Disney World...no pictures yet

Over the past two weeks we have busy. I do most of my Christmas shopping early so that part was scratched off the first week of December. I hate to leave my house messy before going on a vacation because when I get back we make a huge mess unpacking...let alone all the gifts Bailey gets for Christmas spread everywhere. This year we decided to go on a vacation to Disney World (pictures will be posted later). Let me back up...December 19th, Blake graduated from AUM. yay!!! No more night classes!!! Then the next morning we went to Disney World!!

I wanted to journal our vacation, but instead I will put it as a blog post:

Day 1 (65 degrees for the high)
We left our house around 8:30 AM and got to our hotel (beside Downtown Disney) around 4:30 PM. Bailey filled her time watching Aristocats, Winnie the Pooh, and Cinderella on our way down with a 1 hour nap somewhere in between. Our hotel was so convenient and they had character breakfast 3 mornings a week which is the most any hotel had. We went to Downtown Disney that night and shopped and ate at the Rainforest Cafe. We went to the first store and let Bailey get out. She was so overwhelmed she didn't know where to start looking that she got back into the stroller a little while later. She picked out a Piglet stuffed animal and a magical washcloth (put in water thing) with a kitty cat on it. My friend gave Bailey a gift card to Disney stores so she paid for it herself and was very proud of herself - "I can do it". It was an hour wait at the restaurant so we looked around more at the stores. Bailey started getting tired so we got her a sprite - nothing like sugar. The food was not that great and way overpriced but the restaurant is really neat - every 15 minutes there is a storm and the animals go crazy. We sat by the monkeys - Bailey loved it. Then we took a photo in the photo booth and headed back to the room.

Day 2 (65 degrees for the high)
Slept in until 9:30 AM then went to the buffet breakfast at the hotel which was pretty good. We caught the Disney Transportation to Magic Kingdom and by the time we got there, got the tickets, stood in line for the monorail it was 11:30 AM. The first thing we did was ride Dumbo. I stood in line while Bailey and Blake went and played at Pooh's Corner (playground). When I got to the front Blake came over and handed Bailey to me over the railing. After the ride we went to stand in line to meet Tiger & Pooh. Blake bought a Mickey ice cream while we waited. She loved it the entire time until we got to them and she didn't like it. This was the first character meeting we went to so it was new and scary - she still took a good picture even though she was scared. After that we went to the children's area to look at things and we caught the train to the front of the park. We watched a show with Mickey, Minnie, Donald, and Goofy on stage - something about believing in wishes...it was good and it had all the princesses and princes come out. By the time that was finished it was time to use our past pass on the Winnie the Pooh ride. Then we went and rode a boat ride through the jungle - Bailey liked that a lot. While I waited in line Blake and her went and rode Aladdin's magic carpet since the wait was only 20 minutes. After that it started to get dark so we got a good seat in front of the castle to watch Cinderella light it up Christmas. While we waited there was a parade that we watched and danced too. It was 7:30 PM by the time we left and we were all tired.

Day 3 (65 degrees for the high)
We woke up at 7 AM and had breakfast with Goofy and Pluto! So exciting! Bailey was scared but gave them high fives and smiled for the pictures. Then we were off to Sea World! We got a little lost so we did not get there until right at 11 but the lines and parking were so short so it didn't take anytime to get in. We got in for free with Blake's military orders. First we went to see the pool of sting rays - the water was warm and they come right to your hand because they think you have food. Kinda scary but their barbs are cut so they can't hurt you. Then we went and saw the dolphins - there was over 20 of them and they came right to you...thinking you had food. You could purchase food but we let other people do that. Then we saw a show "Blue Horizons" with birds and dolphins...Bailey didn't care for it but liked climbing in the stadium seats. After that we went and saw the manatees, alligators, penguins, sharks, and other fish aquariums. They were all so neat to look at and there were no lines and not crowded. We were able to take a bunch of pictures and everyone was so nice. Then we went to the children's area where Bailey went down the three tall slides and we rode all the rides with no lines - such a dramatic difference then Disney World. We rode the teacups, carousel, shamu roller coaster (38 inch requirement so we fluffed her hair and she made it), and then another ride like the teacups. We did all that is less than 20 minutes. Then it was time to see the biggest act of all: SHAMU! This is when I realized why there was no one around...they were all in the stadium which is why we had to stand the whole time, but it wasn't that bad because Bailey wouldn't want to sit the whole time anyway. We got a large popcorn and drink so she was happy. That show was really neat...pictures to come. After that we left to go back to the room for a nap. Bailey napped over 3 hours so we didn't have as much time as we hoped to do everything. I wanted to go to the outlets, than eat, than go back to see fireworks. We only had time to shop and instead of spending the big bucks on another meal Blake wanted to eat at "The Biggest McDonald's in the World"...we passed two McDonald's to get there. The place looked so old and the inside was worse. There event for the night was a girl who braided hair - umm...gross! Hair braiding in a restaurant! The stuff on the walls looked dusty and I felt like germs were crawling everywhere. It was big though, there was an upstairs arcade and a downstairs arcade. They had a bunch of different menus: pizza, gyros, specialty sandwiches, specially desserts, salad bar, pasta, and then the regular which is what we ordered from despite the grossness of the place. We stayed about 30 minutes and went back to the room where Bailey played with her new toys from the Rainforest Cafe and light up Minnie toy we bought as we left Disney World.

