Lunch Share

Last Friday, Nate had his annual Lunch Share at school. This signals the end of Catholic Schools Week, and gives the kids a chance to let loose a little bit.

 

Every kid brings in an item to share, such as pizza, chips, cookies, etc. Of course the kids love it and there is always waaaay too much (junk) food!

 

Parents are always invited to attend but only a few from Nate's class were able to make it this year. I was happy I was able to join my favorite 2nd grader!



#mommasboy

Abby's class had Lunch Share at the same exact time, and Greg was unable to attend due to a last-minute meeting. So, Mia's mom adopted Abby for the day and Abby got to sit with her BFF Mia. I hopped over there for about minute just to check on her and give her a kiss, and she barely noticed I was there :)

 

Love my kiddos and their awesome school!

Abby's Debut

Last Thursday, Abby read in mass for the first time! This was a big deal because she was only 1 of 2 kindergarteners picked to read. Proud mom moment!!

 

She had about 3 weeks to practice, and seemed more excited than nervous. Thank goodness she got a Barbie microphone with a stand for Christmas, so we could practice at home every night :)

 

When the big day arrived, Abby seemed nervous on the way to school and insisted on reading her part at least 307 times out loud.

 

Mass was packed ... it was a campus-wide mass (grades PK-12) and a lot of parents attended too since it was Catholic Schools Week. She sat a few pews in front of Greg & I, and looked back at us many times during mass. I could tell she was super nervous but just gave her a cheesy "thumbs up" every time.

 

Finally, it was time for the Petitions to be read. She was about the 4th one to read.

 

And she did awesome!!!!!!!!!!! You could barely see her over that big podium, but I was so proud because she spoke slowly & clearly like we had practiced. It was a little quiet though, so you'll have to turn the volume up if you want to watch the very brief video clip here.

 

Abby plus Elijah, the other kindergarten reader :)

I remember when Nate was in kindergarten and he read for the first time.... I was in awe of him for being so brave, and I was equally in awe of Abby when she did it. Because let's be honest....if you know me, you know that public speaking is pretty much my worst nightmare. I'm so thankful neither of my kids inherited that from me!!

 

I promised Abby an after-school treat for doing so well, and she picked TCBY. And Nate got some ice cream too because he insisted I never treated him after his first reading. Ha!

So proud of our "baby" girl; can't wait to see what she does next!

And So It Begins.....

For years now, Nate's dentist has been telling us that he will need braces, and that there would be a long road leading up to that. He wasn't kidding! We took step #1 down that road on Monday, as Nate had 3 teeth pulled.

 

As you can imagine, Nate was a basket-case when woke up Monday morning and knew today was the day. He is the kind of kid that likes to know what is going to happen every step of the way. #comesbyithonestly! So, though I never had teeth pulled as a kid, I did my best to accurately answer all of his 1,639 questions about the procedure in order to calm him down. And since the appointment wasn't until 3:30 pm, I planned a day filled with activities to try and take his mind off of it.

 

First, we headed to the mall & had lunch at the Food Court. We threw pennies in the fountain, did some window shopping, and let Abby spend a gift card for Christmas in Claire's. Then, we headed to Barnes & Noble for hot chocolates, reading, and let Nate spend a gift card.

 

#roughlife

 Finally, it came time for the dentist appointment, and Nate started to break down in the car. And the waiting room. And the bathroom. And during Abby's cleaning. Poor thing, the anticipation was killing him. He still had about 7 questions left that I couldn't answer, so Dr. Hollowell very patiently answered them before he got started....

 Thank goodness for laughing gas! It really calmed him down, and made him a little silly too which was hilarious. He did great during the procedure, and it only took about 10 minutes to get all 3 teeth out. He held and squeezed my hand the entire time :)

He survived!!! And was still a little loopy/sleepy here.

Look how big those roots are! The small one was about to come out anyways, had been dangling for awhile.

Doctor's orders - a milkshake! And Mommy had promised a trip to Toys 'R Us as well. #ibelieveinbribes

 Thankfully, Nate was all smiles the rest of the afternoon, and was hardly in any pain at all. I mean, seriously, look how happy / relieved he is that it was over!!! :) And in the Before picture, he couldn't even smile he was so nervous, ha!

I'm so proud of Nate for getting through that, and being so brave when he was clearly scared to death. Now that these 3 teeth are out, we are hopeful that his permanent teeth will come in on their own. (We saw on the x-ray that they have been waiting up in his gums, but just didn't have space to come down!) This summer, we will go back to the orthodontist to see about getting a spacer put in up top to widen his mouth a little more if need be. And then, in about 3-4 more years, it will be time for braces....

 

Oh the joys of having a child with a small mouth & huge teeth! :)

Disney 2015: Day 5

The last day of our trip, Monday December 21st, was different than all the others......mostly because it was just the four of us! Everyone else flew out early Monday morning, so just the Givens family headed to Animal Kingdom on our own. It was *such* an odd feeling to have a small group, and not have to constantly yell "Are you coming?" or ask "What should we do next?!" It was weird, but also a bit less stressful too, I'm not gonna lie :) 

Ready to conquer Animal Kingdom!

(The photographer made us....)

Since we had to pack up the room & check out Monday morning, we didn't get to Animal Kingdom till around 10:30 am. We had a late breakfast reservation at Tusker House at 10:50, and got to meet some characters:

Unfortunately, we were not huge fans of Tusker House. First of all, the food (African) wasn't great and neither was the selection. We were right in between the breakfast & lunch crowds, so I feel like we got a little bit of both. And then, to top things off, there was a HUGE miscommunication with our travel agent concerning this meal, and we had to pay over $100 out of pocket. Needless to say, we were NOT happy. (Especially because the food sucked!)

I exchanged a few harsh words with the travel agent over text, and then turned my phone off. I was determined to enjoy our last day! We headed off to the Kilimanjaro Safari, which was our first FastPass of the day.

Family selfie in the back of the Jeep. Let's do this!

Hands-down, the safari was one of the top 3 things we did at Disney! It was amazing!!! We saw sooooo many amazing animals & beautiful scenery....

Reading animal facts & making Nanny proud!

The Tree of Life!

Our next FP of the day was a roller coaster.....Expedition Everest. When I booked the FP months ago, I didn't know this would be too scary for Nate. So, lucky for Greg & Abby, they got to go twice in a row!

Round #1

Selfie while we waited for them to get off the ride. Nate was nervous FOR them. Ha!

Round #2

We had a little time to kill before our next FP, so we did a few walking tours/trails. There were a ton more animals, every where we looked.....

Yes, those are BATS on the left! So gross!

The most beautiful birdhouses & peacocks!

These monkeys were so entertaining!!

All of my friends who had been to Disney before told us to get a Dole Whip. Holy cow it was delicious! Super refreshing too since it was 85 degrees again :)

Our third & final FP of the day was the Lion King Festival show. I loved every second of it, mostly because that was one of my favorite Disney movies as a kid. The music was great! What I wasn't expecting was how circus-like and entertaining the show was! There were singers, dancers, robotic animals, aerial artists, gymnasts (dressed as monkeys), fire-throwers, and stilt walkers. We all loved it!

After the show, Abby insisted on buying a monkey (with her own money). She named it Cocoa, and decided to "wear it like a baby, like Aunt Bebe does." Ha!

African drums are serious business

Looking back on Expedition Everest; I still can't believe Abby conquered that thing twice!

Next up, we headed to Dinoland. We were able to secure a 4th FP for a ride called Dinosaur though Nate was a bit weary. Again, it was more simulator than roller coaster, but since we didn't know 100% what it was like, he was a basket case in line.

 

Please see the bottom right picture above. This is so funny to me! The Dinosaur ride was basically a complete disaster. Greg & I both had to hold Nate's hands, though he was covering his eyes half the time. With my other hand, I was trying to hold my camera from bouncing around because the ride was SUPER jerky. Then, all of a sudden, I looked over and ABBY was crying. She hadn't cried on any rides yet!!!! She & Cocoa were scared, so we were all pretty relieved when we got off the ride.

On the way to our next destination, Greg asked me to check the wait times on my phone, so I reached for it in my back pocked. IT WAS GONE. I peed a little bit, and then ran back to the ride to find someone to help me. 3 employees & 20 minutes later, they were able to find it on the ride. Thank heavens no one picked it up & pocketed it!!!!!!

We headed to Chester & Hester's Dino-Rama for a few more rides, carnival games, and best of all......beers. What a day!

We found one more playground, and let the kids run around while we enjoyed our beers. After two sips, the security guard kicked me & Greg out for having drinks without lids! #rebels

Climbing, playing, and unearthing dinosaur bones!

Animal Kingdom is the one Disney park that always closes between 6-7 pm, I'm guessing to give the animals a rest and some type of schedule. We grabbed a quick dinner right before closing, and then were escorted out of the park. I can't believe we closed a park down!!! What a way to end our trip.

Though these 5 days were some of the most exhausting of my life (!), they were also some of the most memorable. I will never forget seeing Abby's face on her first roller coaster, watching Nate do spells in Diagon Alley, hearing all the giggles with Anderson, playing in the rain at Magic Kingdom, and seeing Abby meet Cinderella. I'm so appreciative that my whole family was able to re-arrange their schedules to make this trip happen, and I'm even more grateful that my parents were able to come & experience this trip of a lifetime with their grandkids. It is something none of us will ever forget!!!

#gibbsdodisney2015

Disney 2015: Day 4

Day 4 of our trip, we headed offsite to Universal Studios!! Sadly, the Statons had to fly out that morning, which left just the 8 of us. Luckily, we were able to squeeze into the van and head down the road....

Van selfie!

Upon entering Universal Studios, Lora & John split off from us. They only wanted to do Universal's Islands of Adventure park, which is completely different from Universal Studios. Who knew!? (Not me, until this trip.) The rest of us had tickets to both parks, since there were Harry Potter attractions in both.

 We did not purchase Fast Passes for this day, so we were told to walk straight to the back of Universal and hit up the Harry Potter stuff first. Great advice! Here was the lovely sight as we entered Diagon Alley.....

It breathed real fire!

 We got right in line for the Escape from Gringotts Bank ride, which already had an hour wait!! Crazy. But we knew it'd be worth it.

Lots to look at while we waited in line! #goblins

 Even though Nate is huge Harry Potter fan, we was VERY nervous to go on this ride. He didn't trust us when we told him it was mostly a simulator, with a few twists & turns like a roller coaster. He read in the brochure that it was a "multi-dimensional thrill ride," which made him very weary of getting on. So, Nanny found someone that worked there and had him explain in detail to Nate what the ride entailed. Thank goodness he convinced him he would be fine. Nate did cry during the ride - when he saw Voldemort - but afterwards, said he loved it. Whew!

The main thing Nate was excited to do at "Harry Potter World" was to get an interactive wand from Ollivander's. I told him it was too expensive & a waste of money, since it only worked/did spells at Universal. But, Nanny is much nicer than me and bought him a wand. He chose a Harry Potter one, of course. (There are wands from all the characters - Snape, Voldemort, Dumbledore, Ron Weasley, etc.) Then, he set out in the streets of Diagon Alley to begin doing spells with his map & wand. So fun to watch!

He made it rain! :)

Teaching Abby...

Gringott's Money Exchange

The Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes joke shop

So much to see! #knightsbus

 This was hard to capture in pictures, but was so cool in person!!! Upon boarding the Hogwarts Express train, you have to load at platform 9 3/4. They set up mirrors, etc to made it look as though you are passing through a brick wall, like in the movies. So neat!

My fave! #harrypotternerd

The Hogwarts Express

 The Hogwarts Express took us over to the Island's of Adventure park, where we landed in the second part of "Harry Potter World".....Hogsmeade. It was so beautiful, with all the snow and shops everywhere.

 Nate decided to skip the next ride, and instead, wanted to do more spells with his wand. So, Nanny, Abby, and Greg headed off to ride the Flight of the Hippogriff without us.

Seriously, he did this all day!

Me, Nate, and Poppy got in line to grab some hot dogs, because everything else was super crowded. Well, we ended up waiting close to 45 minutes for these foot-longs. Good thing they were good! Abby, Nanny & Greg met up with us just as we were getting out of line with all the food/drinks.

 Greg was being a bit of a grump because Nate didn't want to ride the last ride, Harry Potter & the Forbidden Journey. So, we sent him off to find an upside-down roller coaster that he could do on his own (Dragon Challenge). While he was off cooling his horses, the rest of us did more spells with Nate *shocker* and Abby picked out some candy for the neighbors - and herself - at Honeyduke's.

Yes, we are that family.

Plus one more! Nanny got the most compliments on her shirt!

Sampling a Butter Beer.....yum! (Well, everyone liked it but Abby)

 We still had some time left in Island's of Adventure, so we headed over to Seuss Landing! We figured that there wouldn't be any "scary" rides there for Nate. He loved the One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish ride, though I don't think Poppy & Greg enjoyed getting sprayed with water!

 We did a few more things to pass the time...the High in the Sky Trolley & The Cat in the Hat rides in Seuss Landing, plus an awesome playground in Jurassic Park.

Camp Jurassic playground

Then it was time to meet up with Lora & John back at Disney, and get to our dinner reservation on time. (Stressful!!) We made it with just minutes to spare, and changed Abby into her Cinderella costume. All trip long, she had been looking for a "real" Cinderella tiara to buy, and we had the hardest time finding one!! Luckily, the gift shop at the Grand Floridian resort (where we were eating dinner) had a beautiful one and we put it on minutes before meeting Cinderella.

 We ate dinner at 1900 Park Fare, and look who came to our table as soon as we sat down!!! Prince Charming. Somone was just a *wee* bit shy...... :)

Teaching Nate how to pose like a Prince

Daddy's favorite princess

 Then came the big moment, Abby got to meet Cinderella! We asked her lots of questions about living in a castle, wearing big dresses, and having lots of parties :)

 The wicked stepmother and two wicked stepsisters were so fun. Totally in character the whole time and had lots to say. They played their parts well!

Drizella planted a kiss on Nate before she left and he was *so* embarrassed!

 Dinner was really good, a buffet that had a little bit of everything. And of course, the kids loved the dessert bar. Nate grubbed on his favorite, gummy bears! (But not before hiding in the hall when Drizella appeared at our table again, ha!)

Now if that's not the face of a princess, I don't know what is! Ha!

 Leave it to Aunt Lora & Uncle John to pull Abby out of her funk. Plus the gummy bears helped :)

 As we were leaving the Grand Floridian and headed to our car, we got to see an amazing fireworks display. What a great way to end the day.....