The BEST Day

This weekend the snow wasn't falling so we decided to take a trip up to DC to see some of the sights. We took the metro from Springfield, VA up into DC. From the time we parked until we got off the train in DC Charlie was quivering with excitement. It was so much fun to see how excited he was to ride a train. The whole time we were on the metro he was yelling because his excitement usually comes out through his vocal chords. He kept yelling, "This is the BEST DAY EVER!!!" We had to keep reminding him to use an inside voice.

Donald on the other hand wasn't too keen on the experience because going underground freaked him out and he was frustrated by not being able to walk around at his leisure. It takes about 30 minutes from Springfield into the Mall and Donald was screaming by the time we got there. I'm sure everyone on the metro loved us.



We disembarked at the Federal Triangle which includes some important government offices. In the center is the Woodrow Wilson Plaza and they have some pretty statues. We let the kids eat a snack and of course started out with some touristy pictures. I am amazed at how beautiful our capital city is. I really forgot how much I love that place until today.

Our first stop was the Museum of Natural History. They have the Easter Island head at the front thanks to Night at the Museum. Donald kept yelling, "Dum Dum give me gum gum!"

The dinosaur bones were one of my favorite parts. Donald thought the T-Rex was going to come alive, also thanks to Night at the Museum. Charlie specifically picked out his dinosaur shirt so he could go to this museum. He was just sooo excited!

I thought Shari was going to hyperventilate most of the time she was so excited. She had very specific things that she just couldn't wait to see and one of them was the mammoth. I was amazed at the giant sloth bones, although I didn't get a picture. We all loved looking at the evolution of the horse exhibit because the fossil record is so amazing.

Everyone was glad to have a discovery room where they could play with stuff. Of course Donald's favorite was an alligator head. He kept sticking his hand in its mouth and pretending he was being eaten, and he loved the eyesball (that's how he says eyeballs).

Another goal of Shari's was to see the stuffed hippo. She was so excited to see it. We loved the hall of mammals and somehow Donald spotted a panda up in a big case and started yelling, "Kung Fu Panda!" He is so well educated by all of the movies he watches.

This is a picture of some sapphires in the gem exhibit. They reminded me of my mother because it's her birthstone. I got a picture of the hope diamond but it's so sparkly you can't really see it. The hope diamond was another must see on Shari's list. It was pretty impressive.

This huge piece of quartz had a sign that said, "Please Touch." Adrian thought that was so funny because most everything else said, "Don't Touch."

In the insect exhibit I was walking through staring at dead insects when all of the sudden one of them moved! I jumped out of my skin and scared the lady standing next to me half to death. Thankfully she just started laughing at me because I didn't realize there were some live bugs in there too. I really hate grasshoppers though so when I saw them moving I was so grossed out. They had some grasshoppers you could hold and I couldn't believe Charlie was brave enough to hold this thing.

Donald wanted to grab it with both hands and pet it and love it to death. The lady was nice enough to let him touch it and then move it out of his reach quickly. Charlie kept yelling, "It LOVES me!" Grasshopper love can be so sweet. I couldn't believe Rebecca had the nerve to hold it either. She was a little more timid than Charlie and wasn't convinced that it loved her.

On Friday night we asked the kids what they want to see the most at a museum and Shari shouts out, "A Greek Amphora!" Dan and I were like, huh? We didn't even know what she was talking about but she explained that they are pots from Greece with a pattern around the top and bottom and a story in the middle. They are making them in art class here. Thankfully right when we walked into Western Civilizations there were a bunch of them. She wanted to stare at them for the rest of the afternoon, but by then my feet were killing me. Hopefully they gave her some good ideas for her art project.

Next on the list we went over to the National Air and Space Museum. This was a big thrill for everyone but my feet were killing me so we went into the McDonald's and ate lunch before we toured. It was the biggest McDonald's I've ever seen and I definitely don't remember it being here when I used to live here. It was a nice relaxing place to eat, although super crowded. In fact, the whole day everything was super crowded. I thought it was great fun.
Adrian was really excited to see the WWII airplanes because he likes to play a videogame called Crimson Skies and he gets to fly similar airplanes.

After all our excitement we had a bathroom break before we headed home so I let the kids mess around with the camera a little. This also made it so Dan and I could get one picture of us together. He's so great to take us out for such a fun day in the city. I am so amazed at all the wonderful things he does for us. He took the kids around a lot so I could just sit and stare at all the people and put me feet up.

The train ride home was just as fun as the train ride out because the kids loved standing up and holding onto the poles. Shari is a little bugged at me because I just told her she needed to be careful when she thought she was doing just fine. I couldn't believe they wanted to be on their feet after all that walking!

