Family Movie Nights

It's been over a month since I've blogged, but I'm still here.  I don't know if I've ever gone that long since I started blogging 6.5 years ago.  I blame September.  And having 3 kids.  And 1st grade.  It's busy, y'all.  Too busy for us to be happy some days!  That's the real life truth, but who wants to read that on a family blog?  So, on to more fun things....

 

Disney Move Nights!  We leave for the airport to head to Disney World in 33 hours, but who's counting?  These two for sure!...

We started Family Movie Nights back in August to get us in the mood for the best vacation ever!  Hunter and Charlotte took turns picking the movies, and surprisingly, Hunter's first pick was Brave...

We just got it that same month and he says he likes the archery:)  We were even at Target the other day looking for a birthday gift for a friend, and Hunter lamented that he didn't have a bow and arrow and he needed the Merida one...even though Charlotte has the exact bow and arrow and NEVER plays with it, he wanted to buy that one because the one at home is not his.  And he needs one that's his.  Dream on, buddy because there's no way I'm buying 2 of the exact same toy....or steal your sister's from her toy box.  I'm sure she won't notice until the second she sees you playing with it and decides it's now her favorite toy of all time.  Ah, sisters:)

For Brave night, we made bear cupcakes as our treats...

Grey even watched part of the movie with us...

Not surprisingly, Charlotte's first pick was Tangled...

Our treats were rice krispie paint brushes...

Then, Hunter chose Finding Nemo...

Fish cupcakes...

And some more detailed ones...

Char's second choice was Sleeping Beauty...

This treat was kind of a pain.  We made fairy wands...

They were good, but I still have a battle scar on my finger from the terrible burn I got from the white chocolate that I ruined (hence, the milk chocolate that hides our sprinkles).

Hunter's next choice was Lilo and Stitch.  We made molten chocolate lava cakes, and I didn't think to take a picture until after we ate them...

I blame September.

Charlotte stuck with her princess theme and chose Jasmine, also known as Aladdin.  We made Abu cupcakes...

Then Hunter got to choose 2 in a row because of some DVR issues.  First was Peter Pan...

Our treat was chocolate SHIP cookie monsters with "pixie dust" (sprinkles)...

Then, The Incredibles...

with Frozone milk shakes...

Charlotte's last princess movie was Cinderella.  Just in time for fall!  We had pumpkin bread and candy corn pumpkins...

And this weekend, with a parenting win, James and I chose Pirates of the Caribbean.  Clearly, we didn't think this one out very well.  Just FYI, Pirates of the Caribbean is not age-appropriate for a 6 and 4 year old.  They didn't have nightmares afterward, so that was good.  We made these lame ships out of donuts and pretzels...

You can see the progression of my decline in preparedness and creativity over the course of our movie nights.  I blame September.  AKA, the busiest month ever for a mom with 3 part time jobs and 3 kids, one of which is a 1st grader, which in case you didn't know is much busier than Kindergarten and light years busier than those dream days back before real school started.

Life is busy, but it's fun, and we get to look at this cutie everyday...

Both of them;)

 

Here we come, Disney!!

First Day of 1st Grade

I don't know how it's possible, but my firstborn is already a first grader...

Wasn't I just holding his tiny newborn self for the very first time? 

And now he's a big brother to this big sister...

And finally a "grader" as he likes to call it...

Today was much easier than last year when I dropped him off at Kindergarten.  I didn't feel the tears welling up in my eyes and the lump forming in my throat as we walked into school...

And I didn't see the insecurity and fear of the unknown that I saw in his eyes last year as I walked him over to his desk. 

Somehow in just a short year he has transformed into this confident little boy who can walk right into class, pull out the pencils, and start drawing a water slide on his construction paper (and of course, narrate for us with every stroke)...

I pray that he can hold onto that confidence and self-worth, and as he goes along on this big first grade journey, I pray that he knows he is unconditionally loved for who he is...

Hot Fun in the Summertime!

Since we will be at Disney World on Fair Day, we decided to go to Summer Adventures in Fair Park last weekend to get our State Fair of Texas (as Hunter loves to call it!) fix.  We had several friends who had been and said it was a really great deal...just $14.95 for unlimited rides and games.  It was definitely a toned down version of the fair, but the kids had a blast!

 

They gave us all leis when we bought our tickets...

We headed straight for the bumper cars...

Charlotte decided she was "too scared" to ride at the last minute, so Hunter went alone...

It was really crowded in there!  I think Hunter got a little frustrated that some of the kids didn't realize how to move their car:)

Then we saw this haunted house ride that Charlotte was set on riding.  We asked her about a trillion times if she was sure she wanted to, and she was determined to do it...which is completely strange since the bumper cars had been too "scary" for her.

She surprised me and didn't chicken out, but didn't want to ride again when Hunter decided he wanted to go.

Several of our friends had the same idea as us that day!  We spent most of the day with Amelia and her mommy.  Amelia was exactly tall enough to ride most of the rides, but some of the operators said she was just under the line and made Kim ride with her...

Grey rode in the stroller without his infant carrier for the first time and did so well!  It gave me hope for Disney World...

That kid constantly has his fingers in his mouth!

We rode a couple more rides, and then I needed to go feed Grey, so everyone else got in line to do these trampolines...

Hunter had changed his mind by the time I got back, but the girls weren't done, so the boys and I went to ride the carousel...

Then the 3 bigs rode this kiddie coaster...

It was really hard to get good pictures of that one.  Clearly.

 

We found the Fawkes and had funnel cakes and lemonade with them, but I was so hot and sweaty by that point that pictures were the last thing on my mind:)

 

It was a super fun day!