Disneyland October 2009 Slideshow

So this is what you get when Todd leaves me to figure out picture stuff on the computer. He'll have to come along later & clean up my messes. First I accidentally put all the beach pictures in the trash-he found them for me & I've been afraid to touch them since. Then I tried to do this slideshow with pretty sparkles since they were Disneyland pictures. I was unable to pull that off. I WAS able to somehow delete the background Todd made for our Narnia theme. I don't know why the words are getting cut off & I can't figure out how to get rid of the box on top of the slideshow. Grrrr! This is why I don't do computer stuff & he doesn't do the laundry & dishes. He's been to busy to add my troubles to his plate so this will have to suffice. I will attempt a slideshow with the beach pictures next week-I hope. **Warning** There are over 100 pictures:o) Watch for the Joshua being a "goofball" pictures. You'll know what I mean when you see them.


SORRY, THE SLIDESHOW DISAPPEARED:(

We're Home!

We are safely home from vacation. We got home about 11:45 last night. Todd's on the computer upstairs so I can't load pictures just yet. I don't know how to do that from the laptop yet & I want him to show me how to do a slide show if possible because I have soooo many pictures.

Of course we had fun & don't really want to get back to work tomorrow. We left for vacation around 9am last Saturday & for those of you on Facebook you know we ran over a big piece of metal on the way there that blew out a rear tire. We were close to Banning,CA. A couple had run over that same piece of metal shortly before us. We borrowed a tool from them, Todd changed the tire, & we were on the way again. Not the best way to start a vacation but the jolt of running over the metal magically made our A/C start working again. Just a few days before the vacation the air went out in the van. That's a real bummer because A/C is still needed here in Arizona in October. And apparently in California too. We get to the motel in time for check in & get everything up to the room before heading to the parks. I liked our room location-3rd floor at the back of the motel,end room. No one would be running past our room at night yelling. I enjoyed a full week of no dogs barking-yay for me! Oh, Joshua was not 100% yet but he was better by Sunday & he's back to "normal" (whatever that means) now.

So Saturday & Sunday were much busier than our last October trip. Yuck. Disney is really hyping up Halloween time. Since we don't do much for Halloween it's overboard to us. We usually miss Haunted Mansion the "good" way when we go in the Fall but it was okay since crowds were less & it wasn't a super favorite ride to begin with. We do not enjoy the Nightmare Before Christmas junk. Now they have done a Halloween overlay to our favorite ride-Space Mountain. It was not impressive. I tried to close my eyes and imagine the old music every time we rode it. We're re-thinking our favorite time of year & thinking of trying January or February instead.

Sunday we took the kids to the beach since the park was getting too busy. It was Hannah's 2nd trip to the beach but she was only 2 1/2 the first time so she doesn't remember it. We do though & that's why it's taken this long to give it another try. She didn't like the feel of sand on her hands & feet. That makes it a bit difficult to enjoy the beach. It was Joshua's 1st visit & they both loved it. They collected lots of shells at Huntington Beach. They went part way in the water. Not me-too cold. I was just the photographer.

We couldn't wait till Monday. Mon-Thurs was much better. I wish it was cooler though.
On Hannah's birthday we had lunch at Taste Pilots Grill in California Adventure. We got special treatment by being seated at a "reserved" table complete with tablecloth,linen napkins,actual silverware,salt & pepper shakers, glass mini bottles of ketchup & mustard, & plastic drink cups. Then they brought our food out on ceramic plates. Fancy, huh? This was fancy compared to packets of condiments,plastic forks,paper cups/napkins, & plastic food baskets with a paper liner. Then they checked to see if we needed refills or anything & our server (this place doesn't have "servers") brought out a birthday card for Hannah signed by the workers. I don't know if we got the reserved table by chance or if they saw Hannah's b-day button before giving it to us. I think they saw the button after we got the table & then got the card signed. Either way it was special & people were probably wondering why we were there. Kinda cool.

