Lancaster/DC Trip

We hit the road Thursday morning for Lancaster. We arrived in the area a little too early to check into our hotel, so we stopped by a working Amish farm and house. The boys loved milking the fake cow.

The woodcarver wrote each of the boys names.

Hamming it up.

The boys had so much fun playing at the kiddie water park at our hotel.

Waiting for our buggy ride

In the buggy. It was very cold and windy that morning. Sam must have said, "Horsey bum!" 75 times in a 30 minute ride. He just couldn't get over it. =) At one point he even said, "Horsey stinky!"

All aboard!

Loving his ride.

On Friday night we got together with some of my friends from Houghton. Our kids, minus their littlest one, who had already gone to bed.

Make a silly face!

Isaiah took a picture of the adults. =)

Packing up to head to DC.

DC was VERY crowded, although somehow it doesn't look like it in this picture. It was the end of the cherry blossom festival and the metro and Smithsonians were packed.

In the museum of Natural History. Isaiah was fascinated with the dinosaur bones.

We went to the 4:30 Saturday service at the Ebenezer's location of National Community Church. In this picture, you see Mark Batterson closing the service. It was surreal, but nice. =)

Our friend Blake met us at church, then ate dinner and headed back on the metro with us.

Outside Ebenezer's coffee shop. The weather was so perfect. The boys goofing around outside Ebenezers.

At Union Station

Waiting for the metro

At the National Zoo on Sunday morning When Isaiah saw this furry horse, he said, "Is that a horse or a lion?"

Playing monkey outside the aligator exhibit

This was probably the coolest thing at the zoo. The orangatan had two long ropes that went right out of its habitat so that it could climb high above the zoo pathways. And no, there was no net or anything to catch it. I guess they just don't fall!

You can barely see the giant anteater against the building. Isaiah was amazed at how big it was and how cool it looked.

After the zoo, Sam fell asleep during the ride back on the metro.

We packed a lot of fun into four days and were pretty exhausted by the end of it. It was just refreshing to have a change of scenery and spend some time together as a family.

A little late... Easter

Decorating eggs...He kept using his hands to put the eggs in the dye

Finally using the spoon The boys on Easter morning

Why oh why did the big one have to cross an eye?

Looking for eggs and Phil and Claire house

Cousins looking for eggs

Ready to eat Jesus is Alive cake

Cousins!

Working Dryer!

Last Wednesday, my dryer finally got fixed! It originally broke on January 26, so we went almost two months without it. But my persistence paid off. Didn't pay a penny to get it repaired.

The broken dryer threw off all of my Flylady routines. A big Flylady no-no is big piles of laundry. After all, a load a day keeps the CHAOS (Can't have anyone over syndrome) away. =) Without a working dryer, I had no choice but to let it accumulate. All my other routines went right out the window, too. As I start feeling better, I'm hoping to jump right back into my home management routines.

Bitter fruit

I came across this verse in Proverbs 1:30-31 the other day. In this passage, Wisdom is crying out to the people in the streets, venting that they don't heed her correction.

"They rejected my advice and paid no attention when I corrected them. Therefore, they must eat the bitter fruit of living their own way, choking on their own schemes."

I thought the New Living's use of "bitter fruit" was a very interesting and accurate description of those negative, life-changing consequences that come from making unwise, ungodly decisions. It's hard to watch people you care about having to eat the bitter fruit of their decisions and choking on their own schemes. What a helpless feeling not to be able to "do" anything. Once you have stated your position on the issue, what more can you do? Getting preachy will only drive a wedge. Ultimately, we have to realize we are not in control of anything and that praying for God to work in their life is the best thing we can do.

Contrast that to the fruit in Galatians 5:22-23:

"But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!"

House full of sickies

We have been bitten by a nasty cold virus. Sam got it first, several days ago. It seemed like the worst of it has passed for him, with just some congestion lingering in his chest, as often happens with him after a cold. A few days later, it got Isaiah and I. We've had the sore throat, sinus congestion, etc. Earlier today my throat hurt really badly when I tried to talk or swallow. Ugh! Dan even admitted he has a sore throat. He usually takes the if-I-don't-admit-I'm-sick-then-I'm-really-not approach. =)

So I took the day off of school, and we had a pretty low-key day. I did manage to dry four or five loads at the laundromat. (Update: Final dryer appointment scheduled for tomorrow!!!). Then we pretty much just chilled out at home. During Sam's nap, Isaiah and I both slept on the couch for over an hour. So nice. Our appetites have been down to about nothing. It was all I could do to get Isaiah to eat half of a Pedialyte freeze pop for dinner.

The hardest part about yesterday was that Sam definitely relapsed in his potty training. He had about three accidents yesterday, including one really bad one. But hopefully as he's feeling better, he can get right back to it.

I'm feeling better tonight than I was this morning. I'm planning on making it back to musical practice tomorrow, especially since one of the other directors injured herself and has been out for the past two days. I haven't heard the full story yet, but apparently it involves crutches. Not good!