GIANT PICKLE WILL NOT RULE THE WORLD!!

Little S is quite a funny lady when she speaks loudly enough for you to hear!  They did an exercise in school the other day about probability and the homework included things that they were certain about and things that they were uncertain about.  Her uncertainties...  the weather for tomorrow, if they will have homework, what is for dinner.  Her certainties... it is dark at night, there is school tomorrow, AND a giant pickle will not rule the world!  Gotta love that kid!!

a few prayers couldn't hurt...

Saturday is Little G's First Holy Communion!  We have 10 guests/family coming in from out of town to help us celebrate this wonderful day!  Once the dust has all settled, I'll post a couple pictures so you can see her in her beautiful white dress!!  If you feel so moved, please say a quick prayer for Little G on saturday!!

have you noticed I was absent???

Have you missed me?   Did you notice that I stopped posting only half way through our DC trip?  Well, I swear there's a good, no, dare I say, GREAT reason for my absence?  Well, it all started a week ago - wednesday to be exact!  My friend and I headed to the basement to work out for the first time since spring break and after a few minutes (yes, it actually took a few minutes!) we noticed that the carpet was wet (we had shoes on, so it took a while!) - we noticed the must smell immediately, but it took a while to add 2 and 2 together!  The basement had in fact flooded while we were off enjoying our nation's capital!  This discovery was just the beginning of the end of my sanity!

That same day, something funny started happening to hubby's car and it lay dormant in the garage until one of us had time to get it to the shop!  That finally happened friday - had it towed to the dealership to be looked at monday!

Friday morning it was just getting started on the gazillion loads of laundry I had to do that day and lo and behold the washing machine - that has been threatening to die for months now, chose that exact moment to check out - and leave a floor full of water in it's wake!  Yes, there is a water theme developing, isn't there?  Just really not what I needed to have happening that day - at all!  Oh, have I mentioned that Little G's 1st Communion is this weekend and I have 10 people coming in from out of town and the house wasn't ready for them BEFORE the flood!

So, as I am sitting outside waiting for the tow-truck, having just returned from purchasing a new washing machine (I won't go on an OCD rant about how crazy it makes me that the washer and dryer don't match anymore!), when my phone slipped out of my hands (I was trying to hold the mail too) and my beautiful phone slipped from my grasp, plummeted to the ground and made contact with my driveway at 60mph smashing my pristine touch screen so that it now resembles the end result of a meeting between a windshield and a large rock hurled at it from an overpass!  I am so sad.  

Needless to say, those were 3 crappy days!  We kept our fingers crossed all weekend that the 21 fans and 2 industrial size dehumidifiers were doing the trick and that when they came back monday to check that we could have that step behind us so that we could move on to damage assessment, carpet cleaning and putting the ENTIRE basement back together before company starts to arrive wednesday afternoon!  Today we had the plumbers out to look at the hot water heater AND the sump pump - the verdict, sump pump fine, hot water heater... toast!  It took th

em about 4 hours, but when all was said and done, we had a new hot water heater and a verdict that the basement was in fact dry and we could move on to the next phase!!!!  

So, the countdown to the firs guest's arrival is about 39 hours, so if we don't sleep we may be ready!!  Wish me luck - better luck than I've had at least!!

DC day four....

Today was a SUPER COOL day!  

We received a personal tour of our nation's capital from a former congressman and co-worker of hubby's.  He was so gracious to take time out of his day to show us around - he had fabulous stories and showed us things that we wouldn't have seen without him.  I am surprised at how much is not open to the public - I know that there are security issues but even with our friend's special access there was a lot that we couldn't see.

Yeah, that's a machine gun that guard on the Capital steps is holding.

View of the mall from Speaker Pelosi's balcony door!

The girls on the Capital steps!

The Supreme Court of the United States

Casually hanging out at the Supreme Court

The Jefferson building of the Library of Congress

The interior is absolutely beautiful!  

Check out the ceiling!!

Not a bad address if you can handle the pressure!!

DC day three........

Did I mention that we were in DC for the cherry blossoms?  They were beautiful!  Here's a little close-up right by the base of  Washington monument.

Monday morning Big S and I got up early that morning to stand in line for tickets for the Bureau of Engraving and Printing - we waited 1 1/2 hours and got tickets for a 5:15pm tour - just what we were hoping for!  Then we schlepped all the way up the mall to the Air and Space museum to meet hubby and the other two girls.  On our way, it started to rain!  Then we (and the other hundred or so people there) realized that it didn't open until 10am - we all thought it opened at 9am, so we stood in the rain - then we smartened up and stood under a hot dog vendor's little umbrella (the cart wasn't opened, so no one cared!).  At 10am we darted inside and headed straight for the IMAX line (we're no dummies!).  We got to see a show in the planatarium about black holes (Little S just did a report on them so she was really excited), then a 3D IMAX on the sun, then the timeless IMAX "To Fly."  It was a blast!  In between, we saw a few displays ;)

Little G wasn't totally into it at this point - she wanted to eat!!

