Finally! A Minute To Post!

I have not had 2 minutes in the last two days to get to spend some time with my friend, the computer. Zane has bronchitis and had to go to the doctor yesterday and I had an orthodontist appointment and today has been run here and run there so finally! I can take a deep breath and post a few pictures of Florida. Sunny Florida, how I miss you! Anyway, on with the post.

We made to Orlando on Saturday night and decided to just chill out on Sunday. Chill out to me was a trip to the best outlets in the world. They even had a Victoria's Secrets outlet with panties 10 for $30 and bras for 9.99 and under. It was awesome.

Gabe's birthday was on Monday so we celebrated on Sunday night since we were going to head out early on Monday.. I baked brownies and we put candles in. We let him open his presents. He only asked for a pair of Georgia Boots, a Clemson Sweatshirt and a new football. How much easier can you get than that. My mom and dad got him the football and gave him some money to spend (he saved it).
Jack put on his boots and modeled them for us.

Monday we headed to Animal Kingdom. There was a crowd but nothing like it could've been. We went for the 2 big rides first. The Safari and Expedition Everest. The longest we waited on anything was 30 minutes. So we thought that was great.
We went to Animal Kingdom a couple of years ago and it was pretty much the same. This time Jack was old enough to enjoy everything. I really didn't take that many pictures. The two little ones were scared of all the characters so we didn't pursue that whole deal (which saved a lot of time.) And there just wasn't that much to take pictures of. We did get our picture made in front of Mt. Everest but the guy who took it (a guy who worked at AK taking pictures) didn't use the zoom so I don't think it is that great. The tall guy with the Elvis glasses and hair is my "little" brother, Chris. He is ten years younger than I am and soooo much fun. The other two are my mom and dad.

This was actually standing in line at the Everest ride. My dad even rode. He was brave. It was a lot of fun and I think it is by far one of the best coasters I've ever ridden. (Which is probably not saying much)This is right before the roller coaster took off.

After that, we went over to the Triceratops ride (like the Dumbo ride). I can't ride anything that goes round and round so I sat that one out. This is the picture I got from Jim. Oh well, better than nothing and at least it shows Maci Clare and Jack having fun.Toward the end of the day, we got on the train to Rafiki's Planet Watch. I snapped this picture before jumping on. Rafiki's Planet Watch is really just a petting zoo with a couple of llamas and lots of goats. We didn't stay there long but it was long enough to get a picture with Jiminy Cricket. He was the only character we took a picture with the whole trip and you can see Maci Clare was thrilled.Chris jumped in and got his picture made too. I love it!
Chris and my dad had made plans to go to an Orlando Magic Basketball game on Monday night so they headed out about 5:00. We headed to the Festival of the Lion King show. It was great. We loved it. After that we headed back to the hotel and ate supper. We didn't eat in the Animal Kingdom at all because I packed lots of food to take in with us.
The next day, my mom took the boys to the pool and we just relaxed. We decided to do Thanksgiving on Tuesday night because we weren't sure what our plans would be. So that's just what we did. We had turkey, dressing, broccoli casserole, green beans, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce (fresh), and biscuits. Have you figured out that we didn't really stay in a hotel? We stayed in a condo. It was very nice. I wish that I had taken more pictures of the place we stayed. My mom and dad had their own room with 2 bedrooms which turned out to be more like 2 condos. So Gabe and Zane stayed in their own little condo with kitchen and sitting room and bedroom and bathroom. Jim and I stayed in a one bedroom with the 2 little ones and my brother Chris stayed in a one bedroom. It was great and we had lots of room and a place to cook all our meals. I did take a picture of little Maci Clare in the gigantic bed in our room.
And this was, by far, Jack's favorite place to be.We had a huge hot tub in our rooms.

Jack poured lots of baby soap in the hot tub and this was the result. My brother went and bought them some bubble bath after that.
I guess I'll stop for now, because I have to save Magic Kingdom for another post. It was so much fun and we had a great day with a little mishap that turned out to be great for us (not so much for my mom.) So I finally have a whole day to get some things done tomorrow. Zane is going back to school and I will maybe get a chance to do one more post about our trip. And then I promise I will move on to something else.
By the way, my shopping trip to Publix yesterday was AWESOME! My total was $48.15 and I paid $15. 67 OOP. Can't beat that. I may try to share more about that later.

The Quickest Way To Lose Weight

STOMACH VIRUS!!!! Yes, that is why I have been absent from my bloggy world. Jack woke up in Orlando on Friday morning about 2:15 throwing up. Every hour! All night! At around 4:30, I was feeling pretty bad too, but chalked it up to no sleep. Around 6:30, I knew I had it too. And around 8:30, Gabe did too. The plan for the day? To travel the 10 hours home. What did we do? We traveled the 10 hours home. It was the longest day of my life. That is the sickest I've been in a long time. I've been escaping sickness but Mr. Stomach Virus snuck up on me. We finally made it home around 9:30 and I crashed for the next 48 hours. I have come out on the other side alive but weak. And I'm back to the grind. This morning, after taking the boys to school, I headed to the doctor in Greenville, which is about 45 minutes away. Zane has bronchitis. They gave him an inhaler, an antibiotic, and some other kind of medicine. So all I can say is GO AWAY, OLD MAN WINTER!!!!! We don't like you!

