Library Adventures

This afternoon we all went to the library. Normally, I go by myself, as Bob kindly allows that to be my "Mom's Night Out" activity. Hey, it's cheap and fun! But we needed more books, I did my homework ahead of time by finding likely books in the Story of the World Activity Guide, looking them up on the library's website to make sure they had them, and even writing down the call number on them so I could find them right away, so I felt confident we could be in and out with no real problems. Well, Jonathan was a real pistol. For some reason, I did not put him in the stroller, although I did clearly tell him that he needed to stay right by me and be quiet. Somehow, the message wasn't heard though. He did okay for a few minutes, then he started climbing the shelves. That was quickly stopped, so he and Caleb started playing some kind of giggle game, which got loud pretty quickly. Again, that was stopped. Caleb's big thing is that he just wants to touch Jonathan, all the time, preferably around the neck. Of course Jonathan protests loudly, so I had to tell Caleb not to touch Jonathan AT ALL , not even to try to hold his hand. I felt like a circus clown, juggling library books, sending out piercing glares all around, grabbing little boys' shoulders, chins, etc. as need be, all the while there was a constant chorus of "SHHHHHs" from Nathan and Luke. Poor Luke is so mortified by his loud brothers! We finally made it to the end of the juvenile section, but then Jonathan decided to start running from one end of the aisle to the other. So I had to hold him as well as our big sack of books. Finally all we had left was one book for Bob, so we headed over to the adult non-fiction side. I got it and started marching towards the front, naively thinking that everyone was following behind me like little duckings. Then I heard a "thump" and a piercing cry. Jonathan had made a detour to sit on a chair, which he then somehow pulled over on himself, bloodying his nose, and he was now letting everyone know about, right under a big sign that said, "QUIET AREA". Now I was mortified!! I muffled his face against my shirt, but it didn't really make that big of a difference. I kept shushing him, and finally, an eternity later, he calmed down enough that we could walk out and check out. So now I am back to pledging only to go to the library by myself! Library trips should not contribute to ulcer formations!

Family Pictures

We got to Bob's sister Ann's house at lunchtime. One of Bob's brothers, Paul, was also there with his wife and 2 kids, and they had brought Bob's parents down as well. Rose and her 2 girls were also there, so 4 of the 6 siblings were there! It was crowded! They had all planned to go to waterpark, but it was cloudy and rainy, so we ended up not doing anything, which was very nice. Bob's family is often under the impression that if you're not going somewhere, then fun must not be happening. As a result, they never have time to just sit and visit! 

Rose brought down an album of old pictures that she put together when she was in high school. They were pictures of Bob's parents and their families, but we didn't know who all the people pictured were, because none of the pictures were labeled. Bob's mom came from a family with 13 (?) kids, and Bob's dad's family had 6 kids, so you can imagine that there are a lot of people that we could tell were related but we had no idea who they actually were! While Jonathan napped and the kids played outside, I sat down with Bob's mom and went through the whole book, labeling all the pictures. She really enjoyed talking about her family and reminiscing about the past, and once we were done, everyone else wanted to go through the book too, so she got to talk about old pictures all afternoon! I felt like I really got a better feel for their families, and hopefully since one book is now labeled, that will help us label all the other pictures back at their house in the attic! 

 The afternoon also gave me a whole new empathy for Bob's mom and for some of the choices she has made. She (Ann) met Bob's dad (Frank) when she was a little girl and their houses' back yards were catty-corner to each other. When she would go out to hang out laundry, they would meet and talk. When he was 16, he enlisted in the Navy during World War II. Somehow during the war, he got hit by shrapnel(?) or something. Anyhow, he got a metal plate in his head, he started drinking, and that has been blamed for a myriad of personal problems of his. When he got back, he was different, but Ann decided that he was the only one she would ever love, so she went ahead and married him, even though there was some opposition from his parents. They moved to NY for a few years, and there their first children were born, Frank Jr. and then Marsha about 18 months later. They then moved back to PA, to the small town where they had both grown up, and as Bob's mom told me Tuesday, "That's when all our troubles started." 

 This next part is something that is never talked about, so we (the siblings and in-laws) have sort of pieced together what must have happened. Apparently Frank started drinking a lot more and getting abusive. Bob's mom was pregnant with her third child, and sometime in the winter she fled to a sister's house back in NY because she was afraid for the baby. She left Frank and Marsha there in PA, probably because she knew that both sets of families were there, and how could she provide for the kids in NY while being heavily pregnant? In March, Frank was in a terrible accident (all we know was there was snow involved, and possibly a milk truck, but we do not know if he was drinking or not). Frank Jr. and Marsha were both killed, and Bob's dad spent several months in the hospital. In the photo album, there are pictures of Frank and Marsha with Santa the December before they were killed. Frank is 3, and Marsha is 18 months. They are so cute, and it just really hit home that they were the same ages as Caleb and Jonathan are now. I really can't fathom how Ann survived that and was able to stay married to Frank, but it was not because of strong support from either their church (they are Catholic) or either set of parents. A priest told her that she had to stick with Frank no matter what he did, and I think implied that the kids died because she left. This makes it clear why, although Frank continued to drink and yell and be mean throughout even Bob's childhood (he's the youngest), she never again left. How could you, if you at all thought it was your fault your first children were killed because you had left before? 

 Also, in the album there are pictures of Bob's dad's childhood but none of Ann's. I asked about this and she said it was because after she "lost her kids", her mother gave everything that was hers (pictures, school papers, etc.) that was back at her parents' house to one of her brothers, and she never saw any of it again. Can you believe that? Basically they thought it was her fault too. I can't imagine living under that load of guilt all my life, and since the church also gave no support, it is easy to see why she has no real relationship with the Lord now. Like I said before, this whole situation is never discussed, and we may never know exactly what happened. But it is very easy to see the fruits of it in how both of Bob's parents have lived and have treated their sons- and daughters-in-law. I always wonder how they would be if the accident hadn't happened, but as Aslan says, "No one is ever told what might have been". To wrap things up, Bob's mom gave birth to Bob's now oldest sister Ann in May, still in NY, and then a few months later she came back to PA. They had 5 more children and have been married for hmmm. . . I know I'll get this wrong . . . . over 50 years, for sure, closer to 60. I would imagine 58 years, but they have not been what I would call happy years. There is a lot of bitterness still there, although they coexist and would find it hard to survive without the other. I am so thankful that Bob is committed to not being like his dad, and I am even more thankful that the Lord found him while he was at the Academy, so now he has the power to actually be different.

Beach Trip

Well, as I said in my lsat post, our trip to VA Beach started out pretty inauspiciously. Bob's sister Rose and her 2 girls came down Saturday afternoon for a night on their way down to Ann's house in Richmond. We had a good afternoon with them, but we didn't really figure out how Sunday was going to work before we went to bed. Because of various miscommunications and differing expectations, we ended up going to church (without Rose), but leaving early to get back here to say goodbye to her before she left. We were not at all packed up to leave, so we followed about an hour later, at 1:00. We were supposed to stop at Ann's house, but tensions were pretty high in our vehicle, so we decided just to go straight to the beach. We got to Fort Story at 5:30. We stayed at the Cape Henry Inn, in a cottage, which is the third picture on the main webpage. (There are 3 cottages attached in a row.) Our cottage was very nice--2 bedrooms, bath, full kitchen, and a nice living'dining area--all for $100 a night! It was technically right on the beach, but you couldn't just walk out to the beach from our deck. There was a wide strip of trees, scrubby bushes, etc. (which I know are very heathly for beaches, prevent errosion, etc.!), but that meant we had to hike down a ways to a long boardwalk which then finally took us to the beach. But we had a great view from our cottage, and we got to see lots of big Navy ships go by and also anchor right outside. But I am getting distracted--on with the narrative. So we unpacked and then talked about dinner. We almost decided to order pizza there in the room, but we ended up leaving to seek our mealtime fortunes off post. We had a pull-out map of VA Beach,so we figured we would find tons of restaurants. The main strip is 3 miles away from Ft. Story, so we headed over there, then picked a main road and turned on it, away from the Strip, figuring restaurants would be cheaper and not as crowded there. We drove for a while but didn't see anything, so we turned again, paralleling the Strip, then finally back towards the Strip, then finally back on the Strip itself. There were no recognizable restaurants. We looked in every little strip mall for pizza places, but all we could find were carry-out places. Everyone was so hungary by now, since it was almost 7:00. There were lots of trendy restaurants on the Strip, places I would normally avoid like the plague, but at these we could find no parking. Tensions were again quite high. Finally, at almost 8:00, we ended up eating at McDonalds, which was certainly not the hot, cheesy, pizza I was hoping for. At that point, I was firmly convinced that I hated not only beaches in general, but also any populated area surrounding beaches, as well as greedy developers who only put up condos but no normal restaurants, like Chilis or Applebees. We limped back to the room and put everyone to bed.

