Blue and Gold

We just got home from Tanner's first Blue and Gold dinner.

The Den 7 Table 

The boys have worked hard all year and each of them one by one was presented with the awards they earned.  Tanner earned 6 belt buckles along with his Bobcat and Wolf.

Into the Wild

I saw a Certifikid deal a few weeks ago advertising tickets to go see Jack Hanna on tour promoting his TV Series, "Jack Hanna's Into the Wild" at a venue about an hour or so away from us.  So, I decided to take Tanner and Riley thinking they'd think that was pretty cool.

I should have brought my good camera - the ones from my phone didn't turn out very well.  But here he is showing off a penguin.  He brought out all kinds of animals, the coolest of which was a snow leopard.  There are less than 100 left in the world. 

Jack Hanna was the Director of the Columbus Zoo from 1978-1993 and started appearing on David Letterman in 1985 and appeared on there several times a year until DL retired.  Someday, we'll make it to Australia and see the Koalas and Antarctica to see the penguins.... but for now, it was cool to travel to Frederick, MD and see Jack Hanna and his animal friends!

Cowboy Cassanova

Last night, Dave and I went to the Carrie Underwood concert in DC!  I have loved her ever since she won Season 4 of American Idol in 2005 and have always wanted to see her in concert.  But alas, when she went on tour with her her 3rd Album "Play On" in 2010, she was in town the week I was due with Riley, so I didn't want to risk buying the tickets and not being able to go.  And wouldn't you know it, the same exact thing happened with her next album, 2012's Blown away - she was in town when I was due with Ella.  So, alas with her 6th Album, Storyteller, I am finally not due with a baby!

You can't really see me, but here I am.  We were in the second row (behind the floor) but the stage was HUGE.  

But whenever she came to our part of the stage, we were pretty darn close, and that was AWESOME!

It was a great concert.  I loved seeing her sing all her hits:  Jesus Take the Wheel, When he Cheats, etc.  My favorite part was when she sang Dolly Parton's "I Will Always Love You."

Love me some Carrie Underwood!  So glad the stars aligned and I finally got to see her perform in person!

Ski Day!

Lacey and Tanner have wanted to go skiing and I've been wanting them to learn and have that experience as well.  So, since there wasn't any school yesterday, Dave took the day off work and took L and T skiing for the very first time.  My 16 year old niece had never been skiing either, so decided to join as well!

They decided to go to Liberty Ski Resort, which is in Pennsylvania, about an hour and a half away. 

Dave put the kids in ski school and then hit the slopes!...... For the first time in 15 years!

Learning the ropes.

T got the hang of it right away.  For Lacey, it took a while longer, but she got it and they both LOVED it!  It worked out great to have Becky there because after ski school was over, Tanner buddied up with Becky and Dave buddied up with Lacey and it worked out really well.  They all had a blast!

Unfortunately, the day ended like this.  Around 3:30/4:00 (they'd been there since it opened at 9:00), Dave called last run.  So, they all headed up for one last run and decided to meet at the bottom of the ski run and head home.  But Becky never arrived.  Then Dave saw an emergency ski medic head up and sure enough, he was headed up to get Becky, who fell and hurt her knee. (Update on that: an orthopedic nurse practitioner family friend looked at it last night and thinks she may have torn her meniscus. She has an appt with the doctor tomorrow).  

I asked Becky if she regretted going or if she was glad she went despite her injury.  She was quick to say she was glad she went and will definitely go back again after she heals.  So, that was good to hear!  Lacey loved it except for the master blister she got on her heel. And Tanner just flat out loved it without any qualifiers.  LOVED it.  Couldn't stop talking about it.  Can't wait to go back.  He announced that it is something we should do at least once a month from here on out.  I think I need to redirect him toward a cheaper sport ;) But I'm so glad they got to learn and do something new!

Happy 284th Birthday, Mr. President!

Today is George Washington's 284th birthday.  I love George Washington.  The more I learn about him, the more I love and respect him and appreciate all he did for this country.  So, it would be a crying shame to live just an hour away from his home and not spend the day there and hopefully instill in my children the same admiration and respect for this incredible man.

Last year, I brought Lacey and Tanner, so this year, I decided Riley and Ella were old enough and it was their turn.  I was a little worried about touring the home, but they both did great!  Riley loved seeing the inside of his home and said it was "the best day of my life!"

Here they are after our house tour with the gorgeous views of the Potomac from the back of the mansion.

The Washington Tomb

After touring his home, gardens and tomb, I took the girls to the Education Center.  We watched a 

4-D movie called "Revolutionary War Experience", saw his dentures and even made birthday cards for him.

Here's Riley proudly displaying her card.

And they had fun playing with the "other littles" in the Mount Vernon doll house. 

We also learned about Valley Forge and how they men lived while there.

