Moms in Prayer

In Fish news...
Last week I discovered a prayer group of moms from our girls' elementary school. It's very exciting to know such a thing exists.
It seems that this particular group is part of a larger, organized national group called Moms in Prayer (www.momsintouch.org) formerly Moms in Touch, hence the mismatching web address. the purpose of this group is to gather moms to pray for their children and to pray for their school and to be encouragement to each other.

It's also exciting to get to know who some of the other Christian folks in the school are. I feel like we are part of some sort of secret society. It's so secret that unless you go to the meetings you don't even know who the other members are. And you know there are other people who would like to be a part of the secret society but since there is no super secret insignia that everyone wears to unify it's members, you don't know who they are; not because they aren't "walking the walk" but because you just haven't had the opportunity to interact with them yet and you don't have fish-dar.  (you know, radar to scope out who the Christians are).

For example, I discovered at last week's meeting that two of the moms there have daughters in my oldest daughter's class. I never knew.  My daughter never knew.  These particular girls were not part of her close circle of friends. However, in one weeks time, our daughters have formed a new and sudden bond just from knowing that they are of families that are a part of this secret society. 

There is even talk within the group of trying to start an after school Bible study for the kids.  Some of you may be saying, "What!? At the PUBIC school??"  The thought is that high schools are allowed to have groups like FCA and other types of religious meetings, so why can't you do that at the elementary level.  Obviously, it would be an after school thing and you only go if you want to.  The ladies in charge of the prayer group have been talking to the school principal and I believe are awaiting an answer or maybe trying to work out details. 

Pretty neat.  We are not alone.  We are all fish trying to make a puddle to swim in. 

Have I ever mentioned that I love Disney World?

Have I??  If not, you must be new to my blog and/or not know me at all. 

I do, I love Disney World.  I practically grew up there.  Since I know I've gone into this before, I won't bore you with all the details.  To see all the details, you can click here to read a post I wrote after our last big Disney trip in 2010.  Suffice it to say, I grew up in Florida, about 45 minutes away from WDW (Walt Disney World).  My family had annual passes to Disney from the time I was 8 years old until I was no longer a Florida resident (about 21 years old), a sad day for me.  I have literally been 100's of times.  I will say though, that my Disney experience has changed drastically from what it was when I had an annual pass.  Now, I have kids of my own.  Now, I am experiencing it all through them.  And I gotta say, it's even more fun this way. 

The down side to my Disney experience now is that not being a Florida resident and no longer having an annual pass that you can use anytime you want and go back as many times as you want, now, we have to do it all in one trip.  That stinks and is contrary to the way I grew up with Disney.  When I was a kid, we never stayed more than a few hours at most.  If we didn't get to do or see something we wanted to or the lines were too long, it didn't matter cause we knew we could just come back the next weekend.  Now, whenever we go, I feel like we have to try to cram everything we want to do in (always) too short of a time window.  And there is SO MUCH to do at Disney.  You practically have to go 100's of times to be able do it all and even then you'll find out later about something you missed that you didn't even know about. 

I am proud to say that my kids already love Disney almost as much as I do.  They talk about it ALL the time.  Not that they've been all that much.  They've only been inside the parks to ride the rides a few times.  We do go over to Disney at least once a year though, to do all the outside of the parks stuff (my parents still live nearby).  And there is a lot to do outside of the parks.  Now, if you narrow that even more to say "outside of the parks stuff that is free"  your choices greatly diminish.  However, there is still plenty to do and see even at Disney, that doesn't cost any money.  Yes, I said, "doesn't cost any money" and "Disney" in the same sentence.

I love it and I love talking about it. I love it when my friends ask my advice on a trip they are planning to Disney.  I love to hear other people's Disney stories.  I love to tell mine!  (and I have a bunch!) I would love to have some sort of official Disney trip planner job if I thought I would have the time.  I have been meaning to add a Disney page to my blog for a while but just haven't had the time for that either.  Plus, I was trying to figure out how to add a page and then add pages onto that page.  Does anyone know how to do that?  (or even understand what I just said?) 

