A Rainy Day

I saw a picture in a magazine with a little girl running in the rain with her umbrella and decided I had to have something like that of my kids. Yesterday the weather called for rain, though I didn't believe it and we were planning on going to the zoo anyway. Then the kids come running inside, their faces flushed with excitement, asking if we had any umbrellas. My moment came and here are a couple of photos in the rain!

Native American Day

Each year, the Kindergarteners celebrate Native American Day right before Thanksgiving. It's a fun day where the kids get to learn about the Native Americans that helped out the Pilgrams. They learn things like hunting buffalo (which I think was Cameron's favorite part!) using little dowels with pencil erasers on the end for their spears; and gathering berries and trying a recipe made with those berries, and also about building a campfire. So they go and "collect" their fire wood and come back to the ring. All the kids dump their wood into the ring and sit down. Cameron looks at the pile and says, "Guys. That's not how you do it. You do it like this!"

Perhaps he's seen the technique before!

Camping in the cold

Andy took the kids camping a couple of weeks back. Some friends let us know they were going and asked if anyone else wanted to go. Camping in 30 degree weather is just not my thing. But the kids were all excited about going! We have really discovered that Cameron is built just like his daddy. Did you notice all the others are are bundled as much as they could be considering they have no cold weather gear? But Cameron is still wearing shorts! It was about 35 degrees outside when Andy took that picture! BRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!! They all had so much fun though, despite the cold. And what did I do while they were all gone? Well, my friend who also sent her husband and kids camping, and I went out for dessert and then went Christmas shopping. We had fun too!

It finally came out!

Emma went her entire kindergarten year without losing a single tooth. Friends all around her were losing teeth and hers stayed in. Her adult teeth came in, but those stubborn baby teeth would not budge! Back in September, one started to wiggle (you may remember that post about tying her tooth to a door knob). But still it would not come out. A few days back, Em came to me and showed me that she could feel the bottom of her tooth.

Sure enough it was hanging on by a thread. So I told her to grab on to that tooth and just yank it. My brave little one did just that and was certainly rewarded as the shock that it actually came out melted quickly into pure happiness!

Just do it.

It's cliche. I know. But it has certainly become part of my daily routine. Several months ago I decided that I needed to lose the extra weight hanging around after my babies and I needed to get my heart healthy. I started getting up around 6 to workout and clean up before my kids went to school. But it was a struggle. And then one day I was walking through the mall and passed by a fitness store. Lady Footlocker or something. On a mannequin was a shirt with a slogan that has pushed me through as my morning got earlier to 5:15. I needed to get up earlier so I can make my spirituality as strong as my physical body. But let me tell you how early 5:15 is! I get up before the sun. Long before. The slogan on the shirt read, "Just do it. Every damn day, just do it." I don't swear and I don't condone it. Personally, I think it is a weak use of vocabulary. But I just can't find a word that replaces it here. It seems to emphasize in just the right way (I still don't like using it though). Most days I drag myself out of bed when the alarm goes off, stumbling in the dark. But I do it every day. This phrase is often what runs through my mind as I force myself out of bed. And now, I am strong, spiritually and physically. I have quiet "me" time in the absolute stillness of the early morning that sets the tone for my day. My heart gives me little trouble. After 10 years and four babies, I could still fit into my wedding dress (if I hadn't made it into a baptism dress for Briley!). I don't crave junk food. Just do it. Every. Damn. Day. Just. Do. It. There it is. My way through the holidays and winter. My way to a healthy spirit and healthy body. I have never felt better. (I am open to suggestions to replace that word too!)

Cameron turns 5!

Wow! My little guy is 5! I can't believe just how fast my kids keep growing. I read somewhere another mom's thoughts about this very thing. She said, "When do my children grow? Is it at night while no one is watching, or during the day right before our eyes? All I know for sure is that it happens too fast. It's like sand slipping through my fingers." My thoughts exactly...

