THE Wedding

Luci and I did not get up early today to watch THE wedding of William and Kate.  But...we have seen videos on the internet already, and looked at many photos of the happy couple.  This is one of our favorite compilations of photographs.

The big question from Luci: Will my big teeth come in before I get married? I do not want to get married with these holes in my smile!

Luci thinks this is the blooper reel from this morning:

Our Birthday Present to Luci

Our present to Luci was a trip to Birmingham to see Disney Princesses on Ice.  (Daddy went to work, the boys went to work in the Friendship Center, and I got to go have fun with Luci.)   Impressive show, and lots of fun.  Luci and I left home at 6:30 a.m.(yawn--Mama, we can't go now!  It's still night time.  No one is up yet!!) 

Favorite parts:

Kenzi and Mamie were there, too!  Here Luci is with Kenzi.

Oh My!  Wonderful show!

I got off easy on the buying spree...there is always TONS of stuff to buy at these things.  I only got sucked into getting Luci some cotton candy (she is in love with it! that was her first exposure to cotton candy) and it came with a Micky Mouse crown.  The glowing wand, necklaces and bracelets I bought a few days earlier at the Dollar Tree--total cost for those was $3.  Worth every penny.

Wowzer, Disney does a show right.  Maleficent's dragon (from Sleeping Beauty) breathed fire!

And the dragon lit the ice on fire!

Tinkerbell is in the golden coach as the Princesses and their Princes skate the finale (this was just before the fireworks went off!).

When we got home, Luci wanted to try the hair paint that I got on sale after Halloween.  She was hoping for bright pink, but on such dark hair it does not match up to her imagination.

Luci's drawing of one of the Princesses ice skating. 

Worth every penny and even getting up so early....Life is good with a SIX year old daughter!

Thirty Days of Thanks

Well, here we are at the end of the month. It's been quite easy to find things to be thankful for, and most days I have to limit it to just one. Today I have two. :)

Today I am going to say Disney World and their Armed Forces Salute. They are giving one FREE 5-day ticket to military and up to five $99 5-day tickets to family members. (Since John's not here, we can get the family members tickets. The offer expires the day John is supposed to get home. You KNOW we would have waited until John got home, otherwise!) Disney has done this at least one other time since September 11th. I know that part of it is just business--the tourist industry's been hit very hard since then, and Disney World was thought to be a target of that dreadful day. But the cast members are so appreciative when they know that we are military. When we came in September 2002, when John was on his first trip, the cast members (and the characters especially) gave the boys such good attention and told us THANK YOU for what their Daddy was doing.

One I remember in particular was Captain Hook. We bought a Mickey t-shirt for characters to sign for John and they all did. Every last one of them. But Captain Hook gave the boys a special thrill when he pantomimed to his "keeper" (remember the characters who don't show their faces can't talk to the public) that he had seen their Daddy when he pulled into port overseas. My, you shoulda seen that 10 year old and 6 year old light up! And I loved it, too.

Chip and Dale cried because they missed John, and Goofy saluted. Really nice. And every single one of them signed John's shirt. We saw another guy ask them to sign his shirt because he'd seen us get the shirt signed, and he was told, "No way. Theirs is special--it's for their dad who's overseas."
Also thankful for the funds to do this--it was totally impromptu yesterday. We did not have a reservation (they are hard to get!) and we just walked in and they had room. Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique. And right next to Luci was another little girl, also from China, who lives in Memphis! I had a very nice conversation with her parents. Luci chose Tiana for her character, and she has that newest Disney Princess' outfit on.

Luci and her Minions

Thirty Days of Thanks...

I'm thankful for a little girl who says Luci-isms and Luci-Speak like
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"I got a scrap on my knee." (scrape)
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"Tiana's prince is named Ravine." (Tiana is the newest Disney princess and her prince is NAVEEN.)
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"But mama, we have to go into McDonald's (instead of going through the drive-through) because there are people in there who want to meet me!"

Wow, I love her! Can't imagine life without Luci. What if we'd never gone to that adoption meeting.....

Tuesday at Vero Beach

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Birthday Party!!!!!

Woo-Hoo, Kalyn had a Princess Birthday Party today! Luci has been excited all week. The invitation is nearly worn out from Luci toting it around the house and re-reading it. Here are some shots from the party. Kathy, I need to get some good shots of Jack. The photos I took came out fuzzy. (Maybe I should wear my glasses all the time, then I'd notice before I get home.)

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An explanation of a few photos: I tried my best to get Luci to take a nap this afternoon. She would have nothing of it, and fell asleep on the way to Kathy and Greg's house. Luci and Kalyn have this ritual of a huge hug at the end of every visit. Tonight was no exception. It is a mixture of a hug and a tackle.

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Since it was a Princess Party, Luci wore her Snow White dress. Kalyn had on a gorgeous Cinderella dress that I'm sure Grandma Millie made. The girls have a blast with each other. Kathy and Greg, thank you for the fun evening. We can't wait to see you on Tuesday morning!

