Valentine's Day Weekend

After the big storm, I was so ready to get out of the house...On Saturday, Scott and I had a little Valentine's date planned. We got a babysitter, which we very seldom do and went out downtown to the Newseum, a museum about news. Not the most romantic place to go on Valentine's but it's so Scott and I. Deep down inside, I've always wanted to be a journalist...but somehow life took a different turn and I became a Spanish teacher instead. But I still carry my interest of the world, people, and politics...and Scott and I ALWAYS have good conversations about articles I read or things I hear about on the news.

Most museums in D.C. are free but the Newseum is one the few that you have to pay to get in...and it was worth EVERY penny. We both LOVED it and we were reminded of so many stories we had heard about.

In front of the newseum...and Scott is sticking his tongue out at me...he loves me.

We started with the Berlin Wall Gallery...

This is one of the statues of a communist leader from East Germany that was taken down.

West Germany's side.

The most interesting part to me was seeing the contrast on each side of the wall...

East Germany's side.

The Berlin Wall was one of my favorite parts of the museum. I still remember, as 9 year old in Perú watching the news with my parents and seeing all the people cheering and happy that the wall had been taken down. I remember asking my mom about it and she explained it to me. She talked about East and West Germany and the conflicts there and I remember wondering in my 9 year old mind, why would people divide each other...watching it on television made a huge impact on me.

I loved this gallery of photos by a famous Sports Illustrated photographer.

That Michael Jordan photo is amazing.

The 9/11 Gallery was very sobering. Neither Scott nor I could smile for the picture. We both talked about what we were doing on 9/11 and we remembered those moments.

This is a wall of newspaper front pages from around the world on September 11, 2001.

They also have a gallery of Today's front pages (they change them every day) from most states in the U.S. and quite a few from around the world.

I love this quote...because that is what I look for when I read a newspaper article or watch the news...I want the facts, not some lunatic's opinions about things...

The famous Watergate door...so interesting to read about.

The Pulitzer Prize Photographs Gallery was MY personal favorite. Some of the pictures were very graphic but I'm amazed what a good photographer can capture, I'm a fan of photojournalism...and it was interesting to read the stories behind each picture...

I'm supposed to be pointing at The Miami Herald not The Washington Post...I am fond of The Miami Herald because I was an intern reporter for The Neighbors section every Thursday, when I was a senior in high school. I had the best time reporting for them and going out into my community and meeting extraordinary, amazing people...and still have ALL of my published articles. What a fun time of my life...

We spent 3 hours there on Saturday and we could have been there for another 3...we were starving so we headed to our new favorite restaurant Brio's!!! Our waiter did take a picture of us but I don't like it, so I won't post it. But we had the best lunch ever...and we enjoyed each other's company...with no children...just us...it was lovely.

On Sunday, the actual Valentine's day...we got little valentine's for the kids and my sweet husband gave me a bouquet of BEAUTIFUL flowers and my favorite chocolates.

We only had an hour of Church. So we packed up our lunches and headed for a drive to D.C. and since our Newseum tickets were good for 2 days, we went again to watch a 4-D 13-minute movie that we didn't have time to watch the day before. (not the ideal Sunday activity but hey, we had to get our money's worth).

We enjoyed our peanut butter and jelly sandwiches at the museum's food court. The kids enjoyed running around the museum.

We had heard that 4-D movie was a little scary for little kids, so Scott went first, while the kids and waited. But then Scott came out and said it wasn't bad so we decided to take the kids...I think I should have gone in first because there were, indeed, some scary parts...Brielle was scared so Scott took her out and Braden sat on my lap. He wasn't scared at all! He just kept wanting to pop the bubbles that were coming toward us, he kept saying, "pop, pop, pop" and kept trying to pop them with his finger...I had never seen a movie in 4-D, it was only 13 minutes long but it was awesome and it really did seem like the bubbles were right in front of us!

We didn't stay long because most of the museum is just not for little kids...so we enjoyed a drive along Constitution Avenue...

{Archives Building}

Every time I drive through Constitution Avenue I am in awe at the architecture here.

{Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium}

I couldn't stop taking pictures.

Valentine's Day was a gorgeous winter day in D.C...

There was some tree damage from the snow storms.

...with all the bad weather, I was almost starting to forget what blue skies looked like...

The beautiful White House.

Not a cloud in the sky.

We had such an enjoyable Valentine's Day Weekend.

Snowmaggedon

This is old news, but we are still recovering. By now I'm sure you've seen this in the news. Washington D.C. Metro Area had one of its worst storms of all time and we were here to experience it. I've been around snow before (9 years of living in Rexburg, ID), snow there is just part of life in the winter time and even part of spring and autumn. So when they announced that D.C. would have a bad snow storm, it didn't really register how bad it was going to be...

It was bad.

It snowed lightly on Tuesday, February 2nd. Schools were cancelled on Wednesday...Then Thursday was a normal day but everyone was freaking out about this huge storm that was to start on Friday...Friday, February 5th around noon it all began They cancelled schools even before it started snowing. It snowed from noon on Friday until the evening of Saturday, February 6th.

