Disneyland 2009

Gabby and I went to Disneyland last week. For some reason, getting a blog entry in has not been easy. The first one I did was deleted and not saved. Gabs and I drove down last Wednesday and made it to Anaheim by 4:30. We shared a suite with the Andersons. It was great seeing them and getting away for a few days. Gabby has been talking for months about going to Disneyland and I had been milking it for all it was worth. Now I need something else for her to look forward to so as to "encourage" good behavior. I hope Gabby will remember this trip better than the last one!

Gabby and I went over the first night. My camera has a night function, but I don't think I was using it right.

We rode the carousel a few times, Gabby would always name her pony. It was Polly every time.

Princess Gabby and Thomas. They got along really well. That morning Gabby said to Thomas, "You can be my prince, Thomas. I'm the princess and we'll get married." Thomas replied, "Okay, but we have to get married in the temple."

On the submarine for Finding Nemo

The Andersons on the Teacups

The Playhouse Disney Show. Gabby and Thomas were really into it.

Gabby begged and begged to get her face painted. We waited in line for 30 minutes while she carefully studied all her choices.

The final product. She thought she was "it" with her face painted.

It was really crowded at Disneyland for the end of February. We had to wait about 30 minutes for all but a couple of rides. The lines to meet the characters were long as well so we didn't get to meet everyone. Gabby had a good system though. I would tell her just to wave and say hi. Gabby would scream at the top of her lungs, "Hey Mickey (or Minnie, whichever it was)! HI!!! It's me, Gabby!!!" She was so loud, they always looked up and waved. Gabby would then say, "Mommy,he likes me, huh?" I always noticed that other kids without similar vocal capabilities would look enviously at Gabby receiving acknowledgement.

We rode the Teacups a lot!

Monica Sattley and me. Monica lived in Little Rock way back when and lives in Southern Cali now. She brought her girls to play with us on Friday. Gabby and Miriam had a great time and I enjoyed catching up with Monica

Brynn, Miriam, and Gabby

Riding Dumbo

The cousins waiting to go to Disney for the morning

Marji and me with Mickey and Minnie. Beat waiting in line!

Gabby really liked the Storybook Village ride and sailing through Monstro's mouth. We rode this one quite a few times. The trip was all about Gabby so I pretty much let her call the shots on the rides. I rode 3 "adult" rides, but I enjoyed watching Gabby's excitement more than anything.

Gabby talked and talked about Tigger and how nice he was. He picked her up for a big hug.

And danced with her. Nice crack shot, huh?

Riding Small World. They did some redesigns on it and it had just opened. The lines for it were out of control. I think Gabby must have remembered it from last time. She kept asking to ride it as soon as we got there. It was another favorite.

Playing music in Tarzan's Treehouse

This is just before we left for Cali. Gabby packed her backpack full of her Disney books. That's another quirk of Gabby, she will not watch Disney movies. Flat out refuses to view any of them, but she loves the books. That's how she knows all about them, solely through books. Yes, I'm growing a little bookworm :)

I've Been Published

Writing is very therapeutic for me. I have a lot of journals and writing is the best way for me to sort out things. I wrote this last summer and have shared it with a few people here and there. I shared it with Wally Goddard a couple of months ago. He writes a monthly column for Meridian Magazine and asked if I would mind having it published on their site.

I've mentioned before that I've felt a purpose to the things I experienced in my marriage. Abuse, in one form or another, is all too common today. I felt so ashamed and so alone for so long; it was such a marvel and miracle to realize that some of my heroes in the Book of Mormon experienced abuse as well. Sharing what I've learned and experienced further helps to heal me and I hope that my words can help someone else. I studied the Book of Mormon last year looking for the theme of deliverance through Christ, both temporally and spiritually. The Book of Mormon is so rich with teaching regarding this and my testimony of the truthfulness of it and being prepared for our day has only been strengthened.

So here's the link:

http://www.meridianmagazine.com/spiritjourney/090223soul.html

What's an idiot?

Most Utah drivers.

I suffer from a mild case of road rage. I think a better term is road irritation as I rarely escalate to all out rage. Controlling the irritation is especially not easy in Utah as I've blogged previously with regard to yellow lights and the use of blinkers. Another irritation stems from round-abouts. They're everywhere here. I do not understand how the same state that produces a plethora of drivers that runs red lights also produces a bevy of drivers that stops at yield signs in round-abouts when there aren't any cars in it or those who stop in the round-about when they have the right-of-way. I drive through a round-about every day so it's a bit of a pet peeve.

I don't always set the best example for Gabby when I drive. Whenever I honk at someone (by the way, I honk my horn judiciously to prevent overuse), Gabby informs me that it's not nice to honk the horn. I explain to her that horns are for honking especially at stupid people who drive dangerously. She tells me I need to be nice. I think we're both right. Horns are for honking and I should be nice.

