All sorts of catch up and Picture Overload!

Wow!!! First of all... Em, you are amazing!  Now that I'm back from vacation, I need to get to work.  :)

So.... this is what I (Maria) have been up to since we let out of school.  My sweet oldest asked me today when we have to start going back to school a lot. Seriously? 

 I've been at a lot of softball and t-ball games.  We've been spending a lot of time at Kings Island.  My girls LOVE it!!!  I made end of the year gifts for our oldest's teacher and babysitter. We would not have made it through this year without these ladies and their love and care for our girl. 

Then, I had to get ready to visit the happiest place on earth!  :)  I did this, of course pinterest inspired.......

 All my girls clothes laid out for the week... Sunday through Thursday, extras, long sleeves, swimsuits, pants (just in case).  I put all three girls clothes for each day in one Ziplock bag and labeled it.  It made each day so.much.easier.  I put all these bags, my clothes, our shoes, shower stuff, everything else needed in this bag.....

Yes... everything for four girls!  In one bag!  I highly suggest the Ziplock thing.  It helped immensely!!!! 

Then we headed off and drove all night long to end up here.....

After hearing this question a bagillion times!

 We were so excited and saw so many AMAZING characters!  We did the four day hopper pass and our youngest was FREE because she's still 2, so that saved a little money.  :)  We also packed lunches, snacks, and drinks.  They did check your bags at each park which was annoying to get the bag out of the bottom of the stroller, but each checker was super nice as was just about everyone we met at each park! 
My girls LOVED every minute of each park! So did I, except that our youngest turned into something like this

 every afternoon until I could find someplace cold and dark.  Then, she looked like this....

 Sweet angel.  Here were some of my our favorites. 

 

 

 We also met these amazing and beautiful princesses.  Thank goodness for the fastpasses because the wait to meet the bottom three was 90 MINUTES!!!!!  We waited about 15.  Whew!

 Ariel asked if anyone was a mermaid.  My girls said nothing, but my hand went in the air super fast!  I'm not afraid to admit that I am a mermaid wanna be, I mean look at her!  She's gorgeous.

 Merida was amazing!  So sweet and precious. 

 

 

 

They said, three little girls come in each morning and braid Rapunzel's hair.  I asked if those three girls could come to my house and braid my three girls hair because sometimes just getting a brush through that stuff is a job in itself!

After some bribing convincing, our oldest rode the Tower of Terror with me!  She, um I, was VERY nervous.  I squeezed held her hand the whole ride and when she got off, she went on it again with my husband. Thank goodness for those fastpasses! 

 

Our youngest.... she just makes me laugh. This pic was taken under the big golf ball thing at Epcot.    She's so goofy.    

  

 

 

So... that's what we've been up to in my house. Do you ever feel that when you get home from vacation you need another vacation just to recoup?  That's where I am right now.  Needing to get more of this...... 

A Special Day with a Freebie!

Today my baby girl turned 7!  I can't believe it!  I was home for a 1/2 day with a sick baby who keeps getting random fevers.  :(

So... here she was on her last day being 6.

 

And today on her first day as a 7 year old!

 

She didn't want a cake, so we ran thru McDonald's after the bus stop and grabbed caramel sundaes!  :)

She needed a big breath for that one candle.  :)

Happy birthday, sweet baby girl!!!!

 

And a birthday freebie for you!  We are writing Mo Willems inspired stories and here is our planning sheet for you! :)  I hope you can use it!  Let me know what you think!

  

 

Click the picture to get your freebie!

A Day in the Life of a Curious Teacher

I'm not sure that any one in the world will care about everything we do in one day, but I thought it would be a fun post.  :)

