Forget spring...this is Bolt season!

I just spent the afternoon with my good friend Marryn! This afternoon I realized it's not spring around here...it's BOLT season. Marryn and I bought the new Disney movie Bolt for $3.14! Then we went home and watched it and her dog Max wants to be Bolt now. He told us. My sister Kathryn said that she was going to see Bolt tonight at the movie theater and she's gonna love it! Then I showed Ivan the Bolt DVD that I bought and he shouted out, "I LOVE THAT MOVIE! IT'S SO FUNNY!" And all the kids are talking about Bolt at school... Spring really only lasted 4 days here and now it's Bolt season. I told Kathryn that her dog Georgia looks like Bolt and she said she's gonna paint a lightning bolt on Georgia's fur with a sharpie marker. I can't wait to see it!!!

redlights

I know probably everybody already knows this about me, but I'm just putting it out there anyway:

I hate redlights!

They are all against me. They plan, they scheme, they whisper. They tell their nasty little secrets to each other as I approach. I can hear them laugh as they do everything they can to frustrate the snozzcumbers right out of my nose. They take delight in my exasperated "ARRRGHHHH!'s" that burst out of my mouth.

Ask anyone who has driven with me. The stoplights always turn red when I am in a hurry or am just driving along, minding my own business. I get so tired of stopping every 45 feet. Start, stop, start, stop. ARRRRRRGHHHHH! But yet when I'm trying to DO something, like read a book, change a CD, read directions, text somebody, open something, etc., the lights are ALWAYS green. Sometimes they even turn red as I approach and then when I reach for a piece of paper so that I'll have something to do while I'm waiting for the senseless redlight, it turns green. Like it knows I was about to go do something productive.

It's like they know me.

Where is a city with no stoplights. I want to live there.

Disney World 2008, Lizard Hunt

Disney World 2008, Lizard Hunt from Beth Tice on Vimeo.

When we weren't taking over Disney theme parks, we were terrorizing the overabundance of lizards that live around my grandpa's house. We managed to catch 4 of them, but we only took 3 of them with us because one of them seemed to be a little distressed. We named him Sir Poops-a-Lot and I'm sure from his name you can figure out how we knew that he had anxiety problems.

Disney World 2008, Character Autographs

Disney World 2008, Character Autographs from Beth Tice on Vimeo.

The classic Disney tradition of collecting character autographs - captured in a less-than-3-minute video!

Disney World 2008, Magic Kingdom Fireworks

Disney World 2008, Fireworks from Beth Tice on Vimeo.

the fireworks at Magic Kingdom are awesome!!!

Disney World 2008, Grandpa's Pool

Disney World 2008, Grandpa's Pool from Beth Tice on Vimeo.

Playing in the pool at Grandma and Grandpa's house - watch out for pirates, check out the wave pool action, and Georgia Roo the puppy swims for the first time!

Disney World 2008, Entering Disney World

Disney World 2008, Entering Magic Kingdom from Beth Tice on Vimeo.

driving all through the night...the arrival...the adventure begins

so sad...

today i've been really sad. I don't really know why...i guess because of Grandma. maybe just tired... who knows. i talked to Grandpa on the phone this afternoon and he sounds so lost, so sad. he said he got kind of mad when he received several letters from the DMV saying that Grandma's right to drive was taken away. He called the DMV and said that he didn't think she needed a driver's license anyway in heaven. then he said the guy was really rude and hung up on him. i felt so bad for Grandpa. he said at the end, "well, I guess I should go see what I can eat for dinner." I mean at least he's eating... it's just that he's always had Grandma to make him something to eat. I wish I could be back down there right now.

Disney World 2008, Character Lunch

Disney World 2008, Character Lunch from Beth Tice on Vimeo.

We ate lunch with all of the Winnie the Pooh characters right after the Dreams Come True Parade! It was awesome - amazing food, private sessions with the Pooh characters, even a special parade just for the kids!

Basketball Shot of the Century

Basketball Shot of the Century from Beth Tice on Vimeo.

a sweet pool basketball shot made with my feet!

DIsney World 2008, Dreams Come True Parade

Disney World 2008: Dreams Come True Parade from Beth Tice on Vimeo.