When I experience road irritation, I do a bit of grumbling and honking. Today, another car completely cut me off (no blinker, obviously relying on telekinesis that I have yet to tap into) and slammed on their brakes all inside an intersection. I refrained from honking my horn, but yelled, "Stupid idiot!"

"Mommy, what's a stupid idiot?"

"Gabby, an idiot is someone who can't drive and is stupid."

"But Mommy, I like Indians and they can drive cars and I don't think they're stupid."

"Oh." Laughter.

Oops. Point taken. I will no long be shouting idiot to avoid such confusion in the future. I thought about shouting moron, but she may confuse that with Mormon and conclude that Indians and Mormons are all bad drivers. I considered, dummy, but Gabby could confuse that with dumbo and elephants are her favorite. I've now come up with shouting, "UTAHN!" Perhaps I'll even add "driver" to it for clarification.**

**I am 100% certain that none of my Utah friends are the bad drivers described above so none of this rant is in any way directed to you! I know that each of you is absolutely brilliant in every way :).


P.S. Jen and I went to see He's Just Not That Into You on Friday at The District at 9pm. We enjoyed it and with my venture into the dating world, I found much relevance in it. Anyway, there were small children running all over that theatre. Seriously, we hoped there was some kind of party or event as we could barely push through the hoardes of kids. Who knew that was the happening place on Friday night for 5 year olds. And would any of you consider this movie a family show? I don't think I'm a prude, but there were several families with kids, I mean like 9 or 10 year olds out to see the show. Maybe it's just me and Jen, but we didn't consider it to be a family movie in the least. Oh and there was the usual clapping and hollering during the previews. Yeah, the next Harry Potter looks good, but why clap and shout for the preview? I will never get it!

My Excellent Girl

Gabby has redeemed herself after last week's meltdown. I write this hoping that me bragging on her won't jinx her! Punishing her wasn't a fun for either of us, but I'm glad that it was effective quickly. Her teachers and classmates were all impressed by how good she was the rest of the week. She was even rated 'excellent' a couple of days. When I picked her up each day, she was so excited to tell me how good she was and would list all the things that she wouldn't have to do without since she was good.

Last Saturday, I was wearing my BYU hat while Gabby and I ran errands. Gabby was really upset that she didn't have a BYU hat as well. And yes, it did my heart good that she was so sad about it. I told her we'd look for one at Target. Well, they didn't have any BYU hats, but she settled for Tinkerbell. Oh and I am planning supplanting Tink with a BYU hat as soon as I find one. Gabby says she still wants one and I'm not one to deprive a true blue Cougar fan of paraphernalia.

Gabby loves any holiday. I have paper hearts covering my walls upon her insistence. I spent a good deal of yesterday morning cutting them out under Gabby's direction. Gabby has her Valentine Day cards complete and is just waiting for the big day to give them to her friends.

Serenity Now!

Gabby has entered a new phase that I'm prayerful and hopeful will be of short duration. When I picked her up from school on Friday, her teacher told me she'd had a rough day. I think she down-played just how rough it was. When I asked her about it, she became upset and seemed remorseful. She apologized to her teachers and I withdrew a couple of privileges from her that she usually has.

She was with her dad Friday night and most of Saturday. She was good for me Saturday night when she got home. She normally is. She pushes her limits, I don't always do the best job of being as firm as I should on everything. I pick my battles. On Sunday, I was more or less expecting her to act out in class as she does so about once a month and she was past due. She made it all the way through until the last 5 minutes when I recognize her blood-curdling screams while sitting in my class. I go out to be told she was running around like a crazy person and refusing to listen to her teachers. I dragged her home kicking and screaming and she was sent to her room when we got home.

Then there was today! I had just gone to lunch and was beginning to eat my usual cheese and crackers when Gabby's daycare called. I was told to come get her as she just wouldn't behave and they had tried everything. Not the call I wanted to get. I go to the school and was horrified to hear of and see the trouble she caused. I took her home and she's had every thing that wasn't necessary taken from her. She hasn't been happy about any of it, no treats, no shows, no games, no stories. I've put her to work hoping she gets that the fun stops as soon as the bad behavior begins. She seems to be getting it. She's spent most the day crying with me telling her no to all that she asks to have or do and making her tell me why I'm saying no.

I have a few ideas about the cause of the behavior. Somethings are just outside my control and I just have to make the best of it. So I'll just work on what I can and hope this phase will be short-lived. I admit, I've done my fair share of crying today as well. I can't help but feel like I'm a bad mother when Gabby acts this way and I can't quite figure out why or how to help her improve immediately. I feel a fair amount of guilt at times being a single mom, whether I should or not, and for being unable to give Gabby the life I feel she deserves. Don't worry, it passes. I know that I'm meant to be Gabby's mother, I know that the course I've taken is the right one, and I know that I'm not alone in loving and wanting the best for my little girl. It's just been one of those days! Here's hoping tomorrow will be better!