It's all good . . .

Arthur's First Grade Field Trip

Yesterday, Arthur got to go on his first grade field trip to the Landis Valley Museum.  It was the coolest place, where they showed the kids how life was like on a farm in the 18th and 19th Century.  They did all sorts of fun activities, such as wagon rides, milking a cow, carrying water, "building a house," etc.  Arthur had a blast and I love that he got to have fun.  And I am so glad his teacher took so many pictures, so that it felt like I was a part of it, even though I couldn't go.

A Fabulous Home Project

Since before we moved into our home, or before it was built, really, I had dreamed of having built-ins along the wall in our office.  I have kept it empty for three years, dreaming of the day I would have it there.  Well, a few months ago, Kevin found this beautiful gray IKEA cabinets for sale in the perfect shape and color, and I just knew it was the answer.  I saved up my sub money, and then we bought the cabinets, for a fraction of the cost they would have been had I gotten them custom made. Once we had them delivered, Kevin got right to work putting together.

It took a few days of hard work when he would get home from work each night, but Kevin did an amazing job of installing them.And they fit!!  I had done lots of measurements, but part of me was so afraid that I was off and they wouldn't fit.  I love them so much!!

After Kevin finished, that meant it was time for me to get started.  I had to take all the sewing machines, boxes of fabric, and all sorts of other craft supplies that I had in the basement, and then I had to organize them.  It took a few days, but it was so awesome and worth it.  And one time when I was exhausted, and feeling unmotivated to work, Derek started practicing guitar, and it gave me just the burst of energy I needed to finish.

And wow, I just love it finished!!  

I love how so many of my things have a home now, but I especially love how I finally have a place to display the gorgeous plates and bowls that Kevin brought me home from Afghanistan.  

I do have some empty spaces still, but I will find something to fill them.  

I just love how I decided to store and display my fabric scraps.  I separated them by color and then tied them with twine, and placed them on the glass shelves.  They are just such a pretty touch - even if Kevin thinks I am strange - ha ha!

And so, one more home project from my list is crossed off the list, and I couldn't be happier.  It turned out perfectly.

Back to Life

Between our Florida vacation and my sister Holly's visit, I blinked and October was half over.  It had been such a fun and amazing few weeks, but it was also exhausting, and so I also found myself trying to play catch up.  

One of the activities we had was Lily marching in the Dallastown Halloween parade with some of her other friends from the musical so that they could promote their spring musical, Mama Mia.  It was freezing cold, but she had a blast!  She especially loved getting to throw candy and glow sticks to the kids.

Now that Derek's cross country season is over, we were finally able to have the missionaries over for dinner for the first time in months, and it was so fun.  We love having the missionaries in our home.

Church has been going well, and although I am busy with my calling, it was back to be in the swing of things after being away from activities for a while.  I had missed my girls.  My first activity back with them was a pie making activity, and we had a blast (in spite of the look on Nikki's face - ha ha!).  Allen Berg, from our ward, makes pies every week for his family, and he taught them how to do it.  

And just look at the results!  We ate one of the pies, and gave the other two away to families in our ward that are struggling with cancer right now.  

Kevin has a calling that allows him more freedom during Sunday meetings, and his favorite thing is to help out in the primary - playing the piano or helping with a class, or finding someone who needs their baby held, like my friend, Kylie, who has twins.  Good times.

 

One of the things I did right away, was get back into subbing after a couple weeks off - I maybe shouldn't have scheduled jobs the three straight days after Holly left, so that I had time to take care of some things at home, but oh well.  It worked out, even if I was dead tired ;).  Speaking of subbing, I had the funniest thing to me before we left on our vacation to Florida.  I was subbing a second grade class, and as I walked across the room, my shoe suddenly broke in half!!  Literally.  And since they were wedges, I couldn't walk around with one shoe, and that meant I was teaching barefoot - in an elementary school - eww.  Luckily, the school was only five minutes from my house, so while the kids were at gym, I rushed home and got a different pair of shoes.  It was so embarrassing, but the kids thought it was hilarious and so did the secretaries in the office.  Good times!

And so we are back in the swing of things, and I am still playing catch up, but it's all good.

Silly Arthur's School Adventures

Arthur has really been loving school this year, and one of my favorite things is that his teacher shares pictures she takes during the day, especially when they have special activities.  Because of that, it feels a little like I get to be there along with him.  The past few weeks they have had lots of fun, and one of the special things was a visit from the local firemen.  Arthur got to try on their coat and explore a few of their different trucks.

