The Wizarding World of Harry Potter

Yes, yes I did. I went to Universal Studios for a long weekend. Valentine's weekend in fact. Without my husband. Without my kids. But with my sister! This was our Christmas present to each other. I am not ashamed to admit that I am a huge Harry Potter fan and knew one day I would make it to Orlando and experience the books come to life. And I was not disappointed!

We made it down there Thursday night. I didn't get in until about 10:00. We booked a hotel right across the street from the park, so early the next morning, we walked over for the adventure to begin. We headed straight to the newer "Diagon Alley" and the "Escape from Gringotts" ride. AMAZING! So amazing that we would ride it a total of 5 times over the next 2 days:).

 

We went hard that first day and quite possibly logged several hundred miles walking, but we experienced and explored all the magic we wanted to. We ate lunch at The Three Broomsticks, had butterbeer in line for the ride in Hogwarts castle, perused all the wizard shops, jumped through the brick wall onto Platform 9 3/4, rode the train back and forth between Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade.

We crashed back at the hotel around 5:00 and spent the rest of the evening chilling in bed watching TV. Saturday we started over again, but spent a little more time riding some of the other rides Universal has to offer. I loved the Transformers ride, too! After eating lunch at The Leaky Cauldron,we took a mid-afternoon break and went back to the hotel for a nap. We headed back to the park around 5:00 and tried to get in as much as we could before it closed at 9:00. However, we failed to realize there was a Mardi Gras parade scheduled so at one point, I felt like we might be in New Orleans. We were shoulder to shoulder with people, pressing through, trying to move. Not necessarily my idea of fun. But we got through to open space and made it on to a couple more rides while a concert was starting up {Jessie J? I had no idea who that was, but my knowledgeable college freshman sister filled me in!}. We ended up at Hard Rock cafe for dinner. It was crowded--it was Valentine's night--and took awhile but the crowds and people were entertaining to say the least. We got back to the hotel close to midnight!

Sunday, we got up and hit the park for a couple more rides and souvenirs before heading back home. It was such a fun trip and a sweet experience to share with my sister. I can't wait to take my kiddos back for a weekend there. It will be awhile though, because they have to read all the books first. And they're not old enough to read them yet:). Thanks Maddie, for a wonderful dream come true!!

An Unforgetable Weekend

We had the best time in Atlanta this past weekend. For Christmas this past year, Mom got the kids (& their parents:) tickets to see Wild Kratts Live in Atlanta. Two brothers, Chris and Martin Kratt, have a TV show on PBS called Wild Kratts. My kids have enjoyed watching the show over the past few years. We planned to arrive late Friday night, visit the Fernbank Museum on Saturday, see the live show Saturday night, and finish with a Sunday trip to IKEA before heading home.

We got off a little later than we anticipated Friday night {we've started renovating the boys bathroom--another post in itself?!}, so it was close to 10:00 when we finally got to the hotel. Mom was already there and checked into our room. We breezed in and went straight to the elevator. Our family of five was in the elevator and another man got on with us. We start going up and Steven says:

"Do y'all not know who this is?"

We stare blankly for a few seconds before we realize we are IN THE ELEVATOR WITH CHRIS KRATT!!!! After totally losing our cool and telling him he was the reason we were in Atlanta, Grady immediately asks him a question about why deer come to the sides of roads at night. He was so nice and gracious and sounded exactly like he does on TV. We got off on the same floor and started walking away and I said, "Steven, we've got to ask for a picture!" Don't think I didn't watch to see what room he went in, because I did:).

The show Saturday night: it was hilariously entertaining

We even saw him down at breakfast Sunday morning. He and his son, who is around 5 I think, sat at the table next to us. We told him how much we enjoyed the show and chatted with him a bit. The kids played around the atrium with his son. It was so cool and so neat that we got to meet him. I'm an even bigger Wild Kratts fan now!

Saturday morning at the Fernbank Museum

Mostly about donuts

The girls have started laying again after taking some time off to molt and deal with the shorter days. But Thursday! Oh happy Thursday, I found a beautiful egg in the nest box. And another on Saturday. So I'm hopeful we are heading back in to full egg production. We got three 4 week old chicks last March and it has been such a fun experience. But after some time {and beautiful tail feathers and crowing!}, we realized we actually got 2 hens and 1 rooster. We did a quick exchange with our farmer friends where we originally got the chicks from and now we have Applejack, Hazelnut and Penny. They lay blueish-green eggs and tan eggs.

We recently watched a few episodes of a show called "Donut Showdown" on the cooking channel.  So Friday night, we thought we would try to make donuts:). For our first attempt, we took the shortcut and opted to make them out of pre-made buttermilk biscuit dough. Reese and I were on frying duty, while Steven, Elle and Grady made the two glazes: original and chocolate.

