2010--Our Family's Year of Disney!! :)

There is a reason that I have once again fallen behind on this blog: I now am a WORKING mother of two teenagers, and I work for the Walt Disney Company. Even though I am very busy balancing work and family these days, my family is thrilled about our new connection with Disney. Now we can go to Disney World for free--and we do go a lot! Our favorite ride: Rock 'n Roller Coaster. Our favorite park: Hollywood Studios. Our favorite fireworks show: Wishes at Magic Kingdom. When family and friends come to visit us, we take them to Disney World. We celebrated Easter, Mother's Day, Father's Day, Fourth of July, Halloween, and our birthdays at Disney World. We went to the Flower and Garden Festival, Star Wars Weekend, Summer Nightastic, Halloween Party, and Food and Wine Festival. We shop at Downtown Disney and eat at Disney restaurants and get discounts. We love being part of the Disney family! :)

My Daughter's Boyfriend's Birthday

I was surprised when my daughter said that she wanted to give her boyfriend a teddy bear for his 16th birthday...she said he wanted one to remind him of her(he had given one to her for Christmas). It was a challenge to find something masculine! Finally, we saw this camouflage bear at Build-a-Bear and thought it would be a good choice. She added sound effects that said Happy Birthday and I Love You. She was pleased, but she felt a little embarrassed about the big box they put it in! She ended up just giving him the bear, minus the box...and he seemed to really like it! They really are a cute couple! :) Happy Birthday!

Mustang Cologne

My son had a special event recently where he had to dress up and escort his girlfriend. She helped him get all fixed up for this event: she chose the hairstyle, the clothes, and even the cologne! When she was finished working her magic, my son looked so good! He no longer looked like the shaggy-haired teen that has been living here lately...he looked like a professional businessman! I was thrilled! Of course I embarrassed him by insisting that he pose for pictures, but I am so glad that I did. Everyone in the family was impressed! Now I can see what is just around the corner...my son is almost a full-grown man. He will turn 18 this year and will reach legal adulthood. Soon after that, he will graduate from high school and go off to college and/or the military. When he was all dressed up, I saw a glimpse of the future: my son as a young man, not as a teenage boy. I am so proud of him! :)

Happy 2010!

I hope 2010 turns out to be a really good year for my teenagers! And I think each year will continue to be better and better for them: my son is in the Class of 2011 and my daughter is in the Class of 2013. A new decade...a new generation of high school graduates...things are looking good for the future! :)

New Year's Eve Kisses

For the first time ever, both my son and daughter had dates for New Year's Eve! My son spent the evening with his girlfriend at a friend's party--he definitely received a good-luck kiss at midnight! :) And he also was very responsible and came home earlier than I had expected--he was tired once the midnight hour finally arrived! And my daughter ended up attending an event with her boyfriend--with both of their families in attendance as well! :) I enjoyed getting to know my daughter's boyfriend's family a little better as we rang in the new year together. At midnight, I saw my daughter and her boyfriend sneak a quick kiss, so they hopefully will have good luck all year long! :) Now it is 2010--and we live in Florida--and we are happy! Happy New Year! :)

High-Tech Gifts

As my teenagers' birthdays and Christmas arrived, their wish lists contained lots of new high-tech gifts and gadgets. We couldn't completely check off everything on their lists, but they did receive a lot of really cool things. My son's gifts: LCD tv, laptop computer, X-Box 360 and Rockband, and a GPS for the car. My daughter's gifts: LCD tv, Sidekick cell phone, DVDs and CDs, and webcam. They ended the year saying that they had almost everything they wanted--a good feeling when you know that you cannot buy them EVERYTHING they truly wanted! I really wish that I could afford to trade in my minivan for a nice car for me and a used car for my son, but that just isn't doable right now. Oh, well--it isn't killing him to drive my minivan around--it isn't "cool" of course, but he isn't slinking around in shame, either. Maybe one day soon he will begin working part-time somewhere and we can work on a plan to buy an inexpensive used car for him--but for now, the minivan will just have to do! Both my son and daughter immensely enjoy using their new high-tech gifts. It really is a cool time to be a teenager! I could never have dreamed of some of these things when I was a teen!

Birthdays at Disney World

Living in Florida during 2009 turned out to be a really cool thing as my teenagers' birthdays arrived. Disney World offered free admission to one park on their birthdays! My daughter turned 15 in September, and she chose to spend the day at Animal Kingdom. My son turned 17 in December, and he chose to spend the day at Epcot. I even was able to spend MY birthday in October at Disney World--I chose Hollywood Studios. And my parents were able to visit during their April birthdays--they chose Magic Kingdom and Epcot. Sometimes other family members purchased tickets to join the birthday honoree, and sometimes they went alone. I went with my daughter to Animal Kingdom, but my son went alone to Epcot and I went alone to Hollywood Studios. My son, daughter, and myself joined my parents when they went to the Magic Kingdom but not to Epcot. In 2007, we had all visited all four parks together--it was fun to return to our favorite ones on our birthdays! Everyone had a great time! It really made for some special birthdays, that's for sure! My teenagers LOVED going to Disney World on their birthdays!! It was so much fun!! It would have been more difficult to do this if we weren't living here--living in Florida has turned out to be SUCH a great thing for us!! :)