So..... last night, I was tuckered out so I went to bed at 10. 
4:15  First wake up.  This is when my hubby usually leaves for work.  Today he stayed home because we thought one of our coughing littles would have to stay home, but everyone woke up well.  My body did not realize this was going to happen.  :(
5:10  Alarm went off.... I hit snooze. 
5:20  Alarm went off again..... still tired, hit snooze.
5:29  Got up before I could hit snooze again. 
5:30  Took shower and got ready.
6:08  Tried to wake up oldest, but woke up all three ladies.  She wants me to wake up her up early because she wants to "spend time" with me before I have to take her to the sitter. 
Snuggled a little with my youngest because she looked so darn cute laying on the "blue sofa" we've been transitioning to a "Big Girl" bed. Keep reading for more about that.  :)
6:30  Finally got downstairs after making sure all girls were dressed and teeth brushed.
Packed lunch for me, finished up packing our oldest's lunch, signed reading log for her, made sure I had:  2 backpacks, 2 lunches, one sitter bag, my school bag, workout clothes bag, and diaper bag.  Seriously.... ALL THOSE BAGS!  I also had to be sure everyone had a jacket for this chilly morning.
Started the dishwasher
6:45  Started loading all into car, including all those bags. 
6:52  On our way to first drop off.
6:55  Got to first drop off.  Took oldest in. Gave her her "Kissing Hands" for the day, got mine.  Said a quick "Thank You" to the sitter and started out the door.  I was almost out when here comes our oldest, CRYING.  Not the first time, not the last.  We've been dealing with this since the first day of school.  :(  Breaks.my.heart. but I reminded her that I LOVE HER TONS and that I'm always with her in her heart. 
7:01  On the road again.
7:30  2nd drop off.  Dropped off our youngest and picked up a friend's daughter to bring to school. Chatted for a moment with sitter to give her the ins and outs of our morning thus far.  Wished her luck with our youngest who was already being territorial of her space with the cars and the garage. 
7:50  Said a little prayer for our sitter and all my little ladies. 
7:57  Pulled into school just in the nick of time!  :)
8:00  Signed in, had a little meeting, answered a few questions, checked email.
8:20  Firsties started pouring into my room, taking care of their morning business.
8:35  Announcements, attendance, lunch count.
8:50 Switched classes.

Should I continue to bore you with the rest of my day?????  Are you interested?  :)  If so.... keep reading.

8:50-9:25 Blue Group.
9:25 Specials that I totally forgot about because it's and Early Release day and our specials are shorter and at a different time.
Forgot about planning.  Got there a little late.  UGH! 
9:55-11:05 Blue Group
11:05-12:15 Yellow Group
12:15 -12:45 Lunch, but I spent 15 minutes trying to figure out how to fax.  :(
12:45-1:05  Vertical Team Meeting
1:05-1:35 Yellow Group
1:35 switch back to homeroom
1:35-1:50ish Getting ready for home.  Watched a Robert Munsch book online. Have you ever been to his sight?????  SOOOOOO awesome!  There are no pictures, just him reading which I L-O-V-E because the kiddos have to really listen to the story and he's just so.darn.funny!  CLICK HERE to go to his site.  :)
1:55  Began our decent to give our firsties back to their parents. 
2:00  Early Release meeting.
3:25  Filled out info for a student meeting with Curious Team members
3:40  Started on way to first pick up.
3:47ish  Picked up middle and youngest.
4:00 Headed to 2nd pick up. 
4:30  UGH TRAFFIC!  Picked up oldest.
4:45  Stopped at gym.  Dropped off kiddos at child care center.  Went to do my therapy exercises on my knee.  Met a friend, had a great stinky elliptical workout because I'm not allowed to run.  :(  But we had a GREAT conversation!  :)
5:35  Went back to the child care center to get girls.  Got Oldest and Middle ready for swim lessons. 
5:45  Oldest swim lesson.  Spent 30 minutes entertaining youngest and middle.  Crackers and coloring.  :)
6:20  Middle's swim lesson.  Spent 30 minutes entertaining youngest and oldest.  Oldest changed, youngest texted my sister a million times.  Animal crackers came to the rescue again. :)
7:00  Dressed and headed home.
7:10 Dinner.  Oldest and middle cried at the pizza that had been made. So... made Bagel Bites.
7:40  First spill.  Sunny D, not just orange, STRAWBERRY all over.  :(  Started clean up.
7:45 Second spill.  You guessed it.... Strawberry Sunny D.  All over my middle and the floor.  Hubby was in the middle of cleaning up the first and just kept on cleaning.  :)
8:00 Showers.  Lotion, jammies, dried hair for three little ladies. 
8:20ish Bed. 

Here's a pic of our youngest in her new big girl bed.    Yes.... all our girls are sleeping in the same room.  They are all doing VERY well.  NO ONE gets out of bed and they really do go right to sleep. 

So... since then... I've checked email, entered grades, and now blogging.  I'm also multi-tasking by watching Covert Affairs that was DVR'd last night.  LOVE THAT SHOW!!!!!  :) 

Well friends.... that's my day in a nutshell except it's still not over.  I'm going to edit more "Small Moment" stories and review what's on the docket for tomorrow.  :)  I hope to be in bed by 12.  (fingers crossed it's sooner).  :) 

I'd love to see what your day looks like.  Thanks so much for sticking with me!!!!!!!  :)  I wish I had something to give you for sticking with me.  hmmm.......  I think we are going to have to do our first giveaway, so be on the lookout!!!!  :) 

Have a Curious night and day tomorrow friends!!!!!