Monday dawned sunny and beautiful. We ate breakfast, then packed everything up for our day at the beach. The beach at Ft. Story turned out to be a wonderful place. It was not crowded at all, and only families were there--no perky college girls in teeny tiny bikinis or anything. Jonathan began his first beach visit in the same way that Luke and Caleb did when we used to visit the L's down in Florida--he absolutely hated the sand and wouldn't put his feet on it. He did condescend to sit on a towel an eventually play in it, but there was no way he was going in that water! The other boys started building a sand fort (of course). The water was nice and warm, and so eventually I moved my chair up so my feet were in the water. Finally Joanthan decided he disliked being back alone under the umbrella even more than he disliked the sand, so he managed to walk up to where we were, all of about 4 feet away. Oh, the torture! Then he discovered that the wetter sand, which was firmer and not so hot, was really not that bad at all, so he started playing there. A few waves went over his toes, and then he finally decided that wasn't so bad either, and he even let Bob take him into the water to swim! He ended up loving the beach, a much quicker transformation than either Luke or Caleb at his age! Surprisingly, I loved the beach too. I thought I would read the whole time, but I just enjoyed sitting there, watching the waves and everyone play. I even swam in the ocean! There was no nasty sea slime or jelly fish or anythng else like that to make me grossed out! LOL! I took a nice walk by myself along the beach, and I found several beautiful horseshoe crab shells. The highlight of the beach was definitely seeing dolphins. The website said that this beach has "ten times more dolphins that anywhere else on the East Coast", and I would believe them. We saw tons of dolphins--big pods of about 14 or so, as well as small groups of just 2 or 3, gracefully swimming up and down the beach. Sometimes they even came inside the buoys marking where people could swim, so they really were close! I took some pictures, but I am sure you will not be able to see a single thing, so you will just have to trust me--they were really neat! We went back for lunch around 1:00, then eveyrone rested for a little while. Jonathan, Caleb, and I stayed back, while Nathan, Luke, and Bob went back for a few more hours in the afternoon. It was low tide then, and they even caught a blue crab! They put it back since 1. we don't like crab, and 2. even if we did, there's no way I'm boiling something alive! Bleh! Everyone showered, and we tackled the dinner problem again. Vowing to learn from our mistakes, we searched through a coupon book and found a likely candidate for pizza. Armed with this address, we set out. Ironically, it was just a lot furthur down on the first road we turned on. We just panicked and turned agian too soon! We found tons of places to eat. In fact, when we got to the shopping center where the pizza restaurant was, there was an Old Country Buffet there too. We decided the pizza place looked kind of like a hole in the wall, and there was no one in there, so we ate at the buffet. Hey, you get dessert there! We had a great dinner, more than making up for McDonalds the previous night, and it turned out that Monday is "Flurry night" there. So we all except Caleb enjoyed flurries. Mine was made with chocolate ice cream and Heath bar pieces, and it was absolutely delicious. Bob claims his which had Nestle's Crunch bar with chocolate ice cream and some hot fudge sauce was better, but don't believe him. LOL! They were all good, especially since you could put a lot of whatever additive you picked in, so it wasn't like you got to the bottom and there were no Heath bar pieces left! We finally rolled ourselves out of there, back to the cottage and into bed. The boys were so exhausted, we heard nary a peep from them the whole night. We got up the next morning, and it was a gray, drizzly day. We were so thankful that the Lord gave us beautiful weather for our day at the beach! We packed up and checked out at 11:00. Then we drove off to Bob's sister Ann's house in Richmond, where a lot of his family had gathered. That is for another entry however, since this one is quite long! We are already making plans to go back down to VA Beach, since we didn't do any sightseeing. There are a lot of naval museums that looked so interesting, as well as boat tours to take you around the Norfolk harbor to see all the big Navy ships. The rates really go down at the Cape Henry Inn after Sept. 14, so maybe we'll go after that.

Short History

My Aunt Claire had this open tag yesterday, and I thought I would do it too. I've seen it on a lot of other people's blog, but I don't have any other deep thoughts coming right now, and I am pretty obsessive about remembering things, so . . .

10 years ago I was... in a temporary apartment in Colorado Springs. We moved there right after I graduated from college, and we were waiting for our house to be finished. We moved in in September. Our apartment was SO hot (no A/C of course), and we only had one car, so sometimes Bob would drop me off at my grandma and grandpa's house so I could spend the day at their "day camp"! LOL! It was air-conditioned there!

5 years ago I was... living at the Air Force Academy while Bob was as AOC. I only had 2 boys, and we were waiting to hear where we would be transferred to in about 6 months (ended up being "home" to Ohio!). We worked with a sqadron of basic cadets that summer through the Chapel SPIRE program--we really got close to those cadets, and I htink we had a positive impact in their lives during that very difficult summer for them. I would email their parents after each meeting, and so I also got to be close to their parents too.

1 year ago I was... furiously unpacking boxes and trying to settle in here in VA. We moved here in July, so while the big stuff was put away, there were lots of little things left to unpack and find places for (or finally just ignore and put back down in the basement). I was looking forward to my best friend Amy coming out with her 2 boys to visit us over Labor Day!

Yesterday I... helped the boys clean to get ready for Rose's visit. I also helped Nathan make blueberry oatmeal muffins and oatmeal chocolate chip cookies (can you tell we buy oatmeal in bulk at Sam's?). I did very little though; he did most of it. I also took a nap on the couch, and we went to Bible study and stayed really late, which made Jonathan really crabby today!

5 snacks I enjoy are... Peppermint Patties, peanut butter cups, ice cream, Oreos, and Harvest Cheddar Sun Chips.

5 songs I know all the words to... well, pretty much any VeggieTale song, "Don't Fence Me In", "Red River Valley", any song from Third Day's "Offering II" album, ummm, I actually know tons of songs because we listen to stuff in the car. Right now I am stuck on the silly lyrics from Beethoven's Wig I and II , which are set to famous pieces of classical music. The boys love these, and frankly, so do I.

5 thingsI would do with 100 million dollars... pay off a house "somewhere" (still not decided on that dream location; see last post! LOL!), travel on that really nice train with the dome tops through Banff Park up in Canada, give lots of money to pro-life causes, Compassion International, and tons of other organizations we support but that always need so much more, invest (Bob would be crazy with happiness, having that much money to play around with!), and last but not least, I would hire my own personal masseuse to come to my house weekly (every other day maybe?), and then maybe I wouldn't have such shoulder problems!

5 places I would run away to.... Colorado--ahhhh, I like just running there in my mind; back to Ohio to see my family and Amy, on an Alaskan cruise, and to England and Ireland. I would LOVE to visit there,

5 things I would never wear... a bikini or anything that showed my belly, since I am the queen of stretch marks, anything tie-dyed (it's just not me), those pants that are really wide-legged--I look goofy in those; hmm . . . most of the stuff I see advertized for young women today. I'm so glad I have all boys!

5 favorite tv shows... Design on a Dime. That's the only one I watch on any kind of a regular basis. I didn't grow up with TV, and it simply isn't a big temptation for me. Books, on the other hand . . .

5 bad habits... snacking when feeling down, not wanting to get up early (even when not pregnant!), not wanting to try new things, being over-critical, and hogging the computer (the last one was courtesy of Bob, who is ready to get on here!)

5 biggest joys....my relationship with the Lord; my wonderful family, immediate and extended; reading a really good book and getting to talk about it with someone who has also read it; planning something and having it go off with no hitches or things forgotten; and losing weight after pregnancy and being able to fit in clothes again!

5 favorite toys.... my computer? I can't really think of anything here. I need more hobbies, I guess. Books aren't really "toys".

5 people I tag to do this (if they'd like to)...no, I know most everyone else has already done this. I just like talking about myself! LOL! Just kidding!

Country Mouse/ City Mouse

Today Dy, over at Classic Adventures (a blog I read but which isn't listed on my sidebar because, well, I have never updated that since the day I actually "made" it. Maybe I should make time for that sometime!), anyhow, Dy wrote about how their offer on a house and land in Huntsville was finally accepted after a huge long involved story and after many months of househunting.The property sounds wonderful, and that has really gotten me thinking. Here's how she describes it:

As for the property itself, it's much smaller than we thought we would be
willing to buy. But it captured our imaginations. It captured the boys'
imaginations. From the moment we set foot over the creek, the boys took off and
had a fantastic time among the rocks and trees. It was the only property we
looked at that the boys specifically remembered, and cited things they loved
about. Even Zorak's eyes sparkled when he saw the creek, and the trees, and the
fruit trees, and the tree fort, and, and, AND!!! WOW. So, it's our own little
six acres in the boonies. It has the stream, some texture and slope to the land,
some open and some wooded. It has everything you'd need to really make an
adventurous childhood come to life. We're five miles from good hunting, two and
a half miles from a boat launch. It's a two mile trek to a little cafe and a
small market, but we aren't en route to anywhere at all, so the traffic is
nominal down our little country road.

Doesn't it sound great? Bob and I are always debating about what kind of a place we want when we retire. He wants a lot of land in the middle of nowhere, but I am always firmly on the side of staying in a subdivision. My arguments are along the lines of: I like having neighbors, so when we go away for a few days, they can pick up our mail instead of us always having to stop it, I like being able to take walks on sidewalks in a neighborhood, the boys like riding their bikes in the cul-de-sac, who wants to shovel a long driveway of snow (not an issue in Alabama, I know!), I don't WANT to be out in the middle of nowhere, etc. But when I read Dy's descripiton of her land, I thought, wow, the boys would LOVE a place like that. They would probably not even miss riding their bikes. They would be outside ALL of the time! And it's not even like I really socialize all that much with our neighbors. We do chat if we're outside at the same time, but except for Pam in Colorado, I've never had the kind of neighbor where we pop into each other's house and drink coffee together. (Maybe the problem is I don't drink coffee at all! LOL!) So I probably wouldn't miss the social aspect as much as I think I would. Being here in D.C. has given me a new perception of distance. There is Food Lion, which is close, but Sams is about 10 minutes away (and believe me, that IS close!), and the commissary is a good 35 min., if not longer in traffic. At least country roads pretty much always take the same time to travel, since you're not dealing with the vagaries of traffic. Hmmm. Definitely stuff to think about. Actually right now, I'm about ready to sign up for any amount of land any distance away from civilization, if it gets us out of D.C.! I'm fed up with the military medical system (but that's another post), and how far all that stuff is from us. As Bob always says, "We'll see what God has in mind."

Not Much Getting Done Around Here . . .

