But We Got Cute Pictures!

We're headed to Disney World in the morning, so I thought I'd better get caught up here before the flood of trip pictures. We are so excited! This was sort of a spontaneously planned trip- Paul had a business trip to Disney, and we just decided that it would be fun for all of us to tag along. I mean, free hotel and a free plan ticket? No brainer. 

Last week was General Conference. I love that my kids love this time of year. They anticipate it with as much excitement as they do holidays. We got out our Conference board (which needs a facelift), our perler beads and a big fort. The house turned into one giant ball of chaos over the weekend, but for how much we all got out of it, it was worth it! 

A friend of mine invited us to go apple picking with her one day. Our four kids are almost the exact same ages, and Nora and Rose especially get along. The people who ran the farm must not see a lot of business, because they were incredibly friendly and helpful.

We got some beautiful mums for really cheap too while we were there. And then I bought some MASSIVE blue pottery-looking pots from Lowe's for $2.50 each to put them in. I wish I had a picture, but it's dark outside right now. I'm pretty proud of how I only spent $17 total on two mums and some pretty pots to put them in.  My doorway looks so cheery.

Also, we saw this miniature pony while we were there. It's funny, for as much as Lydia loves furry animals, she would not go near that horse. Too scary.

Speaking of Lydia, this is where she likes to do some light reading these days. Just to be clear, there is absolutely no potty training happening right now, but she loves pulling this out of the closet and sitting on it while reading our potty book. Certainly can't hurt!

I celebrated my 31st birthday this week! It was a pretty average day. Dentist for all the kids in the morning (which Nora had been anxiously anticipating, right along with Disney World. Seriously, she LOVES the dentist), playgroup mid-day, cleaning the house throughout the day, and cub scouts in the evening. We didn't really have time for a proper celebration. I think we'll make up for it this week, though! :) Here's the beautiful bouquet Paul brought home sitting on our brand new kitchen table! It's such an improvement from the old one we were using. I'll get a better picture of it eventually. 

Another thing we've been working on lately was planning my family's upcoming reunion. We have very diverse needs this year, so we were going to meet for a Google chat this past Saturday to nail out the details. I was on my way home to join in the chat when this happened...coming down a windy hill (which was deceptively dry, but slick from all the recent rain and the silt that was left behind), my car started spinning out, and I overcorrected, turning almost 180 degrees and sliding into a pole. I was lucky that no other cars were involved, I was fine, the car was fine other than a flat tire and an ugly dent, AND the police offered to waive a traffic report. Still, it was kind of lame to have to miss out on talking to my family that afternoon. 

I was glad it didn't take TOO long for the tow truck to finally show up, because we also had family pictures scheduled for that afternoon. We didn't get any great ones of the whole family, because of a certain almost-six-year-old who wasn't in a cooperative mood, but I think they captured us well. I give him a pass this time, only because I know for a fact that I was about his age when I ruined my family's pictures over an ugly dress that I did NOT want to wear. 

I sure love this family of mine. Our kitchen wall now has family pictures up over the table. I focused mostly on picking ones with me or Paul with each of the kids individually. They love it. And now we've got a bunch of new ones to add! Happy day!