Our Annual Disney World Family Trip

I have to say, I honestly can't remember EVER getting to Disney before the gates opened. But this was a first! LOL! All the dwellers of the Castello went. We also invited 7 friends to come along for the fun. We had a great time!

While we waited for the gates to open, the crowd sang Christmas songs led by cast members. Cast Members are the employees that work at Walt Disney. Our wait time was less than 20 minutes, so it wasn't too bad at all. :o)



We were entertained by the younger ones playing with the hula hoops provided by Disney. Superstar is the one wearing the gray, GAP sweatshirt. Giggles is the one wearing the Cubs sweatshirt. Let me explain how they came by these pseudonyms. Superstar is quite the baseball player. Giggles, really enjoyed the Muppet 3-D movie at Hollywood Studios. I mean, he REALLY enjoyed it. I couldn't keep my eyes off of him. He was really taken with the 3-D effect. It was priceless.



This is their sister, Dee. I'm having trouble coming up with a name for her. So we'll go with Dee for now. She was getting into the fun too.

Of course the first thing we went to ride was Space Mountain. But I have no pictures of that. While the older ones rode the roller coaster, Superstar and his mom, Lady D rode the Buzz Lightyear ride. Once we were done with Space Mountain, everyone rode Buzz Lightyear too. Yep, Superstar and Lady D rode it again. :o) From there, we were off to...



... the Race Track! Oh, this was the first time Superstar had been to Disney World. Can you see the joy in his face?! :o)



Dr. J (basketball is his sport) is the eldest of the four sibblings. He and G.I. Joe are the same age. They play basketball for the same school. He's a nice young man. I'm glad he and G.I. Joe are friends.


I'm so glad I got a picture of Dee smiling. Turns out she didn't want to go to Disney World. She wanted to go to school. She's a little social butterfly and wanted to be with her friends. Well, she ended up having a great time anyways. :o) How can you not?! After all, it's Disney World... The Happy Place! :o)



This is Giggles first time at the wheel. He LOVED it! LOL! I'm sure he can't wait until he's 15. But he's got a ways to go.



Gent that he is, JC let Soaring Amongst The Clouds drive. Oh, did I mention how cold it was? Well, it was in the low 40's. The sun didn't come out until almost lunch time. Wind was blowing too. So to us native Floridians.... it was FREEZING!!!




Steps was a gent too and let Daughter of the King drive too. Isn't that so sweet. :o)



I'm sure G.I. Joe can't wait until he's REALLY behind the wheels. Wish I could say it'll be a while. He turns 15 next year! YIKES!!! Be still my heart...

Next stop was the Tea Cups. Let me go on record saying, that I LOVE ROLLERCOASTER RIDES and ANYTHING THAT SPINS! But due to my ah... chiari issues, per doctor's orders, I'm not allowed. :o( So, I decided to hurry and take pictures before the ride started...



Four of the Castello dwellers...



Giggles wanted to ride by himself.



I don't think Giggles would of fit here anyway. Good thing he wanted to ride by himself. I took a picture of Soaring Amongst The Clouds, JC, Daughter of the King and Steps, but it didn't turn out. :o(

After the Tea Cups, we headed out to Goofy's Barnyard Ride. That was a big hit too. I went into one of the stores to "thaw out". Brrrr!!!!



It was decided that Splash Mountain was not going to be ridden. I'm sure no explanation is needed. Brrrr..... So we went on to Thunder Mountain.




Can't believe Still Waters got this picture. She turned around while riding, just to get this shot. Not bad! LOL!



I'm so glad this picture turned out. First family picture this year. I really need to take more "family pictures", but it isn't easy!



Group picture! Ok, now everyone smile! Come on now! Help me out... pleeeeease?! Pretty please?!



When we left the Magic Kingdom, we had a compartment on the monorail all to ourselves. Steps decided to lay on the top of the backrest. Once the monorail got going, he fell back. Way to go Steps! Daughter of the King really got a kick out of it. LOL!

By this time is was time for lunch (around 1p). We went to a McDonald's that right on the Disney property. After lunch, Soaring Amongst The Clouds and JC headed back home. JC had to go to work. They also had a viewing to attend after work.

