DC trip

Thanks to my dear parents (who stayed with my kids while I was gone) I was able to fly out and meet J in DC! We only had one full day to site-see so we had to really crunch stuff in, but it was a lot of fun. Saturday morning we did a session at the DC temple and then headed off to the monument mall. Here is J is with the capitol building in the distance.

The Lincoln Memorial

The WWII memorial

By the time we finished, it was starting to get dark and we were at least a 45 minute walk from where we had parked. We had seen bikes for rent and decided that was the best way to get back (since we didn't want to be wandering around once the sun went down). It was quite the adventure! J took me on an all-terrain bike ride that included some steep hills and a narrow tunnel. I'm glad he has that much confidence in my biking ability, but whew! I thought he might have to leave me behind a couple of times. Once we got to the car we couldn't find the bike drop-off so we had to load them in the {tiny} trunk of our rental car and take them back. The "trunk open" alarm was going off the whole time and once we got there we found it was a no-parking zone so J had to drive around in circles while I lugged the two bikes over to the bike rack. Now that's the stuff that memories are made of.

For our final excursion, Sunday afternoon we drove out to Ocean City (MD), but it was so windy, and a little cold, so all we did was go down the boardwalk and back up the beach.
I thought these colorful kites were pretty cool. Just behind them was a little amusement park. It totally made me think of my favorite movie as a tween: Beaches
And here is the boardwalk. Of course "Under the Boardwalk" (from Beaches) kept playing through my mind as we walked down it.
And since it wasn't very far we decided to check out Fenwick Island. Now we can add Delaware to the list of places we've been.
It was a fun little trip. Nice to have some time to reconnect before adding kids to the mix (but of course we were excited to see them when we got home AND they were excited to see us). Thanks Mom and Dad for making this trip possible!

preschool day at the farm

My how he's grown...

His beard that is! So here are the visible fruits of his 2 month labor in Afghanistan. J was worried about how much D would change in the time he was gone, but I think his beard changed him more! I kind of wanted him to keep it for the kids to see, but he was worried it would scare D so he shaved it off before we saw them. Thanks to my mom and dad, who watched the kids for us, I was able to fly out and meet J in DC and then we flew home together. More on that in a coming post. For now I will just say that we are all so glad to have him home!

Snails, glorious snails

Forget fresh produce. AP's favorite thing about the garden this year has been the snails!

brotherly LOVE!

Proud.

This post has been on my mind for weeks, but every time I sit down to write it the words won't come. There are just some things that create emotions too big to put on paper, and so I know I can't do justice to what I feel, but I need to try anyway, and just so you know ahead of time, it's going to be "wordy."

I grew up in a home where a love of America was evident and gratitude for our freedoms was shown. Our home library was filled with stories of American patriots like George Washington, Francis Scott Key, and Abraham Lincoln, along with others who lived the American dream like Jim Thorpe, James C. Penney, and Bob Hope. I remember hearing the story, "Man Without a Country" at age 6 or 7 and feeling deep in my heart gratitude to have a country; gratitude that America was MINE. Both of my grandfathers fought in WWII and I had uncles who had served in Viet Nam and Korea. I was proud of that. I remember singing "Proud to be an American" for the first time and feeling my heart swell so big I thought it would burst out of my chest. I still can't sing that song without my heart beating fast and tears welling up in my eyes.

When I met my husband it soon became evident to me that his love for America equalled my own. Only his love didn't stop with words or feelings. I knew he planned to do everything in his power to protect us and our freedoms. But I didn't know what that really meant until September 11, 2001. I was 8+ months pregnant with AJ, and working on the bumper pad for her cradle when J called telling me to turn on the news. As I watched the towers fall I couldn't even process what was happening, what this meant for our nation as a whole, or what it would mean for my family. But slowly it started to sink in. J was in his last year of law school, doing ROTC, and a volunteer in the National Guard. In a few short months he would be going on active duty; it was inevitable that at some point he would be deploying into a war zone. He was ready and willing and would have shipped out right then. And while I supported him in that desire, I admit I was scared. But he never was and never has been. And now as he is away, serving and protecting, my heart swells. I'm not scared, I'm proud.

J and I hit our 13th wedding anniversary last week, and as I thought about it, his reason for missing it is tied directly to one of the things I love most about him, one of the big reasons I knew he was the one for me. He is a patriot through and through and doesn't just talk about loving his country, he doesn't just feel, he acts. I am grateful for him and for his example to me. He is my Moroni and I have always felt this excerpt from The Book of Mormon should be talking about him:

Alma 48:11-13, 16-17

" And Moroni was a ^astrong and a mighty man; he was a man of a perfect ^bunderstanding; yea, a man that did not delight in bloodshed; a man whose soul did joy in the liberty and the freedom of his country, and his brethren from bondage and slavery; Yea, a man whose heart did swell with thanksgiving to his God, for the many privileges and blessings which he bestowed upon his people; a man who did labor exceedingly for the ^awelfare and safety of his people.

