In With the New

On Saturday Lydia, Josiah, and I enjoyed walking around Old Town Alexandria. Our main objective was to visit my good friend Susan and her new store, ZOE BOUTiQUE. I am so proud of Susan for following her dream and making it a reality. Susan really is one of the nicest people I have ever known and I am thrilled that she has started her own business. Of course, I had to buy a few things. I bought this top but it looks a little different on me.

I also bought two necklaces, one with glass beads and one with a monogramed pendant.

But, you know, Susan may have another calling... as an interior decorator. When she came over to my house in March to go for a long walk, I asked her to help me pick out a paint color for above our chair rail in the living room and dining room. We used the same color for our foyer and down our stairwell to the basement. We kept the same color below the chair rail.

I think the color turned out great. This is how our living room looks when the afternoon sun shines in. Here is our dining room. Yay, no more builders paint! Well, at least no more on the main floor or bedroom floor. We still need to paint the basement.

Speaking of new...We remodeled the 1/2 bath on the main level in November. I love the sink! I wanted to replace the pedestal sink so we could have some storage. I also wanted a toilet with a skirted trapway (you can't see the pipes from the outside). The only way to get the enclosed trapway was to get the dual flush feature. I am so happy with the new bathroom but I sort of wished we had updated the floor.

Easter Break at the Beach

We went to South Carolina to celebrate Easter with Chris' family. His mom made a Peeps cake.
Of course, the cake was a big hit with the kids.
Around 4:00, I realized I had not taken any pictures of Josiah for his first Easter. We should have done some family photos right after church.
On Monday, we headed to Myrtle Beach after dropping Chris off at the train station. I think Josiah like the beach. He seemed to get his fill of eating sand the first day.
The kids had fun playing in the ocean. I, too, enjoyed playing in the waves with them.
On Monday and Tuesday morning, the waves were perfect for kids.
I love being at the beach.
I was surprised Josiah was content to sit on the towels and not crawl away. The hotel had an indoor lazy river, pool, and hot tub. Outside there were two pools, two hot tubs, and a spray area. All of the pools were heated which made them much more inviting. I was pleased that Wesley and Lydia were willing to practice their swimming. Lydia seemed to regain a lot of confidence swimming in the lazy river which was three feet deep. When she needed a break from swimming, she just stood up.

Josiah played in the pool with Stephen, Tricia, and Jacob.
The lazy river is behind Stephen and the boys.
The kids loved the hot tubs. Lydia especially liked to try to swim in them.
Stephen helped the kids build a sand castle.
We got chased off the beach by a storm Tuesday afternoon. Dianna took this picture of the kids' sand castle before it was washed away.
On Wednesday morning, I let Josiah sit in the wet sand. He really liked playing with this sand.
I think he took a couple of bites.
A picture of the kids.
Wesley and Lydia had fun riding a few rides. They rode this caterpillar twice.
I rode the swinging ship with them. Lydia liked it more than Wesley and I did.

They also liked this little kiddie ride.
It was a fun three days at the beach.

On Monday night, Lydia fell asleep on the back to the hotel after dinner. We just put her in bed in her clothes. On Wednesday night she fell asleep about 6:00, a half an hour from her grandparents' house. I couldn't get her to wake up for dinner. She slept the entire night.

Field Trip in the Rain

Last Tuesday I went on a field trip with Lydia's preschool to Frying Pan Farm Park. Unlike the last two years when I went with Wesley, the weather was not great.
It was still raining when we got there, so we all went in the barn.

The rain stopped for a little bit and we walked around to see the all animals. Here is a picture of Lydia and one of her friends looking in the outhouse. They were very suprised to learn why the corn cobs were in there! Of course, Lydia came home and told Wesley.

The kids had a great time seeing all the animals and playing in the puddles. They didn't get to play on the playground or have a picnic but it was still a fun morning.

It started raining again before we got back on the bus.

We plan to go back with the entire family one day soon, but only if it isn't raining.

She Can Glide!

