Anything You Want To Do...

My conversation with Jessica (8 yrs old) this morning as we are nearing the end of the school year...

Me: I am so proud of you! You are beautiful on the inside & out... you are very smart... you are tender hearted and caring... you can do anything you want to do if you put your mind to it!

Jessica (no hesitation): I would like to dive with sharks with Aunt Shelly & Uncle Jan.

Me: Well... ummmm... when you are a grown up.

The Last Lecture

Many of you have probably heard of Randy Pausch... a professor at Carnegie Mellon University who delivered his "last lecture" after being diagnosed with terminal cancer. I watched it on You Tube last year... and it REALLY made me think... reminding me to value & make the most of the time I have. He encourages everyone to really achieve their childhood dreams, while reminding each of us how to live our lives. I remember watching his lecture... have thought about it several times over the past year... and then saw his book. I bought it... (put down "Breaking Dawn" - the last book in the "Twilight" series)... and WOW... what an inspirational book! Randy Pausch had such great words of wisdom... "We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand." (17)... "The brick walls are there for a reason. They're not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something." (51-52)... "You can always change your plan, but only if you have one." (108)... and one of my favorites... "Each of us must decide: Am I a fun-loving Tigger or am I a sad-sack Eeyore?" (180). I encourage everyone to read this and/or watch the lecture http://www.thelastlecture.com - I promise it will be time well spent. As for me... I have started reading "Breaking Dawn" again and love it... but I will always keep "The Last Lecture" close by and I am sure I will read it several more times... and I hope one day my kids will read it because I agree with Randy Pausch, "A parent's job is to encourage kids to develop a joy for life and a great urge to follow their own dreams." (197-198)... and this book is a great tool to do that!

Disney & SeaWorld!

Last week we were able to take the kids to Disney & SeaWorld! James had a conference in Orlando, so the kids & I joined him and ventured to the parks! Our friends - Severin, Maria, Colin, & Anderson did the same!! Severin works with James and attended the conference, too. We headed down a couple of days before the conference started so they could go to the parks with us... but I did 3 days w/o James. Our trip was FUN... and EXHAUSTING! This was the twins' first visit! Here are a few of the pictures we took:

MAGIC KINGDOM:

Our family on Main Street

Maria, Colin, Anderson, & Severin
Jessica on Cinderella's Golden Carousel... our 1st ride!
Dream Along With Mickey... Castle Stage!
Jamie & Jacob loved this... except the witch and the fireworks!

Jessica, James, & Jaycie front row on Splash Mountain!
All you can see of Jaycie is the top of her hat.
They loved this and rode again with me... while the twins played on the playground.

Colin, Jessica, & Jaycie after riding Big Thunder Mountain RR!

Jamie on Goofy's Barnstormer

She does NOT like roller coasters... until she gets off.

Jamie cried the entire ride and then argued with me afterwards...

"I did too like it, Mommy!"

The guests of honor in the Celebrate A Dream Come True Parade!

Jessica & Jacob dance with Goofy during the parade!

Jamie liked the characters FROM A DISTANCE ONLY!

We had dinner at the Rainforest Cafe in Downtown Disney... then went back to Magic Kingdom for the SpectroMagic parade & Wishes fireworks! It was a full day!

ANIMAL KINGDOM: Our 1st attraction in Animal Kingdom was a Kilimanjaro Safari ride. Jamie was terrified the entire ride, everyone else loved it. In this picture, the mommy elephant is teaching the baby how to mix dirt & water to make mud... this protects their skin from sunburn! Jacob would probably prefer this method of sunscreen, too!

Jacob's one request while at Disney was to meet Mickey. While on the character greeting trail to meet him, we discovered this "Hidden Mickey" - Jessica was DELIGHTED!

Meeting MICKEY MOUSE!! All of the kids were excited to meet Mickey... even Jamie. This is the ONLY character she would pose with... and she still kept her distance!

On the Maharajah Jungle Trek! Each one of the kids took a map through the Trek to find the animals on the map. At one point, Jacob told me "Stop right here while I find where I am on my map, okay?" We were also able to watch the tigers go in as they responded to their "dinner bell."

