Mattie May's Excellent Disney Adventure - Day One

I haven't scanned Mattie May's journal yet, so I am going to begin about our adventure in my own words.


We left for Dallas Friday December 31. Frank wanted to leave earlier than I thought he would. I wasn't quite ready but what would a Mixon Vacation be without starting a little rushed? We packed quickly, prepped the house for the cold weather that had been forecast and headed east. Of course Mattie May wanted me to sit in the back with her and we watched a movie, played games and tried to get the truckers to honk all the way to the Metroplex. We were all a bit surprised at how light the traffic was. Traffic is always bad around the DFW airport and this was not only New Year's Eve, but Texas Tech had a bowl game at the Cotton Bowl on Saturday.





We checked into the hotel and took our bags up to the room. While we were deciding what to do, we watched the airplanes coming and going into the airport. We had a great view of this!

When we pulled into the "H" motel as Mattie May calls it, we all decided we were hungry. There was a Red Lobster right next door. Mattie May said that was what she wanted to eat. We had a great lunch and a great waiter. He fell in love with Mattie May and when he found out it was her birthday, he asked if he could buy her dessert! Of course!! We were on vacation and vacation is all about dessert! No worries about eating right for an entire week! Naturally he brought four spoons with it. There was no way one person, especially one under four feet tall, could have finished that by themselves!


Some of the many faces of Mattie May

Then the truth came out why Frank had wanted to leave home early. We were not very far from Bass Pro Shop, the greatest store in all the land (LOL). We did some shopping there and then visited Grapevine Mills mall. Katie wanted to get an Otterbox for her phone and I decided to get one too. Mattie May asked if there was a Build A Bear Workshop there and as hard as we tried to get out of there without going, she spotted several children carrying boxes from there, so of course we had to take her. She built Googily Bear. We normally don't buy clothes for her creations, but I found a gi that has changeable belts and this grandma felt she just had to have it. She got him dressed (with an orange belt of course), got him registered and back we went to the hotel.





We made sure that our carry on luggage was ready to pass through security and off to bed we went. New Year's Eve and we were all asleep by 10:00PM! The alarms were set for 3:45 AM and when we landed in Florida we didn't want to slow down for naps!

If I get a chance to scan Mattie May's journal, I will post that tomorrow. If not, I will tell you about day two!

God Bless

To Keep up With My New Year Resolution

January 10 and this is my first post for the new year. I had said it was my goal to post at least something small every day this year. So why have I let an entire week and a couple of days go by with out keeping to that, even on the first day of the year? Because we have been in Neverland! And Tomorrowland, and Adventureland, and Fantasyland, and Frontierland just to name a few! And what a week it was! I have so much to tell you and a few pictures to show you but that will have to wait because today my theme song has been "I owe, I owe, so off to work I go!" LOL Silly little ol' me!

I will tell a little that some of you already know. I started off the trip thinking it was going to be a disaster, I left my camera in the shuttle from the hotel to the airport. We had already gone through security at the airport before I realized it. I called the hotel and the driver had already turned it in and they kept it for me until we got back Friday night. As in all things, God was in total control of this and He knew this way I would enjoy the trip instead of always worrying about getting that just right shot. Thanks to mine and Katie's iPhones and to Disney's PhotoPass, we will have pictures to relive the wonderful memories we made.

We got back home Saturday and yesterday Santa held true to his promise and delivered Mattie May's final Christmas present. His name is Tramp and he is just a little rolley polley of joy! I am sure we will have many stories about him in the future.

So until tomorrow, God bless you!

Disney Adventure - Day One Complete

Well, it is 9:00 on New Year's eve 2010 and we are turning out the lights! We have had an awesome but long day! Mattie May is already asleep, Frank is watching football and Katie and I are headed to la la land too. We have to leave the hotel in the morning at 5:30 AM to get to the airport on time and go through all the security measures.