Steven garnished a few with some banana slices.  Sometimes a good presentation helps. In this case, it didn't. Reese bit in to the chocolate and was like, "Ehhh, I don't like this." And then the rest of us tried it and had a similar reaction. They were fun to try and we learned some things about glazed fried biscuits--they are not donuts. Now that we have some experience under our belts, we just may be ready to tackle real yeast donuts!

Please notice the chocolate donuts still on their plates.

Saturday we went to the beach for the day to look at some beach places with Mom. She is looking for her retirement home and we gladly helped her look for it! After raining all day Friday, the sun did come out and it was a gorgeous, though windy, day. We got to eat lunch at The Donut Hole and  have some real donuts. I can attest there were no issues with their chocolate glaze. I love eating here when we are at the beach.

 

In other news, Elle went to the orthodontist for another consult this past week. And she is scheduled to get a first "phase" of braces on February 25th! She is both excited and nervous. Which is exactly how I feel about the bill. Kidding.... Elle also begins communicants class at church tonight. AND, we start renovation on the boys' bathroom this week!!

The check in the mail

Elle wasn't feeling that great after the Hoop Shoot last Sunday. She woke up with a low fever Monday so she went to school with me. I took her to the doctor that afternoon and she had strep! Steven stayed home with her Tuesday and she was feeling much better after a few doses of antibiotics.

I'm trying to be consistent with exercising again and I won't list my excuses for why it's hard to find time. But my little buddy, who I share my afternoons with, LOVES to exercise and encouraged me by doing an "Insanity" workout with me this week. Mommy was ready to quit half way in {and I did!}, but he kept going strong until the end. Granted, he doesn't quite do all the exercises the correct way which may contribute to his stamina to get through the whole thing. At least that's what I'm telling myself. And the carpeted living room floor is also not ideal for a workout. But now I'm listing my excuses....

 

My sweet aide at school has a daughter who has been in India for 2 years serving as a missionary to women and orphans. She comes home Tuesday!!! So last week, while Mrs. Beasley was out for a day at her home with flooring being installed and painters painting, the kids made a "Welcome Home" banner for her daughter. It's been sweet to see the Lord cultivate their hearts for her as we've prayed for her every school day this year. We can't wait for her to visit and tell us all about her time in India!

Saturday was so beautiful, we took the kids to Troy University here to check out the bike/walking trails behind the campus. It was so fun! It was a little challenging at times for Reese, who is still learning how to work the 'ole pedal brakes:).  It was a great trail, very woodsy but well maintained and not crowded at all. I'm sure we will be back for more trail rides!

The Lord did another one of His surprise provisions for us over the weekend. I remember I used to listen to Frank Barker tell incredible stories of how God would provide for their needs and I would be so encouraged but also convicted. Did I not have stories like that because I didn't have faith like that? But, the Lord has done some miraculous things for us over our almost 15 year journey together and they are things that must be written down so I don't forget His goodness and grace and mercy.

Our church does their financial pledging for the upcoming year in December so the members have the opportunity to commit in faith and the church can get an idea of the budget for the year. I knew God wanted us to increase our giving for the year and so I made the pledge in December honestly not knowing where it would come from. Yesterday I checked the mail, and there was a letter from our mortgage company. We had to do some adjusting to our budget last year because both our mortgages' monthly payments went up a considerable amount {we still rent our house in Calera}, and we had just signed a year lease, so we weren't able to increase the rent we were receiving. Anyway, I sat down to show the letter to Steven:

Steven: "Is that a bill?"

Me:  "Just hold on a second." {I was reading to make sure I understood the letter.}

Steven:  "You know a bill does not help me on a Sunday."

Me:  "Just hold on."

So I show him the letter and a huge smile spreads over his face. "What is this?" It was a check for an overage from our escrow from last year and our monthly payment would now be lower. The amount lower was almost the amount I had increased our monthly giving in pledge. Our tenants signed a new year long lease with an increase in rent that will make up the rest of the amount! Needless to say, I was greatly encouraged and humbled at how God chose to provide for us to be able to give what we said we'd give.

A little more "umph", a little less blurting

We made it through our first week back at school and in a routine. Grady was dressed and ready at 6:30 AM Tuesday morning. But I have to say, I would choose that option over having to wake him up and drag him out of bed. They kept those good attitudes all week, thankfully! Elle and Grady brought home report cards on Wednesday--all A's for both of them. Grady's report did have a "still needs to stop blurting out" from his music teacher. We're working on that self-control:). Reese occasionally grows a mustache while he's at school.

