Disneyland

Disneyland is always a good idea! Even when you're broke. I'll blame the lack of $$$ on "the economy". But where there's a will there's a way. We started this Disney savings jar 2 years ago. It paid for the majority of our trip and it was worth every penny sacrificed. The kids pitched in their pennies and Mr. Lloyd picked up a side gig to add to the jar. The girls also agreed that this vacation would be most of their Christmas too. So there you have it. Our will & our Way.

Mr. Lloyd & I have been to Disneyland 5 times in the last 10 years. We have seen the magic Kingdom in every season. I have to say that Christmas is by far the best! The decorations are beautiful, there are no lines, and the magic even makes it snow at night while you watch fire works in the sky. Walt sure knows how to put on a show. Emma & Isabelle loved Minnie Mouse the most. We played on Pirate Island for about an hour. It was great because there weren't very many people there. The kids pretty much had free reign over the place. Mr. thought it would be a good idea for a wise guy teen to bring a sleeping bag and hide in the trees and stay the night. He didn't think any one would catch them. LOVED Green Army Guy.
You may notice a lack of Lucy in the pictures. She wasn't in a social mood & really didn't want to be bothered by meeting Disney characters. She did a lot of this......and made this face a lot. The only way I could get her to meet anyone was to put her in official charge of the autograph book and marker. I can officially check taking the kids to see Santa off the to do list. The newest attraction that we hadn't yet been to was Pixie Hollow. Super cute. Night time at Disney is my absolute favorite...
Isabelle loved every ride. After each one she would yell "Let's do that one again!" She wasn't afraid of the big rides. She even gave The Tower of Terror a go. I was even too chicken for that.

Henry was amazing! He was such a good baby. He didn't cry at all. He was just as happy as I could have wished for. We have taken all of our babies to Disneyland. We thought we had a pretty good system for getting hot water for bottles, changing diapers, naps, and such. Well as it turns out, about 15 minutes before we left the park for good, we discovered the baby care center. How did we miss this? It would have made things so much easier. Emma was a trooper. She was still getting over the flu on our first day. She seemed so tried by noon but kept on going til night. By our 2nd day is was her old self again. Grandma & Grandpa were with us the last 2 days of the vacation. Our original plan was to have my brother Jared and his kids along too but that part didn't work out. It was great having them spend the time with us.Best Picture of the vacation. Doesn't fatherhood look so good on Mr. Lloyd? "He's so handsome. Just like his reward picture."(Can you name that Disney movie?)The wicked queen was hilarious. She glared at everyone and was a total witch. She said to us, "I'm done with you. Be gone now!". Grandpa Bob was sad she didn't sign the autograph book. Notice Bob in the back right of the picture. He's beaming because he chased the wicked queen down & got her to give him her autograph. Some might even go as far to accuse him of stalking her...

I think that we'll keep our giant jar of Disneyland savings going. I like the idea of 2013. Who's with me? The more the merrier! We'll have good memories of this trip. It was time well spent.

Sick Babies

My poor kiddos have had a rough week. It started with Isabelle, followed by Baby Henry, and now Lucy. Isabelle missed 3 days of school and had a fever as high as 104+. When I took her to the doctor he told me she had "The Guckys". I thought about asking for my money back. Is that a medical term I've never heard of?
Henry got hit yesterday. I took him to the doctor to be sure he didn't have an ear infection. Again the doc said "The Guckys". I'm no doctor, but really, I'm not an idiot either. I'd like a better explanation of what is going on inside my children's bodies for cryin out loud. I'm just a worried momma and I do have a brain. Any recommendations for a good pediatrician would be accepted at this point.

Henry has been crying since yesterday. I've never had a baby cry all day and night like this. When Lucy was a baby and in the hospital for RSV, she didn't come close to crying so much.

But finally, this morning my prayers were answered and H slept for longer than 2 hours. He and Lucy both slept while I taught preschool and are still zonked out. I'm feeling gucky too and would like to join them . But I'm afraid as soon as I do the crying will start again.

Even Walter got sick. When I say the poop has hit the fan I'm being literal. He was in the laundry room yesterday and barfed and pooped all over EVERYTHING. It was discovered just as I was heading out the door to take H to the doctor. I'll post pictures later. joking... But, if any of you would like my dog, I'd be happy to drive him to your house any time. not joking.

Halloween

Another "Holiday" come and gone. I really don't know why Halloween is considered a holiday. Aren't holidays supposed to be based around religious beliefs? (Please feel free to educate me on the matter if you'd like. ) But really I don't care what the reason for the day is, I just know that I love it and my kids love it. What with a new baby this year, I didn't go all out for Halloween. We kept things simple and basic. I didn't throw a big party or do class parties at the kids school either. But I still managed to get into the spirit of things.

We took some time to carve pumpkins on Friday night. We let each of the girls choose their own pumpkin, let them design it, and scoop out the middle. Mr. Lloyd helped them with the knife part.

Since Halloween fell on a Sunday this year, we celebrated Halloween on Saturday night instead of Sunday. Just one of the perks of living in Utah. Poor Emma got one of her awful "I'm gonna die" stomach aches just before we set out to trick-or-treat. Can you tell from her face she is might just die? Isabelle took her bag and made sure to get Emma a piece of candy from every house she went to. Emma felt better later that night and was able to hit a few houses too. Baby Henry... Awwww.

It was a rainy night for trick-or-treats. Lucy didn't last long.

I wore my costume for about 10 minutes. Henry kept pulling on my wig and getting tangled up in it. I was a bit of a scrooge this year. I wasn't really into dressing up. Brent's costume seems to get tighter and tighter each year. I think he forgets this is a kid holiday. I'm not even sure what he is supposed to be?!

This is one of my besties Erin. By far my favorite costume of the year. Classic.

I'm just gonna take a minute to toot my own horn. I made this Dorothy dress for Iza. I had no help from my mom or sister either. Usually I get a project in my head and take it over for my mom to "help" me with knowing that if I play dumb she'll just do it for me. Next year she wants to be Alice. Now that I'm a pro at sewing, I'll make her that costume too. Until next year... Happy Halloween!