Disney Cruise Slideshow

Finally.

Better late than never?

Special thanks to Aaron for technical support (which means holding my hand and literally walking me through the process of setting up a slideshow.)  Technology is not always my friend. You'll need to click on the white box below to get the slideshow started. Still haven't completely figured out how to caption the photos, but they're all fairly self explanatory.



xoxo
Deb

When Bree Wished Upon a Star

Last week we went on a Disney Cruise to the Bahamas with our dear friends, and Bree's godparents, Kamar and Becky Adeleke, and their own brood, Kasim, Khalid, Layla and Sophia. 

For those who don't know, Bree is obsessed with the Disney Princesses.  In the weeks leading up to our departure, Bree plotted her attack on any and all Princesses she encountered.  The term "stalking" came to mind while listening to her detail her plans. 

Mission accomplished.

xoxo
Deb
p.s.  There will be more to come from our travels.  Just trying to get caught up. 
p.p.s.  Keep scrolling down.  There's four shots of four Princesses accosted by Bree.  No comments, please.  Jason does this for a living, not me!

For Mommom

Love you, Mom!

So does Bree!

xoxo-
Deb

Trick or Treat!

As most (all?) things go with Chaos & Mayhem, trick or treating wasn't

easy for us.  It wasn't dull, but it wasn't easy either.

The preschool that my little cherubs attend had a Halloween parade for the 4-year classes.  All of the kids get dressed in their costumes, parade through the Hall and then return to their class, remove their costumes and have a Halloween party.  Sounds simple, right?

Not for Nick.  He went, to quote my dear friend Cristin, "bat-shit crazy."  He was terrified of his friends in costumes, didn't want to stand up in front of a bunch of adults he didn't know and was having no parts of looking "silly" while wearing his costume in front of a bunch of people he didn't know.  In Nick's defense, for a variety of reasons, this is the first year we were actually able to "do" Halloween, so he had no experience with any of this.

That being said, I didn't force him into the costume and then parade around in it (mostly because I figure he'll need enough therapy later in life as it is already) but I did make him watch the parade and go to the party afterwards, as the other kids all removed their costumes for the party. 


Flash forward to Sunday afternoon:  Due to the "fun" that had been

Friday, we had decided to stay home.  I would hand out candy to the little beggers (my term for trick or treaters) with Nick and Jason would take Bree trick or treating.  Then the phone rang.  It was Uncle Aaron checking to see if Nick and Bree wanted to go trick or treating with their cousins.  If there are any people that can persuade Nick to do something, it's Alex, Abby, Amanda and Aidan.  Here's hoping the four of them don't decide to jump off of a bridge.

Wrap up:  Nick turned into a trick or treating pro.  Bree's little legs ran four steps for everyone else's one stride but I think she may have ended up with more candy that the others.

Nick obviously was Buzz Lightyear.  Bree was supposed to be Snow White, however due to the temperature, we ended up throwing together a pink princess costume as I'm pretty sure she would have ended up with frostbite instead of candy if we had sent her out in the Snow White costume.  Many thanks to Jenn Z., Kim Turner and Aunt Becky!  Portions of their birthday presents to Bree ended up as part of her Halloween costume.

Halloween ended with Bree meticulously sorting her candy by type and Nick plotting Christmas while perusing a toy catalog.

xoxo-
Deb

Belated Bree Birthday Bash Babblings

I was trying to see how many "B" words I could work in there.  Not my best attempt, but I still managed to amuse myself for a few moments.  But as usual, I digress...

My baby is three!  Being the loving mother that I am, I woke her up on her birthday, cuddled her gently, gave her a soft kiss and told her she was three-years-old now.  I then handed her the want-ads from the Sunday paper and suggested she look for her first job prior to selecting her new apartment as her income would indicate how big of a pad she could afford.  Oh, stop it.  Jason got me out of her room before I got all of her clothing packed.  Damn him.

Instead of cramming all of our loved ones into our more-than-slightly overcrowded home, we elected to throw a joint birthday party with our friend Jack (Happy Birthday little Dude!) at Nana's church this time around.  We had pumpkin decorating, cake, a LOT of presents and even a couple of jugglers, The Juggling Hoffman's.  I'm pretty convinced that the male half of the Hoffman's was a bartender at one of the establishments that I used to frequent in college.  Based on my typical state of mind (and inebriation) during college, while on Main Street in Newark, it's highly probable that my memory may be a bit flawed and this guy has never been in a bar in his life.  Regardless of any questions regarding his previous employment, he and his Mrs. treated us all to a really good show.  I think everyone enjoyed themselves, especially my mother, Jason's mother and my Aunt Liz, who spent the show making jokes amoungst themselves that I understand were really not at all appropriate for a three-year-old's birthday party.  I think you all know where I get that mentality from now, don't you?

Thank you to all who helped us celebrate Bree and her birthday!
xoxo
Deb

Happy Columbus Day! Well, not really.

Nick had Friday off from school for Columbus Day (which was actually Monday, so I'm not sure why his school celebrated it on Friday, but I digress...)  Anyway, both kids had no school on Friday, so rather than have to actually take care of both of my children by myself for another day, I respectfully requested that Jason take Friday off and we do "family crap" together.  Please note that my "respectful request" sounded like "Unless you want me to find out how much I can get on the black market for a semi-potty trained four-year-old boy, you might want to take the day off from work."

Rather than being trapped in the house with his beloved children and cranky wife, Jason packed his family up and took us all to Milburn Orchards for the day.  Apparently every school in the region decided to fill their school buses with the kids that annoy the teachers the most and send them to the orchard for the day, as well. 

Despite that, we had a good time.  Nana showed up once she was finished with work, which meant that instead of two kids to keep track of, we had two kids and a Nana to try and keep out of the baby goat pen.  And if you're reading this, Lane, for the last time, NO, we will not get you a baby goat for Christmas.  Just like your grandchildren, the baby goats will grow up and no longer be cute and fluffy. 

The kids and I got lost in the maze several times.  Yes, I'm aware that I can see over the maze but I have no discernible sense of direction. Incidentally, having Jason standing outside the maze "patiently" directing me out of the maze?  Not so much with the helpful but it did appear to entertain everyone watching me.

xoxo
Deb

When arts and crafts go bad

Unlike my last post, there is a story here.  And based on the picture, I'm fairly certain that I don't need to tell it.  I'm pretty sure you can all figure it out for yourselves.

xoxo
Deb