We also saw "Finding Nemo - The Musical" in Animal Kingdom. It was a great show and all of the kids really enjoyed it!!

DINNER AT THE GARDEN GROVE: Since we made our Disney plans on such short notice, getting character dining reservations for 10 people at a reasonable time was difficult! Fortunately, we did get to eat at the Garden Grove with Goofy & Pluto! Jamie & Anderson were not too sure about meeting them, but the other kids had a great time! Since the restaurant was not crowded... we got A LOT of time with Goofy... the kids even played several games of "Ring Around the Rosie" with him... where he "fell" down the steps once. Jacob got a kick out of that... "Mommy, Goofy is funny!"

Jacob, Jaycie, Colin, & Jessica with Goofy!Ring Around the Rosie...

HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS: We packed a lot of shows into one day at Disney's Hollywood Studios! We started the day grabbing fast passes for the new Toy Story Mania ride... then caught "Voyage of the Little Mermaid"... went through Journey into Narnia, met Prince Caspian... ate lunch at Toy Story Pizza Planet... saw "Beauty and the Beast" and finished up watching Playhouse Disney. Afterwards... I took my EXHAUSTED crew back to the hotel for naps! Since James was not with me this day... I only took my small camera which didn't take good pictures during the shows... so here are only two from the day...

Jaycie & Jessica on Toy Story Mania... all of the kids LOVED this ride!

Colin, Jacob, Jaycie, & Jessica with Prince Caspian.

SEAWORLD: I LOVE SeaWorld... and Jessica has a dream of working there training animals one day... so we do NOT go to Orlando without going to SeaWorld. My dad took me to Disney & SeaWorld when I was 8 yrs old... and the ONLY vivid memory I have of that trip is seeing Shamu at SeaWorld. This time, we actually spent 2 days at SeaWorld! Dare I say it... but if I had only one day in Orlando... I would go to SeaWorld (sorry, Mickey)!

Jaycie, Jacob, & Jessica meet Shamu! Jamie was TERRIFIED... "I not want a whale to touch me!"

First stop - feeding the dolphins! This was GREAT, Jessica LOVED it!

One of the dolphins decided to splash everyone!

Colin, James, Jessica, & Jaycie got a kick out of it... the little ones... not so much!

Clyde & Seamore Take Pirate Island - I love this show!

Grabbing a quick snack before the big show!

We watched "Believe" at Shamu Stadium! I was sad to find out they were not doing Shamu Rocks right now... that show is the BEST. I am always amazed at what they can train Orca Whales to do and I could sit and watch them all day long! James, Colin, & Jessica sat on the 2nd row in the Splash Zone... and got WET! When Jamie found out there was a chance she might get splashed... she quickly let me know "Mommy, I NOT want whale water on me!" So, Maria & I sat up farther in the stands with the other kiddos!

A quick video...

All the kids after watching "Blue Horizons" - the dolphin show!

Meeting the Clydesdales... this one is Kelley! Jessica doesn't look nearly as small next to him as she did in 2005 when she could walk under him!And finally... the roller coasters! We rode the Kraken... it was great! And then much to our surprise... the Manta was allowing people to ride in the afternoons... before the "Grand Opening" at the end of the month! Jessica & I were able to ride it... she LOVED it! When you get in... the belts come over your head, as usual... then your legs are strapped in! Once everyone is strapped in... it raises up so you are horizontal... your back is parallel with the track... SO... when you are going downhill... you are going HEAD FIRST! Again... Jessica LOVED it! She got off giggling... but I have to admit... even though I am definitely a roller coaster person... this one made me a little dizzy and I was happy to be back on my feet! I could have ridden it again... I just needed a few minutes in vertical position!

Our turn next... these guys are coming in!

FUN, FUN, FUN!!!! Whew... I am still tired!

Happy Mother's Time!

