What We've Been Up To

Hello, friends and family!  Spring has officially arrived in Southeast Georgia and we are enjoying lots of sun and warmth!  The girls had a 5-day break from school over President's Day weekend, so we took the opportunity to:

at Disney World!  It was a kind-of spur of the moment trip and I had already planned to run a 5K in Brunswick with my friend, Beth, on that Saturday morning.  Beth and I went up to Brunswick early on Saturday, ran the race, then headed back home.  So we left for Orlando late morning on Saturday.  We stayed at the Hampton Inn in Kissimmee (we love Hilton points!) on Saturday and Sunday nights.   After checking into our hotel room on Saturday afternoon, we headed over to Disney to meet Uncle Steve and pick up our tickets.  Then we went to Downtown Disney and ate at Raglan Road, our favorite restaurant there.  We spent Sunday morning at Epcot.  We rode Spaceship Earth and Journey Into Imagination (with Figgy).  Stephen and Mary Grace rode Soaring.  Elsie isn't tall enough yet so she and I rode another ride while they were on that.  Mary Grace loved Soaring.  She said it's her favorite ride!  Elsie loved the ride that she and I went on.  It took us through the gardens at Disney and showed all of the yummy vegetables that they grow.  They use hydroponics and grow things above ground.  Very interesting.
We also saw Captain Eo and took a walk through the countries, stopping for a show in USA and to do a Mission with Captain Impossible.  After that, we took the monorail to Magic Kingdom.  We did the standard things there: Small World, Peter Pan, Philharmagic, Pirates of the Caribbean, and People Mover.  They have closed SO MANY rides and attractions in Fantasy Land, so there wasn't much to do there.  The entire Toon Town is gone, along with Barnstormer.  It's really kind of sad because the entire rear section of Fantasy Land is just one big brown fence.  But, it will all be worth it in 2012 when the new rides open.  They are putting in a Beauty and the Beast restaurant and are building Eric's Castle, which will be very exciting for a little Ariel fan I know!  We saw the parade then headed back to the hotel.
On Sunday, we went back to Downtown Disney to eat lunch at Raglan Road and to let the girls get a souvenir.  We also had their silhouettes done again while we were there.  Here are some more Disney photos:

At Downtown Disney

With some fairies at Epcot

Getting the assignment

Mission accomplished!

At Downtown Disney

Downtown Disney

Elsie

Little Elsie joined me at work on Wednesday. She had her 4-year-old check up on Tuesday and had to get three shots. She woke up with a fever on Wednesday morning. I sent her to school thinking she would improve but she didn't so they called me to come pick her up. I brought her back to work with me and she was so good the entire day. She watched a little TV, colored, and played Starfall on my iPhone and on my computer at work. She didn't disturb anyone and occupied herself even when I was in court. She is a truly exceptional child.
She weighs 32 lbs. with all of her clothes on, that's four more than at her 3-year check up, and she is 37 1/2 inches tall. She is in the 25% for height and the 50th for weight. I'm not sure if I believe that last one, though because she seems so small. She's still in 3T clothes! She counted to 20 for the doctor. I know that she can count to at least 30, though, because that's how long the kids give each other when they are playing hide-and-go-seek. She knows most of her letters, as in, if she wants to write a word, you can tell her how to spell it and she will write it out. She knows most of the sounds that go with her letters, too. And she can write her name. She's been doing that since the summer. She can easily follow patterns and loves puzzles. She also loves color by number. She often sits in her bed at night after Mary Grace has gone to sleep and works on puzzles, "reads", and colors, sometimes as long as an hour and a half. She can read her friends' names and can even write some of them on her own.
She loves to ride her big wheel and her bicycle. She and Mary Grace love to play school. They will line their baby dolls up in the floor and read to them. They will also pick a line leader for the day. Restaurant is a favorite game, too. They like to carry a pad of paper and pencil around and take "orders". They will tell you the options, you order, they write down your order, then return with something for you on a plate. Then they'll take your dessert order.
She also loves to play Memory. We have both a princess Memory game and a Mickey memory game. She would prefer to play this with Mary Grace, mommy, or daddy but will play on her own if no one will play with her.
She, however, is a very picky eater! It's so hard to get her to eat any vegetables or really anything at all other than crackers and dry cereal! She did enjoy spaghetti last night, though, so I guess we'll be eating more of that in the future!
She also does not really care for TV. While Mary Grace could sit for hours and watch TV if we let her, Elsie is really only entertained by a few shows in particular and for only a few minutes of TV at a time. She likes Cat in the Hat, Between the Lions, Good Luck Charlie, and, of course, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. That's about it, though.
She loves to sing and is one of the louder kids when her school sings for the parents. For the Valentine's parties, the school enrichment teacher put Elsie in the middle of the kids because she sings so enthusiastically! This is a change from last school year when she would just sit and stare at the crowd and not sing at all!
She loves her dance class and I often hear her in the other room singing about first position, second position, etc. and doing the corresponding moves.
She also loves to run! Yeah, that's my girl! Mary Grace's school had a little one-mile fun run last weekend that we all participated in. She ran for most of the mile. I wish we had timed her. When she finished, she even went one more lap (a quarter mile) with Stephen.
She is a special child. I enjoy being her mom so much and look forward to seeing what kind of woman she will become. She says she wants to be a doctor (like Momo!) when she grows up and I know that, if she wants to, she certainly will!

