Funny Fun Day

Micah is comic relief. There isn't a day that goes by that he doesn't say something funny. One winter family fun day, we decided to go to one of their favorite places - Dulles Town Center Mall. It's easy to see why they enjoy it so much.

The morning started off with making pancakes with dad.
Dad makes the BEST pancakes, ever.


And then kick-starting our fun day
at Airplane Park, an indoor cushion-like airport
just for kids under 42" inches.


And Caelan masters the slide all by himself. Repeatedly.


They pretend to be air traffic controllers.


And after a yummy lunch at the Food Court,
they get Ben & Jerry's Icecream.



And we usually ride the carousel.
But naptime was approaching.
Micah wasn't that happy we didn't ride the carousel.
But, we had limited time, so we headed for the trains instead.


Smiles from mall-shoppers as Caelan waved to all...

So the culmination of the day was the funny part. The conversation went like this:
Mommy: (in my cheery mommy voice) Micah, wasn't today fun? Daddy made us breakfast....we played at airplane park....we ate ice cream....we rode trains...and...
Micah: (interrupting, in same exact cheery mommy voice) And we didn't ride the carousel....

Oh my gosh. Patrick and I just looked at each and started busting out laughing. You had to be there. When did our little guy learn sarcasm?? He's so funny and clever!

Performances to Remember

Here are two of my favorite videos from this past Christmas. Not one, but both of my children are extremely talented! Enjoy!

This one is Caelan and his Uncle
performing to the late Michael Jackson.

And Micah puts on his Crown, and sings at his
very first Christmas concert!
The song is a scripture memory verse and the words are:
"Do not be afraid, your prayers have been heard. " - Luke 1:13

Family Fridays

The coolest thing to tell you--starting January 4th, Patrick's office at Northrop Grumman went to a 9-80 work week which means in a two week pay period, he works one extra hour every day and then gets every other Friday off! There are pro's and con's to this, but a pro is that we spent our first Friday off having fun while everyone else was working. :)

We headed to the Udvar Hazy Air and Space Museum.
Micah loves planes, McDonalds and movies so we put his favorites together for a very fun day.

We went to outerspace.

And saw real planes take off from
Dulles Airport from a control tower.

And then watched an IMAX film TO FLY. The incredible Imax 5-story screen and 20,000 watts of sound took us on a journey few pilots have experienced. To Fly! was the Museum's first and most popular Imax film. It cost us $7.50 for Micah, but worth every penny to see his jaw drop half a dozen times.

And of course, they were racing each other to get to
McDonalds located inside, right next to the museum-store.

New to my 2010 blog is a link (on right side bar) for families looking to do kid-friendly things in the Loudoun County area. For anyone looking for something fun to do in the winter time, this is a great option! One thing to note is that while admission is free, parking is a whopping $15. You can get free tours, and also just pack a lunch to save money!

Mischievous Micah

Ok, Soryda wanted me to tell you about Micah's antics. Our lovely number one son has an obsession with army clothes, a gift by his uncle Eric and aunt Heather. He has been wearing them every day non-stop for the last several weeks. He fights to keep them on at night, even though when he wears them at night, he wakes up freezing in the morning and ends up in the morning in bed with us. In fact, he will actually take off his pajamas and put on his army clothes, AFTER we put him to bed in normal pajamas.



SO--last night, the army clothes needed to washed and we put them in the washing machine, and told him that they were not available. Shortly after we went to bed, we heard a KLUNK and then a BANG, and various other noises that sounded like the house was under construction.





I went out to investigate and found mischievous Micah trying to retrieve his army clothes. He had dragged a stool into the laundry room, used it to turn on the light, and opened up the top of the washing machine in an effort to reach his army clothes. I couldn't believe he'd go to these lengths after bedtime to get his army clothes! What is this obsession? Unfortunately, I sent him back to bed WITHOUT the army clothes. He went with tears--but first thing in the morning, his first words were to remind us that "my army clothes are clean." This kid is unreal.

Memorable 2009

Happy New Year! I, for one, love new beginnings. This past year was definitely memorable as we focused this year on two words: Connect and Grow. No babies, or weddings (like last year's blog), or anything else to announce this past year. Only one other word comes to mind: HOUSE.

It only took from February to July to accomplish-- the dreaming, searching, finding, settling in to our amazing new home. Which, by the way, was my Christmas gift this year, a long with all our new furniture. Patrick was VERY good to me. It's been a joy to make this house, our home. Take a look at some before and after pictures:

family room

living room

And while we're on before/after pictures---at the start of the new year, it's hard to forget we had just began again as 2nd time parents. It was a very challenging time for both Patrick and I. We had a lot of sleepless nights. The worst part was that Caelan refused to take a bottle until he was five months old, making it difficult to be away from him for more than two hours. Thank God those nights are over...

Now, he's a delightful little baby. A highlight this year was that we had a huge first birthday party at our new home. He walked at 13 months, and he has 8 teeth now. Micah walked at 10 months, and had zero teeth. Micah started out the year terribly two. There was a lot of tough love around this house, but I think we are seeing our reward because he listens and obeys most of the time. Key word is "most". We were watching some videos of him at the start of 2008 and were simply amazed at all he was able to do and say then. He's so much fun.

Since we bought the house and all new furniture, we were too broke to do much else. So whatever travel we did, we wanted it to be fun for the kids, and easy for us. So we headed to Michigan to visit Kristen and Len and Micah's and Caelan's four cousins.

We also got to see the beach with the kids, and our small group family. Oh, and by the way--one of the dating couples on this trip got engaged on Christmas.
Woo hoo! Another one bites the dust!

Also, another highlight in 2009 was the entire family
on Patrick's side was able to visit this December. And the word "house" again comes up, because we were finally able to host a large family!

Twice over! My family came to stay for the rest of December
and I just simply thank God for this house.

In other updates, Patrick is taking on more responsibility at the office and is a project manager of a multi-million dollar government contract. He enjoys the challenges, but is wondering if he'll still have his sanity in tact. His number one job as husband and father is the one he cares about, and I can tell you that this man engages with his children. What an impact it is already making. He's doing an exceptional job!

I'm still LOVING my job as CEO of our home, Event Planner, Head-diaper changer, Top Chef--but I am thinking I want to start doing something else part time. I'm praying about it, so we'll see where the Lord takes this. Meanwhile, I'm heavily involved in my mom's group, Community Bible study, and now another Beth Moore study weekly. Both of us are asking where the Lord wants us to specifically serve this year in ministry and we don't want to waste the gifts and talents He gave us to use! As a side note, another exciting thing (to Patrick's dismay) was that I cut off all my glorious hair. Goal in 2010 is to grow it back.

When I think about this year, I have to just exhale loudly. My life just feels so very full. I feel the time we were given, was used to maximum impact. I celebrate the gift of Jesus, my ridiculously amusing husband, my sweet sons and all the wonderful people in our lives. We made this year about connecting in relationships, almost occupying every weekend getting together with friends or family. We also made it about growth in so many areas of our marriage, in parenting, and in our walk. We're goal setting again for 2010 and we can't wait to see what the Lord has in store for us! Thanks for sharing this year with us. All three of you faithful followers should also know that Patrick has resolved to blog more this year. Hooray!!!!!