Day 25

Scripture of the Day: "The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my sheild and my horn of my salvation. 2 Samuel 22:2-3

I had a really neat blog typed out and Mady came from behind the couch and hit me in the head and it is gone!:(

We ate breakfast and then headed out to the Newseum to see Wall e from Disney Pixar. This is the newest museum and very nice, but not worth the money they charge unless you really enjoy news related things! We got some great pics of Wall e and some posters, but Mady was in one of her moods and Jon was scared of the crowds. After the Wall e session, we went and walked around and saw the 9/11 exhibit and Berlin Wall. The 4D movie was really neat, the chairs move, reminded me of a show we saw at Disneyworld!






We had lunch in the museum and it was really good! It is a Wolfgang Puck eatery, so the food was yummy, but expensive! Watch out for the salad bar, although the chinese chicken is really great!

We left and were headed to the Space grass when the severe thunderstorm they had been warning about decided to rear it's ugly head. And the metro was undergoing repairs, so it took us forever!

We are now at home and daddy is napping and the kids and mommy are watching dinosaurs and playing.

Hopefully, my computer is almost ready so I can add pics, I miss the pictures!

God Bless!

Day 24

Scripture of the Day: Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers. Galatians 6:10


Yea, it's Friday! We are gearing up for a big birthday weekend for Daddy, he is turning 40 on Monday and has to work, so we are celebrating this weekend!

We have cards to make and the kids are going to get him a present and wrap it themselves today!

Card making isn't going to happen, Mady is out! I can't believe I wore both of them out, but I did!

We went to Union Station and looked at all the kid's art. We wanted to participate and make some, but there were tons of school kids around, so maybe tomorrow! Instead we walked over to the capital and then to the Botanical Garden. There are some really neat globes that they have decorated and Jon went bananas over the one with cars. Finally, we ended up at the "Indian" grass (which is the very nice shaded grass in front of the Native American museum) I highly recommend this area for picnicing, etc, there are very few people there, the shade is wonderful, and the grass is thick and soft!





Jon was ready to come home, so we went to get on the train, and mommy picked the wrong train. I got a great pic of Mady's face at the wrong station. Finally we made it home and stopped for watermelon and yummy cilantro cucumbers from the market downstairs!

Now the kids are napping and getting all geared up for Daddy to come home!
Somewhere in there too, we are going to the Botanical Garden, I hope. I think tonight we will take a walk over to the Crystal City water garden and then watch a movie!

See you all tomorrow, and God Bless!

Day 23

Scripture of the Day: I have set the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Psalm 17:8

Aw, Thursday again! We like Thursdays because we don't have to be anywhere or do anything, which is a good thing because Jon has a little cold from the freezing swimming pool on Monday! The kids colored on the windows today and then we spent the morning playing and watching Dragon Tails!

Jon loves the dinosaur village and I rebuilt it for him, he played with it forever! Daddy came home early and suprised us and we all sat outside while the kids played! Jon loves climbing the small trees we have. The cutest moment was when Mady told Daddy to lay on the patio and she said "I'll be your pillow." She had her princess dress on and got many looks from the passerbys!




Mommy and Jonny went to bed early and Daddy and Mady must have finished their movie!
God Bless!

Day 22

Scripture of the Day: The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 2 Corinthians 10:4

It is chilly and wet this morning. We are going to the mall to play today and then to the store. We have no yogurt in the house and Jon wants his yogurt when he wakes up! I gave him a shoe box to play with yesterday and he is up and already playing with it. From now on, he gets all of my shoe boxes! Hours of cheap entertainment and pretty shoes for mommy!

Turns out the weather was messing with us, it was a beautiful day. The kids had fun at the mall, they made friends with a little girl named Elise and her brother Jonathan. They played chase and hide n seek!



These are pics of their favorite lunch from the mall, pizza! They also like the pomegranite juice that I get them!

After that we went to the store and that was an adventure. I went to my favorite grocery store, Giant, partly because there is cheap gas over there too! The kids rode in the car shopping cart. Mady is usually pretty good about helping me put stuff in the cart and then at checkout!

