Scrap metal

That unnatural metallic crunching sound you hear when you turn on the garbage disposal.....is probably not food. Nor will that sound go away by running the garbage disposal for longer...no matter how hard you try. It will only further mangle what is done there.

That used to be a whisk. Now it is scrap metal. I think it's time I had my garbage disposal license removed. I've destroyed far too many things.....

Training wheels no more!

Another milestone!!

Today was that totally awesome day where Sydaleigh kissed her training wheels goodbye forever... FOR-EVER!!....peddling herself further into big girl world!! What up?!?!

It was a really nice day outside, so this afternoon I asked Isaak to take Syd's training wheels off so that she could give ridin' two wheels another go.

After some instruction, we let her loose on the basketball court behind our house. After a couple minutes...she picked it right up, and started zooming all over the court. ( I had to take Marvi inside so I left Syd in Isaak's hands...and while I was in the house, she started riding with no help. Thankfully, Isaak took some video so I still got to watch her ride solo for the first time...and then I cried.) :~)

After crashing into the fire hydrant in our yard in Nebraska, it took her a while to want to try again. But today was definitely the day that it just "clicked"!

So was so stoked! And incredibly proud of herself. At bedtime she prayed that God would help her to get better and better on her bike with no training wheels so she could ride really good. She then asked if we could go to the commissary and buy some food and she could ride her bike there. Tee hee! Love her enthusiasm and confidence!

That's.my.girl! 

Oh Sydaleigh.....

"Mom, there's only brown people in here." Sydaleigh said at the Anacostia Social Security office this morning.

"Uh huh." I reply.

"Mom, look at all the brown people," she says again, louder this time, as if she's never seen a person with colored skin before.

"Yeah, I see. There's going to be lots of brown people when we move to Africa too."-I say.

"WE'RE MOVING TO AFRICA?!?!"

Oh child, go sit down before you hurt yourself.

NEEDTOBREATHE and a monsoon!!!

My heart is happy. Very very happy. I got to go see one of my favorite bands, NEEDTOBREATHE, last night at the 9:30Club in D.C.

Ho-lla!!!

It.was.awesome. There is nothing like live music in my opinion. But, before I can jump into the details of the concert, I must first go back and start at the beginning....it was one heck of a memorable night.....

Okay. We were going to dinner and then heading to a nightclub to watch my favorite music people, so there was very careful wardrobe consideration in preparation for this night. In all fairness, there is almost always careful wardrobe consideration when going out...but even more so for this night. We have been looking forward to this concert since before we even moved here. And when I say "we", I mean me and Holly "we". Isaak was being a good sport and came along because he loves me. :~)

Anyways, planned out my outfit just so. Wore a lace maxi dress with a sheer white button up shirt over top.  Flip flops for comfort since we'd be standing for so long. Curled my hair just so. Did my make-up just so. Feelin' really good. Isaak took a shower....he's much lower maintenance then me. (all our getting ready effort would really pay off later. )

And we were off!

Me, Isaak, Lindsay, Jake and Holly started the night off down on U-Street at Shaw's Tavern. Great little bar/lounge/restaurant all rolled up into one! Super fun. Me and Isaak took the metro there. Which, has become one of our favorite things to do in this city, no joke. We are all about ridin' the metro. We take it everywhere. Love it. Made the night that much better just for having taken it.

We're enjoying ourselves. Eatin'. Talking complete randomness like always. Laughing. Having a good time.

Gettin' our senior poses on! All that's missing is a creepy photographer, pearls, and a black draped over faux dress. Tee hee! 

However....while we were enjoying ourselves inside, dining on weird looking mushrooms that look like shredded chicken and funky looking squash that we didn't know was squash....it started raining outside.

Yeah. So...this was not some little sprinkle either.

I'm talking a full blown downpour was happenin' outside!

And then, realization sets in.

We have to walk five blocks to get to the club.  

"Ugh, shoot. I didn't bring an umbrella," I say....with dread.

