Spiritual Ponderings:)

((I found this OLDDDD draft to a "response" I wrote about a sermon I heard at church last year around this time...I guess I never published it...so I'm sticking it on here now so that I know where it is))

John 3:36
Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.

This verse was the premise of the message that our pastor brought yesterday at church...He wanted to talk about God's Holiness...and more specifically, the WRATH of God...

It made me chuckle at first because a few things went through my mind...

#1- anytime people talk about God's wrath, I think of the old time preachers with all their hell, fire and brimstone talk.
#2-most people don't want to listen about this subject...especially the media, or "good people"...because, "most" people want to just focus on God's mercy, God's love, God's forgiveness
#3- all those "righteous" people (or those that believe they already have ALL the answers right) are gonna LOVE this talk...I could just see them smilin' in their seats, they were thinking, "stick it to 'em Pastor!"

I think what Pastor Terry did to make this lesson able to fall on teachable hearts, was first, he has spent the past month talking about the, for the lack of a better word, "HAPPY" side of God... His mercy, love, trustworthiness, forgiveness...etc...all the "feel good" things about God...

What I know that I often forget, is that God is JUST and HOLY too...

I often just don't really want to think about that aspect..

I'd rather just think that he just gets "sad" when I sin...that He's just bein' my sweet cheerleader up in heaven, hoping I'll figure it out, say I'm sorry and then give me a big ole hug and say, "atta girl, now, you just keep bein' a fairly "good" girl and we'll have a great mansion for y'all in heaven!...you just keep goin' there kiddo and we'll make something I can be proud of out of the mess you've made...cuz it's all about you bein' happy!!!"

It's either that, or I go to the other extreme, where I think He's up there extremely disappointed and angry and ready to spit fire for all the wrong doing in the world...that He's just waiting for me or others to screw up so He can "stick it to 'em"

And when I think of MY wrath...that's probably where it comes from...I am angry, I do get spitfire mad at the families and children that are ruined because of divorce, at the babies that will never take their first breath because it's an inconvenience for the mom to be pregnant, at the laziness and lack of work ethic in people that already have so much more than what our forefathers came here with, at the foolishness of the way people seem to be able to "justify" every action and get upset when others don't agree and call them intolerant...the list goes on...

Pastor Terry mentioned 2 False Narratives...1) God looks to punish sinners  2) God doesn't care about our sin

Both are wrong perspectives on God.  Because really, when it comes to all this...His ability to forgive is beyond our comprehension...just like His mercy is unfailing...HOWEVER, if there is no judgment in our kingdom then there is no really need for Jesus...

You can't just cover our wrongdoing up with "mercy" and "love" and IGNORE the sin...that's where His Holiness comes in...

I liked Terry's description of God's wrath being like the example in Romans 1...there He just "gives them over" to their own choices...When a person decides in their heart that they would rather have their own "Kindgom" than to serve Someone else's agenda...(because God doesn't demand my love in return), He steps away and honors that choice. 

How many times in a day do I do this?  I choose what makes me happy rather than what is right...it "feels" much better to get frustrated with my spouse when he doesn't do exactly what I want him to do...it makes me feel better to yell at my girls when I've asked them a million times to clean their rooms...I like the attention much better when I "relay" a sad story about someone else (read gossip)...it also makes me feel all important when I start spoutin' off like I have all the answers in my "righteous anger" about the sin of OTHERS...

the list goes on...cuz I'm not perfect over here:) 

The point is...and I'm beginning to realize,  that God LETS me have my way when I choose it...fire bombs from heaven don't come down and stop me...my computer doesn't explode when I write out my bitter thoughts...He doesn't cause a car accident when I blurt out a profanity...however, I can't always attribute an available parking spot or a few pounds gone on the scale as God saying, "well done thou faithful servant, you are blameless and therefore, here is a holy parking space for you!"

He does offer His mercy and grace because of His Son first and foremost...and the ONLY way I can CLAIM His mercy and love FROM the Wrath (or consequences of my choices) is when I TURN FROM IT...I can't just say I'm sorry or say, "I've tried, but, this is just the best I can do...you understand, right God?  It's all good...I don't want to try any longer...so let's just start from this point onward with my "new" decisions and you just make something You can be proud of"...it requires a 180 turn from what I'm doing in order to claim that forgiveness...It's foolish to think that someone really believes you are sorry for smacking them in the face, when you keep smacking them...it's like saying, "I'm truly sorry for stealing your shoes, but I'm going to keep them and you just bless me for that, okay?"