Everyone else went to Hollywood Studios. They all rode, Tower of Terror, Rocking Roller Coaster and Star Tours. We saw the shows The 3-D Muppet Show and Lights, Motor, Action! We walked the entire park. We also saw the Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights. It was absolutely beautiful! We see it every year and I still find it breathtakingly beautiful!

Well, we practically closed the park down. LOL! We were all very tired puppies. We stopped to eat dinner on the way home. There happen to be a Chick Filet and a Panda Express close by. The few that ordered Chick Filet carried their dinner and ate it at Panda Express. The workers didn't mind since most of us ate Panda Express "cuisine". I had never eaten there. It was pretty good for "express" Chinese food. The serving portions were very big. We even had enough left over for lunch the next day.

We all had a great time. Can't wait for our annual Disney World family trip next year. YEAH!!!

Facebook Chat

I'm always logged on to facebook and my instant message account. This morning, my G.I. Joe decided to have some fun with his sisters. So he started having a conversation with them (on facebook chat) pretending to be me. This is what transpired...

G.I. Joe (pretending to be me): I like G.I. Joe the best.

Still Waters: ?
Still Waters: huh?
Still Waters: for what?

G.I. Joe (pretending to be me): 4 being so awesome

Still Waters: what did he do?
Still Waters: G.I. Joe is that you?
Still Waters: you stink

G.I. Joe (pretending to be me): no he doesn't

*At this point The Warrior got into it. He got on Still Waters computer and wrote, "you stink" to G.I. Joe. Then she got back on and said...

Still Waters: i didn't write that
Still Waters: nice try


At the same time he was doing the same thing with Daughter of the King. This is what transpired between them...

G.I. Joe (pretending to be me): i like G.I. Joe the best

Daughter of the King: funny G.I. Joe, I know this isn't mom. go do your school work!


End of conversation. LOL!


Have I mentioned lately how much I love my children? Well I do. I love their sense of humor. My cup runneth over...

Tennis Anyone?

Well tennis fever has hit the dwellers of the Castello. Last semester, Soaring Amongst The Clouds took a tennis class. She really enjoyed it. But she really hadn't had a chance to keep playing. Until.... recently. The tennis bug has bit us... and has bit us hard!

On and off for the last 3 weeks our Fair Maidens have been on the tennis courts. Steps and JC have also been bit. Some of their friends from church have also been bit. They have all been having a great time.

Did I mention that my Knight and I use to play tennis? Well we did. We really enjoyed playing too. We stopped playing once we had Soaring Amongst The Clouds. Remember, Still Waters was born 10 months after Soaring Amongst The Clouds. Daughter of the King came 18 months later. I never played again. LOL! I really haven't missed it. But I'm enjoying getting back into the swing of things (pun intended) with our children and friends.

Here are some pictures we took the other day...



I LOVE this man! It's been years since we've played tennis. But it's like riding a bike. It all came back. He was awesome!



Still Waters had never played before. She had a good time though. I'm sure she'll get the "swing" of things. Pun intended. *hee hee hee*



Time to say, "good game". I believe JC and Soaring Amongst The Clouds won. G.I. Joe and The Warrior put up a good fight.



This is probably one of my favorite shots of the day. I love how Soaring Amongst The Clouds is giving her all and she's in the air. TOO KEWEL!!!



JC giving it back to my Knight and Still Waters. JC and Soaring Amongst The Clouds beat my Knight and Still Waters. That's ok, a rematch will take place soon. ;o)



G.I. Joe is a natural born athlete. God has truly blessed him in the athletic "department".



I love being my Knight's partner. We had such fun!



We're taking a breather. We are watching G.I. Joe & The Warrior play against, Soaring Amongst The Clouds & JC. I love spending time with my family.



I thought this was so cute, I just had to share it. Daughter of the King and Steps lost against, G.I. Joe and The Warrior.



He must of had a great shot. The Warrior's smile makes everyone else smile too. It's contagious.

We have had a great time playing tennis. I like tennis cause it's a sport that the entire family can get into. It's also a sport that a couple can do together. Fun for everyone. Can't wait to hit the courts again!

Shoot & Clean

My Knight and I went shooting today. No we didn't skip church. Sunday School was great! I'm always learning something new. My Knight is an awesome teacher. Big Church (as our children always called it) was awesome too!