Welcome Spring! And a 5-day break to enjoy it!

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Weather for Saint Marys, GA (31558)

10-Day Forecast:
Friday
Partly Cloudy. 77 / 52F. Precip 0%%

Saturday
Mostly Sunny. 75 / 54F. Precip 10%%

Sunday
Mostly Sunny. 68 / 54F. Precip 10%%

Monday
Mostly Sunny. 73 / 58F. Precip 10%%

Tuesday
Partly Cloudy. 72 / 50F. Precip 10%%

Wednesday
Sunny. 67 / 53F. Precip 0%%

Thursday
Mostly Sunny. 71 / 50F. Precip 10%%

Friday
Mostly Sunny. 70 / 50F. Precip 10%%

Saturday
Mostly Sunny. 70 / 50F. Precip 20%%

Sunday
Partly Cloudy. 68 / 47F. Precip 20%%

Updated: 2/18/11 3:13 AM EST
For more weather information, visit www.weather.com from your PC or mobile device.

Looks like all that cold weather is gone. And I think it's safe to say gone for good (or at least till December)! The days are getting longer and the birds are singing. I think the beach is calling!
Sent from my iPhone

Elsie's Birthday Party

We celebrated Elsie's birthday with a party on February 5th.  She invited just a few of her little girlfriends from school.  Everyone came and the girls had a great time playing and eating cake.  We had the party at our house and I didn't have any activities planned but the girls had a great time just playin in the playroom.  We served Mickey-shaped pbjs, pretzels, fruit, and yogurt.  The birthday cake was a red heart-shaped cake from Publix.  We added Mickey and Minnie figurines to the top.  It was a sweet, simple party.  Mom, Mike, Bridget, and Chatham made the trip down from Raleigh for the weekend and were a huge help. Chatham washed all of the fruit and made the pbjs.  Bridget helped sort red, yellow, and brown M&Ms and red and yellow Starbursts for the centerpiece.  She also was a big help in entertaining the girls while the rest of us prepared for the party.
After the party, Chatham, Mom, and I enjoyed some "antiquing" at some local shops.  For supper, the whole gang headed over to Kingsland for the Lion's Club Oyster Roast.  I think everyone had a great time and we all had our fill of oysters, gumbo, and shrimp!  I even won a prize at the quilter's guild's raffle.  A sweet little flannel quilt with ballerinas on it.  Mary Grace has slept with it every night since.
On Sunday, we took Bridget to Mary Grace's school to show her around.
Here are some photos of the weekend:

Your Birthday

Miss Elsie Mac, you had a pretty fun 4th birthday today! 

You were so excited last night that you could hardly go to sleep!  You were ready to go bright and early this morning, which was a good thing because we had lots to do!  We made a trip to Publix to pick up your cakes and accessories for your Happy Apple parties (Red today, Purple tomorrow).  You wanted two cakes, one pink and purple and one red and purple.

At Happy Apple, Mrs. Galluccio gave you a birthday crown, which you wore all day!

You got to be the line leader and the entire school sang "Happy Birthday" to you at your assembly.  You even got to dress the frog for the day.  The weather was bright and sunny but a little cool with a high of 62 so you wisely chose pants and sunglasses for him.

I enjoyed spending time with your sweet Red Apple class.

I left you for a little bit to sign Mary Grace out of school for a few minutes so that she could join your class for cake.

Your Daddy joined us, too, and everyone enjoyed your two cakes!

After Happy Apple, we went to tea at the Mad Hatter Tea Room just down the street from school.  They treated you to your own tea pot of pink lemonade.  They even put a candle in your scone!

Every older woman in there (and there were a ton of them!) said how sweet and you were and wished you a happy birthday!

We finished almost 30 Valentine treats for your friends at Happy Apple and Miss Julie's before we went to pick Mary Grace back up from school.  Then the two of you enjoyed an hour at the waterfront park.

You pretended to be groundhogs.

You ran.

And you put on a show at the waterfront stage.

We came back home and you and Mary Grace rode your bikes and big wheels for awhile until we took Mary Grace to choir practice at church.  Before we left, Blake brought over a present for you: a princess lunch box. 

After we picked up Mary Grace from church, we met your daddy at Papa Luigi's for supper.  It's become your favorite birthday pick!  And you informed me that, now that you are 4, you don't have to stand on your tiptoes to reach the bathroom sink there anymore!

Then we came home and finished off the cake.  We only had one piece left but we managed to fit all 13 "H-A-P-P-Y  B-I-R-T-H-D-A-Y" candles on there!  What fun!

Then you opened your presents: a Mickey Mouse lunch box filled with candy and some modeling clay! 

It didn't seem like much but you were not disappointed!  You were so thankful for the simple gifts.  You told all of us thank you!  And when you went to bed tonight you said, "Thank you for my birthday, Mommy!"