One day, they got to make apple sauce in class, and then eat it.  So fun!

Then there are the days where they get SWEBS rewards, like sidewalk chalk and lollipops, or other fun activities.  I love getting to see these fun days.

One of the big things they did recently, was the Fun Run.  Arthur did an awesome job and ran a bunch of laps while earning money for his school. such a sweet guy, and he had a great time.  And I love seeing him love school so much!

Holly's Epic Visit - Pennsylvania Days and Goodbyes

After three straight days of touring big cities and driving in traffic, we were ready to spend some low key days.  Holly got to go to Young Women's with Lily and I, which was really fun.  And that afternoon, we ate popcorn and drank hot cocoa - and Arthur took our picture, when he wasn't trying to steal our popcorn, that is.

After dinner, we played games together, and Arthur got to have Holly as his partner. (It just shows how much she loves him, because she hates playing games.). It was a great Sunday.

Throughout the week of Holly's visit, I had had her pick what things she wanted for dinner, and she picked some fun things she hadn't had before, like empanadas. Usually, I would prep the meal before we would leave in the morning, and then Lily would put it in the oven or instant pot when she got home from school.  That way we were able to play all day, and still come back to a yummy dinner.

On Monday, we were still pretty worn out from all our sight seeing, and so we visited the local orchard, when on a small hike on the rail trail, and then came back to the house and watched a movie.

On Holly's last day, we had planned on going down to Annapolis so she could tour the Naval Academy, but we discovered too late that she needed two forms of ID, and so we were thwarted.  Instead, we kept it pretty low key.  We took our time getting out of the house in the morning, and then stopped for lunch at the Iron Rooster.  We had to get some homemade pop tarts and chicken and waffles - so good!!

We ended up with quite a bit of time to kill after lunch, and so we wandered around and went shopping at some of the nearby stores, including a Wegman's grocery store, which is quite the place.  After a while, it was finally time to drive her to the airport, and it was so incredibly hard to say goodbye.  I am so grateful for my sister, Holly, and the blessing of having her as a sister and a friend.  Her visit was a tremendous gift and blessing, and I can't wait until she gets to do it again in a couple years.

Holly's Epic Visit - NYC Day

When we were planning Holly's visit, we decided to take a day to play in New York City, and so Holly, Kevin and I got up early on Saturday and drove to NYC.  We decided to go to Staton Island so we could cross on the ferry and see the Statue of Liberty.

I had been researching restaurants and other things for weeks, but we were thwarted when the bakery I wanted to visit was closed.  So lame.  We managed to find another little bakery near where we were in the financial district (we were in the wrong prt of town for the best stuff, and we were starving and just needed a snack), and then headed off on the rest of our adventures.  And yes, somehow I took a picture of us and we all had food in our mouths.  Oops.

As we were walking to the 9-11 Memorial, we passed by Trinity Church, so we went inside to find Alexander and Eliza Hamilton's graves, which was really cool.  Their son Phillip's grave was there as well.

Next, we went to the September 11th Memorial, and it was so beautiful and so heartbreaking.  Seeing all those names and remembering the sorrow and terror of that day.  There were white roses by a few of the names, and I found out that they place a rose by a name when it is their birthday.

After visiting the memorial, we hopped on the subway and headed to lunch.  I had researched so many different pizza places, but we decided on Grimaldi's, and it was perfect.  First, it was this quintessential little Italian place, small and with checked tablecloths.  I was also fascinated watching the man stretch the dough.  And the pizza was so incredibly good!!  Wow!

We walked through the streets on our way to the theater district.  We saw all sorts of fun things, like the Statue of Liberty Torch in the Lego store, and  the Macy's on 34th Street, but my favorite thing would be Turing a corner only to see the Empire State Building or the One World Tower looming there.  So cool! 

As we wandered the streets, somehow we were hungry again - at least enough for some ice cream.  We stopped at a Shake Shack for treats - yum!  Always a good choice.

And as we were walking to the theater, we even walked through Time Square, which is fun, even if it isn't my favorite part of the city.

We finally made it to the theater, and got in line so we could go in and see The Phantom of the Opera.  Kevin and I had seen it years ago when we lived in North Carolina, but Holly had never seen it.  I am glad we bought our tickets months ago, because it was a sold out show.

We were on the second row and were in the center, which meant that we had the crazy experience of the chandelier not only raising right above us , hanging above us, and then it dropped on us - which was insane and awesome!  The show was amazing and we loved every minute of it.

