Tuesday, March 11...Hollywood Studios!
Ok, this was kind of a blah day. I want to like Hollywood Studios, I really do, but it's just not my favorite park. It's not a bad park, just not my favorite. Plus, it doesn't help that our tiredness from traveling and having a full day they day before were catching up with us.
Anyway. We got to Hollywood Studios, and we immediately went to get our fastpasses. We got a fastpass for the Voyage of the Little Mermaid, Toy Story Mania, and The Great Movie Ride.
Our first fastpass was for the Little Mermaid, so we headed over that way. The girls were soooo excited because they LOVE Ariel. They enjoyed the show very much!
After the show, we just killed a little time. After a bit, it was time for our next fastpass, The Great Movie Ride. We got this fastpass because I knew they would love the scene with the Wizard of Oz. The did love that scene, but the rest of it scared them a bit.
After our ride, we let them play on the Honey, I Shrunk the Kids playground. They had a lot of fun playing on that.
After that, it was time for lunch. We ate lunch at Toy Story Planet. It was good, and the atmosphere was so cute!
We headed over to Toy Story Mania after lunch and rode that. The girls loved it! After the ride, we looked around in the gift shop next to the ride.
We decided we would go catch the Muppets next....the show was really cute.
We walked around Hollywood Studios that afternoon, but like I said, we just weren't feeling it. We decided to call it a day early and head on back to the room. OH MY GOODNESS....this is when we had COMPLETE meltdowns. We were waiting for the trams, and both girls melted down because they said they weren't ready to leave. I think they were really just overly tired. Ava got over it, but KR screamed the whole tram ride back to the car. I'm sure the people on our tram LOVED us. It's been a long time since one of our girls gets that upset and we can't get them to calm down. We got in the car, and she screamed halfway to the hotel before giving it up and going to sleep.
Once we got back to the hotel, we tried to transfer her while she was still asleep to the room, but that didn't work and she woke up. Of course, she wouldn't go back to sleep. We still had a little quiet time.
After we had rested a bit, we decided to go eat and then go to Downtown Disney. We ate at Chili's and there was a man there who made balloons for the girls. Ava got a flower, and KR got a dog! After dinner, we headed to Downtown Disney and walked around for a bit.
We got tired and headed back to the room. We went to bed not too long after getting back to the room. We were all tired, and we had a big day the next day!!!
Saturday, March 15, 2014
Disney 2014--Day 2!
We woke up early to get ready for our dining reservation. We ate breakfast at Chef Mickey's at the Contemporary Resort. It's one of our favorites!
We were stuffed after breakfast and headed over to Magic Kingdom!!!
We were sooooo excited to be at our favorite park!! Now's the time to let you know that pictures of Kate Rivers may be a little sparse....she was not in the mood to take pictures on this trip!!
As soon as we got to Magic Kingdom, we headed to get our fastpasses! We got fastpasses to meet Rapunzel, Peter Pan, and the cars! Other rides we rode while we were there during the day were the carousel, teacups, Dumbo, Winnie the Pooh, Small World, and Magic Carpets! We also ate lunch at Cosmic Ray's...I don't know why, but it's always been one of my favorite places to eat lunch at Magic Kingdom!
The park started getting crowded mid afternoon, and we were tired, so we decided to head back to the hotel to rest for a few hours before coming back! We went to the hotel, and we all took long naps. We slept until between 5:30 and 6. We got up, and went to pick up dinner. After eating dinner, it was time to head back to the park!
We looked around Main Street and rode a few rides after getting back to the park. We caught the Electrical Parade at 9....we LOVED it!!! After the parade, we rode Pirates of the Caribbean. It scared Ava, but KR LOVED it! After riding that, we headed over to Tomorrowland and rode several rides there. After that we went to Fantasy Land and rode lots of stuff!