Mount Vernon was acquired by Washington in 1754 and it is currently detailed to look as it did in 1799, the year he died.  He died in his bedroom in this home.

We were blessed with beautiful weather and had a great day.  It's hard to tell what really soaks in to the head of a 5 year old or 3 year old.  But I just hope these little girls grow up to emulate the characteristics of this great man.  I hope they love their country.  I hope they are brave and courageous.  I hope they are honest and humble.  And I hope they are loyal to the end.

And honestly, it makes me so sad to see where we've ended up today when I look at our current Presidential options.  But, I digress.....

God Bless America!

Iceberg Ahead!

Tonight was the school's Art Showcase. Weeks ago, Tanner, who has been obsessed with Titanic and other shipwrecks as of late, insisted he wanted to do a sculpture of the Titanic hitting an iceberg and sinking.  Oh boy.  Neither Dave or I are remotely artistically inclined, so I had absolutely no idea how to tell him how to get started.  But we did a little research and got started and this is what he came up with.

In an effort to be more kind and patient with each other, this has become our family theme.  We made this together a while ago, but Lacey did a lot of it and wanted to submit it.

They combined the grade levels (K/1, 2/3 and 4/5) and only had 3 awards for each combined grade level.  And Tanner won!  

"Most Inspiring"

So, for the whole school, there were only 9 winners.  Here they are posing for the Yearbook picture.

We've decided T inherited his artistic talent from his Uncle Peter.  You can inherit talent from somebody that just married into the family 2 years ago, right?

If you read the title, you will see that Tanner made this "In Memory of Telma Matilda Strom." He wondered if we were related to anybody on the Titanic.  I said I had no idea.  So, he did a little research and found out that there were 3 Stroms on the Titanic.  A 2-yr old girl along with her mother and Uncle.  Sadly, Telma Matilda and her mother were supposed to sail to the U.S on a ship a couple weeks earlier but right before the trip, Telma burned her hand and they stayed in London to have it treated and then once it started healing, they got the go ahead to sail and boarded the fated Titanic.  She and her mother were both killed.  The Uncle survived. 

Sayonara Diapers!

I'm a little scared I might jinx myself, but dare I say I think I might be done changing diapers?!!

Yes, I am posting a picture of Ella's first poop in the potty!  This is a major event in this household! A couple weeks ago when I took Ella in for her 3 yr check up, they took Ella aside and told her she was a big girl and needed to stop wearing diapers and go in the potty.  She just stared at the nurse.  The nurse showed her a Baskin Robins gift card and said that she would put her name on the calendar for 2 weeks and if she got potty trained, she could come back and get the "ice cream credit card".  More staring.  No acknowledgement or comprehension visible.  So, over the last couple of weeks, I've tried.  I've had her run around naked, asked her if she needs to go, sat with her on the potty, etc, etc.  She's pooped all over the house, peed her pants, etc. but nothing IN the potty!  Then, all of a sudden this past weekend we heard her say "I pooped in the potty!" Disbelieving, we ran into the bathroom and low and behold, she did!  We made a HUGE deal about it.  We all jumped up and down, hugging her and telling her what a great job she did, gave her a treat, etc.  Well, I guess that was all she needed because after that, she just kept going in the potty.  Today, I even took her out running errands in underwear - a first- and no accidents!  Yeah!!!!

So.... today we went to the doctor's and told them the good news!  Miss Susan, pulled Ella right up on her lap and presented her with her ice cream credit card. (And then she told me that she was actually shocked to see me because she said after we left a couple weeks ago, she and the Nurse Practitioner looked at each other and said "that's not going to happen any time soon.  Se was not remotely interested."  Ha, I had the same thought!  But lo and behold, it actually happened! And in the past with the other kids, it was such a long drawn out p-r-o-c-e-s-s.  But this was just "Click!"

Yeah!!

So, we went straight from there to get our ice cream!

And honestly, the best part of all of this is that I get to stare at these cute buns all day.  It's the funniest thing.  When she has to go, she doesn't tell me, she just goes all on her own.  But she COMPLETELY undresses from the waist down and then just stays that way.  So, I always know when she's gone, because I find her like this. And she just stays this way until we have to leave the house.  Love those cute cheeks!

Side note..... My oldest child is 9 years old.  I have never had a child potty trained before having another baby.  In other words, I have been changing diapers on a daily basis for nearly a decade.  But as of about two days ago, I dare say I think I may have changed my last one.  Woot Woot!

Feelin' the Love

Here's a rundown of the V-day weekend festivities..... We got heart-shaped pizza for dinner....

And all the kids had V-day parties at school.  I am Tanner's room mom this year, so I was in charge of his classroom party.  As a result, I didn't get many pics since I was running around doing the games and such, but it was very fun!

This morning, the kids woke up to their V-day baskets.

Riley's beloved Shopkins!

And we topped off the evening with heart-shaped pasta.  

Happy V-day to all my loves!