Vacation

We are back!  Our vacation was great!  We got to spend time with Allen, Jennifer & Aiden on the weekend before and after our Disney trip.

Disney was fun ~ but wet.  Very wet...it rained everyday but one.  Not just your typical Florida sprinkle for just a short time.  But a "the heavens opened and dumped water upon us" rain.  4 out of 5 days...that's never happened to us in all the times we've been.  I can really only think of one day in past trips that it rained a lot.  Oh well, we could change the weather so we made the best of it.  Rainjackets and ponchos covered us up adequately. 

We got indoctrinated into the land of Magic Bands ~ which was so cool.  Everything was on our band ~ room key, charge information, fast passes, and dining plan.  I was concerned about losing the band or someone stealing it and having our info but the security is good.  To enter the parks you scan your magic band and finger print.  To buy anything you enter your security password.  It worked well and we didn't have lots of different stuff to keep up with.

The dining plan was great & FREE.  It was 2 meals & a snack everyday.  We did breakfast in the room.  You just had to find a quick service dining room in any of the parks and order your meal.  The lunch and dinner meals consisted of the entrée & any sides that came with it, a drink, and a dessert.  That's a lot of food!  You can use it at the parks, downtown Disney, or the hotels.  We started off our week at Wolfgang Puck Express in Downtown Disney and it was yummy.  Our best meal by far, was at "Be Our Guest" at the Magic Kingdom.  Lunch was open to anyone ~ that is anyone who was inline ahead of time for the 10:30 opening.  We were inline by 9:15 and they closed the line at 10:20 ~ no one else could get in until others finished eating and left.  This was Amy's "bucket list" place to go.  Their food was great, their service was amazing, and the Castle was gorgeous!  If you have watched the movie the song "Be Our Guest" is the theme for the restaurant ~ and they have a cupcake with "taste the gray stuff, its delicious" icing.  Which is what my baker wanted.  They all got the gray stuff cupcake but I got the lemon meringue cupcake ~ yum!  We all thoroughly enjoyed that meal, even if it was lunch at 10:30 in the morning!  The most disappointing meal was in France at Epcot ~ we went there for my birthday lunch because I wanted the chocolate mousse (yum!), we ordered sandwiches and they were just ok.  I got a turkey and the the bread was tough.  The chocolate mousse made up for it!

Greg was excited to ride roller coasters with Will.  And I am sure that Will was excited to have someone to ride with him.  I think the only thing they didn't get to ride was the 7 Dwarfs Mine Train ~ the lines were too long and the fast passes were all reserved. 

Amy was our official photographer, so I will have to get pictures from her laptop to mine.  And get the pictures off our phones to the laptop.

Magic Bands!

Moms exciting ride for the week! 

Amy's new hoodie!

1st bite of gray stuff!

Epcot in the rain on my birthday!

In Norway!

wearing our Minnie shirts that Angel T. made us!

the Princess and her Protector ready for a day in the Magic Kingdom!

I swiped these pictures off our facebook page!

Thanks Mom, Greg, Amy & Will for a great birthday celebration/vacation!

I love you all!

Aiden is 1 month and 1 day old!  His Superman newborn onesie fits now!  We got to eat dinner with them on Sat. night ~ Allen cooked us a yummy dinner of brisket, baked beans, baked potatoes & broccoli.

More grandparent time this afternoon !

And then Disney World! 

Its Almost Fair Time Again ~

I don't care how prepared I think I am ~ its always a rush at the last minute for us.  Last year was Allens wedding ~ this year its vacation.  Next year, my friend Angel has forbidden me to not be here for drop off...she has taken our entries for 2 years now ~ that is a true friend! 

It really doesn't help that the fair books don't come out till September and drop off is the last Friday in Sept.  They added a whole new category for crafts this year ~ machine embroidery!  Amy & I have been busy sewing, snipping threads, and planning.  I finally just quit working on new stuff ~ 2 days ago. 

Working in a ceramics shop came in handy with us filling all those categories!  We've got some hand quilting, machine quilting, hand embroidery, machine embroidery, ceramics, work working, glass etching, etc. 

boxed and ready to go!

Amy's painted Mickey head ~ its so "girlie" & so "Amy"

And I've already got one done for next year ~ as long as I was paper snipping, I did 2!  Amy called me an over achiever ~ yep, I think she was telling the truth!

I am thankful for ~

time to be creative
friends to create with
craft supplies
bright colors & patterns
free cross stitch designs on pinterest
an over abundance of ideas
for Greg's framing skills for the cross stitch
for my birthday coupon from Michaels ~ got lots of floss
the tags and inventory sheets being done
another year of creativity ready to be judged!

Thankful List

Today I am thankful for  ~~~~~~~

*a little bit of cooler weather ~ Saturday was awesome, high was about 73 degrees.  Yesterday was back up to 90, but the humidity was lower.

*crunchy leaves ~ I love walking in crunchy leaves in the fall.

*completed fair projects & some almost completed.

*my weekly craft day with Amy & Angel.

*for steroids, Benadryl & epi pens ~ Allen got stung by something last week that sent him into a bad allergic reaction.  I am also thankful for J & A's quick thinking that got him to the dr. quickly.