One of our favorite parades ever is the Dreams Come True Parade. Here we are enjoying this special parade with the true message of Disney, that dreams DO come true if you only believe.

Disney World 2008, Meeting the Princesses

Disney World 2008: Meeting the Princesses from Beth Tice on Vimeo.

Brian, Collin, Marryn, and Zorro meet the Disney princesses Cinderella, Princess Aurora (a.k.a. Sleeping Beauty) and Belle.

Trying to find happiness in the "happiest place on earth"

So today Kathryn, my cousin Michael, and I went to Disney.  We didn't go to the parks.  We just went to a spring training baseball game.  The Atlanta Braves train at Disney so we watched a Braves vs. Nationals game.  We took my baby cousin Pierce too.  Last night I was so, so sad...the sadness was just crushing me.  But today I woke up really angry, not at anybody or anything specific, just really, really angry.  The whole time at the baseball game I went back and forth between being so angry and being so nothing.  It wasn't even sadness.  It was just either anger or...nothing.  So when the game was over, I wasn't ready to leave Disney property.  I knew that going back to my Grandma's house wasn't going to help.  So I went to Disney Quest instead.  Everybody else returned home, but I stayed at Disney Quest/Downtown Disney until almost midnight.  Now I feel much better.  I had never been to Disney Quest before and it was awesome.  As I knew it would, Disney accomplished what I needed it to.  The magic and wonder of Disney slowly creep into you until it occurs to you that you are smiling for the first time all day.  I'll tell tomorrow what Disney Quest was like, but for now, just know that Disney never disappoints and there's a reason why I knew I needed Disney today.  

The Greatest Grandma Ever

Here she is.  The Greatest Grandma Ever.  She was the perfect kid grandma because she was a kindergarten teacher and elementary school principal.  She helped start the Headstart program in Baltimore.  She understood kids and her house was always filled with toys, books, games, puzzles, everything a kid could possibly want.  
She taught us how to make orange juice freshly squeezed from the orange tree in the backyard.
Her favorite animal was a giraffe.  She said she liked them because they were so tall and she was so short.  
She and Grandpa loved Disney World.  They loved all the parks, actually - Sea World, Cypress Gardens, Universal...  but nothing beat Disney World.  They had season passes to Disney for over 20 years.  They were fascinated by the magic and wonder that Walt Disney had created.  
Grandma always used to take us to the craft store to buy little things to make - wooden shapes to paint, stained "glass" designs to hang in the window, little boxes to decorate with flowers, bears, anything we could imagine.  She would play school with us and be the teacher.  She took us to the bookstore - the only free-standing Walden Books I've ever seen - and would buy us any books we wanted.
She loved her flowers.  She spent so many hours in her gardens, planting, trimming, weeding, caring for her beautiful flowers.  
She appreciated every story I wrote when I was a kid and kept them all in a file.  She used to tell me how proud she was of me for my grades at school and for what I was doing in my life.  The last time she talked to me 5 days ago she told me that she was so proud of me.
She played the piano and the violin and played in the orchestra until the last month of her life.  Her orchestra's last concert was dedicated to her since she couldn't be there to perform.
She believed in Jesus and two days ago she spent the whole day praising God and thanking Him for giving her my grandpa as a husband.  My grandpa said she also cried out to God that day saying, "Please bless Beth and Kathryn."  She always told us how much she loved us.  She never ended a conversation without saying "I love you, Beth."  
She made the world's best cookies, especially the peanut butter ones with the hershey kisses in the middle.  She always made us applesauce cake too and jello with fruit in it.  There was never a shortage of whipped cream in the refrigerator and she had a special ice cream that she called "ice milk" that we found out later was just normal ice cream...but somehow it tasted better than normal ice cream.  

She never stopped learning.  She took swimming lessons, computer lessons, typing lessons.  She went back to school to get her college degree.  She knew how to find any book in the library and one of her favorite expressions was "Anything you want to know, you can find in a book."  She knew the names, histories, uses, and side effects of every medication ever created.  

She always set the table for breakfast the night before so that in the morning you'd just wake up and everything would be ready.  She always let us eat cookies for breakfast.  