Anyways, I think Jon is getting a cold and he is extra grouchy tonight! The pics I am going to post are the ones from lunch, the kids are eating pizza! Well, they tried, neither were hungry today

I am sad that I can't post pics, but there will hopefully be pics this weekend.

Have a great day!

Day 21

Scripture of the Day: If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we dies, we die to the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. Romans 14:1

Today was resting day! The kids fell asleep last night at 7, all three of them! That meant they were up nice and early today for me! We played all day and waited for the rain that didn't come for some reason! Daddy brought home a pet for Mady and Jonny, it is a fish that a nice man at work gave to them. Mady has named the fish General Lee, don't ask me where that came from. Daddy suggested we name the fish in honor of memorial day, so we started throwing out names and she chose General Lee! Not an exciting day, but a restful day!




God Bless!

Day 20

Scripture of the Day: There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear hs to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. 1 John 4:18

Happy Memorial Day!!!!!

If you ever want to see the real meaning of Memorial Day, you gotta spend it in DC! Wow, this place takes it seriously! I love seeing people thanking the soldiers as they walk down the street, but the best part has got to be the parade!

We started the day off early and wound up talking to the group of men who volunteer to reinact the Rough Riders. They had tethered their horses right outside the National Gallery of Art! The floats were being set up too. It was an amazing site,and we were thoroughly enjoyig it until I remembered the President's motorcade!

So as we ran down to the White House, we marveled at all the people who were working hard to get this parade going!

We missed the motorcade, but caught the tale end of it, seems he goes the back route! We ended up watching a ceremony outside for the Army's Big Red Brigade. There was a nice gentlemen who brought the kid's drinks and explained everything to Wayne! It was a nice ceremony, and just in time for us to catch the President coming back! Yep, we got about an arm's length away from the limo, I caught a nice glimpse of Laura Bush's head through the back, but I was so intent on trying to take pics, I didn't see the President! I ended up in a crowd of Japenese tourists who were keeping the police on their feet!

Okay, that was the highlight of my trip here! We took a pic of Mady with some very nice guys who were part of the army honor guard and then took off to eat before the parade!

There are so many military people walking around!

The parade was awesome! They divdided it up by wars. It was led off by Gary Sinise and Joe Mantegna. I got some great pics of them waving at the crowd we were with. Our area was very energetic and patriotic! We had a great time clapping for the veterans who passed by and of course the Rough Riders. I made friends with a man whose high school band came all the way from Missouri, he was filming them.

We had to leave because it got too hot and Mady got too tired, so we missed General Petraeus. But, while we were cheering the WWII veterans, we saw Mickey Rooney, and thank goodness, the people in front were big fans, he stood up and we got a great view of him!





The most touching I think was the WWII vet who was joggin the route! We have lots of great memories but were glad to get home. We tried to go swimming but I think our water in the fridge is warmer than the pool water!

Mady and Jonny are curled up on daddy watching the dinorsaur movie now!

I am so greatful we were here for Memorial Day, it means more to me now!

Thank you to all the veterans who have served our country!

God Bless!

Day 19

Scripture of the Day: For it is commendable if a man bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because he is conscious of God. 1 Peter 2:19

This is a very very sad day! I suppose you are all wondering where the heck the pictures are? Well, my computer died, and I mean died! We took it to Best Buy and it was so bad, they have to send it off! I can't put pictures onto the blog until I get it back, who knows when that will be! So, we messed with that most of the morning and then went to the Rolling Thunder parade, that is the huge motorcycle procession around the National Mall, there were thousands of these guys all there to show their support for the troops, past and present!

The Memorial Day crowds are large, people are everywhere, veterans are everywhere! I can tell that this weekend is a special time in DC. We walked around and had lunch at the Reagan Bulding. I told Wayne he will never let me eat there if he starts to work there, and he said, " Yep."