We've sort of unofficially called a break from school until after we get back from VA Beach and Richmond next week. We've TRIED to do school lately--it just hasn't worked out. We started doing school when we got back from Rose's house. Everything went fine at first--we read our Bible story, prayed for the country from Operation World, and started reviewing Latin. Then I realized I would be ever so much more comfortable lying on my side on the couch. Then I propped my head up on a pillow. Finally I had to tell everyone to go read books, and I promptly fell sound asleep. Yesterday I had the best of intentions, but after I cleared breakfast away and checked email, I discovered everyone quietly absorbed in books, even Jonathan. So I lay down on the couch and took a nap. Is there a pattern here? LOL! Today I didn't even try! Nathan and Luke start Upward soccer tonight, so Nathan wanted to do some jogging and exercising this morning. All the boys ran around the cul-de-sac a bunch of times and did their sit-ups, push-ups, and stretches, then we all came inside and did leg-lifts straight from the Buff Moms-To-Be book that I got out of library. (Disclaimer about the book: it is filled with pictures of extremely pregnant models doing the exercises wearing regular exercise clothes. By that I mean, just jog bra-type tops. The bellies are quite a shock! I don't even like seeing my OWN very pregnant belly in the mirror, much less someone else's, complete with linea nigra down the front!!!! ACK!) Then I rode the exercise bike for 20 minutes. It seems that the only way I can stay awake in the morning is if I am doing some kind of exercising! Meanwhile the boys have been doing other things, like making stuff with clay, painting, doing puzzles, and playing games. Nathan even wrote a letter yesterday, of his own free will and idea! And they're reading a lot. Nathan is into these "Trailblazer" books that I found at the Ashburn library when I was there Monday night for a science fair meeting. They are Christian books, historical fiction, built around the lives of famous Christians. So right now Nathan is reading Traitor in the Tower , which is about a boy who meets John Bunyan. They seem pretty exciting, and I have seen others recommend them on the WTM Board, but I have never seen them before. Luke just finished reading the second book in the My Father's Dragon series. It's called Elmer and the Dragon. This is the first series of books that he has really gotten into. They're older books, but amazingly I never read them when I was little! Well, off to fight the daily battle of "what do we have for lunch". Sandwiches are really not cutting it right now for me, so every lunch is a big struggle. Sigh.

We're in the system

Well, I finally made it into the clinic to take the "official" pregnancy test, and it was indeed positive. If the military deems me pregnant, then you know it must be so! Today we ran all our errands, since Nathan was feeling better. First we went down to the clinic to pick up Caleb's prescription refills and take said pregnancy test. That actually turned out to be a bigger hassle than I thought it would be. Here, you can't just walk into the lab and give a specimen--you have to be referred by a doctor! How ridiculous, since they don't have any OB services here, and it's not like that would count for your first appointment. So they told me to go to the nurses station. We all trooped over there, and she made me a "walk-in" appointment for noon, and told me to check in at the front desk, then come back to the nurses' station. After doing that, I finally was given a cup. We all went over to the lab bathroom, and there I tried to figure out how to give a specimen with all the boys there. I finally just turned them all around facing the wall and told them to give me some privacy! Nothing like peeing into a cup in front of an audience! So then we went back to the nurses' station, where the lady told me to eat lunch, then come back in for my results. I really didn't feel like doing that, so we just went back over to the lab to see when the results would be back. Hey, they were already back! So we went back to the nurses' station, since the lab can't give out results. Of course not! After finding out (surprise!) that it was positive, the lady asked me what I wanted to do about my care, now that I was "in the system". They could refer me to Bethesda (which is closest, at about 45 minutes away with no traffic), or they could send me down to Ft. Belvoir, which is really far, but that is the place you must go through if you want to try to get approval to be seen at an off-base, civilian facility. So we went with option B, and now Bob has to try to get the powers-that-be to release me. Hopefully they will be merciful and not make someone pregnant with her 5th child go 45 minutes away for all her appointments! Not to mention the risk of delivering on the Beltway. After all that was taken care of, we had to wait again so they could give me my prenatal vitamins. Then we went to Wendy's for lunch, then off to Ft. Myer to get gas (only $2.41 there!) and go to the commissary. We left the house at 11:00, and we finally returned at 4:15. Whew. The boys were a huge help unloading, and now we are going out to Lone Star Steakhouse for dinner. We have heard rumors that kids eat free on Tuesday nights, and we have a coupon for Bob and me. Then I am sure I will collapse in bed.

High gas prices? Who cares!

So gas is up to $2.70 a gallon here in D.C. People are talking about ways to save gas, etc. What are we doing about it? We are doubling the amount of big trips we take! We're gone every weekend! That will show them--we LAUGH in the face of high gas prices! LOL! On the downside, though, all this traveling is taking a toll on us. In brief, we had a good time at Rose's, although I must confess that I am not really a "lake water" person. The boys' aqua socks smelled so incredibly nasty when we got home, I could barely get them out of the bag to dry. Bleh. Plus, Luke and I saw a water snake, which didn't make me more eager to go in. I actually dreamed about water snakes last night, so it obviously made a big impression! Rose has tons of fun stuff--it was like a paradise for kids. She had a trampline in the yard, as well as a water trampoline out in the lake with a slide as well. She has a paddle boat, and a sailboat, a swingset, and tons of other yard toys for the boys. They were totally exhausted when we got back late Wednesday, as was I. Then on Saturday we drove to Idlewild, the little amusement park near Bob's parents' house. Since it was the day of Bob's dad's compnay picnic, it was again absolutely jam-packed. I thought it was hot the last time we were there, but I was wrong--it was only warm. Saturday was BOILING. I thought I was going to melt. I could hardly walk around. We went through "Storybook Forest", which at least was somewhat shady, and then we spent the rest of the time in the pool with several thousand close strangers. We drove up and back on Saturday, so that was about 7 hours of driving for about 7 hours of being there. Hmmm. Then on Sunday we drove south of D.C., a little over an hour away, to go to an open house that some good friends were hosting. They moved here in June and had their 3rd baby a week later, so this was a celebration of the baby's baptism, plus just a time for everyone to see their house. Tim and Michele have such wonderful families. Tim is from California, but both of his brothers came, as well as his parents. I hope that our boys are close like that when they grow up. It was obvious that all 3 brothers have fond memories of growing up together, but also have deep relationships as adults, and their families are all close too. All of the sister-in-laws get along really well too. What a great testimony! Michele is from Wisconsin, and all of her family came as well, including cousins. We also got to see some other people that we have been stationed with before, which was a lot of fun. It's always great to catch up with old friends, so we stayed a long time and got back around 5:30. We were so exhausted, so Joanthan and I napped until 7:00. That will throw off an evening! Nathan woke up early this morning feeling sick to his stomach and vomiting, and now he's started with diarhhea. We had planned to go pick up Caleb's prescription refills and then go on to the commissary today, but we obviously are not going to be able to do that. I am really hoping we will be able to do that tomorrow though. Hopefully everyone will be feeling fine by Friday when Rose and her girls get here. They'll be here until Sunday, at which point they will drive down to Bob's sister's house in Richmond, and we will drive down to Virginia Beach for 2 days. Then we will meet up back at Ann's house for 2 more days, since Bob's brother and family, as well as Bob's parents, are going to be there. Then we will be home for a week, until we go to White Sulphur Springs for the Wright-Pat OCF retreat. THEN we should be home for awhile--and I am fully expecting gas prices to drop like a rock then.

It's official . . .

Our alarm system is possessed. We have a nice, nifty alarm system which we have never really used except that it beeps whenever a door or window is opened. This is very handy because I can always tell when one of the boys goes outside. But we have never paid to have it monitored. We were going to, when we first moved in, but the company who had been monitoring it for the people we bought the house from told us that our system was "outdated" and wouldn't work anymore. Since the previous owners had been paying for it, we figured the company was just out to get more money from us, so we said no thanks and thought that was the end of that. Several months ago now, we accidentally pushed the "panic" button, so our alarm went off. We managed to get it turned off, but imagine our surprise when a police officer showed up a few minutes later! We told him it was just an accident, but we were surprised to see him since no one was monitoring our system! He said someone WAS monitoring our system, so the next day we called the company again to say we were not paying for the service and they weren't supposed to be monitoring us. They assured us that it was all taken care of, so again we assumed that was the end. On Sunday night, Bob and I were just sitting around when all of a sudden, out of the clear blue sky, our alarm went off! Bob's first thought was that we were being broken into, although the alarm wouldn't have gone off in that case, since it wasn't armed, but he ran around down in the basement trying to see what was wrong. Finally he came back up and turned the noise off, and we sat back down again, shaken. I got ready to go upstairs, and as I went up, I noticed a fire truck pulling up in front of our house! Oh no! So Bob went out and talked to them, telling them that 1. we have NO idea why our alarm even went off, and 2. WE AREN'T PAYING FOR ANYONE TO MONITOR THE SYSTEM!!! So that was actually our FIRE alarm, as opposed to our burglary alarm, but our smoke detectors never went off, and we checked around but never found anything suspicious. By then we were really shaken, and I didn't sleep well at all that night, especially after we noticed that now a mysterious red light was on on our control panel and on the fire alarm monitor in the upstairs hallway. Monday Bob again called the company and threatened to send any bills we get from the county straight to them, and they again assured us that everything was taken care of. When we got back from Rose's yesterday, the control panel was beeping at us, so it might have gone off again while we were gone, but our door wasn't broken down, so I guess no one responded this time! Then this afternoon, again while I was just sitting on the couch, the alarm went off. I had to call Bob to figure out how to turn it off. Nobody came or called, so that is good, but now the question remains: why is it randomly going off?! It is SO loud and so startling. I am ready to smash the whole thing to pieces, that is for sure. Bob has his own conspiracy theory--the monitoring company is making it go off so we decide that we really DO need them after all! I'm thinking maybe a short or something? Who knows? Who do you even call for things like that? Frustrating!

Medieval Feast, Finis Est.