After the show, we walked a couple blocks to eat dinner at Los Tacos No. 1.  It was so yummy, but I made the mistake of getting the salsa on my tacos, which was made of pure fire and burned my mouth off.  I couldn't even feel my lips forever, it was so strong.  Note to self, next time, DON'T get the salsa - ha ha!

We also made a stop at the Little Cupcake Bakeshop and picked out some delicious desserts for the drive home.  It was so hard to decide - they had so many amazing cakes and cupcakes.

After getting our treats, we hopped on the subway one last time for the day, and headed back to the docks to catch the Staton Island Ferry back to our car.  It had been a pretty amazing day.

Somehow we timed our trip back on the ferry perfectly to watch the sunset behind the Statue of Liberty.  And the view of the city was spectacular, especially with the sun going down.  It made me wish I had brought my real camera along all day, just so I could get better pictures of it.

Not having my good camera didn't stop me from trying to capture the spectacular view.  And Holly took a picture of me going to town taking pictures with my phone.  I did manage to get a few good shots though.

It was such a fantastic day, and I loved getting to share it with Kevin and Holly.  I feel so blessed to get to do things this, and to live in a place where it is possible.

Holly's Epic Visit: Philly Day

On Friday, Kevin decided to join us for our fun, and the three of us went to Philadelphia for the day. We started things out with a visit to the temple, and it was wonderful.  I always love being in the temple, but being there with people I love is the best.

After the temple, we walked to the Reading Terminal Market to get donuts and amazingly delicious cheesesteaks.  I love going to Reading Terminal Market - all of the food there is amazing.

From Reading Market, we walked to Independence Hall.  When Holly visited last time, we weren't able to get tickets, and so she missed out on it, and so we wanted to make sure she got to visit this time.

The only problem was, that even though it was a week day on the off season, all the tickets were gone (I guess there were some huge school groups that came through, etc).  Luckily, the Park Ranger took pity on us and told us how we could possibly still get at least Holly on a tour.  And when we went to the other Park Ranger who was leading the next tour, he not only let Holly on, but Kevin and I as well.  Awesome!  And this was my fifth time touring Independence Hall, and every single time it has been different.

After touring Independence Hall, we went over to the National Mint and got to see how they make pennies and tickles, which is always cool.  You can't take pictures there, so we didn't get any, but trust me, it is pretty cool.  After that, we walked back to the car and headed home, but for the second day in a row, we hit insane traffic.  We had forgotten that it was a holiday weekend, and so there was extra traffic leaving the city (not that Friday afternoons are ever great to get out of Philly, but oh well).  It was still a great day, and even though we didn't get any pictures of Kevin with us, we all had a fantastic time :).

Derek's Cross Country Season

As the fall has begun, the cross country season has been winding down for Derek.  He had a great season, and really loves being on the cross country team.  He had his last meet today, and it went really well.  

I wish I could have made it to more of his meets, but timing and location got in the way a lot.  Luckily, I did get to go to his last home meet, and I got to bring Derek's Aunt Holly with me to watch.  We had a great time cheering him on, and he got his best time yet.

I sure do love this boy!  And I am so proud of how hard he works on the cross country team. This season, Derek dealt with a bit of bullying from a few boys on the team, and he had such good attitude about it.  He also had some good friends that helped watch out for him. Even though it broke my heart that there were kids on the team being mean to him, he had more kids on the team cheering him on and being his friend.  Derek works through the hard things, and keeps pushing forward.

 

Holly's Epic Visit - Amish Country & Mount Vernon

Ever since my sister, Holly, came out to visit me two years ago, I have been counting down until she could come back and visit again.  On Tuesday, she flew in from Idaho, and we started our epic adventure together.

There are so many amazing things to do near where I live, that it was hard to narrow it down to what we would do for the week she was visiting.  We definitely had to throw in some of our favorites from her last visit though, like going to the Kitchen Kettle in Intercourse, Pennsylvania.  It is seriously the most amazing place, and we have the best time sampling all the jams, pickles, etc, etc.  And we had to get some for the road.

After visiting Kitchen Kettle, I took her to Shady Maple Smorgasbord for lunch, and it was just as awesome as it was when I went with my niece earlier this year.  So much delicious food, but best of all were the desserts.  We chose a whole bunch of them and then split them up between the two of us so we could try a bunch.  It was so fun!  And then we could barely move , we were so full.

