An All-American Day

Ever since Clayton saw the White House on Martha Speaks, he's been asking to go see it. Because we're as close as we'll ever be, we decided to go ahead and take him. He was a little disappointed we couldn't go in, but did think the men walking around on top were really cool.

We couldn't miss having our picture taken with the Washington Memorial in the background.

While seeing the national landmarks was interesting, our real reason for going into town was to visit the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History to see the dinosaur exhibits. Clayton even got to touch a dinosaur leg bone. Clayton's favorite cartoon is Dinosaur Train. He watches it soaking up more dinosaur information than I ever thought I'd know. So getting to see dinosaur skeletons, fossilized eggs and dioramas was more than Clayton could ask for.

He was particularly interested in this mosasaur skeleton because it lived in the Cretaceous ocean and he had never heard of one before.

While we were looking at this mural behind the mosasaur skeleton, Clayton asked me what it was that it was eating. I told him, "I sure don't know. It looks like a shrimp or some type of shellfish." He replied, "I think it's an ammonite." So we read the entire board below and sure enough, the mosasaurs' favorite food was ammonites. Thank you, Dinosaur Train!

The museum also has this great place called "The Discovery Room." The boys were able to touch and explore everything from fossils to...

...sea shells to...

...alligator heads to...

...a replica of the human skeleton to...

...magnifying glasses to... (Levi particularly loved carrying his around to look at EVERYTHING!)

...to birds and a hundred other things we didn't have time to explore. It was great. They loved it and could have spent all day in there. It started to get a little crowded, so we left.

Once we had seen all the bones we could see, we had a picnic lunch on the Mall. The boys spent a good chunk of time chasing pigeons which lead them right over to the carousel.

Once it got going they both really enjoyed their ride. And Cyle did, too!

Before we left, they each were able to throw a penny in the fountain outside the Reagan Building. Levi wanted to retrieve his and throw it in again...

To finish up our All-American Day, we stopped for supper at Five Guys where we enjoyed the most delicious hamburgers and hot dogs. And since we were passing through Warrenton, Cyle couldn't resist stopping at Carousel for ice cream. We had a great family day full of memories!

Easter

We had a really nice Easter, with perfect spring weather. The Easter Bunny came with lots of goodies in their baskets and lots of eggs hidden in the yard. Levi found 7 eggs, 5 of which were cracked before they made it back into the house! We enjoyed Easter Mass and then a quiet day at home. It was a blessed day!

It's a Little Girl!!

It's a first. A little girl Huck. We are all so excited! She's looking healthy and is growing well. The official due date is August 20. Since God has answered my girl prayer (Thank You, Lord!) , now I'm asking him that she not be born on either boys' birthday...

Shenandoah National Park

Clayton had been asking to climb a mountain and last weekend's weather was so great, we decided to take a day and go to Shenandoah National Park. Clayton was such a trooper. He hiked over a mile and a half. We saw deer, turkey, squirrels, a whirlwind and all kinds of rocks and leaves and plants that the kids pointed out along the way. We had a great time!

All the riding really wore Levi out!

After lunch, Clayton wanted to be our captain.
After much consultation with the map, he lead us on our way!

We've bought an annual pass and can't wait to go back!

Happy Spring!!

Sprinkle, sprinkle drops of rain
Making puddles in the lane
Clap our hands and stomp our feet
Puddle fun is such a treat
Sprinkle, sprinkle splash and play
How I love a rainy day!

I know it's been awhile since I've updated the blog, but I've given up most of my computer time for Lent and now I have to share what little time I've got with Cyle. I'm barely getting e-mailed checked in the evenings. But I've spent more time with kids and gotten a lot done around my house, so I can't complain too much! We've also had a lot going on. First, we're expecting a third child in August. We find out this week if it's a boy or a girl! We're really excited and the kids (Clayton) are warming up to the idea. Secondly, Cyle has applied for a job in St. Louis. Our landlords want to sell our house this summer, so we've decided that it's time to move back to Missouri. We have spent a lot of time virtually house hunting, packing and trying to make major decisions about our lives. We've really enjoyed our time overseas and in Culpeper, but it's time to get closer to family.

Clayton finally earned enough stickers on his sticker chart to get the caps for his pop guns. Of course, he needed eye and ear protection.

Levi is talking all the time now and has learned much of his vocabulary from Clayton. Yesterday he was being really ornery to Clayton and I so I moved him to a different part of the room. After he got done crying a little, he looked at me and said, "Fine!"

We're laughing at him all the time, too, because instead of saying "yes" he says "sure." So he'll ask for something and we'll say, "You want a drink?" He'll say, "Sure," like we asked him in the first place.

Clayton's quote of the blog: One morning he asked me what the word modify meant. So I explained it to him and gave a few examples. Later that afternoon he was pretending he had a magic wand. He walked up to Levi and said, "I'm going to modify you into a real person!" I asked Clayton, "What is Levi now? Don't you think he is a real person?" He replied, "No. He's just a baby. But don't worry. I'm going to modify him and he'll he be okay!"

We've had some gorgeously warm, sunny days over the past couple of weeks. Clayton is ready for summer and swimming - he picked out their outfits. Both boys love being outside and enjoying the great weather.

Happy Spring!!

Lenten Prayers

We have been saying a Lenten prayer that I cut out of the church bulletin every night at supper. Today at lunch, Clayton stopped me from saying prayers and said he was going to say the lunch prayer. He grabbed the little piece of paper, held it up like he was reading and then said, "A hunting prayer. Dear Lord, please don't let us get lost in the woods. Please let there be lots of deer to kill. And if we do get lost, please let the police men find us."

On Ash Wednesday, I was trying to explain the season of Lent to Clayton. I told him that I was going to try to give up yelling at him. (I'm also giving up the computer during the day and unnecessary phone calls while the kids are awake...) Later, we were talking about almsgiving. Clayton is familiar with us donating things to Goodwill, so I used that as an example. After a moment or two, he looked up at me and asked, "Are you giving your yelling to Goodwill, too?" Just for the record, Clayton is supposed to be giving up being ornery to Levi and disobeying. That should make the yelling a lot easier.

My New Camera!

Yesterday evening I got the Amazon package I had been waiting for. Inside was my brand new Canon Rebel DSLR camera. Of course, I had to spend today testing it out. What better subjects than the kids?! Clearly, it is much more fun to watercolor themselves than the paper.