I MISS MY SIS....

How do you entertain a five year old, who is desperately missing his big sister, and who still has two weeks left before his preschool starts?? You let him watch Charlie bit my finger, the remix, from YouTube over and over!!

10 reasons why.....

Don't get me wrong. We loved most of the things about our trip to Disney however after visiting both Disney and Adventureland within 2 months of each other I feel qualified to make the following declaration.

TOP TEN REASONS WHY ADVENTURELAND IS BETTER THAN DISNEY WORLD

10. Even though neither the seniors running the rides at Adventureland nor the people running the rides at Disney seem happy in their jobs, at least the seniors occasionally will give you a smile.

9. At Adventureland you can bend over to tie your shoes laces without the fear of being trampled by thousands of crazed Mickey fans, many of whom are driving motorized carts and pushing strollers.

8. You don't have to take out a second mortgage to buy a meal at Adventureland.

7. After feeding your kids frozen lemonade and soft pretzels for 3 days at Disney (due to huge crowds at all the real food stands), they don't even ask to have either at Adventureland. In fact, I believe I saw a look of terror cross their faces when we passed the frozen lemonade stand.

6. At Adventureland the longest line we stood in was 10 minutes. At Disney World it was 2 hours.

5. At Disney World walking was like swimming upstream. (It reminded me of when my parents and I were at the Mall of America the day it opened....with 1 million other people!) At Adventureland we didn't have to worry about rubbing up against and sweating on strangers all day. We could actually move freely about. Even wave our arms if we wanted to!!

4. At Adventureland we could actually get a picture taken with a character. (Never mind that it was a mangy dog.)

3. Disney World 96 degrees, 100% humidity. Adventureland 80 degrees, 100% humidity.

2. At Adventureland I didn't have to worry about Sam getting into any fights with Europeans who, at Disney, were constantly cutting in the front of every line.

And the number one difference why Adventureland is better than Disney World.......

About $3,000 big ones!!

IS SHE WAVING??

Today we were driving home from our afternoon's activity. I was kind of spacing off thinking about what I was going to cook for dinner and thinking about calling Sam. We came up to a stoplight and I had to push on the brakes a little harder than usual to stop in time. It was not a big deal, I was just going a little faster than I thought. I didn't think anything of it and continued daydreaming. Meanwhile the car in front of me pulled up a little and I pulled up a little too. They did it again and I (totally subconsciously) did it again too. That's when I saw it. A little birdie waving to me from the lady's hand in the little white car in front of me. WHAT? Sometimes you receive the three finger salute because of something you know you have done but when it comes unexpected as this was, I found it SHOCKING. (Claremarie said, "Look mommy she's giving you the peace sign." Not sure why she thinks that but very thankful I didn't have to explain it to her!) Being the recovering people pleaser that I am I really just wanted to chase after her and ask her why she was so upset with me. For two obvious reasons I didn't but I will probably be obsessing about it all night wondering why!!

A SURREAL EXPERIENCE

Do you remember that scene in Steel Magnolias where M'Lynn (Sally Field) says it was her highest honor to be there when her daughter was born and it was her highest honor to be there when she died? Well, that didn't happen to me (thank goodness) but an experience I had tonight reminded me of that scene.

We stopped in to see my Grandma tonight. Last weekend was her big 90th birthday celebration/family reunion. It was a busy time with so many people around complete with the fire alarms going off in the nursing home when the candles were lighted. (Yes there were 90 and no we didn't think that was cruel. It is called FUN people!!) We just wanted to check in and see if she had recuperated from the big event. We got there about 7:45 pm and she was already in bed. (Seriously?! Don't even get me started on that!) I asked her if she was recovered from the party and she said, "I could go for another one! That was fun!" Too cute.

Get to the point you say....OK. As we were talking to Grandma she untucked herself so she could hold our hands and such, so as we were leaving I gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and as the last one left in the room I told her I would tuck her back in. (I know her children have done this but I never have.) It was just such an odd experience that I'm not sure how to even describe it. (If I were a real writer I would develop this thought into some deep life application. Oh well....) Here I am, the granddaughter that was tucked in lovingly, many times by her grandmother, now having the privilege of gently tucking her in. So awesome that I get to do this for her and yet so bittersweet.......