One short note, I gave Mattie May a journal for Christmas. I don't know why. She doesn't spell very well yet but I saw it and thought she might like it. And for other reasons unknown, I threw it in the suitcase as we were packing. When I saw it in there this afternoon I had the bright idea to have her tell us her favorite part of the day each day! She loved the idea!! So I left her a little room at the bottom of the page and she added a picture! When we get home I will scan the pages and make those my posts! If I have time after we arrive in FL to do any post, I may tell some of the story but I won't let you know that was what she wrote about!

One last funny note - when we finished writing in her journal tonight, she looked up at me and said "I'm going to have these in a book one day." LOL My Mattie May, already planning on writing her life story!

God Bless Your New Year!!!

The Excitement Continues

Well Christmas has come and gone and we had a great time. I hope to get some pictures up this week but I'm not sure that is going to happen. The excitement continues around our house as we get ready for Mattie May's birthday trip. I can't believe how close it is! Look at our countdown calendar in the right side bar. It has gone from over a year to just days! Mattie May reminds us daily how many more days we have so I really don't need that calendar! LOL

We have already started packing and getting things together for the trip. Last night Mattie May packed her backpack. Such a smart girl, she asked her mom for a spare set of clothes in case hers get dirty! I promise, no prompting from any of the adults in the house. She did that all on her own!

I have been looking back at my little blog post from this past year. There have been not nearly enough. Call it a resolution if you want, but I am going to try hard this coming year to post each day. Even if it is just a short one to remind me that life is great and everyone is happy. 2010 started out great, but before the first month was over, things went downhill. It has been a difficult year, with so much of it being focused on that wreck. We never thought it would be that time consuming, but it was a major focus through about mid year. We then started trying to focus on our trip, but Mattie May started school, soccer and karate and our focus was changed again.

Frank had knee surgery in August, and much of my time went to that. Not that he couldn't do things for himself (he walked out of the clinic by himself!), it was that I just kept worrying about his recovery. That's just the way I am.

So now with the holidays mostly behind us, we can get ready to go. 2011 is going to be a great year and we plan on starting it off with a bang. There will be many firsts to report on this trip, for all four of us. Starting with Mattie May's first ride on an airplane! That should be fun.

This is the first time that any of us have been to Disney! Frank said he plans on being a big kid! I don't know why he thinks that is any different than what he usually is, but we are definitely going to have a great time.

Just in case I don't get back here until we get back, I wish you all safe and blessed new year! 2011 is going to be great!

Ephesians 6:14-15

We are so close to Christmas, I just can't believe it! There are only four circles left on Santa's beard (Mattie May's count-down-calendar she made at school) and only three chocolates left in her advent box I bought for her at Christmas in November. I don't have a single gift wrapped, and I am sure I will find a few I still need to buy. We have just been busy. With what? I really don't know. We are just doing something all the time.

"The Chronicles of Narnia - The Voyage of the Dawn Treader" has been in theaters for weeks and we have yet to see it. That is because Mattie May and I are reading the book and we aren't finished with it. As much as she wants to see it, she agrees with me that we

should finish reading before we do.

We have made cookies and cupcakes this month and if you have been keeping up, a gingerbread house was completed too!

It has been almost a month since I posted that I had all my Christmas cards addressed and ready to mail, and they were, sort of. There were a couple being mailed overseas and it took me a little longer to get to the post office than I had intended and then I had to give them time to arrive. We then received some cards from several people that were not on my list and we had to order more cards. That was a first for us.

Thankfully, we chose to have the cards printed instead of me making them. I don't know where I would have found the time to make more.

This is the fifth addition of our card to feature Mattie May. She has really changed this year, from a toddler to a little girl. Long gone are the dog ears that I love so much. Looking back at the last four cards, we just couldn't see how we could keep doing them the way we were and trying to make the next one better than the last. So we agreed to make some changes but keep the cards the same (clear as mud, right?)

In 2006, we were given an amazing gift from God, and what better way to give a gift than to wrap it up in a box with a bow...

2006

We had the angel announcing the birth of the King of Kings...