On our way home, we stopped at Arlington National Cemetery because we decided that the crowds would be horrible on memorial day. We did the tram tour, which is okay if you want to get on and off! That place is huge and there are parts that I wouldn't have seen unless we did the tram! Tomorrow, President Bush will be there for the annual wreath laying ceremony. The gardens by Arlinton House are beautiful now that it is warm!





We walked around being with the crowds until we decided to come home and get a movie to watch. The kids and daddy watched Toy Story while mommy went and ran.

Tomorrow will be the big day in DC, can't wait!

I still feel horrible not being able to do pics for 2 weeks, it will be hard!

God Bless!

Day 18

Scripture of the Day: And as for you, brothers, never tire of doing what is right. 2 Thessalonians 3:13

Yea, it's Memorial Day weekend! And we are going to the Baltimore Zoo!

Let me tell you, that is a great zoo for animals, kids, shade, etc, but the food is not so great, so if you go, take your own supplies! The lines for the bad food are horrendous too!

The kids and I even got to ride a camel! We saw the baby elephant and played all around the zoo! Mommy and Daddy loved the drive to the zoo, that part of DC is really nice and we are seriously looking at it for a future home!





On the way back, we stopped at the awesome Arundel Mills outlet mall. They have the largest movie theater I have ever seen! It even has child care, and we were sooooooooo excited about the possiblity of seeing the new Indiana Jones movie, until we found out that Jon was too young to go! Oh well!

We ate dinner at Chevy's and it was really good, much better than the one by us, so I guess we have to drive up there! I really wish I had known about this place when my sister in law, Lori, was here, she would have died over all the shoe places!

We came home tired and happy and ready for the next day!

God Bless!

Day 17

Scripture of the Day: Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to espcape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man. Luke 2:36

Here is a pic of the way our mornings typically start out:



Mady is sad again this morning, so we are going to go on an adventure after lunch. I have some dinosaurs that we will be painting this morning too!

We tried to go the "space grass" and play, but there were people everywhere! We ended up walking around and having lunch at daddy's office building. We saw the President's helicopter and assumed he was out for a joy ride!




The members of Rolling Thunder, the honor guard of motorcycles is staying all around us for Memorial Day and the kids are having a fit looking at all the bikes, I am trying to get used to all the noise 24/7!

We had a good day, but for some reason, we are all tired!

Can't wait for the weekend!

God Bless

Day 16

Art Day!!!!

Today the power was supposed to go off at 9 and be off most of the morning, but it didn't go off until 10:30! We had a great day doing art projects and reading and playing! For those of you freaking out about the markers on the windows, those are special markers for glass! They love them! So do I, very easy to clean up! So we colored, we played and we made model magic snakes!

The last pic is Mady in her princess dress with the dinosaur toy that grandmama bought her. Mommy finally put it together yesterday and I am embarrassed to say how long it took me! But what a hit! They love it! Thank you so much grandmama!

We had lunch at the big mall, well, we got our food and brought it home, seems the mall has been taken over by teenage tour groups!

The power came back on in time for us to cook for daddy and mommy to go and work out!

God Bless!

Day 15

These pictures were taken at the mall that we like to go and play at! It is a very nice play area with a nice sitting area for mommy!

Yipeeeee! We have sun, well mostly sun, but it is still breezy! Mady is sad, and I mean sad! She told us last night she was going home to Texas! (She was born in Texas so once a texan, always a texan!) And then this morning, she got mad at me and tried to go home to Texas! I wonder if President Bush would let us come and hang out, maybe feed us some bbq? Anyways, on wednesdays we have to leave so they can come and clean our apartment, and even though gas is outrageous here, I took them to Tysons to the mall to play. She needed to be around other kids and play and I am so glad I did, the smiles on her face were so worth it! She played tag with another little boy and soon a little girl joined in! I have some great pics of them playing. Afterward, we got some chocolate ice cream, which she didn't eat because she wanted mommy's cheesecake with strawberries! Yummy!

We stopped at Target and got some snacks and then came home!

God Bless!

