RAMBLINGS OF A MIXED UP MAMA

This is the ongoing story of faith, love and family as we walk through this life with 3 sons, one daughter, one daughter in law and one grandson

Monday, July 26, 2010

Family Reunion Fun

This weekend found us lounging near the lakeshore for our annual family reunion camp-a-thon. McGyver and I were not able to join the festivities until late Friday evening due to some work commitments but the G-ma made sure that Dreamsicle had a full fun filled day with her second cousins. This year was particularly special as we were able to see one of our cousin's and her family who we haven't seen in years. She is the daughter of my sweet Aunt S and newly departed Uncle H. It was great to be able to catch up with them. They are a bit more refined than the rest of us so I think we may have given them fuel for conversation for a very long time. LOL. Saturday we honored Uncle H in a casual manner which I think he would have appreciated. We also held a babyshower for one of my cousin's daughters. She is a pretty cool chick and I can't wait to meet her sweet little boy when he makes his appearance this fall. As usual the weekend was filled with waaaaayyyyy to much good food and a whole lot of laughter. One of the things that I appreciate about my extended family so much is that there is rarely any drama. We are able to spend 3 days together and no one fights-imagine that! There were 3 little puppies added to the family this year so it was fun to see our German Shephard hide like a school girl from my cousin's daughters husky puppy but think she was all bad when she was near my other cousin's Shitzhu puppy. It was a great weekend and we are already looking forward to next years' outing.

Monday, July 19, 2010

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Girls Week!

We were pretty bummed that we had to bail on the first leg of our vacation (the Myrtle Beach meet with the rest of our adoption travel group) but boy did we have fun in Florida!
We ended up on the same flight down to Florida as our friends. 3 mamas and 3 daughters together for 6 days.
It all started a year ago when Miss Twinkle Toes and her dance team made it to nationals. She had asked if Dreamsicle and I would go watch her. We weren't able to make that trip but promised her that if her team ever made it to Nationals again that we would be there. Well guess what happened-they qualified this year and the competition just happened to be held at one of our favorite places on earth-Disney!
Much preparation and planning went into places to stay, things to see and it all paid off in the end.
Dreamsicle and I shared a room with one my besties-T and her adorable 15 year old-the Mollster. By the end of the trip Dreamsicle and the Mollster were thick as thieves. We were truly blessed to have such a cool teenager to spend time with. Every single day since we have been back Dreamsicle talks about the Mollster, has named a baby-doll, two stuffed animals and a purse after the Mollster.
We watched Twinkle Toes compete-she was amazing. She really did just glide across that stage-big old smile plastered on her sweet face the whole time. Her mama L is another of my real life besties.
We conquered Magic Kingdom and could have stayed on Its A Small World continuously if they would have let us since it was so cool in there. The Florida heat was incredible.
Animal Kingdom was incredible. We went on the safari and I took some amazing pictures. The giraffe was literally close enough that I could have reached out and pet it!
Hollywood Studios was a fast paced visit-we arrived late in the afternoon due to Twinkle Toes competition and the park closed early so we literally raced from one thing to another to see everything.
Epcot was an all day event. Dreamsicle filled up an entire autograph book with character signatures and photos. We did the Princess breakfast here and all of the girls enjoyed themselves. While visiting the Chinese Pavillion, Dreamsicle and I were looking at Chinese dolls and lo and behold there was a doll that was named Dreamsicle's middle name! Of course that dolly had to come home with us.
Dreamsicle visited the Bippity Bobbity Boutique and had a partial "princess experience" she had her hair done (complete with crown!), makeup and nails. She could have cared less about the whole hair thing but was beside herself with joy about getting her nails done!
It took us three days after getting home to recover and rest.
We are so glad that we were able to take this vacay and can't wait to do it again

Thursday, July 01, 2010

Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow

It is still a bit too early to say too much but trust me when I say that I am thanking the Lord for the many blessings he is bestowing upon us. We have been patient, we have trusted and we have believed that the silence we were experiencing was a not yet and not a no.
The not yet is just about over and I will be so happy when I can say more. If you have been one of our prayer warriors, thank you for lifting us up.

In news that I can speak about-U*Haul has been in the Navy a bit over 2 years and was just promoted to an E-5! Go U*Haul

Dreamsicle and I leave for the Mouse House tomorrow. We are both desperately in need of some mommy daughter time and can't wait to jump on that plane!

About Me

I am a Christian woman, the wife of an outdoorsman and mom to a computer loving twenty something guy, a Marine, a Sailor and a three year old Princess who rules the roost and has all of us wrapped around her little finger. Add into the mix a daughter in love and the cutest grandson in the world and you have our big old house of love