Disney Mania - How to tell kids you're going to Disney World

If you have seen me in the last couple months, you probably know that I am going to Disney World very soon!  My mom, sister, brother-in law, niece and nephew are heading to the world of magical-ness. I am beyond excited and apologize ahead of time for all things Disney you will hear from me!

In this first post of my Disney mania, I am going to show you a fun way to tell kids you are going to Disney World.  As we started to plan this trip, my sis started to collect random Disney themed things that she would give to the kids as the time neared.  So, this summer we decided to take all of those things and make a scavenger hunt in order to tell Alex and Chase about our upcoming Disney vacation. 

We started the day off with some Mickey pancakes and juice with Mickey ice cubes. 

Then Ang and I quickly came up with some clues for our scavenger hunt.  We decided to tell them we were going on vacation and then made them find things they would need to bring with them. 

Some examples of the clues are...."You might need something to watch on the way there."  They then went to where they keep movies and found Dolphin Tale (we are also going to see the dolphins from the movie on our trip).  Another was, "You may need some new shoes"...which is where they found some new Crocs.  Here's a cute video of when they found their crocs and read the next clue.

The clue he was reading lead them to find some new Disney sunglasses. 

Here are a couple more pictures of them finding and reading clues (They were sweaty from playing outside and Alex's headband is something else!):

When they figured it out, needless to say, they were very excited!  We of course then needed to make a paper chain to count down the days!

The kids made some white dots on the red for Mickey's buttons and I cut out the black strips with his ears. 

Yeah...there were about 90 when we started...only about 11 now!!  

Spaghetti Squash...yep, it's a squash that looks like spaghetti!

Finding things that are easy and healthy to eat is not easy.  Things that are good for you are often really expensive...why is that, anyway?!  So, I am constantly looking for those easy healthy meals.  One of the effects of my fibromyalgia is that, after a full day of work with kids battling with me all day, my fatigue is so strong it literally hurts me to then have to make dinner when I get home. I have been working on trying to make something on Sunday that I will then have leftovers to eat for the rest of the week.  This is especially important on a week like this one where I have conferences two nights during the week.  

Here's this week's meal, which has become a favorite because it's so easy, filling, low calorie, and yummy!

Spaghetti squash - before I started making this, I had never really heard of this squash and usually steer clear of squash.  But, believe me, it's different than you might expect!  Here's what it looks like...Target usually has them in stock in the produce section. 

These things can be a beast to cut open!  So, being the clever one I am, I thought, I will get a pumpkin carving kit and that should be easier since it's kinda like a pumpkin...

Well, it was fabulous for the first side, but as you can see, it didn't last long!  My search for an easy way to cut spaghetti squash continues...

After it's cut, all you do is put it in a pan (you can have it open side up or down in the pan), put a little olive oil on it and put it in the oven at 350 degrees for around 45 minutes. 

When it's done, just take a for to it and it will shred it up and make it into strands sort of like spaghetti. 

There are so many recipes of things you can do with spaghetti squash, but I often just throw some marinara on it and I like to add some meatballs for some protein. (These meatballs are Simek's mini turkey ones...yummy and adorable. Just heat them up in the microwave!). 

Give it a try!  It's easy and yummy!  Enjoy!

These are a few of my favorite things...

I wonder how many people have used that as a blog post title.  Probably way too many, but it's true...these are a few of my favorite things!  

A group of my friends has started a bit of a trend of having "favorite things" parties.  This one was to celebrate three of my lovely friends' July birthdays.  If you have never done a favorite things party with your pals, I highly suggest it!  This is how it works: each person brings 3 gifts of about a $10 value.  All 3 gifts are the same and should be representative of your favorite things.  This is my third favorite things party.  For the first 2, I went the route of kitchen items that are orange because both of those things are definitely my faves.  This time, I felt I needed to come up with something different.  Here's what I came up with:

First, a bottle of Cider Boys Strawberry Magic.  This has definitely been a summer fave...nice and refreshing!

Second, I threw in a headband. Last summer when I was in Nisswa for small group cabin week, us girls went to town for some "pretty good shopping" (really, that's what they call it). In one of the cute little shops I found a great headband that I had to have. When I got home, I decided I could make one just like it. Since then I have made many and they really come in handy when I want to pull my hair back but want to add a little flair too.

Next, I really despise that time of year when school supplies show up in the local stores because they show up way too early and signify that the end of summer is near.  However, I do truly love those supplies themselves...especially pens!  Sharpie pens have become some of my favorites as of late, especially when they are in fun colors.  (I forgot to take a pic, but I am sure you all know what they look like.)

