Happiest Place on Earth

Happiest Place on Earth

Tuesday, August 29, 2006

Tuesday, 29 August 2006


  • What a busy weekend...  I don't think we could have fit another thing in if we'd tried...
    Friday morning we left the house early and headed for my ultrasound appointment.  We were a little late, partly because I drank so much water that I simply could not make it all the way there, and I had to stop at a gas station...  There was still plenty left for good ultrasound pics. though...
    Here are a couple of them:


    In case you didn't catch it, "It's a Boy!"  Grace immediately turned to me upon hearing this and said, "Maybe next time, Mom".  She wasn't nearly as dissapointed as we thought she might be, and she will probably enjoy remaining our "lone princess"... at least for now.  We are all excited, and our only real problem is that we now have to come up with something to name this little guy... ugh...
    After the ultrasound, we began the long trek north...  to Frankenmuth.  Truth told, if you grew up in MI, you probably went to Frankenmuth more times than you can count, and it was more than enough!  However, my grandpa LOVES Frankenmuth, so we went up there to have dinner with him.  We ate at Zenders, which was not nearly as good as I remember it, and we all felt rather sick later.  However, we did have a good time, and the kids were thrilled to see "Great Grandpa Paw"... or as Caleb calls him, "Grandpa Paw Paw".  Dinner lasted 2 1/2 hours, and then we were on our way back to Phil's mom and dad's house.
    We got there around 8:00, and although the kids would usually be asleep by this time, they had been cooped up in the car for much of the day and were ready to play!  I think we all got to sleep by 10:30 or so, which did not stop Caleb from waking up well before the crack of dawn.  Thankfully, Grandma made breakfast for the kiddos, let them watch cartoons, and played endlessly, so I got to go back to bed. 
    I had lunch with the kids (uh... yeah... I really slept a long time) and then started getting ready for the wedding!  Amazingly enough, I neither felt like Shamu on a bad day NOR Shamu on a good day, when all was said and done.  Here's a picture of Phil and me, ready to leave for the wedding:
       
    It was a very nice wedding ceremony... and a "normal" reception.  Which, of course, means I didn't eat much.  I just don't like reception food.  The cake was awesome though!  Mostly, it was just so fun to see Erin, whom I hadn't seen in about 5 years!  Weddings aren't the greatest place to try to socialize with the bride, but we did get to talk for a while, and I hope to keep in better contact in the coming months and years!
    After the reception, we grabbed a pizza and went back to Phil's mom and dad's, where I crashed... totally exhausted...  But only after setting my alarm clock for 5:30.
    I could have thrown the thing across the room when it went of in the morning, but then I remembered that the function of an alarm clock is, after all, to wake you up.  I opted for hitting the snooze button instead... twice.
    I rolled out of bed at 5:38 and proceeded to get myself ready for "A Day Out with Thomas"...  (If I'd ordered tickets in advance I could have slept longer... but I didn't)  I then woke the kids and got Caleb ready while Seth and Grace got dressed.  Unfortunately, Seth thought it would be a good idea to lock the bathroom door from the inside and then to exit and close it...  Ten minutes later, we resumed getting ready.  I think we left around 6:45.
    We arrived at Hucleberry Railroad and found the line to be very short!  We hadn't told the kids where we were going yet, just in case we couldn't get tickets.  Caleb caught sight of the Thomas signs first and was pretty much beside himself.  Then Seth and Grace caught on and were extremely pleased that we were finally at the "Thomas Amusement Park"... hehehe...
    We got tickets for the 9:00 train, which was amazing!  The train ride was great, and there were all kinds of fun photo opportunities throughout Crossroads Villiage.  Caleb even gave Sir Topham Hat (A.K.A. the fat controller) a huge hug, which was quite the improvement over his last character greeting experience!   The kids got temporary tatoos, fruit snacks and book marks, a chance to do a whole bunch of art projects (of course, we did them all), and there was a "station" where they could watch a Thomas movie.  We bought stick candy on our way out, and when all was said and done, we were back "home" by lunch time!  Here are a few pics. that highlight our day:

    Phil and the kids with Thomas

    Me and the kids with Sir Topham Hat
      
    Our Train Ride
    In the afternoon, Phil and I left the kids with Grandma again to celebrate our anniversary (which was the 23rd).  We did a little bit of shopping at the outlet mall and then drove to Novi to eat at T.G.I. Fridays.  Although we do not always eat there on anniversaries, it is somewhat traditional for us.  We sat in almost the same place we sat on our six month dating anniversary, which was cool. (You can't sit in exactly the same place, because the restaurant has been re-modeled)  It was a fantastic meal.  We were even too full for dessert! 
    We shopped a little more, returned "home" again, heard about Phil's dad's adventure... which you should really ask him about, if you know him, and crashed... again.
    In the morning, we got our stuff together and started off for home.  We made a stop at my mom and dad's, since we hadn't had a chance to see them all weekend, made a stop for Gus' breadsticks, and got here in the early afternoon yesterday!
    Ah... the summer is almost over, but we sure have had a whole lot of fun!  Look for a recap sometime next weekend.  Here comes the school year!
    Lisa
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      Comments (7)

    • KimHollingsworth
      AHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!! I LOVE THIS!!!! I wish I could see you guys!!!!!! I have been totally busy. OH AND THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE DONATION!!!!!!!! I am going to send you something in the mail but I haven't had the chance too. I might call you. I have a LOT to tell you!
      Love you!
      Kimothy
    • KimHollingsworth
      AHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!! I LOVE THIS!!!! I wish I could see you guys!!!!!! I have been totally busy. OH AND THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE DONATION!!!!!!!! I am going to send you something in the mail but I haven't had the chance too. I might call you. I have a LOT to tell you!
      Love you!
      Kimothy
    • WhosWhoIsWho
      Congrats on the baby. I'm glad Grace isn't to upset about the baby being a boy. It will still be really really cute. I can't believe how big your kids are getting. Caleb is so big, its amazing! You look great too! I love the picture of you and Caleb its so cute! Lots of Love, jess
    • Shanderific08
       I am very amazed and proud of Grace for being so mature about it being a boy! I threw a fit when I found out that my brother Adam was a boy and at the time, I only had one brother!!! Congratulations!! I love the pictures!! It's a good thing that you didn't feel like shamu on any day because, like Jess said, You looked GREAT!!! I hope I look that great when I am pregnant!!! : )   Well, this is starting to get kind of long... I miss you! Lots of Love, Shandi
    • momkat4
      Am I to assume, then, that my previous name recommendations were deemed unacceptable? TeeHee
    • jlypio35
      aw... you're too cute! i'm happy for you and i'm sure Grace will love having a baby brother! miss ya lots!
    • WhosWhoIsWho
      Thanks, but do you remember my crayon layout? It was black too! Black isn't that bad. Its a little dark though. Lol! Lots of Love, Jess
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Tuesday, August 15, 2006

Tuesday, 15 August 2006


  • Tonight I did something rather silly...  I sat down and watched the Miss Teen USA pageant.  Except for a half hour break... in which I watched The Brady Bunch ...  I saw the whole thing...
    There were several things that disturbed me about this particular pageant...  I could go on and on, but the thing that really caught my attention was the final question.  None of the girls seemed able to give an articulate answer, but the most shocking one came in the form of a defintion of integrity.  I was absolutely stunned when one of the final contestants answered (in essence) that integrity meant not stopping at anything until you get what you want.  I almost chuckled... almost... as I thought about how sad it is that teenagers parading themselves in bikinis on national television, and competing to be the spokewoman for all teenagers (as the announcers so frequently reminded me), seemed clueless when it came to this concept...
    I was further amazed... and disturbed... when she won.
    So...  to the beautiful and awesome teenage girls who bother to read this site...  Here is a definition of integrity, according to www.dictionary.com:
    1. Steadfast adherence to a strict moral or ethical code.
    2. The state of being unimpaired; soundness.
    3. The quality or condition of being whole or undivided; completeness.
    I hope this is what you'll strive for.  And I also hope that you'll be educated enough to refrain from defining words you don't understand... at least in the presence of thousands upon thousands of people...
    Lisa
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Monday, August 14, 2006