And the fact that we are living in the world He created and are surrounded by others that are a part of God's Kingdom, means that we get to experience those blessings here on earth anyway...He DOES bless us in so many ways..

I really gained a new perspective from his message this weekend...it's a lot to think about...what is my role as it pertains to the world and the sin in it...as it pertains to the choices I make...?? 

at any rate, it was nice to be able to write it all out:)

It's a Book List

Have you all discovered Good Reads yet?

If not, let me help correct this oversight on your part because...hello, constant book recommendations that actually fit your personal likes and dislikes with regards to genre...umm, yes please?

I know...book nerd...

if you love me, you will bear with it...

Anyway, so you remember my dilemma with the whole "math thing" from another post?

Crazy thing, they don't JUST learn math in school...

nope, they get all floozy on you and have to go and teach social studies and science and apparently how to run around a gym and stretch (because we all know that's about the only thing goin' for you when you're approaching 40, have birthed 3 children and are up late at night trying to determine how much material Mrs. Winn will need for m shirts and (m+2) dresses)...

Anyway, alongside all this education...they've got to read...and this my friends, is where I am able to swoop in and save the day...this is my specialty...Far be it from me to be slacking on the job when it comes to reading...oh no...I will sacrifice, I will put down that toilet bowl brush and those laundry baskets of clothing...I will put myself on the line as I kick the vacuum to the curb...all in the name of READING!  I will forfeit my rights as homemaker for the betterment of my children by forcing myself to sit on the couch and read through books, whilst sipping coffee for nourishment as the hours pass by.

I know...it's tough...but, that's my mom job!  I WILL take up that torch!

My children are 6th, 4th and kindergarten grade levels...Some might say that I can be a bit over-protective when it comes to what my kids are exposed to...and though I could get all sarcastic and tell you what I really think about others who think they know better about what is best for my own children, suffice it to say, I just try to be kind and understand that my girls are MY girls and we'll just leave it at that.

My girls tend to be picky when it comes to reading...they are not book mongers like their mother, much to my chagrin, but so be it...they also are a lot more merciful and patient like their father and I wouldn't trade that for the world...so I take them as they are :)

With their "picky" standards, I can often come home from my bi-weekly trips to the library with 20-40 different books from which they choose MAYBE one to read.  This can be exhausting and a tad frustrating because if they knew the amount of energy that went into me perusing the shelves after scouring the reviews and reserving books weeks in advance, they'd perhaps have a different approach to their choice of reading material (or maybe not, because let's face it, they are 12, 9 and 6)

That said, with 3 girls, all at different reading levels and all liking different genres, my goal is to expose them to good literature...I know, I know, it's often said, that as long as they are reading, blah blah...and I get that to a point, but I'm going to tell you that I believe there IS a difference between reading a recipe book or a magazine as opposed to a novel by J.R.R. Tolkien or Jane Austen...I want to expose my girls to better literature so that they will have the lifelong desire for the written word.

And so, I spend considerable amounts of late night hours reading a plethora of genres, authors, and reading levels...I'm trying to find books that are not only age appropriate, but at the same time will provide them with a rich development of character and storyline.

Over the years, we've read countless books...classics, historical fiction, realistic fiction, fantasy, mystery...Infact, I've actually listed a few of the books HERE in a past blog post. These are books more for my younger elementary girls.

I was bemoaning to Italian Stallion the fact that kids just aren't into books like Anne of Green Gables anymore ( my all time favorite series..IN. THE. WORLD.).  He was clearly disinterested in my summation and perplexed as to why I couldn't just make the girls read it and then they'd love it like I did...to which I explained that the Anne series to them, was like forcing me to read Jane Austen as a 6th grader...the literature is great, but the content gap (at this season of life and generation) is widespread.  Just read the very first SENTENCE in Anne of Green Gables and you will understand...(go ahead, I dare you)

Therefore, I spend my time trying to discover more recent books that will maintain that same level of richness, but keep their attention as well...

Here's what I've been reading lately...
side note: some of these are absolutely not age appropriate for even my 6th grader at this time (in my opinion) but I'm reading them so that I have my arsenal ready for when the time comes)

Divergent Series: This series, is that whole Dystopian genre phenomenon...to be flat out honest, it was disturbing...even more so than Hunger Games (and I thoroughly enjoyed the literature of Susanne Collin's stories, although lots of disclaimers there as well, as seen in THIS post awhile back) And spoiler alert: I hated the way they ended it in Allegient...seriously, let's go from depressing to DEPRESSING!

