Christmas 2012

Here is a little snapshot of our Christmas in the mountains and at home. My goal next year is to take pictures of all the other things we do and not just the presents.

We all know every girl should get more than one pair of boots for Christmas and they should come in the brightest colors you can find!!

The Polar Express

A few days before Christmas we took a ride on the Polar Express. Cole and Adrienne enjoy the whole experience from the hot chocolate to the reading of the Polar Express book. Of course we have a great time singing Christmas carols on the train too. We were thankful that the rain stopped about an hour before our train ride after having rained the whole day. It was COLD but we all had a great time!

Adrienne has already told me that we have to go back again next year!

Reminders

I had planned on doing a blog post on our life with diabetes during the month of November which was diabetes awareness month. I never really could think of what to say so I just let the month slip by without doing it. 

On the outside our life is just like every other family with young kids. On the inside I am always on high alert looking for any signs of high or low blood sugar. I had a reminder this weekend of how crazy it can be at times. While the kids were singing in the Living Christmas Tree at church I was looking at Adrienne and she was staring downward instead of singing. I got the all too familiar knot in my stomach and was wondering what was wrong with her. Is she high? Is she low? Is she going to pass out? This whole event lasted probably 5 seconds and she was singing again. Of course it had nothing to do with diabetes.....the spotlight was in her eyes. To me it was just a reminder all the ups and downs we face every single day.

Managing diabetes is a battle that we are always fighting. At the end of the day I know that we were chosen to fight this battle with this amazing girl for a reason. I love that at such a young age she hopes for a cure here on earth but she knows that if it doesn't happen here that she will be healed one day!

The Living Christmas Tree

The Living Christmas Tree is a family favorite every year. I can remember going to see it with my grandmother when I was younger so having my own kids singing in it now is so special to me. All the kids did an amazing job this year even though on Saturday night they started dropping like flies. I think it is safe to say that by the end of the weekend every child in the choir had some kind of sickness. These pictures were taken during the last performance on Sunday night and we were missing a good bit of the choir. 

After the final performance Adrienne and her friend Lillian decided they would take over directing!

Happy Birthday Cole

I am not sure how it happened but this little guy 

is now this big guy! 

I can not even put into words the joy Cole brings to our family. Every single day with him is an adventure. His imagination leads him to build a roller coaster in the woods out of limbs, make stop motion animation videos with his legos, or of course planning the ultimate nerf war.  He puts his whole heart into everything he does and he has the confidence that he can do anything.

I am so lucky to be the mom of this amazing boy.

Happy 11th Birthday Cole!

Election Day

I can not begin to tell you how glad I am this day is finally here.

I have worked hard this election year to give my kids all the facts that they can understand. I have also never told them who I am voting for. My job this year has not been to mold my children into young Democrats or Republicans but to give them all the tools to understand the process. I have told them things I like and don't like about each candidate. If you know my children you know Cole is a big time Obama fan and that is fine with me. I know some people may feel I win mother of the year for that while others believe I have failed as a mother. I have failed if I teach my children you do it my way because I said so.

We have talked at great length about how we should pray for God to give us the wisdom to know who is the right person to vote for. After that conversation is when Adrienne decided that Santa Claus was her man for president.

At the end of the day this is what I want my children to know....

God is in control and He will not be surprised by the outcome of this election.

The President of the United States is someone that we are to respect. He is not going to make us happy all the time but it is our job to show him respect and pray for him daily.

No matter who our next President is we still live in the greatest country in the world.

Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party

For the last day of our trip we went to Magic Kingdom for the Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party. The party started at 7:00 and ended at midnight. We were able to get into the park before 3:30 and we stepped off the last ride right at midnight. The crowd was not so bad so we were able to do everything we wanted with minimal wait. We were even able to do a little trick or treating while we were there...well more than a little because we came home with four bags of candy.

No matter where we go Cole is always checking out the map.

 

  

A dream come true for a little girl is dancing with your favorite princess.

Waiting for the parade to start but wishing we was on a ride. He did not think riding Big Thunder Mountain 8 times was nearly enough.

 

The Headless Horseman leads the parade.

 

The Halloween parade is my favorite Disney parade! 

 

Universal Studios

Day Two we were a little slow getting going but we made it to Universal Studios just a few minutes after they opened. The park was not crowded so we were able to do all the rides and shows with 15 minutes or less wait. I take that back the wait for Despicable Me was 45 minutes. I let Jeremy take that one while I did Twister which I think about gave Cole a heart attack. Cole did get luck that Jeremy and Adrienne were still in line so he may have broke in line to join them.

 We watched Back to the Future about a month before the trip so the kids thought seeing the time machine was the coolest thing ever.

Cole is always such a good sport. He is riding the Woody Woodpecker roller coaster alone because his little sister bailed on him.

 

It was a much slower day today but by 5:00 we were exhausted. We had a 15 minute walk back to the hotel which felt like torture at the end of the day today. Of course twenty minutes after we get to the hotel the kids are begging to go to the pool. I wish I had that energy!

Islands of Adventure

Our first day we spent at Islands of Adventure. We arrived at the park at 8:00 and had to drag the kids out of after 6:00. They were wanting to stay until the park closed but Mommy and Daddy were done for the day. 

If you go to see the new Harry Potter park you have to get there early. It was the first thing we did that morning and there was no crowd. When we went back later in the afternoon there were so many people you could not move without bumping someone.

After seeing Harry Potter we enjoyed the rest of the park that was not nearly as crowded. Jeremy and Cole did a few rides without us in the Marvel area but the kid favorite (after Harry Potter) was Seuss Landing.

Adrienne was thrilled to see the green eggs and ham.

Such a sweet big brother riding with his sister but looking over his shoulder for a roller coaster.

 

Time to enjoy an afternoon snack after all the playing. You will be glad to know they did not even eat half of their ice cream!

 

Surprise Trip

Last weekend we surprised Cole and Adrienne with a quick trip to Florida. I still can not believe I was able to keep it a secret. I never realized how much the kids help me pack for trips until I did not have their help. Thursday morning when we woke them up the truck was packed and all they had to do was get in. When they got in the truck they were so confused with all the stuff in the back. We let them guess for a few minutes before we told them and they were beyond excited!!

While we were there we went to Universal, Islands of Adventure, and Magic Kingdom. I am still going through all of our pictures but here is a little peak at some of the characters we met on our first day at Islands of Adventure.