Little Astronauts

 We visited the NASA Visitor Center on Wallops Island this week. Most of the exhibits were not for 4 and 6 year olds, but there was a puppet/DVD presentation that kept their attention. What they learned? That when astronauts are in their space suits for 6-8 hours at a time, they have a candy bar to eat, a straw to drink from and they wear diapers. I'm not sure that was worth our day, BUT a kid is always going to remember something as funny as an adult wearing a diaper!

 Someone thought this was an appropriate parking spot for a tractor. Sigh.

 Aliza did not know that Anna found a way to play with her Lalaloopsy dolls. Good thing.

Today was one of those days when there were a million and one things to do and needy children. Now that I think about it I did accomplish a good number of things, but there are still toys on dirty floors. Another sigh.

The Wedding Shower

 On the day of Linda's wedding shower there was a Nor-easter in our area. It was pouring rain. I had to go grocery shopping in the morning and on the way, I was cracking myself up thinking about how it was showering on Linda's shower day. I had to call Linda and tell her...it's just her kind of humor. As for me, I don't get out much!

 Laura's idea was to use our wedding dresses for decoration. Driving up it looked like a bridal boutique. I thought maybe Dad would appreciate his investments being "used" again. He didn't really care and quickly left the house! =) It was fun anyway.

Janell's

Mine.

Mom's (Made by her Mother. Mom had to really talk to get a veil. The veil is lace and is longer than her dress.)

Gramma's (Made by her Aunt. It is a cape dress.)

 Aliza wanted to give Linda a present. Her Lalaloopsy obsession has become matching a doll to each person's personality. Aliza decided to give Linda Cinder Slippers and Prince Handsome. It was a most heartfelt gift. Aliza told me this gift was really hard to give because she wanted to keep it.

 My sisters, Mom, and Aliza

 This wasn't in the original plan, but we put our wedding dresses on. Janell, bless her heart, was such a good sport. She just had a baby and her dress is a contour style that was absolutely stunning on her. She's using her train to cover up. Me? Well, I couldn't breathe. At.All. It took some time to recover after taking it off! Mom. I zipped hers right up. Meghan. She was glad she is pregnant!

Today I helped carry boxes out of Linda's room so she can move to PA. Aliza caught on that Linda is moving and she was feeling very sad for Linda. She thinks Linda will miss us a lot! We will miss her. Linda is too happy to think about missing us yet. We are sending her off with lots of love and shower blessings.

National Harbor

 We had the chance to meet Jeremy's parents for a day and two nights in National Harbor. It's a great place for a bit of big city feel with smaller crowds. We arrived at supper time which was not in the "make-in-the-condo" meal plan. I thought pizza would go over well with the children so I scouted out a place and we set out. It was a fun place with great food...and big city prices. We have never paid so much for pizza. It was really thin crust and I ordered a cheese and pepperoni. I had to specify that we wanted tomato sauce on our cheese pizza and we decided to keep with the "normal" cheeses so that maybe kiddos would eat it.  There was more than one occasion when I felt that we needed signs on our backs saying we are from the country.

Jeremy and I went out to lunch together. I would hate to admit to myself how long it has been since we've been out. I'm not sure why it seems like such an effort to make babysitting arrangements. Anyway, we went out without a plan and decided to eat at a place called Saucity. So.Fun. The booths were practically couches longer than the tables. (We sat on the same side. I was tempted to put my feet up and snuggle in, but that may have made it obvious we weren't used to such dining!) It was a simple lunch, but the presentation of the food made it seem so special.

There was lots of fun in the pool. Anna was very uncertain about the water. Especially about Daddy being the water. So she snuggled up on my lap. I loved every minute of that. My busy girl doesn't do much snuggling!

 Josiah got a little bit of alone time with Grandma and Grandpa.

 Aliza enjoyed posing for Grandpa to take pictures.

 We call this a family picture!

 And when a little boy swims and plays all day without a nap he is too tired to walk home after an ice cream outing so his Mama has to give him a piggy back ride.

We had a really great time together. Jeremy and I have to keep reminding ourselves that today is only Saturday. We are home and the weekend isn't over yet. There is more fun and memories to be made tomorrow!

Beach Day in April

 I did what did not seem possible last summer...I took 3 children to the beach by myself. We met Meghan and her boys there, which was comforting, but I made it to the beach and back home alone. It's amazing how much changes in less than a year. Everyone had a lot of fun. Aliza spent her time in the *cold* water. Josiah and Caleb did lots of digging. Anna sat on Aunt Meghan's lap for a very long time and then decided to check out the sand. I didn't mind that she stayed on the sand instead of heading straight into the water like she did last summer.

When we got home Aliza explained to me that she wanted a bathing suit with straps and high legs. I happened to be going to store so I checked out the selection of one piece bathing suits. I picked one out and when Aliza tried it on she told me that this new bathing suit was "much more fashionable." I liked the swim shirts...I didn't have to worry about sunscreen. That's ok. My Messy Princess is more than welcome to be fashionable!

Flying Kites and Going Bowling

 Jeremy went golfing in Atlantic City this weekend so the children and I packed up and had a slumber party at Grandma and Grandad's house. One day I will have to grow up and learn how to sleep alone in my house. I am SO wimpy at night...I get scared over everything.

It's a rare occasion to get to sleep at Grandma and Grandad's house so we made the most of it! Great Gramma started off the fun with a picnic lunch and then Grandad flew kites with Aliza and Josiah. This was a first for them and they had a ball. 

 One of my sisters became a member of the church she attends this morning, so I went to church with her. That was fun and, in the course of conversation, I met two families that home school.

