Those Precious Preschool Years

I have discovered why I do so well working with preschoolers.

Yes, I am a kid at heart...but recently, I got the the real "root" as to why I love working with 3-4-5 year olds.

I won't have the opportunity to raise my own preschooler ever again.

And this makes me sad.

In fact, I am tearing up as I type this out.

It has been in my head for awhile, but with the change of the school year, and watching those sweet, precious, new preschoolers come to school for the first time yesterday hit it home.

I have come to grips with the fact that I won't be a new Mommy again.  I am okay with that.  {my OB/GYN seems to hold onto hope, but I think he is crazy}

I don't regret how Little Man spent his preschool years.  I think we ALL learned a lot those three years.  Little Man was officially diagnosed with Asperger's during that time.  We worked hard on therapies for him, and educating ourselves.  I began talking to a therapist.  I worked on a lot personally.  I was diagnosed as bi-polar.

I still stand that I have done a lot on my own.  Not that Big Daddy isn't supportive.  Not that Big Daddy can even HELP it.  He works nights, I work days.  He would take Little Man to therapies and appointments {and still does} and I get got the temper tantrums, frustration and OCD rituals.

Little Man has come far. 

Time flies.  I wish I had cherished his preschool years a little more than I did.

Kids at this age are sweet, caring, curious, smart.  So very, very smart.  They are eager, friendly, creative, trusting, and above all...preschoolers are honest.  The list can go on and on and on.

I just love the excitement these kids have for life.  I love that they give everything their all.  I love that they have enthusiasm for everything.  That being said, by the time they are close to going on to kindergarten some of that *original* excitement and enthusiasm has worn off, but they still have some. 

There is nothing better than a genuine hug and smile from a preschool-aged kid.

Yes, I love the happiness that this age is.  The two years I spent working in preschool were truly amazing.  I hope to go back someday.  My job now, with a special needs kindergartener is incredible, and won't trade the experience for the world. 

I think I get a little sad knowing that I don't have a preschooler of my own, and I won't likely have one again.

I love my Little Man with all of my heart.

I just hope I did all right for him during HIS special years.

Love to All.

News and Notes, From the Wonderful World of Disney

This evening, I had a few minutes to peruse the Disney Parks InsidEARS page and the Disney Parks Blog.

Lately, this has been a pretty rare activity.

My "New Years" Resolution has changed this.

I read a little a lot about some new happenings going on at the Walt Disney World Resort, Disneyland and Disney in general.

Not super-news-worthy to my Disney Nerd friends, since it has been plastered all over Facebook and Twitter over the past few days, but I thought I would share via yet another source in the event that you may have missed it.

Everyone is going crazy about the newest Annie Leibovitz "Disney Dream" portraits. 

Source: Disney Parks Blog

Source: Disney Parks Blog

These images are part of a series of photos that will be featured in fall issues of magazines such as GQ, People, People en Espanol, O, the Oprah Magazine, Vanity Fair, Real Simple, Essence and InStyle.  You can also see past images from the "Disney Dream" portrait series, and a behind the scenes look at the Hitchhiking Ghosts photo shoot at the Disney Parks Blog.  What do you think???  Do these images make you want to book your next trip to Walt Disney World???


One post at the Disney Parks Blog that really caught my attention was one about the tenth anniversary of the opening of the "Once Upon A Toy" store at Downtown Disney Marketplace.  I was working for Walt Disney World, at the time.  I had many friends who helped open the store.  The post is written by a former Walt Disney World Ambassador {oh, that was always my dream "job"} and has some neat perspective of how the store has changed, what has come and gone, and some neat photos!!!  It also touches on how "The Disney Bear" (I have one, he was a FLOP) eventually became the uber-popular "Duffy, The Disney Bear". 

Recent blog entries give an update on Splitsville, an upscale bowling alley (???).  The pictures on the blog are artist renderings, but it looks neat.  It is slated to open this fall {I haven't heard a concrete date as of yet} in the space at Downtown Disney West Side once occupied by Virgin Megastore!!!  I will be interested to see how they transformed that space!!!  It should be open in plenty of time for our December trip...perhaps I can talk Little Man and Big Daddy into some bowling {won't be too hard to convince either of them!!!}

A very popular post (based on what I have seen on FB and twitter) is the one featuring a photo of the bronze statue of Gaston that is going into Belle's Village as part of the Fantasyland Expansion (#newFantasyland) in Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom.

Source: Disney Parks Blog

Source: Disney Parks Blog

I wish I could say that I was more excited about this. 

Yes, the whole Princessland Fantasyland Expansion should be complete by the time we are there in mid-December.