Day 4 (75 degrees for the high)
We woke up at 7 AM and got to Magic Kingdom around 10 AM. It was a tad less busy than Monday. We went and got a fast pass to Peter Pan and saw there was no wait for Mickey's 3D Movie. So we went to that and half way through Bailey didn't like the glasses - when the water sprinkled on us from Donald kicking the bucket it freaked her out. I don't blame her...that would have freaked me out to if I saw the characters coming at me from a movie. Then we went to see the princesses! She loved meeting them. We saw Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, and Belle. After that we went to meet Mickey and Minnie. She was a little scared but warmed up to them. Mickey liked my new shirt - it was a vintage t-shirt with Mickey on it. We went and had lunch at Cyber Cafe in Tomorrow land while waiting for out time to ride Peter Pan. After Peter Pan we didn't want to do anything else so we headed back to the room for naps. We planned on going back to see the fireworks but decided to go to Downtown Disney to eat at the Dinosaur Restaurant and finish up any shopping. The Dinosaur Restaurant had great food, more choices and less expensive than Rainforest Cafe...I thought it was odd because they are owned by the same company. Every 15 minutes there the volcano erupted and the dinosaurs moved around. Bailey really liked it and the waitress was really good. If we go back to Disney World again this place is a must on our lists of where to eat. After that we went next door and got ice cream while walking around and looking at the other stores. Bailey loved the park at Lego land and took breaks to eat ice cream.

Day 5
We woke up around 7 AM and had breakfast with Goofy before heading back home. This time Bailey gave Goofy a hug and blew him kisses. Then we got back in the car and drove for 8 hours. Bailey watched Aristocats and Winnie the Pooh on the way home. As soon as we got to the Alabama line it started raining and kept raining through the end of the night. We got home, unloaded the car, got dressed and drove to Blake's parents house for Christmas Eve with his family. We got so much great stuff - I like Bailey's toys as much as I like my own stuff.

Christmas Day
At 3:00 AM Bailey woke up crying thinking "ho ho" was in our house...I never thought of it as being scary but an old fat man sneaking into your house at night would be scary to a 2 1/2 year old. She got in bed with us until she fell back asleep and I put her back in bed. We got up early to get ready and then she woke up around 8:00. I laid everything she got the night before out on the fire place along with the two gifts Santa brought....guess what her absolute favorite thing is: 4 tubes of chap stick that she carries with her everywhere. Around $4.00 worth of chap stick keeps her happy. After that we went to my parent's house for Christmas with my family and got more stuff from everyone...Bailey watched one of her new movies on the way to my MIL's family Christmas that is two hours away. We left there around 5 PM. The next day we had zero plans and the toys stayed in the living room for the rest of the weekend.

PT Update

Bailey went the entire day yesterday with no potty mistakes (high five's all around). How exciting?!? Every day I keep my fingers crossed as I walk down the hallway of her school to pick her up hoping she is in the same clothes that I dropped her off in and yesterday she was! Then she went the rest of the day with no mistakes. So exciting. We started taking her to school without pull-ups last week so this is week two and already on a good note. Last week was awful - I had to wash clothes at least once a day. I heard this is the best way to teach them, but I was sure I could train her the un-messy way...unfortunately that wasn't in the cards for me.

She gets to see Mickey Mouse as her gift for being PT. Not really, but we told her that was the reason we were going to Disney World. I'm excited about our first family vacation of just the three of us. Plus, we get to go to Sea World for free! Blake gets up to 3 dependants in for free once a year and his ticket to Disney World is free as well. I can't wait to see Bailey's face once we get there. She will love it all - as long as the characters keep their distance from the stroller.

Lights on the Tree

So I have a fabulous husband who put the lights on the tree for me and did a fabulous job. I am so far behind on things this week and last night I went to my parent's house so I didn't accomplish much on the list of things to do after work. Blake is back on orders so he gets off around 3 a few days out of the week so he put up the lights on the tree for me. Just thought I would mention how much the little things mean to a busy woman/mom. Other big news: Highlights appointment today at 3:30! So overdue and needed.