"I did! I brought two!" Holly responds enthusiastically, very proud that she was the only smart person who thought to bring umbrellas...and she was.

So, we gear up to leave. We try to lie to ourselves saying that it probably looks worst outside than it really is......

Uuuum. Nope. It was as bad as it looked. Actually, it was worse, because we had to walk in it.

But it's gonna be okay. We're hard core! We can walk five blocks in the rain and wind!! Yeah! We'll walk fast, get to the club and go inside and get dry...no biggie. What's a little rain......

And then, we turn the corner. We're feeling sweet relief for the warm club to come....until we see five cop cars with their lights on circled around the club, and everybody waiting outside....in.the.rain.

And then that sinking feeling returns.  There was some kind of incident in the club, and we're gonna have to hang out in the rain for a bit longer. But we give ourselves another pep talk, it's all good, I'm sure they'll let us in soon.

Uh huh. Well....we didn't exactly get in as quickly as we thought we would.

And those umbrellas....they came in handy. We were super grateful for them right about now, even more so than just on our walk. And they worked really well, they did.

Until, they stopped working really well.

An umbrella isn't much good if the wind is so strong it inverts it. And it's so windy outside it just blows the rain sideways into your face. Or you're wet from the waist down from sloshing through three inches of puddles in the gutters as you cross the street, because it didn't occur to you to dress in attire suitable for a monsoon.

I mean, really, an umbrella can only do so much before it just becomes useless...and starts working against you. Like, when all five of us tried to huddle under an umbrella made for 1. That no worky so well.

And, because five people are huddled under an umbrella made for 1, you can't fit as much of your body underneath as you would like. I mean, there's only so much room. So, we kinda had to be choosie about what parts we wanted to keep dry. And those parts that didn't make the cut we had to expel out from underneath the umbrella and expose to the skies torment.

But then the umbrella got in on the action and started dripping down our backs and arms relentlessly, giving us a double dose of wetness.

Good times.....good times. 

We were troopers though. Ain't no monsoon gonna rain on our parade! Oh no! We made the best of our very intimate time together underneath the umbrella and played MASH from junior high, I-spy, and just, ya know, had the usual conversations that you have while standing outside in a torrential downpour... 
"how bout that weather?" 
"move the umbrella a little this way, no wait, back an inch, now over this way" 
"we're moving, everyone shuffle." 
"thank you for not sneezing in my face".

It wasn't so bad. It was actually a lot of fun. If, you don't count getting rained on for an hour.

An hooooooooourrrrrrrrrr. As in sixty minutes. Outside. In the rain. Before they let anyone in. But we sucked it up and made the best of it because that's how dedicated we are!!

All three layers of Isaak's clothes were soaked through. But, after an hour, everyone was wet, so we just had to laugh at ourselves...and each other. :~)

Soaked but still smiling!

Oh. What's that you see Lindsay?? Two shirtless dudes standing next to you plastered up against the brick wall trying to scale it like Spiderman?? Okay. Um, FYI, you have not been bitten by a radioactive spider, and you do not possess wall scaling abilities. I'm just sayin'.

We finally made it in! Hooray! A group shot of our wet selves from inside the club.

When it finally started the music was even sweeter for what we stood through just to listen to it.

We thought it would be fun to stay down on the floor for the show, and it was a great experience, but, note to self, at a whopping 5'1'' when you opt to stand on the floor and not the balcony to get the full feel of the concert with all the energy the crowd brings.... your face will be at arm pit height to every guy standing an inch in front of you. If that's not really your thing, the balcony may be better suited for you.

And I may not have had a whole view of the stage because of my disadvantage in the height department, but I had a pretty clear view of the exact spot that the lead singer sang. So it was all good. All, good. 

The music was incredible. NeedToBreathe is fantastic. I really appreciate musicians that go to extra lengths to make their music interesting. Who incorporate different instruments, play with different tempos, have creative lyrics. Are willing to still play intimate venues even after making it big. Don't compromise their morals just because they've tasted fame. 

