Mom's and stuff

Voluntary snuggles caught on film.

Landing from a leap

Good friends

Pretending they found dinosaur bones (they were bovine)

Mother's Day reminder of why we don't do many group shots.

Checking out the neighbors equipment.

Grandpa Jim

My mom brought mini kites.

The neighbors got a pig.

Sketch tips from Grandpa Jim

Browsing Costco coupons with Grandma.

Inspecting the doors

Stairs to Eden's room.

Almost caught a moth.

Mom, Beck, Grandpa

mama's day pride

and one more to come...sigh....

may days

May has brought us rain, these past few pretty days and it brought us a special viz w/ my mom an dad. Mom came in for a week (i took ZERO pics, what's wrong with me?) and then we headed to DC for the weekend and saw dad. It was nice to have the rare treat of spending mother's day with my mom. We went out to eat for dinner, just the two of us, and ordered a chef's choice 3 course meal with additional salad and dessert. YUM. And the conversation was nice too :)

The first day in DC was mostly hanging out at the hotel. That evening there was a dinner with fundraising, awards & recognition, etc. This was also the end of Dad's final term as ICA president. It was touching to see him honored and appreciated for all the hard work he's done over the years.

Saturday we headed to the mall and did a little bit in 3 different Smithsonian museums.

Waiting for the subway.

We were 15min early to the opening of the American History Museum. So the kids played on these benches. This all started with the second pic where E said she was the Statue of Liberty. I suppose she was feeling patriotic, being in our nation's capital and all. Then I set J up as the thinker, and then they just started making silly poses and asking me to take pics of them.

Um...dream toy?

I took one of them 2yrs ago next to this rabbit.

Holding up the memorial. He looks confused because I didn't explain, I just said "stand like this."

We took a DC at night tour on a trolley type of bus.

Guess who got to be the "navigator" and sit in a special seat up front. Oh my, this was totally up my boy's alley. He was answering questions, some he actually got right. Everyone would cheer for him, and he soaked up every drop.

View of Capitol, Washington & Lincoln Memorials from Iwo Jima.

J and FDR. It started pouring on us here.

Didn't seem to upset him.

J had to wipe off the inside of the window for driver Jorge.

Korean War Memorial

On Sunday we went to the...

Can you say "sweet"? There was actually a baby gorilla there that we did get to see, pretty cool.

I wanted E to kiss it, but instead J hugged it.

They kept referring to Kung Fu Panda.

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*photos by den, he was proud of them so I must give him props. Some of the pics (not his necessarily ) are grainy. I need to get more into the technical side of my cam, thanks for the grace.

My Mother's Day

Even though mother's don't get a paycheck I can't deny the rewards. Last Friday I went to J's class for a Mother's Day presentation. I walked in to hear his teacher say "well, I'm sure that....oh here she is!", and my son came running up to me with a huge grin on his face. I suppose he was worried that they were going to start without me. I sat at his desk while his class sang this "thanks mom" song, which was so cheesy and still I was trying not to cry. Then they came back to us and had us open a gift. There was a pretty card that he colored, (coloring is not his thing, so it meant a lot to see that he put real thought into it for me) and a book that they wrote for us. I tried to scan the actual pages of what he wrote but the positioning came out weird for some reason, so I am just going to quote some of my favorite parts. (also I tried to stick to his spelling:)

Chapter 1 My Mother

My Mom looks like my teacher! My moms hair is very long. My mom and me play Life. My mom washis dishis. I like my mom!! My mom is thin. Also she's beudaful and nice. I like my mom!

Chapter 5 What Mom Likes To Do

My Mom likes to take care of the baby. Wile I play a VidoGame. She likes to obey God. Also she likes to take lots and lots and lots of naps. She also likes to play with me.

Rewards indeed.

Saturday night I went to a Mother Daughter Banquet with D's grandmother along with his sister and a coupe Aunts. E was with me and after the meal they had "entertainment". Part of that was a woman who sang some songs, and at one point she invited the little girls to come up and sing Jesus Loves Me. She then proceeded to ask them some questions like "what day is it tomorrow?" and "what could you do for your mom on mother's day?" At this point I'm messing with my new camera no really watching and then I hear, "and aren't you pretty with your curls!" Knowing this must be mine I start to pay attention and this is what went down....

Woman: What could you do for your mom on Mother's Day tomorrow?

E: Um, I could give her a hug.

Woman: Yes, that 's so sweet. You're going to make me cry. Now who can tell me some of the nice things your mommy does for you? Okay...

E: I suvd her a poty. (to me it's clear that she has said "i served her a party" and she did the day before in the hallway, a lovely tea party with dessert and dancing, but...)

Woman: You sit on the potty for her?

E: glaring because this is not what she meant, she still nods because she does sit on the potty when she needs to

Woman: Where is your mommy when you are on the potty? (why would you ask this?)

E: She's in the shower.

Audience: roaring with laughter

another quick story...

J stayed the night at a friend's house on Saturday and the parents said they were listening to the kids talk in their room, (they were in the living room and could hear whatever they were saying). Wes(7) is his friend and Keilah(5) is his little sister who shares a room.

K: Jesse will you marry me when we grow up?

J: I don't know, I'm gonna marry a lot of girls.

I'm afraid I have a casanova.

I love my kids!