He's 2!!

Well, a one year old was laid down to bed at night in a tent... but woke up a 2 year old in his cozy bed at home!

the birthday dinner: Steak and rice pilaf

the cake: Chocolate with coconut creme filling

the gifts: Sesame Street play set with the characters, some Elmo shirts, Hot Wheels semi (The Undertaker), Elmo MP3 player, and Elmo K'Nex

If you haven't been able to tell yet, Sesame Street, specifically Elmo, was the theme for the day.

The original theme was going to be cars and trucks... so why not enjoy them both!

Happy Birthday Eli!!

Memorial Day Camping Trip....

For Eli's first camping trip we decided to not venture to the Shenandoah Valley, but rather just down the road to Pohick Bay.  We played in the water park and then set up the tent.  For dinner we roasted hot dogs and cooked beans over the fire.  After playing at the playground we devoured some s'mores and then got showers and ready for bed.  Little did we know that a storm was brewing... literally.  So, our camping trip involved putting kids to bed and then getting them up about 10:00 pm.  With fears of 40- 50 mph  winds we weren't willing to risk our 3 kiddos in a tent.  If it was just us, we would have hunkered down and road it out.  So, other than sleeping in the tent and waking up to a pancake breakfast, we got to experience all of our camping adventure that we had planned.  But, that's okay, we forgot our pillows at home anyways and I didn't have a bowl to mix my pancake batter  in either!  whoops!

Hot days and wet play...

Here are some pictures that I just love from Friday afternoon...

Splash!

He managed to keep this water balloon unpopped for awhile.

I LOVE their faces!!

And Nathan quickly returning the balloon, with a little squeeze.

I'm not sure if she's posing or threatening me.

And this picture is my FAVORITE!  I love Eli dropping his water balloon in the background while Bryant is joyfully squirting one of the bigger kids with a tiny water gun!


Ahhh, Summer Fun!

and it grows, grows, grows...

Broadway Baby

Gracie's dance recital was today.  The class that she takes, teaches both tap and ballet, but at the recital they only performed a tap dance.  This is her second year of dance, and she really loves it.  Next year we may find out how to balance dance and sports...

She performed to "Broadway Baby" from Follies.

This video is from her dress rehearsal last night.  Today's performance went much smoother, no hair falling out of the bun and no shoe coming off.  Can't wait for next year!



Sesame Street Live...

Yesterday afternoon Gracie, Eli and I walked to the Theatre (which is only about a block from our house) and enjoyed seeing Elmo and his friends.  This was a special military oriented show that was sponsored by the USO.  There was lots of singing and dancing.  Gracie had a great time.  Eli enjoyed it also, but the show was during nap time and by the end he was fast asleep.  Since we've been home Eli carries around Gracies' old stuffed Elmo toy and any Elmo book he can find!  I think that The Backyardigans may just have a run for their money!

Happy Mother's Day.

God has gifted me with 3 beautiful, healthy children.  For that I am truly thankful.  I am also thankful that on 2 days of the year (one being today and the other my birthday) I do not have to cook, clean, or do anything that I don't want to.  Yeah me!! 

On this Mother's Day my children got me a new purple quilted Bible cover (which I was in need of since Eli tore part of the binding off my study Bible).  Bryant made yummy Broccoli Cheese soup and homemade dinner rolls, followed by Pink Lemonade Pie for dessert.  I went to church this morning, had my 4 year old Sunday School class plant flowers for their mommy's and then enjoyed lunch out.  This afternoon consisted of nothing more then planting some flowers around the house and diving back into "The Book Thief", which I haven't read in months... yet seemed to remember everything.  It was perfect.  Happy Mother's Day!

All lined up...

No matter where you turn or where you go, you will find them... all lined up.

Field Trip

Bryant and I were chaperones on Nathan's field trip about a week ago.  These were the three 1st graders that we were responsible for walking around the monuments in DC.

We met back up with their teacher (Mrs. Benton) at the Washington Monument a few hours later so that they could all load on the bus and get back to school for lunch.  Then we headed to lunch ourselves.  We walked several blocks to eat at one of Bryants regular eating spots downtown, Founding Farmers, only to discover a long wait. And we were STARVING!!! So, we opted for Johnny Rockets, next door.  For those mid westerners reading this, Johnny Rockets is very similar to good ol' Steak and Shake.  yumm.



At lunch we were discussing how nervous we would have been to send Nathan downtown on a field trip had we not chaperoned.  Where we grew up, a trip to downtown DC was more like a Senior field trip for students, not one that 1st graders do.  But, here it's just the norm.   Even though it's the norm it still would have been nerve racking... there's a lot of people there.  After all, it is our nations capitol.  We concluded how lucky our kids are to have this experience and that we can't wait to see what may be next.  Probably in the next year and a half we'll find out, until then we'll continue enjoying DC.