Amy's Adventures!

03/15 Shuttle Launch & 03/28 Shuttle Landing

2009-03-29T11:18:00.002-05:00

(click the pics for a better view)

Shuttle taking off -

Solid Rocket Boosters detaching

We can still see it -

Everyone watching from the beach.

A beautiful landing.

Tim Hawkins Disney Comedy Cruise w/3D Travel Company

2009-03-29T10:57:00.003-05:00

If you love Tim Hawkins and even if you don't know who he is YET, come join us on the Disney Cruise aboard the Disney Wonder March 28-April 1, 2010. He will be entertaining guests of 3D Travel Company EXCLUSIVELY. To find out more, CLICK HERE. To get a no-obligation quote, CLICK HERE. Be sure to choose Amy Pruitt as your travel agent!!

Get a free quote from Amy Pruitt by clicking here!
amy@3dtravelcompany.com

New Lady A Video - I Run to You

2009-03-18T22:47:00.001-05:00

Hey guys! Lady A has a new video - I Run to You. check out more about Lady Antebellum on their website www.ladyantebellum.com.

This is how to prep to kick the ball

2009-02-23T00:10:00.002-06:00

I forgot to post this last month on our trip to see TJ for his birthday. Daniel and TJ were playing soccer in the hallway. It cracked me up. Of course, I forgot to turn the camera and when I tried to tape him again the right way, he didn't do it right...he was trying to give me extra for the camera. That little ham! So, cock your head to the left and enjoy TJ and all of his mad skills!

New Subscribe Box

2009-02-18T10:27:00.003-06:00

Hey guys!

For some reason, my old subscribe link for this blog stopped working. I've finally found a new one. If you read this on a Google or Yahoo reader, it's not a problem. If you like it in an e-mail when I update it, go to the blog page www.amyshomeschooladventures.blogspot.com and type your e-mail in the subscribe box at the top. You will then have to do one of those "verify" boxes and then you will get an e-mail that you have to click on to activate it. They REALLY want to make sure you want to get it if you are signing up. :)

I will also be adding this to my other blogs:

www.amysadventurepics.blogspot.com
www.disneypicsbyamy.blogspot.com

I also have a 3D Travel blog that has it's own subscribe box.

http://amysamazingadventures.3dtravelcompany.com/

Finally, I have a newsletter for Disney updates. You can sign up for that over there ---> at the top. I only send out a couple of these a month (whenever Disney announces new information on specials).

OK, I think you will all caught up with me if you subscribe to all of these! I try not to make too many double posts so you won't be totally taken over with emails on blogs.

Wanna hear some great news?

2009-02-15T23:25:00.003-06:00

3D Travel Company has been EarMarked!!!

What? What are you talking about? EarMarked? Doesn't that hurt??? Only the muscles in my face from smiling! It is a HUGE honor to be EarMarked by Disney. That means we've arrived as Disney travel specialists. Carol Beth & David (bosslady and bossman respectively), Charlene, Denise, Kim and I have worked hard. Carol Beth single-handedly (ok, with help from David) started this business on a dream.

You can read all about her dream, how we got EarMarked and what it means to be EarMarked on Carol Beth's blog here.

As always, if you would like a no-obligation quote to all things Disney, you can go to my Kingdom Page. At the top of the page, you can choose a quote. Be sure my name is there in the "agent" slot!

Happy Reading!

Monogrammed Soap

2009-02-15T00:21:00.003-06:00

So, this summer, as we were traveling across the country, we stopped to see my old friend, Robin. Robin and I have known each other since the 3rd grade. She got my mail in her mailbox. Why I remember how we met, I've no idea. Anyway, while we were visiting with her and her youngest daughter, Ella Mae, I admired her beautiful monogrammed soap. She said she had gotten it as a wedding gift. I loved it! What a trivial, simple, outrageously expensive gift but I just loved it.

Fast forward a couple weeks when we got home. All of a sudden, the soap below appears on my bathroom counter. Alyx made it for me. How great is this?! She really does love me! (notice the brand name...hehe)

She even monogrammed some soap for a houseguest, Art, who came to visit a few weeks ago. It's said, "Art's Soap." Maybe if you come to visit, she'll make some for you!

Fast forward to Christmas: Robin had houseguests and someone used the soap!!! Devastating...needless to say, she hides the good soap when Bill visits. :o)

Book your Disney trip with 3D Travel Company!

2009-02-13T01:04:00.001-06:00

Hey everybody! Our commercial has been re-edited and David has done a wonderful job. Check it out!

Pop Corn & Cell Phone Experiment

2009-02-11T13:14:00.003-06:00

This is sooo cool! I am totally trying it when Bear gets home tonight. Leave me a comment if you do it and it works!

Pop Corn téléphone portable micro-ondes
Uploaded by sassiere

Things that make you go...HMMMMM! Where do YOU keep your cell phone?!

Our Trip to Miami

2009-02-06T00:31:00.008-06:00

We went to Miami last weekend for my nephew's third birthday. We had a lot of fun. Here is our trip in pictures!

Shawn & TJ - I love this picture of TJ!

How cute are these kids?

TJ got a bike for his birthday from his momma and we got him the helmet and pads.

Getting some pointers from his big cuz.

Airborne 'fro!

TJ was wearing Daniel OUT! Look at those faces!

Daniel & Alyx got this for him at the fair.

How rotten is Shawn?!?!

Their first trip to Chuck E Cheese (this is my little sis, Gabi).

Boys and their toys start young!

AWWWWWW!

We got to visit my childhood girlfriend, Janneth and her family.

Christian, Dylan, Evan, Janneth & Albert

I'm tellin' ya...a little stinker!

Daniel was not enjoying trying to keep Shawn out of the street.

The scene at Denny's for the free Super Bowl Grand Slam.

We waited a little over an hour.

Shawn is pooped. Alyx had to hold his belt loops so he wouldn't fall off her lap.

TJ's first haircut EVER. Gabi was not thrilled.

Before

After

Baby Poop Deck

2009-02-01T10:48:00.003-06:00

Hey guys!

I just got in touch with an old friend on Facebook (have I told you how much I LOVE Facebook???). She has a really neat business and I LOVE the name...Baby Poop Deck! It's a travel diaper changer that is really cool looking. I am soooo done with little kiddos but this would make a great gift. Check it out!

Baby Poop Deck

Most moving and inspiring basketball story

2009-02-01T00:07:00.001-06:00

This is from a couple of year's ago but my friend Kim just posted it. Gave me chills every time I watched it. Enjoy!

Time for some braggin'

2009-01-31T10:34:00.003-06:00

Hi guys!

My hubby was at an air expo last weekend and they took some really great pics of him flying. They chose one for their website's desktop calendar. Pretty cool! You can't see him but it's a beautiful picture. He was flying with a gentleman who celebrated his 87th birthday that day and had just purchased the Evektor SportsStar. Check it out!

http://www.eaa.org/wallpaper/

Boys & Their Toys

2009-01-28T01:03:00.004-06:00

Last week we were in Sebring with Barry as he attended the Light Sport Air Expo. While not thrilling for us, we did get to have a little fun.

This is the Cruisin' Cooler...how cool is that (no pun intended!)

These are the fellows that made it.

Not enough room? Add the trailer!
This thing will actually get up to 28 MPH on a full charge!

Hmmm...how can I make one?

The Czechs check it out (yes, pun intended!)

This is Art. He is a dealer of the SportStar in PA. I think he was happy!

Alyx and her daddy. He is teaching her how to tie down an airplane.

Uh-oh...another pilot addiction!

This is Daniel and HIS new addiction!

Barry's latest light sport pilot is Mr Hissey. He came to Sebring to pick up his plane. He and Bear are flying to California with a stop in Arkansas. The picture below is a shot of us with Mr Hissey at a really cool diner in Sebring. We were celebrating Mr Hissey's 87th birthday!

Now, for a video of the Cruisin' Cooler. This is Chad from IN.

Vote for Taryn

2009-01-25T01:06:00.002-06:00

Hi guys!

My Aunt Pam has entered her dog in a "Most Valuable Pet" contest. Please take just a second to vote for Taryn. She's a cute little corgi. The kids love her. She totally knows how to get my MaMaw to rub her belly without MaMaw even paying attention. Smart dog...I need to try that with Barry!

Thanks for your help! Just click the picture.

Vote for Taryn!

Do Something That Matters..

2009-01-16T00:14:00.002-06:00

I am so tired but I felt the need to post this before going to bed. It started out because I wanted to give kudos to my girl, Hillary Scott, part of Lady Antebellum (see sidebar for recent video). They did a song for the 2008 Olympics, "I Was Here," and it was picked up by The 3 Day Breast Cancer website. They are running the song in two of their ads (scroll down to number 4 and 5 to see them but be sure to look at them all) and they are posted on the website here:

The 3 Day Commercials

I think we have all been affected by someone with breast cancer. My grandmother had it and my best friend's mom had it. They are both survivors! This is a terrible disease and needs to be stopped. This is the perfect song to go with the theme.

Click here to view the video (be sure to click on Hillary's Face for the actual video, there are a couple): I Was Here

This song is so beautiful and the words really speak to me. I hope one day my actions say, I was here...

Did you see the SuperMoon?

2009-01-11T02:21:00.003-06:00

So, Daniel comes in and tells me that I just have to come and see the moon...it's HUGE! Then, Alyx say, "Oh yes, it is closer to the earth today." HUH? "Oh, yeah, I saw it on the news." The NEWS!?! I don't even watch the news! So, I got out and got a couple of pretty good pics. I love my new camera! I also did my research and found out it can be called a "Super Moon." See description below.

Yes, this is really the color of the sky!

The first of 5 SuperMoons for 2009 is on January 10-11, with the Cancer Full Moon. SuperMoons occur when the Moon is closest to the Earth as well as when the Sun, Earth and Moon align. Look for intense gravitational forces that pull in stronger tides, wilder weather and deeper psychic intuitions.

Cool, huh?

Shabbat Shalom!

2009-01-09T22:46:00.003-06:00

What did YOU do on Friday night? Well, we went to Temple Beth Shalom tonight with Linda, Bob and Becca Tyndall. We had a lovely time. There was a lot of singing in Hebrew which was wonderful. Daniel just couldn't get that the back of the book was now the front of the book and you read the lines backwards. It also didn't help that Linda kept making funny faces at him!

Thank goodness for Bob who would explain to me what was going on and then I'd lean over and tell Daniel. It was almost like going to a foreign country and not knowing the language. Daniel was leary about wearing a yarmulke but he picked his out and put it on. He was tickled at how it stayed on and didn't fall off like his dad's did in the Czech Republic on his bald head!

If you've never been to Temple Beth Shalom, it's very unassuming on the outside and the inside of the temple is very pretty. The ceiling was just gorgeous! All in all, a great evening.

Shabbat Shalom!

New pics on Amy's Adventure Pics

2009-01-01T12:20:00.002-06:00

Hi Guys! I haven't been very good about putting photos up on my photo blog. I've posted a couple from the beach from New Year's Eve. Enjoy!

Amy's Adventure Pics - click here <--

Merry Christmas Everyone!

2008-12-25T22:03:00.003-06:00

Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah!

I hope everyone had a lovely day. We had a delightful Christmas. I tell ya, I know I love my kiddos but sometimes, they truly amaze me. We had been telling them that they weren't getting much for Christmas this year. The said they were OK with that but we still felt bad. We had gotten them bikes earlier in the month but they weren't allowed to ride them until Christmas Day. Let's just say, that was pure torture for them but they managed to make it!

Alyx came in at 8am to wake us up. She woke me up by saying, "I thought we weren't getting much...there are tons of things under the tree." What a nice way to wake up! So, we trudge upstairs to the tree. I got to open my gift first...a new camera! Whoo hoo! OK, so I already knew about it and I had to wait a couple of days but it was so cool. Love it!

Then, it's on to the rest of the gifts. It was a true Disney and Webkinz Christmas. Daniel was all about Steamboat Willie this year. It is Willie's 80th birthday this year so finding stuff was easy. Alyx, she was all about 101 Dalmations. It was a bit harder to find that but we managed a couple of things. Alyx drew a really nice picture for Daniel and I just so happened to have have one extra gift for Daniel to give Al (bath basket). Grandma got a manicure set and Barry got a Mickey blanket and an adapter for the car for his MP3 player.

It was a beautiful day of 77 degrees. It's kinda hard to "get into Christmas" but we managed. We miss everyone and hope you had a great day with family and friends. I have created a little montage below to share a bit of our Christmas with you.

Have a safe and Happy New Year!

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

New Disney Mailing List

2008-12-19T02:00:00.003-06:00

Hey everybody!

I have finally gotten state of the art. I know, who knew it would take me this long but I fnally have a mailing list. This mailing list is for everyone interested in specials coming out from Disney or whoever wants to keep up with Disney. I can only send out a maximum of 6 e-mails a month because I am cheap so don't worry about getting too many!

To sign up, either e-mail me at Amy@3dtravelcompany.com or look over on the right over there --> (scroll down just a bit) to use my sign up form. Let me know if you are a homeschooler and I'll put you on a special UFT mailing list so when things get going for that!

I want to give a little shout out to Carole! She made my cool new banner over there --> Isn't it awesome!?!? I need to tweak it a bit to make sure everyone knows I book ANY Disney trip but this is a great start for me. Thanks Carole! You Rock!

Daniel's first snowfall...

2008-12-05T23:13:00.004-06:00

So, you know how you try to do anything for our kids? Well, I have been TRYING to get Daniel to see REAL snow for a while now. Oh sure, he got to see a little dusting last year in San Antonio but that wasn't good enough. Over Thanksgiving vacation, KY and TN kept mentioning it. Daniel kept getting excited and then nothing. We ended up leaving a day later than planned and I am glad we did. On our way up Monteagle near Chattanooga, this is what we came upon.

Does he look happy to you?

Um, I hope I told her about yellow snow!

Their first snowman.

Aren't we cute?

Hey, Daniel, what are you going to do with that snowball?

This video about says it all!

Thanksgiving 2008

2008-12-05T22:42:00.003-06:00

Thanksgiving 2008

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving. For the first time in years, all of the kiddos were together. For the first time in years, everyone seemed to be doing really well. It's good to see Thomas and Chris smile again. Katy and I...doesn't really seem to be a problem! Sassy (aka Mom) fixed a WONDERFUL dinner and the 12 hour drive was totally worth it. Got out of making the turkey...17th year in a row! Whoo hoo!