Lydia is starting to ride her balance bike more and more. We are no longer bribing her with jelly beans! She is willing to ride at least 1/2 mile now and she is getting braver. Today she gave me a scare as she rode now the big hill and veered off the path and appeared to be headed straight toward the creek but she got it under control and got back on the path in time to cross the bridge. Unfortunately, I didn't get a video of that! I think she is wearing out her sneakers "breaking".

Homework and Messes

I have missed blogging. I spend my time playing with the kids, watching Wesley do his homework, taking Lydia to ballet and gymnastics, and chasing after Josiah who is getting into EVERYTHING. I also spend a lot of time cleaning the house, but you can't really tell! (I find that very frustrating!) I have also joined a bookclub and I am loving the book we are reading - A Lineage of Grace: Five Stories of Unlikely Women Who Changed Eternity


Every Monday through Thursday, Wesley usually has two pages of math homework. Yesterday he had three pages. Two pages where problems like 7 + _ = 10. He got every problem right.


He also has a spelling test every Friday and a Bible verse and poem to recite from memory. He also has to read aloud for at least 20 minutes a day. Last week he read Escape North! The Story of Harriet Tubman over two nights. He is currently ready book two in the Magic Tree House series. Lydia likes to practice her "spelling" too.

Here is Wesley's latest spelling test. He spelled all the words correctly but I wish he used better handwriting. He does better at home because he knows I will erase it and make him write it neater.

While Wesley does his homework, Josiah likes to get into stuff.

Yesterday, he played with some boxes he found in the pantry.

He hit the jackpot when he dumped out the Cheerios box. Josiah loves to eat. The other Saturday, he ate an entire homemade pancake.

He loves to pull up to standing but he needs a low surface, like the open dishwasher. Every time I try to take a picture of Josiah sitting in floor, he immediately starts crawling to me. Wesley likes to push Josiah around in this basket. Josiah thinks it is a great ride!

Wesley recently started playing soccer. He loves it. Lydia loves to draw. When Chris went to Donuts for Dads at her school, some of her artwork was hanging up in her classroom.

That is just a few of the things we have been doing.

Port Discovery

On Saturday we went to Port Discovery in Baltimore. It was the perfect day for our first visit there. What else can you do when it is 20 some degrees outside? We got in free thanks to the generous museum membership we got for Christmas! We are on a mission to visit as many children museums and science museums and zoos as we can in the next year!

The only real hitch in our plan was the arrival time. I had it my mind that the museum opened at 9 so we got there at 9 only to find out it opened at 10! We spent an hour at McDonald's. The kids didn't complain at all; maybe because a cashier gave them each a toy.

Port Discovery is a great place for little kids. Here is Lydia putting air in a tire.
She was afraid to crawl through the drain in the mystery house but Wesley liked it.
Of course their favorite thing was the huge climbing structure.
Their second favorite was the water play area. Wesley loved this lock.
They both had fun cleaning the windows. I think we should try this at home.
I got an excellent tip from a mom of one of Wesley's classmates - I took an extra shirt for them to wear in the water play. It is a good thing; Wesley soaked his t-shirt.
Do you like the way Lydia wears her head band?
Josiah tried standing on the surfboard.
Can you see the bubble?
The kids also liked the cute little diner. They liked taking our orders and bringing us food. Lydia "washed" the dishes before we left.
Expedition Adventure was Chris' favorite part. Wesley liked pulling himself on the ropes. The kids also liked seeing the skeletons "in" the mummies.
This large rabbit and little pug were out on their walks.
We were there for 2 1/2 hours and got to do everything but the painting room. Wesley and Lydia could have played for hours on the climbing structure. We would have stayed longer but I was so hungry that all I could think about was lunch. We walked two blocks and ate at P.F. Chang's. Lydia ate almost an entire order of calamari. Lunch was great.

I am sure that we will make at least one more trip to Port Discovery this year.

Our Little Inch Worm

Josiah recently started belly crawling. Yesterday he couldn't get enough traction to crawl on the hardwood floors but today he can do it. Wesley has been encouraging him to crawl this weekend but he might regret that once Josiah starts getting into all of his stuff.