I'm sorry if any of you have tried to comment! A friend let me know that she could access the blog but could not comment. I have no idea how to fix it, since my post options include allowing comments. This blog is behaving like a cantankerous 3 year-old. I would put it in time-out except that it's been in time-out since April.
If any of you have words of wisdom for me, please share. Only do it on Facebook or through email, since apparently you can't do it on the blog. :)
Thursday, August 11, 2011
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Monday, August 08, 2011
Pretty Things and the Garden
I sent the girls out to get some pictures around our house, and this is what they came up with. The petunias are Cora's flowers:
This is our pink crepe myrtle. We had it planted in the spring along with a Japanese Maple close to the house, and the crepe myrtle is just now blooming.
Isn't this planter cute? A lady at Lowe's helped me when I was standing in the garden department looking utterly befuddled. 
Shiloh picked out a gardenia bush, and although it's small and a little spindly right now, it's produced about six beautiful, fragrant blossoms. I hope it survives!
We got this vinca for free at our neighborhood's block party. The landscapers were giving it away. I was going to grab more, but I thought it would be too greedy.
This is our pink crepe myrtle. We had it planted in the spring along with a Japanese Maple close to the house, and the crepe myrtle is just now blooming.
Isn't this planter cute? A lady at Lowe's helped me when I was standing in the garden department looking utterly befuddled. 
Shiloh picked out a gardenia bush, and although it's small and a little spindly right now, it's produced about six beautiful, fragrant blossoms. I hope it survives!
We got this vinca for free at our neighborhood's block party. The landscapers were giving it away. I was going to grab more, but I thought it would be too greedy. I should have grabbed more. :)
There's a green pepper peeking through:
Happy basil from which I made pesto for chicken pesto pizza. Yum!
Some tomatoes almost ready to pick:
Our overgrown garden now as it gets a little leggy. :)
I bought strawberry plants at the end of the season for .99 each because the salesperson said they should come back next year. Well, they've produced a few yummy strawberries this year as well.
We don't have a picture of the rogue watermelon that's growing in the garden as well. We planted seeds from a watermelon from the grocery store, and it's actually growing THREE watermelons right now. Honestly, I am NOT NOT NOT a green thumb. I have no idea how this is happening this year. It's pretty cool to see, and the kids love checking on the garden every day to see what's ready to pick. I've even made bread and butter pickles from the cucumbers (although I cut up WAY too many - I forgot that the recipe would be referring to pickling cucumbers when it called for 14 - not regular-sized cucumbers :) ).
This is our garden this year! We have learned many lessons about gardening, and the number one lesson is that CUCUMBERS DO NOT PLAY WELL WITH OTHERS. Our cucumber plant (yes, this is ONLY ONE) took over the garden and choked out one of the tomato plants. Next year it's going on the other side of the step from the garage ALL BY ITSELF.
Here is a side view of the garden along the house. It seems to like its new location this year! Last year when the garden was in the backyard, we only got two good cucumbers, no Roma tomatoes, and no peppers. The only thing that produced was the grape tomato plant.
Here is a side view of the garden along the house. It seems to like its new location this year! Last year when the garden was in the backyard, we only got two good cucumbers, no Roma tomatoes, and no peppers. The only thing that produced was the grape tomato plant.
There's a green pepper peeking through:
Happy basil from which I made pesto for chicken pesto pizza. Yum!
Some tomatoes almost ready to pick:
Our overgrown garden now as it gets a little leggy. :)
I bought strawberry plants at the end of the season for .99 each because the salesperson said they should come back next year. Well, they've produced a few yummy strawberries this year as well.
We don't have a picture of the rogue watermelon that's growing in the garden as well. We planted seeds from a watermelon from the grocery store, and it's actually growing THREE watermelons right now. Honestly, I am NOT NOT NOT a green thumb. I have no idea how this is happening this year. It's pretty cool to see, and the kids love checking on the garden every day to see what's ready to pick. I've even made bread and butter pickles from the cucumbers (although I cut up WAY too many - I forgot that the recipe would be referring to pickling cucumbers when it called for 14 - not regular-sized cucumbers :) ).Meanwhile, at home...