The kids...
Amy, Thomas, Katy & Chris

Mom and the kids...
Amy, Thomas, Sassy, Katy & Chris

Amy, Thomas, Sassy, Katy, Chris, Daniel & Alyx

(Sassy was VERY happy with all her kiddos. Isn't she beautiful?)

Rex, Barry & Thomas

(My cousin Ross asked what was up with all the facial hair in this family! I had to point out the lack of...um...covering for two of the guys. That's a lot of skin!)

Hillbilly aka Chris - he just looked to comfy not to have his pic taken. He has become a holiday staple at the Wilson house.

Tonya & Chris

A Special Day for Daniel

2008-12-03T19:08:00.003-06:00

This is Daniel and his new favorite author, Ridley Pearson. Daniel has fallen in LOVE with his books. Ridley single-handedly got my son interested in reading. It was a complete accident on my part. I had to come to Orlando for some training at Disney. We had been in KY and I was flying back. I wanted to get the kids a little something. Alyx was easy. Daniel, not so much. I started looking at all the neat goodies that they have in the Disney Store at the airport (yes, really...be warned if you are coming or going!). I LOVE to read so I have been trying to find anything to get Daniel interested. I saw a book, Kingdom Keepers, and read the back. Hmm..sounded interesting so I got it. OH MY GOSH! It was so good. I read about 1/3 of it waiting for my flight. The neatest part about the book is that if you have ever been to Walt Disney World, you know EXACTLY the places he is writing about. SURELY this will help get him interested.

WELL, let me tell you, Daniel didn't put the book down! It was amazing. He was so excited reading it. Then he kept telling me, "I know where this is!" Or, he'd giggle and gasp. It was great listening to him. He really felt like he was IN the Magic Kingdom. This was in August. Then in September, we went on our annual UFT Disney trip. Then, I finally started doing what every good homeschooling mom should do and took my kiddos to the library. What is the first thing that Daniel did? A search for Ridley Pearson. He found out there was a Kingdom Keepers II. He was unhappy to find out that someone else had it. It finally came in and he read it in 4 days! It's huge! These books started him reading all kinds of books.

Fast forward to Nov. 18th and I had a surprise for Daniel. We showed up at Animal Kingdom where Ridley Pearson was autographing his books. Daniel was so excited. He got to talk to him for a few minutes, found out the next book isn't coming out until August 2009, the new book will be set mostly in Epcot with a little Disney Hollywood Studios. We also found out that he has several book series: Never Land Adventures Series, Peter and the Starcatchers Series, Steele Trapp. He writes many of his book series with Dave Barry, the Miami Herald humor columnist. Needless to say, Daniel started reading the other series and he loves those as well.

It was nice as a mom to be able to thank the man who got my son interested in reading. He was very sweet and said he loves to hear that kind of thing. So, if you are having a hard time getting your kid to read, you may want to try this (or any of the other series) series especially if you are fans of Disney.

Space Shuttle - Nov. 14, 2008

2008-11-17T23:08:00.001-06:00

We got to see our 2nd Shuttle launch since moving to Florida. The first one was over in a flash. The second one was much better. We watched it until we couldn't see it any more (about 8 minutes but I won't bore you with that much footage). We saw the tanks fall away all the way until it twinkled away. It was so cool We were about 15 miles away as the crow flies and it was so cool.

Turtle 2

2008-11-17T22:50:00.001-06:00

This is Bob the Turtle. We found him on the beach a little lost. They usually come out at night and follow the moonlight into the ocean but this was around 4pm and the sun was over land. He kept going backwards. We did help him to the water once but the tide washed him back in. I sure hope he made it to the water eventually.

Kudos to Hillary Scott - Winner SESAC's Songwriter of the Year!!!

2008-11-13T01:55:00.003-06:00

OK, because I haven't done enough kudos for tonight, I just found one more. Hillary won the SESAC's Songwriter of the Year Award.

http://www.sesac.com/news/nashawards08.aspx

Way to go, Hillary! I couldn't be happier for you! ***MUAH***

CONGRATULATIONS LADY ANTEBELLUM!!!

2008-11-13T01:06:00.003-06:00

I am so proud of Lady Antebellum! They won the New Artist of the Year at the CMAs this year. They were up against some great people. I couldn't be happier! Check out their latest video over there on the right. --->

I've posted about them before here.

You can buy their CD just about anywhere or on their website http://www.ladyantebellum.com/

Here's a pic of Hillary that I took this summer when we saw her...um, them in WI. I just love it...isn't she beautiful? Well, she is that beautiful in spirit as well.

Congratulations Lady Antebellum - Hillary, Dave, Charles and the band!

You've worked hard and deserve this!

They are touring with CMT and Jason Aldean right now. If you get a chance, check them out! They are a great big ball of fun and put on a really good show. NO, I am NOT biased!

Chicken Pot, Chicken Pot, Chicken Pot PIEEEE!

2008-11-13T00:31:00.003-06:00

Tonight, Alyx decided she wanted to make dinner. SCORE one for mom! I was all for it. First they decided they were making soup and buttermilk curds for our World Cultures - Africa day yesterday and now this! Whoo hoo!

I am so proud of her. She did everything. She thawed, TOUCHED, cut the chicken in pieces and cooked it. Got all of the ingredients together and mixed it up. Rolled out the pie dough, brushed it with butter and even decorated the edges. Barry decided he wanted to make the cut-outs. We all had a great time working together. Daniel stayed out of the kitchen because he thought it was a conspiracy against him because he said he doesn't like chicken pot pie. Then, he ate every bit without a fight! Way to go Al!

Alyx and her beautiful chicken pot pie! She's so proud and so am I!

Kelly, this one is for you! Love ya!

(thank you to Linda T for finding this for me!)

I crack up EVERY time I hear or even think about this episode!

2008-11-06T00:21:00.002-06:00

Hello everybody!

I just thought I’d give you a sneak preview of the new special Walt Disney World is offering. It is the BEST special that they have offered since 2001. I am very excited about it. Be sure to read through it to see all of the great info! Don’t forget, if you have traveled through 3D Travel Company or me before, you are eligible for our referral program.

If you haven’t traveled with us yet, what are you waiting for? This is your chance! Travel during this special so you can start earning referral fees for anyone traveling after you! Be sure that you and your referrals choose my name, Amy Pruitt, on the quote form! If you have any questions, please, don’t hesitate to let me know! Hope to talk to you soon!

Amy Pruitt
(321) 507-8567
amy@3dtravelcompany.com

Stay 4 nights and get 3 nights free at Walt Disney World plus a $200 Gift Card!!

This isn't official yet - but we hear this will be released at 5:00 pm tomorrow and we don't want you to miss out! Here is what we've heard:

Book your trip beginning at 5 pm on Thursday, November 6, 2008.

How big is this discount? It's the biggest discount run by Disney Parks since 2001!

For every 4 nights - you get 3 nights free!For every 4 days of tickets - you get 3 days free!If you book your trip between January 4th and March 29th, you also receive a $200 Disney Gift Card to spend!

*****Book between November 6th and December 20th!*****
Travel between January 4th and June 27th!Travel between January 4th and March 29th to include the Disney Gift Card.Travel between March 29th and June 27th to include the discount, but not the Disney Gift Card.

Like every other discount this one has limited availability - after it is announced to the general public at 5:00 pm tomorrow evening then the rush will be incredible! We are letting you know early so you can get your quote right now and we can be ready to hold your room. Are you interested? Then submit a quote now and we'll get you started.

P.S. This is during What Will You Celebrate?

You'll already have your tickets, but if you travel on your birthday you'll still benefit!
On your birthday you'll get even more Disney Dollars on a gift card to spend plus all kinds of new events are being planned by Disney to celebrate everything under the sun: Birthdays, Anniversaries, Graduations, Quincinearas, New Job, an upturn in the economy, losing a tooth, learning to read - you name it, you can celebrate it and we can help!

We'll post the official announcement tomorrow evening on our website! If you submit a quote we'll send you an estimate of your package cost and you can let us know if you'd like us to hold a space for you. You'll still have your seven days to look it over and decide before you submit a deposit. The most important step is getting us your information so we can get you the best options possible. For us to do that, you'll need to click here to

Submit a quote today!

Alyx, stop taking my camera!

2008-11-03T00:32:00.004-06:00

This is what you get for taking my camera and making sooooo many ridiculous videos, Alyx!

Love, Mom :o)

New home!

2008-10-27T21:03:00.008-05:00

This is our new home starting this weekend. It is MUCH bigger than this little cracker box we have been renting.

I can't WAIT to have a place to put our shoes!!!

Look at my KITCHEN!!! I have a KITCHEN!!! I can start to have people over again. I can't wait!

SHINEY!

(ok, so I am not thrilled with the fingerprints that will be left but it's PRETTY!)

No more laundromat for me! And look at that pantry! Whoo hoo!

The master bedroom is a nice size and there are TWO closets!

The Master Bath has two sinks and the shower is much bigger than it looks.

Look at the loft/schoolroom! Someplace the kids can hang out!

There are 3 bedrooms that are about the same size. Wonderful closets!

There are bathrooms in EVERY bedroom! Toilets, sinks and showers/tubs!

PLUS, there is a 1/2 bath downstairs!

We have a nice little pool and pool area to use. Plus, there is a bar and a grill that we can use.

I forgot to take pics but there is a large, screened in porch that has two ceiling fans and can be accessed from the master bedroom AND the living room.

We are SOOO excited and we get to start moving in tomorrow. We do have to pay for rent for two places until January which bites a big one! But, the amount of room we will have will more than make up for it. We can't wait to have a REAL house (townhouse) to live in! Oh, we live in a cul-de-sac so the kids can play outside and there seems to be several kids around. The neat thing is it is only a block away. We can FINALLY get our stuff out of storage and we can live like "real" people instead of "campers" (as Barry calls us).

Party all the time!

2008-10-27T09:43:00.002-05:00

Isn't she supposed to take the lampshade OFF the lamp before she puts it on???

Memory of the Month - 3D Travel Company

2008-10-20T22:18:00.000-05:00

Hello everyone! I need a little help for our main blog and newletter "Mouse News You Can Use" for 3D Travel Company.

This is a last call for the "Memory of the Month" photo. Every month, a photo is chosen for the newsletter. This should be a candid shot, NOT a posed shot. We all have pictures with Mickey or a princess but we are looking for the "awww" moment, the beautiful scenery or the magical moment. This can be from a recent trip or a trip from your childhood.

Please send your photos to PhotoContest@3dtravelcompany.com by Wed, Oct 22. If you would like to include a story or title for the picture that would be great.The winner of the photo contest will win a PassPorter. If you won't be going for a while, this would make a great gift for one of your referrals!

Can't wait to see your pictures! Feel free to e-mail if you have any questions.Also, we are still looking for a name for last month's Memory of the Month picture. Remember, we are looking to name the new fairy!

UFT, 3D and other fun work stuff

2008-10-04T23:31:00.003-05:00

Just a little plug for me and my Disney business tonight. First, have you seen my UFT 2009 countdown clock over there ---> on the right? I made this and it is available at Spring Widgets under UFT Countdown 2009. If you are going to UFT 2009, it is very nice and handy! Plus, it is just pretty darn cool if you ask me! :o) It was fun to make and learn some new tech skills.

What is UFT 2009 you ask? Check out UFT 2009 to see what it's all about. In brief, it's a field trip for homeschoolers that we do at Walt Disney World every year. 2009 will be our 5th annual trip and it's going to be very exciting. Lots of neat new stuff. We are getting better and better every year. I went in 2006 (as a client), in 2007 (as a hostess) and in 2008 (as an agent). Needless to say, this has been a wonderful experience for me and my family. Carol Beth and David Scott started with 35 people traveling in 2005 and had almost 700 people traveling in 2008. They are wonderful to work for and we are very lucky to have become very good friends with them.

Our company website has a whole new look. We are very excited with this as we all had input. I have my own "Kingdom Page" where you can find out about me and request a quote . 3D Travel Company has MANY new pages and fun stuff. Check out both. Feel free to request a no obligation quote from my page!

In addition to the new website, I also have a new blog that I do for 3D Travel. It is Amy's Amazing Adventures! I like to keep a common theme, can you tell? The other agents have blogs as well. I have their links on the left hand side. You can even get to my kingdom page from my blog. I'm so cool! :o)

If you really like blogs, 3D Travel has one called "Mouse News You Can Use." This is our informative site and where a lot of our newsletter articles are posted. You can sign up for our once a month newsletter on the home page of the 3D website.

Don't forget, I can book Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line and Adventures by Disney. I will do a free, no obligation quote. Don't think that you can't afford it without asking. It is very comparable to any other vacation. Disney does specials all of the time so you are sure to get a good deal. So, a shameless plug from me but I think every one should have a chance to go to Disney!

Have a Magical Day!

Happy "Belated" Birthday, Bear!

2008-10-04T23:21:00.005-05:00

I have one of those screen savers that does a slide show. I love this. I forget about pictures and then "POP" there they are! This is from Barry's b-day. We spent it in San Antonio and went to one of our favorite restaurants Mamacita's. It is so delicious and has wonderful "green sauce." YUMMY!

Click on the pic so you can really see Bear's face. Cracks me up!

Now, this one is better.

His beautiful family and his beautiful mama.

Happy Belated Birthday, Bear!

Sound bites...

2008-10-03T00:27:00.003-05:00

On our drive back home from Miami, we stopped to go potty. I had been listening to all of the presidential stuff and thought Daniel was reading. Just as I turned off the car, he must have gotten an earfull because this is what he said...

"Mom, why are they talking about McCain's flip flops?"

Oh, I love it! They had been talking about Obama talking about McCain's flip flop on an issue or something. So, I explained to him that flip flopping means changing their mind...like his sister does on EVERYTHING (she's such a girl).

When I was done, he said, "Oh, it just didn't make any sense that these big guys on the radio are talking about flip flops." hehehe

Some family pics...

2008-10-03T00:04:00.003-05:00

Barry had a meeting this week in Miami. We went along so we could have some family time with my dad. While we were there, we got to see all my Miami siblings and nephews.