We had a small party, just us and Andy's parents. He loved the Bakugan (this generation's Transformers and Pokemon all wrapped in one I guess). He is also the proud owner of one brand new, 16 inch bike and he was so excited! He had learned to ride his little 12 inch with no training wheels, but this one is a little too big and he is back to the training wheels for now. But I am sure that will be short lived! I attempted to make him a treasure box for a birthday cake, only my lid broke and the frosting was too thick and was tearing the cake. But my very gracious little guy smiled, and said, "It's ok Mommy. I like it anyway." Man, I love this kid!

Happy Halloween!

We had a great time on Halloween. Friends of ours throw a party every year and we really look forward to it.
The party itself is fun, but the best part is trick-or-treating with a big group of friends. There's about 20 kids and the parents to go along, and really the party just continues down the block!

Bats are sleeping

Logan learned this song at preschool. In the words of my friend's blog, I dare you not to laugh. Or at least smile!

my favorite tradition

I decided that today would be the day of sacrifice. We could cut up all four

pumpkins and be done with it today. Then they will sit in the freezer just awaiting their turn to be used in some tasty dish. I know that canned pumpkin tastes just fine, and that there is very little difference in the way recipes come out. But this activity helps me to remember that somewhere in the world the weather is cooling down and the leaves change color. Our day is coming soon, usually about Thanksgiving our weather stays cool. Pumpkin is my favorite ingredient this time of year and I love to find new recipes. This year we have tried a pumpkin pasta (thanks to my friend for that recipe!) and pumpkin ice cream is next on the list of new adventures. I hope the kids enjoy our pumpkin sacrificing and the ensuing tasty dishes! (Oh and since I let them cut their own pumpkins and clean them out to roast the seeds, they never asked about carving jack-o-lanterns this year! That's four less pumpkins we have to buy!)

Pumpkins and kids

We took the kids to the pumpkin patch a couple of weeks ago. I wanted to go up into the mountains to a farm, and we were heading that way, and Andy got sidetracked by this patch on the side of the freeway. He likes grocery store pumpkins because they are cheap. I like pumpkin patches because they remind me it's fall (even if it's 95 degrees outside). As it turns out, this patch is a local farm that packs up their wares and heads out to a larger space. So I guess it was a compromise!

The kids just loved these huge pumpkins and really wanted to bring one home.

But we talked them into the little pumpkins instead because they make better pumpkin pies!

(I thought I did a fair job with the photos so you can't see the freeway!)


I love watching them walk back to the car with their treasured pumpkins. Their little faces were so red and they were so hot though. So we went to get ice cream afterwards!

Here is the rest!

So I have had a few requests to finish up our trip. but I have been so busy trying to catch up on everything in addition to life continuing to move forward. So I am going to have to cheat a little bit. These are the pictures I made for my project 365.



After Washington DC we drove up to New York City. We stayed just off a block from Times Square. It was so much fun to be right there in the middle of New York City. But we only had a day and a half, so we decided to take a tour of the city so we could see as much as possible. The first picture is the Brooklyn Bridge. We learned a fun story about when it was built. The people of the time did not trust the bridge, and did not believe that it would stand. But Mr. Barnum did believe. And so he trusted his prized herd of 21 elephants to cross the bridge. That would prove to the people that the bridge could in fact withstand the weight of more than just people. And so it still stands well over 100 years later! After our tour, we walked down to the Empire State Building and went up to the top. It was amazing to be so high above the city. It was like looking at a model because everything was so tiny when you are that high! The best part of our time in New York was spending time with our friends, Dave and Misty. We have only seem Misty a couple of times since they moved, and we miss them! It was so much fun!



