Jessie just came to me and told me that she is scared of bats that might be outside in the dark. We prayed for protection and that they go away. Well, that got it started because then we had to pray to be safe from spiders, sharks, turtles and alligators. Not sure on the turtles, but I just went with it.

After our nap today, I got up with a low-grade temp. No other real symptoms, but we still wanted to keep the kids away just in case. Jessie wanted to snuggled and Boyd told her that I had germs. She went off to play for about 10 minutes then climbed up and looked at me for a couple of minutes.

I noticed she kept looking at my stomach. I asked her what was wrong and she asked, "Mama, you have worms in your tummy?" We had a laugh and corrected that we had said germs, not worms. She was really concerned about me having worms.

She gets props for putting everything in perspective. At least I don't have worms!

Nine years ago tonight, we checked into the hospital to start the process of having Dalton. To say that time flies is one of the greatest understatements of life.

Why every family needs a dachshund. Most tolerant dog on the planet.

My 3-year-old is a salsa fan. Tried to offer her the cheese dip, but she said she wanted the red bowl back.

In car after church:

Boyd: Jessie Anne, no hitting your brother. Santa is watching. Do you think it makes Santa happy when you hit your brother?

Jessie: Ummmmm, yes!

Ninjabread men are here to save the day!

Just had one of those how-kids-are-different-these-days moments. Dalton and I were calling in to the local morning news show trying to win one of their holiday giveaways. After a few calls, he asked me why my phone kept beeping at me.

It was the busy signal. My almost 9 year old had never heard one before.

Jessie and I are watching The classic Rudolph cartoon. We are sharing our big green chair and she just leaned over, hugged me and told me that I'm her best friend.

I'm glad she can't understand that I would give her absolutely anything she asked for at this moment.

I have yet to ever see Jessie as excited and delighted as she was at our princess dinner at Akershus.














My favorite part (other than Jessie's endless giggles) was when she told Snow White that she likes her slippers. No idea where she even learned the word slippers, but she liked the glittery ones - Snow White said it was diamond dust.

Always have fun playing the drums at Epcot.

Just to clarify something with the Disney pictures. Jessie Anne totally wasn't feeling the masked character like Mickey & all his friends. She loved anyone with human faces like the princesses. She was quite giddy actually.

I understand this is quite common with the younger set, but it was a first for our family. She wanted to high five the masked characters, but nothing more.

Well, until the last day at breakfast when there was an amazing Donald Duck who managed to get this hug with her. He was quite pleased with himself when he learned what an accomplishment it was.

Character meals are the only way to do Disney. Totally worth the price to have the characters come around to you.

Before her first day in the Magic Kingdom.

I just transformed a Transformer without even thinking about it. I've been a mom for too long now.