The schedule we had that day worked out PERFECTLY!! The night was the best. The park pretty much cleared out, and we practically walked on any ride we wanted to ride. We had so much fun and stayed until 12:30....that's soooo late for our kids, but hey, we were on vacation! :)
This day was truly magical and one that I will never forget!!!
We crashed once we got back to the room so we would be ready for our next day!
Disney 2014--Travel Day and Day 1
I know I never get on here anymore, but we just got back from Disney yesterday and had the BEST time! I want to document our trip on here so I don't forget!
Saturday (March 8):
This was our travel day. We had originally planned to leave about 6 that morning and drive the whole way to Disney. Well, we couldn't sleep Friday night, so we left at 3am! :) It actually worked out really well, because the kids slept the whole way to Mobile! We had a pretty uneventful trip down for the most part. The only stressful time was when we stopped in Lake City, Florida for lunch. The town was way busier than we thought it would be, and we got a little stressed out finding our restaurants where we were going to get food!! :) It all worked out, though, and we arrive in Orlando between 3 and 4. Oh...I did forget that our GPS took us to the wrong hotel to begin with! We ended up in Downtown Orlando (which was nowhere near where we were staying). We finally found our hotel and got checked in.
After getting checked in, we headed out for dinner. We found an IHOP and just ate there. After dinner, we went to Downtown Disney for a bit! We had a great time, and it really put us in the mood for Disney. The girls were really sad as we were leaving that night because they thought we were going home. We assured them that we were just getting started and had 5 days in the parks! That cheered them up!
After spending some time in Downtown Disney, we headed back towards the hotel so we could go to the grocery store to get snacks. The grocery stored was packed, but we got what we needed.
We then went to the hotel room and got ready for bed!
Sunday (March 9th):
We planned to go to church at the early service at 8. Keith made it, but the girls and I did not. We slept in a bit and took our time getting ready. Keith got back to the hotel about 9:30. We packed up to get ready to go (we were only staying in this hotel 1 night because our other hotel wasn't available that saturday night). After we got ready to go, we headed to our first park of the trip: Animal Kingdom!!!
Saturday (March 8):
This was our travel day. We had originally planned to leave about 6 that morning and drive the whole way to Disney. Well, we couldn't sleep Friday night, so we left at 3am! :) It actually worked out really well, because the kids slept the whole way to Mobile! We had a pretty uneventful trip down for the most part. The only stressful time was when we stopped in Lake City, Florida for lunch. The town was way busier than we thought it would be, and we got a little stressed out finding our restaurants where we were going to get food!! :) It all worked out, though, and we arrive in Orlando between 3 and 4. Oh...I did forget that our GPS took us to the wrong hotel to begin with! We ended up in Downtown Orlando (which was nowhere near where we were staying). We finally found our hotel and got checked in.
After getting checked in, we headed out for dinner. We found an IHOP and just ate there. After dinner, we went to Downtown Disney for a bit! We had a great time, and it really put us in the mood for Disney. The girls were really sad as we were leaving that night because they thought we were going home. We assured them that we were just getting started and had 5 days in the parks! That cheered them up!
After spending some time in Downtown Disney, we headed back towards the hotel so we could go to the grocery store to get snacks. The grocery stored was packed, but we got what we needed.
We then went to the hotel room and got ready for bed!
Sunday (March 9th):
We planned to go to church at the early service at 8. Keith made it, but the girls and I did not. We slept in a bit and took our time getting ready. Keith got back to the hotel about 9:30. We packed up to get ready to go (we were only staying in this hotel 1 night because our other hotel wasn't available that saturday night). After we got ready to go, we headed to our first park of the trip: Animal Kingdom!!!
We were so excited for our first day in the parks!!! The first thing we did after arriving at AK was to get our fastpasses. We got a fastpass to the safari, It's Tough Being a Bug, and the Nemo show.
Our first stop was the safari! We did this last year, and we really enjoyed it again this year!
After the safari we met Chip n Dale!
After meeting Chip n Dale, it was time to grab some lunch. We were in the mood for pizza, so we chose Pizzafari! it was really good for a quick service meal, and I would definitely eat it again.
