Washingto DC in pictues

Library of Congress

 We had a great trip to Washington DC at the end of October. Justin and Emma are both learning about American history this year so we thought it was a great opportunity to teach them something. When Justin was in 5th grade the teacher wanted him to know the zip code of the NY Twin Towers and said DC as part of Maryland. So we decided not to leave their education solely in the hands of the public education system. We were nervous with the government shutdown and almost canceled the trip, but it reopened a few days before we got there. We saw just about everything:: Air and Space Museum (both locations), American Indian Museum, American History Museum, Spy Museum, Ford's Theatre, Washington Monument, White House, Lincoln Memorial, Jefferson Memorial, Korean War Memorial, Vietnam Memorial, US Bureau of Engraving and Printing, Gettysburg, an Amish Farm, the Capitol, sessions of both the House and Senate, Supreme Court, Hishhorn Museum, Freer Museum, Postal Museum, US Botanical Gardens, WWII Memorial, and the Library of Congress. We couldn't go in the Washington Memorial or the White House. The White House reopened for tours after a long hiatus about a week after we got home. I probably forgot something, but as you can see we packed a lot in . We wore out the kids, but they enjoyed riding the subway and I think a little bit of what we were trying to teach them sunk in. They all kept journals of the trip. Justin's favorite part was Hishhorn Museum, Emma and Mia loved the American Indian and Spy Museums. My favorite was the Amish farm and Ford's Theatre. Charlie liked the Air and Space museums and the Amish farm.

Library of Congress

American Indian Museum

American Indian Museum

Air and Space Museum (Downtown)

Korean War Memorial

The Capitol

US Botanical Garden (1000 bloom chrysanthemum)

US Botanical Garden

Natural History Museum

Natural History Museum

Air and Space (Dulles location?)

Gettysburg

 

American History Museum

Natural History Museum

Natural History Museum

Mia's classmate asked for a picture of "all of DC"

Smithsonian Castle in Legos

Smithsonian Castle

Hishhorn Museum

Air and Space Museum

Air and Space Museum

Air and Space Museum

Air and Space Museum

Gettysburg

Gettysburg

Amish Farm

Amish Farm (plates I had as a kid)

Amish Farm Lancaster, PA

Amish Farm

Amish Farm

Capitol

Capitol

Capitol (Helen Keller)

Capitol (Frederick Douglas)

Capitol (Brigham Young)

Capitol ceiling

Air and Space Museum (Dulles)

Air and Space Museum (Dulles)

The day after we got home was Halloween

The Most Powerful Man in the Universe

Charlie brought some food to school for Emma's class party. A kid saw him and turned to Emma. She said "Wow, is that your Dad? He is huge!" Emma said "yea, he is strong. One time he showed us his muscles and they are GIGANTIC!"

The Power of Love

Emma came home with a school assignment to list around 50 talents she has. She listed "art and horse back riding". She told me she needed some help thinking of more. I listed a few then said she is loving. She said "love is a powerful thing... love is a powerful source." When she says things like this she tries to be really serious and heartfelt. Her voice gets all soft and weird. I couldn't hold it in and burst out laughing. Then I was yelled at.

Got Your Back

This week some boys called Emma some swear words at school. I told Justin about it and he clenched his jaw and kept mumbling under his breath. I asked if he was upset, and he told me of course he was. He was going to go over to that school and ...and... I asked what he would really do. Everything he came up with included duct tape. Duct tape their mouths shut, duct tape them to the monkey bars (where the incident occurred), or get duct tape in their hair so it hurts and pulls some hairs out. I pointed out that anything he did to those boys would wind up getting him in a lot of trouble.

Justin told me that his buddy went to the school to scare some boys that were picking on his little brother. I mentioned that I had done the same thing when my little brother got picked on. Justin was very curious how I had handled it. I said that I went up to the kid, stood really close so that I towered over him and told him he better be careful and keep away. Meanwhile Tyler stood in the background and yelled "ha ha!" Justin said "Tyler is awesome!"

