Valentines Day Redux

We didn't celebrate Valentine's Day as a couple on the actual day but we did have our first date in almost 3 years or SD- Since Jamie. We went to see an off broadway play - Oliver! courtesy of my workplace. I gave a few away to customers, but they weren't seated in the same section as we were so were were on our own. It was great except for the meltdown when we left. Even Jamie cried. :-) The play was great though, it was a favorite movie of mine when I was a kid. I remember riding my bike up to the Penn theatre to see it repeatedely.
I think I had a bit of a crush on Mark Lester. Wasnt he cute?:


Anyway our big celebrating was in getting Jamie ready for her class party. I made lucious cupcakes with pink and purple frosting, and we had Valentines Treat bags with Cute stickers of a puppy and a kitten. I put one box of Nerds, a Superball and one plastic animal in each of the bags and let Jamie decorate the bags. I was so excited to see her Valentines when she got home...I asked Mike "Well where are her Valentines?" He said he didn't know. They didn't give him anything. HUH?! Did I maybe go over the top? Maybe none of the other kids did anything? But the teacher sent home a list of names?

Anyway on the day itself, I took Jamie to the Library and let her wear her Minnie Mouse Ballerina dress which she adores but it is too small for her...The tights were so tight she ended up putting big holes in them. See the one hole on her leg? Why don't they make the tights for kids better? I know these were too small but she tears up every pair she wears now. And of course now she prefers them. *SIGH* Anyway here are a few recent photos of Jamie.
Miss Diana gave her a Tinkerbell Fairy outfit and a Tinkerbell Doll for her Birthday.

Daddy and Jamie

Diana's grandson Alex and Jamie in the bath

Tinkerbell outfit from Grandma Fifi

Her store she got from Aunt Cinda and Uncle Craig

Choose your Battles

I heard Joel Osteen this morning and he had a very interesting sermon on Choosing your Battles. He gave examples of Road rage, like just because someone cuts you off in traffic doesn't mean you have to engage in a battle over it. There isn't a payoff to getting involved. Or at work if someone doesn't like you or treats you badly its best to just 'Let it Go' Not all people will like us and we need to just get over it.

He also mentioned that often there is something about our spouse that we are not happy with and may constantly try to change. Like if your spouse always leaves the lights on and you are constanly harping on it, that maybe you need to just let it go...Ten dollars a month worth of electricity is worth having peace in your home. Most of us would like about 20% of our spouse to be different and the grass can often look greener on the other side of the fence, but it still needs to be mowed! No one person can be everything to another person.

Whew! Lots of lessons that I need to work on, in that little 20 minute sermon I listened to this morning! Some of them deal with marriage or coworker/boss relations, but what I really got to thinking about was the Choose the Battles thing with Jamie.

The thing about 'Choosing your battles' with kids is it's often easier to just give in to their desires. Like with clothes. Jamie would prefer to be in dresses and skirts every day. She plays pretty rough on the playground, she often comes home with her knees and bum blackened from rolling around on the playground, so I really prefer to send her in pants and a top. To keep her somewhat appeased I have been putting a skirt on over her stretch pants - so the poor kid looks like a little Madonna! But it avoids a battle every morning.

On the other hand I don't want to raise a brat who thinks it's her way or the highway. And I love to shop at the thrift and consignment shops so I can just go in search of some dresses. (Love that rationalization!) Last week I brought home 3 jumper type dresses:



(Pictured) One of them was a black with red Scotty dogs cordoroy dress with a red top, and I had her try it on. What a meltdown!! I thought this dress was the cutest thing but she will not wear it! Oh and today I tried to put on some Elmo and Zoey Overalls and she said 'THAT is not Cool...That is not a dress'. Sheesh, she loved those overalls last month! She just loves wearing girly girl dresses, here are some shots of her fashioning dresses she does like to wear, none of which are really appropriate for her to wear to school.(Top photo)

At lunch I found a little bottle of chocolate milk from one of those happy meals in the frig. Well I was mixing it with milk as I dont want her drinking straight chocolate milk if I can help it, and she threw a fit. I mean a screaming, yelling,tearful tantrum! She wants what she wants - when she wants it. She got a Time out for her trouble. I know, I am a mean mom I am sure I will be hearing that soon enough. I am already hearing - "You are not my friend", which must be the preschool battle cry at her school.