Goose Girl Series: I love me some Shannon Hale books...If you've heard me rave about Princess Academy, then you'll know that I love this gal's writing.  Whereas Princess Academy didn't really fit into any genre (it never gave a time period, although I suppose historical might be the closest to compare) Goose Girl definitely fit into more of the medieval realm.  And, being the mom of girls, I loved the heroines!

Percy Jackson series: I loved the Harry Potter series...excellent writing, overwhelming imagination and good overturns evil...(however, I have made my girls wait long periods between books because of the "dark" in them and my understanding of their individual emotional maturity...currently, my 4th grader is allowed to finish book 4 and will wait to continue...this is probably worthy of an entirely different blog post but I'll save you and stop here) Percy Jackson is Harry Potter in Greek Mythology.  Percy = Harry, and he has a friend that's a girl (aka Hermioine) that's super smart and a guy buddy that's a little dense but loyal (aka Ron) and they all go to Half Blood camp (aka Hogwarts)...It's a fun story line filled with adventure and decision making.  I got more hung up on all their "god talk"...and after the 3rd book, I had to put it down because I was tired of them "praying to the gods", "sacrificing to the gods",  and all the gods coming down to have sex with all the humans to create "demigods" so much so, that it filled the Half Blood camp...etc etc...it's probably not one I'd recommend for my girls, unless they go wildfire crazy about Harry Potter ...(I have a thing about NOT desensitizing them and I think it's a fine line between informing/living IN this world and just accepting things as they are, especially as it concerns their relationship with Jesus) anyhoo, that's my two cents.

The Book Thief: I'm one of those ridiculous people that upon discovering that a movie is based upon a book, I won't go see the movie until I've actually read the book...therefore, I've had this book on the waiting list for awhile now.  I know it's about Nazi Germany and therefore I know it's going to be sad and depressing too.  But, I love historical fiction, even if it brings feelings of sadness and outrage.  I'm halfway through this right now.

My line up currently in the book basket is Eragon, a plethora of Inspirational fiction reads just for me, a retelling of The Scarlet Letter, and I'm waiting on another teen fantasy series to come in on reserve at the library, again just to see what's out there for my girls.  This along side the fun series of Kylie Jean for Little Munchkin and finishing up the Gregor series  with Peanut.  Peanut is also currently reading Poetry Novel entitled Inside Out and Back Again  of which I'm anxious to get my hands on and finish before her just so I have an idea of what's going on before she writes up her response/reaction to that new genre.

Sweetpea is working on the UnWanteds Series by Lisa McMann...and those of you that know my Calculus teacher from good ole FRHS...yep, that's his daughter in law...she's a well known author in the youth fiction department.  I was giddy to find this series.  I remember Mr. McMann's son Matt (Lisa' husband) and so I scooped up this series as soon as I learned of it.  It's basically Harry Potter meets Hunger Games...a much more tame than Hunger Games, but all the excitement and wizardry of J.K. Rowling.

Well..that's my blabbing for today...my blogging is sporadic at best..hope you'll bear with me...

Let's Talk About It...

I use this terminology with my Italian Stallion...a lot...

If you didn't remember, (because goodness sakes it's been forever since I've blogged in a consistent manner) I tend to be a words person...

this means that the way to my heart is through words...and LOTS OF THEM...let me be clear here, not just ANY words...oh no...I like all those wonderful, drippy words of affirmation, adoration and love...I'm a validation monger...

I've kept every printed email, letter, card, post it note, you name it, that my hubby has ever left for me in unsuspecting places and/or in my PO box in college...and I won't lie, I keep them in a couple of boxes in my closet where I may or may not, occasionally lock myself in and reminisce over his words of love written to me over the years...
(if I happen to have a bag of chips and a bowl of chocolate chips in there with me, it's purely coincidental)

And when people say you marry your opposite, they aren't kidding...

I married my opposite...where I like to talk...let me rephrase (because I'm really good at coming up with more words than necessary to get my point across) I enjoy the sound of my own voice...sometimes I will have conversations with myself in the mirror just so I can "hear" another side to the same story.  (true vulnerability here...TRUE)

My husband on the other hand, is not a talker.  It's not that he isn't social...oh no...he can whoop it up with the best of them...but, he isn't' necessarily energized by speaking with large crowds of people listening in.  The thing is, when he does talk, people DO listen....as opposed to when I start talking and talking and talking and talking...people often have a tendency to tune me out...

are you still there?