Any of you gals out there looking for a boyfriend and live in Miami? Eric is on the left and Mickey (well, I think he goes by Mike now but not by ME) is on the right. They are good, loving boys. Eric is an Aries and Mickey is a Cancer on the cusp of Leo. They like long walks on the beach...hehehe, just kidding!

These are my beautiful children holding Shawn, my nephew. If you click on the pictures, you will REALLY see the lovely looks on my children's faces. Cracking me up!

This is Shawn and TJ. Yes, TJ is as mischievous as he looks! I just love baby laughs.

I just needed to post this picture to prove that my children did, at one time, play a game of basketball. Needless to say, they don't do many sports and Barry and I aren't really into it so we don't push them. That's Gramps with them. He loves to play!

Oh, and if you ever get a chance to stay at a Staybridge Suites by Holiday Inn...DO IT! It was so nice with so many amenities. We loved it! A shout out to Scott Keil the Operations Manager. He was really nice. Oh, and if you are looking to date someone in hotel management, he's really cute and works at the Holiday Inn at 3255 NW 87th in Miami! :o) He is new to the area, from Michigan, likes sports and is cute (did I mention that?) Call him!

New Shoes for Mama!

2008-09-30T22:37:00.006-05:00

Do you ever get a new pair of shoes and just LOVE them? Well, I caved in to peer pressure for UFT 2007 and bought a pair of Mickey crocs (yes, it's with a lowercase "c"). I thought, there is no way that these shoes can be as good as they say. Well, I am here to eat my words. They are great. They are so great that Daniel is NEVER without his. He wore his first pair out COMPLETELY and needed new ones this summer.

My first crocs from Disney - caymans.

My second pair of Disney crocs - Mary Janes.

Well, I have almost worn a HOLE in my Mary Janes. :o( I didn't know what I was going to do. Should I get more at Disney when we go? Should I just wear my old ones? THEN, we went to Sawgrass Mills and I found THESE! They aren't Disney BUT I got a GREAT deal. Normally, my Disney ones are about $38. WELL, I got the first pair for $20, the second pair for $20 and the third pair for $15...HOW COOL IS THAT?!?! Geez, I'm lame. This really is all it takes to make me have a good day. Go get yourself a pair...THEN you'll understand!

My boy is growing up!

2008-09-29T20:49:00.004-05:00

So, we are sitting here watching "Dancing with the Stars." We had to wait through the whole thing to see Cody Linley who Alyx wanted to watch. When Julianne Hough came on, Barry said, "For a blond, she's not bad." (good boy seeing as I am a brunette :o)

Daniel, with a look of disgust, "Not BAD?!?!?"

Oh my gosh! I busted out laughing.

Too funny...

A new family member

2008-09-25T22:26:00.003-05:00

We got a new family member yesterday. His name is Scooter and he is beautiful. (This is not a very good picture of him. I had to take it very close. I love black cats. We adopted him from PetSmart from the PAWS program a couple of weeks ago but then went to Disney for 17 days so we couldn't bring him home immediately. We are headed to WDW again this weekend and wanted time for him to acclimate to his new surroundings and Slim but that just wasn't meant to be, I guess. The foster mom wouldn't let us have him before Wednesday. He is four years old. The transition is not going great. He has finally adapted to us but not so much to the house. He wants to stay under our couch. He stayed there all day last night and most of today. I finally took him from under the couch and stuck him in my bathroom. He seems comfy there.

I took an hour to sit in there with him. The kids and Barry came in for a little while and he started nuzzling them so I feel good about that. Then, I took Slim in there. We have two doors so I was able to have him in one part of the bathroom and Scooter in the other part. Slim smelled Scooter and was growling, hissing and talking to me like you wouldn't believe. Then I cracked the door...oooo, he didn't like that. Scooter was so cool though. He kept his distance but Slim did NOT like that! While Slim had his back to him, Scooter came within 12 inches of him and when Slim turned around he about pooped on himself. I laughed! Well, he never did enjoy being in there with Scooter. I brought Scooter back into the living room and ZIP! back under the couch. Needless to say, he'll have to stay in the bathroom while we are gone. It's pretty big though and he likes to stay in smaller spaces so I think he'll be OK until we get back. At least he'll eat and use the litter box!

This is Slim. He doesn't look happy, does he?

I laughed so hard I cried...

2008-09-25T01:24:00.003-05:00

OK, so I joke with my boss lady that I never cry. Seriously, it really takes a lot to get me to cry. Everybody else is "boo hoo" this and "boo hoo" that. "Heart of stone, baby." That's what I always tell her. WELL, tonight, I cried...HARD. OK, it wasn't because something so pure touched my heart that it melted. It just struck me as funny. I mean, a snorting, howling, hyperventilating cry! Barry just couldn't see why I was laughing so hard. I had to stop the show so I could see the rest of it. I think part of it was remembering something that happened in January during training, part of it was just flat out funny and part of it was that I could really see this happening to me (if I ever wore dresses).

Be patient, the funny part is about a minute in. Click on #2 Coffin of Matrimony. Be sure to get the 2nd on. The rest of the show wasn't nearly as funny as this one minute. Heck, it was probably only 30 seconds but the laugh lasted FOREVER!

Not feeling too bad...

2008-09-23T15:34:00.003-05:00

about my homeschooling today. Well, maybe a little bit because I try to push Daniel a bit but over all, I feel that I am hitting it off wonderfully. We started school yesterday. We have had such a bad two years that I really felt the need to do some review with the kids. Some to build their confidence and some to reinforce. So, since I switched their math to Math-U-See and they don't have grade levels, I got the ones that would reinforce the things they needed. Both of them seem to like the new format a lot. Alyx is FLYING through her level (thank goodness) and will be done with the whole grade in a matter of days. Good, that tells me I wasn't as off as much as I thought. I think the next level will go fairly quickly for her as well. She just buckles down and runs with it. The next level won't be as easy but she should still breeze through. HOPEFULLY, if all goes well, she will start the final level (her grade) in a couple of weeks, 2 months tops.

Daniel, well, he tends to fight me a bit more. He is such a smart boy that it aggravates the heck out of me that he doesn't try harder. He TOTALLY knows this work and he just doesn't want to do it. The whole point for going a grade back is to make him feel better about completing it and to reinforce. He is just happy to do one VERY easy lesson, two if I'm lucky. I don't know how to impress upon him the value of trying harder. Life's not easy. I know he's nine but still, I wish he'd try harder than easy...I'd even go for average. Seriously, he's so smart!

So, another reason that I am feeling pretty good is we actually did school two days in a row. That's actually pretty good for me. We are usually so busy with going places that we don't get much done. Well, I am making a conscious effort to not go to as many planned activities. We have singing, Girl Scouts and Camp Fire. There are the once a month things but those are optional.

So, we've done math and history. We are doing The Story of the World. OK, so we started on the Story of the World II because that's what my cousin gave me so we will just have to deal with not knowing how it all started or how Rome became an empire until later. Unless, of course, there is a generous sole out there that has Story of the World I they are willing to give up! :o) OK, so doing two subjects in one day is GREAT for me! Two REAL subjects! We've never really done history other than field trips so this is big.

Now, I'm gonna blow your socks off! The kids did coloring pages while we listened to the book on tape AND we did a cooking lesson from it. So much fun. The kids didn't really like the vegetables but here's what we did. We made hamburgers wrapped in foil with potatoes, carrots and onions in the oven. We added some applesauce and then ate it with our HANDS just like the Roman soldiers! The kids were totally grossed out and Al kept trying to use a fork. Good times.

Oh, since we now live about 10 mins away from the library, we headed there yesterday. The kids got their first library cards and had a blast. They learned how to do the Dewey Decimal System (is it still called that?) and the card catalog (albeit on the computer instead of file cards). Daniel even placed his first hold (for Kingdom Keepers: Disney at Dawn) on the computer.

We got some DVDs (Hoot, Bridge to Terabithia...still crying, and the Last Mimzy), CDs and of course, books. Alyx went a bit crazy getting books on airplanes and Daniel got books on birds. I am going to try to make this our Monday thing after schoolwork is done. This is a neat new treat for us.

OK, enough of that...I'll leave you with a picture!

This is at "The Bean" in Chicago. A bride and groom getting some pictures done. Look at the beautiful skyline. (click on the pic to see it bigger)

All you need is love...

2008-09-22T16:06:00.009-05:00

Since I am so far behind on posting about the Pruitt World Tour 2008, I thought I would just update you with some pictures of friends and family who were generous enough to let us stay with them or visit with us. Enjoy!

This is Alex, Stephanie and Daria. Poor Frank is back in Iraq...again. They were in Germany and this is the first time we got to see the kids. They were great.

When our hubby's were in flight school, we became fast friends.
Stephanie, Kelly & Amy

This is J.P and the kiddos. We are ate Warren Dunes. He is a great guy (married to Laura below). On his day off, he drove us all the way to Michigan just so we could see the capitol. How sweet is that?

This is Laura. She is so sweet because she always takes us to downtown Chicago (one of my favorite places to go) and never complains even though we usually see the same things each time. We get to stay as long as we want when we visit and never feel like we are intruding. AWESOME!

This is my great Aunt Evelyn. She makes THE BEST zucchini bread you have ever tasted. She took an afternoon to let us pick veggies from the garden and then taught the kids to make the zucchini bread. They had a blast!

This is my Pop. He lives in TN. He is zany, kooky and an all around great guy. We don't get to see him near as much as I'd like. Fortunately this trip, we were able to spend a couple of days instead of just a couple of hours. My Aunt Ruth let us stay as her house (she lives in FL) in TN. We had some private family time as well as plenty of Pop and Katy time.

This is my sister Katy. Needless to say, she is zany and kooky like her Pop.

These are the Hinton kiddos.

Kyle, Collin, Carrie and Cameron - these are some of our best friends.

This is their mom, Christi. She is my soul mate in friends. We haven't gotten to see each other in three years since she was in Japan (you know I checked the plane ticket prices!). She had just moved into her house in SC and opened it wide for unexpected guests. We feel right back into old pattern. I sure do miss her.

These are the Johnstons. Eric, Amy, Delaney (left) & Riley. Amy is one of my oldest friends. It's neat to see how we went from kids to having kids.

My kiddos with the Johnston kiddos. I just love this picture.

Amy & Amy

This is Kelly & Chris. Now, this is true friendship. She was heading back to Clarksville from VA and I was heading to Morristown, TN to visit with Pop and Katy. We were both on I-40 so we stayed in contact and worked with Barry (thanks hon!) on finding an exit that we could meet at. The gas station was nasty but getting to see Kelly for just a bit was wonderful. She is another of my best friends. Her door is always open whether she's there or not.

My kiddos, Emily & Lauren (Kelly's kiddos) and Wyatt (one of Chris' boys).
Love the new haircut Lauren!

This is Leah Grace. We got to see her in San Antonio. She had her heart surgery in June and we saw her while she was still in the hospital. I talked to her daddy, Jerry, yesterday and she's doing well although she still has her feeding tube. She's growing and happy.

In McKinney, we had our BBQ with the 3D agents. These are the Scott, Pruitt and Vorderbruggen kids.

This was Hannah's "No Pull-Up Party." Just thought I'd show you the pics again.

This is my cousin, Nick, his wife Miranda and Hayden. Isn't she precious?

This is my MaMaw, my kiddos and cousin Meredith.

This is Stephanie and her mom, my fellow agent, Charlene. Now, we were at her house for 4 days and this is the ONLY pic I got of Char. Click on the pic to actually see her! We did so much in our few days there. We had great food the whole time. We saw calves being born, gummy bears being made, shopping and more! Good time, good times.

Welp, that's most everyone. We spent three nights at my fellow 3D agent, Kim's house. It seems, I took NO pictures the whole time we were there. So, you will just have to read an old blog to see her.

Signs, Signs, Everywhere a sign...

2008-09-22T15:36:00.004-05:00

OK, so I find the funny in lots of things. I read EVERYTHING. It's almost an obsession to read along the road, books, magazines...everything. I read (and finish) even when it's boring...it might take me a while though but I get it done. Anyway, while we were on the Pruitt World Tour 2008, I saw MANY signs. Here are some of my favs.

This is the Olde Generl Store near Mammonth Cave in KY.

It seems they sell everything.

For those "special cravings"...who doesn't want candy with their liquor?
This was a bottle found in The Olde Generl Store.

I don't think it's politically correct, what do you think?

(click on the pic for a bigger picture)

My cousin Tabitha has this bright orange sticker on her trash can.

It seems Jesus really IS part of everything AND it seems he saves you money!

Prince Charming...

2008-09-15T00:21:00.003-05:00

We are at Walt Disney World right now. We've been here since the 31st of August. Yes, it's been WONDERFUL. We are NOT looking forward to getting back to the "real" world but I guess it's time. The first week we were here was for UFT and it went VERY well. We had HUNDREDS of people here participating in our group events and dining events. So much fun. This was my first UFT as an agent for 3D Travel Company. I so love being a travel agent for 3D and selling Disney.

After UFT, we had a couple of days as just family. That was nice as well. Then, on Tuesday, my mother-in-law showed up for a week vacation. We are heading to Typhoon Lagoon tomorrow for some relaxation before she leaves and then to the campfire, sing-along and movie at Ft Wilderness Campgrounds. So much fun!

So, I barely took any pictures while we were here. I know, so unlike me. BUT, Carol Beth took this one and I just love it!

This is Hannah, Barry and Alyx in the Pop Century Food Court. Hannah has really taken a shine to Bear (no, I don't mean on his head) and did this on her own.

I bought the Disney PhotoPass CD so hopefully I will have some good pics to show you soon!

My new favorite picture!

2008-08-27T22:48:00.003-05:00

Isn't he cute??? He is my new favorite picture. He is a Jackass Penguin. I have put him on my laptop screen saver as well as on my phone. The boss lady, Carol Beth (click link and scroll down), even has him as my ringer picture on her phone. He cracks me up every time I look at him. Enjoy!

