Birthday Selfishness?

I had an epiphany last night. I was resting in bed, ready to head off to dreamland when all of sudden I blurted out to hubby, "I think I'm going to take myself to Disney World for my birthday this year." Crickets. So I said it again. And he replied, "You mean just you & me?" And I said, "No, just me alone. Remember, you said you didn't want to go back after our last visit."

So, the question is, would it be selfish (and really strange) of me to drive 8 hours to Orlando to spend a few days at the happiest place on earth for my birthday this year? And yes, I'm talking all by myself. Going to the parks that I want to visit, the stores I want to stroll around in, the attractions that I want to see and the rides that I want to ride. Complete control over the whole trip!

I've already registered my birthday with Disney for their free admission promotion, so now I'm off to see how much this little dream might actually cost to make happen. It might end up as only a dream when it's all said and done, but it sure is fun considering it!

The real question here is would my kids ever forgive me if I ran off to see Mickey Mouse without them?

The Waiting Game

There have been many moments in my life that I have eagerly anticipated throughout the years.

The first kiss.

Getting my driver's license.

Graduating high school & college.

Getting married.

Having babies.

Waiting for the acceptance letter from preschool.

SCREEEEECH. Stop the bus. Yes, you read that last one correctly.

Hubby & I are currently chewing our fingernails waiting for February 2nd, which is the first possible day that we will find out if Big A has gotten into a new preschool program in our city. It's VERY hard to get into and we know that we're #19 on the waiting list. The unknown variable here is how many spots will be open to pull from the waiting list when the time comes.

"Why?" you ask are we doing this? Here's the simple answer. The public schools in this area are AWFUL. Since we're not financially equipped to send our kids to private school, we are trying desperately to get her into the only public school in the county that I think is great. (And it IS great!) However, it's a magnet school and they take zoned kids first, teacher kids second, kids from their 1 year preschool program third and then any remaining slots are filled by lottery. We don't live in the zone, I'm not going to become a teacher and I've never won ANYTHING in a lottery situation. So, we're going with the preschool option. And if we get Big A in, then Little A is grandfathered in. Woo hoo!!

So, cross your fingers for us in the next few weeks that we get some great news from this school. If not, I'm probably going to have to put a new hat on my already full rack: Homeschool Teacher. Heaven help me.

Queen of the Dance

I got some bad news last week.

I had put Little A on a waiting list for a Mommy & Me dance class at Big A's dance school, several months ago. While we were Big A's class last week, the scheduling manager notified me that the class was finally going to happen. I was so excited!

Little A has desperately wanted to go to her own dance class for a while now, so this was a great opportunity. That is, until I found out one little detail.

At the end of the semester in May, there is a big recital that Big A is VERY excited about performing in. Each class puts on an adorable costume and performs a song in front of the crowd. I couldn't wait for the recital until the lady informed me that Little A & I would now be performing in it. Huh?!?!?!?!

Frankly, the thought of me trying to squeeze into some silly dance leotard/costume is just more than I can bear to think of at the moment. Much less getting on stage and dancing around in front of a couple hundred people that I don't know. Oh, this is SO NOT HAPPENING.

Stay tuned for this ongoing saga. Let's see if I actually end up going through with it. Hubby has already assured me that he will secure front row seats and a tripod for our video camera if I do end up in this show.

Micromanaging Kids Crafts

While my brother & his wife were in town for the holidays, they brought the girls some gifts from their most recent travel excursion...Iceland. Yes, those crazy kids went to Iceland during Winter. But that's a blog post for another day.

One of the gifts they gave them was ceramic piggy banks that they can paint and personalize. Perfect! Both my girls love to paint and this was a great bonding project for their uncle & aunt.

Here's my brother helping Big A get this project started

And here's my sis-in-law helping Little A


Big A doesn't like much direction when it comes to art, so she had a good pairing with my brother. He doesn't micromanage, thankfully.

Little A doesn't like direction either, but she's a bit more easygoing. She was off and running with her favorite color...BLUE!

Big A changes her favorite color everyday, so it was no surprise that she utilized every color in the paint set

I love this picture because of the whole tongue hanging out cuteness. She made this funny sound with her mouth the ENTIRE time she painted. We were all laughing hysterically by the end.

And here we have Little A's finished project. It's very her.

And here's Big A's work of art. Again, it's very her.

I baked the pigs in the oven for 10 minutes to make the paint jobs permanent and now both are in their new homes on each girl's shelf. And I'm proud to report that each pig's belly is getting full as both of my girls are good savers so far. Yay!

Monday Morning Eye Candy

Good morning devoted Eye Candy viewers! Sorry I'm running a bit late today. Yesterday was very busy and I finally enjoyed an evening of not working or being on the computer. It was delightful! Shannon had a wonderful idea of doing a recap of last night's Golden Globes (which I faithfully watched), but I had already started this entry, so that will be next week's theme. Thanks girlfriend! I did steal one of her idea's from that lineup though. You guys enjoy!

