A Magical Time of Togetherness

As a recap…Baylee’s one “ask” to Santa this past CHRISTmas was a ticket to Disneyland (and she got ‘it’). And one BIG PERK of me taking the substitute position last Fall was to save money to go there as a family of five. Well, since Jon’s birthday was the 9th and because Disneyland graciously allows birthday people to get in for free on their special day in 2009, we thought we should take them up on their offer, using Baylee’s two day pass and the money we set aside. So basically, for day one we had to pay for 3 tickets only and then day two we paid for 4 tickets, and day three 5.



It seems so silly to me to sum up the trip as “Magical” but really…that’s what it was. We all are Disney lovers and I can cry just thinking about Owen’s reaction (and Baylee and Nathan too actually) to each site and character. (Okay, I am crying as I type this now!)

Thankfully we have two very special teachers for Baylee and Nathan who were so awesome to give us the ‘thumbs up’ to go the week before our Spring Break. It was great timing too, only 15 minute waits for the most part. Can we make this a family tradition???




We initially paid for a two day trip but as we were half way through day two, Jon called his boss for permission for another day off and then quickly headed to customer service to upgrade our tickets. As a submissive wife, I couldn’t disagree. (lol)
~Here are some favorite moments of our time away~
♥ Being together, holding hands, singing, and being carefree
♥ Owen meeting his very favorite character Goofy and asking him if he’s wearing pineapple underpants (from a movie he likes)
♥ Nathan being “tall enough” for Indiana Jones ride
♥ Owen on Dumbo (his favorite and first ride)
♥ Baylee on Splash Mountain (her favorite…that die hard)
♥ Nathan’s time on stage fighting Darth Vader!

♥ Owen grabbing Nathan's hand proudly and not letting go for over an hour after Nathan went up against Darth Vader. "You're my hero!" he was saying.
♥ Our niece Kristen joining us on day two’s afternoon
♥ Running into our friends the Robert’s and Castronova’s
♥ Picking out our family mascot…Cocoa the monkey!
♥ HSM3 parade
♥ Watching Owen during the Playhouse Disney show, thinking all the characters are alive and able to hear him
♥ Finding hidden Mickey’s
♥ Seeing the “new” Small World…pretty!
♥ Having total strangers wishing Jon happy birthday (because of the pin they give him to wear)
♥ Running into Michelle Kohout after her “Shift” around midnight in downtown Disney and not even knowing she works there.
♥ The flowers, trees, and landscaping of Disneyland (and happiness of all the workers and most the guests)!
♥ The fireworks…wow. I cry every time!

Oh how I’d love to have season passes to Disneyland. Maybe sometime. Hmmm, I wonder how many sub positions I’d need to take to cover that one!






(For those wanting more information on how to get a free ticket on your birthday at Disneyland, click on the link above when I say, "Free on your special day")

Happy Birthday Sweetheart (and Daddy)

Today is my

sweetheart, Jon's

birthday!

&

Today is the kids'

phenominal Daddy's

birthday too!

(what a coincidence ☺)

Jon is a Godly man who takes great care of his family. We love him so much. And in honor of JON-DAY, the 9th of March, here are 9 of the reasons why he's simply AMAZING!

♥ He is faithful and loyal

♥ He is always positive (even with the hours he works and the lack of sleep he gets many nights)

♥ He's funny and silly...a great jokester (you want him on your side)

♥ He loves to be with his family and when he does...he gives 100% of himself (and when he's not around, he's a great texter, emailer, and caller to check in)!

♥ He loves Jesus and let's that show

♥ He's easy-going

♥ His singing voice can melt our hearts

♥ He is quick to say "I'm sorry, will you please forgive me?"

♥ He has a smile that's totally, 100% contagious!

We love you with all of our hearts...forever and always!

(Thanks for taking us to Disneyland on your birthday...wow, what a party!)

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss 2009

("Green eggs and ham" with "One Fish, Two Fish Red Fish")

A special party because we were able
Happened today around our kitchen table
We celebrated Dr. Seuss’s big birthday
Lots of things happened, hip hip hooray
We brought out the green eggs and ham
And ate them here with Sam-I-Am.

