DISNEYLAND

I just love Disneyland! I could go every year and still love it. We spent 3 days there and it never seems to be enough. We started off our stay with a visit to Goofy's Kitchen. For those of you have never gone, it's a must. The kids love eating the fun foods they have, but the character visits are the real reason. Each night there are different characters there, and they each pay a visit to your table sometime during dinner. The night we were there it was Goofy, Chip & Dale, Cinderella and Gepetto. This is always one of the highlights of the trip and a great way to kick off our Disney vacation.

Usually, we stay right across the street and I love being so close. But as our family has grown, we've needed more room and connecting rooms isn't always guaranteed, so we tried something new. We stayed at the Hampton Inn in Garden Grove and used the shuttles. It was great! The shuttle was easy and dropped us off right at the gate. The room/hotel was so nice and new, not like all the older ones surrounding Disneyland. We had a kitchen, family room and free yummy breakfast. I don't know that I'll ever go back. The kids had so much fun. Dave even got into the Disney madness, suggesting that we all get a hat. Dave wore his the entire time! The boys couldn't get enough of Star Tours, Space Mountain, and the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. Davis really enjoyed the roller coasters. Seth, who isn't so fond of them, even started wanting his turn by the last day.The girls loved Small World and the Teacups. They were in heaven wearing their princess dresses and seeing Sleeping Beauty's castle.Sia and one of her friends were there one day and they went on the teacups with us and hung out for a little bit. Tiara thought she was just as big as Sia and Hailey. McCall wasn't so fond of the dark rides. She never cried or complained, but as soon as it got dark, she would cover her eyes until the end. It was so stinkin' cute and so much like her. She never really complains about much, she just makes adjustments so that she can deal with whatever bugs her. Spencer scored and ran into his friend Hunter. It was pretty fun for him to see someone he knew at Disneyland.
We all had so much fun. It was so nice to take a break as a family and have some fun. It's so easy to get caught up in normal life and a busy schedule and forget what it's all about. Vacations are always such nice ways to remind us of why we are really here and to build those family bonds. The kids all enjoyed each other's company and took good care of each other. As hard as it's been to have 5 kids so close, I love how they are all friends as well as siblings.

Thanks to Grandma Carol and Grandpa Howard who helped make this trip possible with their generous Christmas gift!

California

Lucky me!! I told Dave I wanted to take the kids to Disneyland for my birthday and he happily agreed that a trip was a great present! (Of course he did, he got to go too!) As we tried to schedule the trip around baseball the best we could, we ended up having to come home just before my birthday, which, if I could do over I would change. I guess I wasn't thinking through how much laudry I would be doing on my birthday and how not fun it would be. Oh well, at least the trip was a total blast! The kids were the best little travellers. We drove down and back, straight through with only 2 episodes of whining. Yes, it's true, my kids are the best! Oh, and the fact that we have a DVD player in the car had nothing to do with that...haha! We met Jackson in St. George for breakfast on Friday. He was down there with the Slammers for a tournament and our original plan was to go to a game, but the schedule didn't work out for us to work it in. Dave was really bummed, but at least he has another tournament in Vegas in 2 weeks that we are taking him to, so he'll get his fill that weekend! We got to California around dinner time and met up with Alan and McKenzie. Alan decided to take a mini vacation with his girls and stayed in Carlsbad with us for the weekend. We all went to Legoland on Saturday and Uncle Forrest and Aunt Nancy dediced to join us for the fun. We all had a blast and it was so fun to be there with them. McCall took an instant liking to Aunt Nancy. She was happy to hang out with her and be her "ride buddy".Tiara fell in love with Uncle Forrest, even playing with his hair while up on his shoulders.She also made a new friend in McKenzie. She loves having friends to play with and getting to go to Legoland with one of them was a real treat.Sunday, we went to see Dodger Stadium, visit Grandma Dot's grave and show the kids the Hollywood sign. It was a good way to spend a Sunday on vacation.

Ugghh!!!

Where has the time gone? This month has been so incredibly busy that the last thing on my mind is to blog. I'll try and catch up as best as I can, but I'm sure things will be left out. Spencer had a piano recital on March 5th and did a great job. I could tell he was a little nervous, but her did great. Here's a clip of his performance...

Draft Day was March 7th. I spent all day there trying to learn the computer program that the league uses so that I can take over registration next year. I think it'll be okay, but I really need to play around with the program before next season so that I know what I'm doing. It was very interesting to see how the draft goes. Some coaches are a little over the top and one coach was even found cheating!! I know, it's little league, but to some this is serious business. Dave played Mr. Mom all day running kids everywhere. Spencer was drafted to the Dodgers, Seth to the White Sox (with Dave as his coach), and Davis and Tiara will be on the Yankees (again with Dave as their coach). If you'd like to follow their seasons, you can go to http://www.binghambaseball.net/ and follow the action. As a side note, Dave is the webmaster, so you can notice his fine work!