Dan Wheldon - I'm not a fan of Indy Car racing, but I spotted this guy last week on a tv show and my heart skipped a beat.

Chris Pine - For all you trekkies out there, you are probably well aware that this is the new Captain Kirk in the movie that's coming out soon. He's pretty cute. I might have to check out my first Star Trek anything now.

Jared Leto - I've heard this guy's name for years but had never seen any of his movies. Hubby & I stumbled upon one that he made in 1996 and I'm totally enamored now. It's the eyes. Swoon!

That's this week's batch of cuties! Have a great Monday everyone!

Spot's Sunday Entertainment Roundup

The Movie Roundup

Moving - This Richard Pryor classic gives new meaning to the terms "bad day" as well as "neighbor from hell". And it's freakin' hilarious!

The Dark Knight - Oh my, Christian Bale never looked so good. And for the guys, there's lots of action and things blowing up. Two thumbs up on this one.

Reign Over Me - I've been avoiding this movie for months because of the subject matter. After realizing that it's been on my DVR since August, I sucked it up. I love Don Cheadle. He's such a great actor. Adam Sandler gives a GREAT performance as a 9/11 widower who has completely lost his way. Overall, it was a pretty decent movie, but it moved too slow. They could cut out 30 minutes of material and I wouldn't have missed it.



The T.V. Roundup

Confessions of a Teen Idol - VH1 has reached epic proportion with really crappy programming in the last few years. You might think this would dissuade me from watching their newest offering. You would be wrong. This show has gathered 7 former "teen idols" who want to be back in the spotlight. It's tragic and yet, I watched the whole episode and created a series record on my DVR. Now THAT'S tragic. Sigh.

Spectacle: Elvis Costello with... - I love music. All kinds of music. My iPod is a discombobulated mess of bluegrass, pop, classical, kids, movie soundtracks, country and everything in between. Which is why I knew I would love this show. It appears on the Sundance Channel and it's a "talk" show of sorts. Elvis Costello hosts the show in a theater and has a different guest musician on each week. The guests talk about their history in music and there are always performances. It's a fabulous show. So far, I've only seen the eppys with Elton John and The Police as guests, but I'm looking forward to going back and watching his shows with Lou Reed and Tony Bennett and his upcoming show with Rufus Wainwright.

Holiday Recap ~ Part 3

I promise, this is the last set of Christmas photos. And this is the longest entry of the 3. So, let's get this show on the road.

We ended up back at my parents house on Christmas night because my brother & his wife flew into town that afternoon. After a huge and yummy dinner, we raided the living room, so the assault on the rest of the presents could begin. The kids were chomping at the bit because by this time, they were well versed on this whole present opening thing. They were like vultures circling their next meal.

Big A is showing off a couple of Little A's presents. Don't those red socks compliment her outfit? She requested Hello Kitty stuff this year and Santa left her those socks in her stocking. She wore them the whole day.

Grandaddy assists Little A in opening one of her gifts. More tiny furniture for her dollhouse. Yippee.

I'm laughing because Little A has been asking for a football for months. She carried that thing around most of the night. And still plays with it almost every day.

Here she is playing with her Uncle (my brother) and having a ball! No pun intended.

Big A loves animals and really loved Little A's new dollhouse. So, she got a family of critters also who can "visit" Little A's dollhouse on occasion.

My brother and sis-in-law are a very interesting couple. They couldn't imagine anything worse than the vacation that we took to Disney and were very glad that they weren't invited. It's for that reason that I took a lot of delight in the gifts that my parents got for them. First we had the super-sized coffee mugs. These smiles are completely painted on. They complained for the next 3 days about how much they hated their gifts.

And then hubby & I took a lot of delight in the matching Mickey Mouse shirts that they opened. Ha ha ha! Again, they hated them, but they at least faked smiles for the camera. I should've insisted that they leave the shirts for hubby & I. Later this year, I should be able to fit into one of them. Hmm....

As the night came to an end, Big A gathered her family of bunnies and was ready to lead us home. It was a very busy few days.

A couple of days later, my father-in-law came into town to bring, yet more gifts, to these children who are in toy overload by now.

Big A, the pro gift opener, dives in first. It's a Cabbage Patch Kid! Oh, the memories of when I got my first CPK.

Little A was ecstatic to open a package of baby doll accessories. I didn't think I would ever get this swing put together.

And then to convert the thing to a high chair...somebody get me a glass of wine please. I'm OVER putting toys together.

We all had a great visit and Big A enjoyed a snuggle on the couch to wrap up the day.

It was a really great Christmas full of wonderful visits with friends and family! Now, let's put this one in the books and move on to our next holiday...Valentine's Day! Good thing that we've got a month until that one.