Florida: The drive and Day 1...the arrival

The Ville sign...love it!

More Louisville

Go Cards!

More L'ville

Cool bridge...

Me driving...

Mountains of TN

More mountains...

Shale...

Ju as the princess she is!

Anna...and her turn at the booth!

Near Rock City, TN

More near Rock City, TN

Crossing over the bridge in Jacksonville...

The Welcome Center once you cross into Florida

Cam didn't want his picture taken

Me as a princes...har har...hardy har har... LOL!

Wayne and Cam at dinner tonight at Barnacles

Ju, Aunt Cheryl, and Anna at dinner as well

Ju being a goof in the car

Wayne's goofy face

A self portrait of me... ;-)

Ok...so the drive down went well. The kids did very good. No major fights (except for the one that Wayne and I had over tampons this morning. LOL! Long story.....) Anywho...we survived, and I'm way tired. I will write and post more tomorrow, but I wanted to get the pictures done tonight. Thanks for all the wishes for safe driving! Love you guys!

Oh...and Ive got to find another way to load pictures...blogger sucks. All of them are out of order and it erased a few. Bastards.

Edheads...Pretty cool site for kids

So Cam and Anna have taken to doing virtual surgeries. Yep, there is a very cool educational website where kids can be the surgeon! (Cam reminded me there are other games there to!)

Here are a few links to the surgeries: Virtual Hip Resurfacing, Virtual Knee Surgery, Deep Brain Stimulation Surgery, Virtual Hip Replacement

Thought maybe some of you would get a kick outta these!!

Vacation...All I ever wanted...Vacation....Had to get away

Can't you hear the Go-Go's singing? I can! I loved that song. :D Anywho...we are leaving on Thursday for Daytona Beach! Yep, get ready Florida, the Wagner's are coming!! Woohoo! I was trying to remember how many time I've been to down there...here's what I can remember.
1978/1979 (My mom and Aunt took me over New Year's)
1983
1984
1985
1987
1992 (All the above trips were with my grandparents...and I loved every minute of it!!)
1999 (My sister Theresa and I went with Cameron...)
2000 (Christmas with the entire Askins family)
2003 (Our first family trip alone down there)
2004 (Wayne and I aren't sure if we went this year....) LOL!
2005 (Last trip...and before we got Julia...)
2009 (In 4 days!!)

Am I spoiled? I dunno. I have family in Florida, so that's the real reason we go. I can't WAIT to see my aunt Cheryl. My kids love her, love my uncle Wendell. Wayne likes going somewhere warm where we can swing our golf clubs. :)

Anyways, we are renting a house that has Internet, so I will be posting daily pictures to this blog and to the ladybugs blog! Stay tuned!!

Julia and Sharpay

This is the conversation today...

Me: Ju, let's get a bow or clippie in your hair.
Ju: Mom, I need one that is FABULOUS!
Me: Ju, you'reNOT Sharpay...she's not real.
Ju: Mommmm, yes she is.
Me (thinking to myself...ok, to a 5 y/o is she real)
Ju: Mom, I need sparkles, I need to be the hottest in town.
Me: Wha?
Ju: Sparkles make girls FABULOUS. Sharpay is FABULOUS....
Me (again thinking to myself...she's got a point)
Me: Yeah, ok.
Ju: This clip is wonderful, it's got diamond sparkles and it makes look goooood.
Me: Good.
Ju: I WILL BE THE COOLEST GIRL, EVER!

Ok, I'm going to blame High School Musical for this conversation. LOL!

Another shameless plug for John

Hey...My friend John has a blog and would love to have people check it out, give him feedback. Check it out! http://www.stuckathomedad.com/

It's Easter time and that mean's one thing...CADBURY EGGS!

Cadbury Egg Muffins....

Deep Fried Cadbury....

Cadbury Ride....

Cadbury Geek...

Cadbury Ice Cream bars....

Today while searching for something else, I found some coolio Cadbury pictures and things. Enjoy!

All about Anna

Anna before the Sweetheart's Dance with her daddy

Anna and Wayne before the dance

Anna in her fur coat that she got from my parents and sister

Anna and her birthday cake at the hotel where we had the party

Goofy Goobers...Jordan, Anna, Natalie, Olivia and Julia....

My iTunes Top Ten (thanks to the kids)

1. Sorry by Madonna
2. Here in your arms by Hellogoodbye
3. So yesterday by Hilary Duff
4. She will be loved by Maroon 5
5. Stay by Lisa Loeb and Nine Stories
6. The way I are by Timbaland
7. The best day ever by Spongebob
8. Red high heels by Kellie Pickler
9. Bad day by Daniel Powter
and rounding out the top ten...FINALLY one of my songs!
10. At your funeral by Saves The Day

Break time (again) (x-post)

Keep up blogs, twitter, Facebook, Yahoo messenger, and texting with people is a lot of work. Frankly, I'm tired. I'm tired of trying to reply to tons of stuff, act like I'm interested all the time. So for now, I'm taking a break. March is going to be busy. Wayne is headed out of town for a snowmobile trip to the U.P. and then in 2 weeks, he heads for New Jersey for a week long business trip. 7 days after that, we leave for Florida and I need to get the kids pre-registered for spring soccer, get Cam new soccer shoes and start getting some shit cleaned outta our house before we go to Florida.

So please forgive me if it takes more than a day or two for me to reply. Forgive me even more for if it takes longer. I'm in a "reorganizing" phase and want to get priorities straight. Love you all!

Oh, I don't think I told you....