That afternoon, I took her to Derek's cross country meet, which was really fun, especially since I remember watching her run cross country forever ago.

On Thursday, we decided to head down to Virginia to go to Mount Vernon, since she had never been, and I hadn't been in like ten years.  On our way south, we decided to stop at the local Amish Market near my house and get some soft pretzels for the road - which is always a good choice.  And Holly had to get some fun candy for her kids at the candy shop there.

Luckily the traffic getting down wasn't too bad, and the crowds were pretty light.  And the weather was perfect!!  We couldn't have picked a better day.

If you have never been to Mount Vernon, you should definitely go.  It is George Washington's home, and not only is it beautiful and so well preserved, but it truly made me love him and the sacrifice he made serving our country as I learned more about him.  He just wanted to be a farmer, and yet he left his home time after time to serve. 

And the home is so beautiful and fascinating.  George Washington loved innovations, and there were evidences of that throughout the house, including a chair with a built in fan.  Pretty awesome.

Before we finished up there, we made sure to visit George Washington's grave.

We left Mount Vernon, and were hoping to find some milkshakes for the drive home, but we ended up on a bit of a wild goose chase, and eventually we ended up in old town Alexandria, Virginia at Pop's Old Fashioned Ice Cream.  

The milk shakes were amazing, but our detour cost us precious time, and so we ended up in horrible traffic on our way back home.  Luckily we had each other for company, great music to sing along to, and delicious milk shakes.  We needed all the comfort we could get, since dealing with the crazy drivers in DC is the worst.  As we were driving along, a garbage truck drove up the shoulder and pushed his way into traffic, almost crushing us - good times.

Eventually we made it back home, and luckily I had prepped dinner before we left, and Lily had put it in the oven for me, so that it was ready to eat when we got home.  It was great day, and in spite of the traffic, it was another wonderful adventure to add to Holly's visit.

Florida Vacation: Going Home

Saturday morning, we were up and packing for our drive home.  As we packed up our condo, I was once again filled with gratitude for the blessing this place was all week.  Because of a good friend of mine allowing us to get it through her timeshare, we got an amazing deal, and we had two bedrooms - one with a king sized bed for Kevin and I, and one with two queens for the kids.  And a full kitchen which allowed us to only eat out one meal a day.  And a washer and dryer, which was such a huge blessing, and allowed us to pack really light.  And two full bathrooms.  Seriously, it was perfect, and that didn't even count all the fun amenities at the resort.

It was also a beautiful place, and so quintessentially Florida.  After we unpacked and checked out, we decided to get in one more round of mini golf on the course there before we left.  It was so fun, even if it was crazy hot, and it was the perfect activity to end our time in Florida.

We made sure to get in the car and be on the road by noon, so that we could listen to the first session of General Conference on our drive.  Arthur may have fallen asleep, but truthfully, he was suffering from a lack of sleep on our vacation - late nights and early mornings, and going constantly in between.

On our way out of Florida, we stopped at a gas station and they had baby alligators there, which the kids thought was so awesome.  I thought it was pretty funny that they had them there, as it was totally a gift shop packed full of any and every Florida souvenir imaginable.  Not that you could buy the alligators (they were there as part of a wildlife conservation thing), but you could buy just about everything else.  Good times.

Before we knew it, we were in Savannah, Georgia, back in our old stomping grounds.  We arrived a little too early to go to our friend's house, and so we continued to listen to General Conference in the car while we took the kids for a tour of our old home.  We stopped by the apartment we lived in for four years (and where we brought Derek home as a newborn).  We also took Lily by the elementary school she went to for Kindergarten, Georgetown Elementary.  It brought back so many memories!

Then we drove them through downtown, and it was still so beautiful, even in the pouring rain.  I have always loved the oak trees with the Spanish Moss hanging over the streets.  Then we stopped by one of our favorite places to pick up some dinner, B&D Burgers.  Yum!!

After we got dinner, we headed over to see our good friends, Tom and September Cardiff.  We love them so much, and it was so much fun to get to catch up and stay with them for the night.  I love having friends where it is like we have never been apart, even though it had been ten years since we had seen each other.

On Sunday morning, Tom made us a yummy breakfast, and then we hit the road and headed out on our twelve hour drive home.  Luckily we had two amazing sessions of General Conference to help the drive go by faster.  It really was such an amazing vacation, and a much needed family adventure, after a really difficult year.  I am so grateful for all the fun and the wonderful memories we were able to make.