Day 3 {Animal Kingdom & Epcot}

Here we are about to board the Safari ride.... My parents joined us at Disney but my dad was doing his own thing while this pic was taken.

Love this and have no idea what Jonas was thinking/doing..... there were quite a bit of dino stuff at this park so maybe he was imitating a dino???

This is Bree who lives in Orlando and met us for the day. She and I met at JCJC back in 1999 and was also a bridesmaid in our wedding. It was sooooo good to see her!

Jonas at a playground.

Bree, mom, and I snuck off to ride while Jason watched the kids on the playground. Here we are in the middle of the ride.

The Lion King show which is also a fav!

Something new for us to see was the Finding Nemo show. It was also a fav and probably the best attraction we did at Animal Kingdom. Took many pics, but here is a neat one.

SuSu and Reese on a dino ride!

And to end our time at Animal Kingdom, a little nap for the princess.

Animal Kingdom closes at 5 everyday so we headed to Epcot afterwards. We actually didn't do much at Epcot besides have dinner, ride the Lil Mermaid, and look at an amazing aquarium.

Day 2 {Hollywood Studios}

I really didn't want to do seperate days as posts, but it is so much easier. If you start at the bottom post of our Disney vaca, it will flow better and make more sense.

The next set of pics are not in order. Actually they are backwards.

We did character dining on night 2 at Chef Mickey's and we met Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Goofy, and Donald Duck. The way this works at character dining, is one character comes to your table at a time. Every table in the restaurant sees/meets each charcter. It works really well that way!

And even though Jonas is not smiling here, he LOVED mtg all of them. When choosing pics, they are small on my comp and I am not able to make out faces. I bet I took 50 pics in just this meal.

(Part of the Toy Story ride)

This might look like an ordinary Potato Head, but he talked and moved. I heart him. He was able to see us in line and would talk to us, make jokes, wave, etc. The kids were sooo fascinated! As so was I!!!! If he spoke to you and you didn't acknowledge him, he would say, "You in the red shirt" which I thought was so cool.

Remember those details I told you about.... well this is a Toy Story ride that is fairly new. We waited 80 minutes to ride it because all the fast passes were given out for the DAY. Yeah. But it was fine because the details of just waiting in line were VERY impressive. Of course I took more pics, but only shared a couple with you.

Meeting Woody and Buzz, which is Jonas' FAVORITE characters. He was all over this!!!!

Meeting Lightening McQueen and Tomater.

The grin is priceless.

The Incredibles. One of the first Disney movies we introduced to the kids.

This was in the playground, Honey I Shrunk the Kids.

And meeting Donald and Daisy (which was the first thing we did on this day). One good thing to say about Hollywood Studios, is there are MANY character greetings.

Disney {the "magical" vacation}

Here we go! I have hesitated writing this post for several reasons......

1. We did a lot and I wont be able to post every detail.

2. I am indecisive anway, and it's hard for me to choose what to put on here.

3. I took right at 500 pictures in 4 days, and again too many choices.

4. Let's be honest- it wasn't an easy trip so I have needed a couple of weeks to truly process what all we did and how "worth it" it really was

5. Don't mistaken me, it was totally WORTH going, but some things were harder to deal with than others.

6. I really don't want to be negative, but I feel myself leaning that way as I read back over what I have written thus far.

7. I made a list while we were there of tips, observations, advice, etc. I will share that as well.

Let's look at a couple of pics to start with.....

Our first real picture right when we arrived to Magic Kingdom (Day 1)
It's a classic picture that is timeless whether you go in the 80's, 90's or today. I think at this point, I was way more thrilled to be there than the kids. It's just the beginning of our "magical" vacation.

Fireworks are at 8pm daily and they truly are amazing. Reese discovered Tinker Bell during this and hasn't stopped talking about her since. Reese is obsessed with some TB now. Love that! And that IS something that makes the vacation magical. That is something that I won't ever see again because the next time we go, it is very likely that she will know those characters are actually in costume.

(I know the pic is sideways) Yet another really fun thing about Disney is how they cater to DETAIL. And I do love me some details! The waffle was delicious AND they made mini ones for the kids.

Character dining is a must, especially if you have a dining plan. A DINING PLAN is a must too. Very easy to work with and just one less stresser to deal with when everyone is cranky and ready to eat. Reservations are necessary for character dining and any other sit-down meal.

First night ended with meeting Winnie the Pooh, Eyore, and Piglet. My kids havent been exposed to much of Pooh and they were still enlightened at meeting them. The character greetings and dinings were in my top 5 of favorites!!!!

