snippets

This is my favorite video from the whole trip. Peter commentating during the Beauty and the Beast show, which was amazing.

I love sleeping babies

There were lots of naps taken on-the-go. I tried to take a picture every time the kids snoozed because it just makes me giddy to see them sleep. Enjoy. :)

happiest place on earth

I don't know if I'd go as far as to say Disney World is the happiest place on earth because I definitely saw my share of tantrums, but we ceratinly had a happy time! I thought it would be easier to catalog our trip here than in individual e-mails. Here's our adventure, Nov 6-Nov 12, 2014. Prepare for picture overload!

 Day one: spent entirely packing, driving and flying. Orlando here we come! Probably the least happiest day of the week. Saying that Peter did not enjoy the flight is an understatement. But we made it and the hair I pulled out will grow back, I'm sure.

 Caroline, Natalie, Emily and Oakley getting ready for some Disney action.

Nov 7, my birthday- The smile on my face in this picture does not express even remotely how excited I was inside to be standing next to Mary Poppins. It's real, Dreams come true. 

 Peter, Emily and Oakley. We had only two vans and 5 carseats to transport 11 adults and 10 kids to the park and back, which required some logistical seating and shuttling. Somehow it all worked out.

 Steve and Dave. Being punished for... uh..... taking in too much sun I guess.

 Watching the princess parade. We all had matching shirts, btw, which turned out to be genius in a very crowded park. The lime green was VERY easy to spot when we lost track of each other. There were many moments when I felt immense gratitude for these neon shirts.

Caroline, Jack, Natalie and Oakley trying to pull the sword out of the stone. I guess we don't have a King Arthur in our group.

 The birthday cake made by Nancy with help from the granddaughters, if you couldn't tell. It was Ben's birthday also so there are 67 candles, our combined age.

 Magic Kingdom, complete with hoards of people.

 It's a Small World- probably one of Oakley's favorite rides. I think her most favorite was the teacups. Makes me sick just thinking about it.

 Bethany bought a used bouncy house for the kids, which they loved, obviously. It lasted about 3 days before it ripped and went out of commission. This is all the grandkids except the three babies.

 Peter's "blue steel" look. The battle scar came from a tumble out of the bouncy house.

We all stayed in one big house. Plenty of bedrooms and almost enough bathrooms. But we didn't eat out once, which was nice. There was also a pool in the backyard.

 The baby boys and youngest of the grandkids: Peter, Ryan, and James. I think Peter has the best physique. :)

 Poor Pat took a spill on Day 1 and wasn't able to participate in the pool parties, so he served as lifeguard. He ended up getting about 70 staples in his right hand and arm. It was a pretty knarly wound. He is notorious for injuring himself at family gatherings, but this was probably the worst yet.

 Exploring the Swiss Family Robinson residence

Caroline, Oakley, Natalie, and Jack very engrossed in Snow White.

 Peter and his lady friends: Lucy, Hailey and Emily

A toy soldier from Toy Story. There is real guy in that costume. 

Peter was happy to wreck havoc outside while everyone else watched the Frozen show.

 And...the empty Orlando airport. Our 9:15 pm flight got delayed to 10:30 pm. Who does that? It was a very, very late night. And about a 40 degree temperature change between Florida and Virginia. The trip was a blast but it's good to be home. Videos and a sleep montage to come!

Bookshelf of Memories

So, today I had an emotional moment. Yeah, I have a lot of time to think about things while I am mindlessly cleaning windows, walls, carpets, sinks, etc. I've learned a lot about myself these past weeks while I have had so much time to think, but that's a subject for another blog post. Anyway, today as I was cleaning a classroom, I had to move a bookshelf. The bookshelf reminded me of our little family bookshelf now tucked away in Gabe's closet. Just as I was pulling books off  to more easily move the shelf, the Coldplay song "O" played over my headphones with the line, "One minute they arrive, Next you know they're gone. They fly on." Books such as Tiki Tiki Tembo, Corduroy, Madeline, Curious George tumbled in front of me and my mind was flooded with memories long since past of reading to little ones. One advantage of working by yourself is if you want to cry, you don't have to worry about who is around to see you. So I took advantage of that perk and had a good little cry. Nothing prepares you for the departure of your children. Just like the song, "One minute they arrive, Next you know they're gone". I am happy that they are building their own lives and families. That's what life is all about. So, fly on.

It's Mom Day!

Mom. I love this picture of you. It makes me so happy. 

And this picture, too.