The kids have been off track the past 3 weeks and it has been so nice!!! No waking up early, no homework and we can stay up late! The only down side of that is that I have been incredibly tired. My thyroid levels are low and they've upped my meds and I've started taking iron pills, but I still can't get it together. I want to nap every day which makes it hard to get much done and then I stay up late with Dave, making the whole thing worse. I feel like I can never catch up. Last week we took a trip to California in which I got no sleep. There were just too many things to do each day to waste it away with sleep. The kids go back on track tomorrow and I'm really not looking forward to having homework again. The only good part is that I don't have to take 5 kids with me everywhere I go and maybe I can get a little more accomplished during the day. I'm thinkin' big!

High School Musical 3 - Preschool Edition

We rented HSM 3 last weekend and the kids loved it. I think they watched it 4 times in one day and just couldn't get enough. Even McCall would stand in front of the TV and sing the songs. Tiara thought it was just the coolest thing that one of the girls is named Tiara. She and Davis go all over the house singing the songs, so I thought I'd share them with you. I meant to get Davis singing the basketball song, but forgot before I put him to bed. Enjoy the show!

Dragging

Yep, that's what I'm doing. Some days are just so hard to get moving. Well, let's just admit it, a lot of days are like that. I'm sure it has nothing to do with the fact that I never go to bed before 11:00. That I would rather stay up and watch a movie or play cards with my addicting husband than sleep. *sigh* But some mornings I have to reconsider my choices the previous night. Wouldn't I be better off getting enough sleep and feeling alive in the morning? Maybe, but I choose to ignore that. Stupid? Maybe...maybe not. Because the time I get so spend with him is priceless. After we get all the kids finally tucked in for the night, and after countless drinks of water, potty breaks, hugs and whatever else they seem to dream up to get out of bed, I want some grown up time. It seems that we go through our days and spend all our time and energy doing everything else in life. Only having 1 hour a day for each other isn't enough.

But I digress...

As I'm dragging myself to get anything done today, I can't help but wonder what it will be like when the kids are all gone. Will I be bored? Will we still stay up too late or will we hit the hay by 10? How much can I accomplish each day when I'm not chasing after kids, cleaning up their messes, and running them around? It seems that day will never come. And come it will. Probably way faster than I really want. But, oh, won't it be nice??

So I sit here with kids running around, still in my pajamas, and wishing I could go back to bed. Can't I just sleep while someone exercises for me, gets Tiara ready for school, works on my scrapbooks and cleans my house? But, sadly, I must do all of that myself. Not so glamorous of a life, but the life I chose. My bright spot? Tiara just told me I'm beautiful!

Some People

Some people just drive me crazy, make me mad, and just generally are stupid. I'll never understand how they can call themselves good parents, friends, whatever and actually believe that it's true. Are they seriously blind to the fact that they do NONE of what the say? Or have they just convinced themselves that the rules only apply to everyone else, not them?

Some people:

• say one thing and do the opposite. Profess to value something/someone then never act that way.
• expect that everyone else is placed on Earth to serve them and take care of their responsiblities for them.
• will say one thing, then turn around and say the opposite behind your back. (Exactly what is the truth? They probably don't even know!)
• have to control everyone around them...what they do, say, think, or who they can be friends with.
• have no business being parents. As much as they say their kids come #1, they never show it. Kids are the trophies they show off, not real people with real needs!
• think it's everyone else's job. Whatever it is, someone else needs to do it.

If you believe that you might be one of these people, you probably aren't, for these people don't think they have any problems. I'm sure they wonder why other people are so irritated with them, because they don't have any problems. Now, heaven knows, I am far from perfect and I have many flaws that I am constantly trying to improve upon. But the fact that I'm trying says a lot. If you can recognize that you have some faults and keep trying to improve, rest assured, you ARE NOT one of these people. To those of you that have to deal with "some people", you are saints and deserve a place in heaven with those "some people" serving you for eternity!!!

Can you say...GIRLY???

Tiara's new room is pretty much done, with the exception of a few things on the walls and, oh my gosh, it's definitely pink!!! I let her choose the bedding and then we went from there. She was very particular about what colors she wanted it painted. I just hope she still likes it as she gets older. I feel like I'm inside a carton of neopolitan ice cream when I go in, but it's exactly what she wanted and who am I to mess with the princess?? It is a very fun and happy room and you can't help but smile...it's pink!! Hopefully now with the girls separated, the rooms can stay a little more organized. We'll see...

This girl is so whooped! She honestly thinks that she is Daddy's only sweetheart and he thinks about nothing but her! Boy, someday reality is going to hit her hard! She goes to sleep every night looking at the picture of her and Daddy that she carefully positioned on her nightstand so that he could watch her sleep. Serious crush!!