Bowie Baysox Game

For us Spring means Easter & Baseball (a few other things too...)

Well Easter is past and Baseball is just beginning. We celebrated by going to our local AA team, The Bowie Baysox.  I had ordered tickets a couple weeks ago for $1.00 Night. 

Dan and the boys had a great night!

I stayed home with our poor, sick, flu-ridden Calvin

this is when he was actually awake... so sick

the bucket shot

We think the flu has finally exited our household.  

Dan, William, Calvin & Christian succumbed.

Worthy & I somehow avoided it.

Happy 3rd Birthday Christian!

A few days ago Christian turned three! For the last three years I've been telling myself (the lie) that when our little wonder turns three, things will suddenly become so much easier.  He's three now.  It hasn't magically happened that he's suddenly a no-maintenance kid, but to some degree over the last 6 months he has left toddler-hood and entered boyhood.  He potty-trained himself. He can play outside and knows NOT to run into the street.  He helps himself to snacks in the pantry.  

I'm not gonna lie.  

It's wonderful to be out of babyhood. I enjoyed it for its season, but I gladly wave it a hearty goodbye. 

I still get fought over for cuddles.  

I still get to do bedtime stories.

I still get the good stuff.

A low-key and much enjoyed celebration.

William reading him the card

opening a present from Grandma

he liked it

a modest cake done by yours truly

not ashamed that the cake mix was out of a box

a little brotherly help

So Christian, welcome to three.

Welcome to Boyhood.  

You're in the right family for it.

Cherry Blossoms... not as planned

Shortly after my parents left, Dan's mom arrived for a visit.  It was so great to see her.  Unfortunately, the evening she arrived so did the flu.  William was the first victim.  Our plans for her stay didn't quite include a house full of sickies so all of our wonderful plans were flushed down the toilet... which was sort of working with the theme in the house.

William was ill for about 3 days and then Christian took up the mantle.  We were hoping to go down and see the Cherry Blossoms as they were at peak bloom.  So a modified version of this happened and Dan drove down with Sandy and the healthy kids.  The car & people traffic was horrendous so they did a short drive near the Blossoms and then went and got cupcakes to celebrate escaping the traffic.

And because it wasn't enough to deal with a couple sick kids... Worthy fell off his scooter and fractured his forearm.

Soon Christian was well again and while the older two were at school I decided to take the younger two down and see the Cherry Blossoms for myself.  At this point they were 1-2 days past peak.  They were still amazingly beautiful and there were no crazy crowds of people.  It was so pleasant. 

What a gorgeous day!

When we got home Calvin threw up.  Victim #3. 

At least we made it home.

He is Risen!

I love our Easter traditions.  Because we have church on Sunday evening, we get to have a leisurely Easter morning.  It's not the hectic open-your-Easter-baskets-so-we can-get-to-church kind of morning.  The night before Dan & I had been out until 1:30am at our church's Easter Vigil (which was AMAZING!!!) so we were able to gently roll into the morning celebrations. We read the Resurrection account from the Bible together as a family and then we send the kids on their Easter Basket Treasure hunt.  

Basically, they run around the house following clues (in plastic eggs) to find their baskets. They always look forward to the hunt (2013, 2012, 2010, 2009).  My parents were still visiting and so were able to enjoy a wonderful lunch together too.

Let the Wild Rumpus Begin!

we hid a clue in the van and a few others outside

and one in the fireplace

having to work for it...

the bounty awaits

our anti-sugar kid dove right into the book!

William was thrilled to get Calvin & Hobbs

We also have chosen to decorate for Easter after Easter instead of before it.  My favorite Easter decorations are our hand-painted eggs from Vienna.  

 a few of my favorites...

He is Risen Indeed.

Let us Rejoice!

Coloring Easter Eggs

I gotta be honest, it's been a few years since we colored Easter eggs.  Generally, Easter is a super busy time for us since Dan works at a church.  But now that Christian is almost three, it seemed time to reinstate it... and my parents were here to facilitate.

For some reason, I thought it would be a better idea to blow the yolk out of the eggs instead of using hard boiled ones.  At the time, my reasoning seemed really sound.  I thought, gee, won't it be great to keep these for a couple years and just grow our collection?  I dislike the idea of tossing them out after a week or so.  After blowing the yolk out of the second egg, I decided I was a bit nuts.  Thankfully, Dan came to the rescue and helped me tackle the task.

 The weather was beautiful so we did the messy work outside.  

because this is how 10 year olds act when a camera is on them...

we gave Grampy "Christian Duty"

You can see Calvin is in a new shirt... accidents happen!

these faces!

so thankful for these guys!

Ta-Da!  The best laid plans... sometimes turn out okay.

So thankful for Easter and that all things are being made New.

Arlington House

It's been a super busy couple weeks.  Because of that, I have tons to blog about.  The bad news is I've had no time to do it for the same reason.  A few weeks ago we headed out to Arlington National Cemetery to visit Arlington House. Arlington House use to belong to the wife of Robert E. Lee and he occupied it right up until the Civil War. Worthy has been very interested in Civil War history and particularly he's been reading some biographies on Lee.  We recently discovered we had a contact at the church that was married to a guide there.  He kindly invited us up for a private tour. 

He took us around the outside, showing us the immediate and first graves that the Northern army dug in Lee's yard.  We also saw the slave accommodations and heard about the heroic acts of former slaves that helped to preserve the historicity of the house. 

Lee House overlooking downtown DC

hearing about JFK's grave at the bottom of the hill

magnificent view of the DC landscape

Our guide would regularly quiz Worthy with obscure history and inevitably Worthy would respond with the correct answer. I anticipated Worthy growing "bored" or "antsy" and was so delighted that he was fully engaged and interested for the two hours that we lingered.

We also toured inside the house and many others joined up with us for our private tour, but the guide continued to select Worthy out for special trivia questions. 

Here is the desk that Lee signed his resignation letter to the US Army prior to the Civil War.  This is also the desk that Gerald Ford signed a letter posthumously granting Lee his US citizenship which had been revoked after the war. 

 We had such a fantastic time and are so grateful for the time and energy of our guide.  

Worthy is beaming after receiving a Junior Park Ranger badge.  

He's still showing off his flair :).