Ok so being a full time college student with 3 full time kids is crazy. Life has been so hectic, and with the semester finally winding down I have just a few weeks to breathe in life before we start all again in January.

Updates on family are as follows:

Chelsea is now officially a driver. Yep watch out world this girl got her permit. Makes me feel so old to have a child old enough to drive.

Lucas and Mia are both doing great... growing so tall and are both doing great in school. Lucas is still a Star Wars fanatic and his newest pastime is playing Force Unleashed on the Wii with his dad.

Mia has lost both her front teeth and is so cute i just wanna squeeze her. She has a birthday on the 14th and will be 8. Hard to believe she is already turning 8, next thing you know she will be driving too.

Tom is doing good, staying busy like crazy with work, and remodeling projects around our house and mom and dad's house too.

School is going great for me. Managed to finish out the semester with all sense intact and good grades to boot.

We got new family pics made last month thanks to my sweet friend Stephanie, who I bribed with baked goods for a little camera time.

Looking forward to the upcoming Christmas season, when we can all spend some time around the tree, with a fire in the fireplace. Watching Christmas movies, baking cookies and just generally having a good time celebrating. Hope you all (3 who read this) have a lovely Holiday season filled with blessings!

First Day of School 2010

I just gotta say, it has been a good summer, but in all honesty I am glad for school to be starting...

I like the smell of new school supplies, new shoes and peanut butter in lunchboxes.

I like the routine of getting up and getting chores done before and after school again. I like homework in all its ups and downs and fall football just around the corner. Don't get me wrong, I miss the kids being home all day... (who am I kidding haha) no not really, it is nice for a break, and my house stays a bit cleaner, I enjoy their company more when I don't have to spend every waking moment getting on to them for bickering and tearing down my house.

I don't think that makes me a bad mom, I mean its not like I kicked them outta the van and took off tires sqealing or anything, I DID walk them to their class lines and said goodbye then ran like crazy... JUST KIDDING.

They allowed me to take one quick pic... and as cute as the 8th grader looked she allowed a mini shoot in the pretty morning light just for mom... here you go...

nine months really? really?!

NINE MONTHS?! seriously folks, sorry i mean i could have grown a whole human in that amount of time... but I didn't HA

life is insane, busy, hectic, 3 kids going 3 directions, parents both working like crazy and time just flies by tooo fast!

so as of last update, I joined the facebook wagon which is part of my non-blogging reason, I mean it is just so easy post a note and a picture and done... so no big updates here. BUT i will keep this up at least for my own journaling reminders if nothing else!

We finished Luc's room and he LOVES it... the hanging airplanes were my genius!! his room is soooo cooool! gotta get curtains made for his window and his closet, but it is done....

we also have done our bedroom!! the house is now CARPET FREE!!! PRAISE HEAVEN! seriously i love love my wood floors, so you get pics of the new bedroom too... since then we have hung curtains...lol

hmmm having a junior high student has been fun, we have had volleyball, basketball tryouts (did not make team) cheer tryouts (did not make team) and a boyfriend and we had all that without drama! really no major drama... the lil boyfriend is sweet and as of last thurs has been hanging around for 8 months which is like EPIC in junior high years... HAHA they are just more friends than anything and like to play wii and xbox and shoot his airsoft guns at each other... fun times!

the 9 year old boy is losing all his baby teeth and looks like a snaggletooth monster, braces are definitely in the future for him...poor kid. He is loving school, riding his bike and playing the wii are his all time favorite things to do.

Miss Mia is getting bigger and bigger, learning to ride a bike without her trainers is her biggest accomplishment of the school year and she is quite proud of herself.

We celebrated our 10 year anniversary in October by going to San Antonio... such a beautiful city, we had a wonderful time!! Discovered the best guacamole on the planet... learned how to make it!!

Tom is working like crazy been building websites all winter and is having a much needed breather from that.

I am working, and have gone back to school at night this semester to finish my degree, i am a junior so it is only about 18 months worth of schooling and i will be done. this fall i will be back on a full time school schedule and not working so hopefully things will be a little more normal than they have been since january while working, managing home and night classes. yeah not fun. but so worth it in the end.

which brings us to now... getting ready for school to be over in a month, planning a fun summer, going back to the beach in june... (hey i know you have been reading about the last trip for the last nine months, so what?!)

Beach Bums

So we are back, sunburned (actually peeling at this point) sand in all our luggage, and really tired, but so happy to be home

We had a great time at Dauphin Island, Alabama! We camped in the pop-up for 5 days and enjoyed the sun, and surf and lots and lots of sand!

The kids really loved it and can't wait to go back to the beach, they asked can we do this every summer... and Tom looked at me and i looked at him and we both shrugged and said I guess so!

Tho next time i think we will drive about an hour longer and get to the pretty water, since Dauphin is in the gulf... the water is brown and muddy looking like at Galveston.... not pretty like at Destin. So... next summer, beach bums will head out again and hit the waves ... i can see a tradition in the making!