In other words, the feast is over! And it was a big success too! We had very little food left over, always a sign of a good party. We had 14 kids, 2 teenagers, and 11 adults, so it was a full house, especially when it was full of rampaging knights (we had 9 knights and 5 fair maidens). We started the kids off decorating their crowns with "jewels" and glitter glue, since I knew they would take awhile to dry. Then everyone put on the capes I had made (a big hit), and we went outside to play games. First, they shot lima beans at a cardboard castle I made (not the big one we spent tons of time on--that's a different castle!). They used the catapults I made from toilet paper rolls, cardboard, and skinny leastic. They worked pretty well, although eventually the boys got tired of just sieging the castle, and so they attacked it with swords. Then we played a game straight out of one of the library books on medieval times that we got out. One person stands in the middle of a circle and closes his eyes and says this chant:

Cobbler, cobbler, mend my shoe, fix it up and make it new. One, two, three, four stitches will do."

While he is saying this, the kids are passing around, behind their backs, a shoe. When he stops, they stop passing it, and then he has to guess who has the shoe. It was fun, but we didn't play too many rounds because were were melting in the humidity, plus it was time to eat. Everyone chowed down on the chicken legs, veggie platter, cheese cubes, bread slices, and grapes and melons. Then we had to shoo all the knights outside to run around because things were getting hairy inside. They ran around for quite awhile out there. We kept seeing flashes of purple (the capes) go past the front door. When they came in, we ate our gingerbread and lemon squares for dessert. They played some more, the adults visited, and people left around 9:15. Then it was bathtime for our stinky boys! It was a really fun time, and now I am so exhausted! We took some pictures with our digital camera, and maybe we'll try to post them tomorrow, but not right now--I can hardly type straight! You would not believe how many times I have had to go back and correct things tonight! Tomorrow afternoon I have a massage scheduled at the massage school nearby, so hopefully I'l be nice and relaxed tomorrow night and ready to learn the new skill of posting pictures!

Demotivating Clutter

Here are a couple of web sites for you to check out. The first is The Demotivators Collection , filled with demotivating slogans and pictures that mimic those cheesy inspirational posters with soaring nature themes or whatever that now litter all sorts of buildings, even the WPAFB Medical Center. They are pretty funny, if you are the least bit cynical, and you can get calendars, posters, mugs, t-shirts, etc. Here are some of my personal favorites:

Change--When the winds of change blow hard enough, even the most trivial of things can turn into deadly projectiles.

Mistakes--It could be that the purpose of your life is only to serve as a warning to others.

Futility--You'll always miss 100% of the shots you don't take, and, statistically speaking, 99% of the ones you do.

Pessimism--Every dark cloud has a silver lining, but lightening kills hundreds of people each year who are trying to find it.

Underachievement--The tallest blade of grass is the first to be cut by the lawnmower.

And my new personal motto (LOL!)

Risks--If you never try anything new, you'll miss out on many of life's great disappointments.



The second site is one I found today after someone on the WTM board asked about it. It's pictures of a house that is absolutely filled with stuff that a woman has bought off of Ebay. Her college-aged son is documenting it, but to be honest, this is where I think my in-laws would be if they could buy stuff off the internet and have it shipped to them. As it is, they are limited to what they can actually bring home in their car, but their house looks a lot like the pictures where there aren't any boxes, but there are tons of knicky-knacky things all over every conceivable surface, plus no floor space for walking. They also buy lots of food from the dollar store that is now expired, and they, likewise, never throw it away. In fact, the picture of the dining room table there looks amazingly like their table, which is actually a pool table, even down to the expired boxes of marshmallow peeps. I am told that at one time, people ate big meals at this pool table, but now there are so many layers of junk that that would be impossible, so I have never had that experience. There is also a picture where he says that his mother fell onto a chair trying to open a window or something, and I am surprised that my in-laws haven't fallen yet. For example, there is just a narrow pathway to their stairs because at the foot of them they have, in several layers, a few bookcases with pictures and knick-knacks that you can't really see because they're too far back, a chair, an end table, and at the very back, an old huge console record/8-track player. It would be so easy to trip and go crashing into that stuff. I always worry about the boys falling. All this stuff is why we no longer stay at their house when we visit--we simply do not fit. They have a hard time understanding this though, and are always making a big deal about us staying in a hotel. I think that if this a problem, though, you can't be helped unless you admit it is a problem, and they certainly aren't there yet. This lady lives in Fulsom, so maybe your parents were neighbors, Mel? LOL!! I don't think so! Just looking at the site made me want to rush through my house and throw stuff, anything--everything!--away! I will NOT end up like this!!! LOL!

White House Tour

On Saturday, Bob, Nathan , and Luke had the opportunity to take a tour of the White House. A friend of a friend set up the whole thing, which is quite a hassle now, due to all the security measures since 9/11. I remember just standing in a huge long line snaking for a block or 2 with my family when I was in jr. high (with Mom talking about zoos and USAFA to strangers. LOL!!!), but all that is no more. Now you have to apply about 6 months in advance, then you have to send in names, SSNs, birthdates, etc. for everyone in the party. You get a specific time to come in, and then once you have gone through the security checkpoint, you are basically on your own. It's a self-guided tour! There are lots of Secret Service people in the various rooms to answer questions, but they don't volunteer information.

Nathan is going to be our guest blogger today, telling you his impressions of the President's house. First off, he said it was very big. It was also very colorful--lots of colorful rugs, furniture, and wall coverings--and there were also a lot of lights, like chandeliers and big candles. Nathan liked the East Room, which was where they have balls and ceremonies, because it was so very big. It was also pretty much empty, except for some carpets. This was also Luke's favorite room because it had a really big chandelier and also a big picture of George Washington. That is the famous picture that Dolley Madison saved when the British burned the White House down in 1814. The Blue Room was very nice and colorful, especially because of all the gilded furniture in there. One really neat thing they experienced was the President flying overhead in his helicopter, getting back from his physical! It's not the same as meeting him, but it's still a lot closer than most of us will get to the President! Overall, Nathan said it was an interesting tour, and he was glad he got to go.

As they were going through with Christine (the friend) and her 2 oldest kids (I kept her youngest and our youngest at our house) , they were telling the boys about how Washington did not want to live in a mansion, like the king of France (there was a picture of Versailles on display), but he did want it to be a house that commanded respect for the position. At that point, a complete stranger walked up and said, right in front of all the boys, "I don't know why you're bothering to tell them all that. They'll never remember any of it. I have 2 teenagers, and they don't remember anything they've ever learned." Bob and Christine just sort of stared, open-mouthed, at her rudeness, and she walked off, but I really thought that was absolutely amazing! I'm sorry she didn't make history very interesting for her kids, but that doesn't mean that everyone else is repeating her mistakes! on the same note, we went out to Chevy's on Monday night (kids eat free then!!), and Nathan said, "Hey look! They have decorated the walls with images of the Mayan sun god!" I turned to Bob and said, "Hey, I thought they would never remember anything I taught them!"

Mourning

Today we are grieving because our friends Ed and Elizabeth have lost their baby. I am just so devastated. When Bob told me last night, my mind refused to believe it. The boys were so sad too. Luke started crying when I told them this morning. I just don't understand God. Why give someone a wonderful surprise and then snatch it back, just as everyone was so excited? It seems so . . . capricious. Cruel. Like a cat toying with a mouse or something. Oswald Chambers says in today's devotional,

"In the Bible clouds are always connected with God. Clouds are
sufferings or providences, within or without our personal lives, which seem to
dispute the rule of God. It is by those very clouds that God is teaching
us to walk by faith. . . . What a revelation
it is to know that sorrow and bereavement and suffering are the clouds that come
along with God. God cannot come near without clouds, He does not come in
clear shining. It is not true to say God wants to teach us something
in our trials: through every cloud He brings, He wants us to unlearn
something. His purpose in the cloud is to simplify our belief until our
relationship to Him is exactly that of a child--God and my own soul, other
people are shadows. . . Unless we can look at
the darkest, blackest fact full in the face without damaging the character,
we do not yet know Him."

I guess I'm not there yet, because I'm having a very hard time with this. I canceled school today because I just didn't feel like I could do that as I work through this. Thanks for your prayers, both for Elizabeth and Ed, and also for us, as we grieve the loss of a precious baby.

Medieval Feast Preparations

Well, we have set the date for our medieval feast for Aug. 6, and we even finished our invitations. This involved sealing wax from Michaels, as well as a crown stamp from a medieval activity book thing from the L's. It was complicated and took a whole morning, but the seals turned out somewhat recognizable! We delivered them to our neighbors, and they were a big hit. We still have to deliever them to our Bible study families. If everyone comes, we'll have 15 kids (and one baby), and 13 adults and teenagers. Thanks to some help from Aunt Claire , I've settled on a menu as well. It's all finger food, of course--no utensils back then! We're going to have chicken legs, which Bob will grill outside (and I'm going to marinade in Italian dressing for some flavor, although not historical acuracy), a raw veggie platter (with dip, although again not accurate!), big slices of some crusty bread I have yet to find, cheese chunks and crackers, and fruit like grapes and melons. Then for dessert we'll have gingerbread and lemon squares, although not from any accurate old recipes. I looked at some, but they were too weird, and I do want the kids to actually eat!

Yesterday was "cape-making day". We hit the jackpot at WalMart a few days ago when we found this great shiny purple fabric on the sale rack for only $2.00 a yard. This fabric SCREAMED "capes"! In fact, when the guy was cutting off our length of it, he said, "Let me guess--you all must be making capes". The boys were astonished at his perspicacity. So yesterday I cut it all into cape lengths for varied sizes of children, and the boys of course had to wear them all afternoon. That was when I realized the capes weren't going to make it to the party without unraveling if I didn't attempt to do some kind of sewing. Now I haven't used my sewing machine for years. I remembered it having all sorts of problems and something being broken when we were in Ohio, but Bob seemed to think we had fixed it. I went off to the dark recesses of our basement storage room to find it and bring it up to our dining room. We had some troubles getting the bobbin wound,but eventually we would up with enough to start. It worked fine for a little while, but then it got all tangled up inside the bobbin case, which is what I always remembered happening. I was so frustrated, but I decided to just try raising the bobbin thread again, and miraculously it started working agian. I was able to completely hem all 4 of the capes for my boys (yes, this took me several hours!), and now I am actually thinking of just hemming the bottoms of all the other capes. That seems to be where they unravel the fastest, and since I am not what you might call a "good seamstress" (my hems are not, technically, "straight"), I have no desire to sew everyone's all the way. I'm sure any other mom would actually do a much better job, so they can feel free, if they so desire! Plus, I think it would take me the rest of the time to finish it all, and I still have lots of other stuff to do! We also want to finish building our model castle out of boxes, and we need to finish making the little catapults. We're going to use them to shoot dried lima beans over a pretend cardboard castle wall for a game. So things are coming together, and the boys are all really excited about the party. Hopefully it will be a lot of fun for everyone.