Big S was so excited to see the Amelia Earhart exhibit - she did her wax museum report on her last year!

One of the girls shot a pix of me and hubby - not looking great, but having fun!

It was super windy outside the BEP and I was really pleased with how this turned out!  The tour was very interesting - we saw $1s and $100s being printed!  It was a pretty short tour and honestly you see more on the Discovery channel, but it was happening right in front of us, so that was cool!

Reminds me a bit of a Beatles cover!  This is pretty much us all week!!

More to come tomorrow!!

DC day 2.....

So here begins the DC spring break trip update part two!!  We began Sunday with aching feet and legs from our jaunt through the zoo, but not to be stopped, we had a full day ahead of us!  We saw these beautiful tulips outside some public building, can't remember where, but they were the prettiest we say all week!

We started at the Spy Museum - super duper cool place, we needed way more time than we allotted, there is so much to see and do - there is a lot of interactive stuff that we had to pass by.  Definitely on the list of places to return to at another time to do properly.  The big bummer is that NO pictures were allowed - not even in the lobby.  I can't figure out why - ok, there's spy stuff, but if the public can see it all, it's not exactly secret anymore, so I don't understand, but I guess it doesn't matter whether or not I understand, I still didn't get to take any pictures and that doesn't make me happy.

We had lunch with hubby's friend from high school and his wife and son!  It was great to see them - it had been waaaaay too long - we had never met their son and they hadn't met little S or little G.  It was like we had seen them last month -we caught up fast and really enjoyed getting together!  We won't let it be so long between our next visit!

Then we were off to the Museum of American History - the second part of the Smithsonian  (the zoo was the first) and again, we didn't allow enough time!  Although in our defense, they kicked everyone out at 5pm and they are supposed to be open until 7pm, but they had some private party and the commoners had to go!  We only got to see the 3rd floor, so we missed the First Lady gown, Archy Bunker's chair....  but we did see lots of good stuff - second thing on our list of places to visit again!

 

Kermit d frog here.... who doesn't love Kermit?  It was cool seeing him up close!

And for you Seinfeld fans... the puffy shirt!!  Hysterical!  My kids didn't get it at all!  

Little G thought it was cool to see C3PO - once we reminded her what he was from!!

Little S compared her hand to Abraham Lincoln's - he was a big man, even compared to my hands!!

This is the cuff from the woman who played the lead at the play that Lincoln was watching when he was shot.  Apparently those are blood spots on it (Lincoln's blood of course) that got on her clothing when she ran over to see if he was ok.  Kinda cool, kinda creepy.

Big S pretending to be giving a speech on the Presidential podium!

This picture turned out really cool!  They were mounted on a green wall but since they were reflective, that the background didn't show up at all!

This was a cool barrier wall that I just had to get a picture of!!

And as quickly as it began, it ends....

It's true, spring break is over and the girls are all back to school today.  The reactions were predictable, but amusing none the less!  Big S could hardly wait to get back and see her friends, she even had anxiety dreams that she was late!  Little S would rather cut off her left arm than go back - school is a constant source of anxiety for her.  And Little G - she goes back and forth about it all - she continues to campaign that school takes up too much of her time and is cutting into her play time, but she is so social that not going to school would seriously hamper her social life - tough decision when you're 7!!  I on the other hand am glad that we are back to school - I have tons to do to prepare for Little G's first communion in less that 2 weeks!  We will have an extra 10 people in from out of town - we are totally excited, but before the fun comes the work!!  Hubby has today off - as he puts it, they get Good Friday and Better Monday off for Easter!

And because I know that all of you want to hear all about our fabulous DC spring break, I have decided that I will give you the blow by blow - with pictures of course!!  We arrived Friday late afternoon to BWI and hubby (who was there the day before for business) picked us up and drive us the 50 miles/3 hour drive to DC!  The traffic is always crazy, but Friday afternoon is especially bad - oh well!  Saturday morning we met hubby's Sister G/Auntie G at the National Zoo!  We were so excited that both his sisters goes to school in DC so that we could spend some time with them since we are lucky to see them once a year usually!  Anyway,  she met us partway on the metro and led us to the zoo - it was a beautiful day and we had a blast!  It's good that they don't tell you ahead of time that it's downhill from the entrance to the back of the zoo - but you have to go out the way you came, so leaving is a serious hike uphill,not for the out of shape (meaning us!!).  Anyway, we spent most of the day there and got some great pix - here are a few - still unedited, so bear with me!!

