Bailey's first day of 1st grade

It's hard to believe it has been a whole year since Bailey started kindergarten.  What a great year it has been for her.  She learned to read, do fractions, addition and subtraction, journal and write some amazing stories!  I can't wait to see what this year will bring for her.  She is so excited about school and can't wait to learn.  I think the one thing that really surprised me was her ability to write stories and journal at her age. Her teacher was big on journaling about things and then drawing pictures to illustrate her stories.  I was amazed about the things she would write about.  It was so great to see her get excited about things.  The principle met with us and told us Bailey definitely has a gift with her writing.  She was amazed at the story lines and how she would draw pictures to bring her work to life.  The teacher and principle told us that she is way beyond and above what she should be at that age!!  That is what every parent likes to hear.  That their child is excelling at something.  We are very proud of her and we are of all our children.   I can't wait to see what she will learn this year.  I have the same hopes and prayers for her as I did this time last year when she started kindergarten.  I know that God is watching over her.  I am very comforted in that.  I pray that God will put a hedge of protection around her, that He will give her wisdom to choose the right friends, the strength and courage to stand up for what she believes in and what is right and the ability to recognize evil and despise it.  

I am excited for her as she continues on her journey.  I will be praying for her everyday as I do for all my children.  I will also be praying for her teacher, principle, students and even the bus driver!  There can never be too much prayer.  So, as she gets off the bus today, I will send up a thank you to God for returning her safely to me and for watching over her when I couldn't.  I love you Bailey and can't wait to hear about your day!!

The visit to the yesteryears

Ok, I know I didn't finish my blog about Disney, but I wanted to blog about our recent trip to Tennessee to see Brian's mom and step dad.  We went to a town called LaFayette, TN.  It is next to a town called Bugtussle.  This is where the horrible tornado struck in February and it put this little town on the map and even the President went there to declare it an area of destruction. Brian's family moved down there in October.  This is the area where his step dad grew up so he still has family down there.  We went down there to see Brian's mom get baptized by immersion. It was pretty cool.  We wanted to be a part of it since Bailey had a lot to do with her grandma being saved.  The kids were singing "over the river and through the woods to grandmothers house we go" because that is literally what were doing, except we had to go through the river.  If the river is too high to go through then we would of had to go the long way around.  The lanes are one lane and there are many hills and cattle along the way.  You really do feel like you are leaving the world behind, but with every person or car we did see, they all nodded and waved.  Every single one.  It made you feel like you were their friend and were welcome to stay for awhile.  I loved it.  It was so peaceful and welcoming.  After we arrived the kids went for a "tour" through the property.  They have woods and a creek that runs through it.  The kids loved it!  They found all sorts of different plants, animals and were just amazed at all of this.  There were so many hummingbirds, you had to shoo them away because  you thought it was a wasp or something because you can hear there wings flapping so hard.  I have never seen so many hummingbirds and they were not afraid to come by you or land on you!!  I saw them every time I was outside.  

Then Brian took the kids 4-wheeling.   They had a blast!!  The kids could scream as loud as they wanted since the neighbors weren't very close.  The hills around them were magnificent.  There was just such a peace about the place.  It seemed like the world stopped.  Everyone we ran into was so nice and life just seemed slower paced.  People weren't in a hurry, they actually said "hi" when they saw you and started conversations with you!  People weren't rude when you were waiting in line, the cashiers actually looked like they liked their job ( I don't know how many times I have been checking out and the cashiers looked irritated or complained about their job back in the "real world").  

My in-laws have cattle and a stocked pond on one of their properties.  All the female cattle were pregnant or just had a calf.  They have to be fed twice a day so it was neat to see them being fed.  They would be a long ways across the field and as soon as they saw my father-in-law pull up they would start running to the fence at full speed.  It was a funny site!  

On Sunday we went to church.  It literally was a white little church with a big steeple on the roof, up on a hill, overlooking an old cemetery.  It looked like a scene out of a picture.  I almost expected to see horse carriages arriving instead of cars.  It was a neat experience.  After church we all headed to the creek, after a southern lunch, to see Brian's mom get baptized, and yes, it literally was in the creek.  It was so amazing to see us all there and watch her get baptized!  It was such a special moment.  We were all crying and so proud of what she did.

