The Magic of Disney...

OK, so my family just returned from THE greatest trip ever! We spent our Thanksgiving holiday at Disney World in Orlando, FL. You hear people talk about how magical this place is and blah, blah, blah.... and I am here to tell you it is SO absolutely true! From the moment we walked into our hotel room to find the towels arranged on the bed in the shape of Mickey Mouse, to the night before our departure when we watched the most awesome fireworks EVER from the World Showcase at EPCOT, and every moment in between... the only word to describe the entire experience is MAGICAL.

We started at Magic Kingdom, home of the iconic Cinderella's castle. Although it was WAY too crowded for my taste, we had a blast. We saw Mickey and Minnie's houses, we met Ariel in her grotto, we rode Pirates of the Carribean, Brad and Sam rode Space Mountain, we watched Mickey's Philharmagic 3D show (very cool), and then we watched fireworks over the top of the castle before heading home for the night.

The next day we spent at EPCOT where we had lunch at Akershus Royal Banquet Hall in Norway with the princesses. Lily met Jasmine, Aurora, Cinderella, and Belle, as well as Ariel (for the 2nd time). We got to "talk" to Crush, the sea turtle from Finding Nemo, before jumping over to Hollywood Studios for dinner at the 50's Prime Time Cafe. Our waiter, Cousin Cooper, fussed at Brad for wearing his hat at the dinner table and told Sam and Lily they had to finish their vegetables before they could have dessert. They had the most AWESOME collard greens I have EVER eaten in my life.

The next day we spent at Animal Kingdom. It was my very favorite park! We started with a breakfast at the Tusker House with Mickey, Donald, Daisy, and Goofy. We went on a safari ride and saw tons of cool animals up close and personal. Brad and Sam rode Expedition Everest (monster rollercoaster) while Lily and I went to have her face painted like a Princess Kitty Cat. We saw The Festival of the Lion King, a great musical show. We saw It's Tough to be a Bug, a neat show with some really cool special effects (we were spit on, stung by, and overrun by BUGS). And to top it all off, we ate at the Rainforest Cafe where we ate under the rainforest canopy with thunder and lightning and monkeys overhead! We had the most wonderful dessert... a VOLCANO, which Sam worked super hard to finish! And I almost forgot... we went to the movies to see Bolt!

We spent the next day at Disney's Hollywood Studios where Lily danced in the streets to High School Musical 3, Sam and Brad rode Aerosmith's Rockin' Roller Coaster and the Tower of Terror, and we all watched the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular and then ate our dinner inside of cars at the Sci-Fi Drive In Theater. We got to watch Fanstasmic... the most AWESOME laser light/fireworks show!

The last day we went back to Magic Kingdom to visit the castle one last time, then we went over to Downtown Disney to play video games at Disney Quest. We paddled down a river using computerized paddles in the Jungle Cruise game and we played pirates as we shot our cannons at passing ships in the Battle for Buccaneer Gold. It was really fun. Lily and I received our diploma from the Animation Academy where we learned to draw Pluto, while Brad and Sam designed their own roller coaster and then got to experience what it would be like to actually ride it inside a simulator. We shopped, we ate at Cap'n Jacks restaurant, then we went back to EPCOT to see Illuminations, their fireworks/laser presentation. Boy, did we ever save the best for last! It was so amazing, I almost cried!

There's so much more that we did.... it would take forever to write it all down! I just can't believe that it is all over! :( I missed my pets and I think they missed us, but I was so sad to leave! I took around 700 pictures... way too many to post. Right now, I am trying to recover from the walking and the long drive. Still kind of floating from the "magic" of it all... :)

One crappy movie...

I LOVE M. Night Shayamalan (Brad says I just like to say his name because it sounds cool). I really think his movies are clever and I love the twists they usually have. However, I watched The Happening this weekend and I have to say that it was one crappy movie. If you haven't seen it, I am just going to go ahead and ruin it for you so you can be spared the agony of finding out for yourself what it is about. The freakin' TREES are emitting a chemical that is making people commit suicide. Yes, you read that right... the trees. Actually, all plant life. The earth decides that people have caused enough damage and decides to go into survival mode and purge itself of its nasty human inhabitants, or at least some of them in the more populated areas.

I will say again how much I love some of his other movies... Signs, the Sixth Sense, The Village, and even Lady in the Water. But this one flat out sucked. Sorry, Night.

The joy of plastic rings and stickers & tripping over flat surfaces...

It has been so long since I took the time to update everyone about what the family has been up to, so here goes...

Halloween came and went. It brought with it lots of candy, which I managed to sneak out of the house this morning to give to my kids at school. Sam & Lily (who dressed as a vampire and a princess, respectively) have not yet noticed that their loot has gone missing. Hopefully, they won't notice at all. The 24 hour sugar high was getting really old. We went to the trunk or treat/ fall festival at church. We took our traditional hayride through Shallowbrook with Sam, Myra, Carmen & family (my "other" family). I just love Halloween. I don't know why but I just love the feeling of it. I love dressing my kids up and I love the spooky-ness of it. I can't watch a freakin' scary movie anymore because I have turned into a chicken in my old age, but I do still enjoy Halloween.

