A Breath of Fresh Air

Just a picture I took while we went out for a walk the other night.

A Few Firsts

Isaac had two firsts the other day: 1. He drank from a straw. 2. He pulled up. Why does it all have to happen so fast? If there is one reason I home-educate, it is to spend as much time as possible with the ones I love. The time is so short!

Craft Days at Mount Vernon

The Ren Fest has nothing on the Craft Days at Mount Vernon! We saw Punch and Judy, held an audience with George Washington, heard cannons and muskets fired, saw a guy swallow a sword, went by Gen. Washington's grave and said a prayer for his soul... All at his home. It was a blast! I highly recommend it. (Of course, we forgot our camera!)

The Weather Up Here

Just a note regarding weather in Northern Virginia: I wore pants and a sweatshirt today. It was down-right chilly! And the forecast for the next several days is the same. If I'm not mistaken the 90 degree weather in Texas lasts through Halloween. I believe we may be in for a surprise come winter.

Update: The temperature right now is 46 degrees! It's cold! We spoke to Grandma in Houston last night, who said it cooled down there to 90.

A pictures worth...

My eldest brother and his babies.

The Exultation of the Holy Cross

Friday, September 14, 2007 was the feast of the Exultation of the Holy Cross in the Roman Catholic Liturgical Year. We celebrated by reading The Tale of the Three Trees - A Traditional Folktale Retold by Angela Elwell Hunt. Illustrations by Tim Jonke. Then we did this craft:

She Hits!!!

Today was Adeline's second softball game. I totally forgot the camera, but she hit the ball and got on first and knocked in a run. WOOOOHOOOO!!!!!!! She was very excited! I will post pictures from her next game. After we work on learning to run and not just stay attached to the base she arrives at.

A Quote

-Guns kill people like spoons made Rosie O'Donnell fat.

Two Years Ago...

Two years ago today, I was eight days past my due date. My induction was scheduled for 7:00 am and we arrived at the hospital two hours before. I was induced, received my epidural, and finally was complete and ready to push at 3:00 that afternoon. Baby did not like pushing. In fact his heart rate dropped too much every time. So forceps were applied to aid the delivery. To no avail. Baby wouldn't come and his heart rate had dropped too low for too many times. He needed out now. So we ran; well, I didn't, but everyone else ran while hurdling me down the hall. An emergency c-section was performed without anesthesia as my epidural had worn off, the anesthesiologist arrived late, and my IV was blown. So as I was terrified that my child would have permanent defects or worse, I felt him ripped from me. But what followed (after the puking) was beautiful... Wyatt screamed a "Hello" to the world and was just fine. And now two years later we celebrate that day.

The calm before the storm.

Surprise!!!!!

Presents?

Cake?

Candles?

Blow!!!

Yummy!!!

Look at all that stuff!!!

What fun!

Everybody had a great day!

Monticello

Today we visited Monticello, former home of Thomas Jefferson; you'll recognize it from the nickel.
He had gorgeous views, though these hardly capture them.
Here is a view of his Montalto. We could have paid thirteen dollars a person to walk up this beast, but we passed on the offer and thought it best to appreciate the beauty from its foot.
I didn't know it, but Thomas Jefferson was a very scientific man. He put much time, thought, and effort into his gardens. He studied the native plants, brought home many foreign plants, grafted, and created new species. We took a couple of pictures while perusing his vegetable and flower gardens.
We especially liked the Cock's Comb. It is so vibrant in color and feels like velvet.
We stopped by his grave to pay homage. We took this picture of his headstone with his coat of arms on the gate. There are many family members buried here and they continue to bury here.
After we left, we ate at one of our favorites:
Stop and read that sign one more time. I'm glad they warned us. We had a dessert of Tums.

I hope you had a great Labor Day Weekend. What did you do?