Disney Bound!!!

4:15am is extremely early, but it's not so bad when the alarm clock song is "Zippity Doo Da"! Yep, that's right!! The Meisel gang is Disney World bound! We have been on the road for about an hour and a half and we just crossed the Louisiana border. One state down and four to go, and only one argument between Connor and Reagan so far. I might not need my happy pills after all. We were expecting the kids to sleep a while this morning, and Mason really did try, but Connor and Reagan had other ideas, so we watched the sunrise together. I told Reagan what my dad and mom told us when we took trips and left super early in the morning, "If you will be really quiet and not scare it away, the sun will wake up and you can watch it." Apparently, she wasn't too worried about scaring it because she just kept talking. Wonder where she gets that?!?




8:39am update: Reagan just broke the seal. Yep, she did it! She asked, "Are we there yet?" The next 10 hours should be interesting!!! Also, our friends, the Smiths, just returned from Disney and challenged us to a license plate war. Only 4 hours in and we already have 10 states...they are going down!!


3:48pm: We are now getting "are we there yet" about every ten minutes and the crazy traffic in the Mobile Bay tunnel almost made me share my happy pills with Richard, so I am pretty sure we will be looking for a hotel in the next few hours. WDW better really be "The Most Magical Place on Earth" because it's going to take it for this drive to be worth it! Oh and we have seen license plates from 22 states plus Canada and Mexico - we got this!!


4:45pm: Woohoo! We are in Florida. BTW - they have an amazing welcome center with free orange juice and a play area for the kids. I guess it does pay to visit a state who claims tourism as one of its main industries. Please don't judge the picture quality - I was in a time crunch and sadly left my big DSLR at home (Richard is extremely excited about that!) I did bring my new point and shoot but those pics will be shared when we get home.




















10:00pm - Settled in a hotel in Tallahassee. Tomorrow we finish the drive, check in to our condo, and get settled and organized to start six days of fun at Disney.

Bluebonnets are Here

I love this time of year. I love having more daylight in the evening. I love the feel of cold in the morning and hot in the afternoon. I love pulling out my summertime clothes and getting dressed each morning. I love SPRING. The best part of spring in Texas is bluebonnets. However, one year I will learn that no matter how many beautiful pictures I can take of other people's children in the bluebonnets, it just isn't in my cards to get one of mine. This morning we woke up and went to church (the kids were in good, clean clothes.) After church, we decided to try to get a few shots of them in the bluebonnets. We ran by the house, grabbed my camera, and bribed them with lunch as a reward for taking beautiful shots. I probably should have eaten a bite then. Anyone who knows me knows that not eating mixed with my hypoglycemia makes me a very cranky momma. Things were actually going pretty well until Reagan saw her first bug. From there things went drastically downhill. She wouldn't lay in the blubonnets of even put her hands on the ground. I pretty much just got pictures of her sitting there whining. Also, Connor has had several visits from the tooth fairy lately which means he didn't want to smile and show teeth. And throw the diva, Mason, who thinks he is God's gift to the camera. All together, that makes for one interesting photo shoot. By the time we got in the car, Richard was saying, "Really Emily? Really!" If you know him, you realize that is unlike his laid back personality. I did manage to get a few shots - which are here. The last picture is my absolute favorite - don't you agree?

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When Did I Get Old?

We are riding home from school this afternoon listening to my new favorite station on my Sirius radio, the 90s on 9, when the song Scrubs by TLC came on. I love that song. I can seriously remember riding around with friends singing it at the top of my lungs. So, of course, with every intention of embarrassing my children as much as possible, I begin to jam out to the song. You know you want to sing it in your head right now:

I don't want no scrub
a scrub is a guy who can't get no love from me
sitting on the passenger side
of his best friend's ride
trying to HOLLA at me!

So it gets to the holla part, and Mason says, "Why are guys hollering at her. Is she hard of hearing?" I realized I was old when it tried to explain the difference between "holler" and "holla" to my eleven year old!

2 Crock Pot Day

Today is pretty busy,so I put dinner in the crock pots. No...I haven't forgotten my grammar over spring break, the "s" on the end is correct, I am attempting a two crock meal. I have out standby favorite, Ro-tel Chicken, in one and a new recipe for Spanish rice in the other! Can't wait to see how this turns out!





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Working at the Carwash

Since I got a new car a few weeks ago, I can't stand for it to be dirty. It's really quite funny considering you had to dig your way into and out of my other car. Wonder how long this obsession with a clean car will last? Anyway, I have been spending way too many quarters at the carwash, so I decided to wash my car...the old-fashioned way, by hand. Luckily, I had my trusty assistant on hand to make it fun...since it definitely wasn't that productive. I remember washing my first truck at least once a week. I even used I use Turtle Wax and buff it by hand. Seriously, I used to enjoy that...glad to know it really is true that you outgrow some of the ways of your youth. Anyway...Reagan seems to really enjoy it...for all of three minutes...then she got bored and soaked herself in the water hose. Then she sat and watched me finish while enjoying a snack of Cheetos...and then she poured the left over Cheetos out on the wet concrete to feed the ants who she said looked hungry. Honestly, I would love to spend a few hours in her brain listening to how it works!









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Yum and Hum

I feel bad! I have a cough and woke up with a bad sore throat. But, it's spring break so I don't have to go to work and since we are sick of eating out, I decided to try baking potatoes in the crock pot.

First I washed and dried the potatoes and then I rubbed them with olive oil.


Then I rubbed them with salt! Here is where the hum comes in! I noticed that the olive oil and salt mixed together felt just like my $20 Instant Manicure I buy from Beauticontrol. I am definitely going to start using this instead - cha-ching!


Then I wrapped it in foil and put it in the crock pot. I have been told that it is a huge mistake to add water, so I didn't. But I seriously thought about it because I love to do what I am told not to do just so I can see what will happen!


They are suppose to cook on low for eight hours or so.


Then...since I had already started with my homemade manicure concoction, I finished the job!


And eight hours later, they came out just right! Topped with butter,cheese, sour cream, bacon bits, and fajita meat - really good! And we had left over guacamole and chips from LaUnica. Yummy!!!



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I Live in Micah's Truck

I know it's been a while since I have posted...we have been really busy! But this one was too good not to share.

We finally closed on our house, so for the moment we are staying in my cousin's camper behind my mom. It is a really nice camper that is brand new (thanks to Mark and Candi for trusting us enough to let us use it!) Reagan, for some reason, calls it Micah's truck. Seriously...at bedtime, she says it's time to go sleep in Micah's truck.

So, this morning, a mom walks into daycare (which thankfully Candi owns) and says to Candi, "Did you know Reagan's family was sleeping in a truck? Can't we find them some help somewhere to get them a home?"

Of course Candi burst out laughing and explained to the mom what was going on. It seems Reagan asked her son if he wanted to spend the night with her and sleep in the truck. That was one close call away from having a CPS investigation!

We really need to find a house...SOON!