Go Green-- belt that is

He left home as a blue belt~

and a few hours later, returned as a green belt. Time flies! Three cheers for Elisha!

Thank you homeschool and airlines!

What happens when hurricane rains are in your forecast for the day? Fly southeast young man! The best benefit of homeschooling: the flexibility to travel when there are no crowds. The best benefit of working for the airlines: the ability to do that traveling- uh, that is when you can look past the stress of standby :)

The day started with a beautiful plane-side sunrise on our day-trip to Washington, D.C.

Reagan National Airport is one of my favorite- bright and cheery.

The Metro makes the entire city very accesible-

and provides a great lesson on traveling among rush-hour crowds.The children wanted to remove the 'knobs' and slide down the middle of the escalators.

A leisure walk across the Arlington Memorial Bridge-

and onto the Lincoln Memorial.

Time to watch some ducks in the reflecting pool- and sadly the VERY polluted waters. Time for a lesson on honor and repect for those who fought so hard~ a special place in my heart~ And time for a lesson on play- Elizabeth decided she's an Olympic Star- after seeing just 5 minutes of gymnastics one evening.

The children decided it was quite fun to chase the ducks- before the park ranger warned them they'd chase them back. After a LONG walk, it's always refreshing to stop and smell the roses... or whatever those flowers are that I dream my flowers will look like one day. And so you have our day in pictures- sadly, we spent so much time exploring our final destination- the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, I don't have any photos- that's probably a good thing...

Picture time

Anyone with children knows the difficulties of getting a decent, professional group photo. Not to mention the expense when a Mom just can't say 'no' because all the pictures look so cute. All of that is why I haven't even attempted it since Jacob was born. So-- I figured we were due-- and off to the studio we went. All went well-- except for my now empty wallet. And since I won't be paying the $99 for the CD to get my copyright 'free' photos-- this is as close as you'll get to seeing the final outcome-- Smile :)

Anyone know?

OK-- I'm not the hip mamma who's up-to-date on her music, so can anyone help out? Anyone know the title/artist to the first instrumental song played on this clip? Thanks- it's appreciated!

Skyblast

We're back. Aren't you glad?? :)

This summer seems to be a bit cooler than normal, and it made for perfect baseball weather. The weekend event: Skyblast 2008.

I have to admit- PNC park is probably one of the most beautiful in the country. Not that I've been to any other ballparks, but surely not too many have a view like this :) Mama's girl~ If I smile really nice now, will you STOP taking pictures?? OK-- enough of this game-- WHEN do the fireworks start? I think just about everyone knows you don't go to a Pirate's Game to watch the Pirates- sorry fans. Maybe next year will be their year- they're surely due. And onto the game according to Elizabeth. and what was important to Elizabeth? Taking out a small loan for dippin dots~ and peanuts~ and can't forget the cotton candy- she and Jacob were JUST STARVED! Even though they just left a restaurant 20 minutes prior.

Finally-- the evening's feature. Country star Phil Vassar- thank you makkid23 and chrisf4i for your youtube posts.

I was hoping to contribute my own beautiful pictures of the fireworks, but as I've stated before, not even Photography for Dummies can help me. Couldn't even get the firework setting on my camera to work well- plus I think the battery was almost dead. So until next year- here's an abstract work-of-art. Remember me when I'm famous :)

Still here :)

I'm still here-- just been busy with summer fun and actually had a touch of blogger's block :) My family members don't believe that I could ever run out of something to say... I promise I'll be back just as soon as I get some pictures ready to post! :) Have a great day!!

A Cultivating Home Blog Giveaway

I love the blogosphere for a number of reasons. Where else can you find support for anything and everything under the sun? No matter what your belief's are, there's a blog for you.

One of my favorite blogs -Cultivating Home, often reminds me of the important things in life. I love Hannah's family's lifestyle- quiet, simple, full of joy, centered around home and family- and am often inspired by her posts. It's a great reminder to me of the 'Godly' principles I was taught growing up.

Cultivating home is having a free giveaway if they receive 50 comments. The topic is marriage and parenting, and who doesn't need help or support with that? :) Check out the post at

A Cultivating Home Blog Giveaway

Green mustaches

This is what you get when you feed 4 children green smoothies~

Green smoothies are so yummy, and a pretty sneaky way to get children to eat their greens. Basically, put a handful of greens, or as much as you can get away with- hee hee, (spinach works great) into a strong blender. Add a little water, some frozen peaches or other fruit, and some frozen bananas, and you'll never taste the green stuff. Slurp away!

Empty Counter-tops

It all started MANY months ago- and the day has come- when a bug must return to his natural surroundings. With sad faces- the children said their good-byes-

But never fear because Monty will always be near.

As he flies around in the warm sun of July!

OK- enough corny rhyming- and technically it is August now, but you get the point :). There comes a time when every bug must move on. Monty was a good little pet- the children (and Daddy) loved to watch him develop. I must admit, he was pretty fascinating, and my kitchen counter-top is somehow just too empty. I'm told to never fear however, because Daddy found REALLY neat butterfly kits for next year-- oohhh the adventures....

Corn season...

We LOVE fresh corn on the cob-- but, if you'd like some behind-the-scenes info of our nation's commercial corn crop...

This is a pretty eye-opening, interesting movie- put it on your Netflix cue. And we wonder why Americans are SO fat! Check out the preview~