On a positive note, we had a great trip to Orlando. I will be posting pictures soon. We left the 80 degree weather and came home to this.At least it is just on top of the mountains. We do not have snow in our yard yet. The kids would be thrilled because there would be no school. But it is soooo cold! I hate cold weather and I do not function well. What? Only 4 more months of winter. I can make it!

From Orlando

I am posting this on our last night in Orlando. We have had a super time. We are headed out to Downtown Disney tonight. I have lots of pictures to share and can't wait until we get home. We will be traveling home tomorrow. Hopefully we will make it all the way but we will see how things go. Can't wait to share our Disney adventures and my beautiful pictures of the castle. I'll be home soon.

I'll Say Hi To Mickey For You

Tomorrow morning we are heading to Disney World. This has been a long awaited trip for the adults but I didn't tell my kids until about a month ago or less. I just didn't want to keep answering the question, "When are we going to Disney World?" So I just kept my mouth shut. I am excited. Anyway, I probably won't be posting for a whole week unless I can get access to a computer. (I am anxiously awaiting a laptop for Christmas.)
Maci Clare has been up since 4:30 this morning. She wanted to eat. So I gave her half a banana thinking we could go back to sleep. Oh no! It is now 6:59. Jim left for work a few minutes ago and Maci Clare is staring at The Wiggles. It is time for me to get the boys up and my day is about to get hopping.
Yesterday was Camo Day for Spirit Week at Jack's school. I thought he looked so cute that I couldn't resist sharing another picture. He even had on camo socks and belt. Maci Clare was trying to squeeze in but I wouldn't let her.
Today will be a busy day. I packed all the kids clothes last night so there is not too much left but I have a lot of little errands to run and little things to get ready. So I am off.
Have a Happy Thanksgiving and I will try to post while I'm gone. But I'm not promising.

Another Recipe (This one is Easy and Delicious)

I found this recipe on the back of a generic brand bag of mini marshmallows and it is awesome. It is called Rocky Road Bars. All you do is bake a pan of boxed brownies. (I used Pillsbury but you could use any brand.) Bake them for 25 minutes. Pull them out and pour marshmallows over the top and then sprinkle chocolate chips and walnuts over the top. Put them back in the oven for 3 or 4 minutes. They are awesome. This is what Maci Clare thought of them.

Patriotic Day and Collard Greens

This week at Jack's school, the are having Spirit Week. The mascot is the tornado and yesterday they all had to wear their school shirts. Today was Patriotic day. This is what we decided on.

What's more patriotic than red, white, and blue and baseball? (There are baseball players all over his shirt.) He hated the shirt but wore it anyway for the day. But don't you love the hair? When Ms. Lori put Jack in the car, she said, "Everybody loved Jack's hair." The class with the most participation wins a pizza party.
Anyway, I have been cooking collard greens today. I know, I know. It's a Southern thing. But just in case you want to try them (because once you try them you will crave them), here is the recipe.

1 large bunch of collards (I use the prewashed, precut kind that comes in the bag)
3 quarts of water
1 tablespoon of Frank's Red Hot (or whatever hot sauce you like)
2 Tablespoons of Paula Deen's House Seasoning (this can be bought from her store or made. I make mine and the recipe follows.)
Put all ingredients in a large pot. Bring to a boil then reduce and boil on medium heat for 60-90 minutes. And that's it.
I don't season mine with meat because I think it makes them a little to greasy but if you had some ham bones or something you could add these for a little more flavor.

No one in my house will eat them. So they are all mine. And I'll be glad to take them all.

Ladybug Tea Party and Free Stuff at Walgreen's

My mom bought Maci Clare a ladybug tea set last year for Christmas. Jack found it this afternoon so we had a tea party.
This set came in a picnic basket with all the normal tea set stuff plus silverware, napkins, and a tablecloth. We just spread it all out in the living room floor.
We made little peanut butter and jelly sandwiches using a medicine cup. We had cheetos and what better to serve at a ladybug tea party than...

We had fun and he even saved some for Zane and Jim.

I made a quick trip to Walgreen's and bought this:
4 Clabber Girl Baking Powders .99 cents each
2 Scotch Magic Tape Rolls $1.29each
Walgreens had coupons for Clabber girl that were 2/$1 and the tape was B1G1
So my total OOP was $1.38 and I used my gift certificate to pay for it. So it was all free to me.
I am headed to Publix and we'll see what kind of deals I can score there.