Last, I needed something to put these favorite things in....and, if you know me, you know I love bags - I mean, I really love bags!  So instead of getting some cheap gift bags, I decided to make some quick and easy fabric bags.  Literally, they only took about a half hour or less each.  I really do not know when I became this girl that thinks...I could make that, but...I guess I am that girl now.  

I put everything in the bags and headed off.  3 people took home my favorites while I took home the favorites of 3 of my friends.  These "favorite things" parties are a super fun way to get to know your friends a little more by finding out some of their favorite things!

A Little Ink with Big Significance

Often when I meet someone new they are surprised to find out that I would be someone who has a tattoo...nonetheless, (now) 8!  I often hear, "I just didn't picture you as someone who would have a tattoo."  It's definitely something of my generation and it is for sure addicting for me. Funny thing is, I remember telling my sister just after she was out of high school and she was talking about wanting to get a tattoo, "I just don't think I could find anything I'd want on my body for life."  Hmm...guess I was wrong!!

Well, a couple of weeks ago I got not just one new tattoo, but two!  My tattoo guy (at Electric Dragonland in Hopkins-who's amazing!) charges by time and neither of these took long so it made sense to do them both at once. And now I want to show them off!  (And in case you're wondering, yes, they both hurt to get.  But, it's always worth it!)

So, here's tattoo #1...

Yep, that's Minnie Mouse!  (Behind my left ear.). This tattoo is in honor of my aunt Colleen, who passed away this past fall from ovarian cancer. Colleen loved Disney and really fueled my love for all things Disney as well. The teal in Minnie's bow is representative of the color for ovarian cancer (thanks to the suggestion of my pal D!). Colleen was a huge part of my life and will always hold a large piece of my heart. We had a special bond and she taught me so much and was so special to me. I am excited to have Minnie Mouse with me each day to remind me that Colleen will be with me always. 

And tattoo #2...

It says, "He will wipe every tear..."  This comes from the verse in Revelation 21:4 which reads, "He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."  This verse has become rather significant to me, especially over the last year or so.

I have lived with some form of chronic pain since the age of 5. It started with migraines at that time, added some back pain after a fall off my loft in college, and then being diagnosed with fibromyalgia around the age of 25 or so (I can't really remember). For many years I was able to kind of pretend it didn't affect me much but over the last several years that has changed. My level of widespread pain has greatly increased over the last several years and can be affected by so many different things. The way many describe the pain is to imagine you have a bad case of the flu...those intense body aches and difficulty doing anything...that's what it feels like at times. Over the last couple of years I have played around with diet, exercise, essential oils...many different things and have found small periods of relief but no great answer.  When you become so used to pain, you forget how to tell if your pain level has changed in any way. In the end, I will continue to play around with these things, but I also know that this may be something that I will wrestle with until my last day on this earth. BUT...when I reach heaven, God himself will be right there wiping my tears and I will have a heavenly body that doesn't hurt anymore and there won't be any more crying or mourning or death...things will be the way they are meant to be!!  People who say death is a natural part of life, it's not...we were created to live forever and to live in communion with God, but the fall changed all of that. That's why death and pain suck. We weren't created for any of it, but through it all, God is right there. God will give me the strength to get through things on this earth and will help me see His blessings along the way. This tattoo is a reminder for me, on those days that are just hard to get through, that one day, God Himself will be there wiping my tears and all of that pain and sorrow will be done. 

The making of an American Girl doll closet

So my niece, Alex, has entered the world of American Girl dolls.  For Christmas she received her very first doll, Kaya, whom she loves dearly.  With these dolls come many, many accessories.  However, to buy them at the American Girl store gets a little ridiculous!  So, to Pinterest I go!  

I found a cute closet that we just HAD to make!  So, my sister and I traveled the hour and a half it takes to get to any stores by her and found a Michaels and a Hobby Lobby to collect our supplies. 

What we got: 

A wooden crate, some small wooden boards (for a side shelf), wooden dowels, some round knobs (for the bottoms of the closet and stool), a round box for the stool, some pink spray paint and some strong glue. 

I then started to spray paint everything - surprisingly not as easy as I expected...

Here are a bunch of the supplies after being spray painted:

Then I started gluing a wooden dowel in for our closet rod.  The dowel was a tight squeeze so I needed my sis to pull out the sides for me to really be able to get it in place. Then I glued four knobs onto the bottom of the crate and the round box. (Don't look too closely or you'll see my not-so-great paint job. :) )

I tried to glue the shelf on the side, but because the slats were not even, that did not prove to be successful.  I opted for some small nails instead, which worked great.  

