Disney Time!

So Aunt Marlene and Josh came to visit and we got some great pictures, we had a lot of fun at the parks. We saw a lot of fishes, riding rides, laughing and having just plain fun!! We can't wait to do it again, thanks for a lot of fun ;)

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OK and here is part 2!

Make a Smilebox photobook

Strawberry Shorcake - The High Life!

Alright since summer is here, well it's always here in FL...on 'The Dressing Room Forum' this is my post for the EC.

Strawberry Shortcake...Very Easy:

What you need

• container of strawberries, depends on how many you want :)
• cup of sugar
• frozen pound cake, I suggest SaraLee brand
• Cool Whip Light

Of course let your pound cake and Cool Whip sit out to defrost, this is only if you are going to serve right away otherwise put in the fridge. Clean and slice your strawberries. In a small saucepan put in your strawberries, and 1 cup of sugar. Cooking on low heat continuously stir until warm and sugar is melted. Be sure not to burn. You may also add a touch of vanilla for an added flavoring. Take mixture of the heat and set aside for about 5min. Slice your pound cake, top with the strawberries, slightly warm, top with a generous amount of Cool Whip and ENJOY the High Life!

Summer Days

Well it's summertime and my idea of a perfect summer day is sunny, about 84 degrees, a few clouds and a light breeze. It's just warm enough to go in the pool but not scorching hot! On days like this I love just laying by the pool, going to the park (if it's not crowded) and just enjoying it. We do get some days like this in FL, but most are very humid!

We mostly get our prefect summer days like this not until the fall, like in October/November. When this time rolls around we really enjoy going to Disney and just walking arund for a few hours, the parks aren't very crowded and we actually can ejoy ourselves.

So if you are ever thinking of coming to visit Disney and you hate the crowds, the humidity, the rain, think about coming in Spet/Oct/Nov. Yes you will the daily afternoon rain taht last about 30min, big deal! This is the time to come because the crowds are low and the weather is nice!

No more Website

Well these tough times have really hit us hard! Today we have made the decision to cancel our website for the family as well as the emails that go along with it. Sometimes you have to do what is best for you and your family to make ends meet, making decisions that you don't want to, but will help us keep a roof over our head and food in our tummies must come FIRST!

If you used to contact us through our website please do so here, you may also contact Jay through: www.holidaylighthouse.com

We definately want to keep in touch with our family and friends so pleae, visit this blog Frequently!! We love you all, but need to do what is best for US as a FAMILY.

Price of Children

I know I haven't posted in awhile, things are crazy as usual. I have been trying to keep up with everything...work, recitals, kids, bills, helping a friend with her website and blog, keeping in touch with friends and family, the house, fun time for me and family, update everyone on pictures, oh and sleep!

Anyway I got this email about a week ago from a good family friend, Mike. I saved the email because I wanted to share it with everyone. It's great! Enjoy!!

Here's something absolutely positive for a change. I have seen the breakdown of the cost of raising a child, but this is the first time I have seen the rewards listed this way.

It's nice.

The government recently calculated the cost of raising a child from birth to 18 and came up with $160,140 for a middle-income family.

Talk about price shock! And that doesn't even touch college tuition.

But $160,140 isn't so bad if you break it down.

Look at it this way, $160,140 is:

$8,896.66 a year,
$741.38 a month,
$171.08 a week.
A mere $24..24 a day!
Just over a dollar an hour.

Still, you might think the best financial advice is: “Don't have children if you want to be 'rich'.”

Actually, it is just the opposite.

What do you get for your $160,140?

* Naming rights. First, middle, and last!
* A little glimpses of God every day.
* Giggles under the covers every night.
* More love than your heart can hold.
* Butterfly kisses and Velcro hugs.
* Endless wonder over rocks, ants, clouds and warm cookies.
* A hand to hold, usually covered with jelly or chocolate.
* A partner for blowing bubbles and flying kites.
* Someone to laugh yourself silly with, no matter what the boss said or how your stocks performed that day.

For $160,140, you never have to grow up. You get to:
* finger-paint,
* carve pumpkins,
* play hide-and-seek,
* catch lightning bugs,
* never stop believing in Santa Claus.

You have an excuse to:
* keep reading the Adventures of Piglet and Pooh,
* watch Saturday morning cartoons,
* go to Disney movies
* wish on stars.