After church we all went home to have lunch. Everyone had something different. Sunday's are relaxing days. We try not to cook big meals or anything like that. Once we were done with lunch, my Knight and I went target shooting at the indoor range. Our children stayed in our Castello. They wanted to start decorating for Christmas.




Ok, this was with Soaring Amongst The Clouds' pistol, Giovanni. Yep, she named her pistol, Giovanni. What's funny is that, that is my favorite Italian name. That's a name I would of picked if I had a pistol. LOL! It's also the name I wanted to name one of our sons, but my Knight wasn't to thrilled with it.

I was having a little trouble figuring out how to line up the dots in the scope thingy. But towards the end, I finally got the hang of it. :o) Notice the bullseye? :o)



For this target, I used my Knight's pistol. Which I LOVED!!! The barrel is longer, so it didn't have too much of a kickback. It was LOTS of FUN!!!



This was the target my Knight used. He reallllllly ROCKS!!! All the holes in the middle were from 21 feet away. He shot at each order from a further distance. I can't remember what it was though. Notice all the holes smack dab in the middle?! He's AWESOME!!!



Cleaning a gun is not something new to our Fair Maidens. So here, Soaring Amongst The Clouds got busy cleaning her pistol. Thank you sweetie for letting me use Giovanni. :o)



Father and Daughter, side by side. I LOVE this picture! You should of heard them talking and laughing. They were so cute!


Oh, by the time we got home, our Castello was already decorated. Well, all except the tree. Turns out some of our lights are no longer working. So I need to get some more. Traditionally we have homemade pizza for dinner on the day we put up our decorations. So that's what we had. Boy was it DELISH!!! Once again, our FAir Maidens outdid themselves! Thank you Baby Girls!

Cast Off!

YEAH!!! The Warrior got his cast taken of on Friday.



It so happens that The Coach was The Warrior's football coach back in 2004. He's great with children and the children love him. So it was great that he was the one that put the cast on and took it off.



Did I mention that he was also the one that assisted the orthopedic surgeon years ago when The Warrior had surgery on his elbow? Well he was. He had fractured his elbow and needed two pins put in due to the severity of the fracture. Praise the Lord this time around surgery wasn't needed.



He said his hand felt very heavy and stiff. The area around the fracture was still a little swollen, but nothing compared to how it was before. The x-ray showed it healed nicely. We were told to buddy tape it for the next 3 weeks if he's going to be doing any kind of activities and when he goes to sleep.



This is the machine they used to cut the cast off. Looks like a circular saw thingy. It's and old model. Their new one broke. We hope we don't have to see these kind of tools again!



This is what the inside of his cast looked like. The Coach asked us if we wanted to keep the cast, we declined. LOL! No reason to keep that around. Four weeks of it was enough!!!



You can see where they cut through the cast. I don't know if I could of sat still while someone used that machine to "cut" my cast off. But The Warrior was calm and collected. He amazes me!

All in all he's doing great. His wrist is tender and sore, but it's because he's been unable to move it while it was in the cast. He's not complaining, but I can see him favoring it. He's such a tough little guy. He goes back for a check up in 4 weeks.

Today...

... Soaring Amongst The Clouds, my Knight and I attended the concealed weapons class. It was awesome and very informative.

The class was 4 hours long. There were 20 people in the class. The instructor was funny and made the class very interesting. At the end of the class, we got to shoot a target. It was awesome!

I would of taken pictures, except, I broke my camera. :o( Yesterday, I was taking a picture of a rug I liked and I accidentally dropped my camera. Needless to say, I'm disappointed with myself and heartsick. I love taking pictures of my family, of our every day happenings and just stuff in general. I don't know if it's something work fixing or if I'm going to need to get a new one. :o(

Date Night!

YEAH BABY!!! My Knight and I went out on a date. It was a last minute date. But even so, we had a great time.

Turns out he had a Little League Board meeting. So we decided to go out after the meeting. He's the secretary. He thought it was going to be a short meeting. So I thought, no problem, I'll wait in the car. Then I figured, why not visit the outlet store and see if I can find some clothing for The Warrior. He's growing like a weed!!! I found three pairs of jeans, shirts for him and the girls. I hit the jackpot! Then I noticed that I had been gone for almost 1 hour. So I hurried back. Well, they still weren't done. So I waited in t he car. The meeting took 1 1/2 hours!