And no matter what, she always had time and energy for everyone.  Everyone loved her.  All you had to do was meet her and you knew she was different...special...one of those people that you just had to know.  Even the pest control guy called and said how much he cared about her and how he would do anything for my grandpa in this hard time.  EVERYONE LOVED HER.  

No matter how many times you tell someone that you love them, it never seems like enough.  How can you possibly take one person who was so much more than just one person and show them how much they mean to you by simply saying "I love you, Grandma"?  

And now sitting in the living room, all I see is my grandma everywhere, in all of her stuffed teddy bears, decorations, pictures, furniture.  I keep hearing her voice calling out to me, asking if I want more applesauce cake, asking me to come look at a picture she just found, wanting to show me her new crossword puzzle book.  I keep expecting her to come out of the bedroom any minute, come walking through the door.  And then I wonder, how can she really be gone?  

I was never, from the time I was just 6 years old, capable of leaving my grandparents' house without crying.  I always wrote them a letter before my parents called me to get in the car to leave.  I would hide the note somewhere like under their pillow or in the microwave.  Then I would walk to the car, tears streaming down my face, even knowing that I would see them again in a few months.  Even this past year when I visited them 3 times, I couldn't leave without crying.  And now.  Now the tears are just so different.  

I don't understand what I'm supposed to do with all the pain and love that it's in my heart that has nowhere to go.  It's not even in my heart.  It can't be contained in such a small place.  My grandma is in everything that I am.  Oh God.  I love you so much Grandma.  How is it that I will never see you again?  My Grandma...

goodbye grandma. :(

one of the saddest days of my life.

welcome to orlando :(

I love hearing the words "Welcome to Orlando" when the plane lands. But this time, it's for a very sad, sad reason. My grandma is really sick and is in the hospital. The doctors said she only has a few days. It's so sad. She's in a lot of pain but all day yesterday she was praising God for giving her such a great husband for her whole life. She kept calling out my grandpa's name and asking him to give her a kiss. Today she wasn't talking nearly as much but she was calling out to God and asking Him to tell her what to do. My grandpa was talking about her saying how he could never have a better wife and how much he loves her. It's just so sad... I love my grandma.

Disney World 2008, Downtown Disney

Disney World 2008, Downtown Disney from Beth Tice on Vimeo.

The coolest shopping village ever! Brian, Collin, and Marryn tried on every hat they could find in the World of Disney store. We visited the Lego store and lots more as well!

Funny video of our snow day

Snow Day March 2009 from Beth Tice on Vimeo.

Ivan and Mario...sliding...crashing...it's a big snowy mess. and it's hilarious

YAY FOR SNOW DAYS!

You gotta love snow days when there's enough snow to actually play in it!  Here are a bunch of pictures of us playing and enjoying the snow!  The first one is of me jumping off of a tree.

in the snow
Miguel hitting me with snow
Miguel, Ivan, and me playing in the snow

Ivan climbing a tree
Ivan jumping off a tree

all of us in the snow
here's everybody trying to tackle me and cover me in snow.  Lucero has the shovel.
Ivan and Miguel playing
Ivan dumping snow on his mom and Lucero.
Ivan building a snowman on the roof.
Ivan and Mario racing on sleds

Ivan sledding

sweet new song! All of Grace

All of Grace from Beth Tice on Vimeo.

Here's a new song by the band at Portico Church in Charlottesville, VA. It's called All of Grace. This is one of Miguel's first attempts at shooting video as well!

Breaking News: Settlers of Catan Controls Snow

Breaking News: Settlers of Catan Controls Snow from Beth Tice on Vimeo.

So the winters 2 and 3 years ago were awesome...tons of snow, lots of school closings, etc. My friends John and Jenn and I spent both of those winters playing Settlers marathons and it snowed every time we played. We sort of took a break from playing after that and we haven't really played much since. And ever since, it hasn't really snowed either. But last night we re-ignited the Settlers marathons by playing a tournament (WHICH I WON!) with nine of our friends over at John and Jenn's house. And guess what! It snowed! We're playing this afternoon again so it'll snow some more! Never fear Charlottesville! Now that we've figured out the secret to the snow, we got plenty comin your way! Here's a video of Miguel, Ivan, and me playing!