And this one, our family boy band. :) 

And this is one of my all-time favs. 

I love you more and more every day. Especially those days when I want to throw Oakley out the window. I have to remind myself that you never threw me out the window, and for that I am grateful. I'm sure it was tempting. Thanks for feeding me, clothing me, teaching me, bringing me to church, and spending countless hours helping me to pursue my interests. Most of all being the BEST example. 

Happy Mother's Day Mom! 

I love you!

And p.s. this doesn't count as one of your 14 blog posts this year. :) 

Glenn Anderson and Glen Campbell

Okay, I'm in a blogging mood so indulge me once more. You're probably wondering what these two have to do with one another. Well, as you can see they both have similar first names. The rest of the connections are sketchy at best, so thank you in advance of humoring me.

Currently, I am inspired by the CD that Wendy made for me for my birthday. I am always inspired by music, which made me think of some of my favorite songs from my past, but I digress. A couple of those songs were from Glen Campbell." Glen Campbell" you say, "What!?!". Yes, okay it was Glen Campbell. My kids all know my obsession with Glen Campbell and I am not, I repeat NOT a country fan. To get this part out of the way, the songs are: "Wichita Lineman" and "Galveston". Back in the day, Glen Campbell had this variety show. (Variety shows were a staple in the 70's.,one of the good things of the 70's, but that's just my opinion) I was a little girl, but I had this "crush" on Glen Campbell. He was just so handsome.

Anyway, back on subject. These songs always bring back memories of traveling to Grandma and Grandpa from Ashton's house. Yes, that is how we referred to them, Grandma and Grandpa from Ashton. Our other grandparents were known as Grandma and Grandpa from Pocatello. You are probably thinking how vexing it is that I am not staying on topic, but that is what happens while you are watching "Psych" while attempting to write a blog. If you have stayed with me this far, you are very patient. So while traveling to Grandma and Grandpa Anderson's house I often heard these songs on the radio. I was also obsessed with the different power poles and their shapes as I gazed out the window. I even made up names for each of the different shaped power poles and would recite them in my head every time we passed one. By now you are probably thinking how I made it this far in life. I can't explain that. This relates to the song, "Wichita Lineman". I always imagined this lonely power line worker out in the middle of nowhere. You should listen to these songs, you might like all that 70's glam country.

 I looked up to my Grandpa, Glenn, just as much as I looked up to Glen Campbell. Grandpa was the strong silent type. I used to love to go out to his workshop to see what wonderful creation he was working on. I would follow him around as he took care of his horse, Blaze. I even tried to replicate one of his tricks as he demonstrated how he stuck his finger in a plastic ball with holes. Only, when I did it, my finger didn't come back out until after a soaking of cold soapy water. Once, I told my Grandma that Grandpa reminded me of Bob Hope, another of my childhood favorites. Grandma could only chuckle and tell me how Grandpa did not like Bob Hope. To me, my Grandpa was a hero. I wish I could tell him that now, but I think he knows. Thanks again for humoring me. I think I'm just trying to take my mind of my talk that I have to give tomorrow.

Dad, that is an awesome stache.

The Love Bomb!

If you haven't watched the "It Was Mom" video, you really should. I get emotional every time I watch it. Just think if we could capture all of the love, blood, sweat, and tears that mothers invest in their children and condense it into a "love bomb", we could release it all over the world and all the booboos, anger, disputes, sadness, misunderstandings etc. would be solved. That would be one powerful bomb!

supercalifragilisticexpialidocious

Guess who and what is turning 50 this year? If you guessed Mary Poppins, you are correctomundo!

I'm sure you are dying to know just what and who is turning 50 this year. Even if you could care less, I am going to tell you anyway.
1. The dad from Back to the Future. Yes, that is true that he was younger than his son in the movie.

2. Michelle Obama. 

3. Rob Lowe (Soda Pop)

4. Lucky Charms, breakfast of champions. It's magically delicious!

5. Gilligan's Island, my favorite after school show.

6. Well Gaw-aw-awllly! It's Gomer Pile USMC. Shazam! I wish I could use that word every day. 

7. Russell Crowe

8. The mayhem guy from All State.

9. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

10. Ford Mustang

11. Sandra Bullock

12. Jonny Quest (I put this one in for Wendy and Brita)

13.Pop Tarts more excellent breakfast fare.

14. Bewitched another of my favorites.

15. The beginning of Nike. 

I would share with you so many more and I have inadvertently published this post a couple of times. Sorry about that. Anyway, it seems I am in some good company.