We put in the beginnings of dreadlocks! I've been thinking about this for awhile, and we made the leap this summer. Adah wants to keep her hair long, but hair time is no fun for her anymore because of the amount of time (and pain) it takes to detangle her hair. Dreadlocks would be a way for her to keep the length and still be able to keep her natural hair (no weaves, extensions, or chemicals to straighten it). It's a permanent hairstyle, more-or-less, so I wanted to be sure she wanted them and we were ready to make the commitment. I did a lot of research, talked to friends who had dreadlocks or whose kids had dreadlocks, and looked into ways to start dreadlocks. Daniel was concerned when I first mentioned dreadlocks, probably because he pictured Rastafarian dreadlocks that hadn't been washed in years and years. :) There are so many recommendations out there, but starting with tiny braids seemed to be the most durable for kids. It took MANY hours to get the parts right and get the braids in, but it looks adorable so far. She likes that she can pull it back into a bun, a ponytail, or have Cora style it in two French braids in the back. It will take about 6 months to a year for her hair to "loc" up around the existing braids, and after that it will be a pretty low-maintenance hairstyle for her
After we got Adah's hair done, we had a wedding in the house. Adah was a beautiful bride in a dress of her own design. :) I remember doing this as a kid with sheets and curtains. I love to see how creative Adah gets with fashion. She designs wonderful paper doll clothes - usually with some sparkle added. She is REALLY looking forward to going to my sister's wedding at the end of the week because she has a sparkly headband ("sort of like a tiara, Mommy") that complements her dress. :) 
Cub Scout Day Camp
Daniel and Jackson had the opportunity to attend the Cub Scout Day Camp at Chris Greene Lake, which is only 10 minutes from our house. I can't really comment too much on these pictures, since this was Daniel's and Jackson's thing. The pictures sort of speak for themselves, anyway. They did...guy stuff. All day. And Jackson could not have been more thrilled with the whole experience. :)
Here he is a little sleepy, but ready for the adventure.
Here he is showing off his canteen.
Anniversary Trip
This year Daniel and I celebrated 16 years of marriage! We planned to go to a new Moroccan restaurant for a dinner out, but he came home and said sadly, "We're not going to be able to go out to dinner."
"Why - are you being deployed?" (He has a track record of being gone on all major anniversaries: 5 year: deployed to Bosnia; 10 year: deployed to Iraq; 15 year: deployed to Afghanistan - my suspicions were not baseless :) )
"No, I have to go to D.C. for a meeting at the State Department, and I thought you could come along for an overnight trip."
"What?? Of course!"
Despite living at Ft. Meade, MD, I've never been to D.C. I KNOW! That's pitiful! I made some calls to good friends who agreed to take the kids at the last minute. Off we went on a Monday afternoon like we didn't have a care in the world! Because it was actually cool enough to stand being outside, we decided to walk around and see the monuments. I actually got chills. I didn't expect to like D.C. as much as I did. (I probably wouldn't if I had to drive there as much as Daniel does, though.)
I couldn't believe I was actually standing at the Lincoln Memorial! I liked the signs that asked for a respectful silence, and I liked the fact that people were following that request.
This is Daniel in front of the Korean War Memorial. We were in D.C. on D-Day (yes, our anniversary is on D-Day - partially so Daniel will never forget our anniversary :) ) so they had all kinds of ceremonies going on. A Korean military contingent was laying a wreath on the Memorial.
We also went to the World War II Memorial and Daniel got a picture of the Pacific side with Guadalcanal in honor of his grandfather.
We saw a ceremony honoring World War II veterans from France. The honorees were receiving the French Legion of Merit.
After the ceremony, the party went over to the Europe side to lay a wreath in honor of D-Day. 