They were completely worth waiting outside for an hour in the rain. They were totally worth being packed together like matchsticks down on the floor. They were worth gettin' whipped in the face by the girl next to me flinging her hair everywhere. Totally worth the armpit eye view. Yes it was. Worth it all. The company was pretty awesome too. 

This definitely goes down as one of my most memorable nights, ever.

"....We’re off to new lands, so hold on to my hands..." -"More Time" lyrics, NeedToBreathe

"Loving Jesus."

Apparently this poem has been floating around for a while....but I've only just discovered it. My heart has been needing this reminder.....

 

"I started my day early,

Before the room was light.

I lifted my son from his crib

And wished it was still night.

But as I held him close and said,

"Hi, Kenneth, precious one,"

I knew that as I greeted him,

I greeted too God's Son.

When my daughter woke up later,

Calling, "Mommy!  Mommy!  Down!"

I picked her up and hugged her

In her worn Elmo nightgown.

I know she felt the closeness

That a mother's touch affords.

I welcomed not just Ellie,

But so, too, the Lord of Lords.

That day, I mixed some formula

And opened jars of peas.

I fixed some "pizza butter" bread

When she grinned and said, "Pleeeeease."

I heated up some leftovers;

I had to nuke them twice.

And when I fed my children,

I was feeding Jesus Christ.

I made some funny faces,

And "played puzzles" on the floor.

I dressed kitties, ran around outside,

And played with them some more.

We laughed and jumped and tickled,

Making memories to be stored.

When I spent time with my children,

I spent time with my Lord.

I wiped up sticky cereal

And washed the dishes clean.

I straightened, picked up, put away,

And dusted in between.

I did six loads of laundry

And folded it like new.

When I cleaned for my children,

I cleaned for my Savior, too

When my children were both crying,

I held them in my arms.

I cuddled them and whispered

That I'd keep them safe from harm.

I told them how their Father saved them

With His perfect Lamb.

When I comforted my children,

I comforted I AM.

Later on that evening,

I put them in the bath.

I washed their little bodies

As they kicked around and splashed.

I dried them in soft towels

And put their jammies on.

When I had washed my children's feet,

I'd washed the Holy One.

I cooked and cleaned and rearranged,

Made beds and taught and played.

I made sure that we had food to eat

And that we often prayed.

I died to self.  I made a home

From ordinary things.

But when I served my children,

I served the King of Kings.

To some, I have done nothing,

But to two, I've done the world.

I made eternal difference

To my precious boy and girl,

And to the One who watches over

Every pathway that I've trod

For when I've loved my precious children,

I've loved Almighty God."

-by Megan Breedlove

www.mannaformoms.com

The Space Shuttle Discovery's final flight

On April 17th we had the honor of watching as the retired space shuttle Discovery made its last flight, ever. With NASA's space shuttle program formally ending last year, this would be a once in a lifetime opportunity, and we got to witness it with our very own eyes.

With the final flight scheduled to happen starting at 10am, I packed up the girls and we headed down to Alexandria to watch the shuttle as it flew over the Potomac River. At 9:55am we were approaching the waterfront when the people on the street beside us started shouting and pointing to the sky. We looked up just in time to see the planes passing by, flying east. We picked up our pace and started booking it to the water, hoping they would turn around.

At 9:59am, just a minute or so after we made it to a spot by the water, the shuttle was on its way back. We screamed and pointed and watched as this iconic moment flew by before our eyes.

It was pretty awesome.

After it flew by we hurried to meet up with our Panter people and went to get an even better view from the roof of a nearby building.

It never flew by directly over the Potomac again, but we got to see it off in the distance, flying low over those trees on the other side of the river. 

You can just barely see it above the tree horizon...one last time. 

It's not very often that you get to personally witness something that the rest of the world watches on t.v. It was really cool. Brief. But cool.

And as I came home, reflecting on the days events and discussing our country's space program, my thoughts drifted to the men who flew before, to even make the shuttle program possible.