After dinner with Dave and Misty (and our adventurous ride on the Subway!), Andy and I headed out of the city and stayed in New Jersey. For the last day of our trip, we drove down the New Jersey coastline to Cape May, where we boarded the ferry to cross the Delaware Bay. We coninued down the Delaware coastline, through Maryland, and finally back to Virginia.
So here we are on approach to my favorite city in the world. Our flight was delayed and delayed, but we finally made it home at 1:30 in the morning to be greeted by a beautiful poster the girls made to welcome us home. We had so much fun, but we missed our little ones terribly and we are glad to be home! Until our next adventure!

Washington DC by day New York City by night

We finished up our time in Washington DC this morning. We walked to the White House and then on to the International Spy Museum. That was way more interesting than I thought it would have been!

Then we drove to New York City. What an experience! We stayed a block off of Times Square. So we walked to Times Square for dinner and then walked around. The lights. Wow! It was like daylight! It was late so we headed back to our hotel after a short time, but we experienced Times Square by night!

Washington DC

Today we drove up to Washington DC. I was doing really well until we got off the freeway and were downtown. I have realized that I am not an urban kind of girl. So when I say that I am a city girl, I really mean a suburban girl. My heart rate accelerated and the stress of being in such a big city was almost painful. I told Andy that he has to make all the desicions because I can't make any while feeling so much stress. He wanted to take a tour bus around because we have so little time here in the Capital, but again, the stress was overwhelming for me. So we walked. And walked. And walked. We walked for miles today to see all that we wanted to. We started with the Washington Monument and walked down to the Lincoln Memorial. I love this picture. Our flag, a symbol of pride and freedom, as it blows across this monument to the great Patriots that fought to free the 13 colonies to become our great nation. President Lincoln, a great man indeed. As you read the Gettysberg address, while standing the shadow of this tremendous monument, you can feel the passion and the wisdom of this man. A true American. From Lincoln's memorial, we walked to the Korean War Memorial. My grandfather served as a platoon leader in the Korean War. I have heard some of his stories, but I have never been able to wrap my head around his actual service. But in this memorial, I saw some of his experiences. I could see the heavy boots and clothing he has described; and I could feel his burden as I looked into the face of this platoon leader.Along this granite wall are these etchings of the soldiers among the Korean people. In this image, I saw my grandfather as a young man. I couldn't look away from it. He looks nothing like this man, but this was the first time I have ever been able to picture my grandfather in the war. I was truely touched and I am thankful for his willingness to serve his country, to help a people he had never met. I can't sufficiently express the feelings of grattitude and reverence as we saw these great monuments to the men and women that have sacrificed much to make our country what it is today.

And then we had a little fun...

Monticello

Today we drove to Thomas Jefferson's home, Monticello. It was interesting to walk through this home, preserved and restored as closely as possible to meet Mr. Jefferson's vision. And a visionary man he was. He had a brilliant mind that you can really see in the architecture and gardens of his plantation. I was far more interested in his gardens though, as was Andy. Mr. Jefferson was innovative, but frugal. The actual craftmanship of the home was a let down after visiting the Williamsburg yesterday and walking through the governor's palace. But Mr. Jefferson did spend much of his time creating ways to make the lives of those around him easier. Things like the pulley system that moved wine bottles between the dining room and the wine cellar below (tucked neatly into the sides of the fireplace that heated the room). Or his polygraph machine that had a mechanical arm that followed his arm as he wrote, creating a second copy at exactly the same time. Brilliant.
But the grounds around the house were just beautiful. As the cooler air begins to change the surrounding countryside
into bright yellows and reds, mixed with the evergreens, the oranges of pumpkins in the vegetable garden and the pinks of the flowers, I was stunned by the colors (though it was a cloudy rainy day and so the colors are pretty drab in my photos). It almost looked like a painting, something created by an artist. Which I suppose it was, created by an artist of sorts.


I was really taken by this beautiful sugar maple tree. It had so many colors contained in just one tree; the many browns in the bark and branches, greens, reds and yellows of the leaves.
I wonder if the people of the time were as taken by all the colors and beauty of their towns and plantations or if I am just a city girl living by the beach that misses the change of seasons...