The only thing about holding onto the poles on the metro is my kids kept wanting to dance around them and I had to keep telling them to STOP POLE DANCING! It was quite entertaining.

Now we've made it home and I'm exhausted and Dan is out getting pizza for dinner and the kids are all watching Night at the Museum! I guess they didn't get enough yet.

Blodgett Boys

Here are my boys having fun after the storm.

Donald has developed a bad habit of sticking his hands down his pants to see what's there so today at Walmart I found some size 2 onesies. He was also in need of a new pair of shoes because his feet are already a size 8!! I can't believe he has such big feet.

We were able to buy food before the next big storm hits tonight. So far we're hearing that we'll get 8 inches or more of snow. Our road was just barely plowed this morning since the storm on Saturday.

The good news is that Dan's work was cancelled today so he was able to drive me to my ultrasound. The girls went with me and the boys went with their daddy to Walmart. I figured the more girls I had with me at my ultrasound the more likely it was to be a girl! Right!? Wrong! We have been blessed with another Blodgett boy! I was so surprised I started crying. I really thought I would get another chance with a baby girl. The girls were so sweet they didn't groan or complain but their shoulders suddenly sagged a little. I know they wanted a girl but I also know how much they adore their baby Donald.

When the boys found out they both yelled, "YES!" Dan just laughed at me because he knew I thought it was a girl.

To celebrate we bought sugar cookies with blue frosting and went out to Cici's Pizza. We haven't been to a Cici's since we lived in Mississippi.

Another Blodgett boy. Won't that be fun!

Surviving the Storm

The snow started Friday morning and didn't stop until Saturday night. Dan went out 5 different times to shovel the driveway and everytime it was covered by the time he was done. I've read that our snow total is somewhere between 17 and 24 inches. From looking at our deck I'd lean towards the 24 inches.

I am so glad that we haven't lost power. I'm sure a lot of people did. We had a couple of times where it was blinking on and off. I felt so unprepared for a power outage. Just now I saw the first snow plow trying to make it down our street. I wonder where they're going to push all this snow too.

So, we've been in Virginia 3 Sundays and every Sunday church has been cancelled! It's so crazy. Dan and I are starting to think we ought to just wait and go back to church when we're in Tooele. Next Sunday is Stake Conference so we won't really have a chance to meet anyone for 2 more weeks.

We got an email this morning saying school is already cancelled Monday and Tuesday! Since we've been in VA we've had 3 snow days and a late start and now we are getting 2 more! I don't know what we're going to do with ourselves. I was supposed to have my ultrasound on Tuesday but now I will have 5 little tag-a-longs and who knows if I could get off my street and down to Fredricksburg by then.

Speaking of which, we're expecting more snow on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The kids have been keeping themselves occupied with our couch cushions. We don't have many toys so I let them play with whatever interests them as long as it's not dangerous or easily broken. In order to not feel so trapped in our little house they've been building themselves littler houses inside our house. That way, when they swing their make-believe door open and go into the kitchen or living room they feel like they're going out. I think it's a good way of coping. I'm thinking of doing it myself.

Here are the boys on their couch made out of our couch cushions. Charlie also made a store as part of the game and was selling stuff to the kids. How could we live without shopping?

Here are the girls on their couch. I had to let them make two couches because the girls wouldn't get off of this one and the boys really wanted a cool place to sit too. They've definitely been having their disagreements here and there. Today Charlie was trying to get Donald to quit bugging him and Donald grabbed him and pinched him on the chest really hard. Charlie was yelling, "Donald pinched my nibble!"

Yesterday Rebecca wanted everyone to get 30 minutes of exercise because that's what her P.E. teacher told her she needs in order to be healthy. She tied tights and scarves together for make-shift jump ropes and had everybody jumping rope and doing push-ups in the basement while she timed them. I decided not to worry too much about the tights because we don't go to church anyways.

Hopefully we'll get one day out of the house before the storm on Tuesday.

New Hair

We figure we're making a new start so why not get a new hairdo! I really need a new hairdo myself but I think it's more fun for my girls so they were first. We were able to go to a really nice lady in another ward in our area. She did a great job and gave each of the girls a new hair thing after they got their hair fixed so cute. It was really fun and I was so glad Dan was off work early enough to keep the boys. I don't think they would have had as much fun as us girls.
I'll let the before and after pictures speak for themselves. You can tell it really was time for a hair cut.

We've been snowed out of school all week so today was their first day in school for the week. I was glad they could go show off their new hair and I think the fact that they looked so pretty helped them feel better about going back to school.