After lunch, it was time to head to It's Tough to be a Bug. The show kind of scared the girls, but they made it through, and it obviously didn't bother them too much because they are still talking about it.
We had a lot of time to kill between this and our next fastpass, so we decided to just explore the park and take everything in. Here are some pictures of things we did around the park.
After some exploring, we were ready for a snack! I got a frozen lemonade, Ava got an ice cream Mickey, and Kate Rivers got a frozen banana...Keith didn't get anything. We enjoyed our snack. We were really tired though (since we lost 2 hours of sleep the night before due to the time change and changing time zones). We decided to skip our last fastpass and head back to the hotel and call it a night early.
After leaving the park, we stopped and picked up fast food. I got Panera Bread (my new fave). Keith and the girls got Burger King. They were soooo slow at Burger King, and had several people in front of us complaining, but we finally made it back to the room! We knew we needed to get some sleep because Monday was going to be a big day in the Magic Kingdom!!!
Monday, March 11, 2013
Hi!
Y'all....I told myself that I wan't going to do this and quit updating like I have over the past month!!
We have been so busy with school, work, and life. Therefore, the blog has taken a back burner.
I promise to try to do better! Updates coming soon!
We have been so busy with school, work, and life. Therefore, the blog has taken a back burner.
I promise to try to do better! Updates coming soon!
Thursday, January 31, 2013
What's on My Heart and Mind Today
I really love my job. I am at a different place than I was two years ago. I loved being home full-time with my girls, but now that they are getting older, I feel like I am exactly where I am supposed to be at the this point in my life by teaching these precious first graders.
This week, however, has been a very challenging week. I have a very rambunctious class this year. I love them to death, but I REALLY have to keep my thumb on them. We also have to stick to a strict routine. They can get overexcited when we get off routine, and therefore it turns into behavior problems.
Well, I went in to school Monday, and found out that we have a college group from Iowa visiting on a mission trip. They were assigned to help out in our school and help with the after school tutoring program. I think it is WONDERFUL what they are doing, but I was kind of relieved that we were not going to have to have one in our classroom because it would completely throw off my kids. Tuesday afternoon, we were going about with class and our regular routine, and this girl from the group popped in and said she would be in the room helping out. It completely threw ME off-guard because I wasn't expecting her and my assistant was out of the room at the time. I had to stop what I was doing to find something for her to do. The minute she walked in, our rules and routine were both COMPLETELY thrown off. I didn't have a chance to talk to my kids about what was going on beforehand, so they were wanting to get up and down to talk to her. She started out by talking to them and winding them up, and it almost turned in to chaos. I was very disappointed with their behavior while she was in there.
I thought Tuesday was going to be the only day she would be in my room. However, it turned out that she has been in all week, and will be there tomorrow. I have to be out tomorrow, so I am kind of concerned about how everything will go. My assistant will be there, though, so that will be a plus. I don't want to sound whiney, but it's just been really hard, and we have had more behavior problems this week than we have had any other week of the year.
It's just been a really bad week. Then today happened.....
I cannot and will not go into details, but I had my eyes opened to what some of my students have to go through. One of them happened with a little boy in my class and some things he goes through with his home life.
Another happened will a little girl. I do not want to go into details, but she has a disability, and I had a meeting with her parents today, and it was just really hard. I gave her a spelling test with them there, and it broke my heart to see them try to help her and get her tissue when she got upset....and it just showed how much they love her and want what is best for her. My eyes have tears as I am typing this. There is more to it than that (nothing MAJOR).....just some things that I had talk to them about as far as her progress. As I said, it was just a really hard meeting.
