Better Late Than Never

I know I have been neglecting my blog lately (as my mother so kindly told me) and even though I had the best of intentions to update much sooner than today, I guess it's better late than never.

When I last left, I had planned on updating pictures from our Disney trip.  Meeting the Princesses was Kaci's favorite part of the whole entire trip and Jim was so great to wait in line for many of them while we wandered around the park.  So here is a run-down of everyone we met.

Cinderella, the first princess she got to meet inside the castle.

Snow White

Sleeping Beauty, Kaci's all-time favorite.

Ariel

Belle (Kaci wished she had been wearing her yellow dress)

Daddy waited in line a long time so she could meet Rapunzel.

Jasmin and Aladin (she kept looking everywhere for Abu)

Tiana and Prince Naveen

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Meeting Some Characters

The first day we went into the Magic Kingdom, we had gotten there just in time to see the big parade.  Kaci was absolutely taken by this because she was seeing all of her favorite characters in one place.  She didn't move and didn't make a sound as she was taking it all in.

But them came the time to actually start meeting the characters...and then we had entered a whole new level of fear.  She didn't like them...nope...not at all.  I'm not sure if she was afraid or unsure of it all, but she absolutely did not want to stop for an autograph, let alone a picture. 

The next day, I convinced her to stop and see Daisy Duck and amazingly she DID! 

I think her fear was the costume, because she had no problems talking to the human characters.

She really wasn't a big fan of Goofy

She and Alice became close friends that day...They talked for well over 5 minutes.  

 

 

 

 

 

Stay tuned for Kaci's favorite part of the trip - Meeting the Princesses!

Disney 2011

Can you guess who is major behind in the blogging world?  This lady right here!

So, we've been back from Disney for a couple of weeks now and things have finally started to settle down (meaning: caught up on graduate work, caught up on school work, not caught up on housework-oh well, you win some, you lose some). 

We told Kaci about Disney the night before we left with a scavenger hunt through the house.  I told her Tinker Bell had come in and left her surprises which scared her half to death.  After a great deal of persuasion (and carrying up the steps) she became very excited to find all of the prizes left for her.  The biggest surprise was a wrapped package complete with a new princess dress, balloon, and poem written by yours truly.  The poem was how we actually told her where we were going.  Of course, in true 4 year old fashion, she didn't react with the happy tears and joyful screams I was envisioning in my mind.  In fact, my child was more concerned with the balloons and trying to figure out how Tinker Bell got into our house in the first place.  At least I got it all caught on camera!

And Then There Was One

Tomorrow, we depart for Disney World!  This is by far one of the hardest secrets I have ever kept from anyone and in just a matter of hours I will finally be able to tell Kaci she is going to "The Place Where Dreams Come True."  I hope she is as surprised as I am envisioning! 

Getting ready was not an easy feat by any stretch of the imagination.  I am back in school and am taking 2 classes (which means double the work).  For the past week, I have been working until midnight trying to get papers written, chapters read, and not go crazy in the process.  Plus, I had lesson plans to write and papers to grade for the school that actually pays me to be there.  I am now finished with all of my work due this week and next week so I can leave home with much less stress on my plate.  My mom was also kind enough to keep Kaci for me last night so I could get the packing finished.  Each step is falling into place.  Now we just have to wait for Jim to get off of work so we can let the cat out of the bag.

I am planning of getting video of her learning the surprise and once I learn how to upload I will post it here for all to see (just don't judge any messes in the background).  Here's hoping for one happy little girl (and the ability to fall asleep tonight)!

10 Days

Only 10 more days until we leave for Disney.  I think I have finally figured out how I am going to tell Kaci we are going.  Since our flight is early in the morning, I decided to tell her Sunday night (of course, now I won't be able to get her to fall asleep).  I bought her a new Cinderella dress (Sleeping Beauty is her favorite princess, but I didn't like the off-the-shoulder number they had, plus we're eating at Cinderella's castle so I thought it would be appropriate), I wrote a little poem full of clues about where we are going, and I'm going to get her a princess balloon.  I'm going to put it all inside of a large box wrapped in princess paper.  That way, when she opens it the balloon will float up and reveal the poem and dress.  There will also be a trail of new princess items (tiara, bracelets, necklace) leading her to the box to hopefully build some suspense.

Now I'm just hoping she'll react the way I envision.

17 Days

17 days...yep...just 17 more days and I am finding it harder and harder not to tell Kaci we are going to the place where dreams come true.  Now off to research how I exactly I am going to surprise her.

A to Z

I saw this on my friend's cousin's blog (makes me think of that scene from Ferris Bueller's Day Off...My best friend's sister's boyfriend's brother's girlfriend heard from this guy who knows this kid...you get the point) and thought it was a cute idea, so I thought I'd give it a shot.

A {age} 32

B {bed size} queen

C {chore you hate} cleaning floors

D {dogs} 1 shih tzu named Bella

E {essential start to your day} shower

F {favorite color} black is my favorite to wear

G {gold or silver} white gold

H {height} 5'1

I {instrument you play} I played the flute and piccolo in middle/high school

J {job title} I get paid to be a teacher, but I'm also a mom, wife, chef, chauffeur, maid...you get the point

K {kids} 4-Kaci, Kelsey, Jordan, Justin

L {live} Northern Kentucky

M {maiden name} Zacharias

N {nickname} don't really have any

O {overnight hospital stays} when I had a c-section

P {pet peeve} when people leave the lights on and they aren't in the room, when they burp and don't say excuse me

Q {quote} God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can and wisdom to know the difference

R {righty or lefty} righty

S {siblings} little sister, Becky

T {time you wake up} Ugh, I hate waking up!  On school days, I wake up at 6:45

U {universities} Miami University (undergrad), Northern Kentucky University (grad)

V {vegetable you hate} cooked spinach

W {what makes you run late} not wanting to wake up and Kaci moving slowly

X {x-rays you've had} teeth (at the dentist), ankle (high school injury)

Y {yummy food} tacos, pizza, Coke-a-Cola

Z {zoo animal favorites} monkeys