But in good battle news, Mike has found the magic routine/threat at bedtimes of telling her we will be taking her stuff and then staying firm with it when she acts up and gets up. Just now at nap I told her if she got up again I was going to take her Barbie. And she got up again, so Mike took her Barbie. He told her he would bring it back if she stayed quiet and then didn't do it right away. He said to me "I just broke a promise to her..." I said take it up to her now! So he did. She will see Barbie there when she wakes up and remember. I think it's good that we are showing her consequences of her actions. We just need to be careful of threatening something that we aren't going to follow through with...

What kind of battles do you have with your kids? Is age three a common age to be standing up for what they want so fervently?

Or if you don't have kids can you see how 'Letting it Go could be helpful for Marital Harmony? What kind of techniques have you used to Let go of something that is bothering you about your spouse or anyone else for that matter?

Bedtime Battles

Well it's been a long couple of weeks of Bedtime Battles. First of all some background- Jamie has been sleeping throught the night from 7-7am from age 8 mos until about a year ago when we changed her bedtime to 8pm. She would rarely wake up and if she did would be easily comforted and go right back to sleep.

Every night since Jamie learned how to open her bedroom door she has been getting up repeatedly with lame excuses about needing to go potty (10 minutues after she just went)or that her diaper was wet etc. Mike was spending every night up in the hall by her door grading papers and putting her back in bed. Some nights she would still be up at 11 and she goes to bed at 8!

Well i have to give Mike the credit for this parenting triumph. One person (thanks Grace) suggested we try a gate, but Mike was too softhearted as Jamie had hysterical fits of tears and screams about it being up. What finally worked is taking her stuff away.

My daughter likes to go to bed with lots of stuff. Right now its a Tinkerbell doll, a superball (also Tinkerbell) a stuffed Siamese Kitten, Waddie, Yaddie, Toddie, and at least one book. She also has a Princess Comforter I recently scored at a thrift store for $6 that has huge pictures of the main 3 princesses on it - and she adores that thing!

Anyway this is what Mike did earlier in the week...When she got up the first time he went in there and put her back and said, if you get up again I am taking the Princess comforter, Tinkerbell and Waddie. Then when she got up again 10 minutes later he did take those things. She cried for a few moments and settled down. After a few moments he brought back her things and told her he would take them and keep them all night.

She got up twice last night and the night before. Tonight she only got up once, so she never even lost her stuff! Score! I am so proud of my husbands patience and my daughters intelligence. I pray the bedtime battles are over.

Mommy and Jamie's Day of Adventure

Jamie and I went out and about alone today, leaving Mike here to clean and tidy the house. What a deal eh? First we went to the library as we often do on Saturday AM's for Jamie to do Toddler art, then storytime and Mrs Owl theatre...then we were off to the Alpaca festival. But before that she begged to go into the church near where we were parked downtown by the library. Just so happens the Catholic church was having Mass and folks were going in, so I took her to church. I told her before we went in that she had to be REAL QUIET, but she started asking questions after about 10 minutes...(albeit at a whisper) So we left. Is that bad, that we were there just so she could see what it is like? Maybe I will take her to the UU church some Sunday so she can experience that...she went there once when she was a baby but we haven't been back. Now that she isn't napping in the mornings we could try it again...

Then we went to the Alpaca festival which was way out of town. It was pretty cool, she got to pet some of them, almost got kicked by one, got to pin the tail on a paca (just a drawing), got some Alpaca shaped cookies and got an Alpaca painted on her face.

On the same grounds of the equestrian center there was a Indoor community pool. I told her we would 'check it out'...well she was quite upset when we didn't go into the pool There was a private swim meet there so we couldn't have gone swimming even if we did have our suits...I just wanted to see what it was like as it is one of the benefits my taxes pay for. She kicked and cried when we left, then on the way home fell asleep for about five minutes. Which meant no nap when we got home. *sigh* I really needed one too!

More Party Pics

I know I could have done a slide show, but I just wanted to get these up. The first blond boy is my friend Michelles youngest Jordan, and the other little boy is Alex, my friend Dianas grandson - he looks so much like her!

It's been a week. Work is very stressful. In sales it is never 'Thanks for doing a good job', it's 'what are you going to do for me now.' Anyway I can handle it ... I just need to keep on doing what I can do. I am so glad it is Friday and my life is my own for the next 2 days. We may go to the library tomorrow, and mom is coming over to cook for us on Sunday. I just need to buy the ingredients. Wow, I don't get many meals cooked for me!

