sick and bored....

Well, I guess I can officially join the list of bad bloggers. My parents finally flew home on Saturday after a two week visit. We had a great visit and saw sooooo many cool things. It was a very emotional trip for me and I realized how proud I am to be an American even in the financial crisis our country is in.

The first week they were here we went and saw Arlington Cemetery, the Museum of American history, and the National Archives. Both of those places were very cool. To see the original Constitution, Bill of Rights, and Declaration of Independence, was very cool. Along with the original flag that Frances Scott Key wrote the Star Spangled Banner about.

On Wed my dad drove down to Daytona Beach, FL. For those of you that don't know my dad he is a die-hard race fan, in every sense of the word. Going to the Daytona 500 was one of the things on his bucket list. He got back the following Monday night so why he was gone Mom and I just hung out and did some fun stuff with the kids. We went shopping for the kids for Valentines Day. I don't usually do much for that holiday but since my mom was here we went a little overboard.

On Wednesday night after dinner we drove down to DC and actually found parking right next to the Lincoln Memorial. That was amazing too! It was very cold but at least it wasn't too windy. We walked to the Vietnam Wall and the WW 2 memorial and then walked to the White House. It was a perfect night to walk the streets of DC.

We decided to keep the kids home from school Thursday and Friday so we could do more sightseeing without having to try and catch the Metro back and forth to get home in time for the kids to get off the bus.

Thursday we went to the Museum of Natural history (Where the hope diamond is) Then we went to the Air & Space museum and the Ford Theatre (where Lincoln was shot) They just opened it after a long renovation so that was cool.

Friday we took a tour of the Capital Building and they just happened to have the room open where the first senate was. I guess it usually isn't open to the public. We then hit the Museum of American Indian and then finished it up with a tour of the Washington Monument.

I am surprised about how well the kids behaved, we had a few whines and gripes about being tired, but for the most part they were "angels".

My parents flight left Saturday evening out of Baltimore so we went there for the day. Its about a 30-40 minute drive from where we live. We started out at Ft. McHenry. The Ft where Frances Scott Key was held captive on a British Ship and he wrote the Star Spangled Banner poem about the "HUGE" flag that was still flying the next morning. At the beginning they show a little video about the whole story and then the curtain gets pulled back and you stand there looking at a flag on the same pole in Ft McHenry while they play the Star Spangled Banner. I completely lost it and cried all my mascara off! Its amazing and I think everyone needs to go see all that stuff just to remember the real sacrifices that were made so we can be American.
If anyone ever is in the area. I highly recommend Ft McHenry especially for the kids. At the beginning they give them a scavenger hunt. They have to answer a bunch of questions that they find throughout the fort about the battle there. After they are all done they get a Jr. ranger badge. Mariah and Aiden loved it and Aiden insisted on wearing it every day to school so far this week.

After that we went to eat. My dad is a huge food network fan and saw two places to eat there on their show of hole in the wall places to eat. First we went to Faidley's and got THE BEST CRABCAKES I have ever had in my life. Then went to Chap's and had the best BBQ Beef sandwiches I have ever had. Then we drove my parents to the airport and came home a crashed at like 6pm.

I posted a bunch of pictures on Myspace and Facebook you can check them out if your interested.

Monday I ended up coming down with a flu so I have been sick for two days now. I am feeling better this evening so I am now need to get everything in order for or trip to Oregon in a month. I am so excited we will be there April 1-13th!

Tah! Tah! For Now!

on my way to the airport.

Well this weekend has been a crazy one already. Mariah is off to a weekend sleepover. (Tiara's mom must be crazy to have 7 girls stay the night Fri and Sat night and all day Sunday.) Jackson and I spring cleaned the house this week. It feels so good to know that their aren't even any dust bunnies and even under all the furniture has been vacuumed! I have to say cleaning today really made the day go quickly. I suggest it to anyone that wants time to go by quickly. LOL.

I am taking off here in about 15 minutes to pick up my parents from the airport. I AM SO EXCITED. At the age of 16 I never thought I would be so happy to see them, but I guess I am not the only one. It drives me nuts to live so far away from all my family. Although, I love that I get to travel alot.

They will be here for two weeks. We have held off alot of sight seeing since we have been here so that we dont have to visit twice. So I am really stoked to see all that DC, VA, & Maryland have to offer.

It is about a 45 minute drive to the Baltimore airport from here and I am so anxious, it will probably seem like 3 hours. Since it is so late, Jackson is going to stay here at the house with Olivia. Aiden is going to go with me to the airport. I am so excited to have just one on one time with him. Poor guy, being the only child means he doesnt usually get that one on one he deserves. Okay well I am out of here. I will post some more blogs soon with our adventures and pics!

snow

Well, it snowed here finally! It snowed pretty much all day the first day so we got a good 4 inches. The last two days it has been ice rain, which scares me more than the snow. We have been cooped up in the house for 3 days now and I am beginning to go nuts. Not that I had anywhere to go in the first place. Just not having that option is a bit maddening. I am hoping that the kids go back to school tomorrow. A lot of the ice and snow melted today. Although, I am not so sure considering it is supposed to be back in the twenties tonight and it everything is really wet.

Of course the kids had a blast. Olivia made about 50 snow angels and the Mariah and Aiden were getting upset with her because she was ruining all the good snow for their snowman. She then thought it would be fun to pelt them with snowballs since they wouldn't include her in the snowman making process. Fortunately for them she couldn't really make much of a snow ball. They learned just to ignore the snow flying over their heads until they realized the snow balls she was throwing were getting bigger. (I was making snowballs for her) It was so fun to watch her throw it and turn and run. Of course her all bundled up looking like a pink marshmallow man and running was hilarious. Especially when she would fall over mostly from laughing so hard.