One of the most touching things that I saw at the World War II Memorial was a large group of World War II veterans who were being escorted by their "guardians." They were part of the Honor Flight Network which flies veterans to DC to visit their memorial. The organization assigns three guardians to each group of eight veterans to care for them and help them with the logistics of flying and visiting. The guardians are volunteers and are expected to pay their own way. I almost got tears in my eyes seeing how respectfully and carefully these volunteers treated their veterans. I was touched by the number of young men - maybe teenagers or men in their early twenties - who were escorting these veterans who are a disappearing national treasure. What a privilege to see them. I wanted to take pictures, but I thought it might be inappropriate given the solemn occasion. 
Off we went to the Washington Monument:
While walking up to the Washington Monument, we saw a guy running past us who looked awfully familiar. When he was a few steps behind us, we both said, "Joe Funderburke!" He was Daniel's classmate at West Point, and he's working in D.C. now. I asked him on Facebook if he was running past the Washington Monument the previous afternoon, and he replied, "Why? Did you see a man who reminded you of a graceful gazelle?" Well...maybe a sweaty gazelle. :)
"Why - are you being deployed?" (He has a track record of being gone on all major anniversaries: 5 year: deployed to Bosnia; 10 year: deployed to Iraq; 15 year: deployed to Afghanistan - my suspicions were not baseless :) )
"No, I have to go to D.C. for a meeting at the State Department, and I thought you could come along for an overnight trip."
"What?? Of course!"
Despite living at Ft. Meade, MD, I've never been to D.C. I KNOW! That's pitiful! I made some calls to good friends who agreed to take the kids at the last minute. Off we went on a Monday afternoon like we didn't have a care in the world! Because it was actually cool enough to stand being outside, we decided to walk around and see the monuments. I actually got chills. I didn't expect to like D.C. as much as I did. (I probably wouldn't if I had to drive there as much as Daniel does, though.)
Here we are trying to get a good picture of the two of us by the river. I'm not sure this picture could be described as meeting that goal. :)
I couldn't believe I was actually standing at the Lincoln Memorial! I liked the signs that asked for a respectful silence, and I liked the fact that people were following that request.
This is Daniel in front of the Korean War Memorial. We were in D.C. on D-Day (yes, our anniversary is on D-Day - partially so Daniel will never forget our anniversary :) ) so they had all kinds of ceremonies going on. A Korean military contingent was laying a wreath on the Memorial.
We also went to the World War II Memorial and Daniel got a picture of the Pacific side with Guadalcanal in honor of his grandfather.
We saw a ceremony honoring World War II veterans from France. The honorees were receiving the French Legion of Merit.
After the ceremony, the party went over to the Europe side to lay a wreath in honor of D-Day. 
One of the most touching things that I saw at the World War II Memorial was a large group of World War II veterans who were being escorted by their "guardians." They were part of the Honor Flight Network which flies veterans to DC to visit their memorial. The organization assigns three guardians to each group of eight veterans to care for them and help them with the logistics of flying and visiting. The guardians are volunteers and are expected to pay their own way. I almost got tears in my eyes seeing how respectfully and carefully these volunteers treated their veterans. I was touched by the number of young men - maybe teenagers or men in their early twenties - who were escorting these veterans who are a disappearing national treasure. What a privilege to see them. I wanted to take pictures, but I thought it might be inappropriate given the solemn occasion. 
Off we went to the Washington Monument:
While walking up to the Washington Monument, we saw a guy running past us who looked awfully familiar. When he was a few steps behind us, we both said, "Joe Funderburke!" He was Daniel's classmate at West Point, and he's working in D.C. now. I asked him on Facebook if he was running past the Washington Monument the previous afternoon, and he replied, "Why? Did you see a man who reminded you of a graceful gazelle?" Well...maybe a sweaty gazelle. :)This is not the sweaty gazelle - this is my husband:
The view from below was breath-taking. We were too late to go inside; the last tour tickets had already been sold.