We added another member to the Cornwell clan. Brad's brother, Jeff & his wife Mary had a baby girl (Julia) on October 27th. She is beautiful and so TINY! You forget how small those things are when you haven't had a new one in a while! Not that I would consider getting another one... I love mine, but no thanks. All of us Cornwell wives are pleased that we have now managed to outnumber the boys in the family. The testosterone levels were outrageous when I first joined the family. :)

Lily had her first dentist visit back at the beginning of October. She was so excited that when the lady called her name and she walked to the door to go back into the exam room, she stood there in the doorway and opened her mouth as wide as she could to show the lady her teeth. The lady laughed and said, "Why don't we get in the chair first?" My crazy child. She has been saying that she has popcorn in her teeth for months. I have flossed her teeth (although none of them actually touch each other anyway!) but she still says she has that feeling. She kept saying, "Mom, when are you going to take me to the dentist so that I can get this popcorn out?". The only thing that made her visit any better the getting her teeth sparkly clean was the fact that she got a bonafide plastic ring to show for her efforts! And to think that some people avoid the dentist!

Speaking of healthy children, I had to take mine to the Children's Clinic just the other day for their annual well-visits. They got the works... fingers pricked, peed in cups, eye exams, hearing tests, weighed, measured, poked, prodded, flu vaccines squirted up their noses & of course, shots galore! But once again, the whole mess was worth it because we got STICKERS! Lily cried when she got her shots (bless her, she DID have 4 of them!) so she managed to con the nurse out of 4 EXTRA stickers for herself and her brother. Aaaah, the magic of cheap plastic rings and stickers!

Well, time now for a funny story about Heather and how she does indeed trip over flat surfaces. Brad and I decided to transform the kids' playroom into our family playroom. We took all their toys to their rooms (they NEVER went up there) and we are going to find a cheap couch or two and move the Wii up there. Well, they have nearly ruined the carpet so we decided to give a carpet shampooer a chance. I had cleaned everything out and Brad was shampooing the last part of the room. I went upstairs to carry down my cleaning supplies. After walking across the damp carpet to pick up a dustcloth I had been using, I started down the stairs, not realizing the danger of wet shoes on top of wooden steps. My feet went straight out from under me and I went straight down on my monstrous behind. Thank goodness I was a fast enough thinker to grab onto the kneewall beside the steps or I would've bounced my big butt all the way to the bottom. Yeah, so today, along with not being able to sit comfortably unless I sit at an angle, I have got the nastiest bruise I've ever had right across my rear end. Applause??? Don't worry, I'm not going to put a picture of my bruise on here! :)

Brad and I went to Concord this past weekend and did the majority of our Christmas shopping. It feels so good to have that out of the way. We had pictures taken of the kids (they are great... you have to go see them if you haven't seen them yet... just don't tell grandmomma because that's what she's getting for Christmas. And if you get a Christmas card from me, just pretend you haven't seen them before). So Christmas is right around the corner and I am getting ready for it!! Thanksgiving is kind of being bypassed this year because we are going to Disney during Thanksgiving week.

Well, papers are needing to be graded, laundry needs to be moved to the dryer, and kiddos need to be put into their jammys... so it looks like that's all the blogging I'll be doing for now.

Yes, we can...

I meant to be on here writing a blog entry on Tuesday night as I watched the election results, but I was too engrossed in all the excitement. I did, however, write a letter to each of my children explaining how important this night was to me and how important I hope it will be to them one day. I guess it goes without saying that I am thrilled about the decision our country has made to elect Barack Obama as our next president. I am filled with hope. I am optimistic about the future. And I am thankful that there is someone who cares enough about the future to make the sacrifices that it will take to get the job done. Do I believe in Barack Obama? You had better believe it. I have complete faith that whatever decisions he makes are going to be made with the future of his own children in mind. He is going to work hard to make our country a safe and happy place for his girls and for all the other children in America. And you know what? For me it really is not that important that he is the first African American president. I know it is a milestone, but that has nothing at all to do with why I voted for him. He is intelligent, inspirational, and genuine. He is a REAL person, who understands the middle-class, who loves his family, and who recognizes the desperate need for change in our government.

And I am so confused and upset by all the people who look at my vote for him as anti-christian or whatever. I am a christian and I believe in giving people the freedom and the choice to make their own decisions, whether those decisions should be about their sexuality or their bodies or their possessions. I don't believe it is the place of the government to make those decisions for me. I don't believe it is the government's job to see me safely to the pearly gates. That is my own responsibility. I believe it is wrong for me to make judgments about people who choose to live a lifestyle different from my own or who make decisions about their bodies that may be different from the decisions I would make. It is not my place to JUDGE. It is my place to love my fellow man and to show kindness to ALL. Does that make me unchristian?

If you know me at all, you know that I tend to be pretty sarcastic. I can have tendencies toward negativity. I complain a lot. I know all of these things about myself (hey, at least I admit it!). BUT, I actually cried the other night watching Obama's victory speech because I was so inspired and so proud. I think that we need a leader who can do that for us, even if he does nothing else. The sense of hope that he has brought with him is priceless. I hope to see more people around here give him a chance and at least be hopeful. There is so much that needs to be "fixed" and the endless complaining and bitterness about the election results can only hinder the job he needs to do. You really don't have to be a gung-ho as I am... just give the man a fair shot at living up to his promises. It is the best thing you can do for your country right now.

Climbing down off of my soapbox now...