The story of Frank Borman, Jim Lovell, and Bill Anders....the very first humans to leave Earth's orbit; the first to be captured by and escape from the gravitational field of another celestial body, the first to return to Earth from another celestial body—Earth's Moon, and the first to see Earth as a whole planet. Yeah, those are some pretty impressive credentials. THE.VERY.FIRST.HUMANS.EVER! As in, the history of the human race. Blows my mind.

But while they were up there, flying in the Heavenlies, having gone where no man had gone before and witnessing sights no one had ever seen before them...they didn't say how awesome they were for having done it. They didn't toot their own horns or praise their own accomplishments....they praised another......

Christmas Eve 1968

086:06:40 ANDERS: "We are now approaching lunar sunrise, and for all the people back on earth, the crew of Apollo 8 has a message that we would like to send you."


"In the beginning, God created the Heaven and the Earth. And the Earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters and God said, "Let there be light" And there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good, and God divided the light from the darkness."

086:07:29 LOVELL: "And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day. And God said, "let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters. And let it divide the waters from the waters." And God made the firmament and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament. And it was so. And God called the firmament heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day."

086:08:07 BORMAN: "'And God said, "Let the waters under the Heavens be gathered together into one place. And let the dry land appear." And it was so. And God called the dry land Earth. And the gathering together of the waters He called seas. And God saw that is was good."

"And from the crew of Apollo 8, we close with good night, good luck, a Merry Christmas and God bless all of you-all of you on the good Earth."

It doesn't take an astronaut to figure out that God is the creator behind all that we see. It does, however, take someone willing to believe in something bigger and greater than themselves. It takes someone who can look at this world and universe and recognize that it didn't all happen by accident. I love, that as the very first men blessed to leave this earth and gaze upon it from a perspective the majority of us will never see...they took their God given platform to proclaim His handiwork for our whole nation to hear. They could have said anything. But they took this iconic moment in human history to give credit to God, the maker and creator of it all. To boast of His accomplishments.

And that's what it's all about. That's exactly what He desires for all of us to do. To proclaim His great name wherever we are, with whatever we're doing. He places us where we're at so that we may bring Him praise. That we may boast of His goodness and handiwork in our lives.

With NASA's space shuttle program formally ending last year, I thank God for the ability He gave our country to fly men and women into the Heavens and gaze upon the beauty of His creation. And proclaim His great name for the whole world to hear.

.

 (our space shuttle watching "crew"-us and our favorite Panter family)

A week with Uncle Bobby and Aunt Lisa.

We have been some lucky people lately. Normally we get to see family once a year. That's it. But since we moved to DC we have gotten to see so much family, and we absolutely love it! And for the last eight days we got to spend our time with Uncle Bobby and Aunt Lisa. The flew up from S. Florida to see us before we head to Africa and we are so thankful they did. We had a blast! And those were some eight days well spent!!

Their first day here we hit the ground running. They had been up since like 4am, traveling, going on very little sleep, so we decided to hop on the metro and go explore downtown. Who needs sleep right?!

We took the train to Chinatown and explored down there for a bit.

We then walked to the National Building Museum which was having a very impressive Lego display.

I'm like, whoa. That is some seriously impressive Lego workmanship. :~)

 We're hard core into Lego's.

The next day we headed back downtown again to visit the National History Museum, not to be confused with the Natural History Museum, which we also stopped at.

We saw the First Ladies inaugural gowns, the original Dumbo ride (Disney shout out-Whoo!!), the girls got acquainted with a bunch a 1920's-1960's toys including the Etch a Sketch, Mr. Potato Head, the yo-yo, and the View Master. And then we drew super hero's on the walls. Umm, any museum that lets kids play with Potato Heads and color on the walls is my kind of museum!

Some days we just hung out at home and played. Watched videos and looked at pictures.

We got our silly on.....

trying on Aunt Lisa's glasses.

passing the time in the car taking pictures of themselves making silly faces.