Oh, wait, are you wondering how I found him? Well, I called my dad to update him on how my brother was doing after his surgery check up. He was telling me how he has to go to work at 5am to clear some jackass penguins. I think I snort/laughed. No kidding...cracked me up. I thought he was calling them names. :o) He said, "Really, that's their name. Go look it up on the internet, girl." (yes, it seems he had to add the "internet"part because it seems he has never seen the computer cord mainlined in my arm.) So...long story long, I went to look him up and found this picture. Everytime I look at it, I crack up. I'm trying to see who calls me the most so that can be their picture.

Spread the joy!

Do you need a Fuzzy Brush??

2008-08-21T02:04:00.005-05:00

Do you ever just wonder...WHY?

Alyx decided to spend her money in the bathroom wall machine in a mall in Chattanooga for this. We can't bring ourselves to actually try it!

I'd love to hear from anyone who has used one. :o)

Fuzzy Brush

Lady Antebellum - "I Was Here"

2008-08-17T00:16:00.005-05:00

So you all know that I love my little band Lady Antebellum. Here's some of the story if you don't know or remember - click me! I didn't even tell you guys that they won the ACM (Academy of Country Music) award for "Best New Group" back in May. I posted their song "Love Don't Live Here" back in October or so but they have a new one, "Lookin' For a Good Time" that is rising up the charts and will have a new video for it soon on CMT and AMC.

Here's the road video. They will have the totally cool new video out soon!

WELL, they were asked to do a song for the Olympic athletes. HOW COOL IS THAT?!?! The really cool part, Hillary actually wrote it. You can here it HERE (scroll down to music player) and you can even download it or get it as a ringtone. Proceeds go to the Olympic team.

Lastly (and not in the right order!), we got to see Hillary and the boys while on we were on our Pruitt World Tour. (I don't want to hear it. I know I was bad about posting but I will get some pics up soon. ) Anyway, we actually saw them in Janesville, WI at the county fair. It was so nice. I haven't seen her in a couple of years and I had so much excitement & pride in me I thought I might bust! The kiddos felt so cool. We did the meet 'n' greet before the concert and then we got to hang with her for a couple of hours afterwards. We walked around the fairgrounds where people OBVIOUSLY recognized her. Dave, Charles and the rest of the band/entourage went to hang out in Janesville but Hillary stuck with us. We just hung out on the bus. The kids got to watch TV in the LOUNGE and see the bunks. Alyx had Hillary and Charles sign her phone and camera...too cute! We even got a preview of the new video.

Sorry, I'm rambling...go check out the video, download the song and go buy the CD...it's AWESOME! Lots of fun to listen to. If you like Jason Aldean, they are going out on tour with him for the fall. Check them out!

Like I don't have enough to do...

2008-08-16T23:58:00.002-05:00

Between being a wife & mother, homeschooling, going to Disney, selling Disney and traveling, I felt I didn't have enough to do so...

Check me out!

OH NO! They're sick!

2008-08-12T00:52:00.002-05:00

What could it possibly be??? We visit with my sister, Katy, and THIS is what happens.

(Notice the cat...what IS he doing???)

Makes me a little sad...

2008-07-26T01:36:00.002-05:00

So I'm sitting here at 1:30am and I should be working or sleeping or working on my blog but what do I seem to be doing??? Watching "The Insider." I just heard some sad news that Randy Pausch passed away today. He was the professor that did "The Last Lecture" that I posted about. He had incurable cancer. Click the link and watch the video. It's so moving. Here is another article.

Please take a moment of silence, give a little prayer or whatever it is you do for his family, friends and former students. He will be missed by all.

PWT - Days 10 & 11 - We're at the Grants! (07/02/08 - 07/03/08)

2008-07-07T01:21:00.001-05:00

I'm combining these two dates because we didn't "do" much. Wednesday, I worked most of the morning and afternoon at Mom's. The kiddos enjoyed visiting with Rex as usual. He took them to the park and had a great time. We headed to my cousin Tabitha's house and arrived here about dinner time. We visited with my MaMaw and Aunt Pam and then went back to Tab's. Thursday was spent on the computer and visiting. It was nice "down time" even though I was working. I love my job! Portable and making Disney dreams come true. :o)

Tomorrow, Mammoth Cave!

Since I hate not posting pictures and I really don't have anything to post, I will leave you with an "old" picture from a couple of years ago of the kids. Too cute! I found this in my Yahoo mail. I really should go through my folders more often! This was taken at an airshow in Osh Kosh, WI back in July 2006. Barry was flying and doing maintenance for a company that sold the SportStar...the plane that he is selling now for Evektor. Enjoy!

PWT Day 9 - Memphis & Sassy's (7/1/08)

2008-07-06T00:56:00.003-05:00

Today we woke up in Memphis. We got to town late and it was nice to sleep in a bit. We stayed at the Holiday Inn Express in downtown Memphis. The room was great and breakfast was wonderful. For right at $100, you can't beat it being so close to where we wanted to be. The kiddos had no idea what we were doing today.

When I was in the 2nd grade in Nashville, our class field trip was to Memphis. Yeah, it rocked! We went to Graceland, the Peabody Hotel and the Memphis Zoo. While I wasn't able to take the kids to the zoo or tour Graceland ($50 for the three of us!), I WAS able to take them to the Peabody Hotel. Why, you ask, would I spend the night at the Holiday Inn and then take my kids to a different hotel? Well, let me tell you! It's for the DUCKS!

The DUCKS you say?!?! What could I possibly be talking about!? Well, for over 75 years the Peabody Hotel in Memphis has been known for its ducks that swim in the hotel fountain from 11am - 5pm. Check out the story on how the ducks came to play in the fountain here.

They have a Duck Master:

A Duck Palace:

Just kidding, here is where they stay BEHIND the building:

This is their view of the Mississippi River:

Here is the fountain from the mezzanine:

Here are the kids with the ducks & the Duck Master:

(Hey Daniel, ya know what's funny??? A PLATYPUS!!!! hehehehe...sorry guys, side joke)

It was great fun listening to the Duck Master talk about the history of the ducks. Now, the cutest part...the March of the Ducks!

(sorry for the darkness, it was just my camera and not a video camera)

After the Peabody Hotel, we headed to Graceland. I really was just going to take the kids there because Alyx hates Elvis. It would have been TOTALLY worth it had it been a little cheaper but for $50, that was a bit out of my price range for a practical joke. So I got their pics outside the gate:

After that, we headed to Hermitage, where I grew up, to see my mom and Rex (hubby). We had a lovely dinner and little visit. We will be spending more time with them later on in the trip.

PWT Day 8 - Oklahoma City, OK (06/30/08)

2008-07-05T00:48:00.004-05:00

Today was our day to say goodbye to the Scotts. This is always a very sad time for all of us. I was very proud of CB for not crying (until she got in the house at least!). ;o) There was no crying or fits from any of the kiddos and we were only 30 mins later than I wanted to be.

Now a little background, for those of you who don't know me, you might not know that I am a little obsessive when it comes to certain things. Once I get on a kick, I kinda take it to an extreme. Take my Pruitt World Tours for example. I LOVE taking my trips. I would totally tour the United States in an RV. There is so much to see and do and I want to see and do it ALL!

Well, one year, we got the go ahead (when gas was MUCH cheaper) to do our PWT (ya gotta love Barry). It just kept growing and growing. It grew so much that year that we actually hit about 18 states and 26 state (old and new) capitols. Like I said, I can obsess. I started the trip and had the usual friends and family in mind. As I started mapping out our trip, I noticed that we were either staying in or passing through MANY state capitols. Hmmmm....the obsession started! We had such a good time and the kids learned so much. We have continued to pass through and visit capitols whenever we can. I even learned the difference between capital and capitol. Do YOU know what it is?? OK, I'll tell ya:

The CapitAl is the city or town that is the seat of government in a state or nation.

The CapitOl is the building in which the state legislative body meets.

Consider that your "learn something new everyday!"

Anyway, back to the trip. We left the Scotts and headed to Oklahoma City, OK. This was a little out of our way on our way to Memphis but that's OK. I couldn't see that we would be back here any time soon. We've been to all the states around it, just not OK.

We have been to 27 states' capitols and about 6-8 old capitols. Some of them are very similar but some of them are very different. I think Lincoln, NE is my all time favorite (this has the only unicameral legislature...look it up) and the old capitol of St Charles, MO is sooo cool. We got our own private tour.

The OK capitol pays tribute to Oklahoma's Native American ancestry. Very interesting. There are LOTS of paintings, statues, and marble. The grounds are well kept. The kids really liked how we got over to the capitol. We parked in a lot across the street. Then, we went underground and walked through a tunnel to get into the actual building.

Daniel really liked the Indian statue.

This "lady" really creeped us out.

The interior of the dome of the capitols are always my favorite.

At the top of the dome, they had a Native American Indian.

Check out the tiny little kids! We ended our day here and headed to Memphis for something really different!

All I have to say is...

2008-07-04T23:21:00.002-05:00

WOW! A friend sent this to our homeschool group a couple of months ago. I've been putting off watching it as one of those things I'll do when I have time. Then, I forgot about it. I wish I would have watched it then. I'm posting it here so that hopefully you will watch it and be touched. I am posting both the long version and the "Oprah" version.

Long version:

Oprah version:

He also has a webpage that keeps you up-to-date:
http://download.srv.cs.cmu.edu/~pausch/news/index.html

This pages has several of his videos on it:
http://download.srv.cs.cmu.edu/~pausch/

A very interesting man who has touched many lives I'm sure, both those that he knows and those that he doesn't.

PWT Day 7 - No Pull-Ups Party & Wall-E (06/29/08)

2008-07-03T03:31:00.003-05:00

What a fun day we had! First, we went to Sunday School and church with the Scott family. We grabbed a quick lunch and then went to see Wall-E. Now, y'all know me and know that I LOVE movies. She is so lucky. They have a first run movie theater for $3.25! How awesome is that?!?!? Not quite as good as my old $1.50 movie theater but I'd take it over $8.50 ANYTIME! It was a pretty good movie. The kids REALLY liked it. I was cracking up at David. He thought it was hilarious. Totally worth sitting next to him just to listen to him laugh all the way through!

When we got home from the movie, we were privileged to be invited to the "No Pull-ups Party." The Scotts actually waited for us to visit to do the party! Now, what is a "No Pull-ups Party" you ask? Well, this is when the youngest of the Scott children (Hannah Banana) is finished with Pull-ups. What does the party entail??? WELL, they get a full can of shaving cream and go at it! Here are some pics to help explain...

The best way to clean up? The hose of course!

Way to go, Hannah! Thanks for letting us be part of your party. Who knew a $1 can of shaving cream would have produced such fun?!!

PWT Day 6 - 3D Travel BBQ (06/28/08)

2008-06-28T23:44:00.004-05:00

We had our BBQ today. What fun was had by the four 3D Travel Company families that were able to make it. We were missing Kim and Charlene's families and they were sorely missed. Felt like a little part of us was missing. I tell ya, we can't seem to get all the agents together for nuttin'. The Ultimate Field Trip will fix THAT problem!

David made the burgers, Jason cooked the burgers, Chrissy & Jason opened their house to us, Chrissy made cookies and a cake, Denise made homemade salsa and Carol Beth made guacamole! YUMMMMY!! It was all very tasty. There were TEN kids at the house for most of the afternoon and I think they all had a GREAT time. Here is a picture of nine of the kiddos. Matthew had to leave before this was taken. The Vorderbruggen's have 4, the Scott's have 3, I have 2 and Denise has two (although her oldest was unable to make it). Look at those GORGEOUS faces! A pretty good lookin' group if I do say so myself!

We surprised Carol Beth with a mini-birthday party. Chrissy got her a special cake and Denise got the card and gift cards from all of us. I feel like I didn't do ANYTHING except show up which is a very weird feeling for me. CB said it was OK because I drove up there but sheesh...I feel like I should have done SOMETHING!

This is a shot I got of Denise's hubby, John, and Matthew before they left. Crazy kids. That's Denise trying to sneak out of the picture. This is the only picture I got of Denise and THAT was hard to get! She's such a fun and silly person with a wicked sense of humor, I don't know why she wouldn't get in my picture voluntarily!

A pretty wonderful day with some fabulous company!

PWT Day 5 - We arrive at the Scott's House! (06/27/08)

2008-06-28T00:23:00.006-05:00

After 7 LONG hours, we finally made it to the Scott's house. I can't BELIEVE how long it took. It has never taken that long before. We decided to take the back way which was supposed to be quicker than going up I-35 the whole way. It was a LOVELY drive. Very uneventful and beautiful. That was good because I was ready to hang Daniel. He did NOT want to do his schoolwork which was so aggravating. He is such a smart boy but refuses to do what is expected of him when it comes to schoolwork. Darn independent thinker! I know one day it will be a plus but right now with me...it's not. ARG!!! I wasn't asking him to make an atom bomb or even conjugate!

Anyway, thinking it would save time, we cut over to Waco to get to I-35 and...we stop. Traffic. We can see a huge plume of smoke ahead of us. When we finally get up to it, it is just off the side of the road. Looks like a hay field has caught fire and has reached a house. :o(

So, we finally roll into Dallas and promptly stop. I left early enough to avoid it but my "short cut" didn't work out quite right I guess. ARG!!! We got through Dallas and were on the road to McKinney. We are rolling along and then stopped! Ugh, by the time we finally got to the accident, we saw that a truck had run up completely ON the cement barrier. Oh no! We get through this and stop again. This time it looks like a motorcycle plowed into the back of a big pickup truck. The fire engine and EMTs are blocking 3 lanes including the HOV which is now coming into the main lanes. We get past THAT and then are stopped again! This time on the right hand side. Another fire engine, EMT and a motorcycle. I hope everyone is OK. Not a good day for motor vehicles in Dallas.

We FINALLY make it to Carol Beth's. YEA!!! All of the kids are so excited to see each other. We have a big weekend planned. David is working tonight so it pizza and a movie with the kiddos. After the kids grab a quick swim, we eat our pizza and sit down to watch "Ever After". I've always wanted to see this movie. It was very good. I want to be a princess!

Guess that's about it for today. I got a little work done and got to talk to CB. Our chats are always good and enlightening. <sigh> I wish she lived closer!

Tomorrow we are headed to a 3D agent BBQ minus two of our agents: Kim and Charlene. :o( You can check out all of our crazy agents here.

Sorry for a pretty boring post. Tomorrow will be more fun and I won't be aggravated from the drive!