On Monday Brian and I headed back home and left the kids in TN with the grandparents.  The kids had the best time ever!  Almost every morning Bailey and Bella would get up at 5:00 (by their choice) to help grandpa feed the cattle.   They would wear their cowboy boots, cowboy hats and overalls.  Then they would come home and Bella would stay in the house while Bailey and Bryson headed to the garden to tend to it and harvest it.  They went wild blackberry hunting and then made homemade jam with it.  Bailey helped make homemade corn bread in an old cast iron skillet.  One day they went fishing in the pond and they all caught some fish.  Bryson caught a bass and catfish as did Bella and Bailey caught a bass.  They watched grandpa cut up the fish and then they had it for dinner the next night.  Bailey and Bryson couldn't eat enough of it!!  Bailey said it was the best fish she ever had.  They went to an awesome creek by the house.  It had a zip line and ropes to jump in it.  The creek was so clear that you could stand up to your shoulders in the water and still see the pebbles at the bottom.  You could see the crawfish and fish swimming around.  I have never seen such a clearer creek. The kids had so much fun there and they got to experience so much that week.  They really got a feel of what life is like down there.  Needless to say they really didn't want to come back to Ohio.  They wanted to come home to us, but wanted to stay in that kind of life down there.  Bailey especially.  She really took to that kind of life.  She misses the peacefulness of life down there and the people.  I think it was so important for them to see how other people live.  I think it really opened up her eyes.  We went grocery shopping the day after they came back and Bailey kept making comments about how rude people were and what a big hurry they were all in.  She said "they aren't like this in TN and I want to go back."  I know the feeling.  I loved life down there as well and told Brian on the way home that I would move down there in a heartbeat.  If only there was a major city closer by that he could get a job at.  Nashville and Memphis are the closest ones and it would be quite a commute through the country hills.  

Well, when I get a chance I will try to post some pictures of the fun we had.

Hollywood Studios/MGM

On Saturday we went to Hollywood Studios.  This was the only day it was rainy, but it still wasn't bad.  The first thing we did was get fast pass tickets to the Tower of Terror and the Rock N' Roller Coaster.  Then we went to see Beauty and the Beast-Live on stage.  The kids really liked one.  While we waited for our fast pass times we went to see the gang from Toy Story.  We really lucked out with that one.  We were the first in line and we didn't have to wait long for them.  They are kind of hidden so you have to know where to go.  They were great!  They spent a lot of time with the kids and it was so awesome to see the expressions on the kids faces.  Afterwards we went to see Muppet 3-D.  I think my mom had more fun at these type of shows!  It was hysterical watching her, or should I say hearing her!  My sister and I would fight over who got to sit next to mom!  Finally our fast pass time for the Rock N' Roller coaster was up and we headed over to it.  My sister, her husband, Brian and I all went on it.  Bailey would have, but she wasn't tall enough.  She would have loved that ride.  It was totally awesome.  I think that is one of the best roller coasters I have ever been on.  It is something totally different.  You are flying in the dark going 60 mph with black lights and neon signs and hearing Aerosmith blasting in your ears.  It was so cool.

Next, we went on Tower of Terror.  Brian, Bailey and I were the only ones to go on that.  It was okay.  It scared Bailey.  I don't think it would have been too bad if it wasn't for the kids in our car telling Bailey that she was going to die!  Afterwards we headed to the Indiana Jones Stunt Show.  Ok, this was one of my favorite parts because they selected me out of the crowd to be part of the show!  It was so cool!! I got to dress up as a villager and meet all of the actors and I was on stage the entire time.  I got to see everything close up.  They only chose a few people, so I was really lucky to be chosen.  We got chased by ninjas, stood next to a car that blew up, got in the middle of a knife fight.  Like I said, it was really cool.  After the show we decided to head back to our hotel.

Oh, I forgot to talk about lunch.  We ate at 2:45 at the 50's Prime Time Cafe.  It was really good food.  Our waiter was really rude, which is what they are suppose to be, but I don't think my dad liked that very much.  He feels it wasn't portraying the 50's correctly!  Whatever.  Besides, he said he doesn't like to spend a lot of money on a meal where the people are rude.  Everyone else thought it was great.

Well, it may take me many different blogs, but I will eventually get all of the vacation blogged about.  Right now I have to take the kids to swimming lessons!

Our Disney Trip

Well, I can finally blog about our wonderful family trip to Disney.  We left on March 18th, one day earlier than my sister and her family and my mom and dad.  We wanted an extra day to unwind before we headed to the parks.  I am so glad we did that.  On Wednesday we had 87 degree weather and we spent the day at the pool and at Downtown Disney.  The rest of the family arrived later that night.  

