What I would really like to tell you. . .

This morning David announced that next April we should plan a trip to Walt Disney World. We have never done Disney in April - always in November. I smiled (he knows how much I love our family vacations) and said "Great!" Cole and Katie will have a two week break in April - we can go one of those weeks. Then David said, "There is a place to turkey hunt about 20 miles outside of Disney." The truth comes out. Never fear, my Disney-infected-family-loving-vacation-mind still will plan this vacation. After all, it's still Disney and it's still my family (even if our lead Turkey decides to leave for a couple of days to hunt). So, kids - polish up those Mickey ears - Moms planning another Disney trip. 2007 here we come!

I love year round school. Cole is on the second week of his two week break from school. I believe that I love break just as much as Cole loves break. I don't miss the home work and I truly love having him home during the day. Katie likes having her big brother around the house to play with. The mornings are great because the kids don't have to rush out of their PJs. Yep - I love school break. I can't wait until summer break!

I have worked a lot this week for the Community College and the hospital. David has really stepped up with the kids while I was away. I seems that Katie can feed herself pancakes without a fuss and Cole can make his bed like a champ. The largest improvement - David somehow convinced the kids to "Go watch TV" while he slept in on Saturday morning. On top of the extra bed time, he also had a 45 minute nap before lunch on Saturday. So this morning I tried all his tricks - I asked the kids to "Go watch TV" - Cole said "Are you coming?" I placed Katie's syrup laden pancakes infront of her and said, "Eat." She said, "Are you going to help me?" My conclusion is either I'm a sucker for these kids (and they know it) or I'm just more fun than dad - I vote for sucker. P.S. Katie did eat her pancakes by her self!

I decided to take the kids to the beach for three days this week. We left Monday morning with a cold wind blowing and about 38 degrees. We smiled and continued our journey. When we arrived at the beach it was 45 degrees with the same very cold wind blowing. After I lugged all our "stuff" up three flights of stairs into our very cold condo, Katie asked, "When are we going swimming?" I said, "Let's wait until this afternoon to walk with our coats on at the beach." The day passed and we bundled up for a little shell hunting. Coats, hats, and thick socks and shoes, we left for the beach. After just minutes, Katie had a red nose and Cole was asking, "Can we take our shoes off?" What? It's cold and the wind is blowing at least forty knots! We continued our journey of shell collecting for about 5 more minutes. We then ran into the condo to warm up. Cole and Katie decided that tomorrow would be lots better for the beach. I voted for July!

Today was Cole's last day of school and he is now on a two week break. He was especially happy this morning for two reasons: (1) There were having their Valentine Party today and (2) today they would not have Brown Rice at lunch - they would have pizza. You see, the school menu changes every six weeks. Every Monday of that six weeks they eat the same thing - same for the other days of the week during that six week period. If there is a paticular food that you do not like - too bad - you will see it every week on that day. Cole's dislike day was Friday - Country Style Steak with rice and gravy. He really is not a picky eater so I was surprised to hear how much he disliked the rice and gravy. Oh well, today was pizza and in two weeks we will have a new six week menu. Hopefully, a menu that does not include anything with gravy.

Cole asked me yesterday if Katie and I could have lunch with him on Wednesday. They were going to be having Chilli Beans with corn bread. It is always so interesting to see him in his other environment. The kids all piled into the cafeteria and were handed their spoons and napkins. The milk was already poured into their glasses and waiting on the table. Cole was able to choose two friends to share lunch with us at a separate table. Cole comes over with two girls. One girl is Michelle Catherine and the other was Abby. This is the same Abby that has been sending home colored pictures to Cole via his book bag. The girls are smiling and seem very confident for kindergarten. I asked them many questions about their day and about school. Cole just ate his lunch while the girls and I chatted. Then Michelle Catherine lays it on me: Cole and Abby are engaged! Oh boy! I do believe that we skipped several steps. Who are her parents? What about college? I'm not ready for this! Cole turns really...

Why do toys keep finding their way into our bath tub? Just last week, I cleaned out (read tossed out) at least ten toys that were water logged and not really suposed to be in the tub. Today, I am washing the kids and I can hardly find them for all the toys that are now there. When do they toss them into the tub? I see naked kids running down the hall headed for the tub. I never see them run into their rooms on an undercover misison looking for toys to fill the tub. Somehow the toys appear. They smile at me and then each other when I start to question them about how Sponge Bob appeared in the tub. I quess that he walked and jumped in. My suggestion is to toss in some scrubbing bubbles and let them go to work.

The Ground Hog did see his shadow today so therefore, we have six more weeks of winter. Ha, ha, ha, ha! Six MORE weeks of winter. When did winter come? Please lets have more winter. We have had sixty degree weather for weeks. It has been a breeding ground for allergies for my kids. So Ground Hog - finally give us some winter, in fact, give us SNOW!

After watching the President give the State of the Union address last night, I began to think what is the State of our House. So here it goes: Gas - got to have it and it is about $10.00 higher a week than we budget for ($2.35 a gallon) Food - got to have it and it is about $20.00 higher a week than we budget for (due to the gas) Love - got to have it and it is about as high as it has ever been (due to the cost of gas - we don't go anywhere therefore, we can spend as much time as we need loving). Fun - got to have it and it is about as high as it has ever been (due to the cost of gas - we are staying home and making up our own fun). Memories - we are making (due to the cost of gas we are staying home and making memories). Cole and Katie have been sick most of the month of January so hopefully, the state of our house will improve with February in the sickness division. I have developed a new committee to spray Lysol to help improve air quality and germ destruction. We are going to a...