It actually was a pretty affordable trip, with us camping and all, i mean our biggest expense was just the gas going and coming, cuz i packed food, and we grocery shopped once we got there for each nights dinner, so it was not an overly expensive trip very do-able each year...

now mind you all we did was the beach, and we treated to sno cones each day, ate ONE really good seafood meal and went to the aquarium one day. so not a lot of "extras" but still a really fun time relaxing and reading and bulding sand castles which is exactly what we were going for.

One of the favorites from the week was at night we would get flashlights and head down to the beach to chase the ghost crabs, the kids thought this was the best! also they kept finding little hermit crabs in the surf, and made a house for them, but we let them go the next day, they wanted to bring one home but i said NO WAY!

here's some pics from our week: and some new family pics i need to edit and get framed!

home improvement 101

We are in full home improvement mode, starting with cleaning out of every room, declutter and got rid of all the stuff we had accumulated over the years, had a HUGE yard sale a couple weekends ago, made enough money to buy the wood flooring for the kids bedrooms....

next we moved on to Mia's room, where we scraped the popcorn ceilings, painted the walls, laid wood floors, and then put it all back together again... the result is a very cute room and a very happy little girl!

next up is the beach, next week we are leaving for vacation!!! YAY! can't wait, i would leave today if possible. we have a whole lot of nothing planned, just playing in the sand, building sand castles, jumping waves, chasing crabs, looking for shells, good books, picnics and lots of sunscreen! our goal is TOTAL relaxation and take it easy kind of vacation, NO running all over creation, just us, just the biggest sandbox ever and hopefully warm weather, sunshine and nice breezes!

when we get back we get to start on Luc's room, we are not painting this time, just ceilings and floors, and putting up chair rail and crown moulding in his room. Papa is building a new bunk bed, with a desk on the underside, and luc is really excited about that.

summer is flying by, and i can't believe this year is 1/2 over. We are gonna be celebrating Chelsea's birthday on the beach, with a special gift from mom and dad to commemmorate her 13th year and the beginning of teen and grown-upness she is quickly approaching.

other than home improvement, our jobs are both going well, Tom is keeping busy building websites on the side, and i am keeping busy well keeping busy.. haha

so sorry for the boring play by play of our life, but really we have not had any thing too interesting going on, except home makeovers... which we are just beginning, and will post pix as we progress!

hope y'all are having a great summer with lots of popsicles, lightening bugs and pool time!

since disney...

so now that all that disney stuff is journaled about... since then we have been just busy living life
As my friend, Rhonda says " I've been too busy living life to blog about it!" and that is so very true!

Really life is just quiet and normal around here...
January and February we had lots of yucky noses, coughs and the typical winter crud. Lots of family dinners by the fireplace, marshmallows and popcorn with movie nights.
March and April looking forward to spring, getting the "fix it" bug around the house, anxious to get started as soon as the weather gets nice again. Planting our garden and enjoying the increasing sunshine and warmer weather.
The kids are all doing great in school, it is winding down, and they are ready for summer break.

My little Jr High wanna be is trying out for the track team (SHE IS FAST!) and we went last night to pick out her instrument for band (the trombone haha HELP US)! Jr High is fast approaching and we are picking classes, talking about sports choices and all those things mom is just not ready to face yet. she is also a professional texter... i swear the kid could text in her sleep!
Mia has really enjoyed her Kindergarten year, and is such a great reader, we are really proud of her for all her hard work.
Lucas is doing really well too. He is excelling in all his classes and continues to grow into a very sweet young man.

Tom and I are coming up on our 10 yr anniversary, planning a big trip somewhere, location still to be decided, but we are so happy and in love, neither will make a decision cuz it does not matter where we go as long as we go together!

We are planning a summer trip to the beach in June. The kids have talked so much about the 3 hours we spent at the beach, more even than Disney, and they have begged to go back, so we decided that we would take them back for a week long vacation and they are so excited. If you play the stock market, now would be a good idea to invest in companies that supply sunscreen because these WHITEYS are heading to the sand and surf. haha We are gonna be camping in the pop-up, 300 yards from the beach, which should be interesting at the very least. But we are really looking forward to it!

other than that, life is busy, normal, and wonderfully blessed!

i am such a terrible blogger!

and to leave all of my loyal (2) readers hanging about the remainder of our Disney trip was just unforgivable!

ok so i know you have been waiting, refreshing, and waiting some more. so here you go! (haha)

Days 3 and 4 Disney:

Magic Kingdom. Well named, it is magical in every way, right down to the sidewalks. Every detail, every flower arrangement, music, people singing and dancing in the streets, it was just amazing, It truly is one of the happiest places on earth, everyone is happy, well except the 2 yr olds about naptime, but besides that, really everyone is so nice.