On Thursday we headed to Animal Kingdom.  Brian and my brother-in-law headed straight for Expedition Everest to get all of our fast passes while we headed to the safari.  It worked out great.  They were able to get all of our passes and there ended up not be any line for the safari.  It was great.  We saw all kinds of animals and we actually had to stop for awhile because two rhinos stood in the path.  We could actually touch them, although we were too scared to do so!  They were leaning against the jeep just staring at us.  It was really cool.  Also, our family was the only ones on the jeep so that was pretty cool.  We felt like we were getting our own personal tour.  After that we had so breakfast snacks and then headed to Expedition Everest.  I knew my parents wouldn't go on it and we had 4 kids that couldn't or wouldn't go on it.  Brian, Bailey and I went on first and then my sister, brother-in-law and their oldest went on.  It was awesome!  It flies you backwards in the dark for what seems like forever.  I couldn't believe Bailey liked it so much.  Her and I went on it again later on in the day.  We saw It's Tough to be a Bug, which was really cute.  We also saw the musical for Finding Nemo and the Festival of the Lion King.  Those were pretty neat, but I could skipped Finding Nemo.  Then we headed to an awesome dinner at Boma's which was in the Animal Lodge.  It had such great food.  The hotel is beautiful and after dinner you can walk around and see the animals in the savanna.  They have big rocking chairs around a huge fire and we just relaxed and took in the beautiful weather.  Afterwards we headed back to our hotel (Port Orleans Riverside) and hung out at the restaurant and enjoyed the entertainment from Bob the piano player.  

The next day we went to Magic Kingdom.  My niece had a high fever so my brother-in-law stayed back with her in the morning while the rest of us (10) left for Magic Kingdom.  When we walked in we saw Snow White and Dopey.  Of course we had to stop for autographs and pictures.  Then we headed to the Flight of Peter Pan and It's a Small World.  Throughout the day we went on Space Mountain (which was Bailey's favorite ride), Splash Mountain (which was her 2nd favorite), Pirates of the Caribbean, the Haunted Mansion (which of course we got stuck on in the dark!), Hall of Presidents, Buzz Lightyear's Space Rangers Spin.  I think that was it.  We did a lot, considering we had 12 people.  We also celebrated Bella's 4th birthday at Crystal Palace.  It was so much fun.  She received a card from Pooh and his friends and they announced her birthday and everyone sang Happy Birthday to her.  It was great.  We stayed there and watched the fireworks and the night time parade.  Then we rode the monorail around and I think we got back to our rooms after midnight.  We got a lot accomplished that day.

Well, I will have to blog about the rest of our trip later.

Coming Up for Air

It seems like so much has happened lately. Especially since the last time I blogged! All the kids had their birthdays and I never blogged about it. Oh well, I will hopefully blog about it later :)

We just came home on Wednesday from Disney World. It was great and I will blog about it later. Right now I am going to blog about the crazy week we are still having. Right now Bryson is in the hospital. It really stinks because I can't be up there with him since no one in my family will drive here so I can be with him. Brian is with him right now. It all started on Monday when Bryson starting throwing up. It was awful. We thought it was the flu. Then a few hours before we were leaving, Bailey, Bella and I started throwing up. Not fun when you have to get on a plane! Anyway, we made it home with Bella covered in puke and Bryson covered in the worst blow out I have ever seen! Needless to say no one was happy with us on the plane. But who cares as I will never see those people again. As you can tell, I am not in a good mood. No sleep for several days and beyond stressed will do that to you. So, I was very concerned for Bryson since he was the sickest. I took him to the doctor right away and the doctor thought he had Salmonella poisoning. Well, she was wrong. I kept calling the doctor and finally on Saturday I called them and told them I was taking him to Children's Hospital. He was extremely dehydrated and the doctor immediately diagnosed him with Rotovirus. They started him on IV fluids for the next 4 hrs and then they took x-rays since he was in so much pain. Well, his stomach and intestines were all twisted and the doctor thought they were going to have to do emergency surgery on him. They thought his bowel had elapsed inside itself and if they didn't do surgery right away he could die. Nice thing to hear at 11:30 at night over the phone from Brian. Like I said, I couldn't be there since I had no one to watch the kids. Bailey was just getting over the flu. Fortunately they were able to get an ultrasound right away that showed it was not that bad. Thank goodness, but they still were very concerned about him. He had 18 dirty diapers yesterday!! 18!! That is absurd. Anyway, his sugars and potassium were going crazy and he was not responding to anything. Thank the Lord that finally at 6:30 tonight he was starting to come around. My neighbor came over for about an hour and a half to watch the girls so I could go up there and give Brian some new clothes since he ended up throwing up and getting sick up there with the horrible smell and the stress of everything. Bryson should be home tomorrow and I can't wait to see him. The hardest thing I ever had to do was to leave him tonight. He was crying and calling for me, but yet no tears could come because of the dehydration. I cried all the way to my car.

So, that is my crazy week that I will hopefully never have to repeat again. I will try to blog later about the actual fun we had at Disney!!