I am back and finally taking time to blog. We took our big vacation, driving to Hilton Head Island Saturday and leaving Sunday to drive to Orlando. The boys enjoyed the beach at Hilton Head very much, and I got some cute pictures. The drive was only slightly miserable. We were very happy to get to our little "villa" in Davenport, actually about 3o minutes outside of Orlando. The house was very convenient, with plenty of space for everyone and it was nice. We swam in the pool the first day we were there, and then discovered that the previous renters must have had the pool heat turned on, because it turned very cool after that day. Nate went to his convention Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Thursday he took the boys ticket hunting and they drove around and talked to differant discount places until they found one that would give very discounted tickets to your choice of theme parks if you went on their timeshare tour. So, we did that on Thursday and smiled and nodded and said no thankyou very much, and walked away with three tickets to the Magic Kingdom for $70. Thursday night we went to a little amusement park called "Old Town" where Nate had gotten a coupon for a free ferris wheel ride for. It was fun, we did go on the ferris wheel, and walked around and looked at all the cute little shops, got ice cream and went on a merry go round, and Nate took George on go-carts, which they both loved. Ian and Grace and I cheered them on and took pictures as they whizzed by. I'm not sure which one was having more fun. :) Friday morning we packed up the kiddos and headed to Disney World. Let me just say a very deserved thankyou very much to Misty for insisting that we go. I had an entirely differant idea of how it would be in my head, and she was right, it was magical. I know George will talk about it forever. We went on lots of rides, looked at the beautiful surroundings and had one of the best days our family has ever enjoyed. It really is a wonderful place. We stayed all day, until the fireworks, and let me say, I think only Gandalf could have put on a better fireworks show. It was awesome. The kids did great, it wasn't very crowded, the weather was perfect, and I hope we get to go back again someday. Saturday we went to a breakfast buffet and then to the flea market and bought $2 Florida t-shirts. Sunday we left, and the drive home was slightly more miserable. But, we are agreed now that before we drive to Maine in December, we are buying a DVD player and window shades for the van. All in all, it was a wonderful vacation. We got to spend even more time together as a family than we have in, well, I can't even remember. I really hope we can take a vacation that long together every year. Nate grew a beard, which he looks absolutely delicious in, although he did trim it too short before he went back to work. I guess he's right, it does look more professional trimmed up, but doesn't looking like a sexy mountain man for your wife outweigh that?!? :P I had written before that I was struggling with my attitude about the vacation, and I have to give glory to God that He really did preserve a right attitude in me and through His strength to be patient and striving to be more self-less, it was a wonderful time.

Now, it's back to real life and oh my, houseguests for a week and a half are coming a week from Monday and I have meal planning and Thanksgiving shopping and planning to do, and Christmas presents to buy for the Buchan family Christmas, which will be right after Thanksgiving, and TON of deep cleaning, organizing, decorating, and shopping to do to get all of that accomplished. Then after that is all done, I will start getting ready, shopping, organizing for our trip to Maine. I love the holidays, and I am so excited for the season. I could be feeling overwhelmed right now, I mean, I have a hard time keeping my head above water when there is nothing extra going on, but I am going to focus on the positives, try to stay as organized and plan ahead as much as I can, and I refuse to stress out about what I cannot get done. I plan on asking for specific help from Nathan and my mother in law, and of course, the Creator of peace, my Lord. Peace, that is what I crave, and this time of year, it seems so scarce and yet needed so much more than at any other time. Perhaps I just need to change my definition of peace, and concede that it must have to happen amidst chaos, or not at all, because those are the terms around here. :) I am not doing a Christmas letter, I am going to wait until after Christmas and do a New Years letter with a picture of our family from Christmas, so that is one thing off my plate, or at least moved to a differant one. ****I had to take a break and change two very poopy diapers and help George put his costume on.****None of the kids did end up taking a nap after we got back here at about 3ish. We went to four differant thrift and consignment stores this morning trying to find a winter coat for Joel before we went to have lunch with the Calkins today. We also stopped in to see Daddy for a minute, much to the delight of all the kids, and myself, of course. He's got three people he's interviewing this afternoon that hopefully will help the master restructuring at Brown's that Nathan has in mind. We'll see. Okay, I must go, miles to go before I sleep and all that, haha. :P