Festivities

So I have started working out again in the mornings before work...I hate getting up but the love the feeling. It is so nice to get it over with, but I love my sleep...the little I have. Bailey and I put up the Christmas tree last night while Blake went out for a few hours. Things were going good until I realized there were 3 very large bugs at the bottom of the box waiting on me. Oh Jeez...I am not a bug person. I started freaking out and asked Bailey to keep her shoes on to help me stomp them. I then went and grabbed the wasp spray and sprayed them in the box and then through the box outside. I am going this afternoon to purchase plastic bins for the Christmas tree since we keep it outside in the shed. I am so glad I went ahead and put it up because if those bugs would have gotten in my house...lets not even think about that. So I have to put up the lights and ornaments this week...I will try and take my time doing it but I doubt I will be able to stand having something halfway done. I have so many things to work on this week before going out of town for Thanksgiving ~ Sewing projects, cleaning the house, putting up Christmas decor, Getting highlights and cut/trim (way overdue!!! it has been 3 months - this is an emergency), Christmas cards, Pictures, Painting the hallway.... oh and planning out the biggest shopping extravaganza of the year "BLACK FRIDAY".

Also, today is my dad's 60th birthday! How exciting...Blake is purchasing his gift today. I know...so last minute, but I couldn't think of anything to get him so Blake is going to get something from the golf store since Dad is becoming a regular on the golf course since he retired a few months ago.

Cupcake tower - flowers in blue and pink

I designed this cupcake tower based on the napkins used for this baby shower. The mother-to-be is waiting to find out what she is having so the napkins had bright blue, bright pink, and bright green on them. I was hesitant to try out fondant because 1. It doesn't taste good 2. It can be expensive 3. time...since I am teaching myself, I don't have time to make mistakes or practice a lot. So I did some research on fondant and found that a lot of people love using marshmallow fondant because 1. It tastes better 2. It is cheap to make 3. EASY!

So here are the pictures of my first cupcake tower:

Inside of cake: Chocolate icing

23 cupcakes: butter/yellow cake with cream cheese icing & marshmallow fondant flowers

Top of tower: (2) 6 inch yellow cake with cream cheese icing & marshmallow fondant flowers & bright green ribbon

Cupcake Tower

Me with my first cupcake tower!

Halloween 2009

I don't decorate much for fall or Halloween, but Bailey got this pumpkin at her school Fall festival the Friday before Halloween so Blake and Bailey carved it out.

Blake and I took Bailey to my parent's church for their Harvest Festival. My sister was in charge of the cake walk so I made a cake for it. I made it with cream cheese icing, but it doesn't dry at all so you can not do too much detail unless you make the icing more stiff and that takes away the taste so I did just a small design and it still turned out cute. I also made white flowers out of marshmallow fondant to stick on top but I forgot to take a picture of that.

Bailey was a very pretty lady bug and she had a great time with her cousins - Police officer "Logan" and Butterfly Fairy "Abigail". After the Harvest Festival, Blake and I went to a costume party. Blake went as "Charming" and I was a princess.

Learning as I go

Sewing is definitely not a relaxing hobby. Some people may think you just take the fabric out of the bag and begin but there is so many steps involved before you can even begin. I thought the same thing about cake decorating before I realized the long process of making icing and getting the cake ready before you can even begin decorating.

Steps before sewing: sew sides that may unravel, dilute the fabric, wash the fabric, dry/line dry the fabric, iron the fabric, iron the pattern, cut the pattern, pin the pattern on the fabric, cut the fabric, AND then you can start.

Then the hard part starts- you have to figure out what the heck the pattern is saying in a very short fragment. There is no explanation with pictures or dictionary. I have to open all my books and refer back to each one to read a sentence/fragment AND then it still doesn't make sense. I learn from watching others do it and then I can copy it, but having to do what is says from reading is so hard for me to figure out which is why it takes me 2 hours a night for several nights to finish one project. I usually quit when I reach a point of not understanding and then I have the rest of the day to figure it out in my head - which I usually do and am able to start off where I left the night before. I had big dreams of making so many things, but honestly I understand why boutiques charge so much for their homemade items because there is a lot of labor and hours that go into each piece. I am hopefully getting better and learning from my mistakes as well as learning the "language of sewing" so I don't have to refer to three books each time I read a sentence.

I don't want to discourage anyone from learning a new hobby because it is very rewarding once you finish a piece that you spent many hours on. This weekend I am going to teach myself how to make fondant shapes. I have spent a few hours researching it this week and watching videos so I have a good understanding of it. I have a cake due on Saturday for my parent's church cake walk and another cake due the following weekend for a baby shower. I love being able to switch back and forth so I don't get burnt out on either one. Wish me luck!

Here are other pieces I have finished since my last post: