Witches and Wizards and Superman, oh my!!!

Happy Halloween!!! The kids are sad that today is a Sunday, which equals no trick or treating, but they enjoyed dressing up to go to grandma's trunk or treat Friday night. William didn't even have to think twice about what he wanted to be this year. We've been reading the Harry Potter books since the summer (we are currently on book 5), and he just had to be Harry! Dan whittled his wand from a stick in the backyard, and William helped him stain it just the right color. He insists that he wants to be Harry next year as well (and if he doesn't Cicialy has expressed an interest in being Hermoine so the costume will get some good use : ). It took some convincing, but Cicialy finally agreed to be the wicked witch from the Wizard of Oz. She loved having her face painted green and getting her very own pair of ruby slippers. She even perfected the line "I'll get you my pretty and your little dog too!" Weston was a whole other story. He said no to every idea we had, refused to keep any costume on, so last minute inspiration struck as I noticed that he was wearing his superman t-shirt on Friday - Clark Kent (I knew he would keep his church clothes on : ). Well, I am off to whip up some witches brew, bats and cobwebs, and monte cristo ghost sandwiches for our Halloween dinner. Hope you all had a great holiday!!!

Crazy

It has been Red Ribbon Week at William's elementary school. They have had pajama day, crazy sock day, and finally the most anticipated day has arrived: Crazy Hair Day!!!

He was one excited boy going off to school today!

Oh What Fun We Had!

Our family sorely needed a vacation, so we pulled the kids out of school for a week and headed to Florida. It was wonderful (dare I say "magical" : )! The kids were in heaven, Dan got some much needed rest, and I enjoyed soaking it all in and making memories together. Following is the Packer Family Vacation 2010 in pictures:

The kids are ready for the drive through the night to get to Aunt

Shelley's house in Florida!!!

Disney World Day 1 (September 27, 2010):

Our first day at Disney World was Cici's 5th birthday!!! Since her birthday surprise was lunch with the Disney Princesses at the Norway Castle in Epcot's world showcase, we spent the morning exploring future world at Epcot. The ride " Soarin' " was a big hit with the kids, but the shocker of the day had to be the kids insistence that Spaceship Earth was their favorite ride (creating their own world and seeing their faces on the ride screen in front of them was just too cool I guess : ). The princess lunch was amazing. Seeing the look on Cicialy' face as each princess came to our table and talked to her was priceless. Late that afternoon we headed back to our resort for a short rest and then spent a few hours at the Magic Kingdom so we could fulfill Cici's birthday wish of riding Splash Mountain.

Day 2:

We spent our entire second day exploring the Animal Kingdom (by far one of my favorites). The kids encountered loads of Disney Characters (Lilo and Stitch, Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, and Eyore just to name a few), got soaked on the river raft rides (Cici loved it more than the rest of us), traveled back in time to the era of the dinosaurs (please mention to your children that they are really not going back in time and that the dinosaurs are pretend), enjoyed participating in the Festival of the Lion King, and experienced the best ride (in my opinion) Disney has to offer: Expedition Everest. Only downside to the day was the torrential downpour as we were exiting the park.

Day 3:

By the third day the Magic Kingdom was calling!!! We spent the morning riding Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin a million times, soaring through the air on Dumbo, and hitting 2 of the mountains (space and splash). We decided to take the afternoon off and swim at our resort's fabulous pool. We stayed at the yacht club and loved it. The pool had a sandy bottom, a small lazy river, and two waterslides coming off of a shipwreck. That evening Uncle Sam and cousins Tori, Tyler, Sammy, and Gavin drove up to explore Downtown Disney with us. The lego store was amazing!!!

Day 4:

We only did about half of what we wanted to at the Magic Kingdom the day before, so we headed back over to meet with some of our favorite characters (Daisy Duck, Pinocchio, Pluto, Jasmine and Aladdin, and of course Princess Tiana), sail through the Caribbean with Captain Jack Sparrow, fly over Agra bah on magic carpets and through Neverland on a flying ship, and last but definitely not least ride the last and final mountain (Thunder). We almost didn't take William and Cicialy on Thunder Mountain because Dan felt it might have been a little too jerky for them. That would have been a big mistake. Hands down it was Cicialy's favorite ride of the vacation - she giggled the entire time! Late that afternoon we headed over to Disney's Hollywood Studios. The only long wait we encountered the entire vacation was at the new Toy Story Mania ride. We waited 90 minutes, but William LOVED it! We took the kids to see the Beauty and the Beast stage show (much to Cicialy's delight and William's displeasure) and then braved the Tower of Terror. I am proud of both William and Cicialy because they went on it twice (once with me and once with Dan) even though Cicialy was scared out of her mind. She didn't want her daddy to have to ride it alone : )

Day 5:

We were so sad it was our last day at Disney World. We decided to go back to the Magic Kingdom and then Animal Kingdom and ride our favorite rides one last time. We also couldn't leave without saying goodbye to Mickey and Minnie. The kids hope we'll see them again real soon!

Last Day of Vacation:

We spent our final day in Florida going to the beach with cousins. It was beautiful!!!

Preschool and Potty Training

Cicialy has been awaiting this day for some time now and it finally arrived ... the first day of preschool!!! Last year we participated in a mom co-op preschool, but since this is Cici's last year before Kindergarten she is attending a full day preschool run by a local Presbyterian Church (most of the preschools here are affiliated with churches). She will be attending two days a week from 8:30 - 2:30. This seems like such a long time, but it will be great preparation for full day kindergarten next year.

And what was she most excited about? Using her brand new butterfly lunchbox she picked out for the first time, wearing her new "diamond" studded puma's (you can't see them in the picture but since she needs to wear closed toes shoes she picked out puma's that have rhinestones along the sides - they are actually pretty cute : ), and getting to go to recess twice!!!! (She keeps reminding / taunting William that he only gets one recess)

This is Cici with one of her two teachers. I hope she is having fun because I sure do miss having her around already!!!

Since both William and Cicialy were going to be out of the house for several hours, I decided to spend my first day alone with Weston potty training. We dropped Cici off at preschool, went to Walmart to pick out Thomas the train underwear and incentive treats, and then dove right in. He is asleep now, but the morning session went fairly well. A few mishaps and several successes!!! I showed Weston how to potty train Cici's doll, then had him potty train the doll, and finally we had him start doing it himself (the key is to have most of the incentives be liquid so that the child has several opportunities to practice). Hopefully we just keep pressing forward from here.

First Grade and What We Did This Summer

Today William started First Grade!!! He woke up super excited and so did I. I hope his day went well. We didn't take any vacations this summer (besides the pioneer trek and girls camp), but we did keep ourselves busy at the pool. Cicialy even started swimming early on in the summer so that she could do this ...
and this ...

and of course William spent all summer doing tricks off the high dive.

Here is all of them at one of the pools in our subdivision. Weston loves the water as much as his brother and sister and thinks he can swim even though he can't (maybe next year : ).
Besides swimming we did a lot of crafts. For some reason the kids got really into creating things this summer. Below are two of our favorites.


We had a lot fun this summer, but our little family needs a vacation. In just a few short weeks we'll be heading off to Disney World!!! I don't know if the kids (or I) can wait : )

2010

I put this blog on the back burner, and honestly it might just stay there. But, a few weeks ago I gave a lesson in Young Women's on journals and how important it is to keep one, and it made me remember this little online journal I have here. So, here is my attempt to complete the challenge I gave my girls to either start a journal or write in one they already have. Many, many things have happened this year that I want to remember, so here is 2010 so far in a nutshell.

Cicialy and I went on a mother / daughter date to the Nutcracker put on by the Houston Ballet(this actually happened at the end of 2009 but Cici looked so cute in her Christmas dress that I wanted to post the picture). Cicialy loves ballet and was so excited during the entire show!!!
I spent my middle school and junior high school years living in Mandeville, Louisiana. Every time February rolls around I reminisce about Mardi Gras with all of its traditions of parades, food, and fun. Last year I told the kids about how yummy King Cake was but never got around to making it. This year I made it and am sure it will now be a fun family tradition!

Another family tradition we now have is to take the family to the Houston Rodeo in March!!! Dan took a half day off of work and we pulled William out of school to head downtown and have some good western fun. The Livestock Show was amazing as usual (this year we saw a piglet being born, chicks cracking out of their eggs, and of course a Texas Longhorn or two), the kids couldn't get enough of the carnival (though Mom and Dad could : ), and the food was to die for. To top the day off we got to see a pro rodeo and then Dirks Bentley perform live.

William turned 6!!! If you can't tell this was our attempt to make the requested soccer ball cake.

My brother Matt is in medical school at Texas A&M and we were lucky enough to get to visit for the baby blessing of his first daughter. The kids love baby Hanna and can't stop talking about how cute they think she is. My grandfather, Papa, was also there and they loved visiting with their great grandpa.

Our neighborhood did another great Easter Egg Hunt Extravaganza complete with crafts, bouncy houses, petting zoo, pony rides, and ferris wheel. Will was sad that he had to leave early to make his soccer game.

Weston turned two in May. He is no longer a baby even though I try so hard to still imagine him as one. His favorite thing in the whole wide world is trains. That is pretty much all he plays with and all he talks about. Good thing we've collected enough Geo Trax sets by now to have our whole play room turned into train wonderland.

William finished Kindergarten in May and had a great year. He is excited about learning even more in First Grade.

Grandma and Grandpa Packer came for a visit. We had fun exploring Houston with them!!!

Cicialy danced to "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" in her year end ballet recital. She was soooooooo cute. Have a mentioned how much she loves ballet?! In the weeks leading up to her recital she was constantly reminding us that dancers get flowers after thier performances. She loved all the flowers her grandparents gave her (Cici was lucky enough to have both sets of grandparents in attendance).

William participated on our neighborhood swim team early on this summer. I was amazed at how well he improved week from week and now he is a super strong swimmer. His favorite event was the freestyle relay. I wish we had a diving team on this side of Houston because that is where his real interest lies. I can't pull that kid away from the high dive when we go swimming.

In June Dan and I were lucky enough to be able to participate in the Stake Pioneer Trek as the programs and activities directors. It was a lot of work (especially the month and a half prior to the trek since we were on the Stake Trek Committee) and pretty stinkin' hot, but so much fun!!! I would do it again in a heartbeat!

Finally, I just got back from a week at Girls Camp in Dequincy, Louisiana! Early on this year I got my dream calling of being the ward camp director!!! I loved getting to know the girls in my ward and doing one mutual night activity with them each month to prepare for camp. Our YW Presidency really wanted to make sure I was included in the program so I was even invited to attend YW with them each Sunday (and teach a few times). As girls camp approached I started getting so sad because I knew that once camp was over I would not be needed any longer : ( Much to my surprise I was called into the YW presidency just two weeks before camp!!! I am humbled and excited about this opportunity. At camp I was a counselor over a group of 2nd years. We had so much fun, but I am dead tired. I got up at 5:30 each morning to swim the mile and 1/2 mile swim with the girls and then went non stop until the wee hours of the morning.