Facebook is a classic example of this...he can go weeks without updating his status, but the minute he does, he is witty and classic and everyone...and I mean E.V.E.R.Y.O.N.E. goes on over and gives him a little "like" or a comment...

Me on the other hand, I can write a plethora of updates, blog posts, shares and what have you...and I'll stalk my iphone for push notifications that someone has landed on my post...and perhaps I'll get a few...I mean really, how hard is it to just comment, "you are amazing!!!" because don't people realize that my day begins and ends with my notoriety on Facebook for heavens sake! (not really, but it sounds like a good rant...okay maybe a little)

I digress

...back to "let's talk about it"...It's my thing with I.S....I'll set it up for you...

Me: So, do you remember when you first saw me? (batting my eyes and looking all sappy)
Italian Stallion: Yes
Me: do you remember what you were thinking and what you thought about after you saw me?
I. S. : Umm, I don't know
Me: Okay, well LET'S TALK ABOUT IT...let's talk about all the things you like about me..

I'm not high maintenance AT ALL...AT ALL people...

We have recently deemed Fridays as our LUNCH DATE DAY!  We have discovered that a "night out" date takes wayyy too much time and effort and not to mention more money trying to figure where the kids are going to go and then I have to make a meal anyway even though he & I aren't going to eat it and blah blah blah...

And I welcome in the Season Of:  All The Kids Are In School now...it's a glorious time, let me tell you...

It's not that I don't enjoy my children...I even homeschooled for awhile and loved it!  However, if you've got to make lemonade out of lemons...man, we got a gooooood batch goin' on now!  So Friday mornings after I take my girls into school and stay volunteering for an hour or so, I hop in the car and pick up Italian Stallion at the office, and we head out for a lunch date...

This usually consists of me talking and him listening (go figure...) but, it's our way of connecting (okay, maybe it leans more heavily on my way of connecting...let's not get started on his way of connecting because that's a whole other blog post entitled, "Innuendos are the Spice of Life")

The point that I'm getting to here is that, as with any relationship, it takes time to invest into it...time to figure out what energizes the other person and being selfless enough to honor it...he does this for me...and I know it can't be easy for him because HIGH MAINTENANCE!

But, we're both committed...we've been through many "I'm sorrys" and "I'm wrong" and "I forgive you" (and I can guarantee that we have many more to come) and we have no idea what's on the path ahead...but we're committed to walking hand in hand along it...even though we might even incur some dragging or just sitting down and waiting...I am still in awe that I have this guy beside me that always fights for me, I am humbled by his own humility and his willingness to put me before himself...

And so when I, for the umpteenth time, squeeze his hand and say, "Let's talk about it"...he's right there...knowing exactly what I need...and it's just plain amazing!

X + Y = ????

It still baffles me that I minored in Math in college.

This is perplexing on so many levels, not the least of which being that I still need to count on my fingers to determine 8+5 and other basic addition facts.

My past math teachers are cringing.

I struggled in math...just ask my dad...

He's the one that would watch in bewilderment as I would sob uncontrollably lamenting over the fact that I didn't care how fast the stupid train was going and who the heck cared the age differences between Bob, Sue and Coco when Bob was x years older than Sue and Coco had could run a 6 minute mile?

many, many, many nights of crying...tear stained homework papers...scribbled messes and eraser marks until you could barely see my "shown work" on the non-recycled white notebook paper.

I drove my classmates crazy...

I drove my teachers crazy...

I was on a mission to force my brain to soak up whatever it was that everyone else appeared to understand so that I could get that A on the test.

For me it was the challenge...it was the proving that I COULD get that coveted 4.0 and prove to my parents and any people that ever bullied me in the past the world that I could conquer anything.

Looking back, yes, I may have learned some valuable lessons about never giving up, and learning to think critically and not to mention becoming enlightened as to the value of a high-end quality eraser.

If I am honest with myself however, I do realize that though my grades reflect that I have an exemplary understanding of math concepts, this is a complete and utter falsehood.

I know this to be true because I attempted to check my 6th grade daughter's math homework last night and was reminded again that not only do I not care how many chairs Mr. Lee can paint in 3 hours using 7 liters of paint, but that I often can't even determine what in the world the problem is asking? (i.e. what is X?)

Far be it from me to leave my daughter stranded...Momma Bear to the rescue...

