Washington DC: Part 3

I know it's been over a month now but I'm finally on to post # 3 from our trip! Go me! ;)


I think one of the main highlights of our trip for the kids was any time they were able to stand up on the Metro.

Ninja would beg every time we would get on and most of the time, I wouldn't let him but there were a few times where I let him stand.

We started this particular day by going to the Air and Space Museum.

 The kids had fun but honestly, it was a little crowded and I hate crowded places so I didn't enjoy it as much as I should have.

 Ninja loved seeing all of the space shuttles and airplanes.

 And of course, Amelia Earhart's airplane. I'm not sure if it's sad or just funny that a lot of things in DC that were relevant for us can be attributed to the movie Night at the Museum.

 Princess and Lo---seriously, haven't I already mentioned how much this boy loved his older cousin?! He lit up every time she walked in a room.

Future astronauts? I guess we shall see...

Next was the Native American Museum.

 I really thought this museum would bore the heck outta my kids. In fact, I was kind of sure I would be bored. But I really loved it and Ninja didn't want to leave! He found a tv that was playing different narrations of Indian folk tales and didn't move from that area until he had watched every single one of them, which took a while. He was enthralled and kept telling me how cool it was that stars can turn into people or people can turn into wolves, etc. He loved those stories so much.

 Princess was with my mom for most of the museums and I hardly got any pictures of her or got a chance to see what things she enjoyed the most. But I'm gonna just assume she loved it too.

 As we were walking back to the Metro, we came across the above---seriously? Keepin' it real classy, DC.

The next day was the 4th of July!!! We were so excited to wake up and get started.

 We rode the Metro and then had to wait for a bus to take us to Mount Vernon. The kids were such good sports about all of the waiting and picture taking.

 I loved the outfits I had bought my kids for this year. Ninja's shirt says, "Are these people really my relatives?" I found that appropriate for our vacation with our huge family.

 Princess and Nelly, posing for my camera. These girls are hilarious together.

 It was sprinkling when we got on the bus and by the time we got to Mount Vernon, it was pouring rain. We were all drenched and I felt bad that my kids were in flip flops. Oops!

By the time we finished the tour of George Washington's house, the rain had stopped and we were able to stay dry.

 The back of George Washington's house faces the Potomac River and has such a gorgeous view.

 Right behind us is the back porch of the Washington house.

 And this is the front of the house. It was fun to take a tour through it and see all of the different rooms and get a sense of how George Washington and his family lived.

 They had these guards out reenacting some really cool things for us to watch throughout the day.

 We got to walk around the acres and see animals. This is Princess showing off the sheep.

And the kids loved being so close to the cattle.

 Then we headed back to the Washington's back porch to hear George Washington and his wife speak about Independence Day. I had chills and loved listening to his speech.

 Princess had been asked 6 or 7 times by strangers if they could take her picture because of her outfit. Can you tell she was done with pictures by the end of the day?

It was a memorable 4th of July and the best part was spending it with every member of my family.

Real Writing

I want to be real. I want to sit here and profess all of my feelings and concerns and thoughts into this blog to help you and to help me.

My mother is a writer; an extremely talented write. She has written each of her grandchildren their own personal childrens book, she has written other childrens books, and she is currently writing her first biography. I feel like writing is in my blood. I've kept journals since I was a little girl. I've always gotten excited when assigned an essay in my English classes.

And now I blog. And on top of that, I still write in my journal and I still write essays for school.

The day after d-day (the day he moved out), I sat on my bed sobbing and ferociously scribbling words into my journal. My journal became my safe place. It contains so many of my emotions from the past ten months and I'll cherish that forever because in a few years, I doubt I'll remember all of these feelings. I'm pretty good at forgetting really painful things and I hope that my journal will be a reminder of how strong and brave I can be in the midst of some pretty painful trials.

Divorce has been pretty hard lately. It has been one hard lesson after another after another. I feel like I'm often being taught these new principles, some of which I doubt I'll ever fully grasp.

How do you just get used to the knowledge that people you loved so dearly now view you as crazy or manipulative? How do you get through the day without shouting the real reasons for divorce at everyone who has ever doubted your decisions?

Months ago, a friend had approached me and asked me about my divorce. We were talking and she said, "So did you just leave him because he stopped going to church and it got too hard?"
I was kind of shocked.
She only knew the story from my blog.
Did I make it sound like I left him?
Because the thing is, I didn't leave him. And oh my heck, I wish the only thing I was dealing with was an ex-husband who didn't go to church. Can we go back to the time where that was my biggest struggle? Because as hard as it was, it wasn't as hard as the divorce.