Since Pixie Hollow was built where Ariel's clamshell used to be Ariel can only be seen at the Princess Fantasy Fair which I greatly dislike. I really like the old ways of meeting a particular princess. There's no guarantee which princess will be in the meet & greet when you finally make it up to the front. Can you tell I don't like change? We wanted a picture with Ariel in her human form as we'd never got that before & Hannah wore her Belle dress that day so we were hoping for Belle too. We waited in line while the boys did something else. They hate waiting for that. After 15 minutes or so a cast member tells us (because of Hannah & several other "Belles" around us) Belle is usually a closing princess along with Ariel & Jasmine. If we come back at 5:20 we should get the 2 we need. So we did that. We came back & we were close to the front when there was some sort of medical emergency inside. We were never told what happened but they eventually had the 3 princesses come outside for pictures. It was not with each one individually but one picture with all 3 but I'd rather take it than leave it! I was bummed that the photo pass photographer did not come out too as you all have heard me say my camera takes lousy pictures in bad lighting & it was about dusk. I did get a pretty good shot though.

The birthday person usually gets to pick the place for lunch. Hannah had originally picked the Golden Horseshoe for lunch while watching Billy Hill & the Hillbillies. Well, they don't play on Tuesdays which is why we ended up at CA Adventure that day. We had to wait till Thursday to see them for Hannah's b-day. We were the 3rd group in for the 1st show so we got one of those tables on stage. Very fun. They are so funny.

We met a few villains this year. Hannah met Captain Hook,the Queen of Hearts,the evil queen from Snow White & her as the old hag. Joshua wouldn't go to meet Cruella DeVil who wanted to know if we had any dogs at home. If I had thought fast enough I would have offered her our neighbors' many annoying dogs. He also wouldn't meet the old hag who pretended to be afraid of him by hiding behind a curtain. I figure it must be fun to be a villain so you can be rude to people & just be in character. Like when Cruella came out. We were 2nd in line for the 1st pictures of the day. She came out but the 1st group in front of us was not ready. She made comments about how they should be ready for her & to hurry up because she didn't have all day. Hannah met the evil queen while in her Belle dress. The queen sneers at her and says "So, you're into princesses? Quite a downgrade from Queen, don't you think?" Too funny. We had just missed Jafar one day but I got a picture before he left. We'd never seen him before.

Joshua has learned to like the wet rides better IF he has a raincoat. He would ride Grizzly River Run over & over like his sister if I let him have a raincoat. One day we did ride it 4 times (I think) in a row. I guess I lost count. He refused Tower of Terror & California Screamin'.

We did Turtle Talk with Crush again. Hannah got picked to ask Crush a question. She asked him where his wife was. Apparently his wife's name is Shelly & she's on a beach somewhere relaxing before more little "Crushes" hatch. I really wish I could see how they do this attraction. It's so cool.

Another special thing we never got to do before was ride with the pilot in the front of the monorail. We rode the monorail out to Downtown Disney on our last day. Todd asked if we could sit up front-usually it's already taken. Only about 5 people can fit in there so it was a private ride. Cool view from the very front. Since we knew it would be busy our last day & our motel changed their parking rules (we had to leave by 3pm) we had to change our usual plans. We used to stay till 8pm & drive home. That's when crowds were low & the motel let us keep our van there the whole day of check-out. So instead we got in as many "1 more time" rides as possible before leaving the park for lunch & another beach trip. We ate one more meal at the Jazz Kitchen Express,picked up the van,went to Seal Beach,headed home,ate dinner in Banning, & got home late last night.

Seal Beach was too dirty & the waves were a little rough so we won't go back there. It was hard to find a decent shell too. I did get to see one seal while Todd took the kids down the shore so they missed it. We got a free chocolate cake at KFC for dinner last night since we had to wait for our food. It was not that long of a wait to us but who doesn't want free cake? And that ended the magic.

Now I'm doing tons of laundry & putting stuff away. I'm not looking forward to going to Discount Tire tomorrow. Not only was the tire shredded but it messed up the rim as well. We had just put a brand new tire on last week & here we go again. I just keep telling myself at least we don't have to pay to fix the A/C. The kids have P.E. tomorrow & I have to work. Dentist appointments for the kids Tuesday. Hannah's last theater class & performance Wednesday. Yep, real life awaits.