This reminds me of another infamous story in our family. When Tyler was in 5th or 6th grade some boys from school came down the horse trail behind our house and saw Tyler playing in the backyard. They were boys he didn't get along with at school. They demanded to jump on our trampoline. Tyler said no, squirted them with a water gun, and told them it was pee. They chased him and started jumping on the trampoline. Tyler ran inside and called out to his five sisters who were home. We came racing outside and chased the boys down the horse trail. Christy or Tricia, depending on who tells the story, yelled "You better run! I have a butcher knife and am going to stick it up your butt and twirl it around!" (No one really had a knife.) Finally we cornered them and made them come back to our house. We made them wipe off the trampoline, take off their shoes, and jump on it while we watched them. One brave little punk said we better be careful because his dad was in jail. Tricia said "oh yea, our dad hasn't been caught yet!" One kid had his older brother with him who was my age. He refused to obey us until I went inside looked up his phone number and we threatened to call his dad. Then they all jumped on the trampoline crying while we watched and laughed.

Hurt Spot

Justin came home from school a few weeks ago and said he had a "hurt spot". I raised my eyebrows. He explained that he had hit his forehead several times during the day and it was killing him... thus the "hurt spot". I inspected the "hurt spot" and informed him it was a pimple. He said no, it was hurt from repeatedly being hit really hard. I said it was a pimple and was really sensitive so it felt like he was hitting it hard. We got a kick out him calling it a "hurt spot" so now that is the default term in our house for anything that hurts.

What Hero?

We were watching General Conference for church last week. One story told of a 105 year old man who told his family he was going to die the next week then he did.

Justin: Wow, that man was telepathic!
Me: Telepathic?
Justin: No, not telepathic. I meant sidekick.
Me: Sidekick? A sidekick to who?
Justin: Why are you laughing? Not A sidekick, just sidekick.
Me: Who's the hero? Sidekicks always have heroes.
Justin: Why are you laughing?
Me: I think you me psychic, not sidekick.

More Barbie Nightmares

I finally got around to downloading the photos from my phone for the last year.I know some of my twisted friends will love this. I found this on the entry table along with the other Halloween decorations. I guess my kids thought this was a good decoration everyone should see when they walk in our front door.

Mia Mia Mia

My little Mia is eight. We celebrated as a family at Universal Studios. She finally got her favorite lunch... Panda Express. Nobody in the family ever wants to eat there so she pretty much gets it on her birthday and maybe one other time. Mia is such a sweet girl. She is so cuddly. I love her to pieces. She is such a loving, rough and tumbly girl. She is so smart and spunky. This special birthday Mia was baptized. It was beautiful.

A couple days ago I was driving with the girls. We were playing spelling bee. I gave Emma the word "brunette". She spelt it and then I asked what it meant. She didn't know. Then Mia piped up "I know what it means. It is that thing on your bum. You know, that thing from when people would sit and drink tea." Now I am really confused. I kept interrupting her and asking what she was talking about. She said "it is like a net girls wore over their bums to make their butts look poofy." Finally I got it. A bustle...

Emma's Gems

Emma pays a lot of attention to details. She often is offended by lyics to songs. She wants to know why Cindi Lauper sings about living in a "Danger Zone". She likes the music, but is concerned about dangerous living. :) She will talk about everything she is thinking for as long as you allow her to go on.

Yesterday we were listening to the radio. The song changed and I quickly changed it, but not quick enough. Emma starts "Wow, that last song was about having a heart attack and now that one was about drinking and doing drugs. Why would anyone want to do drugs!?! Some drugs make you stay up all night. That would make you be like a vampire and a human. You would be like a vampire because you would stay up during the night, and you would be like a human because you would be awake during the day. That would be crazy! Why would anyone want that?" There was a short pause. "What is double jointed?" I explained and gave an elbow as an example. "That is creepy. It almost sounds like a zombie. When I see the part in Harry Potter (when he doesn't have any bones in his arm and can bend it) it makes me want to throw up. "

...And a few minutes later. "Sometimes I like to stick my head out of the car window when we're driving because I like to look at the patterns in the road. Did you ever notice all the patterns in the road? I wonder what the road feels like. I wonder if the paint in the street is smooth."

