And we caught every sight

The boys wanted to take a trip to the nation's capitol to see all the things they have been learning about in school this year - they chose it over a party, so off we went during Spring Break (note to self: not the best time to visit because EVERYONE is visiting then)

We caught the bus a lot of times, and Harry perfected his chill

while Jack mastered strap hanging Regardless, we made the best of it. Jack even survived a near miss with a reckless taxi driver which put us all into a more appreciative frame of mind.
They have done a unit on Native Americans, so we checked out the new museum
Harry still loves VW's, but none of us had ever seen one like this - it was completely covered in beads...pretty groovy

The displays we saw were a bit disappointing, but we checked out all the tribes they covered in class: Pueblo

Lakota

and Powhatan

Harry was on a mission to see all the fountains in town....think he found most of them!

The Washington Monument was still closed for repairs after last year's earthquake, but it was still beautiful - hopefully they will get to go up in it next trip

Harry was determined to see the Bee display we'd seen with friends a few years ago.

He thought their exit was cool, but even better once he took the picture and got all those cars in the shot ;-)

Our self-portrait in front of the fountains at the National Gallery of Art, where Dean and I posed in the last century

My three boys in front of Lincoln Memorial

Harry really liked this fountain at the FDR memorial

Jack insisted that "Washington DC is the BEST place in America!"

Well, we caught everything...except when Angry Birds intervened

One of the biggest hits was our hotel and the sweet lady who took care of our room - the boys wrote her notes every day.

The real thrill of the hotel, however, was the amazing koi pond and double waterfall

We even got to visit with a favorite friend who had moved away - Mrs. Sharon used to be the postmistress in our little town, and now she's organizing things in DC. She's still spoiling them rotten!

Thanx to Dean for suffering the crowds and getting us to all the places they wanted to see!

Bob Seger's Sightseeing

Just noticed this is my 1000th post!

Bubbles, Bubbles HE'S lots of fun!

Jack is guest-posting the blog today. Please welcome our elder son, Jack!

I am Star Student for next week, so I get to take our class pet, Bubbles, home for the weekend and write about our adventures. Bubbles came home with me on Friday. We watched tv and played a few computer games.
We also did a few science experiments with magnets. My brother Harry was my assistant! Bubbles discovered that a magnet can stick to his fin pin that Devyn gave him when she was Star Student.
Bubbles figured out that magnets can attract through skin and bone and muscle!
We went to a party and picked up my Dad from the airport, then I slept with Bubbles on Friday night. Bubbles stole one of my favorite rock star hats on Saturday morning.

Playing a computer game with Bubbles and Harry on Saturday morning, I finally got my Mohawk hat back from Bubbles! Bubbles meets my neighbor, Joe, at the second Halloween party, and we sat in a chair together to watch someone play Guitar Hero Wii.

I took care of Bubbles after the Halloween party he went to because he was tired, and so was I! Before I lost a tooth with Bubbles.

After I lost a tooth with Bubbles.

Bubbles got into the washing machine before we could put the dirty clothes in on Sunday morning.
I had fun with Bubbles!

Dave Moran's Bubbles - Look here and you will be able to listen to a fun song called Bubbles online - just press the "play" arrow.

Love, love, love is sunshine

The story goes: I was about 3 and misquoted my mom's frequent phrase "the joys of motherhood" as "the mothers of joyhood" - this picture made me feel that way. It's funny how special a little welcome can make you feel - thanx, sweet baby Jack!

JT's Shower The People

from the other direction

The long-haired elder son lost his third tooth on Sunday but forgot all about it until yesterday

when he decided he wanted to put this one in an safer spot, so he wrote the Tooth Fairy this new set of directions:

Dear Tooth Fairy,

My tooth will be on my dresser in front of fish tank.
I believe in you!
Love, Jack

It worked because he found his favorite Lady Liberty gold dollar coin in the very same cup where he left the tooth last nite!
Jimmy Buffett's Scarlet Begonias

But poison ivy, Lord'll make you itch!!

I took a picture, but it made me itch even more, so I'll spare you. I look like a leper, have tried everything anyone has suggested, but still it spreads. If this part on my eyelid gets into my eye, I'm getting a cortisone shot. Never had it before, don't want it again :(

Happy non-itchy weekend!

On a happier note, some recent love notes for Dean and me

Jack and Harry snuck special notes into Dean's bags for his recent trip

Their cards for my Mother's Day were so them ;-)

Harry's still working on the jokes - while his timing and inflection are great, he's not a writer at the moment.....but his heart's in it, don't ya think?!

Jack loves Star Wars, and me :-)

The Coaster's Poison Ivy

Write About Love

The boys have been making use of the chalkboard in the kitchen, and it sure is a nice way to start a day....here they are posing, sweet and silly, with a note for Dean when he was traveling.

Belle and Sebastian

Well, train, train, take me on out of this town

We have a guest writer today at TAoHJ - first-timer Harry has been thrilled about writing 'a blog'....so here goes. The video at the end shows a bit of his (non-toilet-related) joy

When we were going to NYC, we had to go to bed early. The next day, we woke up, we had to wake up early to go to the train station. I wanted to get on the train. I was so excited! My thinking bubble was "My heart is thinking we will get on the train now!" When I was on the train, I took my new Puzzle Manias out. I wanted to do some fun activities. I used some pens and some pencils. I put the stickers on one of the activities on Puzzle Mania. It was a squeaky house. When I made that, I wanted I was doing a great job! When I was in the bathroom, the power went out. When I flushed the toilet, the toilet water flushed blue. The train back to Virginia, the water of the toilet flushed regular. There was a white thing that went up when you flushed the toilet. After you flushed the toilet, there was a weird sound like this "nnnnnnn" I was sad that we didn't stay in New York.

M: Are you finished?
H: Nope! Still more!

"Are you finished with that activity, Mom?" I said.
I loved it when we were in NYC because of DoubleTree.
The End


Blackfoot's Train, Train

Just like a star across my sky

Jack had his second day of Star Student, so I tried to start it off with a little special lunch surprise - he loves, and I mean loves, PB and anything....today it was PBJ, tomorrow he wants PBB(anana), tho we haven't been able to convince him to fry one ala his favorite Elvis ;-)
Timing is everything, Harry brought this home today:
I am thankful for my brother Jack. We do things together! I love art. He loves PuzzleMania! Happy Thanksgiving

Jack's class wrote special cards to him today, and he got to bring them home to share with us. Many of them had pix and/or writing on both sides, but these are the best views - thanx to everyone who said such nice things. Jack is one lucky boy!

Corrine Bailey Rae

Draw Me A Map - random stuff

The boys had assignments in each of their classes to draw a map of their bedroom....funny how the same room can look so different - Harry's is on top and very proportionally correct...Jack's is on bottom and more of a perspective thing...he was focused on toys and the books left on the floor ;-)



During Jack's conference, he was helping the teacher by passing out his class's KidPins - his teacher thought of this and says it's really helped streamline choices. The students just mark their choices for things like lunch .... trying to figure out how we can use it at home to reduce chaos here as well ;-)

They both attended their friend's birthday party last weekend, and Jack couldn't wait for her to have a chance in the Ticket Blaster....he also used his map-making legend skills to explain the picture to her

I found this book while volunteering at the library - picked it up because it was an author they've enjoyed in the past, but it turned out to be one of the truest things Jack has ever read...right down to the alfalfa hair

Dierks Bentley