Our time at Disney World was… I’m going to say it… magical.

Lots of family time, and lots of being silly.

We were spoiled by the amazing Social Media Celebration staff, and one of our generous gifts was a PhotoPass+.

I’m sure if you have been to Disney, you have seen the PhotoPass photographers around the park. They’re at all of the park icons (the Hollywood Studios hat, the castle at Magic Kingdom, etc…) and in front of several rides. They’re also at several dining locations. Oh, and those silly photos they take on the rides? The ones that catch you at the scariest part of the ride? Those are also linked to the PhotoPass.

The PhotoPass+ is the newest, most comprehensive PhotoPass product. Buying the PhotoPass+ ($199.95) gives you access to all of the photos on the following Disney World attractions: Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin, Tower of terror, Rock ‘n Roller Coaster, Expedition Everest, and Dinosaur. Also, the following Disney World dining locations are part of the PhotoPass+: 1900 Park Fare, Ohana, Spirit of Aloha Dinner Show, Chef Mickey’s, Cinderella’s Royal Table, Tusker House, Hoop Dee Doo Musical Revue, Princess Storybook Dining.

The part that is the best for me, though, is that the PhotoPass photographers are included. I love that I can be in the picture, and not just behind the camera.

Having the PhotoPass+ gave us the opportunity to be super silly, and get some very memorable photos. I loved that the most stressful decisions of the day were “what should we do in this photo?”

And now… for the pictures of our trip that make us smile the biggest…

See what I’m talking about? Big smiles all around.

The fun part about the PhotoPass is that you can share it among families or groups. I’m sure you noticed Amy’s wonderful family up there with us!

If you’ll be in the parks for any length of time, the PhotoPass+ is the way to go! Being in the photo instead of behind the camera is what makes magical memories!

 This post is the second in a series about theWalt Disney World Social Media Moms Celebration and our post-conference vacation. Come back next Thursday to hear all about the fun of navigating the parks with two older children! If you would like to view the series of posts, click here. 

—–

Our family was invited to the 2012 Disney Social Media Moms Celebration. In exchange for a conference fee, I was provided with room accommodations, park passes, several meals, and admission to conference events. I was not asked to write about our experiences at the conference.

I went to lunch with my friend Breanne yesterday, leaving the boys at home with their dad. Steve is nearing the end of his master’s degree program and is working on his capstone project, so I told the boys to behave and try to let Dad get work done.

Jack is going through some crazy phase. A friend was playing with a boxing glove and bumped Jack in the nose playfully, and Jack said that “he punched me in the face as hard as he could!” And yesterday morning, Michael was upset and said “stupid” under his breath – Jack came and told me that “Michael called me stupid like a hundred million times. Over and over again!” I put Jack in his room to think and that started the most dramatic crying/choking/coughing/gagging drama that I have ever witnessed.

So, we’re dealing with some stuff over here.

Before lunch was on the table, I texted Michael to make sure Jack didn’t go crazy again see how they were doing.

See how I was positive? It’s always good to be a positive parent.

Here’s what happened next:

Do you see that?

A video.

I can’t understand what is being said in the video. If I could, I’d put it up here so you could watch it. It’s the point. Michael is texting and tattling. And attaching video.

What’s next? Virtual grounding?

We started out the day in tears. Tears, and we hadn’t even arrived at the tournament yet.

I’m not going to win. I don’t want to wrestle today. 

We talked about how not feeling confident can affect the way you wrestle, and how he was prepared because of the 2 hour a night, 5 night a week practices he has been attending for the past month. He is ready.

After he weighs in, he is crying again.

I don’t want to wrestle. I just want to watch. 

His coach gets down to his level and says, “Just one. Just wrestle one match, and you can be done.”

Coach said I only have to wrestle one. 

He did. He wrestled through his tears. I had to leave halfway through because it was heartbreaking to watch. He lost.

I’m done. Coach said I could be done. 

That’s right. You go tell him that you’re done.

He comes back and says, Coach said I had to wrestle one more time. Just one more.

So he wrestles. He doesn’t cry this time, he just tears up during the short breaks. He loses again, but he tried. He gave it all he had, and scored some points.

A while later, he finds out that he made it into the next round. One more match, and he went without a second thought.

The confidence that Jack gained this morning was amazing.

I tried to talk to Jack when he was upset, and all he did was cry more. Steve tried to talk to him, and that didn’t work much either.

But he listened to his coaches.

After some recent coaching issues with Michael, I can’t tell you how much these guys make me smile.

Jack ended up winning with a pin, which was exciting, but something made me smile even more than his win.

(Please excuse the blurry photos. My camera went a little crazy in this gym)

Like I said – the win was exciting. Exciting for us and for Jack. But even more than the win, Jack realized that he was part of a team that believed in him.

Jack ended up taking 3rd place in his weight bracket.

From tears in the morning to big smiles in the afternoon. We were so lucky to be able to show Jack that if he doesn’t give up, he will succeed. Those teaching moments don’t always happen so quickly.

Also? Michael got his first pin yesterday!

I can’t begin to tell you how excited we are to see their hard work paying off. We had some happy (and confident!) kids here yesterday.