We built a fort....

We baked a cake.

We went to the park....

Where the girls peer pressured each of us to try and climb up the inside of that beast of a curly slide. Because, ya know, it's so easy for them. I am proud to say however, that after an embarrassing number of attempts we all managed to literally CLAW our way up that slide. Score one for the adults!

 Whoa, that was so painful.

We watched movies. We played Catan! But I lost....both times (on purpose of course :~) ) Uncle Bobby made us some kind of Peruvian popcorn. Super yummy.

 

We managed to sneak out Friday night for some grown up time and somehow convinced Uncle Bobby to go see Hunger Games. Wha what?!?!? Oh.yes.we.did!! And.....du du duuuunnnnn......he totally loved it! Because it's the best movie ever of course!!! Three times in the theater baby!! WHOO! *MC Hammer dance, breakin' it down*

Anyways, after seeing H.G.'s we headed over to U-Street to partake of the iconic Ben's Chili Bowl.

Isaak was super thrilled to be standing there having his picture taken. He's so "Washington" now. It just grates at him to look like a tourist! Ha ha! Oh, I have no such qualms. I could have stood there all night and not felt the least bit uncool. :~)

Whoo hoo!! Ben's Chili Bowl!!

I feel a great sense of national pride for having eaten there now. :~)

After our late night snack we went down into the underground to hop on the train...except we missed it by 10 seconds! And that late at night....the trains don't come around as frequently. So, we had to hang out for ten minutes to wait for the next one. Yeah.....okay. So here's the deal. Me and Aunt Lisa should probably not be allowed in public. Especially late at night. When we're a wee bit tired. Because everything just tends to be way way funnier when you're tired. Take, for instance, Roxanne behind us.

There she is again...oh so conveniently positioned in our photo. Poor Roxanne. I look at her now, and think....meh, not so bad. But at the time....we just simply could not control ourselves. People watching really is the greatest past time ever. Sometimes, I just look around, and think, "really? really? why???" Such was the case with Roxanne. We named her that. When she descended the escalator in her massive ten inch heels and spike studded leggings....the inner laughing beasts inside were unleashed! I mean, spike.studded leggings?! For real girl?! You look like a nice lady, you should not be wearing those! No one should. E-VER!

 

Oooohh, could.not.stop.laughing!! Especially since Aunt Lisa kept busting out,"ROOOOOOXANNE!!" I don't like to laugh at the expense of other people. But, it was spike studded leggings. It could not be helped! That's just wrong.

And then there was the whole bit about the dust specs on my camera being spirit ghosts. Tears almost ran down my legs! Oh, my sides were achin' pretty bad. Ah, good times. Good times. I love our family. And I love to laugh. It's just good for the soul.

The next day we visited the Air and Space Museum Udvar-Hazy Center by Dulles airport. Way cooler than the Air and Space Museum on the National Mall. The girls had a blast. We made paper napkin parachutes, balloon rockets, ran up and down the massive ramps, Sydaleigh and Isaak took a flight simulator ride and twisted and turned and shot down planes,

 

We looked at planes, and planes, and some more planes.

And then the girls tried their hands at being pilots in a plane they could climb in.
 
When Marvelly got bored she started walking around with her shirt in her mouth.

Isaak and Uncle Bobby never got bored. We were there for 4.5 hours and I think we rushed them through it!

hmmm, apparently these are cool. I'm not even sure what I'm looking at. Looks like a bunch of metal to me. I'm sure it does something significant, but I couldn't tell you what. They could though. And they did. That's when I just smile and nod my head pretending that I understand. It was a good time, but these two were just in a whole other dimension of happy. It was funny.

We had an incredible time with them. So many memories. So grateful for their love and investment in our lives. Our eight days went by too fast. Much too fast. But I think we may have convinced them to come visit us in Africa. We'll see...fingers crossed. :~) Oh, God is so good to bless us with such amazing family! Until next time!