Ta-ta!

PWT Day 4 - Getting some work done (06/26/08)

2008-06-27T02:59:00.004-05:00

Well, today wasn't a big day. Disney announced some great room specials for August and September so I got some great discounts for some of my clients. I love this job! Also, final payments are coming up for our people going to Disney in September for UFT and free dining (now expired) and I sent out some reminders about those.

We did go see a movie today. There is a $1.50 movie theater here. I LOVE the movies so this is perfect for me. I have been going into SERIOUS movie withdrawals since we've been in FL. We saw Nim's Island. We all thought it was a great movie. I love movies that tell stories and this one did a great job. There were a couple of CG moments that I could have done without but other than that, it was really good.

I am so sick of the overuse of CG nowadays (man, I sound like I'm 80!). Bear and I went to see Indiana Jones on our anniversary. While I understand that it's probably more cost efficient or something, it really takes away from the movie. Whatever happened to good stunts and good editing. I digress....I really did like the movie, just a little disappointed in most movies lately.

On a positive note, the kiddos got their schoolwork done with relatively little argument today. That's an improvement!

On an even BIGGER positive note...Baby Leah Grace went home today! Yea!!!! They still have to watch her with her eating but her heart is doing great. I am sure Jerry and Laura are very relieved to have her back home. Thanks for all your prayers and good vibes! Keep them going so her eating gets better.

We took some cute pics of the kids. Grandma is selling the house and moving to FL when she does. She has a utility sink that the kids used to take a bath in. She wanted a pic of the kids in it before she moves. Needless to say, they don't fit in like they used to.

Click on the pics to see the little picture of them when they were little. Too cute!

I tried to get them in there together...THAT didn't work!

Guess that's about it for today. Another day of driving tomorrow (5 1/2 hours) but it's worth it! We are heading to the Scott's house for the weekend. We'll even get to see 3 of the other 3D agents: Denise, Chrissy & Jason. Whoo-hoo!!!

PWT Day 3 - A Visit to Miss Leah (06/25/08)

2008-06-26T01:43:00.004-05:00

Our good friends, Jerry & Laura, had a baby in April. Her name is Leah Grace. I won't hold it against them that she wasn't born on my or Daniel's birthday. She's a cutey!

Well, she wasn't gaining weight. A little over a month, they realized that something was pretty wrong. She wasn't gaining weight, kept throwing up and generally just wasn't right. It turns out, she had something called Atrioventricular Canal Defect. they were going to wait until July to do the surgery so that her little valve could be stronger but realized that she wasn't going to make it that long. She had surgery on the 17th.

Everything seemed to be going great and she was going to be going home but then her eating was off. She has reflux and they had taken her off her meds. Not good. For some reason, even once they put her back on, she still wasn't eating well. she has only gained 1 lb since birth. She is now being fed with a feeding tube. :o(

We have been updated by Leah's CarePage. This is a great place. It gives the family a chance to update people quickly and us a chance to send the family little messages and virtual gifts. Laura is very good about updating the page so we can keep up with her. HOPEFULLY she will get to go home tomorrow. If you are the praying type, please send the Nelson's some. Strength would be a good one. If you don't pray, please send some good vibes or whatever you do. They need everything they can get. They are so exhausted and this little girl has been through so much in her little 2 1/2 months. Fortunately, Laura is a teacher so she's got the summer off and can be with her all day. Poor Jerry has to be at work at 5:45am and doesn't get off until after 6pm, spends some time with his girls and then goes home by himself. :o(

Other than visiting with the Nelson's, we got to visit with our park friends today. Tomorrow, hopefully a movie! The Pruitt World Tour kicks into high gear on Friday when we head to McKinney!

PWT Day 2 - We made it! (06/24/08)

2008-06-25T00:42:00.006-05:00

After two VERY long days of driving, we finally made it to San Antonio. Boy, am I beat. Fortunately, the drive was very uneventful.

Well, some good news...I stopped by the Disney Outlet shop in San Marcos just before we got home. I almost didn't do it but am sure glad I did! I got some more shirts for our trip in Sept for $5. Some shirts for the kids and me for the 4th of July for $5 and the biggest find...Disney Trading Pins!!! OH MY GOSH! I got them for $2.75, can you believe it!?! I called Bear and told him that he had to tell me how many he wanted because I would have just bought all of them. That is such a good price. These are for my pin trading freaks: aka Alyx, Daniel & Barry. I think they are even getting Grandma in on it! Well, I don't trade but I do like a good deal. So, Barry said 30 would be a good number. These will be great to bribe the kiddos into doing things. They will also be able to earn them.

I got so excited I called all of my fellow travel agents at 3D Travel Company and picked up pins for all of them! hehee...I guess that IS eventful. Now, everyone can be free to trade with the lovely members at Disney.

Well, I am pooped. We have two full days here and then I head up to McKinney. We are going to park day tomorrow at ChaCho's and Chalucci's. It has a GIANT indoor play area for the kids and we can sit and talk. Have a great day!

Drum Roll please...... (06/23/08)

2008-06-24T00:23:00.004-05:00

The Pruitt World Tour 2008 has begun! I am so excited! This is our 7th annual (sorta) trip. We get to go to lots of exciting places, see lots of exciting people and do lots of exciting things. Sometimes...we just do nothing. I'M SO EXCITED!

We started today off in Indian Harbour Beach, FL and made it to Gulfport, MS. We are taking my mother-in-law back home to Waring, TX. We will stay a couple of days and then head up to the Scotts' (there are several entries so enjoy!) place for a few days. I hear the Pruitt countdown has already begun over there! We are sooo excited to get to see everyone.

I have lots planned but must get some sleep now. Not much happened today and probably not tomorrow but I will keep you updated. It's almost as much fun as Where's Waldo!

I hope everyone is having a happy summer! I will try to update everyone later on things of the past two months. I have several entries started but just haven't finished them yet (story of my life!).

Happy Travels!

Manatee Watching

2008-05-01T01:50:00.001-05:00

This will be a quick post because I need to get to bed. I wanted to share some pictures with you from today. We decided to ditch school and head to the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge to learn about manatees. We had a great little lecture (just the kiddos and I and a sweet couple from England) and then we went in search of some of these "gentle giants." This was so cool! We stopped by the first watch area and had just missed one by minutes. Bummer...oh well, on to the next site!

When we arrived here, we saw one immediately! He was pretty far away but our guide took us to a little "spit" of land and got us a little closer. Not only did he get us closer, TWO more manatees (a mama and her calf) came RIGHT UP to us!!! Needless to say, we were in awe. This is easily one of our best days since moving here.

I've got a couple of pics and a short video. They were hard to capture as they only came to the surface of the water for seconds at a time. Their bodies were also the color of the water so that made it harder. The mama had barnacles all over her so you know which one she is.

Daniel loved this picture of the flipper. A little known fact: mama manatee nurse their young from a nipple behind their flipper. This cracked Daniel up thinking they are drinking from their mom's armpit!

BOYS!

This is called a manatee footprint. It's where they go back under water and leave a ripple unlike most other animals.

A nose...I got a lot of these shots!

If you look closely, you can see the barnacles on the mama.

Here is the video...it was so cool!

We can't wait to take Dad back!

Technorati Tags: manatee,wildlife

It's time for a change...

2008-04-29T21:07:00.002-05:00

This is me (and my beautiful family) on my birthday a few weeks ago...

Like the hair?

Here's my new hair!

What do you think???

It's a little flat because she put so much conditioner in it but it will look better when I do it!

Don't be scared!

2008-03-25T00:00:00.002-05:00

We had a beautiful evening. Here is sunset before dinner.

We went to a new pizza place tonight. Fitting, eh? Well, at least that's what my mom said!

This is my new buddy, Mike. I have a feeling we are going to be GREAT friends! I mean, really, who doesn't love a guy who knows to drink a good beer while MAKING my pizza!

LOVE IT!

We were trying to decide what size pizza to get. There is small, medium, large and house. HOUSE? It was $23 for the supreme. After we saw it, we were only going to get one. There were eight of us. Tomas has his wife, Vladka, and his kiddos, Tomik and Vickie visiting from Prague. They wanted some good pizza. It seems they can't get good pizza in the Czech Republic. Sad. Bizzarro's came highly recommended from several people. Plus, it's on the beach...what's not to like?!

Well, Mike kept telling us, "Don't be scared!" With eight people it seems, we NEEDED to get the "big one." Actually, we needed to get TWO he says! Well, here is the big one!

What you say? Doesn't seem very big to you? Well, let's give you something to compare it to:

No, seriously, those are the actual sizes of the kids! Can you believe it?!?! Look at Daniel's face! Remember his face when we got Papa John's delivered for the first time? That was nothing.

This is a normal size paper plate and normal size pizza:

This is a normal size paper plate, well, two actually, and Bizzaro size pizza:

Needless to say, this is DEFINITELY my new favorite pizza place. You should check it out if you ever come to Melbourne...or if you live here!

Mike works Monday - Thursday at the Indialantic location. Tell him you saw him on my blog!

IHN Book Club

2008-03-20T00:37:00.005-05:00

Like I haven't been busy enough with all the new stuff for the kiddos, I decided to join a book club...JUST FOR ME! Fortunately for me, the book talk fell through tonight (since I haven't had time to read the book due to just moving here) and it was just a bunch of loud, crazy ladies getting together to have a good time. I really needed a night like this!

We had delicious food, in a beautiful house with a wonderful hostess who made a FABULOUS drink. I even re-named it! Jill's Southern Blush...limeade, cranberry juice, Southern Comfort in a sugar rimmed glass...YUUUMMMYYYY!

Our next book is "The Time Traveler's Wife" by Audrey Niffenegger. I am so excited about this as it means I will HAVE to finish a book in a couple of weeks as opposed to a couple of MONTHS! I love to read but it sure takes me a while to get through a book sometimes. I can't get more than a couple of pages read before I fall asleep. I will just have to take some time to do it! I love to read so this is great.

I can't wait for the next meeting!

Look at my blogspot!

2008-03-18T19:20:00.002-05:00

OK, if you are like me, you get your blogs by subscription or on your Google homepage and never really go to the actual website to read blogs. Well, this is a good and a bad thing. The good thing is that you can catch up on a lot of blogs QUICKLY by going to the Google Reader. The bad thing is, you never see all the hard work that goes into a website.

So....

CHECK OUT MY WEBSITE!

hehehe..no, really, go check it out.

www.amyshomeschooladventures.blogspot.com

I've got some pretty cool things on the side to look at.

There is:

The Ultimate Field Trip countdown
The "how long I've been married countdown (countup?)
pics of the kids
pics of us
cool links, site meter, counter, a place to subscribe

TONS of cool stuff! Check it out!

It's the little things...con't

2008-03-18T18:45:00.007-05:00

Hey everybody!

OK, so I am super happy! You know all those cool blogs that have words that have a line through them. I have been so jealous! Well, I just couldn't stand it any longer. So, for all you bloggers, here ya go:

Go to the "edit html" portion of creating your post

before the word you want to strikethrough put <> (be sure to not have any spaces)

type your word

type < / strike > after the word (again, no spaces)

Example: <> Bugger < / strike > should look like this ~~Bugger~~ (don't' forget to take out the spaces!)
Voila! There ya go! Happy Blogging!

Like I said, it's the little things. I will spare you the happy face picture of me!

Instead, I will leave you with a picture of Bear and Al at the Girl Scout "Me & My Guy Dance" before we left San Antonio. It was a pajama party. How cute is this?!

P.S. I guess this makes me a "cool" blogger now, eh? ;)

It's the little things...

2008-03-18T18:07:00.004-05:00

OK, so ya know those little things in life that just make you happy? Well, we have lived out in the country for most of D's life as you know. We have never had any type of food delivery. Since we have been here (a whole 11 days), Daniel has been BEGGING to have pizza delivered. It just never seemed to work out. Well, all the stars fell in to alignment today. The apartment office was open and got a coupon for a free pizza and soda from Papa John's (how cool is that??). We headed back to the apartment. On the way, he was already asking me to call in the order. hehehe...I explained we needed to wait until his dad was on the way home.

FINALLY, after ~~YEARS~~ an hour of waiting, Dad made it home. We called, placed our order and waited for ~~hours~~ 30 minutes for the delivery. A small tap on the door and...HE DOESN'T HEAR IT!!! Oy vey! As soon as he realized what it was, he POPPED right off the couch, RAN to the door (no easy feat with all the crap on the floor) and started drooling. Is this a happy boy or what?

Daniel's First Pizza Delivery

And the Grand Total Is...

2008-03-14T23:21:00.003-05:00

1,600 Boxes!!!

That is how many boxes of Girl Scout cookies Alyx ended up selling. She exceeded both of her goals. She exceeded her own expectations. She worked hard! I am so proud of her. She wanted to leave San Antonio with a bang and I'd say she made it. She earned TONS of prizes, Girl Scout cash and a Sea World Sleepover (if we can make it back to Texas).

CONGRATULATIONS, ALYX!!!

My Bear

2008-03-14T15:32:00.004-05:00

This is Daniel. He is my Bear.

Look at that smile. He loves to do the flag ceremony.

He wears his uniform to every meeting in hopes of getting to be in the ceremony.

This was a nice evening. Earlier in the week, Daniel earned his Bear badge. He completed all the requirements to earn his patch. On the way to the Blue & Gold Banquet, we had a fun little conversation:

Daniel: Mom, you know, we work and work all through the ranks. We start as Tigers, then become Bobcats, then Wolves and finally Bears.

Mom: Yes, that is true.

Daniel: I just think it's funny. We work to become all these fierce animals. Then, we become WeBeLos and earn the rank of...CORN! (note his new scarf above)

Mom: (hehe) Yes, Daniel, I guess you are right.

Pam & Jon went ahead and "scarfed" Daniel to a WeBeLo just in case he doesn't get a chance while we are down here before we find a new troop. Thanks guys! You made his day.

This is Pam & Jon with Daniel's buddies. They are GREAT Cubmasters.

Charlie, Vidal, Daniel and Zachary...the Fantastic Four!

I'm so proud!