Happy weekend everyone!

Jamie's Party was wonderful!

She had such a good time! I am so glad we went ahead and did it at Chuck E Cheese as she requested. It really was nice...The hostess was really sweet and all the kids had a great time. I did decorate the cake but not like I was hoping. I need much more practice before I can write with Frosting tips like a cake decorator!

I had a couple of good friends that ended up coming at the last minute that I really didn't think would come - one drove across the state with her grandson!

Jamie got loads of Princess dress up stuff. She now has a new Tinker Bell outfit and a Tinker bell toy, a new Snow white outfit and a new Belle outfit- which also came with a "Princess Learn to dance pad" She also got the sweetest store - its like a little tent with vibrant colors of the shelves along with a produce stand that she just adores.

I will post more pictures of the gifts later, meanwhile here are a couple party pics.

Here is the picture I meant to post!

Here is Jamie the first day in her Princess bed. She loves that bed, but having her out of the crib is one of the reasons we can't get her to say in bed anymore!

We are trying the advice you gave us Grace, if she gets up once we will be putting up the gate. Thanks for the tip! We will let you know how it works.

Mommy my pullup is wet!

Every night for the past week or so Jamie has to get up after going to bed to go potty. Even when she goes right before bed. She is able to open her door now, but when she does she comes out and closes it. And can't get it open from the outside. Every night she pees in her diaper, comes out and says, mommy my diaper is wet. So tonight we put her in a pullup and put a potty in her room and told her not to come out of her room. Nope, you guessed it, Mommy my pullup is wet. She opened the door twice and Mike handled it both times, I think it was an improvement - many nights she is up four or five times after bedtime.

We are perplexed. Jamie has always been so good about going to bed.

How do you handle a child that won't stay in bed?

(I tried to post a pic of her in bed, but my computer isn't showing me the thumbnails of my photos, so I had to pick one at random)

Birthday cake for dummies? & Toys for a 3 yr old girl

I need that site. I have booked Chuck e Cheese for next weekend for Jamies birthday and it isn't cheap let me tell ya. It will be $100 just for the kids to have 2 pcs of pizza and some tokens. (they do get double the tokens for coming so early in the day though!) I will be bringing the cake, ice cream and party favors. I don't know if we will be feeding the adults. The party is at 10am, so I am thinking cake and ice cream should suffice for the bigger folks.

Anyway back to the cakes...I got some books on cake decorating and made a batch of icing. I am going to try to make some flowers and decorate Jamies cake. I was looking at the Little Mermaid pan which wasn't a lot of money, but after getting the pan you would also need the special dyes to get her hair, skin color and mermaid gear, then the special cake topper and Ariel candle, and you are talking at least $35 and that isn't counting the labor for the cake! Kind of defeats the purpose of making it myself, although I know she would be wowed.

I found some info on the wilton site, Gosh you can spend alot of time and money on this hobby! I spent at least an hour the last time I went to Michaels looking at all the stuff. Then I came home, read the library books on decorating and went back to get the egg white powder for the icing and the flower nail to make the flowers with as well as a few tips. I also could spend tons more on special dyes and tips and dyes, but I am trying to keep it simple. Ha! Easier said then done. Michaels sucks you in - "Its so easy and fun to do!" and upon further investigation it is anything but. Making the icing really wasn't as complicated as I was let to believe, even without a mixer with a 'paddle holder' or whatever.

Gifts for the little girl should be princess heavy..she is so into Ariel, Cinderella, Auroura and Belle its not funny. She also could use a Skipper doll as we have the clothes but not a doll. (Skipper is the smaller Barbie doll). She has a Snap and style doll she really likes named Giselle she could use more clothes for her. I was going to put some things on a wish list on Amazon and just never got around to it...

She has an easel, but colored inside chalk would be nice for her to use on it (not the thick sidewalk stuff) and also some way to clip paper to the easel. It has a chalkboard on one side and white board on the other.

I love the idea of that Smart Cycle but that is too expensive, maybe next year. I also like that VTech motion Active learning system, but that may wait until next year too. I need to hear more about both of them to see if they pass the mommy test.

The honeybee hop looks like a riot, its a toy that spins around and the kids hop over it...to some sort of music...supposed to be fun for kids age 3-10 and there are rave reviews on the web about it.

And she loves Anders Fridge phonics whenever we go over there but I was hoping to get that on Craigs list.