Almost there

We're almost there-to our annual Disneyland Family Vacation. We've had nothing exciting going on. Just Joshua being sick. We're all pumping vitamin C & zinc into our systems & I'm disinfecting like crazy. I wouldn't be such a germ-o-phobe if it were not a week before our trip-at least that's when he got sick. He's on the mend & I'm hoping the rest of us stay clear of it. I think it was just a cold. Runny nose,cough,fever. And I knew he was tired. Two days in a row he fell asleep for a nap. Once he even went up to his room. He hasn't napped in 3 years! He's been getting back to his old self today. I'm thrilled to be off work for 13 days.

Hannah has one more theater class tomorrow before their performance after we get back. She has her monologue memorized & 3 different lines (to jokes I think). Her birthday party should be Nov 1st. I'm going to try to make a Disneyland cake. "Try" is the main word there. I have some wonderful ideas in my head but not sure how it will come together with actual cake & frosting.

The A/C went out in the van yesterday. Such a bummer. I'm glad we're heading into winter but it's still supposed to be close to 90 degrees this week. It works in the far back of the van but not up front. Ugh.

I took the kids to a homeschool open house at a recreation center in Peoria on Friday. We went last year & the kids had fun climbing their rock wall & playing in the game room. Mostly Wii bowling & baseball as well as foosball. The pictures didn't turn out well because of the lighting.

So, that's been about it lately. Upcoming stuff will be Disneyland,Hannah's b-day party, the State Fair, a museum trip,& a visit from Todd's parents before Thanksgiving. I should have lots of pictures soon.

October Birthdays

Happy Birthday to our October family:
1st-Tony, my very best friend's husband in MA
3rd-Tegan, our niece in IL
20th-Hannah of course-10 years old! It's hard to believe it's almost been 10 years since I had a stomach ache & a few hours later we had a beautiful daughter. We love you sweetie!

Anticipation...

I can feel Fall coming. It's about time. This is why we suffer through Arizona summers that last far too long. I knew Fall was coming last week when we were able to take a family walk last week (before I got sick again). Then it was confirmed yesterday morning when hot water did not come out of the shower-it actually took 4-5 seconds to come out hot. There is no such thing as a cool shower in the summer because the water in the pipes is always hot-ick! I'll know it has officially arrived when my makeup doesn't melt off as I'm putting it on.

We've had a busy week but not with anything exciting. Todd actually has 2 real estate clients. God has great timing! We really need prospects right about now.

Of course the other thing we're anticipating besides decent weather is our family vacation. It's 21 days away as of today. The kids have wanted to pack since the 30 day mark. I have to remind them they need their socks & underwear for the next few weeks. I have a feeling the rest of the year is going to speed by. After vacation (& Hannah's b-day in that time span),Hannah's party after we return, Todd's parents visit in November,Thanksgiving, & Christmas it will be 2010.

Sorry no new pictures but as you can see I'll have plenty to share by this time next month. So many you'll be sick of them-especially if you are on Facebook. Just giving you warning now. I usually take around 250 pictures at Disneyland. We usually bring the laptop with us so I can at least update to Facebook quickly in the evenings even if I can't get pictures posted.

First Day of P.E.

Nice & Dry

Okay, this is even before P.E. started.

Joshua's team winning=them getting wet.

Finally, pictures! Although, if you're on Facebook you have already seen them. Too bad because my mom hasn't seen them so you are stuck with repeats! The kids were up early today to get to the first day of P.E. I wonder how long that excitement will last for. They enjoyed turning on the sprayers before P.E. even started and soaked themselves. They had a ton of fun & were exhausted by the time I got home from work tonight.