Linking with Wordful Wednesday: Kristi, Amanda, Julie and with Elaine’s Miss Elaine-ous Monday

We love Easter.

I think the boys actually love it more than Christmas. Santa doesn’t usually hide toys, you know.

Easter 2011

Here in Arizona, we can’t “do” Easter like those of you in other areas of the country (and world!). We have a few traditions of our own because of where we live.

1. By Easter, spring has sprung in the desert. Our baskets are filled with a little bit of candy, a lot of outside toys, and absolutely none of those little sponges that look like capsules.

2. We hide camouflage colored plastic eggs because of all of the grass, rocks, dirt, and concrete in our backyard (which is very common in Arizona – we’re not crazy). Hiding real eggs isn’t a good idea, as they get lost. And warm. And smelly.

3. Here in Arizona, we search for hidden eggs both inside and outside, but there’s one important rule. No chocolate in the outside eggs! Melted chocolate syrup isn’t nearly as fun to eat as chocolate is.

4. Easter ham? How about a barbecue? We only heat up the house for Christmas and maybe Thanksgiving. By April, it’s all about the grill.

5. The tradition that has nothing to do with the desert? Eating candy before breakfast. It happens every year, and usually involves a chocolate bunny or two.

Easter 2011

Need some more fun desert facts? There are a ton of things I never knew about the desert until living here.

We’ll take the warm desert over a snowy Easter any day! We’re kind of used to it now :)

——-

I was lucky enough to meet the Hershey’s team at Blissdom. They have set up a virtual bunny trail that I hopped on! I was provided with a fun custom easter basket in exchange for participating in their campaign, but to be honest, all they had to do was ask. We’re big Hershey’s fans here! 

I have been out of town three times in the last seven months, if you count next weekend for Blissdom.

When I was preparing for BlogHer last August, I bought plenty of fruit and vegetables before I left.

I washed them all and sliced them. I stored them in nice ziplock containers in the fridge. I made a meal plan and bought all of the ingredients that Steve would need to make meals for him and the boys.

I packed the boy’s lunches for the days they would go to school. They were in paper bags and labeled by child and day. All Steve had to do was make a sandwich for them.

When I got home, the paper bags were gone. The kids had brought lunch to school and didn’t starve!

But the dinner plans? They didn’t exactly follow through on those.

The fruit and veggies remained in the fridge, except the few that Jack helped himself to. The ingredients for the meals? Still there.

Except for the meat.

“Hey guys… what did you eat for dinners?”

Michael: Steak. Oh, and sausage.

Me: What else?

Jack: That’s it! It was good.

So, they ate out.

And they ate meat.

But not the chicken I left.

But at least they ate.

Last November, I was in Los Angeles for a few days and made meals ahead of time. And I had some fruit and veggies in the fridge, but only for snacking, not as part of meals.

I bet you can guess what happened.

The boys definitely don’t starve when I go out of town, but they don’t eat what I would serve, which is the fun part of Mom leaving town, right?

It took me three times, but I think I have it right this time.

I went to the grocery store today and was embarrassed by what was in my cart – seriously.

It’s everything I have been trying to cut out for the last three years.

Cereal. I bought them Cinnamon Life and they were delighted.

Mini candy bars.

Oreos.

Boxed mac and cheese. I just shuddered when I typed that.

When I got home from the grocery store, they were giddy.

Mom is going away and they get to eat fun food for five whole days.

They are counting down the days until I leave…

Good thing we have a friend who works with FritoLay and Red Bull to keep the kids supplied in times like these.

If you are family or a {very} long time reader, you may remember Michael’s 3rd grade music performance – his last music performance, actually.

Do you see him? Wearing the striped shirt in the back left hiding behind the wall? Yup. That’s Michael. The quiet one. The shy one. The one who never had to attend another music performance because he had such anxiety about people watching him on stage.

Please excuse my small photos… they are from my original blog. Back then I obviously didn’t know that bigger was better. 

A few months later, Jack had his preschool music performance. He made us realize that though brothers, he and Michael are completely different.

Fast forward to 3:40 into the video:

And now.

Last night, Jack spent the night at a friend’s house. The friend’s Mom was taking her son Colton to the school talent show (he was lip synching), and Jack was going to tag along.

Last minute, she asked if Jack wanted to go up on stage while her Colton lip synched his song.

Jack didn’t know the words, but said yes, and decided that he would “shake it” while Colton was performing.

No rehearsal.

No prior notice.

And obviously, no second thoughts.

Colton’s Mom called me and we rushed over to catch Jack’s performance.

You don’t have to fast forward this video, because he dances for the entire 3 minutes and 50 seconds.

Michael and his friends were watching, and one said “Michael, isn’t that your brother? You are SO different.”

I get the nature vs. nurture debate, but today?

It’s all about nature.

So, you’ve probably seen the hilarious Brandi in Sh*t Mom Bloggers Say.

Oh, you haven’t?

Ok. Here it is. I’ll wait.

A few days after Brandi’s video came out, a video from a Mom Blogger’s husbandcame out…

It was equally hilarious. I watched the videos with the boys and Michael decided that we needed to add to the craziness.