Monday, 14 August 2006


  • Pregnant women should not be invited to weddings...
    Recently, I received an invitation from one of my very close friends from high school, to attend her wedding this month.  I was thrilled, especially since I have not seen her in about five years!  Then I got to thinking...  What will I wear?
    After going through my "dressy" maternity clothes, it became very apparent to me that I couldn't wear anything I already had.  In fact, it became apparent to me that I couldn't wear any of these things... anywhere... ever again!  I bought them when I was pregnant with Seth, and quite frankly times have changed and so have I...
    So I set out to find a cute maternity dress that was appropriate for a wedding...
    After quite a bit of on-line research, I hadn't really found anything I loved... Actually, I hadn't even found anything I remotely liked.  However, there was one dress that was OK.  The only real problem with it was that it was black, and I wondered if wearing black to a wedding was still taboo...  At any rate, I ordered it, because I figured it was better than wearing a paper bag!
    Unfortunately, when it came, I hated it...  It is still sitting on my kitchen counter waiting to be returned...
    So, I set out, again, to find a dress...
    This time I even attempted looking in stores...  like real stores...  you know, the kind you have to actually go into...  with your physical body...  yeah, anyway...
    It did not take long for me to realize that no one thinks that pregnant women should be invited to weddings, as I could only find exceptionally ugly shirts and a smattering of shorts...
    So back to the Internet I went...
    This time I landed at Motherhood Maternity (same store I bought all my ugly maternity clothes at 6+ years ago) and decided that, since I was running out of time, I'd order several dresses (that's 5) and just send back the ones I didn't like...
    They arrived today.  We still don't have a mailbox, so I frantically sent Phil to the post office right before it closed.
    Upon opening my package, it seemed like a fun idea to try them all on...  kinda like having my own dressing room.  It wasn't fun...
    They ranged from truly hideous (I look like Shamu on a bad day) to astoundingly stupid (don't they know that horizontal stripes make you look larger).  And now I'm not quite sure what to do...
    *** Erin, if, by chance, you're reading this, I'm still secretly (hehehe... on the World Wide Web) thrilled about coming to your wedding.  I'll be the one in the paper bag...
    Lisa
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Tuesday, August 8, 2006

Tuesday, 08 August 2006


  • Currently Watching
    High School Musical
    By Zac Efron, Vanessa Anne Hudgens, Ashley Tisdale, Lucas Grabeel, Alyson Reed, Corbin Bleu, Monique Coleman, Olesya Rulin, Chris Warren Jr., Bart Johnson, Ryne Sanborn, Socorro Herrera, Joey Miyashima, Dutch Whitlock, Ryan Templeman, Irene Santiago, Leslie Wing, Joyce Cohen, Kaycee Stroh, Brett Yoder
    see related
    Wow...  here comes another review.
    I had the pleasure of watching a surprisingly cute and completely clean movie this past week.  So...  before I tell you what was wrong with it, let me say that "High School Musical" was fun, and I could recommend it (at least on a moral basis) without reservation...
    The negatives...
    1.  There was very little plot development.  That is just something that drives me personally crazy... probably because, as you know, I am a reader.  I am still waiting for some good 4 hour long movies to come out.  As a side note, when they do I will likely complain because they are not 6 hours long...
    2.  There were some exceptionally corny musical numbers.  I should have expected this, because it was, after all, a musical.  Not all of the music was horrific, but the early numbers (especially) were pretty bad.
    I've got to say, though, the plot was cute.  It is not the kind of flick that is going to draw the more "mature", adult audiences, but then again, if you think you're too good to sit down and watch it, you'd probably miss the point...
    Lisa
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