CAMDEN-ISMS

In honor of Camden's 5th birthday (as of 7:46am), here are his latest funnies......

As we were discussing his birth this morning he said, "I bet your tummy was really big when I was in there. I sure can imagine how that must of felt." No son you really can't!!

As I was trying to get him bed the other night, at 10pm he said, "When I have kids I'm never going to make them go to bed." Get back to me on that one when you have kids and are counting down the minutes until bedtime!!

As we were walking through the toy aisle in the store the other day and he asked if I would buy him something and I said no he said, "Please mom, I'm seduced by the fun." First of all good usage of the word and secondly where did you learn that word?

As we were finishing up supper last night, "Can I have some more food? I'm like Shaggy and Scooby. My tummy is never full." And so it begins.

As he was examining the billfold that Grandma and Grandpa brought him from TN and seeing there was a dollar in it, "I'm going to buy me a wife with that!" Probably going to take a lot more than a dollar!!

Happy Birthday Sweetie!! Thanks for making us laugh!

HAVE YOUR CAKE AND EAT IT TOO

The last three hours of my time have been spent making frosting, coloring it, and decorating a Spiderman cake for Camden's birthday tomorrow. I'm by no means an expert cake decorator but I enjoy making cakes for my kids. This cake turned out reasonably well and I finished it before midnight so end of story right??

After I decorate my cakes I put them in the oven (if I'm not going to be using it!). That way they don't dry out and I don't have to cover them with anything. I told Sam that I was putting it in there and he said, "That's definitely the safest place for a cake in this house." I believe that was a sarcastic comment on my refusal to cook much during the summer. Oh who am I kidding....I don't cook too much anytime!! Anyway, I tucked the cake all safe and sound in the oven, thinking about how excited Camden would be to see it in the morning, and then moved onto my next task. Sam and I were discussing the fact that Camden asked if he could have cake for breakfast. Usually we let our kids eat cake the morning of their birthday. (Judge if you want to but birthdays only come once a year!!) We both agreed that it would be nice for him to have some cake for breakfast, however, that meant I had to mix up cupcakes because this cake is for his party. So, you can probably see where this story is going, I turn the oven on to preheat and begin mixing up the cupcakes not even remembering that barely 5 minutes earlier I put the cake in the oven. (Sam also didn't realize what was happening since he made no move to stop me.) When the timer dinged to tell me the oven was heated, a switch went off in my brain, "NO!!" I started screaming for Sam (he had gone to bed). He thought I cut off my finger (because so often you use a knife when baking cupcakes). I retrieved the cake and surveyed the damage. The frosting got pretty hard because most of the shortening melted out of it. It is definitely not perfect but it is salvageable for looks. It probably will not be edible but I just don't have time to bake and decorate another one so if you come to Camden's party, take a picture of the cake but if I were you I would eat a cupcake.

(Before on the left. After on the right.)

I'VE SEEN INTO THE FUTURE

This morning as Camden was eating breakfast, he stood up on the chair and said, "I have an announcement. Since it is so close to my birthday how about we just say I am 5." We laughed at him and his dramatics and jokingly said no, no, no. Behind the laughs as I turned away, tears quickly filled my eyes and my heart screamed NO. He doesn't understand how every year older he gets means that it is that much harder for me to pull him on my lap and cuddle with him. He doesn't understand that this is his last year before school, the last year that I will have him mostly to myself before I hand him over to other people who will lead him through most of his waking hours. He doesn't understand that with every birthday he gets closer to the time when he leaves his mom for another woman who will fill his heart.

I absolutely lose it every time I watch the scene in Father of the Bride where Steve Martin is playing basketball with his daughter and in one shot she is big and then in the next shot she is little. When Camden made his big announcement this morning, in my mind's eye I actually had the reverse experience. (I really did....I'm not just saying that for dramatic blogging....It was weird!) I pictured him growing up into the man I hope he will one day become. I could actually see him sitting at our table as a teen and as an adult. It took me a few blinks and shakes of my head to remember that for now he is still mine to love and cuddle and nurture.

For once reality was much better than the dream!!