once in a lifetime...

Here is where we slept on Thursday night:

We had the most unbelievable time! We had one day left on our Disney World passes, and Bart finally had a weekday off of work, so we drove to Orlando Thursday morning. We spent about an hour and a half at Epcot, then went to the Magic Kingdom. Well, we happened to be on the right ride at the right time, because we won the stay in Cinderella's Castle! We were in the afternoon parade, had VIP seating for both parades and the fireworks. We had dinner at Cinderella's Royal Table (which is usually booked months in advance, and very fancy.) We had breakfast with the characters from Winnie the Pooh. We had our own guide who got us onto any ride we wanted without waiting in line, and private sessions (with no waiting) with Mickey Mouse, Donald, Goofy and Pluto, and some of the princesses. We all got free tickets for the next day as well, so our one day trip turned into two of the most magical days we could ever dream of!
The suite itself was amazing! It looked like the inside of a castle, with amazing mosaic tile, gorgeous bedding, a mirror that was actually a TV, a huge jetted tub, I could go on and on. We weren't planning on the spending the night since it was just a day trip, so they bought us all new pajamas, and got us toothbrushes, deodorant, etc. so that we could spend the night. The boys got Mickey dolls, autograph books for the characters to sign, popcorn, candy, cookies, fruit, etc. There was an amazing white chocolate Cinderella's carriage and horses, filled with chocolate-covered strawberries. I'm sure I'm leaving out some amazing details, but there was just so much!
It was such a magical couple of days, and a memory that we will treasure as a family forever!

In the parade with Daisy

This was just outside the suite

Inside the suite

During our own private session with Mickey

We have lots more pictures I will post later, and if you want to know the whole story, call us. It was so unbelievable that we can't possibly post all of the details here!

Thank you Mickey!!

mickey mouse pancakes

In honor of the fact that we are going to Disney World in less than 3 days, we had Mickey Mouse pancakes for lunch today. I think anything would taste better shaped like Mickey!

Kade
Ky

easter fun!

We had such a great Easter. On Thursday we went to a little Easter party that my friend Sarah had for the little kids. Unfortunately I forgot my camera, so I have no pictures of all the fun. Saturday, we colored Easter Eggs. Kade and Ky had so much fun and thought each step was fascinating. Here they are showing off some of their masterpieces.

Kade
Ky

Then, after church on Sunday, the boys found eggs that the Easter Bunny hid outside.

Ky marvels at his treasures

Kade liked this football shaped egg.

Then, Sunday evening we went to my friend Sarah's house again to have Easter dinner with her and her family. There was so much delicious food, and we had such a great time. It was nice to spend Easter dinner with friends and their family since we don't have any family close. I had been trying to think of some way to make our Easter dinner special for the four of us, and this was definitely better than anything I had come up with.

happy st. patty's day!

We had a fun St. Patrick's day, wearing green, decorating with green and eating a very green dinner. The boys thought it was so funny that everything was green. We had green bread, green noodles, green alfredo sauce, green broccoli, green Jell-o with green whipped cream, and green limeade with a green sugar rim on the glasses. Then, for dessert, we had pretzels dipped in white chocolate with green sprinkles.


Kade really liked the green sugar rimmed glasses

Ky liked the green Jell-o

Eating a festive dinner



The boys made these chocolate-dipped pretzels by themselves, sprinkles and all. It was very fun to watch. I won't tell you which ones they licked before they put them down.

These fun lights turned out very pretty, and added a nice touch to our St. Patty's dinner! Thanks Martha!

Also, a very big HAPPY ANNIVERSARY to my parents who were married on St. Patrick's Day 30 years ago!

fun at disney

back in stock

I saw this shower curtain when we first moved to this apartment back in June. I knew it would go perfectly with our master bedroom set which is chocolate brown and turquise. But, at the time, we had already spent money on moving, and some other, more pressing apartment improvements for our new place. I couldn't stop thinking about it, so about a month after I saw it, I went back to buy one, and they were out of stock. I looked online, I looked at other locations, even ones out of state, and they were all sold out. I looked for months and finally gave up. Well, the other day, I was in my bathroom thinking about how perfectly this shower curtain would have looked, and I had a crazy thought...maybe I should look again to see if they were carrying this curtain again. Ta Da!! Now I love my bathroom, looking at my new shower curtain makes me happy. Then, yesterday I found these that would complete my bathroom perfectly. Check them out! Right now they are just on my wish list...

a new favorite meal

Last night for dinner, we tried a new recipe called, "Lime Butter Fish" that we got from Publix (the grocery store), and I am adding it to my "favorite recipes" list. It was delicious! And, it was really easy too--a good combination.

Bart also thought the lime butter sauce would be great on steak. I think we will have to try that next.

Here's the recipe:

1 1/2 lb tilapia (orange roughy or flounder) fillets (thawed, if needed)
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
1/2 teaspoon pepper,
tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
1 lime (for zest and juice, rinsed)
1 clove garlic, minced

Steps:
1. Preheat large sauté pan on medium-high 2–3 minutes. Season both sides of fish with 1/2 teaspoon of the salt and 1/4 teaspoon of the pepper (wash hands).
2. Place 1 tablespoon of the butter into pan; swirl to coat. Add fish (wash hands); cook 3–4 minutes on each side or until internal temperature reaches 145°F (or flesh is opaque and separates easily with a fork). Cook time may vary depending on the thickness of the fish.
3. Meanwhile, cut remaining 4 tablespoons of the butter into small pieces; place in small bowl to soften. Peel several strips of lime peel, without any white pith, with zester (or vegetable peeler). Chop finely for zest (1 tablespoon); add to butter. Finely mince the garlic and add to butter.
4. Stir remaining 1/4 teaspoon each of the salt and pepper into softened butter mixture until well blended; chill until ready to serve.
5. Squeeze juice of lime (1 tablespoon) over fish; remove fish from pan. Top fish with lime butter mixture and serve.

if you need a laugh today

My Grandma emailed me this video and I like to watch it when I need a laugh.

swimming again!

Some of our friends invited us to this super fun pool in the area. The boys had such a great time. Last year when we would go, the boys were really timid about getting in the water, and it would take about 20 minutes to convince them to put more than their big toe in the water. But, it has been about 4 months since we went swimming the last time, and I guess now they are older and braver, because they went right in, splashing and running!

Kade

Ky's silly face

Exploring

what i am doing tonight

I can't wait to watch American Idol tonight. For any of you who missed David Archuleta's performance last week, or for any of you who saw it, loved it, and want to watch it over and over like we have, here it is. Enjoy!