On Vacation in D.C.

We are on a long awaited family vacation to Washington, D.C. Natalie and I arrived late Saturday night - the boys got in earlier that day. We travelled separately due to frequent flyer miles on 2 different airlines. This is a summary of what we have done:

Sunday
After breakfast, we loaded the shuttle to head to the metro station. We survived with a little help from the station attendant. At first we were a little nervous, but all went well. We got to the Air & Space Museum as soon as it opened, walked around a bit. Tim then wanted to head outside and look around. We ended up about 2 miles away at The White House fence. It was really nice. We then went back to Air & Space for the remainder of the day. The guys loved it! There were certain things the girls liked - Natalie liked "How Things Fly" - an interactive area for kids. We came back to the hotel and went swimming, followed by Papa Johns Pizza in the room.

Monday
Today our day started with the shuttle around 8:30 to the metro. We went to Arlington Cemetary to catch the Tourmobile for a tour of the Washington sites and then back to the Cemetary. The best part was it saved our feet a lot of walking. Defintely worth every penny we paid! At the end of the day we ended up at the Cemetary. We got to see the Changing of the Guard at The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. That was very moving, like nothing I have ever seen. It was very good - the kids liked it as well. We then travelled on to see Arlington House - where Robert E. Lee & family lived for 30 years. We made it back to the hotel to relax and again had dinner in the room.

Tomorrow we are off to see the Museum of Natural History, National Aquarium and I am sure other things.

Heading to Washington, DC.

On Friday afternoon, we will pick up Tim from work and head to Marion to spend the night with his parents. On Saturday, we will head to Washington, DC for our family vacation. Because we had frequent flyer miles on American and Delta, we are flying separately. Natalie and I are going Delta (direct flight) and Tim and Nathan are flying American. The boys will arrive first and we will follow that evening. We are only going to be there for 4 days and will pack a lot in. On Sunday we are planning to visit the Air & Space Museum and possibly the National Aquarium. Monday we are taking a tour of the monuments and memorials using the Tour Mobile Bus. Tuesday we are hoping to take a day trip to Mount Vernon. Wednesday we have a Capitol tour schedule and will also visit the Bureau of Engraving. I ask that you will please pray for us - that our attitudes would be pleasing to the Lord and we would just have fun with each other. Also, pray for me using the Metro - I'm a little nervous.

Homemade Marshmallows

My friend Gina made these last week and they are delicious...enjoy!

I used this recipe from Slashfoodwith a couple of minor modifications - we used an 8x8 square pan, we didn't have any corn starch to mix with the powdered sugar for dusting at the end and, we didn't "dust" our marshmallows we rolled 'em! I found that putting powdered sugar on the knife made the marshmallows easier to cut.

Homemade Marshmallows

.75-oz unflavored gelatin (3 envelopes of Knox gelatin)

1/2 cup cold water

2 cups granulated sugar

2/3 cups light corn syrup

1/4 cup water

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Line 9 x 9-inch pan with plastic wrap and lightly oil it. Set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer, sprinkle gelatin over 1/2 cup cold water. Soak for about 10 minutes.Meanwhile, combine sugar, corn syrup and 1/4 cup water in a small saucepan. Bring the mixture to a rapid boil and boil hard for 1 minute. Pour the boiling syrup into soaked gelatin and turn on the mixer, using the whisk attachment, to high speed. Add the salt and beat for 12 minutes. After 12 minutes, add in the vanilla extract beat to incorporate.Scrape marshmallow into the prepared pan and spread evenly (Lightly greasing your hands and the spatula helps a lot here). Take another piece of lightly oiled plastic wrap and press lightly on top of the marshmallow, creating a seal. Let mixture sit for a few hours, or overnight, until cooled and firmly set. In a shallow dish, combine equal parts cornstarch and confectioners' sugar. Remove marshmallow from pan and cut into equal pieces with scissors (the best tool for the job) or a chef's knife. Dredge each piece of marshmallow in confectioners' sugar mixture.Store in an airtight container.

Makes about 40 large marshmallows, depending on the size you choose to cut them.

Natalie sewing

Natalie just finished up her last sewing class. She had been taking lessons at The Stitchin Post in Little Rock. She is so excited about sewing - not sure where this comes from, maybe her Mawmaw. She made a pillowcase, square pillow and a tote bag. She had so much fun and is actually getting pretty good. This week she is spending a few days at her MawMaw's house sewing some more. I will post pictures later of her creations.

Visit to Grandma's

Wow, these past few weeks have been busy - the summer is flying by so fast. The kids and I alongwith my sister and her 3 girls visited our grandmother and aunts the week of June 28th through July 4th in Houston, MS. We both have such fun memories of summer visits. My mom had 5 sisters under her, 4 of which still lived at home when we would visit for the summer. We have always had good relationships with all of our aunts. Since my grandfather passed away in January 2007, the visits are a little different. Walking into their house and not having him there is sad. We spent the week staying our Aunt Linda's and the 2 older girls stayed at my grandma's house. On Monday of that week we hit the local shoe store - the last family owned store is going out of business. I bought shoes for the kids, but my sister - well she hit the jackpot. Everything was 30-50% off - so she was like a kid in a candy store. On Tuesday, the kids suprised my grandma by repainting an old swing frame for her. My aunt is going to have the swing repaired. They had so much fun doing this and she was very pleasantly surprised. On Wednesday, the girls, my sister, Aunt Linda, grandma and myself had a special lunch at My Friend's Place. This is a tea shop in Houston - the girls love it. On Thursday, we drove to Starkville to see Kung Fu Panda and had dinner with my Aunt Amy and Uncle Donnie. Amy is my mom's youngest sister and only a few years older than myself - so she is like an older sister to me. Sadly, we had to pack up and return home on Friday morning. As always, we made a lot good memories, stayed up way to late playing spades (they tried to teach me Rook - but I am no good) and played a lot. We are already looking forward to next year.

Sleep issues...

Okay, so by now I would think I would be sleeping through the night - right?? Well, for some reason Natalie is waking up a lot and then wakes me up to say she can't go back to sleep. We have done everything possible to try and fix it and it is still going on. There is always a reason why she needs me. I will admit as an infant, I rocked her completely sleep - bad idea - but this only started really happening this past year. HELP!!! Last night Tim finally said she could lay on our floor. A friend said this is what they do and after a few nights, the child stays in their bed. She doesn't like waking up and being the only awake - very fearful. We have talked with her about praying and trusting that God will protect her and we as best as we can. Any thoughts or ideas would be most helpful.

Gardasil vaccine...

Does anyone know anything about this vaccine? I am taking Natalie in for a checkup next week and this is a shot they are recommending. Not sure if it is really needed for her right now.