Spectacular Service

There was a great devotional from the writings of Elizabeth Elliot that I read today. I just signed up here to get a daily email. I think her words hit right at why I can be so dissastisfied with being a stay-at-home mom, and certainly the last paragraph is my prayer as well.

Most of us would like to do something special in life, something to distinguish
us. We suppose that we desire it for God's sake, but more likely we are
discontent with ordinary life and crave special privileges. When Israel asked if
they should offer some spectacular sacrifice--thousands of rams, ten thousand
"rivers of oil," a firstborn child--the answer was, "He has showed you, O man,
what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to
love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God" (Mi 6:8 RSV).
There is nothing conspicuous about those requirements. It is not a "special" service for
which one would be likely to be decorated or even particularly remembered. But
it is worth more to God than any sacrifice.
Lord, deliver me from the delusion of imagining that my desire is to serve You, when my real desire is the distinction of serving in some way which others admire.

Family Reunion

So this past Saturday was the reunion for Bob's Dad's family. Frank comes from a Slovakian family, and his parents were the ones who came over here (as children), settling in a very small town in PA. Frank had 2 brothers and 3 sisters, just like Bob does, and now he is the only one surviving. We went to the reunion last year too, and a lot of the same people were there then too. I got the impression both years that everyone else socializes during the rest of the year too, whereas our branch of the family only sees the others once a year at this reunion. 

 The reunion was at the house of Mark and Debbie, who live in this small PA town. Mark is the son of Frank's brother John, and he has 3 grown children who all live close and have grandchildren. They live in a house that used to belong to one of Bob's cousins, Peggy, who is actually old enough that he always called her "Aunt Peggy". She is the daughter of Bob's Aunt Mary, who is the only sibling of either of Bob's parents that I ever met. She was able to come to our wedding in Ohio, but she died a few years back. Before that the house was somehow in the family too; I got lost on all of that. I need a flow chart or something. Literally everyone in this tiny burrough is related somehow, and the houses must not have changed ever. Peggy's son and daughter-in-law were there too, along with their 2 children. They actually live near us, in Falls Church, VA, and are even looking at buying a bigger house out this way! Peggy has a younger sister named Helen, who must be about 60. 

Everyone else seemed really comfortable around each other, laughing and joking and dancing the polka (no, really!). But Bob's Dad doesn't totally fit in, though, and I'm not exactly sure why. Once, he came back to the table and said he missed the kielbasa, and Helen says, "Dumb Slovaks". Now, of course, she is one herself, so she must be joking, right? But he about knocks over his chair to stand up and glare, and people quickly say stuff about how she always was the one to joke around like that, etc. Awkward. You would think Bob's parents would be like the honored elder couple, the last link to the past, but they're not. I think it's because they are just so weirdly prickly about little things, and I'm sure they must have gotten mad at or offended these relatives at some point in their lives too. The wife of Franks' brother George, Aunt Augie (short for Augustina maybe?), is also still living, and she also came last year and this year. She seems to be more included and liked, even though she is not really mobile anymore, and she can't move her neck. People make an effort to go over and talk to her, and she seems like a really nice older lady. I wish I could have met more of Frank's siblings, because it would have been interesting to see how they were. Some of them were weird too--Bob tells a story of how, when he was maybe Caleb's age, he went over to Aunt Aggie's house on Easter, and she said she had hidden a lot of candy for a hunt. He got all excited, and then she told him it was all for her cats. He was really upset, but that's exactly what happened, and he didn't get any candy. That's a bit odd, wouldn't you agree? But Aunt Mary seemed perfectly nice and normal at our wedding.

So, as a summary, there was a lot of drinking and smoking. In fact, Uncle Mark has rigged up this refrigerator in this outside shed connected to a nice covered patio area with a beer spigot so he can have cold beer on tap. He just drilled a hole in the side of the fridge, and then there are tubes inside to the keg. But people were not rowdy and drunk, so it was a nice time. It just smelled like beer and smoke, which was hard for a newly pregnant woman! There was lots of food. I brought my spinach strawberry salad, and it was almost completely eaten. I also brought my cookie-dough brownies, which have a layer of cookie dough spread over the brownies, and then a layer of chocolate frosting. They are very good, and they all went too. So at least people think I'm not a bad cook! 

 They also have some different traditions at these things. One is a gift pass event, sort of like a cake walk, except that everyone is sitting in a row, men on one side and women on the other. Then each side gets a present, and they pass it up and down the row until the music (polka of course) stops. Then that person takes of the first layer of wrapping paper. The game continues for about 15 more layers of wrapping paper, and finally someone gets to the box itself and gets to keep the present. There also is an auction where everyone donates some piece of junk they don't need anymore. People bid up these things to raise money for the meat, etc. at the reunions, and you also have to take home the junk you bought. I'd really rather just pay a few more dollars at the get-go! Bob restrained himself and only bought a set of 3 car air fresheners for $1.00. We brought 2 very cheap and ugly little Christmas towels that don't match, and each one got around $3.00. Believe me, they were both not worth half of that together! It was fun, though.  I also got to talk with several of the women, and they even asked about homeschooling, so we talked some about that. We also told people we were expecting again--always nice to be able to do that in person, and we certainly got better reactions than over the phone with Bob's family! Next year it will be at Aunt Peggy's house. Maybe I'll have some more of these relationships straight by then.

A Long Overdue Update

I see that it has been over a week since I've posted, and I apologize! Last week was a busy one for me. We worked on our medieval feast plans as well as normal schoolwork, I had a homeschooling meeting one night, and a moms' night out with our church ladies another night, and I've been falling asleep on the couch every afternoon. That didn't leave much time for blogging! At least the afternoon napping was explained away by the positive pregnancy test I took Friday morning, although it doesn't give much hope for the future 8 months or so of blogging. We're excited! I didn't know if we'd have any more, but I was hoping we would. Sometimes I would just look around the table or whatever and just feel like everyone wasn't there, even if I counted 4 boys. It's hard to explain. We just got back from a weekend with Bob's family. Yesterday was his family reunion (more on that in another post), and then today we went back to Idlewild. Fortunately it was cooler today, and it was cloudy. I don't think I could have stood another day at Idlewild where we roasted. Also, we didn't have to do the pool thing, so that was nice. Jonathan was very tired though, since he didn't have a nap yesterday, so he was pretty grouchy and uncooperative. He had to be taken off 2 of the kiddie rides--a bus called the "Doodlebug", which let me tell you is just as scary as it sounds (it goes slowly in a small circle), and a boat ride that also goes slowly around in a small circle. Embarrassing. After those 2 rides, however, he bucked up and did everything else with the other boys with no problems, even ones that went up in the air. Who knew the Doodlebug would be scarier than an airplane or flying dragon ride?! After we did the kiddie land rides, we met up with Bob's family (Rose and girls, Sherry and Brandon, and his parents), and ate lunch. Then we became very disorganized and kind of wandered around not really pleasing anyone for an hour or 2 more until it was time to go. It is hard to do things with everyone else, we have found. We were able to leave around 4:00, but we didn't get back home until 9:00. We did stop for dinner, but there was tons of traffic on I-70, and there was also night paving on the 2 lane road that comes down into VA. That was a long delay. It will be good to sleep in our beds tonight, although we did have a great room last night. We stayed at the Comfort Inn, and we were able to get a free night with some of the points we saved up by staying in Choice Hotels and being part of their Guest Privileges program. They won't give you just an ordinary room when using your points, though, so we rarely can use them in PA. But we had a great room last night! It was the "Governor's Suite", and it was so big! There was a room with a king-size bed, and then there was a huge other room with a kitchenette, table, pull-out couch, and a single roll-away bed, plus plenty of other floor space. It was nice to have all the room, and it was nice for Caleb to be able to sleep on a bed, instead of his sleeping bag. Also, it had a fridge, which most of the rooms there do not have. Wow! I wonder how much it costs per night normally! I doubt we'll be staying there again! Also, the hotel has gotten a waffle maker since we last were there, which was a big hit for breakfast. Bob actually wrote a letter to their management several years ago suggesting they get one, so we are taking full credit for this new addition! : ) I will write more about the actual reunion tomorrow, that is if I have time and don't fall asleep on the couch in the afternoon!

Concert

This was a busy day! Tonight we all went to a free concert by the National Symphony Orchestra in Rock Creek Park, in the NW part of D.C. Bob and I went last year to celebrate our anniversary, but this year we brought everyone. The paper said it started at 7:00, so we left here around 6:00. Of course, traffic was heavy on the Beltway, and I fretted the whole way there about not leaving in enough time. We got there right before 7:00, and there was still tons of parking. We hurried out, and then we saw a line at the security checkpoint, but no one was moving. We asked around, and it turned out that the gates opened at 7:00, but the concert didn't start until 7:30! So we were quite early and got our pick of seats! This should be our strategy for all future events of this nature! The NSO played a more modern selection of music than I had hoped, but we all really enjoyed it. The theme was "Summer Vacation" so they played light music from for example, Carousel, as well as the theme from Jaws. They played the "Buckaroo Holiday" from Rodeo, which was the one we werer the most familiar with. They palyed a large piece from The Wizard of Oz because they are going to accompany a movie screening of it at Wolf Trap in a few weeks. There were lots of selections I had never heard before, but it was all very good. The poor conductor was sweating away in his suit and tie, while the musicians were fairly cool in short-sleeved shirts. The boys did pretty well up until the very end, where Jonathan and Caleb got pretty antsy. Fortunately it was quite a casual crowd, so it wasn't a problem. As soon as we got back to our car, the skies opened, and we had a tremendous thunderstorm. We were so glad to have made it back before it started pouring! So it was an exciting day, and the boys are exhausted, as are we.