Day 14

It is another cold and windy and wet day in DC! I wonder if spring made a wrong turn at Albequrque, if someone sees her, please direct her to DC! We have been home, both kids needed a day not to get dressed and have to go somewhere. They have been playing in their pjs, until Mady found a "princess" dress and decided she needed to wear it! Spaghetti and princess dresses do not mix! We got her her first Barbie and she has named it Darby and it playing a little more with it today!

Tonight, we are having ice-cream and brownies, courtesy of the place we are staying. Kids are very excited about that and I think daddy will make a bee-line home for that!

This is Mady's princess dress, she wants to wear it everyday! So, when we are at home, she wears it! Jon had just gotten up from a nap and Mady was happy to see him and he woke up really happy. The "hole" on his forehead is healing nicely! We miss everyone back home, love you all!

Day 13

Monday again...

I can't believe it is already monday and much colder than we expected. Nothing going on here, we went to Target to get some stuff and they did pretty good there. Jon rode in the seat and didn't try to escape every five seconds! Mady was playing with a Little Mermaid purse I found in the dollar bend! She loves Little Mermaid! After that, we went to the grocery store and that is where things fell apart. I am trying to use coupons and couldn't juggle the list, circular, kids, and coupons, not to mention trying to push the cart! I had to climb up into the shelf to get my yogurt too and Mady was laughing at me as I dropped the yogurt everywhere! I stopped and got lunch at McDonald's for them. They love the nuggest and apple dippers! Jon took a really long nap, which is what I expected from him after he got up at 5!

They watched the dinosaur movie with daddy while mommy went to workout and then it was bedtime! The pictures I posted are of them watching the dino movie!

They love the Land Before Time and I think our disc is now worn out, they want to watch it every night!

Day 12

More rain... and more rain...

This is not what we expected to wake up to! Cloudy with a chance of rain. But, we still decided to go out to Andrews Air Force Base to the countries largest air show because momma loves the Blue Angels and Mady and Jonny love air planes!

As soon as we got off the Metro, the it started spitting on us. As soon as we got in line for the security check, the skies opened up! By the time the shuttle bus got to Andrews, we were in trouble! We forgot the umbrellas, they were down in the car! So we spent much of our time there huddled under the massive wings of some really awesome airplanes!

Finally, after a snack of some yummy Johnsonville brats, we decided to call it a day. The Blue Angels were not scheduled to fly until 3 pm and we were all too tired and wet! But, the kids were having such a great time looking at the airplanes and helicopters, I don't think they noticed too much! If the weather had been better, this would have been awesome!

We left after only an hour and came home to eat and go run some errands! Will this rain ever end....

Day 11

We started our day walking over to the Asian Cultual festival on Pennsylvania Avenue. It was close to the capital and the pic of the kids is outside the new Newseum Museum. Little did we know that it was free for law enforcement today or we would have gone in! We decided to go and get Five Guys burgers for lunch so we walked down to Wayne's building and ate there.



After a stop for fruit and snacks, we were off to the museum grass to play for awhile! Mady and Jonny had a great time running around and playing with the leaves! We had races and Mady won!




After we got tired of running around, we went to the American Indian Museum because they were having a special Hawaiian festival. This is such a nice museum and Mady made a little girl friend and had a good time playing with her. They had some activities for the kids and Mady and Jonny made a bookmark with Hawaiian symbols on it! We all had a great time and the best part was the water outside (not clean and not suitable for drinking according to the guard as Jon was trying to drink it!)







Our final stop of the day was at the National Law Enforcement Memorial. We missed the crowds that were there all week so we could see really see it and it was very moving. Mady and Jonny had gotten so tired that they both feel asleep, so mommy and daddy were able to look in peace. One of our friends from Roswell has a brother whose name in on the memorial, so while the kids were asleep, I got the rubbing for her! (I will try and get it in the mail before next year!!)




Whew! What a day! We ended it up going to Starbucks to take a potty break, get something to drink and then headed back to the grass to play! What I really enjoyed was walking in a new part of the city that we have never explored before. There are some really beautiful buildings in downtown DC!




So as the sun set in Washington DC, the whole family headed for the metro! We were all tired, but we had a great day! The kids even went to bed early! See you all tomorrow!