I think she would love that Baby Alive, and the Fisher Price Puppy who grows and knows your name...and I hear the Pet whatchamacallits are all the rage.

So that is an idea of what to get Jamie for her birthday for the one that asked, all others, what was your 3 yr olds favorite toy?

'No Buy' January

This is alot harder than it sounds. I am attempting not to buy anything that isn't necessary for the month of January as I alluded to in the previous post. One reason is our credit card bill for the month of December was over $4000! This in part was because of our Disney trip- for which we bought 7 Day Magic your way passes. We only used 2 days and the remaining 5 never expire. So this was really an investment in our family's vacations for the next several years. Then we splurged and bought a HD TV for our family Christmas Gift, which we absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE! (Did you know that if you have a reflection issue from windows that face the TV with HD you will no longer have a problem!?)

I have tripped up a couple of times with this 'No Buy' January. Sunday we went to Walmart and though we did 'need' everything we got I could have done without the small mirror I bought for my desk at work and maybe one of the sewing notions I bought. Then today I was all ready to refuse to go to lunch with the gang at work and they talked me into it! Darn it I was really hoping to keep from eating 'out' during this month. I will try to curtail it the rest of the month...I don't count eating in our cafeteria at work eating out by the way.

But the biggest challenge has been resisting the pull of going to the thrift stores. This year I have been very successful in getting very nice clothes for work for $2-5 per item, and I mean nice. Designer labels pants, blazers and blouses that fit me right and look professional as well as stylish. It's amazing what people give to the thrift stores. Out of the blue it will occur to me that I really could use another pair of Black pants or a Navy jacket...I have to just make do with the clothes that are in this house for this month!

Lastly if I am not bringing anything in this month, it is a perfect time to purge. Boy do I have a hard time purging! What the heck! Why do I feel I have to hold on to clothes that I haven't worn in years!! Here in Florida we don't have basements so there just isn't the storage space to hold on to things that aren't being used.

What do you do to get rid of stuff?

Good News for Thrifters! New consumer law requires lead testing has been amended today!

I am an avid thrift store shopper which I am sure you know if you are a regular readeer...(Do I have any regular readers?!) I am pretty much addicted to the thrill of finding beautiful brand name clothing items for Jamie for a dollar or two. So addicted that I thought I better join my fellow friend and thrifter, Cinda, in a 'No Buy' January. When you are a thrifter you tend to bring more into the house than you take out. So we are both going to take the month to not bring anything in, and try to purge while we are at it.

Anyway on Saturday Cinda found this article about the new Lead testing that would lead to thrift and consignment shops not being able to sell any childrens items unless expensive testing was done of each item and the date for the change was Feb 10 2009! It also said all the clothing would have to be destroyed and or sent to landfills by this date. Well we both became incensed at this idea and started checking it out. She went so far as to call the local news channel about it. They didn't even know and came to her house and interviewed her on Tuesday. (maybe I will post the interview if I can figure out how to post videos and Cinda ok's it)

Well I found this news today, they ammended the law! The barage of emails they have gotten this week caused them to issue a clarification.

From the Los Angeles Times:

Second-hand stores to be exempt from new lead testing law on children's products
Federal regulators say such shops won't be required to test used merchandise for lead by Feb. 10. But they can't sell items that exceed lead limits and should 'avoid' products that may contain lead.
By Alana Semuels
3:26 PM PST, January 8, 2009

and from the government:

News from CPSC U.S. Consumer Product Safety CommissionOffice of Information and Public Affairs Washington, D.C. 20207For Immediate Release CPSC Recall Hotline: (800) 638-2772January 8, 2009 CPSC Media Contact: (301) 504-7908Release #09-086CPSC Clarifies Requirements of New Children’s Product Safety Laws Taking Effect in FebruaryGuidance Intended for Resellers of Children’s Products, Thrift and Consignment StoresWashington, D.C. – In February 2009, new requirements of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) take effect. Manufacturers, importers and retailers are expected to comply with the new Congressionally-mandated laws. Beginning February 10, 2009, children’s products cannot be sold if they contain more than 600 parts per million (ppm) total lead. Certain children’s products manufactured on or after February 10, 2009 cannot be sold if they contain more that 0.1% of certain specific phthalates or if they fail to meet new mandatory standards for toys. Under the new law, children’s products with more than 600 ppm total lead cannot lawfully be sold in the United States on or after February 10, 2009, even if they were manufactured before that date. The total lead limit drops to 300 ppm on August 14, 2009. The new law requires that domestic manufacturers and importers certify that children’s products made after February 10 meet all the new safety standards and the lead ban. Sellers of used children’s products, such as thrift stores and consignment stores, are not required to certify that those products meet the new lead limits, phthalates standard or new toy standards. The new safety law does not require resellers to test children’s products in inventory for compliance with the lead limit before they are sold. However, resellers cannot sell children’s products that exceed the lead limit and therefore should avoid products that are likely to have lead content, unless they have testing or other information to indicate the products being sold have less than the new limit. Those resellers that do sell products in violation of the new limits could face civil and/or criminal penalties. When the CPSIA was signed into law on August 14, 2008, it became unlawful to sell recalled products. All resellers should check the CPSC Web site (www.cpsc.gov) for information on recalled products before taking into inventory or selling a product. The selling of recalled products also could carry civil and/or criminal penalties. The agency intends to focus its enforcement efforts on products of greatest risk and largest exposure. While CPSC expects every company to comply fully with the new laws resellers should pay special attention to certain product categories. Among these are recalled children’s products, particularly cribs and play yards; children’s products that may contain lead, such as children’s jewelry and painted wooden or metal toys; flimsily made toys that are easily breakable into small parts; toys that lack the required age warnings; and dolls and stuffed toys that have buttons, eyes, noses or other small parts that are not securely fastened and could present a choking hazard for young children. The agency has underway a number of rulemaking proposals intended to provide guidance on the new lead limit requirements. Please visit the CPSC website at www.cpsc.gov for more information.


This still is going to affect alot of hand made sellers of childrens items so if you want to protest write your congressmen or sign the petition at change.org

Fellow thrifters and homemade makers of products for kids unite!

Not intended to be taken apart after assembly

See that playdough press below? It's the Magic Swirl Ice Cream shoppe by Playdoh. It's an ok toy, she seems to like it anyway although its a mess to clean up after. Anyway after playing with it the first time, I tried to take it apart to put it back in the box...and I couldnt figure it out. So I emailed Playdoh...and that is the answer they gave me. WTH?! I don't have an unlimited amount of storage! I am tempted to take it back. Only then will they design these toys to be convenient for moms - when they get the hint.Guess I should go review it somewhere and point that out.

While I am on the subject I bought one of those 'Color Wonder' coloring books set and it was supposed to come with 3 pens and a stencil. Well there was a slit in the package and the stencil was missing...Crayola doesn't seem to have any way to contact them onthe internet, just a toll free number, which is only working 9-5. WTH?

Bouncing off each other

We have had plenty of togetherness in our more than 2 weeks from school and work, maybe too much togetherness! We were snapping at each other all day yesterday despite a trip to the park to work out some wiggles. I taught Jamie to ride her trike this week in the driveway and we took it to a park with a huge parking lot for some more practice. We saw a huge eagle type bird swooping over us and Mike and I were staring at it while Jamie went down the very high slide there. She ended up face first in the dirt! Poor baby...

Then this morning trying to get the sweeper to work I broke the electrical charger part to it. Then while putting something away in the closet an electric frying pan I had never used fell on the ceramic tile and broke. I ended up dragging most of the stuff out of the closet and putting quite a bit of it in the Goodwill. I need to clear the piles of stuff out of the house.

Maybe going back to school and work won't be so bad.

Jamie and Ander on TV with Santa!

Here are a couple of photos from Jamie's TV appearance with Santa.I am trying to get Mike to fix the Video clip so I can post the cute parts of it, instead of the whole thing. I even used my ultimate line "I beg of you!" We will see if it works...

Guess what Jamies' favorite Christmas gift was?

We got her the Kidzone camera and it wasn't cheap. For $60 you get a child's pink camera that has a pretty good view finder on it that allows her to see the photos she has taken immediately, that has some games on it (which we have yet to explore) and most importantly can be dropped repeatedly without damage. I believe these photos were doctored by dad, though I am sure Jamie will enjoy that function when she gets a bit older.

She got plenty of other things including a Dance Cam which she can view herself dancing to songs (we are going to start calling her Narceena!); and a purse that says 'Jamie' on it, lots of puzzles, princess dolls and books as well as a Playdoh Ice Cream maker.