There is supposed to be another storm this weekend, even bigger than the last one. The weather people are saying we'll get 1 to 2 feet of snow! Donald and I thought we should prepare so we went out grocery shopping and it was so crazy. I had to wait outside the store for an empty shopping cart because there wasn't a single unused shopping cart. A very nice guy went around the parking lot looking for one for me and Donald was very patient through the whole ordeal. In fact, I've never been in a crowd of such nice people. They all wanted to tell me how cute Donald was and he loved that. It really distracted him from the fact that we were shopping.

We may even have another snow day tomorrow. I think our kids will end up being in school until July! In the meantime they're really enjoying the days off. Rebecca, Shari, and Adrian are all reading Harry Potter. I'm glad they've finally decided to really give it a chance and it so happens that they love it. I don't think this snowed in weekend will be as boring as last because Dan and I have internet so we can watch TV!! Last night we watched 24 and 2 hours of Lost! It's been 3 weeks since we've had TV so you can't really blame us.

I do want to take more pictures of the house and everything in the area but it is all so snowy so it doesn't look that different from Utah right now.

Looks Like We Made It

I don't have internet yet and I haven't taken a single picture but if you're interested in reading a little, I'm posting.
The drive turned out really well. Dan was amazing and I was just a passenger the entire time. The kids were mostly cheerful, except for the occasional temper tantrum by Donald, but we would have had that at home anyways. The first night we were in Laramie, Wyoming. The second day I got a migraine halfway through Nebraska. I was so upset but I was able to rest a little through it and once we got to Omaha I was actually able to help get the kids to bed. The third day we ended up in Chicago and I was so happy to see Ane and the family. It was really wonderful for the kids to be in a house and play with cousins. On Saturday we drove to Richfield, Ohio and finally on Sunday we made it!! When we asked the kids about their favorite part of the trip it was definitely swimming and playing Nintendo DS, oh yeah, and visiting their cousins!!
Sunday night we made beds and ate dinner and I tried to sleep but the rental bed was way to hard for my aching pregnant body. We had it replaced yesterday and I can finally sleep again.
Monday we unpacked and Dan did a ton of shopping. Some friends had us over for dinner and it was wonderful to have a break from unpacking.
Tuesday we tried to get the kids into school but didn't have all the paperwork we needed. We were lucky to find out their teachers and get a tour. The school is amazing. I kept oooohing and aaahing and I think the school secretary must have thought I was born in a barn. They have a paid music, art, and p.e. teacher and they have super facilities for each. You can pay for lunches online! and the library made me drool. The best part of all is they have really great teachers and really small class sizes, well, compared to Utah.
Wednesday was their first official day and it went really well for all of them. Rebecca had two friends to invite over after school and they all had tons of homework. They made it home on their first bus ride and Thursday morning they managed to catch their bus as well. I had a migraine Thursday morning so that was rough but today has been a little better. I'm thankful it's Friday and I'm trying to take it easy.
Unfortunately I have to go to the library for internet so I won't be checking very often. We'll get internet at our house on February 1 is what we're hoping.
Virginia is so beautiful and our house is perfect for this little adventure. I love the kids school and Dan is enjoying his work thus far. I'm surprised when I look out my windows that Virginia still feels like home. Utah has been home for a few years and before that I didn't think home existed but I find when I go out and about that I am reminded of all the things I loved about Virginia. It was, after all, home for some pretty formative years. I can't wait to see old friends and hopefully I'll have some energy to get reaquainted with the area.
Next on my list is finding a Dr. and getting an ultrasound so we can find out if we're having a boy or a girl...

You're Invited

I've had so much fun teaching the kids piano this school year. We aren't sure what our piano situation will be in Virginia so I decided to have them all prepare a recital piece over Christmas vacation so they could show off all the things they've learned so far.

I started out just teaching the girls again this year but one day Charlie decided he wanted to learn too. I asked Adrian if he would want lessons and he said absolutely not until he saw how well Charlie was doing. Then he knew he could do better and he had to prove it. (Sometimes the competitive side of boys really works to my advantage.)

They've all done really well and I love learning how each one of them learns differently. I also love how they are all learning to express themselves in their music.

Rebecca has been taking leaps and bounds this year because it suddenly got really complicated. She's learning how to alter her fingering in the middle of a song, she's stretching her hand beyond the normal 5 finger reach, and the music no longer has the flats and sharps marked throughout. The funny thing is that she's actually run across some songs that she couldn't play immediately with no mistakes. It's cute to see how shocked she is when she actually has to practice and it doesn't sound perfect right away. This was one of those weeks but she worked really hard and has learned some valuable skills.

to the Blodgett

Shari is amazing to listen to. Whenever I sit down to teach her a lesson I get little tears in my eyes because she plays with so much heart and she really pays attention to the dynamics and mood of her music. She found this song to be really difficult when she first started practicing it but came out with it memorized!! She's brilliant, and I know it's not because of her teacher.