Because, apparently, I drive them a little crazy with the blog talk.

So, I bring you… Sh*t (or stuff, because we are kid friendly) Mom Blogger’s Kids Say:

Happy Holidays to each and every one of you!

Really?

Can you explain…

the live worm on the ceiling fan?

the yarn necklace on the dog?

the stash in your closet that rivals “Hoarders?”

the broken ornament? (broken when juggling the glass ornaments)

the loose worms in the living room?

the loose crickets in the den throughout the entire house?

the nail and hammer forgotten under my back tire?

the exploding toilet and blatant misuse of toilet paper?

If you can’t explain these to Santa, we will. You’re an energetic and curious 7 year-old who doesn’t let life pass by quietly.

And we wouldn’t have it any other way.

—

Linked with my dear friends Amanda, Kristi and Lolli for Wordless/Wordful Wednesday.

Every once in a while, it’s necessary to take a break.

For your sanity, for your family, for yourself.

I didn’t plan on taking a break, but it turns out that it was a necessary thing. I’m trying to keep the computer closed between the hours of 3-8 p.m. which, I have found out, is my most productive time of the day.

Hence, no blog posts going up.

I thought I’d let you know what we have been up to.

My dear friend Nicole brought her family back to Tucson for a few days, and we were able to get some girl time in.

Ignore that messy counter. We’re making memories. 

Jack decided that life around the house was a little boring, so while he was feeding Billy, he threw a mealworm up.

Yes, up.

Onto the ceiling fan. Where it stuck.

Until it fell.

Yup. I can’t even make that up.

I went out on a rare lunch date with some of my best and oldest friends (they’re not old, our friendships are). It was the best birthday gift ever!

Our amazing server wasn’t an amazing photographer, so please pardon the crazy colors. Tucson doesn’t normally have lime green trees :)

Well, maybe my new iPhone4S was the best.

No… they’re tied.

We have been eating artichokes like crazy. With the amazing recipe from The Killer Griller, we have grown to love artichokes during the past few months. Yes, right in time for them to go out of season. But next year, we are ordering a case of them from Ocean Mist Farms right at the beginning of the artichoke season – They seem to have the absolute best artichokes.

Jack and his mini-artichoke. We thought he would love it, and he did. Can can easily eat an entire huge artichoke by himself!

In other news, Michael declared that he wanted a megaphone for Christmas.

Shortly after, Jack decided he wanted one, as well.

Anyone who thinks it’s funny and buys my kids a megaphone for Christmas will be getting nightly midnight visits from me and the megaphone – in person or by telephone.

Also on the Christmas list?

An ATV, an airsoft grenade launcher, and a new iPod touch.

Hmmm…. The list gets smaller as they get older, but it gets more expensive.

And a little crazier.

Oh… Grandma Teetsie came to visit!!!

We got some girl time in while the boys were at school, and Grandma got some much needed spoiling in.

And Jack. He was hamming it up for her.

Michael even got to take a half day off of school and go to lunch with us :)

In other fun news, Jack called our neighbor a vampire.

To her face.

In her defense, she doesn’t look like a vampire. And she doesn’t act like a vampire.

Jack will just do anything for a laugh. Apparently, we are still needing to discuss appropriate and inappropriate things to say to adults.

I know I’ve said it before, but just to be clear.

Michael? NEVER called an adult a vampire.

Or threw mealworms onto the ceiling fan.

Or threw a football really hard in the garage, breaking 7 of Steve’s 30ish Hard Rock shot glasses that he has been collecting for 18 years.

It’s been a crazy few weeks, friends.

The boys have been playing with the Grinch Cam app. Have you seen it? It’s totally worth .99 while the kids are waiting at a restaurant.

The boys have been asking me to lie down with them at night when they go to bed, and knowing that these times are coming to an end before I know it, I’m not saying no.

I’m spending as much time with them as I can, and thinking a lot about where the blog will be when they get to an age where they don’t want me blogging about them anymore.

I realized this fall that I have been missing a lot of time with the boys while I have been blogging about them, and that’s not what any Mom wants. There has to be a balance somewhere, and I’m looking for it.

So, please be patient with me while I over-post one month and under-post the next. I have an almost finished story about the auto show last month and how fun that was for me – a Mom who blogs about her boys. You’ll see that soon. I’m also over here at Dinner Tool a few times a month, and find that sharing facebook status updates are sometimes easier than full blog posts.

Don’t worry – The blog is sticking around, and will still be family-focused, but I’m thinking about adding a little more about the entire family. More recipes that we love and fitness, maybe? I was just accepted as a FitFluential Ambassador and am getting lots of post ideas from other ambassadors. Our life has changed a lot since Our Crazy Boys began in 2009, and I want to make sure to represent that as well as share all of the fun things that are going on out here in the desert.

All bloggers evaluate their blogs every few years, and I guess it’s just my turn!

In addition to the funny stories about the boys and the crazy things they do, what would you like to see more of? Less of? I’m sure we can all come to a compromise ;)

Can I thank you all enough for the kind comments on my last post? You have made me smile :)