Fortunately Momma Bear has a math minded dad, a ridiculously smart brother, a math teacher sister in law and GOOGLE!  And so, into the wee hours of the morning (or maybe it was only 9:30 at night, but, I was concentrating, so let us imagine that I was burning the midnight oil because it makes this post actually slightly interesting, or at least it does in my mind, okay?) I worked on the last problem of her homework trying to remember equations for rate and getting distracted that Mr. Lee was actually painting so many chairs, and what color paint was he using?

I was so thankful...and I MEAN THANKFUL that my daughter didn't seem as distraught as me over this lack of understanding...it's not that I don't want her to WANT to learn...she just doesn't need to obtain ulcers and cry buckets over people who choose to paint chairs for a living.

I do see some resemblances though between Sweetpea and myself at that age.  I would be remiss if I didn't mention that I do have a small degree of anxiousness surrounding her desire for perfection, but I was encouraged last night that it was only I that began yelling at Mr. Lee, "For the love of all things holy, just get a new profession and buy recliners so we don't have to answer this stupid question!"

Downton returns :)

Did y'all watch Downton Abbey last night?

I have no idea why I suddenly have adopted a southern twang when I obviously want to be everything British...but, it probably is a contributing factor as to why I thought Granny (aka Violet Crawley, Countess of Grantham) threatened Robert to call the nanny and send him to bed without his THUMPER!

As I sat lounging on my couch, with my iphone at the ready, I searched for the year that Bambi was first introduced (knowing full well that Mr. Disney was probably in elementary school during this post-Edwardian era of Downton)...this my friends, is technological advances at it's best!

I was just clueless...did Robert have a toy named "thumper" that he had to sleep with as a boy?  Is Bambi a book that is read to young English lads?

And then I did the unimaginable...I posted my inquiry on facebook...because someone else could help connect the dots for me right?  There must be many that were perplexed by this admonition from dear Maggie Smith!!!

I'm fortunate that my friends understand my certain lapses in reality...they understand that though my hair has become brown as I've aged, it is still quite BLONDE in nature...

She said SUP-PAH...or in plain American language:  SUPPER

She said supper people...

SUPPER...

I must admit that this is quite the blow to the nearly 40 year old who thinks that by growing her hair long she could one day pass for Princess Kate's doppelganger...

I have already watched the entire Season 4 of Downton...I couldn't wait...and when I say watched, I mean that I skipped to the Christmas special so that I wouldn't have any surprises and I could just go on loving Anna & Bates and pray that Barrow got sacked at some point, because who needs a villian in a British soap opera right?

I will be re-watching the season this winter...if only to improve my ability to understand the English language for heavens sake...

And, I still refuse to cut my hair...just yet...

I will not give up hope!!!

one word: CHOOSE

My last blog post (on this personal blog) was back in March of 2013...

It's not as if I haven't had much to write about...it's probably more the fact that it's easier to just share pics on facebook and the fact that I'm not a big fan of debate...and the things that are going through my mind sometimes, lend themselves to "discussion"...and while I'm happy to have those discussions in person, I'm not all that excited about hashing it out for all the world to see.

So, those are my excuses...

they are lame...

I know...

But, here we are at the beginning of 2014 and I realize that my word for 2013 was SEE...that I would SEE as God sees...my husband, my children, my friends, strangers...

I will say that I had an awakening of sorts...and sometimes that brings pain....

I attempted to look past my own present day-in, day-out...and sometimes my heart broke...

sometimes I failed miserably and "saw" only what I wanted to see...

sometimes I saw something and was called to speak that which  was true when I'd really rather just keep my mouth shut...

I learned more about my girls this year...tapped into a part of their hearts and discovered so much that my heart nearly burst..and it brought me to my knees in gratefulness and yet, steady prayer for the future.

I am struggling with a WORD for 2014...There are a gazillion things I'd love to "change" about myself...things I need to work on...let's face it...I'm a huge "work in progress" story, so to narrow it to one thing...UGH

and not only that...to actually have the meaning sink deep...

I started to think about the person I am now...and where I want to be...and what is it that keeps me from getting there??? And goodness that list is LONGGGGG...

I then started compiling lists of words that could work...to be my focus for the year...and good grief, I couldn't make a decision!!!

I'm indecisive by nature.  I remember after going out one evening with Italian Stallion, I called my brother (we were both in college at the time)...I relayed the story of the date to him...He was quiet for a bit and then he just, point blank said, "He's the one you're gonna marry"...I'm not sure if those were his exact words, but it was something along those lines that caused me to question him as to his assuredness to this "fact"...He said it was because Italian Stallion made me make decisions about things.  It wasn't that he didn't know where to eat or what movie to see...it was rather, that he knew that I would avoid a decision like the plague because I've always struggled with confidence about decision making...and even wayyyy back then, he began working on me...encouraging me to see that I COULD make good decisions...

