[SQT] New Year Take Two

1. I'm still not okay. I'm not over the election results and I don't think I ever will be. I'm not really sure how I'm feelings, and I don't think I could properly put it into words. There's a lot about politics that I'm extremely ignorant on. I don't claim to know all the facts. But I'm going with my gut on this. I feel hurt and betrayed. I think less of people I once respected. And it's not Democrat v. Republican betrayal, Hillary wasn't my top pick. Like the photo above states, it's human decency. I'm scared for the future. I'm scared for my kids, for my friends. I'm embarrassed on a National level.  

2. Still reading Gone Girl. I still really enjoy it!! I'm a little over half way into it and it's really starting to pick up! I'm not going to give any spoilers on the chance you still haven't read it. I've very excited to see how it ends. I wish I had more time to read. I get a few minutes a day in so it's taking FOREVER to get through.

3. Girl Scout cookie season is here for Central Indiana! We kicked off the season with a Cookie Palooza rally! The event made the local paper and was even mentioned in a newsletter through GSUSA! A few of my Daisies are in the photo. #proudleader

4. I'm wrapping up my first 10x10 challenge. It was a lot of fun and definitely took creative stamina to keep it up. I hope to have a complete post on it next week. 

5. Today is election day. I had a huge spiel I wanted to write out. I wanted to vent my frustrations. I had this whole conversation in my head, about what I'd say to a family member who is a Tr*mp supporter. But you know what? It wouldn't change a thing. Because you can't change willful ignorance. I can scream until I'm blue in the face. I can list the dozens of reasons how they've royally fucked me, and my kids, over. But it won't matter. I'm done trying to convince anyone. I can't wait until I get to say, "I told you so". 

6. Tomorrow is the Women's March. I urge you to attend.

7. I've seen a lot of people pick a word for their year. My word is ACTION. I will fight with every part of my being. I will fight injustice, bigotry, racism, homophobia, sexism. I will not sit idly by. I'm not going to do it with just words. It's going to take more than words. It has to. I will not let some orange faced baboon and a slew on 1% dictate how my life should be led. 

[SQT] New Year

1. I try so hard every year to be organized and prepared for Christmas time. I really thought this would be the year I succeeded. I even got a jump start over the summer! Then it was one thing after the other. We were all sick for such a long time. Then our van needed repaired. One of these years I'll have my act together. Maybe once the kids are a bit older.

2. But, we made it through and the kids all had a great time! Laura, our former exchange student, flew in from Germany and has been here for the past couple of weeks! We love having her! My dad was here for about a week as well!

3. I started reading Gone Girl in December. I don't get to read for long amount of times but I'm really liking the book so far! I'm curious how it plays out. I like that it jumps around in the timeline and gives different character perspective. I haven't watched the movie so it's all a mystery to me!

4. We recently took a trip to Target. I bravely tried on jeans and was pleasantly surprised! I'm not sure if Target does vanity sizing but I was able to size down, which was a huge boost of post-holiday-weight-gain confidence. I liked the high waisted jeggings the most. The high waist lets me tuck in the mom tum.

5. You guys, my house is a total disaster. Literally every room is dirty. I keep putting it off in the hopes I'll be in the cleaning mood. I've been so lazy recently! I just want to relax, watch shows, play Sims. I still have Christmas decorations out, Christmas presents that haven't been put away, plus all the normal stuff the kids tear apart. Maybe this weekend I'll have a chance to get it straightened up. My goal is to take down Christmas decorations today.

6. School starts on Tuesday! I'm super excited haha. I love my kids but it's so hard to have all of them home for several days in a row. Our house just isn't big enough. 

7. Our Girl Scout cookie season kicks off this Saturday!! Our Service Unit is hosting a cookie rally on January 6th! I'm planning it so this week has been really busy trying to get it all put together! If all the girls attend, we'll have close to 50!  

Linked with Carolina Charm, , Sept. Farm, Tif, Erika

[SQT] The Longest Cold Ever

1. Sorry for missing a few weeks there. We have all had the longest lasting colds! I've been sick on and off for the past six weeks! This last round really knocked me down. I even had to take medicine. I'm not like anti-medicine or anything, I'll give it to Story if she's sick, but I don't personally take it. I don't have a good reason other than I don't think it really helps. But I just finished off my second bottle of cold medicine. I'm slowly climbing out of the sickness fog. It's about time too. I've got like one million things to do. Seriously, why is there always so many things to take care of?

2. Our dumb van broke down on Saturday. I shouldn't call it dumb, it's like a fourth child. Our mechanic can't look at it until today so the babies (toddlers?) and I have been stuck at home all week. If you're a diligent reader you'll remember that we had van trouble over the summer. I hope it's an easier, and cheaper, fix than last time! For real, we've got Christmas stuff to get.

3. I've been super busy with girl scout activities! Like, woah. We had a recruitment night and nine new girls signed up. We now have thirty-seven registered girls in our troop. That's a lot of girls! It's pretty amazing considering the size of the school.

4. Story and Jordan went to a Me & My Guy dance a couple of weeks ago! It was Hawaiian themed. They had a blast! Our local Girl Scout Service Unit hosts one each year.