I don't have anything exciting yet-still. I haven't felt a need to update since I know my mom is in Missouri without a computer (by choice) till Oct/Nov and Todd's mom is/was on a cruise. I'm guessing that's my main audience.
Todd took the kids bowling today while I went to work. The pictures are not too exciting but maybe I'll post them later. Don't worry though, I'll have plenty of pictures to post October 25th! Hannah is enjoying theater & the teacher has given her a monolgue to memorize for their showcase in October.
The kids are looking forward to P.E. starting on Monday and all the field trip opportunities that begin to happen once our group meets up again. Sadly, the field trip I wanted to set up this year can't happen because the only lady who does it doesn't do it anymore. When Hannah was in 1st grade we went to Pioneer Village (an 1800's town) for a Laura Ingalls Wilder tour. The kids got to go into the schoolhouse & a cabin which you can't do when you do a regular visit. They made butter,candles, & rope. They did dances from that time period & got to be locked in jail. Three years later she still remembers it & I had wanted Joshua to get to do those things too. Of course he was along for the ride at the time but too little to participate. Bummer.
Joshua's prayer tonight involved asking God to keep his grandparents safe,being thankful to go bowling, & that the Steelers won tonight. Even though I worked tonight it is obvious to me that football season has started.....

September Birthdays

Happy Birthday
to our September b-days:
Todd's Mom-27th, We love you.
Jen-30th,My very best friend from 4th grade.
Thanks for sticking by me & praying for me all those years-it paid off!

We hope you two have a blessed day.

Ready for September!

Joshua in his new swim trunks from a half price sale at the base. Swimming is not over at our house yet.

Hannah in her new swim suit from the base too. You can see some of the storm "damage" on the left. The play house had really become a storage area for all the pool rafts & toys. It blew apart & landed in the garden crushing half the sunflowers that had died but some were coming back. I picked it off the sunflowers & it has not been put back together yet.

Joshua lost his 1st tooth August 19th. It came out without any drama. Yeah for me! Todd asked him if he was going to put it under his pillow. Joshua replies with "Can you just give me my dollar now?". Yes, he did get the money then & it was $2.

At a photo shoot.

August was relatively boring & I kind of enjoyed it! We got in a lot of good school days & did not have many activities to drive to. That is slowly starting to change. I did not have too many exciting things to report on or any fabulous pictures. Joshua losing his first tooth was the most major news. Hannah started theater class on Wednesday. The kids went to a photo shoot last night & got paid $20 each for playing on playground equipment. They made more than me last night! They thought this was pretty cool & have so many ideas where they can spend their earnings. They are also saving money for a Toy Story Midway Mania Wii game that comes out in September. Only about $13 to go.

Some of the pictures I post here may be repeats to those of you on Facebook. Sorry about that but oh well. My mom is not on Facebook so they are at least new to her. The rest of you will just have to deal with seeing my incredibly cute kids again.

We're looking forward to P.E. starting back up after Labor Day and all the fun field trips & parties with our homeschool group. Oh, and only 49 more days to go for our annual family vacation. Yippee! All in all I have enjoyed not being on the run but we are all ready for November weather.

The below post should be dated August 19. I guess it shows the date I started a draft. I didn't know it would do that:)

In Remembrance...

I'm about to get "religious" on you but try to stay with me. I'll be back to regularly scheduled Smith Family mundane weekly happenings in a week or so....

Today would be the 23rd birthday of my 1st niece (& Goddaughter), Cassie. Yes, I realize how old that makes ME! Many of you are aware she died at age 9 on Christmas day 1995. I'd like to remember her today because I firmly believe it was her death that led to my eternal life & for that I am so thankful. I know I'll see her again someday & I am happy she is no longer in pain.

I was a teenager when she was born & flew to Chicago with my parents to see her when she was born. She was born with a heart defect & had many surgeries throughout her life. The hospital made an exception & let me in to see & hold her when she was born for only a few minutes. I cannot imagine the loss of a child as a parent. I can't even think about it & my miscarriage is not quite the same.

God can use terrible situations & make good come out of them although I did NOT understand this at the time-it took me a few years to begin to get it. In fact, I was pretty mad at God for letting this happen. Really mad. After all, He has the power to do anything. Why was my family being punished? But I did not have a relationship with God then like I do now. Sure, I believed in a god who made everything but the only time I ever thought of Him was when things were not going my way. "Why me" syndrome I guess. I certainly did not know or understand the Gospel. I just went about life as best I could. Trying to do the right thing most of the time but messing up a lot. I sure thought I'd go to heaven because basically I was a good person & my good deeds far outweighed my bad ones. I think most people who call themselves Christians are probably thinking the same thing. Sadly, that's not how God let's you in & boy was I shocked when I found out. I'm always surprised at the polls or "statistics" about how many people believe in heaven & think they are going there but those same people don't believe in hell. If you believe in one don't you have to believe there's an opposite place to spend eternity? Seriously, does that make sense?