2007

The next year, we let her chose who she wanted to be and she chose one of her favorite stories, Esther, a wonderful story of faith...

2008

She also chose her character last year. She loves to play "mommy" so of course she chose Mary, so very tired from the journey to Bethlehem but lovingly caring for her new born son, the Son of God...

2009

We just felt that we couldn't make a better card and with her starting school, we couldn't find the time to do the picture. She is so very tired when she gets home in the evenings; school all day and then karate until about seven. Then add a tournament and belt tests on top of that and we were really pressed for time. And once the pictures were done, I would have to find the time to make the cards.

I was going through some pictures I had taken at her latest belt test and I found one of those lucky shots. You know the ones I mean, a great picture among some that are not so great. I showed it to Frank and he had the same idea I did. And to top it off, I had just read a scripture that fit perfectly.

Mixon Family Christmas Card 2010

Ephesians 6: 14 - 15

Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled

around your waist, with the breastplate of

righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted

with the readiness that comes from the

gospel of peace.

I added this larger picture so you could see it a little better.

See...I told you the card was going to be different, but I promised it would be the same. A scripture from His Word and a picture to help tell the story.

In all the hustle and bustle that comes along with this time, please remember to sit with your children and remind them that it is not about all the gifts but about The Gift that was given to us by God.

From our family to yours, we pray for you a very Merry Christmas.

Things heard while building a gingerbread house

My family built a gingerbread house the other night and these are just a few things I heard when I would pass through the kitchen.

"GRUMPY! You have a crack!"

" I don't want to be the brick man!"

"Put in on my tongue!"

"I think I'm going to get my drill before I go any further"

"Hey it looks like pthhhhhhhh!"

"Uh, H.el.l.o.O! I need ssome S.n.o.w.O.W!"

"If they have an M on it put that side down so no one will know!"

"And I'm doing a fantastic job"

"It's OK, if you think its peppermint it's not."

Grumpy - "what is it"

MM "It's icing!"

The finished house!

Christmas Cards 2010

I know, it has been almost a month since my last post. So sorry! But time is just getting away from me. I know I promised you some first, and I will get to them, it just may be after the first of the year. But I promise, I am keeping track of them all and will get them posted. Remember, I keep this blog as record of all the fun things Mattie May does, so I have to get them in here eventually.

I can't believe that tomorrow is Thanksgiving. As much as I love Christmas and Easter, I do think Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. We spend time with family on every other holiday, but they all seem so rushed and commercial. Thanksgiving almost gets overlooked. For us it is a time of visiting with those who have traveled to see us and this year, on Saturday, we will be going to visit Ralph and his family. We are hoping that some day we will be able to actually spend Thanksgiving day with them, but it just isn't in the cards right now.

One thing I have done this year that I can almost not believe, I have my Christmas Cards ready and waiting for stamps. Yes, your read that right. They are done, addressed, sitting in their pretty white envelopes waiting for stamps so they can be dropped in the mail. Surprising, I know!

If you have read my blog for long, you know this is a big deal for Frank and I. They are special to us, and we put quite a bit of thought and work into them. This year, there is a change! Oh don't get to worried. They are the same yet different. There is a special scripture and of course the picture of Mattie May, but the style is a bit different. Sorry, but they haven't been mailed yet, so I can't share them just yet. But I probably will next week. In the mean time, scroll down to the tags on my right side bar and click the Christmas Card tag. It will bring up all the post of my past Christmas cards.

I can give you a hint - the scripture comes from Ephesians. I am afraid to give more than that. If you keep up with us and Mattie May, if I am more specific, you would probably figure it out! I promise, you won't have to wait long for the results!

I hope you all have a safe and fun holiday. And if you see me Friday morning, be sure to say hi and tell me who you are. I will probably still have sleep in my eyes and won't be able to focus very well. And I don't see that good anyway!

Y'all have fun and remember the number one rule of shopping on black Friday - HAVE FUN AND KEEP A SMILE ON YOUR FACE!!