Yea, and he was a man who was firm in the faith of Christ, and he had ^asworn with an oath to defend his people, his rights, and his country, and his religion, even to the loss of his blood ...and this was the faith of Moroni, and his heart did glory in it; ^bnot in the shedding of blood but in doing good, in preserving his people, yea, in keeping the commandments of God, yea, and resisting iniquity.

Yea, verily, verily I say unto you, if all men had been, and were, and ever would be, like unto ^aMoroni, behold, the very powers of hell would have been shaken forever; yea, the ^bdevil would never have power over the hearts of the children of men."

I love my husband. I hope he knows how deeply I do and how proud of him I am. I love my country. I hope my children will understand the blessings they have from living in this land and realize that their freedom comes at a price. That their dad may be gone for a little while, but that he is doing good and important things to ensure they continue to benefit from the liberties we now enjoy. I hope they will realize that their sacrifice is a little one. Their dad will be home soon, but there are others who have sacrificed so much more; those whose dads have and will be gone a lot longer. And there are some whose dads will never come home. I am so grateful to those in the military (including my brother as well as other family and dear friends) and all of those who have and continue to sacrifice for my sake and work hard to keep us all safe, both at home and abroad. I am proud to be an American!

They're off!

Yes this post is very late, but my excuse is that I had to use a 35 mm disposable camera for AJ's pictures since the digital camera could not be found. And just so you know it is impossible to find anyone who does 1 hour film processing anymore. It took me over a week to get my pictures back. Now on with the post as I started typing it over a week ago...

As exhausted as I am at the end of the summer and relieved to have a break coming, I'm always a little sad to send my kids off to school. Josh came by at 7:25 this morning to pick AP up on his way and taking pictures escaped my radar so these were taken after school. He said the first day had good parts and bad parts. Some really fun, cool things and some other disappointing and hard things. Welcome to Jr. High bud!
Here he is holding his latest giant microbe, food poisoning. It arrived in the mail today and was just what he needed to finish off the day.
While the older kids were at school D and I spent a couple of hours at the doctor's office. I really didn't think he was that sick since his energy level has been completely normal, but he started coughing Sunday and was really wheezing and had a hard time breathing last night so I took him in. Poor kid has pneumonia. I swear this child cannot catch a break! But he just takes it all in stride and stays as happy as can be.
This year AJ wanted to pick out all of her own stuff. She planned her first day outfit in advance (even drew it all out). All summer anytime we went into a store she went directly to the clothing section. Then she started complaining about how I only ever buy what is on sale. So we sat down and decided together what she needed, I gave her a budget, and we went shopping. I was exhausted after a few hours, but she could have shopped on and on and on... she loved every minute of it and did a really good job with her budget. Here is the outfit planned down to the little details like earings, nail polish, and shoes.
These are not the earrings she bought to go with this outfit. Those she took to Grandma's house where they disappeared (Grandma has looked everywhere with no luck). So I made these Sunday night and she approved.


And finally pictures of my Little Bear off to preschool. He started a week later than the other two. He cried. And I admit I did a little too. If I didn't feel like he needs the social benefits I wouldn't send him because I love having my little buddy around. But he couldn't be going anywhere better than Miss Karie's (she is amazing and her preschool philosophy is right in line with my own), so I'm happy to know that he's in good hands. And besides it's only twice a week for two hours. Just enough time to do a quick errand or two.

oh hair!

Oh hair why can't we get along? I've accepted that you will never give me luscious long locks and tried meeting you half-way, but even then you chose to hang limply. So I have tried layers but then you leave me with too little underneath. You refuse to give me any volume despite all of the extra special treatments I've given you; sprays, creams, conditioners, color... So I cut you to my chin in hopes you would respond with a little more bounce, which you did, and we were both happy for a little while. But then you decided to leave me with little in front. So I tried a heavier bang hoping to cover those bare spots, and now you've left me nothing in back. So here I am, much shorter than you or I wanted to go, but at least I can always count on you to grow. So go ahead and grow. I will try and be patient while you do if you will try and work with me in the meantime. Then we can start this fun process all over again...

motherly musings

Last night at bedtime D said (pointing in the direction of each of our rooms):

"This is my room, that's your room, AP's room, and AJ's room." pause "Hmm. I don't think Daddy has a room." pause (thinking) "Oh! You let Daddy sleep in your room right?" I said, "Yes, Daddy and I share a room." He responded, "Right. You're so nice you share your room with Daddy."



Then while he was getting his haircut he said to the girl, "You're doing a good job. It looks great!" Both of the stylists there giggled and the one doing his hair told him thank you and that was a nice thing to say. He smiled and nodded.



Yesterday afternoon AJ was mad at me because I wouldn't let her play (her room wasn't clean), but I said something that made her laugh and she said, "Mom, I just love you so I can never stay mad at you very long."