Aliza had somehow picked this date as a day to go bowling. As sometimes happens, her plan worked out. Grandad, Aliza, Josiah and I went bowling. (Grandma slept in the living room with a stuffy nosed Anna last night so she and Anna stayed home and took a nap!) This was Josiah's first time bowling.

Josiah watched every ball down the lane. Often he turned around and gave us a thumbs up.

 Aliza had a great time. She got several spares and almost beat me!

 Josiah was very excited about his spare!

 He was not at all happy with how this roll ended. Without a nap, Josiah was a very emotional player!

Jeremy had fun golfing and I'm glad he's home. I feel like a still need a weekend though! The weather is supposed to be nice and warm again this week. We'll have fun...but we are also going to keep persevering with school!

Sewing

I've decided that I want to sew. Pinterest is good for sparking new interest in things I have done in the long ago past. That would be high school. I made several fairly complicated dresses for ACE State Convention. I have no idea why Mom allowed me to undertake such projects, but I did complete them under her watchful eye. I wonder what happened to those dresses? Oh well, that's beside the point.

I went to our local fabric store last night. I've decided to make a circle skirt. I studied the tutorial and it looks easy enough. Black polka dots for me and colorful polka dots for the girls is what I had in mind when I walked in the store. This store always has sale signs everywhere so I scouted out the polka dots figuring they were on sale. There was exactly what I had in mind so I grabbed them and went to get the fabric cut.

The sales lady cutting my fabric quickly pointed out that the 2 fabrics I chose for the girls were full price. (I came home and told Jeremy he should fire me as the family shopper. I am not a good shopper at all!!) This "helpful" lady inquired about my project as is common in fabric stores. I told her and she then proceeded to point out to me the 1.99 fabric saying she would never cut full price fabric on a pattern she hadn't tried before. (Ok. I already know I'm not that great of a shopper...and how do you know that I haven't sewn in years!!) The fabric I picked out for myself is a little sheer so she took it upon her self to ask me if I was planning to line it or use the fabric for a blouse.

So with that start we'll see how this sewing project turns out. Good thing I'm planning to do it at Mom's house so she can bail me out when I make a mistake. Or maybe I've grown up enough that I will ask for help before I make a mistake. And I have a couple sisters who have better sewing instincts than I! With that safety net there's no reason for failure.

Their Easter Gift

 Since I knew Great Gramma was giving the children an Easter basket, I decided to take the opportunity to get them a toy I knew they really wanted. Josiah has been wanting a boy Lalaloopsy doll, Ace Fender Bender, and Aliza got the RC Cruiser. They both knew the present was coming, but they wanted it hidden and were each excited when they found it.

 After opening their eggs they went outside and played together. I can't tell you how much it still warms my heart when they play together with so much excitement. Later that afternoon they visited Great Gramma and Great Grandad. I saw that Josiah and Great Grandad went out to the shop together. After a while they emerged from the shop and Josiah came running to show me what they had made.

It's a bunk bed for Ace Fender Bender and his pet monkey. This was Josiah's vision of how the bed should be constructed.

 Great Gramma gave Josiah a washcloth for Ace's pillow and a hand towel for his blanket. One of Great Grandad's handkerchief's is monkey's blanket.

That night Josiah took great care putting his friend to bed.

Resurrection Day

 I'm so glad we celebrate Easter in the spring. Seeds make great analogies for new life and the resurrection of Jesus. Not only do we celebrate the resurrection of our Savior, we celebrate the hope of our own resurrection after death and eternity spent in the presence of Jesus. The sermon was based on 1 Corinthians 15 and Paul's defense of the resurrection to the church in Corinth. With that in mind we enjoyed some family time and a great finish to the Master's tournament. 

All 3 of my children are on the couch...holding still...for a split second!

There was a cell phone in Anna's Easter basket. That's all she needed.

Aliza was fast!

It took Josiah a minute to remember how this works, but he remembered and had fun.

I saw this on Pinterest. Dying the whites of hard boiled eggs. It worked well. These eggs were almost neon colors!

Pieces of Life

• We made invitations for my sister's wedding this week. I was the mastermind behind them and did a bunch of prep work. It was exciting to have them finished. I was tempted to post a picture, but figured I should wait until they are mailed! 
• Lalaloopsy still rules our house. Josiah has jumped on board. I remind them both at least once every day that they have a bad case of the gimmies. Too bad those dolls are so cute, I'm frequently tempted to buy too often.
• I'm pushing to keep school moving this month. 
• Aliza and I seem to have teenager/Mom exchanges during the day. Most of it stems from my need to keep her on task with her schoolwork. I sometimes worry about her view of me. Then there are moments like this afternoon when she tells me she wants to sing a song to me on the front porch. The gist of the song was that our day started rough and Mommy is a "Bossy R" (phonics association) but I love Mommy more than anything. And at the end of the song she comes to me with a sweet smile and a hug. 
• I'm reading The boy who came back from heaven. It is hard to put down. I'd been taking moments to read a page here and there and realized it was almost suppertime and I had better pick up some toys so that Jeremy didn't think I really had been reading all day.
• I went in the bathroom today only to discover that Josiah had peed in the trashcan. Apparently he and Aliza needed the potty at the same time and this was the solution. Seriously??
• I'm looking forward to a wonderful Easter celebration this weekend.

Coloring Eggs

 Our annual Egg Coloring Event happened this week. And it was an event. Even the Daddy's got in on the action!

The boy side of the table

Anna working on her "project."

The girl side of the table.

Anna's finished product.

The foam rollers were fun.

Adding stickers.