This is a long post, but this week has opened my eyes to the fact that God has me in this classroom for a reason. He has placed each student in my room for a reason. My job is to love them unconditionally and let the light of God shine through me. Yes, we have hard days. Yes, we have frustrating days. I just hope that God shows through me and that each and every child in my class knows that I love them very much and I want the very best for them. I think it shows most days, but as I said, some days (or weeks ) are just hard. Also, he placed these college students in my room for a reason. I will admit that I had a ROTTEN attitude about it until yesterday when I realized again that God put them with us for a reason. I have tried to give my college girl the best experience possible, and I hope she has seen the hospitality that Mississippi is know for shown through me.
All in all, my prayer is that God's light will shine through me no matter what situation I am faced with in my day to day life.
This week, however, has been a very challenging week. I have a very rambunctious class this year. I love them to death, but I REALLY have to keep my thumb on them. We also have to stick to a strict routine. They can get overexcited when we get off routine, and therefore it turns into behavior problems.
Well, I went in to school Monday, and found out that we have a college group from Iowa visiting on a mission trip. They were assigned to help out in our school and help with the after school tutoring program. I think it is WONDERFUL what they are doing, but I was kind of relieved that we were not going to have to have one in our classroom because it would completely throw off my kids. Tuesday afternoon, we were going about with class and our regular routine, and this girl from the group popped in and said she would be in the room helping out. It completely threw ME off-guard because I wasn't expecting her and my assistant was out of the room at the time. I had to stop what I was doing to find something for her to do. The minute she walked in, our rules and routine were both COMPLETELY thrown off. I didn't have a chance to talk to my kids about what was going on beforehand, so they were wanting to get up and down to talk to her. She started out by talking to them and winding them up, and it almost turned in to chaos. I was very disappointed with their behavior while she was in there.
I thought Tuesday was going to be the only day she would be in my room. However, it turned out that she has been in all week, and will be there tomorrow. I have to be out tomorrow, so I am kind of concerned about how everything will go. My assistant will be there, though, so that will be a plus. I don't want to sound whiney, but it's just been really hard, and we have had more behavior problems this week than we have had any other week of the year.
It's just been a really bad week. Then today happened.....
I cannot and will not go into details, but I had my eyes opened to what some of my students have to go through. One of them happened with a little boy in my class and some things he goes through with his home life.
Another happened will a little girl. I do not want to go into details, but she has a disability, and I had a meeting with her parents today, and it was just really hard. I gave her a spelling test with them there, and it broke my heart to see them try to help her and get her tissue when she got upset....and it just showed how much they love her and want what is best for her. My eyes have tears as I am typing this. There is more to it than that (nothing MAJOR).....just some things that I had talk to them about as far as her progress. As I said, it was just a really hard meeting.
This is a long post, but this week has opened my eyes to the fact that God has me in this classroom for a reason. He has placed each student in my room for a reason. My job is to love them unconditionally and let the light of God shine through me. Yes, we have hard days. Yes, we have frustrating days. I just hope that God shows through me and that each and every child in my class knows that I love them very much and I want the very best for them. I think it shows most days, but as I said, some days (or weeks ) are just hard. Also, he placed these college students in my room for a reason. I will admit that I had a ROTTEN attitude about it until yesterday when I realized again that God put them with us for a reason. I have tried to give my college girl the best experience possible, and I hope she has seen the hospitality that Mississippi is know for shown through me.
All in all, my prayer is that God's light will shine through me no matter what situation I am faced with in my day to day life.
Sunday, January 27, 2013
Our Week: January 20-26, 2013
This was a SUPER busy week....I have started at a gym, so I went to exercise a few times this week with some teacher friends.
Sunday: We got up and got ready for church. We then went to church. It was really good. After church, we picked something up to eat. After we ate, the girls and I loaded up to go visit my family since we were out of school the next day. After we got to my parents' house, we visited with them for a bit. After we visited for a while, I went to meet some friends for dinner. We ate a Chili's and had a great time catching up! After dinner, I headed back to my parents' house. My 9 year old niece, Anna Katherine, had come to spend the night too. We all just talked a played for a while before bed. We went to bed fairly early and slept well.