Vacation is almost here {Disney}

The plan is to leave this week headed to Disney World. The kids are SOOOOOOO excited as they are just getting into the characters. We have been thinking about a trip to Disney for the last 6 mths, but didn't book it until the beginning of Dec. Our kiddos don't watch much TV, so we have been introducing characters each month. I don't think Reese is familiar with a single princess, but she knows about princesses in general. Of course their favorite is Toy Story because it's the latest one that has been introduced.

I am not crazy about posting 3 times in one day as I prefer to spread them out. Christmas is on my mom's camera and it will probably be another 2 wks before it gets on here. I wanted to get a couple of things posted before we left. Look forward to reading your posts about your holiday!

Girls Weekend {Cooking School}

You gotta love weekend get-aways, but you can't get it any better spending it with a girlfriend that you love and adore. Meet Marie, but most of you already know her ;). We have been friends since 1999 and we thought we deserved to break away from everyday life and spend some time together. We booked our weekend in Greenwood, MS where the Viking School is located. If you haven't done a cooking class or spa treatment, book your weekend NOW. It's tucked away in this small town on a street filled with Mississippi southern charm! There is not much else there, so a weekend is plenty!
We went to the "Casual Holiday Cocktail Buffet" class on Saturday night from 6-9.

The class max is 12 people. They split you in 2 groups with name tags and you get to know one another over wine, cheese, and fruit. You are placed in your stations where you have the entire kitchen to work with. It's laid back and care-free and so much fun. The ingredients are already measured and all you do is dump, stir, chop, bake, etc. You make one item at a time and the chef guides you on all the steps. Plus, you get the recipes and directions on how to make all the dishes. Well, let me just tell you what we cooked up!

tiny turkey burgers

smoked ahi tuna dip

beef tenderloin with gorgonzola on black pepper croutouns

mini chocolate peanut butter mousse pies with bruleed bananas

These were already made:

cranberry "ketchup"

sesame pita chips

rosemary maple candied nuts

And our bonus recipe:

Santa Baby Cocktails

Here are some of our new friends:

The other group:

those mini mousse pies which were my fav!!!!!!

And our finale...... and it really is hard to take pics of food where they look appetizing.

Jonas' Birthday {December 22}

We started the morning at a local donut shop with chocolate covered donuts, donut holes, and chocolate milk. His bday hat was made by a special lady that Jonas LOVES, Mrs. Tasha, his speech therapist.

Jonas and Reese chowing down on their sugared treats!

After taking Reese to school, Jonas spent the day with SuSu and his momma!

We had lunch at the Purple Cow!

I really loved his birthday hat and made him wear it lots that day ;)

They brought him chocolate icecream with sprinkles and Jonas got a little shy at first.

After lunch, we went and saw Tangled, which was Jonas' 2nd time to see it. It's a great movie and one that we will purchase!

That evening, I cooked his favorite meal: mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, butter peas, and chicken strips. Here is Reese with Jonas' candle..... but I cant remember what that is stacked up on the plate. Cookies??? Yes, it's M&M cookies that were freshly baked. YUM!

Jonas' birthday gifts from us, SuSu & Poppa, Nana & Pops, and Gma Dor.

So excited about Toy Story!

It was a great day and I am glad I was able to spend it with him. Thank you for the calls, cards, gifts and LOVE for Jonas!!!

Questions that Jonas answered-

What is your favorite color? blue and yellow

Who is your best friend? Elliott and Ted

What is your favorite movie? Toy Story, the new one

Where is your favorite place to go? Disney World (even though we don't leave until Wed)

What do you like to play with? Woody and Buzz

What is your favorite thing to do at home? Play games on the telephone

What else can you tell me? I like chapstick.

Do you like Reese? nodded head :)

What happens when you get in trouble? I get a spanking.

What is your favorite food? chicken and macaroni and catsup

"And I like to go to school."

Wishing you.....

a wonderful Christmas with your family and friends.

photography by Paige Mobbs

Celebrating {A Whole Hand}

Today is this guy's 5th birthday! It is really hard to believe. As I write this a little after 1am, I can remember 5 years ago just getting to the hospital around midnight to start my induction. He arrived about 16 hrs afterwards and it has been a blessing to have Jonas in our lives. There is more to say about our love for him and I will write another entry about what we have planned for his special day. Wanted you to know that the next 24 hrs is all about this cute dude, our son, grandson, brother, friend, child of God, that we call Jonas.


Happy Birthday sweet boy!!! And by the way, he is soooooo excited to be 5!

Jump Fun {december festivities}

In the mall, you can get connected to bungees and jump real high! The kids decided they would try it out. Here is Reese getting connected...

And Reese jumping high...

Jonas' turn...

Jonas jumping high...

And then it was daddy's turn......

I know the pic is blurry, but Jason and Reese were going at the same time...