The thing is, I'm a good person. I'm finding my confidence---the confidence that left the day he did. I'm getting to a point where I can say with a certainty that I am worth something to my God and to other people on this earth. I know my intentions are good. I know my heart tries to love everyone.

I don't have hate for the man I am now divorced from. I don't have hate for his family or the friends he associates with. I don't carry hate around with me when I go about my daily routine.

I'm not as crazy or emotional as people think. I might be crazy at times and I am not denying my emotional capabilities but they aren't abnormal or psychotic.

I don't know if I'll ever get used to the fact that people believe really horrible lies about me. I know it's something I can't change but that doesn't make it any less painful. I promise I'm trying to act like a daughter of God. I promise I'm trying to serve and smile and love others.

I'm not perfect but I'm trying and I hope that the people I continue to trust believe in me also.

Because trust surely has been a hard thing to re-learn and re-gain. That was one of my flaws before divorce. I don't trust very easily. I often would make assumptions about my marriage and would act crazy because I truly felt crazy. And the worst part is, almost every thing I doubted in my marriage turned out to be full of lies---and the crazy feelings I felt have answers.

And this isn't me saying, "Neener, neener, I was right!". I didn't want to be right this time. I just hope you'll understand why I don't trust and why I'm afraid of the future a lot of the time.

A year ago, I was only a month away from one of the biggest changes and heartbreaks I've ever experienced...

...it's not that I want to warn the girl in this picture from July 4th, 2013 but I sure do ache for what lies ahead for her.

Because it isn't always pretty. It isn't full of sarcasm and laughing and smiles like I wish it was.

But through it all, she will learn. She will learn how to trust herself when she feels she can't trust anyone else. She will learn that God is aware of everything. She will learn that motherhood and sisterhood and just being a human being isn't perfection and it gets messy sometimes.

She will learn a lot of good things that will someday overpower the bad.

And with that knowledge, she will teach and serve and love the people around her so much better than before.

And that will make this all worth it.

4th of July Blocks

My sister in law and I are always finding new cute things to craft together. A couple months ago, she asked if I wanted to make blocks for each month of the year, like these ones. We bought all the wood and started sanding them together but never got around to doing anything else.
The other day, Petey and I were bored during Spidey's naptime and decided to break out some of the wood and start painting. My happy helper and I finished painting the July and August blocks and had a ton of fun doing it.

After we finished the painting, we did something a little bit different than the original tutorial.

We added scrapbook paper. I only got around to adding July's scrapbook paper and still havent added the words on each block but we'll find time another quiet afternoon. :)

This has been the perfect craft for Petey and I to do together. It isnt extremely messy or difficult and she loves helping me and then seeing our crafts put up during their seasons.

And as you can see, after I left the room, Sneaky Pants touched the wet yellow block and then touched the blue one. But there's no way I'm painting over those cute little finger prints. :)

And that's how Suze crafts it.

4th of July

How grateful I am for my country and the freedom that I have. It is hard to express how I feel about America because I have lived here my whole life and have never experienced anything but my freedom. I often take the things I have for granted so it is nice to have such a wonderful day for us all to reflect on the many freedoms that we do have.
On the 4th, I had the freedom to: *Melt in the sun watching David and Petey...

...at their swim lessons. (Are you loving Petey's face in that picture? She is SO bubbly and talks like crazy now at lessons.)

*Have a BBQ with extended family (no pictures to prove it...but it did happen).

*Swim at my parents house and watch Petey jump off the diving board {after a while, she started doing it without floaties but I didnt get a picture}.

*Light fireworks with family.

*See K Bear's dad having to plug his ears because the fireworks were loud.

*Watch Aunt Gigi and Spidey get excited for the fireworks. This was right after Spidey said, "Whoohoo!"

I am so grateful for my country, for my family, and for my freedom.

And that's how Suze sees it.

Flag Blocks

My Sister in Law and I have been trying to get together once a week to craft. One of the first projects we decided to tackle were these Flag Blocks from Brown Paper Packages.
My sister in law posted the picture of her finished project on her blog and here is mine.
I think it's cute! We have been going crazy with wood projects so there will be many more to come but that is it for now.

I am currently working on my 4th of July wreath and some blocks to go on the wall. I was going to finish them up and post those today but I realized I didnt have everything to finish them. Darn! I'll try and get them done and posted soon so you can have time to make them yourselves if you'd like.

And that's how Suze crafts it.