Hau'oli la hanau Kalakie!

Translation: Happy Birthday Gracie

We celebrated Gracie's 7th birthday this past weekend and boy, was it fun! She originally wanted to have a slumber party, that is, until she found out about the "No Boys Allowed" rule. That's when she opted instead for the BEACH PARTY BLOW-OUT, Hawaiian-style.....eat your heart out Frankie and Annette! We had sand and surf, as well as tiki torches, leis, parrots, fake palm trees, grass skirts, and Don Ho.....okay, maybe not Don Ho but we did have Tiny Bubbles (in each favor bag)! That counts, right? It was a little hot, not quite as nice as it probably was in Maui on Saturday but not too bad. We rented a pavillion (aka Tiki Hut), which kept us shaded most of the time. However, not enough to keep the frosting from melting off the cupcakes. Oh well, it didn't seem to phase any of the kids so" 'A'ole Nui " (polynesian for "No Biggie"). The kids swam like little fishes and played in the water-spray area. No one got hurt or threw-up so, in my book, huge success! :O)

On a more serious note (to Gracie), I can't believe you're 7-yr old!!

I blinked and you went from this tiny little angel:























To this beautiful little girl:






















I'm so proud of you! You're smart, thoughtful, and kind. You're passionate about everything you do and fearless when it comes to meeting new people and making new friends, singing, acting or performing on stage. I love your larger-than-life personality, your infectious laugh, your beautiful smile and the wonderful hugs you give so freely.

I'm very proud to be your mommy and I love you dearly!

Happy Birthday Sweetie!

Love - Mommy

The results are in...

We had a great time at the Powder Puff Derby this morning. We had to be there at 8 am to check-in for our 9:30 race. Lots of waiting around and then Gracie's car didn't race until the very end. Needless to say, it was a very LONG two and a half hours until her name finally came up on the racing board.

It was now her "heat". The three cars to race were carefully positioned at the top of the track. In the first race, her car was on Track 3. "On your mark, get set, GOOOOOOOOOO..." - they were off. Gracie's car came in just a fraction of a second behind, taking second place. Then came the second race, on Track 2. Woo, hoo...this time she came in first!!! Finally, the third race. Could she take first place in 2 out of 3? YES!!! Gracie was the winner in her "heat". I've never seen such excitement!

Since Gracie was one of the last 10 cars to race, we didn't have to wait long (thank goodness) for the final results. Gracie's car came in at a very respectible 22nd place. Not too bad for a first attempt at derby car racing. This actually worked out well because if you made it to the finals, you had to report back at 1 o'clock to for the Championship Race, which would have interferred with her very busy social calendar. She would not have been very happy to have missed a birthday party and a trip to Grandma's and Grandpa's house. So, 22nd place worked for us.

You'll notice that there are pictures of two derby cars in this post. Well, that's because you simply can't build a car for one child and not the other so this is a picture of Adam's Superhero Derby Car too. When his time comes to race, he'll be an old pro at pinewood derby design. :O)

It was touch and go there for a minute, ya'll

It's been SO long since I posted that I forgot my user id and password!! Yikes! After 4 failed attempts to sign-on, here I am. Whew!

January, February and March have been pretty dang hectic around the Colwill house. As some of you know (because you were hit-up to order/buy), this was Gracie's first year to participate in girl scout cookie sales. Woo-hoo!!! As a result, we have covered just about every square mile of our ENTIRE town (well not every SINGLE square mile but go with me here for dramatic emphasis), parts of Dallas, and have shipped boxes of cookies as far as Chino Hills, CA (thank you Uncle Gary) and even overseas to the troops in Iraq. Wow!

I'm SO proud of Gracie and the effort she put into selling those doggone cookies. She has peddled over 600 boxes, 88 of which were sent to the troops overseas. On behalf of the soldiers, a big shout-out to K-K and her WBS gang! Thanks so much for all your help too! All in all, Gracie worked her little fanny off and loved every minute of it, especially when the homeowners had a dog or cat. Of course, there were moments along the way where an ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT was in order but, after a stern talkin' to, I quit my complaining and sucked it up for the troop. Hey, I didn't have on the right shoes that day, okay?! My feet were killin' me! :O)

We have finally delivered all the cookies, completed our troop booth sales, turned in the money and, as of Tuesday, are officially DONE!

Words cannot express how happy I am about this. You have no idea! I am already dreading next year as we set the bar too dang high. What was I thinkin'? In hindsight, I would have handled that MUCH differently.

As for Adam, he has been exploring the many complexities of golf. As with most sports, he is quick to pick up the techniques and has already cranked a ball from our driveway ALL THE WAY down the block and across the street to our neighbor's house, that's 6 houses down people!!

Note to self: No more golfing in the front yard, lest we have to start budgeting for future window repairs.

Did I mention that this has prompted a trip to the PGA Superstore? Yes it did and now Adam (and Gracie, right) share their very own set of clubs. I'm sure as soon as our weather is nicer, and busy season (in the graduation business) is behind us, they'll be out on the links with their Daddy.

I don't know if you are aware but tomorrow morning is the Powder Puff Derby folks and this is serious business!! Anyone familiar with the derby?

The participants (all ages of girl scouts) build a pinewood derby car and race it on a gravity fed track. The fastest car wins! Gracie and her Daddy have been diligently working on the construction and design, as well as the aerodynamic-ness (is that a word?) of her "Flower Power Derby Car", as she has christened it - a name I know all you Wii Mario Kart enthusiasts can appreciate no doubt. Well, tonight is the official weigh-in. Once the cars have been weighed in by the racing officials, the cars are impounded until the race day. Can you believe that in the past, people have actually stooped to cheating after weigh-in to make their cars faster and THAT is why they have to impound the cars?! Shameful, just shameful! See, I'm tellin' you, this is serious stuff ya'll!!

Well, gotta go but I'll get back to you soon with the derby results and maybe a picture or two of the "Flower Power Derby Car". Oh, I'll also post about our spring break trip and the beaver tail tale.

Until then.....

Remember me?

Wow, I can't believe its been MONTHS since I last posted!! Time flies and, surprisingly, memory fades because after two failed attempts to sign-on this morning I was really beginning to worry that my last post would be my final post. Seriously, people, it was touch-n-go there for a minute.

Obviously, I need to catch you up on all the family happenings from Halloween through Christmas but first, so as not to be miss yet another holiday greetings opportunity, I thought I was take a moment to wish you all a very Happy New Year! It will be a quiet celebration for us this year, which I welcome with open arms because we've been going, going, going, non-stop since Halloween.

I have to say that 2008 has been a pretty good year for us. We're really fortunate that we've not been too badly affected by the market swings and struggling economy of late, however, I know that has not been the case with everyone reading this post. My thoughts and prayers are with each of you for a much better 2009.

That being said, I decided to sit down and count my 2008 blessings. In David Letterman fashion I give you:

My "Top 10" of 2008

10. Falling gas prices! Hallelujah!

9. The Chik-fil-a Peppermint Chocolate Chip Milkshake. Truly ya'll, a little bit of HEAVEN in a cup! I swear sometimes I can hear the angels sing. Can I get an Amen?

8. Our trip to Disney World - need I say more?

7. Gracie being in the JC Christmas parade! Holla!

6. The wonderful news that we'll be welcoming a new little niece or nephew in 2009! Congratulations JE&H!

5. Seeing Gracie on stage at her very first Piano Recital, in front of an audience of 30 or so parents, standing there with complete confidence and a smile worthy of a toothpaste commercial as she thanked everyone for coming and then announced that she would be playing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star".

4. All the wonderful Dallas Children's Theater plays that we have attended over the year, with and thanks to Kay-Kay. Especially, the performance of "Lily's Purple Plastic Purse", which so happened to be the first play Adam ever attended. At one point during the performance, I looked over at my rough and tumble little boy and he was tearing up at the part where Lily was crying because she'd lost her perfectly purple plastic purse. Such a sweet moment.

3. All the wonderful holiday moments throughout the year - making Valentine's for all the kids' friends, coloring Easter eggs and the always eventful Easter egg hunt that follows, fireworks on the Fourth, birthdays, Halloween, thanksgiving and, of course, the very well appointed gingerbread house we decorated this year. I'll post a picture in the coming weeks or in April, whichever comes first.

2. The single cup coffee maker we got for Christmas!! Shout out to Marv and Betty for this super FAB gift! LOVING IT and just a little shakier as I adjust to the ever-increasing level of caffeine that's flowing through my veins this week.

and most importantly (insert a Paul Shaffer drum roll here)...

1. The blessed gift of waking up every single morning to the sweet faces of my precious family. I love you all and am eternally grateful to God that you are a part of my life and love me in spite of all my (many) imperfections!

Happy New Year to all! Don't forget to eat your black-eyed peas! I'm headed to the grocery store right now!

Look out world, Adam is 3-years old!! Here is how his super special day started (yesterday):

"Aaaaaadam.....sweetie.......wake up, honey. Today is your birthday, buddy. You're 3-years old!" With that, his eyes popped wide open, he stood straight up in bed and said, "I not little anymore Mommy! I big boy!! See?" There he stood, in his Lighting McQueen pajamas, giving me his best muscle-man pose, looking so cute I could've just squeezed the stuffing right out of him.

One year and a whole lot more hair later, here is our big boy:




Now wait just a dang minute....how did THAT get in there?!!















That's MUCH better!!





Happy Birthday to my sweet little boy! You have brought such joy to our lives and we love you crazy bunches!

Your totally devoted fans -

Mommy, Daddy, Gracie, Duncan and Shooter

Home Sweet Home

We're home!! Did you miss us? We went to Disney World for Adam's 3rd birthday!!! We had a FANTASTIC time! The kids are ready to go back and, I must admit, I wouldn't mind jumping right back on the plane for a repeat performance, however, since I'm not Oprah, we'll just have to relive the moments through video and pictures for a while.

THE RECAP:

As I mentioned, the trip was great. This was Adam's first time on a plane so,naturally, I wasn't able to book a non-stop flight to Florida. Instead, we had to catch a connecting flight in Atlanta. Now, this would have been fine except that David was already in Florida for his conference so I was traveling with the kids by myself. Normally, this wouldn't be a big deal except that my curious little 2-yr old is going through a "gotta see-it, touch-it, poke-it, hit-it, jab-it, smell-it, taste-it, ride-it, throw-it, squish-it, kick-it" phase right now soooo, the pre-flight "what-if's" were stressin' me out like you wouldn't believe! That being said, like any good mother, I was packin' some heat ya'll - an entertainment arsenal loaded with coloring books, puzzles, the laptop, Skittles (I was desperate), and a deadbolt lock w/keys (Yes, they will actually let you on the plane with one of these, however, a toy pirate gun - umm, not so much, but we'll get to that later). When we arrived at the airport, oh, there were about 20+ people in line to check their bags and, of course, there was only ONE baggage clerk! What is up with that? It's just like that at the post office! Anyway, we sat in line for, no kidding, 30-minutes. After the first 10-minutes I was seriously considering loading everyone back into the car, calling David and telling him to give Mickey and Goofy our regards because we were stayin' home! When we DID finally make it to the counter and the agent asked, "At any point in your travels, has your bag been left unattended?", I wanted to crawl over the counter and strangle her! Are you kidding me?! Maybe just briefly during one of the one hundred times I had to jump out of line to chase Adam through the Terminal! FINALLY, we checked our bag, undressed and redressed for security and got on the plane without further incident.

One down, one to go.

In Atlanta, on our way to the bathroom, Adam decided to hop a ride on a flight attendant's bag as she was pulling it through the airport, much to her surprise. My first reaction is to look at Gracie for some sort of explanation as to why on earth her brother would do such a thing and she simply rolled her eyes as if to say, hey, don't ask me! Thankfully, the flight attendant was kind enough to accept all three of my apologies. People in Georgia are go nice! Anyway, we successfully boarded our next flight thus completing the 2nd leg of our trip. We were now in Florida! After a long wait for our bag, and bit of body surfing atop some random suitcase on the baggage carousel, we were finally reunited with Daddy and on our way to the hotel. Whew!

Most of that day was spent traveling so when we arrived at the hotel, it was dinner time. We hooked up with our friends, ate dinner in the hotel cafe' and hit the pool. We stayed at the Pop Century Resort. We love this hotel because not only do the kids love it but it's on Disney property so we have our own shuttle service to and from the parks.

This is a picture taken outside our hotel room.

Saturday

First thing Saturday, while Daddy was still working the conference, we headed for Magic Kingdom.

The kids had a blast! They rode the Dumbo ride, the race cars (Adam drove a car for the first time), Buzz Lightyear, Skyway, and the dreaded teacups! Does this ride make anyone else sick or is it just me? Gracie was laughing her fanny off at the fact that Mommy was about to heave!

After riding the Winnie the Pooh's Adventure, we spotted Pooh, Tigger and Darby. So, while Adam snoozed in his stroller, Gracie got some one-on-one time with storybook crew.

I'm sad that Adam was sleeping because the boy loves him some Tigger ya'll. Oh well, maybe next time buddy.

Around dinnertime, we headed back to the hotel to meet Daddy and tell him all about our day at Magic Kingdom.

Before our trip, I'd made reservations to have breakfast with some of the Disney characters and, boy, am I glad I did because we'd have never gotten in otherwise. Sooooo.....

Sunday Morning/Afternoon

Sunday, we headed to Disney's Hollywood Studios. It was a really big day for us because Daddy was finally finished with his conference!! Yay!

We started the day having breakfast at Hollywood & Vine with Jo-Jo, Goliath, and two of our Little Einstein friends, Leo and June.

The kids danced in the aisles, got their pictures taken with all the characters and had their autograph books signed; a big treat for everyone!

Then we were off to hit the rides! One of the coolest was Toy Story Mania. A huge hit with the kids because not only did you get to wear really cool 3-D glasses but you got to shoot things to score points during the ride. We rode this one twice!

Part of our group did manage to ride some of the adult rides. The Aerosmith roller coaster and Tower of Terror got the votes for biggest thrill rides......I wouldn't know because I was too chicken to get on either one of them.

Did I mention that Adam discovered the Power Rangers while we were at Disney? Oh my goodness!! My heart goes out to Gracie, who has since been dubbed "the bad guy" in many of Adam's fight scene re-enactments. In fact, he has scrapped the whole "I wanna be a fooo-ball player!" and now runs around the house in his new Red Power Ranger outfit (yes, we caved!!!) and has taken to power-punchin' Gracie every chance he gets, poor thing. : (

Sunday Night

Once we'd seen and experienced all there was to do at the Hollywood Studios theme park, we scrambled back to the hotel, ate a quick dinner and then got the kids dressed in their Halloween costumes for "Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party". We had to buy special tickets for this event since its held "after hours" at Magic Kingdom. You basically have the whole park to yourselves.

The characters were all dressed up in their costumes and the kids got to trick-or-treat down Main Street. They had the best time!! The party lasted until midnight and there was SO much going on that neither of the kids slept a wink or even complained about being tired. I would do this event again in a heartbeat and recommend it to anyone that hasn't been to Disney World during the holidays. Gracie must have told me that she loved me about 20 times that night, which means she was having the most awesome time ever!!

At midnight we headed back to the hotel for some much-needed sleep!

Monday

I don't know what on earth possessed me to make an 8 am reservation for Monday morning but I just couldn't pass up the chance to have breakfast with Donald and ALL his Safari friends at Tuskers House in Animal Kingdom!! It was to be our last day of park fun so I wanted to go out with a bang! Needless to say, I wasn't the most popular person in our Party of 7 that morning. Everybody was so cranky! Dang!

Here are some cute pictures with Goofy and Daisy.

We spent breakfast and the first part of the day at Animal Kingdom. The kids played in the Boneyard, we went on a Safari and then tried to go on Mount Everest, the greatest Disney roller coaster ever made (I'm told) but it was "CLOSED FOR TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES". Guess we'll have to try again next trip.

We wrapped up our tour of Animal Kingdom and then left to spend the remainder of our day at Epcot. We rode Mission Space, Nemo, Test Track (super cool) and then, there it was, the most incredible ride I've ever been on in my ENTIRE LIFE..........Soaring!! I could have gone on that ride 50 times and never tired of it. Even Gracie, who was very skeptical at first, fell in love. For those of you that haven't been on it, you sit on what looks like a long bench swing that is perched in front of a giant IMAX-type movie screen and you "soar" all over the countryside as if you're on a hand glider. It was breathtaking!!! What a great way to end the trip! We truly saved the best for last.

Tuesday

We left very early for the airport and were homeward bound.

The End

Well, that about sums up our trip. Oh, there WAS that one incident that happened to us at the Orlando airport.....remember earlier when I mentioned the pirate gun and airport security thing? Well, turns out that when our carry-on bag went through the x-ray machine, one of the guards threw his hand up in the air, signaled the other guards nearby, ordered all of us to move away from the conveyor belt, whereupon he seized our bag, opened it up, and pulled out...............yes, you guessed it, our weapon of mass destruction - Adam's plastic toy pirate(s of the Caribbean) gun! I was instructed to remain still while our not-so-pleasant security guard checked with his supervisor to see if we were going to be allowed to "keep" the toy gun. Seriously?!!! After about a 5-minute discussion between the two men (again, seriously?!), the guard brought the gun back to us, put it in the bag, and told us (very sternly) that "Under NO circumstances are you to remove this item from your bag at ANY point during your flight! Do you understand, ma'am?"

And now, like they Annette and Cubby used to sing at the end of EVERY episode of the Mickey Mouse Club......

M-I-Ceeee

See ya real soon!

K-E-Yiiii

Why?

Because we like you!

Mmmmmm

Oooooooooo

Uuuuuuuuu

Ssssssssssss

Eeeeeeeeee

See ya back here real soon! Good-bye