Disney Cruise Door Décor

While researching our upcoming Disney Cruise, I’ve found several interesting ideas I’d have otherwise been clueless about. One of these things is door decorating.

The doors to staterooms are metal, and apparently it’s a “thing” of seasoned cruisers to decorate their doors (Disney requires ALL door decorations to be magnetic ONLY). Supposedly it’s used as a way to show “family spirit”, Disney loyalty, and to just make it easier to spot your room. I’ve only been on one cruise, and I know that I decided to decorate our door to make it easier to find. Our 3 year olds know numbers 0-10 only and I don’t think they’d have much a chance of memorizing our 4 digit room number, but I have no doubt they’ll recognize our personalized door decorations!

I searched around and found several Etsy sites with personalized magnets for sale, but I’m cheap and just couldn’t see spending $10 and up for Mickey/Minnie magnets that I could easily make myself-because I’m just a do-it-yourselfer :o) Also, I read that the generic magnets that do not include a family name are often stolen-bummer!

So, because I am the dork that I am, I set out to make my own-personalized magnets!

First of all, I found the mother-load of FREE Disney images on the Disboards! There are amazing people there that will even edit/personalize images for you for FREE, but please realize that they are completely swamped with requests, so give them plenty of time!

Because I’m impatient and again, wanted to do-it-myself, I simply clicked on the light blue Mickey head in the first poster’s signature and spent WAY too much time browsing through her 4Shared files!

I saved the images I wanted to use and edited them using Picmonkey.com!

Once I got the images to look the way I wanted, I saved them to my computer, printed them off onto photo paper, and attached them to store bought magnetic sheets! Ta-da!

Here’s the one announcing our 9 year anniversary that we’ll be celebrating while on the cruise! Not too bad huh?!

If you know anyone else who may like to make magnets of their own, please share this post! And while you’re at it, share your creations with me-I’d love to see them :o)

P.S.-The images could be used to make ALL sorts of items, not just magnets! You could print off designs onto iron-on transfer paper for t-shirts and what not too!

The Twin Quizzing Continues

At 3 years old we STILL get the typical “twin” questions when we’re out and about, but the girls pretty much handle this on their own now. Just a week or so ago we were shopping and a lady kept staring and one of them piped up and said, directly toward her, “YES, we’re twins!” I almost died of embarrassment, but she seemed completely relieved and then followed with the same song and dance everyone else does. It went something like this:

The lady: (laughs) “I sure thought so, but was afraid to ask. So how old are you?”

The girls: (holding up 3 fingers) “We’re 3 and our birthday is February 2^nd.”

Lady: “REALLY?! Well who is the oldest?”

M: (raises her hand) “I am, by one minute.”

Lady: (looks at me like “what the what”) “They sure do look alike! Are they identical?”

K: “Yes, but I have a freckle on my nose, and my sister has one on her cheek.”

Me: (highly amused by the look of wonder on the lady’s face) “I guess you can tell that we get this all the time?”

The conversation is wrapped up with me trying to politely excuse us to finish our shopping.

This is so commonplace that we rarely even check up and I suppose the girls don’t really think anything about it because it happens so often. But every now and then something goes awry (or someone says something totally off color and asinine) and the latest went like this-I’m SO relieved not to have to handle idiots alone now, the girls get them before I have a chance! Here’s a great example:

Again, we’re shopping and a lady starts with all the usual questions. The girls spit the answers back to her just like before, but as she’s walking off she says, “I don’t know how you do it! If I’d have had twins I would’ve shot myself!”

I cringed inside and hoped with every fiber of my being my children wouldn’t hear this, but of course they did. Before I had a chance to explain that like the scarecrow on the Wizard of Oz says, “some people without brains do an awful lot of talking”, one of them quipped, “What?! What would you have shot yourself WITH?!”

My knees went weak but my subconscious was fist pumping! I struggled to keep a straight face as the woman turned to glance back at us in disbelief over her shoulder and I found great joy in watching the color drain from her face. She was flabbergasted! I don’t know if she was truly embarrassed by her own stupidity or by the fact that she was outwitted by a 3 year old, but whatever it was made me immensely happy!

