Being Thankful...

I just received my first End of the year, Christmas/Holiday, What's been going on in our life LETTER...

I think it is fun to receive the early bird letter and what fun to receive it around Thanksgiving and read about the many blessings of my one friend and her family.

Today I got a jump start on Christmas decorating w/ packing up my fall decorations from around the house. I personally love the colors of fall: orange, red's, crisp brown and bright yellows...but now the end of the Autumn season is upon us as the Holiday twinkling lights, greens and red's and silver and gold begin to shine everywhere. In the process of putting away 1 season to prepare for the next...I tend to sit and begin to think back on what has occurred over the last year. This process helps me to write our Christmas Newsletter.


While thinking back on planning a last minute surprise trip to Disney in March, my first chairing of Exploremore Day (school event at the children's school) come off w/out hardly a hitch in May, celebrating a decade of being a Mom as the twins turned 10 in may as well. My thoughts turn toward summer swim lessons, un seasonably cool weather, the kids camps, trips to Michigan w/ family and friends and then most recently celebrating my in-laws 50th Wedding Anniversary, being on the news on Halloween night and wishing Mae a happy 7th and Margaret a happy 3rd...


I am happily reminded of what I am THANKFUL for:

my husband and 4 children



my parents and extended family


my home


my close group of friends and my extended friend-family through our church


my husband's job


my Disney/Autistic support group of friends


the ability to share, create and make memories


my children's schools and their teachers....


and so much more!


I hope the end of 2009 finds you thinking back on more good than bad and your Thanksgiving Day is filled w/ not just a full belly of great food but a full heart of joy and blessings....


Julie

One Year Away....

Can you really get excited for something 1 year away?

Some plan for a wedding 12 months away or planning for a baby 10-9 months away or plan for graduating High School and starting College over a yr away....so why not PLAN for a Disney Vacation.....

And with any good well thought out plan you need a list, goals, things to accomplish and do over this long planning period....not just to fill the time but help make a great trip and well frankly...I am one who agrees Planning for Disney trips is half the fun!

Scrappie's 1-year away to a WDW trip PLAN

* Decide on a Date: check Nov. 2010

* Reason for Going: Girls Birthdays and Thanksgiving

* Choose a Theme: Let's Give Thanks and Celebrate...Disney Style

* Choose where to Stay: check DVC Bay Lake Tower at Contemporary Resort

* Clean out planning Binder and prepare new Planning pages (passport prices, ADR wish list and planning sheet, daily itinerary sheets, park must do sheets, etc): check and in progress

* Start compiling planning data (menus, special events, last yr's park hours and entertainment schedules to use as reference for later, crowd calendars, etc): in progress

* Start preliminary LISTS, also includes updates to old lists (packing, food for room/kitchen, clothes & items already bought for trip, things to buy for trip, every one's TOP 5 picks, etc): in progress

* Make room RESSIE:

* Research and Decide Park Passes: research in progress should purchase before 8-10

* Research and Decide on Dinning Plan: research in progress can purchase up to week before trip for DVC stay

* Prepare a Trip Budget how much money it will cost: check on guesstimate plan

* Research Airfare (cost, flights, carrier): haven't done much here yet, though know like to fly SouthWest again

* Make ADR's (180 days out): 5-10

* Book/Buy any special ticket events or children's programs (i.e. Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party, Bibbidi, Bibbidi Boutique, Pirate's League, etc):

* Do a Pre-Trip Planning Report (on Disboards):

* Make a master and daily itineraries:

*Start on any special projects/crafts for trip (i.e. countdown calendar, autograph books, Michael special guidebook, etc):

* Finalize above lists:

* Pack:

* GO!!!!!!!

Ok I'm sure there are some more miscellaneous details I have not mentioned....but it's fun to see my ticker counting down to get ready for allot of FUN planning to be done for our next Wonderful Disney Adventure...hope you will join me!

Julie

Monday's update for 11-9-09 Disney on the Brain

Last week I shared my "To-Do" List and yes it got longer as the days passed, but I accomplished just about everything on there before our couples weekend away! Minus the WDW-NYC custom book....it's back on the list for this week.

No much going on in the land of Disney Memory Making...but hopefully that will be remedied in this coming week!

But what true Disney fan would go for days w/out at least once thinking of Disney or being teased for my vast Disney knowledge by my non-Disney friends...huh?

Over the weekend, several games were played and Disney came up quite often....

What would I associate with "delicious" in a game of Apples to Apples...of the 9 choices someone played the card Walt Disney...now I may not think of Walt his self as "delicious" but he has inspired some pretty delicious and YUM Fun things at his parks.

In another game of Loaded Questions...I wrote down Disney as my answer to the question what is my addiction. I wrote down Walt Disney World as my answer to what place would I most like to vacation at...duh! and I also referenced my Disboard nickname Scrappie-Do for another question.

And in one other game...I was lead to answer naming the 7 drawfs or drawves?....Sleepy, Sneezey, Grumpy, Happy, Bashful, Dopey, and Doc.

Oh you can even say I saw some Disney outside...when "Bambi" and two of his friends walked out of the woods.

Have a great Disney week!

Julie

A Monday update on a Monday....

can it be so.....

Wow I'm even impressed w/myself. So it is back to waking up w/ the sun and dinner in the dark (well at least that is the way it is here in the central time zone) and it's also back to my weekly to do list.

Want a peek?

* organize bill/receipts on desk and pay bills

* put away Halloween things and downstairs items in hallway

* do my Bible Study, BLOG, and Dis

* send Picassa Halloween Album to family

* pack for weekend (my husband Matt and I are going away w/ 4 other couples no kids except for 2 nursing babies of 2 fiends to MI)

* laundry

* last minute and forget's grocery run

* clean

* make sitting lists for my Mom and MIL (they are taking the kids Mom here w/ Michael and Margaret and Aldine and Mae staying at Matt's parents)

* try to work on NY WDW book

* On Friday: clean my bathroom, finish packing, strip and re-make my bed. pack girls things

Whew...sounds like a busy week ahead but the reward ahead is going to be WONDERFUL!!!!!

but before I get to ahead of myself has any fun memory making or Disney fun stuff been in the works?

* sorry no pictures to share, still need to take but the twins (Michael and Aldine) both had this same assignment from their teachers (different 5th grade rooms) they had a profile face front view of a person they were to decorate and design to look like a job/career they would like when "they grow-up" Can you just guess what my kids picked?

Michael- wants to work at WDW as a Character Performer. We dressed up his paper person as Donald Duck.

Aldine- wants to work at WDW as an Imagineer

and in other Disney fun...little Margaret had a split personality of 2 Disney characters for this Halloween. On Friday she dressed up as Princess Aurora for the kids school parties and on Saturday actual Halloween it was quite cold here she dressed up Jo-Jo the clown (btw why did Playhouse Disney cancel that show...sad) Here are a couple pictures:







Oh and there was this pumpkin carving/decorating contest at the kids school (we didn't enter one) but you got to love this design:




thanks,

Julie