She was on Tv on the local station appearing with Santa on Christmas eve morning. I would love to download a bit of the video but I'm not savvy enough yet. Maybe a picture will suffice...but she stole the show. They were talking to some older kid about all the gifts he wanted and she called attention to the fact that she could see 'Jamie' in the monitors. My little girl sure shines in the limelight!

At last we are getting ready for Christmas!

Between our trip and Mike and I both having Bronchitis (his so bad he had to spend the night in the hospital last week); we really had not had the chance to finish with getting Christmas preparations done. Since we both finished work Friday for the next two weeks we have had some breathing room. We finished decorating the tree over the weekend, bought a little something for Jamies teachers, bought ourselves our Christmas gift (a HD TV! - more about that later!)...AND I did all of the Christmas cards and mailed them out! WHew!

All weekend Jamie was asking to see the Baby Jesus...and you know there just isn't a Christmas special that tells that story accurately. TV & Movie producers take note! Anyway this morning we put up our Nativity set together and Jamie has her baby Jesus, truly the reason for the season. Maybe we will also stop at the Library and look for a good book depicting the Christmas story. Or go buy one. Today we will wrap the teachers presents and get some other decorations out. Tomorrow Jamie will go to school for the morning at least so we can take the Teachers their gifts and also wrap Jamies stuff up. Also today we are going to Comcast to get our new tv hooked up so we can watch some HD!! I am truly a nester, I can't remember the last movie I went to...oh wait it was Enchanted either last Christmas or the one before...Anyway I much prefer being in the comfort of my own home rather than going to a movie...

Jamie's Christmas Presentation

Omigosh it was so cute! I am upset that I didn't understand what this was going to be so that Mike, my mom and friends didn't come. Next year they will be! They sung Jingle Bells...and then they brought all of the classes out and they sang Feliz Navidad. One little girl cried and then all of them starting crying...(and so was I!)

Jamie saw Santa

We went to see Santa last night and Jamie was kind enough to smile for the camera! When asked what she wanted, the only thing she would say is 'A Candy Cane'.

We followed a couple of teen girls, who both climbed on Santa's lap and went on and on about the Twilight books they wanted and breaking their camera. From what my husband (he teaches high school) there is some kind of trend with kids that age acting less than their age. Has anyone else noticed this trend with teens these days?

Another Quiet Weekend

We didn't do alot again this weekend as I am still under the weather. I have bronchitis and its exasperated by my asthma. So I am wheezing and coughing alot. I am a bit better since taking antibiotics and a round of steroids, but my Nebulizer is on its last leg and I still need it to be in working order. There isn't a place to get a Nebulizer on the weekend so I will see about it in the morning.

Jamie has enjoyed looking at the pictures and short videos from our trip to Orlando. My mom and I took her to see "A Once Upon a Time" production at our local dinner theatre on Friday. Although the costumes and props were sadly lacking (especially compared to the Disney extravaganzas we saw a couple weeks ago), they had some audience participation and they picked Jamie for part of the straw house for the 3 Little Pigs. She was eager to be picked so it was great that she got the chance to go up on stage.

We also took her for her first haircut after the production and it was quite the girls day out, as we all got our haircut at the same time! A good time was had by all and we all came home and napped til 5pm that night. We woke up to a shocked Mike that we cut Jamie's hair though I had been telling him it was time. It looks so much cuter, now the curls are curly again!

Yesterday we went to the library and there was a huge Mayors Christmas Party out in the plaza in front of the library. So after story and art time we went across the street. Seemed cool at first, they had free Hayrides, facepainting, crafts and a bounce house, but there were incredibily long lines for everything. After waiting for over 45 minutes to get half way through the face painting line we left. Luckily on the way out we got a small face tattoo that said "Joy" in green and red. She didn't know the difference. I will paint her face next weekend maybe.

Today we tried to go to Chik Filet for a bit of lunch and play and remembered that it is closed on Sundays, so we spent some time at the local Mickey Dee's. That Southwest salad isn't too bad.

We also looked at HD TV's. We are thinking of getting a smaller one (26") that we can use in our living room entertainment center until we get our debt paid down and get a larger one for the living room and move the smaller one up to the bedroom. I want to eventually hang the larger one on the fireplace above the mantel, and maybe even close our fireplace off. I hate the mess and don't even really like my fireplace... but that is in the future.

We probably should wait as we are trying to pay off debt, but we usually do something like this rather than buy each other smaller gifts. One big gift for the whole family to enjoy. Instead of dustcatchers...

How was your weekend?

First day at the Magic Kingdom