5. I've gotten a whopping two people crossed off our Christmas list. I really thought I'd be on top of it this year. I even bought a few presents for the kids over the summer! I got my list ready and then we all got sick, and then our van broke down. Now there's like two weeks and I can't order anything. AHHH!! Slightly panicking. Story is mostly done but I only have one small thing for Finley. And I haven't even started on stockings... My dad will be here for Christmas and so will Laura, our past foreign exchange student! 

6. We have the cone of shame around our tree this year. Oliver loves to take down the ornaments. He yells "ball!" every time he sees the tree. He and Finley work together to get the ornaments down. He's also figured out how to reach inside the gate and unwrap the presents. Kids are just the best!

7. Our mechanic called! The van will be fixed on Monday! That's such a huge relief! I've got meetings all week and Jordan has concerts.


Linked with Tif, Andrea, and Kelly

[SQT] A Sad Time To Be An American

1. There is so much I'd like to say regarding the outcome of Tuesday's election. But I'm not. I'm grieving in my own way. I'm ashamed of America and ashamed that so many, personal friends and family included, voted for that horrid man. Who knew there was so much hatred and bigotry left in this country. I have three beautiful children that will not learn behavior like that at home. I was very saddened by the sheer number of small children, first, second, third graders, who loudly proclaimed they hated Hillary Clinton. Don't spout your evil to your children. Give them the chance to be decent human beings.

2. We took our girl scout group to a local polling center on election day. I really wanted them to be a part of the day a woman broke the glass ceiling.... It was a good learning experience either way. They were part of history, whether good or bad. They passed out candy to people waiting in line, made thank you cards for poll workers and clapped and thanked people for their vote. It was cold and rainy but those girls stood out there with smiles on their faces.

3. MOVING ON! I hosted my first LuLaRoe party. It was good! I walked away with a few pieces and even snagged a pair of black leggings. I've been on a bit of a leggings kick. I've sworn against them for all these years, but I can't deny the comfort level.

4. I got my first pair of high waisted jeans. Game changer! I had a Kohl's gift card so I picked something from there. I went with Lauren Conrad High Waisted Jeggings in dark wash. They were on sale when I got them! I think I'm going to order them in black when they go on sale again.

5. I'm itching to get our Christmas stuff out. We normally wait until after Thanksgiving but I just don't want to this year. Honestly, the whole meaning behind Thanksgiving is lost. We're fighting with the Native Americans still to this day. It seems pointless to celebrate a farce. Also, you can still be thankful and have Christmas stuff around. 

6. I rescued a kitten on Monday. I noticed this tiny little kitten across the street from our house. It was limping and walking back and forth on the sidewalk. I watched for a while to see if it would leave, or it's mother would come. After about forty minutes I got out our cat carrier and walked over to it. This poor little kitten's eyes were matted shut and it was sneezing. I loved on it a bit and put it in the carrier. I figured I'd take it to a local shelter, no problem. Get it home, give it food and water and put it in our bathroom. I called shelter after shelter and none would take it. I got a hold of an awesome lady who fosters animals and she agreed to take it if I could get the ACA to give it medical attention. They agreed and I dropped it off there. This little baby had an eye infection, upper respiratory infection and a fractured back foot. It's on medication now and is doing better!

7. Oliver is starting to take steps!!! He's not very good at it but he's learning. He normally takes two steps and then lunges into my arms but sometimes I can get him to take up to five steps. Won't be long now.

Linking up with Kelly, Tif, Andrea  

Pike Family Vacation 2016 (Part 4)

On the fourth day of our trip, we got up, packed and checked out. Ready for the long drive back home. Jordan pulls the car around and we start loading everything and everyone in. By this point we had remembered that our air conditioner was broken. It was going to be a hot trip back home. Or so we thought... 

I happened to notice something hanging off the bottom of the van and pointed it out. 

We're not car people by any means, but normally it's not good news to see something like this. We search for a mechanic and land at a Pep Boys a couple of miles away. Jordan goes in to talk with them and explain what's going on. The mechanic informs us that he can't even look at the van for another few hours. He also lets us know it'll probably take several hours to fix, and that's if they don't have to order parts.

So, here we are. We've got a van literally packed full of kids, strollers, and luggage, and we're basically stranded. We search again and find a moderately priced hotel near Pep Boys. Jordan drives us to the hotel and drops us off along with all of our belongings and takes the van back to Pep Boys. He then has to walk back to the hotel. 

We spend the next few hours at the hotel. We watch TV, swim and order in pizza. It was a nice break in between vacationing and driving.  We get a call from Pep Boys that evening with good and bad news. Good news, they can fix it. Bad news, they have to order a part and it won't be in until tomorrow around noon. They also tell us that they won't know for sure if the air conditioner is broken until after they fix the other issue. 

We call down to the front desk of the hotel and ask if we can have the room for another night. They inform us that the entire hotel is sold out.

So, a small recap for you: Our van will not be fixed until sometime in the afternoon. We have to check out of our room at 11:00 a.m. We have all of our luggage and double stroller. We have no car seats so we can't get a cab to another hotel. 