I also tend to be a "feeler"...and if truth be known, I probably enjoy playing the role of "victim" much more than I should..."it's so and so's fault...I can't control the way I feel...because this happened to me, I'm this way"...and the list goes on...

What I realized is that I hang onto the lie that there is no hope...I wallow...BIG TIME...

When in reality, we all have a choice...

No we can't help how we "feel", we can't help what things happen to us, we can't help how people react to us, we can't control the weather or even the stock market...HOWEVER, we have a CHOICE how we react to it...how we CHOOSE to respond to our emotions...to the situations that life throws at us...

I'm sad to say that I often CHOOSE to give in to my proneness to sin, instead of fighting it...I "victimize" myself and then I become paralyzed and want others to get me out...

Have you figured out my word yet?

CHOOSE...

I want a reminder this year, that God gives me a choice...He allows me to choose how I will react...He allows me to choose joy, choose to serve, choose to release the past, choose to take a breath and be patient with my girls, choose to sacrifice my time, choose to sleep in or get up early...

Josh 24:15 "choose you this day..."
Proverbs has a lot to say about choosing your words

There are countless others that reiterate a call to make a choice...choose to love, choose to obey, choose to rest...

Infact, I realize that this word actually encompasses a whole lot of other words...like choosing: grace, patience, forgiveness, humility

I realize this and thus my struggle with narrowing it down to one word this year...

Italian Stallion and I have decided to adopt this word for our family as well...something that we will focus on together...taking aspects of our choices and how it pertains to our relationships, school, work ethics, etc...

I settled on CHOOSE instead of Choice, because I wanted a verb and not a noun...something that will pull me out of the rat race to which I often succumb...remind me that I don't have to let my emotions get the better of me...

I will fail at this...I will choose poorly...and sometimes the choice won't have a right or wrong or better or best...(and those are often the most difficult for me to swallow)  But, I hope that I remember that I am not a slave to whatever anyone else thinks, nor to my past, nor to my own inadequacies...

I so have a feeling that perhaps after this year, my 2015 word might need to be REST :)  but, so be it...

It's a big year this year...I turn 40...we'll celebrate 15 years of marriage...I only have 6 more years with my eldest under my roof...I'd say that I'm ready for the challenge!!! and I do not want to let a moment go to waste!

Happy New Year to you all!!!

Vacation to Disneyworld

Many of you already know that Italian Stallion and I took the girls to Disneyworld a week or so ago.  Yep, we just pulled 'em right out of school...we don't let school get in the way of a good education let me tell you...

I will preface this, sure to be LONGGGG post, with this:  if you aren't into reading, please feel free to go over to my facebook page and click through the pictures...over there it's more like the cliff notes version of our trips, but with more "visual aids".

Now...let us begin:

We decided to drive down to Florida this time around...because we love to set ourselves up for punishment spend quality time with our family!  In all honesty, I found a great site online where I was able to print out a ton of "travel" games like Bingo and I spy and hangman, etc...Each of the girls got a clipboard with a gallon sized ziploc bag & wipe-off marker...They stuck their papers inside the bag and could reuse the pages over and over. 

We stocked up on a gazillion books on CD and I.S., being the sweet techie that he is sometimes, got us a little ipod nano so that we could put all those books in one place. 

The girls really only watched the movies or played electronics about 3-4 hours of the 17 hour drive. 

Let's just fast forward through the laments of "how much longer" and "oh, please let there be a Panera at this exit"...

And Wa-la, we arrived in Orlando!

Thanks to I.S.'s parents, we had a nice time-share facility awaiting our arrival and we had some free accomodations for the week.  He headed to the grocery while I helped finish up the rest of the homework that we could manage...the first day was to be our "pack it all in" day...

Everyone was so excited, and after a hearty breakfast of pancakes & waffles at nearly 6:30 in the morning, we packed up our lunches and headed to Epcot for round one of our Disney experience!

I'm not a morning person...normally...but, if you are going to get me up, make me get dressed, fix breakfast, pack up with no option of returning for the day...you better believe that I'm just going to talk your ear off then...(it's my way of letting you know how much I care:)

Therefore, the poor people at Epcot were in for an earful...

