Washington D.C. - Day 1

Sunday - a 12 hour car ride with my family :)
After many hours of driving in what is now my most favorite vehicle EVER, we arrived safe and sound in Washington D.C. just in time to pile up in our hotel beds and get some rest before out first big day in the big city.  There were three major heroes that emerged from this journey...

Our new van.  Comfortable seating for all.  Plenty of room for all our luggage.  A DVD system with headphones for all the viewers while the pilot and co-pilot listen to something else.  A complaint about being a van mom with never again cross my lips.  I drive this baby around with pride!

Happy Feet.  I should count my blessings that my sweet boy has good taste in kid's movies.  I could be worse, he could be addicted to Barney, or The Wiggles, or like Kayden and his Kid Songs.  But no, my boy wants "Hapeet," a swingin', penguin tap-dancin' story of love and courage choc full of great music!    And because we love Sam (or just need to chill him out) we watched it several times and can now quote every line, our favorite being "Wives hoooo" at the top of our lungs.

"Brudders."  Sam's two big brothers are superheros in my book.  For every time they watched Happy Feet (again), picked up blankie and duck off the floor, played peek-a-boo, and otherwise entertained a 1-year old in a car seat for 12 hours, I am thankful!

Monday - Arlington Cemetery

We started our D.C. trip with Arlington Cemetery.  Everyone was very silent and reverent as we toured these "hallowed grounds."  

As far as the eye could see, identical head stones in neat little rows.

(and a bunch of fancy lawn mowers, which Sam loved)

JFK's burial place

The first rotunda at Arlington

  We walked this structure in search of a few seed pods on the ground from the trumpet vines that now completely canopy the perimeter and found a few.  Now, to try and grow some of our own...

Changing of the Guard at 

Tombs of the Unknown

I had no idea there was such a great story behind the tombs of the unknown soldiers.  There is an unknown, unidentified soldier who fought and died in each of the WWII, Korean, and Vietnam Wars who was exhumed from his/her original burial place and placed here in Arlington to represent all the unknown soldiers who were lost in battle.  In the late 80's the "unknown" from the Vietnam war was exhumed again and identified using modern forensic technology.  

The guard changes every 30 minutes at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers...we watched it twice.

 

The Rotunda Room

Made completely from marble, the current (and past) presidents have held a many a 

meetings and delivered speeches here in this very place where my handsome boys sit.

Iwa Jima - Marine Corps Memorial

My marine man looked like he had a little dust caught in his eye when visiting this place.  The last entry on the wall of all the battles fought by the Marine Corps was Somalia.  

We had lunch at Pentagon City Mall, and Oh My Lanta was it big!  Four stories, as far as the eye could see, was nothing but retail shopping overload!  Too bad we are on a tight budget and we didn't buy a thing, except lunch in the food court.  It was hard to believe our country is in a deep recession.

We ended the night at George Washington's Gristmill with a photographer.  

Here's a sneak peek of the photos she took. I will post more on that later...

And, I won't go into all the details of finding dinner and our way back to the hotel that night, but I will say we were happy to see a Checkers and at least one of us just gave up on food altogether and fell asleep with no dinner at all.  Ah, good times.  

A Heart Flip

I'll just be honest, when I think of myself, "courageous," isn't the first word that comes to mind.  I'm more of a feet planted firmly on the ground, extremely conservatively invested in government bonds kind of girl.  I happily hold everyone's stuff at Six Flags while they risk their lives enjoy themselves on  roller-coasters.  I don't do risks.  I don't do thrills.  I don't do heights...but Character Quest does.

For a week each summer, 4th-6th graders gather together for a week of physical and spiritual challenges.  We learn more about God together and form relationships that will never be forgotten.  My role this year was a 4th grade counselor.  It was my job to teach 10 girls about various characters in the Bible who found their strength in the Lord and encourage them to stretch their own faith in several challenging events this week, like this one...the HIGH ropes course.  

Weeks before camp began, I began praying that God would use me as his vessel to speak to these girls and that God would give me a spirit of courage, so that if the opportunity ever arose for ME to participate in any of these events, I would be able to SHOW my girls strong faith and be a fearless example to them.

During the actual camp, there was never enough time for me to actually do any of these events myself, but I did coach a many a screaming, sniveling, scared girls to conquer their fears and complete these challenges.  And, each time they did, they positively beamed with self-confidence and really experienced what it was like to lean on God, trust in Him, and accomplish amazing things.  I could not have been more proud of the progress my group of girls made.  They pulled together, supported and prayed for each other, and overcame some serious fears.

Last night, at the Character Quest banquet, I had the opportunity to complete the high ropes course with my sweet husband (who really is fearless.)  My heart was filled with fear.  It was really high.  The obstacles were awkward.  But, I replaced that emotion with faith. In God.  In the equipment.  In my capabilities.  I had a heart flip...and it was GREAT!

For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and love and self-control.

2 Timothy 1:7

Park Picnic

Still working on the summer bucket list... 

Today was the perfect day for a picnic at the park.  Anamana had to work today, so it was me and the Big 3.  It was a group effort in the kitchen this morning to make sandwiches and pack snacks.

Then, we loaded up the wagon and walked over to the park.

By the time we got there (which only took about 10 minutes),

 everyone was hungry and agreed we should eat first and then play. 

Today's Menu:

Homeade PB&J uncrustables

CedarRock blackberries

Fruit Snacks

Roarin' Waters

 When we finished our lunch, we moved on to party tricks.

Kayden showed off his headstand.

 ...which made Sam have to try it too.

 And, Cameron would certainly not be outdone.

Then, we played "parachute" with our blanket.

We held hands and ran down the grassy hills together...

...until someone fell.  

And we finished up with some quality tire swing time at the playground.