So, Christmas Day is a pretty lousy day to lose a loved one. I know no day is a great day but really that is a hard one. I had gone to meet Todd's parents for the first time that Christmas even though I knew she was getting sick & it didn't look good. That morning my Dad calls to tell me the horrible news. I leave Todd & his family to fly to Chicago for the funeral. What a 1st impression I must have made & how awkward for them! Not to mention the fact that I then had to return to their house for the rest of my "vacation" (which included a New Year's trip to Disneyland-we were not yet addicted to that place. That came in 2004) after the funeral. Christmas will be hard for a few years as I'm still confused & angry at God. I can't even remember what was said at her funeral. If there was a Gospel message in there I was not in the mood to hear it. No way-not yet.

Fast forward a couple years. I spent some time questioning God and His motives. The most I had ever thought about Him in my life. It got more detailed when Todd proposed & we began searching for a church to get married in. When we finally found the right one right in our neighborhood we asked the pastor to marry us. He asks if we are believers which I didn't get as I thought I believed in something. Todd said he had accepted Jesus as a teen but had backslid. I had no clue about Jesus dying for me so he informed us he could not marry a believer & unbeliever. That hurt. I was more concerned at that very moment about MY wedding. The Gospel was explained to me. Later at home I got over myself. I understood the basics & accepted Jesus as my Savior. Obviously, we did get married but I had a lot of growing to do-still do actually (lots more). I made many mistakes & misunderstood many things. I did things the Bible tells us NOT to do. As much as I hate to admit it, I still do.

I even paid to see a woman who claimed to be able to see/speak to dead people or their "spirit guides" which also happens to be a no-no in the Bible. Of course I found this out after I had already done it. I'm naturally skeptical so I didn't quite believe her. I figured everyone she talked to was a plant & pretty good actors. After reading the Bible I figured she probably did see spirit guides but NOT ones from God. Satan can be pretty clever in deceiving people & sending his demons to pretend to be spirit guides in order to dupe us has to be one of his top tricks.
Then one morning I had an absolute peace that can only come from God about how Cassie was just fine & I need not worry about her. She'd be there when I got there.

So I've been a believer for 12 years & have tried to live my life in a way that would show God's love hoping the good things I manage to do would rub off on someone, anyone. Hoping my mistakes would be forgotten as I'm not perfect-just forgiven. I see what's going on in the world today & I'm sickened,saddened,astounded,frustrated, & angry. I shake my head in disbelief some days. The problem I have is I know things have to go this way. It's predicted in Revelation. But I still don't enjoy watching the slippery slope our nation is on. The hope is I know the ending of the story & I happen to be on the winning team. God never promises things will be smooth sailing once you accept Jesus-quite the opposite actually. We're told we will suffer trials & I/we have. But the promise we have far outweighs what I'll go through in the next few years. Before I became a true believer I used to hate having scripture quoted to me. I did not enjoy the feeling of being hit over the head with the Bible. Now I understand those people simply cared about my eternal salvation. I never wanted to hit anyone over the head with my Bible but being a silent witness may not be working for me anymore so if you have made it this far (thank you!)then consider yourself hit. I want you, even if you are a stranger who stumbled upon my blog, to be assured of the life after death that I know I will have. Family,friend,stranger-it does not matter.

Here's the quick version as I know some of you may have the same aversion to scripture quotes as I once had-you know-skipping them completely & only reading the personal writing. It's okay to admit it. I just did! Anyway, here's the gist:

To get into Heaven you need to be perfect. Not just mostly good as I used to think. Perfect.Ouch. That means I'm lumped in with the really bad sinners who murder just because I think ungodly thoughts about my inconsiderate neighbors or the way the people around me cannot drive.