Being the MASTER of OBSERVATION, I like to point out the obvious in most situations (at least this is what my hubby tells me)  I'm not sure if it was my loud exclamations of excitement or the fact that I needed to ask everyone that we passed where they were from...but we must have caught the attention of someone...That someone being one of the "cast members" who opens the park...

She got us through the gate early, hauled us all over the Future World area taking our picture left and right...all this before the clock struck 9am...We then had to help her say "hello" in all the different languages (of which I have no recollection except for maybe "halo"?  I have no idea...I like to talk, but I"m not the best at listening:)   Anyhoo...next thing I know she's handing us a free pass to any ride so that we can jump to the front of the line and she tells us to RUN before she opens the gates...

We headed off to Soarin'...one of our favorites and got to ride it twice before anyone else really got there....Italian Stallion and I couldn't believe the sweet surprise God gave us by being chosen to be the family of the day...it just set the mood for the next 24 hours to say the least:) 

Epcot is probably my favorite park...the girls like it too, but what kid is going to choose Epcot over Magic Kingdom?  Ummm...not mine...so, I soaked it all in, because this was it...Italian Stallion and little Peanut helped by being chosen in nearly every country to be apart of the skits or presentations...I can't tell you how many buttons we obtained from their little "drama" jaunts.

We headed back to the hotel that evening exhausted but happy...

The next day was spent at SeaWorld and we were all about the dolphins...we got to that park early, too (because apparantly the adrenaline still hadn't worn off) We headed straight for the dolphin feeding area and got that blessed event taken care of...it caused my daughters to determine right then and there, that on top of wanting to be teachers, veterinarians, ballet instructors, photographers (they totally put that one in there to make me smile) and President of the United States...they also want to become dolphin trainers. 

Therefore, we spent a considerable amount of time seeking out said trainers and hounding them kindly asking them questions about their daily duties, where they studied, what degrees did they get, how did they interview...(it was pathetic, I know)

Having never been to Seaworld before, I relied heavily on what my SIL had advised and we hit as many shows as possible...it was a nice breather from hikin' all over World Showcase the day before...so we sat in the bleachers, ate gummy bears and watched sealions bark and Shamu splash all those people that sat in the soak areas.

As we approached day 3 we told the children, "Now, don't expect to be chosen as family of the day at Magic Kingdom...this is how entitlement starts girls...it was a very unique experience on Monday, but IT WON'T HAPPEN AGAIN!"...(yes we are THOSE kind of parents)  With that, we entered the Magic Kingdom waiting area and started getting out the photography gear and getting Little Munchkin situated in the stroller...

Then...lord love a duck (those that had Calculus & Physics with me in High school will understand that expression) another cast member came up and asked if we'd be his Family of the Day...It just got us in the park early before anyone else and we could go wherever we wanted...

Italian Stallion and I just looked at each other and asked, "should we go buy a lottery ticket?  seriously what are the odds?"  I think we all were dumbfounded, but far be it from us to let that stop us...we trekked our way to the farthest part of the park (up to New Fantasyland) We had heard horror stories of 75-120 minute waits for the Belle storytime and Ariel's grotto...So, being first in the park, we were the first in line for those and were able to get more accomplished in the first hour of our stepping foot into the Magic Kingdom than I think we did for the next 5 hours combined.  Not to mention we had a "chance" encounter with the big Mouse himself...raining blessings, I kid you not!

There were tons of favorite things in the Magic Kingdom, which is why we came back for a second day later that week.  Little Munchkin can ride on most roller coasters now and seeing that we have all girls, it wasn't an issue staying in one place or another because they all like the same things in that regard.  We even all have our favorite princess...including Daddy (he will hate me for writing that, so you'll just have to ask him yourself)

Oh, don't feel too badly for him...we were all over Pirates of the Caribbean & Big Thunder Mountain...and heaven help us, we discovered hidden Mickeys on this trip and that meant multiple trips to the same rides to find more of them! 

We were debating whether to go to Hollywood Studios or not for our 4th day of adventure...Little Munchkin likes Doc McStuffins & Sophia the First...but other than that, this particular park doesn't really hold all that much excitement for them...However, having the 5 day pass, we figured that we might as well...and we thought to just let the girls experience things out of the norm. 

This led to us having to sum up the entire 6 Star Wars movies during our 10 minute line wait for the Star Tours ride...Sweetpea kept asking, "Now, who is Luke again? and who's the princess?"  Italian Stallion just rolled his eyes as I tried to go from Annikin Skywalker meets Padme'...to, they have twins, but then he becomes Darth Vadar and then Luke tries to save him but they were fighting to the death...because he finds out he's his father...