 The gang (minus me - I'm always behind the camera!!) at one of the cool signs down the block from the main entrance - had to make them sit in the letters - way too cool a pix to pass up!!

 Little G, Big S and Little S diggin the groundhog sculpture!!  We were just starting to head downhill, so all was good at this point!!

 Had to take some pix of Little S's favorite animals!  They brought 3 of the elephants in just as we entered the building so we were very excited to see them!  We spent a lot of time hanging out with the elephants - they are so cool!

 This was probably our favorite animal that day!  The Capybara - a very odd looking animal that we were totally fascinated with!  He was a little on the ugly side, which made him that much better in our eye!  My grandmother used to sing me a song about one of these - I think - my memory of her singing to me is strong, but I may be mispronouncing the animal - will have to do some research!!

 These little dudes were hysterical!  They we fast as lightening running around and jumping from tree to tree and then when they were still they sat there with this totally serious expression on their faces that was too funny for words!

My personal favorite picture!  The orangutans just came out as we were leaving and we were really hoping that they would start climbing the tower and moving across the wires that stretched all around the zoo.  To no avail, this big guy just sat there with no sign of moving.  The best part was that the girls and I thought it looked just like hubby sitting on the couch watching tv and playing on the computer!!

By the time we were done with the zoo, we were DONE!  We had yet to acclimate to all the walking around the city - this was after all day one!  So we headed back to our hotel in Pentagon City via the metro with plans to see Auntie G again on tuesday!

More on DC trip day 2 tomorrow!!

Happy Easter!!

I want to wish all of you a very happy Easter!  Amidst the chocolate bunnies and Easter egg hunts, take some time to remember the real reason that we celebrate this day.  Christ gave his life on the cross to save us all from our sinfulness and it is but for this sacrifice that we receive God's grace and mercy!

hangin' in DC

We're hangin' in DC this week for spring break!

we did get to see the cherry blossoms before all the crazy winds blew them off the trees!

We are also enjoying a weather sampler of spring on the east coast!  They have even teased of a little snow during the night - yikes!  I have very little time in the hotel room and quite honestly, I'm too exhausted, so you will have to wait till I get back and the kids are back in school so I can breath and catch everyone up!    For now you must be content know we are having lots of fun and haven't killed each other yet!!

my 100th post!!!!!!

I can't believe that it is actually my 100th post already!  I have read so many other blogs where the author was celebrating their 100th post and it always seemed so far away to me!  I can't believe how quickly it came around!  I have always enjoyed writing, but never did a lot on my own.  There always seemed to be plenty assigned in school, and I need to be inspired to write creatively.  This blogging thing does both of those for me!  I can run at the mouth, banter with myself and it all seems to flow from my fingertips - I rarely have to think hard about what to write about and if I do, then I usually don't write anything that day!  Some days I have so much to say that I write a couple days worth in one sitting - that's fun too!!  There are always those topics that I'd love to chat about, but thinking twice, I decide that I may not want all that out on the world wide web for all of eternity!  Some things are better left for face to face conversations!!  So, now that I have accomplished the revered 100, what would you like me to talk about during my next 100 posts?  Let me know and chances are good that it'll show up at some point!

I ain't no fool....

Myspace April Fools Day Comments
My family LOVES April Fools Day!  Sad to say, I wasn't raised in a home filled with harmless little pranks, but hubby WAS!  He and his mom used to love to short sheet each other's beds - now we do it to the kids!!  Hubby got the kids really well a couple of years ago with the very simple, but effective, prank of announcing that we had a ton of snow outside and that school was cancelled!  They fell for it hook, line and sinker!  Needless to say not only were they mad that their dad had got them so easily, but they were doubly mad that there really was school!!  I love a good prank - I occasionally can even enjoy one played on me - occasionally! I truly enjoy being on the pranking side WAY more!  I'm sure that comes as no surprise!!  I am planning on changing everyone's sheets and short sheeting their beds while they are in school - we'll see if they fall for that obvious one!  Does anyone have a super, yet harmless prank that they played successfully?  I'm not into ones that hurt feelings or people in general - I like them to be able to laugh at it too!  I'm feeling a little uninspired, especially when it comes to hubby - I may be googling pranks for him later!!!  I'll let you know tomorrow how the day goes - hopefully I don't have a gullible day myself ;)Happy Pranking!!