A Very Merry Disney Senior Trip: Day 4

Plans were for the ten of us to head to Hollywood Studios this morning, but we decided that we hadn't spent enough time shopping and instead, headed to Downtown Disney. The guys decided that sleep was more important than shopping, and joined us around lunchtime.
The girls on the otherhand, were raring to go.........

Aren't they cute??? The guys bought matching shirts and they all wore them to school on Monday. The Moms were raring to go as well, although in this picture we look like we were lacking a little sleep!! :O)


We headed to World of Disney, where we all went a little crazy with the shopping, but who can go into that store and not? After a few hours of shopping, we were ready to head to DHS, but the boys called and said they were on their way to meet up with us and wanted to get lunch. They suggested going back to Wolfgang Puck again, since everyone had enjoyed the food there on our first night. The grads ate, then left together to look around DTD a little more. The Moms enjoyed a yummy, quiet lunch together, then we headed to the bus stop. It was after 2 and we were ready to spend some time at DHS. The girls ended up joining us, but the guys had found Disney Quest by now, and didn't want to leave yet.

the tree at Disney's Hollywood Studios

Once inside the park, Jackie and I headed to Guest Relations to get our boarding passes printed out for our flights in the morning. Everything was roped off for the parade, but we found a pretty good spot near the big hat to watch.




After the parade, we decided to see the next showing of Beauty & The Beast. Everyone LOVED it!!!








It was now almost 4:00 and the guys hadn't come out to the park yet. I knew they were going to want to ride Rock-n-Roller Coaster and maybe Tower of Terror, but we had dinner ADRs that we couldn't miss, and we would have to leave the park no later 7:00. I was getting a little nervous now about booking this dinner show. I had seen it a few times before and I thought it would be a fun way to end the trip, plus the food is awesome, but now I was beginning to second guess my choice. I knew the guys wouldn't want to leave the park, but it was too late to cancel without being charged, and deep down I thought everyone would love it, so I tried to put my mind at ease and enjoy the rest of the evening. Mariah was waiting for the guys to show up to ride RnRC, but someone gave her two Fast Passes to ride in the next few minutes, so she asked me to go, just as the guys showed up. They wanted to ride, but she couldn't pick just one of them and not the other two, so off we went to get in line. It was her first time, and she loved it! Once we got off, the guys had decided to do single rider line instead of getting in the 60 minute queue and were about to ride again. Someone gave Nathan a Fast Pass ( I know-our lucky day), but he decided to let me ride with the FP and the grads got in the SR line. Once we all got off, I tried to persuade them to give Tower of Terror a try- but no takers. Then, I suggested going to see The Osbourne Lights that I had read so much about. They wanted to ride RnRC again, so they got FPs, and headed over that way with us.
 

{binder love}

30 Spaces / 30 Days

Space 13 of 30: Cabinet: Binder/Books
I love using binders to help me stay organized. I made a couple last year, one for budget and one for home, but they are bursting at the seams. I decided to break things down a little more and add a few more binders to my collection.

(1) Budget- this binder holds copies of our monthly budget (goes back a year or two), record of income, bank info, account numbers, etc.
(2) Home- this binder has folders for Christmas, paint samples, magazine pages I want to keep, etc.
(3) Travel- I wanted a binder just for vacations we've been on, and for upcoming trip planning. I filed this by year.

(4) Family- this binder will be divided into 3 sections: Peter/ Susan/ Nathan.
(5) Printables- this is my new favorite binder! I now have a place to store my seasonal printables.

folder in front holds banners

divided by months/season

I keep the binders in this corner cabinet with my books:

I have an extra binder that I want to make into a home management binder. Right now, I keep 2 notebooks on my counter, one for our budget and daily spending, and the other for lists...to-do, grocery, menu planning, etc. Slowly but surely I'll get more organized-one space at a time!