Picnic at the park with these guys...CHECK!

Picking Blackberries

This year, our summer bucket list includes picking blackberries and making homeade cobbler.  We went out to CedarRock and picked until our little fingers had enough.  When Kayden and Cameron had finished baiting the trot lines, they came to join us too (with a little Gator help from Kimmie and Pawpaw).

The cover rows had blackberry bushes everywhere!  We would pick a 

while in one spot and get back in the car and move on to another.  

Speak of car...did I mention we got a new one?

I am officially a van mom, and I love it!  We got a new Nissan Quest on Tuesday.  

Sam loves the DVD player.  I love the backup camera for little people and their little toys.  

Bring on the long car trips and soccer games!

We ended up with half a gallon of blackberries, ripe and ready for cobbler.

I whipped up some mini-cobblers and Sam would run to the oven every few minutes to check on the "back-bellies".  I would ask him, "How are they looking?" and he would smile and say, "Good!"

Fresh blackberry cobbler made from hand-picked blackberries...CHECK!

RC Cola & Moon Pie Festival

JJ came to town this weekend, and we decided to load up and all go to the 12th annual RC Cola & Moon Pie festival in Bell Buckle.  Even though I only live about 20 minutes away, I am sad to admit I had never been...until now!  The boys had their picture taken with the world's largest Moon Pie.

We found a good spot on the town square and waited for the parade to start.

Bell Buckle is known for its small town charm.  The parade was led by the town's only police car and included antique covered wagons and fire engines too.

Funny story:

I wanted to be sure JJ got the full Bell Buckle effect, so we walked up to the Bell Buckle Antique Mall.  I was pushing Sam's stroller and knew he was asleep but couldn't see him because the canopy was up.  EVERY person that passed us smiled and giggled at what I thought was my adorably cute child.  When we had finished looking at all the treasures and walked back outside, I went to check on my little sleeping angel and found this... no wonder every person I passed smiled and laughed!

Kayden wanted his face painted like Spiderman.  Then "monkey see.." wanted his face done the same way.  I knew in my gut this might not be the best idea, but I let Cam get his face painted too.  I tried really hard to get a good picture of the SpiderMen, but this was as good as it got. 

About 5 minutes later, Cameron got mad and didn't want his picture taken.  

He started crying, and his newly-painted face morphed into this...

It didn't take a super mom to know our trip to the Moon Pie Festival was about over.  

We headed straight to the car and 10 minutes later, we had this...

To All The Baby Mommas

Can I get an "Oh yea" from all the moms out there who have suddenly realized your last shower was on Sunday...and today is Wednesday?!  Or, a "That's me" if you can't remember the last time you "went potty" without an audience?!  Are all the clothing coupons in your email inbox from Carter's and Children's Place?!  If fruit snacks and juice boxes have taken over your purse, you're in the club.  What about a "Preach on, sister!" if your TV is always tuned to a kids channel, never leave home without your diaper coupons, or no longer acknowledge that 9:30 comes twice a day?!

It happens; it's the sign of a super mom, putting our babies' needs before our own.  We love them.  They need us, and we give. and give. and give.  But we also owe it to our babies to lead by example, to show them courage, strength, commitment in our own lives.  We owe it to them to take good care of ourselves.  Thank you to some of my supermom friends for reminding me to take better care of ME!

Ten weeks ago, Suszane and I began a training program to run a 5K.  We commited to 3 days a week, every week, to run together after school.  Ten weeks ago, we were hard pressed to run for 3 minutes straight and couldn't even fathom the idea of running 30 minutes.  It seemed impossible, but we registered for a race.  Each week, we followed our program instructions, ran when we were told, walked when we were told and slowly worked our way up to running for a full 30 minute workout.  It wasn't easy.  Every single week was a challenge.  Our schedules were tight, and it took a great degree of commitment.  There were days we had to run during our planning period at school just to stay on schedule, but we did it.  I learned a few things during our training:

1. Running is indeed cheaper than therapy.  There was an aweful lot of talking, listening, blowing off steam, and solution-making going on on those walks (although less and less as we began running more and more.)  I am grateful for a listening ear and the opportunity to build a strong friendship with a fellow super mom.  Thank you to my sole sista, Suszane, for pushing me to finish strong, everytime.  
2. There is truth to "mind over matter." A many of my practice runs were completed with me wanting to quit for most (ok, sometimes the whole) time.  I refused, and each time I got a little stronger.  Each time I surprised myself at what I was capable of, at how strong I could be.
3. Crossing the finish line of my first race was exhausting...and addicting.  By no means would I commit to "loving running," but I'm certainly not quiting.  Not now.  I'm itching to register for my next race, and begin training for a 10K.  Who would have thought?! Me, a runner!

Today, we ran the race we have been training for, the Pillsbury Doughboy Challenge in Murfreesboro, TN.  Our goal was to run without stopping and finish under 30 minutes, and we did it!  It's empowering to complete such a challenge, and I encourage all my super mom sisters...do something for YOU, that you can be proud of.  Show your kids what strength and courage look like, by DOING it!

We had pep squad to send us off at the starting line and cheer us 

on at the finish.  Sam and Kelten have become big buds!

Ms. Shirley and Kelten cheer for their "runner girl"!

We started together...

 ...we ended together.  

Everyone told us, "You have to run your own race." But, after we'd stuck it out together every single time in practice, I guess it just fit to finish together.  Today, it was me who needed the extra push of encouragement.  That last .1 almost got the best of me, almost.  Thanks S, more than you know.

 And our boys were there with proud smiles,

which made the whole journey...worth it.

 Official Stats:

Gun Time: 28:51

Chip Time: 28:47

Gender Place/Gender Total:  59/289

Division(F3034) Place/Division Total:  13/52

Pace:  9:16