Monday: We got up and got ready slowly. We ate lunch at my parent's house and left shortly after. I met Keith in Jackson because it was my first night to work out the my new gym. My teacher friends and I have joined Pure Barre, and so far we REALLY like it! I met up with my friends, and we went to work out. It nearly killed us, but it was such a good workout! After working out, I headed home. I played with the girls for a bit before going to bed.
Tuesday: We got up early and got ready for school. We had a good day at school. After school, I picked to girls up as soon as I could because Ava had dance and I had to go to Pure Barre (PB). We came home, and I changed Ava into her dance outfit. After I got her dressed, I got ready and headed to PB. We enjoyed class again. I came home after and played with the girls for a little while. After they went to bed, I got everything ready for the next day and went to bed not long after that.
Wednesday: We woke up and got ready for school. I was soooo sore on this day. It hurt to get up and down! We had another good day at school. It was very uneventful. After school, I picked the girls up. We came home and got ready for church. Church was really good, and we enjoyed visiting with everyone at the meal after church. We came home and gave the girls baths. We let them have a little bit of play time, and put them to bed fairly early. We went to bed not long after.
Thursday: We got up again and got ready for school. We had a good day at school After school, I picked the girls up and we came home. After we got home, I let the girls play for a little while, and I started on dinner. After Keith got home from work, I got ready and went to PB. It was another great workout! I got home kind of late, so the girls were already in bed. I went to bed not too long after I got home.
Friday: I got up early again and got ready for school. I go by myself on Fridays because Keith doesn't work on Fridays. I didn't have to leave quite as early since I didn't have to take the girls to their school first. School was really good, but it was a typical Friday!! :) After school, I came home. My principal's father died, and the visitation was that night, so we went that. Keith's family is also really good friends with my principal's family, so we had to let Keith's parents go first to visitation. We then dropped the girls off at their house, and we went. After visitation, we went out to eat at a REALLY good restaurant in Morton. After that, we went back to Keith's parents' house and visited before heading home. We got home REALLY late, so we all went to bed as soon as we got home.
Saturday: I got up and went to the early class at PB. It was by far the toughest (but best) workout yet. After working out, I went to Target to pick up a birthday present for a party we were going to that night. I then came home and hung out for a little while before getting ready to go to a birthday party for one of Ava's friends. The party was at Pump it Up, and we had so much fun! After the party, we went to Keith's sister's house to pick up Kate Rivers. We visited for a little while before coming home. Again, we got home really late and went to bed!
This was a really busy week, this week coming up looks like it may be JUST as busy!! That's ok, though. I like to be busy!
Sunday: We got up and got ready for church. We then went to church. It was really good. After church, we picked something up to eat. After we ate, the girls and I loaded up to go visit my family since we were out of school the next day. After we got to my parents' house, we visited with them for a bit. After we visited for a while, I went to meet some friends for dinner. We ate a Chili's and had a great time catching up! After dinner, I headed back to my parents' house. My 9 year old niece, Anna Katherine, had come to spend the night too. We all just talked a played for a while before bed. We went to bed fairly early and slept well.
Monday: We got up and got ready slowly. We ate lunch at my parent's house and left shortly after. I met Keith in Jackson because it was my first night to work out the my new gym. My teacher friends and I have joined Pure Barre, and so far we REALLY like it! I met up with my friends, and we went to work out. It nearly killed us, but it was such a good workout! After working out, I headed home. I played with the girls for a bit before going to bed.
Tuesday: We got up early and got ready for school. We had a good day at school. After school, I picked to girls up as soon as I could because Ava had dance and I had to go to Pure Barre (PB). We came home, and I changed Ava into her dance outfit. After I got her dressed, I got ready and headed to PB. We enjoyed class again. I came home after and played with the girls for a little while. After they went to bed, I got everything ready for the next day and went to bed not long after that.