Leaving San Antonio

2008-03-14T14:22:00.008-05:00

(sorry about the formatting....it's not cooperating with me today)

We had a lot of goodbyes before we left San Antonio. The Albrechts are a great family. We got to visit with them, got TONS of free boxes for packing from them and they even helped us pack boxes and the moving truck. My thanks alone will not cover what all they did for us.

Here are Alyx & Daniel with McKenna, Madison, Zachary and Champ...Champ is the dog. :o)

We got to go to Malibu Castle with Charlie. Charlie is Daniel's buddy from Cub Scouts. We had a wonderful afternoon with Charlie and his mom, Brittany, and his sister, Celine . They've been a lot of fun to hang out with.

This was our going away dinner. I guess I only got the kiddos picture. We had the Albrechts, Barfields, Farias families as well as our friend Laura.

This is Andrew & Dave. I worked with them when I worked nights at Wal-Mart. The kids REALLY like them and we always look for them when we are in there late at night (yes, I am a bad mommy and take my kids to Wally World after 11pm). They are great. They even came in 20 mins early so they could see us.

These are our friends the Truongs. They are great. They own the Mongolian BBQ restaurant Ghenis Khan on Walzem. We have seen their kids grow (Michelle, Richard, & Nancy), go off to college (Richard & Nancy) and get sucessful careers (Nancy). Daniel doesn't even ask to eat at Mongolian, he asks to eat at our friends' place. They remember us each time we come in and are lovely people.

This is Dan. Dan is wonderful. I have known Dan almost as long as I've been married (almost 15 years!!!). I worked with him when I worked at IBC many moons ago. We have never lost touch through my many moves mostly due to him checking up on us. I am proud to call him my friend! He is a great man.

These are my Cadette Girl Scouts. They went ice skating as their reward for selling cookies. We decided to see them one last time before we left.

These are most of the rest of the Girl Scout troop. They chose to spend their money on Build-A-Bear. A blast as usual.

It was sad to say goodbye to everyone. We will miss them terribly.

Goodbye our San Antonio Family!

Welcome to Florida!

2008-03-14T12:17:00.003-05:00

After several crazy and stressful months, we finally headed to our new home in Florida. We crossed the state line on Thursday, March 6th. We were all very excited about our new adventure. We arrived around 12:45am on Friday morning. My dad came up from Miami to help us unpack. That was really great. It was good to see him if only for a night. We got everything unpacked and went out to dinner.

Daniel was hilarious! We walked to Texas Roadhouse from the apartment. He thought this was crazy. We've been in the country for practically his whole life so to be able to walk to something..ANYTHING...was pure bliss!

This is the kiddos first visit to the beach. We went on Saturday morning. It's a 1/2 mile away from the apartment. It's the same distance as the mailbox was. Daniel was walking on air! He told me the other day, "Mom, I know I was complaining about moving here...I WAS SO STUPID!!!" Then he cracked up laughing.

Because I can't just roll into town and lie under the radar for a little while, we hit up a campout with the new Girl Scout troop and Service Unit. Since we got in so late and didn't get a chance to make it to the campout Friday night, we just decided to go for the day on Saturday. Alyx ended up having such a great time she wanted to stay the night. I wasn't going to set up the tent for one night and my body was in soooo much pain. Well, I let her spend the night and she continued to have a blast. It was a Pirate Camporee complete with a pirate storyteller. One of the moms, Stacey, is a former DJ and she put on a dance party for all the kids Saturday (and Friday but we missed it) night. She was awesome. Carolyn took on the bulk of the food preparation. She ROCKED! Dani & Cathy were awesome organizers. All of the other ladies were very welcoming. I think this is going to be a good fit for us.

As if all of this wasn't enough, we got to see the night Space Shuttle launch!!! We headed out to Port Canaveral around 1:30am. We parked on the side of the road across the river from the launch site. It all happened very quickly. Unfortunately, the cloud cover was very low so we didn't get to see it for very long and the video doesn't do it justice but it was soooo cool nonetheless. I took this with my regular camera. I need to get a video camera!

Guess that's it for now. I will update on several things as soon as I get a chance.

Last Meeting...

2008-02-20T02:54:00.003-06:00

I have a wonderful Girl Scout troop. Today was our last meeting before we leave for Florida. I wasn't sure how I was going to handle it. I did a pretty good job. Alyx, Daniel and Barry worked with the moms in my troop to throw me a surprise party. It was great. I am especially surprised that Barry kept the secret!

This is my going away cake that Marietta made for me.

This was our last circle. This is the time that the whole troop comes together. They have to tell at least one good thing that has happened to them in the past week. It's always equally touching and funny what they come up with.

I handled everything pretty well. I only choked up a couple of times but I don't think (m)any noticed. I'm gonna miss my girls. I can only hope that I made a little difference in these girls' lives that they can take with them. I know they have made a big difference in mine.

Remember my little toy from December? Well, I thought I'd do another one. It has music that I thought was fun.

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Thank you to everyone! I love you all!

Enchanted...

2008-02-19T02:18:00.003-06:00

So, after a long couple of weeks of cookie selling, Alyx and I went to the movies today. We saw "Enchanted" at the $1.50. I was excited to see this movie. I mean, come on...Patrick Dempsey AND James Marsden, what's not to like?

I watch it with the joy of any young girl (no comments from the peanut gallery) seeing a princess come alive. Amy Adams does a wonderful job. I have never fallen for the whole stigma of HAVING to have a prince come rescue me. I am FULLY capable with taking care of myself but...well, it's nice to think that it could happen. I watch with bated breath for the first kiss. It's truly magical. Why can't we have these kinds of kisses? OK, granted, these kisses usually come after the princess takes a bite of the poison apple but let's get past that.

It got me to thinkin', I really miss Barry. He is my prince. He rescues me from the duldrums of everyday life. He rides me off into the sunset (in my minivan). He tames the wild beasts (aka Alyx & Daniel). He works so hard to provide us with the best possible life. Life with him truly is magical. Who needs a movie?

Now, back to the kiss. In June, we will be married 15 years. It's so easy to forget the first kiss after being together so long. But, ya know what, all you have to do is think really hard. Put yourself back to where you were. Start remembering what was going on. Guess what! You may just get butterflies again...I DID!

Goodness, sorry for the rambling. See what you get when Bear's gone for so long!

I love you, Bear! MORE!

Have ya missed me?

2008-02-16T02:04:00.004-06:00

(This became an extremely long post of me bragging on my kiddos. Read at your own risk. It's not all that funny, just filled with wonderful rewards.)

While it seems like ages since I last posted, it's only been 10 days. That is an eternity in the blogging world. We have been so busy with cookies sales. I tell ya, I have such a little sales lady on my hands. She has been hard at work for the past 16 days selling Girl Scout cookies. She does most of her selling in front of restaurants and walking around with her wagon. This year, she has been very lucky at El Chaparral. The managers there have been AWESOME! They keep wanting her to come back. She sells during lunch and dinner.

I'll give you a little background. She started Girl Scouts as a Daisy. They are so cute in their little smocks with petals earned. In first grade, she became a Brownie. This is where our cookie selling obsession began. We had our first cookie meeting and she decided she wanted to sell 1,000 boxes because the top prize was to sleep at Sea World. Call it faith or stupidy but I ordered 1,000 boxes and we started selling them. She pulled out her wagon and we loaded up the van. Wow, that sure was a lot of cookies. I didn't know how we were ever going to sell that many. Needless to say, I got a little nervous. But, I needn't have worried, she was a trooper from the start. We started selling everywhere and that wagon was our best friend. I put the responsibility of choosing locations to sell on her. If she wanted to sell them and sleep at Sea World, she was gonna earn it. By golly, she did! She had a wonderful time at Sea World and an addiction was born!

The next year, (2nd grade) unfortunately, we all caught strep and kept if for three of the four weeks of cookie season. She did her best and sold 300 boxes. We live in the country so we have to drive everywhere to sell. No door-to-door out here! It's driveway to driveway!

Third grade brought a renewed sense of purpose. She was bound and determined to sell 1,100 to beat her first grade sales. Low and behold, she did! She sold EXACTLY 1,100.

Fourth grade gave us a more confident young lady. Again, she set out to top her previous year so this year the goal was 1,200. I began working nights at Wal-Mart so this was going to prove a little more difficult. She sold over 400 boxes in her pre-sales which was murder to deliver but we did it. That left 800 boxes to sell. No problem! OK, MAYBE it was a bit hard seeing as I had to try to sleep as some point during all this. Once again, our trusty wagon was put to good use. She hoofed it all over San Antonio and Boerne. She collected money for 215 boxes of cookies to donate to the San Antonio Children's Shelter. She asked businesses and customers alike for donations. She beat her goal of 1,200 and sold 1,277!!!

Enter, the fifth grade and our fifth year of selling. She decided, "Ya know what, I already know that I can sell 1,300 boxes of cookies because I almost sold that last year. I'm gonna go for 1,400 boxes this year." Oy Vey! I truly think she is trying to kill me. The funny thing is, this is the first year that she actually looked at the prizes. Seriously, there are a whole slew of prizes. She's always wanted to do the sleepover at Sea World but then it became about beating her previous year's goal. This year, it was about the whole kit and kaboodle. Ya just gotta admire that.

We had a big decision to make this year. We are moving to FL and in order to not miss both cookie sales, we decided to stay here and go out with a bang. She's well on her way. We still have 10 more days of sales and here are her stats:

Sold directly: 1,295 boxes

Collected for Gift of Caring (this year donated boxes are going to the Fisher House): 72 boxes

Total so far: 1,367

So, as you can see, she has almost made her first goal of 1,400 and is working on her second goal of 1,500. Oh, didn't I tell you that??? Yes, she decided that instead of going out with a bang in San Antono, she's going out with an EXPLOSION!

She makes me so proud!

Lest you think I have forgotten about Daniel during all this...have no worries, he has been taken care of. He gets to spend HOURS of uninterrupted time with Grandma and watching TV. He has gone with us to a couple of booths and been bored out of his MIND!!! The problem is, he wants to do just as much selling as Alyx. This poses a problem. She gets so aggrevated when he tells her she should have asked for donations or jumps the gun with the total for the customer.

He is a wonderful little salesman in his own right. While we were doing all the traveling in Sept/Oct, we thought we had missed Cub Scout Popcorn Sales. While the prizes are not as good as cookie prizes, he does really well. He didn't miss all of the sales. He had a week to sell popcorn and he did. He set his goal of $350 to get the "Marshmellow Blaster" and got it. Next Popcorn Season, we will hoof it like we did for Alyx. I think this year is his year to blow us away.

It is nice knowing that my kiddos will at least be able to sell something in order to take care of me and Bear!

If you have made it this far, I will reward you with a treat. This pic was taken after the Sara Evans concert at the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo. I'll write about that one later.

Vote for Lady Antebellum!

2008-02-16T01:41:00.003-06:00

Hi all!

As I've posted before, my friend Hillary Scott is part of a new country group called Lady Antebellum. Obviously, I am very proud of the quick success she and the boys have had. Their music and voices are so great together. They have been nominated for two awards from CMT...Group of the Year and USA Weekend Breakthrough Video of the Year. Please take a moment to vote. Be sure to vote for both! I'd love to see them win!! They are great!!!

Their song went from number 27 to number 24 this week on the countdown. They are touring with Martina McBride and Alan Jackson. Not bad.

How many people does it take...

2008-02-05T22:42:00.001-06:00

to close a locker?!?!

How funny is this? This is Kim, Denise and Jason. We were at Animal Kingdom and were CERTAIN that we could get all of our Disney bags in one locker...6 people's stuff. What can I say, we are frugal and CERTAIN we could do it. WE DID! but not without a little pushing, grunting and craziness. Carol Beth and I were off camera laughing our heads off while Charlene snapped the picture.

So, my buddy, Charlene, posted a really sweet blog about Kim. She is one of the funniest people I've met. I thought I would keep the sweetness going. She is an agent at 3D Travel Company with me. We first met on the Disney Cruise in September. We had a wonderful time with her and her husband, John. They are from Georgia and are a real hoot!

This is in Epcot. She seemed to have several characters sneak up on her.

Did I tell ya she has a great sense of humor?

Another one of those sneaky characters!

She's great! All hail Kim!!! We love you, you little turd! hehehe ;o)

CDK Training

2008-02-03T01:14:00.000-06:00

This is our first night of CDK (College of Disney Knowledge) Training. We were taken to Disney's Hollywood Studios, treated to a nice dinner, Fantasmic! and then Extra Magic Hours. There was a Playhouse Block Party going on. This is a pic of my buddy Kim (Charlene's in the back in khaki pants and blue jacket). They are dancing with Jo Jo! They were having so much fun, I just had to post this! I am so disfunctional when it comes to dancing, I just HAD to stop. The kids were putting me to shame.

On another dancing note, Carol Beth, Jason and I went to Pleasure Island after dinner one night. We had some free tickets so we just had to check out all the clubs. Well, did we look silly. Picture this:

Amy: Crocs, capris, zip-up sweater, with camera around my neck
Carol Beth: Cros, capris, a nice top
Jason: shorts, tennis shoes, pullover windbreaker

Now, here we go into the clubs. Oh my gosh! Did I feel sooo out of place! First, I DON'T dance. I am so uncoordinated it's crazy. I look like a big turkey TRYING to fit in. Like everyone doesn't KNOW I am a turkey...nuts I tell ya. We went into one place with a rotating floor. CB and I almost busted our butts when our Crocs stuck to the floor! We stayed a few minutes and left.

Next, we walk into another club and there were two "angels" standing there taking pictures with everyone. OK, now these angels were clad in undies and HUGE wings. Interesting to say the least.

One club was upstairs. This one played pretty good music but was dead. As we were heading out, there were some girls with wigs on getting their pic taken on the stairs. We did our best to position ourselves in hopes of being in these girls pic.

Our favorite club was the 80's club! Now, this place was fun. I had not had anything to drink so it still was not a good thing that I was TRYING to dance. CB talked me into it though. Jason rocked out a bit. This man is a saint. He's so sweet. To help me feel like a little bit smaller dork, he actually held my camera in his pocket. CB and I found out that Crocs are NOT the shoe of choice when dancing. Your feet stick to the floor! Makes shaking your groove thang kinda hard. We all felt right at home though with the pot-bellied, bearded DJ and all the conventioners who didn't dance. My dancing partner was this TALL man with WHITE teeth. When I wouldn't dance at first with Carol Beth, I told her that he was going to be my dance partner because he danced my way. I stood next to him just bobbing my head ever so slightly. I grinned up at him and BAM! I was blinded by the teeth! Too cute! When we left, I told my "dance partner" goodbye with a nod of my head. He tried not to smile but BAM! There came the teeth again! OK, that story is soo much funnier when you can see the head-bob and smile but you get the picture.

