Great Work at School!

Alyssa received her first Report Card this week. She made all C's (Consistent) with one S (Sometimes Demonstrated) in completing assignments at school. Apparently she is quite POKEY, not only at home but at school as well. This was no surprise and we will be working on her speed of completing assignments, especially at school. Artists and dreamers have a hard time being rushed :) We were very pleased with her first report card and happy the adjustment to Kindergarten is going well. Geat Work, Girl!

Mrs. Genie

October was a really busy month for us. Two days after we returned from Disney World my sweet grandmother, Mrs. Genie, passed away. It really was a blessing. She had Alzheimer's Disease and had not been doing well for five years. The finality of the Funeral made me sad. Realizing that I would not see her nor the small town in Georgia where she had lived most of her life again brought plenty of tears. Above is the Church that she attended as well as the Church where my parents were married.

Although I prefer weddings, at least funerals give you a chance to catch up with family. Alyssa had a great time playing with Uncle Mike, my Mom's brother, and Aunt Gail. And hey - they made the Blog!

The flowers sent by family and friends were gorgeous!

So I've buried my last Grandparent, I was lucky to have them all for so long!

This is the picture of Mrs. Genie I keep on the fridge. Four of my most favorite people on Earth all looking pretty darn good! This was taken the last Christmas Mrs. Genie was able to come to our house and say "I've just never seen so much Christmas!" We love and miss you Nana!

Disney - October 2009

Well - we finally did it! The A Team of three took their first vacation together and we took our girl to Disney World. We had a wonderful time - it was everything we had hoped it would be and more - can I go back now?!?!?!

Our first day was at the Magic Kingdom and the very first thing we did was ride the Dumbo ride.

We hung out with Goofy . . .

and wrapped up the first day with Dinner at the Crystal Palace - we were three tired campers! Alyssa's favorite event of the day was the Peter Pan ride.

We spent our second day at the Animal Kingdom and spent the late afternoon in our hotel pool. It had a dragon whose tongue was a waterslide.

Day 3 was spent partly at Epcot and the hotel. Alyssa thought Epcot was "Boring." We all enjoyed "Soaring" ate lunch in Mexico and Alyssa loved the Leap Frog Fountains. We also hitched a few rides on the Monorail.

Day 4 was Hollywood Studios and we spent our longest day touring.

We had front row seats for High School Musical 3 - Alyssa is a HUGE fan, experienced pin trading for the first time and had a nice lunch at the Brown Derby. We shut this park down! One highlight of the day was riding Toy Story Mania - it was a blast - it should have been, we waited in line an hour. I really should not complain, we only waited in line two other times.

Alyssa and Drew with all their "Bling" at the Brown Derby.

Just the gals!

Our fifth and final day was back at the Magic Kingdom. We opened up the park and had breakfast with Cinderella and the other princesses. As you can see from her face, Alyssa was SUPER excited. This one shot made the whole trip worth it!

This one too!

So long Magic Kingdom we will always remember Alyssa's first trip here!