We ventured outside on Saturday, to throw away some garbage and this is what it looked like outside:

We couldn't even open the door. It took quite a few pushes to open it.

That car in the middle completely covered in snow is ours. You can't even see it.

We don't have a good sled, so Scott, being the ingenious man that he is came up with what you see on the picture on the left.

On Saturday, February 6th (Braden's birthday), we were literally snowed in...we didn't go anywhere for the next 3 days...

On Sunday, Church was cancelled.

I have seen snow in my 9 years in Idaho, lots of it...but NEVER have I seen 3 feet of snow fall within a 24-hour period. NEVER.

Should I say that again?

NEVER EVER.

Snowed in.

Like my friend Erika, put it, pictures just don't do justice to what it really looked like...what my human eye saw, my Nikon just couldn't capture...I tried to capture it...from every angle possible...what you see is bad...but what my human eye saw was worse.

I felt so overwhelmed, and I wasn't even shoveling.

My kids, on the other hand had the time of their lives playing with the snow...

and eating it.

While the kids played and ate snow and I took pictures...

...this man...

...worked. He shoveled for 3 hours.

He is my hero.

The most overwhelming part of it all was trying to figure out where the heck to put all of that snow...this is one of the many piles of snow around our parking lot.

On Monday, February 8th, our good friend Justin was in D.C., Scott and I headed to D.C. to have dinner with him (it was so fun to see you Justin!) :) and Stace, I'm glad you didn't end up coming, it was for the best, (even though I was dying to see you and the boys).

This is what D.C. looked like:

There was so much snow and the roads were horrible.

On Tuesday, February 9th (Brielle's birthday), it started snowing again. We got almost a foot of snow over night.

Scott didn't have school for a whole week. Brielle missed 4 sessions of preschool and we all watched way too many movies and ate way too many sweets. All of the school districts were closed for a week, the federal government was closed, people missed work, in other words...

...the world stopped.

Things started to get back to normal on Friday. Scott had classes and had to be there at 9am. The metro wasn't running all the way where we live so we decided to drive him to school. It took almost 2 and a half hours to drop him off and an hour and a half to drive back home.

It was insane.

{photo courtesy of The Washington Post}

Things are somewhat back to normal today, Wednesday, February 17th.

Two weeks later.

Four Years.

Four years and two days ago, Scott and I became parents for the first time. We had no idea what we were getting ourselves into. :) I still remember Brielle's birth like it was yesterday. I remember it vividly. Brielle came out of the womb with her big, bright, brown eyes...and from day one she had this inquisitive way about her. I would give everything to have been her and be in her little brain that first day of life. She looked around, so alert...so curious about the world around her...and things have not changed. She is still curious and so involved in her surroundings, so interested in discovering the world around her. She has most definitely given us a run for our money but truly, we wouldn't want her to be any different...for the way that she is, is what makes her Brielle.

On the 9th, we did what she wanted to do and this is how our day went:

First, I should mention our simple decorations. She, of course, LOVES pink! I only wish I would have made a pink pom pom but I still think the white looks cute. I had some extra fabric and I turned it into a table runner. I thought long and hard about throwing her a big princess party, I knew she would have been in heaven with all of her little friends. But I figured she's only turning 4 and may not even remember it, so I'm pretty sure we will go all out next year. Plus, I thought we better enjoy our little girl while she still wants to spend her birthday with her family and be fine with it!:)

I made a birthday banner for Brielle too...I really like how it turned out, again, like Braden's I didn't get around to putting the "happy birthday"...next year...

Brielle had a hard time on Braden's birthday when all of the attention was focused on him and she was devastated that I didn't make pink pancakes for her, so she of course, requested pink pancakes for breakfast on her birthday on her 'special' plate.

She put a LOT of syrup on her pancake! But how could I stop her! I guess the only day she gets THAT much syrup is on her birthday!

Then, came time for presents. She had been waiting and waiting to get them. She was so happy to finally be able to open them!:)

Brielle says thank you to Great-Grandma Jensen and Aunt Penny for the cards, stickers and money! She got a kick out Aunt Penny's Oscar the grouch card especially after I read it to her! She thought it was so funny! She got a couple of dolls with the money she got! She had such a blast going to the store and picking them out and then going to pay the cashier with her "own" money!

Brielle wanted to go to Olive Garden for lunch. We've only been a few times with the kids but I guess that's where she wanted to go...we gave her other options but she had made up her mind that Olive Garden was the place to go. So we did.

She was very concentrated on coloring...she's very good at it and Scott and I have been so impressed with her ability to stay inside the lines...she spends a lot of time at home coloring...I love that little expression on her face.

We told our waiter that it was her birthday, so he brought a bunch of other waiters and they sang the Olive Garden birthday song to her...he brought some ice cream and even put a little candle for her to blow out!

Our lunch was delicious...Brielle ate her whole bowl of Chicken and Gnocci soup, had lots of salad and breadsticks...

Brielle, specifically requested strawberry cake with strawberry frosting...and that's what we had.

