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Tag: the happy housewife
More Lice???
My sister-in-law called me this weekend to let me know they are now the “Louse House.” Regular readers might remember when we went through this same situation last November. While I whined and complained about it on this site, my ever so creative brother decided to make a video.
Warning: Lice are gross… don’t watch if you hate bugs….
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H & R Block Free Online Tax Program for Military
For the past several years Military One Source offers free tax consultations and free e-filing for active duty, Guard, Reserve and their family members. We have taken advantage of this deal for many years. To find out more go to the Military One Source website.
H & R Block is the company offering the free service via Military One Source, so if you filed through them last year they should still have all your information. You must go through Military One Source to get this deal, so don’t sign in to H & R Block until you have logged in to MOS.
If you are not familiar with Military One Source, I highly recommend this website. They are almost always the first ones to publish many of the military discounts and deals available to our servicemen and women.
Don’t forget to enter my Motivated Moms 2009 Planner Giveaway! Click here for details.
Hope
Kristi asked for an update on my husband, sorry it took me so long, things have been busy around here!
Many of you who read my blog know that my when I started writing this blog my husband was recovering from an injury that occurred during a deployment in 2006. It is difficult to explain his injury, but basically he suffered a bilateral infusion of his inner ears during a rapid decent on an aircraft.
The immediate results of this injury were severe ear pain, hearing loss, and headaches. This was a big deal, but because he was deployed he worked in spite of his injuries. Over time, and as his ears began to heal the real problems started. Apparently the injury caused his ears to “stop working.” Since the human body is so amazing his eyes compensated for his ears in areas such as balance, and perception. As he healed his eyes kept working overtime, even though his ears were doing their job again. The result of this was constant vertigo, balance issues, ear pain, tinnitus, and blurred vision. As time went on his ears got better and everything else got worse. It became so bad that he was unable to drive, read, and sometimes even stand up.
The doctors were baffled by his case for many months. Over time they tried many different medications as well as every test in the world to try and figure out what was wrong. The medications were very powerful and many of them left him unable to get out of bed.
We were finally referred up to Maryland to see the world’s expert in dizziness. He suggested some very simple things; ping pong, Tai Chi, badminton, and vestibular rehabilitation. The goal was to stimulate his brain to help everything work together again. To be honest we were a little skeptical at first, but we had nothing to lose. These activities with the combination of some more high powered drugs (that were supposed to reset his brain) actually worked.
Well, I should add there was a whole lot of prayer going on too. Last summer he started driving again. Thankfully we live very close to his work so he was able to ease back into driving. He was given a job in June (for the first time in over a year) and has no problem reading, driving, or doing normal activities.
To test his new dizzy free life he rode every roller coaster in the parks on our last vacation with no ill effects. He truly is better! I am thankful for everyone’s prayers, those who know us and those who do not. During this entire ordeal every doctor told us there was very little hope for him to fully recover. Thankfully my hope is not in doctors, although I do appreciate their hard work.
As for now we have resumed a normal life. I am not the only driver anymore, thank goodness, although we are preparing for our oldest to drive soon so more prayers will be needed! Our journey through this trial helped make us weaker – and more dependent on God. I thankful we were given this opportunity to show joy in all circumstances and keep our focus on Him.
For more Gratituesday visit Laura.
Hollywood Studios Coming Soon…..
I haven’t forgotten about our last theme park adventure. We returned tired and cold (how soon we get use to those beautiful Florida winters) and my husband is sick. I hope to get our Hollywood Studios adventure posted soon. It was truly an incredible day!
Sea World
Cloudy gray skies greeted us at Sea World on Monday morning. We used our usual technique of arriving early, but apparently Sea World doesn’t open its parking until 8:30 am. We were the second car in the park. This was a foreshadowing of the rest of the day.
My mother joined us and was able to purchase a year pass for the price of a single day ticket because she is a Florida resident. After we entered the park the big kids headed toward the Kraken and the rest of us visited the dolphin nursery. You couldn’t touch the dolphins but they were very close.
We also visited the sea lions and otters as well as the penguins. We met up with the big kids after they had ridden the Kraken, FIVE times. We watched the Sea Lion and Otter Show which is quite funny and entertaining.
We spent the rest of the day watching shows and visiting animals. My favorite show at Sea World is Horizons which combines dolphins, whales, birds, divers, and gymnasts. This is an amazing show that the whole family will enjoy.
As we walked around the park we were surprised at the emptiness of the park. We were actually seeing the same people two and three times throughout the park.
Empty Park
A great fun spot for kids at Sea World is Shamu’s Happy Harbor. This place has nets, slides, rides, characters, and water games for kids. We spent about two hours in the Happy Harbor, although my little kids could have spent all day there. We even convinced my mom to ride the Shamu roller coaster.
Grandma on the roller coaster.
Our two year old loved the carousel. She rode it four or five times.