Wednesday: We woke up and got ready for school. I was soooo sore on this day. It hurt to get up and down! We had another good day at school. It was very uneventful. After school, I picked the girls up. We came home and got ready for church. Church was really good, and we enjoyed visiting with everyone at the meal after church. We came home and gave the girls baths. We let them have a little bit of play time, and put them to bed fairly early. We went to bed not long after.
Thursday: We got up again and got ready for school. We had a good day at school After school, I picked the girls up and we came home. After we got home, I let the girls play for a little while, and I started on dinner. After Keith got home from work, I got ready and went to PB. It was another great workout! I got home kind of late, so the girls were already in bed. I went to bed not too long after I got home.
Friday: I got up early again and got ready for school. I go by myself on Fridays because Keith doesn't work on Fridays. I didn't have to leave quite as early since I didn't have to take the girls to their school first. School was really good, but it was a typical Friday!! :) After school, I came home. My principal's father died, and the visitation was that night, so we went that. Keith's family is also really good friends with my principal's family, so we had to let Keith's parents go first to visitation. We then dropped the girls off at their house, and we went. After visitation, we went out to eat at a REALLY good restaurant in Morton. After that, we went back to Keith's parents' house and visited before heading home. We got home REALLY late, so we all went to bed as soon as we got home.
Saturday: I got up and went to the early class at PB. It was by far the toughest (but best) workout yet. After working out, I went to Target to pick up a birthday present for a party we were going to that night. I then came home and hung out for a little while before getting ready to go to a birthday party for one of Ava's friends. The party was at Pump it Up, and we had so much fun! After the party, we went to Keith's sister's house to pick up Kate Rivers. We visited for a little while before coming home. Again, we got home really late and went to bed!
This was a really busy week, this week coming up looks like it may be JUST as busy!! That's ok, though. I like to be busy!
Saturday, January 19, 2013
We're Going to Disney!
We are going to Disney in May, and we are soooo excited! I have been wanting to go for so long, and I am so glad we are finally getting to go.
Disney is actually what gave me baby fever the first time. My first year teaching (2006-2007), I went to a teachers' conference in Orlando. While there, we spend a day at the Magic Kingdom, and I fell in LOVE. I noticed all of the parents' there with their little ones, and it made me long to have a little one to take there one day. I got pregnant with Ava that following summer. :) I have not been back to Disney since then, but I have been wanting to go back since I got home!
We are going the week after school gets out. I can't wait to start planning more. We already have our dining reservations. This is our schedule so far:
Monday: Arrive mid morning or around lunchtime. We are eating at 1900 Park Fare that evening for dinner.
Tuesday: Breakfast at Chef Mickey's.
Wednesday: Dinner at Akershus (princess dinner) :)
Thursday: Lunch at Rainforest Cafe
Friday: We will leave at some point Friday. :(
In a perfect world, we would stay one more day, but we were at our limit as far as our budget, so we had to cut it a day short. We will just have to pack it in! :) We are sooo excited! I will keep y'all updated as we continue to plan!
Disney is actually what gave me baby fever the first time. My first year teaching (2006-2007), I went to a teachers' conference in Orlando. While there, we spend a day at the Magic Kingdom, and I fell in LOVE. I noticed all of the parents' there with their little ones, and it made me long to have a little one to take there one day. I got pregnant with Ava that following summer. :) I have not been back to Disney since then, but I have been wanting to go back since I got home!
We are going the week after school gets out. I can't wait to start planning more. We already have our dining reservations. This is our schedule so far:
Monday: Arrive mid morning or around lunchtime. We are eating at 1900 Park Fare that evening for dinner.
Tuesday: Breakfast at Chef Mickey's.
Wednesday: Dinner at Akershus (princess dinner) :)
Thursday: Lunch at Rainforest Cafe
Friday: We will leave at some point Friday. :(
In a perfect world, we would stay one more day, but we were at our limit as far as our budget, so we had to cut it a day short. We will just have to pack it in! :) We are sooo excited! I will keep y'all updated as we continue to plan!
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