Our last club was the comedy club. A group of 3 improv guys and one FUNNY improv gal. The piano guy was a hoot as well. Totally worth staying up for!

While I am not the club-hopping kind of gal, I couldn't have picked nicer people to have gone with me (unless of course you count the REST of the 3D agents who had to call it a night early!). Next time ladies, next time...

It's Cookie Time!

2008-02-03T00:57:00.000-06:00

It's Girl Scout Cookie Time! This is an actual season in our household. Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter and Girl Scout Cookie Season!!!

This is my little cookie! She is a great little businesswoman. I tell ya, I give her some pointers and she runs with it. I wish I had a handful of the strength and charm that she has. She's great.

This is her table. I just want you to notice the "rainbow" colors. This is how her table and wagon always are. Normally the boxes are standing up but the table was on an angle so no-can-do for this pic. She had four cars stop and buy cookies just because she was standing there waving to them. She is off to a great start! Wish us luck. Only 1,000 more cookies to sell to reach her goal of 1,400 boxes and this is day two of the booth sales.

Support your local Girl Scouts! It's about more than just cookies!

Hannah-Banana

2008-01-26T23:24:00.000-06:00

OK, so this cracked me up! I came up to Dallas tonight so I could to the Dallas Bridal Show this weekend with 3D Travel Company. I'm officially selling Disney all the time now! If you're a bride and want a honeymoon package, I can show you how to get a lot of it paid for by other people. If you just want to go to Disney, let me know! I can do that, too!

Anyway, I digress. So I make it up here in time to go out to dinner with 4/5ths of the Scott family (poor Joshua is STILL sick) and 1/2 of the Vorderbergen family. Little Miss Hannah-Banana starts making faces as me so I teach her a couple of new ones. hehehe...Much to her mama's chagrin, I taught her this one. Don't adjust your screen, those are her monkey lips!!!! Oh my gosh, we had so much fun with that. She took a picture of me as well but that one was quickly deleted! It was NOT pretty.

New Toy

2008-01-23T11:02:00.000-06:00

My friend Charlene (who isn't feeling well after our Florida trip...GET WELL SOON, CHARLENE!) showed me this nifty new toy. It is called SiteMeter and it is a fabulous toy for this little voyeur. You put it on your blog and it gives you all sorts of info! I found out I have visitors from Croatia, United Kingdom, Canada, PA, CA, VA, FL and many more. My personal fav is Kalamazoo! I LOVE to say that..I wonder who that person is.

I have several towns that I just like to say: Pflugerville, Kalamazoo, Kissimmee...you get the picture!

I'm curious about some of them...I have people in Kerrville peeking in on me...who are you? 8o) I see you!!! Tons of people in San Antonio, natch! New York...Queens Village no less! Iowa, Illinois, Ohio...STAY WARM!!! I love a good shout out so let me know you're here!

Do you have a blog??? I love to read them, let me know!

A Disney Graduate

2008-01-23T00:55:00.000-06:00

This is how we are greeted upon arrival at Coronado Springs for our 4 days worth of training.

How exciting! I felt so special.

My favorite princess, Princess Aurora.

3D Travel Agents
Denise, Jason, Carol Beth, me, Charlene & Kim
Alladin and Genie are the other two guys!

I am a Disney Graduate!

More pictures and info to follow!

The Start of Our New Life...in Pictures...

2008-01-10T17:57:00.000-06:00

This is our first view of the beach.

(OK, so it's a little bright but it back there!)

"Hi kids!" says Daddy

Say hello to my new neighbor!

This is to the north.

This is to the south. I love how the mist is coming in.

My first feel of the Atlantic ocean. It was cold!
(notice my Disney Crocs...I am READY for training!)

Straight out.

Barry and I

The kids and I love to collect shells. These are just a couple of the GREAT ones I found.

I am going to send them to the kiddos while I'm here.

Quick thoughts...

2008-01-09T08:32:00.000-06:00

So, I made it to Indian Harbor Beach, FL last night. A LONG drive from TX...alone...but I made it. This will be our new home in just a couple of months...as soon as "cookie season" is over. Barry is already here and I brought him his car. I'll explore today and bring back more info and hopefully some pictures.

It was VERY hard passing the Disney World exits and not heading STRAIGHT to the "Happiest Place on Earth!" It was made even more difficult since I was talking to my cousin, Jessica, who was egging me on to go. Be patient young grasshopper, I will be there next week!

OK, the funniest part of my morning so far. We are staying with the other gentleman, Tomas, who is heading up Evektor. He has a one bedroom, one bathroom apartment. It's very nice he is letting us stay here as opposed to staying (and paying!) for a hotel until Bear figures out what he wants to do. Well, I hop in the shower and had forgotten my shampoo so I grabbed Thomas'. I'll tell the rest in pictures.

Tomas

Barry

Shampoo

Any questions?!

A Small Update...

2008-01-05T01:18:00.000-06:00

OK, not much time to talk but since it's been so long since I last posted, I figured it was time to update.

As you saw, we had a nice Christmas. Very low key but very nice.

We pulled stuff out of my MIL's attic and took a 16 foot trailer worth of stuff to Goodwill. I must say, I was kinda embarrassed when we first drove up because there was so much stuff. They guy was SOO excited to get it and help us take it off the trailer (way better than the other guy) that those feelings went away. Made my heart feel good. We got rid of a bunch of stuff that was all good but I just didn't feel like dragging it down to FL with us. We also threw away SOOOOO much trash. It's amazing what you accumulate in 15 years together. We haven't moved in about 7 so that makes it even worse. I can't imagine staying in one place and never getting rid of stuff!

Jan 1st was the start of Girl Scout cookie sales. Alyx's goal this year is 1,400 boxes. She sold 1,277 last year with 215 going to the Children's Shelter so I have no doubt she will make her goal this year. Jan 1st she sold 99 boxes and Jan 2nd she sold 101 so she is off to a great start. We are hoping to be able to go out a little tomorrow but may have to wait and do most of it at booth sales in Feb. and with donations. If anyone is interested in making a monetary donation to buy boxes for the Ronald McDonald House and the Fischer House, let me know. I will not be mailing anyone any cookies to anyone though! I am sooo proud of her. She meets or exceeds her goal every year and does 99% of it by herself. Granted, I drive her but she does the rest. She is going to be running something one of these days. She knows what she wants and goes for it!

Bear left on the 2nd for FL. He has already done quite a bit. He's also looking for a place for us to live. I leave on Monday to take his car to him and then look around a bit. I will start 3D Travel training on Saturday and Disney training on the 15th. I am very excited. I will be staying at a house for 3D training with the rest of the agents and at Coronado Springs Resort at Disney. We even get to head over to the Disney Wonder (or is it Magic) for a lunch and tour. Exciting! I'll let y'all know all about it!

This weekend will be all about getting ready to leave and selling cookies if we can.

Oh, my computer wanted to freak out or something yesterday but nothing ended up happening. Since I kinda FREAKED out when that happened, I took the time to back up EVERYTHING. That gave me time to clean the living room. Took the tree down, put all Christmas stuff up, dusted, vacuumed, and boxed up some stuff. It looks so much better. Hopefully tomorrow I will be able to tackle some of the kitchen! Oh goody. :o(

I've told you about my friend Hillary with Lady Antebellum before. I am so proud of her and her group. They had a "road" video on CMT for a couple of weeks and now have a "real" video out on CMT, GAC and CMT.com. They debuted the video this Thursday on the CMT countdown. I am sure it will actually BE on the countdown soon. They are on the home page of CMT.com right now. Here's the link for the video. I am so proud of her! I get giddy every time I hear the song. They will be coming out with their album in April. That is SOOO long to wait! It's amazing. I remember feeling this way when her mom, Linda Davis, started out at the Sheraton Music City 20+ years ago when I first met her when she and Lang moved in across the street with a TINY 2 month old Hillary. Then she had a duet with Reba (Does He Love You?) and I felt the same way I do now. Just so happy for both of them. Hillary's daddy, Lang, had a showcase many years ago, too. He has a beautiful voice. I wish he would have done more!

As usual, there's nothing small or quick about my updates! Have a great weekend!

The Hearts of Children

2007-12-25T13:53:00.000-06:00

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

I told you last night how wonderful my kids are, right? Well, they surprised me even more. As we were reading our letters from Santa that he left in their books, they read to us what their letters said. Here is what Alyx's said:

Dear Santa,

Does Mrs. Claus give you presents? I would make you a present but I have to get to bed. We don't have any carrots. I hope you like the tree cakes. I wish you got presents like everybody else.

Love,
Alyx

P.S. Merry Christmas Santa

(nothing like waiting until the last minute to think about his gift...but it's the thought that counts)

Here's Daniel's:

Dear Santa,

I am sorry we went to bed so late.

Love,
Daniel

P.S. Thanks for doing this every year.

How sweet is that!?!? We had a fabulous Christmas morning. How about you?

Christmas Traditions

2007-12-25T00:55:00.000-06:00

Do you have any Christmas traditions? When I got married, I changed some of my family traditions, acquired some of my husband's and he changed some of his. It was kinda neat. One that we changed of mine was opening presents on Christmas Eve. We always waited until Christmas morning to open all of our presents. Barry's family always opened family presents on Christmas Eve and opened Santa's presents on Christmas Day. We had to come to a compromise because I wasn't comfortable opening everything on C.E. So, we go over to Grandma's house on C.E. and open her presents and give her ours. On Christmas morning, she comes over and watches us open ours and see what Santa brought.

These are the walkie talkies that the kiddos got from Grandma. They wanted 4 of them so if their friends came over, then everyone could have them. Alyx was pretty sad to see there were only three and that DANIEL was the one to get them since it was SHE who really wanted them. The look of joy on her face was worth the sad, little puppy eyes she had before!

One that I acquired that stayed the same for Barry is spaghetti on C.E. The reason this started was one Christmas Eve, Brenda (MIL) asked Bear what he wanted for dinner. He said he wanted spaghetti because it could be eaten quickly and he could get to bed and wake up faster. hehehe...

Daniel got a Fantastic Four: The Rise of the Silver Surfer and Alyx got a really neat book light and TOTALLY cool loop, belt making kit. Grandma rocks!

What do you get a Nana who has everything? Framed pics of her great grandkids, of course! I couldn't get a good shot of her (eyes closed, sad face, etc) so I just kept telling her we would have to do it over and started making her laugh. This is priceless. (OK, so I need to update the pics but the frames are nice!)

Another tradition that I have is the angel on the tree. My daughter has been asking for a new angel and I tell her she can have one when she gets her own tree. You see, my "DibDee" (great-grandmother Jimadean) made an angel for me when I was very little. It is a simple, needlepoint angel but I LOVE it. My mom always said when I got my first tree, I could have it back. WELL, let me tell you, she didn't just give it to me. SHE HELD IT HOSTAGE!!! She said she had had her on the trees for so many years she couldn't stand to part with it. I had to make HER one before I could have mine. WHAT?!?! Sheesh...I whipped out my yarn and needle and got to it. She turned out pretty well for having no pattern. Finally, I got mine back...here she is:

When I was little, I always LOVED my mom's stocking. I begged her to make one for me like her mom made one for her. She never made me one. Well, my daughter's first Christmas, SHE MADE HER ONE!!! OH MY GOSH!!! I was sooo mad! Then, I opened my present and she had made me one. She said she KNEW I would throw a fit! hehehe...Barry was feeling left out so she made him one the next year. Then Daniel came along and he got one. Then, several years later, we got a cat. Welp, Christmas came around and Slim needed one so the kids begged Sassy (my mom) for one. She got the felt and needle out again and now we all have one.

If you notice the angel on Slim's, you will notice it is a kitty. The ceramic Santa's are courtesy of Sassy, too. Isn't she talented?!?!

Now, I wanted to tell you how much I REALLY love my kids. I am always proud of my kids but sometimes they just fill my heart. As most of you know, these past couple of months have been VERY stressful. We didn't know if we were going to have much of a Christmas. After Thanksgiving, we did purchase some things but not much. We did need a new tree as ours had gotten a short in it. We could only afford the little $30 Wal-Mart one this year. It's pretty sad and kinda bare looking. We just have WAY too many ornaments on it. It looks like Hallmark threw up. One of our traditions every year is to spend WAY too much money on ornaments. We started when the kids were little and have continued to buy them. We get the mom, dad, son, daughter, year, and plane one every year. Hallmark usually gives you free ones when you buy so many so we get THOSE. THEN, we always get a dated one. My thinking is, when the kids leave, they will take their ornaments and have something to start their tree with and mine won't look completely bare.

OK, back to my original thought...my kids walked into the house after being at Grandma's and exclaimed, "WOW! We have so many presents under the tree." Now, we really didn't have that many (see pick below). I think the fact that the tree is just so small makes it look like it we have a lot.

My kids are really pleased with whatever they get. We try not to go crazy with presents but Santa just gets a little crazy sometimes.

Now, my big purchase this year was matching luggage. I know, what a silly thing, right? Well, we've always had mismatched pieces and it drives me crazy. Since I am now selling Disney and we go every year to the Ultimate Field Trip for homeschoolers, I just had to buy these when they went on such an EXCELLENT sale. How cool are they?!?!?!

So, the luggage is from us and everything else is from Santa. Looks like they are going to have a Webkinz kinda Christmas. They got robes (one for our house, one for Grandma's). Slim got a scratcher and a place mat in addition to MANY treats that the kids just KNEW he needed.

OH! I almost forgot...the kids put out their treats for Santa and the reindeer. It's so crazy. We never just give him milk and cookies. It seems Mom never remembers to bake them. So, every year, we have made it a goal to give him something different. We have given him cookie dough, cheesecake, pie...this year, Little Debbie Christmas Tree cakes and milk. Too funny! The reindeer got celery and water.

