Saturday, October 25, 2008

Practice Trick or Treating!

The kids get to go trick or treating today at downtown Mt. Clemens! It's from 1:00 to 5:00 p.m. and all the stores d/t are giving out candy to the kids, along with story telling and Rosco the Clown performing. Should be pretty fun for the kids and a great practice session for them, lol. What I like about it is that it is during the day so you can see clearly! This is the first time the city is doing this, so it will be interesting to see how many people participate in this event. Daniel will go as Davy Jones, James will go as Jason and Elizabeth will be Cinderella.

The boys along with their Dad went ice skating last night. There was an open skate night from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. and Daniel wanted to practice his stopping before his next class. Perry said they did good, but that Daniel is still struggling with the stopping...poor kid. LOL! When they got home, you could tell they had fun though which is what really counts.

We had a great time Thursday at Mark Twain's Fall Fun Fest! The scaled the event down quite a bit with not as many activities and I noticed it wasn't as crowded as it normally is. We all got a hot dog, bag of chips, donut and apple cider as our meal. James' good friend Nick joined us and they all went on the Moon Walk twice, listened to a scary story, picked out their own pumpkins and decorated them, went on a large inflatable slide, and searched for candy in a pile of hay. We also all went on a hay ride that drove around the school's playground. The weather was gorgeous and we all really enjoyed ourselves. Perry and I picked out 2 more pumpkins on the way out, so we have a total of 5 small pumpkins to put out on our front yard for Halloween. I think they are baking pumpkins, so I will look into some recipes to see if I can make something yummy with them, too!

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

What's been going on...

Well, we have been busy getting back to normal after our fabulous Disney trip back in Sept. Hard to believe it was a month ago! It has been hard on Daniel getting caught up with missing school work, but I think he has finally done it. We seemed to have gotten our daily routines in order, even though it is hard on me getting up earlier in the mornings to get Daniel to Middle School. Ugh!
James is back to taking guitar lessons since he seems to have gotten more serious about playing. All summer long he was picking up his guitar and playing, which I was thrilled to see. I think it has helped a lot that he is now taking Concerta for his ADD. It helps him stay focused and not get distracted while he's playing. He's doing really good at it and I am so proud of him!

Daniel is now taking hockey lessons and is loving it! He is so into hockey right now and his dream is to be a goalie. He's only had two lessons so far, but I was surprised at how well he skated esp. since he hasn't ice skated since he was 4 or 5 years old! However, he loves to rollerblade and is really good at that...so I bet that helped him a lot with getting ice skates on since they are pretty similar. He told me the other day that he is dying for Sunday to come (lesson day!), LOL! Glad to see he found something he likes to do other than playing on the computer.

James is also taking a class one night a week after school that is a Science class. Dad and I heard about the class and thought he would LOVE it, so we signed him up. However, James wasn't as convinced about it as much as we were and complained about not wanting to do it. After the first night of class, he totally changed his mind and LOVES it! They are doing really cool and interesting experiments. The first class he learned about using batteries, tinfoil and small light bulbs and how you can make the light bulbs glow using just those three items! I am thrilled he is happy about the class now and excited for him at learning these cool hands on experiments.

One of these days I will get Elizabeth enrolled in a dance class. I think she would really enjoy that. We also need to get her into some swimming lessons, too! That is definitely something she needs to learn.

Tomorrow we will be going to James' school in the evening for their Fall Fun Fest! We go every year and have so much fun. There are all kinds of games for the kids to play to earn little trinkets and candy, there is a hay ride for all of us, we get a hot dog, donut and apple cider, plus the kids get to paint a pumpkin. The school always does a great job and I take tons of pictures to remember these moments to treasure them every year! I hope the weather will be nice like it has been!

Well, that is about it. Nothing else major is going on. Perry is home this week and it is looking hopeful that he will be home next week, too. Yeah! I can't wait for his new job responsibilities to start up, as that will mean a lot less travel which will be wonderful having him home with us.

Thursday, October 2, 2008

Give away by Centsible Mommy!

Check out this blog by Centsible Mommy: http://centsiblemommy.blogspot.com/2008/09/giveaway-keep-loved-ones-close-to-your.html . (Hope that link works!) She is hosting a give away on her blog for a lovely necklace with 2 little silver charms that you get to pick the names on them! Isn't that a nice thing to do?! Wouldn't it be cute to put your kid's names on them or maybe your name along with your spouse/friend!

What I like about her blog is that it is about her dedication to helping you find fabulous deals, stretch your dollars, and live large for less. That has been something I have gotten into the last couple months. I have learned so much about saving money using coupons and looking for deals. I have saved so much money by shopping at CVS, Walgreens, RiteAid, etc. that it boggles my mind! With today's state of the economy, we all need to start thinking of ways to save money and to get buy with a smaller budget!

So, please go check out her blog and see what she has to say and share! :)

Disney!!!

We had a fabulous trip to Disney World and were able to enjoy the Free Disney Dining Plan that they offer! We went from Friday, Sept. 12 thru Sunday, Sept. 21, which turned out to be a great time to go. Disney offered free dining from the last week of Aug. to Sept. 20 and you have to stay on Disney property for at least 3 days with a pkg. deal, but it is so worth it! Turns out it is their slow season which is why they offer it, so the parks were a lot less crowded which was great and then you saved a ton of money by not having to buy your meals!

We stayed at Port Orleans Riverside, which is our favorite place to stay, plus they are one of the few Disney resorts that can fit 5 people in a room (2 adults & 3 kids). Thankfully, the hurricanes stayed away and were not a problem for us at all. Plus, it only rained 2x...once after the fireworks were over at Epcot and the other a misty 5 min. rain with the sun shining at the Animal Kingdom.

We all had so much fun at all the parks and riding tons of rides, as well as getting lots of autographs from tons of characters. Elizabeth was even brave enough to ride Space Mountain, Everest and Tower of Terror! We also attended one of the Halloween Parties at the Magic Kingdom which was a first for us! The kids got to dress up in costumes and trick or treat throughout the park for yummy candies, plus certain rides were open as well as a special Halloween Parade and Fireworks. The park was closed to guests who did not have tickets to the event and was from 7:00 pm - 12:00 am. The Magic Kingdom looked fabulous dressed up in all the lovely Fall colors and decorations! Definitely a sight to see!

We had so much fun that we even signed up for Bounce Back...aka signed up for next year's trip including free dining, too!