We finished the day with Wild Arctic. This ride has two routes, one for little people and one for thrill seekers but both end up with a visit to polar bears, humpback whales, and an enormous walrus.
As we headed out of the park my big kids decided to ride the Kraken again, and again.
We had a great day at Sea World. I really like this park, it is beautiful and breezy.
Family Photo
I did find a few low points during our day. Dining- the food is overpriced in my opinion. A kid’s meal is about $8 compared to $5 at Disney. The dolphin exhibit is now pay per person to feed the dolphins… $7 a person. If you don’t feed the dolphins you really don’t get to see them up close. For years you were able to buy a tray of fish and feed the dolphins, not a per person price.
Aside from those two things I thought we had a great day. My advice would be to bring a lot of snacks and eat after you leave the park.
Flamingos on Parade
That funky green thing is actually a sea horse.
A great day!
Anheuser-Busch is once again offer free admission to military and up to three direct dependents in 2010 with their Hero’s Salute program. Thank you Anheuser-Busch!
Sea World
A Few Thoughts on Theme Parks
I will be posting my Animal Kingdom adventure soon, but I wanted to pass along a few thoughts about visiting theme parks with kids.
- Get there early to avoid riding the tram. While it may be fun, folding and unfolding the stroller is not. If you arrive early you are able to park close enough to the gate to walk.
- If you are going to purchase a souvenir, wait until the end of the day. Most parks have a package service, but why waste valuable theme park time shopping when most of the shops stay open after the park has closed?
- Pack snacks and water. Little bags of cheerios have kept my 2 year old happy while waiting for shows to start.
- Don’t rely on height requirements to decide if your little one should go on certain rides, read the description. There have been a few rides that my children were tall enough to ride but the attraction was so scary it almost ruined our day.
- If you are traveling to Florida in the winter months dress in layers. While you may enter the park with 45 degree weather, by lunchtime it will be 78 and sunny. Dress appropriately or you will melt.
- If your kids are tired take a break. You are there for them. Too many times I have seen parents dragging their tired and crying children through the streets of Disney yelling at them to have a good time.
- Even if your children don’t normally ride in a stroller bring one to the park. Their little legs will tire quickly in these large parks. It is nice to have one and give your kids a break if they get tired.
- Make a vacation budget and stick with it. This is probably the hardest advice to follow because it is easy to be swept up in the magic. If you lack self discipline leave your credit cards at home.
More adventures and photos coming soon!
Disney on a Dime
I have so many things to be grateful for this week, a safe trip to Florida, the lady in the gas station restroom who offered us her kleenex when the stall was out of toilet paper, happy travelers… but most of all I am so thankful we are able to take advantage of Disney’s Armed Forces Salute, which will cut our Disney cost in half for this vacation.
Tomorrow we are headed for our first day with the Mouse and I am surprised the kids were even able to fall asleep tonight.
Hopefully pictures and lots of fun coming tomorrow.
For more Gratituesday visit Laura.
Vacation Day 1
I decided to journal my vacation because I am really bad at writing down “memories.” Feel free to skip over these posts and get to the meat in my site, but if you want to read about taking 6 kids on a family vacation to Disney World read on.
Day 1
We planned to wake up at 4 am and get on the road about 4:30. The car had been packed the night before and everything was ready to go. Usually we go to bed early, but my husband and I ended up staying up pretty late. At 3am boy #2 came in our room and flipped on all the lights…
We tried to go back to sleep, but I was wide awake. I made a command decision at 3:30 am to get up, take my shower, and start our trip. We left of the house around 4:15 am. The trip was relatively uneventful in the early morning. Unlike most children who groggily sit in the car, mine are wide awake from the first second. They are talkative, excited, and have no intention of sleeping peacefully for the first several hours.
We stopped around 7:30 for breakfast in southern Virginia. Our waitress had an accent thicker than molasses and she called us names like sugar and honey. We should have stopped at a fast food joint, but we chose Shoney’s instead. I thought the kids would fill up and perhaps eat some fruit. I was wrong as donuts were on the buffet, and most of the kids chose those over pineapple and grapes.
We got back in the car and encountered heavy traffic and bad weather. We were able to make it another 4 hours before we stopped for a bathroom break and gas. We ate lunch in the car and the kids happily watched movies.
At some point in the afternoon our four year old asked, “Are were there yet?” I wasn’t officially keeping track, but I think this was the 1,786,398 time this question was asked. I told her we weren’t and her reply was, “Well, that’s a problem for me because I really have to go to the bathroom!” We stopped again briefly for a potty break.
In Georgia we encountered heavy traffic and ended up sitting on I-95 for over an hour. We found a secondary road and finally got around whatever was causing the back up. We pulled into my parents driveway around 7:30 pm tired and ready to be out of the car. No one really slept on the trip, but seeing the grandparents gave the kids a small second wind. They all went to bed without a fight and are eagerly awaiting their cousin’s arrival this morning.
Today we plan our 5 Day Disney Adventure!