We started walking toward the Jefferson Memorial but decided we weren't going to make it there and all the way back to our car before exhaustion set in, so we headed for the hotel. We freshened up, had some snacks in the penthouse lounge, and decided what to do for dinner. Neither one of us wanted to venture out by car again, so had dinner outside at our hotel, and we had a good time people-watching. It's always a fun game to try to see if you can pick out the Europeans in the crowd. The footwear and the eyewear usually give them away, not to mention the "man-pris" the Danish guy was wearing when he sat down at the table next to us. Thankfully, we were almost done with our meal when he decided to roll his own cigarette to smoke. :) We went for a walk and got ice cream. What a lovely day with my husband!
I took this picture of the White House as we returned to our hotel that evening. There was some to-do going on there with the Marine Corps band bus and LOTS of limos. We later found out Angela Merkel was visiting with the President.
The next day, after I dropped Daniel off at the State Department, I DROVE ALL BY MYSELF to the Smithsonian for a tour. It's so handy that Daniel has a little car that can parallel park anywhere. :) I admired the architecture of buildings like the Department of Justice building:
And then I chose to tour the Smithsonian Museum of American History because I didn't have time for the whole complex. I'll have to see the Hope Diamond in the Natural History Museum next time. :) (This is how much of a goober tourist I am - I didn't even know the Smithsonian was FREE!)
I only had my phone with me because I left the camera in the car, so these are not the best pictures. I particularly liked the display of the dresses and personal belongings from the First Ladies. I took this picture of Abigail Adams's dress for the girls. Actually, I took all the pictures for the girls, except for Jacqueline Kennedy's dress - I took that for my mom. :)
And these beautiful instruments:
And then I got to hear recordings of music made with these instruments. I'm not a musical person AT ALL but I could appreciate that music!
The view from below was breath-taking. We were too late to go inside; the last tour tickets had already been sold.
We started walking toward the Jefferson Memorial but decided we weren't going to make it there and all the way back to our car before exhaustion set in, so we headed for the hotel. We freshened up, had some snacks in the penthouse lounge, and decided what to do for dinner. Neither one of us wanted to venture out by car again, so had dinner outside at our hotel, and we had a good time people-watching. It's always a fun game to try to see if you can pick out the Europeans in the crowd. The footwear and the eyewear usually give them away, not to mention the "man-pris" the Danish guy was wearing when he sat down at the table next to us. Thankfully, we were almost done with our meal when he decided to roll his own cigarette to smoke. :) We went for a walk and got ice cream. What a lovely day with my husband!
I took this picture of the White House as we returned to our hotel that evening. There was some to-do going on there with the Marine Corps band bus and LOTS of limos. We later found out Angela Merkel was visiting with the President.
The next day, after I dropped Daniel off at the State Department, I DROVE ALL BY MYSELF to the Smithsonian for a tour. It's so handy that Daniel has a little car that can parallel park anywhere. :) I admired the architecture of buildings like the Department of Justice building:
And then I chose to tour the Smithsonian Museum of American History because I didn't have time for the whole complex. I'll have to see the Hope Diamond in the Natural History Museum next time. :) (This is how much of a goober tourist I am - I didn't even know the Smithsonian was FREE!)
I only had my phone with me because I left the camera in the car, so these are not the best pictures. I particularly liked the display of the dresses and personal belongings from the First Ladies. I took this picture of Abigail Adams's dress for the girls. Actually, I took all the pictures for the girls, except for Jacqueline Kennedy's dress - I took that for my mom. :)
I think that Mamie Eisenhower's dress was my favorite. It was so interesting to see the reactions from the little girls as they entered the room with all the sparkly dresses. I heard a lot of gasping and quiet squealing, as well as exclamations about sparkles and pretty shoes. :) I also heard a crowd of girls surmising how much Michelle Obama's outfit had been, including her Manolo Blahnik shoes. They were debating whether the diamonds on display were real or not. The boys' reaction to this particular area: immediate slumping of the shoulders and drawn-out sighs. Poor guys.
Mamie Eisenhower's dress:
I went into a music room where I saw this sign:
And these beautiful instruments:
And then I got to hear recordings of music made with these instruments. I'm not a musical person AT ALL but I could appreciate that music!After my quiet tour, I successfully drove back to get Daniel ALL BY MYSELF and we headed home. What a lovely anniversary trip!
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