*for precious grandchild pictures that are sent to me either by email, text or over facebook.  My little buddies are so adorable.  Last week, I saw Thomas start to crawl, heard Roberts sweet voice on the crawling video, and saw a picture last night of Allen giving Aiden his first bottle.

*for the mold stack at work being completely inventoried and mostly separated.  For some organization with the inventory.  For some ideas to sell discontinued items at a discount.  For progress.

*vacation coming soon!

*for Amazon Prime Unlimited books ~ $10 a month.  I've been able to read some awesome books that I would have otherwise not read except that we paid the $10 to try out the service.  I've probably read over $150 dollars worth of books in 6 weeks!  If you haven't read anything by Karen Anna Vogel ~ check her out.  Gifted writer of Amish fiction.

*for an early birthday gift ~ Greg bought me a new Kindle!

*for fun with Christian friends at choir & church.  Gloria!

*for my new bedroom ~ I love it!

A Little Bit of This, A Little Bit of That

Anyone know where the title line came from?  Hint ~ its in a movie!

Oh well,  life is getting busy.  I've officially joined the ranks of working outside the home.  Technically, I joined in March with opening my big mouth and volunteering to help move the ceramics shop...which turned into way more work that I ever anticipated.  Officially, I got hired last month.  I am working from about 1 - till whenever we stop...usually about 7.  Greg is working there part time ~ coming in about 4:30 and working till whenever we stop.  He is our muscles for the heavy stuff we just cannot lift. 

We are still sorting molds ~ but can see a light at the end of that months long tunnel.  If they weren't so heavy, it would go so much quicker ~ but some of these things weigh 30+ pounds.  The ceramic molds are made out of plaster.  The tiny ones are easy ~ the ones for vases and large figurines are impossible for me to lift.  When I can work on the molds during the day before Greg comes, he can always tell because there are big ones just sitting there isolated from the stack ~ I work around them.  We have run out of shelf space for our sorting and now have piles sorted against the walls.  But to put up the remaining shelving units we have, the molds have to get moved out of that corner.

It is fun working there ~ we have learned how to pour the ceramics, clean the dried greenware, run the kilns, etc.  Last week I got an impromptu class in airbrushing a piece and I loved it.  My chicken cookie jar turned out very colorful and cute ~

We are also in full fair mode here ~ vacation is in a couple of weeks and everything has to get done.  My friend Angel is going to take our stuff again this year for check in (she is an Angel for doing this 2 years in a row!  Last year was Allens wedding).  When we were working on tagging and inventory sheets during our craft time yesterday, I discovered there was a new category in the crafts section ~ machine embroidery.  Ahhhh, time to kick crafting into high gear and make some items for this category....I said I wasn't going to rush and get additional stuff done, but I am.  But I am not the only one, Angel is entering for the first time this year and machine embroidery is her thing!  So she was coming up with ideas yesterday too!

Greg has the bedroom almost done ~ we just have the baseboards to nail to the walls and I need to rehang the valance over the window.  We've also got pictures to arrange and hang.

Vacation is coming ~ we are going to Disney & are very excited!  Our trip coincides with the annual Epcot Food & Wine Festival ~ the food is awesome from all the different countries ~ I skip the wine part.  We will be there on my birthday this year!  And since we are picking up Granny and she is going with us ~ we will get to see our tiny grand buddy Aiden, the weekends before and after the trip.  We are also staying at a budget hotel on property ~ we will get to ride their transportation for free all week, not have to worry about parking, and get dropped off near the entrance gates.  Disney also offered a promotion during this time for a FREE food plan for every member of the party.  We will get 2 free meals a day, plus snacks. We will also get the refillable cups for free which can be used at any resort, but not in the parks. Free at Disney is cool!  We are going to eat breakfast on our own either in the room or at a local restaurant. 

Heres some pictures ~

My first airbrushed project ~ chicken candy jar

canned 21 quarts & 4 pints of green beans

Amy's gingerbread house for the fair

She made all the candy decorations from clay.

Amy's metal owl "yard art" category entry

everything is finding a home!

Our new baseboards look great

new rugs were bought this weekend

we moved this in from the living room for a little more space

Our football tv watching & book reading & blogging corner!

Oh, I almost forgot....the title line is from "Fiddler on the Roof".

The Change is Almost Done ~

Our 3 day weekend was dominated by the Master Bedroom overhaul!  And we managed to watch a bit of football too!  The weather was kinda dreary & off and on rainy, so being inside wasn't a big deal.  And lots got done!  Pretty much the only things left to do are touch up the trim (pulling off the painters tape pulled off some of the new paint), buying & installing the base boards, moving 1 bookcase back in and arranging the books, and rehanging pictures.  We rearranged the room and it looks huge~ 

New trim color on right side

taping off the ceiling edges

goodbye nasty red carpet! Yay!

Our first run of wood!

vapor, mold/mildew, insulating barrier for under floor

its gorgeous!

James came to help ~ Amy is decorating the slab before it gets covered up ~ Sharpies!

Greg worked really hard all weekend!

Awwww! 

Only one row left!  They got the room done in 1 day!