My kids don't write letters to Santa and send them. They have a book that he signs and leaves. (The Easter Bunny and Tooth Fairy also get to sign!). They write him a letter in it and he replies. He is so smart! He knows EVERYTHING.

The last tradition that we have kinda started is Chinese food on Christmas Day (ala "A Christmas Story"). We started because we just needed to get away and were still hungry after Christmas dinner. This year, that's all we are having! Neither Brenda nor I feel like making a big dinner this year so we are going out to eat.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Candy Lady @ EPCOT

2007-12-21T14:43:00.001-06:00

This is the Candy Lady at EPCOT. We took these pics in September while we were there. She is truly amazing. She is the supposedly the only woman to does this kind of candy making. There are only a few people left in the world. She makes most of the characters in under 2 minutes. She selects only about 5 kids each time so it 's worth the wait to stand at the table until she gets back. Amazingly, both kiddos got chosen!

This is Alyx's eagle.

This is Daniel's shark.

The candy actually made it home to show Girl and Boy Scouts. We did finally taste them and they were pretty good.

Wordless Wednesday

2007-12-20T00:40:00.001-06:00

OK, I am a little late for "Wordless Wednesday" and I'm not very good at being "wordless" so take it for what you will.

This is my buddy Tia and me. She is my co-leader for the Girl Scout troop. This is last year for our December community service project. We help out every year. We had just come out of the HUGE freezer and our glasses fogged up. We look like aliens! My buddy, Monica, took our pic. She JUST got me a copy of it. Thanks Monica!

My Girls...

2007-12-20T00:32:00.000-06:00

As promised, here is a picture of my girls. I have 28 in all and they are so much fun! I am so glad that I got all of them for a meeting. With such busy lives, it's hard to always get everyone together. There is usually somebody missing! A truly special day.

Secret Sisters & Secret Santas

2007-12-18T23:35:00.000-06:00

What a day! We had our Girl Scout Christmas party today. We had so much fun. Every year, the girls and siblings hand make gifts for each other. They draw names and then make little things. It is so much fun seeing what all of the girls' talents are. I saw some of the cutest things! There were crocheted purses, a CUTE giraffe pen made out of clay (I'll get a pic for you later), sock snowmen with lavender, painted ornaments, cute little hats that looked like a reindeer, cookies, blankets...oh, so much more! I have such a talented group of girls and boys.

Zachary, who is in Cub Scouts with Daniel, made this REALLY neat trunk. They got the bottom part from Costco. It is a wine crate. Zachary then made the top. Daniel LOVES it! He is going to keep his Cub Scout stuff in it.

Ironically, Madison, Zachary's sister, got Alyx. Alyx got Madison. Too funny. Well, Madison knows we love all things Disney. She found this wonderful pattern with Mickey Mouse on it. She made Alyx an apron. It even has a little "Mickey" pocket on it! There is a matching oven mitt and some homemade hot cocoa. What wonderful gifts!

Of course, we had wonderful Girl Scout crafts. We made wreaths, snowmen and candy canes.

We also made coffee filter snowflakes. My entertainment center is now adorned with more than I can count! Here are two:

My girls had a surprise for me. They were plotting and planning while I was setting up for the party. They called me out and my very eloquent, Caitlin said a few words that made me want to cry. I teared up! I don't tear up! Hardly EVER! They gave me a picture frame to put a picture of everyone. There is even a matte around it so everyone can sign it. AMAZINGLY, ALL of my girls were at the meeting. It was so exciting. I will post a picture as soon as I get one. All the ones Barry took didn't do my girls justice!

In addition to the frame, they also gave me a little paperweight. They had it engraved. It spins so smoothly around on the base. It is something I will take with me forever.

Finally, I will end with a picture of my "Daisy in Training." Her mom made this outfit. Our troop crest is of a shamrock. I just love it!

Turkey Drive-by

2007-12-18T11:40:00.000-06:00

A quick post! Like I don't have enough to do with our Girl Scout party today, I just had to give you these pics and videos to brighten your day and give you a little chuckle.

For those of you that don't know, I live in the country. We've lived out here about 7 years now. I am a city girl but have learned to love being out here. I thought I had seens it all...deer, pheasants, falcons, a couple of turkeys here and there...you get the picture. Well, this one particular day, as we were heading out of "town" (population 58), we came upon these turkeys near the stop sign (one of two). I believe this guy is their leader:

When we drove up, we were checking them out. There are about 8 or 9 of them. I put down the window to take some pictures and they came right up to the car. Too funny! My husband was in the car ahead of me at the stop sign wondering what the heck we were doing. Alyx is leaning over the front seat holding the camera trying to get the videos.

Here we are just watching them. Some of them get pretty near the car.

We started to leave and they started to chase us. Look at their little legs closely. It was so funny! I told Al to turn the camera back on. You can hear us laughing at the end!

My first "stranger" comment

2007-12-18T01:22:00.000-06:00

I am so excited! I think I had my first "stranger" comment on the blog today. I don't recognize the poster's "name" and "she" didn't sign it so I can only assume that she is a stranger. THANK YOU!! Thus far, only my friends Charlene, Carol Beth, and my cousin, Jessica, have made comments. I MIGHT have had one or two others, but I knew them, too. This is pretty exciting to me...thinking that somebody else out there whom I DIDN'T send a link to, is reading. Or, maybe I do know them and it's just mysterious because I don't recognize the "name." Either way...Cool!

I must admit though, I am a little jealous. She commented about the grape stomping and she's actually DONE IT...in PORTUGAL no less! Here's the post she's talking about.
"Let's Stomp Some Grapes"

So, I'd love to see how many people out there are actually reading this. Do ya like my little blog? I just post about things that mean something to me and hope people like it, too. I write about daily stuff so that my friends and family who are far away can keep up. So, drop me a comment so I can see who ya are!

By the way, if you read this blog on a "reader" (like I do) go check out the site. I've put a couple new pics up there and changed some stuff.

"Cees," whoever you are, thank you for making me day!

Have a great day!
Amy

Merry Christmas

2007-12-17T11:22:00.001-06:00

www.bigoo.ws

Some of My Girls...

2007-12-13T01:01:00.000-06:00

I have started several posts only to be interrupted by one reason or another and they haven't gotten posted yet. Well, this evening as I sat down to finish a couple, my friend Josie from Australia sent me a FABULOUS new site. You can creat and download montages here. So, of course, I started playing around just to see what it was and I couldn't STOP! I took the most recent pics from my camera and made one.

It is of some of my "girls." My Girl Scouts to be exact. One the most rewarding things I do is volunteer as a Girl Scout Leader. I LOVE doing this. My daughter is in my troop and I have made several wonderful friends. I have seen some of these girls blossom from shy little things to confident young ladies. I am blessed every time I get to meet with them. They really fill me up! I will miss them madly when we finally move.

I will give you a little narration and then you can view the montage!

***The first couple of pics are of Alyx and some friends being silly in the car on the way up to Austin. We headed up there for GirlStart. It is a program run by the University of Texas in the hopes of getting more girls to take an interest in science and math. They put on many events throughout the year and we try to do them when we can. The video clip (sorry it's sideways, I ALWAYS forget I can't turn it!) is of the "roller coaster" the girls made. They could only use four 1/2 pieces of insulation tubing, toothpicks and tape to make it. Then, they had to roll marbles down and see if they could be caught in the cup. It was a great show of teamwork. They did an awesome job of making a tube, then at the end putting toothpicks to hold it up. As they rolled down, they flew out the end. My feet are holding the cup!

***Next, some of my girls, my co-leader and I went to "Holidays Around the World" put on by the Girl Scout Leadership Center. It was great fun learning about different countries and getting to sample different foods. The first pic is of the girls and their forehead dot from India. Next, we moved on to China and made chopsticks for their hair. We did many more countries but I guess I didn't take as many pics.

***Finally, we do community service every other month with the troop. For the two other Christmas's that we have been a troop, we have volunteered at the local food bank. We decided to do it again this year! We really enjoy doing this. I think every year we amaze the staff with what we can do. We had 13 of my girls and some of their brothers show up as well as their parents! We even had a mom who showed up to help even though her daughter was home sick! Thanks Lucinda!!!

One of the first pics is of Kermit the Frog made from cans. I just thought this was COOL! The next is of one of the rows of food they have collected. We move on to a shot of everyone getting orders. A little video of everyone working. My son is the one in the front with the green shirt trying to get out of the way and my hubby is the bald guy in blue. We had two girls in the box trying to get every last piece out. Second to last pic is of the "Go Food Bank" cheer. Finally, all my workers!

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

I love my life!

Ya know, it's strange...

2007-12-06T14:22:00.001-06:00

There are so many people out there who live such quiet normal lives. Sometimes I long for one of those lives. The simplicity of the kiddos waking up and peacefully doing their schoolwork. Finishing in a normal amount of time with me not CONSTANTLY telling them to "get to work." Barry having a normal job where he just goes, does it and comes home.

No, we have to have the kids arguing everyday and having to be PUSHED to get it done. It's crazy! We do the same thing EVERYDAY (when) we do work. It's nothing new! Wake up, eat breakfast, get dressed, start work, get done...should be easy, right? No, it's a battle almost every morning. If I had had the opportunity to stay home, get my work done then get to do what I wanted...OH MY GOSH! How fabulous would that have been?!

Now, some people get jobs and they stay in them their whole lives. They may move around to a different department, merge with a new company, etc but for the most part, things are stable. They know they will get a paycheck every two weeks, vacation at least once a year, holiday bonuses, medical and dental, all that fun stuff. No, not us! Can't have anything close to normal. Since Barry got out of the Army, he has had several jobs (and even before he went into the Army). I guess that's the price you pay for getting to work with the things you love (planes). He has worked for some real losers, liars and all around not so fabulous people. I think they can smell Bear's honesty and suck him in. Poor thing. He has gotten burned so many times. I just wish he could have a job where he was respected, paid well and he loves his job. He's not hard to please. He's a hard worker, loyal and will do just about any job as long as it has to do with planes. He likes to fly them, rub them and smell the fuel (weirdo). He's so knowledgeable with anything (rules, parts, planes, sounds) having to do with aviation, it's a pity he just gets used and thrown out.

If you remember the deal with Virginia, you will know how things usually go with Barry. I don't know if he is just a magnet or what. It's so sad to watch. I just want him to be happy and he can't get a break. Well, he started working for Evektor this month. Some of you may recall that the company he was working for was Evektor America. He will now be working directly for the factory. We really like the people at the factory. They have been lovely every time I've met them here in the states and when I went there. We have HIGH hopes for this (as we do every job...a little optimism but still a little pessimism) as they are a reputable company that has been making planes for a long time. So, if you are into praying...lay one on the big GUY and see what He can do. If you are into something else, get crackin' and do what you need to do.

So, we have FINALLY found out that we are moving to Melbourne, FL. For a while, there was talk of Pennsylvania. I was pretty excited about that. Seasons, history, closer to family. Oh well, we will make Florida work. There's lots of stuff there, too.

Sorry, this was a downer post. Next one will be better. Guess I just needed to vent! Here's to leading a "normal" life!

Disney Cruise Food

2007-11-12T23:11:00.000-06:00

OK, OK, so it appears that everyone is tired of looking at my sausage...post... so I will now regale you with my FABULOUS pics of Disney Cruise food. I took these pics while we were on the Disney Magic Cruise at the end of Sept. I downloaded these pics a while ago but never got a chance to name them. After several harassing e-mails complaining about my sausage, this is what you get!

As we boarded the ship and our names were announced, we were immediately struck by how cool this ice and watermelon sculpture were. It was so cool (no pun intended!).

We then wandered around the ship and found this MASTERPIECE!

I'm telling you, when you combine art and food, these are the wonderful things you get to look at.

Aren't they amazing?!! They had things like this everywhere! The one with the kiddos is at the first restaurant we ate at on board.

Daniel was REALLY impressed with what they could do with one of his favorite foods...WATERMELON!!!

Hidden Mickey??? Well, maybe not so hidden but fun anyway! Raj did this for the kids. You don't just get ketchup on the ship, you get MICKEY KETCHUP!!!

Can you find the Hidden Mickey in the sauce on the right?

My buddies Noah and Joshua SURE do love their ice cream! You couldn't ask for a more excited face! Now, that is a boy who truly appreciates the finer things in life.

Who doesn't love a good pair of Mickey ears? Joshua sure knows how to tear them up!

(What's up with Daniel??? I think he may have FINALLY gotten full!)

Here is one of my FABULOUS dinners. Fillet Mignon, FISH puff pastry filled seafood and veggies.

THEN, Boston Creme Cake for dessert. Delicious!!!

Here is David's dinner one night. I had to get the pic quick because he was threatening to mess it up!

This is Kim's dinner from Palo. I forgot what it was but it was Italian and noodles. Yummy!

This is Carol Beth's bean casserole. Now, not MY kinda dinner but she said it was yummy!

Then, of course, there is my "steak man". His dish was delicious!

Finally, we get to MY dinner at Palo.

I had the tuna

(yes, it IS supposed to be this color!).

The BEST part...the desserts! You can have as many as you want...even at Palo! This was a chocolate mousse with raspberries. The yellow thing is candy.

I only ate half of the chocolate so that I could eat half of the custard. It was so amazing.

The food was so amazing. You don't just eat, you eat like you are at a five-star restaurant every night! It was so great. Sure, you may pay a little more for the cruise than a regular cruise but it is completely worth it. The bigger rooms, AMAZING entertainment...and MY favorite...the FOOD!!! Can you tell I like to eat?

Ahhh...the days of eating well. Well, I am off to have some cookie dough from the 'fridge. I hope all you sausage haters are happy now! ;o) Love ya ladies!

The 10 Day Salute to the Sausage...

2007-11-12T22:36:00.000-06:00

OK, now get your mind out of the gutter! The Ten Day "Salute to the Sausage" is WURSTFEST!!! We have made it for the past couple of years. The food is so good. The kids particularly like to dance. I tried teaching them to dance together but they wouldn't have anything to do with it. I'll keep trying!

I just love this picture of Barry and Alyx.

Alyx took this picture. He was so cool. ->

It's amazing the things kids come up with. They found these boxes and decided to make sleds out of them. They had almost as much fun doing this as they did dancing! Of course, I video taped it. It's really dark but you can see how much fun they had.