God still wants you there but since you are not perfect he had to give us some help.
Jesus was born to die for everyone's sin.
His sacrifice pays the price for our sins. He did this for everyone-even people who outright hate Him. Wow.
But just knowing this is still not good enough.
You have to believe it with all your heart & ask Him to forgive you for all that bad stuff you have done. Don't get me wrong here-you will still mess up. I'm a perfect example.
Here's the part where I'm likely to offend but it's my soapbox so here goes:

If you don't believe in Jesus you will not go to Heaven. Period. You will go to hell. Yes, it's a nasty thought but sugar coating it may not save your eternal life. It does not matter if you know the truth. It matters if you follow it. The Bible tells us many will stand before God & claim they knew Him. Going through motions of attending church or saying a prayer at Thanksgiving does not mean you know Him. You really have to believe & repent. That's all. It's a free gift if you just ask. Then you'll know where you'll go. FYI:if you've made it this far then you can never claim to Him that no one ever told you. I just did. The choice is now in your hands.

Well, I could go on & on but at this point you are either convicted because God is knocking on the door of your heart,annoyed/terribly offended and done with me & my blog, or you agree with me 100%. I'd be happy to share scripture to back up what I say if you want to know more but I have already explained why I have not. I remember my "lost" days all to well. Scripture is meaningless UNTIL you are ready to listen. Thanks for reading this far:)
Love ya'.

In remembrance of Cassandra Clinton
August 19, 1986-December 25, 1995

August Birthday

I just have one b-day this month & that's to my friend Cami. Have fun at our Happiest Place on Earth! So jealous......

I have not had very much interesting to report. We didn't go anywhere cool so that equals no pictures. I'm posting a picture of the kids with their soccer medals but that's the most recent excitement. Hannah will not be playing soccer this Fall as expected. She had a difficult choice to make as I found a Christian/homeschool theater group that has a class I knew she'd enjoy on Wednesday afternoons. She really wants to do that instead so I am glad they got to play this summer. I could still let Joshua play as the times work out well but I don't know if he'll do it or not without Hannah nearby. We'll see. Thanks to Grandmas who said they would pitch in for the class. Classes run August 19-October 28.

We've made a small adjustment to our homeschool times for the rest of the summer. When I take the kids in the pool after school it's already too warm & not refreshing. Then we don't get any use out of it. I decided to swim in the morning before school & work after lunch- as long as I don't have to work that evening. I'm just letting you know in case you call in the morning I may not have brought the phone outside & don't be surprised if I can't talk in the afternoon.

Homeschool Movie

I put together a movie of some of our 2008-2009 home school activities. Kathy thinks I left too much stuff out, but there's still a lot here. BTW, if you like it, give it a high rating:
Smith Homeschool Movie

Castles & Coasters

Dereck,Tanner,Christian,Todd,Me
Lauren,Joshua,Hannah
This was at the end of the night & our last log ride which is why some clothes look wet (because they are).

We went to Castles & Coasters on Friday night. Dereck,Lauren,& his 2 nephews met us up there. Ruth went shopping instead. We got there a little before them & had a rocky start with Joshua. He didn't want to go on the go-karts. Then he didn't want to do the viking ship. Then he refused to go on the little roller coaster which he had talked about going on earlier. This coming from a kid who loves Space Mountain. Ugg. Finally he tried stuff. His first ride on the log ride he was scared which also does not make sense because the drop on Splash Mountain is way bigger. After several more turns he enjoyed it. He really liked the bumper boats,bumper cars, & go-karts. Hannah liked almost everything. We had fun and left when they closed at 11pm. Dereck had to go back to Hawaii yesterday but Ruth & Lauren are staying another week. We really want to visit them next. We never got a chance to golf though. Maybe we can do that when Grandma & Grandpa visit in November.

Hannah & Lauren on the log ride. I have no idea how many times we all went on this ride all together.

Todd & Joshua and Lauren on the bumper boats.
Below is the Free Fall ride. Left to right is:
Lauren,Dereck,Christian,Hannah,Todd,& a stranger.

Castles & Coasters Continued

Todd & Hannah on the Sky Diver. It's the opposite of Maliboomer. This one takes you up s-l-o-w-l-y & drops you down.

Look how good I am at bumping Dereck & taking a picture at the same time!

Below is Todd & Hannah on the left,Lauren on the right,& Dereck behind Lauren.