The next day we check out of our room and head down to the lobby. Thankfully we're able to check our bags at the luggage station. We mull around the lobby for a few hours, waiting for Pep Boys to call us back. They do, with more good and bad news. Good news, they can fix it in a couple more hours. Bad news, the air conditioner is broken and it's going to cost literally the rest of our savings to fix. 

We bite the bullet and two hours later we're on the road home! Seventeen hours later we pull into our driveway. We're exhausted and filthy, but home. 

And then we have enough time to do a load of laundry, take showers and repack! Because we're now two days late leaving for our week long vacation in Texas! 

Part 5 coming your way, sometime :)

Pike Family Vacation 2016 (Part 3)

On the third day, we went to Animal Kingdom! It was a first for all of us. We got up bright and early and headed into the park. It wasn't as hot as it was the day before, so that was a huge relief!

We started with our first Fast Pass of the day for the Safari Ride. I'm not a huge fan of zoos and nature, but this ride was a lot of fun. 

After the safari ride we made our way to our second Fast Pass, which was Expedition Everest! Story was really excited about this ride. She's a roller coaster junkie and was disappointed that AK didn't have more thrill rides. 

What a fun ride! I was not expecting it to turn out like it did! It was a fun surprise. After the ride we booked it over to The Lion King! Luckily all of our Fast Passes were in the morning.

The Lion King was a great show! We were all amazed at the details that went into it! We left the show and went to lunch at Tusker House. It was a character meal and we go to see safari Mickey, Goofy, Donald, and Daisy! Again, the food was great!

Poor Oliver! He was not happy to see Daisy, hah. After lunch we wandered around for a bit. There was something wrong with Fast Pass and we couldn't make any more selections. We were getting kind of bored so we decided to head back to Hollywood Studios. And I'm so glad we did! We stopped in at guest services to see what was up with the Fast Passes, and to cool off, nurse, and change diapers. Disney staff are like the nicest people ever. The lady we spoke with gave us five Fast Pass cards that we could use at any time. She also made us a dinner reservation because we ended up with extra meal credits. She also gave the kids like 100 stickers!

While we missed the Disney Junior show, we were able to do a couple of Character Meets! Finley loves Sophia. She is like her favorite! She couldn't believe we were going to meet her. When it's finally our turn, poor Finley starts crying because Sophia is scary!

They eventually made up :) Finley talks about meeting her everyday. I framed her photo and autograph and hung it in the nursery. 

The girls also got to meet Jake. They're big fans of that show as well. Oliver was asleep in the stroller so we let him skip it. 

After that we made our way to Star Wars Launch Bay! Jordan and Story were so excited! Jordan especially was like a kid in a candy store. He loved seeing the Storm Troopers and was almost giddy when they spoke to him :)

We ended the day with one last ride on the Rock N Roll Roller Coaster. Since it was Story's favorite she was really excited to get to end with it!

And that concludes our Disney vacation!

Ha, jk. There's going to be a Part 4. No good vacation isn't complete without car trouble and extra days!

Pike Family Vacation 2016 (Part 2)

On our second day we attempted to visit two parks. It didn't quite go as planned. We were an hour late getting started in the morning and it threw off the entire day.

In the morning we went to Epcot! I was personally really excited about it because I don't think I'd ever been before. We went in without a plan, which was another mistake on our part. Our Fast Pass selections were all for the evening. We luckily stumbled on the Mickey and Friends meet and greet! And it only had a 20 minute wait!

After that we started exploring the World Showcase. I couldn't believe the amount of detail that went into it! I really wish we could have had more time to explore. By this time it was late morning and it was hot. So unbelievably hot. And not a breeze or shade. We were dying. The poor babies were so hot! Oliver just kept crying. We made it half way through before we had to turn around and head back for our lunch reservation.

Okay, so we're literally on the other side of the park, as far away from the restaurant as we could be. At that point we only had twenty minutes to get across the park. Majority of you don't know this about me, but I walk really fast. I'm pretty quick for someone with short legs! Anyway, I'm pushing the double stroller, Jordan is carrying Finley, and Story is trying to keep up. She's almost in tears because it's so hot. Jordan is mad at me because I'm going so fast. And the poor babies just pass out from heat exhaustion. But you best believe we made it to our reservation on time! 

We had lunch at the Coral Reef restaurant. It was a neat experience because one whole wall was just an aquarium! We were able to watch the fish (and sharks!) swim while we ate. After lunch we headed back out for a boat ride to Hollywood Studios!

There were several shows we wanted to watch at Hollywood Studios but was only able to make it to Indian Jones. Indiana Jones is Finley's favorite. We watch the third movie at least once a week. She was really excited to see the stunt show.

It started raining very early on in the show. They had to end early so we didn't get to see the entire production. During the rain our stroller was completely soaked! It was crazy. I knew it could rain at anytime in Florida but it never got cloudy. The sun shone the entire time! Luckily all our stuff was fine because it was in plastic bags. We really wanted to make it to the Disney Junior show but didn't make it. We were able to do Star Tours and Story was able to build her own light saber. We finished the day by riding the Rock n' Roll roller coaster.

Story said it was her favorite ride of the entire trip!