Happy Birthday Brielle!

We used the trick candles on her too. She was so good, she blew all of them until they couldn't light again!

I think this is another tradition we have started this year on birthdays, taking a family picture:

We very seldom have pictures taken of the whole family...so I'm thinking is this a great new tradition we will have from now on...

Brielle requested a silly face picture of the family!

Again, we ate too many cupcakes and had such a fun day as a family doing activities and things that Brielle wanted...it was her day...all about her...

Scott and I can't believe our first-born is now four.

P.S. ...and what is a post about Brielle without a Brielle story? I have a couple for your entertainment:

Brielle runs to find her daddy and in a VERY desperate voice says:

Daddy, daddy! I have to tell you something!

This is a catastrophe!

I can't find Sleeping Beauty's pink shoe!!!

Then she turns to Braden and says (in a more calm voice):

Braden, come, help me look for clues!

Then they both go around the house saying:

Oh! There's a clue!

Sleeping Beauty's pink shoe is still missing.


Today, Brielle accidentally stepped on a toy dinosaur and really hurt her little foot. She was trying to be really good about not crying and just kept saying that it really hurt. Scott took a look at it and indeed, it was bleeding a little. He told her that it'd be okay. Then we started reading scriptures...we read about Jesus giving blessings to his disciples. After saying family prayers, she very humbly said:


"Daddy, I think you need to give me a blessing to make my foot feel better, it really hurts. You need to put your hands on my head, like this (as she does puts her hands on her little head) And I think you need that oil to put on my head. I think I will feel better if you do that."


How could a father deny the request of a humble child to get a blessing?


Scott granted his daughter's wish.


I cried like a baby. Brielle did too. I think we all felt that warm and fuzzy feeling inside, we felt the Spirit.


...and today and always, I'm grateful Brielle is my daughter forever.

{No longer two}

As of yesterday, our Mr. Braden is no longer two. It is bittersweet for me. Three sounds so grown up and it means that I no longer have a baby...most of you know the story of how Scott and I found out we were expecting Braden...Brielle was only 3 months...the other day I thought about Braden's initials...Braden Scott...B.S. I thought that was pretty funny. We didn't do it purposely...it just happened that way...kind of the way that he was conceived...it kind of just happened! ha ha! And truthfully and in complete frankness I would not have it any other way. Braden is the most loving little boy, he still loves to cuddle with his mommy and still lets me love him and squeeze him almost every day. He says the cutest things and is always so helpful and willing to do anything I ask of him. He is now three...and while D.C Metropolitan area was getting the worst snow storm-snowmaggedon-as many are calling it around here...

We celebrated.

Our celebration began with blue pancakes for breakfast as he requested. He insisted in helping me flip them and how could I say no! After all, he was the birthday boy!

We started a tradition this year. It's not a new tradition but it's one that is dear to my heart. When I was little we had a "special" plate that we got to use on our birthday. Mine was a little dessert bowl that had belonged to my great-grandma. I felt so special when I got to use it on my birthday. So I decided to do the same with my kids. This plate belonged to Scott's late grandma Wood, who is Braden's great-grandma. He LOVED the idea. I could tell he felt special.

Getting ready to eat blue pancakes...silly boy.

This is a birthday banner I made for Braden's birthday...I still have to put on the "Happy Birthday"...I didn't get around to it this year but I still think it looks really cute without them!

After breakfast, Braden got to open his birthday presents. He was in heaven and loved all of them, but he especially LOVED his remote Lightning McQueen car from the movie Cars.

Braden says thank you to Great-grandma Jensen and Aunt Penny for the cute cards, stickers and money!

After presents...we went outside for a little bit and this is what it looked like...I will dedicate its own post to this "snowmaggedon" soon...all I can say is that we got almost 3 feet of snow within a 24 hour period!

For dinner, Braden wanted pizza. I thought it would so fun for us to make our own and have the kids help put the toppings. He looked so cute in his little apron and he kept saying he was the chef!

Cuddling with daddy and watching An American Tail...waiting for the pizza...

The pizza was yummy.

Then it was time for Spiderman chocolate cupcakes with chocolate frosting...Mr. Braden loves chocolate and anything sweet.

Happy Birthday Mr. Braden!

I got trick candles...he had fun blowing them...

...but after many attempts he asked for some help from his daddy and sister.

Our family

...the story of my life...Brielle wearing no pants...how do I make this girl wear pants?

Enjoying a chocolate cupcake.

After singing happy birthday and eating way too many cupcakes, we put on some music and danced to Braden's favorite song..."move it, move it"!!! I always have little parties with the kiddos just randomly during the week. But this time it was special...daddy was part of the party and even better it was Braden's birthday.

Then, they finished watching An American Tail. Scott was enjoying cuddling time with his two kiddos.

Another family picture.

Braden played with his little remote car all day long and later that night he couldn't part from it, so he HAD to bring it to his room with him...

Before Braden went to bed I said, "Happy Birthday buddy." He said, "thank you"

I asked, "did you have a good day?" he said, "it was good day mommy."