We started day 3 December 30th, bright and early, stroller loaded down, and headed into the park. We made it down main street, stopped in a few shops, listened to a sidewalk quartet all dressed in Christmas best, and then made our way to the center hub. We had a stop off at the Chapeaux, to get our Mickey ears, watched the marching bands perform, and saw Pinocchio from a distance.

We made our way towards the Castle. OH MY GOODNESS!!! The kids were bouncing up and down, especially Mia who thought she was gonna meet a princess (yep but later) at the castle, had to stop and get a quick photo op at the castle, then made our way all the way down to the court. We got there just in time for the start of a stage show, where ALL the main characters performed... AND 3 of the Princesses!!! Mia was beside herself. Daddy put her on his shoulders so she could see better, and Mom snapped away with the camera!

Next we headed to the left to Liberty Square took in some sights and ran thru to Frontier Land. We got on Splash Mountain pretty quickly followed by Big Thunder Mtn Railroad. We stopped for lunch at Tom Sawyers Island, and explored a bit around that, caves, little hideouts and such, the kids really enjoyed this quiet spot to play.

After lunch we headed back across to do The Haunted Mansion and then on to some of the other attractions on that side of the park, lots and lots of rides that day, none too big or scary, and we all had a great time. We got to see the Christmas Parade in Frontier land, front row seats... all the characters were in this one too. Santa came towards the end and actually called out from his perch Merry Christmas "Chelsea Lucas and Amelia" the kids were all amazed that he knew their names, while the grownups shared a giggle (they had name shirts on), but it was magical for them, and we did not ruin the magic, altho Chelsea figured it out pretty quickly she was kind to keep that to herself.

We ended the night early, we took the train back around to main street and planned to leave by 4pm, but we ended up getting out by about 5:30, still a nice early day.

Day 4 Magic Kindom New Year's Eve countdown... 16 hours til midnight....

So the plan for the day was to go early, leave around lunchtime and then come back around 6pm and stay til midnight. That was the plan. It was a great plan. We did not pack a stroller, we did not pack snacks, we did not plan to stay past lunchtime.

Head into the park, first thing in the morning, we headed over to Fantasy land where we got in line for Princess Greeting, while the boys and chelsea headed over to Space Mtn. We waited in line about an hour, but it was so worth it. MIA got to meet Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty and Belle all in one fell swoop. The look on her face was just priceless, worth every penny we spent getting there. Mimi got us tickets for Peter Pan, then we headed to see Ariel while the others stood in line for Dumbo. Got Ariel, rode Dumbo, then Peter Pan, then a whole bunch of other things in a row...... we found out about 11am while standing in line for something... that the park was closed.

There were 80 THOUSAND people in Magic Kingdom, it was at capacity and they are not letting anyone else in. So after a quick conference, we decided that if we left we would most likely not get back in that night to see the big celebration. So we headed off to find lunch, and then spent the rest of the afternoon leisurely enjoying the sites on that side of the park. I have to say the kids were amazingly NON whiney even without the stroller, they did just great.

countdown... 8 hours to go...

About 4pm, we headed back to the castle, found a spot on the sidewalk in front of the castle, spread out beach towels and camped out... there were many people finding similar spots and doing the same thing. we had a great couple of familes around us, and towards show times random people would try to crowd in, but the security made them leave and told them that we had chosen to stay there all afternoon and they would not allow anyone to come crowd us out.

So we had front row seats for marching bands, christmas parade, Spectromagic Parade, all the castle court shows and such thru the evening.

About every 30-45 minutes there was a show or parade, so we were entertained and sitting after 4 days was pretty nice. Somebody went for dinner, then the magic started about dark... first with the Spectromagic parade, then with the Wishes show where Cinderella comes and makes a wish and they light the castle. Now we did not see this the night before because we left early, so this was the most amazing show! They lit that castle up from top to bottom with crystal icicle lights, and i have to be honest i cried... i just cried like a baby, it was so pretty and my kids were so amazed and it was really very magical to them. I took so many pictures of that castle it is just crazy!!

Then radio Disney started broadcasting and it was just a big street party only with out the drunks.... people were singing the songs, and dancing... Chelsea did the cuban shuffle and some other things they learned at school with Lucas on main st in front of the castle, even Tom got in on the fun... Mia passed out after the 2nd Spectromagic parade... and slept all thru this part, we woke her up just before midnight, and the HUGEST fireworks show i have ever seen...

who says white boys can't dance?!

Earlier in the day Disney was handing out black top hats and noisemakers for the big party, so we all donned our gear and got ready for the countdown... IT WAS SOOOO MUCH FUN!!! 80000 people blowing their horns, yelling Happy New Year, fireworks, kisses, lots of hugs and laughter. fun i tell you. Then came the grand finale... and we gathered up all our stuff and made a mass exodus down main street all joined together like a train. it was NUTS getting out of there, but we did not lose anyone and ended our Disney days with a big celebration.

We decided we had to come back... again... when Chelsea is a Senior we are planning another trip... only maybe not at new years, but it was one to be remembered for sure.