Hannah and Emma at VBS

Hannah and Emma have been seeing a little more of one another the last couple of weeks. Vacation Bible School has been taking place at our church on Sunday evenings, and Emma and her brother have been coming. The girls are happy for getting to see each other more than just on Sunday mornings!

A Girls Night Out...

to The Happiest Place on Earth!!!

Steven has been busy working on some church projects in the evenings, so the girls and I went to Disneyland late this afternoon and stayed into the night.

We had a great time! We sat and waited for the new parade Block Party Bash at California Adventure and then headed over to Disneyland for dinner, rides, and some birthday shopping for Rachel on behalf of Gramma and Papa!

While we were waiting for the parade to start, one of the Cast Members put their hand out to Hannah to have her come up and dance and get ready to PARTY, she declined rather quickly and decided to just stay seated on the blanket. HOWEVER, during the parade, when they were motioning for kids to get up and dance, Hannah got up voluntarily and danced on the parade route! I was soooo proud of her! Here is a picture of her dancing.


After trying something new, I didn't waste anytime in asking if she'd like to try anything else new tonight...such as attempting Pirates of the Carribbean again, or the Haunted Mansion, she declined for trying anything else new this evening. LOL.

A New Seat!

For the last 4 1/2 years, Hannah has been in a 5 point car seat. Here in California, it's a law that kids be in a car seat or booster seat until they are 6 years old AND 60 lbs. I had been thinking about changing her out of her car seat into a Booster seat for a few months. A Booster seat simply boosts the kid up a little higher and uses the seat belt of the car. I've been watching the other Kindergarteners getting in and out of their cars for the last several weeks to see what kind of Booster seats they are in. I have been amazed by the amount of kids who aren't even in car seats!! Not only is it a law, but what about the safety of your child?!?

So I finally settled on a Booster seat and went and bought it Saturday morning. Hannah LOVES it! Here she is enjoying her new seat!

A Pirates Life for Me...

We were able to get away for another family outing this afternoon. We went to the Port of San Pedro to see The Tall Ships. It was fun getting to see the Tall Ships and go on a few of them. Hannah also got to ride the Trolly for the first time too!



Not only did we get to see the Tall Ships, but we got to see the Disney Magic depart one last time! Still just as magical as when we saw it last week! LOL. This time we were on one of the Tall Ships while the Magic was leaving the harbor, so we got an entirely different view of the of the ship, and we could see more of the guests waving goodbye than where we were standing last week.


Needless to say, it was just as exciting to see it today as it was last week! And yes, we still would love to go on the Disney Cruise some day!

Conducting Storytime

Hannah conducted storytime this evening with Rachel. She did very well at reading Brown Bear, Brown Bear What do you See?. This is one of Rachel's favorite books, so she sat still pretty good, except for when Hannah wasn't turning the pages fast enough. LOL.

Lunch Date with Gramma!

Hannah is so excited for today. Not only is it chocolate milk day at school, but Gramma is picking Hannah up from school and they are going to lunch. It's a reward for having collected 25 stars for good behavior at school.

Everyday in school, each student starts out with a star. Upon doing something unacceptable to the teacher, you first get a warning. If you continue, you are asked to turn your star over. If you continue after turning your star, you get your star taken away for the day.

Hannah has obtained her star everyday she's been in school!!! Gramma made a deal with her that once she reached 25 stars, they'd go to lunch, just Gramma and Hannah!

Gramie, Hannah, and the Cake!

Cake Decorating 101

Today is Gramie's 60th birthday. After daddy is done working, we are going to take her out for dinner. While Hannah was at school this morning, I baked a cake, frosted it, and did the aqua (Gramie's favorite color) border. I left the rest of the decorating up to Hannah...


She made a little girl, wearing a crown, surrounded by fireworks! Mommy helped with the flowers and hearts on the side of the cake. But Hannah told me exactly what to do.

Sweet Bedtime Prayers

Hannah's bedtime prayers were so sweet this evening, I had to share:

"Dear Jesus, thank for this day. Watch over mommy, and daddy while he's on his trip (he flew to Chicago today for business), watch over all the people on the Disney Ship, help us to be able to go one day. Watch over Rachel. Help me to sleep good. Amen".

Boy that trip to see the Disney Magic yesterday really made an impact!

A Dream Vacation....

In honor of the 50th anniversary of Disneyland, the Disney Cruise Line is currently running on the West Coast. The ship is in Southern California two more weeks and then the ship heads home to Florida via the Panama Canal. At the beginning of the week, I made my request be known that I wanted to go and see the ship in Port while it was still here. When Hannah found out that we couldn't go on the ship, she protested about wanting to go at all, saying "what's the point in going if you can't go on it??". I think she was glad she came once she saw the Disney "Magic".


We had a great afternoon as a family. We were able to park and get out and admire the cruise ship from across the port. We enjoyed taking pictures and seeing the people on board, no doubt excited for their weeklong adventure adhead of them. We went for dinner at a nearby restaurant, and sat outside incase the ship departed while we were eating and we could see it leave the harbor. A lot of the conversation steered from Hannah about when we were going to be able to go on a Disney Cruise, and just how much fun it would be to do so.


The ship didn't depart while we were having dinner, so we went back to where we were before and waited to watch it depart, which was only 15 minutes away. You could see more and more people gathering along the railings on the upper decks, and could hear party music and Cast Members working the crowds in anticipation of the soon departure. The clock struck five and the Disney horn blew letting the ships guests know it was time to leave port. The horn wasn't your average cruise ship horn, but was a horn that played "A dream is a wish your heart makes". The ship was on it's way. It was at this moment that it all hit Hannah, and she broke down into tears, sobbing, she wanted to be on that ship. She wanted to play a week with Mickey, Minnie, the Princesses, and all her other loved Disney characters. I already had tears in my eyes for my own desire to be on that ship, and seeing just how much Hannah wanted it too, made me tear up even more. She's her mommy's girl when it comes to Disney and it's magic.

We continued to watch the ship leave it's port and were amazed at it's turning out of it's slip with no help from tug boats, etc. It was fun waving to the guests on the boat and sending them off for their weeklong Disney adventure.


This final picture is of Hannah, looking longingly at the Disney Magic, thinking one day, she wants to be one of the lucky ones that ship! Mommy shares the same thoughts, but there's no picture to capture her thoughts. LOL.

Hannah's Fridge #2

Sandy Square is my name.
My 4 sides are just the same.
Count 1 side, then count some more.
Count to 2, then 3, then 4.
Turn me around, I don't care.
I'm always the same.
I'm Sandy Square.

A Lunch Date with a New Friend

Last week, a mother of one of Hannah's classmates approached me and said that Hannah was all her little boy talked about and how he would love to have a playdate with her. She said she'd look at her work schedule for this week and let me know when was a good day. This was an entirely new experience for me. LOL. Hannah's only ever played with children whom we are friends with the parents.

This morning before school, Austyn's mom asked if we had anything going on after school and could she take Hannah home with her after school. I suggested we go to lunch at McDonalds so that we could get to know one another.

Both Hannah and I had a great time. I discovered they are are a strong Christian family who have a lot of the same values and thoughts on bringing up children as us. Austyn's mom also works in the medical profession and is just as germaphobic as I am.

The kids really enjoyed themselves and already have another playdate lined up for Friday after school, when we'll go to Austyn's house to play.