Disney Passes - Used Up

We used up our last day on our Disney passes this past Wednesday. We went with Matt's Mom and her cousin Nancy. When we coordinated the date to go, we didn't think about spring break, so yes, it was pretty crowded, but we still had fun. We had done so many rides the past times we went that we were not at all concerned about riding a ton of rides. We actually only did one if you count the train. We got to meet Mickey and Minnie and we had a lot of fun at the parade. Rachel got to dance with some people and we all know how much she loves to do that. She just wanted to get closer. We ate at Tony's Italian restaurant again for lunch. Rachel actually took a nap from about 4-5, which was great, so she really didn't crabby like last time. The fast pass lines for the rides were still really long, but Toby's ticket got messed up, so she got a priority pass for one ride. Her and Nancy wanted to go on a real ride, so they went on splash mountain. Rachel was a half inch too short to ride so we stayed off. I got a nice sunburn by the end of the day, but the weather was beautiful and not too hot. We ate at Grandpa Johnson's BBQ for dinner and made it home around 8:30, just in time for all of us to fall into bed and go to sleep. Rachel got some new Tinkerbell sunglasses that she needs to grow into a little bit. She does like not having the sun in her eyes though. I am on spring break for the next week! So, not having to go to class even two nights is so nice to think about. After that, there is only about 5 weeks and we are done with school. Lauren and I will be planning a road trip to St. Louis maybe the second week in May, so that is something fun that Rachel and I are looking forward to. Matt is trying to work a little bit of overtime, but soon he will be painting our house a nice light tan (not blue) color and hopefully putting on a new roof in time for the rainy season.

Snoring Away

We have all been a little under the weather this past week. I thought it was just a cold, but none of use seem to be getting any better without the aid of medicine, so we might be all making trips to the doctor soon. Matt and I are one week into our new way of eating and it is going pretty good so far. Matt is having a little more trouble adjusting than I am, but I am proud of the changes he is making. However, I cannot say that he would continue this if I didn't make all of his food for him. We haven't been exercising as much though because of our colds, but hopefully soon we can get back into the swing of things. Rachel has been waking up early, like 5:30 or 6:30. Ugh. Sometimes she will go back to sleep, other times I make her read books in her bed. That is too early. Therefore she is ready for a nap earlier too. Yesterday, she fell asleep in her bean bag chair all snuggled up. I think she looked really comfortable and I could have fallen asleep too. Matt carried her to her bed to finish out her nap and we laid out in the sun together. She was even snoring a little.

Sleep Over!

Hannah and Kate got to sleep over last Friday night because Lauren and I had a garage sale the next morning. Well, all 3 girls got to sleep over last night because Lauren and George are celebrating her birthday this weekend. I only have them until noon, but I am proud of the fact that by 8am, all of them were fed, changed and dressed. They spent quite a bit of time playing and singing songs with the piano. They are currently watching some Mickey Mouse and once Reagan goes down for a nap, I am going to grab a shower and then we can go outside and play on the swingset! I get them back on Sunday night and through probably most of Monday. Matt and I are starting P90X on Monday and it will almost be 90 days right up until our cruise. This should be interesting, but something for us to do together! Our diets will be changing up quite a bit too. We should both be eating a lot healthier and hopefully this will move us in the right direction. Rachel will not be completely joining our diet, but she will be eating much of what we do as I am not going to cook two different dinners every night. Spring break is in a few weeks and Matt has talked about painting our house over spring break. We picked out a color and I really hope the awful blue will be gone soon!

A Magical and Tiring Day!

We had a pretty fun day at Disney with Lauren and George and the kids. We left around 8 and didn't get back until 9. It was a long day, especially since Rachel decided not fall asleep around 8pm. The afternoon got pretty rough with her behavior and my hunger. However, we redeemed ourselves and had a great dinner at Tony's (something to do with Lady and the Tramp). It was a really good restaurant and the kids meal gave them so much food for around $8. I could have totally eaten it too and been happy. Instead, I stuffed myself on their delicious rolls and olive oil, salad, and fried zucchini sticks. I ate way too much, but that is what happens when you are starving going into a restaurant. We got to ride a lot without too long of a wait thanks to the fast passes. I think we have done most everything Rachel can do, so when we go back in March with Matt's Mom and some family, I am hoping to take it pretty easy and go at a slower pace. Matt already informed me that he had no plans to stay that late again. I would be okay with that.

I finally finished Rachel's bean bag chair. It turned out really cute and I love the fabric that I picked. I made a lot of mistakes along the way and had to fix them. That made it take a few hours longer than necessary. However, I feel that if I ever made one again, it would go very smoothly from the start. It turned out a lot bigger than anticipated, more like a lounger. I figured that was okay since Rachel, Hannah, and Kate could share it. It was a little pricier than just buying a new one, but at least I can continue to refill this one when it starts sagging. I have a little bit of material left and I might make a tote bag from it. That would require Mom's help and she has been out of town the last few weeks.

School is good, Matt's work is good, rentals are good. Rachel had her neurologist appointment for her second episode of febrile seizures or whatever the heck they actually are. The doctor was unsure and said there wasn't anything to do about them anyways since they are only fever related. She should outgrow them by 5 and they don't do any harm. I was satisfied with that and am happy to not have to go down to Tampa anymore.


I had to work Valentine's Day, but Matt, Rachel, DJ, and Bethany got heart pizzas from Papa John's.

Keep Me In

Things are going pretty smoothly around here now that my mysterious illness is behind me. On Sunday, I woke up with a fever and my stomach just wasn't feeling normal at all. That carried over through Monday and by Tuesday, my fever was gone, but my stomach was still not right. It only hurt when there was pressure on it and I wasn't getting hungry and really didn't have an appetite. It has been about 5 days now and I don't really now what is up with it. Otherwise, I feel fine and have been hitting them gym to make up for my lost days. We have plans of going on a cruise in late May and I have really been working hard to lose some weight that I gained after I stopped running last year. I have already lost 4.8 pounds in 3 weeks and hope to lose another 5 more. I am really proud of myself since losing weight is not something I think I am good at. I have been cutting out about 95% of sweets and snacks and trying to eat a lot more fruits and vegetables. It clearly has worked and I feel great and can already tell that my clothes are a little big. I feel like the first week was the hardest and now it is becoming more normal and not so forced. That cruise is looking better and better and I hope that this weekend we will book it. We plan on going with Katie and Josiah as a few other people weren't able to come.

Matt has been wanting some way to enclose Rachel to her playset area. We were looking at white vinyl fences on Craigslist and even used, they are so expensive. He found the fence we got for free. It needed a good pressure washing and it cleaned up so good. I wish I had before pictures because it was like brown/green. We had initially thought to paint it white, but we both kind of like the natural look, so we think we are going to keep it that for now and can paint it later if we want. I asked Rachel if she helped Daddy with the fence and she said "Yes, it's to keep me in." So true.

I finally got all of the family pictures on the wall. It took me a while to figure out what I wanted and how to arrange the frames and to find frames that I liked. I love the final product and we have one last picture to fill in. The lady that did our pictures needs to take a few of just Matt and I and we are hoping that one of those can go in the empty frame. As you can see, Rachel is getting somewhat better about posing for pictures and actually looking at the camera and smiling and holding still. Yea! Now you might just get some better pictures of her on here.