I have to tell the truth, spending time with my Knight is well worth the wait. We went to Outback (my favorite) and didn't have to wait for a table. We talked and talked and talked some more. We talked about our children and what's been going on with who. We shared our thoughts and concerns.

It was good to reconnect. We really haven't had much alone time lately. We know it's important to make the time for each other. Now I'm not saying we haven't talked or anything like that. But making time like we did tonight, is very important. Yes, even after 26 years a couple needs date nights. :o)

It's good to know that we are on the same page. It's comforting to know that no matter what, we are there for one another. It's a blessing to know that we are till very much in love and are committed to each other and our family.

When we got home JC and our children were all on the couch watching Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. JC hadn't seen it yet. G.I. Joe wasn't home yet. He had a basketball game and it was an "away" game. JC hung out with us for a while. G.I. Joe got home around 11p and he shared a little about his game. He had a great time and the won. He even scored three times. YEAH BABY!!! I look forward to his next game. :o)

I know I've said it a million, gazillion times and I'll say it again... I LOVE MY FAMILY!!! I love hearing about their day. I love spending time with them. I love seeing their smiles. I love hearing their voices and laughter. Being a wife and a mom is all I ever wanted. Thank you Lord for blessing me above and beyond what I dreamt possible. My cup runneth over...

All-Star Soccer Tournament

G.I. Joe was asked to play in a soccer tournament. Turns out that all the schools they played picked three players from each school to participate in the tournament. Even though G.I. Joe is not an enrolled student at the school he played for, he was chosen to play. What an AWESOME honor!

Did I mention that the other two students chosen from the school he played for and G.I. Joe were the only freshmen asked to play?! Well, they were. ALL the players on both teams were seniors. WOW!

I can't begin to share just how proud I am of my Squire, G.I. Joe. He plays with heart and soul. I pray that he will always have such passion in all he does. That he continue to walk the straight and narrow path God has chosen for him.

Allow me to share some pictures of the day...



G.I. Joe warming up. They were told they could wear their team shorts and would be given a white shirt. All the players on the team he played in, wore white shirts like his.



I know this looks odd, but I think it looks KEWEL! LOL! Pretty freaky looking!



The three players from the school he's playing for. They get along really well. G.I. Joe wore #9. Moon wore #6 and Man wore #16. Moon and Man have been playing soccer since they were wee ones. They are great players. G.I. Joe felt honored to be playing in the All Star team along with his friends.



You guessed it, another "hand" shot. My Knight didn't allow me the pleasure of taking his picture. :o( Don't know why, he's so awesomely handsome! His baby blues still make my heart skip a beat.



The evening was quite cold. Good thing we brought blankets and had thick towels. The quilt they are folding is one of my favorites. I wish it were bigger, but it's just a lap quilt. I love our colors... red, white and blue.



Can't believe I got this shot....



... or this one! I love to see their smiling faces.



Here we have the coaches and the players. From left to right... Coach Gerry, his son- Moon, G.I. Joe, Coach 24, and Man. Everyone had a great time.



Well what do you know, I did manage to get a picture of my Knight. :o) Too bad you can't see his baby blues. But that's alright, cause I get to see them. Be still my heart...



I love shots of people walking. Everyone's walking back to the car. Boy was it chilly! The wind was blowing too, which of course made it feel colder.



I took this inside the car. JC came along too. Did I mention that JC plays soccer? Well, he does and he's really good too! It was fun to "hear" him during the game. We all enjoy his company. Specially Soaring Amongst The Clouds.

We all went out to eat at a outdoor burger stand. I have to admit, the burgers were really good. After burgers, we went to Carvel. I LOVE their ice cream. Even though it was cold, I wanted to eat ice cream. Mainly cause we hardly visit that town and there isn't a Carvel in our town. I was freezing, but boy was my ice cream good.

Daughter of the King wasn't able to go with us because she had lots of homework. So she stayed home and got it done. I'm so proud of her for prioritizing. Way to go Baby Girl!

The Warrior spent the day with his best friend Bro. They went to see the movie Madagascar 2. It was Bro's sister's birthday and she had some friends over. So The Warrior was asked to go over and have some fun with Bro. He had a great day. Thank God for good friends.

All in all, we all had a great time. I hope JC did too. There is nothing like spending time with family and friends.