You get to frame rainbows, hearts, and flowers under refrigerator magnets and collect spray painted noodle wreaths for Christmas, hand prints set in clay for Mother's Day and cards with backward letters for Father's Day.

For a mere $24.24 a day, there is no greater bang for your buck.

You get to be a hero just for:
* retrieving a Frisbee off the garage roof,
* taking the training wheels off a bike,
* removing a splinter,
* filling a wading pool,
* coaxing a wad of gum out of bangs, and
* coaching a baseball team that never wins but always gets treated to ice cream regardless.

You get a front row seat in history to witness the:
* First step,
* First words,
* First bra and/or jock strap,
* First date,
* First time behind the wheel.

You get to be immortal. You get another branch added to your family tree, and if you're lucky, a long list of limbs in your obituary called grandchildren and great grandchildren. You get an education in psychology, nursing, criminal justice, communications and human sexuality that no college can match.

In the eyes of a child, you rank right up there under God.

You have all the power to heal a boo-boo, scare away the monsters under the bed, patch a broken heart, police a slumber party, ground them forever, and love them without limits, so one day they will, like you, love without counting the cost.

That is quite a deal for the price!!!!!!!

Love and enjoy your children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren!
It's the best investment you'll ever make!

Wii Little Self

Well on Saturday Jay was playing the Wii and the twins wanted to play too. Ok so I thought 2 year olds couldn't figure things out like this, but was I wrong. They loved the bowling! Bella is a pro!! Just show her how to do it and she will do it. She played by herlse, Quinn played with Daddy's help. Well you can see from the video and pictures below that you better watch out because Bella will beat your BUTT in Bowling!!

Make a Smilebox postcard

New foods

Well I started making some more homemade baby food for Brinlee this morning. She has had pretty much the same stuff since we started her on solids, and hasn't been eating much solids lately so since she is almost 10mo. old it's time to step it up.

I found a great site called, http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com they have great suggestions, recipes and ideas. So it's time to start planning on what to make, freeze and for Brinlee to start trying. I made her the usual this morning of sweet potatoes - made those really quick in my 'Just Right' Potatoes Sack!, peas, mixed sweet potatoes and peas, bananas, and kiwi mixed with bananas.

Since I had eggs this morning and don't eat the yolk, I scrambled up the yolk and tried feeding that to her. I got some pretty interesting faces from her! Of course she's never had it before so she wasn't too happy about it or sure. We will try again in 2 day and see.

If you have any suggestions please let me know, willing to take some on and share recipes as well.

Get on up!

Ok well today was a long day, Brinlee had no nap! The past 2 days she has been on full throddle and not wanting to nap. As I type here she is back up and wide awake with Jay.

So....after feeding her dinner, giving her a bath, I rocked her to sleep. Not kidding SOUNDLY to sleep. Went to lay her down in her crib and UP she is becfore I could leave the room. So I leave the room to let her cry it out, had to do that with the twins. Well she isn't liking it, Jay was changing the twins for bed after their bath. He comes out and says, "You've gotta go look at Brinlee." Well this is what I find......






YES SHE PULLED HERSELF UP TO STANDING!! Little shit! Why do see us having to lower her crib another level already and CIO going on every night for awhile. My little baby is growing up way too fast already and she's not 1 yet! I have a feeling she will be possibly walking by her 1st Birthday. What do you think?

Infant Swim resource Week 4 - Go Quinn!

Well today was Quinn's Survival Day - Graduation you could say. He did awesome! This is the day were he wears clothes and does all of his skills to make sure he can do them as if he actually had fallen into a pool fully clothed and could survive.

I know if you don't know what this program is about, you might be shocked by what you see, but let me tell you it's truely amazing! With having twins and their personalities completely different and learning styles even a toddler like Quinn who has a huge temper, wants to do things on his own terms, etc. can grasp this.

We are so proud of Quinn and his accomplishments with ISR. Thanks to his instructors Ms. Brandi, and Ms. Katie (teacher in training) he has succeeded. It's truely amazing to see a child go through ISR, now only if they had this for adults...I can't float to save my life!

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Infant Swim Resource Week 3

Well we are onto week three! And everyone is doing great. Bella has offically graduated and Brinlee and Quinn have 1 more week. It's amazing to see them progress so much in just a few weeks, truely amazing.

Here is Brinlee and Quinn with some pictures and video.

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Make a Smilebox scrapbook