Christmas Time Fun

I am way behind so this is a whirlwind post of the first part of December to help me catch up.

 Samantha thought decorating the tree was great- especially the little bell ornaments that fit perfectly in her little hand. 

 All of the lights did strange things to my camera and so there are a fair number of blurry pictures. 

We bought artificial tree this year and it has been really nice. The kids love that the lights have a remote control that can change the colors and pattern of flickering. 

 When both girls want to put the star on top you get creative!

 Ghost pictures-jumping off of the couch.

 Joseph had the flu- BOO!

 It is always fun to paint but Jon does not think it is as fun to do homework.

 Peek-a-boo we see you!

 I love my kids!

 And when you live in Texas you just might get to go to the zoo in December in shorts and short sleeves. It was beautiful!

 And let's not forget Class Christmas parties!

Jon has serious sugar cube stacking skills.

The month went by in such a blur but we certainly had a wonderful month! 

More to come- especially when I have a chance to get some pictures off of my phone. 

9 years of Jonathon

My Jonny bug turns 9 today!

I thought I would never want to have a Christmas time baby but the amazing spirit having a newborn brought into our home that year is something so dear to my heart. 

 Our boys the night we came home from the hospital- one of my favorite pictures. 

 Jon chewed through a bunch of binkis but not this one. He had it for 2 years. Actually it is in a box in our attic with a few other baby things. I couldn't stand to part with it. 

 He was always pretty good at making messes. 

 He helped himself to the cool whip. 

 He knows how to relax in style. 

 He has always played really well with his sisters. He actually loves babies. 

 He has tried his hand at several sports and is still looking for the one that speaks to his heart. We are going to give a swim team a try this summer and see how that goes. He is quite the fish!

 He loved playing with his sisters at field day and happily introduce them to everyone. 

Jon, you are a ham and one that likes to test your boundaries. You are gaining knowledge and wisdom about life and I see you with a growing desire to do good and be good. You always want to play and have fun. You are really good at procrastinating certain things and manage to get away with it due to our sometimes crazy life. You enjoy scouts and I hope you turn into an Eagle scout one day. You are smart and gentle and kind. You love yummy food. You are good at playing video games or really most games. I am so thankful each and every day that I am your mom! Happy Birthday!

Washington DC Day 4

Samantha discovered bagels on our trip! They are a perfect treat since they are dense enough that she can not bite to much off and she can hold them well. 

Arlington Cemetery was our first stop and we made it just in time to see the changing of the guard at the tomb of the unknown soldier. The kids were so good. 

The boys were intrigued by the eternal flame at JFK's grave. 

We then spent the rest of the day at the Natural History Museum except for the time we left for lunch up by the Capital building. 

The museum closed down their huge dinosaur display for the next 5 (yes FIVE) years while they do renovations in October. They had a smaller new display that opened that day we were there. It was fun to see. 

We saw the tarantula feeding and Arabella was brave enough to hold the madagascar hissing cockroach. She is move brave than me. 

This was Joseph's favorite stone in the Gem section. 

We also went in the butterfly house- so cool! I want to plant a butterfly garden now. 

The capital building dome is being repaired or updated or something and had an impressive amount of scaffolding on it. 

I love you Jon!

Oh no kids, swim away!

We enjoyed some great evening meals at the hotel for a few nights we were there. The kids played on this shuffleboard game and loved it. Jon was quite good at it. 

Oh my smiley baby Bubbles!

Washington DC Day 3

My day 2 pictures were not cooperating and so we will move on to day 3.

This was the only museum we paid to go in: National Building Museum.

It was not worth it.

There was some cool architecture but as far as displays or information it was a bit weak. 

I don't believe it is part of the Smithsonian group and you could tell. 

A museum employee came and told us to stop taking pictures shortly after I took these and then was annoyed that the kids were playing so long at the hands on exhibit.  

We had left early to stand in line for tickets to go to the top of the Washington Monument. 

It was amazing!

Jon made friends with the police and their horses. 

Lily and Arabella loved a chance to run and play in the open field while we waited for our turn to ride in the elevator. It was a gorgeous day!

You could see the Washington DC temple easily from one of the windows. This is a zoomed in shot but it was so fun to see it out there. We had tried to get out there the day before via public transportation but there was some work being done on the Metro and it did not happen. 

This is one of many pictures Peter took of the construction of the monument. Oh he is an engineer through and through!

We rounded off our day with a trip to the Vietnam Memorial. 

It is a bit hard to try and help your kids understand the full impact of some of these things when they  have not had the chance to study and learn about them.

I hope that in future years as they do learn of them they will remember this trip and hopefully a bit of the reverence they felt at these monuments. 

I love the design of each one. 

Washington DC Day 1

Our flight was great- the kids were too!

We landed, got our luggage, took a shuttle to the hotel, and headed to the metro.

The kids were so excited about the metro.

We took a short trip to Sine's Irish Pub for a delicious lunch.

We had a few hours before the museums closed so we headed to the Air and Space Museum.

The kids loved it and would have spent more time there but it was closing time. 

Before heading back to the hotel we spent a little time seeing the Washington Monument.

This photo is awesome because it looks like the monument is growing out of Joseph's head.

Our first day was wonderful. It was so fun to see the sights and feel the excitement of the kids at seeing new things. I love vacations!