Biking Adventures

We borrowed a kids' bike trailer from the L's, and today we hit the W&OD bike trail not too far from our house. It was a very hot, humid day, so I was not really looking forward to going. That, and it's been . . . many years since I've ridden a bike. I was afraid I wouldn't remember how. I guess it's true though--you never forget how to ride a bike. Anyhow, I told the boys I had never worn a bike helmet because the last time I rode one, hardly anyone wore them! I think Bob and I rode bikes in a park in Fairborn before we moved on base, but I think we were married. So 1993 or 94?

It turned out that I had a good time. Bob and Nathan and Luke went one time before, but it was nice to have us all out there. We stopped after about 2 1/2 miles at this playground that is a little off the trail, and that's where we had our adventure. You have to go across this little narrow bridge to actually get to the playground, and Bob misjudged how widely he needed to turn to clear the trailer. So the trailer hit the wooden side of the bridge and stopped completely, but Bob didn't! He hit the handlebars (but didn't fall off), and the momentum totally made his front tire all crooked. Totally unusable. Fortunately he was riding his old bike that he's had since way before we got married, so without too much angst, he just left it by a trashcan in the park. He moved the trailer to the new bike that I was riding, and I volunteered to walk back. It was a long, hot walk back, but I actually enjoyed the time to myself. You can notice so much more when you're walking! There were a lot of wildflowers beside the trail that I was able to get a closer look at. Also I saw tons of blackberries. The boys would ride ahead, then double back, so they never got too terribly far ahead of me. We were all so hot when we got back to the car, though. A/C sure felt good! Maybe when we get another new bike, we can do this again. (Maybe in Autumn?!)

Scrapping

This morning we had French toast for breakfast. Ahh, the life of ease one lives when one has a live-in breakfast cook! : ) Last night I actually scrapbooked for the first time in . . . let's see. . . maybe 8 months? I think the last time I did anything was when we were back home in November and I did some with Amy. That's the problem--I am not motivated to scrapbook without being able to do it with anyone! When we were in Ohio, Amy and I would get together about once a month at her mom's house, since it was in between us AND didn't have any kids or kids' stuff strewn about to distract us! We would get there around 6:00, order pizza, and scrapbook (and visit!) until around 11:00. It was so much fun! So you can see how going down to my basement all by myself just doesn't hold the same attraction. I did some last summer so that I finished up all of our Ohio pictures, but I have never even started on any of our Virginia pictures. Hmmm . . . . what's that saying? Mainly, that I just haven't felt like bothering, nothing too deeply psychological. I also have smaller books for each boy that just have 4 pages for each year. Caleb's is caught-up, but Luke and Nathan have since had birthdays, and I have never even started Jonathan's! That was making me feel so guilty, and that is what finally motivated me to do some scrapping last night. I finished the first page of his book, which is a page dealing with his actual birthday. Next will be a 2-page spread on his family members, then a 2 page spread on his first year, and then 2 pages for when he was 1. Then I'll be caught up on his book! Maybe tonight I'll actually do some more!

Shrieking Girls

Yesterday we got Nathan's Stanford Test scores back, and he did really well, so today we all went out to lunch at Chick-Fil-A to celebrate. Today is "Cow Appreciation Day" there, and anyone who came in wearing a cow costume eats free! We saw no "cows" though. Maybe next year. For our family, that would be quite a deal! : ) Anyhow, after we finished eating, the boys went into the play area. It is pretty effectively sound-proofed, so we really could only hear loud noise whenever the door opened. Bob and I were sitting at a table right by the glass so we could see everyone just fine. There were lots of kids in there, and they were playing some kind of "Monsters" game, which involved kids chasing, jumping out, etc., at other kids (mainly girls), all of whom would shriek at the top of their lungs for several long seconds. Someone jumped at Caleb, and he was a bit scared, and didn't want to play the game, so I went in to see what was going on. Oh. My. Goodness. The decibel level of these shrieks were deafening. I could hardly stand it. Bob and I sat in there a few minutes before Bob said to tell the boys we would only stay 5 more minutes. After about 1 minute, I decided I couldn't stand it any longer, and told the boys we were leaving right now! I really don't like loud noise, and I absolutely abhor shrieky girls. As we were leaving, I told Bob (in a suitably carrying voice) that if this was how girls acted, then I was GLAD I DIDN'T HAVE ANY!!!! Why wouldn't a parent come in and tell their [girl] that it is totally not acceptable to squeal like a stuck pig in a crowded, enclosed space? In the car we talked about how thankful we were that the girls that we know do not act anything like this.

Big Breakfast

Nathan made a great breakfast for us yesterday morning! We went to Sams the day before and bought a big tub of blueberries, which made Nathan want to make blueberry pancakes (just like Grandpa!). He also was thinking about scrambled eggs, so we bought a big pack of eggs too. Yesterday morning Nathan got up, searched my "Beginner's Cookbook" for recipes, and made both scrambled eggs and blueberry pancakes! I woke up to the smell of pancakes cooking. His recipe for scrambled eggs only used maybe 3 eggs, so I had to show him where to find the serving size ("Serves 1"!). We added a whole lot more eggs! The scrambled eggs were very light and fluffy, and I think it was because I read an article on them in the paper not too long ago. Apparently the right technique is to melt your butter and cover the whole bottom of the pan. Then pour in the egg mixture and just let it sit for a while. Then kind of move aside what's already been cooked and let the uncooked stuff fill in. Keep doing that, then break everything up. Who knew there was a "right" way to scramble eggs? Mine are usually pretty flat, but these weren't at all, so I guess it worked. This was a big cooking day for Nathan because he also made banana bread in the afternoon. Woo-hoo! I am working myself out of a job!

Praise the Lord!

We found my keys this morning! They were in the glovebox of Bob's car(?)!! I'm not sure how they got there, but I believe God is able to put them there, no matter where they originally were! What a relief. And I am happy to report that after typing my post last night I was able to settle down and have a good night's sleep. When things are bothering me, I tend to sleep very lightly and fitfully, with vividly weird dreams always focusing on what I'm bothered about, but that didn't happen. It's a fuuny thing, but now I feel . . . relaxed, I guess . . . like things are right in my world again, since I am not currently missing anything. Maybe someday I'll be less obsessive--maybe when Luke takes over as the "Finder of the House"!

Losing Things

Today was a good day. A friend from Ohio who now lives in Maryland came to visit with her 3 children for the day, and we had a wonderful time together. We got our air conditioner recharged, so it will be comfortable upstairs to sleep tonight, a big change from the last few days, where it's been in the mid-80s. My parents accepted an offer and signed a contract to sell their house for their asking price. But then tonight after dinner I realized that my keys are missing. Technically I realized I was using Bob's keys yesterday, but I just assumed mine were hanging up in his place or something. I looked all over, and they are not somewhere obvious. In fact, I think they must have been lost at Idlewild, even though I can't imagine how that could have happened. I am so sick about it, and it's all I can think about. I "keep track of things". That's just what I do, the way I am wired. When things are missing, it just consumes me, and I can't let go. one reason I'm having such a hard time with this it that I just can't figure out what happened or how they even could have gotten lost. But I believe that I put my set of keys into the backpack we took there (which stayed the entire time in the stroller, which was always with us), and I haven't seen them since. Frustrating. I'm hoping that just putting all this down will help me not think about it so much so that I can actually get some sleep! Of course, they could just be somewhere odd, and that is what I am praying. I know God knows where they are, and I pray He will show me.

An Idle Day of Sun . . . I mean Fun

Yesterday was an exhausting day. We left here around 9:00 and drove to Idlewild , an amusement park not far from Bob's family in PA. It took us 4 hours to get there because we didn't choose the fastest route. Lots of construction! We learned frm our mistakes, though, and went home a different way, so it only took a little over 3 hours. Anyhow, we arrived at Idlewild around 1:00, and our first bed omen was the line of cars waiting to get through the front gates where you pay! We finally got through (after having been asked if we were part of the "school picnic", another bad sign), and I was alarmed to see that all the near parking lots were full. In fact, even the far parking lots were full! We drove around for awhile but finally found a parking place that ended up being good because it was near a little pedestrian bridge, so we could just walk right into the park. We ate our picnic lunch at a little pavilion near the car, then went off in search of Bob's family. It was such a hot, humid day, and they (and everyone else) were at the pool part of the park. When we walked into Soak Zone, my first thought was of basically wall-to-wall people, like the Iwo Jima Memorial for the Fourth of July fireworks. We found his parents, sister-in-law Sherry, and her 2 kids Brandon and Sara thanks to the modern miracle of cell phones. We managed to get everyone changed, a feat in and of itself, since we had to wait in long lines for dressing rooms (well, actually that was probably just on the ladies' side--i'm thinking the guys don't "do" dressing rooms, esp. if there's a long line!). Then Bob took the older boys to the big pool and water slides, and I took the little boys to the baby area. As it turned out, the Mount Pleasant School District was having their end-of-the-year school picnic, and there was also a big daycare party that day, so that helped explain why the park was so crowded. There is a baby pool and also an area with spigots, a fountain, etc. for little kids to play in. The whole area was jammed with kids and parents. I had to play all sorts of mental games to block from my mind the fact that I was standing shoulder-to-shoulder with complete strangers clad only in my swim suit. I was a little afraid of the actual baby pool itself because there were so many people there that it really didn't seem safe to have the boys there where I could easily lose sight of them or they could get knocked over. So we spent a greater majority of the time by the spigots where I (and everyone else) didn't even have the water to somewhat be immersed in. There was a lot of gaping, bunching, riding up, not to mention just general flabbiness, surrounding me, and I was really ready to be done and have my personal space back! After the pool, the older boys rode the roller coaster twice, we all rode the Merry-Go-Round, we ate a quick dinner, and the boys played in an area called "Jumpin' Jungle", which has a ball pit and some climbing ropes and stuff. Then it was after 7:00, and it was time to leave. We slowly made our way back to our car, after prolonged goodbyes, and we left around 7:45. The drive back was quicker, so we made it home at 11:00, with the boys fast asleep. It's hard to say if the whole day was "worth it". If it was just up to me, we wouldn't do this sort of thing, since it's not fun for me at all, and I don't even love amusement parks without the kids, especially on hot days. But we want to build more relationships with Bob's family, and maybe this will help, that is if they don't think we are insane for driving 7 hours to play for 6 hours. Now today we must pay the terrible price of keeping the boys up late, and Jonathan is indeed a fragile crab. Good thing I decided not to do any school today! We're building a castle from cardboard instead. We've been planning on doing this since we got the issue of "Family Fun" magazine that had the plans. Hopefully Jonathan can just make it until after lunch!