 

30 Spaces / 30 Days: Photos

Space 12 of 30: Organizing Photos

This was a HUGE job!! I have so many pictures, not as many in recent years since switching to a digital camera, but lots of pictures from my childhood and even more pictures of the boys through the years. I have a love/hate relationship with digital photos- I love the ease of editing and storing digital pictures, and the quality and cost of using digital, but I hate that I don't have as many of those pictures made into prints. Digital is awesome for blogging and sharing online, and I take so many more pictures now than I used to, but I have so many folders full of pictures that pretty much just stay there and don't get looked at as often. I do have prints made from our vacations, and special occasions, etc. for scrapbooking, but I miss having pictures to look through and frame.
I organized my photos a few years ago and this is what works for me: We have a corner armoire in our bedroom, the top part for the tv and the bottom for photos. It had gotten pretty cluttered, but is now organized once again.
bottom of cabinet before:

bottom of cabinet after:

Right now, it holds a few frames, a 2013 Disney photo album I need to fill with Senior Trip pictures (that I haven't had printed yet), small clear bin holds manuals to household items, larger clear bin holds keepsakes from vacations, etc. that I'll use for scrapbooking or just want to save. The four photo boxes hold photos (somewhat) sorted by category.

I keep all of my scrapbook albums in my craft room/office. I keep a few here.....

As I was looking through some of the boys pictures I saw this one of Nathan and remembered something I had seen on Pinterest- I had to share!

5Q Friday ~ Feb 22

  1. What is a hobby you would love to learn and why?    Photography! I've always loved taking pictures, but since I started blogging, I love it even more. I am far from being a great photographer, or even a good photographer, but my picture taking skills have progressed a little since I got my new camera last year. I still dream of getting a good camera and learning how to take awesome pictures like those I see on other blogs....maybe someday! 

I love taking outside pictures, especially pictures of flowers...


2. What do you wish you could have delivered to your house but does not deliver?

My mail.....I have to pick my mail up at the post office. I {love} getting mail, and rarely skip a day picking it up, but there are some days when I just don't want to go out or I'm too busy to get to the p.o. I would prefer having my mail delivered!

3. What's your favorite snow day activity? Inside and out?

Always loved going out in the snow- especially sleighing, or is it sledding?! Nathan and friends had a fun night sleighing on our last snow day.....


but my perfect snow day is no school, staying inside, warm & cozy, watching a movie, and eating Snow Cream!!



4. Would you meet a stranger from an Internet dating site?
NOPE!

5. If you had to spend 35 hours in a car with 4 other people, who would you choose?
I've pretty much done this (several times), driving to Disney World and back! I've driven with 3 other people, Peter and the boys, but I'd have to say I'd probably add a friend for Nathan, to keep him company, since he is the least impressed with all those hours in a car! Peter and I don't mind the long drive, but Nathan gets bored/tired after a few hours. He is always a more tolerable traveler though if he has a friend.


driving to Charlotte, NC to see the Bears vs. Panthers 2010



on one of our long drives to Florida......he had probably said "are we there yet" 1,000 times...finally fell asleep a few minutes before getting there! :O)

Oh, How Pinteresting! Weds Feb 20

Linking up for the first time with The Vintage Apple for Oh How Pinteresting Wednesday! This week's pins are all about ME!! Here's what I've been pinning:
~A few items on my birthday wishlist:

a pink bike!!! :O)

Rachel Ray yellow bakeware

this sign from Hobby Lobby

new pots & pans (but I'd settle for the pans!!)
Love these from Rachel Ray (unsure of the color choice though)

~And I'm looking for a dress for graduation- here a few choices from Shabby Apple:








and maybe a pair of Toms Wedges??

Stuffed Clams

I tried yet another new recipe for dinner today, and yes, it was a hit!
STUFFED CLAMS
2 dozen clams (remove from washed shells and chop)
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped red pepper
2 tsp. minced garlic
1 stick butter
1 sleeve saltine crackers
salt, pepper, Old Bay to taste
1 tsp. parsley flakes
Melt butter in pan; add onion, celery, red pepper, and garlic. Saute' for 10 minutes. Add chopped clams and seasonings, cook 10 minutes more. Add crushed crackers, 10 at a time, stirring until thick. Place 24 half shells on pan and stuff with mixture. Sprinkle with Panko crumbs. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.