Do you get “quizzed”?! How old are your twins? Does this EVER get better? How do you handle it? Tell me your stories!

A Snapshot of 3 ½- My Girls are Growing Up

I know as parents we all have these, “AWWWWWWW………I wish I could just freeze time” moments, and right now-at 3 ½, that’s exactly how I feel most days.

I never would’ve dreamed that in just 3 short years, my once tiny girls would be, well, so “grown up”!

To put in perspective of what I mean by “grown up” picture 42 inches and 36 pounds of pure sassiness! Yes, my 3 year olds are wearing size 5 in clothing and a 10 in shoes! According to some information I found on Babycenter.com, the average height for a 3 ½ year old girl is only about 38 inches. I’m guessing they’ll be tall like their daddy (who is 6’2”)-which is a fantastic thing in my book!

Anyway, seeing the “average” size makes a lot of sense to me since I hear almost daily that people can’t believe the girls are only 3 ½. For example, we went to the fair last night and I had several people astounded by the fact that they’re only 3 years old because they are so tall, well spoken, and independent. One couple actually said they would’ve guessed they were at least 5.

Some of their favorite phrases of the moment are: “I need my privacy”, “so and so isn’t paying attention”, “if you’d just realize/recognize”, “I don’t really care for _____”, “________is really freaking me out/cracking me up”…………the list could go on, but my point is that they speak like little adults and it’s pretty hilarious!

They rode tons of rides at the fair and only allowed me to help them get into and buckle up on the first one. They noticed that the older kids were doing it themselves, so when I tried to come in the gate behind them the second time I was met with a “no mom, we’re big, we can do this ourselves!” As proud as it makes me on one hand, the other is almost soul crushing! My babies are supposed to still need me right?!

I mean, they dress themselves, they can climb into their car seats and buckle themselves, they wash themselves in the shower (and dry off and get dressed), they’re writing letters and drawing real pictures………IDK, I just didn’t think this would all happen so quickly!

3 ½ is fabulous and full of attitude, but wonderful! I’m elated and saddened all at the same time at the rapid pace I’m losing my babies :/

Holler if You Hear Me-When it all Comes Flooding in at Once

It seems like just yesterday it was sweltering hot outside as summer was raking us over every single hot coal she had left in the fire. Then, today, honestly, like a fresh burst of air, fall made an appearance and everything seemed right with the world…….for the few seconds it took to realize that now autumn is actually upon us, that also means tons of things to do!

I don’t know about you, but I’ve kind of had squat to do all summer. Like, nothing pressing, nothing someone else was counting on me for, and nothing major that I felt like I had to prepare for. Summer was just bum time in my neck of the woods.

However, yesterday I took an abrupt chop to the goozle region when I realized all that was going on in the next few months. I’ll just give you the brief rundown of what’s going on-and hopefully you can then give me some very detailed suggestions as to make it happen and stay out of a little padded cell as well.

First off, our church is giving a shower for a wonderful friend, so of course I’m “helping” with that. That is the 30^th of this month. I need to shop and see what planning needs to be done on my end for this shower.

September is “family cotton picture” time! This I can and will NOT scratch off the list! The guys are already picking, so I’ve got to scrounge together some outfits, pencil in naps and snacks so I’ll have happy ladies to photograph and SOON-like probably tomorrow soon. YIKES!

October…………3 weekends in a row of 5ks, hosting 2 baby showers, getting together Halloween costumes, decorating my home for Halloween, Zoo Boo, Fall Festival (x2 now I think), and of course, trick or treating.

November has to include some shopping. I despise last minute crap-drives me nuts! Thanksgiving is being turned upside down by breaking tradition and spending it in Fayetteville with MIL to “call those hogs”. This I’m pretty stoked about! I think while we’re up there we’ll do the “Polar Express” train ride, lights of the Ozarks, and all that fun jazz.

