...fluorescent wheelchair...

i had to add this photo of a guy we saw at epcot last night. he had fluorescent canisters in various colors on his wheelchair. quite sporty in my opinion. i actually considered asking him to take me for a spin, but thought better and decided not to.

..."just another day...

without you..." croons jon secada as i pogo (yes, literally POGO) up to the front of his concert at epcot tonight, right next to alot of boring old people resting on amphitheatre benches between imbibing on various foods and wines at the epcot food and wine festival. do you even remember jon secada??? after a bet with steve, i decided to humiliate myself by running up to the stage like a desperate fan, screaming and jumping, and waiting for him to grab my hand and sing to me. yes, i was the ONLY ONE not sleeping on a bench. and yes, i'm embarassed and proud at the same time. the non negotiable of the entire thing was that steve would be snapping photos to document my humiliation. and guess what--- he got NO PHOTOS of this. i can't even believe it. he owes me BIG TIME.
it was a really great date night. we were obnoxious at times, and it was nice. i miss those days of silliness. too often life distracts us from joy and laughter in the daily grind, but tonight was different. and i feel refreshed.

...these are days...

so yesterday was halloween. the weather cooperated and it ended up being crisp and cool (relatively speaking). we decided that we would church hop for "trunk or treat." (trunk or treat is when cars line up in a parking lot and open their trunks for kids to trick or treat out of-- this is new to us!) anna katherine has nightmares on occasion, so we figured that we would be safe from scary stuff in church parking lots. i was actually very surprised to see several cars with lit up skulls and the like. (geez, you can't avoid it.) we left our church taking away two HUGE pumpkin bags full of candy, and planned to head to a friend's church for another trunk party but our plans were altered when we found out they ran out of candy.
we headed home, and decided to take the girls for a jaunt around the block. We avoided the scary homes for all of our sakes, and enjoyed walking together as a family. it was great to run into neighborhood friends out and about, and we loved watching our girls run with excitement to each home. as natalie merchant sings so well--
"These are days you’ll remember
Never before and never since, I promise
Will the whole world be warm as this
And as you feel it,
You’ll know it’s true
That you are blessed and lucky
It’s true that you
Are touched by something
That will grow and bloom in you"

uga wesley reunion

steve and i just returned from an extended weekend away in athens, georgia. a group of wesley alum from the years tom tanner served as director met up for a weekend of refreshing. most of the couples are in full-time ministry, so it was a great time of sharing stories and life with each other. i made some new friends, and hung out with some old ones. it was particularly wonderful for steve to be able to see friends from over the years. the girls stayed with steve's parents, and we drove to marietta on sunday to see my mom. we returned to orlando last night to welcome a broken air conditioner and a huge plumbing leak in the kitchen... back to real life...

ouch.... this smile hurts...

ok, so i can't resist posting some photos of anna katherine's new fake smile. (click on them to get a better view of what i'm talking about.) these were all taken this weekend- notice the same smile in each photo.. i'm praying our family photos for the christmas card aren't affected by her new grin...

p.s. my mom is selling these pups (golden doodle doodles) if you want one
p.p.s. if anyone has figured out how to help kids smile normally, please let me know the trick!

...dreams really do come true...

or so they say and sing... ALOT... at disney. here are some photos from friday's adventure. it was a long and fabulous day, with a heat index of 94 degrees. (HELLO, it's late OCTOBER). the girls had tons of fun. we arrived around noon, and didn't leave the park until 9:30pm. we ate junk food and played hard. i'm always surprised at how wiped out i feel after disney- it doesn't even make sense. after 10 hours on friday, two days later i'm still feeling like i've been hit by a train. maybe it's because i'm getting older (yikes). regardless, fun was had by all.

we're here!
we love each other and pooh! (at least today)
standing in line at the pooh ride
peeking out of 100 acre woods home
whoohoo! on the barnstormer rollercoaster
playing at tom sawyer island
anna katherine and her skills
steve at tom sawyer island, content but tired
sacked out after a LONG day

blogspot peeps

i'm so annoyed... blogger hasn't been letting me upload photos for the past week. i don't know how (unless it was Divine Intervention) that i was actual able to upload the photos in the last post. no luck today again.. anyone else having these issues??

once we get some resolution to this issue, you fortunate pups will be able to view fabulous photos from the magic kingdom, where dreams really do come true.
so stand by...

...smiles...

i thought i would post a few photos of the girls taken over the last several weeks. they're cute, aren't they?? :)
we are heading to disney world tomorrow for the day, and i can't even begin to express how excited the girls are~ princesses, mickey and minnie, and pooh. but mainly the princesses. we've been counting down the days for a week and a half! so today was a great day to bribe them into good behavior (i know, i know) with it being the day before the big adventure. they were in bed by 7pm tonight :) we have 2 wesley friends who work there, and they are getting us in for free, which makes it even more exciting. yippee!

...heart...

anna katherine had quite a long time out in her room today (after stabbing a hole in the back of our leather couch), and after she came out she approached me about a new decision she had made. "mom, i want to change my name... to HEART." what?? i wasn't sure i had heard her correctly. "what did you say?" she repeated it again. "i want to change my name to HEART." that's what i thought she had said... why, i asked her. "because i like hearts. i like to draw hearts." hmmmm. that makes sense, i suppose. she does like hearts and she definitely loves to draw hearts. then i thought to myself-- maybe i should change my name to BLUE MOON... :)

...tooting my own horn...

ok, so you know those rare occasions when you are really proud of yourself? when you accomplish something others don't, or achieve a difficult goal you've set for yourself? well, today is one of those days for me. blow the shofar!
i've lost 21.6 pounds in the past 4 months, and as of today i am now a lifetime member at weight watchers. my goal was actually 19 pounds, and i did it! yippee!
i set a goal and relied on the spirit of self-discipline which God placed within me (2 timothy 1:7) to do it. there were many, many, MANY days i said NO to instant gratification, and kept my eye on the prize. the last four months have been void of lots of various comfort foods, and i've learned to choose healthy foods instead. and i've learned portion control and moderation. boy have i ever. i've begun exercising consistently in the early morning, which has benefited me physically and spiritually. those early morning jogs/walks are treasured time in my schedule to worship and pray!
anyway, i can do anything. and so can you. just believe in yourself and the power of self-discipline and control that has been placed within you. thanks for letting me brag on myself. love to all of you!