We spent Saturday morning at our friends' farm. Grady really enjoyed the fire {i.e. putting sticks in and catching the ends on fire and then not being aware of people as he slung lit sticks around}. He and Reese did help gather some kindling and took turns with Steven swinging the ax. We had an awesome brunch of pancakes, deer sausage, eggs, bacon, fire-percolated coffee and fruit. It ended up being a beautiful morning and not unbearably cold. 

I've started teaching the 3rd/4th grade Sunday School class this semester. Last Sunday was our first time to teach, but it kinda snuck up on me and I didn't have our lessons. So we had Krispy Kreme and played Bible Blurt. And I won them over:). We began today studying the gospel of John.  It's a fun group of boys and girls and I'm looking forward to this time with them, although I will miss the time with our SS class. But to everything there is a season!

After church and lunch at a Mexican place with the McClurkins, we all rode to my old high school for Elle to compete in the "Hoop Shoot" competition.  She won for her age group at her school and moved on to the city wide competition today.  This was one of those random things we didn't even know about. She doesn't even really shoot basketball that much. They were asked at school if they wanted to try and she did. We were proud of her for trying something different. She did not win today, but I think she had fun!

 

 Warm-Ups for the 8-9 year old girls

She had great form, just not enough "umph" to make it to the goal.

 

A New Year

We have enjoyed the first few days of 2015. Steven was able to take Friday off and so he had a four day weekend. As we were taking all our Christmas decorations down on the first, Steven made a passing comment about painting our living room {We've been in the house for 1 1/2 years and ALL of it needs repainting, but we've only done a couple of rooms so far...}. The next thing I knew, all the furniture was in the middle of the room, pictures and nails were off the walls, and he was taping the 36 window squares. 

So, we spent the second day of January painting. But we had some great helpers that only increased the paint time by a few hours:). Seriously, Reese is a hard worker and always wants to help us with whatever "work" we are doing around the house. Several weeks ago as he was recovering from the flu, he literally asked me if he could pick up pine cones in the yard. I had to make him stop and come in!

The second also brought about "second Christmas". We had a few presents that didn't make a December 25th arrival, so Elle got to open her gift.....

Good news is she's very excited. Bad news is, she had it for one day and then we had to take it to the shop. Only because she decided she DID want to play it left-handed, so Steven needed a little help with that process. We are looking forward to some great tunes on the mandolin! 

 

In other major news, and thanks to a big roll of bubble tape in the ole Christmas stocking, Grady learned how to blow a bubble. And cross his eyes. And look at the bubble he blew with his eyes crossed at the same time. Major talent here. And I think Reese is doing a headstand on the couch.

We ended the our Christmas vacation with a little bowling with friends. Who could all be siblings. Who I look at and think, who are you and what have you done with my babies? I'm back to school tomorrow for a teacher work day. Then all the kids come back on Tuesday. It's been a wonderful break!! Happy New Year!

Happy New Pets!

Elle won a goldfish several months ago at the National Peanut Festival. He came home in a little bag with a little tank and we prepped her for his certain short life span. I didn't invest much more than some goldfish flakes, some gravel and a small artificial plant for his tank. Speedy surprised us all and survived many more weeks than we anticipated. So for Christmas, Aunt Rhonda and Uncle Luke gave Elle a beautiful 3 gallon tank, complete with a pump and a heater. We invested in a little more gravel and set the tank up. It even has a light! 

As we prepared for Speedy's move to the penthouse, we thought he was nearing the end and we debated transferring him to the big tank. The knowledgeable sales associate at PetSmart assured us he was probably fine so we made the move. He died two days later...

I'm not sure if it's because we had prepared Elle so well, or that she doesn't have much compassion, but she was not greatly affected by Speedy's passing. We had a small service, similar to The Cosby Show's when Rudy's Lamont passed. And then Elle asked when we could go get a new fish.

We have a friend with a huge tank at his office and he begged us to get some from there. We went with the intention of getting three fish, one for each child {now that we had this penthouse tank!}. And we came home with 6 guppies and a snail.

I'm proud to introduce: Yellow, Mellow, Jello, Spotty, Q-bert, Charleston and Sticky!                                                 

Not that you can really see them but they are there and much more active than Speedy ever was! I never saw Speedy eat once and these guys swarm to my hand whenever I come close to the tank and they gobble those flakes in a matter of seconds. And just for the record, the breakdown is:

Elle: Yellow, Mellow, and Jello

Grady: Spotty and Sticky (the snail)

Reese: Q-bert (the biggest with a black spotted fan tail)

And Madison named the runt Charleston!