Of course as soon as we got outside and playing for 15 minutes Olivia says. I gotta go potty! Urgh. So we had to come in un-bundle in a hurry and then bundle back up! I was kind of wishin she had still been in diapers. LOL.

My next exciting thing will be my parents get here a week from Saturday. I am so ecstatic, I can hardly sleep at night! I am hoping the weather will hold up so we can see all the sights in DC without getting hypothermia.

Catchin up

Well it has been awhile so I thought I'd catch everyone up. Olivia turned 3 on Tuesday. We had a lot of fun. Jackson and the kids were home from school and work that day. Being so close to DC it was just too crazy so most of the schools and most government buildings were closed. We had a really lazy day. We just hung out and watched the inaguration on tv. After Olivia took a nap we took off to Chuck E Cheese. She had an absolute blast. It was just Jackson and I and the kids, plus Sydney our neighbor and Mariah's best friend. We had dinner and did all the games and stuff. It was pretty cool, Olivia was playing a game and hit the jackpot twice!! So she got over 400 tickets. After we were all done we came home and we sang happy birthday and ate her Dora cupcakes. (At her request, cupcakes with pink frosting) I was a little worried she would change the color of frosting she wanted since every day she has a new "favorite color". Fortunately she didnt even say anything about it. We then opened presents. We got her one of those 3 foot stuffed horses, some new PJ's, a Diego bath towel and bubble bath, a my little pony, and a Dora mermaid for the bath tub. It's nice that they are so easy at this age as far as shopping goes. About this time it was about time for bed so she took a bath with her new bubble bath and used her towel when she got out. She put her new jamjams on and headed to bed. Of course we had to hawl the big horse upstairs and make a bed for him. (First she wanted him to sleep with her but there was NO way)
On another note Jackson got offered a really cheap deal to go to Italy and disney world. Pretty hilarious considering we just decided to renew our vows this summer. So we haven't made a definate decision but I think we are going do the vow renewal next summer instead. Which I am actually pretty excited about having a whole extra year to plan it. That way I will be able to put more time and money into it to make it super! We are going to buy the Italy tickets and go next spring. Then we are going to take the kids to Disney World this year probably spring or summer. Jackson has to figure out what days he can take off. I really want to go visit Oregon so I am considering taking the kids by myself. Maybe for spring break.

Well that is it for now. I need to go make dinner.

The Greatest Idea

Well, I've really been thinking about this vow renewal ceremony and wanted to do something really special for my wonderful husband. I've been racking my brain about an anniversary gift that I can give to him at the reception. If any of you know Jackson, you know he isn't much of a material person and he has a hard time not loosing stuff! So I was trying to think of something I could do for him. I thought about singing something, but I knew I would never be able to make it through the song without falling apart. Then at 2am in the morning I got it!!! I am going to surprise him with bagpipers!!! He is in the military and VERY patriotic. The times we have gone to parades and the bagpipers play and whenever he sees the American flag he tends to get a bit choked up. So I thought this will be perfect! They could play America the Beautiful, or God Bless America for him. In addition, I wanted to recognize the people that have been an integral part of our marriage and family that wont be with us. (My son Ashton and Grandpa are both passed) I thought they could play Amazing grace, one of my favorite songs as a tribute to everyone that has passed on, that meant something to us. I really want to drums and all, so I may have just blown my budget out of the water!! But I think it will be worth it.

So much to do....

Well, I made a list of everything that needs to get done for the renewal and felt a little overwhelmed for a bit. Then I decided, if I'm not enjoying it, its not worth doing. So I am just going to take it one step at a time and try and enjoy it. Good thing for me, Jackson doesn't really have too much of an opinion about most stuff.

My colors are going to be either clover green and hot pink, or clover green and orange. I know I am going to use Gerber daisies for the main flower. Mom and I discussed it and we are going to order the flowers wholesale and make the centerpieces and bouquets ourselves.

Since this isn't a wedding and I don't have a MOH I can't pawn tasks off on her! LOL. JK. Since we are doing it in Oregon and I am here in Maryland it looks like my Mom and Dad will have to do a lot for me. I know they love me and this will prove it! We probably wont get there to Eugene until a week or so before hand. So going and checking out venues, and meeting with any other vendors will be on them if I can't resolve it by phone or email.

Now my task it to stay under budget! Can anyone recommend a good cake vendor? Some place not too over priced. I want a simple two tiered cake . Possibly with white fondant and then I will add some simple ribbons and flowers myself. Then we are going to just do regular sheet cakes. Maybe a cookie bar.

Well that's it for now. Hope everyone had a wonderful New Year!

Well, I am so excited. Jackson and I are going to renew our vows this summer. We never ended up having a "wedding" so nine years later, we are going to do something. I have started gathering some ideas. I can't wait to celebrate how much I love him with all my family and friends. We have been looking at venues in Oregon and have narrowed it down to Mt. Pisgah and Belknap springs. (I think)

Mariah and I went to David's Bridal today and tried dresses on. It was alot of fun. I narrowed about 10 dresses down to 3. One is a more traditional style A-line wedding dress and the other two are the empire waist dresses that have a "lingerie" look. My mom is coming out here to visit in February so, we will decide then.

We decided not to do the whole wedding party thing, but all our imediate family (our kids, parents, bros, & sissy) will be involved in the unity candle portion.

The vowel renewel part will be pretty short, with the unity candle lighting, a prayer, reading of our vows (ive already started writing mine), and then a closing prayer. Then a huge party for a reception.

Here is the website with my 3 favorites. Take a look and tell me what you think. If you have any other advice or ideas, please share!

http://www.davidsbridal.com/favorites_public.jsp?id=ABACMKIFAH

Oh this is going to be so much fun!