Then December will be here. Our elf, Herbie, will causing all kinds of mischief I’m sure, we’ll be doing “all things Christmas” and time will soar by. Santa will make his big announcement of the Disney Cruise and off we’ll go!

The few days in January before we leave will be packed with packing, tons of explaining, role playing, looking at pictures, and just trying to mentally prepare for what is sure to be the most mind blowing vacation of a lifetime!

Oh yeah, and I almost forgot that during all this, I plan on getting in wildly good shape! Laugh if you must. I can dream can’t I?! And I always do better with a specific goal in mind!

Oh wise planners-share some ideas about how to keep this all together, organized, and guaranteed for me to get it all done!

One Dish Italian Chicken, Green Bean, and Potato Supper

It’s 5 o’clock somewhere but instead of sipping Mai Tais in my lounge chair I’m running around like a crazy person trying to figure out what I’m going to feed my starving brood for supper. Not. Cool.

I have confidence you’ve been there. We all have. I just seem to find myself there more than I would like-at least once a week here lately!

Well, I’m clueless as to what I did in moments like these before Pinterest, but now, I simply pull up my “Main Munchies” board try something new. So far, I’ve been pleasantly surprised with the results!

When you find yourself pressed for time, nothing beats a one dish meal-that’s why I’m sharing what I call “One Dish Italian Chicken, Green Bean, and Potato Supper”!

Ingredients you’ll need:

·         4-6 raw chicken breasts (if you don’t have any raw, quickly defrost them in the microwave-no biggie!)

·         1-2 cans of your favorite green beans (I had whole ones, so that’s what I used)

·         Whatever raw potatoes you have handy (I had russets)-sliced, cubed, whatever suits your fancy

·         ½ stick of butter (the original called for a whole stick, but we’re always “dieting” and though an entire stick of butter makes me salivate, it also riddles me with extra guilt and Lord knows I don’t need any extra of that)

·         1 packet of dry Italian dressing mix

Arrange the chicken, green beans, and potatoes in a 9x13 baking dish, top with the butter and dressing mix, cover with foil, and bake at 350 for about an hour. Wah-lah! Dinner is done! How easy was that?! IKR?!

Here’s what mine looked like before it went in the oven.

I’d show you how it looked done, but we were all hovering around the oven like rabid wolves and it was gone before an “after” picture even crossed my mind. Yes, it was THAT kind of evening ;)

Enjoy and then share it with your busy friends!

Confessions of a Mommy Blogger-Letter of Truth

Though I’ve been blogging now for quite some time (in the 2-3 year range, I’m doing good to remember what happened yesterday, so forgive my vagueness), my basic reasoning behind the madness has shifted, and I feel I must confess a simple truth to those of you kind enough to read my ramblings.

When I first started blogging I did so for a multitude of reasons, one of which was for monetary compensation. Since the initial gig has ran dry I’ve found myself in quite the predicament; though I no longer was getting paid to blog, I still WANTED to-thus, I began here on Blogger.com with a personal blog for nothing other than my personal drive to share way too much information.

My point in confessing is this-I don’t blog everyday (and we all know that seems to be a cardinal rule in the blogosphere), I don’t post about nonsense, and basically, if I’m sharing something on here, it’s because I found whatever it is so compelling I simply couldn’t keep it bottled inside.

*deep sigh of relief*

Thank you for letting me get that off my chest! Thank you for continuing to read though I don’t “play by rules”!

I don’t have time to waste chatting away about things that simply don’t matter, to share countless (and most of the time seemingly useless) coupons and give-aways, and I know that you don’t have time to waste clicking through to those things.

So here’s to us! The over-sharers, the party planners, the last minute supper fixers, the overzealous parents who feel the need to document our lives for fear of one day forgetting that it was the little things that brought us the most joy, and of course, the exclusive members of the “Parents of Multiples” club!

I vow to not waste your time, not only because I don’t have time of my own to waste, but because I honestly just don’t see the point! Subscribe with confidence that there will be no “junk” posts here-because I just love us that much :o)