Homeschool Convention

Yesterday I spent the day at the NoVa home Education Convention, which was held pretty close to us, at the Dulles Expo Center. I had a really great day. It was nowhere near as big as HEAV, but I think that was good or I would have been very overwhelmed! I went to several workshops. I was able to hear Jessie Wise (who co-wrote "The Well-Trained Mind" with her daughter, Susan) speak two times, once about doing WTM with grades K-4, and again on grades 5-8. I also went to a workshop given by a very dynamic woman who works at the NASA Educators Resource Center at NASA Langley. They have TONS of free materials for educators, and since I'm going to be teaching during our co-op's space unit next year, I have already sent away asking for some of their materials. I bought several books at the used curriculum sale, and I also bought several new things from exhibitors, including some games. I bought 2 math games, and one that should help us learn more bird identification, something we are very weak in but also very interested! I ended up ordering Bob Jones math for Nathan next year, their 4th grade book. I don't think it will be too terribly challenging, but it is quite colorful, and I think he will enjoy doing it. Also, in listening to Jessie Wise, I became even more inspired to help Nathan this next year especially with his spelling and writing. We are really going to focus on those areas. He's doing just fine with math, so he'll just kind of be able to coast there this year and feel confident while we work on his weak areas.

I saw lots of homeschooling friends from here at the convention and even met some people from the Well Trained Mind Message Boards! I've never met anyone from there in real life before, so that was neat. Elizabeth and I were able to go out to lunch too. She and Ed just announced on Friday that they are expecting again, so we had lots to talk about! We were all pretty excited to hear their news, but it seems like the person who is most excited is their youngest, Amanda. She hopes it is a baby sister, since she's been praying for one for a long time! Elizabeth is due Feb. 10, and we all know what a great month February is. Luke and I are hoping to have a February birthday buddy!

A Small Miracle

My Aunt Claire posted a story about my uncle miraculously finding the diamond from her wedding ring in her blog yesterday. That story reminded me of a miraculous ring story of my very own! In April 2000, we were stationed in Colorado, and we rented a cabin for the weekend near Fairplay with our friends the L's and the B's (yes, the same couples we went camping with just a few weeks ago!). It was a pretty nice cabin, big enough to hold all of us, but it did have some odd quirks (one being bedbugs, but we didn't find that out until later!). The kitchen was kind of in the middle of the house, with a breakfast bar between it and the family room. Right by the bar on the floor on the family room side was a big grate for the furnace air intake. It just went straight down a big shaft, right there by the counter! I was standing by it, taking off my rings to go into the hot tub (why, I have no idea). I have my engagement diamond and wedding ring, and then I also have a small anniversary band that I wear on the other hand that Bob got me when I was working in a lab and needed something flat to wear under my gloves. Well, the anniversary ring slipped, fell on the grate and as I reached down to get it, fell down the shaft. Ack! I panicked, got all shaky, etc. We took off the grate and looked down. We could see the ring! At the bottom of the shaft, there was a seam dividing the bottom of the shaft from the duct actually going into the furnace. There in the seam, balancing on its side, was my ring! Well, it was great to see it, but I could not figure out any way to actually get it. But fortunately there were 3 well-qualified Air Force officers there, ready to come up with a ring rescue scenario! They rooted through the house, and Bob found a fishing tackle box. He put a hook on a line, lowered the hook down the shaft, and then proceeded to snag the ring on his first try!! This makes it sound really easy, but it was truly a miracle, I think. Bob is not by any means a practiced fisherman, and if he had hit the ring at all and knocked it out of the groove, it would have either rolled down into the furnace or just been laid flat so there would have been no way to get it. I know the Lord was guiding his hook! I was so shaky afterwards. It was really amazing, and I'm still so thankful that God chose to answer my desparate prayers for help!

Happy Fourth of July!

Yes, I know it is, technically, July 5th, but we had a busy weekend! The amazing thing is that we did 2 things which were very crowd-intensive, and I enjoyed myself both times! Bob's sister Ann and her husband Wally decided not to come up until Sunday after church, so we had more time to get ready, which was nice. Right as church was ending, another sister, Rose, called to say she would also like to come for a night. We had invited her before, but she didn't have her girls this weekend and didn't want to be around other kids because she was afraid she would be too sad. But she was with some friends up in Hagerstown, which isn't too far, so she thought she'd come by, and we were all so glad she did. Everyone got here around 3:00, and we went to Great Falls Park. It was packed with people! The falls are very nice though, and we walked to 3 overlooks to see them. It was so hot and humid--we all thought we were going to melt. The boys enjoyed climbing on all the rocks. It seemed like a nice park, but I don't think we'll make a habit of going Fourth of July weekend! We'll have to go back a less-crowded time and hike around. It's a really pretty area. I think it's pretty touristy, though, so maybe it's always packed. I laughed at some of the completely inappropriate footwear women were wearing to scramble around on these rocks to get to the first set of overlooks--little strappy sandals with spiky heels, etc. Yeah, not your real outdoorsy types!

We came back home, and Bob grilled steaks and hot dogs. Then all the adults stayed up late talking--my favorite part of having company! Rose left early the next morning but the rest of us slept in a little later. i put sop on the stove, then we went swimming for a little while. The day was overcast, so the water was appreciably cooler than it has been, so we didn't stay too terribly long. We came home, ate lunch, then the boys took naps while we got ready to go in to D.C. for the national fireworks. We went with (who else?!) our friends the L's, who had been last year. Let me tell you, this is NOT something we would ever have attempted on our own! We left a little after 5:00 to drive to Rosslyn, near the Iwo Jima Memorial. We wandered through the streets, trying to find parking. Thankfully Ed used to work down there, so he knew places to try. We saw a continual stream of people walking past us, which made me worry that we would have to park about 10 miles away and still have no place to sit! But my worrying was for naught, and we found great parking fairly close in the Hyatt underground parking garage. We trundled all our assorted picnicking supplies over to in front of the Netherlands Carillion, where there is a great view of all the Washington and Lincoln Memorials, as well as the Capitol. We found room for our blankets and had a nice picnic, trying to stay relatively cool. There was a "misting room" set up, which was a tent-like thing that sprayed you with a fine mist--sort of like being a vegetable in your grocery produce section. Very refreshing. After the sun set around 7:40, it got a lot more comfortable, although still plenty humid! Some of us went to look at the Arlington Cemetary, which is right next to where we were, and also to the Iwo Jima Memorial. I stayed behind and read a book, so the evening was very nice and relaxing for me! The firworks started at about 9:20 and lasted 25 minutes or so. They must have been so huge because they looked big to us and we were on the other side of the river! A very impressive display indeed, with lots of different types that we had never seen before. I guess D.C. gets all the new firework technology first! I was glad we were so far away though. It was not too loud where we were, but I know the little boys would have been scared by the noise if we would have been right under the fireworks by the Capitol. Afterwards, we and several thousand of our fellow Washington D.C.ers made our way back through Rosslyn, completely jamming the streets. When we left the parking garage, we found out the parking was free! Wow, our opinion of Hyatt just jumped a whole bunch! Bob did some creative driving manuevers to get us back onto the freeway, and we were home by 11:00. That was late, but the boys did fine, and it really was a lot of fun. Ed brought the kids these "glow sticks"--you bend them and then they glow different colors. You can connect them to make bracelets, necklaces, crowns, etc. They boys had a lot of fun playing with those, and then they wore them when it was all done so we could see them in the crowd. It was a great idea, and it kept them occupied quite well! Today will probably be a day of early naps and early bed though. We have had some crabbiness this morning, which is to be expected! Ann and Wally left this morning, so now we can really settle back in and get back into our normal routine. We did some math review this morning, and we'll keep on reviewing this week, then get back into school next week.

We're back!

Well, we made it safely back to VA after 4 weeks of being gone. Somehow, in my mind, we left the house neater than we did in reality. Bob's sister and family are coming this weekend, and frankly I am overwhelmed with the amount of work to do. It just seems like there is so much stuff to be put away and gone through--tons of mail, swim stuff, shoes everywhere, food from the car, etc, etc, etc. At least I unpacked all the suitcases last night when we got in. Probably a record for me! So anyhow, that is why I am here on the computer instead of doing something productive. I just can't figure out exactly where to get started, since there is just so much. The boys cleaned their bathrooms, and now they are outside playing in the sprinkler. I just want to lay on the couch and take a nap!

