Bunch-o-candids

Disney Mania

Breakfast with Pooh:













Sutton performing at Disney World with Jimmy's friend, Baylor:













The boys joining in:

















Our family with Baylor after his show:













Baylor surprised us with a personal meeting with all the Disney characters inside the castle. We were the only ones there and, I think, this will probably be the highlight of our trip. Can you find us all?












The castle:














Watching a show:










View of our hotel from Disney:










Plum tuckered out:

Jet lag

A very long story, short:

Our flight was delayed 2 1/2 hours so we hung out in the Admiral's Club where the kids had a playroom:













We got to fly first class. I told Jimmy that this Clampett girl forgot to bring her tiara.

Limo ride from airport to Disney World:










One of Jimmy's students, Baylor, met us with gifts when we arrived. He works for Disney so he set us up with personalized Mickey Mouse hats, personalized badges, and individual lanyards filled with Disney pins:










Inside of The Grande Floridian where we are staying:














Inside our rooms:











View from our balcony:


We got to bed at 1:30am...and we were back up at 6:30 this morning. Ugh.

Headin' to Disney World

Our flight leaves this afternoon to Orlando. Because of the nasty weather we had here last night, there are delays at the airport. Jimmy's flight from Canada will be 2 1/2 hours late; just enough time for us to meet him at the airport and all of us jump on our flight to Florida. Keep your fingers crossed that we make our flight.

Hayden has been up since 4:45 this morning with Keaton right behind. Needless to say, they aren't quiet enough to allow the rest of us any sleep. As an old friend used to say, these kids are "journey proud," anticipating feverishly our upcoming travels.

Landon slept in but is insisting on wearing his bathing suit to the airport. I've held my ground and he's in overalls now, much to his dismay. Now he's worried that he will fall out of the plane, remembering his last flight in Daddy's small plane where every turn made him anxious. He's been told that we will be on a big plane this time, but without his bathing suit to wear, he's not into listening to me at the moment.

The rest of the kids are following their usual patterns. Reagan is a little mommy, helping every person get their things together and placating the boys. Sutton, with her high-strung personality, is fretting about every little thing and is getting meaner by the minute. While Keaton waits until no one is looking to sneak away to the TV.

I will blog as much as possible to keep everyone informed of the events taking place (waving to grandparents!) Anyone else can just skip the next few days as I'm sure it'll be boring to you.

I'll write again from Disney World!

Good deed for the day!

Kelly at Pass the Torch has a corporate sponsor who has agreed to donate $1 (up to $500) to the St. Jude's Children's Hospital for every comment she receives on this post. So go, leave a comment! At the time I'm writing this she has 510 comments but I'm hoping the sponsor will go higher once they see the great response. Spread the the word!

Forgotten Hayden-ism

I mistakenly forgot to post the comment that gave us the most giggle time:

Christmas morning after Hayden had received his guitar from Santa, he was walking through the house singing, dancing, and "playing" his new guitar.

I was ironing as he serenaded me and I made the comment that he was doing really well.

Hayden: "I know, I'm waaaay better than that other guy."

Mom: "What other guy?"

Hayden: "You know, El Fenix."

Mom: "El Fenix?"

Hayden: "Yes ma'am, El Fenix. I'm way better than him."

Mom: "Hayden, who is El Fenix?"

Hayden: "You know that guy with the big hair that dances funny and plays the guitar."

Mom: "Do you mean Elvis?"

Hayden: "Oh yeah, Elvis. I'm waaaaaaay better than him."

I guess he confused the King of Rock and Roll with one of his favorite Mexican food restaurants.

Ulterior motives?

The last two days...

Number of unsolicited hugs from my children: 46

Number of times my kids have told me they love me: 58 (at least 30 from Hayden and 20 from Landon alone.)

Number of sticky kisses: Too many to count and they were delicious!

Number of misspelled love notes from Hayden declaring his never-ending love for me: 8

Number of times I have been told, "Just sit Mom, we'll take care of it.": 15

Number of "Yes ma'am! Right away!" responses: 429

Having tomorrow's Disney World trip to remind them of: PRICELESS!

Hayden-isms

Sunday school teacher: "Good people go to church on Sundays."

Hayden: "Yeah, we even let my little brother come even though he makes messes."

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Christmas morning waiting with Mom and Landon in the bedroom while Dad checked to see if Santa came.

Hayden: "I really hope Santa brought me a guitar!"

Mom: "Well, have you been good?"

Hayden: "Yes ma'am! I was really good while I was sleeping!"

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Helping mom pack today to come home.

Hayden: "I want to be an astronaut and a dad."

Mom: "That sounds great, Hayden."

Hayden: "Yeah, I'm going to stay at home with my family and work."

Mom: "Is that what astronauts do?"

Hayden: "Well, I will stay home most days, but every once in a while I'll go to the moon for a few hours and to Mars."

Mom: "Wow, sounds exciting."

Hayden: "Yeah, it'll be cool."

Holiday evacuees

We are still visiting my parents in central Texas and having a great time. The kids are getting their fill of Poppie's fine cooking while Naunie and Poppie are getting more than their fill of grandkids.

One of the down-falls of being the grandparents visited after you open your Christmas presents is that the grandchildren play with the toys incessantly and loudly. As all parents know, the "honeymoon period" on new toys is about three days...just enough time for Naunie and Poppie to get quite the overdose of my family, plenty to hold them until next year.

Granna and Pawpaw had us Christmas morning, and as you can see from the gifts received, they had every right to scoot us (and our new toys) out the door to Naunie and Poppie's soon after Christmas lunch.



The Little Drummer Boy is a sweet Christmas song. Our drummer boy was sweetest when he put his drumsticks down.

















Guitar playing isn't nearly as hard on the ears until the guitar player decided he needed to try and play louder than his drumming brother.

















Landon: "Come on Bubba! Let's hit it!"

















TMX Elmo is a laughing fool. He laughs and laughs and giggles and rolls around and laughs some more. (He has also been hidden away in a bag until we get back home.)













Reagan and Keaton got some nice, soft, quiet stuffed animals they seem to love.












There's nothing better than dress-up clothes for a boy who likes to streak.

















The girls were really hoping Santa would come later in the morning.

Christmas Eve

It's not very often that my family gets together throughout the year. We have families and jobs and live spread out over Texas. Christmas Eve is such a treat for us, we can all to be together and enjoy every minute. This year we met at my parent's home in Central Texas. The food was delicious and the company couldn't have been a neater bunch of folks.

Hayden, Landon and their cousin, Cade, goofing around on a train table.












The boys hovering, as usual, over Baby Dayden and my sister, Gina.













Landon and Mommy as we were all opening gifts. Amazingly, he stopped long enough to smile with me.

















Sutton, Reagan, and my mom, Naunie.













Best buds, Hayden and Cade.












Cade's mommy and my sister, Krista.

















My brother, Ryan, and Sutton.













Naunie and Keaton.

















The boys were so excited to get to hold Dayden. She, however, did not share their enthusiasm .