Please bear in mind that I am the mommy to an eight-year-old boy.  You can put a statue of Gaston up in the middle of Belle's Village, but it will still be Belle's Village. 

She is a princess.

You can put lipstick on a pig, but it is still a pig. {or something like that}

What I am trying to say, is you can "boy" it up all you want, but it is still going to be heavy on the princesses.

Heavy.

Storybook Circus is not much of a draw to us, either.

We'll check it out, but are not expecting much.

What we ARE excited for is Cars Land out in California at Disney's California Adventure. (#justgothappier)

We have no real plans to get out to California anytime soon.

But we are still excited.



That is about all I have to share for now.

Yes, I know it has been kind of a cop-out...just re-hashing what I have read about on another blog.

Maybe not, it still has taken an hour (!!!) for me to sit and type this.  I have given you my insightful opinion take on some of the stuff that has been going on in the Wonderful World of Disney.

I still have some Disney Dooney posts to catch up on.

Did I mention that my Disney Dooney collection was {at last count} up to 27 unique pieces?!?!?

Obsessed much??? 

{side note: I have been recently put back on meds...maybe to help me with my serious obsessions and highs and lows...I am certain if I had stayed on my meds, I would not own so many pieces of Disney Dooney}

I can share pics soon.

But tonight, I am too tired.

But I blogged.  About something that I love.  And that friends, makes me happy.

Love to All

Back to School Shopping

Nothing says "Happy Fourth of July" like doing a little back to school shopping.

Seriously.  We went shopping on July 7th.

If I was going to get Little Man the WWE backpack that he wanted, that is what we had to do.

I figured I was already in "school shopping" mode, so I may as well go with it.

This is what we were faced with...






Nothing too overwhelming.  I was a bit confused about the "NO TACKLEBOXES, PLEASE" disclaimer.  Really???  Tackleboxes???

This is what we ended up with...

Now, I know I could have bought everything pictured for like .01 with coupons and rebates.

I don't have time {or patience} for that.  I am committing to being better with coupons...but I have to draw the line somewhere.

I don't think I did too bad.  The most expensive item {except for the backpack/lunchbox) was the white {they HAD to be white (???)} erasers.  Everything else was super-cheap, and IN STOCK.

That is important to me.  I was able to take my time in Target and really look at the list and get what I needed...without cranky Mommies and loud kids in my way.

The backpack and lunchbox were even a pretty good deal.  We went to Toys R Us and bought the backpack for $14.99 and got the lunchbox for FREE.

I saw the backpack online at Toys R Us {after shop.wwe.com didn't have any BTS items yet} and called ahead.  It was a good thing I did, as I got their last one.  They had plenty of The Rock backpacks and lunchboxes, but this was the last WWE Superstars backpack.

Yeah, the cashier was a little peeved that I called ahead and had them hold the last one for me.  She said she had her eye on it, and wanted to wait for the free lunchbox promotion.  She said she was going to buy it before her shift and it was gone.  Yeah, it was mine.

The lunchbox is not my first choice, but it was free. It will hold his lunch and that is all that matters.

WWE online finally posted some BTS merchandise...later than usual, and a little more random than usual.  One backpack (The Rock) and one lunchbox.  I like their lunchbox better, but not enough to pay $11.99 for it.  The backpack is the same one that was offered at Toys R Us, but they are charging $19.99 {as opposed to $14.99} for it.

Mama has to save the pennies somewhere.

Besides, any money spent on WWE merchandise makes me {and Big Daddy} happy as we are WWE stockholders.

Seriously.  WWE.

I was able to relax knowing that I got our BTS shopping finished a whole month ahead of time.  Monday night is "Meet the Teacher" night, and I am going to be ready.  I just need to grab a box of Kleenex, a roll of paper towels, a box of Ziplocs and a box of Band-Aids from my "stash" and we will be good to go.

Of course, I have to sharpen 48 pencils.

THAT is my most dreaded Back-to-School chore!!!

We are ready to tackle second grade!!!  Here is hoping that it is better than first grade was!!!

Love to All.

New "Year", New Me...right?!?!?

 Today is August first.  The first day of my "new year" {even though school starts a week from now}.  How is the first day of my "resolution" gone???


...so, today has not been quite so successful...

I am sick.

I am not sure if it is just mental or physical exhaustion, but my body ached.  Hurt. 

I slept.  I slept until noon.  Then I woke up, ate some lunch and slept some more.

I am feeling more human now, I think the rest helped.  I still have a {small} pain in my side.  It gets worse when I cough.  Or when I breathe.

Big Daddy is afraid I have pneumonia.  That would be my luck.

I don't have time for this. 

Just gonna push myself though and see what happens. 

One day at a time, right???

Love to All.