Happy Valentines Day - Cookies & Snow!

We had a BIG snowfall on Friday so this weekend we've been finding fun indoor activities to do, except of course when we venture out for a snowball fight. Yesterday we baked and decorated Valentines cookies. We cut most of them in the shape of hearts, but we also did a few "G's" for Grayson and "M's" for Max. This is the first time Max has helped us with cookies. He helped stir, roll out the dough, cut the shapes, and he really loved putting on the sprinkles! He took it very seriously and wouldn't even look up to smile for a picture. When he has a project, he is very focused.

Happy Birthday to You . . .

Grayson is 5! from Shannon on Vimeo.

Grayson's 5th Birthday!

When you're turning 5, it's a really, really big deal. So Grayson's birthday was a huge event in our house. And we enjoyed every minute of it.

We started off the celebration on Feb. 3rd when Pop-pop stopped by with presents.

Star Wars is Grayson's latest favorite, and it was everywhere during his Birthday.

That day we also made and decorated cupcakes for Grayson's "cupcake birthday party" as he likes to call it.

Then on the morning of Feb. 4th (his birthday!) Grayson opened up his presents from Mommy, Daddy, and Max.

And his presents from Nana.

That day at school I brought the cupcakes for his "cupcake birthday party."

All the kids in his class, and his teachers Miss Brandy and Miss Jennifer, sang Happy Birthday.

The next evening Tony brought Grayson to Target to pick out stuff using his birthday money from Papa George & Prima, and from Gummaw & Papoo. He had lots of fun shopping!

Then on Sunday we had Grayson's "cake birthday party" at McDonald's.

The Star Wars theme continued.

Happy Birthday Grayson! I can't believe you're 5. It makes me happy, and a little sad. You are growing up way too fast. Sometimes I wish I could freeze time. Being 5 is so much fun, and I know you'll enjoy every minute of it.

Disney Cruise

I'm way behind posting. It took a while to "recover" from our vacation. More on that later. And then my computer caught a virus (ironic, actually, more on that later) and spent 3 days at the "doctor" getting uninfected. Then our wonderful 4 year old turned FIVE! So now I'm trying to catch up.

Back to the cruise. 7 days. Mickey and his whole gang were a huge hit. The beaches were fun. Grayson had a blast. This was our third Disney Cruise . . . and our last. On day 3 Max started vomitting. Then on day 5 Tony did. And it was an awful, vicious virus. It was probably norovirus - aka Norwalk Virus - that bug that circulates frequently on cruise ships. And it's bad. Tony spent 2 days in our cabin with no windows after getting an IV with fluids and a heavy duty anti-vomitting injection. Poor Max was just as bad, but received less help from the onboard Dr. In fact, he was immediately quarantined to our cabin for 48 hours.

So for 4 days I took care of a sick baby and then once the baby was well a sick husband (which basically meant doing my best to keep the kids out of the cabin so he could sleep). And of course I lived every moment dreading that I would likely come down with the virus. Thankfully for all of us I never did. Nor did Grayson. Last. Cruise. Ever.

Enjoy the photos!

Professional pictures taken onboard, all before the dreaded bug bit us, by the way:

Muster Drill!

Grayson L-O-V-E-D the Mickey Pool and swam every day.

Heading up to the Mickey slide.

There was a little water area for toddlers, since they weren't allowed in the pools.

Ice cream was available pretty much 24/7.

Watching Mickey come down the stairs!

We managed one date night, one date lunch, and one date brunch (all with no kids!), before the bug bit.

First Stop - St. Martin

B.B. the monkey (Grayson's pre-k class mascot) came with us on the trip. We took lots of pictures of B.B. and prepared a report for the class upon our return.

Second Stop - St. Thomas. Max was still weak from his illness, so we only got off the boat for a quick stroll around the port.

Back on the boat, we played shuffleboard while in port at St. Thomas. These were good moments. We thought we had weathered the storm.

That night Tony stayed with Max . . .

While Grayson and I had a date.

We went to the Walt Disney Theater to see the musical production "Disney Dreams."

Later that night, Tony was sick.

So the next day, on our third stop at Castaway Cay (Disney's private island in the Bahamas), I took the kids off the ship and to the beach. On my own. Not sure how I did it, but I did!

The next day we arrived back in Florida and drove home. It has never felt so good to be home.