For Nana and Papa:

Princesses and Other Stuff

Three pretty Princesses. The Nance girls with Luci.
Luci all ready for school. She thinks she is going to ride a bus to Kindergarten this year, even though we HOMESCHOOL and she starts Kindergarten officially NEXT year. I may have to paint our van yellow and drive her around every morning. Oh, yeah, Luci dressed herself. I think she did a pretty good job of matching things.

We are getting some new furniture for our living room, and trading out the Tabriz for a rug John got in Kabul on his 2004 trip.
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Heard Lately--

Bryan: Why is it called an Autograph when you have to do it manually?

Sweet Friends and a Science Project

My Feingold friend Sharon was cleaning out closets and found a Belle dress that her adorable daughter Johanna loved once-upon-a-time. Now Luci can love it. Thank you, Sharon!!
We have a bird nest on the down spout next to the garage. Here's what is in it:
We look forward to seeing the babies soon!

Luci Meets Cinderella

You just have to understand what a BIG DEAL this is. With every character she's ever met (here and on the cruise 2 years ago, at grocery store openings--Piggly Wiggly's pig), she cowers, whimpers, and tries to run away. Even from those yards and yards away in a parade. Not with Snow White--just shaking with her. Not with Mulan, she feels a kinship with her.

And Now, Not With Cinderella.

Look for the smile when Luci hands Cinderella her autograph book. John and I could not believe it!

my apologies for the quality of the video.

Move over, Pluto. Cinderella is my favorite now!

On the way to Magic Kingdom, Luci calls Cinderella from the U.K. in Epcot.

First ever sighting of Cinderella's castle. It's back there, trust me.
We finally got in to the Princesses and Luci would only go to Cinderella. (Sorry, Belle and Aurora!) We have Photo Pass. I handed the photographer our card and asked him to please take as many photos as he could, since Cinderella was the only character she would go to today. He was snappin'!When we got back to our suite, look what was waiting for Luci! A birthday card and balloons from CINDERELLA. So Sweet! It was attached to Luci's bear. Luci was sound asleep when we got to the rooms, so this will be a wonderful surprise in the morning.We found glass slippers! This wasn't budgeted--but how could we pass them up??The day ended wonderfully with Cinderella. It began with trauma on the Dumbo ride. She's been talking about riding Dumbo for at least a month. JT was supposed to ride with her. It was difficult getting her into the pachyderm....think of putting a dog into a bathtub. After coming this far, we were going to go through with it.
Should'a skipped Dumbo.
Riding the Carousel with Daddy. Started out well, but...
should'a skipped the Carousel, too.Luci's favorite "ride." This was in a preschool playground area in Toon Town, right across from Mickey Mouse's house. Overall, I am glad that Luci is not a thrill-seeker or as adventurous as the boys. Maybe she won't get into as many dangerous things as the boys did as young children. Luci being my sidekick is a pretty wonderful thing.
PS: John and the boys were at the Magic Kingdom today, too. They had a blast going on all the big rides while Luci and I did the mild stuff. JT made his first (and second, third, fourth, etc) trip on Space Mountain, a big roller-coaster that has been "too much" in the past. Bryan and JT are taking John to the Not-So-Scary Halloween Party tonight. I am happy to crash here with Luci!

It Started Out So Well....

Ready to go eat breakfast with the Princesses at Norway in Epcot! Happy about it!

Not so sure anymore. Luci with Snow White, loving that Snow White knows it's her birthday but not sure about everything else.
More Princesses! Oh No! Luci hides under the table, sobbing. I want to go home NOW!!!
Princess Aurora (aka Sleeping Beauty) talks to Luci under the table while signing the autograph book. This princess sounds just like her character in the Disney movie. Wow.
Mulan got her out from under the table, but Luci would have NOTHING to do with her. By the time we left, every cast member (that's what Disney employees are called) knew about Luci crying under the table! The boys had to make do with these gorgeous young ladies. Doesn't it look like they enjoyed their task? Jasmine from the movie Aladdin. Oh--and Bryan and JT!
Princess Aurora
Mulan
John reading the birthday card that was delivered to the table for Luci--they even brought a cupcake with Mickey sprinkles! For breakfast!
Later on, Luci and I headed out on our own. John took the boys to do the exciting rides. I changed Luci into something more comfortable. While she worked on this craft in the China pavilion, guess who showed up and came straight to Luci?! Mulan! Look who let Mulan get close!This is my FAVORITE picture of the entire day. (Mom--are you crying?)
JT mugging it up.

Bryan and JT playing Power City after the Spaceship Earth ride. It was a fun game.
Sweet photo
Waiting for Mom to get out of the bathroom.
Luci and I toured the World Showcase. When we came to Germany, Luci told me that "Maggie lives here." Audrey, you might want to check on Maggie--Luci said she saw her here! :)
Finding the next thing to do....which turned out to be the boat ride home to our resort. So far, the boat ride is her favorite "ride" at Disney.
Back at the room, loving that jewelry box. This was a few minutes before she finally passed out.