100%

Mia asked for otter pops this summer. I was at Costco and picked some up. When I got home I looked closer at the box, then started to laugh.

"100% fruit juice from concentrate with added ingredients". Doesn't adding ingredients make it NOT 100% fruit juice? So naturally I read the ingredient list. Water, juice concentrate, sugar, and less than 2% dyes and additives.

This reminds me of my CPA exam. Occasionally someone would wish me luck and say get 100%. To which I had to respond that they do not give 100%'s.  If you answer everything correctly the highest score you can get is 99%. They claim it is because each problem is weighted for difficulty... and I thought accountants were supposed to be good at math. Silly me.

Precious Mia

Last night was Open House at school for the girls. Mia had to draw a picture of herself and describe herself. It is too adorable. Here is what she wrote:

"Mia
Funny, Loving, and athletic
Who is good at horseback riding
Who likes to swim and draw
Who needs love and hugs
Who feels kind and nice
Who believes in Jesus and God
Who wants to visit Hawaii and Heaven
Who plans to be an artist
Who dreams of Candyland
Who fears nothing
Who loves dogs and cats
Hibbits"

SHHH!

So I am sworn to secrecy, but if I leave out the names of the innocent it is okay, right? One of my children told me last week that she heard a kid at school likes her. She pointed him out to me. I didn't think much of it. Then yesterday she told me that her friend gave her a note from him. It said something about how he was sorry for being an idiot earlier (she doesn't know what he is talking about), and it had a "P.S. I have a crush on you. P.P.S. Can we talk?" He asked her if she had gotten the note from the mutual friend. She said yes. Then he asked what she thought of the P.S. part. As she was telling me she smiled, blushed, and twisted her arms in front of her. She told him she thought the note was adorable. I interjected that she is much too young for boyfriends. She looked at me as if to say "duh" and said she knows, so she told him he could be her B.F.F.A.E.A.E. Translation? Best friend forever and ever and ever. I asked what that entailed. She said they play together. I asked if he tried to hold her hand or kiss her. Her reaction was priceless. She looked disgusted (whew) and said she is too young to be doing kissing stuff or dating. She is only old enough for playdates. :) The boy kept the note, but let her keep the envelope. It had his name, address, and a stamp.

What Have I Become?

If you told me thirteen years ago what I would be doing as a mother I may have rethought the whole thing. Yesterday Charlie called all the kids to the kids' bathroom. There was a two centimeter brown blob on the sink counter. He asked which kid had done it. No takers. I smelt the blob and reported that it was partially digested toast. Suddenly Mia remembered that she was eating toast for breakfast and needed to brush her teeth, so naturally she spit the toast out onto the counter. The kicker is that once she admitted it was her she turned to walk out of the bathroom. I had to turn her around to clean up the mess. Then I started to think about what my life had become. I mentioned to Charlie all the nasty things I've had to smell over the years with kids just to determine how much/what type of cleaning it required. Why do I always get stuck with smelling the nasty stuff? Either I am a better judge of smells or as I suspect Charlie has just been playing dumb all these years. He can never tell what anything is and when he tries I still end up having to smell it.

Be Mine

Yesterday on the way home from school I casually, half joking, asked Justin if anyone had asked him to be their valentine. He said yes, just three girls. Luckily I didn't crash the car. The first two girls came up to him, separately, and asked. He said no thank you to each of them. One keep pestering him so he told her he would say yes if she left him alone. Then he ignored her. He thought he was so smart avoiding her. Then a third girl came up to him and asked. She even gave him candy. He said sorry, he was taken. Then he asked me if I would be his valentine. So sweet, I 'm pretty sure he was partly kidding, but I will take it while I can. Then he yelled to Charlie "Ha, Dad, Mom's taken!" He gave me a big hug. I really love this kid.

Justin also got his braces off this week. :)