isn't she the cutest?!

I'm a WINNER!!!!

AGH! I just found out this morning that I won a drawing for a three night stay at the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Hotel!!!!! The catch is that I have to go NEXT WEEK!!!

WOO HOO!!!!! I never win anything and I am so excited!

One drawback is that since it is so last minute, we had no time to prepare for spending money, etc, so I can't take my dear husband or children! *sniff sniff*

But, the bonus for that is that I get to have a girls' three night getaway!

I have talked to my only friend who is as Disney crazy as I am...PJ...so if she can go we are going to head out Tuesday. We will probably just spend time touring the resorts and relaxing! The hotel it supposed to be very nice! I am SOOOO EXCITED!!!!

Update: I have more time to write now....so, pending the budget, and if time permits, we may go to the Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party on the Tuesday night we arrive. It only costs $52 and you get to go into the Magic Kingdom early and see special characters dressed up for Christmas, a special parade and fireworks too. Also, a lot of the rides are open as well. This would be cheaper than the $130 to get a 1 day park hopper, which would be my choice if I had the $$, but I have to think of the other people who are coming also. If I did that I wouldn't be able to eat while I was there, AND my poor friends probably wouldn't want to be power pulled through 4 parks in one day with me! ha ha! We'll see. Whatever we do it will be fun! The resort itself provides a day's worth of activities and I really want to spend time seeing all the other resorts as well.

As awesome as it is to win this, it does come at kind of a hard time of the year for spending $. For us, we are already saving for our trip to Disney in February, and also Christmas is just in a month....so whatever we do I will love it and I can't wait! I will have to add a countdown! ha ha!

*Anyone who would like to make a donation to the "1st ever last minute girls' trip to Orlando and no time to save $", please email me at creativecarriet@comcast.net ha ha!

Booking Through Thursday

I want to share a new book with you this week.....
I have been wanting to start a mom's Bible/book study at church, and it the right time has come! I have never been in charge of leading a study before, so as you read this please say a quick prayer for me to have the right things to say and to be a good leader for this new thing!
We are going to be meeting on Wednesdays at 6pm...a time that will be perfect for us moms who need to get our kids in the bed at a decent hour! ha. I am very excited and believe I was lead to a great book as a beginning point for us.

Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World, by Joanna Weaver

I have heard great things about this book and as I read through the first three chapters as a sort of "preview" I am really enjoying it. The topic has actually been a good one to start a mom's study group, because it is all about MAKING time for God through the "busy-ness" of a mom's life. The back of the book says:

"An invitation for every woman who's ever felt she isn't godly enough, isn't loving enough, isn't doing enough. The life of a woman today isn't really all that different from that of Mary and Martha in the New Testament. Like Mary, you long to sit at the Lord's feet...but the daily demands of a busy world just won't leave you alone. Like Martha, you love Jesus and really want to serve him...yet you struggle with weariness, resentment, and feelings of inadequacy. Then comes Jesus, into the midst of your busy life, to extend the same invitation he issued long ago to the two sisters from Bethany. Tenderly, he invites you to choose "the better part"---a joyful life of intimacy with Him that flows naturally into loving service."

We had our first group meeting tonight and I think it was quite a success! We have a good group of girls and I am so excited about making new friends!

Weblink Wednesday

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Here's my link for the day! And it is actually a homeschool link (Yay!)

I can't remember how I found this site, but it is one of my first go-to sites for finding extra activities for my kids. We use Sonlight, which has little/no worksheets for most things (tons of reading!), especially at the age my kids are now, so this is a fun place to find brain building worksheets from preschool to 5th grade and on particular themes.

http://www.tlsbooks.com/

I wasn't going to post anything about the election...

AND I am still not going to do it! Ha ha...this uplifted me when I read it just now, I hope it does you too!!!

http://livingproofministries.blogspot.com/2008/11/psalm-11824.html

Sunday Sewing with Carrie

I did it! I sewed!

I have been meaning to blog about the awesome sewing machine I recently inherited from Corey's grandmother. They are clearing out all their belongings and getting ready to move, so they are passing along things they don't want to take with them. Corey's grandmother is a very talented seamstress and has collected a lot of sewing supplies throughout the years. She actually had several sewing machines and I was blessed to have one passed along to me!! I have had it for a couple of months now probably, and just now have gotten around to making something.

Here is a picture of the sewing machine. It is nicely displayed in my new "sewing corner" in my bedroom. The desk was inherited from Corey's great grandad who recently passed away. It is a beautiful desk and it just perfect for this use!!

Here is a picture of the material which was also passed along with the machine. Three HUGE plastic containers filled with tons of beautiful material! Corduroy, polyester, cottons, blends, etc...all kinds of prints and patterns. Wow...I have NO excuse right?!

Here is a picture of the drawer holding all the little extras that were also passed along to me....thread and more thread (including embroidery thread for the embroidery attachment!), measuring tape, scissors, buttons, zippers, extra needles for the machine, and more....and beside the drawer is a large cutting board also passed down. I can't remember now if this was also Corey's great-grandmother's...I want to get all that specific information again so I can record it somewhere. It is great to be set up for a great hobby that will be fun and useful, but even more awesome that all this stuff is special because it has been passed down from a previous generation. Supplies that were used to create clothes and toys for my husband and his mom...

And HERE is a picture of my first ever sewing project! I made a pillow for the living room using some dark brown corduroy. It definitely has....character! ha ha! Unfortunately, I forgot about the cutting board in my enthusiasm to get to working on something finally, so the cutting out process wasn't very precise, therefore the pillow isn't exactly a perfect square. AND, since I have absolutely no experience sewing, the finishing up of the pillow after it was stuffed definitely could be better. But, I am very proud of it....it really adds to the couch to have an accessory, and I can't wait to try making more with the other shades of brown corduroy I have. It really made a pretty pillow, the photo I don't think does it justice...the color is very pretty.