So this is it and until I can figure out how to do the page within a page thing I am just going to go ahead and add the main page and will have to be a little unorganized for a bit. 

At some point I am going to have a "stories" page where I will share some of my Disney stories and I hope you will share yours as well. 

I also plan to have a "tips" page where I can share tips on planning a trip to Disney World and where you can share any you may have as well. 

My main page will be for any Disney news I come across.  (I have some inside help on this one). 

So, until I get better organized, be thinking of your Disney stories, plans, tips, etc...

You will be able to access my WDW page at the top of my home page on this blog.

What month are we in?

It's Jan-u-ar-y! And yet I'm am finding the traditional north Georgia first signs of spring popping up all over our yard. We've not had a super cold winter but it's not been warm. Come on!!

I'm a little sad though because I'm afraid that when spring really is ready to arrive all of our pretty little jonquils will have already come and gone.

Oh well. I guess I should enjoy them while they last.

Just Say No

So my husband and I have decided to go on a eating out fast.  For 2 weeks, we are going to try not to eat out at all.  I've given Paul a couple of concessions since it's a little more difficult for him to eat in at work everyday, so he gets to eat lunch out twice a week.  I don't think we really go out all that often, but I do think it has become a little too often (make sense?).  And I am of the opinion that no matter where you are going out to eat, it's always going to be more fattening and less nutritious than eating at home, with a few exceptions.  And honestly, when I'm going out, it's not because I'm craving something healthy. 

I've never been really fat.  Yes, I could be fat.  Yes, I've put on a few pounds in the past 10 years or so.  And yes, I'd love to lose a few.  Actually, I'd really love it if I could somehow just suction the fat out of my face and chin area but that's beside the point.  My point is, I've gotten careless over that past month or so.  I'd like to blame the holidays but I'm afraid it's just really my own fault.  It's just so much easier when I've got a bunch of errands to run and it gets to lunch time and I'm not done, to just grab some fast food and keep going.  And then there's the nights where I "forget" to defrost the meat I had planned for dinner, so then we "have to" go out. Then there's the weekend.  I just don't wanna cook on the weekends.  Plain and simple.   All that adds up, in pounds and dollars. 

So in hopes of losing a few pounds (or at the very least just feeling better about myself)  and gaining a few dollars, we are cutting out dining out for 2 weeks.  Starting tomorrow, cause we had to eat out for lunch today.  We'd been out of town and I hadn't been to the grocery store and...well, you know...

A twe-pre-teen??

What's the difference between a tween and a preteen?  I think I might have a tween.  If not, I'm darn close to it.  My oldest daughter turned 9 last week.  Whatever category she actually falls into, she certainly acts like a tween/preteen.  A sweet, respectful one of course. 

Seriously, we are very proud of our oldest girl. She is a joy and a we love her very much. (even if she doesn't let me hug her at school anymore.) I gushed about her here  last year.  So I don't go on repeating myself, suffice it to say this year, she is growing into quite a lovely young lady. 

Ahhhhh....

We were fortunate enough to be able to join my in laws at the beach for a few days after Christmas. It was a nice reprieve from the business of the Christmas holidays. We entered the new year quite peacefully.

So, turn your volume up, close your eyes, and just listen. 

 I may be revisiting this post from time to time.  I do love the sound of the ocean.  It's one of my favorite things about the beach.

The End

I actually took 3 pictures on Christmas morning. I thought it was only 2. Actually I think this is all I took all day. Sad, I know.  What kind of mother am I?

                           

My middle child was excited to see the American Girl Doll she wanted.

And now, it's been a week.  The house is undecorated.  It's a little depressing to undecorate your house.  But now it's time to move on.  My oldest turns 9 in another week so we go right from Christmas celebrations to birthday.  I'm kinda glad of this.  It helps take away the depressing (although a little refreshing) sting of Christmas being over.