Oh, we also had to have a mirror so that Kaya can look at herself as she gets ready for the day.  

Then we needed a little decoration so I got a "K" for Kaya and let Alex decorate it with some paint. She really enjoyed this part!

Then we glued that on the top.  

Here's a picture of the final product with Kaya and Alex. 

I think she liked it and it was pretty easy to make and way cheaper than a closet at the American Girl store!  

Intro...to me

So, I am new to blogging. Not sure that I have much interesting to say, but it seems to be the cool thing to do.  😉. When asked how things are going, I often respond with "Oh, you know, livin the dream...maybe a bit of a messed up dream, but..."  So, that's where the title of this blog came from. 

A little about me...

I am a special education teacher, with a focus on emotional behavior disorders and autism.  My days are filled with kiddos that like to keep me on my toes...always an adventure!  I have been in my current school for 7 years and have been working with kids for much longer.  I am constantly learning new things and coming up with new ways to help kiddos that others sometimes give up on.

Many may say that I can be somewhat of a medical mystery. One of the reasons is that hat, when I was in my 20s, I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia. What is fibromyalgia?  Hmm...I like to call it my "disease". At first, I used this term in jest, but it has more recently been classified by some as an auto-immune disease.  It has been a huge learning process for me.  I like to pretend, and have for years, that it doesn't affect me, but have been working on acceptance in the past few years. In all truth, it makes me really tired...to the point that it's hard to get far from my couch some days. It also causes widespread pain...in joints, muscles...everywhere.  Some describe it as having the achy body flu sypmtoms every day without having the flu. I have tried many different things to see if they help take away or at least lessen some aspects of the fibro and I will continue to do so.  Many people suffer from chronic pain and it's hard to find people who really get it so I find it refreshing when people are real about what they're going through. So, I hope to be able to provide comfort to someone who feels they are alone in this so that the hey realize there are many of us out there.  

I admit, I have fully enjoyed the creation of Pinterest and like to try my hand at different things.  I got a sewing machine a couple of years ago and have made a slew of blankets and a few other things.  Many of the things I find that I want to try are for my adorable niece (Alex) and nephew (Chase) who are twin 6 year olds.  They are amazing and I seem to find so many things that they "need" to have. 

Thanks for reading and joining me in this crazy journey!

A little craftiness in Louisiana.

I am on spring break this week so I decided to take a little trip to Middle of Nowhere, Louisiana (I mean, Fort Polk) to visit my sis, bro-in-law and most adorable niece and nephew. I always find all sorts of things on Pinterest for these two little six year olds...tonight we decided to make calm down jars.  

First, we went in search of the perfect jar.  I have made one of these for work and used a larger water bottle but decided the glue to water ratio wasn't great so needed to find something different.  After much searching, I decided on a racquetball container.  Next is the worst part...getting off that nasty paper label.  After getting as much of the paper off to start with, I then soaked the jars in warm soapy water to get the rest off.  In the meantime, I consulted my good friend Google and found that using an equal mixture of oil (I used olive oil) and baking soda to make a paste would be my best bet.  I made my concoction and lathered it on the bottles and waited a while (about a half hour). Then I took a rag and wiped the rest off and it actually worked pretty well. 

Here are the rest of the materials you need for these calm down jars: glitter glue, extra glitter for awesomeness, warm water, and some cute little figures for the kiddos to watch and find.

Next you take your glitter glue and empty the entire bottle into your jar.

Next add a little extra glitter for awesomeness.

Fill up your jar with warm water. 

Then, say goodbye to your cute little friend...to be seen later...and drop him (or her) into your jar.  

Finally, put the cap back on and shake it up real well.  I have to admit, while my choice of racquetball jar was fabulous for size and all, not the best on the tightness of the cap.  So, I will be using some uber strong glue to glue those covers on and hopefully prevent leaking. 

Then, what you end up with is some fun jars that the kids can sit and watch for a long time. When they are upset or you need a break from them and they need to take a break, have them shake that jar up and sit and watch their little guy in there and all of the glitter settle.  When it's all settled, it may be a good time to have a chat about what happened and if better choices need to be made in the future.  The act of them watching the glitter settle can be really calming to them so that they are able to be rational little beings again...as rational as 6 year olds (or other little kids) can be!

They were really excited about their jars!!