Needless to say, I doubt my stellar rendition of StarWars will motivate them to want to see the movies, but at least we enjoyed the ride without getting too "sick" with all the motion goin' on. 

We then thought we'd try out a few stunt shows...which again, led to "Who's Indiana Jones?" 

My poor girls...what a sad thing to not have brothers...

well...that and a mother who really isn't into all that either because my answer to their question was, "Oh, he's just some guy who looks for lost things and gets in trouble...let's just watch the show!"

Italian Stallion, in the hopes to salvage any possibility of a future with girls that might be interested in trains, planes & automobiles, felt the need to wave wildly at the announcer of the show so that he could be included in the "taped production" of Indy...This turned out to be a great turn of events, except for the fact that Little Munchkin began to sob (LOUDLY) "Mommy, I think Daddy is going to DIE!!!"  But, when it was all said and done, the girls were giddy that their Daddy was in a "movie" and they learned that Indiana Jones likes his hat and can crack a whip! 

Day 5 of our week we headed back to Magic Kingdom for some more of the same (and some funnel cakes for Mommy)...Our last day in Orlando saw us visiting Animal Kingdom...By this time we were basically sleepwalking because we had just pushed so hard all those other days.  But, it was a nice park to end on again because of the fantastic shows and safaris.  This park happened to open at 8am on Saturday so we got there and headed to Kilamanjaro first off...we saw nearly every animal listed and only had a total of 7 people in our Safari vehicle usually seating about 30...

By 3pm we were ready for our trip back home...I take that back, we might have been physically ready by about 10am, but we were determined to see it all:)

Yep...we're crazy like that...Italian Stallion decided that we were going to drive through the night, too...starting after our visit to Animal Kingdom...after our long & pleasurably exhausting week at Disney...after having not slept for more than about 5-6 hours per night the prior 5 days...

Brilliance I tell you...BRILLIANCE!

I don't think either of us has ever before inhaled that many gummies, sweettarts, soda, skittles, trailmix, and 5 hour energy drinks!

Thank God's mercies, we arrived home at 8:30am on Sunday morning...we had the day to recoop before we sent the girls back to school the following morning...and before Italian Stallion had to jump on a plane to Chicago for work the next day!

Momma bear here just had her fill of walking around in her pjs all day and begging Little Munchkin to take naps with her. 

So there you have it...that's our trip in a nutshell...like I said, if you'd like to see pictures, you can venture over to my facebook page...it's much easier to load them over there...but at least you get the gist of the trip:) OR you can watch the little video I put together, you'll just have to fill in your own captions.

 I learned alot from this vacation...and I don't say that saracastically either (just yet)...I really did...not just in "How to do Disney with 3 girls"...but, it was a really neat experience watching my girls interact and fight over who got to ride with Daddy and making decisions about how to spend their saved up moneys for souvenirs. 

The other things were learned were things like:

1. All people coming to Disney parks should be required to take a stroller pushing course.  You don't stop in the middle of the road while driving a car when your child throws his sippy cup to the ground, so please don't just stop and decide to pull out snacks in the middle of the walkway.

2. Don't give your camera to your husband when your baby is riding her very first roller coaster with you WITHOUT setting it up first...otherwise you get photos that look like this:

Yep, that's me and Little Munch...you can barely see us because I literally passed my camera back through the line of people inside so that I.S. could hold it better as I knew my hands would be full...he got off the ride first and unbeknownst to him, I had my settings ready for INside shots, not the blazing outdoor sunny ones:)

3.  Another photo lesson learned:  be sure you are checking your settings on your camera as your light changes and/or as others have used the camera...otherwise you might capture Cinderella's castle exploding rather than looking lit up by a celebration, this is very saddening for young daughters to experience...for example:

4. Be aware that just because you are first in line doesn't necessarily mean that you'll get the best seat...infact, once you get in and get yourself all set up in what you will regard as the 'best seat in the house'...the cast members will tell everyone to LEAVE your spot and scoot in towards the "other" seats to make room for the people that decided that they didn't want to sit in a 40 minute line, but knew they'd get the better seats if they just came in late...(if you haven't caught on yet, THIS is one of my biggest pet peeves)

I'm very thankful that Italian Stallion values vacationing with our family.  We don't always do it this big by any means...sometimes "vacation" is more like a "staycation"...but regardless, it means spending time together...being in different situations and soaking up the experiences.  It's another way of making memories...and I don't take it for granted one bit!