I really enjoyed Mother's Day this year... Jamie & Jacob made me flower pots at school, Jaycie made me cards & pictures, and Jessica made me a card with a coupon for HER making dinner and giving me a massage! On Saturday night, James took all the girls shopping... Jamie walked in the door and squealed "We got you flowers but you can't have them until Mother's Time!" The next morning, she asked me if it was Mother's Time, yet... I told her it was Mother's Day... she said... "NO! It is Mother's Time!" So... I had a lovely Mother's Time... and I did get flowers! The tradition continues... James and the girls planted flowers for me in the yard. I love HAVING flowers in the yard, but do NOT like planting them... so they do it for me on Mother's Day (or should I say Mother's Time!) I was able to take a nap... Jessica made dinner (waffles!)... and she gave me a great massage! All kiddos were in bed by 8:00 and then I was able to go for a run with friends! Yes... it was a Happy Mother's Time!

(I promise to blog about our Disney trip soon!)

Spring Break: Easter, Busch Gardens, The Beach, & A Birthday!

Spring break this year was wonderful! We packed in A LOT of fun... but kept it relaxing and enjoyable.

EASTER: We had several Easter egg hunts this year... with our church... preschool... and family. The kids loved them all! Jamie was the funniest to watch... you can tell she has several siblings because every time she would find an egg... she would spend a few minutes hiding it under the grass in her basket!

Jamie & Jacob's preschool class

We spent Easter with James' family. The kids woke up and the Easter bunny had found his way to Grandmama & Granddaddy's house... they were excited. They also enjoyed spending time with their cousins, Grant & Sage.

Jessica loves Cadbury Eggs...

Jamie ready to dive in!Jaycie gets her 1st set of chapter books...

she loves her "Junie B's"

It's the small things in life... chapstick!
All the grandkids!

BUSCH GARDENS: One of the days we were visiting... James' parents kept the twins and we took the girls on a day trip to Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, VA. I love it... I grew up going there almost every summer! This year... Jaycie was tall enough to ride the Big Bad Wolf so that was our first ride. I think this is the first time I have EVER been there and not ridden the Loch Ness Monster first... but Jaycie has been talking about wanting to ride the BBW since she missed the height restriction by 1/4" last summer. She loved it... a little nervous at first... but when she got off, she immediately wanted to ride again (that's my girl!) There were signs celebrating the 25th Anniversary of the Big Bad Wolf... I remember as a kid going the 1st summer that ride opened... can't believe it was 25 years ago! Jessica was tall enough to ride ALL the rides this year, including the Griffon... an AWESOME roller coaster. HIGHLY recommend it... she loved it!

Jaycie's 1st ride on the Big Bad Wolf

James & Jessica on the Big Bad Wolf - front row!

The Griffon - awesome!

THE BEACH: I took the kids to see Geri, her mom, & sister, Krissy, at the beach for a day over spring break. I remember some summers when Krissy babysat me... we had so much fun! Krissy was there with her kids... Ian, Conner, Peyton, and Reagan. They are growing up WAY too fast! Reagan and Jaycie hit it off instantly... what cuties! Jacob LOVED hanging out with Ian (he is 16... and so good with kids). We fed turtles, played at the park, played volleyball, checked on the alligators, and played in the sand on the beach. It was too cold to swim... but we did get our feet wet!

Reagan & Jaycie

Jamie & Jacob

Jessica

Jumping Waves!

Feeding turtles with Geri!

A BIRTHDAY: My sweet Jaycie turned 6 over Spring Break! It is so hard to believe she is 6 years old! Jaycie has always been my easy going little girl... cute as a bug... with the best giggle in the world. When she giggles, everyone around her smiles. The day of her birthday, we went out to dinner with Hunter, our neighbor... Jaycie chose to go to Chili's. Afterwards, we came home for cake & ice cream... and gifts. I let the twins help wrap this year... explaining the idea of a surprise... but when Jacob saw Jaycie, he told her "We wrapped you a scooter in that one and a soccer ball in this one." Well, Jaycie was delighted, regardless... and I have learned that it may be awhile before I can let Jacob help with gifts again ;) Over the weekend, we had a sleepover with two of her friends from school... they played, we grilled out, had more cake, made Hannah Montana bracelets, and watched a movie! Happy Birthday, Jaycie!

Ankita, Jaycie, & Darby ready for a sleepover!

Next stop... DISNEY!!!!! We are VERY excited!!!!!