We're going to Florida for Spring Break! YAY! I always think that it sounds cliche to go to Florida for Spring Break, but when you have family there...well, it's more fun! LOL! We decided to rent a house this time. This is where's we're staying: http://www.braskoproperties.com/ Wayne, me and the kids are sooooo excited!! We haven't been to my Aunt Cheryl's place since September of 2005, that was before we brought Julia home. So this is her first trip!

We have lots of ideas as to what we want to do. Angell & Phelps Chocolate Factory is top of my list. lol! The kids want to go to The Old Spanish Mill for make your own pancakes and to take a dip in the Deleon Springs. Anna wants to eat at the River Grille in Ormond Beach. I have a thing for Aunt Catfish where your "cousin" waits on you. We all want to hit the red sand beach where we fish with Uncle Wendell. He's an art teacher at McInnis Elementary in Deleon Springs. The kids like to stop and visit another school and see Uncle Wendell in action! :-) Anna also reminded of the Marine Science Center where there's a turtle hospital. It's a really cool place. She also wants to shop at the Sanford Mall which has 3 levels! LOL!

So...that's what the Wagner's have planned on so far! :-)

John's tip for the day

Hey everyone! Through Twitter, I've connected with a stay at home dad. He's just starting out in the blogging world and has wrote a pretty funny post. Thought I'd pass it along. Make sure you check out the "tip for the day" on the left side under his photo. It's hilarious!

http://www.stuckathomedad.com/

I'm on Twitter

but I'm not sure why...or what the point of it is. I guess I just wanted to be able to say I am. Just kidding...I've had fun checking crap out. Reading other people's stuff. Kinda cool.

http://twitter.com/RC73

The rescued ladybug and why Ebay is the devil

Some of the outfits that I got Julia from Ebay. Actually, they are all from Gymboree...but purchased on Ebay. I got hooked on the Palm Springs line (all the pink and green/flamingo stuff) and went wild getting all the matching pieces. There is one outfit from their Beach Shack line (the one that has the shirt that says "My Daddy is the Big Kahuna") and I loved that! Then that lead to having to get some matching bows...Ugh! My name is Melissa and I'm an Gymboree/Ebay/having my daughters wear matching outfits addict. I have got Anna some matching things as well. But she's a little over wearing matching outfits with her 5 year old sister!One of my favorite outfits...FLAMINGOS!

Julia and the stickers...she got a little nutty...

So...I went into our upstairs bathroom and had to pee. While looking in the bowl, I saw this little guy floating upside down. Yep. On his back, legs kicking in the air, swirling around in the water. I HAD to rescue him. But once I got him out, he literally didn't want to get off my hand. I had a hard time getting a decent picture.

Updates

1. We had a great time at a Detroit Red Wings game last weekend. I'll get around to posting pictures. I put some on my Facebook page...you can see them here:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=62570&id=721602911&l=02239

Sorry...but I'm being lazy. LOL!

2. I went to the podiatrist on Monday. He was very cool...very funny and I liked him. Dr. Rewitzer diagnosed me with FLAT FEET. Well, DUH! I've known that for years, but now they are causing me some serious pain. I will now have to wear orthodics in my shoes. Bummer! But, I'm tired of having tons of pain. However...if the inserts don't work, I will need surgery. Otherwise I'll be walking on the insides of my ankles when I'm 50. Yep. My feet are that bad.

3. Wayne is still struggling with his stress. Work is killing him (almost literally) and he's not sure what the issue is. He went to the ER today thinking he was having a heart attack and well, that came back negative, but he's still has pain and anxiety. Hopefully we can get him healthy and back to normal.

4. I had a great time chatting with my friend Mik yesterday. He sure does help me get centered and refocused. I couldn't be more grateful for that.

I think that's about it for now...sorry this post is lame, but...I wanted to update, and I'm so so tired!!

Not that you've wondered...but....

So you all may remember a while back that I posted about losing weight. I was on a super duper roll and doing well. Well, then LIFE happened and I stopped doing all the "good" things and went back to old ways. As of last November (about the time of Dawn's visit and when I got sick) I was around 150. Yep. Meaning I had lost a total of 55lbs! I was excited. However, the holidays and wintertime got the best of me and I packed on 20 of those hard lost pounds. I can't begin to tell you how bummed I was. LOL! Well, ok, so maybe I don't.

Last weekend, Wayne and I decided we wanted to take a vacation to Florida with the kids. Julia has never been to Florida and Wayne is long overdue to get away from work. Knowing that I've gained weight, I tried on all my shorts. Ha. HAHAHAHA! Ehhh...they didn't fit. Nothing fit. Well, my mind was made. I had to get back into those shorts. So this week, I've walked at least 30 minutes a day on the treadmill and spent anywhere from 30 to 90 minutes on the Wii Fit.

I'm not asking for anyone to cheer or be all excited. Just thought maybe you'd all want to know that I struggle like everyone else does with their weight. Actually, I don't know of ANY woman who doesn't struggle with her weight. My goal? To be back into the shorts I wore last summer, then onto losing another 20 before summer hits in MI! :-) Wish me luck!

Pics that I forgot about

She was so into this muffin yesterday

What is the Ladybugs and The Red Thread, without ladybugs?

Julia wearing her Chinese New Year dress that Auntie Dawn made. I love it, and she got TONS of compliments on it at school!

Julia comes down in the morning and this is her usual position!

Ju has a personal stylist do designed this outfit. Another great look!

Snowmobiling and pictures the kids took...

This is where the kids slide down the hill...yep, it's that steep and that scary!

Me and Wayne...are ya diggin' the sexy outfits?

The kids at the top

Julia enjoying the ride

My brother in law Jeff and my nephew Mackenzie

Anna, Cam, Ju and Wayne on top of Bigsby Hill (aka Morton Hill)

A view from the top of the hill

Another view