"Look, it's a Princess!"

On our way down to Disney World, we stopped in Atlanta to attend the wedding reception of Mark's niece. Of course, Disney was on the brain and Brooke was beautiful. All night long Sierra kept calling her a Princess and her new husband became Prince Charming for the night! So cute!

Disney Magic

Hey everyone! We are still here at Disney World and having the BEST time! What an amazing week! We had a character dinner with Cinderella, Prince Charming, Drusella, Anastasia and Lady Tremaine the first night. Sierra was so funny--all of those movies finally came to life. She has loved meeting and seeing all of the characters! I think her favorite part has been the parades. Lauren and Mackenzie have had a blast on all of the rides. I think that Tower of Terror at Hollywood Studios and Expedition Everest at Animal Kingdom have been their favorites. Ashtyn has been a little shy of some of the rides, but loved Fantasmic at Animal Kingdom. What a great show with great fireworks. Twice now we have been part of Disney's "Year of a Million Dreams". One of our days at Magic Kingdom we received Dream fastpasses for the whole family and today at Epcot the girls got Mickey Mouse ears as we were waiting to get on "Soaring". The girls have been real troopers and we have done it all. We have one day left, with a lot planned for it. My girls will probably sleep for a week, but they will remember this vacation for a very long time. We have taken a lot of pictures and I will post them later. We can't get them to download to the computer. There will be lots, so stay tuned!
And for the icing on the cake, Mark has a new job and will start on June 9th. That means we still have a week of vacation when we get home!

We're Going to Disney World!

Good news--the BEST news! Mark had an interview yesterday afternoon and has been told there will be a job offer. We are so relieved and I think he is ready to get out of the house and back to work! So, our trip is on! I have today to get everything together, washed, and packed and we will leave in the morning. Thanks everyone for all of your prayers. We are very grateful and know we have fabulous friends!

Class of 2008

Last night we attended Ashtyn's preschool graduation. Her teachers had such a sweet little program planned and the kids were all so cute in their caps and gowns. They all got to walk across the stage and receive their diplomas to the cheers of the audience and then did a little graduation march around the room. The kids were definitely a hit!
It's just so hard to believe that she is headed to kindergarten in the fall. Can it really be time already? It doesn't seem possible that she could be old enough. She has talked all week about how much she will miss her preschool teachers and friends and several of the kids would like to get together and play over the summer. She is very excited about kindergarten and will love going to school every day. And Sierra will get to start preschool with Miss Kristy, Miss Connie, and Miss Deborah! We have loved this preschool and her teachers have always been so nice and loving. I'm sure that Sierra will have a great time too!

End of the School Year Chaos

The end of the school year brings field trips, picnics, field day, pajama day.... the list can just seem endless, but the kids love it. And what a great reward for a good year of learning! All of my girls have had a busy year packed with learning and have done very well. We are always so proud of all that they do!
Tuesday Mark and Mackenzie went on the much anticipated 4th grade field trip to Chattanooga. They had to be at the school by 5:30 a.m. so that they could board chartered buses for a full day of fun. They went to Ruby Falls, Lookout Mountain, The Tennessee Aquarium, and the IMAX Theater. They didn't get back to the school until about 6:30 p.m. and they were completely exhausted! Mackenzie talked endlessly about all that they saw and did, and they took a lot of pictures. They had a great day together!
Tonight we will go to Ashtyn's preschool graduation. Sob! She has been in the most wonderful preschool for the last 2 years and we love her teachers and friends. She has been talking for days about how much she will miss them all. And it's so hard to believe that she will be in kindergarten next year! They just grow up so fast!

Mother's Day

I had the most wonderful Mother's Day in my 13-year history of being a mom! My husband is always good to me and helps out around the house, but Sunday he went all out! Due to Mark's layoff, we opted to postpone any type of celebration since all I really wanted was dinner at Outback--without feeling guilty about spending the money. But that didn't stop my family from treating me to a fabulous day!
I awoke (after working at Kohl's until 2:00 a.m.) to my favorite breakfast--a diet coke and chocolate! Just what I needed to get the blood flowing for 9:00 church. Mark got the little girls dressed and brushed their hair. They were fed and ready to go and I didn't lift a finger! He had the church bag ready and even took Sierra out during Sacrament Meeting. After our meetings, we had a quick lunch and then Sierra and I took a 2 hour nap while Lauren made me cookies (yummy!) and Ashtyn and Mackenzie colored pictures for me. I spent the rest of the afternoon reading and watching my favorite movie, "Enchanted" with my girls. Dinner was prepared by Lauren and Mark and then I forced my family to play Sequence with me. And of course, they "let" me win! It was a great day with my fabulous family, and when Mark finds a new job he has promised me a Bloomin' Onion at Outback! I can hardly wait!



Sierra loves to sing and dance to the songs in "Enchanted". Probably the reason why I love the movie so much!

"Gretch.., I mean Lauren!"

Lately I have been calling Lauren "Gretchen", which is my twin sister's name. I rarely get my girls' names right the first time, but I usually go through my daughters' names (and the dog's!) and not my sister's. I thought it was just because she visited a couple of months back, but I have also gotten a lot of comments about how much Lauren looks like me. Then the other day we were walking together and I turned around to answer a question. I just looked at her for a quick second and realized that she looked like Gretchen to me. What do you think? This is actually a picture of me at 13 and not of Gretchen. I was always the cuter one! Besides the really great hairstyle, I think the only difference is that I liked make-up!

Sorry, babe! You may be athletic like your Dad, but you got your "cutes" from your Mom! It's nice to know that I made some contribution!

Hard Times

We have had a rough time this week. We have been busy with 2 track meets and a soccer game, not to mention the activities of a regular day! And I have decided to potty train Sierra! Most of you know that this is no easy task, and I have spent 3 days sitting by the potty with her singing songs, watching movies, doing puzzles and reading books. I have been "shadowing" her for a change and doing just about anything and everything to create interest and excitement about using the potty. And she has surprised me! She had a really good day yesterday and was even going on her own. Today she has lost some of the interest as I have been distracted and we have ventured further from the potty. She can do it though, I know she can! I still have hope.
Today was a particularly hard day. You may notice the Disney World countdown missing from my blog. We are putting the trip on hold as Mark was laid off today. This came as quite a big surprise and there have been a lot of tears, mostly mine. It's scary not having a job! He has been with Healthways for just over a year and it seemed to be a great move. They have been a good company to work for and just moved into their new building 20 minutes closer to home on Monday. We were so excited about the move and cutting Mark's commute time, not to mention saving on gas money! He enjoyed it for 3 days before the company made cutbacks.
Mark is very positive and has spent the afternoon working on his resume and trying to convince me that we will be alright. I don't have as much faith, largely due to the fact that I'm not in control. There's nothing I can do, but hope and pray and that just doesn't seem like enough. He has a lot of great contacts and a little bit of time to work something out. He assures me that we will land on our feet. I guess I need to learn to have patience and faith.
The silver lining is that we get to spend some extra time with Mark and I will most likely lose that weight I have been struggling with. From past experience I have learned that stress is my BEST diet plan and I have been sick to my stomach and unable to eat for a few meals now!

God didn't promise days without pain, laughter without sorrow, sun without rain. But He did promise strength for the day, comfort for the tears, and light for the way.