The Lincoln Memorial

I am teh busy today... but I had to share these photos. I love the Lincoln Memorial. It has always held a certain magic for me, and I remember getting chills as I climbed the steps and his face emerged from the shadows when I visited last -- in sixth grade! It was so great to see my own children's expressions as they experienced the same thing during this trip.

Lincoln was an almost mythological character to me as a child. I grew up reading about him, just like Laura Ingalls Wilder and Gandhi. He was one of my earliest heroes, and I still love reading about him today. I am glad that my children are interested in history and in the same heroes that I loved reading about as a child. It's so neat to relive my childhood a little through my own kids. I get to re-experience childhood, but with the benefit of everything I've learned since then.

Making a Room Divider From Old Doors

4 old doors from the Habitat for Humanity Re-store: $100

paint: $50

hardware: $20

a space of one's own: priceless!

My oldest son is eleven-going-on-fifteen. He shares a huge L-shaped bedroom with his two younger brothers and has been jonesing for his own room for a while, now. Building a new room is out of the question, but I came across the idea for a room divider a while back and thought that would work out perfectly!

I really wanted some cool vintage doors with panels in different configurations, but couldn't find what I wanted, so I finally just settled on some plain hollow-core doors from the Restore. This worked out just fine for a kids' room, because it has a really smooth, modern look. I painted them with shiny, primary-color paints, except for one door, which I painted with chalkboard paint. I then put the hinges on them accordion-style so the whole unit would fold flat against a wall when we need to open the area up. I attached leftover metal flashing cut into square shapes to the red door -- you can use write-on/wipe-off markers on it and it also holds magnets! I am going to put hooks on one blue door, and maybe some cork tiles painted red on the second-to-last blue door. I'm also going to put a funky doorknob on the red door because the hole is already there.

It looks really good, it's sturdy, and it moves easily so Isaac can have his "room" completely private or open it up all the way without much difficulty. I might attach one side to the wall if it gets tipped over, but it seems sturdy enough that it shouldn't tip unless someone really gets a good run at it and knocks it hard.

He's pretty excited about it. He's still got a pretty good-sized man-cave back there, and the two younger kids have a regular-sized room, too. I probably wouldn't recommend this for a smaller room unless you used something lighter, like screen doors with filmy curtains or something. This would be too imposing for a small room as-is.

Fierce

It makes me laugh that whenever I turn my camera on my sweet, cherub-faced, huggable 8-year-old whenever he's in his football gear, he always puts on his "fierce face."

This weekend's the playoffs for his team. I hope we win! But if not, it's still been a good season. I am going to be happy to have our weekends back, though... at least until basketball season.

Up!

One thing I really love about football season is that it gives me an opportunity to spend time with my two youngest kids while the two older ones are at practice. Friday was a beautiful day, and the boys were going to go to the high school game after practice, so I took a rare opportunity to take the little ones out for dinner and some playground time. It was a lot of fun! It's not very often that I get time alone with any of the kids, so it's always nice when they get some undivided attention. It's nice for me, too, to get to connect with them one on one (or two on one, like Friday) and really get to enjoy being with them without having my attention scattered across a larger group.

Jonathan is growing up so fast! Just yesterday he was so tiny, and now he's running around the playground like his older sister. There wasn't a single part of the playground that he didn't at least try to tackle on his own. When I would try to help him, he would look at me with a stern face and say "Mommy, STOP!"

That's kind of how it is to be a parent. You have to learn when to help (even if it's not needed) and when to back off and let them do things on their own -- sometimes at the risk of getting hurt. Kids need independence, but it's sometimes really difficult to stand down.

Green Tongue

Picture Day!

I didn't take this picture, but I love it. This is my daughter on her way to kindergarten today (it's picture day) with a friend's pet Turtle. The picture was taken by my friend Tracey, whose kids also attend school with my kids at the really cool, little, school in the country I wrote about earlier.

Handwriting Practice

If you hold your tongue just right, you can write more neatly.

Nap Attack!!!!

It's funny, the places a sleepy toddler will catch a nap:

Yes, I flipped him over... but not before taking blackmail pictures. :)

Isaac's Self-portrait

I can't take credit for this one -- it was taken by my oldest son, Isaac, on a recent trip to Grandma's house. It's a pretty cool picture! Go, Isaac!

What heatwave?

Nothing like a little ice cream to make a heatwave feel a little better.

Happy Birthday, Jonathan!

He's 2 today!

Groceries

This is my daughter, Olivia, "shopping" for toy groceries at Edventure museum in Columbia, South Carolina. It's a cool exhibit -- the kids can load their baskets up with kid-sized versions of adult groceries and actually scan them at real working cash registers. There are hands on lessons about money and nutrition.

The health lessons, however, were pretty much lost on my older two sons, who raided the junk-food aisles:





That ice cream does look pretty tempting, though...

Lost Drive-in

Netflix -- $14/month

Data projector and laptop computer -- $0 (borrowed)

Really good homemade pizzas and snacks -- $65



All my best friends and their kids having a great time at our Drive-In Movie Picnic Party -- Priceless!

I can't take credit for the idea -- I got it from Everyday With Rachael Ray. It was a big hit! The kids played on the jungle gym and watched the film, while the grownups relaxed, talked, and had a good time watching a funny movie (RV) under the stars.

We'll definitely have to do this again sometime.

Little Speedster

It won't be long until he's driving for real... although hopefully not a racecar.

What to do with the cardboard boxes when the kitchen's getting remodeled:

Cilantro's!

I have a serious addiction to Cilantro's. No, really -- it's an addiction. It doesn't help that it's just a block from where I work so I can get my fix whenever I need to. Now I'm contributing to the delinquency of minors by getting my kids hooked on their chicken tacos. They begged me to go there after the rally, but it didn't take much begging. I was thinking the same thing.

Just look at them! Glassy eyes, uncontrollable grinning... they're addicted, too! There really ought to be a 12-step program or something.

My Kids at the Peace Rally

Christmas lights

Cute Kid Video

If this doesn't make you smile, there's just no hope.
I REALLY need to get Vegas!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8b5XgqqhFY