Meeting the Pioneer Woman...

I love the Pioneer Woman.

If you have no idea who I am talking about than do yourself a favor and go check out her site, The Pioneer Woman and you will most definitely spend a couple of hours there reading her Confessions, checking out her sweet photography skills, and drooling over some of her recipes.

Well, I got to meet her.

She recently came out with a fun cookbook, and has been all over the country at book signings.  When she came to Seattle, I was graciously invited by a friend to fill an empty seat..."Um, heck yes I will go with you" was pretty much my response when Ali called to invite me.  But in your head, imagine an obnoxious, shrill voice saying it.

We headed up to Seattle and waited for over 5 hours to meet Pioneer Woman.  There were nearly 700 hundred people in front of us...that poor woman, can you imagine signing that many books. ugh.  I most definitely didn't mind the wait though, I was with three fun gals and we just chatted, laughed, and ate for the entire 5 hours.

When it was finally my turn to meet her, I became a pre-teen meeting the Jonas Brothers.  Seriously.  I was shaking and nervous, and there may or not have been a tear {or two} in my eye.  I honestly had no idea what came over me.   

The Pioneer Woman was an absolute delight.  She was so personable and friendly...and I am pretty sure we are new BFF's because she touched my pregnant belly AND said she loved my hair.

Yup, I'm pretty sure that makes us best friends. 

These are the cuties I went with...what a great night!!

After we got our books signed at 10:30 PM, we all decided that a late night trip to the CheeseCake Factory was definitely necessary.  Nothing like fried mozzerella and rich chocolate coconut {YUM} cheesecake at midnight!  I felt like I was in college again...except this time the fried mozzerella gave me heartburn, and I was awakened by two toddlers only 5 hours after going to bed.

So worth it.

Introducing, the newest member of the Springer Family...

No, NOT a baby...heaven forbid, I am only 20 weeks along! 

Today we added a sweet addition to our family, a 2008 Hyundai Entourage...

This is exactly what our car looks like, she sure is a beaut isn't she?!?

 I am officially in love with this mini-van.  Truth be told I always thought I was an SUV kind of gal, but let's be honest...an SUV is NOT the car you want with three carseats. seriously people.

We went to the dealership today with a budget, and monthly payment in mind.  When we saw this car, I fell in love with the stow-and-go seating, ceiling mounted DVD player with wireless headphones for the kiddos, automatic doors, seats, mirrors, windows (even the passenger side windows roll down, how fun is that!), and lots of other fun gadgets.  I thought for sure it was out of our price range, but saw it was just the price I wanted.

After everything was finalized, the owner came out and mentioned to our salesmen that the listed price was supposed to be for a based out Entourage, when in fact ours was fully loaded.

Cha-ching!!  We lucked into a sweet deal!!

We couldn't be more excited, and I am officially converted to the mini-van life style.

 

The Happiest Place on Earth...

It's true.

Disneyland really is the happiest place on earth.

I think between work and the hideous rain we've been receiving, we could use a little dose of Mickey.

So, we decided to go.

In two weeks.

I couldn't more excited.  Most of you know me well enough to know that I might was well be a 7 year old child when it comes to things like this.  The "magic" is real to me, and I can't WAIT to see little Jack's face during the Pirates of the Caribbean ride!

I am giddy.

So, now I need some advice...we haven't ever taken the kids anywhere like this.  Do any of you have any genius tips on disneyland with kiddos? 

Come people, I need to know all the secrets!