Inside Jill's Life: Catching Up...

Hello! We meet again! Since the last time I wrote here, a lot has gone down. We had our 1st Disney trip, a 3rd birthday, a 35th birthday, a 5th birthday, Christmas, New Year's and now here we are creeping up on Valentine's Day. Whoa.

Let's start with the Disney trip, which was an outstanding time had by all. We opted to drive down ~~because flying was way too expensive~~, and it wasn't all that bad. Thank God we live in these modern times where cars actually have DVD players in them. I don't think we could have survived a 9+ hour car ride playing eye spy. No way. The kids - and us parents - fell in love with Disney! Chuck & I had been before, but it was at least 15 years ago. And, let's face it, Disney is so much more fun when you experience it through your kids' eyes. It was hot. There was crying. There was whining. But we loved it just the same. We are planning to go back this year. Can. Not. Wait. And how cool is it that you can actually eat in the Beast's castle now?? Seriously? OK, I may be just a tad more excited than the kids.

My talented hubby worked up this awesome pic!

The man...I mean Mouse, himself

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So, my baby girl turned 3 in October. She actually turned 3 on the day we came home from Disney. Had to get her in there for free at least once, right? We had an awesome birthday party for her after we were back home. We had a little petting zoo come and set up in our back yard. It was a huge hit. So cool. Now I'm just wondering how we will ever top that? I mean, we had GOATS and CHICKENS and a DONKEY in our backyard. There is no topping that.

She held that poor chicken for hours

Mallory, you are a blast. You LOVE princesses and you were enamored when you got to meet them at Disney. You got all of their autographs and you would do a little jump-up-and-down dance each time one of them signed your autograph book. You have the cutest little lisp, and the cherry on top is the little gap between your two front teeth. And when you open your mouth to speak, a southern drawl rolls out. You have beautiful blue-green eyes and the longest eyelashes I have ever seen. Your eyebrows could go toe-to-toe with a young Brooke Shields' any day of the week. You have pretty blonde hair with curls that fluff up in the summer heat. You love everything pink, but you also like your superheroes as well - you get that from your brother. You love to carry around tiny figurines of any kind - princesses, dogs, cats, what-have-you. Instead of saying "My arm," you say "My narm." You also say "My nanimals" (when talking about your figurines). You don't eat much of anything that's good for you, or much of anything in general. You love Rice Krispies cereal and crackers and Goldfish and that's about it. You love your brother...until he aggravates you. Which is a lot. You still love him in the end though. You are my very favorite 3 year old princess. You will always be my best girl.
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In case you were wondering, the 35th birthday I am referring to in the first paragraph was Chuck's 35th. Not mine. He's getting on up there. He doesn't like to talk about it, so let's move on.

He still gets around pretty good for an old guy...

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On December 4th, my boy - my little boy - turned 5 years old. What?! Why?! How?! That's a hard pill to swallow, let me tell you. Because 5 means growing up. And 5 means Kindergarten. And 5 means big boy. Not little boy anymore. After changing his mind I don't know how many times, we had a party with all of his best friends at the Chattanooga Zoo. We got him an awesome snake cake and the snake actually wrapped around the side of the round cake and it's head rested right on the top. Excellent cake decorating by Piece A Cake Bakery, I must admit. The party was held in a room that we shared with reptiles. Reptiles have to be kept warm. Do you know how "warm" a room gets when the heat is turned to 75 degrees and then you mix in at least 20 kids and 10 or 15 adults? Now, THAT'S a very warm room. Ouch. All in all, the kids had fun. They had lots of sweets and cake and got to pet a snake. It was a cool party.

See that snake head - made of icing? That's the only part he ate.

Alex, you are a great kid. You are so funny and you love to laugh. You have a gorgeous smile with the best looking dimples ever. I know that smile is going to help you snag a wonderful girl someday. Or it may get you in trouble. We'll see. Your hair is as blonde as it was when you were a baby. And your eyes are as blue as the ocean. I like to think you get those blue eyes from my grandpa. You love, love, love superheroes. Instead of the Avengers, you say "Revengers." You also say "lellow" instead of "yellow." You are full of 1,000 questions per minute. "Why this?" and "What about this?" It's tiring, but I love how curious you are...most of the time. You started playing basketball this year. You like practice. The actual games...not so much. During practice you can play with your friends and you actually get to HOLD the ball. The games are the exact opposite. You are always eager to move on to the next thing. In the middle of a basketball game you ask when you can play soccer. In the middle of playing a new game on the iPad (obsessed), you ask about getting a new game because you "don't really like this one anymore." You are super tall and your pants are always a tad too short. That's a good thing, I suppose. You are my own personal superhero. And you will always be my little boy.

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Christmas was wonderful. Not white, but wonderful still. I love spending the holidays at home with my little family. Nothing better in this whole wide world. Gifts don't matter. Happiness does. And love. Always love.