Contentment

Amy made me a beautiful cross-stitch for our entry way. Let's just say it's an early Christmas present! : ) It has some Colonial houses, which are certainly very appropriate (actually it's very elaborate, and I am in no way doing it justice here), and it has the verse from Philippians, "I have learned to be content in whatever state I am in". Perfect for a military family, and it will go wonderfully in our foyer! This trip has made me think alot about contentment though, and I really am not content to live in whichever state I am! Visiting Colorado made me so want to move back there. It's so beautiful, and I love all the stuff there is to do out there. Visiting back here in Ohio has made me want to move back here. I so miss being able to see Amy and my parents all the time, and I miss our church! I would still like to have an assignment down in Texas, so we could see Dan and Melinda more often. The one place I really don't feel at home in is Virginia. But I'm sure if we moved from there, I would remember and miss the good things about there, like living so close to the L's, and also our great homeschool co-op. I guess really I'm longing for heaven, since I know there will be no place on earth that perfectly satisfies all my longings. in the meantime, however, we do have to live someplace, and currently the Lord has us in Virginia. But does he want us to stay there when Bob retires? I think this question is what is causing all this consternation. I kind of like having the Air Force tell us where to go, knowing that in a few years, we'll move. That way, if there are things I don't like, then we'll be going someplace different, and almost no 2 places have the same things wrong! Picking a place to retire has such an air of finality about it though. I think I'm afraid to settle down, maybe because I know there are so many other great places out there, and secretly I'm always wondering if one of them might just have all the things I'm looking for. Ahh, contentment . . . I'm off to go meditate on Amy's cross-stitch some more!

Nathan's Birth Day

So Nathan is 8 years old today, hard as that is to believe. He was actually born on a Tuesday, at 5:24 PM, at the Air Force Academy Hospital in Colorado. Bob was the aide for a 3 star admiral at the time, and he was scheduled to be TDY Sunday through Tuesday. My due date wasn't until July 2, so the Navy considered that to be very far away, and besides, none of the other men in the office had been around for the birth of their kids, so what did it matter if Bob wasn't? That was the attitude, anyhow. I was nervous to have Bob be gone so close to my due date, but I was praying for peace. Sunday morning after church, I started having contractions, which did not make me feel peaceful! Bob went off a few hours later to go TDY, but at the last minute a guy from another office who was also on the trip stepped in and told Bob he would do his duties as well so Bob didn't have to go. Whew! But then we both kind of felt under pressure to have this baby before everyone got back, or else they would think I was just making it all up! I kept having contractions throughout Monday, but they were never strong enough to make me think we should go in. I didn't sleep much Monday night though, and we went to the hospital around 7:30 AM. My parents were on their way, driving out from Ohio, and they were supposed to arrive that afternoon. When I went in to be examined, the nurse told me she thought I wouldn't be dilated very far, since I was so calm and it was my first baby. She was quite surprised to find out that I was 6 cm dilated! I still wasn't feeling anything too much, so I visited a good friend of mine who had just had her baby 2 days before. Once I got to 9 cm, things just kind of stopped for awhile, and the doctor actually asked me if I was waiting for my parents to come! I was given some pitocin, things started up again, Mom and Dad got there, and Nathan was born at 5:24. Praise the Lord! The only bad thing was that then just a few short hours later, visiting hours were over, and Bob had to leave me alone with this tiny scrap of humanity, who was now totally dependent on me. I was terrified! And since it was in a military hospital, a tech came around and gave me this raft of forms to fill out--when I nursed, how long on each side, bowel movements, wet diapers, etc. And he gave me one of those nose aspirators and told me how to use it. I asked how I would know if I should use it, and he replied ominously, "Oh you'll know." I was so scared. I was sharing a room with a lady who had just had her third baby, and she breezily told me that she never slept well in hospitals, so she always just kept the TV on all night. Hope I didn't mind! That was not a very restful night, but thankfully she left the next morning. I was so glad to go home a few days later, where our wonderful neighbor Pam had put up a "Welcome Home" sign on our house, and even better, had put the "Noah's Ark" border all around Nathan's room! It's amazing how far I've come, but I so clearly remember the feelings of helplessness and incompetence that I had those first days (weeks?) as a new mom. One thing that really helped was our good friends the L's moved to Colorado right after Nathan was born, and they actually lived with us for 8 months while waiting for their house to sell. It was wonderful to have Elizabeth's calm and competent self around all the time to help me feel like I could handle things, or, more importantly, know that whatever Nathan was doing was perfectly normal. I guess that won't work for many other people, but it has made me really try to reach out to new moms to help provide some of that same support I got from Elizabeth!

Aslan tales

I read an amazing story this morning in the Dayton Daily about a 12 year old girl from Ethiopia who was abducted and beaten by a gang of men who wanted to force her to marry one of them. But then she was rescued by 3 lions who chased off her attackers! She was beaten repeatedly before she was found June 9 by police and relatives on the outskirts of Bita Genet, Wondimu said. She had been guarded by the lions for about half a day, he said."They stood guard until we found her and then they just left her like a gift and went back into the forest," Wondimu said. I said yesterday that we had been listening to "The Chronicles of Narnia", which of course feature a huge lion named Aslan who is a type of Christ. This news story so reminded me of "The Horse and His Boy" which is the story of an orphan slave boy who is escaping to Narnia with a talking horse. He finally meets Aslan and he tells him what an unlucky life he's had--he was washed up on shore as a baby and doesn't know who he really is, he was a slave, he's been chased by lions a few times, etc. Aslan says to him that he has really had a fortunate life because Alsan was the one who pushed the boat to the shore so as a baby, he didn't die of starvation. Aslan was the lion who chased off the jackals that were going to attack as he hid outside a city. Aslan chased his horse to make it run faster so they could deliver a message in time, and so on. In every part of his life, Aslan was there watching and protecting. It's a really beautiful scene of the book, and it's such a wonderful allegory for how Jesus is in our lives, even if we don't understand what he's doing. Those lions in Ethiopia sound like relatives of Aslan. I pray that the little girl in the story will some day be able to find Christ. He must have had a reason for her life to be saved in such a dramatic fashion.

Beautiful Colorado

We're back in Ohio after 2 weeks in beautiful Colorado without any computer access. Did we miss anything while we were out of www contact? No. But now that we're back in the realms of civilization, I figured I would tell a little bit about our trip. The boys traveled very well. It took 3 days of driving (about 1700 miles to get there), and our friends let us borrow Focus on the Family's Radio Theatre presentations of some of the Chronicles of Narnia. Wow, are those spell-binding! We listened to "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe", "Prince Caspian", and "The Silver Chair" on the way out, and that made the miles pass by so quickly. In fact, we visited Focus's headquarters while we were there and bought the entire set so we could listen to the others on the drive back. We also bought "Anne of Green Gables", but I just now made the disappointing discovery that somehow I bought the cassettes instead of the CDs. Gee, I wonder how I could have made a mistake like that, considering all I had to be distracted by was 4 tired kids (one of them, Jonathan, fussing and squirming to get out of the stroller!) who were ready for lunch after the tour of the admin building! Oh well. I am recommending these series to any and everyone, though--they are really well-done. 

The first week we were there, the boys and I went to a lot of museums in Colorado Springs that Bob and I had never been to while we were there. We visited the Mining Museum, the Money Museum, Pioneers' Museum, had a picnic at Memorial Park, and of course went to the Air Force Academy and Garden of the Gods. We also did some shopping at places like Media Play, which they don't have in Ohio or Virginia, and I also got the boys' picture taken at Kiddie Kandids. The pictures turned out really well. I have always had good experiences there, and I so wish they were back East too! It's a challenge to get 4 young boys to all smile at the same time, but the photographer we had did a wonderful job. Bob had his class every day and got back to the hotel around 5:00 or so. He enjoyed it, so it was a good TDY for him too. We did things like walk around Manitou Springs in the evenings, and on Saturday we went to the Rock Ledge Ranch, which is a living history place with volunteers who dress the part and do things the old-fashioned way. That was really interesting. 

Then our good friends the L's from Virginia got there too, and we had a lot of fun the second week with them. We went to the North Pole Amusment Park Sunday, which was Nathan's big wish. The clouds kept coming in and going out, and it sprinkled a few times, so there weren't very many people there. The boys could ride whatever they wanted and stay on for another ride if they so chose, so really it was a perfect day. We visited the Ghost Town Museum, the Van Briggle Pottery Factory, and Focus on the Family with the L's the next week, as well as the Flying W Ranch for dinner. We actually ate outside there for the first time ever. It was a gorgeous night. Wednesday night our family went to the Ringling Brothers'/Barnum and Bailey Circus. It was Opening Night, and tickets were only $10.00! The boys were transfixed by all the action and excitement. It started at 7:30, and Jonathan was mesmerized for about 45 minutes. Then he just was tired and wiggly, so I felt like I wrestled through the last half of the circus to keep him on my lap and quiet. Actually it didn't much matter if he was quiet or not, since the whole place was so loud! On Friday, our last day in Colorado, the boys and I hiked with the L's. We hiked to the Crags, which is one of my favorite trails. It's only about 1.8 miles one way, but at the end you are on a big rocky promontory, and you have views like you are at the top of Pikes Peak, even though you are only around 11,000 feet. Of course, I didn't really pack for hiking, so I didn't have a baby packpack or anything for Jonathan. Ed carried him most of the way up, with some help from Jessica, and Anthony carried him (and my regular backpack!) most of the way back down, while Jonathan took a nice nap (Thanks, Anth!). Caleb was a real trooper, but he conked out about half-way back, and Ed stepped up to carry him the rest of the way. Caleb's quite a chunk--Bob wasn't so sorry he missed the hike when he heard about all the heavy lifting he missed! : ) I was thankful to have all the help though--I had just assumed I wouldn't be able to go all the way to the top with the little boys. It was a beautiful, cloudless day, and I must say it was the perfect way to end a wonderful vacation in Colorado. 

I will confess that after being there a few days, Bob and I were both thinking about ways we could get back out there to live! I think those mountains just stay in you after you look at them for a few years. I bought a new "mountain-y" calendar for next year. At least that way I can keep a reminder of the mountains in my kitchen!