From Oobleck, crafts, games, songs, and cake
It’s fun for all ages, for heaven’s sake!

(Did you ever read, Bartholomew and the Oobleck before?)

(Remember the book, "Cat in the Hat" where there were "Thing One and Thing Two"? There were two guys that looked like this. I thought it would be fun to make pencil "Things")

(Of course we had to sing a round of “Happy birthday” to the honorary author/birthday boy! Like our Cat and the Hat hats?)



~
For an Oobleck side note...

Question one: What is it?

Question two: What does it do?

Question three: How do I make it?

Answer #1: Oobleck is from the book (mentioned above) when the king from the kingdom of Didd is tired (angry) of the "same ol' stuff that comes from the sky. He asks a pageboy to make something "new" for his kingdom and this is what he comes up with.

Answer #2: It is so cool, for adults and kids! I first learned about it in college. It's a substance that defies Newton's third law of motion –for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Pound it in your hand and it's a solid. You can roll it in a ball even. Oobleck then seems to "melt" when it becomes a liquid when you release it.

Answer #3: I've been asked for years how to make Oobleck. This is the easiest way to do it...
Mix 2 cups of cornstarch and 1 cup water in a bowl with a few drops of green food coloring. If it starts to dry out from playing with it, add a little more water. (Cover with plastic wrap when not in use.)
~

Me and My Greek Goddess Weekend

What a blast of a weekend! Baylee and I, along with 8 other moms and 9 girls from our troop headed to Camp Willow Springs in Prescott for “Me and My Greek Goddess” themed Mommy and Me weekend. It was a packed ‘house’ with well over 200 families participating. From singing silly songs, tie dying, hiking, game playing, pottery painting, flag making, late nights, lots of laughs, SWAPING, and more…it would be hard to beat this time of togetherness. Here’s a few shots of our weekend away!

Another Great Season

Nathan, what a great baseball season you had once again. I am your biggest fan in everything you do. It's an honor to call you my son. You are kind and respectful, a hard worker, great sportsman (sportsmanship), full of integrity, fair-minded, and top notch athlete. Way to go, I love you!

Look Who's Coming to Breakfast 2009

The calendar has been marked in pen for 2/17/09, the debut of High School Musical 3 on dvd. All three of our kids LOVE this movie. So without them knowing, I planned a fun filled morning for today, inviting some of their friends over for breakfast in pjs with the intent of watching the movie during a carpet picnic all before school begins! Baylee, Nathan, and Owen were happily shocked as they walked down the stairs to see friends trickle in the home, one by one. It was priceless.
Someone not on the “guest list” arrived, thanks to the Talley family…Troy (a.k.a. Zac Efron, the main character of this toe tapping flick). He eventually became a dance partner for the girls. What a fun, fun, fun morning this was!
Thank you Andrew, Amanda, Kaydon, Sabrina, Colton, and Maggie for making this special surprise such a memorable one for our Kempiak Party of Five! You are great friends to us.


"The boys are back" (breakdancing)
"Can I have this dance?" (waltz)

Badge Collector

Today our Girl Scout troop family met at a local park to celebrate all the accomplishments of the girls’ for this school year thus far with an award ceremony. Each precious gal spoke in front of the families and came up to receive her badges. We are so proud of Baylee, today she was handed 21 new badges. Look at her precious smile, she’s so excited. It’s only been a year and a half in this vest with a year and a half left. We’ve already began sewing patches on the inside of her vest, making it weigh a lot. It’s a great “scrapbook” of her journey in Girl Scouts. I can’t imagine what it’ll look like after the next ceremony. One things for sure, it’ll look cool!

Nathan the Researcher

Nathan just finished his first written and oral report for kindergarten and did a fantastic job. He chose the Sea Lion to study, learning a lot along the way. His favorite facts to report on were:
♦Sea Lions can close their nostrils (unlike us).
♦They can hold their breath for up to five minutes (wow)!
♦They eat fish, squid, and even octopus!

Do you remember what your first animal report was on? Mine was the penguin several years after kindergarten!